There are 20,000 armed troops on heightened alert in Washington right now, and Joe [Biden] will be giving his inauguration speech in front of, basically, nobody. Welcome to my world, Joe. That was how Bill Maher summarized both the current state of Washington, DC and the current state of his studio setup in his first episode of 2021. Since the last episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, some things have changed on a national political level  and Mahers studio audience now consists of crew members and show staff, for pandemic safety reasons.

In his opening monologue, Maher addressed the Capitol breach, offering a vivid description of the events followed by  as one might expect  a quip. Thats something I never thought Id see, Maher said. And then the kicker: Trump supporters taking the stairs. When the reaction was muted, Maher wryly commented, Even the people who wrote it didnt laugh that much.



Maher also addressed Donald Trump being impeached for the second time, and his subsequent exile by various social media companies. Up first among the nights guests? Former Trump senior counselor Kellyanne Conway. A minute or so of amicable banter between the two followed  they share a birthday! He complimented her pants!  before Maher turned the subject to the inauguration 4 years ago. That was a great day, Conway said.



So how do you look back, 4 years later, Maher said. Anything go wrong? Cue the end of his poker face and a wicked grin. Maher did credit Conway for being one of the few members of Trumps inner circle who acknowledged that Joe Biden won the 2020 election  though exactly when she did so provided one of the interviews more contentious moments. Maher argued that Conway hadnt done so until early December; Conway contended that she had done so earlier, although perhaps not in a public setting.
The Trump Administrations 2020-21 execution spree came to an end on Friday with the execution of the Dustin Higgs. Higgs was the 13th person put to death since federal executions resumed in July, 2020.

A close look at those executed over the last six months shows that the federal death penalty is not reserved for the worst of the worst as some of its proponents contend. Instead it targets the most disadvantaged and disabled of those charged with capital crimes.

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Having an intellectual disability, a mental illness, or a history of childhood abuse and trauma turns out to be a very important, though often unappreciated, factor in explaining both who ends up on death row and who gets executed.

That is just one of the reasons why President-Elect Joe Biden should take decisive steps to end the federal death penalty and lead a campaign for nationwide abolition of capital punishment.

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Criticism of the death penalty often rightly highlights its discriminatory application or, in the case of the federal governments use of this punishment, its geographic arbitrariness. In addition, the Trump administrations recent rush to execute disregarded the rights of the condemned to adequate legal representation, and in several cases ignored the wishes of victims families.

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And it did not let the difficulties and dangers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic derail its plan.

Much has been made of the unprecedented nature of carrying out lame duck executions, especially since the federal government ramped up the death penalty just as its use is declining in states across the country.

Less visible, though no less important, in understanding the injustice and inhumanity of what Trump did and of the death penalty system in general is that the overwhelming majority of those facing execution today suffer from significant intellectual disabilities, mental illnesses, or a disabling history of childhood abuse and trauma.

Last summer, just before the resumption of federal executions, the Death Penalty Information Center found that 85 percent of those on federal death row had at least one serious impairment that significantly reduces their culpability, and 63 percent had two or more of these impairments.

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The DPIC also reported that one-half were mentally ill, suffering from diseases such as schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder or psychosis. Three quarters had been the victims of physical abuse and trauma during their childhoods. As a result, one-third had developmental brain damage or traumatic brain injury.

It is thus not surprising that a similar pattern would appear among those the feds chose to put to death. Nine of the 13 of those individuals had significant intellectual disabilities, severe mental illness, and/or histories of abuse.

Despite the seriousness of the crimes for which they were convicted and sentenced, they look less like societys most dangerous or morally culpable and more like people who were neglected and abandoned by society.

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Take Daniel Lewis Lee, the first of those Trump executed. Lee was neglected and severely abused by his stepfather throughout his early life. He had profound learning disabilities which went undiagnosed throughout his childhood and contributed to serious educational deficits. In addition, he suffered from borderline personality disorder.

The man who followed Lee, Wesley Purkey, was similarly disabled. In and out of psychiatric hospitals since he was 14, he had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of childhood abuse as well as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. His father paid prostitutes to fondle him when he was a child, and his mother joined in the sexual abuse.

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By the time of his July execution, he had Alzheimers and dementia, and was delusional.

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Purkey believed that he was going to be put to death not for his crime but because he had filed too many grievances against the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He thought he was the victim of dark, conspiratorial forces. As a psychiatrist who examined him concluded, Purkey lacks a rational understanding for the basis for his execution.

But the Trump administration executed him anyway.

Lisa Montgomery, the first woman executed by the federal government since 1953, was the victim of severe physical abuse as child which resulted in brain damage. As one commentator noted, She was gang-raped repeatedly as an 11-year-old girl by her stepfather and his friends. Her mother trafficked her in exchange for plumbing and electrical work. (H)er stepfather smashed her head against the concrete floor of a room he built to rape her.

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Montgomery had also been delusional throughout her life as a result of the mental illnesses she inherited from her parents.

That people like Lee, Purkey, and Montgomery could be put to death may seem surprising since, almost two decades ago, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Atkins v. Virginia, that executing offenders with intellectual disabilities violates the Constitutions prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments.

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The court said that people suffering from such disabilities can still know the difference between right and wrong and be punished. But because of their disabilities in areas of reasoning, judgment, and control of their impulsesthey do not act with the level of moral culpability that characterizes the most serious adult criminal conduct.

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Yet the Supreme Court refused to offer a clear definition of what constituted a disqualifying illness, leaving that judgment to judges and juries untrained in and unfamiliar with intellectual disabilities, mental illness, and the lifelong consequences of childhood trauma. And it has refused to do so from then until now.

The cases of those put to death by the federal government illustrate the failure of the courts approach.

Judges and juries often cannot comprehended how intellectual disability, mental illness, and childhood abuse could explain why people commit serious offenses. And far from making those who suffer from abuse or illness seem less culpable, they may lead decision makers to conclude that they are more dangerous. Judges and juries can put them, as the Trump administration did, at the head of the line among those who get a death sentence.

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Experience has shown that law alone cannot combat such stereotypes and misunderstandings.

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As a result, disadvantaged and intellectually disabled people continue, as the Trump administration execution spree shows, to be among the offenders who are most likely to be subject to Americas ultimate punishment.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy captured the injustice and inhumanity of this practice in 2014, when he said that to impose the harshest of punishments on an intellectually disabled person violates his or her inherent dignity as a human being. Imposing the death penalty upon offenders with these kinds of functional impairments, he continued, serves no legitimate penological purpose.

The incoming Biden administration should acknowledge Kennedys wisdom. It should act urgently to stop executions of the impaired, indeed of all who have been convicted of capital crimes, by ending the federal death penalty and lending its weight to abolishing capital punishment throughout the United States.
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Holidaymakers have stayed close to home this summer break as ongoing travel restrictions and border closures boost travel to regional NSW.

Caravan and camping sites have also welcomed more visitors, with a surge in bookings at coastal holiday parks and Jindabyne.

The Toowoon Bay Holiday Park on the Central Coast has been busy since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Credit:Edwina Pickles

A spokeswoman for Discovery Parks, which operates holiday parks around Australia, said its top destinations were coastal and close to Sydney, with guest numbers up more than 35 per cent at resorts in Emerald Beach, Gerroa, Harrington Beach and Forster.

Grant Wilckens, chief executive of G'day Group, which owns Discovery Parks, said it had been the "busiest summer on record".
Massive project to restore Deegawapiya Stupa to be launched soon View(s):

The Government is to launch a massive project soon to restore the Deegawapiya Stupa in Ampara and crown it as the fifth tallest stupa in the country.

Public assistance is being sought to raise Rupees one billion for the project, said General (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne, Defence Secretary and Chairperson of the Presidential Task Force for Archaeological Heritage Management of the Eastern Province.

He said about 23 million bricks are needed for the project that will take about three years to complete.

The biggest challenge is the supply of bricks. About 28,000 bricks have to be laid daily if the restoration work is to be completed in three years. We have enough manpower from the Triforces and Civil Defence Force, he said.

The project will be handled by the Department of Archaeology and under the guidance of the Deegawapiya Chief Incumbent Ven. Mahaoya Sobitha Thera.

Additional Director General at the Department of Archaeology Prasanna Rathnayake said this will be the biggest archaeological conservation project since the Mirisawetiya Stupa conservation project in 1992.

This will become the main Buddhist religious site in the Eastern Province. Prof. Munidasa Ranaweera, a specialist in restoring ancient stupas and Eng. Gemunu Silva will head the restoration project, he added.

Four golden caskets that were discovered during excavation work carried out in November at the site of the Deegawapiya stupa, will be placed in a special chamber close to the stupa.

The Deegawapi stupa built by King Saddhatissa during the third century BCE was declared an archaeological protected monument in 1947, by the Department of Archaeology.

Those who wish to extend financial support to the project can deposit to: Deegawapiya Aruna (account number 86860000) Bank of Ceylon, Taprobane branch, Colombo.
IKEA, the Swedish ready-to-assemble furniture company known for its affordable furniture and cafeteria-style meal offerings, is distancing itself from a planned political rally in New England.

Were aware that our New Haven (CT) store parking lot is being promoted as a meeting location for a MAGA event this Saturday. We ask those who plan to gather at IKEA New Haven to understand they are not authorized to use the property as a meeting location, the company said in a statement Friday.

The company added, Were working in close partnership with local law enforcement to ensure we provide a safe environment for our customers and co-workers. IKEA has no political affiliation.

Social media posts by pro-Trump supporters identify the parking lot as a planned meeting location for a Drag the Interstate event in which participants would head as a group towards the Hartford State Capitol building in Downtown Hartford via Interstate 91 North.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker asked residents to stay away from the area Saturday morning and said police would be monitoring. Our police department is working with local law enforcement to prepare for any potential issues at this event and over the coming days.

The request appears to have been followed, including by would-be participants.

The New Haven Register reported early Saturday afternoon that the IKEA parking lot and surrounding area was quiet, posting photos of a parking lot only featuring police vehicles and the cars of IKEA shoppers.
Protesters Jacob Anthony Chansley (left) from Arizona and Aaron Mostofsky, son of Kings County Supreme Court Judge Shlomo Mostofsky, inside the US Capitol in Washington DC. Photo: Reuters/Mike Theiler

As US federal law enforcement officers sift through evidence tied to the attack on the US Capitol, they have tried to determine what compelled rioters to force their way into the building. Namely, did any of them plan to kill or capture lawmakers or their staffers?

Officials now say they have found clues to that question from one of the mobs most distinctive figures: Jacob Anthony Chansley, the shirtless, tattooed man often referred to as QAnon Shaman, who stood out in a headdress made of coyote skin and buffalo horns.

In a court filing late on Thursday, federal prosecutors in Phoenix, Arizona, wrote that strong evidence, including Chansleys own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States government.

The 18-page memo, which asked a judge to keep Mr Chansley detained before his trial, said the 33-year-old Arizona man left an ominous note for US vice president Mike Pence at his desk in the Senate chamber: Its only a matter of time, justice is coming.

Mr Chansley was arrested and charged last week in connection to his role in the riot. As of early on yesterday morning, court documents said he was being represented by the federal public defenders office in Phoenix.

But in a statement to The Washington Post, St Louis attorney Albert Watkins said he had been retained as Mr Chansleys lawyer and called for US President Donald Trump to pardon him.

Mr Watkins claimed that Mr Chansley acted in a peaceful and compliant fashion toward law enforcement and was co-operating with their investigation. Besides, he argued, the Arizona man only went to the Capitol because he was following Mr Trumps invitation.

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He took seriously the countless messages of President Trump. He believed in President Trump, Mr Watkins said. Like tens of millions of other Americans, Chansley felt  for the first time in his life  as though his voice was being heard.

An FBI investigation is seeking to determine whether some intended to do more than disrupt the certification of president-elect Joe Bidens victory, The Post reported last week.

One man was arrested and accused of carrying a pistol on the Capitol grounds. Others wore tactical gear or brought zip ties to use as handcuffs, officials said. Another was arrested after his truck was spotted, allegedly with 11 Molotov cocktails inside.

Mr Chansley told investigators that he came as a part of a group effort, with other patriots from Arizona, at the request of the president that all patriots come to DC on January 6, 2021.

A fixture at far-right events in Arizona for the past two years, he has often professed his support for Mr Trump and QAnon conspiracies. His body is heavily tattooed with insignia adopted by white nationalists.

Speaking last week, he said he was not afraid of arrest.

I trust in God and I know that I didnt do anything wrong, he said.

And even if I was arrested, wasnt Gandhi arrested a lot? Wasnt Martin Luther King Jr arrested a lot? Wasnt Jesus arrested? I put my trust in God, not the government. ( Washington Post)

 Washington Post

Stay away from rumours, PM Modi says during vaccine roll-out

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Jan 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine said that citizens should not fall for rumours. He said that citizens should not fall for propaganda or rumours over the vaccines.

The DGCI has given approval after they were satisfied with the data of the vaccines. Please stay away from rumours, the PM also said. Our vaccines have global credibility and life saving vaccines have been given to 60 per cent children that are globally made in India, the PM said.

India's vaccines are developed in a way keeping in mind the conditions of the country and they will give a decisive victory to the nation, PM Modi also said.

When PM Modi got emotional while kicking off the historic vaccine drive

Emotional PM Modi launches WORLD'S BIGGEST vaccine drive | Oneindia News

The Prime Minister started his speech by paying compliments to the scientists who were associated with the development of the vaccines. He said, usually it takes years to prepare a vaccine but here, in such a short time, not one but two made-in-India vaccine were launched. The Prime Minister cautioned the people to be careful about not missing taking two doses. He said that there will be a gap of one month between the doses. He asked people to keep their guards up even after taking the vaccine as only two weeks after taking the second dose, human body will develop necessary immunity against Corona.

The Prime Minister put the unprecedented scale of the vaccination drive in perspective by informing that, in the first round itself, 3 crore people, which is more than population of at least 100 countries of the world, are being vaccinated. He said that this needs to be taken up to 30 crores in the second round when elderly and people with serious co-morbidities will be vaccinated. He said that there are only three countries- India, USA and China, who have the population of more than 30 crore.

The Prime Minister asked people not to give heed to rumours and conspiracy theories as Indian vaccine scientists, medical system, Indian process and institutional mechanism in this regard is trusted globally and this trust is earned with a consistent track record.

The Prime Minister congratulated the country for a united and brave fight against corona. He termed the Indian response to corona as one of self-confidence and self-reliance. He noted a determination of not to let the confidence weaken in every Indian. He dwelled at length on the contribution of doctors, nurses, para medical staff, ambulance drivers, ASHA workers, sanitation workers, police and other frontline workers who endangered their lives to save other. Some of them didn't even return to their homes as they lost their lives in the fight against the virus, noted a solemn Prime Minister. The frontline warriors brought hope in an environment of despondency and fear, today, by vaccinating them first, country is acknowledging their contribution with gratitude, PM Modi said.

PM Modi launches vaccination drive, more than 20 crore people to be covered by second phase

Recalling the initial days of the crisis, the Prime Minister noted that India showed alertness and took right decisions at the right moments. Two weeks before the first case, which was detected on 30th January 2020, India had formed High-Level Committee. India had started proper surveillance exactly one year ago from today. On 17th January 2020, India issued its first advisory and India was among the first nations to start screening of passengers at the airports.

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Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 14:03 [IST]
Different seasons bring different challenges to us and our skin. Therefore it's good to know what to do to combat these negative effects and look all dewy and rosy cheeked until Spring.

The main skin concerns during the colder months include, chapped lips, dehydration, dryness, sensitivity, irritation and redness. Below is the information you need to help.

SPF

Unless you are a vampire or a coal miner. You have to wear SPF every day of the year, Christmas day, your Birthday, and October 3rd (Mean Girls Day).

When you are tanning your backside in Magaluf later in the year (fingers crossed) you need to worry about UVB, which will burn your skin. But every single non sunny day, you need to worry about UVA. UVA rays are present in the winter and these are the rays responsible for AGING. So wear SPF to look 15 forever.

General Hydration

First thing to be aware of is the temperature and hydration drop, our skin loses hydration at a much faster rate in the winter, the dropping temperature outside is a contributor but also the central heating inside. This leaves the skin tight, more prone to sensitivity and feeling like it needs a little TLC. The best line of defense is a rich moisturiser full of calming ingredients. Pop some on under your SPF during the day and use a larger amount at night. This will protect and nourish your skin. A great option is from a brand available in pharmacys, Avene Skin Recovery Cream RICH 15. If you are slightly on the oilier side grab the Avene Skin Recovery Cream. Super affordable and packed with calming and nourishing ingredients like Avene Thermal water and winter saviour Squalane, AND its developed and manufactured with amazing research and care in Avene in France. Avene is one of the most under-rated brands for dry sensitive, dehydrated and reactive skin.

If your skin is really suffering and the application of the above moisturisers doesn't quite cut it, go for the Caudalie Moisturising Mask 25. If you're on the dryer side pop it on and leave it on overnight. If you are prone to breakouts, pop it on for 45 mins and remove and continue with your night time routine afterwards

Lips

Now, I know there is no more shifting going on, but don't ignore your lips. We will shift again!!

An all time favourite for both effectiveness and affordability is the La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume Lips. Please don't spend 25 on a lip balm, it's madness, and if you read the ingredient lists, its daylight robbery.

Pop La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume Lips 7.95 on throughout the day, and if you are wearing a mask for work or for long periods, your lips will be that little bit more protected so you may not need so much. If you find yourself with the sniffles this season and your nose has seen better days, pop some lip balm on your nose too!

Lip balms are all about protecting and soothing the lips, but if they are cracked, sore and peeling, the all time best thing to actually cure them, is the Blistex Relief Cream 4.50 available in all good pharmacies. Ask your pharmacist before using and always patch test. Once the lips are nice and healed, start using the lip balm once again.

If you want to wear lipstick, a good tip is to line the lips and apply the La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume Lips afterward.

Finally Diet and Supplements

Ensure your diet is full of good fats like those found in oily fish and avocados. Get yourself an Omega supplement like the Solgar Omega 3,6,9 24. This is like having a moisturiser applied to your skin from the inside, the living layer of the skin and it is one of the best treatments for dry, sensitive and dehydrated skin. Always check with your Doctor or pharmacist before taking any supplements.

Grainne Callaghan from Westmeath is the owner of Bright Skin, an online education and consultation service. Bright Skin offers Online Skin Assessments for clients and educational Webinars for people working with skin and skincare. She is a former teacher with a passion for educating people about skin and skincare and providing fact and science led information to her clients. No BS, no marketing, no sales targets, just honest advice.
The US Trade Representative (USTR), in its report released on January 15 on findings in the Section 301 investigation of Vietnams acts, policies, and practices related to currency valuation,

did not mention or recommend the imposition of tariff or any sanction measures on Vietnams exports, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said on January 16.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh talks on the phone with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on January 7 on bilateral economic and trade issues (Photo: VNA)

The ministry informed the press on January 16 that the USTRs report provided comprehensive information regarding the case, including the reasons and purposes of the investigation.

The report did not mention or recommend imposing tariff or any sanction measures on Vietnams exports, the ministry said, noting that the efforts made at all levels, from Government leaders to officials of ministries, sectors, agencies, associations and businesses of both Vietnam and the US have brought about positive outcomes.

The ministry, as chair of the Vietnam section in the Vietnam-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council and the agency authorized by the Prime Minister to work with the US in handling the case, welcomed the conclusion of the USTRs report.

The USTRs decision has a positive meaning to bilateral trade, Vietnams business and investment environment and the multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.

According to the Ministry, immediately after the reports release, Myron Brilliant, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, announced that the US business community welcomed the news that the Trump Administration will not impose tariffs on goods from Vietnam.

Trade actions are an inappropriate means by which to address currency valuation questions, he said in a statement, adding that the business community strongly encourages the United States to foster a closer strategic and commercial partnership with Vietnam as that country grows in importance as a commercial market.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade stressed that Vietnam attaches importance to its economic and trade relations with the US, considering those relations an important pillar and a driver of the bilateral ties between Vietnam and the US.

In the time ahead, Vietnam will continue with efforts to open up the market, intensify policy dialogue through TIFA Council mechanisms and seriously implement bilateral cooperation agreements so as to produce substantial outcomes and comprehensively address the concerns of the US and Vietnam, thereby maintaining stable trade ties towards a sustainable and harmonious trade balance that benefit both sides.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade, as co-chair of the TIFA Council, along with Vietnamese ministries and sectors, is willing to talk with officials at all levels of the USTR and relevant agencies, including at ministerial or working levels, in any form, to address concerns and create specific progress in outstanding problems in economic and trade relations between the two countries, in a cooperative, goodwill and constructive spirit, so that the two sides can officially end the investigations, the ministrys representative said./.VNA
(Newser)  Mourners including the vice president told stories Friday about one of the nation's most celebrated aviators, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager, an ace fighter pilot who went on to break the sound barrier as a test pilot. Yeager died last month at 97. "The best pilots are the most experienced," his wife, Victoria, said he once told her. "They lived through their mistakes." The service, which included an Air Force flyover, was held at a convention center in Charleston, West Virginia, Yeager's hometown, WCHS reports. Yeager's casket was taken there on Air Force 2, accompanied by his wife and Vice President Mike Pence. "Chuck Yeager lived a great American life," Pence told the crowd, adding that he "pushed the boundaries more than anyone could have thought."

story continues below

His feats not only inspired "a generation of pilots," Pence said, they helped bring about the nation's space program. After he was shot down over France in World War II, Yeager was ordered to return to the US. He appealed, Pence said, per Fox News, and took his case all the way to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower. "I've got people shooting themselves in the foot to go home. What is the matter with you?" Eisenhower asked Yeager. "I haven't done my job," Yeager said. An empty armchair was place on the stage during the service next to Victoria Yeager. She relayed what her husband had told her at a memorial for New York police officers and firefighters. "This chair may seem empty, but it's not, she said. "It's full of memories." Don't let anyone forget, she said, "who this man is, who he was, and all that he has done." (Charleston once kept quiet about a Yeager stunt.)
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A little book that will leave you with a great sense of enrichment Reviewed by Yomal Senerath-Yapa View(s): View(s):

Anecdotes from a Surgeons Life in Sri Lanka- by Dr Channa Ratnatunga

128 pages

Price: Rs 500

Available at the PEMSAA Office, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery, Peradeniya or the College of Surgeons, Noel and Nora Bartholomeusz Centre, 6, Independence Avenue, Colombo 7.

(All proceeds from the book will go to a Medical Studentship Trust Fund)

Being a surgeon in the late 60s and the early 70s, especially one serving across the island, was, inevitably, to amass a Gladstone bag full of weird anecdotes- stories as intriguing and colourful as a missionarys tales from a Pacific island. For we must remember that this was when only two medical schools served Ceylon  and the one at Peradeniya still very nascent.

The doctor to patient ratio was then very disparate and besides, a surgeon gets to see humanity at its most extreme (not to say at its deepest). All this makes Dr. Channa Ratnatungas slim collection of fresh and pithy vignettes Anecdotes from a Surgeons Life in Sri Lanka, absorbing, compelling and entertaining, if not mostly the kind of stuff you can recount over a polite dinner.

Spanning almost six decades, they form a miscellany, seeing as the surgical theatre can be the arena of high comedy equally as well as heartrending tragedy. The authors gently ironic tone which is the mark of experience carries you through with terse, often jocose prose.

Fresh out of the Reid Avenue School, Dr. Channa was one of the guinea pigs chosen to blaze the trail for the all-new Peradeniya Medical Faculty in 1962.The first anecdotes have to do with the wobbliness of his salad days when, pushed off the deep end as an intern, often he had to learn the ropes from nurses and attendants.

Humour is what keeps this medley of tales buoyant, fizzy and bubbling. It is not contrived sophisticated wit, but the raw, real-life funny- from the mildest (how when, new in Britain as a surgery student, he followed his English houseman to the loo thinking they were heading to the Louvre) to the more riotous (like when the dhobi in Kandy, washing Dr. Channas bloodstained clothes from the surgery, plucked up courage to ask him shyly whether he was really a man or a woman).

The humour is darker in the tale of the Visiting Cow and the Holman story, and there are anecdotes not for the delicate and the faint of stomach. These are the medical anecdotes of the surgical procedures which are, however, fascinating, full of the nimble precision and deft incisiveness of the chirurgeons art.

It is a fact that doctors, everywhere, have a queer obsession with the bodily gruesome. They tend to relish talking of bile and phlegm and such substances in detail. This book has some of that but it proves that this minutiae is really part of the attention they have to pay to anatomy, just as an English don analyzes the denser, more ambiguous passages of Shakespeare.

As written by a 76-year-old, the book has many a pearl to cast. There is much for the medical student to imbibe, from practical lessons like the wryly titled Dont chase the relations away to demos of quick thinking, examining not assuming, ethical conduct and take a good history- its worth the time spent.

One of the most compelling elements of course is to do with disease and medical phenomena he encountered, which range from limbs avulsed by crocodiles (and) thighs penetrated by swordfish to the curious case of monozygotic (identical) twins having fits at the same time even if living continents apart from each other.

The book is saturated with Dr. Channas gentle, deep commitment to allay human suffering as much as possible. Throughout, there is heightened empathy for those who seek his succour, from a woman in the UK who frequently swallowed handbag latches so she could at least momentarily escape the depraved bedlam that was a womans prison, to a teacher with a prostate problem that almost led him to suicide.

There is a host of colourful, peculiar people besides crowding these pages- from a Kandyan drummer to whom the feudal rajakari (duty) was sacrosanct, worthier even than his life, to a jewellery thief and even a brush with the supernatural.

The book leaves you with a sense of enrichment which should be the ultimate touchstone gauging whether a collection of anecdotes has passed muster or not. This book will prove a quick read, but its wise tenor and strange tales, spiced with drollness, will resonate within you, for a long time to come.


Barn destroyed by Wednesday morning fire

Fire destroyed a barn about five miles southeast of Watertown Wednesday, according to a report from Watertown Fire Rescue.
Shopworkers union welcomes Welsh Governments announcement on improved safety measures in stores

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Jan 16th, 2021

A shopworkers trade union has welcomed news that businesses in Wales will have to carry out a specific coronavirus risk assessment under new Welsh Government legislation

Udsaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) had been calling for improved safety measures in stores after being inundated with complaints from members deeply concerned about their safety, as customers blatantly flout the rules.

The risk assessments, announced on Friday, will be the starting point for implementing the reasonable measures that are required to be taken to minimise exposure to the coronavirus on premises open to the public and in workplaces.

This involves considering issues such as whether ventilation is adequate, hygiene, ensuring physical distancing is taking place and the use of PPE and face coverings.





It will also include considering how employers maximise the number of people who can work from home.

Nick Ireland, Usdaw divisional officer said: We welcome that the Welsh Government is legislating for risk assessments to be reviewed and updated regularly, and we urge employers to do that in co-operation with trade union health and safety reps.

We also welcome the particular focus on retail and the strengthening of regulations to make stores as safe as possible.

Retail staff are working with the public every day and not only suffer increased abuse, but are deeply worried about catching Covid-19.

We are very concerned by reports from our members that too many customers are abusing shopworkers and not following necessary safety measures, like social distancing, wearing a face covering and shopping alone where possible for essential items only.

Usdaw is urging the shopping public to strictly follow the rules and respect shopworkers.

Supermarket staff have worked throughout the pandemic to keep the country supplied with essentials. These key workers must be valued, respected and protected.

Speaking on Friday, First Minister Mark Drakeford said it was entirely unacceptable that those working in shops had been abused by customers and members of the public.

He also urged shoppers to take personal responsibility to follow the rules in place while out shopping.

Mr Drakeford said: Risk assessments must be reviewed and updated regularly, whenever circumstances change and I want to make clear in law this includes whenever the coronavirus Alert levels change in Wales.

Recording the risk assessment will only be required by those who employ five or more people.

We are working closely with employers, trade unions, Local Authorities and the Health and Safety Executive to consider the detail on how to keep work settings safe.

Ministers have also met this week with key retailers to discuss their vital role during the pandemic. They set out the actions they are taking from providing sanitisers for hands and trolleys on entry; limiting the numbers in store at any one time; and making regular announcements reminding people to keep their distance from others.

We will strengthen regulations to ensure retailers take these steps so that their premises are as safe as possible for shoppers and their employees alike. Many are already operating high standards and we need to raise the bar for those who could and should improve.

However we all have a personal responsibility to help make shops as safe as possible.

We all need to shop alone if we can, observe the 2m rule, practise good hand hygiene and wear a face covering unless exempt. Any abuse directed at store employees who remind people of their responsibilities will not be tolerated.

Corey Johnson, 52, had been diagnosed with COVID-19 last month. (Photo: Provided by counsel for Corey Johnson)

The Trump administration executed 52-year-old Corey Johnson on Thursday night, despite a Supreme Court ruling that executing people with intellectual disabilities like his violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

The government killed Johnson with a lethal injection of pentobarbital, a process that often causes pulmonary edema, a condition in which fluid enters the lungs while the person is still conscious and creates a painful sensation similar to suffocating or drowning. At the time of his execution, Johnson was still experiencing symptoms from his COVID-19 diagnosis last month. Medical experts have warned that receiving an overdose of pentobarbital would likely be even more painful for individuals recovering from COVID-19 because the virus often damages the lungs.

A federal judge found these warnings credible and on Tuesday stayed the executions of Johnson and another man, Dustin Higgs, who was also diagnosed with COVID-19, until March. But the government appealed and, ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Johnsons killing to proceed.

He was pronounced dead at 11:34 p.m. Eastern time.

Johnson was killed the day after President Trump was impeached, for the second time. He has been accused of inciting violent rioters to storm the Capitol last week. One-third of the justices on the Supreme Court  which has repeatedly overturned decisions by lower courts to delay executions  were appointed by Trump.

Johnson was the 12th person to be killed in the Trump administrations historically unprecedented execution spree, which began last summer after a 17-year hiatus in federal executions. On Friday, the government plans to kill Higgs, who is also recovering from COVID-19, just five days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who has said he will work to end the death penalty. Both Johnson and Higgs are Black, an indication of the disproportionate number of Black Americans sentenced to death.

All of the governments executions have taken place during the coronavirus pandemic and the killings appear to have caused COVID-19 outbreaks in and around the prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where federal death row is located. The outbreak endangers the people who live and work in the prison. It also puts the loved ones of those facing execution  and the families of their victims  in a difficult situation. To bear witness to the killing, they are required to risk contracting a disease that could kill them.

Johnson grew up in poverty in New York City. His mother struggled with drug addiction and his father was incarcerated for most of his childhood. He moved often; by the time he was 13, he had attended 10 different schools. He stayed in the second grade for three years and repeated grades three and four. At the age of 13, he couldnt recite all of the months in the year and struggled to write his own name. He would never progress much more academically: by his early 20s, he was no higher than second grade in reading and writing, his lawyers wrote in his clemency petition.

Because Johnson switched schools so frequently, his records didnt always follow him, making it difficult to diagnose his intellectual disability. And at the time that he grew up, Black students had been overly classified as mentally disabled, which meant teachers and health experts may have been hesitant to apply the label to Johnson, Daniel J. Reschly, an intellectual disability expert, wrote in an evaluation of Johnson.

At home, Johnson was surrounded by violence and instability. His mothers boyfriends were abusive  one was arrested after trying to set her apartment on fire. Johnsons mother partied in front of her children and spoke openly about not wanting them around. His aunt worried that he and his brother wouldnt have enough food to eat.

Johnson wet his bed until he was about 12 and would hide the soiled sheets from his mom to avoid her beatings. When she did find out about the accidents, she would refuse to wash the sheets and leave Johnson to sleep in the urine-soiled sheets, Johnsons lawyers wrote.

Johnsons mother also hit him and insulted his intelligence when he did poorly in school. After one beating with a high-heeled shoe, Johnsons godmother took him in for several months. When Johnson was 13, his mother surrendered him to social services and he was placed in a residential facility in upstate New York.

Corey presently fears his mother will abandon him, which exacerbates his negative self-image and low self-esteem, psychologist Ernest Adams said after evaluating Johnson. He feels a lack of nurturance, support, and feels the circumstances in his life are out of his control, which increases his anxiety and depression.

Richard Benedict, one of Johnsons special education teachers at the residential facility, described him as a likable kid who had so many concomitant disabilities that he really did not excel or do well at school. Johnson was self-conscious about being stupid, as he described it to Benedict, and was desperate to be liked. He had such a short attention span, according to Benedict, that when he left class to use the restroom, someone would accompany him so he wouldnt get lost or distracted on his way back.

He performed best in structure, Benedict said. I knew hed never make it on his own.

When he was 16, Johnson aged out of the facility and was moved into a group home with less structure. Odette Noble, a social worker who worked with Johnson at the time, described him in a 2011 affidavit as a very sweet kid who lacked the ability to understand the consequences that his actions could have.

In his quest to be liked, Johnson could be easily talked into doing what others wanted. In 1986, he helped a resident in the group home rob a paycheck from another teen. Noble thought Johnson may have been chosen as an accomplice because he was known to succumb to peer pressure, she wrote in her affidavit. Johnson spent 20 days at Rikers Island as punishment.

When he returned, he grew frustrated with his lack of progress in school and had trouble following the rules of the group home. Eventually, staff asked him to go home to his mothers for 10 days to improve his attitude. Some staff doubted whether Johnson was capable of understanding that he was supposed to return. He never came back.

By then, Johnson was 18 and had little family support or ability to get a job. He eventually joined a group of men he knew from Brooklyn who were selling drugs in New Jersey. He came to view them as his family. The guys in charge were aware of Johnsons limitations but appreciated that he would do what he was told.

Corey did not refuse to do something once asked, Darnell Brown, one of the groups leaders, said in a 2011 affidavit. Even if he did not seem to want to do something, he would do it.

After police raided a home used by the group and arrested several members, Johnson followed the remnants of the group to Richmond, Virginia. The group soon became involved in violent territorial disputes with other drug dealers.

Johnson was convicted of murdering seven people: rival drug dealers, a person who owed a drug debt to the group, a person who had a personal dispute with another member of the group, a person the group believed was a police informant, and bystanders. He was charged under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, which reinstated the federal death penalty in the modern era.

Federal law at the time prohibited the death sentence for people who were mentally retarded, a now-discredited term that was used at the time to describe a range of intellectual disabilities. But courts had little experience dealing with the matter. Johnsons case was the first federal capital trial of an individual with an intellectual disability, according to his lawyers.

It wasnt until 2002, nearly a decade after Johnsons trial, that the Supreme Court ruled executing someone with an intellectual disability violated constitutional prohibitions on cruel and unusual punishment. And it wasnt until 2017 that the Supreme Court ruled that modern medical standards needed to be applied in determining whether an individual has an intellectual disability.

Johnsons own court-appointed trial counsel relied on a psychologist with no expertise in intellectual disability to evaluate Johnsons competence to stand trial. The psychologist concluded that Johnson did not have an intellectual disability, a decision based in part on an interpretation of Johnsons IQ test that is now considered inaccurate.

As a result, Johnsons lawyers never asked the jury to consider whether he had an intellectual disability and was therefore ineligible for the death sentence.

Since then, several intellectual disability experts have evaluated Johnson and reviewed records from his childhood and concluded that he is intellectually disabled. But no court has allowed Johnson a hearing to present the extensive evidence of his disability.

The government is taking advantage of procedural barriers to press forward with the unconstitutional execution of Corey Johnson, a person whose intellectual disability cannot reasonably be disputed, Donald Salzman, one of Johnsons lawyers, said.

Up until the night of Johnsons execution, his lawyers continued to ask the courts for a chance to prove Johnsons intellectual disability, but they didnt get the chance.

People wonder how can this even still be happening almost 20 years after Atkins, Shira Wakschlag, the legal director at The Arc, said, referring to the 2002 Supreme Court prohibition on executing people with intellectual disabilities. And theres so many ways that it can still be happening. I mean, the procedural barriers are one massive issue, where if its not raised in a timely way or at the right time and certain appeals are exhausted, then it prevents you from even presenting that evidence once its located.

During his final days, Johnsons best chance at survival was the fact that he had contracted the coronavirus, a potentially deadly disease. Two days before he was killed, a federal judge stayed his execution until March, citing evidence that lung damage from COVID-19 would make his execution torturous. All Johnson really needed was to make it until Jan. 20, the date of the inauguration of a new president who is expected to immediately halt executions.

But the Trump administration fought to kill Johnson until the very end. Late Wednesday night, a split three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned the stay. Johnson appealed, but the Supreme Court decided Thursday night that the execution could proceed.

Related...

Trumps Cruel And Unusual Parting Gift: A Spree Of Federal Executions

This Is How Trumps Executions Are Spreading The Coronavirus

Despite Chaos And Calls To Resign, Trump Set To Oversee 3 Executions

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
The world has been fascinated with Princess Diana ever since she married Prince Charles in 1981. Even after she died from a car crash in 1997, royal followers everywhere continue to discuss her life and remember how she influenced the world.

However, there are still many things not everyone knows about Diana. For example, she reportedly often shopped compulsively and spent a lot of money on clothes.

Princess Diana | Tim Graham/Getty Images

Princess Diana was the most photographed women in the world

Diana was a topic of fascination for the press. After she joined the royal family, photographers followed her everywhere and documented her every move. This led her to eventually become the most photographed woman in the world.

Dianas fame allowed her to influence the world in ways most people could only dream of. As many royal followers are aware, she used her popularity to advocate for worthy causes. For example, she famously brought photographers with her as she closely interacted with HIV/AIDS patients as well as lupus patientspeople who faced a lot of stigma for their conditions. Diana helped to change public opinions about different illnesses.

Because Dianas photographs were circulating in many newspapers around the world, she became a fashion icon as well. As Grazia reported, Dianas bold, casual looks influenced a lot of peoples wardrobes at the time, and even royals today sometimes take cues from what she wore.

Princess Diana was a compulsive shopper and spent a lot of money on clothes

RELATED: Princess Diana Was Not Terribly Bright, But She Had Other Skills That Made Her Successful, Said Royal Expert

Diana often stepped out of the house in clothes that wowed people and turned heads. This might have been possible because of her shopping habits.

According to an article from Vanity Fair in 1985, Diana shopped a lot and spent 100,000 (over $400,000 today) on clothes for her royal tour of Italy.

She spends hours studying her press clippingsalmost as if shes trying to figure out for herself the secret of her mystique, the outlet wrote. She was furious when it was reported she spent 100,000 on her wardrobe for Italy. Like Jackie O before her, she shops compulsively to relieve the tension and is probably unaware, in the rush it gives her, of what it all costs. Where did you get your figures? she challenged one royal hack.

Other royal women have come under fire for their spending habits

RELATED: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Reportedly Living Like Princess Diana Did During Her Final Years

However, Diana would not be the last royal to be criticized for their spending habits.

In 2019, a year after she joined the royal family, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex came under fire for spending around $200,000 to $500,000 on clothes. She even spent $100,000 for clothes to wear on a short trip to Morocco. For comparison, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge spent short of $100,000 on clothes that whole year. However, it should be noted that Kate was pregnant for much of that year and did not make many appearances.

Other royals such as Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall have also been criticized for how much money they spend when traveling. The couple often flies on private jets and helicopters, and according to the Sovereign Grant Report, spent over $1 million on three royal trips from 2018 to 2019.
Right now we start our morning by noticing that lingerie companies are stepping up their game as V-Day approaches. Meanwhile, we offer an extend glimpse at the news scene with a glance at pop culture, community news and top headlines.



Take a look . . .



Kansas City Chill Advice

Kansas City security, mental health experts offer tips for people feeling stressed, unsafe Washington D.C. and states across the country are bracing for possible violence after the assault last week of the U.S. Capitol. Angry exchanges on social media sites are causing an increasing number of people to believe that their personal safety is in danger.

Give Us A Brake

Video shows truck spinning out of control strike car on KCK highway KANSAS CITY, Kan. - A winter storm is covering the metro in a layer of snow and ice, causing hazardous driving conditions. A crash, caused by dangerous roads, was caught on camera. SCOUT camera video showed a dark-colored sedan parked on the shoulder of northbound K-7 at State Avenue.

Kansas City Crafts COVID Survival Strategy

Local creative arts are getting creative Relying heavily on live performance and interactive experiences, our local arts community was unsure how they would stay afloat when the city went on lockdown in March. However, the pandemic has demonstrated the resilience and creativity of the arts in Kansas City. These organizations have not only adapted but are thriving with COVID safety precautions in place.

V-Day Panty Sneak Peek

Agent Provocateur's Valentine's Day Collection Is Pretty in Pink Luxury lingerie line Agent Provocateur has unveiled its Valentine's Day collection, a sumptuous range of bras, underwear and garter belts arriving in peachy pink, deep red and rich burgundy. A sensual campaign reveals daring styles from the new collection including the Je T'aime brief, featuring pom-pom tassels, and the Fabi thong, a barely-there G-string.

Prez Trump Postscript

Trump Is on the Verge of Losing Everything President Trump's second impeachment, like the other repudiations he has suffered, feels provisional. He is never quite banished. He is impeached, but Senate Republicans refuse to convict or even allow evidence into his trial. He loses the election, but won't concede, and may just run again.

Second Guessing Stimulus

Joe Biden's coronavirus rescue plan isn't bad. But it could be better. President-elect Joe Biden announced Thursday night his plan to combat the coronavirus pandemic and repair the economy. The proposal would cost $1.9 trillion - a giant package, more than twice the size of President Obama's Recovery Act.

American Bulletproof Fashion Statement Exposed

After a year of civil unrest, the U.S. is running low on body armor and gas masks Just days before a new president enters the White House, promising to unify a dangerously divided country, the state of the union can perhaps be judged by this metric: The U.S. is facing a shortage of bulletproof vests, gas masks and ballistic helmets.

Poetic Justice Debuts

Mattel unveils Maya Angelou Barbie doll ahead of Black History Month * GEEKSPIN The Black Barbie doll is holding a replica of the author's memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Mattel is paying tribute to the late Dr. Maya Angelou with a Barbie doll in her likeness.

America Pop Diva Shares New Songs En Espanol

You've Broken Selena's Sacred Heart for the Last Time in New 'De Una Vez' Video After a mural promoting upcoming music from Selena Gomez, teasing the titles "De Una Vez" and "Baila Conmigo," popped up in Mexico earlier this week, it was only a matter of time before fans got to hear Selena's much-anticipated Spanish-language tracks, and see the art that came with them.

Severing Ties For Playoffs

Chiefs players with Cleveland connections ready to face off against hometown Browns KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Whether they lived in Cleveland Heights, Glenville or Lorain, three Kansas City Chiefs players can all agree they once cheered for the Cleveland Browns. "Definitely I was a Browns family growing up," linebacker Anthony Hitchens said. "Where I'm from in Lorain, you really have no choice.

Kansas City Undefeated?!?

The Kansas City Chiefs might win everything and not lose anyone Every year, the NFL's less fortunate franchises (or those with self-inflicted wounds known as a toxic culture or poor leadership) are given the opportunity to wipe the slate clean, to start fresh, to import new leaders in order to re-position the team for a brighter future.

Saturday Chill Forecast

Saturday will be cold with partly sunny skies Hide Transcript Show Transcript I'VE ADDED THE VISIBILITY HERE. THEY'RE IMPROVING. WHAT'S LEFT OF THE SNOW FALLS APART BY LATER ON TONIGHT BUT THE CLOUDS ARE GOING TO HANG IF YOU HAVE FOR -- TOUGH. AS I MENTIONED, WE GO THROUGH THE 20'S AND THAT'S WHERE WE COULD SEE REFREEZING, ESPECIALLY AFTER 10:00, MIDNIGHT AND BEYOND.

Selena Gomez - De Una Vez is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now. Keep going after the jump for more local links . . .

Seed Money Tightened

Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank: Fewer new loans being given to farmers Fewer new loans to farmers continued to drive a pullback in agricultural lending activity. The Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank reported this week that stronger prices for agricultural commodities, alongside continued support from government payments, may have reduced financing needs for some farmers and contributed to the slower pace of lending.

Kansas City Connection Sought Amid Cold, Cold World

KC woman looking for family of man who died in cold A Kansas City woman is trying to find the family of a man found dead in the cold in a vacant building. It's been nearly two weeks since he died. The medical examiner's office identified him as Andre Holden, 67."Somebody is missing him.

KCK Politics Rebooted

KCK Mayor David Alvey files for re-election bid KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor David Alvey on Friday filed paperwork to run for a second term as the Unified Government's top executive. "It has been my honor to serve my community as Mayor/CEO for these past three years," Alvey said in a news release issued by his campaign.

Waiting For Kansas City Vaxx

How to get the COVID-19 vaccine and get tested, county by county in KC Courtesy of Unsplash Missouri and Kansas have begun their COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Rollout in Kansas is still in its initial stages, to be given to healthcare workers as well as residents and staff of long-term care facilities. The first phase in Kansas is expected to be completed by the end of January.

Suburban Response Ramped Up

Olathe Police Department launches crisis intervention team KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Olathe Police Department announced Friday it is adding a new Advanced Crisis Intervention Team (ACT). The program is a partnership between the department and the Johnson County Mental Health Center Co-Responder program. ACT will consist of one police sergeant and three police officers who are trained in crisis and mental health first aid from the department.

Northland Almost Reopens

Platte County amends health order allowing restaurants, bars remain open until 12 a.m. The Platte County Health Department's Board of Trustees adopted a new public health order Friday, allowing restaurants, taverns, and other food and drink venues to remain open until 12 a.m.The order is a change from the previous Platte County Order, which required such venues to close at 10 p.m.

Selling Urban Vaxx

Black Health Care Coalition educates community on COVID-19 vaccine KANSAS CITY, Mo. - As the vaccine rollout continues in both Kansas and Missouri, there's a nonprofit group called Black Health Care Coalition working to inform Black communities on the facts of getting the COVID-19 vaccine. The organization has been around for over 30 years, but it now has a new mission, which is to educate and calm any fears regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.

Rock Chalk Cash Out

Former KU Med Center Administrator Charged With Embezzlement A former administrator at the University of Kansas Medical Center faces criminal charges that he embezzled more than $500,000 from KU. A charging document filed this week in federal court accuses Michael Ahlers of diverting the money from the KUMC Credit Union between 2009 and 2015.

Kansas Desperately Seeking More COVID Money

Kansas plans to renew federal extended unemployment benefits in days or weeks TOPEKA, Kan. - The Kansas Department of Labor announced Friday it will start doling out money Congress passed late last year to extend unemployment assistance. But they didn't provide an exact time frame for people who have been waiting and watching the federal money get distributed in other states.

Building Super Bowl Repeat

Chiefs 'Run it Back' tour storms into Kansas City's Legoland KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A metro attraction put a new spin on the Kansas City Chief's 'Run it Back' Tour. Marcel Karczewski is a master model builder at Kansas City's Legoland Discovery Center. He also built some of the new Chiefs-themed creations on display. "It's pretty special.

Fans Playoff Each Other

Chiefs Kingdom, meet The Dawg Pound KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Orange and brown colors were on full display at KCI. For the first time in 18 years, Cleveland Browns fans are excited to finally be able to sport them during playoff time, as the Dawg Pound fans have officially arrived in Kansas City.

Savor Old School Recipe

Memories of Restaurants Past During Restaurant Week in Kansas City we celebrate great food from great restaurants at reasonable prices. Kansas City has a reputation for fine dining that includes more than bar-b-que, but as demographics change and consumer tastes evolve, restaurants come and go. Many of our favorites are gone but not forgotten.

Developing . . .
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(CNN)  In the wake of a mini-rebellion among US House Republicans  10 of whom sided with Democrats to impeach Donald Trump this week  there are some signs that the death grip that the President has maintained over the GOP may be slipping.

Just 6 in 10 Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing in a new Pew Research Center poll released Friday, a major dip from the 77% who felt the same way back in August.

In fact, Trump's overall decline in job approval -- down to just 29% -- is primarily attributable to his stumbles among his party's base.

There's other evidence in the Pew poll that suggests Trump's incitement of the crowd gathered at a January 6 "Stop the Steal" rally  and the overrunning of the US Capitol that followed  has, at least temporarily, led previously loyal Republicans to peel away from the President.

For example, only 10% of Republicans in a November Pew poll said Trump's post-election conduct was "poor;" that number doubled to 20% in the most recent Pew survey.

One more: Less than 6 in 10  57%  of Republicans say Trump "should continue to be a major political figure for years to come."

Now, note that I didn't say above that Trump has lost his grip on the Republican Party. Because he has not.

In that same Pew poll, two-thirds of Republicans (64%) said Trump either "definitely" or "probably" won the 2020 election. (He did not.) And less than 1 in 5 (18%) of Republicans said Trump deserves "a lot" of blame for what happened in the US Capitol on January 6.

And as The Bulwark's Jonathan V. Last noted on Thursday:

"Donald Trump owns this party because he owns its voters. What guys like [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell and [House Minority Leader Kevin] McCarthy don't understand is that to the extent that they have any power, they serve at the pleasure of the man who commands their mob. Sorry, I mean 'their voters.'

"Never forget that in the modern world: Popular Power > Elite Power"

I agree with Last in the main. There's no question that whoever controls the party's base controls the party. And that Trump is more that person than anyone else currently on the scene -- by a lot.

The only thing I would suggest is that there are some signs of slippage. It's uniquely possible that these Republicans who have hopped off the Trump bandwagon will jump right back on once Joe Biden is president and the events of January 6 are in the rearview mirror.

It's also possible that until Republicans find someone new, they will continue to linger in their feelings for Trump -- like a relationship that's gone bad but neither person has moved on because they haven't met someone new they like.

In short: Trump isn't going away. But his influence may be waning just slightly.

This story was first published on CNN.com Is Donald Trump's grip on the GOP slipping?
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Winbak Farm is proud to announce the arrival of its first 2021 foal. The colt is sired by The Bank and out of the mare Clover Market.

He arrived at 7:00 a.m. on Friday, January 15. He was born at Winbak Farm of Maryland in Chesapeake City, Maryland.

The colt is doing great and is very handsome, said Garrett Bell, General Manager. We have been highly anticipating the arrival of foals from The Bank.

This is the second foal from Clover Market. She is a daughter of Broad Bahn out of Victors Vicky, 1:55f ($712,342).

The Bank, 2, 1:53.4; 3, 1:50.4 ($1,214,895), stood in Sweden before moving to Ontario in 2020. He is currently ranked sixth for three-year-old trotters in Sweden against tough trotting competition like Bold Eagle and Muscle Hill.

We look forward to seeing the rest of The Banks first North American crop, said Bell. With his pedigree of international champions, we have high expectations for the racing careers of his offspring.

The Bank stands at Winbak Farm of Ontario for $5,000 CAD.

Winbak Farm encourages foal fans to follow the farm on Facebook. Most of the foals born will be posted on the Winbak Farm Facebook Page and fans will be able to submit name ideas. Winbak Farm has previously used many names submitted by Facebook followers with the belief that it encourages interest in the sport when people can follow horses that they named.

(Winbak)
The Priest, the upcoming Mammootty-Manju Warrier starrer has recently garnered attention with its promising teaser. The highly anticipated movie, which features Mammootty in the titular role, has now reportedly got a release date. As per the latest updates, The Priest has been slated to hit the theatres on February 4, 2021.

As per the latest updates, the post-production works of the Mammootty-Manju Warrier starrer is nearing the final stage. The makers are reportedly planning to wrap up the pending works in another week. In that case, The Priest will be ready for a grand release by the first week of February 2021.

In that case, the Mammootty starrer will hit the theatres as the second release from the Malayalam film industry, after the theatres reopened. The team members of The Priest are already busy with placing hoardings and banners of the movie in all major cities of Kerala, hinting that the project is getting ready for a release. An official announcement on The Priest release date is expected to be made very soon.

The Priest, which is said to be a mystery thriller, is directed by newcomer Jofin T Chacko. The movie marks Mammootty's first-ever onscreen collaboration with Manju Warrier. However, Manju is not appearing as the female lead opposite the megastar in the movie, as his character doesn't have a romantic track in the film. Instead, the talented actress is playing a pivotal character.

Nikhila Vimal, Saniya Iyappan, and Kaithi fame child artist Baby Monica essay the other pivotal roles. Jagadeesh, Ramesh Pisharody, Madhupal, Dinesh Panicker, Sivadas Kannur, Naseer Sankranthi, Tony Luke, Ameya Mathew, and so on essay the supporting roles. The Priest, which is scripted by Shyam Menon and Deepu Pradeep, is jointly produced by filmmaker B Unnikrishnan and Anto Joseph.

Also Read:

Mohanlal's Drishyam 2 Gets A Release Date? Here Is What We Know

The Priest Official Teaser: Mammootty Stuns In New Avatar!
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy watch the vaccination system at the New Government General hospital premises in Vijayawada on Saturday. (DC Image)

Vijayawada: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched the Covid-19 vaccination programme at government general hospital in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.

The first dose of Covid-19 vaccine was administered to the safai karmacharini identified as B. Pushpa Kumari followed by a female nurse identified as Ch. Naga Jyothi in the presence of the Chief Minister.

Health principal secretary Anil Kumar Singhal and commissioner for health and family welfare K. Bhaskar explained about the vaccination programme being taken up all over the AP beginning from Jan 16 to 20.

The State health authorities have set up 332 session sites at primary health centers, community health centres, area hospitals, district hospitals, teaching hospitals and also at electronic urban health centres to administer vaccine to nearly 3.87 healthcare workers in phase-1. At each session site, 100 beneficiaries will be administered the vaccine per day from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm.

Based on preliminary reports, all the identified beneficiaries who registered for administration of vaccine on Co-WIN app are turning up at the session sites to undergo vaccination.

The State health authorities are initially administering the Covishield vaccine as AP received 4.77 lakh doses and once a beneficiary is administered Covishield vaccine he or she is supposed to be given the vaccine made by the same company after a gap of 28 days. Moreover, as AP received only 20,000 doses of Covaxin so far, the State health authorites have not yet started administering it until they receive another consignment of doses of such vaccine.

The State health authorities maintain that so far no reports of any side-effects of the vaccine manifested among those who got the first dose of the vaccine in the State.
An anti-masker in leopard-print was captured on video making bizarre claims after she was arrested in Florida for COVID-19 violations.

Cindy Falco-DiCorrado, an ardent Trump supporter, was in an Einstein Bros Bagels joint in West Boca, Palm Beach County, on Thursday when staff asked her to put on a mask or leave, in compliance with local pandemic safety laws.

The 61-year-old from Boynton Beach, wearing head-to-toe animal print, claimed it was her constitutional right not to wear a mask.

After police back-up was called, Falco-DiCorrado was captured on video being taken out the shop as she screamed that police were violating her 'personhood'.

She also accused a black sheriff of kidnapping her and stealing her purse.

The woman then began to pray, before being put into handcuffs over the bonnet of a police vehicle, screaming 'I can't breathe', the words used in the Black Lives Matter movement to raise awareness of police brutality against black citizens.

Falco-DiCorrado was later charged with trespassing and resisting arrest without violence.

The video was posted on an Instagram page called 'Crazy Karens'.

Cindy Falco-DiCorrado, 61, pictured on Facebook, was captured on video being arrested by police for refusing to wear a bask in an Einstein Bros. bagel shop in West Boca, Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday

The 61-year-old from Boynton Beach accuses the black sheriff of trying to kidnap her and steal her purse

Dressed in head to toe animal print the anti-masker repeatedly screams that she has done nothing illegal by refusing to wear a mask; a violation of a legal mandate requiring citizens to wear them in public areas as a result of the pandemic

A second officer then arrives and the pair walk Falco-DiCorrado out of the shop

Outside the video continues and shoes the woman being bent over a police vehicle and being handcuffed

Falco-DiCorrado repeatedly screams that she has done 'nothing illegal' as well as saying 'I can't breathe', the words used as a rallying cry in the Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality

She later says she had 'no idea' she could be arrested, despite having been arrested for a similar offence back in May last year

During the video, which is being filmed by an associate of Falco Di-Corrado, the woman says to the black sheriff: 'Get your hands off of me. You are kidnapping me. You don't have the right, sir. I have done nothing wrong and I am not a criminal.'

She adds: 'You get this?', looking to the camera, 'I'm asking him to take his hand off of me'.

Throughout the exchange officer refers to her as 'ma'am' and asks her to leave the shop quietly.

Insisting that it is a violation of her 'personhood' DiCorrado then tells the officer that she is invoking her first amendment right.

She says: 'Look at this. He has no right to kidnap me. This is because the police department are ignorant of the constitutional rights. This is why this man has his hand on me and is on my personhood. I have the right to protect my personhood'.

As the cop holds on to the strap of DiCorrado' bag hanging on her arm, she shouts: 'Hey don't steal my purse. Stop stealing my purse.'

She was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest without violence

A spokesman for Einstein Bros Bagels said that the safety of their employees and customers was their top priority

A second officer arrives and she is escorted, from the building, before being handcuffed over a police vehicle, screaming 'I can't breathe' and 'I have done nothing illegal'.

A mandate is currently in place requiring citizens to wear masks in public places, as a result of the global pandemic.

It has been fiercely resisted by residents in Palm Beach with one man pulling a gun on a Walmart employee for asking that he wear one.

But in July, a South Florida Circuit judge upheld the right of Palm Beach County to enforce the mandate.

Judge John Kastrenakes said: 'We do not have a constitutional right to infect others', as reported by The Sun Sentinel.

Cindy Falco-DiCorrado, 61, pictured on Facebook, has a history as an anti-masker and has been accused of making racist comments in the past

Falco-DiCorrado was captured on another video, from May last year, also refusing to wear a mask and being arrested by police

In 2017 she resigned as a Boynton Beach volunteer board member after being accused of being a white supremacist and racist, after allegedly using racial slurs

Tom Johnson, spokesman for Einstein Bros. Bagels, told The Sun Sentinel, that the health and safety of employees and customers was their top priority.

'Our locations are marked with clearly posted signs requiring customers to wear masks while in our bakeries,'Johnson said.

'Customers that are unable to do [that] are able to order their food ahead using our app or delivery through Doordash.'

After spending the night in jail Falco-DiCorrado told The Sun Sentinel: 'It was an unbelievable horrific experience' and that she had 'no idea' she could be arrested.

In fact, Falco-DiCorrado has a history of mask violations and accusations of racism.

In May last year she was videoed being arrested for protesting against mask laws and was seen being put into handcuffs as she screamed on the grass outside a Sunshine Mart.

In 2017, she resigned as a volunteer for the Boynton Beach Board after a resident accused her of being a 'white supremacist' following remarks made in a meeting over whether to designate Boynton Beach a sanctuary city.

Falco-DiCorrado allegedly told black residents: 'You're lucky we brought you over as slaves, or else you'd be deported too.'

She later said her comments were taken 'out of context' but resigned from her position.

In this week's Rewind, Robert Smith recalls a few of the details of an award's night banquet held 35 years ago in Kingston back in 1986. Gatherings such as this one have been held for many years to honour numerous individuals involved with racing at a certain track and usually associated with the local Turf Club. They weren't quite an equal to the modern day O'Brien Awards nights but they were still special. Additionally a few older pictures taken at the Kingston track are displayed and will serve as this week's "mystery" photos.

February 1986 - Kingston Park Honours Best of 1985

A large gathering of horsemen, Track officials and fans assembled recently to honour Kingston Park's top performers from the 1985 season. It was an evening of fun, good food and fellowship and a time to recognize those who put on the show at the local oval. Those individuals involved with making the trophy presentations were: Murray Gorham, Sec.- Treasurer; Fred Gibson, Pres.; Doug Graham, Sportswriter for the Kingston Whig Standard; Bruce Huntbach, Mark MacDonald, and Creighton Carr. I am sure there were many more who contributed to the success of the evening.

The 1985 season at Kingston Park was a good one both for fans and the horse people who put on the show. The track experienced the first ever $100,000 handle in its history. At this time the smaller tracks such as Kingston Park served a vital role in Canadian harness racing, in particular for the Province of Ontario. A number of accomplished horsepeople received their early lessons at this track and went on to successful careers further afield. A couple, namely Ted Huntbach and Kevin Sizer are among those featured in today's photographs as well as Mark Steacy, Daniel Murphy and countless more.

Among those honoured were the following shown by category:

Top Dash Winner - Ted Huntbach

Top Trainer - Ted Huntbach

Best Trotter - Kawartha Rhapsody, accepted by Louis Staley

Top Percentage Driver - Chris Storms

Horse of the Year - Classic Work, accepted by owners Dave Reid & Dave Sheppard

Groom of the Year - Mike "Cap" Adams

Most Popular Horse on the Grounds - Albin Hanover, accepted by trainer Kevin Sizer

Green Horse developed by a Local Trainer - Let Them Eat Cake, accepted by Ted Huntbach and Dick Trotter

Horseman of the Year - Sam Mullholland

Claimer of the Year - Baron Byng, accepted by Sam Mulholland

Shown below are a few pictures of presentations of awards that were made at the 1986 Kingston Awards Night for the 1985 season. All presentation photos courtesy of The Standardbred magazine.



Doug Graham presents Horse Of The Year trophy to Dave Reid and Dave Sheppard for the efforts of Classic Work Doug Graham presents Horse Of The Year trophy to Dave Reid and Dave Sheppard for the efforts of Classic Work



Murray Gorham (left) presents a trophy to Ted Huntbach for being Top Trainer as well as top dash winer during the 1985 season at Kingston Murray Gorham (left) presents a trophy to Ted Huntbach for being Top Trainer as well as top dash winer during the 1985 season at Kingston



Creighton Carr (left) presents the trophy to Louis Staley for Kawartha Rhapsody recognized as track's finest trotter Creighton Carr (left) presents the trophy to Louis Staley for Kawartha Rhapsody recognized as track's finest trotter



Kingston's President Fred Gibson (left) presents Chris Storms with the top percentage driver award Kingston's President Fred Gibson (left) presents Chris Storms with the top percentage driver award



Kevin Sizer (left) accepts the award given to Albin Hanover named Most Popular Horse at the Kingston oval. The presenter is Mark MacDonald Kevin Sizer (left) accepts the award given to Albin Hanover named Most Popular Horse at the Kingston oval. The presenter is Mark MacDonald



Sam Mulholland (on the right) was honoured as Kingston Park Raceway's Horseman of the Year as Doug Graham presented the trophy. Claimer of the Year honours earned by Baron Byng was also received by Sam. Sam Mulholland (on the right) was honoured as Kingston Park Raceway's Horseman of the Year as Doug Graham presented the trophy. Claimer of the Year honours earned by Baron Byng was also received by Sam.

Quote For The Week: "No rich man is ever ugly." Words from the oft-quoted Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Who Is It?

#1 - Can you identify this popular driver from yesteryear at Kingston?

#2 - Who is the driver shown above from Kingston October 1971?

#3 - Who is this long-time horseman in the sulky seat who won a lot of races at Kingston and many other tracks as well?

Can you identify the drivers in the three old photos shown above. All were taken at Kingston in the 1970's. If anyone wishes to add anything in the way of personal recollections from this once very popular track please do so.

Can you identify any of the drivers in the photo shown above taken at the finish of a race at Kingston? I do not have any names.
100,000 funding has been awarded for the development of a maritime walking trail linking Courtown and Riverchapel

Courtown Community Council (CCC) is excited to have received notification of a successful Town & Village Renewal Scheme Application, meaning a 100,000 injection of funds into the community this year.

Money been granted under the scheme for enhancements to the existing footpath linking Riverchapel and Courtown with the addition of outdoor seating and picnic areas.

Linda Sinnott of CCC said: 'I think 2021 is going to be a pivotal year for Courtown to help Courtown reinvent itself and give it a new identity because it has been left behind. It's exciting.'

A 2km maritime walking trail linking Riverchapel with Courtown with picnic areas will be developed this year she said. Blue timbre seating will be erected at rest areas, including near a Local Link bus stop.

The walkway will be from Riverchapel along Church Road into Courtown, where the council owns a green space near Jimmy's Bar.

Ms Sinnott said: 'It's for additional improvements to make the walk much more user friendly for elderly and vulnerable people. It will make it a more pleasurable walk to the harbour. The bulk of the population live in Riverchapel now so the walk will culminate in an enhanced area at the seafront. This year they have the money to do an enhancement project starting in spring from previous Town & Village Renewal monies.

There wasn't enough [money] to complete the entire job then so this funding will help finish it off.'

CCC have been working with the council in securing funding to do enhancement works along the seafront to the ship and to the seated area.

'We have been working with Rory O'Mahony from Wexford Walking Trails on a coastal walk to Kiltennel Beach which is about 2kms long., The walk from Riverchapel to Courtown is just over 2kms as well. It's along the existing road and not the cliff walk as some people thought. That improvement was desperately needed.'

Ms Sinnott said an ambitious plan by a local businesses to build a hotel in Courtown is another exciting prospect in the pipeline for Courtown.

'Covid-19 has resulted in a rise in people exploring their locality on-foot, and we are pleased to know that additional infrastructure will be put in place to support people of all ages and abilities, to enjoy leisure in this area. Riverchapel has seen a boom in population in recent years and we recognise the importance of interconnectivity between all our outdoor amenities in the area.'

CCC collected supporting letters from thirteen local organisations that represent a vast array of interests in their area for the application.

'We are very grateful to Wexford County Council for their ongoing support of our efforts in the area. The enhancement to the walkway between Riverchapel and Courtown will allow more people tourist the magnificent coastal area and explore the rich proposed Natural Heritage Area (pNHA) around Courtown Woods.'

'Recent work re-opening the historic Courtown to Kiltennel section of the Sli Charman rehabilitation walkway has been highly successful, with members of the public enjoying the additional accessibility to walking trials. The woodland trail travels through several kilometres of mixed woodland bordered by the Ounavarra River and Courtown/Kiltennel Beach. It is great to know that people will now be able to walk all the way from the centre of Riverchapel, through Courtown Harbour and the pNHA and pass through the woods or beach all the way down to Kiltennel Point.'

Courtown has been a buzz of activity over recent months, with the derelict Bayview Hotel being demolished opening up the town to new growth opportunities.'

CCC thanked Wexford County Council for its support with this project and the Department of Rural and Community Development for their investment of 15.4 million in funding for projects across Ireland in this years Town and Village Renewal Scheme.

* Full coverage of the projects granted funding in the January 12 edition of The Gorey Guardian
Photo: Colin Dacre

B.C.s tourism sector fears a major setback if the provincial government is able to somehow keep leisure travellers from crossing B.C.s border with Alberta in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19  a move that Premier John Horgan said yesterday that he was looking into.

We think it would be disastrous, Tourism Industry Association of BC CEO Walt Judas told BIV. It clearly would send the wrong message to visitors that they're not welcome here.

Most British Columbians, however, are likely to cheer the government telling non-British Columbians travelling for non-essential reasons to stay home  even those from neighbouring Alberta.

A Research Co. poll in November found 87% of British Columbians were in favour of having travel restrictions across B.C.-Alberta border. Thats more than the 82% of Canadians who supported restrictions on crossing provincial borders across the country.

That proportion of British Columbians supporting border restrictions with Alberta is almost as high as the 89% of British Columbians in November who said they wanted to keep the ban on non-essential travel across the Canada-U.S. border, according to Research Co. data.

The numbers are huge, Research Co. president Mario Canseco told BIV. I dont think that its an issue that would lead to people being upset with the government.

Horgan on January 14 sounded tired of being asked about whether his government would try to enact any restrictions at the Alberta border.

People have been talking about it for months and months, as you know, and I think it's time we put it to bed, finally, and say either we can do it, and this is how we would do it, or we can't [do it] and this is the reason why, Horgan said. Thats the objective over the next couple of days.

The Canadian Constitution guarantees residents freedom of movement in its Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but notes that this right is subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.

The legal debate would centre on whether protecting the health of Canadians during a pandemic is a reasonable limit on freedom that a government could put into law.

Regardless of how courts might interpret attempts at interprovincial travel restrictions, the initiatives are wrong-headed, Judas said.

He stressed that tourism-sector operators are acutely concerned about health and safety protocols, and have gone above and beyond the call, to limit the spread of the virus that has spawned a global pandemic.

We don't think that targeting visitors is the solution, he said.

We haven't seen any data that would suggest that visitors are a big part of the problem in transmission rates. We can't be targeting visitors or people by where they live. It's really about individuals behaviour, which leads to increases in transmission rates.

One large community outbreak in the Okanagan stemmed from groups of people  including some from out of the province  gathering at multiple parties during the Canada Day weekend. Another Okanagan outbreak, in December, involved more than 100 cases, and stemmed from staff and others at Big White socializing in close proximity.

Aside from outbreaks that involved non-essential socializing, many COVID-19 outbreaks have taken place at work camps that involved Albertans working in B.C., or British Columbians working in Alberta. Horgan is not at this point considering banning that kind of travel.

The tourism sector has been hit hard, however, and it is a significant part of B.C.s economy. Visitors not only contribute to the provinces hotel sector, which generated about $3.2 billion annually pre-pandemic, but also the restaurant industry, which generated about $15 billion annually pre-pandemic, according to industry association statistics.

The border between B.C. and Alberta also has many roads, meaning that a ban on leisure travel could be challenging and expensive to enforce.

A better use of resources, Judas said, could be to start to allow non-essential travel across the Canada-U.S. border and put in place a program that screens those who cross it by land for COVID-19. That border has been closed to leisure travellers since March, despite leisure travellers from around the globe being free to enter Canada, and B.C., by air.
People suffering from a rare red meat allergy finally rejoiced as they might finally get the chance to eat pork products without worrying about allergic attacks soon.

Last December 14, 2020, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) finally approved the first GE (Genetically Engineered) pig safe for human consumption. The approval serves as a greenlight for producers to mass-produce the GE pigs.

Known as GalSafe pigs, these pigs do not have the alpha-gal sugars in their system. Alpha-gal is a sugar molecule found in most mammals, including pigs. These sugars can trigger mild to a severe allergic reaction called the AGS (Alpha-Gal Syndrome).

When pork products made from GalSafe pigs are mass-produced, the recorded 34,000 people with AGS in the US can finally eat pork.

Many GE animals are being developed for various reasons, like making them hypoallergenic, looking for ways to reproduce them faster, or engineering their physical characteristics like their internal body fats to make them healthier or tastier.

However, many of those still remained unapproved by the FDA despite years worth of proposals from different breeders or genetic engineers. As a matter of fact, the GalSafe pig is the only animal approved by the administration in the last six years.

The slow process mixed with the assumption that the FDA seemingly put the GE animals' approval in their low priority cases prompted the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) 's proposal to take over the approval procedures.

Naturally, the FDA was not really enthusiastic about this idea.

Related Article: Your Organic Meat Isn't Helping Environment; Here's Why

Genetic Engineering

GE animals and plants are called GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). These are organisms whose genomes have been altered for various practical and aesthetic purposes.

FDA vs USDA

Since 2019, the US hog industry has been bidding for the USDA, not the FDA, to regulate approving GE animals. They argued that the FDA is moving too slowly and that holds the agriculture sector back from improving.

Since 2015, the FDA only approved 2 GE animals while the USDA has approved dozens of GE plant variants in a similar timeframe.

USDA's Case

For a long time, animal biotechnology and genetic engineering have been under the FDA's jurisdiction, while the same processes for crops and other plants are under the USDA.

Ever since they started overseeing them, the FDA has been regulating such projects the same way they have been handling drug regulations. A move highly criticized by genetic engineers and biotech scientists even claimed that it does not make a lot of scientific sense.

"I think this is a step in the right direction; I don't think that the approach of regulating them as animal drugs ever made a lot of scientific sense," Alison Van Eenennaam, Cooperative Extension Specialist in Animal Genomics and Biotechnology at UC Davis, said. "I'm supportive of USDA taking over the regulation of food animals that have been modified for agricultural purposes. What I don't understand is why there's a different approach for plants than for animals," she added.

Despite the turnover making a lot more sense, scientifically, not everyone is on board.

FDA's major gripe with USDA's regulation is that, in handling GE plants, developers have been allowing developers the power to self-determine whether their products qualify for exemptions from regulation, which will result in regulators and the public having no idea what genetically engineered products are on the market.

The current proposal would include the development and approval of other livestock like cattle, sheep, hog, horses, fishes, and fowls are under the USDA's control.

Up until today, the debate still continues on who should oversee GE animal approvals.

ALSO READ: EU: Mealworms Now Safe for Human Consumption

For more news updates about livestock and the agriculture industry, don't forget to follow Nature World News!

Hyderabad, Jan 16 : After leading the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic for nearly a year, healthcare workers were once again on the front this time to take vaccine and allay apprehension about its safety and efficacy.

Healthcare workers of public health facilities in Telangana took the first shot on Saturday not just to get protection for themselves but also to send out a message to their colleagues and other frontline workers.

Despite doubts being expressed over the safety of vaccine and apprehensions over the adverse reactions it may trigger, they came forward to take the first shot.

Majority of over 3,600 beneficiaries on the first day were sanitation workers, security personnel at various government hospitals and healthcare workers at primary health centres in urban and rural areas.

Sanitation worker S. Kishtamma, who was administered the first shot at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, was apprehensive as she was enrolled as the first beneficiary but the hospital superintendent reassured her.

"My children advised me not to take the vaccine on the first day and wait for few days. Even my colleagues in the hospital had apprehensions about the vaccine," said Kishtamma.

The beneficiary said Hospital Superintendent Dr Raja Rao encouraged her to take the first shot. He assured her that there is nothing to worry as the vaccine is totally safe. "This gave me confidence and I decided to take the first vaccine so that others also get the courage to come forward," said Kishtamma.

The hospital employee said she had no health complaint after taking the vaccine. The hospital superintendent had assured her that hospital will take all the responsibility in case of any problem.

"I urge all my colleagues and staff in other hospitals to come forward and take the vaccine as it is totally safe," she said.

Kishtamma was administered the first dose after state Health Minister Eatala Rajender launched the vaccinaton programme in presence of union minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy and Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar.

K. Jayamma, an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM), received the first vaccine shot at Rural Health Centre at Narsingi on Hyderabad outskirts. She came forward to take the vaccine as she wanted to allay apprehensions among people about the vaccine.

"I wanted to show that this vaccine is totally safe. My family members also encouraged me," said Jayamma.

Senior officials also came forward to take the vaccine to send a message to all their colleagues in the health department.

Director of medical education Ramesh Reddy took the vaccine at Osmania Hospital.

"This gave me a sense of confidence and I urge all to come forward to take the vaccine which is not only totally safe but will give us protection by developing antibodies," he said.

Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) Director Shankar, Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) Director Vimala Thomas, Osmania General Hospital Director Nagender and Government Chest Hospital Director Mahaboob were among the top officials who took the vaccine jabs on the first day.
NEW DELHI: Campaigns like taali-thali and the lighting of diyas kept the morale of the country high during the initial days of the covid-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while launching the vaccination drive on Saturday.

Modi stressed on the importance of Dawaai bhi, kadai bhi" (yes to vaccine, yes to caution), warning that any laxity in adopting covid-19 appropriate behaviour may derail efforts to keep the pandemic in check.

Recalling the initial days of the crisis in his 30-minute speech, Modi said that two weeks before the first covid case in the country was detected on 30 January 2020, India had formed a high-level committee.

India had started proper surveillance exactly one year ago from today. On 17 January 2020, India issued its first advisory and India was among the first nations to start screening of passengers at airports," he said.

The prime minister said that India passed the test of discipline and patience during the Janata Curfew, adding that it (Janata Curfew) prepared the country psychologically for the lockdown that followed.

The morale of the country was kept high with campaigns like taali-thali and the lighting of diyas," he said.

The prime minister also talked about the evacuation of Indians stuck abroad. At a time when many countries had left their citizens stranded in China, India evacuated not only Indians but also citizens of other countries," he said.

The prime minister said that Indias response to the crisis has been acknowledged globally. It was a fine example of the integrated and unified response from the Centre, states, local governments and social bodies who performed efficiently in unison, Modi said.

Indias total active caseload as on Saturday was 211,033, which accounts for 2% of the total positive cases.

Around 80.81% of the new cases are from 8 states and Union territories (UTs). Kerala continues to report the highest daily new cases at 5,624. It is followed by Maharashtra with 3,145, while West Bengal reported 708 new cases.

As many as 175 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Six states/UTs account for 69.14% of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (45). Kerala and West Bengal follow with 23 and 16 daily deaths, respectively.

The total tally of covid-19 cases reached 1,05,43,800 with 15,207 fresh covid-19 cases and the toll touched 153,330 as on Saturday.

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NASA on January 15 shared a spellbinding photograph of the cosmos barred spiral galaxy, a spiral galaxy known for its central bar-shaped structure which is composed of a myriad of stars. Taking to its official Instagram handle, the space agency wrote, At a distance of 67 million light-years away, NGC 613 is a stunning example of a barred spiral galaxy. Its easy to distinguish the galaxy as such because of its well-defined central bar and long arms, which spiral loosely around the nucleus.

According to NASA, NGC 613 galaxy was first discovered in 1798 by German-English astronomer William Herschel. The galaxy was observed by amateur astronomer Victor Buso while he was testing a new camera on a telescope in 2016. A curious spot of light caught his eye which was originating out of a supernova in the southern constellation of Sculptor 67 million light-years away with two stellar nuclei that were emitted apart by a stream of dust. Later observed by NASA and ESA Hubble Space Telescope, NGC 613 was dubbed as barred galaxy by the astronomers owing to its well-defined central bar and long arms that radiated out of the nucleus.

Read: NASA Shares Breathtaking View Of Fireworks Galaxy Located 25.2 Million Light-years Away

Read: NASA Shares 'captivating' Aerial Imagery Of Illuminated US City From 263 Miles Above Earth

[Barred spiral galaxy NGC 613 was obtained with the FORS1 and FORS2 multi-mode instruments. Credit: ESO]

Evolves into elliptical galaxy

As revealed by surveys, about two-thirds of spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way galaxy, contain a bar, NASA explained in a release. The arms of the barred spiral galaxy influence the motions of stars, dust, and gas. Galaxys peanut-shaped bars pull the galactic material used for the star formation into the nucleic disk, resulting in a lightning burst. Barred spiral galaxy would eventually evolve into an elliptical galaxy, according to the school observatory. The cosmos lovers were rendered awestruck by the unique structure of the barred spiral galaxy with a stunning ribbon of stars and gas. Theres gotta be life out there in such a vast universe, one wrote. Do we know why some galaxies get in that shape actually? Another asked. Theres probably a galactic civil war happening somewhere in there, the third joked.

Read: NASA To Lift Off 'most Powerful' Space Launch System (SLS) Rocket On January 17

Read: NASA's New Telescope Will Unlock Big Bang Clues And Other Space Mysteries

January 16, Ukraine marks the Day of Remembrance of Donetsk Airport Defenders.

The remembrance day was established on the initiative of Ukrainian soldiers who defended the Donetsk International Airport from Russian-led forces for 242 days.

The Donetsk airport defenders were called "cyborgs" for their resilience and persistence. They became a symbol of courage and devotion to the ideals of free and independent Ukraine.

The battle for the airport lasted from May 26, 2014 to January 22, 2015 and ended after the old and the new airport terminals had been destroyed completely. For 242 days, the Ukrainian military, volunteer fighters, medical workers, and volunteers resisted the onslaught of Russian occupation forces and pro-Russian militants, fiercely defending a small piece of Ukrainian land.

Fighting for the Donetsk airport began on May 26, 2014, when pro-Russian separatists and Chechen militants seized the airport building in then-peaceful Donetsk. On the same day, Ukrainian security forces, thanks to the coordinated actions of the Ukrainian Air Force and highly mobile airborne troops, hit terrorist positions and established control over the Donetsk airport.

Afterwards, the situation in the city of Donetsk destabilized completely, the occupation began and the enemy made endless attempts to take control of the airport, but Ukrainian soldiers did not surrender their positions and held the line even being under heavy fire.

January 2015 saw the bloodiest and fiercest battles. On January 13, as a result of constant massive tank and artillery attacks by militants, the control tower collapsed. Its image became a symbol of the airport defense.

Then the fighting took place on the floors of the new terminal. On January 18-20, the Ukrainian military held the ground floor, and the basement and upper floors were controlled by the enemy. The militants used the truce to evacuate their dead and wounded, mined the ceiling of the building and blasted it. Those days, 58 "cyborgs" were killed in the blast. In total, according to official data, about 100 servicemen were killed while defending the Donetsk airport.

Special forces of the 3rd separate regiment, fighters of the 79th, 80th, 81st, 95th separate airmobile and the 93d separate mechanized brigades, the 57th separate mechanized infantry brigade, the 90th separate airborne and the 74th separate reconnaissance battalions, fighters of the Dnipro-1 regiment, the Volunteer Ukrainian Corps and others were fighting in the Donetsk International Airport and the neighboring village of Pisky in Donetsk region.

On January 20, 2015, pro-Russian militants, without ceasing to storm, blasted a new terminal of the Donetsk airport, ultimately turning one of the country's largest airports into ruins. After that, the military leadership decided to withdraw the Ukrainian fighters. On January 22, the last surviving defenders left the destroyed terminal.

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In this Dec. 15, 2020, file photo, a droplet falls from a syringe after a health care worker was injected with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Women & Infants Hospital in Providence, R.I. Uncertainty over the pace of federal COVID-19 vaccine allotments triggered anger and confusion Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in some states where officials worried that expected shipments would not be forthcoming. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Governors bitterly accused the Trump administration Friday of deceiving the states about the amount of COVID-19 vaccine they can expect to receive as they ramp up vaccinations for senior citizens and others. But the government attributed the anger to confusion and misguided expectations on the part of the states.

Meanwhile, the race between the vaccine and the virus may be about to heat up: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the new, more infectious variant first seen in Britain will probably become the dominant version in the U.S. by March.

The CDC said the variant is about 50% more contagious than the virus that is causing the bulk of cases in this country.

"We want to sound the alarm," said Dr. Jay Butler, CDC deputy director for infectious diseases.

The clash over the pace of the government's COVID-19 vaccine allotments threatens to escalate tensions between the Trump administration and some states over who is responsible for the relatively slow start to the vaccination drive against the scourge that has killed over 390,000 Americans.

Oregon had announced earlier this week that it would expand vaccine eligibility to roughly 760,000 residents 65 and older, as well as teachers and child care providers, because of what it said were promises that the state's vaccine allotment would be increased.

In this Jan. 11, 2021, file photo, Florence Mullins, 89, sits in a chair as a family member holds her place in a long line to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at Fair Park in Dallas. Uncertainty over the pace of federal COVID-19 vaccine allotments triggered anger and confusion Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in some states where officials worried that expected shipments would not be forthcoming. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

But Democratic Gov. Kate Brown said those plans are now in disarray because of "deception on a national scale" by the administration.

Via Twitter, Brown said she was told by Gen. Gustave F. Perna, who leads Operation Warp Speed, that states will not be receiving increased shipments of vaccine from the national stockpile next week "because there is no federal reserve of doses."

As a result of what she called "a cruel joke," Brown said the state will now postpone vaccination of senior citizens to Feb. 8, instead of Jan. 23, and initially limit it to people 80 and older.

Late Friday, Oregon health officials said a case of the variant had been diagnose in the Portland area in a patient who had no travel history.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said he was among several governors deceived by federal officials about availability of a strategic supply of doses.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar listens to a reporter's question during a news conference on Operation Warp Speed and COVID-19 vaccine distribution, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)

"This one is so far beyond the pale to be almost unimaginable," he said. "Who's going to be prosecuted for this? What are the states to do when they've been lied to and made all their plans around this?"

Alena Yarmosky, a spokeswoman for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, said governors were "told explicitly" on Tuesday that they would be provided additional doses. Northam, a Democrat and a doctor, had moved quickly as a result to announce that the state would expand vaccine eligibility.

Now, Northam's administration is trying to determine whether those additional supplies don't exist, Yarmosky said.

"What we're seeing is fully in line with the dysfunction that has characterized the Trump administration's entire response to COVID-19. President-elect (Joe) Biden cannot be sworn in fast enough," she said.

Michael Pratt, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said that states may have been confused in their expectations but that there has been no reduction in doses shipped to them.

In this Jan. 12, 2021, file photo, Ken Towns receives a first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from UC Davis Health in Sacramento, Calif. Uncertainty over the pace of federal COVID-19 vaccine allotments triggered anger and confusion Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in some states where officials worried that expected shipments would not be forthcoming. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, Pool, File)

Biden alluded to the tensions Friday and pledged to communicate better with states so they know how much vaccine will arrive and when.

"Right now we're hearing that they can't plan because they don't know," he said. "That stops when we're in office."

As of Friday, the government had distributed over 31 million doses to states, U.S. territories and major cities. About 12.3 million doses had been administered, according to online tracking by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There is no evidence that the new variant causes more severe illness or is transmitted differently, and mask wearing and other precautions still work, the CDC said. Scientists have also expressed confidence that the vaccines are still effective against it.

According to CDC, the variant has been detected in 12 states and diagnosed in only 76 reported cases. But it is probably more widespread in the U.S. than the numbers suggest, CDC scientists said.

In this Jan. 11, 2021, file photo, Century Village residents wait before appointments are handed out for the COVID-19 vaccine in West Palm Beach, Fla. Uncertainty over the pace of federal COVID-19 vaccine allotments triggered anger and confusion Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in some states where officials worried that expected shipments would not be forthcoming. (Greg Lovett/The Palm Beach Post via AP, File)

The two COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the U.S.made by Pfizer and Modernaare designed to be given in two doses, three or four weeks apart.

For weeks, Operation Warp Speed had been holding large amounts of vaccine in reserve to ensure that those who got their first dose received their second one on time. The practice was a hedge against possible manufacturing delays. When HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced on Tuesday that he was ending the practice, it was interpreted as essentially doubling the expected supply.

But there was another huge change: He also urged states to open vaccinations to everyone over 65 and younger people with certain health problems, even though most hadn't yet finished dispensing shots to all the health workers first in line.

The result was a scramble by state and local health authorities to figure out exactly how much vaccine they would receive in the coming weeks and how to ramp up shots for a public with higher expectations.

Pratt said doses that were being held in reserve to provide second shots were released last week. It's unclear, however, if they all shipped prior to the Trump administration's announcement early this week that states should open up vaccination to more people. He said states are getting the required second doses they need and the number of first doses is stable.

In this Jan. 11, 2021, file photo, Naomi Adams checks on residents after they received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Monarch Villa memory care facility in Stockbridge, Ga. Uncertainty over the pace of federal COVID-19 vaccine allotments triggered anger and confusion Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in some states where officials worried that expected shipments would not be forthcoming. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

Pfizer said it is working around the clock to produce millions of doses a day, adding, "We foresee no issues in delivering on the commitments we have made" to supply Operation Warp Speed. Moderna didn't immediately respond to questions about its supplies.

At Mary's Woods, a retirement community in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, residents expressed fear they will have to wait longer for their vaccinations. Several have COVID-19, and others are terrified it could spread to them soon.

"I'm pretty disappointed," said 75-year-old Joan Burns. "We're sequestered and it's difficult to talk to anybody. I am as anxious as I've ever been, and I know it's escalating. We're just playing the odds right now, really."

Elsewhere around the country, in hard-hit California, where 3,675 people have died from COVID-19 in the past week, officials are rushing to help overwhelmed county coroners. The Office of Emergency Services said it has secured 98 refrigerated trailers to serve as makeshift morgues.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
After he officially left the military, Korean superstar Lee Jong Suk started to be back with his work. In fact, he is the newest cover model for Esquire Korea!

On Jan. 15, Lee Jong Suk shook fans after he uploaded on his official Instagram account two photos of him posing for the famous magazine, flaunting his ethereal looks that we all missed!

The 31-year-old actor showed off again his dashing and charismatic look into the pages of Esquire magazine. This time, he projected a different image. The publication emphasized more of what is new about the actor, having long hair and oozing with confidence while clad in a black suit and a tie, looking oh-so perfect in our eyes.

Lee Jong Suk's transformation gives excitement to his fans for they will finally be seeing more content from their beloved actor. And yes, the long wait is finally over. This is just one of many more projects that is in store for him.

Prior to the release of Lee Jong Suk's photos, Esquire Korea also announced that they will be meeting the actor for an interview, that's why they posted on their official Instagram and Twitter a thread where fans from all over the world can have the chance to have a little interaction with the superstar.

Fans just had to ask any questions that they want to be answered by Lee Jong Suk through the comments section of Esquire's post. It is once in a lifetime opportunity for the fans to be noticed by their idol.

Now that the cover has been released, might as well the interview part will be unveiled anytime soon! So, you better watch out for it!

Lee Jong Suk also shared some behind-the-scenes photos of his pictorial with the magazine through his Instagram account. These overall are a sneak peek of what her has been preparing for his fans.

Meanwhile, Lee Jong Suk is also receiving new offers lately but there was no confirmation yet of what is the next project that he will be working on. For the meantime, let us wait for his comeback on the small screen. We bet you are also waiting for his new drama, because yes, we all are!

What can you say about Lee Jong Suk's transformation? Share your comments with us!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Written by Shai Collins
US President Donald Trump will leave Washington, D.C. on the morning of January 20 shortly before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, with a grand ceremony being planned for his departure, according to media reports.

In a report published on Friday, the Associated Press cited people familiar with the plan as saying the farewell ceremony, to be held in Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, will probably feature the reception Trump used to get as President during state visits abroad, "complete with a red carpet, colour guard, military band and even a 21-gun salute", reports Xinhua news agency

Flying in Air Force One for the last time, the President will go to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he will reportedly live his post-presidential life.

What was revealed in the latest report verified previous ones saying that in doing so, Trump wanted to create a split-screen effect to turn audience's attention away from Biden's swearing-in ceremony.

A formal announcement of Trump's plan is yet to be made official.

Trump has said he will not attend Biden's inauguration, which the latter responded by saying "it's a good thing".

Vice President Mike Pence, however, plans to attend the inauguration, a move Biden has welcomed.

Pence on Friday spoke with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris via telephone and pledged assistance.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Philippine counterpart Teodoro Locsin in Manila on Saturday to explore cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, infrastructure development and in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic.Wang will also meet Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday to discuss issues including possible COVID-19 vaccine cooperation between the two nations. The Chinese foreign minister is in Manila as part of his Southeast Asian tour that included visits to Myanmar, Indonesia and Brunei to promote China's relations in the region.

(Image Credit: AP)

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)


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In some respects, the party may still face the same irreconcilable pressures that have hobbled it for the past four years: on the one hand, Trumps powerful cult of personality on the right; on the other, his deep, personal unpopularity with the majority of American voters. As appalled as party leaders may be by the presidents conduct, they cannot win general elections if his die-hard supporters stay home or cast protest votes.

Live outside of the Alabama Cruise Terminal in Mobile County where the first major COVID-19 vaccination effort in coastal Alabama is taking place. Posted by al.com on Saturday, January 16, 2021

The Mobile County Health Department is giving COVID-19 vaccinations today to people 75 and older and first responders.

The clinic at the Alabama Cruise Terminal started at 8 a.m. and continues until 8 p.m. Its the first major COVID-19 vaccine distribution event in coastal Alabama.

The clinic plans to give a total of 1,000 shots of the Moderna vaccine.

The shots are being given on a first-come, first-served basis, with no appointments. Checkpoints are set up to determine eligibility for the shots while people are in line in their vehicles. Those who meet the criteria park and go inside to receive the shots.

The Moderna vaccine, like the Pfizer vaccine, requires two shots.

How to get a COVID-19 vaccine in Alabama

Alabama adds 2,945 COVID cases; latest county-by-county totals
WASHSINGTON - When a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Leslie hoped that this would be her Trump-supporting parents' wake-up call. She hoped they were watching, maybe feeling ashamed.

Then, a friend called. "Do you know already?" the friend said, and Leslie wondered briefly if someone had died.

The politically liberal 35-year-old cried about the screenshots from her mother's Facebook page, posts defending the pro-Trump crowds and suggesting that Leslie's mom made it at least to the Capitol's steps. Then she reported her mom to the FBI - because "actions," she said, "should have consequences."

"I think before I realized she was this far gone . . . there was a sense that perhaps there was some way to reconcile," said Leslie. "It felt like a death, honestly."

Leslie shared screenshots of text messages in which she shared her FBI tip "submission complete" page, and another friend recounted hearing that Leslie had reported her mother.

Leslie and many others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition that their full name not be revealed, citing concerns about retaliation or further heightening tensions in their families.

In relationships already strained or severed, last week's violent spectacle of democracy under siege has pushed some people to take a drastic new step: warning law enforcement. Anguished Americans are turning in friends and family for their alleged involvement in the Capitol riots, contributing to more than 100,000 tips submitted to the FBI and playing a role in at least one high-profile arrest.

For months - sometimes years - the informants say they have watched helplessly as loved ones embraced far-right ideology and latched onto conspiracy theories, from QAnon to viral-video claims of a coronavirus "Plandemic." Extremism has thrived in the Trump era and under pandemic lockdowns, experts say, with more people isolated at home and misinformation rampant online.

"Far-right extremism is not a small-fringe worldview, it's not an insular cult that only reaches a few dozen or a few hundred people - it's a wide-ranging worldview embedded in American society," said Peter Simi, an associate professor of sociology at Chapman University who has studied far-right extremist groups and violence for more than 20 years.

Increasingly estranged friends and relatives told The Washington Post they were driven to law enforcement by their own politics, a sense of moral obligation and a fear of what their loved ones could do next.

"They left me no choice because they are on such a destructive path and I do worry about other people's safety as well as theirs," said a Texas woman who recounted learning through social media that family members were on the Capitol lawn, apparently beyond the barriers that rioters toppled. Her husband said he can corroborate that she informed the FBI.

Authorities say they have just started making arrests in the wake of the four-hour insurrection attempt at the Capitol, which sent lawmakers into hiding, halted certification of the presidential vote and left five people dead, including a police officer. Hundreds could eventually face charges,and people around the country are volunteering information.

Reddit forums and Twitter threads urge users to turn in even those closest to them - and comfort those who say they did. Some of these online spaces have become safe havens where people share their struggles with the radicalization of a loved one.

"Maybe being held accountable will do them some good," one Reddit user writes in a thread about reporting Capitol rioters, making sure to include the FBI's Web form for tips. Elsewhere, someone notes that Ted Kaczynski, the serial terrorist known as the "Unabomber," was turned in by his brother.

The FBI did not respond to questions about the sources of its Capitol riot tips. But one of their agents described a witness in the case of Larry Rendell Brock, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, who called in identifying herself as Brock's ex-wife. According to the FBI, Brock was photographed last week in the well of the Senate chamber with zip-tie handcuffs - and a military patch recognized by the FBI's tipster, who explained that she was married to Brock for 18 years.

The Post was unable to reach Brock, his relatives or his public defender.

Some family members have stuck by those arrested, defending them to the media. And for others, contacting the FBI feels drastic.

Waking up from a nap last Wednesday to see the Capitol breach on TV, Robyn Sweet said, she had a feeling that her father, Douglas Sweet, was there. She knew he went to the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, she said, and she has listened to him spout QAnon conspiracy theories, speaking of child pedophile rings and a chemical compound supposedly extracted from young captives' blood.

By the time family located him, Robyn said, her father was already arrested. She says she would not have contacted law enforcement anyway, since she does not believe her father harmed anyone. But she says she has heard from a large community of people who are also mourning their own relatives' descent into conspiracy - and who say that if they were in her shoes, they would report.

"I have had a lot of people around the world reaching out to me and saying they feel like they've lost their parents to this radical Trumpism," she said. "They feel like they don't have a family anymore."

The Post could not reach her father, and it is not clear if he has a lawyer. Posting on Facebook after his arrest, Douglas Sweet dismissed his unlawful-entry charge as the equivalent of a "ticket."

Simi argued that while right-wing extremism has been building - and ignored - for decades, it has gained greater force during the Trump administration, fomented not only by the president, but other federal officials as well.

This has brought political extremism in America to unprecedented levels, Simi said, adding, "We really are in unchartered territory."

The coronavirus pandemic has proved a "terrible recipe for extremism," Simi said. Then came the Capitol riots: "What we saw on the 6th is the culmination of something that has been burning and building for quite some time, and in that sense what happened was quite predictable," he said.

The Texas woman who says two of her relatives were on the Capitol lawn also described radicalization long in the making.

"They have closed themselves off from the rest of society, everybody else is the enemy," she said of her relatives. One family member has argued for a "white ethnic state" and the separation of races, she said.

"It's almost like a cult," she said. "They all sit around and share conspiracy theories, that the media is lying to them, they don't want to believe any kind of fact outside of their circle."

Stunned after learning they were at the Capitol last week, she slept on the issue and then tried to discuss it with other family members. The woman says they brushed her off, echoing claims of widespread voting fraud.

"They said I was being ridiculous and overreacting," she said. That response helped push her to report to the FBI.

"I felt I had to do something because it seemed like no one else in their immediate circle was going to talk to them," she said.

Another woman said she informed the FBI about a former friend - estranged because of her increasingly radical politics - who appears in video close to the overrun Capitol, shouting toward police: "Traitor! Traitor Traitor!" The ex-friend, a California attorney named Leigh Dundas, also posted video of herself telling a crowd the day before the Capitol chaos that "we would be well within our rights" to take traitorous Americans "out back and shoot 'em or hang 'em."

The woman shared screenshots of a group chat where she said she reported Dundas to the FBI, and her daughter also corroborated that her mother notified law enforcement.

Dundas did not respond Friday to calls and emails. She wrote on Facebook last week that "the police were the aggressors" on Jan. 6 and blamed "antifa thugs" inside the building. The FBI has said it does not believe antifa was responsible for the day's violence.

Dundas's former friend said she initially felt some hesitation about contacting the FBI. But Dundas's words erased "all of the great things we did together and the wonderful things she did for me," she said.

"What she said about killing people . . . she was talking about me."

- - -

The Washington Post's Alice Crites and Jenn Abelson contributed to this report.
Technicians at work in a Serum Institute of India factory in Pune, where a COVID-19 vaccine is being produced. India on Friday was preparing to launch one of the most ambitious and complex nationwide campaigns in its history: the rollout of coronavirus vaccines to 1.3 billion people, an undertaking that will stretch from the perilous reaches of the Himalayas to the dense jungles of the countrys southern tip. By Atul Loke  2021 The New York Times

India on Friday was preparing to launch one of the most ambitious and complex nationwide campaigns in its history: the rollout of coronavirus vaccines to 1.3 billion people, an undertaking that will stretch from the perilous reaches of the Himalayas to the dense jungles of the countrys southern tip.

The toughest part might be persuading doubters like Shankar Patil to roll up their sleeves.

Patil, a 27-year-old state police academy applicant, lives in Pune, the city central to Indias vaccine rollout, which is set to begin on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is staking his pride on Indias ability to manufacture enough inexpensive shots to inoculate his country as well as much of the developing world. India aims to do nothing less than protect humanity, Modi said at an online address to the Indian diaspora recently.

Stretched out on an exercise mat along a row of pink Mexican lilacs at the top of Parvati, a hillock popular with early-morning joggers, Patil has questions. He and two friends, also aspiring police officers joining him to exercise, are skeptical about the countrys vaccine approval process, which has been criticized by health experts for a lack of disclosure.

We believe in the government, but nobody should play with our health, said Patil. If the vaccines are truly safe, they should make the data public.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Little data has been published yet from the early trials of one of the two vaccines being rolled out, and the manufacturer has not yet completed the important final trial even as the vaccine is being distributed.

Doubts about transparency only add to the obstacles that officials will face when one of the worlds largest inoculation programs begins. About 300,000 health care workers are set to take the vaccines on Saturday, then millions more health care and front-line workers by spring.

Already, in addition to the logistical challenges, Indian officials must deal with a growing sense of complacency. After reaching a peak in the middle of September of more than 90,000 new cases per day, Indias official infection rates have dropped sharply. Fatalities have fallen by about 30% in the last 14 days, according to a New York Times database.

City streets are buzzing. Air and train travel have resumed. Social distancing and mask-wearing standards, already lax in many parts of India, have slipped further. That attitude alarms experts, who say the real infection rate is probably much worse than Indias official numbers suggest.

Doubts about the effectiveness of the vaccines are making the mission harder still.

At least one state, Chhattisgarh, has refused to accept shipments of the vaccine that is still in its final trial. Experts have expressed wariness. Just days before the mass inoculation was set to begin, Dr. Gagandeep Kang, one of Indias top virologists, was still weighing whether to receive a jab.

Its really not a lack of confidence in the vaccine, Kang said. Its a lack of confidence in a process that allowed the vaccine to move forward in such a way. If my taking the vaccine would convince other people to take the vaccine, Id think thats not right.

The rollouts come at a time when new virus variants are spreading alarm around the world.

Modi is looking to two Pune-based powerhouses to fuel his national and global ambitions. The Serum Institute of India, the worlds largest vaccine manufacturer, is making the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, which has been approved for emergency use in Britain and India, where it is branded Covishield.

The second is the National Institute of Virology, or NIV, which developed an indigenous vaccine called Covaxin with Bharat Biotech, a local pharmaceutical company that will make the doses.

Covaxin, the vaccine still in trials, has been approved for emergency use in India, but neither its creators nor government officials have published data proving that it works.

Indias drug regulator initially said that Covaxin would be available as a backup option. But government officials have since said that both vaccines will be rolled out simultaneously, and recipients will not get to choose between the two.

A group of doctors and public health watchdogs in India has called for an investigation into the ethics of Bharat Biotechs ongoing clinical trials and a halt to the trial in Bhopal after some participants in that city said they hadnt been informed that they were receiving a vaccine or a placebo.

Bharat Biotech said it was complying with clinical trial guidelines. Both the company and the government have defended the safety of Covaxin, based on interim data from the first two phases of clinical trials, when the vaccine was administered to 800 participants. They said they would publish efficacy data after the ongoing final clinical trial concludes. Bharat Biotech says it is in talks with a Brazilian company about supplying doses to Brazil, and is looking for other potential export markets.

The pressure on the Serum Institute and the NIV has been immense.

The NIV was the first Indian institution to diagnose COVID-19, in a student who returned to India from the Chinese city of Wuhan. It was also first to isolate and grow a stock of the virus. As a result, it was receiving requests from scientists as well as curious citizens to test potential antidotes.

People started overwhelming us with candidate drugs, extracts, compounds which they believed had antibody properties, said Priya Abraham, the NIVs director.

That came with political pressure, Abraham said. Ive had ministers calling in.

Abraham declined to comment on the questions surrounding Covaxin because she was so involved with its development, although she added it was not at all a bad vaccine.

Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla must balance commitments to Modis government, which has purchased only 11 million of the 100 million doses his company has promised it, with demand in the rest of the world.

AstraZeneca and Oxford agreed to license the vaccine to Serum on a pledge that it would deliver it to the worlds poorest people at cost. The Serum Institute recently applied for World Health Organization certification, which would allow it to start exporting doses it has sold to Covax, an international health group that has negotiated vaccine purchases for less wealthy countries, as soon as the end of January. The institute has promised Covax 200 million doses.

Poonawalla, who aims to distribute a billion doses by the end of 2021, said national pride is at stake.

The way the world has looked at India now, its been overwhelming because we were always ignored and thought about as backward, in many respects, Poonawalla said in an interview with The New York Times on Thursday, his 40th birthday.

The world now has to recognize the capabilities of India to service the world and help the world, and thats exactly what were doing, he said.

Distribution of the vaccine to health centers began Tuesday in Pune, a city of about 3.1 million people southeast of Mumbai, and home of the Maratha warriors who battled the Mughal empire and ruled much of the subcontinent in the 18th century. A police officer performed a puja, a Hindu ceremony seeking divine blessings, on the front fender of a refrigerated truck carrying vaccine doses made by the Serum Institute.

May all be free from disease, read a label in Sanskrit and English slapped on every box of vials of COVID-19 vaccine passing through the companys wrought-iron gates.

As many as 20 Indian government ministries, from railways and defense to civil aviation and education, are involved. The government is leaning on know-how from its mammoth, multiphase general elections exercise and its universal immunization program, which reaches more than 50 million infants and pregnant women annually.

An extensive study of Indias immunization infrastructure jointly carried out by the government of India and UNICEF, the United Nations Childrens Fund, in 2018 showed that India had greatly expanded cold storage capacity and vaccine management. Those two factors will be crucial to Indias ambition of inoculating hundreds of millions of people as soon as possible.

As an epidemiologist and the head of surveillance for the state of Maharashtra, where Pune is, Pradip Awate is relieved that the nightmarish days of peak transmission, when demand for hospital beds and ventilators far outstripped supply, appear to have passed, at least for now. Because of high population density and international connections, Maharashtra has reported the most COVID-19 infections in India since the beginning of the pandemic.

Still, Awate warned against placing too much faith in vaccines.

The vaccine is not the panacea for this outbreak, Awate said. Its not going to stop it once and for all.

By Emily Schmall and Karan Deep Singh. Atul Loke in Pune and Mujib Mashal in New Delhi contributed reporting.

c.2021 The New York Times Company
A calendar inspired by the past and fashion-forward styling View(s):

As part of its fifth anniversary celebrations, The Agency Sri Lanka has launched Dynasty, its digital calendar for 2021 with the 12 months depicting epic tales from the great Sri Lankan dynasties, dating as far back as the 5th century B.C. in an avant-garde setting and with fashion-forward styling.

These epic tales trace their roots to the Mahavamsa, Dipavamsa and the Chulavamsa, the historical chronicles that record the islands history. January (Duruthu) features Kuveni and her demonesses, February (Navam) depicts the love of Saliya and Asokamala, while March (Medin) showcases the courage of Queen Viharama-hadevi. Parakramabahu VI and his love for literature and poetry are highlighted for the month of Vesak.

The images feature elaborate sets and conceptual styling, using models from The Agency SriLankas portfolio and clothes from the islands leading designers. Brandon Ingram was the creative force behind the concept which was photographed by Jonathan and Ryan Wijayaratne of Youre My Favorite.

The digital calendar will be made available to download on The Agency Sri Lankas website (theagencysrilanka.com), accompanied by a social media campaign.

Anjuli Flamer-Caldera, Founder and CEO of The Agency SriLanka says, The Dynasty calendar showcases the international standards of the models represented by the company, whose roots and DNA are verymuch Sri Lankan. This shoot has been a collaboration with designers, who represent modern Sri Lankan fashion, a way to shed the spotlight on homegrown creators.The entire project has brought together various partners, who have worked with The Agency Sri Lanka over the past five years, and beenpart of our journey as the countrys premier homegrown talent management platform.

Brandon Ingram, Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson Sri Lanka says, We often look to the west for inspiration on creativity, but there is so much of rich culture and history to be inspired by right here at home.

LOS ANGELESAs 2020 came to an end, after a year filled with proposed legislation designed to crack down on adult content online, a bill appeared in the United States Senate that took the most draconian approach to date, when it comes to controlling sexually explicit material online. Titled the Stop Internet Sexual Exploitation Act, or SISEA, the proposed law  sponsored on a bipartisan basis by Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkely and Nebraska Republican Ben Sasse  threatened to shut down the whole online adult industry, with its broad language aimed at any online platform that hosts and makes available to the general public pornographic images.

The bill also could have, according to Adult Performance Artists Guild President Alana Evans, effectively handed control of the online porn industry over to religious, anti-pornography activist groups.

But SISEA was introduced on December 17, meaning that it had only until the end of the 116th Congress on January 3 to receive a vote in the Senate, or simply expire. And thats what happened. SISEA was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, where it sat without a vote until the Congressional session ended.

So, is the bill dead? For now, yes. But nothing prevents Merkely and Sasse from reintroducing SISEA at any time in the new, 117th Congress, which is why APAG's Evans says that her organizations efforts to stop the bill continue unabated.

Were treating it just as we would any other type of legislation, Evans told AVN. We want to make sure its gone and its not coming back.

The legislation appeared in the wake of an inflammatory New York Times story by columnist Nicholas Kristof published on December 4 titled, The Children of Pornhub. Claiming that the Mindgeek-owned site monetizes child rapes, revenge pornography, spy cam videos of women showering, racist and misogynist content, Kristofs piece ignited an immediate public panic. Within a week, both major credit card issuers, MasterCard and Visa, banned Pornhub from using their cards to take payments, and Pornhub itself took the step of taking down any video uploaded from an unverified account.

Kristofs article was problematic, to say the least, and seemed based at least in part on the work of right-wing Christian anti-porn group Exodus Cry. He name-checked the groups Director of Abolition Laila Mickelwaite in the article, without noting her affiliation with Exodus Cry. And in an essay about the Holy War on Pornhub published by The New Republic, journalist and former sex worker Melissa Gira Grant decsribed Kristof as exactly the kind of gatekeeper a group like Exodus Cryseeking to establish its credentials, elevate its name, and attract liberals to its causewants on its side.

Nonetheless, Kristofs article elicited a strong and prompt response, in the form of Merkely and Sasses SISEA bill. On Merkleys official Senate website, his announcement of the bill in his December 18 hyperlinked directly to Kristofs story online, and cited disturbing reports of how videos and photos are uploaded to websites like Pornhub without the consent of individuals who appear in themhaunting and traumatizing victims, as a reason for introducing the bill with less than three weeks left in the legislative session.

The involvement of anti-porn activists with the Kristof article and, as a result, with SISEA, was no accident, according to Evans. Section 4 of the bill created a database of individuals who have indicated that they do not consent to the uploading to any covered platform of any pornographic images in which the individuals appear.

While a government database of individuals who have been, or suspect they may be victims of non-consensual porn presents its own privacy problems, Evans noted that the SISEA bill went even farther, allowing not only the U.S. Department of Justice, but an unspecified nonprofit organization to access and oversee the database.

We know that Exodus Cry and NCSE [National Center on Sexual Exploitation, another anti-porn activist group] have been doing what they can to move in as if they want to be in a controlling position, Evans told AVN. I say this because the language in this bill included consent lists, and we watched Laila Mickelwaite from Exodus Cry actually post to her little bit of followers on Twitter, Hey, what do you guys think should be in a consent list? Im open to ideas.

Evans said that she replied to Mickelwaite, telling her that compiling a consent list is the job of the performers union.

Weve had a consent list for three years, she told AVN. Its like a plumbers union  and then youve got someone who works in a church telling plumbers how to do their job. Were looking at these religious people who have the idea that they know how the porn industry should run. This bill gave them that possibility. Its actually in there. It was shocking.

She said that Exodus Cry clearly thought they were in line to do so, as evidenced by Mickelwaites asking her Twitter followers about what should be in a consent list. They actually thought this gave them carte blanche access to run our performers.

The consent list as defined by the bill, according to Evans, would not only include the sex acts, and who you would work with, and the dos and donts, if you will. It also would state where you were okay with your content being released. As a standard porn performer that goes to set, thats not something weve ever had control over.

The bill, she said, would require all porn uploaded to the internet to come with a consent list indicating that level of control, and people dont do that. The bill would also have a retroactive effect, meaning that anyone who has uploaded a video already online would have a timeframe of between two weeks and 90 days to supply the consent list paperwork.

It would make content that weve already filmed obsolete, because we dont have these jurisdictional consent lists, Evans said. The bill was a mess. You could see it was drafted by people who really arent sure how our industry functions.

Evans said that she does not expect SISEA to be reintroduced in its current form, but even though the bill is dead, and were thankful, we are absolutely aware that it is likely going to be rewritten, with all the crazy stuff taken out and re-presented as something that they think will pass. Its up to us to make sure it doesnt.

To prevent a new SISEA from re-emerging, Evans said that her union remains in continued contact with staff members to senators on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation committee, including Merkely, and will continue to explain the industrys point of view to them. She commended the committee staffers for taking the time to hear us. The biggest thing we have to express is kindness.

Everyone is frustrated, everyone is angry. And of course, we all have the right to be because were under attack, Evans said. But the way that were supposed to deal with people is with kindness and love  exactly what we would want ourselves.

Photo By Baldwin Saintilus / Wikimedia Commons
Some New Patriotic Party (NPP) Executives in the Akatsi South Constituency in the Volta Region have called for the removal of Mr Leo Nelson Adzidogah, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the area.



They accused the MCE of championing divisions and sidelining some current and old Executives as well as elders of the party.



The three aggrieved constituency Executives in an eight-page petition to the top hierarchy of the party appealed to President Akufo-Addo to nominate a different person to occupy the position of MCE.



The Executives seeking the removal of the MCE are Mr Patrick Xormenyo Agboyibor, Deputy Constituency Secretary, Mr Mensah Kadzaku, Constituency Youth Organiser, and Mrs Veronica Sakpaku, Constituency Women organiser.



They argued, among other issues, the failure of the MCE, who was the 2020 Parliamentary candidate of the NPP, in meeting all executives to discuss ways to distribute resources and logistics during the campaign season.



They alleged diversion of party logistics from their intended purposes led to the party recording low Presidential results from the Constituency.



They also said the MCE had formed a strong cabal with the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Constituency by giving government contracts, protocols and scholarships to members of the NDC to the neglect of their party supporters.



"The MCE only focuses on fighting his enemies rather than fostering unity among the rank and file of party supporters," it added.



The MCE, Mr Adzidogah, when contacted by the GNA dismissed the allegations levelled against him by some of the executives and said a full report would soon be made available.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
While Love Actually may go down as one of the most iconic Christmas-themed romantic comedies in history, Hugh Grant says he 'can't even remember what happens in the film.'

In a Thursday interview with Digital Spy, the 60-year-old British-born heartthrob confessed that the details of the film are a bit fuzzy when asked about the possibility of a sequel.

Trying to recover playfully, Grant asked, 'How do I end up?' while looking for guidance about the plot's ending.

Love what?: Hugh Grant, 60, said in a recent interview with Digital Spy that he 'can't even remember' what happens in Love Actually, despite it being one of the most iconic Christmas-themed rom-coms in history

Richard Curtis' 2003 holiday classic features a star-studded lineup including Keira Knightley, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth and Alan Rickman.

The movie traces nine intertwined love stories, with Grant starring as a Prime Minister who falls for a young staffer played by Martine McCutcheon.

Though many viewers could never forget the movie or Grant's hilariously memorable dance scene, he said he has little recollection of the events.

Unmemorable: Admitting that his memory has faded over time he asked, 'How do I end up?' while looking for guidance about the film's ending

'It's so long since I've seen it. You'd have to remind me. How do I end up?', he laughed.

Though the movie did release a Love Actually 2 titled, Red Nose Day Actually, the film was only a partial sequel to support Red Nose Day which raises money for children in poverty.

Asked about a full-blown follow up to the original film, Grant admitted, 'I don't know. I've never thought about that...'

Falling: Grant plays a Prime Minister who falls for his young staffer, and the movie features a hilariously memorable dance scene

In a 2003 interview about the movie he said, 'It was a really well-written film, there are few of those around,' which prompted him to sign on after working with Curtis on Four Weddings And A Funeral and Notting Hill.

He continued to say that the idea for the dancing scene caused a 'big fight,' between him and Curtis as he did not want to dance at all.

Echoing those same sentiments in a 2019 interview, Grant said 'I thought, "That's going to be excruciating," and it has the power to be the most excruciating scene ever committed to celluloid.'
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US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

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Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

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California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

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Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

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Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

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His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

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Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

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Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

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Using political documents, contemporary news articles and historial accounts, Stacker compiled a list of political firsts in U.S. history, from the first chief justice appointed in 1789 to the first transgender state senator who won her seat in 2020.



55 People Have Died in US After Receiving COVID-19 Vaccines: Reporting System

Fifty-five people in the United States have died after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, according to reports submitted to a federal system.

Deaths have occurred among people receiving both the Moderna and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, according to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a federal database. The system is passive, meaning reports arent automatically collected and must be filed. VAERS reports can be filed by anyone, including health care providers, patients, or family members.

VAERS reports often lack details and sometimes can have information that contains errors, according to the reporting systems website. Still, reports on VAERS represent only a small fraction of actual adverse events, the site states, although underreporting is believed to be less common for serious events.

In some cases, patients died within days of being vaccinated.

One man, a 66-year-old senior home resident in Colorado, was sleepy and stayed in bed the day after getting Modernas vaccine. Early the next morning, he was observed in bed lying still, pale, eyes half open and foam coming from mouth and unresponsive, the VAERS report states. He was not breathing and with no pulse.

In another case, a 93-year-old South Dakota man was injected with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Jan. 4 around 11 a.m. About two hours later, he said he was tired and couldnt continue with the physical therapy he was doing. He was taken back to his room, where he said his legs felt heavy. Soon after, he stopped breathing. A nurse declared a do-not-resuscitate order.

While Moderna and Pfizer didnt immediately respond to requests for comment, Abigail Capobianco, a spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), told The Epoch Times via email, Any reports of death following the administration of vaccines are promptly and rigorously investigated jointly by FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Officials at the agencies work with health care providers to obtain medical histories and clinical follow-up information and conduct a clinical case review, she said, adding, It is important to note that it is generally not possible to find out from VAERS data if a vaccine caused an adverse event.

Health officials on the VAERS website caution that a report to the system doesnt prove a vaccine caused the adverse event; proof that the event was caused by the vaccine is not required in order for the system to accept the report.

A COVID-19 vaccine vial in New York City on Jan. 4, 2021. (Shannon Stapleton/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

In addition to the deaths, people have reported 96 life-threatening events following COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as 24 permanent disabilities, 225 hospitalizations, and 1,388 emergency room visits.

Neither the CDC nor the FDA has a central database of reported adverse events. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDCs National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said on Jan. 6 that severe allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines were happening at a rate of 11.1 per million vaccinations, compared to the rate of 1.3 per million flu shots.

As of Jan. 15, 10.5 million Americans have received a COVID-19 vaccine. Federal health officials have said that adverse events are being investigated but that the vaccines are still safe.

These are safe and effective vaccines. We have good data to show that, Messonnier said.

One death following a vaccination attracted attention earlier this week. Gregory Michael, a 56-year-old medical worker at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, was injected on Dec. 18, 2020. Sixteen days later, he died.

Michaels wife Heidi Neckelmann said on Facebook that her husband was very healthy before being vaccinated. She said he was admitted to an intensive care unit with a diagnosis of acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a blood disorder, allegedly caused by a reaction to the vaccine. He eventually died.

He was a pro-vaccine advocate, that is why he got it himself, Neckelmann wrote. I believe that people should be aware that side effects can happen, that it is not good for everyone, and in this case destroyed a beautiful life, a perfect family, and has affected so many people in the community. Do not let his death be in vain, please save more lives by making this information news.

Pfizer told news outlets in a statement that no evidence currently shows a link between that death and its vaccine.

Pfizer and BioNTech are aware of the death of a health care professional 16 days after receiving a first dose of BNT162b2, Pfizer said in a statement. It is a highly unusual clinical case of severe thrombocytopenia, a condition that decreases the bodys ability to clot blood and stop internal bleeding.

We are actively investigating this case, but we dont believe at this time that there is any direct connection to the vaccine, the company said. There have been no related safety signals identified in our clinical trials, the post-marketing experience thus far, or with the mRNA vaccine platform. To date, millions of people have been vaccinated and we are closely monitoring all adverse events in individuals receiving our vaccine. It is important to note that serious adverse events, including deaths that are unrelated to the vaccine, are unfortunately likely to occur at a similar rate as they would in the general population.

A Pfizer spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email earlier this month that the company closely monitor[s] all reports following vaccination. Moderna hasnt responded to requests for comment on its involvement in monitoring serious adverse events in people who get its vaccine.

The updated VAERS data came after Norway changed its COVID-19 vaccination guide to direct officials not to give very frail people the vaccines, citing 13 deaths among people who were vaccinated.
Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com

Earning $50,000 a year should be plenty to live on in America. The nations median income is just over $60,000, meaning that $50,000 per annum is the sort of salary that should clearly secure the basics, at the least. However, depending on where you live, thats not always true. Making $50,000 a year in San Francisco, for instance, will likely leave you struggling to make ends meet.

From Alabama to Wyoming: The Cost of Living Across America

So what sort of enclaves against high costs are out there? GOBankingRates has compiled the places in each state that are best suited to someone earning $50,000 a year  with a cost of living that will allow them to save for the future as well as cover costs in the present. The study identified towns with at least 5,000 households and a median income between $45,000 and $55,000 a year using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, then looked at the basic cost of living as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The city with the most left over for residents after covering expenses in each state was then selected.

With the exception of Hawaii, every state in the U.S. has great cities where you can live on less than $50,000. Take a look and see where you should live in your area to stretch your salary that much further.

Last updated: Jan. 15, 2021

Shutterstock.com / Shutterstock.com

49. Burlington, Vermont

Median income: $50,324

Total annual necessities: $40,562.13

Salary left over after annual necessities: $9,437.87

See: 42 Easy Ways To Save For Retirement

lippyjr / Getty Images

48. Fairbanks, Alaska

Median income: $61,665

Total annual necessities: $40,237.60

Salary left over after annual necessities: $9,762.40

Check Out: How Far a $100K Salary Goes in Americas 50 Largest Cities

iStock.com / iStock.com

47. New Britain, Connecticut

Median income: $45,258

Total annual necessities: $39,236.58

Salary left over after annual necessities: $10,763.42

Read: 35 Surprising Cities With Low Costs of Living

Christopher Boswell / Shutterstock.com

46. Pawtucket, Rhode Island

Median income: $46,938

Total annual necessities: $38,877.49

Salary left over after annual necessities: $11,122.51

Corey T Burns / Shutterstock.com

45. Sanford, Maine

Story continues

Median income: $49,642

Total annual necessities: $37,985.33

Salary left over after annual necessities: $12,014.67

Check Out: Cheap Cities Youll Love To Live In

Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto

44. Baltimore

Median income: $48,840

Total annual necessities: $37,048.62

Salary left over after annual necessities: $12,951.38

Jon Bilous / Shutterstock.com

43. Dover, Delaware

Median income: $49,714

Total annual necessities: $36,443.10

Salary left over after annual necessities: $13,556.90

Paul Gana / Shutterstock.com

42. Grand Junction, Colorado

Median income: $49,849

Total annual necessities: $36,060.30

Salary left over after annual necessities: $13,939.70

Tupungato / Shutterstock.com

41. Tulare, California

Median income: $52,546

Total annual necessities: $35,417.87

Salary left over after annual necessities: $14,582.13

CrackerClips Stock Media / Shutterstock.com

40. Pahrump, Nevada

Median income: $45,480

Total annual necessities: $35,138.41

Salary left over after annual necessities: $14,861.59

Sandra Foyt / Shutterstock.com

39. Sheridan, Wyoming

Median income: $52,040

Total annual necessities: $35,055.02

Salary left over after annual necessities: $14,944.98

Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com

38. Claremont, New Hampshire

Median income: $48,099

Total annual necessities: $34,990.97

Salary left over after annual necessities: $15,009.03

Good To Know: How Much You Need To Live Comfortably in 50 Major US Cities

EQRoy / Shutterstock.com

37. Millville, New Jersey

Median income: $52,352

Total annual necessities: $34,980.96

Salary left over after annual necessities: $15,019.04

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto

36. Ogden, Utah

Median income: $46,807

Total annual necessities: $34,630.78

Salary left over after annual necessities: $15,369.22

travelview / Shutterstock.com

35. Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Median income: $48,555

Total annual necessities: $34,170.83

Salary left over after annual necessities: $15,829.17

LennonsGhost / iStock.com

34. Bartow, Florida

Median income: $46,850

Total annual necessities: $34,131.26

Salary left over after annual necessities: $15,868.74

Alex Krassel / Shutterstock.com

33. Lafayette, Louisiana

Median income: $50,182

Total annual necessities: $33,777.45

Salary left over after annual necessities: $16,222.55

Shutterstock.com / Shutterstock.com

32. Grand Forks, North Dakota

Median income: $47,871

Total annual necessities: $33,535.05

Salary left over after annual necessities: $16,464.95

Read More: Heres How Much You Need Saved in Every State If You Live to 100

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto

31. Clarksville, Tennessee

Median income: $53,007

Total annual necessities: $33,502.97

Salary left over after annual necessities: $16,497.03

KingWu / Getty Images

30. Idaho Falls, Idaho

Median income: $50,482

Total annual necessities: $33,394.99

Salary left over after annual necessities: $16,605.01

leezsnow / Getty Images/iStockphoto

29. Great Falls, Montana

Median income: $45,620

Total annual necessities: $33,390.36

Salary left over after annual necessities: $16,609.64

City of Taylor / Wikimedia Commons

28. Taylor, Michigan

Median income: $47,370

Total annual necessities: $33,364.97

Salary left over after annual necessities: $16,635.03

ivanastar / iStock.com

27. Los Lunas, New Mexico

Median income: $54,409

Total annual necessities: $33,250.86

Salary left over after annual necessities: $16,749.14

Mahmoud Masad / iStock.com

26. Rome, New York

Median income: $48,659

Total annual necessities: $32,944.85

Salary left over after annual necessities: $17,055.15

Constantine L / Shutterstock.com

25. Waynesboro, Virginia

Median income: $45,738

Total annual necessities: $32,808.11

Salary left over after annual necessities: $17,191.89

Worth Considering: 50 Cheapest Countries To Live In

Cheri Alguire / Shutterstock.com

24. Yuma, Arizona

Median income: $47,702

Total annual necessities: $32,596.12

Salary left over after annual necessities: $17,403.88

Kruck20 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

23. Cayce, South Carolina

Median income: $50,545

Total annual necessities: $32,519.86

Salary left over after annual necessities: $17,480.14

Pictured: Downtown Columbia, South Carolina

Bob Pool / Shutterstock.com

22. Pendleton, Oregon

Median income: $49,671

Total annual necessities: $32,423.95

Salary left over after annual necessities: $17,576.05

alexmisu / Shutterstock.com

21. Moses Lake, Washington

Median income: $51,800

Total annual necessities: $32,161.36

Salary left over after annual necessities: $17,838.64

peeterv / Getty Images/iStockphoto

20. Munhall, Pennsylvania

Median income: $46,715

Total annual necessities: $31,324.95

Salary left over after annual necessities: $18,675.05

Pictured: Pittsburgh

Nheyob / Wikimedia Commons

19. New Haven, Indiana

Median income: $49,522

Total annual necessities: $31,196

Salary left over after annual necessities: $18,804

DawnDamico / iStock.com

18. Havelock, North Carolina

Median income: $49,138

Total annual necessities: $30,656.40

Salary left over after annual necessities: $19,343.60

Pictured: Beach near Havelock, North Carolina

jctabb / Shutterstock.com

17. Radcliff, Kentucky

Median income: $45,344

Total annual necessities: $30,201.17

Salary left over after annual necessities: $19,798.83

See: 20 Best Places To Live on Only a Social Security Check

BOB WESTON / iStock.com

16. Pampa, Texas

Median income: $45,777

Total annual necessities: $30,190.48

Salary left over after annual necessities: $19,809.52

ron99 / Shutterstock.com

15. Hastings, Nebraska

Median income: $47,528

Total annual necessities: $30,106.77

Salary left over after annual necessities: $19,893.23

traveler1116 / Getty Images

14. Montgomery, Alabama

Median income: $45,921

Total annual necessities: $29,918.22

Salary left over after annual necessities: $20,081.78

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto

13. Tupelo, Mississippi

Median income: $48,116

Total annual necessities: $29,642.12

Salary left over after annual necessities: $20,357.88

Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com

12. Columbus, Georgia

Median income: $45,389

Total annual necessities: $29,422.21

Salary left over after annual necessities: $20,577.79

Sherman Cahal / Shutterstock.com

11. Weirton, West Virginia

Median income: $48,775

Total annual necessities: $29,130.45

Salary left over after annual necessities: $20,869.55

Shutterstock.com / Shutterstock.com

10. Peoria, Illinois

Median income: $50,688

Total annual necessities: $29,013.14

Salary left over after annual necessities: $20,986.86

Jack Pearce / Flickr.com

9. Boardman, Ohio

Median income: $54,284

Total annual necessities: $28,912.60

Salary left over after annual necessities: $21,087.40

Jim Packett / Shutterstock.com

8. Mason City, Iowa

Median income: $49,656

Total annual necessities: $28,475.10

Salary left over after annual necessities: $21,524.90

Important: Best Places in Every State To Live On a Fixed Income

clintspencer / iStock.com

7. Paragould, Arkansas

Median income: $45,315

Total annual necessities: $28,444.06

Salary left over after annual necessities: $21,555.94

Pictured: St. Francis River in Arkansas

Drew S. Palmquist / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain

6. Huron, South Dakota

Median income: $46,884

Total annual necessities: $28,261.68

Salary left over after annual necessities: $21,738.32

DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images/iStockphoto

5. Lawton, Oklahoma

Median income: $47,262

Total annual necessities: $28,157.84

Salary left over after annual necessities: $21,842.16

Henryk Sadura / Shutterstock.com

4. Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

Median income: $49,949

Total annual necessities: $28,136.12

Salary left over after annual necessities: $21,863.88

BOB WESTON / Getty Images/iStockphoto

3. St. Joseph, Missouri

Median income: $47,413

Total annual necessities: $27,903.85

Salary left over after annual necessities: $22,096.15

Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto

2. Great Bend, Kansas

Median income: $46,171

Total annual necessities: $27,226.44

Salary left over after annual necessities: $22,773.56

Pictured: Wichita, Kansas

Steve Cukrov / Shutterstock.com

1. Austin, Minnesota

Median income: $46,970

Total annual necessities: $27,189.43

Salary left over after annual necessities: $22,810.57

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Photo disclaimer: Photos are for illustrative purposes only. As a result, some of the images may not reflect the exact towns listed.

Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the best places to live on a $50,000 salary in each state by analyzing cities along these criteria: (1) a minimum of 5,000 households, sourced from the U.S. Census Bureaus 2018 American Community Survey, (2) a median household income between $45,000 to $55,000, sourced from the U.S. Census Bureaus 2018 American Community Survey, (3) itemized cost-of-living index for groceries, utilities, transportation, healthcare and miscellaneous expenditure, based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey third quarter 2018 through second quarter 2019, which were adjusted to each citys local cost of living, sourced from Sperlings Best Places; (4) Zillow Rent Index for January 2020, sourced from Zillow. In order to qualify as a best city, the total cost-of-living expenditures could not exceed $50,000, and the city with the lowest overall total cost-of-living expenditures was declared the best. The list of cities was compiled from the U.S. Census Bureaus 2018 American Community Survey and includes all cities the Census Bureau and Zillow had complete data for. Data was compiled on and up to date as of July 30, 2020.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Best Places To Live On a $50,000 Salary in Every State
( ) will be heavily focused on its Phase 3 trial of its osteoarthritis treatment Zilosul in 2021, its chief operating officer Jeannie Joughin told Proactive.

The company presented at the 39th annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference this week, outlining a roadmap that will take the business through to the middle of 2024.

It is confident it will make an Investigational New Drug (IND) submission with the US Food and Drug Administration by the end of this quarter, following positive feedback from its Type-C meeting with the FDA in December that gave the green light to the next phase.

In an interview with Proactive, Joughin said 2021 would see the beginning of the Phase 3 trial of Zilosul, following a year of positive progress in 2020.

We are confident we will commence the first of two pivotal studies, dosing the first US patient, by June, she said.

Prep work all done

Paradigm spent a fair chunk of 2020 de-risking Zilosul by seeking as much feedback from international regulatory bodies as possible.

It will use the same clinical trial protocol in the US, Europe and Australia, potentially enabling registrations in multiple jurisdictions, saving time and money.

The feedback we gathered not just from the FDA, but also from several meetings with European regulators, means we have a globally harmonised protocol for Zilosul, Joughin said.

Minimum effective dose

Joughin said the regulatory bodies had asked Paradigm to investigate the lowest possible dosage of Zilosul it could give to patients without compromising on efficacy, and this would be a focus of the Phase 3 trial.

Paradigm already has a wealth of Phase 2b data that confirms the effectiveness of Zilosul, which is the companys name for injected pentosan polysulphate sodium, a drug with a long history of use and a well-established safety profile.

Zilosul has been shown to decrease pain, increase function and reduce the volume of bone marrow edema-like lesions in osteoarthritis patients knees.

A focus of the Phase 3 trials will be to find out how little of it we can give to a patient and for it to remain effective, Joughin said.

The market

A key focus of the companys presentation at the JP Morgan conference was to outline the interest in finding effective treatments for osteoarthritis.

Some of the biggest names in pharma, such as , Sanofi, Mitsubishi Tanabe, MundiPharma and Galapagos, have made big-money plays for osteoarthritis treatments.

But Joughin says Paradims Zilosul had an advantage over many of the drugs being investigated by big pharma  its multiple modes of action.

There is a huge unmet need, with some 72 million people with osteoarthritis in the US, Canada, Australia and the top five European countries alone, she said.

And that is only people who have been clinically diagnosed, the number could be much higher.

Many people are unsatisfied with the current available treatments. As the disease progresses, opioids are really the only thing on offer, and many young people suffering from the disease dont want replacements.

The pie is enormous, but many of the treatments being investigated are looking at only a single mode of action  perhaps theyre looking only at the inflammation aspect of osteoarthritis, or the pain aspect, or the cartilage loss aspect.

Zilosul tackles these three and also improves blood flow through self-adhesion molecules that target capitally endothelial cells that display anti-thrombotic effects.

There are a whopping 81 per cent of osteoarthritis patients dissatisfied with current treatments, and Paradigm is targeting 10 per cent of that market, with Zilosuls indicative price of US$2,500 per year.

The first trial readout for the Phase 3 trial is due to take place in quarter one of 2023, followed by a final readout in quarter three of 2023.

The company has a market cap of approximately $544.3 million and shares in the last 12 months have traded in the range of $1.08 to $4.50.

- Daniel Paproth
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For nearly three decades, the United States has observed January 16 as Religious Freedom Day. Americas First Freedom has historically enjoyed near-universal and bipartisan support. Nevertheless, contemporary challenges to religious freedom do exist.

Religious Freedom Day was adopted in honor of the countrys first religious freedom law, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom of 1786. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the statute formally disestablished the state church and allowed Virginians to worship freely. It was a precursor to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

When Jefferson drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, his proposal was radical. In an era when the government regulated and monitored the churchs liturgy and doctrine, it was bold to assert that religion was inherently a matter between an individual and God. But Jeffersons bold assertion was the correct one, and for over 230 years, Americans have enjoyed the blessings of living in a country where the state recognizes it has no business interfering with mans quest for religious truth and that God, not the government, is Lord of the conscience.

However, this past year, religious freedom has experienced an unprecedented challenge in the form of government mandates and restrictions placed on houses of worship during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The types of restrictions ranged widely, from the reasonable to the unconstitutional. Examples of the latter included New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio threatening to permanently shut down churches and synagogues that did not comply with the citys restrictions and Nevada prohibiting churches from admitting more than 50 worshippers despite casinos being allowed to admit 50 percent of their maximum occupancy. A few restrictions have been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, including California Governor Gavin Newsoms executive order barring churches from holding indoors services (struck down in December) and New York Governor Andrew Cuomos prohibition of church gatherings exceeding 10 or 25 people (struck down in November).

It is important to recognize that most local and state officials were doing their best to protect their citizens health and safety. This same protective impulse led most churches to voluntarily cease in-person worship services in the spring, during the initial wave of the pandemic. By the end of March, 99 percent of churches were not meeting. Instead of flouting the governments orders and continuing to meet in large groups, churches adapted to serve their communities and congregations in creative ways.

However, when businesses, casinos, tattoo parlors, and even abortion clinics began re-opening in the summer, many houses of worship  especially those in Democrat-controlled cities and states  were not allowed to re-open or to re-open at the same capacity as non-religious businesses, even if they abided by CDC guidelines. In many localities, these strict re-opening policies seemed to single out churches for unfair treatment. As a result, many churches sued over what they believed were unconstitutional and overreaching mandates from the authorities.

The events of 2020 posed challenges to nearly every sphere of life; however, the challenges to religious liberty were unique. At no other time in American history have churches throughout the country been told to shut down for nearly a year. Moreover, churches were clearly held to a more restrictive standard. What accounts for this unfair treatment? Why were churches subject to so much scrutiny and treated with suspicion throughout the pandemic?

The erosion of our cultures high view of religious freedom is a major contributing factor. Only a generation ago, religious freedom enjoyed nearly unanimous, bipartisan support. Today, religious freedom is increasingly seen as a political issue. Many Americans no longer respect or understand the importance of religious freedom and are therefore more willing to restrict religious expression.

A second contributing factor is religions fading influence on personal and public life. The percentage of Americans holding to the tenets of the Christian faith has shrunk, while the percentage of religiously unaffiliated Americans has grown. Thus, it is easier to dismiss services and other forms of worship as nonessential.

It is important to remind our fellow Americans that religious freedom is a fundamental value that undergirds the other freedoms we enjoy. Contrary to a popular misconception, it is not a license to do whatever we want or to arbitrarily discriminate. Instead, religious freedom says people have the right to believe what they want in terms of theology and doctrine and can order their lives in a way that brings their life into conformity with these beliefs.

In 2020, President Trump marked Religious Freedom Day by noting, Our Founders entrusted the American people with a responsibility to protect religious liberty so that our Nation may stand as a bright beacon for the rest of the world.

Unfortunately, too many elected officials failed to honor and protect religious freedom in 2020. It is imperative that America recommits to upholding our First Freedom and ensures that all Americans  religious and nonreligious  are free to order their lives according to their deepest convictions.
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Michel Spingler | AP

The Chicago Department of Public Health and Illinois Department of Public Health on Friday announced the first case in Illinois of the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 first identified in the United Kingdom.

The new strain was first identified in the United States about two weeks ago in Colorado and has since been identified in several other states. Evidence suggests that this variant can spread more easily than most currently circulating strains of COVID-19, but there is no evidence that the new strain affects the sensitivity of diagnostic tests or that it causes more severe illness or increased risk of death. In addition, data suggest current vaccines will be effective and safe in providing protection against the variant.

Embattled war hero Ben Roberts-Smith has publicly debuted his new relationship with his former employee, Sarah Matulin.

On Saturday, the 42-year-old cut a dapper figure as he sweetly held hands with the TV executive, 28, at the Magic Millions Race Day on the Gold Coast.

Ms Matulin was, until recently, an employee at Channel Seven - but Daily Mail Australia understands she recently decided to leave her role at the network to avoid any workplace conflict so their romance could continue.

Embattled war hero Ben Roberts-Smith has debuted his new relationship with his marketing executive girlfriend at the Magic Millions Race Day

At the event, a smitten Ms Matulin looked sophisticated and stunning in a one-shoulder floral mini-dress, which showed off her svelte frame and toned arms.

She teamed her ensemble with a statement pearl headband, and wore a dash of makeup to accentuate her striking features.

Meanwhile, Mr Roberts-Smith looked suave in a grey suit, teamed with a crisp white shirt and a black tie.

At the event, a smitten Ms Matulin looked sophisticated in a one-shoulder floral mini-dress, which showed off her svelte frame and toned arms

Mr Roberts-Smith is said to have taken Sarah home to Perth with him for Christmas, having first struck up a relationship after she joined Channel Seven in mid-2020.

The Victoria Cross recipient is general manager of the company's Queensland office.

Daily Mail Australia understands that Mr Roberts-Smith's bosses - including his close friend and Channel Seven's CEO Kerry Stokes - were informed about the burgeoning relationship last year.

She teamed her ensemble with a statement pearl headband, and wore a dash of makeup to accentuate her striking features

The TV executive finished her look with a pair of strappy stiletto heels, and carried a hot pink handbag by her side, while Mr Roberts-Smith looked suave in a grey suit teamed with a crisp white shirt and a black tie

Ms Matulin is understood to have left Channel Seven in mid-December to return to a Brisbane-based PR firm.

Despite being based in Brisbane, Ms Matulin did not report to Mr Roberts-Smith but rather to the company's head office in Sydney.

Sources close to the couple say that over recent months they have spent increasing amounts of time together.

He appeared to be in a good mood as he walked beside the blonde beauty, as the duo enjoyed their day at the races

Together they flew to Mr Roberts-Smith's hometown of Perth in late December and it is understood Ms Matulin joined him at his parents' home for Christmas.

Mr Roberts-Smith finalised his split from wife Emma in recent days, just weeks after the couple sold their sprawling country mansion.

The four-bedroom home where they raised their two daughters sold for more than $2million in a pre-auction deal in December.

Mr Roberts-Smith is said to have taken Sarah home to Perth with him for Christmas, having first struck up a relationship after she joined Channel Seven in mid-2020

Mr Roberts-Smith's marriage had faced numerous hurdles through the years, among them allegations of a tumultuous affair with a married woman.

In documents filed in the Federal Court she accused the 2.2 metres tall solider of assaulting her, and leaving her with a black eye.

The court heard claims last year that Mr Roberts-Smith asked his wife to lie after she found out about the affair.

Mr Roberts-Smith strongly denies the affair and assault allegations.

One of Australia's greatest modern war heroes, Mr Roberts-Smith is fighting war crimes allegations levelled against him by Nine Newspapers. He denies all claims made about his tours of Afghanistan

Mr Roberts-Smith, who is considered to be one of Australia's greatest modern war heroes, is fighting war crimes allegations levelled against him by Nine Newspapers.

He has denied any wrongdoing during his time in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Mr Roberts-Smith has launched defamation action against Nine and is being financially backed in part by Mr Stokes.

Mr Stokes' private investment company Australian Capital Equity has reportedly extended a $1.9million line of credit to Mr Roberts-Smith.

Mr Roberts-Smith split from wife Emma last year after a tumultuous relationship that included claims he had cheated

Daily Mail Australia understands that as the relationship intensified Mr Roberts-Smith made all the necessary disclosures to his bosses, including close friend and Channel Seven CEO Kerry Stokes (pictured). Mr Stokes is also financially backing Mr Roberts-Smith's defamation action

The former soldier has provided his Victoria Cross and other battlefield decorations including a Medal for Gallantry as security for the loan.

'The funding of his legal action is a private matter, however he has put his medals up as collateral on a loan and will relinquish them if required,' Mr Stokes said.

'If this eventuates, I will donate his medals with Ben's approval to the Australian War Memorial, as I have done so with other VCs and medals in the past.'

A report by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence released last year found credible information of an alleged 39 unlawful killings by special forces soldiers in Afghanistan, mostly by the SAS.

Mr Roberts-Smith has been linked to some of these alleged killings but denies any wrongdoing.

Victoria Cross recipient Mr Roberts-Smith and his ex-wife bought the property for $1.45 million in 2015, before making several extensions to the home, including adding a pool and poolhouse

Justice Paul Brereton recommended 36 matters involving 23 incidents and 19 individuals be referred to the Australian Federal Police for criminal investigation.

Despite those condemning him, Mr Roberts-Smith has his powerful supporters in the form of not only Mr Stokes, but also broadcasting legend Alan Jones.

Mr Jones recently told Daily Mail Australia he believed that despite the allegations made against the war hero would not be convicted.

'We've got an eminent VC who has been virtually persecuted,' Mr Jones said.

'They will never, ever find anything against him, Ben Roberts-Smith.

'(It's) appalling. But that matter's before the court. I can't say much more about that.

'Ben Roberts-Smith (is) an outstanding Australian. And Kerry Stokes I know has been very supportive of Ben Roberts-Smith and Kerry Stokes is an outstanding Australian as well.'

Mr Roberts-Smith and Ms Matulin have both been contacted for comment.
Elvis Presley may be The King these days, but back when he was first showing up on the scene, folks werent so sure. Specifically, upper-class white folks werent so sure. Many viewed the performer as something of a hillbilly, considering him uneducated, poor, and slovenly. Presley even experienced this sort of classist discrimination during his time in school, during which children mocked him for his musical interests.

Elvis Presley was mocked in school

Elvis Presley | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

RELATED: Ann-Margret Says Elvis Presley Wanted to Stay With Me

Elvis Presley was not born to wealthy parents. In fact his family was working class and multi-generational, often working as sharecroppers. They struggled with poverty frequently, and were religious folks.

Presley spent plenty of time attending church and local gospel groups. These helped inspire his interest in music, and he began learning to play the guitar at 11 years old. In fact, Presley often cited gospel quartets as some of his biggest musical inspirations.

When Presley was only ten years old, he performed in a talent contest. Too short to reach the mic, Presley stood on a chair and performed Old Shep. He won fifth prize, netting himself $5.00 in tickets to the fair.

Later, when Presley asked his parents to buy him a bicycle, they were able to convince him to go for a guitar instead  it was less expensive. Unfortunately, Presleys musical interests were not well-received by his classmates.

Children can be cruel, and Presleys peers often mocked and teased the performer for his preference for gospel and the blues. They often teased him as being trashy, and theres a story that his classmates once cut his guitar strings.

Some felt Elvis Presley was a hick or a hillbilly

Elvis Presley | Bettmann via Getty

As Elvis Presley began his rise to fame, many wealthier folks, especially upper-class white people, began to view him as a hick or a hillbilly due in large part to his humble origins, and again, because of his musical preferences.

Naturally, there was also a large racial element involved  much of the gospel and blues that Presley was drawn to originated with Black performers.

In White Trash: The 400-Year Untold history of Class in America, Nancy Isenberg addressed the way Presley was viewed early on.

In the early years, Elviss musical style was seen as a mixture between hillbilly singing and rhythm and blues, she wrote.

He was born into poverty in a shotgun shack situated in the wrong part of town. Yet when he put a guitar in his hand  he was at once seen as defying middle-class norms and behaving as a sort of hillbilly  well suited to his new home of Tennessee, she added.

Some were angry with his earnings

Elvis Presley | Keystone/Getty Images

There were upper-class folks who were angry at Elvis Presley for inverting peoples expectations of what wealth could look like.

Arkansas senator William Fulbright  complained that Elvis symbolized the class hierarchy turned upside down, wrote Isenberg.

Others felt scandalized by his hip gyrations and leg-shaking  in 1956, Judge Marion Gooding threatened to have Presley arrested after seeing his moves on stage.
Goa prepares to welcome the 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2021), in Panaji, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. (PTI)

Panaji: The glitz, glamour and star euphoria of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) was replaced by masks, sanitisers and limited attendance at the inaugural ceremony of the 51st edition of the movie gala here.

The coronavirus pandemic put a dent to IFFI last year, with the festival being pushed by two months from its regular November show.

The festival screens national and international films and hosts artistes from across the world, engaging in masterclasses and discussions throughout its nine-day run.

This year, the festival is having its first "hybrid mode" edition, where delegates can participate and watch films and events virtually.

While previous editions of the festival's opening hosted a cluster of stars, including Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Karan Johar, the 51st edition was a low-key affair.

The ongoing pandemic guidelines ensured that not more than 250 people were present at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, where the ceremony took place.

Noted Kannada film star Sudeep, actors Tisca Chopra, Manoj Joshi and filmmaker Priyadarshan were among those who attended the event from the film fraternity.

Bollywood stars like Ranveer Singh, Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Vidya Balan, Anupam Kher, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Aparshakti Khurrana virtually sent their best wishes for the festival.

Balan said the fact that IFFI has been held amid the pandemic proves the old film industry saying: "the show must go on."

"I am so glad that despite the pandemic and the trials the year has put us through, IFFI has been held with all safety precautions put in place. IFFI is an opportunity to watch the best of films.

"Even though I won't be there physically, I will be watching films on its OTT platform from the comfort of my home," the 42-year-old actor said in a video message.

Malayalam star Mohan Lal, in a video, said it has become "abundantly clear" that the internet is changing the way people experience and consume movies.

"I am sure the Goa film festival will explore, reinvent or reframe the film festival experience itself...This, perhaps, will be the new norm of interacting with film festivals, especially with the film-makers, actors and technicians from around the globe," he said.

Sudeep, who was the chief guest at the ceremony, said cinema has an incredible binding power which resonates with people across the world.

"Cinema is something that takes you around the world, gives you knowledge, gets you closer to the culture of the world. Let cinema be the new pandemic," the 47-year-old actor said.

The event was also attened by Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India, Mohammad Imran.

Bangladesh is the focus country at the 51st edition of the festival. The Country of Focus is a special segment that recognises the cinematic excellence and contributions of the country.

At the inaugural ceremony, Javadekar announced that the two countries are coming together to make a film titled "Bangabandhu".

Apart from this, the minister also inaugurated the NFDC Film Bazar, which will be held virtually.

Multiple Academy Award-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award at the ceremony.

Storaro, 80, is acclaimed for his work in films such as the 1970 drama "The Conformist", filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" and ''The Last Emperor", helmed by Bernardo Bertolucci.

The cinematographer, however, was not present at the event and instead thanked IFFI for the honour through a video message.

"This is an incredible honour. The visual journey I did, I couldn't have done alone. I owe a lot to my collaborators and great directors like Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Coppola, Carlos Oliveira and Woody Allen. They led me in a specific way, to use my language of light," he said in the video.

Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg's "Another Round, starring actor Mads Mikkelsen, opened the festival.

The film, which is Denmark's official entry for Oscars 2020, revolves around four weary high school teachers experimenting with the liberating effects of alcohol.

Vinterberg, who also could not be present at the opening, said the starting point of the film was a "pure celebration of alcohol, but it grew into a celebration of life."

A total of 224 films will be screened under different sections at the 51st edition, 15 of which will will compete for the Golden Peacock award.

The jury members of the festival include Argentina's Pablo Cesar, Prasanna Vithanage from Sri Lanka, Abu Bakr Shawky (Austria), Priyadarshan and Rubaiyat Hossain (Bangladesh).

Only Priyadarshan, however, was present at the ocassion.

The festival will also give homage to actors Irrfan Khan, Sushant Singh Rajput, Rishi Kapoor and Hollywood star Chadwick Boseman among 28 other artistes from the world cinema by showcasing their films.

"Saand Ki Aankh", directed by Tushar Hiranandani and featuring Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar, will be the opening movie for the Panorama section at the festival.

The festival is conducted jointly by the Directorate of Film Festivals (under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) and the state Government of Goa.

Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 02:10:30|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Friday that Britain will close all travel corridors to the country from 0400 GMT on Monday in a bid to keep out new coronavirus variants.

Britain "will temporarily close all travel corridors from 0400 on Monday," to "protect against the risk of as yet unidentified new strains", the prime minister said at a virtual press conference at Downing Street.

The new measure means that travellers entering the country must have proof of a negative COVID-19 test in previous 72 hours.

Anyone arriving in Britain must quarantine for 10 days or they have the choice of doing an extra test on day five to shorten the isolation, Johnson said.

"What we don't want to see is all that hard work undone by the arrival of a new variant that is vaccine busting," he said.

The prime minister made the remarks after Britain on Thursday banned arrivals from South America, Portugal and some other countries over fears about a strain of the virus detected in Brazil.

The new rules will be in place until at least Feb. 15, he said.

Meanwhile, Johnson said 3.2 million people across Britain have received vaccines.

He said that his government was stepping up the enforcement of travel quarantine rules at the border and in the country.

"It's precisely because we have the hope of that vaccine and the risk of new strains coming from overseas that we must take additional steps now to stop those strains from entering the country," he said.

The pressures on the National Health Service (NHS) are "extraordinary" and it would be "fatal" to show complacency now, he said.

"This is not the time for the slightest relaxation of our national resolve," Johnson said, urging the public to stay at home.

Joining Johnson for the press conference, Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty said the coronavirus infections may have already peaked in some regions of the country.

"We are seeing some levelling off" thanks to "enormous efforts" by Britons, he said.

However, he said the peak of deaths is likely to be in the future due to the delay in hospitalization.

The British government's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance also said the restriction measures in place must remain in place to suppress the figures.

England is currently under the third national lockdown since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Britain's coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number, is estimated at between 1.2 and 1.3, compared with last week's one and 1.4, the British government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said Friday.

If the R number is above one, it means the number of cases will increase exponentially.

According to SAGE, the R number varies in the country. It has gone down slightly in London, the South East and South West, as well as the North East and Yorkshire, but it has risen slightly in the East of England, Midlands and North West.

Another 55,761 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,316,019, according to official figures released Friday.

Another 1,280 have died within 28 days of a positive test. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 87,295, the data showed.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines. Enditem
The Liverpool building firm hired to lead Unite's 50million Birmingham development is now being probed as part of a police investigation into unconnected alleged bribery and corruption in Liverpool.

Unite hired the Flanagan Group to head the construction of its multi-million pound Birmingham complex with work beginning in 2015.

In 2019, the building firm's boss Paul Flanagan was arrested as part of Operation Aloft - a 15-month investigation looking into agreements between property developers and the council.

In December, Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson was arrested as part of Operation Aloft too.

How the asset-rich union came to give the contract to the family-run business over others starts with a ducks'-feet salesman turned project manager, an investigation by The Times claimed.

Gerry White - who amassed enormous wealth from lobster trading and selling ducks' feet to the Far East - set up Purple Apple Ltd in 2004.

The company became the property manager of the Transport and General Workers' Union in 2005 before it merged with another union to become Unite two years later.

Last year, Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson (pictured) was arrested as part of Operation Aloft - a 15-month investigation looking into agreements between property developers and the council

Gerry White (left) - who amassed enormous wealth from lobster trading and selling ducks' feet to the Far East - set up Purple Apple Ltd in 2004. Len McCluskey (right) - a dock's worker-turned unionist - took on the role of General Secretary of Unite in January 2011

The decision to appoint Purple Apple in the key role was not made by the TGWU's then-leader Tony Woodley - who was according to The Times an 'old acquaintance' of Mr White - nor by any other member of its executive council alone, Unite claim.

Unite brought in Purple Apple Management, as project manager, and the Flanagan Group - lead by Paul Flanagan (pictured) - as its contractor on the 50million Birmingham project

Purple Apple instead had to do a presentation to the executive council - along with several other companies.

In 2008, Purple Apple was described as property manager for Unite publicly.

The Times claims Mr Woodley had lived for some time in a London flat in a building subsequently purchased by Mr White's company.

It was in that year that Mr White died - aged just 64 - therefore ended Purple Apple's relationship with Unite.

Mr White's former-business partner Mike Ryder took over, forming a new company called Purple Apple Management Ltd.

Len McCluskey - a dock worker-turned unionist - took on the role of General Secretary of Unite in January 2011.

Unite announced plans for a new national training centre in Birmingham and in 2012, the cost of the project was expected to be around 7million and plans included a national conference centre, training and education facilities and a hotel.

But a deal fell through in November the following year - after a formal offer was made by the union.

Sources reportedly told The Times that Unite wanted to use Purple Apple Management - which had an average of four employees per year since 2010 - as its project manager, instead of the council's own developer.

Unite were reportedly warned that Purple Apple Management did not have the necessary resources for a project of this size.

But the union disputes this, instead claiming the first site fell through because Unite would have to share ownership of the building once it is completed, claiming it would have been 'a bad investment for the union'.

The Birmingham development's estimated cost hit 35million by 2015 - and was reportedly 50million by December the following year. The project (pictured) was completed in 2020

A nearby alternative site was proposed and Unite brought in Purple Apple Management, as project manager, and the Flanagan Group - lead by Paul Flanagan - as its contractor.

The Flanagan group - which has also completed construction work for Unite in Swansea, Stoke and Liverpool after Mr McCluskey became general secretary - was appointed in the Birmingham project after a comprehensive tendering process, the union claims.

The company's website contains a glowing testimonial attributed to Unite, in which the union apparently describes the Flanagan Group as 'our go-to firm for the maintenance and modernisation of Unite premises across the UK'.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson (pictured) was sensationally arrested in December along with his son David

But Unite said it was false to suggest that 'the Flanagan Group is somehow a preferred contractor'.

One of the other 40 sub-contractors on the Birmingham project was Safety Support Consultants - a Liverpool company headed by the son of the city's mayor Joe Anderson.

David Anderson's firm was brought in by Purple Apple to make sure the project complied with health and safety requirements.

The development's estimated cost hit 35million by 2015 - and was reportedly 50million by December the following year. It was completed in 2020.

Mr Flanagan was arrested in September 2019 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit bribery as part of Operation Aloft - Merseyside police investigation into alleged fraudulent building contracts.

He has since been released and the Flanagan group is one of the Liverpool firms being investigated - along with several others.

Operation Aloft is not connected to the Unite contracts.

Mr Anderson was sensationally arrested in December along with his son David.

He was suspended from the Labour Party, prompting immediate calls for him to resign as mayor.

Mr Anderson - who maintains his innocence - announced later that month that he will taking 'unpaid leave' from his position while the investigation into him continues.

Derek Hatton - the former Trotskyist deputy leader of Liverpool City Council - was also arrested as part of the investigation and was held on suspicion of witness intimidation. All three have been released on bail

Derek Hatton - the former Trotskyist deputy leader of Liverpool City Council - was also arrested as part of the investigation and was held on suspicion of witness intimidation. All three have been released on bail.

Flanagan Group is one of several Liverpool construction companies being investigated under Operation Aloft.

No Unite contracts awarded to Flanagan Group - nor the one given to Safety Support Consultants by Purple Apple - is connected to the Operation Aloft investigation and there is no suggestion of any criminal wrongdoing in the union's dealings with either company.

A Unite spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The reports in The Times are an extremely crude attempt to smear Unite and its leadership through a disgraceful attempt at guilt-by-association.

'They attempt to create an impression of a connection between Unite and the criminal investigations taking place in the City of Liverpool on the basis of what even the newspaper is forced to admit is no evidence whatsoever.

Mr Anderson (pictured) - who maintains his innocence - announced later that month that he will taking 'unpaid leave' from his position while the investigation into him continues

'There is absolutely no link between the union or any of its officials with those investigations. Merely coming from Merseyside is not an offence.

'The reports are riddled with inaccuracies concerning the construction of Unite's education, hotel and office facility in Birmingham and they include figures that are wildly erroneous, presented without source or verification.

'The facility in Birmingham also contains a 1000-capacity state of the art conference centre.

'Independent auditors have confirmed that the hotel, education and conference centre is as an asset to the union to the value of the union's investment.

'At every stage of this project there have been clear and consistent tendering requirements, with progress reported regularly to the union's Executive Council.

'Unite's Birmingham complex is a world-class facility, built to the highest standards using unionised workers and it will help to regenerate a derelict area of England's second city.

'Those who seek to misrepresent this project do so to advance their own agenda relating to the election for General Secretary which will take place this year. They have an established disregard for the truth.

'Unite is focused solely on protecting its members during the current pandemic crisis.

'It does so effectively because its financial strength and democratic governance is second to none in the trade union movement.'
Mumbai: TV actors Kamya Panjabi, Prince Narula, Devoleena Bhattacharjee and Himanshi Khurana on Saturday expressed their grief over the untimely demise of Bigg Boss talent manager Pista Dhakad. Dhakad, 25, died on Friday after her scooter slipped near Film City Road in suburban Mumbai and she was crushed under a van.

Several actors, including former Bigg Boss contestants took to social media to offer their condolences to the departed soul. Narula remembered Dhakad as a positive personality. You reside in our heart in a way that it seemed we knew you since childhood. I havent seen a positive person like you. Someone who always wanted good of everyone and who used to always stay happy, he posted on Instagram. Recalling his last meeting with Dhakad, he said, We didnt know that the Goa trip that you, Yuvika and I took would be our last together. No one can fill your void in our industry and our life. Love you always. Bhattacharjee said she was shocked with the news.

What the he** is going on i have no clueOh god pista i have no words to express my grief the painpistu we spoke just last night..i love you baby..Life is indeed a b**** and unpredictableRest in peace my girl..I am going to miss you my pista badamCondolences and strength to her family & friends, she wrote. Khurana posted a picture of Dhakad with Bigg Boss host, superstar Salman Khan, on photo-video sharing website and wrote, Life is uncertain. P.S. Talent manager of Bigg Boss, she said. Punjabi shared Dhadkads photo and remebered her as a bright girl.

Rest in Peace sweetheart #pistadhakad, she wrote. Yuvika Chaudhary, Shenaz Gill, Jasmin Bhasin too offered their condolences.
SUV

Coming courtesy of Kolesa.ru , the following rendering has left me intrigued for all the wrong reasons. Based on the 2+2 fastback coupe that I greatly dislike because its an abomination in comparison to the fixed-head coupe and soft-top convertible, the design study is a what if of sorts.What if the first-ever Jaguarcame out in the 1960s instead of 2016, the year the F-Pace rolled out to great critical acclaim and commercial success? As opposed to the contemporary model, the E-Type SUV may not have been received too well because sporty SUVs werent a thing back then.The 1935 Chevrolet Carryall Suburban can be considered as the starting point for utility vehicles, the 1961 International Harvester Scout paved the way for off-roaders that werent based on military vehicles, and the 1966 Ford Bronco set the stage for modern SUVs such as the 1983 Jeep Cherokee.We also have to remember that 1960s United Kingdom wasnt all that interested in SUVs. There is, however, an exception in the guise of the Land Rover, which is heavily inspired by the Willys MB Military Jeep from World War II. Last, but certainly not least, Jaguars straight-six engine wouldnt be suitable with a two-speed transfer case and four-wheel drive.Even the 5.3-liter V12 introduced in 1971 with the Series III is a notoriously problematic powerplant, and mechanical issues would only be exacerbated by Lucas electrics. As such, the rendering before your eyes would have made no sense at all six decades ago when the E-Type was launched.While on the subject of SUVs, the Leaping Cat has three to its name at the present moment. The F-Pace was followed by the E-Pace and I-Pace in 2017 and 2018, and Jaguar doesnt plan to stop here. Expected to share its platform and all-electric powertrain with the all-new XJ, the J-Pace may be revealed this year as Jaguar's new flagship utility vehicle.
Reporter

Heather Bellow, a member of the investigations team, joined The Eagle in 2017. She is based in the South Berkshire County bureau in Great Barrington. Her work has appeared in newspapers across the U.S.
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A civilian who was shot multiple times when a Newport News Police SUV was ambushed in August 2019 has filed a claim with the city  asserting that police should not have put her in such a dangerous situation.

Attorneys for Macy Raquel Hooper say the police department was careless in allowing her to ride along with an officer as police attempted to surround and capture a man who had killed his wife only two hours earlier.

Unlike the police officers on the scene, the notice contends, Hooper was not provided a bullet-resistant vest, and she suffers lifelong injuries as a result.

As a result of the shooting and negligence of the City of Newport News and the City of Newport News Police Department, Ms. Hooper sustained significant permanent injuries from multiple gunshot wounds, said the notice of claim that Fairfax attorney Robert Somer sent to City Attorney Collins L. Owens Jr. in February 2020.

A lawsuit has not been filed, and no settlement has been reached.

Somer declined to comment, saying he was notified by email Friday afternoon that the case is being transferred at Hoopers request to a Washington, D.C., law firm, Kalbian Hagerty LLP.

Newport News Senior Deputy City Attorney Darlene Bradberry also declined to comment Friday.

But one factor thats likely to work against Hoopers claim is that she signed what appears to be a comprehensive liability waiver before getting into the police SUV as part of the police departments civilian ride along program.

I acknowledge that law enforcement is an inherently dangerous and unpredictable activity, and that the City and its employees and agents, including police officers whom I accompany, are not insurers of my safety, the waiver reads in part.

I ... acknowledge and accept the risks of my decision to accompany one or more police officers during their work which may include unexpected events and occurrences, danger and serious risks, including but not limited to: emergency or high speed pursuits, and confrontations with violent and/or armed citizens.

Story continues

With full knowledge of the above, the waiver adds, I hereby voluntarily assume all risk of loss, damage, or injury to me and my property, including death, which may be sustained while I am a passenger in any city vehicle.

Man shoots and kills wife

The incident began at 3:35 p.m. on Aug. 17, 2019, when Chandra Eason Uzzle, 35, was sitting in her Mercedes in a shopping center outside Kiln Creek.

Thats when a man walked up to her car and shot her five times, causing her to crash into some nearby bushes and leaving her dead at the steering wheel.

About 10 minutes later, Hooper  then a 21-year-old James Madison University student from Culpeper County interested in a policing career  was checking in at the Police Departments South Precinct station on Jefferson Avenue.

Hooper had been previously approved for the ride along program, in which civilians ride with officers during a standard shift to experience the job. She was assigned to ride with Patrol Officer Robert Stewart.

At no point prior to leaving the station was Ms. Hooper advised about the brutal murder only 30 minutes earlier, nor was she provided with any protective body armor, the attorneys letter said.

Meantime, detectives investigating Chandra Uzzles slaying near Kiln Creek were viewing surveillance video from a gas nearby gas station. They determined that Chandras husband, 34-year-old Jerome Michael Uzzle, shot his wife several times before fleeing in a green Chrysler 300 sedan.

Dispatchers issued a be on the lookout for that car.

Another police officer, Stephen McKinley, tracked down Uzzles prior address in the 4700 block of Madison Avenue. Thats in the Cottage Grove Apartments, off Jefferson Avenue and south of Briarfield Road. McKinley spotted the car in front of the home just before 5 p.m.

I was advised not to approach the vehicle and for other responding officers to set up a perimeter around Cottage Grove, McKinley wrote in a report, saying he parked on a cross street within view of the car.

Stewart  with Hooper in the passenger seat  also showed up, parking his SUV in the 700 block of Peninsula Drive. Thats on an opposite cross street, about 125 yards from Uzzles home.

Officer, civilian wounded

But at 5:26 p.m., a gunman walked up behind them.

Uzzle approached the drivers side window of Stewarts marked police vehicle and fired multiple rounds from his 9mm firearm into the vehicle, Chief Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Valerie Spencer Muth wrote in a June report.

McKinley said he heard up to six shots, with Stewart then coming over the police radio to say that both he and the ride along were both hit.

Though wounded, Stewart was able to return two shots from his service weapon before it misfired and became inoperable, Muths report says.

Another police officer, Branden Kidder, was parked around the corner and saw the shooting. He drove closer, Muth wrote, and opened fire on the armed suspect as soon as he exited his police vehicle.

Uzzle was hit twice as he ran, then fell to the ground. He died a few hours later at Riverside Regional Medical Center.

Stewart and Hooper both sustained serious injuries, Muth said. Officers took Hooper out of the SUV and placed her on the ground, so police could assist her prior to the medics arriving, the prosecutor wrote in an email Friday.

They were both taken to Riverside. Stewart was released four days later, while Hooper was released about three days after that.

Hoopers lawyer said she was shot multiple times  in the throat, abdomen, pelvis and arm.

She will require a great deal of medical care in the future, Somer wrote. Ms. Hooper is pursuing a claim for compensatory damage based on these significant injuries.

During a news conference the day after the shooting, Police Chief Steve Drew spoke of the ambush style attack, saying Stewart and the civilian he identified only as Macy are still with us by the grace of God.

The following week, Drew, along with Mayor McKinley Price and City Manager Cindy Rohlf, visited Stewart and Hooper in the hospital. When they visited Stewart, Drew said, the officer was joking around and in good spirits.

But Hoopers wounds were more serious. When they got to her room, Drew said, she was out of her bed and walking down the hospital hallways. Seeing that, he said, caused him to get choked up.

Hooper asked him how Stewart was doing, the chief said. That speaks of her character, the way she was brought up, Drew said at the time. She is progressing, and she is smiling ... and to see her up and moving around, I could not be happier. She is a real fighter.

Civilian signed waiver

On Friday, Drew declined to comment about Hoopers claim because of the potential litigation, and he would not talk about changes hes made to the ride along program to better keep the civilians out of harms way.

Hoopers new attorney, Michelle Douglas of Kalbian Hagerty, said Friday that shes just getting involved in the case and could not immediately comment.

It wasnt clear how Hoopers attorneys plan to get around the liability waiver that Hooper signed not long after she arrived at the Police Departments South Precinct station at about 3:45 p.m. that day.

On the back of the form  under the Rules of Conduct  is a list of all kinds of hazards of policing. Among the listed risks: Being shot.

Duties which involve emergencies or danger will not be avoided because you are present, the statement said. While every effort will be made to ensure your safety, the officers first responsibility will be to carry out his or her assigned duties. Please be aware that in riding along, you have assumed the risk of becoming injured or even killed.

A police department policy says the ride along program is designed to give citizens a chance to see firsthand the day-to-day activities of a Newport News police officer.

The goal is to give police and residents a chance to get to know each other, to educate the community about police work, and to give those interested in a law enforcement career an opportunity to examine the job.

Changes in policy

Under the police departments ride along policy at the time of the August 2019 shooting, officers will make every effort to ensure the safety of ride along participants and not expose them to unnecessary serious risks or danger, with the civilians not allowed to engage or assist in police activities.

But the city has now changed some of the language in a bid to improve civilian safety.

In October 2019  two months after the ambush  the rules were changed to mandate that civilian ride alongs will be provided with body armor, and are required to wear this vest for the period of your ride along.

Moreover, civilians can ask to get out of the car, and the officer or his chain of command can send another car to pick them up. Should an emergency or unsafe conditions arise, the Host Officer has the final authority to direct you to stay inside the vehicle or allow you to leave, the statement says.

Also under the new language, officers with ride along civilians will not engage in pursuits, or several other listed police actions.

Officers should use sound discretion before entering a potentially dangerous situation, the new language says. If a question arises as to whether the ride along should continue, the officer should contact their first line supervisor for a determination.

Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16)  The government is calling for medical volunteers who would want to help out in the implementation of the World Health Organization Solidarity trial in the country.

We really need the support of as many people as possible especially itong ating mga [our] nurses, Jaime Montoya, executive director of the DOST- Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, said on Saturday.

Montoya also noted that around 20 trial teams will be deployed for the said program that will be composed of medical professionals like doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and medical technologists.

The WHO solidarity vaccine trial in the country will involve 15,000 volunteers aged 18 to 59 years old to determine which COVID-19 vaccine is the most effective to be used for the public. The Philippines and Colombia are the first countries to start its implementation.

Earlier, Dr. Nina Gloriani, head of the DOSTs vaccine expert panel, said the Solidarity vaccine trial in the country may start by early or mid-January, which was originally scheduled in October

Montoya also presented a list of sites in where this will be conducted.

Montoya said they are still waiting for the final protocols from the WHO as they look for more individuals to join the trial in coordination with local government units.
A close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Friday hes hopeful the Biden administration will roll back a cruel sanctions policy and instead give room for diplomacy that could lead to the reopening of the U.S. Embassy and the release of several jailed American citizens.

Jorge Rodriguezs comments came in his first interview since taking the helm of Venezuelas National Assembly over strong protests from the U.S., European Union and domestic opponents.

Rodriguez, extending an olive branch to the incoming U.S. president, said the ruling socialist party is eager for a new start after four years of endless attacks by the Trump administration that he believes not only exacerbated suffering among Venezuelans and failed to unseat Maduro but also punished U.S. investors who historically have been important in the OPEC nation.

All points and all issues are on the table, he said, including the future of six Venezuelan-American oil executives arrested on corruption charges and two former Green Berets caught in a failed attempt to overthrow Maduro.

Its unclear if the Biden administration will accept the overture or continue with the hardline policy of regime change it inherits. A lot hinges on its treatment of Juan Guaido, head of the outgoing congress, whom the Trump administration recognizes as Venezuelas rightful leader.

Past attempts at government dialogue with the opposition have failed to end the countrys stalemate and Maduro has tightened his grip on power. In the meantime, theres no end in sight to an economic crisis that has sent millions fleeing and those left behind lacking basic goods, including gasoline, in a country sitting atop the worlds largest oil reserves.

Rodriguez refused to endorse calls from his red-shirted supporters to jail Guaido and instead said hes willing to talk to the 37-year-old former head of the National Assembly.

This new National Assembly is taking the broadest approach possible toward dialogue, said Rodriguez from the neoclassical legislature in the heart of Caracas.

But he warned that talks would only succeed if Guaido and his allies seek forgiveness for plotting to overthrow Maduro and for backing foreign government freezes on Venezuelan oil assets that he said have harmed regular Venezuelans amid a pandemic.

If you resort to amnesia while launching a reconciliation process, you run the risk that these events did not happen, said Rodriguez, a psychologist by training. You run the risk of grave situations reoccurring.

Rodriguez, 55, was among candidates loyal to Maduro who won more than 90% of the seats in a Dec. 6 election boycotted by Guaido and the major opposition parties. The United States, the European Union and several Latin American neighbors rejected the election as a undemocratic after several parties were barred from running. Turnout was a paltry 31%, the lowest in years.

Nonetheless, Rodriguez rejected criticism that he was leading a rubber-stamp legislature  the final branch of Venezuelas government that had been out of the ruling partys grasp before the recent vote.

As National Assembly president, Rodriguez is second in the line of presidential succession, behind his younger sister, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. The two are among Maduros most stalwart civilian supporters, their leftist credentials burnished from an early age when their father, a Socialist League activist, died in 1976 in police custody after having been tortured.

In his first days on the job, Rodriguez approved a special commission to punish those responsible for what the government considers crimes against Venezuela, which critics say is a ruse to target opponents. He said they included efforts to block the Maduro governments access to $2 billion gold held in a London bank and control of U.S.-based Citgo oil refineries, the nations largest foreign asset.

But he has also made an appeal for dialogue  a doubtful prospect given the failure of past attempts at negotiation, sponsored by Norway and the Vatican, which Rodriguez led on behalf of the Maduro government.

Rodriguez's loyalty to the Bolivarian revolution has come at a cost. In 2018 he was sanctioned by the Trump administration as a key player in Maduro's inner circle.

Rodriguez previously served as vice president to the late President Hugo Chavez among a long list of job titles, including mayor of Caracas, head of the electoral council and minister of communications under Maduro.

As Maduro's unofficial agitator in chief, with a gift for speaking admired by friends and foes alike, he's often just off camera in the president's frequent appearances on state TV. In his new job he's expected to remain at the forefront of bitter relations with the United States as President-elect Joe Biden takes office and charts his own foreign policy.

Analysts say Biden has limited options to undo crippling oil sanctions imposed as part of Trumps maximum pressure campaign. But the failure of the hardline policy to unseat the South American leader could leave space for diplomacy.

The U.S. and Venezuela broke ties in 2019 shortly after the White House recognized Guaido as Venezuelas rightful president., arguing that Maduro's recent reelection had been invalid. Both nations immediately withdrew their diplomats and the hillside U.S. Embassy in Caracas remains closed.

Rodriguez said he hopes to reach an understanding with the U.S., one that benefits not only Venezuelans but U.S. oil companies and American bondholders who've lost billions as a result of a freeze on any business dealings with the Maduro government.

We want what Venezuela has historically always done with the United States: good business, he said.

But reaching that goal requires buy-in from Biden.

In what may be a sign theres no rush to change course, the president-elect has invited Guaidos envoy in Washington, Carlos Vecchio, to attend his inauguration, according to the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington. Bidens transition team declined to comment.

The entire world is waiting out the hours for when the new president assumes the office in the United States, Rodriguez said. We hope that includes abandoning what's has been so harmful to the people of Venezuela and completely unproductive.

___

Goodman reported from Miami.

Follow Smith on Twitter: @ScottSmithAP

Follow Goodman on Twitter: @APJoshGoodman
Axios

While Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) was out of state at a conference, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R) issued an executive order Thursday banning mask mandates in school and public buildings, AP reports.Why it matters: Little never issued a statewide mask mandate, but there have been some in counties, cities and schools. McGeachin announced last week she was running for governor, challenging Little who has only served one term, and her order could appeal to far-right voters in the state.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Little's office told AP that McGeachin did not tell the governor about the order in advance. Throughout the pandemic, Gov. Little has been committed to protecting the health and safety of the people of Idaho and has emphasized the importance of Idahoans choosing to protect our neighbors and loved ones and keeping our economy and schools open, Little spokesperson Marissa Morrison saidBackground: In March, McGeachin participated in an anti-mask protest, the Washington Post reported, and she suggested last year that the pandemic may or may not be occurring."According to AP, Idaho has recorded more than 190,000 cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic and roughly 2,000 deaths.What she's saying: Ive been listening to people all across the state with the concern about, especially, why are little kids being forced to wear masks in school, McGeachin told AP.My oath to the Constitution is to protect those rights and freedoms of the individual, and Ive never supported any type of a mandate on the individual, especially when it comes to health care choices.McGeachin said she had contracted the virus in 2019 and now has a "natural immunity," per AP.Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order banning mask mandates, not face masks. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free
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JERUSALEM  The Jan. 6 storming of the United States Capitol Building by activists and rioters is being used as a justification by Big Tech companies to declare themselves the sole arbiters of truth and to constrain the ability of other voices  particularly conservative voices  to make their case.

This is wrong and is a dangerous overreach by the leading Big-Tech companies.

Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have claimed for years to be neutral and open platforms  not publishers, not editors, not arbiters of the truth.

Until now.

Although President Donald Trump released a video condemning the attack in the halls of Congress, it wasnt enough for Silicon Valley. The Big Tech leaders have issued their own overreaching verdict. They banned the president of the United States from publishing his views and statements on Facebook and Twitter.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, stated on Jan. 7 that Trump was banned indefinitely from Facebook to prevent the use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.

Twitter followed several days later on Jan. 9 and announced a permanent suspension of Trumps @realDonaldTrump twitter account, citing risk of further incitement of violence.

Lets be clear, the breaking into of the Capitol Building by an angry and violent mob was a very serious crime, and all those who were directly involved in breaching the Capitol should be arrested and prosecuted. But let's also keep in mind that the attack involved a relatively small number of Americans. Thus, the punishment should fit the crime.

Instead, Big Tech is exhibiting excessive force. It is overreaching in its response to Trump. The mainstream media often uses the phrase excessive force when describing the Israeli armys response to missile fire from Gaza on Israeli cities. I havent heard yet excessive force in the mainstream medias reporting on this weeks events.

This overreach by Big Tech is a dangerous and hypocritical precedent, not just for the U.S., but for all countries, including Israel.

Ill get to the hypocrisy in a moment. First, the danger.

Many Israeli politicians including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Yair Lapid communicate in Hebrew to the Israeli public through Facebook posts. Will Facebook executives suddenly decide one day soon to ban Israeli politicians from speaking to their people on their platform if they dont like what Israeli leaders have to say?

What if there is an illegal and deadly riot in Israel in response to a speech by an Israeli politician? Will Facebook impose a ban on that leader?

The free speech implications for the U.S.  a nation of 320 million people  are chilling enough. How much more for a small country of less than 10 million? Should faceless executives in Silicon Valley be able to silence the voices of free citizens and democratically-elected leaders around the world?

Now, heres the hypocrisy.

Neither Facebook nor Twitter have permanently banned Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from their platforms, even though Khamenei actively and repeatedly calls for the destruction of Israel and incites violence against the U.S., Israel and other nations in the Middle East. Why not? Is it not a massive overreach to ban a democratically-elected leader from social media, yet allow the leader of the worlds most dangerous terrorist state to keep voicing his hateful messages on these platforms?

Here's the problem. The Big-Tech leaders in Silicon Valley believe it is their job to deem what is good speech and what is bad speech and how seriously to deal with (or ignore) offenders. They also believe it is their job to determine which information you should have and not have access to.

But how do they decide? What moral compass do they use to determine? In this modern age of diversity and free thinking, do we really believe it is right that the powers that be who run Big-Tech, the mainstream media, and all social media platforms to force their worldview on you and me? Are we really comfortable letting Big-Tech silence every fact and every view they dont like?

That said, silencing Trump apparently wasnt enough for Big Tech.



This article was originally postedhere.
After four years of turbulence, this could be a year for rebuilding trans-Atlantic diplomatic ties.

The new U.S. president brings to the job long experience in European relations, and a nominee for secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, who is deeply knowledgeable about the Continent as well. The policy priorities of the incoming president, compared with the stated goals of his predecessor, also are more closely aligned with those of Americas traditional European allies.

President-elect Joe Bidens senior advisers make clear that they believe Donald Trumps unilateralism was a failure, and they are signaling that they want to work with allies and partners in Europe to deal with common threats.

U.S. plans that are likely to be applauded by European governments include rejoining the Paris climate-change accord, and attending the U.N.-affiliated climate summit in November in Glasgow. Mr. Biden is also expected to reassert U.S. support for collective defense inside the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which has been the cornerstone of the 30-nation trans-Atlantic alliance, over which Mr. Trump cast doubt.

European officials are hopeful Washington will re-engage with an agreement among allies to curb Irans nuclear programan agreement from which Mr. Trump withdrewand to pursue a possible wider framework to deal with other Iranian activities the allies believe are a threat to Middle East security.

On trade, given the incoming administrations domestic concerns, such as Covid-19 and a weak economy, nobody expects free-trade deals to be a U.S. priority. But it should be possible for Washington and Brussels to de-escalate conflicts that were ramped up in the Trump years and to ease some practical obstacles to trade.

Europe has never had a more sympathetic White House or one so convinced of the need to work with allies. We need to seize the day," says Anthony Gardner, a former American ambassador to the European Union who supported Mr. Bidens campaign.

The world has changed significantly in the four years since a Democrat last occupied the White House. Chinas rise has continued. The U.K., traditionally Americas closest European ally, has left the EU. And Angela Merkel, Germanys leader since 2005, is preparing to leave the political stage.

President Trumps attacks on the EU and on Germany, Europes economic engine, have left their mark. A survey in November by Germanys Korber Stiftung think tank showed that 91% of Germans believed that trans-Atlantic relations had worsened in the past four years; 78% said they believed relations could normalize under President Biden.

During the Trump years, questions arose about the reliability of the U.S. as a European ally due to Mr. Trumps nationalistic interpretation of where U.S. interests lay. While Mr. Trumps was not the first U.S. administration to pressure European governments to spend more on their defense, Mr. Trump hinted that the U.S. support against external aggression would hinge on their doing so. The Biden White House, too, is expected to continue to put pressure on Europe to take on more of the security burden, though it is likely to put on hold Mr. Trumps plans to withdraw 12,000 troops from Germany.

There is a debate in Europe that wasnt there with the Obama administration: How fundamentally has the U.S. changed? Is Biden the last gasp of the way the U.S. used to operate?" says Ivo Daalder, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a former U.S. ambassador to NATO.

The relative discord during the Trump years revived talk in European capitals, led by Paris, that the Continent should seek its own strategic autonomy" on the world stage. What that will mean in practice, if anything, isnt yet clear.

Volker Ruhe, a former German defense minister, points out that Europeans live next to Russia and so cant defend themselves without the U.S. But, he says, There is no doubt Europe has to play a bigger role within the alliance."

And that, Mr. Ruhe says, will hinge on Germany doing something it has never done: playing its proper role as the EUs largest conventional power.

Prospects for this might retreat further, he says, if, as seems likely, Germanys Christian Democratic Party goes into coalition with the Greens to run the country following federal elections in September. If that happens, in practice, it will be very difficult to do the necessary kind of things to make Germany a fair partner" with the U.S., Mr. Ruhe says.

Divisions in trans-Atlantic alliances also could arise in newer areas, such as the challenge China poses to the West. The EU last month struck an investment agreement with Chinaeven after senior figures in Mr. Bidens team urged Brussels to hold off.

Mr. Daalder says the new administrations approach to China is likely to shift from the unrelenting confrontation" of the Trump years toward what he called competitive coexistence," a stance that may be fairly close to Europes emerging view of Beijing.

Jake Sullivan, named as Mr. Bidens national security adviser, has said the U.S. will hold talks with its allies to discuss a host of Chinese issues, including trade abuses and forced labor, harmful environmental practices, technology, human rights and Chinese military expansionism.

In foreign affairs, China will be priority No. 1" for the new administration, says Mr. Gardner, the former EU ambassador. If allies matter, they need to matter on China," he says.

Europe should also demonstrate that working together more broadly can yield tangible benefits to both sides, Mr. Gardner says. Both tariffs and non-tariff obstacles to trade should be on the table, he says.

Current irritants include the long-running Boeing-Airbus trade dispute and tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Additional discussions, through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, are likely to resolve a looming dispute over European taxation of U.S. digital giants.

The new administration is also expected to unblock efforts to find a new head of the World Trade Organization and to allow new judges to be appointed to revive the WTOs dispute-settlement procedures.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

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COVID-19 vaccines first arrived in Manitoba a month ago, and since then the province has consistently sat near the back of the pack in using the doses its received.

COVID-19 vaccines first arrived in Manitoba a month ago, and since then the province has consistently sat near the back of the pack in using the doses its received.

By this weekend, Alberta is expected to have given first doses to all long-term care and supported-living residents. Quebec is a few days behind.

It will take Manitoba about a month to reach that threshold.

Both those provinces show how Manitoba can ramp up, by automating booking systems and bending the timeline for second doses.

Alberta beefs up

As of Wednesday, Alberta had administered 97 per cent of the doses it has received, compared with roughly 40 per cent of Manitoba doses.

Whats helped is a centralized system, resulting from the controversial, gradual merger of all regional health authorities into one body, Alberta Health Services, in 2009.

Dr. Cheri Nijssen-Jordan, who co-leads Albertas vaccine task force, said the central agency created a transportation plan that ensured local areas got doses and vaccination supplies, and had started local priority lists.

Alberta started off among the slowest to get immunizations started, phoning workers who deal with COVID-19 patients in hospital wards, and calling in care-home staff to get immunized.

An online booking system launched Jan. 4, sending email invitations to health-care workers to schedule an appointment near their workplace. Alberta quickly outpaced other provinces.

"Once the decisions are made, it's easier to scale up," said Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of Alberta.

"I actually think (this pace) will be quite sustainable," she said.

AHS sent out invitations using staff lists maintained by hospitals and medical colleges.

"People don't tend to keep up with their contact information very well, so it can be very difficult doing the directed-invitation method," Nijssen-Jordan said.

Manitoba has an inverse process, in which officials ask workplaces to let staff know theyre eligible for a vaccine, giving them a number to call to register for an appointment. That meant hours-long wait times, which have now been reduced to 10 or 15 minutes; an online booking system is in the works.

"You can see arguments for either method," Saxinger said, though she wonders if Manitobas phone-in method leaves room for interpretation on the other end of the line.

Like many other provinces, Alberta has published a schedule of its first phases of vaccine rollout, instead of Manitoba's approach of expanding criteria in gradual drips, such as adding a profession or expanding age ranges by one year.

For example, Manitoba last week added "home-care workers employed by (a) family managed care client" to its eligibility list, meaning people in that field will have to call and convince health staff they fit that criteria.

"The toughest part will be in arranging the rollout through the priority groups in an efficient way. I think that's going to be a bigger challenge than actually putting the needles into arms," Saxinger said.

Nijssen-Jordan said the scarcity of doses imposes a huge burden of trying to prioritize the right people, instead of having enough doses to simply start going by birthdate. "Vaccine supply has been the real bottleneck," she said.

Alberta pharmacists will soon be helping at vaccination clinics, an idea Manitoba is still only considering at its Winnipeg, Brandon and Thompson "super sites."

But its worth noting that Manitoba is attracting notice from other provinces for its rapid immunization training, an eight-hour course provided by Red River College that teaches people how to administer injections and monitor people for adverse reactions.

Quebec pulls out the stops

The first person in Canada to get a vaccine was 89-year-old long-term care home resident Gisele Levesque. The Pfizer vaccine had arrived from Belgium to a rural Quebec airport the night before, was driven three hours away, prepared and loaded into syringes before noon.

COVID-19 has hit Quebec harder than any other province, and officials wasted no time in getting doses into the arms of the most vulnerable.

They stationed cold-storage freezers inside long-term care homes in as many regions of the province as they could  particularly those with large, ongoing outbreaks. Doses were stored in hospitals only in areas where care homes werent large enough for a freezer.

Unlike Quebec, most provinces chose to start with health-care workers. Manitoba began its personal care-home vaccination program four weeks after the first doses arrived, arguing it needed to prioritize hospital staff to ensure the health system didnt collapse.

"In Quebec the immediate benefit is to save people from dying," said Benoit Masse, a public-health professor at Universite de Montreal.

Gisele Levesque, an 89-year-old resident at the CHSLD Saint-Antoine senior's home, was the first Canadian to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. (Handout - National Capital Integrated University Centre of Health and Social Services / The Canadian Press files)

Surgically targeting care homes has allowed public-health staff to go from room to room, sanitizing their gear between clients. They finish a care home in a day or two and then deploy to another one nearby.

That speed has meant that by next week, all personal care-home residents should have their first dose, something that won't likely be achieved here for another month.

Only when this phase is done will Quebec open their large-scale walk-in sites similar to the big Winnipeg and Brandon clinics, where health-care workers have received their first vaccination shots.

Quebec has also boosted its vaccination rate by deciding  in a controversial move that conflicts with manufacturers' guidelines  to delay booster-shot injections.

"We can get an immediate benefit from using all the doses, because we are in the middle of a very large outbreak," Masse said.

That province says it will allow people to go as long as 90 days without their second dose instead of the recommended 21- to 28-day window.

Canadas immunization council recommends stretching the period only to 42 days, because of potential risks.

Vaccines train the immune system to recognize viruses and form antibodies before the disease can take hold. Researchers dont yet know whether that immunity wanes over time in people who havent received the booster.

Similarly, viruses that mutate can sometimes do so in people with weak immune systems, because the body is taking longer to defend itself, allowing the virus to adjust. Its unclear how much risk there is in delaying the second dose beyond the recommended window.

The World Health Organization has said booster shots should only be delayed in times of vaccine scarcity when COVID-19 spread is high enough that widespread, partial immunity among the most vulnerable makes more sense than fully immunizing fewer people.

"There's definitely a risk," Masse said. "That doesnt mean that we're stuck with that strategy forever."

Manitoba says it is monitoring outcomes from other provinces delaying doses before making any decision about doing so here.

On Friday, Ottawa announced that Pfizer had to alter its delivery schedule for Canada and some other countries because of manufacturing-plant upgrades, That means roughly half of the supply that was to arrive in February will be delivered, but the deficit will be made up with larger-than-planned deliveries in March.

Premier Brian Pallister said Manitoba was smart to stick with manufacturers recommendations, which eliminates the risk of patients waiting months for boosters.

A reconciliation lens

Part of why Manitobas rollout has lagged behind other provinces is a deliberate decision to put First Nations in the drivers seat.

The 2009 H1N1 swine flu disproportionately killed Indigenous people, who were prioritized for vaccination in Manitoba. But a top-down approach fuelled conspiracy theories and a feeling that First Nations were used as guinea pigs.

Meanwhile, remote Indigenous communities dont align with the national vaccine guidelines based around age, as they have significantly shorter life expectancy and higher instances of diseases that increase the risk of worse COVID-19 outcomes.

Pallister has thus left it up to First Nations leaders to decide which communities and groups get vaccines first, a process that meant Moderna doses sat in Winnipeg cold storage for 12 days.

"Some have said, 'Well, you should have just sent the vaccines out right away.' This wouldn't have been respectful and it wouldn't have been the right approach," Pallister said.

His government wagers that will pay off in the long run, with more buy-in from First Nations and smoother communication as more doses reach Manitoba. (Metis leaders have complained they are not getting the same treatment.)

Compare that with Alberta, which doesnt plan to reach a single First Nation until February.

Saskatchewans vaccine rollout has included some Indigenous communities, but only as part of a generic rollout to the North that First Nations leaders say isnt meeting their needs.

Patchy data

Comparing the rapidly evolving rollout of vaccines in Canada is possible thanks to a group of volunteer data crunchers.

"Its important so we can evaluate how the rollout is going in each province," said Jean-Paul Soucy, a public-health PhD student at the University of Toronto.

Soucy is part of the COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group, which assembles the patchwork of data provinces record and release through different time frames and definitions, and tries to make sense of it all.

The groups dashboard, showing how many doses are sitting in freezer, has fuelled political and media pressure on governments to get moving.

The federal government says it plans to eventually publish data on how provinces are administering vaccines, and Soucy hopes that will come soon.

"Its a positive number to report; its kind of a ray of hope," he said.

"But its also showing that public health, and the government, is fulfilling the bargain that was made, in terms of: we had to sacrifice Thanksgiving and Christmas, but things will be different (in 2021)."

Saxinger said that, in general, transparency can help avoid what will inevitably be a confusing few months.

"I think there's going to be a bit of foot on gas-brakes-gas-brakes for a while, as we get the supply chain running and the capacity running and then the system to notify people when it's their turn," she said.

"I'm pretty confident the drama will be over pretty quickly."

At that point, Saxinger said provincial governments will have to make it clear when their citizens get vaccinated, and how long public-health rules remain in place.

"Our media is transnational, and it creates more confusion, because people are not sure what rules they're hearing about apply where they are, and they compare different rules from different places."

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
The Safety Committee of Teachers, Students and Parents (SCTSP) in Sri Lanka held its first online meeting on January 7 to discuss How to fight the reopening of schools amidst unsafe conditions.

Over 50 people, including teachers, education professionals, non-academic workers, Health Workers Action Committee (HWAC) members, university students, parents and supporters, participated in the meeting. An educators newsletter, issued by the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) and the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), helped promote the event.

Social media promotion of education action committee meeting

The meeting was called following an announcement by President Gotabhaya Rajapakses government that all Sri Lankan schools, apart from those in the Western Province, would reopen on January 11, even though COVID-19 continues to spread across the country.



Kapila Fernando, a member of the SCTSP and the SEP Political Committee, chaired the meeting. He pointed out that the unsafe opening of schools around the world was one of the main reasons for the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

Last year, the Rajapakse government kept all schools open, apart from those in the Western Province, despite teachers and students identifying continuous positive cases. The government ignored the strong opposition from teachers, students and parents to school being open, he said.

Fernando explained that it was necessary to take forward this widespread opposition through the formation of safety committees of teachers, students and parents and the fight for socialist policies.

Action committee and SEP Political Committee member Prageeth Aravinda delivered the meetings main report. He pointed out that the pandemic was a trigger event that had accelerated the crisis of global capitalism, including in Sri Lanka.

School classes conducted without social distancing in Kandy school [WSWS Media]

Aravinda said that the decisions taken in response to COVID-19 by governments everywhere were not aimed at protecting the lives of the ordinary people, but to defend the profit interests of big business.

Governments all around the world, he said, were sending employees back to work in unsafe conditions. They wanted schools kept open, so children were not at home and workers could be pushed back into factories and other workplaces. The governments criminal policy, he explained, is an attempt to pretend that the situation is normal, in order to keep the capitalist economy open.

Aravinda stressed that workers must reject the false claims made by the government and the media that children are less affected by the pandemic. He urged all those in attendance to closely study and circulate the analysis of the pandemic presented by the WSWS.

The governments inadequate spending on health care in schools, the speaker declared, multiplied the danger of an even more severe spread of COVID-19. Its 2020 budget had further slashed allocations in the education sector by 39 billion rupees, leaving responsibility for proper sanitation in the schools to local communities.

Neither teachers, students nor parents should have to bear the risk of the government sacrificing their lives in the interests of the profit greed of big business. Their demand should be the unconditional use of the wealth accumulated by the capitalists to save lives threatened by the pandemic, he stressed.



Aravinda said that the education trade unions fully endorsed the governments shameful policies. Just as the industrial sector unions have joined hands with the employers and the government to slash workers wages and jobs, the education sector unions are calling on the government to involve them in the decision-making to keep schools open.

The speaker said that the Socialist Equality Parties around the world, affiliated to the International Committee of the Fourth International, had taken the lead in building rank-and-file committees to fight the unsafe COVID-19 responses of governments and the unions. He presented the meeting with a PowerPoint overview of the work being conducted by the SEP-led educators rank-and-file committees in the US, Europe and Australia.

Aravinda urged participants to form rank-and-file committees in schools, universities and other educational institutions, to unite all workers in a common struggle for their democratic rights. The SCTSP was established to unify educators struggles with other sections of the working class in Sri Lanka and internationally.



During the discussion, a doctor from a hospital in Kandy, and a member of the Health Workers Action Committee, addressed the meeting. Pointing to the growing wave of action by Sri Lankan healthcare workers, he said: These struggles will be a great stimulus to workers in the field of education to advance their fight. This action committee of educators will play a crucial role in directing such struggles towards a socialist program.

Ashoka, a teacher from a school in Nikaweratiya, about 120 km from Colombo, told the meeting that experiences at his school showed the necessity for action committees. His school became unsafe in November, after a student was identified as a close contact of a COVID-19 patient. While other students did not attend the school, the government failed to take the necessary healthcare measures.



Ashoka said that teachers at the school discussed the situation, were concerned about coming to work, and decided to take sick leave. We needed a program, though, to take our fight forward. We had to decide independently what we would do, because the union did not intervene at all, he said.

An SCTPS member spoke with the teachers and an initial report was published on the World Socialist Web Site. The SEP action committees intervention, Ashoka said, laid the foundations to form a safety committee at the school.

Lakmal, an advanced level teacher at a school in Homagama, a Colombo suburb, contributed to the discussion. He said that government claims that schools were being opened in order to advance students education was false.

The government is using the capitalist media to propagate this lie. They dont care about the welfare of students. They want to forcibly impose on people a new normal in the midst of the pandemic and keeping schools open is part of that, he said. We must oppose putting the lives of our students in danger.

Morning assembly at a reopened school in Sri Lanka [WSWS Media]

Adding to the discussion, Sampath, an education professional, said, There is opposition among teachers to what could become a powerful force, under proper guidance, to the fight against the reopening of schools. There were many political and professional issues confronting teachers, he said, and expressed the hope that the building of action committees throughout the education sector would strengthen their struggle.

Nilwala, a retired teacher, congratulated the action committee for organising the online discussion and asked how Sri Lankan educators could be convinced that they needed action committees.

Answering her question, Aravinda said the crucial task was to make the analysis of the WSWS and its educators newsletters the most widely read publications among education workers. The action committee should be in the forefront of providing political guidance in the formation of such committees and be sensitive to the issues facing educators, he added.

Aravinda concluded the discussion by inviting all the participants to join the SEP and its action committees and become part of the fight for socialism.
Jacksonville, Florida, Jan. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Warming Solutions Inc. (OTC MARKET: GWSO), a developer of technologies aimed at mitigating the effects of global warming announced today the filing of its Form 10 Registration Statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").

Following the effective date of the filing, unless withdrawn, the Company will be subject to the reporting requirements of the SEC. This means the Company will begin filing annual reports with the SEC on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, periodic reports on Form 8-K, and subject itself to additional reporting obligations related to proxies, shareholder actions and stock ownership rules.

The Form 10-12G filing provides investors with detailed and audited information about the Company's operations, including an overview of the business strategies, risk factors, and financial statements. The ongoing obligation to timely file with the SEC will help the Company's new and current investors make more informed and educated investment decisions about the Company. A copy of Form 10-12G is available at www.sec.gov under the name of Global Warming Solutions Inc.

Vladimir Vasilenko, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, said, "We are excited to announce that our Form 10-12G Registration Statement is filed. If effective, we will be a fully SEC reporting company. This is an important and essential step in our commitment to provide our investors with transparency and accountability."

The Company's shares will continue to be traded on the OTC markets under the symbol "GWSO".

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may include predictions, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking within the meaning of applicable securities laws. While these forward-looking statements represent the Companys current judgments, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of the Companys management only as of the date of this release. Please keep in mind that the Company is not obligating itself to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events. When used herein, words such as: potential, expect, look forward, believe, dedicated, building, or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in any forward-looking statements made by the Company herein are often discussed in filings the Company makes with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at www.sec.gov and on the Companys website at https://www.gwsogroup.com.

Contact:

Vladimir Vasilenko

CEO

Global Warming Solutions, Inc.

Vladimir@gwsogroup.com
ECT struggle to intensify View(s):

Port workers are likely to intensify their struggle this week through the combined efforts of other trade unions in a bid to ensure authorities will disengage from any agreement with India to run the East Container Terminal (ECT).

Following an unsuccessful round of discussions on Wednesday between President Gotabaya Rajapakse and representatives of the 23 trade unions at the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), All Ceylon General Workers Union General Secretary Niroshan Gorakanage told the Business Times they will be holding meetings with the newly-established National Council of Trade Unions to Safeguard the ECT tomorrow.

This new council of trade unions is a collaboration of a number of trade unions from other sectors that are now working together in their efforts to ensure that the ECT will be operated by the SLPA alone.

Mr. Gorakanage pointed out that during the meeting they were informed that the agreement with the Adani Group and the Indian government will be completed very soon that is likely to be by the end of this month or in February.

The President, he said had explained to them that Indian authorities had raised security concerns as a result of Chinas presence in the Indian Ocean.

In fact, authorities had insisted that the government is therefore going ahead with the planned agreement of 49/51 per cent shares between Adani and the SLPA.

In this respect, the President had requested the trade unions to come to this agreement and submit their suggestions to the Cabinet Appointed Negotiating Committee (CANC) last Friday.

Trade unions insist that Sri Lanka is unlikely to lose its transshipment business to India since the Colombo Port is in a strategic location.

Mr. Gorakanage pointed out that they were not in agreement with the governments stance and that they together with other trade unions plan to meet on Monday and intensify their struggle.

Under the initial arrangement of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) entered into between the SLPA and the governments of India and Japan the formation of the Terminal Operation Company (TOC) would be jointly held by the parties with 51 per cent for the former and 49 per cent for the latter two.

But under the new arrangement Sri Lanka has informed Japan and India that it will honour the MOC on the condition that SLPA will not borrow further or provide guarantees but will support FDI in ECT while maintaining 51 per cent equity share in TOC of ECT by Sri Lanka under the SLPA. (SD)
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On a gray, blustery Tuesday in Alamo, Texas, President Donald Trump stood in front of a completed portion of the border wall on the southern Texas-Mexico border and touted the completion of 452 miles during his term.

We reformed our immigration and achieved the most secure southern border in U.S. history, Trump proclaimed.

Unmentioned in Trumps remarks was that 163 miles of the wall are being built by a Galveston-based contractor accused in a federal whistle-blower lawsuit of illegally hiring Mexican nationals to guard border-wall construction sites in California.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant unsealed a complaint filed by two former contract employees of Sullivan Land Services Co. (SLS)  a construction company founded and operated by brothers Todd, John and William Billy Sullivan.

The complaint also alleges that SLS hired unvetted workers to work on its job sites at the border, and allowed a subcontractor to construct an illegal dirt road to ferry armed Mexican nationals across the border to provide security, all with the approval of an Army Corps of Engineers supervisor. High-level employees of SLS as well as Ultimate Concrete of El Paso, its subcontractor on the project, allegedly made false statements not only about the hiring of Mexican workers, but also overcharging for construction costs.

The U.S. Department of Justice investigated the false-claims allegations and notified the court in December that it would not intervene, allowing the case to proceed in federal court without DOJ involvement.

Through a spokeswoman, Liz Rogers, the Sullivans declined requests to be interviewed for this story.

This case is based on inaccurate and untrue allegations; therefore, we are not surprised that the Government reached the same conclusion, Rogers said in a statement. Our legal system allows for plaintiffs to make accusations and file lawsuits regardless of basis of evidence. We vehemently disagree with the claims made in this lawsuit and will defend ourselves through the legal system. We have no further comment.

The allegations place the Sullivans in the type of spotlight they have largely shied away from despite being successful businessmen and well-known citizens of this small resort city.

What began as a tight-knit entrepreneurial landscaping operation when the brothers were students at Ball High School in Galveston has evolved into a lucrative consortium of business interests  from port dredging to home building to debris removal for natural disasters across the country, including in Houston after Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

Along the way, they have built a sterling resume through high-quality work and have won major state and federal contracts, including $1.8 billion for constructing the border wall in Texas, New Mexico and California. Known in political circles, the brothers have contributed to the campaigns of key players in Texas such as Land Commissioner George P. Bush and U.S. John Cornyn, both Republicans. Locally, the Sullivans philanthropic reputation, shrewd business acumen and political power have largely insulated them from scrutiny  even as some of their projects on the island and deal-making have drawn criticism.

Many native Galvestonians know the Sullivans by name, but such is their clout that few will go on the record to discuss the family candidly.

I just see them as stand-up people in our community, said Ted ORourke, a Galveston businessman who serves on the Port of Galvestons board with Todd Sullivan. I cant say one way or the other if (the border wall complaint) has merit, but its just hard for me to believe that they would knowingly do anything inappropriate in the business world.

Deep Galveston ties

While few acquaintances besmirch the work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit of the Sullivan brothers, they were also raised by a family that set them up well for success. Born to Gerald and Susanne Sullivan, the brothers (Todd is 45, while twins John and Billy are 41) are the sixth generation of Galveston Sullivans.

Geralds father, John R.A. Sullivan, was a cattle rancher in the early 20th Century, back when much of Galvestons West End was undeveloped land suitable for farming, hunting and fishing. John R.A. Sullivan worked in the dairy industry but also as a cowboy, leasing pastures on the West End and starting his own herd  eventually shipping cattle to Florida and the Caribbean, according to news reports. Gerald took over the family business after graduating from Texas A&M University in the 1960s.

Always, while we have been involved in many other things, we have been in the cattle business, Gerald Sullivan told Coast Monthly magazine in 2018.

While Gerald Sullivan primarily co-owns Santa Rosa Ranch in Crockett and Navasota, friends say he set the template for his sons by investing in a wide range of businesses, from real estate development to port operations.

They were taught to work hard from the very beginning and so they actually got their business start when they were teenagers in the landscaping and yard business, said James Yarbrough, a former Galveston mayor and county judge who has known the family for decades.

Clashes with neighbors

After the brothers graduated from college  all three attended Texas A&M  they began to flex their business muscles. They founded Sullivan Land Services Co. in 1995, and transitioned their commercial landscaping business, Sullivan Environmental Services, into a real estate company, Sullivan Interests.

The Sullivans real estate arm purchased lots in The Heights neighborhood in Houston, which eventually were developed into luxury homes, and built townhouses in College Station. However, their purchase of 93 acres on the West End of Galveston in the early 2000s stirred up controversy.

The land that would become the Evia subdivision  a luxury development with 388 residences, three freshwater lakes and a nature preserve  was folded into a 2,000-acre tax increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ) in 2003. The zone was structured by the city of Galveston to provide public financing for capital improvements in and around Scholes International Airport.

The project came under fire after the Sullivans sought up to $8 million in reimbursements from the city for what they termed public improvements, such as lakes and parking areas that are ostensibly open to the public.

(In Evia) were not only taking over the maintenance, were paying for the streets, then-Galveston City Council member Jackie Cole said during a contentious council meeting in 2006. Developers, she noted, generally built streets and sewers and turned them over to the city for maintenance.

Although the city ultimately provided a lower amount, $6 million, to reimburse the Sullivans for public improvements, the city also assumed $5 million of the companys debt to pay for infrastructure within the Evia subdivision. As of December 2019, the city still owed the Sullivans $1.5 million in reimbursements.

The brothers also faced criticism when Sullivan Interests pursued a proposal to acquire and develop a 600-acre site used by the Army Corps of Engineers to deposit dredged material. Some council members decried it as a backroom deal, drawing a rebuke from Billy Sullivan at a 2008 meeting.

You dont know me and you dont know my family, Sullivan said, according to the Galveston County Daily News. You dont know how we care about this island ... You have a special agenda. You are trying to beat down people who have done good things on this island. You cant drive us away.

Businesses expand

Over the years, the Sullivans have added to their portfolio. After buying a terminal at the Port of Galveston in 2005, Todd Sullivan established Texas International Terminals, a liquid and dry bulk multi-modal facility along Galveston Ship Channel capable of serving rail, deep draft vessel, barge and trucks. He also joined the Wharves Board of Trustees, which oversees port operations.

Two years ago, it was reported that Sullivan intended to build a crude processing facility at his terminal to make 50,000 barrels per day of low-sulfur fuels, a project that would require a deepening of the ship channel to accommodate the deeper-draft vessels that would ship the product.

Elizabeth Beeton, a trustee on the Wharves board, questioned whether Todd Sullivan had a conflict of interest.

How can we proceed with this if you have a board member advocating for it, who is also the main beneficiary? Beeton asked during a 2018 board meeting.

Sullivan responded that he was advocating for local industry, worried that the Port of Galveston would get left behind without the dredging project. He agreed to recuse himself from future discussions on the project.

The Army Corps of Engineers later dredged the ship channel, with the Port of Galveston serving as the local sponsor and paying up to one-third of the $3.3 million project cost.

More recently, the brothers have become major players in disaster recovery. After Alabama-based DRC Emergency Services subcontracted with Sullivan Land Services to remove debris from cruise ship terminals at the Port of Galveston following Hurricane Ike in 2008, SLS went on to build homes in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and won a contract to help rebuild New York City after Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Four years later, the Sullivans had acquired DRC Emergency Services, raising the companys profile even more.

DRCs requests for proposals for disaster recovery work, obtained by the Houston Chronicle, show that the company boasts one of the largest subcontractor networks in the industry. Since its acquisition, DRC has won millions of dollars in contracts to perform debris cleanup after storms and hurricanes in Louisiana, Florida, and Texas, including Houston and Harris County after Harvey.

Sullivan Land Services won a $375 million FEMA contract to construct homes in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and successfully lobbied officials in New York in March and April for a $20.8 million no-bid emergency contract to build a field hospital in Brooklyn for COVID-19 patients.

DeWight Dopslauf, a purchasing agent for Harris County, said DRC is one of the most qualified debris removal companies in the country. During cleanup after Harvey, Dopslauf said, the county had to renegotiate its contract with DRC because of a high demand for its trucks in Florida after Hurricane Irma that fall.

Theres only a handful of decent (disaster recovery) companies out there that have actually done the work, he said. And theyve worked with us several times, throughout different disasters. They have the ability to bring in more assets when we needed them.

But DRC has also caught the attention of state watchdogs. It was one of three companies subpoenaed by the Florida attorney general in 2018 for charging higher rates for debris removal on previously agreed-upon contracts in the wake of Irma.

In a statement to the Palm Beach Post, John Sullivan said one South Florida jurisdiction increased DRCs pay before Irma struck and that the company welcomed the pay increase because it advanced the progress of debris removal in that area. A spokeswoman for the Florida attorney general said no action was taken against the company.

While the Sullivans quality of work is well-regarded, they have also demonstrated political savvy. Companies seeking state business frequently give money to Texas politicians involved in contracting decisions, which is allowed under state law. The Austin-American Statesman reported in 2018 that Sullivan Land Services was one of 12 companies that had donated to Bush, the Texas land commissioner. The three brothers also contributed $16,875 to Bush from 2013 through 2017. The company has won four Harvey-related contracts from the Texas General Land Office totaling $23.6 million.

Since 2017, federal campaign finance reports show, the three Sullivan brothers have donated $84,741 to Republican candidates, including more than $22,000 to Cornyn and nearly $20,000 to GOP-backed political committees.

Forbes estimated in 2019 that the Sullivans had made $1 billion in revenue from government contracts in recent years  a potential windfall of up to $50 million in profits.

Whistle-blowers allege misconduct

The whistle-blower complaint against Sullivan Land Services and its subcontractor, Ultimate Concrete of El Paso, was filed in the Southern District of California in February 2020 and mostly focuses on alleged actions during the summer of 2019.

As a prime contractor on a border wall project near Imperial Beach, Calif., SLS was responsible for hiring subcontractors for design and construction, as well as security, on its job sites, with the funds provided by the federal government under a $144 million contract. According to the complaint, Ultimate Concrete used taxpayer dollars to illegally hire armed Mexicans to provide security for the wall project.

The scheme was uncovered by two whistle-blowers  a former deputy sheriff in San Diego County and an ex-FBI special agent who worked for security firms hired by SLS, the suit alleges. It also claims that they were rebuked by a SLS project manager after reporting on the illegal security practices as well as on a gunfight that broke out on the U.S. side of the border between Mexican security guards and Mexican nationals attempting to steal from wall construction sites.

One of the whistle-blowers alleged in the complaint that Chris Lankford, federal division president for SLS, and Jesse Guzman, president of Ultimate Concrete, acknowledged they were aware of the Mexican guards working for them, with Guzman claiming that he was paying for the services of the Mexican guards.

The whistle-blowers said at least one unidentified Army Corps supervisor, who later stepped down, was aware of the operation.

Representatives from Ultimate Concrete could not be reached for comment.

The day after the shooting, one of the whistle-blowers contacted the FBI. Several months later, in October 2019, the SLS project manager informed one whistle-blower that he had been fired and should no longer communicate with the other whistle-blower, according to the complaint. Ten days later, the other whistle-blower met with Lankford, who fired him.

Both whistle-blowers are seeking damages and civil penalties for each false claim they say Sullivan Land Services and Ultimate Concrete presented to the federal government. Attorneys for the whistle-blowers did not respond to requests for comment.

The Imperial Beach wall replacement was completed in 2019. The Sullivans work on the border wall continues unimpeded in Texas, California and New Mexico, with work scheduled to be completed this year.

nick.powell@chron.com
Businesses yesterday called for tougher lockdown measures, with some going as far as proposing a long curfew spanning from 6 p.m to 6 a.m.

The curfew now starts at 9 p.m. and goes till 5 a.m. Businesses also called on the Government to free up the importation of Covid-19 vaccines to allow private sector participation and to allow people to travel overseas to get vaccinated.
India begins today a nationwide vaccination drive against the novel to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 10

Billed as the world's largest vaccination program, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first inoculate millions of its and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase.

A total of 3006 session sites across all states and union territories will be virtually connected during the launch. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the inaugural day, the union health ministry has said.

In the first phase government and private sector health care workers including Integrated Child Development Services(ICDS) workers, will receive the vaccine in the first phase.

The Centre has planned to vaccinate around 3 lakh workers at 2,934 session sites on the first day of the inoculation drive.

The drive will be held daily from 9am to 5pm, except on the days earmarked for routine immunisation programmes.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Friday termed the country's vaccination drive as the "beginning of the end of Covid-19." He also urged people to trust the indigenously manufactured vaccine, saying the government has given emergency use approval after proper scientific scrutiny.

The central government has introduced an application named CoWIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Work) to monitor the entire vaccination process.

In the next phases of the vaccination drive, people aged over 50 will be vaccinated and those who are below 50 years but have serious health conditions or co-morbidities, according to the health ministry.

There has been dry-runs at vaccination centres across the country with lakhs of staff across districts trained.

The drugs regulatory body of India has currently approved two vaccines. Pune-based Serum Institute of India has developed the Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. while the Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad's Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Medical Council of research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology.

The vaccination programme in the country will use Co-WIN, an online digital platform developed by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which will facilitate real time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries for COVID-19 vaccine. This digital platform will assist programme managers across all levels while conducting vaccination sessions.

A dedicated 24x7 call centre - 1075 - has also been established for addressing the queries related to Covid-19 pandemic, vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN software.

The full initial procurement amount of 1.65 crore doses of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines against Covid-19 have been allocated to all States/UTs in the proportion of Health Care Workers database, Union Health Ministry stated.

India recorded 87 new COVID-19 cases per million population in the last seven days which is one of the lowest in the world when compared with countries like the US, the UK, Russia, Germany, Brazil, France and Italy, the Health Ministry said on Friday. It further said that only one new death per million population was reported in India in this period.

Over one crore people (1,05,27,683) have been infected with Covid-19 so far and the death toll rose to close to 1.52 lakh according to Friday's health ministry update. There are over 2.13 lakh active COVID-19 cases in India.

Most of the states have received the first batch of the doses including Delhi which has received 2,74,000 doses of vaccine, followed by Maharashtra receiving over 9 lakh doses and Andhra Pradesh around with 4.7 lakh doses.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a press conference on Thursday said, "So far, we have received 2,74,000 doses of vaccine from the Centre. Each person will be administered two doses and the Centre provides 10 per cent extra vaccine, taking damage into account. So the 2,74,000 doses will be sufficient for around 1,20,000 health workers."

States and union territories have geared up for the vaccination drive.

In the national capital Delhi, the drive will be launched from the state-run LNJP Hospital by Chief Minister Kejriwal and Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain. Healthcare workers will get the jab in a total of 81 centres. Union health minister will visit the new OPD Wing of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi to witness the launch of the inoculation drive. He will join doctors and around 100 potential vaccine beneficiaries at the centre.

In Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will launch the vaccination drive from a centre at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai on Saturday. As many as 4,000 health workers will be administered Covid-19 vaccine every day at nine vaccination centres in the city the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

In Gujarat, 161 centres will deliver the vaccine Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said.

As many as 700 healthcare workers will be administered the COVID-19 vaccine in Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said.

According to a state government release said that 332 locations have been identified for the launch of the drive in Andhra Pradesh.

Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender will take the first jab of the vaccine. He said: "A total of 140 centers have been shortlisted for the distribution of the vaccine. The Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrashekhar Rao has appealed to the MLAs, MPs, and Ministers to part in the inauguration of vaccine distribution program at centres in their constituencies"

A total number of 243 centres has been prepared for the first phase of vaccination drive across the state on January 16, including 10 centres in Bengaluru, Karnataka Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said.

Total 7,17,439 health warriors will be vaccinated in the initial phase and we are aiming to vaccinate 24,300 people on the first day itself. We have 8,14,500 doses of vaccine and the initial phase is expected to complete within a week said the minister.

In Kerala, the Health Department has prepared a list of 133 sites chosen to be the Covid-19 vaccination sites in the State. In Tamil Nadu the vaccines will be administered at 166 centres across the State, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said.

Andhra Pradesh has received 4.7 lakh doses of Covishield and 20,000 doses of Covaxin for the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination drive. A state government release said that 332 locations have been identified for the launch of the drive in Andhra Pradesh. The release said it is expected that in the next 15 days all health care workers in the state will be vaccinated. After 28 days the second dose is to be administered.

Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday received the first batch of Covishield from Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune. As many as 1,46,500 doses of the Covishield vaccine have been received out of which 79,000 are for the Kashmir division and 67,500 are for the Jammu division. Choppers were used to transport the vaccines to far-flung snow-capped areas. The vaccine is being stored at the Divisional cold chain stores at Jammu and Kashmir divisions from where it will be distributed to all districts maintaining the cold chain at all levels. Vaccination would begin today at 30 centres across the Union territory.

A total of 59 sites have been identified in Punjab and 77 in Haryana for the vaccination drive. In Chandigarh, there will be four sites for administering the Covid-19 vaccine.

In Uttar Pradesh, 311 centres have been identified across the state's 75 districts.

Other states and union territories have also made preparations for the rollout of the vaccine.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi:

For the first time, conjoined twins Abby and Erin Delaney can sleep in separate beds. The 10-month-old girls from North Carolina were born joined at the head, an exceptionally rare condition. After several months of planning and preparation, a successful 11-hour separation surgery was performed on the pair last week at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in south-eastern Pennsylvania, according to the hospital.



"Separating conjoined twins is a very complex surgery followed by a long and complicated recovery, but we are very hopeful for a positive outcome," Jesse Taylor, a plastic surgeon who co-led the operation with neurosurgeon Gregory Heuer, said Tuesday in a statement from the hospital. "Erin and Abby are now recovering in our Paediatric Intensive Care Unit under close monitoring by our expert teams."



With identical twins, an embryo separates in two early in a pregnancy; but with conjoined twins, the embryo does not separate totally and the twins remain connected, according to the University of Maryland Medical Centre. Conjoined twins are rare, occurring once in about every 200,000 births - and craniopagus twins, those who are connected at the head, are the rarest form, accounting for about 2 percent of conjoined twins, according to the medical centre.



The gravity of the condition depends on how and where the conjoined twins are connected. One expert said that most craniopagus twins do not survive.



Abby and Erin's parents, Riley and Heather Delaney, learned that their girls were conjoined early last year when Heather Delaney was pregnant at 11 weeks.



Although it was too soon to know whether the twins would be able to be separated, Heather Delaney travelled to Pennsylvania from North Carolina for her prenatal care. Ultimately, she shifted into a hospital facility in Philadelphia for mothers carrying babies with complex congenital conditions, according to the hospital.



On July 24, 2016, Abby and Erin were delivered by C-section 10 weeks prematurely, each weighing about 2 pounds, the hospital said in a statement.



Doctors there started working on a thorough and meticulous plan to try to separate them.



Alan R. Cohen, chief of paediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said that he could not comment on the Delaneys' case particularly but that separating craniopagus twins "can be a high-risk surgery."



Cohen said surgeries are done at major medical centres where teams of neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons, anaesthesiologists and critical-care physicians spend months studying patients' brain scans and, often, 3-D models "to try to find the safest way to make the disconnection."



"Depending on where the heads are joined and how much they are fused, that determines the complexity of the operation," Cohen said. He added that "the most feared complication of the surgery is how to manage the shared blood vessels - particularly the veins that drain the brain - because usually one twin gets the good veins and the other doesn't."



There are also moral issues to be considered with separation surgery, Cohen said. He said that the twins may not survive the intervention, or sometimes one twin survives and the other does not or is in poor neurological condition.



He said "success" means the surgeons can separate the twins, but "in terms of the long-term prognosis, it's usually a long road ahead for the family and the medical team caring for them."



The night before the Delaneys' surgery on June 6, someone posted on a Facebook page set up for the twins. "The girls have a big procedure tomorrow," the post read. "We ask for as many prayers as you can spare. It will be a long day for us."

Many days later, the messages asked others to "bear with us" and "keep praying for us."



Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said that a team of about 30 doctors, nurses and other medical personnel worked to separate the twins - a first for the hospital. The hospital said it had separated 22 other pairs of conjoined twins over the past 60 years but never a pair of craniopagus twins.



The surgery was methodically coordinated. the Surgical equipment was color-coded with green and purple tape - one colour assigned to each patient. The medical team worked essentially on one body - and then once the girls were separated - the team also separated to care for two.



"During the separation surgery, our team first meticulously separated the infants' shared blood vessels and dura, the tough protective membrane surrounding both brains, then moved on to separate the sagittal sinus, the most difficult portion of the operation," Heuer, the neurosurgeon, said in the statement. "Finally, we divided our team into two halves, one for each of the girls, and finished the reconstruction portion of the surgery."

ALSO READ | Medical Miracle! 18 miscarriages in 20 years: Agra woman gives birth to baby boy



The hospital said the twins will likely have additional surgeries but plans to send them home later this year.



"When we go home, it's going to be a big party," Heather Delaney said in a statement from the hospital. "Welcome home, baby shower, first birthday."
Don't be worrying your head about all those disturbing reports of food shortages in the shops, logjam at the ports, chaotic Brexit bureaucracy and millions being lost by businesses. According to Jacob Rees-Mogg, we have bigger fish to fry.

"The key thing," he told the Commons this week, "is that we've got our fish back. They're now British fish and they're happier and better for it."

The happiness of haddock is all very well. Pigs have less to feel cheery about. Percy Pig in particular.

In an effort to spell out the bureaucratic Bedlam of Brexit, the CEO of Marks & Spencer, which has had to temporarily halt the supply of hundreds of items to stores in Northern Ireland because of red tape, highlighted the perplexing example of Percy.

Turns out the best-selling gummy sweet is made in Germany. Which means that if Herr Pig is imported into the UK and Marksies then distributes him to stores in the Republic, there may be taxes to pay.

M&S are not the only food supplier, or business, to have been hit by post-Brexit paperwork and mayhem.

Scottish seafood firms are losing millions as a result of containers being delayed at ports. Percy Pig sweets do not go off overnight. Seafood does.

Nichola Sturgeon (there's a fish who doesn't feel quite so thrilled to be British) has verbally filleted the Government's handling of this chaos.

But not only does self-important prat Rees-Mogg make light of it all with that guff about happy fish, his boss Boris also dismisses it as "teething problems".

Barracuda teeth, presumably.

The PM promises he will not hesitate to invoke Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which would bypass the new trade rules between here and the rest of the UK.

This is the same man who told businesses a few months back that if they were asked to fill in forms, post-Brexit, they were to throw them straight in the bin. What's being binned instead is spoiled food and people's livelihoods.

And the worrying thing is that we are still within what is officially referred to as the "grace period". I'd be concerned what the graceless period up ahead will entail.

The EU are not blameless in all this and are unlikely to respond to difficulties at the borders with bending-over-backwards indulgence.

The episode in the Netherlands, where a customs officer confiscated a British lorry driver's ham sandwiches, would appear to be a pointer.

When the driver asked if he couldn't just peel off the ham and keep the bread, even this small concession was denied.

Let them eat nothing.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, whose DUP party's backing for Brexit was a classic example of turkeys voting for Christmas, has now invoked the possibility that the trade protocol which has led to food shortages here could undermine the Good Friday Agreement.

This is a clever line, because the one thing that makes EU and American leaders sit up and take notice is any whisper of Agreement undermining.

Nobody, anywhere, wants to be accused of doing anything that might destabilise the Agreement.

Other parties argue that the current sea border turmoil is all on the DUP for its foolishness in backing Boris. Which is fair comment.

But we do need all parties - and governments - to come together right now to sort this mess out.

In a time of pandemic, with people in Northern Ireland having to endure so much, having so much else to worry about, the idea of having to deal with Stalinesque shortages in the food aisles is appalling.

As is the snooty contempt and complacency in Westminster where Jacob Rees-Mogg speaks for the cods.

Take a chance on Swedish with Ikea

The story about Ikea bombarding local callers with Abba hits while hanging on the line for customer service raised a few smiles this week (although possibly not among the aggrieved callers).

I've always thought there could be a book or YouTube tutorial video in "Teach Yourself Swedish With The Ikea Catalogue".

It may be an easier language than we think. Their wood treatment oil, for example, is called Skydd.

Also easy to remember - the word for their marshmallows. Skumtopp.

Testing time for pigeon down under

Having flown solo 13,000km from Oregon in the US to Melbourne in Australia, Joe the racing pigeon may have hoped for a break.

Sadly not. He found himself on death row. Officials in Oz demanded his execution in case he'd got Covid. Supporters claimed his identification band was fake and that he should be spared.

But the country's acting PM was taking no prisoners. He said Joe should fly home or "face the consequences".

I know pigeons don't have nostrils, but couldn't they just test the poor creature in some way?

We cant vouch for those gift cards

Sadly, our much anticipated spending voucher from Stormont has been put on the long finger.

With retail closed, there's not much point issuing vouchers which would allow us to nobly boost the retail industry. Some of us were already spending the cash in our heads.

What are the chances, do you think, we'll ever get those gift cards - and retail will avail of our voucher therapy?
Chechnya received humanitarian aid in the fight against coronavirus from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The aircraft with masks, anti-plague suits, protective gowns and tests arrived at the Grozny airport, the republican leader Ramzan Kadyrov informed. According to him, three more special flights with medical supplies from the UAE were distributed between Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia.
The coronavirus continues to trample across San Antonio and Bexar County at a staggering pace, with almost 3,000 new cases reported Friday.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg announced 2,889 newly diagnosed coronavirus cases and six more deaths of people who tested positive for the virus. Four of those who died were residents of Alamo Heights Health and Rehabilitation Center, while one lived at Wurzbach Nursing and Rehabilitation, city officials said.

San Antonios new seven-day rolling average of cases has exceeded 2,000 for the first time and now stands at 2,041. The citys risk level is classified as severe.

Were going into another holiday weekend, said Bexar County Precinct 2 Commissioner Justin Rodriguez. Please be safe and mask up.

On Friday, 1,387 patients sick with the virus were being cared for in San Antonio hospitals, including one person from El Paso. Among them, 403 were in intensive care units, while 243 were on ventilators to help them breathe. A total of 161 COVID-19 patients were admitted in the past 24 hours.

Fully one-third of all people hospitalized in San Antonio  33.7 percent  are suffering from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, city officials said.

On ExpressNews.com: A guide to getting vaccinated in San Antonio

Ten percent of staffed patient beds remain available at San Antonio hospitals, while 53 percent of ventilators in stock are ready for use.

Since the pandemic began last March, 143,503 county residents have contracted the virus, and 1,710 of them have died.

The latest victims to succumb were a Black woman in her 60s, a white woman in her 70s and two white men in their 80s, all residents of the Alamo Heights facility; a white woman in her 70s who lived at the Wurzbach facility but died at Methodist Hospital; and a man in his 70s who died at the citys VA hospital, the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Hospital. All of them died in the past 14 days.

The 2,889 newly diagnosed COVID cases reported Friday came close, but did not eclipse the 3,002 cases reported Sunday.

Nirenberg urged residents to use caution during the upcoming holiday weekend, with Martin Luther King Jr. Day arriving Monday.

Please be careful, he said. Keep your family and friends and yourself safe by wearing a mask, practicing social distancing and proper hygiene.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

In nearby Comal County, officials reported 97 new cases of the virus and five more deaths, all New Braunfels residents.

The latest victims to die were a woman in her 60s, a man in his 80s, a woman in her 80s and two women in their 90s. Their deaths occurred between Dec. 27 and Wednesday.

Comal County now has 831 active cases of the virus. Since the pandemic began almost a year ago, 7,245 residents have tested positive for the virus, while 201 have died. About 86 percent of those who have contracted the virus  6,213 people  have recovered.

Hospitals in Comal County were caring for 89 COVID patients Friday, with 23 of them in ICUs and 10 on ventilators. They include people who live outside Comal County.

On ExpressNews.com: State of the pandemic in San Antonio, in Texas and across the U.S.

Comal County residents wishing to be tested for COVID-19 can call the countys hotline at 830-221-1120 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays to make an appointment. Tests are done only Tuesdays and Fridays. Appointments are required.

Across Texas, 21,343 newly confirmed coronavirus cases were reported Friday, along with 400 more deaths. Nearly 14,000 patients confirmed to have the virus were being cared for in Texas hospitals.

Throughout the pandemic, more than 1.8 million Texans have tested positive for the virus, and 31,450 of them have died.

pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: Peggy_OHare
President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is phasing out the Trump administration program known as Operation Warp Speed and has asked Dr. David Kessler  a former head of the Food and Drug Administration  to oversee the effort to accelerate the development, manufacture and distribution of coronavirus vaccines, Mr. Bidens spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said Friday.

OWS is the Trump teams name for their program, Ms. Psaki wrote on Twitter, using the programs initials. We are phasing in a new structure, which will have a different name than OWS. Many of the public servants will be essential to our response, but urgent need to address failures of the Trump team approach to vaccine distribution.

The announcement came as Operation Warp Speed faced new fury after indicating that more doses from a stockpile would be sent to states. But federal officials have since clarified that the doses are actually from a tranche saved for second doses.

Ms. Psaki added that the Biden Covid response would be run out of the White House. Dr. Bechara Choucair, a former commissioner of Chicagos health department, will oversee vaccinations efforts, Ms. Psaki said, including working to fulfill Mr. Bidens promise of getting 100 million Covid vaccine shots into the arms of the American people by his 100th day in office.
New Delhi: On January 16 this year, Vinayaka Chaturthi is being celebrated across the nation. The Chaturthi which falls in Shukla Paksha after Amavasya is called Vinayaka Chaturthi and the one which is marked in Krishna Paksha after Purnima is called Sankashti Chaturthi respectively. As per the Hindu calendar, there are two Chaturthi dates in each lunar month.

It is believed that Chaturthi days are dedicated to Lord Ganesha, also known as Vinayaka or Vignharta. Vinayaka Chaturthi Vrat is being observed this year on January 16. Although, Vinayaka Chaturthi vrat or fast is observed each month it is said that the Vinayaka Chaturthi which falls during the month of Bhadrapada is the most auspicious.

Also, Vinayaka Chaturthi falling during Bhadrapada month is called Ganesh Chaturthi - the birth of Lord Ganpati.

RITUALS OF VINAYAKA CHATURTHI:

On this day, devotees observe fast or vrat and begin their day early by taking bath, wearing new clothes and praying to Lord Ganesha for his blessings.

After taking Sankalp and sitting in Dhyana or meditation for some time, devotees can pray and offer prasad to the Lord.

One can break the fast only after seeing the moon and performing puja and reciting Ganesh Mantra.

Devotees believe that their wishes will be fulfilled and Vighnaharta will remove all the obstacles in their life as Lord Ganesha symbolises that. One can also prepare Lord Ganesha's favourite sweet - Modak - and offer him as prasad. It can also be distributed amongst others after offering it to the god.

The Vinayaka Chaturthi vrat is observed by Lord Ganesha believers.

Vinayaka Chaturthi is also known as Varad Vinayaka Chaturthi which simply means urging the Lord to fulfil one's desire. Devotees who observe this vrat are believed to be blessed with patience and wisdom by the Lord.

Ganpati puja is performed during the Muhurat time mentioned above in the afternoon or midday. The days and dates of vrat timing can differ from place-to-place depending upon sunrise and sunset time, according to drikpanchang.com.

VINAYAKA CHATURTHI VRAT DATE AND TIMINGS:

January 16, 2021, Saturday

Vinayaka Chaturthi

11:28 to 13:34

Pausha, Shukla Chaturthi

Begins - 07:45, Jan 16

Ends - 08:08, Jan 17

(According to drikpanchang.com)

Here's wishing all our readers a very happy Vinayaka Chaturthi!
A Houston chef with expert knowledge on regional Indian cuisine had his visa reinstated just 11 days after he sued the government for failing to renew it.

Sanjay Kumar Kashyap got notice Friday that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had reopened his case and approved him for a visa.

His lawyer Merina Shakya, of Quan Law Group, said the chef and the restaurant staff are ecstatic about the news. She said she plans to withdraw the short-lived federal lawsuit that prompted the government to correct its error.

Kashyap is now covered through 2021, when hell have to apply again for an extension, Shakya said.

The chef, who has encyclopedic knowledge of spices, temperatures and ingredients, came to the U.S. under a special visa in 2017 to carry on his work for Maharaja Bhog, a global restaurant chain based in India, at the companys location in southwest Houston. The L-1B international transfer visa requires an employee have specialized knowledge, something Kashyap proved he had.

The 34-year-old native of Uttar Pradesh pulled together 900 different curries, dals, stews, flatbreads and puddings each month for the storefront diner that requires its chefs cook from scratch. He also excelled at a two-year training with the companys owner, learning the cooking styles of all 22 Indian states with an emphasis on the northwestern states of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

But in 2019 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services determined he did not have unique skills and officials denied a renewal of the visa. He was facing detention and deportation and could no longer work at the restaurant.

His lawyer sued on his and the restaurants behalf, saying the governments denial was arbitrary and capricious since USCIS had already determined that Kashyap did have unique skills.

Shakya predicted this outcome, saying the government usually doesnt want to go in front of a judge with a case like this.

The visa rejection likely wasnt merely a clerical error, immigration lawyers said. The governments stance in this case can be traced to a 2017 memo that explicitly states the agency wouldnt give deference to its own prior decisions: USCIS is rescinding the policy of requiring officers to defer to prior determinations in petitions for extension of nonimmigrant status, it said, to protect the interests of U.S. workers.

gabrielle.banks@chron.com
A U.S. Secret Service guard is posted at the North Portico of the White House on Jan. 13, 2021. (Gerald Herbert/AP Photo)

Biden White House Will Make Visitor Logs Public: Spokeswoman

President-elect Joe Bidens administration will release White House visitor logs to the public, a spokeswoman says.

For the sake of clarityThe BidenHarris Administration will return to the policy of releasing White House visitor logs. Also true that visitors will be limited for some time because safety during the pandemic is top priority, Jen Psaki, the incoming White House press secretary, said in a Jan. 15 statement.

She issued the statement after Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, left the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump. Lindell was holding mysterious notes that appeared to include the words martial law if necessary.

Psaki said she wouldnt expect Lindell to be at the White House during the new administration.

She had earlier on Jan. 15 refused to answer directly when asked whether the Biden administration would publish visitor logs.

Trumps administration announced in 2017 it would keep the logs of who visited the White House secret. The decision was because of the grave national security risks and privacy concerns of the hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, a White House spokesperson said at the time.

Presidents before President Barack Obama had similar policies.

Obamas White House released visitor logs, even after a court ruled that the logs could be shielded from public view. The court ruling came after watchdog Judicial Watch sought access records from most of 2009. Judicial Watchs effort came because that time period was before the Obama administration released logs. The Obama administration records are still available online.

An appeals court last year affirmed that the Trump administration could keep the identities of visitors to both the White House and Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida shielded.

Compelled disclosure of the visitor logs would affect a presidents ability to receive unfettered, candid counsel from outside advisors and leaders, both domestic and foreign, who were aware that their visits to the White House would be subject to public disclosure, the court stated.

In another case, the White House settled with groups and published some logs pertaining to several federal agencies.

In a tweet in 2019, Psaki, a White House spokesperson during the Obama administration, said publishing logs was a headache at the time, but good for democracy.

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The highly anticipated A Promised Land was the first book I could not wait to crack open over my two-week break for the winter holidays. Former President Barack Obama explains in his introduction that this work is the first of two autobiographical accounts covering the period from his state legislature run in Illinois through his presidency. This masterwork takes you through every decision he makes and helps illustrate just how much thought, work, and effort goes into every action a president takes. As someone who has previously criticized many politicians for a failure to live up to lofty claims, this book gave me a healthy reality check about balancing idealism with practicality.

Obama became a beacon of hope during his first presidential campaign in 2008. His youth, race, and fresh ideas led many to believe he would bring needed change to the Washington political scene. Even before taking on the overwhelming responsibility of the presidency, he worried that he would never be able to live up to the dreams he now embodied. In any political climate, the president is limited by the checks and balances of our Constitution. For Barack Obama, he would come to face some of the most excessive backlash and resistance from the Republican House and Senate that our nation has ever seen.

In circumstances where it feels like nothing you do will ever succeed, no matter the amount of effort or time you dedicate, it can be tempting to give up. Why try in the first place to pass new legislation when you know there are certain politicians whose singular mission is to destroy your legacy? This acceptance of failure is understandable, but greatness has not come from those who concede easily in the Oval Office. There is one scene in the book where Obama goes to Oslo to accept his Nobel Peace Prize. The many trials he has begun to face flicker through his mind  Americans fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Russian repression of democratic ideals, daily cruelty experienced all across the world  and he wonders how anyone could create meaningful change. However, the city has a tradition where citizens come and stand outside the winners window with candles to visibly demonstrate their support. In the field of flickering candlelight, Obama sees people who have pushed back against despair and hopelessness to fight for better. Whatever you do wont be enough, he heard their voices say, Try anyways.

When I read this book over break, I couldnt help but wish I had encountered that beautiful scene a couple of weeks earlier. I completed my general surgery rotation in December. The rotation brought me lots of experience and wonderful mentors that I am grateful to have, but it also exposed me to much sicker patients than I have previously been working with. Most mornings, I would head to the ICU at 5 a.m. to pre-round on one of our patients. Typically, I love rounding on my patients because I get to speak with them, spend time, and generally learn about who they are and what makes them happy. However, some ICU patients are unable to speak or interact at all due to intubation or sedation or high acuity illness.

This lack of interaction with people whom I was trying to understand and help took a toll on me emotionally. It broke my heart to see them so sick and alone in an ICU during COVID precautions without any visitors allowed. One patient in particular that I saw a few times seemed to be in so much pain without much hope of recovery. I asked my senior resident what the best-case scenario was in terms of optimal improvement, and she said probably the return of eye movement was the most we could hope for with this patient. These stories made me question my ability to help, either as part of the general surgery team or as an individual. How could we help him as a medical team when recovery seemed futile? How could I help him through our interactions when he was not aware of my presence?

Much like presidents, doctors can never be great or even mildly useful if they surrender at the first sign of difficulty. It takes courage and commitment, and sometimes a little bit of denial to continue fighting for your patients. When I think back over this clinical third year that is now half over for me, I remember my first article about the Plague and a doctor who never gives up in the face of adversity. I suppose I just needed a reminder from someone outside the medical field who nevertheless understands carrying on without surety of success. As I remember these past six months, so many patients come to mind who act as my own field of flickering candlelight to remind me to try anyways.

Claire Brown is a medical student.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwes central bank on Friday reversed a decision to force exporters, including mining companies, to sell a large portion of their dollar earnings if they were not used after 60 days.

Severe foreign currency shortages are the clearest sign of an economic crisis that has sparked intermittent shortages of fuel, power and medicines in the southern African nation.

Critics blame the crisis on financial mismanagement and corruption by the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. It says the economic troubles are caused by droughts as well as sanctions imposed by Western countries some two decades ago.

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya said the banks monetary policy committee had agreed to remove the compulsory requirement to liquidate all unutilised export proceedings after 60 days, with immediate effect.

But exporters would now have to sell 40% of their earnings to the central bank-run foreign currency auction, his statement said. Previously, exporters were obliged to sell 30% but could only keep the rest for 60 days before having to auction it.

Mining companies, which generate the most foreign currency, have been lobbying the government to let them keep their dollars, saying this would encourage more investment.

The Chamber of Mines, which represents the biggest mining companies, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The government argues that it needs the foreign currency to buy fuel, medicines and food.

Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; editing by Philippa Fletcher
Washington: President Donald Trump's impeachment trial will start after Joe Biden's inauguration and senior Republican Mitch McConnell is telling Senators their decision on whether to convict the outgoing president over the Capitol riot will be a vote of conscience.

The timing for the trial, the first of a president no longer in office, has not yet been set. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made it clear that Democrats intend to move swiftly on President-elect Joe Bidens $US 1.9 trillion ($2.4 trillion) COVID-19 aid and economic recovery package to speed up vaccinations and send Americans relief. Biden is set to take the oath of office Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has told his Republican colleagues that it is up to them how they vote in the trial. Credit:Bloomberg

Pelosi called the recovery package a matter of complete urgency".

The uncertainty of the scheduling, despite the Houses swift impeachment of Trump just a week after the deadly January 6 siege, reflects the fact that Democrats do not want the Senate trial proceedings to dominate the opening days of the Biden administration.

When a friend dies, it is often the small things one misses; the details rather than the big picture. In the days since Norman Houston died, many people, often those in public life whose work brought them into close contact with him in Washington, DC, have rightly paid tribute and expressed sympathy online.

The artist Colin Davidson, whose large-scale portraits hang in the Lyric Theatre, summed it up in his Twitter tribute, writing of Norman's "empathy, selflessness, decency, warmth, professionalism, loyalty, inclusivity, positivity, balance" as the qualities than made him "unique in this world".

For me, one of Norman's greatest qualities was that he could make links and see connections that few others could so readily identify.

In the last 12 years of his working life, thousands of people from different backgrounds benefitted from his work in the Northern Ireland Bureau in Washington: politicians, academics, community groups, journalists, business representatives, the voluntary sector.

This reached a climax each St Patrick's Day. But, all year round, Norman was making links with people, following up on the groups he had hosted, maintaining a deep interest in what difference he and his team had been able to make for people.

Every summer, his interest in the wider future of this island, north and south, was renewed when the young people in the Washington Ireland Programme came to the city to intern as part of that inspirational personal development scheme.

When I spoke to Norman about the Washington Ireland Programme, he was again making those links - developing the leaders of tomorrow today, shaping peace and prosperity, offering these students a model of leadership which was also service.

Norman left school at 17, studying for his degree at the Open University while working full-time in the Northern Ireland Civil Service and told practically everyone he ever met that story, including those taking part in the Washington Ireland Programme.

I don't believe the story was told to make the listener feel lucky, or to evoke sympathy, but because the values of the Washington Ireland Programme chimed so well with the essence of Norman: humility, respect, integrity.

He had no time for pretence, or anyone - politicians included - whose behaviour drew excessive attention to themselves. "Prima donna" was his preferred description for anyone displaying those traits. He'd clearly met a few.

Condemnation was not Norman's style, preferring rather to compliment. In many of the interviews he gave at the end of his working life, he made a point of complimenting those many political leaders from across this community who, by working well together, made a positive impact in the White House and on Capitol Hill.

I met Norman most often in the United States in my work as a trustee of the Lyric Theatre. When he returned to Washington in 2007 to head up the Northern Ireland Bureau, he already was linking political progress here with economic and social development.

He was an early supporter of the campaign to build a new home for the Lyric, repeatedly making the link between cultural confidence in Belfast and a thriving economy. Norman reasoned that it helped attract US investors to Belfast and, later again, US tourists if they could see a vibrant nightlife with restaurants, bars, theatres and other cultural institutions. Something to do in the evening was as important as somewhere to work during the day.

He effortlessly made the link between live theatre and television/film production and watched with delight the development of Northern Ireland as an important centre for film production.

For Norman, this development couldn't just be for the grown-ups, or for the large studios. He was relentless in his support for Cinemagic, Northern Ireland's television and film festival for young people, which now has such deep links in the United States thanks in no small part to Norman.

When he returned to live in Belfast full-time in early 2020, he ended up living close to me and, coincidentally, not far from the Lyric Theatre.

As the lockdown eased last spring, Norman, always a committed walker, took to the Lagan towpath with an enthusiasm unmatched in other walkers.

Years of living in a city without such ready access to nature made him appreciate the Lagan. And Lisburn - as a target destination for his walks.

On Monday past, the day before he died, I wrote to Norman, asking if he would consider taking part in an online event for the Irish Association next month.

There was no one, it seemed to me, better placed to offer an analysis of broad US-UK, as well as US-Irish, relations at the start of a Biden presidency.

He'd already demonstrated his deep understanding of Biden's potential for Northern Ireland in a BBC Radio Ulster podcast with Mark Carruthers last November.

Late on Monday evening, the return email arrived, as chatty and informal in tone as Norman was in person.

He said he would be happy to participate "but I am a year past my sell-by date and I've no illusions about being that interesting". Untrue, of course, but there was Norman's characteristic lack of pretence.

He went on to refer to a mutual friend he had often met in the course of his work and whom he had spotted while out walking.

Norman was reluctant to speak, as he was often with someone, but asked me to pass on the message: "Please assure him that the wee man in the Ray-Bans and the woolly hat who keeps smiling at him is me."

In that last email are the details I'll miss Norman for most: his abiding interest in the progress of other people; his complete lack of pretence, or over-estimation of himself; his smile.

On Tuesday, this entire community lost someone who had spent years of his life putting people in touch with each other, making links so that the quality of all our lives might be improved. Hundreds of people lost a valued friend they hoped to see more of now he was living among us again.

But Connor and Chloe lost their father and that's the greatest loss of all this weekend.

Stephen Douds is president of the Irish Association for Cultural, Economic and Social Relations. An award-winning TV producer, he is vice-chair of the Lyric Theatre in Belfast
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ALTON  School officials are reminding students and parents of the districts mask requirements when in-person learning resumes on Tuesday.

Students and staff will be required to wear masks at all times while inside of schools and on buses, Alton Superintendent Kristie Baumgartner said in a Friday letter to parents. Please note the Madison County Health Department has stated that neck gaiters are not acceptable face coverings and therefore not permitted in place of face masks.

Appropriate masks should cover both the mouth and nose, she said in a letter. Social distancing will also be employed to the highest degree possible.

Baumgartner said Alton students should only come to school when they are healthy, free of symptoms and have not been in contact with sick family or friends. Each day, parents are asked to assess their children to ensure they do not have any of the COVID-like symptoms.

IDPH and local guidelines will be followed regarding the required length of time out and/or the documentation required in returning to school. By sending a child to school or placing them on a bus each day, parents are self-certifying that they do not present any of these symptoms, Baumgartner said.

Proper self-certification is the key to maintaining a safe learning environment, she said.

Student temperatures will be taken each day when students enter the Alton schools. Students who display COVID-like symptoms will be sent home immediately. Siblings of such students will also be sent home, even if asymptomatic, as required by Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) guidelines for household contacts.

Students are encouraged to bring a bottle of water with them to school each day. AMS and AHS students should bring a clear water bottle, Baumgartner said. If a student should forget to bring water, bottles of water will be available at each school.

Hand sanitizing stations are provided in every classroom and located throughout our hallways, Baumgartner said. Students will be asked to maintain hand hygiene throughout the day, including hand sanitizing and handwashing.

In-person learning will start Tuesday using the Red-Gray attendance schedule. On Tuesday, students on the Gray Schedule will begin in-person learning. Students on the Red Schedule will begin in-person learning on Wednesday.

The in-person student schedule is:

 Alton High School and Alton Middle School: 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

 East, North and West Elementary: 8:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

 Eunice Smith, Gilson Brown, Lewis and Clark and Lovejoy: 8:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Students are permitted to arrive at school no sooner than 30 minutes before the start of classes. Bus schedules are on the district website; students should arrive at their stop 10 minutes b efore the scheduled pick-up time.

AHS and AMS students receiving remote-only instruction will continue to follow their current school schedule for classes. Elementary students receiving remote-only instruction or remote instruction provided by their classroom teacher (4th and 5th grades) should review communication from the teacher regarding the daily schedule for instruction.

Alton elementary schools will offer after-school care on days that students attend in person.

AHS and AMS students will receive a grab and go meal bag when they leave each day after in-person instruction. The bag will include breakfasts and lunches.

Elementary students will eat breakfast and lunch at school each day of in-person attendance using classrooms, outdoors and other spaces. Elementary students will also take a grab and go meal bag home for hybrid remote days. Remote-only students may pick up meal bags at Alton High School on Mondays and Wednesdays 4-6 p.m. each week.

Its been close to a year since Jean Burke-Spraker has seen a friend face-to-face.

She suffers from Addisons disease, a rare autoimmune condition that affects the adrenal glands, and her fears of what might happen if she contracts COVID-19 have led her to refrain from in-person socializing during the pandemic. If she feels the need for physical contact, she has to rely on her two dogs, Chip, a toy poodle, and Peanut, a Chihuahua.

I just miss going out to a restaurant and talking to a waiter, she said. Those people who are just those casual connections you see all the time, theyre just gone.

Burke-Spraker, 49, said her condition is well-maintained and she didnt expect to be in line for vaccination ahead of relatives who work in health care and education. She did think, though, she would at least be invited to get in line before the general population. But when Philadelphia released its list of high-risk conditions that would make those with them eligible for doses in the next wave of vaccination, Addisons disease was not among them.

I expected to be on that list, she said, so Im kind of surprised Im not.

Addisons is associated with an impaired immune-system response, making people vulnerable to more serious consequences if they catch the coronavirus. That isnt the only condition not included in the citys high-risk category. Cystic fibrosis, asthma, dementia, hypertension, and liver disease also didnt make the cut, even though there is evidence, federal authorities said, that each may be associated with worse outcomes in COVID-19 patients.

 READ MORE: Essential workers, people 75 and up, and others will be vaccinated next in Philly, while indoor dining, colleges, and theaters can reopen

Fear of their vulnerability to the virus has restricted the lives of the people with those conditions. People with cystic fibrosis, for example, have been extremely vigilant about avoiding exposure, leading to a heightened sense of isolation as well as practical challenges related to work, school, and other aspects of daily life, said Jessica Rowlands, a spokesperson for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundations Delaware Valley chapter.

Right now, there are no plans announced for when people with those conditions could be vaccinated.

But Caroline Johnson, the citys deputy health commissioner, said, I plan to revisit that list.

The scarcity of vaccine doses that has complicated distribution for a month now is forcing public health officials to make hard choices about where the need is most dire.

I understand that there is going to be, like in any triage situation, imperfections in the selection of who moves forward and who waits, said William Gray, president of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Board of the American Heart Association and chief of the division for cardiovascular disease at Main Line Health. It has to be distributed in the most rational way. That was the attempt theyre trying to make here.

Painful priorities

Philadelphia is the only county in the state where people 16 to 64 with high-risk conditions are eligible to receive doses in phase 1b, the next round of the vaccination process that includes people 75 and older and essential workers. Thats as many as 400,000 people, and it could take months to vaccinate them all. Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, people with high-risk conditions arent eligible until phase 1c, though federal authorities have recommended a change in that policy. The state has not yet shared its high-risk condition priorities and is still reviewing federal recommendations.

 READ MORE: What cancer patients should know about the new COVID-19 vaccines

The conditions the city identified as high risk, which include cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, were drawn from a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention document that identified them as illnesses that data demonstrated clearly contribute to worse outcomes in COVID-19 patients.

It was very clear we had to come up with definitions for some of these priority groups, Johnson said. If you just say people with underlying medical issues, then youre potentially carting in the entire population.

Those conditions the city listed, though, arent the only ones suspected of making people more vulnerable to COVID-19. The CDC also identifies illnesses that appear to contribute to more serious COVID-19 illness, but the evidence is less robust. With doses in short supply, Gray said, health officials are trying to get the most benefit out of the doses they have.

Theres probably pretty good evidence that patients with hypertension dont do as well once they develop COVID infection, Gray said. Hypertension was not among the citys high-risk conditions. But if you rank them as compared to someone with cardiomyopathy, the cardiomyopathic patient is going to do worse.

The citys priorities serve a dual purpose. Philadelphia has a high poverty rate and is majority nonwhite. Lack of access to health care and systemic bias in health systems mean people of color and those in poverty are more likely to have a preexisting health condition and thus have been hit particularly hard by COVID-19. Prioritizing those conditions, officials said, is a way to make vaccine distribution more equitable.

We do see a disproportionate number of Black and brown patients with kidney disease, heart conditions, obesity, sickle-cell disease, and with diabetes, said Tony Reed, chief medical officer at Temple University Health System.

Ongoing uncertainty

Further complicating the process is growing confusion, and at times incorrect information, about who is eligible.

Katelyn Langjahr, 27, has chronic kidney disease, but when she put her information into a digital screening portal run by a city partner, Philly Fights COVID, she was told she wouldnt be eligible until phase 1c, despite her condition being on the priority list. Its not just her kidney condition that is a concern. A number of other health issues require multiple visits to doctors offices each week.

Im exposed to doctors offices and hospitals a lot, she said. It makes me anxious.

Philly Fighting COVIDs digital COVIDReadi portal, a service designed to give people information on when they could be eligible for vaccination, is still a work in progress, said spokesperson Deanna Sabec, and some categories listed are not aligned with the citys priorities. The organization, in partnership with the city, is working to coordinate the website with the current priority list, she said.

The individual with chronic kidney disease may have seen a confirmation from the portal that she was in Phase 1c when, in fact, she will be placed in Phase 1b, Sabec said in an email Friday. When it is time for individuals in Phase 1b to make their appointments, she will receive an email from PFC.

Langjahr, when told she may have gotten incorrect information, said she would get the vaccine as soon as possible.

I want to be first in line, she said. I would do anything to get it right away.

Langjahr is trying to keep away from others, but she shares a home with family, including a brother who works for Whole Foods.

Im around him and exposed to whatever he brings back, she said.

At Liberty Resources Home Choices, the for-profit, home care arm of a Philadelphia disabled advocacy group, staffers scramble to determine who among their customers, more than half of whom are Black, might be eligible for vaccinations. Clients in need of home care can have multiple conditions that, combined, make them susceptible to serious consequences if they catch COVID-19.

Somebody who has hypertension may also have high cholesterol. They may also go to dialysis twice a week, said Fermina Maddox, the companys executive director. They have physical as well as mental health disabilities.

A need for flexibility

For those with conditions that arent on the citys high-risk list, there was one inclusion that left them particularly riled  smokers.

What surprised me is that theyre actually prioritizing smokers, Burke-Spraker said. I cant help it that my glands dont work.

Including smokers and people with obesity, said Jaya Aysola, assistant dean of inclusion and diversity and a professor at University of Pennsylvanias Perelman School of Medicine, is complicated. While both may appear to be a matter of choice, she said, there are social, political, and historical circumstances that have led to increased rates of those conditions, like lack of access to healthy foods, and the marketing choices of tobacco companies, that increase the likelihood of people smoking, or being obese.

If we look at more broadly what drives individuals to smoke and sort of the upstream factors to create high prevalence rates of tobacco use in certain communities, you cant ignore its not solely personal agency and lack thereof, Aysola said. Theres a targeting of tobacco on certain communities.

Public health officials also said trying to prevent deaths during a pandemic isnt the time or place to penalize people for vices. Why people smoke, or are overweight, isnt relevant. What matters, Johnson said, is that theyre at greater risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19.

I think what we cant do is start weighing the value of peoples lives, she said. Thats not public healths call to impose any kind of a value judgment on it.

Since early in the pandemic, Ala Stanford, a pediatric surgeon and founder of the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, has pushed to get tests and care to underserved Philadelphians. Key to reaching those communities, she said, is making help easily accessible, whether its a COVID-19 test or vaccine doses.

Her organization is hosting one of the first vaccination clinics for the 1b population Saturday and Sunday at Deliverance Evangelistic Church in North Philadelphia. She recommended health-care providers use their best judgment in deciding who should get vaccinated.

If you have a pulmonary condition like cystic fibrosis, please come see me, Stanford said. Theres no way I wouldnt vaccinate you.
A likely restart of several projects in Africa is expected to boost global graphite production and will also help reduce Chinas dominance in the sector.

Rising demand from the electric vehicle battery segment, where graphite is a key component, and the restart of projects in Africa, could push global natural graphite production up by 7.6% in 2021 to 1.0255 million tonnes, according to GlobalData.

GlobalData said: While output has declined by 15.4% to 952,600 tonnes in 2020, it is expected that natural graphite production will increase by 7.6% in 2021 to 1.0255 million tonnes and grow to 1.2066 million tonnes by 2024 at a 5.6% CAGR.

Likely surge in output

The expected rise in global output this year would be mainly in wake of the restart of some large projects in Africa, including Balama and Montepuez in Mozambique, Madagascars Molo project and Tanzanias Lindi Jumbo.

( ) is reviewing several downstream value-added graphite processing opportunities for its Maniry Graphite Project in southern Madagascar, with its bankable feasibility study (BFS) underway.

Graphite from Maniry meets the specifications required for applications in the expandable, refractory and lithium-ion battery industries.

On completion of its BFS, the next stage is project execution, including engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and engineering, procurement, construction and management (EPCM) contracts.

In Australia, ( ) ( ) (FRA:38A) can also progress the Campoona Graphite Project following approval from the South Australian Government for its Program for Environment Protection and Rehabilitation (PEPR).

The company has made steady progress on the project since the granting of a mineral lease in December 2017, which includes technical studies determining that the graphite at Campoona is structurally near perfect, and the project can also produce graphene.

The product can also be integrated into commercially scalable lithium-ion batteries and can be processed into high-value spherical graphite products.

Next steps towards production involve finding a partner or buyer of the project.

Recent decline in output

After rising in 2018 and 2019, global natural graphite production was adversely affected by COVID-19 related restrictions in 2020, as mines were placed either under care and maintenance or temporary suspension due to government implemented global lockdowns across many countries.

Output in China, the worlds largest producer, fell by around 5% last year compared to 2019 as authorities imposed severe restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19, mainly during the first quarter of 2020 when several mines and plants were forced to temporarily cease production.

GlobalData senior mining analyst Vinneth Bajaj said: While it was the second-largest producer in 2019, Mozambiques graphite output is expected to fall from 100,000 to 20,000 tonnes, placing the country sixth overall out of world production.

The reduction is due to the Balama Graphite project, operated by Australias Syrah Resources, being suspended due to restrictions and lower EV demand, with no production at all since April 2020.

The project is well-positioned to commence operations once the market conditions improve.

GlobalData said that similarly, production from Brazil was expected to decline by 4.1% due to lockdowns and restrictions, which became prevalent during the second and third quarters of 2020.

Production to grow

Bajaj said: Natural graphite production is expected to reach 1.2066 million tonnes by 2024  a 5.6% CAGR.

This will be supported by growing demand from the electric vehicle battery segment, where graphite is a key component.

These projects, together with the development of Syrah Resources Vidalia Battery Anode Material Project, which will make it the first vertically-integrated producer of natural graphite active anode material outside China, will assist in reducing Chinas dominance in the sector and providing alternative sources for battery makers across the globe, he added.

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Note to Readers: MC ExpertEye is a weekly series of articles that will dive deeply into an important topic by seeking answers from experts.

Clubhouse has taken Silicon Valley by storm, trying to redefine social media networks. The invite-only audio network is being used for debates, discussion and exchange of ideas within a limited and exclusive social group. We ask a bunch of startup founders on what this iOS-only app means for them and if consumers were ready to move into the next generation of social media.

Here's what they have to say:

Clubhouse has wedged itself between Twitter and Tiktok to appeal to a club-like experience that is live, equal, impromptu and without memory. I believe it will attract users who find it time consuming to write or who do not enjoy writing (Twitter). Those who do not want to bother with how they look (Tiktok). They would get an opportunity to share their thoughts through their voice. Being able to express in a language they are comfortable with, in a dialect, tonality, and choice of words that is natural is a huge attraction. With Clubhouse a new generation of social interaction is born which Twitter, Tiktok, Facebook and Instagram do not address. Like a club, the invitation aspect ensures exclusivity. I believe this has tremendous potential for developing economies like India, where the expression and comprehension capabilities are far stronger with spoken language than written language.

Hitesh Jirawla, founder, Cubictree

Social networks like clubhouse are readily finding acceptance specially among the like-minded people who find other social mediums like Instagram quite casual. Being an audio-only platform extends the experience of the offline world is an added benefit. I feel such platforms will find a niche audience who would like to speak their minds on a cross-section of topics from business to Black Lives Matter.

Audio is an extremely natural form of communication for most of us so in theory, Clubhouse should drive deeper engagement. Having said, it requires time commitment and an ability to be spontaneous unlike text platforms where one can pause and reply. On the positive side, it doesn't allow anonymity hence it may eliminate any personal attacks or extreme negative views that we are all subjected to in other social platforms. It remains to be seen how the quality of conversation evolves once it is widely available across OS.

Snehanshu Gandhi, co-founder, Kaagaz Scanner

More meaningful discussions always happen in smaller, close-knit groups. As everyone is getting a social media overload of sorts with being bombarded with so much information, limited and exclusive social groups would definitely be the next generation of social media. Will it be a live audio format like Clubhouse or some other format will have to be seen. The audio format has great potential as it doesn't require user to be 100 percent attentive to it (video or text requires that) but live audio format like Clubhouse has its limitations.

Vinay Singhal, co-founder, Stage

I believe we are all set for the next wave of social media networks which are based on more hyperlocal interactions and communities. One such Indian example is Leher app; they are trying to build an Indian Clubhouse but in video. Even at STAGE, now that we have properly solved for the consumption of content for the users, the next phase of products will be around building a layer of community on the top of consumption.

Vikram Singh Meena, founder, Tech Eagle Innovations

The future of social interaction is voice. To see how future innovation might progress, its helpful to survey the current social-audio product landscape in abstract and break down some of the defining attributes. There are many existing audio use cases that can be categorised in various different ways. The social audio taxonomy has a wide opportunity for more and more audio-only platforms to adopt, the innovation will revolve around interactivity. Consumers are already using a part of the next generation social media in form of podcasts, audio storytelling.

However, podcasting scratches the surface, in that its a network of user-generated creators and listeners, but theres ample opportunity to go deeper. An app like Clubhouse provides yet another example. The experience is somewhere between a conference call, a podcast, and a live talk show. Although the content is ephemeral, like a phone call, its also a horizontal and public platform, which is more like live interaction for specific interest groups.

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Boris Johnson will host the G7 summit at the Cornish seaside resort of Carbis Bay, where he will urge of world leaders to unite in building back better from coronavirus.

Incoming US president Joe Biden is expected to attend the event starting on June 11, as well as the other G7 leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the EU.

The Prime Minister has also invited Australia, India and South Korea to attend as guests, as he seeks to promote a green recovery from the crisis.

Coronavirus is doubtless the most destructive force we have seen for generations and the greatest test of the modern world order we have experienced, he said.

Two hundred years ago Cornwalls tin and copper mines were at the heart of the UKs industrial revolution and this summer Cornwall will again be the nucleus of great global change and advancement Boris Johnson

It is only right that we approach the challenge of building back better by uniting with a spirit of openness to create a better future.

It will be the first time the summit has met in person in nearly two years, with the US moving the 46th online because of the pandemic.

The last time the UK hosted the summit, in 2013, the venue was a resort in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

Gleneagles in Scotland, London and Birmingham have also in the past played hosts.

The Carbis Bay Estate will be the main focus of the summit, but the seaside village will be supported by neighbouring St Ives and other towns across the region.

Mr Johnson said that Cornwall is the perfect location for such a crucial summit.

Two hundred years ago Cornwalls tin and copper mines were at the heart of the UKs industrial revolution and this summer Cornwall will again be the nucleus of great global change and advancement, he said.

With so much of the worlds power expected to be based in the seaside resort for the weekend, the summit will require a major security operation.

Devon and Cornwall Polices Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer said: We have been preparing for this event for several months, including speaking with colleagues who have managed similar events, so we can ensure that we continue to effectively serve our local communities in the run up to, during and after the event.
Submitted to the Tribune

MARLETTE - The Marlette Regional Hospital (MRH) Foundation recognizes the hospital's chief radiologist, Tyre Jones IV, MD of TK Imaging PC, who donated $1,000 to MRH's B.C.U.P.S. program.

Dr. Jones is first in line to stress the importance of annual screening mammograms. He sees the impacts of breast cancer when he is interpreting imaging and knows that early detection can save lives.

B.C.U.P.S. provides free mammogram screenings to uninsured and underinsured patients, financial assistance for diagnostic testing services, and grant funding for breast cancer patients in our local communities.

For more information about MRH's B.C.U.P.S. program benefits please go to our website at https://marletteregionalhospital.org/bcups-program/
Pope Francis, Benedict XVI get COVID-19 vaccine

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Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI have both received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a spokesperson for the Vatican.

The vaccination program at Vatican City began on Wednesday, with the current head of the Roman Catholic Church and his predecessor getting the shot.

I can confirm that as part of the vaccination program of the Vatican City State, as of today, the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine has been administered to Pope Francis and to the Pope Emeritus, stated Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, as reported by Vatican News.

In comments made earlier this week, Francis had explained that he planned to take the vaccine, stating that it was an ethical action, because you are gambling with your health, you are gambling with your life, but you are also gambling with the lives of others, reported Vatican News.

After a vaccine was developed for the coronavirus, some pro-life groups and others expressed concern over how aborted fetal cells were used in its development.

The AstraZeneca vaccine was developed partly through growing a modified virus in cells taken from embryonic kidney tissue derived from an abortion performed decades ago; while aborted tissue was not part of the vaccine, it was used for testing it.

The Moderna vaccine was developed via the HEK-293T cell line, which were indirect descendants of aborted fetal cells derived from a baby aborted in the Netherlands in the 1970s.

These facts led some pro-life organizations, like Georgia Right to Life, to denounce the vaccine and urge their supporters to refrain from taking it.

"The production and testing of vaccines using the remains of aborted human beings, regardless of manner of conception, is morally wrong and must be opposed. GRTL strongly urges the rejection of such vaccines," the group stated.

For its part, the Vatican had issued a statement last month explaining that it was morally acceptable for Catholics to take the vaccine, despite some concern over its origins.

A statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, approved by Pope Francis said that all vaccinations recognized as clinically safe and effective can be used in good conscience with the certain knowledge that the use of such vaccines does not constitute formal cooperation with the abortion from which the cells used in production of the vaccines derive.

It is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process, stated the CDF.

Some Christian ethicists have also made the case for taking the vaccine, arguing that the vaccines were not the cause of any new abortions.

An individual is not formally cooperating with a moral evil when using a vaccine developed thanks to an abortion, Matthew Arbo, C. Ben Mitchell and Andrew T. Walker stated. "The cell lines involved in developing and confirming the viability of COVID-19 vaccines were used as a result of previous abortions."

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They've become fixtures at political protests: "citizen journalists" unaffiliated with traditional news organizations who document the causes they support.

Some are backers of Donald Trump, providing material to Murder the Media, a California-based right-wing company that posts video and livestreams.

A number of leftist activists have also taken on this role, many of them motivated by the protests against systemic racism and police brutality in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.

Vishal Singh of Los Angeles is in the latter group.

Vishal Singh (center) at an Aug. 2020 protest. (Rayna Zemel)

He said he was radicalized by what he considered to be the LAPD's heavy-handed response to a massive protest on May 30 last year in the Fairfax District.

"I pretty much decided on that day [that] I am going to come at least to two to four protests a week," he said, describing himself as "a volunteer citizen/activist journalist."

'YOU'RE F----- ANTIFA'

Sometimes the 27-year-old Singh has worn a helmet and flak jacket, with homemade "press" signs on each, to protests. Other times he's outfitted with a bicycle helmet, goggles, and a credential from the National Press Photographers Association hanging around his neck.

He's always got his iPhone 11 as he wades into the thick of the action, shooting video.

Singh typically edits down what he shoots and posts the videos on social media.

Lately he's been documenting rallies in support of President Trump.

A couple of hours before a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol last week, Singh was on the scene when more than 200 people gathered on the steps of L.A. City Hall for their own "Stop The Steal" rally.

People were suspicious of him.

"You're f------ Antifa," one man said. "We see you. We know who you are."

Singh's video shows a half dozen men moving towards him. One had flashed the "OK" sign of the far-right group Proud Boys earlier.

Singh, who stands 5' 6" and only weighs about 100 pounds, sharply tells the men to back up before jumping in the car of a friend who had driven up.

WARNING: This Instagram post contains offensive language.

Singh, who works for Netflix editing documentaries, said he's always been politically aware -- his parents were part of an ethnic Indian minority that fled Fiji in the 1980's. He hung out with punk rockers growing up in Silicon Valley.

"I think it's my opportunity and responsibility to use my skills to show a really honest, embedded perspective of what these protests are like from the protesters' perspective," he said.

Singh on his crutches after a car ran over his foot. (Vishal Singh)

Singh's been roughed up by Trump supporters, hit with police batons, and shot with non-lethal projectiles. He's been arrested once, during a demonstration last November.

Singh had his foot run over by someone trying to drive past a protest in Hollywood. That put him on crutches for a few weeks.

He said when police opened fire with non-lethal projectiles during a protest last August in the 2nd Street Tunnel in downtown L.A., he was hit in the leg.

A few days later, Singh was playing video games that had the sound of gunshots.

"I started screaming," Singh said. "I tore off my headphones, I ducked under my bed. At that moment I said, oh this is something pretty severe."

Singh being treated after being hit in the leg with a projectile fired by police during an Aug. 2020 protest. (Courtesy of Ricardo Salvador Miranda)

But that didn't stop him from continuing to do what's become his passion.

People like Singh raise the question of who really is a journalist. There's no doubt they sometimes serve the cause of journalism when their video helps reporters figure out what's happened at an event they didn't cover.

But no traditional journalist would publicly express support for defunding the police -- as Singh does -- or advocate for protesters, as Singh did when he issued this call to action after demonstrators were arrested in West Hollywood last September.

Neither would a traditional journalist stand as close to officers as Singh does during tense standoffs with demonstrators.

Singh's Instagram following has grown from a few hundred to near 10,000. One video he helped edit of LAPD officers appearing to push a Black man out of his wheelchair received about 250,000 views.

Even some police know him, as you see in this video from a series of protests. At one point, Singh playfully asks if the officers are fans.

WARNING: The comments posted on Twitter underneath this video contain offensive language.

BHPD released an email to its supporters bragging that their surveillance program scans social media and communicates directly with federal agencies. Not to fight crime/terror. By the departments own boasting and admission: this intelligence unit is targeting PROTESTERS. pic.twitter.com/g1klaMZI65  Vishal P Singh (@VPS_Reports) November 3, 2020

A TEXTED THREAT

Singh's notoriety has seriously disrupted his personal life. He got a call one day last September from his older brother, who lived at the time with his parents.

"He told me that he, my mother and my father all simultaneously received text messages from an unknown phone number."

The texts included their address. It said: "I want to let you know Vishal has been involved in the riots and mayhem in Los Angeles ... we will honor you with the same courtesy."

His family put in a security system at their home and filed a police report.

Singh stopped going to protests for nearly a month and considered stopping altogether -- but decided against it. "In a way, that kind of motivated me more," he said.

Singh did take one big precaution -- he moved from one part of L.A. to another.

This weekend, he and some of his fellow videographers who came of age in the George Floyd protests plan to go to Sacramento to document any protests by supporters of President Trump.
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As US President Donald Trumps historic second impeachment trial looms, Senate Democratic Party leader Charles Schumer office has emphasised co-operation with Republicans. The move suggests Democrats want their latest effort to convict Mr Trump to be more bi-partisan than the last one, which saw a lone Republican senator break ranks with his party. Despite the unprecedented speed with which the House of Representatives acted  impeaching the president one week after the deadly storming of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob  Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell knocked back Democratic calls for the chamber to reconvene before its scheduled date of January 19, one day before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. Nonetheless, a spokesman for Mr Schumer signalled Democrats are far from taking a go-it-alone approach. We are working with Republicans to try to find a path forward, said Justin Goodman. A growing number of Republican senators, including Mr McConnell, have signalled they are open to convicting Mr Trump on the charge of incitement of insurrection. A two-thirds vote is necessary for conviction, meaning 17 of the 50 Republicans in the incoming Senate would need to join the 50 Democrats. One of those Republicans, Lisa Murkowski, said Mr Trumps words on the day of the riot incited violence, which briefly interfered with the governments ability to ensure a peaceful transfer of power. Such unlawful actions cannot go without consequence and the House has responded swiftly, and I believe appropriately, with impeachment, she said.

Read More

One of the impeachment managers, Democrat Representative Ted Lieu, declined to detail Democrats plans for the upcoming trial, including which witnesses they might call.

Im a former prosecutor, and the first thing I want to say is, we dont discuss trial strategy in public, said Mr Lieu, who is also a co-author of the article of impeachment.

Some Senate Democrats suggested the proceedings could be much shorter than last years trial, which lasted 21 days and ended with Mr Trumps acquittal.

This is a very simple allegation, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said. It is incitement to insurrection.

We could conduct a trial in a very short amount of time because the evidence thats needed is pretty direct.

The article of impeachment against Mr Trump provides something of an outline for the path Democrats may take.

It notes that, in the months after the election, the president repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the Presidential election results were the product of widespread fraud and should not be accepted by the American people or certified by State or Federal officials.

Among the examples is the January 2 phone call in which Mr Trump urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, to find enough votes to overturn Mr Bidens win in the state.

The article also states that Mr Trump willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged  and foreseeably resulted in  lawless action at the Capitol, such as his declaration at the rally preceding the riot that: If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore. ( Washington Post)

 Washington Post




NENAGH MAN Joseph Cummins has been remanded in the custody of Limerick Prison, with consent to bail, until February 12, on a charge of trespassing at a property in the town.

A condition of his bail is, if taken up, he must reside outside Tipperary and not return to the county except in the event of a court appearance.

The case against the 33-year-old came before Nenagh District Court on Friday where he faced to face a charge of trespass at a property on St. Flanan St in the town on January 5th.

He is accused of trespass in circumstances giving rise to the reasonable inference that such entry or presence was with intent to commit an offence or with intent to unlawfully interfere with any property.

A person who is guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on conviction in the District Court to a fine not exceeding 1,270 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

Cummins was remanded in the custody of Limerick Prison, with consent to bail in the sum of 500, to appear again at Nenagh District Court on February 12th.

No details relating to Cummins background can now be reported as the matter is now before the courts.
Two countries linked by an energy source, China and Myanmar have become closer partners over the last few years due to their connection via an oil pipeline. Having seen the success of energy transportation between the two states, China plans to invest further in Myanmar in the coming years. In 2019, the China-Myanmar pipeline carried 10.8 million tonnes of crude oil. Two countries that previously had few connections beyond their border have relied on the pipeline to transport energy, seeing an increase in movement of around 6.3 percent year on year and valued at around $5.5 billion.

China also imported around 3.4 million tonnes of natural gas from Myanmar in 2018, an increase of 54 percent from 2018.

The 1,420-km China-Myanmar oil pipeline was constructed in 2017 to transfer the energy source, following the prior construction of a natural gas pipeline between the two countries in 2013.

China announced plans this week to expand gas and oil infrastructure with Myanmars port of Kyaukpyu as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investment to link China to markets in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Both governments signed a deal to carry out a feasibility study for the construction of a 650km railway which would link a deepwater port in Rakhine state with Mandalay state this January. Mandalay, home to Myanmars second-biggest city, would then be linked via rail to Muse on the Chinese border.

The railway project would follow the same trajectory as the existing oil and gas pipelines. At present, the oil pipeline transports crude from the Indian Ocean to state-controlled PetroChina's 260,000 bpd Anning refinery in the Yunnan province. An average of 203,000 bpd of this crude oil comes through the Burma Road pipeline.

Related: Iran Expands Its Sphere Of Influence With Iraqi Energy Deals

The railway plan comes following a 2020 official visit by China's President Xi Jinping to Myanmar which resulted in several investment plans. The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor project is just part of Chinas BRI plan.

Following years of political instability, Myanmar is slowly winning back trust and investment from China. Armed conflicts in the country have so far not affected the oil and gas pipelines, which continue to show promise for the energy connection between the two states.

At present, China receives 95 percent of its energy imports by sea, with Myanmar offering a vital energy alternative link via land. The country also offers a substitute for Chinas reliance on Middle Eastern oil, particularly from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, as the home of 104 oil and natural gas blocks, the most of any ASEAN member.

Continuing to invest in improvements in the pipeline to bring it to full capacity could see an increase in oil imports from Myanmar by 4.3 percent of Chinas total. The existing pipeline has already changed the face of Myanmar, leading to the construction of roads across the country and benefiting the economy as a whole. The connection between the two states has led to the development of Myanmar's petrochemical industry, as well as enhancing industrialization and providing vital job opportunities for the Burmese population.

Overall, greater investment from China in the Myanmar energy sector could see a shift in the country, leading to greater industrialization and economic stability. In addition, this link via land to the Indian Ocean provides China with greater energy security, ultimately helping the country to decrease its reliance on Middle Eastern oil and sea links.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

Erick Ortiz slumped in a chair when he came back from Milby High School on Nov. 3. He told his wife that he had been on his feet for five hours, monitoring about 20 students taking the PSAT in his classroom.

Her heart sank at the thought of him closed in a room with so many students.

I remember telling him, Dont tell me you walked around. Why didnt you just stand there? Maria Ortiz said. He said, We have to stand and monitor them.

About four days later, Erick Ortiz began feeling sick. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 8, and after a nearly month-long battle in which he was intubated, Ortiz died on Dec. 6. The science teacher was 52.

For dozens of Texas families whose loved ones worked in schools and died of COVID-19 in recent months, the grieving period comes with a barrage of questions: Did the fatal infection happen on-campus? Could school leaders have done more to ensure safety? Were the benefits of bringing nearly 3 million children back on campus worth the potential risk of lives lost?

As with so much about the pandemic, there are few simple or unanimous answers.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas public school pre-K enrollment tumbles 22 percent

Some survivors of the deceased, such as Ortizs family, argue that education employees have been put in unnecessarily dangerous positions, through rushed back-to-school policies or lax enforcement of safety protocols.

Others, such as the widow of 57-year-old Goose Creek CISD middle school teacher Kenneth McVay, who died of COVID-19 in mid-December, are comforted by robust health protocols on campuses and the irreplaceable public service provided by educators amid the pandemic. School leaders across the state report that many students in online-only classes are struggling with their academics and mental health, while children in face-to-face classes are performing better.

In my mind, teachers are front-line personnel, the same way doctors and nurses are, said Robin Creed McVay, herself a middle school counselor. I feel the loss of my husband very deeply, but I wont say we made a bad decision or wrong decision. We are where we thought we needed to be.

From the outset of the pandemic, the potential public health effects of resuming in-person classes have stirred intense debate among education leaders, school employees and their families.

For some school staff, the prospect of on-campus COVID-19 spread inspires grave concerns, sparking calls to keep instruction online. Many families shared those concerns, evidenced by nearly half of Texas public schoolchildren remaining in virtual classes into at least late October, according to state data.

Several months later, the ultimate impact of reopening campuses on the states 800,000-plus school employees remains murky. No government agency tracks the number of COVID-19 deaths or hospitalizations among school staff.

Through media reports, obituaries and other sources, the Houston Chronicle identified nearly 40 school employees in Texas whose deaths have been linked to COVID-19. The deceased  administrators, teachers, custodians, bus drivers, paraprofessionals  ranged in age from 35 to 74.

Six worked in the Greater Houston area, including Alvin ISD assistant principal LeRoy Castro, 58; Cleveland ISD teacher Michael Moore, 48; Cypress-Fairbanks ISD teachers aide Marie Le, 69; and Spring ISD teacher Joe Diaz, whose age could not be verified.

Courtesy

The nearly 40 deaths identified by the Chronicle likely is an undercount against the 37,000 confirmed cases of COVID reported by public school districts between early August and the winter break.

Safe in school?

At least some of the deaths likely are not traceable to in-school spread. In November, the family of Mesquite ISD bus driver Clarkster Toure told a Dallas-area television station that it suspects she contracted COVID-19 at church.

However, other families are left to ponder whether their loved ones would be alive if schools remained closed.

Maria Ortiz said the decision to put so many students in a classroom with Ortiz during the PSAT was likely what caused his infection.

They couldnt keep distancing at six feet with so many kids, Maria said. He told me a couple of times that he felt that some of the kids were sick. They're coughing, and maybe their parents just give them a couple of Tylenol and go to school because kids are very resilient.

The family of 64-year-old school bus driver Sandra Robinson, who spent three decades in Beaumont ISDs transportation department, also believes she picked up COVID-19 while on the job.

Her grandson, Kevin Robinson, advocated for changes to district protocols, such as allowing more employees to work from home if they can.

One death doesnt really change a lot, said Robinson, who was raised by his grandmother for most of his childhood. It takes a lot of sacrifice for real change to happen. Once it starts affecting more people, once it hits their families and children, the district will take it more seriously, and then the city, then the state and the whole ladder.

Creed McVay, whose husband worked as a structural engineer before joining the teaching staff at Gentry Junior School in his native Baytown in 2019, also suspects her husband was infected while on campus.

She does not blame local or state education leaders for his death, however. Before he became ill, McVay reported to his wife of 35 years that Gentry Junior staff took common precautions: making kids sanitize their hands at the start and end of school, cleaning desks daily, ordering students to keep their masks on.

When Creed McVay went to pack up her husbands classroom in early January, before students and staff returned from winter break, she found desks well-spaced and surrounded by plexiglass dividers.

I felt like they had taken every possible precaution to protect my husband and those students in that room, Creed McVay said. And as I glanced around the classrooms when I was in there, it was the same setup everywhere.

Teachers are not disposable

For now, state and Houston-area education leaders continue to move forward with in-person classes, often with support from medical officials. Local health authorities have reported finding minimal on-campus spread of COVID-19, though that trend could be tested amid a spike in infected students and staff during the past month.

Texas Education Agency leaders have given no indication that they plan to allow public school districts to return to all-online classes. Under current state guidelines, districts must offer in-person classes to all families that want it, with few exceptions.

While the agency does not track mortality data, all of us who work in education have been saddened by educator deaths from COVID. One teacher death is too many, TEA officials said in a statement. Those working both in schools and also in support of schools right now are doing the absolutely essential work of ensuring that a generation of children receive the educations they deserve even in these extraordinarily challenging times.

Although the leaders of two large Texas districts, Austin and Northside ISDs, are urging families to keep children home from school, no Houston-area superintendents have issued similar calls or pushed state officials to relent on face-to-face classes.

Asked earlier this month about any urgency to shutter schools, Houston ISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said the district is not at that point right now, citing feedback she has received from city of Houston and Texas Medical Center officials.

I know there are grave concerns with the positivity rate and the new strand that has reached the city of Houston, Lathan said. But I want to make sure everyone is aware that those conversations are ongoing, and theyre not just hit-or-miss conversations.

If Maria Ortiz had her way, campuses already would be closed. If they have to open, she said, school leaders should make sure everyone is following CDC guidelines by keeping distanced, doing more contact tracing and providing more protection to teachers.

I am angry that this is happening in many schools. Teachers are not disposable. They have families, Maria said, her voice breaking. Families must be protected, as well.

Isaac Windes of the Beaumont Enterprise contributed to this report.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com

shelby.webb@chron.com
OTTAWA  The federal Liberals have put on the back burner a pledge to create a panel to rectify wrongful convictions, which David Milgaard has spent years trying to bring to life.

OTTAWA  The federal Liberals have put on the back burner a pledge to create a panel to rectify wrongful convictions, which David Milgaard has spent years trying to bring to life.

Justice Minister David Lametti said hes committed to that promise, despite it having vanished from his priority list Friday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued what he called "supplemental" mandate letters to cabinet ministers, outlining new priorities that take precedent over the ones hed assigned after the fall 2019 election.

Lamettis original marching orders listed 21 priorities, the first of which sought to "establish an independent criminal case review commission to make it easier and faster for potentially wrongfully convicted people to have their applications reviewed."

Before the pandemic, Lametti met with advocates to discuss that pledge, including Milgaard, the Winnipeg man who served 23 years in prison for a murder in Saskatoon in 1969 that he didnt commit.

The idea is to put Canada in line with other countries that have independent commissions review cases in which a criminal argues theyve been wrongfully convicted.

Thats instead of the current process of leaving it up to Department of Justice officials, whose colleagues are often involved in the original prosecutions.

Successive federal governments have pledged to reform this process, but the Trudeau government appears the most committed to doing it.

Yet Lamettis new mandate letter, issued Friday, made no mention of this pledge, despite listing other commitments from last fall, such as gun control and encoding Indigenous rights.

Nevertheless, the minister insisted he intends to deliver the promise.

"I can assure you that meeting this important goal remains a top priority for me personally, and for our government," Lametti wrote to the Free Press.

He said his team has been in touch with various stakeholders over the past year, and will soon launch a public consultation period.

"Wrongful convictions are a matter of deep concern to me, and indeed many Canadians."

Milgaard declined to do an interview, saying he wanted to consult his team of advocates.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
Mondelez India, the makers and bakers of some of the countrys favourite snacking brands  Cadbury Dairy Milk, Bournvita, Oreo, etc., today announced the launch of yet another unique product innovation under its premium chocolate segment, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Mousse, kick-starting the New Year on a premium chocolatey note. This latest entrant from the house of Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk offers a decadent combination of light, micro-aerated mousse filling inside a smooth and creamy Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk chocolate bar, which is sure to take over the consumer palate, with the first of its kind luxurious taste experience for their moments of self-indulgence.

Commenting on this new launch Anil Viswanathan, Senior Director, Marketing (chocolates), Insights and Analytics, Mondelez India, said, With new product innovation as one of the cornerstone of our growth strategy, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk has always stood for the best taste of chocolate in the country, pioneering an assortment of first of its kind experiences for the consumers. With its light texture of the mousse centre filling whisked to perfection, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Mousse is the ultimate indulgent experience that is sure to delight our consumers who are always on the lookout for unique and innovative experiences. We believe that this innovation created in line with our efforts to redefine the chocolate eating experience will help us further capitalize on the premium segment as we expand our snacking footprint in the country.

After fortifying its premium chocolate credential with an array of successful launches like Indias first center-filled Chocolate  Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Caramello, Indias first aerated Chocolate  Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Bubbly, global innovation bundles like Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Creations, and the most recent unique eat experiences like Cadbury Dark Milk, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Oreo & Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Oreo Red Velvet, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Mousse further takes the brands innovation prowess a notch higher rooted in deep consumer insights and global expertise in chocolate.

With deliciousness in every scoop, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Mousse is crafted using Micro Aeration technology. The new decadent bundle from Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk is being launched with a high intensity multi touch-point IMC campaign #ScoopIntoChocolateHeaven at the back of a film on TV & digital platforms, social media influencer strategy, impactful in-store visibility, on-ground & outdoor activation. Priced at Rs. 80 and Rs. 175, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Mousse is all set to give chocolate lovers an eat experience full of indulgence unlike any they've tasted before!
BJP leader and Gautam Buddh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma on Saturday got vaccinated for coronavirus as a 'healthcare worker', becoming among the first parliamentarians in India to get inoculated for the infection. Sharma, who is also a trained MBBS doctor, got vaccinated at 11 am at his Kailash Hospital in Noida Sector 27, hospital spokesperson V B Joshi told PTI.

The 61-year-old former Union minister was then kept in observation for 30 minutes at the hospital, Joshi said. The vaccination drive started in Gautam Buddh Nagar at six centres across Noida and Greater Noida as the mega inoculation drive was launched in the country on Saturday.

The first vaccine at a government facility was administered to a healthcare worker at the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Bhangel at 11.31 am in the presence of District Magistrate Suhas L Y and Chief Medical Officer Deepak Ohri, officials said. Today, on the first day of the vaccination, 600 healthcare workers will be administered the vaccine in Gautam Buddh Nagar. Today's drive will specifically cover healthcare workers, Dr Neeraj Tyagi, district immunisation officer, told PTI.

The six centres where the vaccination drive is underway are Child PGI in Sector 30, Kailash Hospital in Sector 27, CHCs at Bhangel and Bisrakh, Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) and Sharda Hospital in Greater Noida, the officials said. Gautam Buddh Nagar has received 28,840 doses of India-made Covishield vaccine for the first round of vaccination, according to officials.
Mahamaya Girls College in Kandy celebrated its 89th anniversary on Friday. To mark this occasion, on par with the 2564th Buddha Jayanthi felicitation, the pupils, past pupils, teachers and parents organised Mahamaya panhinden dalada upahara. Where they offered 2564 books written by them to the Sacred Tooth Relic on Friday. Pic by Shane Senaviratne

The beach is a place thousands of Kiwis will be flocking to this season to soak up the sunshine, surf, and swim.

But there's something New Zealanders should keep a look out for whilst enjoying their holiday.

It's called sea spurge, an invasive weed which has been cropping up in parts of Aotearoa.

Sea spurge invades the shores just above the high tide mark, disrupts sand dunes, and stops native plants from being able to grow. Because it spreads quickly, it can ravage a whole area in a short space of time.

Department of Conservation and the Ministry for Primary Industries want people to report any sightings.

Its sap is toxic to humans and animals and can cause skin irritations, or temporary blindness if you get it in your eyes, so don't try to remove it if you do spot it.

"Having a day at the beach is quintessential to a New Zealand summer, if sea spurge became well established in New Zealand, it could jeopardise that. If you spot sea spurge let us know by calling the MPI exotic pest line 0800 80 99 66 and make sure to take a photo if you can," says MPI's director of readiness and responses, John Walsh.

Sea spurge looks like a small shrub, it can grow up to about half a metre in height, it has multiple stems that are often reddish at the base, and it has spiky, tightly packed bluey-green leaves and greenish flowers on the end of the stems.

It was first found in 2012 on our shores. It's believed the seeds have travelled in ocean currents from Australia where this species is invasive and widely established along the coastline.

"Whilst you're out and about this summer, aside from the age-old tropes of slip, slop, slap and wrap, and being a tidy kiwi  we're asking everyone to look out for and report if they see what they think might be sea spurge. We can all work together to keep our beaches beautiful and preserve them for generations to come," says John.

Sea spurge has been found near the following places around the country: Karekare Beach, Aotea Harbour, Mokau, Himatangi, and Karamea.

What to do this summer if you think you've found sea spurge
If anyone thought the low-legitimacy Joe Biden presidency was going to be a tip-toe unity caretaker operation, they had another thing coming.

Biden's getting right to work on a huge, unpopular amnesty plan to reward an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants with instant green cards and a "right" to citizenship after a mere eight years. He's cynically planning to put it in place with the expectation that Congress will swing to the Republicans in 2022, based on public opposition.

According to Politico (emphasis mine):

Biden has said he plans to immediately introduce an immigration bill after taking office on Wednesday. And top Latino and immigrant advocacy groups whove seen details of the coming package said they were stunned by the boldness of Bidens plan. On Thursday, Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, policy advisers and three Latino Cabinet nominees met with advocates to outline the president-elects immigration, coronavirus and economic agendas. Hector Sanchez Barba, head of Mi Familia Vota, who has criticized Biden on immigration policy in the past, wouldnt share specific details discussed in the private meeting. Still, he said, Bidens plan is the most aggressive agenda that I have seen on immigration reform from day one  not only the legislative package, but also executive orders. In the meeting, Susan Rice, who will lead Bidens Domestic Policy Council, was adamant that the incoming administration wasnt about to introduce comprehensive immigration reform to simply let it sit on a shelf, said Jess Morales Rocketto, executive director of Care in Action. We were totally floored by the immigration plan and the level of clarity, she said.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

Both Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have said their legislative proposal would include a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the U.S. without legal status, and The Times has confirmed the bold opening salvo that the new administration plans in its first days doesnt include the security first political concessions of past efforts.

Three things make it hugely problematic and the first two of them are unintended consequences, a specialty of Joe's, the man Robert Gates called "wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades." The third, of course, is very likely intentional.

First, the prospect of nearly instant citizenship is very likely to trigger a border surge. Legal immigration lines can take ten or twenty years to get through, and cost immigrants thousands of dollars in fees. Illegal immigrants, by contrast, will get through cost-free, beyond the expenses they to cartel human smugglers. What's more, the whole process will be completed to the U.S. citizenship level in a very convenient eight-year time-frame, which just happens to be the length of a second Biden term. Who the heck would want to immigrate legally with such a Biden offer? Legal immigration to the U.S. would be a fool's errand, given the rewards held out to illegal aliens. That in turn will pretty well dismantle any semblance of rule of law through the legal immigration process. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services government agency will become essentially useless, as will any effort to enforce border law. Customs and Border Protection agents will lay back like blue city police agencies, refuse to stick their necks out on calls, and think about their pensions.

Two, a border surge in turn would destabilize Mexico and all the feeder countries likely to be sending their surplus populations.

Start with Central America, though there will undoubtedly be African and Asian nations sending surges of people, too. In Central America's case at this point, the people coming will not be surplus population, they'll be seed-corn population. Countries like Guatemala and El Salvador have already exported too many people of prime working age to the U.S, leaving these countries low-growth shells that are unlikely to see normal economic growth. These countries literally cannot afford to send millions of new emigrants to the U.S. given their own needs. And with these nations exchanging their talent base for cold inanimate remittances, the inevitable result will be what the IMF has noted of failed remittance economies: Underdevelopment.

Second, let's look at Cuba and Venezuela: The nations there are socialist hellholes whose policies literally drive people out. People leaving amounts to a pressure valve reduced, and that benefits those governments, reducing potential for internal dissent. That in turn permits them to operate as they do, with zero concern for changing their ways. Biden's new open borders policy will effectively entrench those socialist hellholes as migrants from those countries flood into the U.S. The Venezuelans in particular can be expected to come, given that other Latin American countries are getting resistant to them and shutting their doors. Though most are just pitiful, some have brought in enough crime and social disintegration to harden perceptions.

Now let's move onto Mexico: There's a myth in the U.S. that the U.S and Mexico have a free and open unguarded border. That's nonsense. There may be a lack of U.S. enforcement at the border but rest assured, power abhors a vacuum. With the U.S. barely present there is a group guarding entrance to the border and it's not a pretty picture. Mexico's infamous drug cartels control access to the border mostly from the Mexican side, and they collect crossing fees for every illegal immigrant who passes. No fees, no crossing, and anyone who tries without paying ends up in mass grave. Mexico is full of incidents like these for those who failed to pay the cartels to cross the border. A border surge will be increased "business" for the cartels, including a hiring spree of more cartel soldiers, and huge upswings in cartel profits. When cartel profits get large, the cartels have more money to pay off judges and politicians, and if the profits are really large, challenge the government. Lucky Mexico.

And let's not forget the people themselves, the would-be migrants responding to the dinner triangle rang by Joe for all the supposedly free goodies. Illegal immigration is often a horrible thing for emigrants given the many ways they get exploited. Last September, a movie called "America's Forgotten" came out by Indian-American filmmaker Namrata Singh Gujral on the illegal immigrant trade. She began the project with a neutral perspective and by the end of it was horrified:

According to Newsweek (and be sure to read the whole thing):

One scene shows a clip from the Democratic presidential debates where the moderator says, "Raise your hand if your government plan would provide coverage for undocumented immigrants," and all of the candidates lift their hands, including eventual nominee Joe Biden. The documentary then cuts to "coyotes" who use video of that debate moment to encourage Mexicans to hire them to escort them illegally across the border, where they'll get health care, food stamps and other benefits, they are told. Then the film shows "Maria"who uses an assumed name to keep her safeexplaining how, during her trek to the U.S. border, she was "sold" multiple times by various coyotes and ultimately was kidnapped by a drug cartel. She was raped five times a day for two months. It's just sick. We had to stop shooting a few times because she was beside herself crying," Gujral, a registered Democrat, told Newsweek.

And this is just a snippet of the horrors of the illegal immigrant trade.

The only beneficiary here is Joe Biden and his open borders lobby.

They seek to blur the distinction between foreigner and citizen and legal and illegal. From the LA Times:

What we dont want is to militarize the border, he said. We dont want to demonize and dehumanize and criminalize an immigration process.

As for Biden himself, the aim of course is to create Democrat voters. There is a precedent for this, it was done in 2004, by Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chavez, who "nationalized" more than a million illegal immigrants in Venezuela just in time to get them to vote for him in his recall referendum of that year.

According to Miguel Octavio, writing in The Devil's Excrement blog on Venezuela at the time:

In March

2004 when the Presidential Recall Referendum (RR) process was in its way the

Electoral Registry (RE) had 12,394,109 voters. In a multi-tiered campaign that

Chavez called Batalla de Santa Ines a big push was made to add new

voters to the RE. Thats how the Misiones were created: Mision Robinson, Mision

Ribas, Mision Vuelvan Caras, Mision Barrio

Adentro, Mercal, Mision Milagro, Mision Identidad, Mision Zamora, etc. http://www.gobiernoenlinea.ve/miscelaneas/misiones.html.

A variety of public assistance efforts offering anything from food, health

care, education, land, temporary jobs and of course money. Particularly

Mision Identidad offered foreigners living in Venezuela a fast-track

nationalization, no questions asked, as long as they showed support for Chavez.

Everyone that benefited from the misiones was registered in the Maisanta

database and if they were not already part of the RE they were immediately

entered in a joint effort between the CNE and the ONI-DEX (the National Identification

Office). By July 2004 the RE had grown to 14,037,900 an incredible 1,643,791

new voters or 13% in just 4 months. In August

15th, 2004 Chavez won a widely denounced Referendum with 60%-40% advantage that

in the exit polls showed as 40%-60% against him.

According to this University of Cologne study:

Criticisms of the campaign included the allegation that naturalizing hundreds of thousands of formerly undocumented immigrants tampered with the foundation of political representation.

Which sounds like Joe Biden's plan, too. Joe Biden is widely believed by the public to be in power in the U.S. through Venezuela-like election fraud, the signs of it are abundant all over. His immigration plan sounds remarkably like Venezuela's too. Biden seems to be taking Venezuela's hideous immigration story not as a cautionary tale but as a how-to guide.

The worst of it is its cynicism. Biden expects to get the whole thing done before his party can be thrown out as a consequence of all the anti-American things it plans to do. Even Politico found a Democrat congresswoman who admitted that this was precisely the Biden plan:

Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) said a piecemeal approach is not an option. The administration has a very limited window of opportunity before House members begin running for reelection, she said. Every day that passes is a day that the window shuts just an inch more...Weve got to get it done in one fell swoop.

Rather than changing course to make the whole thing palatable to the public and consider U.S. citizens' interests, Biden means to charge on through, against the people's will, and let the chips in Congress fall where they may. He sure as heck is acting like a guy for whom public opinion doesn't matter. That generally happens with people who weren't elected legitimately.

Image credit: Gage Skidmore, via Flickr and Wikiimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0
Beijing to donate Covid vaccines to the Philippines

President Rodrigo Duterte has actively sought closer ties with Beijing since taking power in 2016. File photo: Reuters

Beijing's top diplomat pledged on Saturday to donate half a million coronavirus vaccine shots to the Philippines, Manila officials said.



President Rodrigo Duterte's administration is scrambling to lock in supplies of Covid-19 vaccines for the country's 110 million people, after being criticised for being too slow off the mark in the global race to procure the drugs.



Among other deals, the Philippines has already agreed to buy 25 million doses of Chinese company Sinovac's Coronavac, despite the jab not having been approved by regulators in China.



It is not clear which vaccine China will donate, and whether the donation is part of that earlier deal; the Chinese embassy in Manila did not respond to AFP's request for comment.



China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his counterpart of the intended donation when he was in Manila on Saturday, the Philippines foreign ministry said.



The news follows similar announcements from other countries in the region earlier this week - Cambodia said it would receive one million free doses from Beijing on Friday, after Myanmar was set to get 300,000.



Duterte has actively sought closer ties with Beijing since taking power in 2016, and has defended Chinese vaccines in the face of misgivings over their effectiveness.



Although trials in Turkey found Coronavac to be 91.25 percent effective, other, more robust trials in Brazil only demonstrated an efficacy rate of around 50 percent.



Duterte came under fire last month after he revealed that members of his security team had been given a jab made by another Chinese company, Sinopharm, even though it had not been approved for use.



Nearly half a million people have been infected with the virus in the Philippines, with almost 10,000 fatalities.



Health officials have warned of a possible spike in cases following the Christmas holidays, religious parades and a confirmed case of the more infectious strain first identified in Britain. (AFP)
Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan sparred on Twitter on Saturday with the Opposition leader raising questions over the emergency use approval given to the indigenously developed vaccine Covaxin and the BJP leader hitting back alleging that Tewari was only passionate about spreading rumours. India recently granted two vaccines  Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin  approval on restricted emergency use.

In the backdrop of the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in the country, Tewari raised questions over the emergency use approval given to the indigenously developed vaccine Covaxin and alleged that it was "sans due process". "As vaccine roll-out begins, it is all a bit puzzling India has no policy framework for authorising emergency use. Yet, two vaccines have been approved for restricted use in emergency situation," Tewari said in a tweet just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the vaccination drive.

"COVAXIN is another story  Approvals sans Due Process," the former Union minister added, tagging a media report which claimed that scientists and doctors are divided on the issue of restricted use approval granted to the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. Responding to Tewari's remarks raising questions over approval to Covaxin, Vardhan, in a tweet, quoted English cleric Charles Caleb Colton who said, "So blinded are we by our passions that we suffer more to be damned than to be saved." "Sh @ManishTewari & @INCIndia are only passionate about spreading distrust & rumours. Open your eyes, sharing photos of eminent Doctors & Govt functionaries getting inoculated," Vardhan tweeted and posted pictures from the inoculation drive that began earlier in the day.

Hitting back at Vardhan for his jibe, Tewari said, "Dear Dr @drharshvardhan, Concerns that I have articulated are real & not imagined. It is not fear Mongering. Look what is happening in Norway. It may be a different vaccine but do not hide behind vaccine nationalism. ANS QUES's Expected better of you Sir." Addressing Tewari, in another tweet, the Union health minister said the science behind COVID-19 vaccines is resolute. "Our scientists have worked at lightning speed to expedite functions that contribute to development of a vaccine but not a single function has been circumvented. Safety above all else has been the guiding principle!" he said.

Tagging Vardhan's tweet, Tewari said, "Well @drharshvardhan since you say so & as you are aware that I have deep personal regard for you I am more than willing to take your word for it. However, why is the medical fraternity so deeply divided over the safety,reliability & efficacy of COVAXIN?" Tewari also shared a letter on Twitter which was purportedly from the Resident Doctor Association (RDA) of the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to the medical superintendent of the hospital in which apprehensions were expressed over the use of Covaxin in the vaccination drive for the resident doctors. "Is this letter a genuine or a fake? A journalist sent it to me. Just bringing it to your attention. kind of FYA (for your attention)," Tewari tweeted along with the letter.

Earlier this month, senior Congress leaders Anand Sharma, Jairam Ramesh and Shashi Tharoor had also raised concerns over India's drugs regulator's nod to restricted use of Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine. However, there were different voices within the party as its chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had lauded scientists and researchers of Bharat Biotech for the indigenous vaccine.

The BJP, in response to the criticism by some Congress leaders, had hit out at the Congress with party president J P Nadda alleging that whenever India achieves something commendable the opposition party comes up with "wild theories" to "ridicule" the accomplishments.
As it stares down an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases and the state's largest-ever vaccination campaign, the Medical University of South Carolina is short 1,500 nurses.

Lawmakers are stepping in to help with a $5 million influx to help keep nurses in place at MUSC's hospitals in Charleston, Lancaster, Chester, Marion and Florence.

The Joint Bond Review Committee, a panel of legislators that reviews major expenditures, approved a request Friday to free up the money "for recruitment bonuses and retention incentives for our most acute nursing staffing needs."

In other words, MUSC will use the funding both to keep nurses it has on staff and to hire new ones. System-wide, MUSC's payroll totals about 17,000 workers.

"As you know, MUSC Health is faced with acute nursing shortages on top of chronic nurse staffing needs brought on by the many dimensions of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic," Dr. David Cole, president of MUSC Health, wrote in a letter to Gov. Henry McMaster requesting the funds. "This, of course, includes ICU nurses and staff."

The source of funds is the COVID-19 Response Reserve Account, which the state created in May.

MUSC's staffing shortage is indicative of a broader problem across the state as surging coronavirus cases have taken hold in South Carolina. With hospitals everywhere clamoring for trained health care professionals, some in South Carolina have been able to find more lucrative contracts elsewhere.

Mark Sweatman, director of government relations for MUSC, said the system's turnover rate is more than 20 percent. In years past, 12 percent to 14 percent was typical.

"This has been a problem since the pandemic started," Sweatman said.

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It's a bigger issue now. In describing the stress hospitals are facing, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control said they're close to capacity and that emergency departments are already "overwhelmed."

Meanwhile, McMaster issued a request to the South Carolina Hospital Association on Friday asking medical centers across the state to scale back on elective procedures and all non-essential care. He cited the "growing public demand for increased and expedited access to vaccinations."

In the Upstate, Prisma Health called in medics with the National Guard to help staff a 15-bed COVID-19 recovery unit at its Laurens County Hospital.

Even as South Carolina sees some of its highest-ever numbers of coronavirus cases, MUSC and Prisma have each said they hope to be able to vaccinate 10,000 people a day. That effort will create its own staffing challenges.

DHEC made a call-out on Wednesday for applicants to fill at least 150 "critical positions" that include nurses, paramedics, pharmacists and other jobs.

Dr. Danielle Scheurer, chief quality officer at MUSC, said the system is also seeking volunteers to help manage vaccines.

She said workers are eager to be involved in the historic inoculation campaign, but the task is getting more challenging now that shots are available to people 70 and older. The number of patients MUSC is managing each day has doubled to about 10,000.

"You can imagine the constraints on every part of the system," she said. "It is literally double the work."
Carie Mathis housecleaning business collapsed when the pandemic started. The single mom went on unemployment to support herself and her twin 15-year-olds, but couldnt make the rent payments for their Rodeo house. They moved in with her parents in Vacaville. She bunks in the garage so the kids can have bedrooms.

In December, her unemployment benefits were suddenly suspended. Every bit of income that ... was coming in was stopped dry, she said. She spent hours fruitlessly calling Californias Employment Development Department. On New Years Eve, she finally got an email explaining that she was among 1.4 million accounts the state had frozen because of suspected fraud.

The fallout from EDDs massive suspension of accounts is continuing to hit jobless people who are desperate to get their benefits reinstated. The agency has been sending emails and letters telling claimants how to prove their identity, but its doing so in batches to keep from overwhelming its systems. EDD has told lawmakers that it could take until mid-February to finish authenticating suspended accounts.

Even those who have been notified are struggling. Mathis has spent hours online submitting identity documents, calling EDD and then submitting them again.

Shes reduced to asking her parents for grocery money and worried about losing everything under the sun that is near and dear to my heart if she cant pay for her storage unit. Shes set up a GoFundMe for help.

I go to bed at night and my head spins like, When is this ever going to stop? she said.

I have run out of words to describe my frustration with this situation, said state Assembly member David Chiu, D-San Francisco. He said hes working with other legislators on bills to reform EDD and probe its issues with scammers. I suspect the level of fraud caused them to feel they had to hit the emergency shutdown for everyone, he said. He still faulted the agency for not being more discerning about those seeking benefits.

It is unconscionable that EDD cannot distinguish between legitimate claimants who have a history of employment and those who are making things up as they go along, said Assembly member Jim Patterson, R-Fresno. The desperation is just heartbreaking.

As frustration mounts, the CEO of the outside company that verifies claimants identities says his company is working as quickly as possible to help authentically jobless people and weed out armies of fraudsters seeking to siphon billions of dollars from California.

Youve got the Russians, Chinese, Nigerians, Ghanaians and even domestic criminals who are attacking this agency at scale, said Blake Hall, CEO of ID.me. And those nation-state actors and organized crime rings ... keeping them out while also helping legitimate people is really difficult, and right now organized crime is just all over the state.

EDD hired ID.me in October after a task force convened by Gov. Gavin Newsom faulted the agency for its slow handling of claims. The McLean, Va., company does ID verification for 14 states unemployment systems, as well as other government agencies. ID.me said it verifies nearly 2 million people a month nationwide.

ID.me said it has verified 847,289 California claimants from Oct. 1 to Jan. 12 and blocked 488,308 fraudulent claims in the state.

Hall said its automated, self-serve process can handle about 88% of people, while the rest must go through a video-chat verification. People who dont have computers to do the online verification are referred back to EDD, he said.

Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle

Social media are flooded with stories of people waiting five hours or more for ID.mes video chats, even though Hall said ordinary wait times are 30 minutes to two hours. He said the company is hiring about 40 new video chat staffers every week.

Unfortunately, this influx of fraud and claimants is contributing to longer wait times for legitimate claimants, he said. Users who encounter issues have often been waiting for benefits for weeks and months, and they take that frustration out on us, which is understandable.

Others say theyve completed their ID.me verification without having their benefits reinstated.

I followed everything I was supposed to do, and I still am without benefits, (even though) it said Congratulations, youre verified two days earlier, Mathis said Thursday.

Hall said reinstating accounts is a question for EDD.

The agency did not respond to questions. It sent a statement that said, As claimants have their identity verified, EDD is removing barriers on claims so payments can continue for eligible claimants  something that can occur in a matter of days. Claimants should continue to certify for their benefits while their accounts are suspended to minimize future delays, it said.

Shelly Ross pet-sitting company, Tales of the Kitty, has seen business implode. She laid off herself and most of her 14 employees, setting up a GoFundMe account to help her workers.

Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available.

She, too, saw her benefits suspended in December and spent hours trying to call EDD. On Friday, she finally got a message asking her to verify her identity with ID.me, which she did  but her account remained frozen.

Im not sure I can pay my rent in February, she said.

On Friday, Bank of America, which issues the debit cards used for EDD benefits, was sued for allegedly failing to sufficiently protect unemployment benefits from scammers.

Bank of America failed to safeguard the accounts of EDD debit cardholders and then failed to handle fraud claims when made, Brian Danitz, a partner at law firm Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, said in a statement. Hundreds of millions in California unemployment benefits have already been lost to fraud.

Bank of America pointed to comments from EDD that it did not ask the bank to include chip technology in the debit cards.

Bank of America is working every day with the state to prevent criminals from getting money and ensuring legitimate recipients receive their benefits, it said in a statement. While most scams occur via fake applications, it said, when fraudulent transactions occur on benefit cards we review those claims and restore money to legitimate recipients.

Mathis summed up the despair that many cut-off people are feeling.

Even though there was a pandemic and the kids were being homeschooled and the world is in the state it is, I still had hope, she said. I was saving money. We had a house I was going to be able to get. Now Im just in limbo, and I dont know what to do.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
Farms and other agricultural operations in certain rural areas in the US can now use robotic drones to take images of or gather data on their crops. The FAA has approved Massachusetts-based American Robotics request to be able to deploy automated drones without human pilots and spotters on site. As The Wall Street Journal notes, commercial drone flights typically require the physical presence of licensed pilots making them a costly undertaking. ARs machine eliminates the need for on-site personnel, though each automated flight will still need to be overseen by a remote human pilot.

According to the relevant documents (via The Verge) the FAA has uploaded on its website, the pilot who is not co-located with the aircraft will have to conduct pre-flight safety checks to ensure the drone is in working condition. American Robotics drones are 20pound machines powered by its Scout System technology, which uses predetermined paths. Scout also has a Detect-and-Avoid feature that allows the unmanned aircraft system to maintain a safe distance from other aircraft, birds and obstacles. When its not in the air, the UAS can stay inside a weatherproof base station for charging, data processing/analysis and data transmission

The company won the FAAs trust by testing its technology for four years across eight states  last year, it flew as many as 10 autonomous flights a day to capture agriculture imagery and other data. ARs drones can only fly in rural areas in Kansas, Massachusetts and Nevada and at altitudes below 400 feet at the moment. The company believes, however, that this is only the beginning and that its ushering in a new era of widespread automated drone operations.

American Robotics CEO Reese Mozer said in a statement:
Kerri-Anne Kennerley was left with a broken collarbone after falling from a trapeze in the stage musical Pippin on December 30.

It's now understood that the 67-year-old show business veteran is recovering after undergoing surgery on Thursday at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald's Private Sydney, the beloved entertainer had a metal plate and 10 screws inserted on her collarbone.

Recovery: Kerri-Anne Kennerley, 67, is set to endure months of 'extensive physiotherapy' after having surgery on her broken collarbone following her Pippin trapeze fall

According to the publication, Kerri-Anne will now have to undertake 'extensive physiotherapy' over the next few months, in order to make a full recovery.

She also revealed to Private Sydney that her doctors told her that she would be left with a scar after surgery.

'Apparently I don't have enough fat on my clavicle... I suggested they could take some off my bum to make up for it,' she joked.

On the mend: According to The Sydney Morning Herald's Private Sydney, the beloved entertainer had a metal plate and 10 screws inserted on her collarbone. Pictured with the cast of Pippin with her arm in a sling earlier this week

Last month, Kerri-Anne broke her ankle and collarbone after suffering a horrific fall from a trapeze during a performance of Pippin at Sydney's Lyric Theatre.

She was rushed to St Vincent's Hospital 'as a precaution' and bowed out of the musical.

Footage obtained by Daily Mail Australia showed the shocking moment the former Studio 10 host dropped to the floor as the audience gasped in horror.

Horrific: Last month, Kerri-Anne broke her ankle and collarbone after suffering a horrific fall from a trapeze during a performance of Pippin at Sydney's Lyric Theatre. She was rushed to St Vincent's Hospital 'as a precaution' and bowed out of the musical

An X-ray also showed the full extent of her injuries, which left her in a 'significant amount of pain'.

In a statement released by her management at the time, Kerri-Anne confirmed she would no longer be starring in the stage production.

'Good riddance to 2020,' she said. 'Pippin has genuinely been one of the great experiences of my life exceeding all my expectations.'

Poor KAK! An X-ray also showed the full extent of her injuries, which left her in a 'significant amount of pain'

She added that she loved the cast 'more than ever', before saying of the accident: 'What happened is just a random misstep in the trapeze and circus world.

'I've always felt safe in their hands but accidents just happen. I was trained well and loved getting stronger and the routine smoother.

'I'm devastated that I can't finish the run. It was just so much fun. I broke my collarbone quite severely and have a slight chip of my ankle bone.'

She concluded: 'I'm hoping my injury will heal in the natural course of time, but for now I have to bow out. I will miss my Pippin family!'

Kerri-Anne was playing the supporting character Grandma Berthe in Pippin, and her signature song involved climbing atop a 15ft (4.5m) trapeze.
Autumn Driscoll / Autumn Driscoll

SHELTON  Beginning next week, the city will be home to two COVID-19 vaccination centers.

Griffin Hospital will be holding a soft opening of its new clinic at 10 Progress Drive  the same complex as the Griffin Hospital Occupational Medicine Center  on Monday.
In May 2020, an AP News investigation discovered a massive shipment of counterfeit N95 masks had infiltrated the American medical system. All signs pointed to the masks being legitimate: They came complete with the proper shipping labels and invoices, certified letters from buyers and distributors, and interviews that traced back to a factory in China that is, in fact, a manufacturer of N95 masks certified by the Centers for Disease Control.

There was only one indication that the masks were fake: The earloops. Legitimate N95s are designed with full head-straps that are stitched, stapled or soldered directly to the respirator to provide the proper seal and force inhaled and exhaled air through the filter. The cheaper earloops, which are glued to the mask and create a more unstable seal, made the masks significantly less effective. In many cases, frontline healthcare workers were forced to simply make do.

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That incident occurred early in the pandemic, but its far from the last: N95 manufacturer 3M worked with the government to seize 3.5 million counterfeit masks and succeeded in removing 12,000 fraudulent online mask sellers, filing 19 lawsuits altogether last year. 3M claimed that many of these masks had been fraudulently stamped with the 3M logo. In September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers seized half a million counterfeit N95 respirators from a shipment from China, and half a million more were found in Minnesota just before Christmas.

In all these cases, the stockpiles were intended for healthcare workers. To fight such fraud, U.S. Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has pivoted toward stemming the flow of counterfeit PPE gear with Operation Stolen Promise.

Exacerbating the problem is the PPE production line, which is long, complex and prone to miscommunication. One notable manufacturer set up a contact email to answer questions about the legitimacy of the masks, but replies were slow and often non-committal. SFGATE called the manufacturer's local American offices, which were unable to give specific answers. The customer service representative, who did not share his name, didnt sound surprised that answers were hard to find: There are so many, he said, that its almost impossible.

Shahzil Amin, founder and CEO of WellBefore, sees it as an industry-wide problem. Ill be honest: Im an entrepreneur. I was not in this industry until the pandemic, he explained over video chat. Its all so unnecessarily complicated. Ive bought masks from [the same manufacturer we contacted earlier]. Theyre in my warehouse. Theyve promised me that theyre going to email me official forms, but they havent shown up yet.

Thankfully, that isnt always the case. Harley, another manufacturer, did provide Well Before with official invoices for these N95 masks, which SFGATE was able to review.

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Over email, a CDC spokesperson told SFGATE, Counterfeit respirators are products that are falsely marketed and sold as being NIOSH-approved and may not be capable of providing appropriate respiratory protection to workers. NIOSH cannot guarantee the level of protection provided to wearers who use a non-NIOSH-approved respirator. Non-valved N95 respirators that do not provide the expected filtration efficiency can be used as a facemask for source control. However, non-NIOSH-approved respirators should not be used in OSHA regulated workplace settings.

Outside of healthcare workers, most people do not need N95 masks during the pandemic. Non-medical face coverings are not government regulated, but they're effective in helping prevent the spread of COVID-19. They're also remarkably easy to manufacture; the CDC even provides guidelines for making them at home, and many small-scale retailers and artisans have taken to producing masks locally.

Despite advising citizens to not purchase or wear N95 masks if they arent healthcare professionals, the CDC does provide guidelines for ensuring an N95 mask is legitimate, which includes checking the facepiece respirator for markings and NIOSH approval, avoiding claims that the masks are for children (since NIOSH does not approve of any type of respiratory protection for children), and  a dead giveaway  making sure that NIOSH is spelled correctly.

"The NIOSH approval number and approval label are key to identifying NIOSH-approved respirators," the CDC spokesperson clarified. "The NIOSH approval label can be found on or within the packaging of the respirator or sometimes on the respirator itself. The required labeling of NIOSH-Approved N95 filtering facepiece respirators includes the NIOSH name, the approval number, filter designations, lot number, and model number to be printed on the respirator. You can verify that your respirator approvals are valid by checking the NIOSH Certified Equipment List (CEL)."
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Washington, Jan 16 : The United States designated three Iranian entities over conventional arms proliferation, doubling down its maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a statement on Friday announced sanctions against Iran's Marine Industries Organization (MIO), Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO), and the Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO), Xinhua news agency reported.

The statement alleged these entities manufactured military equipment for Iran's military "to perpetrate its global terror campaign".

The outgoing Trump administration stepped up its pressure against Iran over the past week. It announced plans to designate Yemen's Houthi group as "Foreign Terrorist Organization," accused Iran of ties to terrorist group al-Qaeda, and blacklisted multiple Iranian entities and individuals.

"The damage Trump regime has done to humankind is not enough for its extremists. In its last disgraceful days, designating Houthis to worsen humanitarian nightmare & warmongering lies against Iran by Pompeo show utter contempt for peace," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted in the same day.

Analysts believed that the Trump administration in its waning days sought to complicate President-elect Joe Biden's diplomatic effort with Tehran. Biden and his foreign policy team had said that they would rejoin the nuclear deal with Iran if Tehran returns to strict compliance.

The relations between Washington and Tehran have deteriorated since May 2018 when President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the Iranian nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and reimposed harsh sanctions against Iran. In response, Tehran has gradually dropped some of its JCPOA commitments since May 2019.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
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Wavy Gravy (nee Hugh Romney Jr.), a Merry Prankster, stated at Woodstock Theres always a little bit of heaven in a disaster area.

The Bee Gees sang that nobody gets too much heaven no more.

And, theyre both right, although the Bee Gees grammatical structure leaves much to be desired, especially for songwriters!

The year 2020 wasnt anybodys idea of heaven. Unless, of course, you manufactured and sold PPE. The pandemic took center stage almost immediately. But it was also a year rife with social unrest, political tomfoolery and folks taking airplanes and doing the conga in a club in Whitestone, where I was raised and went to school. Oh, the humanity!

What were we all thinking? Well, as the saying goes Consider the fact that you might be wrong.

We were wrong about the virus. Constantly wrong. And, by the time we figured it out, it was too late. More than 300,000 people are dead. It is a tragedy and a startling reminder that we are not the lords of heaven and earth as we suppose. Nature will have her way with us. So will Mother Earth and G-d, if were not careful.

And politics? Usually, Tom Wrobleski has the lock on politics, but I dipped my foot in that stream way too often this year. This column was always supposed to be about one thing: ageism. But, in a way, everything I wrote about affected people my age. Certainly we all need health care, we are all concerned about climate change and its about time Congress took their greedy little mitts off our Social Security and Medicare. And, please stop calling them entitlements, we paid for these a long time ago!

And lastly, traveling and parties and gatherings. Lets be clear:

We have a flu vaccine, and every year people get sick and some die from it. A vaccine is not going to wipe out the threat of this virus. Were all going to be stuck with this for the rest of our lives and as we get older, year to year, we are at greater risk for long range effects from this disease. I dont want to hear people talking about the mild case they got and recovered from. You dont have underlying medical issues. You are not of a certain age. You probably have better health insurance. Stop forcing your opinion on others!

Now, on to the good newswhat are some of the positive things that have come out of the pandemic?

Well, we learned to care about and treat each other with a little more respect than before. Sure, there are still some sticks in the mud, but now, we know who they are and will probably avoid them in the future.

Secondly, outdoor dining is now an option, as long as there is no rain, snow, heavy wind or some idiot smashing into your dining area, checking her car for damage and driving away. Although, to my way of thinking, if your outdoor dining has three to four walls, its technically indoors!

Maybe we dont need as much as we thought we did and will treasure what we have. Maybe Amazon and Facebook arent as bad as we think because they kept us connected, but they should be more regulated. Maybe the next time things close down, we should demand that the government do its job and provide financial support for those hardest hit by the closings instead of arguing dollars and cents like this is some high stakes game of Monopoly thats being played. This is our lives. We pay you to represent us. Do your job!

Health care professionals look like extras from the movie Outbreak.

Thats okay. Its laborious, but it keeps them and us safe. Maybe thats what we have to do from now on. It might just instill greater trust and get people to go to their doctors more often. And, we should consider mask wearing as a seasonal event, around flu season, each year. Now that we know what works, why abandon it?

Kudos to those of you who discovered your talent with an instrument, a brush, a chunk of clay or marble, the written word, your oven or your camera. Dont abandon your new talents once the fog lifts. Keep on keepin on!

Likewise to those of you who returned to school, started a podcast, edited home movies or photos, cleaned out your closets, got your storage unit in shape, learned how to change your motor oil, got your yoga teacher certification, learned sign language or Spanish, started calling friends instead of texting them. These are all survival skills that well need in the new different.

In the song Dont Let Us Get Sick, written while he was dying from cancer, Warren Zevon wrote:

Dont let us get sick/ Dont let us get old/ Dont let us get stupid, alright?/ Just make us be brave and make us play nice/ And let us be together tonight.

Amen.

Hold those grey heads high!

Comments on this and all my columns can be submitted to Talk To The Old Guy on Facebook. Stay safe!
An unseasonable change is on the way - brought on by two significant storms tracking very near NZ in the Southern Ocean.

The first storm tracks past on Sunday while the larger low will move through on Wednesday - dredging up an incredibly cold change for summer with daytime highs likely failing to even reach double digits in some places.

NZ's location on earth means we do sometimes get a sudden dramatic cold change in summer - but this one is more potent than most and it comes with severe gales too, says WeatherWatch head forecaster Philip Duncan.

He says snow flurries will start on the Southern Alps as early as tonight and tomorrow with heavier snow likely with the mid week southerly change.

Windchill will get down to freezing in Northern Southland and other areas inland. According to the windchill forecast at www.RuralWeather.co.nz Dunedin will feel like +6C at 12 Noon on Wednesday (with an air temp of around 10 or 11).

But for those in Fiordland National Park that is where a true wintry change will hit. RuralWeather.co.nz (powered by IBM Watson) says the daytime high for Milford Sound is currently just +5C on Wednesday as this main southerly comes in. The windchill factor will make it feel like just +1C at midday.

"Trampers, campers and hikers in these areas will need winter gear and be prepared for blizzards higher up in the ranges," says Philip.

"If this was happening in August we'd be looking at a significant sea level snow event for the lower South Island. A stormier than usual Southern Ocean since spring 2020 is the driver of this much colder than usual change for parts of NZ."

WeatherWatch.co.nz said in spring that La Nina would only moderately impact NZ, partially due to this factor.

While all of NZ will get a cool down the top of the nation will be less exposed.

"Auckland will drop down to maybe 19 degrees as the daytime high on Wednesday but it will be the westerly winds that may be of more notice with at least three or four windy days in a row on the way with gusts to gale force at times."

Northern and eastern parts of both islands will likely have limited rainfall with below average rainfall still expected there.

But the windy weather will impact those camping in eastern parts of the North Island.

Hahei in the Coromandel Peninsula will have a couple of days around 19 degrees this week with windy westerlies possibly gusting near gale force for a time - or blustery.

Lighter winds return by Friday/the weekend in most regions.

Winds will be stronger the further towards Central NZ you are. Wellington will be in the thick of it.

Starting Sunday, the Capital has four days with gale force wind potential, peaking on Tuesday PM with damaging gusts over 120km/h possible.

Regions up to Taranaki will also experience strong winds up to gale force as the air is funnelled through the Cook Strait area. Thunderstorms are possible in the west too, of both islands.

Canterbury will be partially sheltered from these systems with temperatures not dropping below the late teens in Christchurch.

"However, the winds will ramp up on Tuesday with gusts to 100km/h possible in Christchurch (enough to break tree branches) and further inland winds may be over 120km/h, possibly over 140km/h in the mountains.

"On top of all of this, waves of over 12 metres are expected to crash into the lower half of the South Island's West Coast by mid week. While remote, we're in peak summer with a lot of people exploring parts of NZ they've potentially never explored before.

"Big swells will spread up the west and south of both main islands. This is not the usual cool change in summer - this upcoming weather is being generated by two powerful storms in the Southern Ocean and severe weather is highly likely."
Marmorstein: You might soon be living in a million dollar home  unfortunately

Rep. Annette Glenn of Midland was sworn in for a second term in the Michigan Legislature. "I am honored and blessed that the people of Bay and Midland counties have put their trust in me to serve them in the Michigan House of Representatives for a second term," said Glenn, who represents the 98th District. "With all the challenges we faced in 2020, I am eager to continue working so our communities can have a better and more prosperous 2021." Residents may contact Glenn's office at AnnetteGlenn@house.mi.gov or 517-373-1791. Above, Glenn is joined by her son-in-law Alejandro, daughter Reagan, grandson Mateo and youngest son Jefferson during the first day of session for the Michigan House in 2021. (Photo provided)
Francesca Paris covers North Adams for The Berkshire Eagle. A California native and Williams College alumna, she has worked at NPR in Washington, D.C. and WBUR in Boston, as a news reporter, producer and editor. Find her on Twitter at @fparises.
A man from Central Massachusetts was sentenced to 38 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting and recording multiple children under the age of 13.

As part of an investigation into the distribution of child pornography over social media, federal authorities began communicating with Ryan Decarolis, a then resident of Fitchburg.

Over a series of months in 2019, Decarolis communicated with an undercover federal agent and provided access to a Dropbox account containing hundreds of images and videos depicting child pornography, United States Attorney Andrew E. Lellings office said.

At least one video shared showed Decarolis sexual assaulting a young boy, according to authorities.

Federal agents searched the 27-year-olds home in Fitchburg in August 2019 and seized a tablet belonging to Decarolis. On the device, federal agents found additional videos and a second Dropbox account.

Included within that material were numerous images and videos that Decarolis produced himself, some of which depicted Decarolis separately sexually assaulting at least three boys under the age of 12 and a fourth boy who was 12 years old, Lellings office said in a statement.

Decarolis pleaded guilty in September to guilty to five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. He was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 38 years in prison and, upon release, supervision for the remainder of his lifetime.
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Work has begun on-site with the company set to ramp-up building work in February.

Aerial view of the building work at the project

WA Kaolin Ltd ( ) has begun stage one building work at its wholly-owned Wickepin Kaolin Project, 220 kilometres southeast of Perth, Western Australia.

Australian steel frame construction company AUSPAN has been contracted to carry out the Stage 1 Building Structural Design and Construction.

AUSPAN has mobilised to site to begin its work program with a team of around 20 ramping up over coming weeks.

The concrete batching plant was delivered to site on January 6 and work has started on the footings and part of the slab being laid ahead of the plant build.

On-track for plant build

Chief executive officer Andrew Sorensen said: Our 2021 work program has already commenced in earnest with the arrival of the crew and equipment to proceed with the initial building works of the kaolin production plant.

At this point, we are on track to commence the build in February and will provide regular updates to the market as we proceed.

The project is timely, as kaolin contracts and orders continue to grow and the Kwinana production facility is sold out on a two-shift 5-day basis.

Structural steel arriving onsite at Wickepin.

Ramping up in February

AUSPAN general manager Ben Richardson said: Mobilisation is well under way and construction on site is ramping up following the Christmas break.

Footings are almost complete and we will be ramping up to a construction team of approximately 25 by early February.

It is exciting to be working with WA Kaolin on this world-leading kaolin processing plant.

With approximately 100 tonnes of structural steel already delivered to site, the landscape is about to change with the commencement of structural steel installation.
With coronavirus vaccines now rolling out across the United States, businesses and schools are considering how, and what it will take, to safely resume in-person operations.

Some of the country's biggest tech firms and health care organizations have joined together to help facilitate that return to 'normal.' The group, called the Vaccine Credential Initiative, wants to ensure that everyone has access to a secure, digital record of their Covid-19 vaccination  like a digital vaccine passport  that can be stored in people's smartphones. The records could be used for everything from airline travel to entering concert venues.

The coalition comprises a broad range of health care and tech leaders including Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, Cerner, Cigna's Evernorth, health care software firm Epic and the Mayo Clinic, among others.

The announcement Thursday comes amid a rocky start to the Covid-19 vaccine rollout. Of the 30.6 million doses of vaccines that have been distributed to US hospitals, health centers and pharmacies, only about 10.6 million people had received at least their first dose as of Friday morning, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although it's early in the vaccination process, potential use cases for such a technology are already cropping up. Some companies, including Dollar General and Instacart, plan to pay their workers to get vaccinated. Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner has said that once children have access to vaccines, all district students must get immunized before returning to classrooms. And some experts expect that states and countries currently requiring negative Covid-19 test results for incoming travelers will eventually also accept vaccination records.

'A secure, convenient solution to verify Covid-19 vaccination will play an important role in accelerating a healthy and safe return to work, school and life in general,' said Joan Harvey, president of care solutions at Evernorth, Cigna's health services business.

The importance of digital records

The Vaccine Credential Initiative wants to create an open-source, standard model for how hospitals, pharmacies and clinics administering Covid-19 vaccines make digital records of immunizations, which can be provided to patients who want them.

Immunizations are typically tracked by writing them down on a paper card for people to store with their important records, and are also kept track of in a patient's electronic medical records..

But for a number of reasons, the Covid-19 vaccination required developing a different system. For one thing, coronavirus vaccination records will need to be more easily transported if people have to use them to access schools, offices and event venues, making a digital record more practical. They also need to be 'interoperable,' meaning all organizations administering the shots should use the same model for recording vaccine credentials.

'It's not just for health care purposes that you will need this health data,' Paul Meyer, CEO of nonprofit The Commons Project, told CNN Business. The Commons Project created an app called Common Pass, where people can store digital records of their Covid-19 test results and, eventually, their Covid-19 vaccination record.

'Now you are going to need either your lab results or vaccination data to get on an airplane, to go to school, go to work  real life, non-health-care use cases,' Meyer said. 'And it needs to be in a standard form so when you're presenting it, people actually understand, 'Oh, it was the Pfizer vaccine that you got.''

The Covid-19 vaccination record also needs to be verifiable and secure in a way that was less important for past vaccination records  otherwise, a person could try to fake having gotten the Covid-19 vaccine by using someone else's record, Meyer said.

Ultimately, patients will likely receive an encrypted, digital copy of the vaccination record  think a QR code  that can be stored in a digital wallet. That way, an airport gate agent for example, could confirm that a person was vaccinated without viewing all their personal health information.

It's not the first time Big Tech has gotten involved in the effort to fight coronavirus. Early on in the pandemic, Apple and Google joined forces to develop a bluetooth-based system to notify users if they'd been exposed to Covid-19. But the tool's success was challenged by slow and spotty adoption.

The role of tech firms

With the Vaccine Credential Initiative, the tech companies involved in the effort will play a key role in ensuring widespread use. Firms like Microsoft and Oracle manage the tech infrastructure for many large health care systems, and can build in the standards for Covid-19 vaccine credentialing.

'That's why it's exciting to have partners like Epic and Cerner and Oracle and Microsoft that are the tech platforms that power, if you will, so much of health care,' Meyer said. 'Them saying, 'We're going to implement the standards,' is really them saying, 'We're going to help our customers issue these verifiable credentials.' And it starts to turn into something that's very scalable.'

Another potential pitfall of such a system is inequality; someone without a smartphone would be unable to access a convenient, digital record of their vaccine. However, the Vaccine Credential Initiative says it plans to provide such patients with a paper printed with a QR code containing the record.

'Just as Covid-19 does not discriminate based on socio-economic status, we must ensure that convenient access to immunization records crosses the digital divide,' Brian Anderson, chief digital health physician at nonprofit research organization MITRE, a member of the initiative, said in a statement.
At least four suspects on January 15 were released on bail after being accused of helping Hong Kong pro-democracy protestors who tried to flee to Taiwan in the wake of National Security Law imposed by China. According to South China Morning Post, 11 people, including a lawyer, were arrested on suspicion of assisting offenders and as part of the ongoing crackdown in the city that has seen over 50 pro-democracy former lawmakers and activists were taken into custody under the new NSL in the past few weeks. The arrest had also included a Kowloon City district councillor and lawyer Daniel Wong Kwok-tun.

The police have said that the force would not prosecute the group at this stage and would grant them bail, although the investigation is still ongoing. Wong, on the other hand, said that until now, he cannot understand why he has been arrested. Lawyers will not knowingly break the law, he added.

READ: US Lawyer Hopeful After Hong Kong Security Law Arrest

I will continue to use my position and my experience to continue what I believe I should do, Wong said following his release.

The other suspects that have been released include a 29-year-old Ukrainian man who works at a restaurant, two students aged 18 and 19 and a 29-year-old musician Rono Fok. Following the release, For said that he will continue to do whats right to help other arrested individuals legally. He also told the media outlet that he paid HKD 10,000 bail and must report back to police in March. The 11 suspects, who were detained earlier this week, are accused of helping Hong Kong 12, a 12-member group arrested in August 2020 while allegedly attempting to illegally flee to Taiwan.

READ: Hong Kong Internet Service Provider Admits Blocking Pro-democracy Websites Under NSL

Mass arrest in Hong Kong

Meanwhile, last week, authorities made mass arrests across Hong Kong as at least 55 people were taken into custody under the controversial national security law. China passed the national security law last year in June despite widespread protests demanding the rollback of the legislation. As per experts, Beijing intends to use the law to further curb freedom of expression in the former British colony and strike down any demand of independent Hong Kong.

The mass arrests were made on January 6 over unofficial election primaries held last year to field enough pro-democracy candidates to take control of the Hong Kong legislative council, currently controlled by pro-Beijing lawmakers. Police raided the homes of former lawmakers and activists, who had participated in the primaries. The house of jailed activist Joshua Wong, who is currently serving a sentence for organising and participating in a protest last year, was also raided by the police. The legislative elections that were scheduled to take place in September 2020 were called-off by the Hong Kong election commission citing COVID-19 concerns.

(With inputs from ANI)

READ: Hong Kong Police Arrest Pro-democracy Lawyer, 10 Others Under National Security Law

READ: Hong Kong Accuses Critiquing Nations Of 'double Standards' Over Controversial Mass Arrest
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on the World Health Organization to fully investigate the possibility that the COVID-19 virus accidentally escaped from a lab in Wuhan, revealing new U.S. intelligence that he says raises troubling questions.

Pompeo issued the public call on Friday night, one day after a WHO research team landed in Wuhan, where under strict Chinese oversight they are reportedly not investigating the lab.

'Beijing continues today to withhold vital information that scientists need to protect the world from this deadly virus, and the next one,' Pompeo said as he revealed previously unreported intelligence implicating the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in the origins of the pandemic.

Among the new U.S. intel, it is claimed that researchers at the lab fell ill in the fall of 2019 with symptoms consistent with COVID-19, that scientists there were working with a bat coronavirus that is 96.2 percent similar genetically to the virus that causes COVID, and that the lab has secret links to the Chinese military.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on the World Health Organization to fully investigate the possibility that the COVID-19 virus accidentally escaped from a lab in Wuhan

A Chinese official wearing a hazmat suit and goggles directs members of the WHO expert panel of investigators on their arrival at Wuhan airport on Thursday

Experts have repeatedly dismissed the notion that the COVID virus was man-made, and Pompeo did not suggest that the virus was intentionally engineered or released on purpose.

Instead, he raised the possibility that it was a natural virus that had accidentally escaped from the lab through sloppy safety protocols.

'Accidental infections in labs have caused several previous virus outbreaks in China and elsewhere, including a 2004 SARS outbreak in Beijing that infected nine people, killing one,' the State Department said in a briefing document.

The most shocking revelation in Pompeo's release was intelligence suggesting that workers at the Wuhan lab fell ill with 'symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses' in the fall of 2019, months before the wider outbreak in Wuhan.

'This raises questions about the credibility of WIV senior researcher Shi Zhengli's public claim that there was 'zero infection' among the WIV's staff and students of SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-related viruses,' Pompeo said.

Pompeo said as he revealed previously unreported intelligence implicating the Wuhan Institute of Virology (above in a file photo) in the origins of the pandemic

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is seen above. China's ruling Communist Party keeps a tight hold on information and is particularly concerned about revelations about its handling of the virus

Pompeo also revealed that researchers at the Wuhan lab had been studying a bat coronavirus known as RaTG13 since 'at least 2016'.

The RaTG13 strain was identified by the Wuhan lab as its genetically closest sample to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, at 96.2 percent similarity.

The State Department said that the Wuhan lab obtained RaTG13 in a sample from a cave in Yunnan Province in 2013, after several miners there died of SARS-like illness.

Though the Wuhan lab has a published record of conducting 'gain-of-function' research on virus to enhance their lethality or transmissiblility, the State Department says the lab 'has not been transparent or consistent about its record of studying viruses most similar to the COVID-19 virus, including RaTG13.'

Pompeo also asserted that despite ostensibly being a civilian institution, the Wuhan lab has worked on 'secret projects with China's military.'

'The WIV has engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017,' Pompeo said.

He called on Beijing to allow the WHO investigation team free reign to pursue their inquiry, including access to the Wuhan lab.

The Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market in Wuhan, pictured last January, was initially thought to be the source of the outbreak - but experts now believe it may have been the site of a super-spreader event which amplified an epidemic that started elsewhere

'WHO investigators must have access to the records of the WIV's work on bat and other coronaviruses before the COVID-19 outbreak,' the State Department said.

'As part of a thorough inquiry, they must have a full accounting of why the WIV altered and then removed online records of its work with RaTG13 and other viruses.'

The WHO team of international researchers that arrived in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Thursday hopes to find clues to the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the visit has been shrouded in secrecy.

Neither China nor the WHO are revealing exactly what the team will do or where it will go. The search for the virus origins is likely to be a years-long effort that could help prevent future pandemics.

Beijing has long resisted pressure for a full investigation and has touted theories that the virus might not have originated in Wuhan, but the WHO team has been allowed in after months of negotiations with Chinese authorities.

While the team will investigate the 'wet market' that was initially linked to an early cluster of infections, there are reportedly no plans to assess whether the virus was accidentally released from the Wuhan lab.

The head of the WHO Tedros Adhanom (above) recently expressed impatience with how long China took to make necessary arrangements for the expert team's visit

The head of the WHO recently expressed impatience with how long China took to make necessary arrangements for the expert team's visit.

China's ruling Communist Party keeps a tight hold on information and is particularly concerned about possible revelations about its handling of the virus that could open it up to international criticism and financial demands.

China stifled independent reports about the outbreak and has published little information on its search for the origins of the virus.

The government has strictly controlled all scientific research related to the outbreak and forbids researchers from speaking to the press.

State media continue to play up reports that suggest the virus could have originated elsewhere. In announcing the WHO experts' visit, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said 'the tracing of the virus origin will most likely involve multiple countries and localities.'
MGF owner Shravan Gupta accused of money laundering and fraud can now be issued a lookout notice anytime.

Government of India and UAE has jointly tightened noose around notorious activities of MGF owner Shravan Gupta, who is being investigated for syphoning of funds to offshore countries via hawala channel and fraudulent means. Extradition proceedings aganist Gupta has already set in motion who had fled to Britain last year. As per sources, he is linked with 3600 crore Augusta Westland chopper scam. CBI and ED has recovered incriminating documents from several raids at his centers. Interpol can anytime issue lookout notice against Shravan who has already applied for citizenship of commonwealth of dominicia.

As per sources, the mauritious company interstellar technologies, primarily accused of money laundering in 3600 crore Augusta westland scam, had transferred crores of rupees in Shravan Guptas known and discreet companies. Interstellar Technologies Ltd had deposited Rs 19.5 crore in the account of four companies of Mr. Gupta. While Rs. 4.5 crores had been transferred in many other shell companies, owned by him.

Enforcement Directorate has forfeited his properties worth Rs. 10.28 cr under prevention of money laundering act in December 2018. Gupta is accused of depositing crores of rupees in swiss banks via hawala channels. CBI has already taken up a case involving these dubious transactions. Besides having stake in real estate business, Shravan Gupta is a director in companies like MGF automobile, MGF Development, MGF housing, MGF infotech, MGF metro mall, MGF motors, MGF promoters, Peris resorts and Yashoda promoters etc.

Shravan Gupta and his wife are accused of cheating 43.5 crores rupees from Dubais well known real estate company Emmar Properties. During his partnership with Dubais company, he transferred 18 jointly owned prime properties to a compnay named Discovery Estates Pvt Ltd at 10 times lower market value. Interestingly, he and his wife owns 99 percent shares of this company.

Sources reveal that Shravan Gupta has successfully waylaid the judicial process by twist and misuse of the legal procedures. In Janurary 2019, he got the permission to travel to foreign by a special cbi court at Hyderabad by misuing the same judicial norms and procedures. ED had issued him summons for interrogation on 23rd november 2019 but he instead gave a medical certificate which suggested six days medical rest. But just after two days, he left India for England on 26th Novemeber. Agency issued him 9 notices, one after the other but neither he presented himself nor gave any supporting documents. At this, a NBW was issued against him on 29th August 2020. Since the date, Shravan has not appeared before the court or investigation agencies.

CBI had raided 9 locations of Guptas companies including Delhi and Gurugram to unravel unholy cobweb of his companies and illicit deals. During this raid, CBI has recovered many such documents and digital devices which records Guptas black money trail. Next day ED has raided 7 locations of Shravan Gupta and scanned documents related with 3600 crores Augusta westland chopper scam.
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Spain reported a record 40,197 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, while the incidence of the disease measured over the past 14 days hit a new high of 575 cases per 100,000 people, climbing from 522 cases the previous day, Health Ministry data showed.

The latest update brought the cumulative tally of infections to 2,252,164, while the death toll rose by 235 to 53,314.

Health officials have blamed lax adherence to restrictions on travel and socialising over the Christmas holidays for the surge, which has prompted several regions to tighten measures over the past week.

In Madrid, which has some of the loosest restrictions in the country, authorities on Friday brought forward a night curfew by one hour to 11 p.m. and urged residents not to socialise in other peoples' houses.

Bars, restaurants and cafes will remain open, but with limits on capacity.

Meanwhile, an attempt by the northern region of Castile and Leon to impose an 8 p.m. curfew was overruled by the Health Ministry, which said 10 p.m. was the earliest time allowed under national rules.

Earlier in the week the ministry had rebuffed a request by the region's government to enforce a stay-at-home rule within its borders.

Unlike other European countries such as Britain and the Netherlands, which have extended national lockdowns, Spanish officials have repeatedly said a return to home confinement should not be necessary.
HOUSTON, Miss. (WTVA) - Suzzette Bogan, the Divisional Director of the Salvation Army, said it breaks her heart that she had to permanently shutdown the Houston location.

"We couldnt afford to pay the rent. We couldnt afford to our own electric bill. So how can we be of service to the community, if we cant sustain our operation," she said.

Bogan said the Houston service center hasnt been able to recover from the pandemic. She said many of its loyal clients were seniors, but they stopped coming to the center to shop.

"Our foot traffic kind of went to less than several people a day so we were not making any money to sustain the business or to put back into our program, she said.

Now, people in Calhoun County and Chickasaw County have to go to the Salvation Army in Pontotoc.

Bogan said she understands this is an inconvenience to a lot of people who are elderly or dont have transportation. Although the Houston location is closed, she plans on still helping residents through weekly events and services.

As for employees, Bogan said there werent any at the the Houston location. Bogan said employees found other jobs when she had to cut their hours and eventually close the center.

Axios

While Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) was out of state at a conference, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R) issued an executive order Thursday banning mask mandates in school and public buildings, AP reports.Why it matters: Little never issued a statewide mask mandate, but there have been some in counties, cities and schools. McGeachin announced last week she was running for governor, challenging Little who has only served one term, and her order could appeal to far-right voters in the state.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Little's office told AP that McGeachin did not tell the governor about the order in advance. Throughout the pandemic, Gov. Little has been committed to protecting the health and safety of the people of Idaho and has emphasized the importance of Idahoans choosing to protect our neighbors and loved ones and keeping our economy and schools open, Little spokesperson Marissa Morrison saidBackground: In March, McGeachin participated in an anti-mask protest, the Washington Post reported, and she suggested last year that the pandemic may or may not be occurring."According to AP, Idaho has recorded more than 190,000 cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic and roughly 2,000 deaths.What she's saying: Ive been listening to people all across the state with the concern about, especially, why are little kids being forced to wear masks in school, McGeachin told AP.My oath to the Constitution is to protect those rights and freedoms of the individual, and Ive never supported any type of a mandate on the individual, especially when it comes to health care choices.McGeachin said she had contracted the virus in 2019 and now has a "natural immunity," per AP.Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order banning mask mandates, not face masks. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free
Thats Orwellian. No, its Kafkaesque. It sounds Machiavellian.

What happens when writers are turned into adjectives? For a start, theres lazy simplification, if not outright distortion. The recent brouhaha in America over the allegedly Orwellian actions of social media and publishing houses is a case in point.

The accepted use of the word is to describe conditions under a totalitarian state of the type portrayed in Nineteen Eighty-Four. It seems to have become shorthand to condemn any policy that one dislikes.

Christopher Hitchens, described in some quarters as Orwells heir, once wrote that the word is commonly used in one of two ways: To describe a state of affairs as Orwellian implies crushing tyranny, fear and conformism. To describe a piece of writing as Orwellian is to recognize that human resistance to these terrors is unquenchable.

Nevertheless, Orwell also wrote about many other issues: the condition of the working poor, colonialism, the English language, and British identity, for example. Youd hardly call a well-written essay Orwellian, even though it could be apt to do so.

Kafkaesque is another word employed in this idle manner. Loosely defined as something that is nightmarish and oppressive, the word specifically refers to the actions of an opaque bureaucracy as depicted in The Trial or The Castle.

This again is reductive. Consider his best-known short story, The Metamorphosis, in which a character is transformed into a large beetle. The elements of absurdity, not to mention being at an angle to reality, in this and other works are almost always ignored in turning Kafka into an adjective.

At other times, Kafkaesque, like Orwellian, is simply used to describe any frustrating situation. As biographer Frederick Karl once grumbled: What I'm against is someone going to catch a bus and finding that all the buses have stopped running and saying that's Kafkaesque. That's not.

In contrast, the use of the word Machiavellian is more focused. This is largely to do with the infamous reputation of the Renaissance diplomat himself. However, historians have long debated the nature of the nefarious practices that he described in The Prince. Was it simply an effort to ingratiate himself with Lorenzo de' Medici, was it also a warning to citizens, or was it a treatise on how to unite a nascent nation-state?

Since the man isnt around to clear up misconceptions, we continue to use it to refer to the underhand tactics used by politicians and others in power. Given the current environment, its going to be around for quite a while.

Theres more of a divide with the word Dickensian. When applied to Christmas, as professor Mark Connelly has noted, it conjures up images of a nostalgic Victorian festival full of turkey, mistletoe and goodwill. A Dickensian childhood, on the other hand, implies deprivation and working in suffocating conditions. And a recent New York Times piece on the job market in the United States spoke of the Dickensian elements of the Covid-19 economy  unemployed workers facing a cut-off in benefits.

Its worth reflecting that such coinage is largely to do with male authors. You do come across the word Austenesque, but almost always in reference to books, TV or film. Some fashionistas chatter about Austenesque weddings, by which they mean Empire-style gowns.

One would think that Emily Dickinsons characteristically gnomic verse would lend itself to an adjective, but this hasnt quite caught on yet. Perhaps its because Dickinsonian  or even Dickinsonesque  doesnt quite roll off the tongue. Bronteesque suffers from the same problem, though Kate Atkinson, in her A God in Ruins, refers to a character wistfully musing on a lack of doomed and Bronteesque passion in her life.

In decades to come, maybe contemporary authors will be turned into adjectives, too. Sethian could mean anything redolent of 1950s India; Rooneyesque could refer to millennial angst; and Ferrantean could describe the nature of long-lasting female friendships.

Of course, its not just writers who are subject to such over-simplification. In the case of the biologist associated with the survival of the fittest, the results can be dangerous: social Darwinism has been used to justify all sorts of inequities over the decades. And the word Freudian commonly refers to the Viennese psychoanalysts views on sexuality, with only the lesser-used Freudian slip pointing to his theory of the unconscious.

One way or another it looks like such words are here to stay, if only because people are keen to sound as though theyre experts with an incisive understanding of problems. Add the urge to twist language to prevent others from thinking for themselves, and you have a situation thats positively Orwellian.
True visionary: Butch Stewart, who has died aged 79

Truly flamboyant characters in the world of travel are as rare as black rhino, so the last invitation I received from Gordon Butch Stewart, the dazzling Sandals founder who has died aged 79, was not one to pass up.

It was a chilly November night in Londons St Katharine Docks and it could not have felt further from his Caribbean home, but Butch didnt care. Wearing his trademark striped shirt on board his yacht, The Lady Sandals, he hosted a lavish dinner with his usual relaxed warmth, gusto and generosity. His business motto was in action: find out what people want, give it to them, and, in doing so, exceed their expectations.

Across the table, his son Adam, now chairman of the company, was outlining their future plans. Butch was in his element; his legacy being offered to his audience.

Stewart was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1941. By the age of 12, he was already selling fresh fish to local hotels. But he always longed to start his own business, and in 1968 he took the big risk that would transform his life  he bet on early air-conditioning being a hit on the island. He offered to represent an American company in Jamaica. The product flew off the shelves.

More than a decade later, he found a dilapidated hotel on a stunning beach in Montego Bay and spent millions renovating what would become the flagship for the most popular all-inclusive resort chain in the world. The rest is history.

Stewart was a disrupter in what was a bland and basic market. He tapped into holiday dreams: Sandals introduced affordable luxury, with refined white-glove service. Activities, transfers, gratuities and drinks were taken care of so guests could really relax.

He insisted that his resorts (there are now 15 spread across Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, St Lucia, Antigua and Grenada) be located on the absolute best beach, and he pioneered over-the-water villas and swim-up bars.

The lacklustre tourist industry in Jamaica was galvanised by Stewarts vision. He served as director of the Jamaica Tourist Board for a decade, and in 1994 he led a group of investors to take over leadership of the failing Air Jamaica. A decade later he returned it to the government with an increase in revenue of more than $250 million.

Today Stewarts empire includes two dozen companies, is Jamaicas biggest foreign-exchange earner, and is its largest non-government employer. Adam describes his father as being a fierce champion of the Caribbean.

There are now 15 Sandals resorts spread across Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, St Lucia, Antigua and Grenada. Pictured is the first Sandals resort, in Jamaica's Montego Bay

This is demonstrated in his philanthropic work. In 2009, The Sandals Foundation was formed to build schools, pay teachers and deliver healthcare to the needy. Three years later, he founded the Sandals Corporate University to provide professional development for his employees.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness says he is mourning one of the islands most brilliant, innovative and transformative business minds.

Stewart is survived by his wife Cheryl, seven children, 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
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Zayn Malik has a surprise for his desi fans in his new song Tightrope. The track, released as part of his new album Nobody Is Listening which dropped on January 15, includes a verse from a classic Hindi film song.

The former One Direction member has paid homage to his desi roots as Tightrope includes the chorus from Mohammad Rafi's iconic 1960s song Chaudhvin Ka Chand. As the song reached outro, the 28-year-old can be heard singing the first four lines of the classic composition that fits right into the romantic melody of Zayn's ballad.

Listen to it here:

Born and raised in Bradford, Zayn's father is a British Pakistani, while his mother is of English and Irish descent. The song inclusion is being lauded by desi fans, who have been showering Zayn with compliments online.

'chaudhvin ka chand ho, ya aftaab ho, jo bhi ho tum khuda ki kasam lajawab ho.' i know tightrope will always hold a special place in my heart. as a desi, this is me screaming at the top of my lungs ZAYN TUM LAJAWAB HO. my emotions are all over place right now and i might sob. anisha | calum month! (@anishalovescal) January 15, 2021

Desis listening to Tightrope by zayn malik rn- pic.twitter.com/JhY23iaiZl Ni's  is zayn (@LUCOZADE_28) January 15, 2021

the URDU part in tightrope is from Mohammed Rafis song Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho my FILMY KING OOOOOF ALLAH @ZAYNMALIK #NobodyIsListening ashu (@aishuhhhhh) January 15, 2021

me when I heard that hindi verse on tightrope by Zayn Malik#NobodyIsListening #WeAreListening pic.twitter.com/YXNazReiNZ zayn's aaftaab ri (@ri_irresistible) January 15, 2021

Tightrope has already become a favourite among fans. Actor Siddhant Chaturvedi shared the song on Instagram.

Zayn unveiled Nobody Is Listening, his third studio album, on Friday. The album comes almost three years after his 29-track 2018 album Icarus Falls, and features previously-released singles 'Vibez' and 'Better'. The latter peaked at No. 89 on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 9, 2020.
The construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is a threat to European solidarity, Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk has said.

"In an interview with the influential German news agency RND (RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland; 7 million readers) he criticized the attempts of the head of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern government, [Manuela] Schwesig (SPD) to complete Nord Stream 2 as a threat to European solidarity," Melnyk wrote on his Twitter Friday night.

Earlier it was reported that foreign policy expert Nicholas Burns, who advised U.S. President-elect Joe Biden during the election campaign, advised him to temporarily suspend the sanctions on Nord Stream 2.

A man described in court as a pharmacist has denied being concerned in the production of class A drug methamphetamine.

Peter Ozvolda was arrested on Friday after being sought by police since alleged drug factory equipment was discovered during a search last May.

As he appeared before Belfast Magistrates Court today a police officer said his name had been given by a co-accused arrested at the time of the find.

Objecting to the 34-year-old Slovakian being released on bail, the officer explained that a fingerprint found on a funnel matched that of the accused.

He said the funnel, which was found with other items in a van at premises on the Ballygowan Road on the outskirts of east Belfast, tested positive for traces of the drug.

The officer explained that the process to make the drug involves the use of substances which when combined are highly explosive and pose a danger to the public.

Chemicals found on the equipment included iodine and phosphorus but Ozvolda said his fingerprint ended up on the funnel after using it to pour petrol.

A recipe for making methamphetamine in Slovak was also found in the van, according to the officer.

He said that Ozvolda had been arrested at an address in north Belfast at which police were conducting other enquiries before discovering that he was a wanted person.

The officer added that during interview he said he was a pharmacist but was not involved in making drugs.

Ozvolda is also alleged to have told officers that they would never find him again as he has no identification and no address.

Asking for Ozvolda to be released, his solicitor told the court that the co-accused in the case has been charged with possession of class A drugs but blamed his client.

But although Ozvolda admitted knowing the man he denies all his accusations.

Freeing Ozvolda on his own bail of 400 and a 400 cash surety, District Judge Mark Hamill described the evidence against him as tenuous at best though acknowledged the context in which it was found.

He ordered him to stay at his address on Newington Avenue in north Belfast during a curfew hours of 9pm to 7am and ordered him to be fitted with a tag.

The case was adjourned until February 12.

Nigerias drug research institute, NIPRD, says although it has identified a vital ingredient that could help in treating COVID-19, it is not getting enough funding for research and production of pharmaceutical products needed.

The Director-General of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Obi Adigwe, made this known at a briefing in Abuja on Monday, details of which PREMIUM TIMES obtained Saturday.

Mr Adigwe said the agency has identified an active ingredient in its product, Niprimmune, that could be used in treating and managing COVID-19 cases.

But lack of adequate funding is limiting the agency from exploring its full potential, he said.

As far back as a year ago, we used our expertise and artificial learning capacity to identify that this product- Niprimmune may be active in the treatment of COVID-19, Mr Adigwe said.

During that time, we have gone to many TV stations to appeal to philanthropists, development partners and other funding agencies to support NIPRD to undertake the remaining scientific activity that will enable us to make this product available for use.

The Nigerian government established the agency for research and development of drugs, biological products and pharmaceutical raw materials based on indigenous resources.

However, lack of adequate support has frustrated the agencys efforts to carry out research and deliver its mandate, according to Mr Adigwe.

Funding has been one of the biggest challenges for NIPRD,  Mr Adigwe said in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES.

Poor funding

Mr Adigwe said data suggests that only 0.04 per cent of the countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is channelled towards research and development.

There is no developed country in the world that does not spend somewhere between 1 and 5 per cent of their GDPs on research and development, he said.

Those countries spend 100 times per capital of what we spend as a country on research.

He said Africas most populous country is nowhere near where it needs to be.

Strategic moves

Mr Adigwe said the agency wrote letters to at least 30 development partners, philanthropists and foundations, and telecommunication companies for support on the research.

Sadly, only an organisation in Burkina Faso has promised to help take the product to the next level.

He said researchers at the agency felt the pain of the lack of support when the same product was approved by the government of Thailand for COVID-19 treatment.

He noted that leaders and those who have the financial capacity to support the agency seem star-struck with imported products rather than harnessing their own.

He said although the government provided some funding for phytomedicines research and vaccines, this is not enough.

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He said every Nigerian must support the government by funding NIPRD to address the COVID-19 pandemic and others.

Medicine security

Mr Adigwe explained that the threat of medicine security remained high in the country.

He said nothing has changed from the time India and some other countries banned the export of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (APIs) to Nigeria.

We cannot achieve paradigm shift without prioritisation from key leaders, stakeholders, policymakers and relevant funding.

We have to be supported in the area of prioritization and funding. Those two things have not happened yet so the threat level to medicine security in Nigeria remains very high, he said.

The Director-General noted that the agency has over 75 world-class professors and scientists who are ready to do their best for the growth of the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria.

We have the world-class capacity here at NIPRD. We are ready to work but we must be supported with prioritisation in the area of funding, he said.

Mr Adigwe said the agency will develop APs as part of a 10-year plan to ensure medicines security in the country.

The key things we are going to do to ensure medicines security in the next ten years include developing APIs and stimulating manufacturing in-country; the work we are doing in Nanomedicine which is the first in Africa, he said.
RAMALLAH, West Bank  The Palestinian Hamas movement sees in the recent Gulf reconciliation an opportunity to break the deadlock with Saudi Arabia.

On Jan. 5, Qatars ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani headed to Saudi Arabia to attend the Gulf Cooperation Council summit, where an agreement was reached among Gulf allies to end the boycott imposed on Qatar since 2017.

Relations between Hamas and Saudi Arabia have deteriorated since 2017, with Saudi media and officials  including then Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir  accusing the Palestinian movement of terrorism. In early 2019, Saudi authorities launched a wide-scale arrest campaign against Hamas members and leaders  most notably former Hamas representative in Saudi Arabia Mohammed al-Khodari and his son  accusing them of raising funds for the movement, and brought them before the courts.

Meanwhile, Hamas has developed strong relations with Doha over the past years. Qatar has hosted some Hamas officials and provided ongoing financial aid to the Gaza Strip, which is run by Hamas. The Hamas-Qatari rapprochement angered Riyadh, which demanded Qatar expel all Hamas members residing in its territory and freeze their bank accounts in exchange for lifting the 2017 boycott.

In a recent attempt to break the rupture with Saudi Arabia, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh praised Saudi King King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Sauds and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans efforts to resolve the Gulf crisis and achieve reconciliation. In a Jan. 9 statement, Haniyeh said the agreement to end the crisis is an important step to strengthen joint action for the benefit of the Palestinian cause in light of the Israeli occupation, the Gaza siege, the Judaization efforts and the attempts to liquidate the cause.

For his part, Ahmad Bahar, the first deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza, delivered on Jan. 12 a message to the chairman of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Sheikh, calling for the release of Palestinian political detainees in Saudi Arabia, while at the same time praising the Gulf reconciliation.

This message coincided with the visit of an official Hamas delegation headed by Haniyeh to Doha on Jan. 10. During meetings with Qatari officials, the delegation praised the Gulf reconciliation and discussed the situation in the Palestinian territories, particularly the efforts to promote national unity and hold the Palestinian general elections.

In this context, Mahmoud al-Zahar, a member of Hamas political bureau, told Al-Monitor, We should not forget that Saudi Arabia has done wrong to the Palestinian cause in every sense and secretly normalized with the [Israeli] occupation under the Trump administration.

The Saudi mistakes include severing ties with Qatar, which maintained relations with the Palestinian people in Gaza and the resistance and did not yield to Trumps pressure, he stated.

Commenting on the Gulf reconciliation, Zahar said, We wish that such a rupture never existed. We hope this reconciliation is a genuine and tactical one, and that such an experience will never be repeated with the change in international policies.

We support a united Gulf street that backs the Palestinian people and denies [Israels] rights to our territory. We also support the resumption of relations between countries, be it Qatar or any other country. Yet Qatar needs to be cautious, because what happened (the reconciliation) is founded on interests rather than principles. Thus, things could change at any moment.

Zahar indicated, Saudi Arabia took a stance against us although we did not do any wrong. The Palestinians who were detained in Saudi Arabia had been residing in the kingdom for years, collecting money with the Saudi regimes consent and knowledge. These funds did not go to Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas armed wing) or any other armed wing in Gaza. They were given to the poor and martyrs families. Their detention reflected a sudden change in the Saudi policy.

Meanwhile, the Hamas messages seem to fall on deaf ears among Saudi leaders, especially since mediation efforts between the two parties collapsed in January 2020 after Saudi Arabia asked that Hamas solve its problems with the United States before any reconciliation is achieved. This would mean consenting to the Quartet for Middle East Peaces decisions and recognizing Israel, reported Arabi 21.

Mustafa al-Sawaf, a political analyst close to Hamas, told Al-Monitor that Hamas cannot give up Arab support, and although its officials have been arrested and brought before the judiciary in Saudi Arabia, the movement is still convinced that it is still possible to have a dialogue with Saudi Arabia. Based on that, Haniyehs message was delivered in the hope that Saudi Arabia accepts the request that all charges directed against the detainees, most notably Khodari, are dropped, he added.

The Gulf reconciliation will have an impact on the Palestinian cause. Yet we will have to wait and see whether or not this impact is positive, Sawaf said.

Ibrahim Abrash, a writer, political analyst and political science professor at Al-Azhar University, told Al-Monitor that the Gulf reconciliation is still fresh and could suffer a setback at any time. He believes that should Saudi Arabia accept the Hamas request to release the detainees and improve relations, Qatar would assume a mediator role in exchange for a price that Hamas would need to pay.

Explaining what this price could be, Abrash said Saudi Arabia wants Hamas to support the kingdom in several issues, including in the war in Yemen. It may also ask Hamas to provide it with security information that could help it (Saudi Arabia) confront terrorist groups, and intelligence on Hezbollah and Iran, he added.

Hamas is making it clear that it seeks to improve its relations with Arab countries, but it seems it is not ready to pay a price in return. Saudi Arabia is placing conditions that are in line with the regional axis that has good relations with Israel and considers Iran its No. 1 enemy. So Hamas may not be ready to meet those demands in light of its strong alliance with Iran, which could mean the rupture with Saudi Arabia will continue despite the diplomatic action.
Actor Vijay Sethupathi has apologised for a viral picture that showed him cutting his birthday cake with a sword. The photo was circulated widely on social media earlier this week. Vijay had a small birthday celebration on the sets of his upcoming film with director Ponram.

I thank all the film personalities and fans who wished me on my birthday. Three days ago, a photo taken during my birthday has emerged to be controversial. In the picture, I used a sword to cut my cake. It was only because Im acting in director Ponram's film, in which the sword plays an important role. Since I celebrated my birthday with the team, I used the sword to cut my cake. Everyone has pointed out to me that this could set a bad example to others and I promise to be careful henceforth. If I hurt anyone with my actions, I apologise and regret it deeply, read the actors statement obtained by The Hindu.

Meanwhile, Vijay's latest release 'Master' has been receiving immense praise from all quarters. 'Master' also stars Thalapathy Vijay. The crime thriller features Vijay as a professor named JD and Vijay Sethupathi as the antagonist. Apart from the original in Tamil, Master also releases in Telugu and Hindi simultaneously. The Hindi version is titled Vijay, The Master. The much-awaited teaser of Vijay Sethupathis upcoming movie Tughlaq Durbar was also released last Monday. Delhiprasad Deenadayalan is making his directorial debut with Tughlaq Durbar, which is touted to be an entertaining political drama.
More than 80,000 international students left Victoria last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many flew back to their home countries with no indication of when they can return to the lives they built in Australia, often at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars.

Federal and state governments have placed students behind overseas Australians in the queue for up to 6000 quarantine spots a week since international borders shut last March.

International students who stayed in Victoria queued for food vouchers when the coronavirus pandemic hit last year. Credit:Penny Stephens

That was set to change in New South Wales this month as Premier Gladys Berejiklian outlined plans  later scuppered by Sydneys outbreak  for students to fill half the states 3000 weekly quarantine spots, which she said would give a significant boost to the NSW economy.

Victoria has offered no plan and on Saturday Premier Daniel Andrews dismissed reports that he would take a bespoke quarantine plan for international students, Victoria's biggest export at $13.7 billion annually, to National Cabinet on February 5.

Affordable housing is a priority, as is land preservation, Daniels wrote. Thus, public and private funding for both priorities is needed.

Daniels presentation on Thursday was followed by a question-and-answer session. Sandy Elles, a Jack L. Davies Ag Fund board member, said key takeaways were that everyone needs to work together on agricultural preservation and housing issues and that there is no single answer.

Hugh Davies, president of the Jack. L. Davies Ag Fund, said tackling the challenges will require cooperation and coordination among people with different views.

The people who want to preserve agriculture long-term, they also need to be housing advocates, he said.

The Napa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday expressed concern about that proposed, eight-year state housing mandate of 3,523 new Napa County homes. Each city and the unincorporated county is assigned part of the total, as is done in counties throughout California.

This will arguably be the toughest cycle weve faced yet, stressing our city limits and ag preserve more than ever, county Supervisor Ryan Gregory said.
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Adam McKay's star-studded sci-fi disaster comedy, Don't Look Up, has been filming in Massachusetts for over a month.

On Friday two of its actors Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry, both 51, were spotted on set for the first time in the town of Westborough.

Both were decked out in costume as Blanchett sported bleach blonde hair and heavy makeup and Perry looked dapper in a suit. They will reportedly be playing talk show hosts in the 2021 Netflix film.

On set debut: Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry, 51, are spotted for the first time on the set of Adam McKay's star-studded disaster comedy, Don't Look Up, as the actors - who are rumored to be playing talk show hosts in the 2021 Netflix film - walked to shoot their scenes

The Blue Jasmine actress looked elegant in a striking red dress as she kept warm on set with a black puffy jacket.

She carried coffee in her hand and was seen in a pair of slippers before her scenes.

Though known for her icy blonde locks, Cate's hair was even more platinum than usual, as she was seen walking from her trailer.

COVID-19 protocol: Both actors were seen with protective face shields while walking to set as the film continues to follow COVID-19 protocol and is broken up into various zones to keep cast and crew safe

Both she and Perry wore protective face shields, as the movie - which is broken up into various zones for production safety - continues to shoot under strict COVID-19 protocol.

Tyler's wardrobe consisted of a grey suit and a white button down with a tie, topping up the look with a pair of sharp Gucci loafers.

He was seen being led to set by production personnel as he clasped his phone in his hand.

Comfort: The Blue Jasmine actress kept herself warm in the Northeastern weather with a parka and fuzzy slippers as she carried a hot coffee

On the same day the pair were spotted on set, Ariana Grande wrapped her scenes.

The newly engaged songstress shared a snap of her trailer with her character's name that read 'Riley Bina,' and wrote, 'wrapped' as she joins a long list of celebrities attached to the project.

The film's plot is about two astronomers, Dr. Randall Mindy and Kate Dibiasky, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, who are tasked with warning earth about a giant meteorite that is due to hit.

The pair were seen climbing aboard the USS Massachusetts naval ship last month, as the movie continues to shoot in various locations outside of Boston.

Last day: The newly engaged songstress appears in the film as Riley Bina as she shared Friday that she had wrapped her scenes with a photo of her trailer

The movie also stars Chris Evans, Timothee Chalamet, Kid Cudi, Jonah Hill, Matthew Perry and the queen herself, Meryl Streep, who plays the President of the United States.

McKay who is the founder of coveted sketch comedy group Upright Citizens Brigade, is taking his talents to a film with some dark humorous undertones.

Though much of the film has been shrouded in secrecy, the a short trailer teaser for the movie was released on Tuesday.

Don't Look Up is set to hit Netflix sometime in 2021.

I have not been in hiding I am very much here, says Dr. Padeniya By Kumudini Hettiarachchi View(s): View(s):

I have not disappeared and I have not been in hiding. I am very much here, the President of the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA), Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya who is in home quarantine for 14 days, told the Sunday Times last afternoon responding to criticism that he was avoiding public health officials after having a party at his house.

Dr. Padeniya said that he, his wife and three children are in self-quarantine in their home at Kelaniya till January 21 having undergone both RT-PCR and RAT (Rapid Antigen Test) which proved negative after a doctor who attended the party was found to have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

The President of the GMOA which is in the forefront of the campaign to combat the virus said I held a small dinner for one of my juniors, a Medical Officer (MO), who was going on transfer to the Avissawella Hospital and other doctors in my unit on January 7 at my home. He said that they did not go to a hotel, neither did they bring in outside caterers, nor did they hold a sing-song that evening.

He reiterated that all those who came to the dinner had been in the same bubble with him at work at Ward 25 of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Colombo. There were about 17 to 20 including his immediate family.

It was a simple farewell treat and we all work together. They are my ward doctors, he said.

When the doctor tested positive after going to Avissawella, that Public Health Inspector (PHI) had informed the Kelaniya Medical Officer of Health (MOH) who sent a PHI to his home around 7.45 p.m. on January 13.

I was not at home, but they could have called me. Both my phones were on and there were no missed calls. I got to know the situation through the media which splashed a story that I was in hiding, says Dr. Padeniya, adding that all the others in their group have also tested negative.
She was recently named Britain's highest-paid model, raking in 15.7million last year.

And Cara Delevingne looked back on her life as she shared an adorable throwback snap of herself as a young child to Instagram on Friday evening.

The Carnival Row star, 28, proved she picked up her bold sense of style at an early age as she donned a vibrant orange T-shirt and striped shorts in the photo.

Throwback: Cara Delevingne shared an adorable throwback snap of herself as a young child to Instagram on Friday evening, which saw her jokingly holding an unlit cigarette

The snap also saw a young Cara jokingly holding an unlit cigarette in one hand and a glass in the other as she pulled a silly face in the mirror.

The bombshell, who is well-known for have an array of signature hairstyles, wore her golden locks in a choppy fringed style - a style she has since replicated as an adult.

Alongside the throwback snap, Cara simply penned: 'Little devil.'

Her post comes after The Sun reported that she holds a net worth of 30.2million, beating out Kate Moss, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Naomi Campbell as Britain's top paid model.

Big earner: It comes after it was reported that Cara holds a net worth of 30.2million, beating out Kate Moss, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Naomi Campbell as Britain's top paid model

The model-turned-actress previously admitted that money 'isn't everything' as, when her career progressed, she realised that didn't want to be alone.

She explained: 'I realised money isn't everything.

'You get to the point where you're like, "Oh, I've made money but I'm so deeply unhappy and alone".'

She was previously dating American actress Ashley Benson, but the couple split up in May after two years together. Ashley, 31, is currently dating rapped G-Eazy.

Cara has invested some of her hard-earned model money in a sex-tech startup back in November, becoming co-owner and creative advisor of Lora DiCarlo.

Money: The model previously admitted that she realised money 'isn't everything' as she didn't want to be alone. She was previously dating Ashley Benson, but they parted ways in May

She told Fast Company: 'This is something I've been thinking about for a very long time, and it's taken a while to find the right people to do it with.

'I grew up pretty repressed and English in terms of sexuality. That relationship that you have with yourself is the most important one in the world. And this is not just to do with pleasuring yourself, but it's about exploration and loving yourself.'

The eponymous DiCarlo founded the company in 2017 with a mission of de-stigmatising sexual pleasure for women, while elevating the sex toy industry.

The Paper Towns star added of her role with the company: 'When I get passionate about something, I really dive deep into it.

'I'm learning every day, especially through Lora and the team, how different everyone's bodies are and how different people find this space of pleasure.

New venture: Cara invested some of her hard-earned model money in a sex-tech startup back in November, becoming co-owner and creative advisor of Lora DiCarlo

'I have the reach to really put this in the hands of my audience and ask what they want and what they need, because this isn't about what I like or about what Lora likes.

'This is about what people like, and that's different from generation to generation and culture to culture. That's something that I don't think we're ever going to stop learning.'

She continued: 'I wouldn't want to do something and do it half-ass, especially when it has to do with sexual health and wellness and understanding oneself.

'This is a journey that I want to go through, and this is a lifelong partnership.'

It comes after her latest movie Life In a Year came out back in November, which saw her star alongside Jaden Smith.

Understanding how microgravity impacts perception, vision and combustion highlighted Thursday's research aboard the International Space Station.

The Expedition 64 crew also explored ways to improve space exercise and space piloting techniques.

NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins kicked off her day inside Europe's Columbus laboratory module conducting a session for the Vection perception study. The investigation is exploring how an astronaut adapts to visually interpreting motion, orientation, and distance in weightlessness.

Rubins also configured hardware for a suite of studies known as the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments, or ACME, that takes place in the Combustion Integrated Rack. JAXA Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi worked on installing the Solid Combustion Experiment Module in a science rack located in Japan's Kibo laboratory module. Combustion studies on the station help improve fire safety and fuel efficiency on Earth and in space.

NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Shannon Walker joined each other for ultrasound eye scans at the end of the work day. The duo had worked earlier on an array of science and life support maintenance tasks throughout the orbital lab.

Commander Sergey Ryzhikov joined Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov for a Russian exercise study that seeks to maintain a crewmember's fitness during long-term space missions. Ryzhikov then explored how pilots might operate future spacecraft and robots on planetary missions.

On-Orbit Status Report

SpaceX-21 Splashdown: Following Tuesday's successful undock, Dragon splashed down off the coast of Tampa, Florida at 7:27PM CT last night. This completes the mission and cargo has been offloaded.

Payloads

Airborne Particulate Monitor (APM): The crew relocated the APM experiment hardware from Node 3 to the US Lab. This hardware is routinely moved to different locations to allow monitoring of the particulate environment in those areas. Although requirements exist for maximum allowable concentrations of particulate matter, currently no measurement capability verifies whether these requirements are met. The APM demonstrates an instrument for measuring and quantifying the concentration of both small and large particles in spacecraft air. The data can be used to create a map of air quality in terms of particles and shed light on the sources of such particles.

Antimicrobial Coatings: As part of the ongoing experiment, the crew touched each coupon on the placard. The investigation tests an antimicrobial coating on several different materials that represent high-touch surfaces. Some microbes change characteristics in microgravity, which could create new risks to crew health and spacecraft systems as well as creating the possibility of contaminating other planetary bodies. The samples remain in space approximately six months then return to Earth for analysis.

Collapsible Contingency Urinal (CCU) In-Cabin Demonstration: Today's demonstration enabled ground personnel to observe fluid dynamics of liquid in the CCU. The crew performed multiple fill and drain cycles with varied rates and methods to analyze performance characteristics. An evaluation of the test was completed following the demonstration.

Exposed Facility Unit (EFU) Adapter Hardware Reconfig: In an effort to verify good communication for the EFU adapter, the SOLISS hardware was removed, the JEF HDTV hardware was panned 10 degrees, and good MLI coverage of the hardware was verified. EFU adapters are used as an interface between a JEM external payload location and the various experiment hardware.

Fluids Integrated Rack/Light Microscopy Module/Advanced Colloids Experiment (FIR/LMM/ACE): The crew removed the processed ACE-T11 module and installed the new ACE-TR2 (ellipsoid) module. The investigation designs and assembles complex three-dimensional colloids - small particles suspended within a fluid medium - and controls density and behavior of the particles with temperature. These so-called 'self-assembled colloidal structures' are vital to the design of advanced optical materials and the control of particle density and behavior is important for their use in 3D printing and additive manufacturing. Microgravity provides insight into the relationships among particle shape, crystal symmetry, density, and other fundamental issues.

Multi-use Variable-g Platform (MVP): The crew removed and stowed Everroad modules A and D from the MVP facility. The commercially developed, owned and operated Techshot MVP includes 2 internal carousels that simultaneously can produce up to 2 g of artificial gravity. MVP is used to conduct research in space with a wide variety of sample types, such as fruit flies, flatworms, plants, fish, cells, protein crystals and many others.

Solid Combustion Experiment Module (SCEM) Installation: The crew continued work to install the SCEM into the Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) work volume. The SCEM hardware is used for FLARE, a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) investigation, which explores the flammability of materials in microgravity. Various solid fuels are burned under different conditions and observed inside a flow tunnel. Microgravity significantly affects combustion phenomena and results are expected to contribute to the improvement of fire safety in space.

Vection: The crew deployed the hardware and performed an experiment session. Vection is made up of 3 tasks that test how orientation perception, motion processing, and depth perception are affected by long duration 0g and return to 1g. The objective of the study is to determine to what extent an astronaut's ability to visually interpret motion, orientation, and distance may be disrupted in a microgravity environment, and how it may adapt, and how it may be changed upon return to Earth. Multiple experimental time points inflight and upon return to Earth allows for the adaptation and recovery process to be investigated.

Systems

Urine Transfer System (UTS) SD Card Removal and Replacement (R&R): On January 5, the UTS controller lost communication and the heartbeat stopped incrementing. Additionally, the automatic response to WHC stopped working and all urine was directed to the Backup EDV. Initial troubleshooting was unsuccessful and teams recommended replacing the UTS SD card. Following the R&R, the ground received communication and heartbeat from UTS upon power up. Ground teams are completing software configuration prior to taking UTS to nominal operation.

Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Urine Receptacle (UR) and Insert Filter (IF) R&R: The crew completed this routine maintenance to R&R the UR/IF. Following the R&R, the crew cleaned the WHC power supply, reactivated WHC, and performed a leak check to close out the activity.

Battery Stowage Assembly (BSA) Operation: The crew terminated the first round of the automated Charge-Discharge-Charge (C-D-C) maintenance cycle on all helmet light batteries, Pistol Grip Tool (PGT) batteries, two Rechargeable EVA Battery Assemblies (REBAs). The crew then initiated a second round of C-D-C maintenance on both REBAs in the BSA via the Battery Charger Assembly (BCA).

Completed Task List Activities:

VEG03 experiment OBT

VEGGIE display OBT

Photo/TV D5 Camera Deploy

Today's Ground Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Columbus Smoke Detector (SD) ABIT Synchronization

Powerup UTS

HRF Rack 1 Rack Power Up Commanding

JEM Airlock and ACDU-RC Ops

Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) P16 Pumpdown

Look Ahead Plan

Friday, January 15 (GMT 015)

Payloads:

Veg-03J plant check

Systems:

Crew off duty

Saturday, January 16 (GMT 016)

Payloads:

AC touch

Systems:

Crew off duty

Sunday, January 17 (GMT 017)

Payloads:

HRF blood/urine collections, Veg-03J plant check

Systems:

Crew off duty

Today's Planned Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Vection Hardware Deployment

In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Urine Transfer System (UTS) Card R&R

Airborne Particulate Monitor Data Transfer

Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) Test

Vection Experiment Session

Airborne Particulate Monitor LAB Install

Rodent Research Access Unit Clean

VECTION Hardware Teardown

Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis

ISS Experience Z-Cam Setup on the MWA

Multi-use Variable-g Platform Module Removal

ISS Experience SSC 25 USB Connection Troubleshooting

BRIC LED Hardware Remove

EXPRESS Rack 7 Locker Relocate

Multi purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) Cold Plate Check

Health Maintenance System (HMS) Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Inspection

In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Waste and Hygeine Compartment (WHC) Urine Receptacle (UR) and Insert Filter (IF) Remove and Replace

BRIC LED Hardware Install

Solid Combustion Experiment Module (SCEM) install to Multi purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) Work Volume

In Flight Maintenance Service and Performance Checkout Unit Gather

Fluids Integrated Rack Rack Doors Open

CHEART/BAC Hardware Relocate

Actiwatch Plus HRF Rack 1 Setup

Antimicrobial Coatings Touch

Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record

Collapsible Contingency Urinal In-Cabin Demo

In Flight Maintenance Airlock Stowage Removal

JEM Airlock Slide Table (ST) Extension to JPM Side

SOLISS Removal from EFU Adapter

Actiwatch Plus HRF Rack 1 Stow

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Long Life Battery (LLB) Terminate

Health Maintenance System (HMS) Ultrasound 2 Scan

JEF HDTV PTU Pan angle change

JEM Airlock Slide Table (ST) Retraction from JPM Side

Cryo Chiller Sample Cartridge Removal and Decontamination

Vection Flash Drive Stow

Battery Stowage Assembly (BSA) Operation Termination

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Fill Part 3

Battery Stowage Assembly (BSA) Operation Initiation



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Dustin Higgs was the 13th and final Death Row prisoner to be executed during Trump's administration after a 17-year hiatus on federal executions.

The US government carried out the 13th and final federal execution under President Donald Trump's administration early on Saturday, days before his successor Joe Biden takes office with a promise to try to end the death penalty.

Dustin Higgs, 48, was pronounced dead at 6:23am, the federal Bureau of Prisons said in a statement, after a late-night Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for the execution to proceed.

Since resuming federal executions last year after a 17-year hiatus, Trump, a long-time proponent of capital punishment, has overseen more executions than any US president since the 19th century, including three this week.

Higgs was convicted and sentenced to death in 2001 for his role in the kidnapping and murder of three women on a federal wildlife reserve in Maryland in 1996: Tanji Jackson, Tamika Black and Mishann Chinn.

His accomplice, Willis Haynes, who confessed to shooting the women, was sentenced to life in prison in a separate trial.

In his final words, Higgs sounded calm and defiant at the Justice Department's death chamber in its prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, a reporter who served as a media witness said.

"I'd like to say I am an innocent man," he said before lethal injections were administered, mentioning the three women by name. "I did not order the murders."

Some of his victims' relatives attended, and a sister of Jackson released a statement, although the Bureau of Prisons did not share the sister's name.

"When the day is over, your death will not bring my sister and the other victims back," the statement said. "This is not closure, this is the consequence of your actions."

Higgs' older sister, Alexa Cave, could be heard sobbing uncontrollably from a separate witness room as Higgs died.

"THIS IS NOT JUSTICE"

"The government completed its unprecedented slaughter of 13 human beings tonight by killing Dustin Higgs, a Black man who never killed anyone, on Martin Luther King's birthday," Shawn Nolan, one of Higgs' lawyers, said in a statement.

"Dustin spent decades on death row in solitary confinement helping others around him, while working tirelessly to fight his unjust convictions."

The majority conservative Supreme Court's ruling was consistent with earlier decisions: it had dismissed all orders by lower courts delaying federal executions since they were resumed last year.

"This is not justice," one of its members, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, wrote in dissent.

"After waiting almost two decades to resume federal executions, the Government should have proceeded with some measure of restraint to ensure it did so lawfully. When it did not, this Court should have. It has not."

The federal government executed 10 people last year, more than three times as many as in the previous six decades, marking the first time that it had conducted more executions than all U.S. states combined, according to a database compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center.

A minority of the country's 50 states still carry out executions.

Before Trump became president, only three people had been executed by the federal government since 1963.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called the execution of Higgs the end of a "cruel, inhumane and lawless" spree by the federal government.

"President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to end the federal death penalty. He must honor that commitment," Cassandra Stubbs, director of ACLU's Capital Punishment Project said.

After a failed triple date with the three women, Higgs and Haynes offered to drive them home but instead took them to the Patuxent Research Refuge. Prosecutors said Higgs gave Haynes a gun and told him to shoot the three women.

The disparity in their sentences was grounds for clemency, Higgs's lawyers had said.

Higgs and another death row inmate, Corey Johnson, were diagnosed with COVID-19 in December, but on Wednesday the Supreme Court rejected an order by a federal judge in Washington delaying their executions for several weeks to allow their lungs to heal.

The Justice Department executed Johnson on Thursday night.

Cave, Higgs' sister, said she believed life in prison would have been a more just punishment.

"They don't have freedom at all in any sense of the word," she said in an interview on Friday, before Higgs was executed. "What purpose does it serve to kill you? It brings nothing back."
When I was small, mom went to see a fortune teller and brought back mixed news.

I had a good future, she was told, but would be a late bloomer. Although not

filthy rich, I woundn't be lacking money. Last, I would die in a foreign land.

After 40+ years, I would say that the forecasts have been largely accurate. I aced in

school, safe-landed in North America, earned an above average income, and made

a good living. The bloomer part is to be seen, i.e., how late and blooming, but at least

I think I have passed the stage where many struggle with mid-life crisis.



Now that we have settled down in the U.S., even the last prophecy seems likely

to prove true. Mom was not happy about it as death was an uncomfortable topic in

the Chinese culture. But one has to die and die somewhere. I cannot complain.

My wife, however, pointed out a glaring contradiction. "What's the point of blooming

without making big dough?" she snorted. They were irreconcilable to her.
Columbia-Greene Media has recently teamed up with the US Postal Service to provide same-day delivery of your local newspaper with your mail. Our expanded daily delivery of your local news reaches into the following areas:
US President-elect Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 pandemic during an event at The Queen theater on January 14, 2021, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Image: AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

President-elect Joe Biden pledged on January 15 to boost supplies of coronavirus vaccine and set up new vaccination sites to meet his goal of 100 million shots in 100 days. It's part of a broader COVID strategy that also seeks to straighten out snags in testing and ensure minority communities are not left out.

Some wonder if we are reaching too far, Biden said. Let me be clear, I'm convinced we can get it done.

The real payoff, Biden said, will come from uniting the nation in a new effort grounded in science.

Biden spoke a day after unveiling a $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to confront the virus and provide temporary support for a shaky economy. About $400 billion of the plan is focused on measures aimed at controlling the virus. Those range from mass vaccination centers to more sophisticated scientific analysis of new strains and squads of local health workers to trace the contacts of infected people.

Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the coronavirus pandemic

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

You have my word: We will manage the hell out of this operation, Biden declared. He underscored a need for Congress to approve more money and for people to keep following basic precautions, such as wearing masks, avoiding gatherings and frequently washing their hands.

Throughout the plan, theres a focus on ensuring that minority communities that have borne the brunt of the pandemic are not shortchanged on vaccines and treatments.

A key challenge for Biden and the nation: Vaccines are in too-short supply.

Biden said he would use the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era law, to boost vaccine supplies and work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to set up 100 vaccination centers around the country by the end of his first month in office.

Almost a year later, were still far from back to normal. The honest truth is this: Things will get worse before they get better," he said Friday, as U.S. deaths climbed closer to 400,000. The global toll has now reached 2 million.

COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker: All you need to know about manufacturing and pricing

Biden seconded the Trump administration's call earlier this week for states to start vaccinating more seniors, reaching those 65 and older as well as younger people with certain health problems. Until now states have been focused on inoculating health care workers, and some are starting to vaccinate people 75 and older. Relatively few are providing shots to people between 65 and 75.

Another carryover from the Trump administration plan: Biden said he intends to mobilize local pharmacies to administer vaccines.

Is it achievable?" he asked. "Its a legitimate question to ask. Let me be clear. Im convinced we can get it done.

In fact, Dr. Leana Wen, a public health expert and emergency physician, said the president-elect should aim higher.

At this point, mass vaccination is our last and best chance to restoring normalcy, she said. There should be no expenses spared in the vaccine rollout. A hundred million in 100 days needs to be seen as only a start."

Two medical groups, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Group, said Friday evening they strongly support the Biden plan. The strategy will be vital to ending the impacts of COVID-19 in the U.S., the groups said.

As Biden spoke, some governors blasted the Trump administration for what at least one said was deception in suggesting earlier this week that a reserve of vaccine doses was ready to ship, augmenting supplies. An administration official said states have still not ordered all of the doses allocated to them, and called it a problem with states' expectations.

Biden committed to better communication with the states, to avoid such surprises. His plan calls for the federal government to fully reimburse states that mobilize their National Guards to help distribute vaccines.

Biden's proposal comes as a divided nation is in the grip of the pandemics most dangerous wave yet. We remain in a very dark winter, he said.

The political outlook for the legislation remains unclear, although a powerful business lobbying group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, welcomed its focus on controlling the pandemic.

This is not a political issue, Biden said. This is about saving lives. I know its become a partisan issue, but what a stupid, stupid thing to happen.

Biden has long held that economic recovery is inextricably tied to control of the coronavirus.

Under Biden's multipronged strategy, about $20 billion would be allocated for a more disciplined focus on vaccination, on top of some $8 billion already approved by Congress. Biden has called for setting up mass vaccination centers and sending mobile units to hard-to-reach areas.

On Friday, he announced former FDA chief David Kessler as his chief science officer for the vaccine drive. Kessler has been advising Biden as a co-chair of his advisory board on the coronavirus pandemic. A pediatrician and attorney, he has emphasized a need to ease public concerns about the safety of the vaccines.

With the backing of Congress and the expertise of private and government scientists, the Trump administration delivered two highly effective vaccines and more are on the way. Yet a month after the first shots were given, the nations vaccination campaign is off to a slow start with about 12.3 million doses administered out of more than 31 million delivered, or 39%.

About 10.6 million individuals have received first or second doses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the American Hospital Association estimates that 246 million must be vaccinated to reach widespread or herd immunity by the summer. Vaccines currently available require two shots to be fully effective.

Biden has called the vaccine rollout a dismal failure so far."

We need to be getting to more than 3 million vaccinations a day, rapidly, said Wen.

Biden's plan also would provide $50 billion to expand testing, which is seen as key to reopening most schools by the end of the new administration's first 100 days. About $130 billion would be allocated to help schools reopen without risking further contagion.

The plan would fund the hiring of 100,000 public health workers, to focus on encouraging people to get vaccinated and on tracing the contacts of those infected with the coronavirus. The Biden administration also plans to launch a public education campaign to overcome doubts about vaccination.
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MEXICO CITY  In a move certain to escalate tensions with the United States, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has accused the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of fabricating a case against a former Mexican defense minister who was arrested on drug trafficking charges at Los Angeles International Airport last year.

Lopez Obrador, who in November successfully pressured the U.S. government to drop all charges against retired Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos and return him to Mexico, said Friday that Mexican prosecutors have decided not to indict the ex-defense chief because evidence shared by the U.S. did not implicate him in any crime.

Why did they do the investigation like this? Lopez Obrador said. Without support, without proof?

Saying it would bolster his claims, Lopez Obrador made public more than 700 pages of evidence that the U.S. Department of Justice had collected in its case against Cienfuegos, who was accused of helping Mexicos H-2 cartel smuggle tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana to the United States.

The evidence includes thousands of intercepted cellphone messages between two alleged cartel members discussing a man they refer to as Padrino. U.S. prosecutors say Padrino, or the Godfather, was a code name for Cienfuegos. At one point in the messages, one of the cartel members sent a photograph of Cienfuegos and referred to him as Padrino.

The documents also contain screenshots of messages said by prosecutors to be from Cienfuegos alerting the men to upcoming military operations and discussing the delivery of bribes.

The messages are rife with Mexican street slang and spelling errors, which was one reason prosecutors in Mexico say they dont believe the man described as Padrino was Cienfuegos.

On Jan. 22, 2020, 19 children were conscripted into a vigilante group that has been battling drug gangs in Mexico's Guerrero state. Images of the uniformed, rifle-wielding children performing military-style exercises drew outrage across Mexico, with human rights officials condemning it as child abuse.

Such doubts appeared to be key to the Mexicos attorney generals office decision not to charge Cienfuegos, who served as defense minister from 2012 to 2018 in the administration of ex-President Enrique Pena Nieto.

The conclusion was reached that General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda never had any meeting with the criminal organization investigated by American authorities, and that he also never had any communication with them, nor did he carry out acts to protect or help those individuals, a statement from the attorney generals office said.

The U.S. Department of Justice responded with a tersely worded statement of its own Friday, saying The United States reserves the right to recommence its prosecution of Cienfuegos if the Government of Mexico fails to do so.

Mexicos decision to exonerate Cienfuegos has sparked widespread controversy here, with critics accusing Lopez Obrador of reneging on his campaign pledge to end impunity for corrupt officials.

It has also thrust U.S.-Mexican relations into further crisis.

The future of law enforcement cooperation between the countries has been in doubt since Mexicos Congress passed a new law shortly after Cienfuegos was returned to Mexico that strips U.S. drug agents in Mexico of their diplomatic immunity and greatly limits their investigative abilities. U.S. Atty. Gen. William Barr condemned the measure.

But perhaps more than anything, the Cienfuegos saga highlights the growing influence of the military in Mexican civilian affairs.

Military leaders were incensed when Cienfuegos was taken into custody by U.S. agents shortly after landing at LAX with his family on Oct. 15.

According to a government official with knowledge of the events, military brass complained to Lopez Obrador, urging him to try to win the release of Cienfuegos.

Lopez Obrador, who has put soldiers and marines in control of a vast array of civilian matters in recent years, including important infrastructure projects and the nations response to illegal immigration and COVID-19, took their complaints to the U.S.

After the Mexican government threatened to withhold security cooperation with the United States unless prosecutors dropped charges against Cienfuegos, Barrs Department of Justice caved.

Members of Mexico's military salute during an official reception last week for U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Canadian Defense Minister Rob Nicholson in Mexico City. The Mexican military is believed to have long committed abuses with impunity.

The United States determined that the broader interest in maintaining that relationship in a cooperative way outweighed the departments interest and the publics interest in pursuing this particular case, U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme told a judge on Nov. 18.

At the time, a joint U.S.-Mexico statement said Cienfuegos was being released from U.S. custody so that he may be investigated and, if appropriate, charged, under Mexican law.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard vowed that Mexicos investigation into Cienfuegos would meet the highest standards of effectiveness and honesty. It would be almost suicide, he said, to make a show of bringing the ex-army chief to Mexico and then do nothing.

Cienfuegos was never placed under arrest after he was returned by U.S. officials to Mexico. And less than two months after he returned to Mexican soil, officials cleared him of wrongdoing without ever holding a trial.

On Jan. 22, 2020, 19 children were conscripted into a vigilante group that has been battling drug gangs in Mexico's Guerrero state. Images of the uniformed, rifle-wielding children performing military-style exercises drew outrage across Mexico, with human rights officials condemning it as child abuse.

Lopez Obrador said he knew that releasing hundreds of pages of evidence gathered by U.S. prosecutors to the public might anger the United States.

They may say, How dare we make this document known? he said. But, he added, the evidence that was supposedly collected over many years is not solid.

Lopez Obrador has proved increasingly willing to antagonize the United States.

He supports the law passed by Mexicos Congress that will limit the scope of U.S. drug investigations in the country by requiring Mexican officials to get permission from a high-level security panel before meeting with foreign agents and then sending the Foreign and Public Security ministries information on what was discussed.

Some in Mexico have applauded Lopez Obrador for standing up for Mexican sovereignty after a more than decade-long drug war fueled by firearms smuggled illegally from the U.S. and Americans seemingly limitless appetites for drugs.

But others say the quick exoneration of Cienfuegos has exposed the president as a hypocrite.

Lopez Obrador, a center-left populist, won a landslide election in 2018 for his acerbic critiques of the mafia of power, a phrase he coined to describe the elite class that controls the countrys wealth and politics and traditionally stood above the law. He criticized the military, too of wielding undue power and of committing human rights abuses.

Adios to the discourse against corruption, tweeted Julio Hernandez, a columnist with La Jornada newspaper, following the governments announcement that Cienfuegos had been cleared of any charges.

Others said the Cienfuegos decision further consecrated the militarys power in Mexico  a troubling trend given the armed forces historic near-blanket immunity from prosecution in human rights and corruption cases.

The exoneration of Salvador Cienfuegos demonstrates that the armed forces are untouchable  [and] will continue to be outside of democratic scrutiny, tweeted Denise Dresser, a columnist for Reforma newspaper. They are the ones who govern, in reality, and have been converted into the new mafia of power.

This article is written by Kate Linthicum and Patrick J. McDonnell from The Los Angeles Times and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.

 Flash

The Pentagon on Friday confirmed that U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq had reduced to 2,500 respectively.

Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said in a statement that the drawdown in Afghanistan brought U.S. forces in the country to their lowest levels since the war began.

"Moving forward, while the Department continues with planning capable of further reducing U.S. troop levels to zero by May of 2021, any such future drawdowns remain conditions-based," he added.

In a separate statement, Miller confirmed U.S. force levels in Iraq also dropped to 2,500, saying that the reduction reflected" the increased capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces."

The forces drawdown plans in Afghanistan and Iraq were announced by Miller in November, on orders from President Donald Trump.

U.S. media questioned that the rapid drawdown in Afghanistan might violate a measure in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes Congress to ban the funding for further force reductions in the country without a detailed report from the Pentagon.

The war in Afghanistan, which has caused about 2,400 U.S. military deaths, is the longest one in U.S. history. Trump has long sought a full withdrawal from the country, but some of his senior aides from the military and the Pentagon had suggested a more cautious approach.

The United States and Afghan Taliban signed an agreement in late February 2020, which called for a full withdrawal of the U.S. military forces from Afghanistan by May 2021 if the Taliban meets the conditions of the deal, including severing ties with terrorist groups.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16)  The Bureau of Customs on Saturday said it confiscated 1.5 million worth of Chinese medicines smuggled into the country, one of which may have been used to treat COVID-19.

Authorities said RIBAVIRIN, one of the drugs seized in a Pasay City storage facility, is used for medicating pneumonia and bronchitis.

"One of the apprehended medicines was identified as RIBAVIRIN which is used for treatment of pneumonia and bronchitis, thus leading to strong suspicion that the clinic was treating COVID-related cases," said the bureau in a statement.

As investigation is ongoing for possible violation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, the agency reminded the public not to avail services from fly-by-night clinics.

It also warned not to use medicines that do not have approval from the Health Department and the Food and Drug Administration. This warning comes even though President Rodrigo Duterte previously allowed the military and his security to be inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines that have not yet been approved by the FDA.

The manslaughter case against a former Boston College student accused of encouraging her boyfriend to take his own life will head toward trial, prosecutors said Friday.

A court this week partially denied the defenses motion to dismiss, finding that Inyoung Yous words could have caused Alexander Urtula to kill himself, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins office said. The judge did dismiss one of the prosecutions theories, ruling that Yous failure to summon help didnt cause his suicide, Rollins office said.

Prosecutors say You sent Urtula, of Cedar Grove, New Jersey, thousands of messages in the last two months of their relationship, including many urging him to go kill yourself. Urtula died in Boston on May 20, the day of his Boston College graduation.

The case grimly echoes that of Michelle Carter, who garnered headlines and an HBO film. The young Massachusetts woman was sentenced to 15 months in jail after she was convicted in 2017 of involuntary manslaughter for using text messages and phone calls to encourage her boyfriend, Conrad Roy, to kill himself in 2014.

An attorney for You said the defense is pleased that the court dismissed one of the prosecutions two theories.

With respect to the single remaining theory, the Court noted that this is an incredibly complex area of law and that unlike in the Carter case Ms. You repeatedly begged her boyfriend not to commit suicide. We think this is a critical fact which will ultimately exonerate Ms. You, Howard Cooper said in a statement.
UPDATE:

Jenna Ryan, the North Texas real estate agent who took a private plane to participate in the U.S. Capitol protest that evolved into a violent riot on Jan. 6, has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

In a filing from the Department of Justice submitted Jan. 15, prosecutors said authorities recovered a deleted Facebook live video showing Ryan entering the Capitol building through the Rotunda entrance.

Jon Cherry/Getty Images, MBR / TNS

"We are going to f---ing go in here," Ryan could be heard saying in the video as she approaches the top of the stairs. "Life or death, it doesnt matter. Here we go."

Ryan then exposed her face on camera, saying, Yall know who to hire for your realtor. Jenna Ryan for your realtor.

The video continued to show her entering the building, chanting U-S-A! U-S-A! and yelling, Here we are, in the name of Jesus! She exposed her face on video again while inside the building.

Ryan previously claimed she did not enter the Capitol building.

She posted a public statement to her Twitter page on Jan. 8.

"I was invited to go to Washington D.C. by a friend to witness the march," Ryan wrote. "Unfortunately, what I believed to be a peaceful political march turned into a violent protest. I do not condone the violence that occurred on January 6, 2020, and I am truly heartbroken for the people who have lost their lives. Hatred and violence toward each other are not going to solve our country's issues. As a nation, we need to come together Republican, Democrat and Independent and have an open and honest discussion about the issues in our country and resolve our issues in peace."

EARLIER:

Facebook.com/jenna.ryan1

One Dallas-area woman flew by private jet to participate in the initial protest at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday that turned violent as the mob breached the building.

Realtor and radio host Jenna Ryan took a private jet with three others to Washington D.C. to protest the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory over President Donald Trump.

AFTER THE CHAOS: Internet detectives are identifying scores of pro-Trump rioters at the Capitol. Some have already been fired.

"OK guess who's going to DC by private jet?!?! Meeee," Ryan wrote on Facebook on Jan. 3. She and three others can be seen in the private plane in a photo posted Jan. 5.

Newsweek's Lydia Smith reports that Ryan flew from US Trinity Aviation in Denton.

Twitter/@dotJenna

Ryan posted several videos and photos from the Capitol grounds on her Facebook and Twitter accounts. In one photo posted to Twitter, she poses next to a broken window.

"Window at The capital," Ryan wrote. "And if the news doesn't stop lying about us we're going to come after their studios next..."

Ryan also livestreamed from the Capitol grounds. It is unclear if she ever entered the building.

"All these working-class people taking the week off," Ryan said in the stream. "We flew here for freedom. They want to steal the election, they want to steal everything."
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Community Board 2 will consider applications Tuesday night for the construction of residential buildings in Richmond and Meiers Corners.

On the agenda is the application for 40 and 46 Autumn Ave. and St. Andrew Road, where an application has been filed seeking authorization to build within a Special Natural District Area within wetland adjacent areas.

Also, an application for the construction of a detached residential building located within the bed of a mapped street at 244 Gansevoort Blvd. will be considered.

The public is invited to the 7 p.m. virtual meeting of the full board. Those interested should fill out the form at www.cb2si.com to receive the link to join the meeting.

Community Board 1s Mariners Harbor/Port Richmond/Elm Park/Arlington Local Area Committee will also meet on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. via Zoom.

To join the meeting, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86445462266. The meeting ID is 864 4546 2266.

Community Board 3 has no meetings scheduled this week.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

All Community Board meetings and meetings of their committees are open to the public. They provide an excellent opportunity for residents to learn about happenings in their neighborhoods and surrounding areas.

Below is more information about the Islands three Community Boards:

COMMUNITY BOARD 1

Arlington  Castleton Corners  Clifton  Concord  Elm Park  Fort Wadsworth  Graniteville  Grymes Hill  Livingston  Mariners Harbor  New Brighton  Port Richmond  Randall Manor  Rosebank  St. George  Shore Acres  Silver Lake  Stapleton  Sunnyside  Tompkinsville  West Brighton  Westerleigh

The district manager is Joseph Carroll. The Board chairman is Nicholas Siclari. The telephone number is 718-981-6900.

COMMUNITY BOARD 2

Arrochar  Bloomfield  Bulls Head  Chelsea  Dongan Hills  Egbertville  Emerson Hill  Grant City  Grasmere  High Rock  Lighthouse Hill  Midland Beach  New Dorp  New Springville  Oakwood  Ocean Breeze  Old Town  Richmond  South Beach  Todt Hill  Travis.

The phone number is 718-568-3581. The fax number 718-568-3595. The chairman is Robert J. Collegio, P.E. The district manager is Debra A. Derrico.

COMMUNITY BOARD 3

Annadale  Arden Heights  Bay Terrace  Charleston  Eltingville  Great Kills  Greenridge  Huguenot  New Dorp  Oakwood  Pleasant Plains  Princes Bay  Richmond Valley -- Richmond -- Rossville -- Tottenville -- Woodrow.

The office phone number is 718-356-7900. The Board chairman is Frank Morano; the district manager is Charlene Wagner.
A San Francisco man has been arrested on suspicion of trying to make an explosive device after threatening chemicals were found at a mobile home park near the former Candlestick Park, police said Saturday.

FBI agents found the chemicals used to make explosives Friday afternoon at the Candlestick RV Park on the 600 block of Gilman Avenue, according to the San Francisco Police Department. Nearby residents were evacuated out of an abundance of caution, police said, but no explosion occurred.


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The Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) of the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi requested the hospital to vaccinate them with Serum Institute's Covishield instead of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. The association wrote a letter and said that the doctors were a bit apprehensive about Covaxin. They said that the lack of a complete trail in case of Covaxin was a bit concerning.

"We have come to know that the COVID-19 vaccination drive is being conducted by the hospital today. Covaxin manufactured by Bharat Biotech is being preferred in our hospital over Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute. The residents are a bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial in case of Covaxin and might not participate in huge numbers thus defeating the purpose of vaccination. We request you to vaccinate us with Covishield which has completed all stages of trial before its roll-out," the letter stated.

Meanwhile, Covaxin has asked its recipients to sign a consent form. The form also states that in case of adverse effects, the recipient would be compensated. "In case of any serious adverse events, vaccine recipients will be provided medically recognised standard of care in the government designated and authorised centres/hospitals. The compensation for serious adverse event will be paid by sponsor (BBIL) if the SAE is proven to be causally related to the vaccine. The compensation will be determined by ICMR's Central Ethics Committee, as appropriate," the consent form for Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine states.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his speech at the launch of the vaccination drive assured Indians that both the vaccines are safe and have been well tested. He said that the COVID-19 vaccines are also cheaper than the foreign counterparts.

In Delhi, the vaccination drive would be carried out at 81 sites. Six central government hospitals -- AIIMS, Safdarjung, RML, Kalawati Saran Children Hospital and two ESI hospitals -- have been chosen as sites for the drive. Besides these, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, Delhi-government run GTB Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, DDU Hospital, BSA Hospital, Delhi State Cancer Institute, ILBS Hospital are among the vaccination sites. Private facilities -- Max Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Apollo Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital -- have also been chosen as sites for the exercise.

Also read: PM Modi launches COVID-19 vaccination drive; urges Indians to take both shots, follow protocols

Also read: COVID-19 vaccination drive: Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla receives Covishield shot
Starting from January 27, the Russian Federation resumes air traffic with Finland, Vietnam, India and Qatar, Operational Headquarters on preventing the coronavirus spread informs.

It is reported that flights will be carried out twice a week from Moscow to Hanoi, Delhi and Helsinki and three times a week - to Doha, in addition, two flights are planned from St. Petersburg to Helsinki.

It is also noted that the number of regular flights to Cairo has been increased to five per week.
After a slow start to January, OTT platforms have picked up pace over the Sankranti weekend releasing multiple titles to keep subscribers busy. The multi-starrer series Tandav on Amazon Prime Video is already making waves, and courting controversy. Marking yet another Bollywood stars debut into the digital space, Netflix film Tribhanga stars Kajol in the lead.

The 4th phase of Marvel Cinematic Universe begins with the release of WandaVision on Disney+ Hotstar this week. And after entertaining audiences with their slice of life humour, SonyLivs Gullak is back for a second season.

Heres more on these titles to help you choose.

Tandav (Amazon Prime Video)

The charismatic leader of a premiere political party, Samar Pratap (Saif Ali Khan), feels hes ready to inherit the chair of PM after his party wins the (Lok Sabha) elections. Samars father, the party patriarch and the Prime Minister of the country, Devki Nandan (Tigmanshu Dhulia) is not willing to retire yet. Anuradha, Devkis close associate (Dimple Kapadia), party senior leader Gopal Das (Kumud Mishra) are few of many other leaders considering themselves fit for the chair.

A parallel story plays out with the idealistic campus activist Shiva (Zeeshan Ayub) who becomes an overnight youth icon as he shines at a political event. Shiva wants to bring about the change, sway the youth and overthrow the power pillars. Shiva and Samars lives intersect as the national politics meets the campus activism. The dance of politics ensues as a series of events expose the inherent deceit, manipulation, greed, ambition and violence in all the relationships.

Tribhanga (Netflix)

Tracing three generations of women from a dysfunctional family with diverse life choices, Tribhanga is a story of mothers and daughters, their estranged relationship and what binds them together despite the differences. Written and directed by Renuka Shahane, the film stars Kajol, Tanvi Azmi and Mithila Palkar in the leading roles. The title is derived from an Indian classical dance pose from Odissi, which is described as imperfect but beautiful quite like the lives of the three women. The film takes an autobiographical route moving across timelines to delve into the lives of the matriarch Nayan, a critically acclaimed Marathi litterateur played by Tanvi Azmi; her daughter Anu, a renowned classical dancer and actress portrayed by Kajol; and granddaughter Masha (Mithila Palkar).

Gullak 2 (SonyLiv)

Rickety walls, inquisitive neighbors, unending hassles yet bountiful limitless dreams; these define the dynamics of The Mishras who struck a chord with the audiences with Gullak season 1. Season 2 is bringing a host of naye kisse, with a glimpse into the usual ups & downs of this unusual family in bits and pieces that fill their Gullak of golden memories. Narrated from the perspective of the humble piggy bank, the show brings to light anecdotes from daily life weaved into an unconventional style of storytelling. Produced by TVF, Gullak 2 will further explore the imperfect realities and relationships of the Mishra family.

WandaVision (Disney+ Hotstar)

WandaVision is a blend of classic television and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany)two super-powered beings living idealized suburban livesbegin to suspect that everything is not as it seems. Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it shares continuity with the films of the franchise, and takes place after the events of the film Avengers: Endgame (2019). WandaVision was produced by Marvel Studios, with Schaeffer serving as head writer and Matt Shakman directing. The series is presented as an homage to past sitcoms, with Wanda and Vision living in a reality that takes them through different decades of television tropes.

Hunter Killer (Lionsgate Play)

Deep under the Arctic Ocean, American submarine Captain Joe Glass (Gerard Butler) is on the hunt for a U.S. sub in distress when he discovers a secret Russian coup threatening to break up the world order. With crew and country on the line, Captain Glass must now assemble an elite group of Navy SEALs to rescue the kidnapped Russian president and sneak through enemy waters to stop World War III.

We'll be back with more new suggestions from streaming platforms next week.

America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American
The presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey, Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, held a telephone conversation. The leaders discussed the future activities of the joint Russian-Turkish monitoring centre in Agdam, the press service of the Azerbaijani leader reported, specifying that the purpose of the centre is to ensure long-term peace.

In addition, the Azerbaijani leader informed his Turkish counterpart about the reconstruction of the territories liberated from the occupation, "expressing satisfaction with the active participation of Turkish companies in this process."
A conservationist at the University of California has discovered that glass frogs (Sachatsmina Orejuela) living near roaring waterfalls can attract the opposite sex by waving hello to them.

Most frogs croak to gain the attention of a potential mate a characteristic that is common among frogs, but there are few species of frogs that are distinct. These frog species living near loud streams have additional means of communicating their opposite sex.

Because the noisy streams may obstruct their popular live songs, they use visual signs such as flapping their hands, waving their feet, or bobbing their heads. Some frogs who showcase their prowess near streams in the rainforest of Brazil, Ecuador, India, and Borneo have been documented.

ALSO READ - Leaves That Eat Tiny Frogs Found! Here's a Surprising Fact,Though

The frog (Sachatamia Orejuela)

Rebecca Brunner, a conservation ecologist undergoing a PPh.D. program at the University of California, Berkeley has found that glass frog (Sachatamia Orejuela) can be included in the list of frog species that use visual cues to replace their usual means of communication in a noisy environment. It was the first time the glass frog belonging to the Centrolenidae family was seen using visual communication to attract their potential mates.

Brenner said a few other species around the world use visual signaling in addition to high-pitched calls to communicate in predominantly loud environments. She added that the most interesting thing about these species of frogs is that they are not closely related to each other. That means the behaviors they developed over time evolved independently in response to environments that share the same noisy characteristics. This coincidental feature is called convergent evolution.

Sachatamia Orejuela is a unique species of frog that is native to the rainforests of Ecuador and Colombia. They are rarely found elsewhere but predominantly seen on rocks and boulders within the spray zones of waterfalls. The rushing water and slippery surfaces provide some form of protection against predators.

Mating Behavior of Glass Frogs (Sachatamia Orejuela)

Little or nothing is known about Sachatamia Orejuela species' mating and breeding behavior because they have green-grey color and semi-transparent skin that makes sighting them very difficult.

Brunner searched deep into the Ecuadorean rainforest stream to record the call of the Sachatamia Orejuela glass frogs. That was when she first noticed the visual signaling behaviors of glass frogs. At the scene, she saw the frog raising its front and back legs repeatedly. She quickly climbed a slippery rock, got herself well-positioned, and began to record the video footage of their mating behavior.

As she was recording, the frog continued to wave its hands and feet and bob its head. Simultaneously, she observed another male glass frog a few meters away performing the same actions.

Brunner said when she sighted the behavior, she was excited because she finally found a calling male after months of searching. Before this publication, there was no official documentation of this species' call.

This study, even though yet to be completed, reveals that Sachatamia Orejuela has an extremely high-pitched call, which helps it communicate above the lower-pitched white noise of waterfalls

RELATED ARTICLE - The New Master of Disguise: Peculiar Ancient Insect Becomes New Genus, Looks Like a Scrub Brush.
BRUNSWICK, Ohio -- I have to admit, Ive been shaken by the assault on the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., and, as I write this, I worry more is coming, including at the Ohio Statehouse. Then, I received a message from Ohio History that provided some interesting perspective.

These two paragraphs were of most interest to me, and I wanted to share them:

In this tumultuous and unpredictable time, it is our responsibility as historians to confront disinformation and propaganda that threatens our democracy. The Ohio History Connection, rooted in our core value of authenticity, will do our part to ensure Ohioans (have) access to the tools and facts of history.

History is our tool and resource for understanding and healing our nation and our state. Lets use history to find common understanding and restore trust in our republic and each other.

Im going to take that to heart. If youd like to know more, just go to ohiohistory.org/

Linda Schneider

Time to say thanks: About eight years ago, I met Linda Schneider, who had just moved back to Ohio after living in New England. She came to an open house at the Brunswick Area Historical Society and had some great ideas to help it prosper.

Then, she took a job at the Medina County Soil and Water Conservation District as education coordinator.

Linda retired Dec. 30 after seven years of dedicated service and many accomplishments throughout the county.

Lindas accomplishments included promoting the effort of homeowners to create their own backyard wildlife habitats and have them recognized by the National Wildlife Federation. In doing so, she made Medina County the first county in the state to be designated a National Wildlife Federation Habitat County, with over 400 registered sites to date.

Linda, thanks for your help, and we wish you well in whatever your future holds.

Property taxes due: Medina County Treasurer John Burke has announced that 78,031 first-half 2020 property tax bills were mailed on Jan. 13 to county property owners. The official payment due date for these tax bills is Feb. 12.

Burke noted that the total amount of first-half real estate taxes billed is $171,136,195, with the total for the year to be $333,134,443.

He also wants taxpayers to be aware that recent nationwide delays in mail delivery may affect prompt delivery and receipt of the tax bills. Even with possible delivery delays, Ohio Revised Code states that it is the responsibility of property owners to pay their real estate property taxes by the due date for each half collection.

If you do not receive your tax bill by mid- to late January, call his office at 330-725-9748 or visit the treasurers website at medinacountytreasurer.com/#/ to look up your tax bill. Just click Search and Pay Taxes in the left column to find the proper tax bill amount.

You can then print an official tax bill for paying by mail, in person, via drop-box or by using one of the online payment options. Make sure to include your tax bill stub with your check.

Tax payments that are mailed must be postmarked no later than the Feb. 12 due date to avoid a penalty.

Too Tired To Cook: The Brunswick Education Foundation decided to try it again after its November Too Tired To Cook Thursday fundraiser turned out be both fun and successful.

Many of the November carry-out diners asked if the BEF would be doing the event again. They reported that they enjoyed the comfort food and were happy to support the fundraiser at the same time.

The next Too Tired To Cook Thursday will be from 3:45 to 6 p.m. Jan. 28.

Only preorders will be accepted. They can be placed online at go.eventgroovefundraising.com/januarytootiredtocookthursday. Pre-ordering deadline is no later than 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25.

This curbside pickup event delivers hot meals right to your vehicle in front of the Diamond Event Center at 1480 Pearl Road, Brunswick. Diners also get to support one of Brunswicks wonderful small businesses. Best of all, everyone gets to enjoy dinner without having to cook. Win-win-win!

Select from three Italian comfort food entrees: chicken marsala, meat lasagna or veggie lasagna. Add a brownie or lemon-ricotta cookies for dessert.

Past BEF Spring Fling proceeds helped fund student scholarships and teacher excellence grants. With no Spring Fling in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, BEF finds itself $6,000 short in its budget.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Smaller fundraisers have generated about 20 percent of our budget shortfall, states Cindi White, BEF president. Were crossing our fingers that this fundraiser will be equally successful.

Carry-out diners will be supporting the BEF in its efforts to continue to provide scholarships and excellence grants to help our students and teachers as they continue to achieve excellence.

Feel free to share this campaign with your friends, coworkers, neighbors and relatives.

Remembering the Brannigans: I was certainly sad to hear the news that my former colleague, Joan Brannigan, had passed away. Valerie Hamilton spotted the obituary in the Akron newspaper and passed it along.

Joan was 94 (her mother lived even longer than that, I remember) and wrote so many wonderful stories about our area, mostly about Wadsworth. She and her husband, Pat, were married 71 years. He passed away two years ago.

Both were longtime volunteers, always helping people and organizations around Medina County. Our sincerest condolences to their family.

In her memory, contributions would be greatly appreciated by the Wadsworth Public Library wadsworthlibrary.com/support-us/donate or the Community Pregnancy Center communitypregnancycenter.org/.

Officers, directors elected: Main Street Medina today announced the results of its 2021 Board of Director elections. The organization, founded in 2007, has a mission to lead the effort for preservation, economic sustainability and continued evolution of the district as the heart of the community.

The organization postponed its annual meeting and awards ceremony due to COVID-19, and hopes to hold a celebration in late spring or early summer.

The 2021 executive committee will be Eric Stasiowski (The Timken Company), chair; Brad Root (Root Candles), vice chair; Amy Busby (Medina City Schools), secretary; and Kevin Rych (Huntington Bank), treasurer.

New board members elected for their first three-year terms are Matt Liegl (Sandridge Foods), Amy Demlow (Critchfield, Critchfield, & Johnston) and Jon Stahl (P.J. Marleys & The Farmers Table).

Board members elected to a second three-year term are Brad Root (Root Candles) and Bill Hutson (Medina County Commissioner).

Stefanie Richardson (Richardson Farms) will also join the board as an ex-officio member, representing the Medina Square Farmers Market.

Outgoing chairperson Cheryl Murrin (Westfield Bank) recognized Julie McNabb (Interior Design Studio/JK Gifts), Coleen Mahoney (VCS Salon & Spa) and Rob Henwood (Medina County Planning) as outgoing board members.

Grant deadline approaches: The Medina Co unty Arts Council invites local organizations with an arts-centered focus or project to apply for grant funding to be awarded in 2021. To be eligible, applicant organizations must have 501(c)(3) status or be associated with schools, religious or recovery organizations.

For more information on grant guidelines and to submit an application, visit medinacountyartscouncil.org and click on grants. Applications for the 2021 calendar year are due on or before Feb. 28.

Established in 1983, MCAC is a non-profit organization dedicated to the support and promotion of the arts, individual artists, art organizations and arts education in Medina County. Each year, MCAC provides grants to Medina County organizations, schools and communities promoting the arts, and maintains a scholarship program that awards one scholarship to a graduating Medina County senior each spring.

The grants and scholarship are made possible through generous contributions entrusted to MCAC through memberships and gifts and additional funds raised from MCACs annual Summer Soiree fundraiser.

Contact by mail is The Medina County Arts Council Inc., P.O. Box 532, Medina, OH 44258

Be a vendor: Ohio Regional Music Arts and Cultural Outreach (ORMACO) is seeking vendors for its first Art in the Country festival to be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 14. The goal of the event is to showcase the works of Ohio artisans. The event will also feature crafts and handiworks by local Amish.

Interested participants are encouraged to apply by completing and submitting the application on ORMACOs website: ormaco.org/ or by emailing tsigel@ormaco.org for an application.

Art in the Country will be held at HeARTland, 8187 Camp Road, Homerville, OH 44235.

ORMACO is a mostly volunteer nonprofit, with the mission of making music, arts and culture accessible to all, with a focus on programming for underserved, disadvantaged and rural populations.

Ag program online: For the first time, OSU Extension in Medina County is offering Good Agricultural Practices training virtually and free of charge.

Good Agricultural Practices Training (GAPS) is a national program designed to help growers reduce risks of food-borne contamination on the farm. Participants will gain knowledge and skills to assess farm risks and improve farm practices related to key areas such as water quality, soil and worker health.

The course provides an introduction to the Food Safety Modernization Act, GAPS audits and provides a foundation for building a farm food safety plan. Attendees of this class will receive a certificate of attendance by mail, but the class alone does not equate to full GAPS certification of the farm.

The online webinar is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 18, with breaks. Registration is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. Registration is available at osu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sTi7rMCoQPufhU6suk-lmg. Additional webinars can be found at producesafety.osu.edu/.

You can also contact Ashley Kulhanek at 330-661-6404 for more information.

Place a bid: Stacey Asvestas, coordinator of the Brunswick Area Historical Societys online auction, wants you to know there are some great new items in the auction catalog. All items have been donated for the building project and all the money goes straight to that. The building will house more than 200 years of school artifacts. Just go to charityauction.bid/brunswickhistory. You can pay online or at pickup.

Contact Boyer at samboyersunnews@yahoo.com
A 41-year-old resident of San Antonio has entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.

On Oct. 20, 2020, Rodrigo Sanchez approached the I-35 Border Patrol checkpoint driving a refrigerated box truck with JJ Produce on the side. Soon after, a K-9 alerted to the presence of contraband in the cargo area. Authorities opened the back of the truck and discovered 37 immigrants, including an unaccompanied minor, concealed behind a false wall blocked by stacks of produce.

Sanchez claimed he traveled to Laredo from San Antonio to work as a delivery driver for AA Produce. He stated he was to be paid $100 to drive the truck to San Antonio.

U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo will impose sentencing May 5, at which time Sanchez faces up to 10 years in federal prison. He has been and will remain in custody pending that hearing.

Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of Border Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul A. Harrison is prosecuting the case.
NSW and Victoria are still facing increasing bushfire risks this summer due to the growing likelihood of severe grass fires, despite recent wet weather and the vast amount of fuel burnt out by the Black Summer blazes a year ago.

Above-average rainfall has brought a welcome flush of green, watered the parched soil and replenished grass on the rangelands and pastures from northern Victoria, the Riverina and right across NSW, which had been stripped bare by years of drought.

But the east coast is not out of the woods, and with so much grass and fuel across the country, a run of several hot days will still bring extreme fire danger warnings.

Fire agencies are warning grass fires will be a risk this summer, despite recent wet weather and last year's extensive Black Summer blazes. Credit:Dean Sewell

"As we've seen in the past couple of weeks, it doesn't take many days in a row of hot temperatures to get grass fires running," Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre chief executive Richard Thornton said.
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So we are to imagine that those who objected to Biden's having stolen the election are responsible for the violence at the Capitol? And that, going forward, any public official who questions Biden's win should be removed from office, and that any corporate leader who objects should be fired? All this when the truth is that Trump in all likelihood won the election.

It is the perfect example of Orwellian speech. In his classic essay "Politics and the English Language," Orwell spoke of the condition where "words and meaning have almost parted company." If that "almost" is a measure of Orwellian speech, then today's Democrat leaders are beyond Orwellian. Their words and meaning have parted company entirely.

As Orwell also stressed, the decline of language is both cause and effect of the decline of politics. When politicians and media begin speaking nonsense, it is the symptom of an underlying corruption of political thinking. The idea that the president should be removed from office for having defended the electoral process is truly bizarre, but it has been repeated throughout the liberal media and by most liberal politicians and even by some conservatives.

One might say progressives like Nancy Pelosi have become "unhinged," but that would let them off the hook. It would suggest that they don't quite realize what they are doing. But what they are doing is the result of crafty political calculation. They want to tie President Trump with the Capitol violence to the point that he can never run again. The same political deviousness lies behind suggestions that he should not be in control of the nation's nuclear arsenal because of his supposed mental instability.

None of these charges has anything to do with the truth. Those most responsible for the Capitol disturbance were those who rigged the presidential election, and certainly these individuals and those who coordinated their efforts or knew in advance or concealed information afterward should be punished. One might say those who committed acts of violence on the Hill should be punished to the same extent that Antifa and BLM rioters were punished last summer.

But the charges against President Trump are Orwellian in that they invert the truth. The president argued, as he had every right to do, that the election was rigged, and he urged peaceful protest to defend our republic.

Even the president's calming words on the afternoon of the Capitol break-in have been met with Orwellian reaction. When President Trump said, "Go home. Go in peace," the media charged him with inciting further violence because he expressed his "love" for his supporters. That expression of love did more than anything to get them to go home.

In a further Orwellian twist, Biden and his cronies appear to have adopted many of President Trump's ideas for running the country, but they can't admit where those ideas came from. Biden's not entirely sure we can afford to forgive all student debt, and he now believes that the existing border policies are necessary for the time being. Gov. Cuomo now says we must "open things up," just as President Trump and many conservative governors said we should. But he can't admit that the idea came from conservatives  it's his idea. None of these ideas was right when Trump was president  they're right only after Biden takes office.

The media will go along with this lie, in typical Orwellian fashion.

The most important line in Orwell's famous essay is this: "In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible." The progressive inversion of the truth is just that: an attempt to defend the indefensible.

If progressives were honest and straightforward, they would be forced to state that they are radical environmentalists and socialists who want government to control the economy and equalize wages; who want socialized medicine for all; who think religious expression should be outlawed; who believe in a universal guaranteed income; who want to outlaw the use of fossil fuels; who want to expand affirmative action putting blacks and Hispanics farther ahead of whites; who believe that any reference to biological sex should be outlawed; who believe that America should be not a global superpower, but merely one nation among others; who believe that abortion at any stage is a universal right; who believe that American aid should go to the Palestinians and not to Israel; and so on.

President Trump clearly stated his own beliefs on a thousand occasions  President Biden should do so as well, but he won't. He uses the Orwellian tactic of disguising his beliefs in gibberish, and this is not because he's going daft, as he well may be. He'll speak of "expanding Obamacare" rather than socialized medicine. He'll talk of "defense partnerships" rather than abandoning control of our military. And on the environment, it's not even possible to tell what he wants, but he wants $400 billion to do it. Once again, "the defence of the indefensible."

The coordinated effort to impeach and convict the president is nothing less than a propaganda campaign, and the associated suppression of free speech on social media and elsewhere is the beginning of a dangerous national decline. It's not possible to say where it will end, but we must be entirely clear about what is happening. A progressive government will attempt to further limit free speech, assembly, religious expression, gun rights, access to employment, and other basic liberties. Progressives have already threatened conservatives with prosecution and imprisonment for the "crime" of denying anthropogenic global warming and for questioning the result of the 2020 election. What's next? The persecution of every American conservative in the same way that Gen. Flynn was persecuted?

It's a fine line between federal prison here in America and Dachau in Germany, and one can transform into the other in a matter of weeks. It did so in Germany in 1933, just five weeks after Hitler became chancellor. Don't think it can't happen here. It begins with "the defence of the indefensible"  and that is already well underway.

Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011).

Image via the U.S. Navy.
The head of the Council of Europe has expressed great concern after the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe was added to the list of undesirable organizations in Russia.

In a letter dated January 14 and obtained by RFE/RL, Council of Europe Secretary-General Marija Pejcinovic Buric asked Moscow to clarify the circumstances that led to the decision, which she called unacceptable.

I cannot stress enough how problematic is the notion that an organization such as the Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe, closely linked to our organization and uniting schools of political studies, aiming to organize civic education activities based on the Council of Europe values and principles, would represent a threat to a Council of Europe member state, reads the letter, addressed to Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko.

Russias Prosecutor-General's Office announced in December 2020 it had declared the Strasbourg-based Association of Schools of Political Studies as undesirable, requiring the Justice Ministry to blacklist the organization.

A 2015 law allows prosecutors to shut down "undesirable" organizations if they are deemed to be a threat to Russia's national interests.

In a statement on January 6, the two co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for the monitoring of Russia "deplored" the decision to place the Association of Schools of Political Studies on the Russian list of "undesirable" organizations.

"Russias 2015 law on 'undesirable organizations' has been severely criticized by the international community, including the Council of Europe, for its violations of the freedoms of association, assembly, and expression, its arbitrariness, and the wide discretionary powers granted to the prosecutor-general," Axel Schafer and Ria Oomen-Ruijten said in a statement.

Human rights watchdogs, media-freedom groups, and the West have accused Russia of using legislation on undesirable organizations and foreign agents to discourage the free exchange of ideas and silence dissent and organisations that have a diverging view from the authorities -- increasingly restricting space for civic activity.

The expansion of the 'foreign agent' and 'undesirable organizations' legislation has unfortunately hit many national and international individuals and organizations, including media outlets run by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and persons associated with RFE/RL," Peter Stano, the spokesperson for the EU's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, said on January 16.

On January 12, Russia's telecommunications watchdog Roskomnadzor drew up its first eight administrative protocols -- all against Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty -- for violating the "foreign agents" law.

"We have repeatedly called on the Russian authorities to reverse these decisions and to uphold their commitments and obligations to a free press, and will continue to do so, Stano said.

With reporting by Rikard Jozwiak
Deborah Lee James was the twenty-third Secretary of the Air Force and served from 2013-2017.
Larry Ulrich

Over the past four years, President Donald Trump's repeated attacks on the public lands of California and beyond have inflamed the conservation community.

The administration gutted conservation laws. It denied climate change. It attempted to slash budgets and hollow out crucial agencies. Trump did his best to cut agency budgets and make conditions for employees as terrible as possible in the name of energy dominance and deregulation, says Ryan Henson, senior policy director with CalWild.
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THE arrival of the Covid 19 vaccine offers a huge glimmer of hope to us all. The rise in case numbers has been terrifying, but we can only hope that it will be over soon, and life will revert to normal.

I feel very lucky to be a farmer and to be able to keep busy, and I just hope that the businesses that have been so badly affected will open and prosper again.

Back on the farm, were just about to scan the flock. Scanning is later as I have pushed the lambing date out to March 17. I am quietly confident that the ewes will scan well. I put a lot of effort into preparing them for breeding last October, getting them in to a good condition and also working at maximising the ram effect to tighten up the lambing period.

I have most of the mature ewes housed since December, which is giving the grassland a much-needed rest period. All they need at this time of year is silage and hay, regular foot-bathing, and clean and dry bedding. Its simple but time-consuming stuff.

The ewe lambs are being strip-grazed on fodder rape and are thriving well. I took faecal samples which showed no fluke but a high level of worms. I was glad I checked as fluke dose has a long withdrawal period and whats the point in dosing for fluke when you dont have a problem?

We can be quick to make decisions based on word of mouth, but taking a faecal sample is the best way to be sure that you know exactly what you are doing.

The ewe lambs in general are really thriving and when dosing them I permanently tagged my home-bred ewes and then registered them in my flock register. Its really important to get this done now; otherwise youll be in hot water if you get an inspection.

While I am on the subject of cross-compliance, remember the Sheep Census must be in before January 31. This is based on the number of sheep you have on your holding on December 31. You can also do it online through your agfood.ie account. Again this is a really important and mandatory task if you keep sheep.

Grass measuring

When it comes to a new year, we all talk about new year resolutions. Some give up the fags, others give up the booze; some people even go jogging to shake off the Christmas puddings, and I know a few who go swimming in lakes.

All these things sound to me like self-inflicted torture, so I have decided to start measuring grassland on the farm!

Its something that I know I should have been doing for years and while I understand the benefits, I just never organised myself to get it done. I have bought myself a plate meter (Jenquip EC20) from Grasstec in Cork which automatically records the readings on your phone paddock by paddock. I have also registered an account with Pasture Base Ireland and taken the opportunity to watch their well-presented webinar on measuring and benefits of it. There will be monthly webinars on this and if you miss them, you can catch up with them online. It couldnt be easier. I will keep you posted on how its going.

LESS

Grass measuring is the cornerstone for maximising the benefits of Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS)technology.

In future, we may have no choice but to use LESS and cut fertiliser use. By reducing our need for fertilisers, we reduce the amount of money we spend and ultimately improve the profitability of the farm. More importantly we reduce our carbon footprint.

I plan to use protected Urea for the first time this year. Im just waiting for soil temperatures to rise and for land to dry out. As Im lambing later, I dont feel as much pressure with trying to get stock out as early.

Over the years I have found that Im in a part of the country that tends to see spring arrive that bit later. I have learned this lesson the hard way.

Post scanning, Ill split up the ewes into their various groups depending on the amount of lambs they are carrying.

Triplets will get more space in the shed, and the singles being wintered outside will only need grass and silage. I will sell off the barren ewes and Ill probably keep any empty hoggets and chance them for another year.

Feeding ewe lambs

You cannot underestimate the importance of feeding the ewe lambs well, and every year I always google and print off Dr. Tim Keady and Noel McNamaras guidelines on feeding pregnant ewe lambs. You have to manage them like triplet-bearing ewes.

They need feeding pre-and-post lambing and its worth it if you manage it right. I would recommend Tims guidelines which can be found on teagasc.ie. Search for Breeding from ewe lambs  factors affecting performance by Tim Keady and Noel McNamara.

As lambing date gets closer, I also start to think about the annual clostridial booster shot for the ewes. I try to hold off on giving this until about two weeks out from when lambing date is due to start.

This ensures that the ewes have the maximum amount of antibodies in their colostrum to protect their new-born lambs.

I want to also test my silage. I should have done this sooner, but the quality silage that I have earmarked for ewes hasnt been opened yet. When I get the test results back from this, I will be better able to determine how much extra feeding the pregnant ewes will need.

Brexit fund

Finally, it would be great to see sheep farmers get a slice of the recently announced 1 billion Brexit fund for farmers.

It needs to be acknowledged that sheep farmers were very badly hit by Brexit between 2016 and 2019. I know that prices have improved for us in 2020, but they are now only where they should have been four years ago. There has been a lot of volatility and stagnation in the intervening years. I hope our representatives fight our case.
Texas is the national leader in vaccinations, as they surpassed 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Jan 14, Gov. Greg Abbott announced this week.

Texas is leading the way for our nation once again, Abbott said. This is the biggest vaccination effort we have ever undertaken, and it would not be possible without the dedication and tireless efforts of our healthcare workers. We still have a long road ahead of us, but Texans continue to prove that we are up to this challenge.
By Keith Burbank

Bay City News Service

OAKLAND (BCN)

The Oakland Symphony is holding a commemorative virtual inauguration ball to celebrate the election of Oakland native Kamala Harris as vice president of the United States, symphony leaders said.

Oakland Salutes, the title of the free event, will play at 3 p.m. Pacific time Sunday on the Oakland Symphony's YouTube channel. It will be available on YouTube thereafter.

The inauguration of Harris as 49th vice president along with President-elect Joseph Biden, a former vice president, is Wednesday.

"We thought we needed to do something," Oakland Symphony director and conductor Michael Morgan said.

Initially, only Oakland Symphony groups were going to perform but that wasn't grand enough, Morgan said.

So, what resulted is a compilation of performances by the arts community in Oakland along with a few words from Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.

The compilation includes performances and contributions from the symphony, Oakland Symphony Chorus, Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, Jazz Mafia, Tammy L. Hall, Tiffany Austin, Oakland Ballet Company's Ashley Thopiah and more people and groups.

"It's basically the symphony bringing together the whole arts community," Morgan said.

The team preparing for the inauguration of Harris and Biden in Washington, D.C. did not say there will not be an inauguration ball, rather it said, "This year's ceremonies and events will reflect President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris' commitment to protecting the health and safety of Americans while demonstrating the strength and resilience of our country."

They added that, "inaugural activities will have a limited footprint" but "will honor and resemble American inaugural traditions."

Michael Colbruno, a Port of Oakland commissioner and close friend of Harris, is the host of the Oakland Symphony event.

"This was really a Michael Morgan idea," Colbruno said.

He said Morgan called him and said that they needed to do something.

He said she loves music. Colbruno has known Harris since she was the district attorney in San Francisco. Harris also worked in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office and she went to school in Berkeley.

Colbruno helped Harris on this campaign and on previous ones.

"I always knew this day would come," he said.

After four years of a leader who is biased, "we have a woman who's an inspiration" to girls and people of color, Colbruno added.

He said he saw a video of a little Indian girl saying she never dreamed she would see a vice president who looked like her.

Colbruno said Harris "embodies that for half of America."

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The process started off slowly, said Dr. Stuart Shapiro, the interim chief executive of the Health Care Association of New Jersey, which represents many of the states long-term care centers. But it has picked up steam, he said, and is now working much better.

Enough doses have been set aside to vaccinate all residents of New Jersey nursing homes, a process that is being handled by two pharmacy chains, CVS and Walgreens. Residents of long-term care facilities account for more than 40 percent of Covid-19-related deaths in New Jersey, and outbreaks are on the rise as the virus surges anew.

The states health commissioner, Judith M. Persichilli, has said that no documentation is needed to receive a vaccine, likening the process to the honor system.

Elizabeth Mueller, an owner of a dance studio in Bergen County, N.J., said she wondered how health centers administering the vaccine would be able to tell who is and isnt a smoker.

Were waiting our turn, doing the right thing, dont want to take from anyone else, said Ms. Mueller, 36, who has two children and a father with leukemia. But they keep changing the rules and its just not consistent.

Even as the decision to expand eligibility to the states estimated two million smokers raised eyebrows, many doctors praised the policy as an effective way to slow the spread of the virus by eliminating barriers to vaccination for the states most vulnerable residents and ensuring that no doses are wasted.

Dr. Annette C. Reboli, an epidemiologist and dean of Cooper Medical School of Rowan University who is also a member of a state Covid-19 advisory panel, said it would be wrong to pick and choose from the C.D.C.s list of conditions that have been found to cause increased risk of severe illness from the virus.
With Manitobans struggling under the weight of nearly three months of social and economic pandemic restrictions, Premier Brian Pallister made a special appearance Friday to discuss our uncertain future.

With Manitobans struggling under the weight of nearly three months of social and economic pandemic restrictions, Premier Brian Pallister made a special appearance Friday to discuss our uncertain future.

Did he provide any greater insight into when restrictions would be removed or lessened? Was he able to describe the order in which restrictions would be removed first, and which were likely to remain for some time?

Nope.

Instead, Pallister announced he was launching a survey to collect "feedback from Manitobans on (the government's) plan to move forward to safely restore services and activities."

The survey announcement was as pointless as it was disheartening.

First, at this particular moment in the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, most Manitobans fully expect science  not non-scientific polls  will drive decisions on restrictions. Suggesting they could be influenced by an online survey is as silly as it is disingenuous.

Second, despite asking people for input on "its plan," Pallister has yet to put that plan before Manitobans. The closest Pallister and chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin have come is a comment that "everything is on the table."

Premier Brian Pallister (front) and Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, want to hear your thoughts about reopening the province. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

What should Pallister and Roussin have told Manitobans on Friday?

It is a fascinating question.

They should not, at this stage, start making promises about exactly when restrictions will be eased. No one is in a position to identify a specific date.

After suffering through one of the worst statistical outbreaks of COVID-19 in the world November-December, the trend lines in Manitoba are moving in the right direction. New cases in Winnipeg are on the way down, although a surge in the North is keeping the province in a state of heightened concern.

We're hardly out of the woods, yet, even though the premier once again attempted to put a statistical happy face on Manitoba's standing. Pallister noted, correctly, outside of Atlantic Canada, Manitoba is the only province with declining pandemic metrics.

However, on a per capita basis, Manitoba still has the third-worst number of total cases, and the second worst death rate. If this were some sort of weight-loss competition, we could say with confidence Manitobans had lost the most poundage but with the caveat we were grossly overweight to start with.

What should Pallister have said? The top of the list has to be a proposed order in which restrictions could be removed.

Based on daily briefings from public health officers and a rapidly expanding body of knowledge on COVID-19, an increasing number of Manitobans realize social gatherings  involving people from multiple households, with no social distancing or face mask use  are the true culprits in the recent outbreak.

Manitobans have a high degree of support for limits on social gatherings and non-medical mask use. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files)

They also understand smaller, non-essential retail businesses are not really much of a threat, as long as stringent and basic precautions are put in place.

Pallister already knows, as well, through independent opinion polling, Manitobans have a high degree of support for limits on social gatherings and non-medical mask use arguably the two most most effective ways of controlling the spread of the novel coronavirus.

It's hard to understand why Pallister and Roussin could not tell people now that, regardless of when things start to reopen, those two measures must be among the last restrictions to be removed.

So, based on what he already knows, what is the premier trying to accomplish with a survey? He seems to be trying to buy some time, although it's not clear why.

Remember, although the premier is informed by medical and scientific experts, he has viewed the pandemic and restrictions primarily through a political and fiscal lens  as worried about increasing budget deficits and declining economic activity as about contact tracing, testing and standards of care.

The end result is Manitobans were left vulnerable to a second wave of COVID-19, as the Pallister government attempted to hold the line on expenditures.

It is incomprehensible Pallister would attempt another stunt like the one he engineered last summer, when he prematurely launched an advertising campaign encouraging Manitobans to get back out and stoke the economy.

Then again, who knows?

When a premier has the audacity to ask his citizens to weigh in on a pandemic plan he has not yet revealed, almost anything is possible.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
Marmorstein: You might soon be living in a million dollar home  unfortunately
By now many are wondering what Bill Gates does not do or does not have? According to The Land Report , the Microsoft co-founder is the largest farmland owner in America.

According to research conducted by the outlet, the billionaire has quietly bought around 97,934.32 hectares of farmland, although that has not been his only investment in land. Gates apparently also owns transitional and recreational lands.

The tycoon owns land in 18 states and his largest holdings include Louisiana with 27,952 hectares, Arkansas with 19,395 hectares, and Nebraska with 8,331 hectares.

The Land Report explains that the lands are in the hands of Gates through Cascade Investments, a company that he uses to control his investments.

You may be interested: Bill Gates predicts what 2021 will be like, alerts us to our immediate future

Image: Depositphotos.com

Through his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the billionaire donated just over $ 300 million with the goal of promoting sustainable agriculture in parts of Africa and Asia.

Although Gates is the largest farmland owner in America, John Malone takes the place of the largest landowner in the country with 890,308 hectares of land.

Related:

Bill Gates es el mayor propietario de tierras agricolas en EU

Bill Gates is the largest farmland owner in the US

Bill Gates pronostica como sera el 2021, nos alerta sobre nuestro futuro inmediato



Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
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The Covid-19 pandemic and its social and economic impacts have led to increased stressors, resulting in more mental health problems. Some of us are able to face the pandemic by spending quality time with our loved ones, but many of us have also turned out to be a living hell for others. For many of the vulnerable people, the pandemic added a layer to an already challenging existence; it could be the tipping point that could result in a life-or-death situation. For others, the workdays have also extended into the weekends and the 9-5 job often starts way earlier and ends much later these days. This means the stress factors from both the home front and the work front have managed to compound.

This could be just the beginning as many people are under a lot of stress. Why is this happening? How is it that the people harmoniously living together for these many years under one roof suddenly have so much conflict with each other is yet a big question. As a result, loneliness, depression, and stress are bound to consume a person with mental illness when they are confined within the walls of their home. There is a big chance of them becoming emotionally volatile and it could drive many people to depression and the risk of suicide.

Deadly figures

A survey conducted by the Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation Nepal recently reveals the urgency that mental health matters require under the current circumstances. According to the survey done during the nationwide lockdown, suicide cases in Nepal have gone up by 20 per cent. The number of suicides comes up to about 16.5 cases of suicide per day compared to 15.8 a day in all last year.

Based on police data and projections, the World Health Organisation has put Nepal as a country with the 7th highest suicide rate in the world (24.9 per 100,000). Public health experts say that suicide is just the symptom, and the real disease is poor mental health.

In a developing country where mental health is still a stigma, it is not surprising that disorders like depression, anxiety, panic attack, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), self-harm, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and erratic sleep patterns will take deeper roots inside closed doors. The current situation will be a fertile ground for increased alcoholism, and various social crimes.

Similarly, most of these people cannot access the counselling and treatment they need since Nepal has only 0.13 psychiatrists per 100,000 people, and most of them are concentrated in urban areas. However, mental anguish does not have one source, one origin, one journey, or one finality.

In addition, we refuse to acknowledge mental health challenges and realities faced by ourselves and those near and dear to us. Why we are not yet sensitive? Around 1 million people die per year due to suicide, one person in every 40 seconds, WHO statistics say.

The number of people with suicidal tendency, depression, and anxiety is increasing mainly due to financial insecurity. The social and economic fractures exposed by the pandemic are expected to result in unemployment, washed-out social safety nets, starvation, and many other social problems. Daily wage workers were immediately hit as they have been displaced from city areas. Now, middle-class, working-class, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs will feel the wave of insecurity in the days to come. This leads them towards more risk of having mental health issues. Global mental health rights activists have warned that if the government fails to support the public economically, more people will commit suicide.

Many people have already started to feel hopeless because of the uncertainty surrounding this pandemic. Financial hardships: bankruptcy, indebtedness, over-ambitiousness, low frustration tolerance, health concerns, and relationship issues, are some of the reasons cited for suicides. The WHO states 78 per cent of the suicides are due to economic reasons.

Even though the country has somehow managed to restrict the deaths caused by the coronavirus infection, it has failed to address the issues faced by people who have recovered from the infection. They are also suffering from post-traumatic disorders. Recovered people also have a fear of being stigmatised in society and have developed the habit of remaining aloof. Theses psychological impacts in the long term can lead to serious mental health issues. In some cases, this can lead to suicide. The headlines in the mainstream news media about the individuals committing suicide at quarantine facilities are just a tip of the iceberg.

What can we do?

Photo: Needpix

As the world continues to come together to fight the virus, we all need to do our little part to keep our families happy and safe, physically as well as mentally. We need to talk about the problems arising within our closed doors, listen to each other, to be a support system to weakness and applaud the strengths.

Friends can also extend their support. The friends who spend hours eating out and partying can now spend quality time with each other virtually, or over physical distancing, still over coffee and conversation. At the end of the day, self-care and self-reflection are vital for each of us to weigh our priorities while leading our slightly confined lives.

Similarly, there are also mental health professionals easily reachable these days not just in clinics and hospitals but also virtually over online meetings, messaging and phone calls. One should know consulting a mental health professional is not a shame. It is foremost important to hold conversations about the diversity of experiences and shed light on stories that are not always of extreme cases. This way, we should not shy away from educating ourselves, and thus contribute to raising awareness about the different shades of mental health concerns.

It is also important to understand the spectrums and different shades of mental health. The government needs to come up with a unique policy strategy, education campaign, and for the long run, it needs to introduce economic packages for people economically affected by the pandemic in Nepal. Navigating the existent and emerging mental health challenges within our immediate communal societies will play a vital role when it comes to defining this new normal. While culture itself can be an effective medium to prevent suicides, guidance from the elders for grief- resolution and crisis-intervention is very helpful. Spiritual engagement can be another real support.

The authors are social work graduates.
The worlds biggest immunization drive against the corona began today as India starts vaccinating three crores of its frontline workers. In the first phase, two indigenous vaccines, Covaxin and Covishield, will be administered to priority groups. Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering has congratulated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for the launch of nationwide corona vaccination drive.

In a facebook post, Tshering wrote, "I would like to congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for the landmark launch of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive today."

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi started the vaccination drive against the novel coronavirus via video conferencing. The drive aims to first inoculate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase. A total of 3006 session sites across all states and union territories were virtually connected during the launch.

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Closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High 'impacts our entire town'

The Washington County Board of Education held a public hearing on the closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High School; the crowd pleaded against it.

Newsflash . . . This legal move has also been daydream of every firefighter since around 1971.



The discussion never gets very far but serves as a tragic reminder that many of the people who know this town best also want out.

Read more . . .
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday activated 250 members of the Illinois National Guard for state buildings in Springfield in response to FBI warnings about threats to state capital cities in the days leading up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Henry Haupt, spokesman for the Illinois Secretary of State, said no permits were requested or issued for potential demonstrations, but Capitol Police, along with other law enforcement agencies, are fully aware of possible marches on state capitols.

Illinois State Police, Secretary of State Police and Illinois Emergency Management Agency are working with local and federal counterparts.

At the request of the U.S. Department of Defense, Pritzker also activated 100 more members of the Illinois National Guard in support of the 59th Presidential Inauguration in Washington D.C. They will join about 200 Guard members previously activated.

Following the violent siege at our nations capitol and reports from federal law enforcement on threats to state capitals, I am bringing all resources to bear to protect our residents and our democratic process, Pritzker said. We will continue to be fully transparent with the public on any new information and the steps we are taking to respond.

On Monday, the FBI issued an intelligence bulletin pointing to the potential for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington, D.C., leading up to Wednesdays inauguration.

As with recent previous deployments, the Illinois State Police will work side by side with the Illinois National Guard and our local partners to execute our mission of protecting the democratic process, ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly said.

State officials said the National Guard will not interfere with peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights, according to authorities. The soldiers will aide local authorities in enforcing street closures and designated perimeters.

Capitol News Illinois and The Center Square contributed to this story.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on the day of remembrance of the defenders of Donetsk airport expressed gratitude to the "cyborgs" for their feat and said that the Ukrainian flag would again rise over Donetsk airport.

"The heroic defense of Donetsk airport finally broke Russia's plans to seize Ukraine. It looked like a miracle when our people held out even after the concrete began to "surrender." But there was no miracle - this reflected consistency. Because Ukrainians proved that the border of freedom of peoples in Europe now is along the eastern border of our state, and no one will ever push it to the west," Zelensky said on Twitter.

He recalled that the battles for Donetsk airport were among the fiercest in the war in eastern Ukraine.
Australian firefighters were battling an out-of-control bushfire in the west coast city of Perth Saturday, as the blaze threatened lives and homes

Sydney, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Jan, 2021 ) :Australian firefighters were battling an out-of-control bushfire in the west coast city of Perth Saturday, as the blaze threatened lives and homes.

People in several southern suburbs were told "to act immediately to survive" as the blaze threatened homes near Oakford about 35 kilometres (22 miles) south of Perth's city-centre, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said in an emergency warning.

Locals were told to evacuate if the way was clear or take shelter as the fire poured thick smoke over the area.

Aerial images showed at least one shed ablaze as spot fires jumped ahead of the front, with several water-bombing aircraft working to contain the blaze.

Several roads had been closed and evacuation centres set-up.

Firefighters were contending with "extremely difficult" conditions, the department said as winds pushed the fast-moving fire northwest and temperatures climbed over 32 degrees Celsius (89 Fahrenheit).

There were also several other wildfires burning around the edges of the city.

Western Australia was spared the brunt of last summer's devastating climate change-fuelled wildfires, which mostly ravaged the country's two most populous states New South Wales and Victoria.

The fires razed more than 24 million hectares (49 million acres) of drought-stricken bushland and forest across Australia in late 2019 and early 2020, killing more than 30 people and destroying thousands of homes.
Georgian law enforcement officers carried out a special operation in the city of Kaspi, as a result of which two hostages were released, the Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Bortsvadze informed.

According to the Rustavi 2 TV company, a former police officer took his business partners hostage.

Bortsvadze stressed that the hostages were released after several hours of negotiations, and the accused is currently detained. According to the deputy minister, the offender asked to provide him with a car, thus, he was going to leave Georgia and head to Russia.
Courtesy /Rep. Henry Cuellars Office

Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28) received the Distinguished Leader of Our Community award by the Laredo Motor Carriers Association for his support of LMCA throughout the city, state and federal levels of government.

Cuellar is one of three to be bestowed with the Distinguished Leader of Our Community award. Other recipients include CBP Deputy Director Albert Flores as well as Sergeant Genaro Hinojosa, on behalf of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Orange County Power Authority Hires Leaders for Community Choice Energy Program

The Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) has named two top executives to manage the recently formed agency and oversee the launch of a community choice energy program by 2022 in Southern California.

Brian Probolsky, the current president of the Moulton Niguel Water District, was appointed the groups CEO, while Antonia Castro-Graham, who currently serves as the City of Fullertons deputy city manager, was named its chief operating officer.

OCPA Chairman and Irvine Vice Mayor Mike Carroll said the board selected a distinguished executive team with deep roots in Orange County public service, adding that his city is proud of having nurtured OCPA from concept to creation, in a Jan. 13 statement.

Probolsky, a resident of Laguna Niguel, has served on the Moulton Niguel board of directors since 2008. Hes a strong advocate for technology and innovation, according to the water district.

Castro-Graham worked previously for the City of Huntington Beach as an assistant to both the city manager and the energy and sustainability manager. She considers herself a thought leader in the sustainability community, according to an interview with Arizona State University, where she recently pursued an Executive Master of Sustainable Leadership degree.

The OCPA consists of five Orange County cities, representing 800,000 residents in Irvine, Lake Forest, Buena Park, Huntington Beach, and Fullerton.

The organization hopes to recruit additional cities to form a locally controlled cooperative utility authority to buy and sell energy, providing citizens a community choice energy (CCE) option. The transmission of electric power and billing would still be handled by Southern California Edison (SCE).

Theres still a lot of interest out there from the rest of the cities that couldnt get in before last years deadline, Carroll told The Epoch Times on Jan. 14, adding that interested cities include Costa Mesa, Santa Ana, Placentia, Aliso Viejo, Stanton, Newport Beach, San Clemente, and possibly Yorba Linda.

Carroll said the OCPAs new executive staff members have already been asked to look into forming a community advisory committee and report back to the board with their findings.

The OCPA chairman said he likes the idea of more local and community control over electrical power where we can decide what to do  as opposed to SoCal Edison and their decisions essentially as a utility monopoly.

Theres something in there for everyone, Carroll said. For me, its a mix of local control, which is something that Sacramento has been essentially pilfering from Orange County and cities like Irvine over the last 10 or 15 years. So its an assertion of what we want to do locally as a community, or as communities that are banding together.

Because it pledged $2.75 million to form the OCPA and get the CCE program rolling, the City of Irvine has two membersand two voteson the OCPA board of directors, while other member cities each get one vote.

No city is required to put any money into the JPA [joint power authority] or into a future community choice energy entity, because Irvine has agreed to go ahead and front the costs, provided that it gets paid back and provided that there is a little more overall  governance, he said.

Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan, who also sits on the OCPA board, has been a longtime proponent of the CCE program, which has been touted as a way to encourage more renewable energy sources and save customers about 2 percent on their electricity bills.

However, questions remain about how much money the program will actually save consumers. In June, a third-party feasibility study conducted by MRW & Associates for the City of Irvine found the actual savings may be as low as 0.5 percent, 10 times less than initial estimates.

The study concluded that 12 of the 19 operating CCEs in California offer residential savings between 0.5 percent and 2 percent, while five offered better savings. Only one CCE in SCEs territory offered higher savings, and another offered no savings at all. The study suggested, however, that savings could grow over time after the cities have recovered start-up costs.

When the program is launched, it will have to meet state renewable portfolio standard requirements that mandate a significant amount of the CCEs total power must come from renewable resources, including 40 percent by 2024, 52 percent by 2027, and 60 percent by 2030.

The five cities that signed up before the Dec. 31, 2020, deadline expect the CCE to launch in 2022. Those that file applications with the California Public Utilities Commission before the end of this year can expect a launch in 2023.


A new year with a new champion for seniors, that is.

A new year with a new champion for seniors, that is.

New  voluntary  federal rules came into effect in 2021 for banks regarding how to enhance services for, and protect, aging clients.

Philippe Ramakers / FreeImages

Top among those changes is that all banks have appointed a seniors champion to ensure the new Code of Conduct for the Delivery of Banking Services to Seniors  set out by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC)  does whats its intended to do.

"My entire role was created in growing recognition of the importance of this segment," says Rick Lowes, vice-president of retirement strategy and RBCs seniors champion.

Its not just RBC, however. All the big banks are implementing the new rules.

For the executive director of the Manitoba Association of Senior Centres, the new regulations  even if voluntary  are good news for seniors.

"I recall about three year ago working with credit unions in the province doing exactly the same thing," says Connie Newman.

Thats not necessarily appointing a champion for older folks. Rather where the rubber meets the road is putting in place better training for staff  and better resources overall  to help seniors adjust to an increasing technological financial reality.

"My biggest concern today is we have several of us that are computer savvy, but there are many of us who have got on board (recently) and that whole fraud thing and the rest (other financial abuse) are on the rise, and its ugly," says Newman, 72.

"Anyone in my circle knows, almost on a weekly basis, that I remind them to be careful about it."

The conversion to online banking has been going at a rapid clip for the last decade.

But its been moving even faster in the past 10 months with the pandemic making banking in person a potentially deadly proposition for aged individuals.

A survey from June by CIBC, for example, notes it saw a 250 per cent increase in clients 65 and older using digital services.

Like its competitors, RBC has also seen a rise in older clients who previously would have banked in-person now turning to digital services, Lowes says.

"Theres been a large migration of clients onto a digital (banking)," he says, adding that includes triple digit percentage growth in e-transfers  which are increasingly making writing cheques and exchanging cash between individuals seem antiquated.

The challenge, however, is that as more seniors make the transition, concerns rise fraud and other financial abuse will also increase.

"As we enable more clients to bank conveniently and safely from home, that does increase the risk of more cyber-crime," he says.

Even before the pandemic, financial abuse  which can involve fraud  was epidemic among seniors. A 2017 report by B.C. credit union Vancity found 41 per cent of elderly adults surveyed experienced some form of financial abuse, with 35 per cent of those individuals choosing not to report it.

Of course, everyone is transacting more online. Consequently, were all at risk of falling for cyber-fraud regardless of age.

Popular among scams is phishing, which involves victims receiving fake emails from their financial institution that provide a link to a fake log in page. Once you click on the link and log in with your password, fraudsters can access and control your real bank account.

And criminals are getting much better at making their phishing ploys look authentic, Lowes adds.

Banks are trying to keep pace, using artificial intelligence to better recognize criminal activity, he says. As well, staff are better trained to identify and question unusual financial choices among clients. That includes, for instance, asking an 85-year-old client why she wants to transfer thousands of dollars to pay a massive (fraudulent) tax bill based on a call (again fraudulent) she received allegedly from the Canada Revenue Agency (in this case fraudsters).

New measures also include more focus on processes around the power of attorney. Measures include training staff to recognize when an individual appointed with that role may be abusing it.

"We are training every client-facing role annually around power of attorney, and fraud, to keep these fresh in their minds," Lowes says. "That way theyre able to recognize potentially troubling situations and know the right way to deal with them."

While the new measures are aimed to help today, theyre also a recognition that Canadian society is greying.

Statistics Canada forecasts about one-quarter of the population will be age 65 and older by 2036, increasing to almost 30 per cent by 2061.

The new code "will help set us up for dealing with the growing pressure that will come from the baby boom generation," Lowes says.

Of course, many new retirees are tech savvy, so ensuring they can access services online is less of a concern than the "silent generation"  those being Canadians age 75 and up.

Regardless of digital literacy, aging individuals often experience declines in physical and mental acuity. And that puts them at risk financially, says certified financial planner MaryAnn Kokan-Nyhof.

"I have personally had to deal with some tricky situations where its sometimes hard to know if the client really understands the impact of their decision," says the financial adviser with Desjardins Financial Security Investments Inc. in Winnipeg.

Recent measures by regulators are helpful, she adds. Among the changes for investment firms has been implementing the trusted contact person. This individual is separate from the person designated with power of attorney. And thats an important distinction because the trusted contact is a backstop in case the attorney (not a lawyer in most instances) is not acting in good faith, Kokan-Nyhof says.

"It can get very uneasy in a joint meeting with client and family member, if there seems to be some undue influence occurring right under our noses, so to speak."

The trusted contact is a good safety valve for advisers and clients in these situations, she adds.

Often family members are fulfilling the role of attorney for an aging loved one, and most do an exceptional job. But cases of this financial abuse still do occur.

As Lowes notes, government and financial institutions are trying to get ahead of these trouble-spots now as theyre expected to become more prevalent as society ages.

"We have a 15-year window ahead where we have more and more baby boomers heading into retirement," he says.

Meanwhile, the pandemic is showing no signs of receding with many seniors stuck at home on their own, Newman says.

"It all goes back to isolation," she adds, noting loneliness makes seniors more vulnerable to fraud and abuse.

The best vaccine against those is for others  friends, family, and organizations  to reach out and help.

"With COVID," Newman adds, "that friendly voice at the end of the phone line is pretty powerful."

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Ambulances from as far away as Galway and Leitrim had to travel to north Mayo this week  some round trips of more than 300km  to rush dangerously ill Covid-19 positive locals to hospital.

The Belmullet electoral area continues to have the highest rate of Covid-19 in the State, more than four times the national average, the latest figures show.

Over the past two weeks, one in every 17 people in the remote peninsula, which incorporates Achill and Bangor Erris, has tested positive for Covid-19.

Belmullet GP Dr Keith Swanick revealed two ambulances had to make round trips of nearly 300km to ferry Covid-19 positive patients from Belmullet to hospital.

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Last Sunday alone 12 people here were hospitalised. The ambulance was in our area 12 times. An ambulance had to travel from Manorhamilton to Belmullet, and another had to come from Clifden, he said.

I admitted five patients from their homes. This is serious. People know its serious.

Dr Swanick believes the highly infectious UK variant of the virus is responsible for the surge in cases in the area.

Over the past week three people in the area have died from Covid. More than 30 people are receiving treatment in the hospital, including up to five in ICU.

Local doctors and healthcare staff say they are in the midst of a crisis, the likes of which they have never seen.

The area has an incidence of 6,032 per 100,000, with 760 cases among the population of 12,600.

The latest data examines the 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 up to last Monday, January 11. In the same period, 20 areas of the country had rates of over 2,000 per 100,000 people.

Border regions remain hotspots for infection and have done the entirety of the pandemic.

Cross-border management of Covid-19 has been raised consistently by health experts and politicians, due to the different cross-border public health rules.

The second highest incidence has shifted to Dundalk south, in Co Louth, at 3,783  a rate of one in every 26 people.

There were 1,227 new cases among the local area population of 32,436.

Fianna Fail councillor Emma Coffey said the situation in Dundalk is very frightening.

The elephant in the room is we are four miles from the border, she said.

And its no surprise the border counties are recording high figures. There is free-flowing daily north-south travel.

I think both governments should acknowledge it and deal with it in a cohesive manner. We have two hospitals in Dundalk, and they are at capacity.

Adare-Rathkeale LEA in Co Limerick has dropped to third in the country from second at a rate of 3,118  with one in every 32 people becoming infected.

Tramore in Waterford lies fourth after a surge in cases to 3106 per 100,00, with 695 positive cases out of a population of 22,372.

Last Sunday a Belmullet community nurse, Bernie McAndrew (57), died suddenly at home after contracting Covid-19.

Her husband of 32 years, Ian, was rushed to hospital in the moments after her death and had to watch her funeral online from his hospital bed.

Dr Swanick said the locality is reeling from the horror of the past week.

I think a lot of people are angry and disappointed that certain people didnt take more personal responsibility for their actions, he said.

I also think people are saddened because we are dealing with the aftermath.

People are maybe seven to 10 days into an illness  a very, very debilitating illness that can kill you. People are having nasty symptoms; they have been hospitalised.

Twelve people here last Sunday were hospitalised.

The ambulance was in our area 12 times. An ambulance had to travel from Manorhamilton to Belmullet, and another had to come from Clifden.

I admitted five patients from their homes. This is serious. People know its serious.

We have lost a valued member of our community, Bernie McAndrew  a terrific nurse and a person with a heart of gold.

We have a brilliant and supportive community here in Belmullet, and we will come through.

Dr Swanick believes two things have fuelled the exponential rise in cases in the locality: more social interaction and the UK variant.

Its not rocket science. This virus needs two or more people to interact for it to transmit. Obviously, there was increased social interaction over the Christmas period in social settings or peoples homes.

And the UK variant is the dominant strain. When the national average (of the UK variant) was 25pc, we were hovering around 50pc. Now we hear nationally its 50pc.

Thats due to people coming home for Christmas primarily, and there is also a long history of people from this area working in the UK and travelling back and forth.

Fine Gael councillor Gerry Coyle said the toll the outbreak has had on the community is savage.

Its just so sad what is happening. Words are no good for the people we have lost. The only message to get out is that if people are in sympathy with the people who have died, the best way to express it is to stay at home, he said.

Thats the cure to all this. It is a frightening illness that has left people very panicked.

He said you can be good one day and worse the next. Whole families have been knocked down with it  its shocking. I am pleading with people to stay at home. Its an awful thing to have our community mentioned on the radio for this very sad reason.

There are great people in Belmullet, but this craic of blaming people is ridiculous. There is no good pointing the finger at people now.

There is a multitude of reasons why this has happened.

Community spirit is here and it has never worked as good as it is.

People are scared, though, but we will survive.

"And I live here on the edge of the sea, and no matter how far the tide goes out, it always comes back in.

So you know it will come back for the people here too. It wont always be like this.

People went through hard times here before with different things, but it will come full circle again.

Its just so sad, so many people will be gone by the time it does.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 14:39:04|Editor: huaxia

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by Peter Mertz

DENVER, the United States, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Governors and health officials across America's West voiced outrage Friday as the federal government's promises to release COVID-19 vaccines for thousands of citizens never happened.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis said the federal government showed "gross incompetence" and "lied" when it said Tuesday that it was releasing reserved doses.

But those doses don't exist anymore -- they were shipped out more than two weeks ago, forcing health departments across the west to scrap plans to immunize many, especially the elderly.

"I am shocked and appalled that they (present administration) have set an expectation on which they could not deliver, with such grave consequences," Oregon Governor Kate Brown tweeted Friday.

"This is a deception on a national scale. Oregon's seniors, teachers, all of us, were depending on the promise of Oregon's share of the federal reserve of vaccines being released to us," she added.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar dropped the bombshell Friday, reversing his declaration Tuesday, that the administration would be "releasing the entire supply for order by states, rather than holding second doses in reserve," CBS News reported.

But by Friday, Azar admitted that there was no reserve of second doses left to release, "No. There's not a reserve stockpile."

"We now have enough confidence that our ongoing production will be quality and available to provide the second dose for people, so we're not sitting on a reserve anymore," he told NBC.

Michael Pratt, a spokesman for Operation Warp Speed (OWS), denied that the reserve was "exhausted" in a statement to CNN later Friday after these governors lashed at the Washington.

"This week, nearly 13 million total doses have been provided to states to order, millions more than other weeks, as the reserve of second doses is completely made available to order against," Pratt said.

"States have yet to fully order against their ordering caps," he said, adding that "we have now moved to the phase where the full amount released to OWS is being made available to order, first to cover second doses, second to provide additional first doses."

However, vaccine maker Pfizer said Friday it had the doses ready to deliver, while officials privately told the media the new doses may take another two weeks to distribute, leaving many states in a lurch.

In a letter to Azar, Oregon Health Director Patrick Allen cited a call with Brown and the OWS chief Gustave Perna on Thursday, and demanded that Azar "reconcile his statement about releasing the entire supply."

Polis said states like Colorado were "expecting to get 210,000 doses next week, but now there will only be 79,000 doses."

"We were led to believe just a few days ago the federal government was going to release their stockpile of second doses," he told CBS-News.

"That would have equated to about three weeks supply in one week for Colorado -- about 210,000 or so doses," he noted.

"And that was unfortunately not true. And we were ready to deploy it right away. And now we know that it simply doesn't exist," the governor concluded. Enditem
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Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

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Holy Etchmiadzin on capture of Armenia soldiers: Such behavior of Azerbaijan authorities is strongly condemnable

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New Delhi: The resignation of Canadian Cabinet Minister Navdeep Singh Bains, who enjoys close connections with the Khalistani elements, has once again set-off the debate on Canadas appeasement politics to foster Khalistani extremism. Observers of the Canadian politics have pointed out that Bains was promoted by the Khalistanis into the Canadian politics with the craving to get the support from the Canadian institutions.

His father has also been associated with Khalistani movement and is allegedly involved in radicalising the Canadian youth. The father-son duo has also exploited the institutional structure of the places of worship to make profits by bringing in illegal immigrants from India in the guise of religious preachers.

However, the case of this Canadian leader is not a unique one. Rather, there is a long list of Khalistan sympathisers in Canadian politics. A battery of prominent Canadian politicians are not only Khalistan sympathisers, rather, have themselves contributed to the anti-India Khalistani activities. New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh has been publicly refusing to condemn acts of violence by the Khalistanis. He has not only kept mum over extremist activities and refrained from denouncing Khalistanis, rather, he also triggered controversy after his close connections with Canadian rapper Chani Natt were revealed  an individual who was promoting the campaign for Khalistan by justifying violence through his songs. News platform Toronto Sun broke the story highlighting had personal relations with Jagmeet Singh and the leader, over the years , have been promoting the rapper.

The current Defence Minister of Canada, Harjit Singh Sajjan, is also believed to be connected to Khalistani elements and have been tacitly supporting their radical activities. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh also went on to publicly call Sajjan a Khalistani sympathiser. Later in a different statement, Singh also urged the Indian government to impose sanctions on Canada for overtly and covertly supporting Khalistani terrorists. He asked the government to mount global pressure on Canada to put an end to the use of its soil to unleash terror against India, particularly the Sikh community being targeted by Khalistani terrorists.

Interestingly, the leader at the top echelon of the Canadian democracy is also a precedence-setter in promoting the Khalistani terrorism. Shocking the counter-terrorism advocates, Justin Trudeau pressurized the Canadian administration to omit a reference to the Khalistani terrorists from the annual security report in 2018, wherein it was mentioned as one of the top five security concerns for Canada. Besides appeasing the radical elements and setting a felonious precedence, the decision was also a step towards subverting the democratic principles of Canada.

In a similar incident, in May 2016, Punjab's police and intelligence agencies wrote to the Canadian government that a dreaded Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was running a terror camp near Mission city in British Columbia to train terrorists and plan attacks in Punjab. He was also working to arrange weapons from Pakistan and use them for terror attacks across India. However, his attempts were foiled due to beefed up security and high alert on the border in the wake of the Pathankot attack. According to other media reports that emerged during the same time, Pakistani ISI was working to whip us support to revitalise the Khalistani network in Canada.

Cracking a cruel joke on national security concerns of India, Nijjar was set free by the Canadian police within 24 hours after detainment in April 2018. Perhaps, this arrest was made only to wash away the allegations of turning an eye from the mushrooming terrorist groups in Canada and was an outcome of efforts made by the Indian authorities to repeatedly write to the Canada government to extradite him.

Canadian media reports highlight that the same set of Khalistanis have been clicked with the Canadian leaders as well as the Pakistani diplomats and Pakistani intelligence operatives. According to local sources, Khalistanis as well as anti-India Pakistanis collectively meet Asghar Ali Golo, Pakistan's Consul General in Toronto, who convenes meetings of both the groups to launch protests in front of Indian diplomatic offices and coordinate strategies to fund extremist activities in Punjab. He was also pictured in a frame with Khalistani flag in the background and banners supporting the referendum  indeed a move to extend support with the Khalistani fringes.

In bids to create pressure over India, the Khalistanis, along with the Pakistanis launch violence protests as an everyday affair  a trend which is once again being noticed amidst the debate over farm bills in India. Extremists from both the groups are frequently launching aggressive protests against Indian diplomatic offices in Canada. The fact that Indian mission in Canada has asked for additional security arrangements now to ensure its safety from Khalistani-Pakistani combine itself underscores the deteriorating condition.

Reportedly, the Pakistani diplomats have been coordinating plans and helping the Khalistani terrorists logistically to work jointly with Pakistani intelligence agencies and Khalistani kingpins based in Pakistan. The Pakistani diplomatic Offices in Canada have created a channel for flawless movement of Khalistanis to and fro Pakistan. Two such terrorists Bhagat Singh Brar and Parvkar Singh Dulai were recently put in Canadas no flying list after being frequently pressurised by the Indian government as they were travelling to Pakistan to meet terrorists from Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and other terror groups to strategize attacks on India. According to one of the reports in Canadian media, the supporting documents filed by the Canadian security agencies revealed that Brar was promoting extremism, including the radicalisation of youth, with the aim of achieving Khalistan independence and attack planning and facilitation, including weapons procurement, to conduct attacks in India.

In his report Khalistan: A Project of Pakistan veteran journalist Terry Milewski has pointed out that after summoning up the monster of Khalistan in the 1970s, the Pakistani ISI is now working on a fresh impetus to fund and promote the radical movement. The idea is to promote a new separatist mindset amongst the Sikh youth in Punjab and all across the world. The report strikingly highlights how the Khalistani elements, despite playing at the hands of Pakistani intelligence agencies, have been continuously provided a safe passage by the Canadian authorities and leadership.

The competition between the Canadian politicians to project themselves being sympathetic to the Khalistani campaign reached to such an intense extent that they refrained from condemning the series of assassination attempts on a popular leader and a serving representative. The leaders claiming to champion the cause of human rights and civil liberties, failed to deplore or denounce the attacks on moderate Sikh leader from Vancouver, Ujjal Dosanjh, for taking a stand against the violence and secessionist movement promoted by the Khalistanis. Dosanjh nearly lost his life in one of the attacks in February 1985. Dosanjh, then an emerging leader, was attacked at his law office by an assassin with an iron bar. Having received 80 stitches and several bones being broken, the leader still managed to survive  only to face a series of physical assaults and death threats. Khalistanis also issued a threat to Dosanjh and Liberal party leader Dave Hayer on attending the annual Vaisakhi Parade in Surrey.

Both the leaders have been critical of the Khalistani violence and have been vocal against it. Earlier, quoting a police investigation, Dosanjh stated that Khalistanis organise events to promote violence under the cover of religious activities and quoted incidents of floating the picture of terrorists like Talwinder Singh Parmar  a terrorist involved in the 1985 Air India Bombing.

Sikhs unsympathetic to the Khalistani utopia have been highlighting that extremists radicalise youth by valourising dreaded terrorists during congregations organised under the garb of religious get-togethers. Attendees also join these events with posters of terrorists and t-shirts of proscribed outfits like the BKI and International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF). It is ridiculous to note that besides many other Western countries, these two organizations have been banned by the Canadian government as well. However, the government provides cover to the fringe elements from these organizations even after noticing their activities with naked eyes.

Several terrorists alleged of carrying out violent attacks are still roaming free and enjoy a comfortable life in Canada. The list also includes a number of those connected to the 1985 Air India bombing in which 329 individuals, mostly Canadian citizens, were killed. The findings of the John Major Commission on 1985 Air India bombing highlighted the failure and inactivity of the Canadian government against the Khalistanis operating from the country. The Commission had highlighted that Canada was tacitly supporting these elements and commented Despite the principal conspirators being put under surveillance before the bombing , their conversations recorded ,their acquisition and testing of explosives witnessed by state agents and ample and repeated warnings that they intended to bomb a specific flights, Canadian agencies failed to act at each stage and at a scale that cannot be explained away as mere errors , but that appears to have the taint of intentional negligence, if not collusion.

Supporting terrorists by the state establishments is not a new phenomenon in Canada. Rather, experts and non profits have been pointing fingers on Canada to allow terrorism to breed and support the radical elements due to vote bank politics. An article by the Global News had mentioned, Canada has a secret program that allows it to harbour terrorists. It further highlights that in April 2015, the country provided visa to a top Egyptian militant Khaled Saber Abdel-Hamed Zahw, who made an assassination attempt on the then President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. The report further argued  Canada allows certain high-profile foreign nationals who would otherwise be barred from entering the country due to national security concerns, war crimes, human rights violations and organised crimes.

In the past few years, Canada has also emerged to be the hotspot where all the Khalistani terrorists, including those from proscribed ones, from all over the world converge together. According to a couple of responses on information request, Canada has emerged as an international lobbying centre for Khalistanis. The Canadian government should come forward and answer on the list of burning questions including  who allows them visa? Aren't they subject to security clearance by Canadian agencies? Why are the leaders eager to meet them? Why are they allowed to lobby for the proscribed groups? And there is a long list.

Canada has become a seedbed for Khalistanis - watered by the Canadian government and nurtured by the ISI. Observers suggest that the lust for Khalistani votes is a nine days wonder and is soon going to inflict severe blows to the Canadian society. Besides damaging Canadas reputation at the global fora, these elements pose a massive threat to the innocent Canadians. Given the fact that India is efficiently handling the Khalistani issue and the campaign has subsided therein, it is a matter of choice for Canada  whether to water it or to wither it away.

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Democratic representative Lou Correa says that he has tested positive for Covid-19 and will therefore miss President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.

On Saturday the 62-year-old California congressman tweeted: Yesterday, I tested positive for Covid-19. I will be responsible & self-quarantine, away from my family, for the recommended time.

Rep. Correa is the latest member of Congress to contract the virus, the number of which has grown since lawmakers were forced to shelter in place together during the attack on the US Capitol.

During the lockdown on 6 January, some Republican representatives refused to wear masks.

The congressman expressed his disappointment at missing the inauguration of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris but is looking ahead to the next four years.

"While I'll miss the much-anticipated inauguration of President-elect @JoeBiden, I look forward to working with the new Admin to unite our country!" he posted.

Following the violence at the Capitol, the Democrat was accosted by unmasked Trump supporters at Dulles Airport outside of Washington, DC.

The scene was captured on video and posted on social media. The men, who appeared to be Trump supporters, hurled baseless allegations at the Democrat about voter fraud and Antifa.

Representative Correa appeared unperturbed by the abuse he encountered and responded to their expletive-laden accusations.
COVID-19 origin: Either it is emerged naturally or it was laboratory accident, says US Intel community

Covaxin: Manufacturer, dose schedule, efficacy rate, possible side effects and price in India

India

oi-Briti Roy Barman

New Delhi, Jan 16: Covaxin has been developed by Indian biotechnology company Bharat Biotech and clinical research body Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

It is being said, Covaxin an inactivated vaccine which follows one of the oldest methods for vaccinating people.

Covaxin injects inactivated viruses in the body to trigger an immune response. These whole batches of coronavirus must be grown, "killed" using a chemical or heat and then made into a vaccine, making it a longer process.

Centre sends list of dos and don'ts on Covaxin, Covishield to states

Effectiveness

Covaxin is safe and provides a robust immune response, said Drugs Controller General of India VG Somani. The vaccine is yet to complete late-stage human clinical trials in India and no efficacy rate has yet been made public.

Dosage and storage

The vaccine will be administered in two doses and stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius. While the DCGI has not clarified the intervals between the shots, Bharat Biotech had earlier said the efficacy is to be determined only after 14 days post the second dose.

Mild adverse reactions

Among mild adverse events following immunisation, the fact sheet includes: injection site pain; headache; fatigue; fever; body ache; abdominal pain; nausea and vomiting; dizziness-giddiness; tremor; sweating; cold; cough; and injection site swelling.

Rare/serious adverse reactions

None are listed. Bharat Biotech, the manufacturer, has said no serious adverse event has been reported in either phase 1 or phase 2 trials - or in the ongoing large phase 3 trials with 25,800 participants, it has said.

Pricing

Bharat Biotech will price the vaccine at Rs 350, say various reports. The firm has already signed a letter of intent (LoI) with Ocugen to co-develop Covaxin for the US market.

Beneficiaries who receive Covaxin will be paid compensation if they suffer adverse event due to the vaccine. The compensation was among the points highlighted on top of the consent form shared with the vaccination centre on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

The farmers agitation at Delhis borders has entered its 56th day on Tuesday. The farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, have been sitting at protest since November 25 last year.

They been demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws promulgated by the Centre, fearing that they would lead to the abolishment of the minimum support price (MSP) guaranteed by the government on select crops and would leave them at the mercy of big corporates.

PTI

The three laws are: Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020; and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020.

Tenth round of talks postponed

Now, the Agriculture Ministry has postponed the next round of talks between Central Ministers and protesting farm unions, which was supposed to be held on Tuesday, to Wednesday. It was the tenth round of talks which was to begin when a Supreme Court-appointed committee began consulting stakeholders to end the impasse.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court observed on Monday that its intervention on the new farm laws has been misunderstood, and that the question of who should be allowed into Delhi to hold protests is a law and order issue that has to be handled by the police and not the court.

Timeline of farmers agitation



Here's a brief timeline of farmers agitation and how various rounds of talks with Centre unfolded.

January 15, 2021: Talks between the government and farmers unions yet again remained inconclusive, as protesting leaders stayed firm on their demand. This was the ninth round of discussions over the drawn-out dispute, which again failed in ending the weeks-long stalemate.

I am seeing many posts which are outraged by the inconclusive talks with the government. I am also listening to leaders like Gurnam in a charged condition. #GiveJusticeNotDates pic.twitter.com/uOsXmkQJ2H    (@jatt_junction) January 19, 2021

Leaders of the 40 farmers' unions negotiating with the centre also said they want continued direct communication with the centre, "not brokers". They maintain they will not appear before the panel since the members were already in "favour of the farm laws".



Twitter, facebook

November 25, 2020: After sporadic protests against the new farm laws, including a nationwide road blockade on November 3, farmers unions in Punjab and Haryana gave the call for Delhi Chalo movement. The Delhi Police, however, rejected their request to march to the capital city citing Covid-19 protocols.

November 26, 2020: Farmers marching towards Delhi faced water cannons, tear gas as the police tried to disperse them at Haryanas Ambala district. Later, police allowed them to enter Delhi for their peaceful protest at Nirankari ground in North-West Delhi.

AFP

December 3, 2020: The government held first round of talks with representatives of farmers but the meeting remained inconclusive.

December 5, 2020: The second round of talks between farmers and the Centre also remained inconclusive.

December 9, 2020: Farmer leaders rejected the Union governments proposal to amend the three contentious laws and vowed to further intensify their agitation until the laws are repealed.

Protesting Farmers / PTI

December 11, 2020: Bharatiya Kisan Union moved the Supreme Court against the three farm laws.



December 16, 2020: The Supreme Court said it may constitute a panel having representatives of the government and farmer unions to end the deadlock over the controversial agriculture laws. This after three additional rounds of talks failed, with Centre being adamant and farmers, too, sticking to their demands.



December 30, 2020: Sixth round of talks between government and farmer leaders saw some headway as the Centre agreed to exempt farmers from stubble burning penalty and drop changes in Electricity Amendment Bill, 2020.

AFP

January 4, 2021: Seventh round of talks between government and farmer leaders also remained inconclusive with the Centre not agreeing to repeal the farm laws.



January 11, 2021: The Supreme Court rapped the Centre for its handling of the farmers protest. The top court said it would constitute a committee headed by a former Chief Justice of India to resolve the deadlock.

ANI

January 12, 2021: The Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the three contentious farm laws and set up a four-member committee to make recommendations on the legislations after listening to all stakeholders.


ROME, N.Y.  The state correctional officers' union says an officer was injured during an attack by an inmate at Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome on Tuesday.

According to the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA), the inmate struck the officer in the chin during a frisk around 7:20 p.m.

The officer was treated for a chipped and cracked tooth, bruises, and fluid under his kneecap tendons, according to NYSCOPBA.

Two other officers also sustained minor injuries after jumping in to help their fellow officer.

The 28-year-old inmate is serving a three-to-eight-year sentence for criminal possession of stolen property and bail jumping.

He was placed in a special housing unit after the incident.
U.S. gun-rights group files for bankruptcy, decides to move from New York to Texas

HOUSTON, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. National Rifle Association (NRA) on Friday announced that it has filed for bankruptcy protection, unveiling its plan to move from New York to the state of Texas.

According to the announcement on its website, the NRA said it has decided to free from New York's "toxic political environment" and is "pursuing plans to reincorporate the NRA in Texas" after filing for bankruptcy.

NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said in the announcement, the NRA has filed voluntary chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the North District of Texas, Dallas Division.

"The plan aims to streamline costs and expenses, proceed with pending litigation in a coordinated and structured manner, and realize many financial and strategic advantages," LaPierre said.

"Texas values the contributions of the NRA, celebrates our law-abiding members, and joins us as a partner in upholding constitutional freedom," he said.

According to media reports, the decision was made by the influential gun-rights group among its legal trouble with state authorities in New York. New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the organization last year, pushing to dissolve it for misspending and self-dealing.

Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott immediately welcomed NRA's decision of moving to Texas and tweeted "Welcome to Texas - a state that safeguards the 2nd Amendment."
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A total of seven people  including four teenagers  were wounded in separate multiple shootings, in Logan and in Southwest Philadelphia, on Friday night, police said.

In the first incident, four teenage boys were hospitalized in stable condition after being wounded in the citys Logan section shortly after 7 p.m., police said.

About an hour later, police reported a triple shooting in Southwest Philadelphia.

The four teens were outside on the 5000 block of North 10th Street when they were shot. The wounded were: a 14-year-old shot in the hip; a 15-year-old shot in the hip and right arm; a 16-year-old shot in the chest, left foot, and right arm; and another 16-year-old shot in the left thigh. The teens were dropped off by private vehicle at Einstein Medical Center, police said.

In the triple shooting, two men and a woman were wounded shortly after 8 p.m. in the 5800 block of Trinity Street.

A 40-year-old woman who was shot twice was listed in critical condition at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. A 26-year-old man also was in critical condition at the hospital with four gunshot wounds. A 27-year-old man who was shot in the left thigh was reported in stable condition.

Police reported no arrests in either case, and no other details were available.
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A Plainview High School Senior and a local United Family store location were chosen as the Student and Business of the Month for January.

Jordyn Olivia Ramirez, 17, and Amigos Supermarkets are the first to be recognized by the Plainview Chamber of Commerce in 2021.

Ramirez is the daughter of Nicole and Raymund Ramirez. She is an active student involved in Student Council, the Hale County Junior Literacy Council, National Honor Society, Band, Yearbook, Spanish Club, the National Student Advisory Council and UIL Academics.

She is a recipient of a 2019 Tomorrows Leaders Award and was also named student of the month for the Rotary Club.

Outside of school, Ramirez is a volunteer for Special Olympics, an occasional volunteer for Snack Pak 4 Kids, and a teacher at the church she attends.

She enjoys reading, painting, writing and spending time with her friends when shes free.

After graduation, I plan to double major in both English and architecture so I can be an architect as I build my career as a writer and hopefully someday help build schools for underprivileged youth, Ramirez wrote.

Every month, the Chambers board of directors chooses a business to recognize from a different industry. This month they chose Amigos.

The store is managed by Rebekah Bernal and is led by a team thats encouraged donations by employees to countless charitable causes within the past year.

The store is part of a 93-store Texas-based grocery chain with locations across Texas and New Mexico. The United Family includes five unique brands including Amigos, United Supermarkets, Albertsons Market, Market Street and United Express.

Plainview is one of four cities with an Amigos store location. The Amigos website describes the store as having a unique blend of traditional and cultural favorites for those who love authentic Mexican flavors and unbeatable values.
The story of this island does not, and could never, follow a straight path. It is pulled and pushed in different directions that reflect the diverse and divergent experiences of everyone who lives here.

While that is a source of frustration for some who want to present a singular narrative of our complex past, it should instead open up a conversation about our common history.

An important part of that common history is, of course, the partition of Ireland and foundation of Northern Ireland 100 years ago. This event, more than many others, has had a profound political, economic and cultural impact on the lives of all those who share this island.

But the experience of that moment, and the evolution of the state that followed, has been markedly different for communities across the north.

Last year I received an invitation from the Secretary of State to join the British Government's Centenary Forum, which would set out a programme of activities to celebrate the anniversary of the foundation of Northern Ireland.

I carefully considered the invitation and the approach to commemoration that the Northern Ireland Office had proposed and, unfortunately, I felt I had no option but to decline.

It was clear from the correspondence that, in the same way that others have tried to rewrite our recent history to present the ugly acts of the past as patriotic, the NIO had very little intention of reflecting on an experience of partition that did not meet their celebratory top line.

The use of Seamus Heaney's portrait without recourse to his estate, I think, demonstrates the singlemindedness of those rolling out that programme.

I recognise and respect that, for many people, Northern Ireland is a critical part of their identity and I absolutely want them to have the space to celebrate that. I want them to take pride in our shared history, our common culture and everything that makes our island experience unique.

But for many partition was an act of immense constitutional trauma that severed relationships, economic opportunities and created a new state where sectarian discrimination was hardwired into the institutions of government.

When the SDLP was founded 50 years ago one of our founding principles was to act as an anti-sectarian force for good.

That's why I joined the party as a teenager and it's why I have worked throughout my entire political career to undo the systemic sectarian influence of that state which affected, and infected, virtually every aspect of life for so many people, including in my own city.

Our mission statement today continues to reflect our goal of a reconciled people in a united, just and prosperous new Ireland.

That goal is fundamentally at odds with the celebration of partition. It is wrong to suggest, as some have, that the SDLP will not take part in the centenary. The experience of communities like mine, and of people like me, are critical to this story.

We will therefore take part in events which mark the centenary and seek to bring our people closer together.

This is an important moment and we will stretch ourselves, as we have throughout the decade of centenaries and throughout our history, as part of a mature conversation about the future of these islands.

What we remain opposed to is those who seek to straighten the arc of our history to suit a single narrative.

The SDLP will be honest with people: we believe that the interests of people on this island are best served in a united, prosperous new Ireland. We will pursue that vision.

But it is my firm conviction that, as relationships across our island, and between our islands, continue to evolve as a result of the constitutional upheaval that we have experienced over the last five years, that we are all called to build that new future together.

And while I have said that I believe the United Kingdom is coming to an end, I do not for one second believe that those for whom that is an important part of their identity should be in any way diminished.

I know that our scarred history places a moral duty upon us to manage those relationships and to conduct the coming conversation with care, compassion and patience.

The prize is to build a shared home place for all of our people.

Colum Eastwood MP is leader of the SDLP
Last month, as nurses in New Jersey were administering the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli deflated some of the optimism of the moment by warning that vaccinations would be slow.

We expect the demand for the vaccine will outpace the supply, Persichilli said in late December.

That turned out to be a bit of an understatement.

So far New Jersey has administered at least the first dose of the vaccine to just 3.1% of people in the state, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of Friday evening. Thats slightly lower than the national average of 3.2% and lower than about half of all states.

Public health experts say that New Jerseys narrow, phased approach to vaccinations has needlessly slowed the rollout.

The phases are not working; theyre hugely problematic, said Perry Halkitis, dean of the Rutgers University School of Public Health. We have to have phases, but we want porous phases.

Halkitis likened the phased approach to vaccines in the state to a sinking ship where one lifeboat has to be filled before people can start filling the next. Its going to end in death, he said.

But even as they criticize the states vaccination plan, health experts acknowledge that a more methodical approach is preferable to whats been done in other states, like Florida, which made national news over the past week as a more wide-open strategy to vaccinations led to long lines, Eventbrite scheduling and reports of folks from out of state getting shots.

Floridas strategy was to open vaccinations to its large population of people over 65 years old  a group of more than 4 million, equal to about half of New Jerseys entire population  even though the state only had a tiny fraction of shots available for those people. Predictably, confusion ensued.

The Florida rollout bothers me, in what Im seeing, the idea of older adults lining up and waiting all night is upsetting for lots of reasons, said Preeti Malani, chief health officer at the University of Michigan. Nobody should be doing that.

Jared Moskowitz, director of Floridas Division of Emergency Management, told the Orlando Sentinel that a lack of supplies and information from the federal government is to blame for the states vaccination issues, not an issue with planning or rollout at the state level.

But even with all Floridas problems getting shots in arms, the state has still administered vaccines to 3.6% of its population, a larger proportion than New Jersey has managed.

I can see the sense in vaccinating as many people as quickly as possible, even if they dont fall into the 1A, 1B, 1C categories that were initially recommended, said Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and member of the FDAs vaccine advisory board.

But a more efficient vaccine rollout is somewhere between New Jersey and Florida, experts say.

I believe that somewhere between a very conservative approach and a vaccine free-for-all there is probably the right approach, said Stephanie Silvera, an epidemiologist at Montclair State University. I do think that New Jersey has taken an overly cautious and conservative approach thus far and it has resulted in a very slow rollout that we are only now starting to see pick up pace.

Silvera added that state officials need to expand hours for vaccinations and train more people to deliver shots, so that its as easy as possible for people to get vaccinated.

The slower than expected pace of vaccinations, both in New Jersey and across the country, has added to tensions as the coronavirus conflagration continues spreading in the United States, regularly setting daily records for deaths. Models now predict that in a few months more than 500,000 people will have been killed by COVID-19 in this country.

New Jersey health officials on Friday reported 5,490 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 67 additional deaths. The state has now lost 20,320 residents in the COVID-19 outbreak  18,229 confirmed deaths and 2,091 considered probable. New Jersey has already announced 1,231 confirmed deaths this month, following 1,890 in December.

On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced the first major expansion to the states vaccine program, opening up shots for people 65 years old and over and people with conditions that put them at a greater risk of health complications related to COVID-19. That decision was based on changing federal guidelines and the expectation of more doses becoming available shortly.

It is somewhat if not largely based on the anticipation  not guarantee, but anticipation  of increased deliveries of vaccines as the federal government will no longer be holding back doses, we are confident in taking these steps, Murphy said Wednesday. We have set the infrastructure we need to do this job and we are now ready to begin to ramp up our vaccination efforts exponentially.

That infrastructure includes a planned 259 vaccination sites, of which six are so-called mega sites. The state has 165 total sites open as of Wednesday, Murphy said.

More than 1 million people have already registered to be vaccinated and the state hopes to administer shots to 70% of its adult population, around 4.7 million people, by May. People are asked to register on the states website and then make an appointment at one of the vaccine sites.

Halkitis said the expansion of vaccinations announced this week will help New Jersey, but added that hed like to see it expanded further.

I think we will look better over time, Halkitis said. I think you do need the rules otherwise it becomes a free-for-all. 65 and immunocompromised (people) is a step in the right direction, but I would add teachers and other frontline workers.

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Payton Guion may be reached at pguion@njadvancemedia.com.
Murray State Tests Mayfield Wastewater for COVID

By Tim Brockwell

MURRAY - A new testing program at Murray State University that analyzes Mayfield wastewater samples is helping identify the early stages of potential COVID-19 outbreaks by measuring virus markers.Murray State University researchers Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Biology Dr. Gary ZeRuth and Assistant Professor of Analytical Chemistry Dr. Bikram Subedi are leading the testing program, which analyzes wastewater samples from Mayfield's treatment plant sites.The project, which began in early November, is a partnership between the Graves County Health Department, Mayfield Electric and Water Systems, Murray State University, the University of Louisville Co-Immunity Project and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.Subedi said the wastewater testing can serve as an an early warning system, giving health officials up to a week of additional time to prepare for an outbreak. This will allow communities to better focus resources to where they're needed most in the earliest stages of an outbreak, before many people experience symptoms."What we've found so far is basically a very good correlation between the virus copies in wastewater with the cases that the health department in Mayfield has been reporting. We're getting two samples every week. The good thing about this is representing not only the people who go to the hospital and do the test, but also the pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic people." Subedi said.The virus copies seen in wastewater samples represent the total number of infectious people in the community, according to Subedi, something he says will paint a much more accurate picture of virus prevalence in a community."This is compared to the health department data that reports only the people who go to the hospital and get tested," He said. "Therefore, our data tells us a comprehensive story in the community about how many people are being infected."This kind of testing is relatively new in the United States, but it's been used more widely in other parts of the world as a way to monitor drug use in communities. Subedi said it could also potentially be used to look for other virus types like influenza and different variants of the COVID virus."Analytically we need a different set of probes to detect [different COVID variants]. We have been thinking about it, but we have not done that yet. As soon as we know what probe works for a specific variant we will be able to do that here." He said. "As soon as the COVID pandemic started, there's so many labs throughout the country that have been doing this analysis. The application of this type of technique is really burgeoning, but it's still limited."Subedi said the MSU lab has recently begun testing wastewater in Murray as well, and there are plans to expand the program to other communities in the commonwealth.
MBABANE  Make Winnie is no more. COVID-19 has once again robbed the country of a great stateswoman in Deputy Commissioner of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), Winnie Magagula, who was affectionately known as Make Winnie.

Her maiden name is Mkhatshwa.

She died at the age of 57. Magagula passed on late on Friday night towards the early hours of Saturday morning, while admitted at the Manzini Clinic.

Her death was confirmed by one of her daughters, who could not give many details as she was still in shock over her mothers passing. Magagula had earlier in the week tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to the Luke Commission before being transferred to Manzini Clinic on Friday.

admitted

It was reported that she was on oxygen when she passed on. Magagula had been admitted to this facility from her home in Mkhondvo.

She was reportedly driven there, but she was by then able to walk on her own. It was recommended that she be treated at a facility because she was coughing. Before her appointment as deputy commissioner by His Majesty King Mswati III, Magagula served the country as Minister of Labour and Social Security during the 10th Parliament.

During the 9th Parliament she was the Minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT).

political scene

Magagula got into the countrys political scene after she was nominated into Senate by the House of Assembly.

A former law student at the University of Eswatini, Magagula had become a role model to most women in the country as she occupied the political sphere, which is mostly dominated by men and stood her ground during Parliament debates.

She was one of the founding members of Sive Siyinqaba, Sibahle Sinje, a cultural organisation that later changed into a political movement.

It was later mentioned that she had resigned from Sibahle Sinje. She was the first female secretary general of the Swaziland Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (SUFIAW). Popular trade unionist and former Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) Vincent Nqongwane succeeded her. She was working for Central Bank of Eswatini when she served SUFIAW as the secretary general.

Nqongwane, speaking in his personal capacity, said Magagula played a huge role in trade unionism, and fought for the workforce in the country.

Jabu Shiba, the current Secretary General of SUFIAW, said they learnt a lot from the ex-minister of labour and social security. She said she became the secretary general when trade unionism was a male-dominated space.

Magagula broke that protocol and proved to us that a woman can advocate for labour rights, she said.

Of course, shes the first female secretary general of SUFIAW.

hogged headlines

Magagula hogged headlines in her final term of office as a minister when the then Deputy Prime Minister Paul Dlamini advised her during the official opening of the fifth session of the 10th Parliament to leave the august house.

Traditionalists charged that the ex-minister should be mourning her husband in accordance with the dictates of Eswatini tradition. She was the ICT minister when the House of Assembly in October 2012 passed a vote of no confidence in the 9th Cabinet.

This was after government, through the ICT ministry, had informed its parastatal, the now Eswatini Post and Telecommunications Corporation, to switch off some of its services that were fixed mobile and some of its internet dongles and ONE mobile. At that time, the House of Assembly felt that government was on the side of MTN Eswatini and were of the view that the government was killing EPTC.

resolve impasse

During this period, the EPTC (formerly SPTC) wrote a petition to the late former Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini stating that Magagula should be removed from her position as ICT minister for failure to resolve the impasse between EPTC and Eswatini MTN.

The workers had stated that Magagula was intent on closing down EPTC, which would cause a lot of people to lose their jobs. The deceased was seen by the workers as having a conflict of interest because she once served on the MTN Eswatini Board. However, the vote of no confidence was not successful as the MPs later withdrew it.

INSTRUMENTAL

The late minister was also instrumental in the promulgation of the Swaziland Electronic Communications Act and the Swaziland Communications Commission Act.

The Swaziland Communications Act is the one that established the now Eswatini Communications Commission (ESCCOM).

She played a pivotal role in setting up the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP), which comprises the IT centre at Phocweni and Biotechnology Park at Nokwane.

Magagula further made her mark when the country lost its African Growth Development Act (AGOA) eligibility and along with government worked around the clock to regain it again.

This she did by presenting before the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, the amendment of the Public Order Act of 1963 and the Suppression of Terrorism Act 2008.

The amendment of the Acts was instrumental in the country being able to retain AGOA.

CLASH

During this period, the former minister would from time-to-time clash with the chairperson of the House of Assembly Portfolio Committee for the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the late Manzini North MP Jan Sithole, who was also a political activist.

The minister also clashed with unions, particularly when issues had to be deliberated at the International Labour Organisation, where Eswatini was once listed on the Special Paragraph.

With her birthday falling on May 1, which is Workers Day, Magagula irked local unions when she did not honour an invitation sent to her as the minister responsible to celebrate Workers Day with them.

However, during an interview with Eswatini TV on the same day, the minister had said the workers in Eswatini had done a lot of good for the countrys economy as was evidenced by the infrastructure.

She said the major issue, however, continued to be job creation especially for the youth.

achievement

As Swaziland (Eswatini) we are proud that we are part of these international organisations and we celebrate workers, it is indeed a day for celebrating their achievement, she had said.

She added that government also supported the spirit of dialogue which they had engaged in.

There is no country like Swaziland (Eswatini) and it is indeed the Switzerland of Africa, she had said on May 1, 2017.

The former minister was also instrumental in the launching of the Scholarship Recovery Unit, which according to Finance Minister Neal Rijkenbergs Mid-Term Budget Report, was the best performing revenue collection unit in government.

Magagulas passing comes at a time when the country is on strict partial lockdown and the Acting Prime Minister Themba Masuku, has stated that people who have died particularly from COVID-19-related illnesses be buried as early as possible, within 72 hours.

Those wanting to mourn Magagula may also not have the chance to do so as government has also banned what is called kufukama.
Shooting of films, web series and television shows have resumed adopting utmost precautions post the Covid-19 lockdown. Bio bubble precautions are being adopted for shoots, helping in minimising the risks of getting infected by the Covid-19 virus. Actor Salman Khan, who is currently busy shooting for Bigg Boss 14, has also resumed his work while shooting in a bio bubble for his upcoming film Antim: The Final Truth.

Other than the use of bio bubble, the actor is also avoiding interactions or coming in contact with anyone else except the crew members of the film. Every person associated with the movie is following the Covid-19 guidelines like maintaining social distance, wearing masks whenever possible and sanitising at regular intervals.

Antim: The Final Truth is an action-drama directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. The movie stars Salman and Aayush Sharma in the leading role. The superstar is portraying the role of a police officer, while Aayush will be seen playing a gangster's character.

The film is said to be a Hindi remake of Mulshi Paran, a hit Marathi film. The first look of the movie was revealed in December last year and received much appreciation.

The actor will next be seen in Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai helmed by Prabhu Deva. Actors including Disha Patani, Randeep Hooda and Jackie Shroff will also be working alongside Salman in Radhe. The release date of the movie has not yet been finalised after it got delayed due to the pandemic.

Debuting with the 1988 film Biwi Ho To Aisi, the actor got fame after he played a leading role in Sooraj R. Barjatya's romantic family drama, Maine Pyar Kiya in the year 1989.

Salman was last seen in Dabangg 3 along with Sonakshi Sinha and Arbaaz Khan. The movie was released on December 20, 2019.
At the time of publishing, there are 57 different pre-owned Honda vehicles to choose from. Vehicles start as low as $4,200, with the majority selling for under $20,000.

CrossPointe Motor Carsa Virginia-based used car dealership serving Frederick Countyis including its used Honda and Chevrolet inventory in its Managers Specials this month. There is no specific special, as any discounts or financing rates are specific to any given vehicle. For more specific details, interested parties should visit the Managers Specials section of the CrossPointe Motor Cars website.

CrossPointe Motor Cars has many popular Honda vehicles in stock, such as the CR-V, Civic, Accord and Pilot. At the time of publishing, there are 57 different pre-owned Honda vehicles to choose from. Vehicles start as low as $4,200, with the majority selling for under $20,000. All currently available pre-owned Honda vehicles are from the 2010 model year or newer. Many of the pre-owned Honda vehicles in stock are 2017 or newer and have under 50,000 miles on the odometer.

CrossPointe Motor Cars also has numerous pre-owned Chevy vehicles, ranging from the Malibu and Cruze to the Equinox and Traverse. At the time of publishing, more than half of the Chevy vehicles available are listed under $10,000.

CrossPointe Motor Cars also offers a free lifetime powertrain warranty on many of its vehicles. It covers the powertrain and all its parts for as long as the customer owns that CrossPointe vehicle, whether thats two years or twenty.

Interested parties can find more details and the full CrossPointe Motor Cars inventory at crosspointemotorcars.com. The dealer can be reached via phone by calling 855-466-4836. The CrossPointe Motor Cars dealership is located on 3951 Valley Pike, Winchester.


Business Roundup The Irrawaddy Business Roundup

Myanmars hotels have been closing and the authorities axed a deal to develop a giant economic zone. Meanwhile, an alarming fall in foreign trade has been reported.

YANGON  As Yangon saw a significant decline in COVID-19 cases, the authorities have ordered the closure of eight temporary hospitals in the city. However, Myanmars economy continues to suffer from the effects of coronavirus. This week, Sule Shangri-La Hotel, one of Yangons leading five-star hotels, announced its temporary closure after facing prolonged losses due to the travel restrictions. The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism said about half of all hotels in Myanmar have been temporarily shut.

Moreover, the Ministry of Commerce said foreign trade has declined by more than US$1.3 billion (1.7 trillion kyats) since August, compared with last year. A Thai construction giant also revealed a consortium it leads has received a termination letter for the development of the vast Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in southern Myanmars Tanintharyi Region.

The Central Bank of Myanmar has also given two Taiwanese banks the green light to open branches in Yangon.

More hotels shut temporarily

The tourism ministry said about 1,000 hotels about half of Myanmars hotels  have temporarily closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

About 30,000 hotel staff have been made unemployed, the ministry said.

Before COVID-19, there were more than 2,000 hotels and guest houses in Myanmar with 64,076 staff. On Dec. 31, the sector had 36,730 employees.

The Sule Shangri-La Yangon has announced its temporary closure for about nine months from February 1 until the end of 2021 to mitigate the financial impacts of COVID-19.

About two-thirds of hotels in the tourist destination of Bagan are also planning to close as they struggle to stay afloat.

Foreign trade declines

The commerce ministry said Myanmars international trade has fallen by more than $2.3 billion (3.1 trillion kyats) in the first three months of the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, Myanmar sold more than $7.6 billion (10.1 trillion kyats) in goods compared with about $10 billion (13.3 trillion kyats) last year.

Agricultural goods, including fishery products, sold for about $5 billion (6.7 trillion kyats) in the first three months of the last fiscal year, but around $3.6 billion (4.8 trillion kyats) this year. Exports of manufactured goods, including garments, fell by more than $1 billion (1.3 trillion kyats) from the last fiscal year.

Myanmar ditches Thai-led Dawei consortium

Myanmar has terminated the involvement of a consortium led by the Italian-Thai Development Public Co. Ltd (ITD) in the development of the Dawei SEZ.

The company received notification of termination of its agreement to develop the initial phase of the SEZ from the Dawei Special Economic Zone Management Committee on Dec. 30. It said the notification claimed the consortium had failed to make concession fee payments and had not complied with conditions before commencing operations under its concession agreement.

ITD said its legal adviser would prepare a letter of clarification and rebuttal to the allegations.

Taiwanese banks allowed to open

Two Taiwanese banks, Cathay United Bank and Mega International Commercial Bank, received licenses from the central bank to open branches in Yangon.

The central bank said it gave the banks nine months to prepare technology, hire staff and other requirements.

Cathay United announced it would open in the Junction City Tower.

You may also like these stories:

Myanmar Secures Second IMF COVID-19 Loan

China Inks Economic Agreements With Myanmar, Promising COVID-19 Vaccine Donation

Kirin to Continue Profit Denial to Myanmar Military Conglomerate
Dozens of people facing another 14 days in hotel quarantine will be released early, as authorities dare to hope the state has dodged another serious virus cluster.

The state also recorded one new case overnight, a child in quarantine.

About 30 people who were moved from the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane to the nearby Westin hotel this week are now due to be released by 6pm Saturday, after authorities reassessed the situation.

Returned travellers at Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane have been moved to other quarantine hotels. Credit:AFR

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said she was now confident that the initial case in the six-case cluster at the hotel occurred on January 2.
The Nigerian Armys Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has raised the alarm of insurgents buying fertilizers to make bombs.



Coordinator of the Directorate of Defence Media Operations, (DDMO), Maj. Gen. John Enenche disclosed this on Friday January 15 during a media briefing on military operations from January 7 to 13.



Eneche stated that the use of fertilisers by criminal gangs threatened the security of the nation.



He said;



While fertilisers are majorly for agricultural purposes, the possibility of it being acquired by criminal gangs, terrorists and militants for sinister purposes cannot be disregarded as fertiliser has remained a potential component for the fabrication of explosives owing to its content of Ammonium Nitrate.



Furthermore, fertiliser poses a security threat considering current security challenges.





Source: LIB









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Six months after the doors to cannabis retail licensing were swung wide open in Manitoba, the number of stores in the province has doubled from about 30 to close to 60.

Six months after the doors to cannabis retail licensing were swung wide open in Manitoba, the number of stores in the province has doubled from about 30 to close to 60.

And since the whole concept of legalized marijuana is still so new, no one knows for sure just how the market will respond. In addition to the presence of the big name public companies such as Canopy and Meta and the home-grown Delta 9 Cannabis, theres now a wide variety of operators all of whom seem to have the right kind of operational ethos  keeping the customer happy.

While the product theyre selling may be specifically designed for just that, there are obvious competitive challenges with so many players in the fields.

Several store owners and operators applauded the metered approach that Manitoba has taken to store licensing as opposed to the free-for-all thats taken place in Alberta where theres now more than 500 stores. Many in the industry say that market is already saturated.

John Arbuthnot, the CEO of Delta 9, believes that ultimately the right number of stores in Manitoba is probably between 90 and 120.

If you listen to store operators and company officials with multiple store locations in Manitoba, they seem to be committed and taking creative approaches to differentiating themselves.=

The three partners of Atomic Flower that just opened last Sunday on St. Marys Road have been applying for a licence since 2017.

The three partners of Atomic Flower (from left, Peter Slupski, Gabriel Fortin-Barbier and Joel Lafond) have been applying for a licence since 2017. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)

One of the partners, Peter Slupski, said they understand the decisions made by the Liquor Gaming & Cannabis Authority to licence the larger more experienced operators initially. They applied for a licence in Niverville in the phase II rural lottery but did not get selected.

It gave the partners the chance to hone their offering, save up enough funds  they were not able to secure a bank loan  and make them that much more ready.

With a relatively small store  about 1,000 square feet compared to the 4,000 square foot Delta 9 and The Joint stores  Atomic Flowers partners believe they can still stand out.

"Were glad they decided to give the little guy a chance," he said.

Atomic Flower will sell product from craft producers as much as possible and Slupski believes they will likely be the only store in the city offering full bilingual service.

Manitoba has seen dramatic growth in cannabis stores following the phased-growth of provincial regulations. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)

In December, The Joint Cannabis Shop opened a 4,000-square-foot store on Leila Avenue, one of the first stores in the northwest quadrant of the city. (The Joint and Meta Cannabis Supply Co. are the largest operators in the city with five stores each.)

For a market that is still in its infancy, The Joint are definitely industry veterans having run a chain of head shops for more than 10 years. Four of its five stores are converted head shops. (The Leila one is brand new.)

Ariel Glinter, the head of regulatory and compliance operations for The Joint, said, "At this point we certainly have, by far, the largest selection of cannabis accessories in the city and one of the largest in the country depending on which stores you are in."

But they are also finding out that keeping the popular cannabis products in stock is not always as easy as dealing with the bongs and pipe suppliers it was used to.

"Cannabis is not beer or tobacco yet," he said. "The industry is not that logistically competent and set up to consistently supply product."

A sampling of The Joint's artisan-made glass cannabis accessories. (Erik Pindera / Winnipeg Free Press files)

There are also different design esthetics that some operators are trying. The two Farmer Jane stores in the city are owned by a group out of Saskatchewan who are also behind the Leopolds Tavern chain.

Jason Drummond, one of the partners of that group said instead of the sleek, Apple store look of some stores, they went with a more folksy, darker look with lots of plants and almost a local pub feel.

"Were also trying to connect with the community and buy from local suppliers as much as possible," he said. "Were just trying to appeal to Prairie folks."

Cannabis sits in a sample display in Winnipeg. (John Woods / The Canadian Press files)

With 30 new stores in the last six months, there are another 31 that are well along the process of opening and another 33 that have cleared all the regulatory hurdles but still need to finalize their own internal and financial commitments.

Farmer Jane plans to open a couple more. The Joint still has two of its legacy head shops that have not yet converted to cannabis.

John Arbuthnot, the CEO of Delta 9 believes that ultimately the right number of stores in Manitoba is probably between 90 and 120. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Delta 9 has three more stores it expects to open likely early in the second quarter. The company, which also has a large production and distribution operation, hired more than 100 people over the past year.

Arbuthnot and Glinter both made a point of saying how well the licensing process has gone in Manitoba.

Arbuthnot said sales at its two newest stores on Kenaston Boulevard and in Kildonan Crossing have tripled since opening. The company also has stores in Alberta.

"We opened mid last year in Alberta and the pace of growth month over month and the plateau we find indicates that the Alberta market is quite saturated. We are not seeing that in Manitoba," he said.

"It indicates to us that there is still growth left."

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
The Bethlehem Chapter of the NAACP announced Saturday its Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration will be held virtually Monday, due to the coronavirus.

Its scheduled for 1 p.m. on the chapters YouTube channel, and will feature musical selections and local panelists discussing racial equality, social justice and democracy.

Lehigh University is also hosting a virtual celebration of King and his legacy from noon to 12:30 p.m. Monday, featuring Northampton Community College business professor Karen Britt, a member of the Easton NAACP branch, and Chad Williams, director of Lehighs Office of Multicultural Affairs. Registration is required through eventscalendar.lehigh.edu.

Virtual events are also being offered by the Allentown Art Museum in honor of King. Visit allentownartmuseum.org to learn more.

In addition, the Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley lists opportunities to give back to the community in Kings memory at volunteerlv.org/mlk.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday observed the third Monday of each January, around Kings birthday Jan. 15. The civil rights leader was assassinated April 4, 1968, at age 39.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.

John Dolan is on a mission to show that there is a future in suckler farming for finishing on Irish farms if the quality is right.

"I hear too many farmers in this country complaining about the poor returns out of suckler farming" says the Pedigree Parthenaise breeder based near Enniscorthy.

"Yes, I do agree (on poor returns), but a lot of the complainers are not willing to do something about it, he says. It astonishes me the volume of O and R grade stock being produced being produced in his country  you will not make money when you are producing lower grading animals.

"The focus has to be to produce top quality animals and then we can start demanding premium prices.

He points out that all the top suckler herds in France are pedigree herds of different breeds and the quality of beef which they produce is consistently top notch.

Some years ago, the Roscommon native moved to Co Wexford, where he purchased a farm at Monageer, and set about the challenging task of developing a suckler herd.

Weanlings

"I was producing weanlings focused at the shipping market but was struggling to get consistent quality across all calves and weanlings, he recalls. I was using a mixture of Limousin and Simmental cows crossed with AI Belgium Blue and Charolais bulls.

It was an uphill struggle and he wasn't happy that he was getting the quality to command the top prices necessary to make his beef enterprise profitable.

Fast forward to 2020, and the progeny of his 40-cow DolMon pedigree Parthenaise breeding herd are all being finished to beef, killing out with carcase weights of 400-440 kgs at 18-22 months, and kill-out of 60-66pc. Around 25pc are making E grade, and the remainder are U grade.

Expand Close Some of the autumn 2020-born Parthenaise calves in John Dolan's DolMon Herd. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Some of the autumn 2020-born Parthenaise calves in John Dolan's DolMon Herd.

All animals for beef are being finished on a high quality, maize-based ration, being fed ad-lib during the finishing stage. Some of the progeny are sold on to other breeders as breeding stock.

"You can buy the best stock bull that money can buy, but if you are using him on poor quality cows you are wasting your time," says John.

"The focus needs to be on having top quality, milky, well-muscled cows with good frames and size that will consistently produce top grading weanlings and replacements.

"Five years ago when I was using a selection of other continental breeds to produce weanlings focused at the shipping market, I was struggling to get consistent quality across all calves and weanlings produced when my aim was to have every animal produced at the upper end of the quality ladder.

Crossbred stock

In 2015 he was very impressed by the quality of cows at the dispersal sale of crossbred stock from a Parthenaise herd at Carnew Mart.

"After that I went looking for a Parthenaise bull and visited a number of Pedigree breeders and again was very impressed with the quality of stock on these farms. I was looking for a bull with both high Terminal and Replacements indexes," he recalls.

He purchased a bull from a Pedigree Herd in Galway and used him for the first year on the Simmental X and Limousin X cows. Impressed by the calves, he decided to buy a few pedigree Parthenaise heifers.

Expand Close DolMon Mikola, one of the stock bulls used on the herd / Facebook

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Whatsapp DolMon Mikola, one of the stock bulls used on the herd

He purchased a heifer and three cows with heifer calves at foot from a breeder in Co Cork who was scaling down his farming commitments due to other interests. He contacted him again a couple of months later intending to purchase a few more animals.

"Coincidently, the same year springer cows and heifer were a good trade, so I ended up selling a number of my own cows in-calf and purchasing the majority of his herd.

"The herd had a good few cows with heifer calves at foot from a bull that was purchased from France called Fanforan. These heifer calves have proved to be top quality breeding animals and now form the foundation of my herd along with the cows purchased," he says.

Forty breeding cows in the herd have now been bred from a combination of stock bulls, AI straws from Irish breeding centres and some imported from France.

Calving

"I have focused on breeding heifers that would remain in the herd for breeding going forward. As I am also working off farm, easy calving and vigorous calves are an essential part of the equation for me and the Parthenaise cows in general have a wide pelvis and generally I have little or no issues with calving.

"The majority of the cows calve on their own and while some heifers might need assistance, I do not see this as a problem as you could have this with any breed, says John.

The bulls sold as yearlings generally ended up going for shipping or to Irish feedlots. The pedigree heifers were kept for breeding, and the commercial heifers sold as yearlings generally going to feedlots or suckler farms as replacement heifers.

"In 2019 due to poor weanling prices I decided to bring all stock to slaughter. I built an outdoor slatted tank in October 2019 and finished the 2018 autumn-born calves on it".

He has been impressed with the results from bulls finished at 18-20 month and heifers slaughtered at 24 months. The heifers had sufficient weight to be slaughtered earlier but were held on to increase the fat cover. The intention is that the heifers will be pushed a little harder to finish this year at 20 months.

The bulls killed out at 64pc to 66pc and heifers at 60-62pc, aided by the low bone density  a characteristic of the breed - and all were E and U grades with carcass weights in the 400-440 kgs range.

Grade differentials

"The only real issue is the price we are receiving for our quality stock. The differential between an E/U grade animal and an O grade is not enough in this country and does need to be addressed.

He stresses that the current difference of about 150 per head between a finished animal in the UK compared to Ireland is also a major problem for suckler farmers. And based on the reports about the Grant Thornton report for the Beef Taskforce, he's not be too optimistic about this changing anytime soon.

However, overall John says he is happy with the decision to the move from selling weanlings/yearlings to slaughtering all animals as I generally left the mart feeling that I had not maximized the value of my stock.

"The Parthenaise is delivering the type and quality of beef animal that I believe breeders must aim for to get a return out of finishing in suckler herds, but we have to strive to get the quality animal recognised in the pricing grid.

Looking ahead, he is aiming to increase the breeding herd by about 25pc, sell some stock each year for breeding and target the most remunerative markets for quality beef.


( ) ( ) is setting its sights on a game-changing 2021 as it focuses on the highly prospective Last Chance Gold Target in the Tintina region of Alaska.

Last Chance is a 15 square kilometre region within Alaskas famed Tintina Gold Belt that stretches for more than 1,000 kilometres across the northern part of the North American Cordillera, a mountainous region along the western side of the Americas.

In prolific region

Tintina is home to gold deposits such as Donlin Creek (45 million ounces gold) owned by (NYSEAMERICAN:NG) and Barrick Gold Corp ( ), Fort Knox (13.5 million ounces) owned by Kinross Gold Corp (NYSE:KGC) and Pogo (10 million ounces) owned by ( ).

In late December 2020, White Rock discovered a new large and robust gold anomaly measuring 5 square kilometres along strike just to the west of the Last Chance target, which is within the broader Red Mountain project.

Newly-identified gold anomalies provide additional targets for drill testing targeted for the second half of 2021, following ground reconnaissance and detailed surface sampling.

2021 discovery potential

White Rock technical advisor Dr Quinton Hennigh said: White Rocks recently expanded land package continues to yield a multitude of highly prospective stream sediment gold anomalies.

Collectively, there are approximately 30 square kilometres of drainages shedding anomalous gold across the Last Chance property indicating excellent potential for discovery.

Geologically, these anomalies appear to be related to a series of Cretaceous age intrusive bodies generally following the same trend, a sign we are dealing with a Tintina type gold system.

We are very eager to get back in the field to follow-up on these new anomalies and define new drill targets to add to our already robust plans for drilling the main target area in 2021.

The story so far

White Rock first flagged an extensive 2021 drilling program back in October 2020 after it received promising early signs from the Last Chance target.

By December, it had received results that included a peak gold assay of 1.2 metres at 24.8 g/t.

All holes in the eight-hole diamond drill campaign intersected multiple intervals of low-grade-but-significant gold mineralisation associated with hydrothermal silica breccia bodies, diffuse quartz-arsenopyrite veining and silicification.

These results supported the companys interpretation that the erosional level at Last Chance is within the upper brittle regime of a very large orogenic or intrusion-related gold system with potential for more favourable gold deposition at depth.

The latest samples define a catchment area more than 5 square kilometres with anomalous gold up to 124 parts per billion (ppb), comparable to some of the peak results at the Last Chance gold anomaly.

A further six gold anomalies are clustered to the south around the Last Chance target, where the associated Cretaceous age granites are interpreted to trend beneath the surface at relatively shallow depths.

Collectively, these gold anomalies indicate there is a multitude of untested targets at Last Chance.

So, whats next?

White Rock is undertaking a detailed magnetics inspection of the site to define the shape of the source intrusion at depth, and the upper structural architecture that provide fluid migration pathways for mineralisation sourced from the granites.

The company says integration of the new areas of gold anomalism with the structural interpretation is expected to yield numerous targets for aggressive focused surface prospecting and drilling ahead of the 2021 season.

- Daniel Paproth
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She's never been shy of parading her toned physique.

And Kimberley Garner sizzled in a skimpy bikini with a funky geometric print recently as she soaked up the sun in Miami.

The former Made In Chelsea star, 29, covered the two-piece with a red slip dress as she strolled along the beach in the Florida sunshine.

Wow! Kimberley Garner, 29, sizzled in a skimpy bikini with a funky geometric print as she soaked up the sun in Miami

Kimberley opted for the plunging bikini top with a 70s-inspired pink, orange and white geometric print.

The star covered up the look with a thigh-skimming red mini dress as she strolled down to the beach.

Kimberley stocked up on bottles of Coca Cola to enjoy as she reclined on her sunbed, finishing her beach look with cat-eye sunglasses, after jetting to Miami following a festive getaway to Barbados.

Jaw-dropping: The former Made In Chelsea star covered the two-piece with a red slip dress as she strolled along the beach in the Florida sunshine

Only recently, Kimberley revealed that she has been turning down all invitations to socialise on a big scale while in Miami amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

She took to Instagram to share snaps of herself looking tanned and taut in a pink crop top and grey shorts as she discussed her plans to stay safe while spending time across the pond.

She wrote: 'I am here, but I am very very strict still. I see people in Tulum and all over going to parties and it doesn't feel right to me.

'I haven't been out to any parties and turned down invites from friends as feel it's just not right to be in a crowd - it's not ok at the moment.

'I'm really lucky to be in the sun and outdoors, and am valuing that totally, but not going to live normally as it's not a normal world at the moment.

Flawless: Kimberley finishing her beach look with cat-eye sunglasses, after jetting to Miami following a festive getaway to Barbados

'I really think and feel for everyone home at the moment, it really sucks, please be brave, please be kind to each other.

'I did lots of little routines when I was in lockdown and that helped keep me happy. Simple things like Praying, walking, working out, cooking and calling people who I like :).' [sic]

Concluding her post, she advised her followers: '[B]e there for someone who might need you (even dancing round to loud music at home looking very silly but gosh it helped keep a smile) I hope your ok x.' [sic]

While Britain has been plunged into a third lockdown  preventing people from travelling unless for work  a large number of 'rule-bending' celebrities and influencers have jetted off to sunny destinations all the same.
"Operation Trust" was a Bolshevik counterintelligence operation run from 1921 to 1926 aimed at neutralizing opposition by creating the false impression that a powerful group of military leaders had organized to stop the communists' takeover.



Here's an except on the "Trust" operation from pages 13-14 of Soviet defector Anatoliy Golitsyn's book, "New Lies for Old":





(Click to enlarge)



The similarities with the Q-Anon "Trust The Plan" psy-op are remarkable.





One of the more disturbing aspects of the "Qanon" online Trump base pacification hoax is that while it claims to be fighting the "deep state" (permanent security complex) it promotes the rendition of Edward @Snowden and CIA regime change in Iran. pic.twitter.com/WG4jfmvEeG  WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) December 13, 2018

More "Qanon" pacification efforts:

Dec 19, 2017: "TRUST SESSIONS"

Jan 14, 2018: "TRUST SESSIONS"

Feb 18, 2018: "TRUST SESSIONS", "2018 will be glorious"

Mar 08, 2018: "TRUST SESSIONS"

Apr 10, 2018: "TRUST SESSIONS"

May 15, 2018: "Do you Trust POTUS?... trust SESSIONS..."  WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) December 14, 2018

"Qanon" pushes for regime change in #Iran, mirroring long held CIA, Mossad and neocon goals. pic.twitter.com/C70T1T7BNF  WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 25, 2018



From Wikipedia's article on Operation Trust:

Operation Trust was a counterintelligence operation of the State Political Directorate (GPU) of the Soviet Union. The operation, which was set up by GPU's predecessor Cheka, ran from 1921 to 1926, set up a fake anti-Bolshevik resistance organization, "Monarchist Union of Central Russia", MUCR, in order to help the OGPU identify real monarchists and anti-Bolsheviks. The created front company was called the Moscow Municipal Credit Association.



[...] The one Western historian who had limited access to the Trust files, John Costello, reported that they comprised thirty-seven volumes and were such a bewildering welter of double-agents, changed code names, and interlocking deception operations with "the complexity of a symphonic score", that Russian historians from the Intelligence Service had difficulty separating fact from fantasy.

That sounds like the Confucius-style nonsense put out by Q-Anon.



Is General Flynn our General Brusliv?









Mike Flynn's sister tweeting out the Qanon hashtag three minutes ago. This tweet was liked by Mike Flynn Jr. pic.twitter.com/xHqhNgU4oD  Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) December 5, 2018

January 5, 2021, General Flynn to Alex Jones: "Donald Trump will continue to be the President for the next 4 years, no doubt in my mind" pic.twitter.com/2PyctIa2cJ  Hedonist (@sellbooze) January 6, 2021



Q-Anon made Trump supporters who were right to be angry over the criminal nature of our ruling class delude themselves with fantasies that "White hats" in the military were going to save us while Attorney General William Barr was busy covering-up the Jeffrey Epstein case and the Kushner administration was busy pardoning fraudsters who donated to the Aleph Institute and releasing traitor Jonathan Pollard from parole to "make aliyah" in Israel.





Donald Trump condemned his own supporters and called for them to be prosecuted to "the fullest extent of the law," just days after he chose to pardon "the king of medicare fraud" & release traitor Jonathan Pollard from parole to "make aliyah" in Israel. https://t.co/KGr0Hjylmh  Chris Menahan  (@infolibnews) January 8, 2021



Just as opposition were outed and arrested by Operation Trust, potentially dozens of Q-Anoners were outed and arrested as a result of the march on the Capitol.





FBI Director Wray says more than 100 people have been arrested in connection with the Capitol invasion and more than 200 suspects have been identified.



"We know who you are, if you're out there, and FBI agents are coming to find you."  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 14, 2021



Many of the neocons in our government are the literal descendants of Trotskyites, so it's not out of the question they'd pull the same trick twice.



This Q-Anon operation has had some blowback -- Q-believing Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt was horrifically executed in cold blood by a Capitol police officer and turned into a martyr -- but the movement has gotten tons of Trump supporters thrown in prison and labeled domestic terrorists.





President-elect Biden on whether Capitol rioters should be treated as domestic terrorists: "Yes ... They're a bunch of thugs, insurrectionists, white supremacists, anti-Semites ... and they're terrorists  domestic terrorists." pic.twitter.com/BpPnuSmE3L  NBC News (@NBCNews) January 8, 2021



The Biden administration is now plotting to use the events of Jan 6 to justify PATRIOT Act 2.0 which aims to criminalize all dissent as domestic terrorism.



Their neo-Bolshevik revolution is almost complete.





NEW - Dystopic vibes at the U.S. Capitol building in DC.pic.twitter.com/SjTuxcDVuy  Disclose.tv  (@disclosetv) January 12, 2021

The Speaker of the House thanks the men and women of the National Guard for protecting the U.S. Capitol. pic.twitter.com/QwZlpeAWPp  Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) January 13, 2021

Pelosi just went outside and thanked the troops protecting the Capitol, and game them all her challenge coin: pic.twitter.com/VbOhyFxcVj  Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) January 13, 2021



It doesn't require "anonymous leaks" from "secret military intelligence officers" to witness the conspiratorial treachery our government is committing out in the open!



Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter, Facebook, Gab, Minds, Parler and Telegram.
With Joe Biden set to be sworn in as the 46th President next Wednesday, Americans are uncovering new details about the 78-year-old's ancestry.

The President-elect makes frequent reference to his Irish forebears, but there is now fervent interest in a speech he made back in 2013, in which he claimed he had familial connections in India.

'In the 1970s, I received a letter from a gentleman [with the surname] Biden from Mumbai, asserting that we were related,' he stated in the 2013 speech, delivered during a trip to the country.

'He suggested that our mutual great-great-great-great grandfather worked for the East India Trading Company and came to Mumbai.'

Biden later claimed that the mutual relative's name was George Biden, but records of such a person do not appear to exist.

Instead, Tim Willasey-Wilsey, a visiting professor of War Studies at King's College, London, says it is more likely that the President-elect was related to Christopher Biden, who worked for the East India Company.

One scholar says it is possible that the President-elect was related to Captain Christopher Biden, who worked for the East India Company. His portrait is seen above

Joe Biden and his wife Jill are pictured with Mahatma Gandhi's granddaughter (right) during a visit to India in 2013

If true, it would mean both Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris both have ties to India, as Harris' late mother was born in the South Asian nation.

Interestingly, Christopher Biden lived and died in Madras (now known as Chennai), the exact same place where Harris' mother was born.

But as The Times reports, the President-elect's possible relative and Harris' family would have had very different experiences of life in the city.

According to the paper: 'Harris describes her Indian grandfather as "one of the original independence fighters in India". Biden's ancestors, however, stand on the opposite side of history, not as victims of empire but as British Empire-builders.'

They further claim Biden has a 'problematic legacy' given his potential ties to the East India Trading Company.

By the beginning of the 1800s, around the time Christopher Biden was born, 'the East India Company had conquered, subjugated and plundered vast areas of south Asia... ruling most of India'.

A plaque honoring Captain Christopher Biden is seen in Chennai (formally Madras)

A painting showing the British attacking an Indian stronghold during the Indian Mutiny, 1857-58

According to Willasey-Wilsey, Christopher Biden became captain of an East India Company armed merchant ship named the Princess Charlotte of Wales in 1821.

Christoper Biden subsequently made four return journeys between England and Calcutta, India.

He married a woman by the name of Harriet Freeth in his native England, before they had three children.

The pair eventually settled in Madras, India in 1839, where Christopher Biden became a master attendant and marine storekeeper.

US President-elect Joe Biden and wife Jill are seen above at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday night

Despite working for the East India Company - which was responsible for colonizing and subjugating the local population - Christopher was reported to be well liked among the community.

The Times reports that between 1839 and 1857, 'Christopher earned a reputation for charitable works, setting up the Biden Home for Destitute Seamen and working to improve marine safety by erecting lighthouses along the Madras coast.'

A plaque installed in his honor still stands in modern day Chennai (previously Madrad.

A painting by John Wood, created in 1850, titled 'Approaching Bombay'. At this time the East India Company was still governing India

By the 1800s, 'the East India Company had conquered, subjugated and plundered vast areas of south Asia... ruling most of India'. Pictured: English grandee of the East India Company riding in an Indian procession, 1825-1830

A painting depicting a battle during the Indian Mutiny in 1857

It notes the 'universal respect Chrostopher's guileless and kindly heart won from every class of the community'

However, tensions between British settlers and locals were increasing during Christopher Biden's days living in Madras, leading to the Indian Mutiny of 1857.

Christopher died the following year, with The Times reporting he may have been killed in the uprising by a 'band of fanatics'.

Christopher's daughter remained living in India, but it is unknown whether she married and had children. His sons purportedly returned to England.

The Times claims Joe Biden's ancestry is 'complex and challenging' and that Christopher Biden's life 'reflects both the lighter and darker sides of the British Empire, a tale of good intentions, big profits and brutal bloodshed.'
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 08:47:44|Editor: huaxia

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GENEVA -- The chief of World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday urged fairness of access to COVID-19 vaccines, saying he wants to "see vaccination underway in every country in the next 100 days."

Speaking at a virtual press conference from Geneva, Tedros stressed that efforts should be made to ensure that middle and low-income countries are equally protected. (WHO-COVID-19-Outbreak)

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KIEV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed conflict resolution in the east of the country over the telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the President's press service said on Friday.

Zelensky informed the German Chancellor about the ceasefire, established on July 27, 2020, being generally observed but no further progress has been established apart from it. (Ukraine-Germany-Donbas)

- - - -

BAMAKO -- A peacekeeper of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) died Friday of his injuries caused during an improvised explosive device/mine attack in Mali's northeastern region of Kidal, MINUSMA confirmed in a press release.

A MINUSMA truck, part of a logistics convoy, hit an explosive device/mine on Friday around 3 p.m. local time near Tessalit, region of Kidal, MINUSMA said, adding that two peacekeepers were seriously injured by the explosion. (Mali-peacekeeper-killed)

- - - -

GAZA/RAMALLAH -- The Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, welcomed on Friday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's decrees on holding the legislative and presidential elections in Palestine.

The movement said in a press statement that "Hamas welcomes the presidential decrees that set dates for holding the legislative, presidential elections in Palestine and for the parliament of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)." (Palestine-Election-Hamas) Enditem
Amritsar, Jan 16 : TV actor Zaan Khan is trying out method acting for his role of Randheer in the new television show, Kyun Utthe Dil Chhod Aaye. The period drama is set in Lahore of the 1940s, and Zaan has even changed his look for the role, and even grown a moustache that gives a suitable retro look.

"I had an option of wearing an artificial moustache but I opted for a real one. This role needed a method acting technique which I am fond of. I personally created an aura of Randheer. I am using an 'itar', which signifies that I am playing the role of Randheer in the show," Zaan told IANS Besides the look, Zaan had to undergo physical transformation, too.

"The requirement of the character was to first lose and then gain weight in a very short time. It was a difficult task. I also watched a lot of old Hindi films of actors like Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, and Dilip Kumar to understand and study the body language of the time. What I noticed is that back then the body language was restricted," he says.

The shoot is currently going in Amritsar, and Zaan spends substantial time understanding the background of his character in the context of the city.

"I met local people and got to know many aspects of old India. I am maintaining a small notebook in which I write pointers for Randheer," says the actor.
Sebamed ad

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German personal care brand Sebamed has released a modified print advertisement of its soap, after earlier commercials directly attacked brands of Hindustan Unilever (HUL).

The tweaked print advertisement also offers free pH test kits to support the claim that Sebamed's soap has the perfect pH level (5.5) for sensitive skin.

Sebamed said that by contacting a number or going to the company's website, customers can ask for a free pH testing kit.

HUL has initiated legal action against Sebamed India in the Bombay High Court (HC).

The Bombay HC had on January 11 temporarily restrained Sebamed from releasing commercials in all mediums.

Also read: Sebamed may have made a point in ad against HUL's Dove, but was it worth it?

"HUL's brands are time-tested and have always delivered on the promise they have made to their consumers. He added that in the initial days of the COVID pandemic, HUL, as a responsible advertiser, had communicated to the masses that one could wash their hands with any soap as handwashing with soap is the first line of defence against Coronavirus," HUL Executive Director (Legal & Corporate Affairs) Dev Bajpai after the Bombay HC's interim order.

In the initial advertisement campaign, Sebamed had claimed HUL's popular products such as Dove, Rin, Pears Santoor, and Lux, have higher pH levels (meaning that they are more acidic) than Sebamed's soap.

Sebamed India had used this marketing strategy across print and video commercials. Advertisements that were visible on Sebamed India's Twitter handle and YouTube channel have now been taken down.

In UP villagers get cocktail vaccine dose: Covishield first, Covaxin next

ICMR to study effectiveness of Covishield, Covaxin in preventing progression of COVID into severe form

Meet Manish Kumar, Indias first Covid vaccine recipient

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Jan 16: Manish Kumar, a 34-year-old machine operator at AIIMS became the first person in Delhi to get the COVID-19 vaccine. He had himself asked the hospital authorities to be vaccinated first as his colleagues chosen for the exercise were "scared" to get the jab.

First Indian gets vaccinated | Witness the historic moment | Oneindia News

Kumar, whose mother Laxmi Rani also works at the hospital, said he was not at all nervous, had a good sleep and was "proud of getting the vaccine".

He was administered a COVID-19 vaccine during the launch of the nationwide vaccination programme at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the presence of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday.

"I did not know that I am the first person to receive the vaccine. I had a good sleep last night, came here (hospital) in the morning and talked to the other staff who were to get the shot," he said.

"Many of them were scared. So, I went to my seniors and said I should be given the vaccine first. I wanted to prove to my colleagues that there is no need to be scared," Kumar told PTI.

A resident of Najafgarh, Kumar has been working at the hospital for the last eight years. He said his wife was very nervous as well.

COVID-19 vaccine: After first jab, surgeon in Kerala hails nation's efforts against coronavirus

"She even asked me not to take the vaccine. I told her it is just an injection. After taking the dose, I asked my mother to tell my wife that I am safe," he said.

"It''s been more than two hours and I feel proud and great. I would like to tell everyone that the fear about the vaccine is unwarranted. I have not noticed any reactions so far. There is no pain, or trouble breathing or difficulty in moving my limbs," he said.

Laxmi Rani said she was scared and kept praying for him. "It was to happen. The almighty gave him the chance to get the vaccine and the courage to face the fears," she said.

Shaukat Ali, Kumar''s colleague and a sanitation worker at AIIMS, said he was "very scared" before he got the jab in the morning.

"I have undergone three surgeries for kidney stones. So, I was obviously scared, but Manish gave me confidence. I am not worried now, I am happy," the 37-year-old said.

Ali said he offered namaz before he stepped out of his home for the hospital at 5 am in the morning.

"I called my wife and children and told them I am safe, there is nothing to be worried about," he said.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India''s COVID-19 vaccination drive and asserted that the made-in-India vaccines being rolled out will ensure a "decisive victory" for the country over the coronavirus pandemic.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also urged people not to believe in rumours and listen to experts who say COVID-19 vaccines are safe.

"I have interacted with those vaccinated. No one has any problem. All are happy that they will get rid of coronavirus," the chief minister said at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital where he inspected the vaccination drive.

The vaccination exercise was conducted at 81 sites across all 11 districts in Delhi. Six central government hospitals -- AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital, Kalawati Saran Children Hospital and two ESI hospitals -- are also part of the drive.

Besides LNJP Hospital, Delhi-government run GTB Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, DDU Hospital, BSA Hospital, Delhi State Cancer Institute, ILBS Hospital are among the vaccination sites.

Private facilities Max Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Apollo Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital are also part of the inoculation drive.

Delhi had recorded 295 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, the lowest in more than eight months, which took the city''s tally to 6,31,884. The death toll mounted to 10,732 with 10 new fatalities, according to official data.

with PTI inputs

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 16:31 [IST]
Twitter and Facebook have clamped down on the social media accounts of an armed group of Colombian rebels for 'inciting violence', a week on from the US Capitol riots.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) posted a video on January 13 featuring their president Ivan Marquez wearing green army fatigues in the jungle.

The 65-year-old fugitive, also known as Luciano Marin, is surrounded by men with machine guns, and calling for the country's president Ivan Duque Marquez to be overthrown.

Twitter accounts linked to the dissident group were suspended by the tech giant yesterday after complaints by Colombian police.

Facebook said it has also removed content from its platform.

The move comes amid a wider crackdown on social media accounts that have been accused of inciting violence.

Twitter and Facebook permanently locked the account of U.S. President Donald Trump last week, citing the risk of further violence following the storming of the Capitol by his supporters.

In August rewards of $10million each were offered by the US' Drug Enforcement Administration for the arrest of FARC's Marquez and Seuxis Hernandez, also known as Jesus Santrich, who are accused of drug trafficking.

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The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) posted a video on January 13 featuring their president Ivan Marquez wearing green army fatigues in the jungle

Marquez, also known as Luciano Marin, is a fugitive after reneging on the historic 2016 peace deal he helped to negotiate

Twitter accounts linked to the dissident group were suspended by the tech giant after complaints by Colombian police that they were inciting violence

FARC's Ivan Marquez, pictured during peace talks in 2016, has had a $10million bounty on his head from the US since last summer, over alleged drug trafficking

In 2019 the group released a video announcing they were reneging on the 2016 peace deal and taking arms back up, accusing the government of not keeping up their end

Colombian President Ivan Duque, pictured speaking during the opening of a regional counter-terrorism meeting at the police academy in Bogota, Colombia on January 20, is the target of the FARC rebel group who have called for his mandate to be revoked

The FARC group was founded in 1964 as a wing of the Communist Party but agreed to a historic peace-deal in 2016 before taking arms back up in 2019.

In the new video former FARC leader Ivan Marquez, who negotiated the 2016 deal before reneging on it three years later becoming a fugitive, says: 'We are going for the revocation of [president] Duque's mandate. If we unite, we can achieve it'.

In 2018 Ivan Duque Marquez was elected Colombia's youngest president, as the candidate from the Democratic Centre Party.

The 44-year-old ran a campaign where he stood against the 2016 peace treaty with the guerilla group.

The Twitter accounts for @IvanMarquezFarc and @SMarquetalia, controlled by FARC dissidents who rejected a 2016 peace deal, now read: 'Account suspended. Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter rules.'

The account @JSantrich_FARC, belonging to former FARC leader Jesus Santrich, has also been suspended.

Twitter was not immediately available to comment.

Facebook has recently removed content related to FARC dissidents as identified by its moderators, it told Reuters via WhatsApp.

'We will continue to take action in accordance with our community standards and dangerous organization policies,' a spokeswoman told Reuters.

The move by the tech giants comes a week after rioters stormed the US Capitol

General Jorge Luis Vargas, Colombias national police director, requested this week that social media firms block the FARC dissident accounts after a video was published of Marquez speaking alongside others armed with rifles as he criticized the government.

'Theyre armed, theyre issuing messages calling for international terrorism. Thats why we have asked that they be blocked, in accordance with international law,' Vargas told journalists.

In 2019, Marquez and Santrich - former commanders of the demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) - appeared in a YouTube video announcing a new offensive, just three years after signing a peace deal with the government.

The 2016 peace deal ended the FARCs role in a more than five-decade conflict which has left 260,000 dead and millions displaced.

Although the deal allowed around 13,000 former FARC members to demobilize, some leaders and combatants have abandoned it and taken up arms again.

Some 2,500 combatants make up FARC dissident groups, which are involved in drug trafficking and illegal mining, according to the government and the military.

FARC dissidents, as well as other armed groups such as the National Liberation Army (ELN), regularly use social media networks to publish messages.
An intolerant religion can never be the basis of nationhood and national unity in India

Given its abject failures on the economic front, the BJP/RSS regime in New Delhi is now pushing India towards a Hindutva nationhood, by seeking to victimise a minority for the perceived wrongs and slights of the past. (Representative Photo:AFP)

The fortunes of India had irrevocably changed on May 29, 1658 when two Indian armies clashed on the dusty fields of Samugarh, near Agra. Indias history changed forever. Aurangzebs victory over his brother Dara Shikoh marked the beginning of Islamic bigotry in India that not only alienated the Hindus but also the much more moderate Sufis and Shias as well.

Aurangzebs narrow Sunni beliefs were to make India the hotbed of Muslim fundamentalists, long before the Wahabis of Saudi Arabia sponsored the fanatics of the Taliban and the Islamic State. It was not only a battle for the Mughal throne, but also a battle for the very soul of India.

Aurangzebs victory here and other successful campaigns resulted in the creation of the greatest and biggest imperial India till then. But the seeds of Indias collapse were sowed.

In 1620 India had the worlds greatest national income, over a third of it, and was its greatest military power as well. It was the envy of Europe. The European traders came to seek Indian goods for their markets. But no sooner was the iron hand of Aurangzeb no more that his imperial India began to disintegrate. The iron hand that ruled by dividing rather than uniting and that sought to impose a hierarchy by theological preferences gave rise to much discordance. But for Aurangzeb, Shivaji Bhonsle might have remained a minor western Indian feudatory? There are important lessons to be learnt from all this for those who rule and seek to rule India.

The weakening central rule and profit-seeking peripheral kingdoms allowed European trading posts to be established. Weakening regimes led to the trading posts raising armed guards. Soon the overseas trading companies began warring each other and with so many minor states now free to make their destinies joining hands with one or the other it was the Europeans who got gradually got established. The Anglo-French wars of the Carnatic were fought by Indian armies beefed up by trading company levies. The East India Company of the British ultimately prevailed and the French, Dutch, Portuguese and Danish got reduced to pockets.

A hundred years later, in 1757, the era of total foreign supremacy over India began when the East India Companys troops drawn from South India and officered by English company executives defeated the army of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah at Plassey (Palashi) in Bengal, with the now usual mix of superior drilling, resolute leadership and a bit of treachery. At a crucial time, Mir Jaffar and his troops crossed over. India lay prostrate before Robert Clive.

Within a decade, on August 12, 1765, Clive obtained a firman from the then Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam, granting the dewani of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha to the Company. A Muslim contemporary indignantly exclaims that so great a transaction was done and finished in less time than would have been taken up in the sale of a jackass. By this deed the Company became the real sovereign ruler of 30 million people, yielding a revenue of four million sterling. The John Company grew from strength to strength, and by 1857 the Grand Mughal was reduced to his fort conducting poetry soirees. It was the golden age of Urdu poetry.

The events of 1857 led to the formal establishment of India as a directly ruled colony of the British empire. It was yet another epochal event. India changed, for the better and for the worse. Once again India absorbed from outsiders, as it absorbed from the Dravidians, Aryans, Greeks, Persians, Kushans, Afghans, Uzbeks and all those who came to seek their fortunes here. The British were the only ones who came to take away its vast wealth in a systematic manner. The wealth taken from India to a great extent financed the Industrial Revolution in England.

From then to another epochal year ending with seven took ninety years. In 1947, India became independent. Its GDP is now the worlds third-biggest. In a few decades, it could conceivably become its biggest. But have we learned any lessons from history?

Given its abject failures on the economic front, the BJP/RSS regime in New Delhi is now pushing India towards a Hindutva nationhood, by seeking to victimise a minority for the perceived wrongs and slights of the past. An intolerant religion can never be the basis of nationhood and national unity in India. The legacy of Aurangzeb tells us that. Aurangzeb had created the greatest empire that India had seen since Ashoka the Great. But it didnt take very long for it to dissipate. In the hundred years that followed, a foreign mercantile company gained control over all of India.

The BJP under Narendra Modi might keep gaining electoral dominion over all or most of India. But has he learned any lessons from history? Does he want to become the Hindu Aurangzeb? What is worrisome is that we know well that history is not Narendra Modis forte.
News and updates from the Project Zero team at Google
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Wendy Sherman, the countrys lead negotiator of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, to be the No. 2 official at the State Department.

Biden also named retired career diplomat Victoria Nuland, who voiced strong support for the popular uprising that pushed Ukraines Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych from power in 2014, in the department's third-ranking post.

The Biden transition team announced on January 16 that Sherman, who served as undersecretary of state for political affairs under President Barack Obama, was nominated to be deputy secretary of state.

Sherman was the lead U.S. negotiator in talks that led to the agreement between Tehran and world powers under which Tehran committed to limit its nuclear activities in return for relief from sanctions.

But tensions between Washington and Tehran have risen since 2018, when outgoing President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal, arguing that it did not go far enough, and started imposing crippling sanctions on Iran as part of a maximum pressure campaign aimed at forcing the country to negotiate a new accord.

Since then, Iran, which claims its nuclear program is for civilian purposes, has breached parts of the nuclear pact, saying it is no longer bound by it.

Nuland, whose past portfolio at the State Department made her a leading Russia official in the Obama administration, was picked as undersecretary for political affairs.

As assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, she was the lead U.S. diplomat on the ground in Kyiv and Moscow during the pro-democracy uprising in Ukraine and Russias subsequent annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

The seizure of the Ukrainian region by Moscow and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed more than 13,200 people since April 2014 have greatly contributed to the dramatic deterioration of relations between Russia and the United States.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is to hold a confirmation hearing on January 19 for Antony Blinken, Biden's nominee to be secretary of state.

If confirmed, Sherman and Nuland would serve under him.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and Bloomberg
12/1/2021 Exterior pic of the Emergency Department at the Mater hospital in Dublin yesterday(Tues). Pic: Collins Courts

The CEO of the HSE Paul Reid has said that hospitals have gone into surge capacity as ICU numbers continue to rise.

There are now 191 Covid-19 patients in ICU as of this afternoon and Mr Reid confirmed that the agreement signed with private hospitals has been initiated to cater for spillover from the public health service.

The HSE boss said there are also 250 Covid patients outside of ICU that are requiring significant assistance such as additional oxygen.

1,848 people are in hospital with the virus today, while Mr Reid said 125 extra beds in private hospitals will now become available for non-Covid patients.

Read More

We have formally gone into surge capacity, Mr Reid told Saturday with Katie Hannon on RTE Radio.

In terms of beds, we now have 313 available [ICU] beds, up from 285 before surge capacity."

Mr Reid moved to assure people that we are coping and if people need urgent care, they will receive it.

In total, across the hospital system and community services we have close to 6,500 staff off work for Covid related reasons, with about 4,000 of those from hospitals, so it is a significant pressure.

Mr Reid said the health service are seeing families and young people being treated. This virus affects everybody, he said.

The HSE boss also confirmed that roughly one in four nursing homes in Ireland are currently dealing with outbreaks. Tadhg Daly, Chief Executive of Nursing Homes Ireland, confirmed that there were in excess of 110 outbreaks in nursing homes in Ireland earlier this week.

This comes as the news broke that nursing homes are to be prioritised with vaccines over the next 10 days as the delivery of the Pifzer vaccine is to be stalled slightly due to an upgrade of their plant.

1,800 GPs are to be vaccinated today in three mass vaccination centres across the nation. 800 will receive the Moderna vaccine in the Phoenix Park while 500 general practitioners each will receive the same jab at centres in Galway and Portlaoise.

Read More




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Swissport, a leader in airport ground services and air cargo handling, said its contract with leading French-Dutch airline group Air France-KLM in Saudi Arabia has been extended for another four years.

The start of the expanded agreement, which is valid until 2025, is marked by a new KLM service from Amsterdam to Riyadh (RUH) four times per week, sad the statement from Swissport.

The new contract expands the existing cooperation to all flights of all airlines of the French-Dutch airline group, including freighter services, to and from the kingdom. It includes KLM, Air France, Air France Cargo, Martinair and Transavia.

Swissport pointed out that the new deal, which further boosts its presence on the Arabian peninsula, will see it provide air cargo handling services in addition to passenger services and ramp handling.

"We are excited and honored by the renewed confidence Air France-KLM puts in our business and our people in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, says Gerold Tumulka, CEO of Swissport Middle East.

By including all airlines of the group into the contract, we are the preferred partner for Air France-KLM in the region. We look forward to standing by their side through the market recovery and support them post-Covid as prospects get brighter, he added.

The four-times-a-week flights are being operated with Airbus A330 widebody aircraft. Pre-Covid, Swissport had provided airport ground services to KLM on ten weekly flights in Dammam (DMM), a stop-over on route between Amsterdam and Muscat, Oman, where Swissport also provides ground services.

According to Tumulka, the contract expansion supports Swissports growth strategy in the Middle East.

Just recently, it had added Al Qassim as a fourth airport to its portfolio in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Overall, Swissport has been present in Saudi Arabia since 2016 when it started operations in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.

Swissport has since gradually developed its business from a greenfield start-up into an established organization with a broad customer base of established regional airlines and well-known international carriers, stated the top official.

Swissport Middle East is also operating in Oman together with its partner Al Jarwani Group, which holds 30% of the joint venture.

Since the start of Omani operations in 2017, Swissport Oman has rapidly grown its customer portfolio, too, positioning it as a reliable airport service provider for regional and international carriers alike, said Tumulka.

In 2019, Swissport International AG provided best-in-class airport ground services for some 265 million airline passengers and handled roughly 4.6 million tons of air freight in 115 cargo warehouses worldwide, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Berlin: Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) elected Armin Laschet as chairman on Saturday, aiming to unify their divided party behind a new leader they hope can succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor when she steps down at federal elections in September.

Armin Laschet will helm Germany's Christian Democratic Union and is well placed to either run to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor or to be the kingmaker. Credit:AP

Laschet, the governor of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia  Germany's most populous  won a runoff vote against Friedrich Merz, securing 521 votes against 466 for his arch-conservative rival, according to a ballot of 1001 party delegates. A third candidate, prominent lawmaker Norbert Roettgen, was eliminated in a first round of voting.

Saturdays vote isnt the final word on who will run as the centre-right candidate for chancellor in Germanys September 26 election, but Laschet will either run for chancellor or have a major say in who does.

By tradition, the CDU chairman is usually  though not always  the chancellor candidate for the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the conservative bloc is on course to win September's federal ballot.
In this Feb. 28, 2019 file photo provided by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, the U.S. National Park Service and the National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation, a white wolf is released onto Isle Royale National Park in Michigan. One of the world's longest-running wildlife field studies has fallen prey to the coronavirus pandemic. Superintendent Denice Swanke said Friday, Jan. 15, 2021 that this year's mission has been scrapped to protect the scientists and support personnel from possible exposure to the virus. (Daniel Conjanu/The National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation via AP, File)

One of the world's longest-running wildlife field studies has fallen prey to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since 1959, a research team has spent most of the winter observing the interplay between wolves and moose at Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. But this year's mission has been scrapped to protect the scientists and support personnel from possible exposure to the virus, Superintendent Denice Swanke said Friday.

Experts from several universities, the park service and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa had planned to assess how an effort to rebuild the wolf population is affecting the ecosystem.

The remote park is closed from Nov. 1 to April 15. The winter researchers use a single cabin, which wouldn't allow for social distancing. Also factoring into the decision to cancel the expedition were the border closure between the United States and Canada, and a shortage of flight resources to bring supplies, Swanke said.

The park service and partners will try to document wolf population changes this summer using remote cameras and other techniques, Swanke said. But they won't have the benefit of aerial observations that can be done only during winter, when the animals are easier to spot.

"There will just be a hole in the data that nothing can be done about," said John Vucetich of Michigan Technological University, one of the biologists who have produced annual reports about the wolves and moose that roam the island park, as well as its other wildlife and vegetation.

Wolves are believed to have crossed ice bridges from the mainland to the island in the mid-20th century. They established packs and helped keep the moose from overpopulating their habitat.

When inbreeding all but wiped out the wolves in recent years, officials began airlifting in others from the U.S. and Canadian mainland.

The most recent count last year put their numbers at 12 to 14. The moose herd was estimated to number 1,876.

Explore further Relocated Isle Royale wolves form groups, reduce moose herd

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Chennai, Jan 16 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Saturday said he too will get a vaccine shot against the Coronavirus.

Launching the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the state at Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai, Palaniswami told reporters that he too will get vaccinated against Coronavirus and added that the State had received 556,500 doses of vaccines -- 536,500 doses of Covishield and 20,000 doses of Covaxin.

Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar and others were also present at the hospital.

The first vaccine shot was given to K. Senthil, State President of Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association.

Both the vaccines -- Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India and Covaxin developed and manufactured by Bharat Biotech -- will be used in the state.

Palaniswami said 28 days after the first shot, a second vaccine dose will be administered and one has to be very careful for the next 42 days after which immunity against coronavirus will develop.

When pointed out some states not using Covaxin, Palaniswami said the permission to the vaccine was given by the central government after detailed studies.

Palaniswami said people may have some initial apprehension about the vaccine but when the doctors themselves come forward to take the shot people's views would undergo a change.

The Chief Minister also said the government would consider regularising the about 12,000 coronavirus frontline workers.

At the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, its Dean Therani Rajan took the first vaccine jab.

"I had opted for Covaxin to create confidence in the people as the number of people who had registered for this vaccine was less as compared to Covishield," Rajan told IANS.

He said 52 persons had registered for Covishield while it was 30 for Covaxin.

"Except for the slight pain when the needle poked the skin, I have no other problem," Rajan said.

In Tamil Nadu, the immunization exercise will be performed at 166 centres -- government and private hospitals.

At Apollo Hospitals here, the Chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Pratap C. Reddy got himself vaccinated. The hospital is one of the vaccination centres in the state.

A total of 100 people will be vaccinated at each centre in the coming days.

Till Friday, a total of 8,29,573 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the state. A total of 12,251 persons have lost their lives due to the virus.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
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This article is old - Published: Saturday, Jan 16th, 2021

A fourth detailed briefing on the pandemic situation locally has been published by the local authority.

The below update was published yesterday part of the new twice weekly update system, and echos recent updates with community transmission in households thought to be the driver of the high local covid figures.

The update has also come with a set of social media graphics that you may see popping up on accounts around the area  if you want to join in they are at the bottom of this page, so apologies for the slow loading time.

The full update from yesterday afternoon is copied below, and as usual all bolding and underlining of points is copied from Wrexham Councils data:

Dear Councillors, Community Councillors and the media,

COMMUNICATIONS

Wrexham Councillors have a vital role to play in sharing key information and messages directly with your communities. To help you with this, I attach user-friendly graphics and animations (GIFs) prepared by the Councils Comms Team, that you can readily share on social media. Todays Council public briefing note, which you can also share on social media, is below:

https://news.wrexham.gov.uk/covid-19-briefing-note-its-still-grim-but-there-is-hope/

The key message remains: everyone should act as if they, and everyone they meet, has Covid-19 but that the vaccine is on its way.

DATA ON THE VIRUS

Please find attached:

Table 1  the summary of the weekly data for Wrexham as a whole compared to other councils in North Wales

Table 2  the summary of daily data for the 18 MSOA statistical sub-areas of Wrexham used by Public Health Wales

The County Borough as a Whole (Table 1) (NB  the data for week ending 10th January are tentative and will not be finalised until next week).

Wrexham remains worst in Wales for the rate per 100,000 population (867.9 today) and positivity (28.8% today), but this is similar to that reported on Friday (851.7 and 29.3%) and slightly better than a few days ago. We can only hope that the virus has peaked, be redouble our efforts to ensure that it does not rise again. There have never been more tests undertaken in North Wales than in the week ending 10th January.

The key driver for the spread of the virus is the UK variant, which now accounts for 75-80% of new cases in North Wales, and, most likely, will soon account for 100%. The rate of infection is currently doubling every 5.4 days.

There are not, as yet, any known cases of the South Africa variant in Wales or the new, much more worrying, Brazil variant in the UK, though the BBC is reported a possible case of the latter. The risks from these will diminish with international travel restrictions in place (including from Portugal, given its close connections with Brazil). Welsh Government has, today, announced mandatory Covid-19 testing for international travellers arriving in Wales from Monday.

Hospital admissions for Covid-19 in North Wales (147 week ending 10th January), have now exceeded the weekly peak of last year (91 in May), placing even greater strain on an over-stretched NHS in general and local hospitals in particular.

Sadly, deaths are rising too.

The Sub-Areas (Table 2)

Most of the 18 MSOA sub-areas of Wrexham (used by PHW in their reports) have improved a little since my last report to you 4 days ago (11th January), but some have got worse, a few much worse and the figures remain very high.

1 has recorded its worst figures since 20 th October (shown in bold on the table), compared to 3 on the 11 th

has recorded its worst figures since 20 October (shown in bold on the table), compared to 3 on the 11 16 have greater than 550/100k , compared to 15 on the 11 th .

have greater than , compared to 15 on the 11 . 10 have greater than 800/100k , compared to 18 on the 11 th .

have greater than , compared to 18 on the 11 . 14 are in the worst decile (10%) in Wales , compared to 14 on the 11 th , but this threshold is much lower (602/100k) than on Monday (648/100k) and last Friday (750/100k), reflecting the fact that cases have fallen more quickly in South Wales.

are in the , compared to 14 on the 11 , but this threshold is much lower (602/100k) than on Monday (648/100k) and last Friday (750/100k), reflecting the fact that cases have fallen more quickly in South Wales. The 12 with more than 700/100k (compared to 12 on Monday, but two are different) are set out below:

o Hermitage & Whitegate has 1337/100k  up from 1268 on the 11th

o Gwersyllt West & Summerhill has 1249  down from 1924 on the 11th

o Town North, University & Rhos-ddu has 1137  up from 799 on the 11th

o Rhos and Johnstown South has 1110  up from 626 on the 11th  this is almost double in 4 days

o Caia Park has 1087  up from 896 on the 11th

o New Broughton & Bryn Cefn has 1044  down from 1134 on the11th

o Llay South & Gwersyllt East has 947  down from 1022 on the 11th

o Wrexham West has 912  down from 948 on the 11th

o Coedpoeth & Brymbo has 855  down from 1008 on the 11th

o Pen-y-cae & Minera has 820  up from 861 on the 11th

o Acton & Maes-y-dre has 791  up from 732 on the 11th

o Gresford, Marfoed & Rossett has 749  up from 602 on 11th

0 have less than 300/100k, compared to 0 on 11th December. The lowest is 497/100k, compared to 466 on the 11th

Settings

The virus is very widespread with the principal locations remaining households followed, some way below, by outbreaks in care/nursing homes (including, sadly, a number of hospitalisations and deaths), the Maelor Hospital and the prison. There are several work-place outbreaks including the one associated with the Arriva Wales bus depot.

MANAGING THE VIRUS

General

The Level 4 Alert lockdown, which came into force on 20th December has been extended until the end of January and should soon begin to have an effect, as the October firebreak did, although the predominance of the UK variant has clearly acted against this for the last few weeks. International travel restrictions and testing on entry to Wales should help, but household transmission remains the key driver of the infection.

Schools

Schools continue to provide education to pupils via remote learning. On-site provision continues for those children who are vulnerable and for the children of key workers. Unless there is a significant reduction in cases of Covid-19 before 29 January these arrangements will continue until the February half term (week beginning 15th February), which seems likely.

Other Council Services

The Council is continuing to provide critical services as publicised on our website.

Vaccination Programme

Overall

The vaccination programme is fast-moving and subject to daily change.

Last week, Welsh Government published a national vaccination plan aiming to vaccinate:

all care home residents and staff, health and social care workers, people over 70 and people with underlying health conditions (Priorities 1 to 4) by mid-February

all other people over 50 by the spring

all other adults by the autumn

In North Wales, partner organisations are working closely together to implement the programme and are on target to vaccinate the Priority 1 to 4 most vulnerable groups by mid-February, in accordance with the national plan.

Care Homes

Staff and residents at care homes in Wrexham continue to be vaccinated.

Social Care Staff

The Council has provided the names of front-line social care staff so they can be vaccinated as soon as possible.

Community

In the coming days, every household in Wrexham will receive a letter from the health board  many will have already received it by email. It explains more about the vaccine rollout, including how people will be contacted about an appointment. Most vaccinations are currently being given at a number of Mass Vaccination Centres (MVCs) in North Wales, but there are advanced plans in place to mobilise Local Vaccination Centres (LVCs) in Wrexham when needed and to use local GP practices, pharmacies, etc.

More information can be obtained via the following link: https://phw.nhs.wales/topics/immunisation-and-vaccines/covid-19-vaccination-information/about-the-vaccine

Regards

Chief Officer Planning and Regulatory
In air travel news this week, federal officials and airlines are imposing strong new security measures on flights to the Washington D.C. area after several incidents of rowdy flyers before and after the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will soon require a negative COVID test result from all international passengers headed to the U.S.; the Transportation Department issues a new regulation covering airline overbooking practices and passenger rights; more airlines ban emotional support animals; Emirates sets a date for its return to San Francisco; United delays its SFO-JFK service and JetBlue pushes back San Jose flights; Norwegian scraps its plans to revive low-cost transatlantic flights; government approves JetBlue/American partnership in the northeast; and JetBlue reveals cabin details of its new A33-200s.

Anyone flying to or from the nations capital in the coming days better be on their best behavior. In the days just before and after the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, a series of incidents involving some Washington D.C. travelers has resulted in a crackdown on unruly or disruptive activity, both in flight and at airports. Flight attendants have complained about politically motivated passengers chanting, shouting, getting into arguments with other travelers and refusing to wear masks, while airports have seen several incidents of angry partisans denouncing members of Congress trying to get to their flights. Alaska Airlines told 14 passengers on a Washington D.C. to Seattle flight that they were being banned from future travel. An American Airlines captain flying from D.C. to Phoenix reportedly warned unruly passengers that if they didnt sit down and shut up, he was going to land in the middle of Kansas and throw them off the plane.

The head of a major flight attendants union complained about its members having to deal with a mob mentality displayed by some customers. As a result of those problems and the threat of more extremist actions planned for Washington in the coming days, the Transportation Security Administration said this week that its officers at airports are on high alert watching for travelers carrying prohibited items, and its in-flight air marshals will be cracking down on bad behavior. TSA also said travelers will see additional law enforcement and canine presence at Washington Reagan National, Washington Dulles and Baltimore-Washington Airport. Several airlines are temporarily banning Washington-bound passengers from checking luggage that contains firearms and taking other steps like not serving alcohol and ordering passengers to remain seated for an hour after takeoff.

And Federal Aviation Administration chief Steve Dickson signed a zero-tolerance order this week warning travelers the FAA will take strong enforcement action against anyone who disrupts a flight or disobeys flight crew. Historically, the agency has addressed unruly-passenger incidents using a variety of methods ranging from warnings and counseling to civil penalties, the FAA said. Effective immediately, however, the FAA will not address these cases with warnings or counseling. The agency will pursue legal enforcement action against any passenger who assaults, threatens, intimidates, or interferes with airline crew members. This policy will be in effect through March 30, 2021. Penalties could include fines of up to $35,000. Some politicians have called for the creation of a new no-fly list to keep known political disrupters off commercial flights indefinitely.

In late December, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started to require proof of a negative COVID test result from all passengers flying into the U.S. from the United Kingdom after researchers discovered a contagious new strain of the virus in the London area. And this week, the CDC went a huge step further, expanding that test requirement to all air passengers entering the United States, effective starting Jan. 26. That applies to U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike, no matter where theyre coming from. So if youre planning a getaway to a resort in Mexico, youll have to find a clinic there where you can get a viral COVID test no more than three days before you board your return flight. If you cant show the negative result at the airport, your airline wont be allowed to let you on board. In fact, the CDC wants you to do even more than that: Before departure to the United States, a required test, combined with the CDC recommendations to get tested again 3-5 days after arrival and stay home for 7 days post-travel, will help slow the spread of COVID-19 within U.S. communities from travel-related infections, the agency said. Delta, United and American are waiving change fees and fare differentials for customers who want to change their travel plans in order to get back to the U.S. before the new testing rule takes effect. You can see the CDCs order here.



Remember that 2017 incident where a distraught doctor was injured as he was violently dragged off an overbooked United Airlines flight  an incident caught on video that quickly went viral? That led Congress to pass a law ordering the Transportation Dept. to review its regulations on airline overbooking and denied boarding compensation, and a new final rule came out this week, to take effect April 13. The new rule allows DOT to take enforcement action against airlines that attempt to remove a passenger who has already boarded and taken their seat. It also increases the minimum amount of compensation an airline must pay to someone who is denied boarding against their will due to overbooking. Bumped passengers who are delayed from reaching their destination by one to two hours on domestic flights or one to four hours on international flights will be entitled to compensation of $775, a $100 increase; longer delays will require compensation of $1,550, up from $1,350. The new rules note that airlines are allowed to compensate delayed passengers by higher amounts if they want to. And if an airline loses a passengers checked bag, its maximum liability will increase from $3,000 to $3,500. You can see the full rule here.

As expected, more airlines have come out with new regulations banning so-called emotional support animals from their aircraft. After the Transportation Dept. made a rule change that gave carriers the freedom to set their own rules for animals, Alaska Airlines was the first to ban customers from bringing emotional support animals on board, followed quickly by American and Delta. This week, United, JetBlue, Frontier and Hawaiian Airlines all followed suit and stopped taking reservations for emotional support animals. Only service dogs  i.e. those specially trained to provide support for disabled individuals  are now permitted in the passenger cabin (exception: airlines generally allow passengers to bring a pet into the cabin  for a fee  if it is small enough to fit into a cage that can go under the seat). Check with individual airlines for specific rules.

Emirates

In route news, Dubai-based Emirates, which suspended service to San Francisco in October, has now set a return date as it expands flights to the U.S. The airline is scheduled to put a 777-300ER into service between San Francisco International and Dubai starting March 2, operating four flights a week. Emirates is also slated to resume Seattle-Dubai flights four times a week beginning Feb. 2 and Dallas/Ft. Worth-Dubai service three days a week as of March 3. Emirates already flies to New York JFK, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Houston and Washington D.C. Emirates Gulf rival Qatar Airways started San Francisco service last month and is due to launch new Seattle service later this month. But as a sign of the changing times, Qatar also revealed this week that it plans to get rid of half of the 10 Airbus A380 super-jumbos currently in its fleet.

In other Bay Area route news, Uniteds big plan to bring back service between San Francisco International and New York JFK is being delayed. Instead of launching the route on Feb. 1 as previously announced, the airline is now pushing it back to Feb. 28, and with a reduced schedule. The same goes for Los Angeles-JFK service, also delayed to Feb. 28. United will use 767-300s with 46 Polaris front-cabin seats as well as Premium Plus, Economy Plus and regular coach seating. At Mineta San Jose, meanwhile, JetBlue has changed its previous plans to resume suspended service in April on its Boston-SJC and New York JFK-SJC routes. Now those suspensions will remain in effect at least until June. The same goes for its flights from Boston and JFK to Burbank as well as its JFK-Ontario route.

A few months ago, a schedule update from European low-cost carrier Norwegian indicated that it planned to resume some U.S. service  including San Francisco-London Gatwick  this spring. But now those plans are scrapped. As the financially strapped airline struggles to obtain Norwegian state aid and new investors, it has come up with a revised business plan that does not include its once-extensive transatlantic network. Norwegian filed for protection from creditors in November. The company said this week that given the continuing uncertainty about the future of air travel, long-haul flying is no longer in the cards. According to CEO Jacob Schram, short-haul routes within Europe have long been the backbone of Norwegian and will form the basis of a future resilient business model.

JetBlue and American Airlines said this week that the Transportation Dept. has approved their plans to create a strategic alliance in the northeastern U.S. aimed at providing travelers with more seamless connectivity and better travel choices on routes to and from New York (JFK, LGA and EWR) and Boston. The deal will allow customers to book a connecting interline itinerary through either airlines website and will give JetBlue passengers increased access to Americans international flights. Beginning later in the first quarter, the two airlines will start code-sharing in the affected markets, putting JetBlues code on 60 American routes and adding the AA code to 130 JetBlue routes. In addition, American will up-gauge aircraft and by the end of 2021 will operate all service out of New York with first class, they said, replacing smaller regional jets with larger planes. And later this year, members of JetBlues TrueBlue loyalty program and Americans AAdvantage will be able to earn and burn points on either airline.

Meanwhile, JetBlue this week revealed details about the new Airbus A220-300s it has ordered to replace its Embraer 190s. The airline recently took delivery of the first of 70 new A220s that will be joining its fleet. The E190s have 100 seats in a 2x2 configuration, while the larger A220s will seat 140 passengers in a 2x3 layout. The new planes will have greater seat width (18.6 inches) than the E190s as well as an extra six rows of JetBlues Even More Space extra-legroom seats, bigger windows and larger overhead bins. And theyll offer the airlines usual in-flight entertainment options including its Fly-Fi internet service and 30 channels of DIRECTV. The airline has created a special website with details and photos of the aircrafts interior.

Jim Glab is a freelance travel writer for SFGATE.
Planned Parenthood must be stopped from obtaining PPP loans meant for small businesses: senators

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A group of Republican senators have sent a letter to the Small Business Administration, urging the government agency to ensure that Planned Parenthood affiliates don't receive loans designated to help small businesses stay afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Paycheck Protection Program was part of the stimulus package passed by Congress last year to help businesses that were forced to close due to government-imposed lockdowns in response to COVID-19. The program provided loans to small businesses so they could pay their employees and their bills as lockdowns rendered them unable to open and consequently, unable to make money. A coronavirus relief package passed last month authorized additional PPP loans.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and 29 other Senate Republicans, wrote a letter to Small Business Administrator Jovita Carranza Thursday, urging her to take precautions so that affiliates of Planned Parenthood, the nations largest and most notorious abortion provider, do not receive loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), as they did earlier this year in defiance of the law.

As the senators explained, Applicants for the initial waves of PPP loans had to employ no more than 500 employees across all of their affiliates to be eligible for a loan; applicants for a second-draw loan must have no more than 300 employees across all of their affiliates. They contended that Planned Parenthood, which employs about 16,000 people nationwide, was ineligible to receive PPP loans.

The letter featured a quote from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the abortion providers political action committee, which noted that the stimulus package gives the Small Business Administration broad discretion to exclude Planned Parenthood [and its] affiliates." Despite the fact that the organization knew that it did not qualify for loans under the PPP, it still received loans from the program.

At least 37 Planned Parenthood affiliates illegally obtained more than $80 million in taxpayer funds during the initial rounds of PPP by self-certifying their eligibility for the program, the senators continued. In response, the SBA determined that these affiliates were ineligible to receive PPP loans and issued letters informing them of the consequences of false certifications of eligibility, including repayment of loans, loss of loan forgiveness, and other civil and criminal penalties.

Members of this body previously have urged you to investigate these false certifications of eligibility, recover the more than $80 million in funds, and seek appropriate penalties against Planned Parenthood affiliates that broke the law, they added.

An equally urgent task is to ensure Planned Parenthood affiliates do not receive additional PPP loans intended for struggling small businesses and nonprofits. We therefore urge you to inform participating lenders that Planned Parenthood affiliates are ineligible to receive second-draw PPP loans, and encourage them to immediately notify SBA if a Planned Parenthood affiliate applies for such a loan through their institution.

The letter concluded with senators describing Planned Parenthoods attempts to apply for PPP loans as a naked attempts to defraud the United States government and stressing the importance of ensuring that additional relief funds go to those who need it, in accordance with the law, rather than unscrupulous organizations like Planned Parenthood.

The letter comes just days before President-elect Joe Biden is set to take office. Biden, who has received the support of Planned Parenthood, will appoint a new director of the Small Business Administration and it is unknown whether a Biden appointee will be less likely to honor the senators requests than a Small Business Administrator appointed by the pro-life Trump administration.

Biden has outlined his vision for an additional stimulus package that he hopes the unified Democratic Congress will pass after he takes office, which includes additional funding for small businesses.

Planned Parenthood is not the only well-known organization to draw scrutiny for receiving PPP loans designated to help small businesses. Marcus Lamb, the founder of Daystar Television Network, returned $3.9 million in PPP money after allegations surfaced that the money was used to purchase a luxury aircraft. Lamb denied using the government loan to purchase the aircraft and returned the money with interest.
Student nursing and midwifery placements have been suspended to free up staff to support the coronavirus response.

The move will free up those qualified nurses and midwives who supervise and teach the students during the placements to enable them to focus on the battle against the virus.

The suspension, which will last at least two weeks, will impact clinical placements for first to third year nursing and midwife students.

Fourth year student internships will continue, as they are considered part of the workforce, counting for rostering purposes as 0.5 of a fulltime equivalent nurse or midwife.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said: I would like to thank all student nurses and midwives for their ongoing commitment to the future of our health services.

This is an uncertain time for them and I know many will be disappointed by this news. I would like to reassure them that all options will be considered in re-starting these placements as soon as it is possible.

Chief nursing officer Rachel Kenna added: I recognise the enormous commitment students have made in participating in the clinical learning environments at a very challenging time.

The education of student nurses and midwives is a priority for all of us, but this must be done safely, with the appropriate supports and supervision structures in place.
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Jewish agency severs ties with Christian ministry over 'false' claims of proselytizing

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A leading Jewish organization that helps Jews across the world settle in Israel is severing ties with the Canadian-based Christian Zionist group Return Ministries over allegations the Christian nonprofit engaged in proselytizing.

The leader of Return Ministries, which runs the Aliyah Return Center dedicated to helping Jews across the globe migrate to Israel, is speaking out against what he considers to be false allegations made against his organization that led the Jewish Agency for Israel to end a yearlong partnership.

The Aliyah Return Center operates at The Jewish Agencys Bikat Kinarot educational facility south of the Sea of Galilee and has often brought Christians to volunteer at the site. Return Ministries has operated in the region since 2013 and helped restore a former boarding school in the Jordan River Valley.

Together in partnership with the Jewish Agency for Israel, they have operated the 15-acre campus called the Bikat Kinarot Center at Beit Zera, according to the Return Ministries webpage.

However, Israeli media reported this week that the agency has terminated its agreement with Return Ministries and the Aliyah Return Center after the organization was accused by an anti-missionary group of proselytizing in the name of Christ to the Jews being helped by the ministry.

We have been accused, as Christian Zionists, of missionizing and proselytizing the people we have been serving, this anti-missionary group would say, with hidden agendas, Return Ministries International Director Dean Bye wrote in a letter to supporters Thursday. These are complete lies.

As for the partner organization that has been persuaded to terminate agreements with us, we are yet to learn what all this entails but understand their termination is only related to our Bikat Kinarot Campus agreement in its current form, he added. As those who have committed our lives to Gods call to serve and bless Israel, we are prepared to work together on a peaceful resolution to the dissension that has been created.

Bye called for a transition plan that meets the needs of all parties involved and one that is built on mutual respect.

We maintain our innocence to the false accusations and further misrepresentations of our ministries in the media, Bye said. We declare our continued commitment to Israels Aliyah and Absorption, the Return and Restoration of Gods people to their land. We pray our relationship with the Jewish Agency for Israel will continue and grow stronger as truth prevails.

In a statement Monday reported by Haaretz, the Jewish Agency explained that it terminated the partnership even though it found no evidence of any direct missionary activity. However, the agency believes that videos online posted by the Aliyah Return Center create a perception that is in direct opposition to the mission and values of The Jewish Agency for Israel and has unfairly entangled the organizations work and reputation.

Additionally, the agency accused the Aliyah Return Center of taking credit in social media posts for involvement in areas such as Aliyah, specifically with proselytizing lone soldiers and new Olim [Jewish immigrants to Israel]. The agency argues that such actions resulted in the termination of the partnership agreement in its current form.

In his statement, Bye said that he has been involved in this type of ministry work for over 30 years and has worked alongside secular, orthodox and messianic individuals in Israel. He warned that he has often been misunderstood by them all.

Over the last five years, Return Ministries has entered into many different partnerships with Israeli and Jewish partners.

Throughout our history in Israel, we have taught Christians to bless and serve Israels Olim and have mobilized fundraising to accomplish the task, all without one complaint of proselytizing, Bye added.

Bye assured that proselytization is not our corporate calling or ministry purpose.

We demonstrate and teach a service that loves without condition, and we vet volunteers who serve to do likewise in all our projects in Israel, he said. Our call is to help Gods children home.

The Christian Broadcasting Network reports that trouble began last month when the anti-missionary group Beyneynu sent a letter to the Jewish Agency arguing that the Aliya Return Center has a hidden agenda to convert Jews to Christianity through worship programs.

According to Haaretz, the Jewish Agency initially responded with a legal memo calling on the Beyneynu to stop the false allegations against the Aliya Return Center. However, the anti-missionary group continued to push and published edited videos about the Aliya Return Center that the Jewish Agency initially considered to be old and irrelevant footage that contains false statements.

Return Ministries is not the only Christian organization serving in Israel that has faced allegations of proselytizing that has cost them partnerships.

Earlier this year, the Israeli government removed GOD TVs Shelanu channel from the Israeli cable provider HOT over claims that the network aimed to evangelize to Jews.

Evangelism in Israel has been described as a touchy subject as it is illegal in Israel to proselytize to minors without the consent of their parents. Under the terms of the television license, Shelanu TV was forbidden from engaging in missionary activities.
The incoming leader of SA2020 has been driven by her own experiences to cultivate change in the community.

As a woman of color, immigrant, and first-generation college graduate, I am an example of the life-changing impact of institutions that meet the needs of the people they serve, Kiran Kaur Bains said.

Executive leaders in San Antonio dont look like me, but I look a lot like the demographic of San Antonio, she added.

Kaur Bains, who has been with the nonprofit since 2018 and is currently director of community impact, takes over as president and CEO on Feb. 16. She is succeeding Molly Cox, who helped establish SA2020 in 2010 and has held the top post since 2015.

In 2010, thousands of San Antonians gathered to determine what they wanted the future of the city to look like, creating a community vision. SA2020 was established as a nonprofit to track progress toward the community goals  including increasing the rate of high school graduates and decreasing the citys water consumption  and to engage other nonprofits, policymakers, corporations and other entities to help make San Antonio better.

The organization facilitated another community visioning process in 2020, with input from more than 12,200 participants.

The community vision for the next decade, along with the 2020 Community Impact Report, will be revealed Jan. 29 during a virtual celebration.

I am humbled by the opportunity to champion a shared community vision in my hometown, Kaur Bains said. We are going to dig deeper into the work that we do already around research, storytelling and practice.

Cox began working with SA2020 as a volunteer table facilitator for the original community visioning process and said the time is right for new leadership as the nonprofit takes on a new set of goals.

I am so proud of the work weve done over the last decade and look forward to being SA2020s biggest champion over the next decade, Cox said.

One of the biggest worries during the pandemic is just how far behind students have fallen academically. Now that vaccinations are rolling out
The Taoiseach has admitted that the easing of restrictions before Christmas was a mistake.

The government has come under sustained criticism for ignoring Nphet advice, which recommended against opening non-essential retail, hospitality and household visits together at the start of December. The weeks after this reopening has seen a devastating spike in Covid-19 cases, with Ireland being counted among the quickest rising case numbers in the world.

The Tanaiste Leo Varadkar admitted today that the move to level three "turned out to be too quick".

When it was put to Micheal Martin that the government had gone against Nphet advice, he told Virgin Media News he did not think it was "a helpful discussion to go back in hindsight and try and apportion blame".

"In hindsight, knowing what we know now, would we have done what we did a month ago? Obviously not," he said.

"Nobody predicted, in any model, the level of community transmission that we're currently experiencing, but at the time we were coming out of the six week, level five series of restrictions, that was preceded by a level three max series of restrictions, Ireland has been on a lot of restrictions right throughout this pandemic."

Read More Nphet reports 50 more deaths and 3,498 new cases as Covid casualties top 2m worldwide

Mr Martin then claimed "all people" wanted to move to level three at the time.

"In hindsight knowing what we know now, we certainly wouldn't have made decisions," he added, before claiming media were "overplaying that discrepancy on one particular sector of a wider society.

"I don't think that's a valid assertion."

On vaccines, Mr Martin admitted although roll-out had ramped up that "we don't have enough to do everybody at once".

"That's the bottom line," he said.

"We don't have the delivery coming in to enable us to do that. We want to prioritise frontline healthcare workers, we want to prioritise residents and staff working in nursing homes and this week, the emphasis has been on the nursing home front and having really been concentrating on frontline healthcare workers."

The Tanaiste Leo Varadkar admitted today that the move to level three "turned out to be too quick". Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

He says that January and February will see "low volumes" and as "we move beyond healthcare workers and beyond the hospitals and the nursing homes with residents and workers, we will then engage with the wider population".

Mr Martin said he could see "vaccine passports" happening if people want to travel.

"We could see that happening but by July, I think we'll have a substantial number of members of our population, citizens vaccinated.

"I think the world will be a different place, but it is very very challenging, and we're very worried about mutations, what they may do to the vaccine, so we have to be careful in projecting to far out, one step at a time."

He added that Irish people shouldn't be using websites that claim to predict when individuals are likely to get their vaccine, saying they are "nonsense".

Mr Martin added that he did not see any St Patrick's Day festivities going ahead this year, however, did note that there is a possibility of President-elect Joe Biden visiting Ireland at some point in the next ten months.
Alliance MP Stephen Farry hit back last night at DUP criticism of his party over the controversial Brexit Protocol, saying they were "rolling up their sleeves" to mitigate disruption to commerce between Britain and Northern Ireland.

Mr Farry was responding to Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart, who yesterday said the Protocol and the Irish Sea border were the result of "scaremongering" by Alliance, SDLP, Sinn Fein and the Irish Government during the EU negotiations.

The Protocol keeps us in the EU's single market for goods and also means EU customs rules will be enforced at local ports.

This requires new checks and processes for goods entering from other parts of the UK, effectively creating a trade border.

"Faced now with the consequences of their actions, the Alliance Party seek to downplay and dismiss the serious impact their Protocol is having on businesses and consumers in Northern Ireland," Ms Lockhart said.

"Naomi Long arrogantly dismisses those who are identifying problems resulting from the Protocol as engaging in 'Project Fear'.

"Tell that to the haulier with lorries stuck at the port in Scotland, and is incurring additional costs running to tens of thousands of pounds in one week alone.

"Tell that to the mother who can't source baby formula to meet their little one's health needs.

"These very real consequences are what the Alliance Party argued for."

But Mr Farry rejected the DUP attack as a "desperate attempt" to deny responsibility for the party's role in pushing for withdrawal from the EU.

"This is just the latest iteration of increasing desperate attempts from the DUP to deny the huge mistakes they have made over Brexit," the North Down MP said.

"Alliance has always understood the damage that Brexit would bring to Northern Ireland.

"The DUP rejected every opportunity to choose a softer Brexit. Alliance is on record consistently from 2019 as expressing our concerns over the Protocol.

"We voted against the Withdrawal Agreement in January 2020, as other alternatives existed. But no other options are left but to get the Protocol to work.

"While the DUP are playing the politics of delusion and distraction, we are rolling up our sleeves and working through the issues within the system."

He was speaking at the end of a week that saw unionist anger over the implementation of the Protocol intensify.

On Thursday DUP MP Ian Paisley attacked Prime Minister Boris Johnson, accusing him of being in danger of showing he was after all a "buffoon" over his handling of the situation. And Stormont DUP Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots warned that if the three-month grace period for supermarkets to adapt to the new rules was not extended, then they won't be able to supply hospitals and schools with food in a few months.

"Seriously, are we going to have a situation where our schools are not able to feed the children at school, that hospitals are not able to feed their patients?" Mr Poots told the BBC.

However, both the Departments of Education and Health said they had not experienced any major disruption to food supplies.

The rising political temperature comes amid fears the UK's relationship with the Joe Biden administration in the US could be damaged if Mr Johnson triggers a safety mechanism in the Protocol as a result of the trade disruption.

Article 16 allows the EU or the UK to "unilaterally take appropriate safeguard measures" if the Protocol leads to "serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties that are liable to persist", or if there is a diversion of trade.

The Protocol has been supported by the EU and the incoming President Biden administration in Washington DC, as it is seen as a way of protecting the Good Friday Agreement and preventing a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Conservative MP Simon Hoare, who chairs the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee at Westminster, said: "[Triggering the article] would do huge damage to the Good Friday Agreement... and damage the relationship between our country and the US."

The Prime Minister said this week he would not hesitate to invoke the safeguarding measure if he believed the problems with the Protocol were "disproportionate".
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The former President of Ireland Mary McAleese has said a culture of fear imposed by the Catholic Church allowed Mother and Baby Homes to last well over seven decades.

Ms McAleese said the Church imposed this culture of fear on a population not very well educated, particularly on their own rights.

The Church was more complicit than most and a subservient State was complicit with the Church, she said speaking with Brendan OConnor on RTE Radio.

All of the Christian Churches are complicit in the report. The Catholic Church - of which I am a member - imposed a culture of fear on uneducated people. It told them emphatically that by Baptism, they were obliged to obey the teaching of their Church and they had no choice in that.

From day one, their right to information was curtailed by the Church and their right to freedom of conscience - they didnt have that. The Church told them that they would inform their conscience and their right to freedom of opinion was gone because of the subservience and obedience to the bishops.

That continues to this day and that is still the Churchs teachings. The difference today is that we are largely educated and knowledgeable about our rights, Ms McAleese said.

Read More

Ms McAleese said the report into the Homes was a superb work of scholarship and said that it identified how children, along with women, had been sacrificed to false respectability and to narrow notions of family and ludicrous notions of sexual morality.

We need to engage into a discussion now with educators and churches about childrens rights. The rights of freedom to information and conscious freedom. How assured can we be that these are fully respected from day one when they entered these systems.

Ms McAleese pointed out that 90pc of primary school pupils and 60pc of secondary school students still attend religious order schools. She says the report shows how easy it was to overlook the rights of children: they had no voice, no right, they had nothing.

The Church has still not come to terms with individual, autonomous human rights and this is part of the problem, Ms McAleese believes. She said she believed the Church still operates under these guidelines that subservience to the Church trumps individual rights and freedoms.

Oh absolutely, of course they do, because that teaching hasnt changed. Adults now walk away from the Church if they want to because they feel they can. The Church will say they cant but people know they are perfectly entitled to.

The former President said she was very taken and surprised by the speed and the humility of the apologies given by a number of bishops and religious orders because that did not happen for previous reports on alleged misconduct by religious institutions in the past.

Either you had to wait a long time for an apology or it would have been half-hearted or would have been self-justifying. That didnt happen this time, Ms McAleese said.

President-elect Joe Bidens call to build back better after the pandemic is an invitation to renovate Americas outdated neoliberal version of capitalism. The more successful variants of market capitalism found in Europe or, better, in California, point the way forward.

The Sweet'N Low artificial sweetener creator leaped to his death at the age of 89.

Sweet'N Low magnate suffered Parkinson's disease

Donald Tober, the CEO, and co-owner of Sugar Foods, a ubiquitous staple at restaurants across America, jumped out of his plush $10 million Park Avenue apartment building. He leaped from the 11th floor of the building in Manhattan before dawn Friday.

According to the New York Post, investigators believed that the Sweet'N Low magnate leaped around 5 in the morning. Several hours later, Tober's body was discovered in the luxury Upper East Side complex's courtyard. Tober reportedly had Parkinson's disease; sources told the New York Post.

Read also: Flight Attendant Brutally Dies Allegedly in the Hands of Friends on New Year's Eve

Who is the Sweet'N Low magnate?

Donald Tober's father, Harry, was the founder of Sugar Foods in 1948. Donald graduated both from Harvard Law School and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. In the 1970s, Tober joined his father to transform the company into a multi-million business.

Tobers' family are famous philanthropists. The Sweet'N Low innovator co-founded the New York city Meals-On-Wheels program.

Sugar Foods became famous for condiments, snacks, and sweeteners distributed in bright packets to hotels and restaurants worldwide. The company became more prominent with its best product, "Sweet'N Low," as it has distinct pink packages, as per Daily Mail.

By the mid-1990s, Sweet'N Low was being used by 80 percent of U.S. establishments, as per Restaurant News Magazine. Tober has a massive role in placing artificial sweeteners in restaurants worldwide.

The president of Sugar Foods, Steve Odell, once said, "Don's had as much to do with building Sweet'N Low into a household name as anyone ever has with a product."

Odell added that every packet of Sweet'N Low sold up to date can be traced to a single sale that Tober made or at least had a part in. Sugar Foods halted Sweet'N Low distribution, but it remains one of the country's leading food production companies.

Sugar Foods had more than 800 employees across the U.S. and Mexico in 2018. The company recorded a revenue of $286.3 million in the same year.

Previously, the Sweet'N Low magnate served as vice chairman of the Culinary Institute of America. Tober was married for 47 years to a high-powered journalist and editor, Barbara Donovan Tober.

Barbara spent more than three decades as the Editor-in-Chief in Brides magazine. The couple did not have any children together but had a good estimate in the tens of millions of dollars.

The pair became donors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center, and The Juilliard School. The couple was seasoned world travelers, skiers, and avid equestrians, according to their friends.

Read also: Pregnant Mom Dies After Drinking Two Liters of Coke Every Day

Do not let a similar incident happen!

You may call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL) if you know someone is in crisis. Just dial at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This service is available to everyone.

Meanwhile, the deaf can contact the Lifeline through TTY at 1-800-799-4889. Rest assured that all calls or conversations regarding the details will be confidential. There is also a Crisis Text Line available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Just text "HOME" and send it to 741741.

If you are concerned about a friend's social media update, you may contact social media outlets directly or dial 911 in an emergency. Visit NSPL's website to learn more.

Read also: CIA Assisted Kim Jong Un's Nephew After His Dad was Killed by Deadly Chemical

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The COVID-19 vaccination drive is underway in the national capital with healthcare workers, who were at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic, getting the first shots amid cheers and applause.

Manish Kumar, a sanitation worker, became the first person to receive the vaccine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Saturday.

At the Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital, 48-year-old nurse Biji Tomy, a native of Kerala, was the first person to get the shot.

"I am feeling very proud and humbled to be part of this historic moment. We risked our lives and were pained to see so many deaths every day. It is a relief that we have a vaccine against now," Tomy told PTI.

As she stepped out 30 minutes after being administered the vaccine, her colleagues greeted her with loud cheers and applause.

The hospital staff cheered other beneficiaries too.

In Delhi, every person will be kept under observation for 30 minutes after the immunisation to watch for any side-effects of the vaccine, according to authorities.

Central District Programme Officer Puneet Jaitley was the second person to get the shot at LNJP.

"It's been 30 minutes since I was administered the vaccine and I feel absolutely fine," he said.

"I feel perfectly normal after the vaccination. Drawing blood from veins hurts more," said Naveen Kumar from LNJP Hospital's administration department who also took the jab.

Sandeep Nayar, head of Department of Respiratory Medicine at BLK Super Speciality Hospital, Rajendra Place was the first one to get the shot at the facility.

India has granted emergency use authorisation to two vaccines -- Oxford's Covishield being manufactured by the Serum Institute in India and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India's COVID-19 vaccination drive and asserted that the made-in-India vaccines being rolled out will ensure a "decisive victory" for the country over the pandemic.

The vaccination exercise will span 81 sites across all 11 districts in Delhi. Six central government hospitals -- AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital, Kalawati Saran Children Hospital and two ESI hospitals -- are also part of the drive.

Besides LNJP Hospital, Delhi-government run GTB Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, DDU Hospital, BSA Hospital, Delhi State Cancer Institute, ILBS Hospital are among the vaccination sites.

Private facilities Max Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Apollo Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital are also part of the inoculation drive.

Delhi had recorded 295 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, the lowest in more than eight months, which took the city's tally to 6,31,884. The death toll mounted to 10,732 with 10 new fatalities, according to official data.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said the positivity rate slipped to an "all-time low" of 0.44 per cent on Friday.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Thursday said the city government has received a total of 2.74 lakh doses of vaccines so far from the Centre which would be sufficient to cater to 1.2 lakh healthcare workers.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Michigan is poised to benefit from several key policy goals of President Joe Bidens new adminitration, political observers say.

Bidens close relationships with Michigans elected officials are expected to result in a solid partnership between the White House and leaders of an important electoral battleground state. Several policy goals identified by the incoming president, who will be inaugurated in Washington D.C. on Jan. 20, also overlap with some of the most pressing issues facing Michigan.

The new president has several top officials in his corner. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer served as a co-chair to his campaign, was a finalist for Bidens running mate and is helping to plan his inauguration; Biden built friendships with colleagues U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing; U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, and Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph; and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and his son helped run his campaign in Michigan.

Related: What can bring Michiganders together in 2021? State leaders weigh in

Its going to be a very good working relationship, said Mario Morrow, a Detroit-based political consultant. The current Michigan administration and the incoming presidential administration see eye-to-eye on lots of issues; employment, environment, infrastructure, and healthcare.

David Dulio, director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Oakland University, said the Biden administration demonstrated respect for Michigans leaders during his transition.

Related: Michigan shifts strategy on vaccine program, with heightened focus on shots in arms

Biden tapped Michigan Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon and other experts from the state to guide his transition team. He also picked former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to lead the Department of Energy and reportedly considered other lawmakers for Cabinet positions.

Responding to COVID-19

Reigning in COVID-19 is one of the top goals of the Biden administration, which will take power as vaccines distribution is ramping up across the nation. Biden will be inaugurated on the one year anniversary of the first recorded U.S. case of the coronavirus.

Michigan ranks below the national average of vaccines distributed per 100,000 people and the percentage of the population to receive the first of two shots. The state set a goal of vaccinating 70% of Michiganders age 16 and older before the end of the year.

Related: Michigan still expects to vaccinate 70% of adults in 2021, despite early hurdles

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the state received significantly fewer doses of the vaccine from the federal government than expected. State officials also cited reporting problems leading to a lag between doses received and doses injected.

Whitmer called for a national immunization strategy during a Jan. 13 press conference. States are building this as we are going, she said, adding its a challenge of storing doses in refrigerated units and scheduling the two shots required.

Biden has set a goal of administering 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office. During his campaign appearances in Michigan, Biden stressed that economic recovery can only occur after the public health threat is mitigated.

Morrow said the mass vaccination rollout will be one of Bidens top initiatives in 2021.

I believe that the current state government officials are definitely on the same page: Get people vaccinated, get them back to work, get the economy rolling back to full scale, he said.

The incoming president is also asking Americans to remain committed to wearing masks, practicing social distancing and avoiding indoor gatherings. Whitmer and Michigan health officials consistently recommend using the same preventative measures.

Congress passed a third round of coronavirus relief before the New Year, including $600 relief checks, expanded unemployment, food and rent assistance and aid for small businesses. The $900 package did not include aid for state and local governments.

Biden has called on Congress to send more money to cash-strapped states experiencing a significant drop in tax revenue during the pandemic. He unveiled his plans for the next stimulus package Thursday.

Passage of another massive stimulus bill could take the wind out of other big-spending initiatives Biden may be considering, Dulio said. That could mean Michigan may have to wait for a big infrastructure bill.

At some point, Congress is going to lose its appetite to continue to spend money or continue to drive up the deficit and debt, Dulio said. Its one thing for Democrats to see the debt and deficit go up under a Republican president, but do they want to do that under a Biden administration?

Fixing roads and decaying infrastructure

Former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg was picked to lead Bidens Department of Transportation. Earlier this month, he unveiled a plan to put $1 trillion toward creating millions of jobs and updating U.S. infrastructure.

Buttigiegs proposal seeks to repair deteriorating roads and bridges, replace lead water service pipes and invest in more sustainable infrastructure.

Our dams are deteriorating, our roads are deteriorating, our bridges are falling apart, and everyone knows that we must do something about the infrastructure now, Morrow said. Infrastructure jobs put people back to work and gets the economy. I believe that could be one of the areas in which the Biden administration and Michigan leadership can definitely agree upon.

U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, said she hopes Bidens economic recovery plans include new investments in infrastructure.

In Michigan, obviously this is our obsession but we know that investment in infrastructure often comes when you try to stimulate the economy, Slotkin said. I hope we can have a marriage of the two things.

Increasing manufacturing jobs

Biden pledged to implement a Made in America policy to boost U.S. manufacturing, continuing a familiar trend of politicians promising to revitalize the industry. The issue took on more significance when the COVID-19 pandemic raised serious concerns about the vulnerability of U.S. supply chains.

So the thing Im most excited about and hopefully will have a hand in helping with his agenda around American manufacturing and incentivizing more American manufacturing, Slotkin said. I am still focused on the searing experience we had in Michigan with basic things like medical supplies, gloves, the basics we couldnt get our hands on.

On the campaign trail in Michigan, Biden unveiled a proposal to tax businesses that move manufacturing jobs overseas. He also promised to use government contracts to purchase American-made goods, including a new fleet of electric vehicles.

Biden played up his work overseeing the bailout of Michigans auto industry during the Obama administration, positioning himself as an ally of automakers making big investments in producing electric vehicles. He plans $300 billion toward research and development of new technology during the next four years.

Related: Bidens focus on climate change could mean jobs for Michigan

Biden is also expected to increase fuel economy standards after federal regulations were rolled back during the Trump administration. During the presidential campaign, Biden pledged to develop rigorous new fuel economy standards aimed at ensuring 100% of new sales for light- and medium-duty vehicles will be zero emissions by 2050.

Michigan Democrats, including U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, and Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, see the Detroit area poised to benefit from new jobs created by a focus on clean energy.

Environmental protections

Tightening fuel emission regulations and shifting to clean energy vehicles are part of Bidens overarching agenda to deal with climate change.

Climate advocates hope Biden focuses on improving the Clean Water Act, which regulates the discharge of pollutants into U.S. waters, and pushes for more funding to protect the Great Lakes.

Related: Great Lakes advocates breathe sigh of relief for Biden presidency

Congress ultimately has the final say on funding a federal program that puts millions of dollars toward environmental clean-up and protection projects.

Support for Detroit

Political observers expect Bidens presidency to create urban revitalization projects that could bring benefits to Detroit, Michigans largest city. As vice president during the Obama administration, Biden was a vocal advocate for the city, leading Mayor Duggan to call Biden Detroits best friend.

Morrow said Bidens close relationship to Duggan could open the door for greater access to federal grants. Morrow said Black and brown voters in the city also have high expectations of Biden after the incoming president promised to improve underserved communities during the campaign.

Detroit was on a rebound and was hit hard by COVID, Morrow said. I think youll see opportunities for more structured assistance to get things going back to a level at which they were.

READ MORE ON MLIVE:

What can bring Michiganders together in 2021? State leaders weigh in

Michigan still expects to vaccinate 70% of adults in 2021, despite early hurdles

Michigan Republicans join House Democrats to impeach Trump for inciting Capitol riots
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Deputies arrested a man and seized thousands of fentanyl pills, a large amount of cash and at least one pistol during a bust earlier this week at a Northeast Albuquerque home.

Gabriel Saiz, 25, is charged with trafficking controlled substances, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer, and tampering with evidence. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

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Jayme Fuller, a Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman, said detectives also enacted safety plans for two children who were present in the home.

Their investigation regarding the children will be ongoing, she said.

The fentanyl pills were blue and stamped with M 30, making them appear as oxycodone.

An individual smoking, snorting or swallowing these does not know what level of fentanyl is in each pill or that it may contain any, Fuller said. The results are devastating, as some pills have little effect on the body, while others are causing overdoses and even death.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court:

Sheriffs deputies between noon and 2 p.m. on Monday were surveilling a home in the 7700 block of Morrow NE, near Pennsylvania and Indian School, when they saw Saiz allegedly conduct multiple drug deals outside the house.

When detectives moved to arrest him, Saiz ran and tried to hide under an SUV in the neighborhood. After initially ignoring commands by deputies, Saiz was eventually taken into custody.

Under the SUV were blue fentanyl pills scattered on the ground and a large baggie containing 500 of the same pills hidden by the spare tire. Deputies searched Saiz and found 11 more pills and more than $2,300 in cash.

Deputies then searched the home, which had surveillance cameras around its exterior, and discovered 2,000 more fentanyl pills and a loaded pistol in a bedroom.
Brennan J. Mudd was named to the fall 2020 honor roll at Oregon State University. To be on the honor roll, students must carry at least 12 graded hours of course work.
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Electrification of Shusha was completed, the Azerishig company that carried out work on the supply of electricity informed.

Thus, the Gevkhar Agha Mosque and the main streets of the city are now illuminated.

Yesterday, during his visit to Shusha, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev announced that electricity was supplied to the city. He told about a new high-voltage 110 kV power transmission line with a length of 75 km, which was built to illuminate and develop the city. "In a short period of time, these pillars were installed on a territory with a difficult relief. This suggests that life will return to Shusha in the near future," the Azerbaijani leader said.

According to the decree of Ilham Aliyev, the Azerishig company within the framework of the Azerishig in Karabakh project carried out urgent work on the power supply of strategic objects of state importance in the liberated territories.

In mid-December 2020, the head of the Azerbaijani state said that Shusha would be electrified in the shortest period of time. Despite the mountainous, wooded area and difficult terrain, the employees of Azerishig OJSC work selflessly in snowy and frosty weather. Within the framework of the project, the sites are cleared of mines, then work is underway to create power lines. Shortly, the city of Shusha will be provided with electricity from the Shukurbeyli substation, the President added.
The BJP government in Karnataka will not only complete its five year term but also return to power with absolute majority in the state, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday. According to him, lot of development works have been taking place in the state under the leadership of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

Shah advised the opposition leaders to work for the well-being of people instead of finding fault with the BJP. "I have been reading the statements of Congress leaders that this will happen and that will happen in Karnataka but I want to tell everyone that the BJP government will not only complete the five year term but also return to power for five years with absolute majority," Shah said.

He was speaking at the inauguration of police quarters in Bengaluru, besides virtual inauguration of the Indian Reserved Battalion at Vijayapura and the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) in Bengaluru. The Centre and the state are committed to the development for Karnataka, Shah added.

The opposition Congress has been mocking Chief Minister Yediyurappa over dynasty politics allegations made against him by some BJP legislators after the cabinet expansion. A few legislators had rebelled against Yediyurappa soon after the cabinet expansion on Wednesday after they were left out.

Referring to the coronavirus vaccination drive, Shah said the drive has begun in the country in a big way and the results will be visible in the next one or two months. "India is leading the world in the fight against the virus under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he added.
Fiat-Chrysler and PSA are merging to form the fourth-largest automaker

The merger of France's PSA and US-Italian rival Fiat Chrysler becomes official on Saturday, creating Stellantis, the world's fourth-biggest automaker by volume.

The long-awaited 50/50 tie-up, which was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, is seen as crucial for the two groups to undertake the investment necessary to transition to clean car technology.

The new company will bring together producers such as Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, each of which will continue under their own brand names.

The 14 Stellantis brands will account for about nine percent of the global auto market. Together they produced eight million vehicles in 2019.

Ranking behind global rivals such as Volkswagen, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi and Toyota, Stellantis will be the fourth-largest automaker by volume and the third-largest by revenue, with a workforce of over 400,000.

John Elkann, Fiat chairman and scion of Italy's storied Agnelli family, will retain his role at Stellantis in what he has called "a challenging era".

"The coming decade will redefine mobility: we are intent on playing a leading role in building this new future," Elkann said earlier this month after the shareholders gave their blessing to what he called the "historic merger".

On Monday the new group Stellantis, the name derived from the Latin verb "stello" meaning to brighten with stars, will launch on the Milan and Paris stock exchanges followed by its debut in the New York stock market the following day.

In November PS chief Carlos Tavares warned that "only the most agile, with a Darwinian spirit, will survive".

Carlos Tavares (l) and John Elkann will join forces under the Stellantis banner

On Tuesday Tavares, as Stellantis chief executive officer, will hold the new group's first news conference, laying out the vison for the newly merged automaker.

The challenges are many, to turn the range of vehicles to electric-power, to coax back into the new car market drivers who have switched to used cars or rentals, plus the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which is putting major dents into many industries.

PSA's global salesPeugeot, Citroen, DS, Ope, Vauxhallfell by 27.8 percent last year.

Matthias Heck of Moody's sees the merger as a good thing for both the French and Italian makers because it will "improve their global coverage, they can collaborate at the technological level and in various segments and will save money through the synergies and experience of PSA, which has been able to set the right price and manage its costs".

The European Commission had been worried the merger could affect competition in Europe's lucrative van market, with PSA and Fiat Chrysler together accounting for 34 percent of market share.

To assuage those concerns, the commission said PSA would continue an agreement with Toyota to manufacture vans to be sold under the Japanese brand in Europe.

PSA and Fiat-Chrysler estimate that their marriage will allow up to five billion euros worth of savings through synergies both in the production costs and research.

Such savings will please shareholders but are a worry to the two workforces.

On the trade union side, most saw the merger as inevitable, but remain on their guard.

"Let's see in a year," said Olivier Lefebvre, a delegate of the French FO union.

Explore further PSA and Fiat Chrysler close in on mega-merger

 2021 AFP

Community News Editor / Librarian

Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989. She can be reached at jmaschino@berkshireeagle.com.
Tauranga Big Band will be celebrating Niel Randrups 100th birthday with a special afternoon concert this month.

The spry centenarian passed the monumental milestone on New Years Day.

I was the first New Zealand baby born in 1921, says Niel. Just after midnight. Well thats what my parents told me.

An original member of the touring Kiwi Concert Party that travelled in Australia for eight years, Niel was a well-respected bandleader, musician and arranger, and played saxophone in Nat King Coles band when Nat came to New Zealand in 1955.

I was one of the Auckland musicians. Every three months or so a new leader was offered the job of presenting his brand of music on 1YA.

The radio station had a regular weekly feature showcasing big bands which were popular after the war years.

Auckland did their best to emulate those big band sounds, following in the standard set by American musicians. They selected musicians from the 1YA dance band for Nat King Coles band.

Niel married legendary Auckland singer and dancer Pat McMinn in 1969. Pat was probably New Zealands busiest vocalist in the early 1950s, in concert and on recordings, having been in constant demand since winning the Dixieland cabarets talent quest in 1942, aged 15. Her voice and personality were perfect for early 1950s pop, and her biggest hit Opo the Crazy Dolphin, written by jazz pianist Crombie Murdoch in 1956, was a jaunty tribute to the friendly dolphin that visited Opononi harbour.

The couple shifted from Auckland to Tauranga in 1987. Pat took up teaching dance again after finding that the city had no tap teacher. She passed away in 2018 aged 91.

Pat and I thought wed retire when we came here, but Tauranga mothers rubbed their hands with glee as they didnt have to take their children to Auckland for lessons with Pat, says Niel.

I got to know some guys here and when the time came I was invited to join the Tauranga Big Band which I did.

A big band is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Not only did Niel play saxophone, but he went on to be the musical director, arranging much of the music.

It was a very happy band and we had a happy time, says Niel.

Weve selected a lot of Niels music that he arranged for the band and some of his favourites too for the concert, says current Tauranga Big Band musical director Joe Thomas.

The 90-minute concert will be held at the Salvation Army Theatre on Cameron Rd at 3pm on Saturday, January 23, followed by afternoon tea. Entry is free and the theatre holds 150 people.

Niel is looking forward to it.

I enjoyed playing and writing arrangements for the big band. In short I was a happy musician.
The federal government will arrange for a further 20 international repatriation flights to bring stranded Australians home, following a decision by Emirates to suspend all flights to and from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The announcement follows the national cabinet's decision to significantly reduce the cap on international arrivals via commercial flights by 50 per cent until mid-February, following concerns that the hotel quarantine system will be challenged by the more virulent British strain of the coronavirus.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said 446,000 Australians had been able to return home since March 2020 and the federal government had organised 90 flights to assist.

Senator Birmingham acknowledged the border restrictions put in place early last year had made it difficult for many people and said the additional 20 flights over the next couple of months would help.
Old and young danced, sang, and marched from morning till morning in Krasnoyilsk, a village in southern Ukraine close to the Romanian border, to see in the new year according to the popular Malanka tradition -- sometimes referred to as the Ukrainian Mardi Gras. Falling near the end of the month-long holiday season on January 13-14, Malanka is how Ukrainians celebrate Old New Year, according to the Julian calendar. Although details differ from region to region, generally it entails lots of food, drink, caroling, concerts, parades, good-natured pranks, and garish costumes.
Reporter/Local Editor

Eric is a reporter and local editor for The Post and Courier in Greenville. Previously with The Greenville News, he's covered the Upstate for two decades and served as a USA TODAY correspondent. He studied journalism at the University of South Carolina.
US-bound migrant caravan in Guatemala swells to 9,000 people A boy cries as Honduran migrants head to the border with Guatemala

At least 9,000 Honduran migrants have entered Guatemala after a first group pushed past border police late Friday and others soon followed on the first step of a journey north they hope will take them to the United States, officials said Saturday.

Seeking to escape poverty, unemployment, gang and drug violence and the aftermath of two devastating hurricanes, the migrants, most of them traveling on foot, planned to head first to Mexico and then on to the US, a journey of thousands of kilometers.

A first group of men, women and children -- many wearing masks due to the Covid-19 pandemic -- pushed their way Friday past police at the Guatemalan border town of El Florido, 220 kilometers (132 miles) east of Guatemala City, an AFP correspondent said.

Guatemalan officials said the initial group numbered roughly 6,000; an additional 3,000 crossed into the country on Saturday, they said.

A Guatemalan government statement denounced what it said was a violation of its national sovereignty and called on Honduras to "contain the massive departure of its inhabitants, through permanent preventive actions."

A police official said the migrants were allowed to cross into Guatemala because there were many families with children. They said officers, who were unarmed, feared tear gas could cause casualties.

Border agents asked the migrants for their papers -- and demanded proof of negative coronavirus tests -- but appeared to let many through who did not meet those requirements.

- Sandals and backpacks -

As the migrants moved northward in small groups, workers with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees provided some with assistance.

Most of the migrants, many in sandals, carried backpacks with their few belongings.

Olga Ramirez, 28, trudged along with her husband, four children ages 3 to 8, and her brother. She carried the smallest child in her arms and the middle kids rode in a decrepit stroller that looked like it was about to collapse.

Story continues

Ramirez said they left Honduras because staying meant running the risk of only eating every other day. She lost her job selling food in a bus station after the facility was privatized.

"They threw us out like we were dogs, like garbage, as if we were worthless to the country," Ramirez said, drying her tears as she walked along the side of the road.

"And I have no profession to support my family," she said.

The migrants are seeking a better life in America under Joe Biden after years of tough anti-immigrant policies under Donald Trump, but US authorities have already warned off the group.

Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras have an agreement with the US to stop north-bound migratory flows.

Biden has promised "a fair and humane immigration system" and pledged aid to tackle the root causes of poverty and violence that drive Central Americans to the United States.

But Mark Morgan, acting commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, warned the group last week not to "waste your time and money."

The US commitment to the "rule of law and public health" is not affected by the change in administration, he said in a statement.

- 'National emergency' -

More than a dozen caravans, some with thousands of migrants, have set off from Honduras since October 2018.

But all have run up against thousands of US border guards and soldiers under Trump, who characterized immigrants from Mexico as "rapists" and criminals.

The Mexican government said it would not allow the "illegal entry" of any migrant caravans and deployed 500 immigration officers to the border states of Chiapas and Tabasco.

Guatemalan migration officials said the Honduran group appeared to be heading for the border post at Tecun Uman in southern Mexico.

Trump said Friday he was extending a national emergency on the border with Mexico, a measure he first imposed in February 2019.

"Further action is needed to address the humanitarian crisis and to control unlawful migration and the flow of narcotics and criminals," a White House statement said.

ec/bbk/dw/mdl/acb
Marmorstein: You might soon be living in a million dollar home  unfortunately
Throughout her legendary career, Elizabeth Taylors personal life made just as many headlines as the movies she starred in. Her eight marriages drew massive media attention, especially in the 1950s and 60s. She even married one man twice  Tony Award-winning actor Richard Burton.

But fans might be surprised to learn that Taylor originally rejected Burtons advances. She actually turned him down years before they started their affair.

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor | Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton began their affair when they were married to other people

When Taylor was filming Cleopatra with Burton in 1962, she was a world-famous movie star who had already been branded a homewrecker by the media. Just four years earlier, Taylor lost her third husband, producer Mike Todd, in a plane crash. In the wake of his death, Taylor grew close to Eddie Fisher, who just also happened to be the husband of her best friend, Debbie Reynolds.

Fisher ended up leaving Reynolds for Taylor, and he became her fourth husband. Reynolds was married to Fisher when she headed to Italy to shoot Cleopatra. At the same time, Burton was married to a woman named Sybil. However, according to Biography.com, Burton had a habit of being unfaithful.

Being used to her husbands cheating, Sybil expected Burton to return to her when filming ended. But, when he tried to leave Taylor, she overdosed on sleeping pills.

We did try and resist. My marriage with Eddie was over, but we didnt want to do anything to hurt Sybil, Taylor later said.

Liz and Dick starred in 11 movies together and lived a lavish lifestyle

It did take time for Taylor and Burton to officially divorce their respective spouses. But when they finally did, they wasted no time getting married. Just nine days after Taylors divorce from Fisher was finalized, she married Burton in Montreal.

The couple blended their families from previous relationships, and they proceeded to live a jet-setting, lavish lifestyle that the press couldnt get enough of. The media dubbed the pair Liz and Dick. And, according to People magazine, Burton said before his death that for some reason, the world has always been amused by us two maniacs.

RELATED: Richard Burton Gave Elizabeth Taylor an Unexpected Jewelry Piece the First Time He Proposed

The couple partied hard and they both drank heavily. They traveled all over the world and had luxurious toys like a yacht, a private plane, valuable artwork, and several luxury cars. They would rent out hotel suites and have passionate fights that became the stuff of legend.

Burton also showered Taylor with expensive gifts, like the 69-carat Taylor-Burton diamond, the 50carat La Peregrina Pearl, and the 33-carat Krupp diamond. In 1971, Burton wrote that he loved Elizabeth to the point of idolatry.

Elizabeth Taylor originally rejected Richard Burton

Ten years before they co-starred in Cleopatra, Taylor met Burton at a party. She was only 20 at the time and had just ended her first marriage to Conrad Nicky Hilton, Jr., which only lasted eight months.

Burton had a reputation for being a womanizer. And when he made advances toward her, she says she rejected him because she didnt want to become a notch in his belt. When they came together again 10 years later, however, a connection formed between the two and the sparks flew.

When I saw him on the set of Cleopatra, I fell in love and I have loved him ever since, Taylor said.

The couple would end up divorcing in 1974, but quickly remarried the following year. Their second marriage lasted less than a year, and they divorced a second time in 1976. Still, they remained good friends until Burton died in 1984 at the age of 58.

She later told Vogue, I was still madly in love with him the day he died. I think he still loved me, too.

Elizabeth Taylor passed away in 2011 at the age of 79.
Food is loaded as drivers in their vehicles wait in line on arrival at a "Let's Feed LA County" food distribution hosted by the Los Angeles Food Bank on Dec. 4, 2020 in Hacienda Heights, California. A recent letter to President-elect Joe Biden by members of Congress, including Indian Americans Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal, noted that in the three years since the Trump administration stated its interest in invoking the rule, immigrants immediately started to dis-enroll themselves from federal benefits for fear of jeopardizing their ability to get a green card. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
Editor's note: The Midland County Historical Society is partnering with the Midland Daily News for "A Window to Midland's Past," which will feature historical pieces in print and online at ourmidland.com. This particular piece was compiled by retired historical society director Gary Skory and was originally published on June 6, 2006.

Since its establishment in 1952, the Midland County Historical Society has been fortunate to collect and preserve many wonderful local artifacts and archival materials. Among the most treasured items in our historical collections are the various recollections and reminiscences written by our areas pioneers and, and sometimes their children.

These writings portray the early years of Midland City and County from a not often heard perspective and contain fascinating information which, except for the written efforts of the author, would have escaped recorded history. The following recollections were written by an anonymous early resident of Midland circa 1910. Except for basic punctuation and spelling corrections necessary for readability, the following is in the language and writing of the author. Bracketed words have been added for clarity.

Reminiscence of an early Midland Settler

I came to Midland in 1868. At that time there was extensive tracts of standing pine timber in Jasper, Porter, Mount Haley, Lee, Greendale, Geneva, Jerome, Lincoln, Mills, Hope, Edenville, and Warren Townships. There was not a very large amount of pine in Homer, Midland, and Ingersoll townships. It has been lumbered previous to 1868. G. Will Ball tells me that where these school buildings now stand (the current site of Grove Street Park), was a fine tract of pine timber when he came to Midland (in 1861), a few years before I came. If you will examine the map of Midland County, you will see how the rivers and streams are located in the several townships which were very favorable for banking and floating logs. Logs were banked on the Tittabawassee, Pine Rivers, on the Little and Big Salt, in the Chippewa, the Bullock, Sturgeon, Carroll Creeks, the Salt, Bluff Creek, (and) a branch of the Tobacco, and floated into the main (Tittabawassee) river. There was a corporation known as the Tittabawassee Boom Co. organized (in 1864) that handled the logs in the main rivers from what was called Boom Limits which was at Edenville on the Tittabawassee, the flats on section 16 in Greendale Township on the Chippewa, and very near the Wayne Bridge on the Pine. The owners of the logs were required to deliver their logs into the Boom Limits. The Boom Company attended to (floating and) running of the logs to Saginaw, rafting and delivering them to the many mills in Saginaw and Bay City.

Every log owner had their logs marked with a stamping iron and notified the boom company where to deliver their logs. The boom company had dams as follows: One near the mouth of the Carrol Creek, one at Edenville, and one above Edenville on the Tittabawassee, called the Gerrish Dam, (and) also one on the Tobacco River above Edenville called the Tobacco Dam. The one (on) the Chippewa near where the Boy Scout Camp is located, was known at the Quarter House Dam. (There was) one in Section 24 of Greendale Township called the Halfway Dam. (Before the railroad was built, the road to Mount Pleasant was up the Chippewa.) There was a hotel called the Quarter House near where the Boy Scout Camp now stands and a hotel on section 24 Greendale Township called the Halfway House on account of being about halfway from Midland to Mount Pleasant. They had one dam on the Pine River not very far from Wayne Bridge called the Pine River Dam. The Boom Company did the running or driving of the logs, rafting and delivering to the mills at the average price of 75 cents per thousand feet (which was a very reasonable price for the vast amount of labor and expense required to perform the work.) In 1871, a forest fire in Midland County and several adjoining counties caused a great amount of logging to be closed in 1871, 72, and 73. If burned timber was allowed to remain standing, it would die, and grub worms would work in the timber and damage it to a great extent. There were several tracts of pine that accepted the fire principally in the townships of Porter, Lee, Greendale, Geneva, Jerome and Warren, and were not all logged before 1884.

John Larkin had a lumber mill at Midland. He secured his logs on (the banks of) the Sturgeon Creek. The fire of 1871 destroyed a large amount of his standing timber. The first logs were loaded in (railroad) cars were done by Mr. Larkin, (who) secured a train from the Pere Marquette Railroad Co. and loaded the logs on cars near the Bluffs. I think the timber was cut on the land, which was afterward from the farm of Major Bradley. Sam Sias had lumber, shingle, and planning mills on the south side of the river near the Benson Street Bridge. He did not run them but only a few years; he was more interested in logging than manufacturing (cut lumber). There were several shingle mills in the vicinity of Midland. J.R. Hall, Cullen and Garber, D.P. Waldo, Phineas Herrick, and John Malony were the owners. In those days only the best of the timber was cut for lumber, leaving the poor timber on the lands. The shingle mill men picked up that class of timber to stock their mills. In the 1880s there was a large number of logs banked at Averill which came from Clare County by rail. One year (1884) there was 42 million feet banked there. (Saginaw lumbermen) Wright and Ketcham had a railroad for hauling logs from Hope, Mills, and Larkin Townships. They banked the logs in the Tittabawassee River near the (Averill) oxbow. On that river they handled several million a year for four or five years. Some years I have known over seven hundred million feet of logs pass by Midland on the Tittabawassee River. A large amount came from Isabella, Mecosta, Clare, Gladwin, Roscommon and Midland Counties. Examine the map of those counties and you will see the different lakes and streams favorable to float the logs down to the Boom Limits. I could name them, but at there are so many of them, you can find then on the map.

The A.W. Wright Lumber Co. had a railroad for hauling logs from a large tract of pine in the vicinity of Meredith in Clare County and banked them on the Sugar River in the Township of Butman, Gladwin County. The Sugar River empties into the Tittabawassee at Dix Forks on Secord. They handled about 30 million each year for eight or 10 years. Charles Merrill and Co. had a large tract of pine in Gladwin County. (They) banked the logs in the Molasses River, which empties into the Tittabawassee near Highwood. I could name many parties and companies who owned large amounts of timber throughout the several counties where logs came down the rivers. Many owners of timber would let their timber to crews who would take the job of logging at prices governed by the location of the timber. If the jobbers had snow and cold winters, they would clear some money. Then if they had an open winter like we are having so far this season they would lose what they made the winter before and then some. But the owners of the timber would be the ones to make the money instead of the parties that did the hard labor. Often there were many open winters. They did not care for much snow. If the weather were cold, they would have water and make ice roads (on which to skid large sleds of logs.) On ice roads they could have larger loads than on the snow roads. I have known roads made in the night and be all broke up by noon the next day. Many of the nights were too warm to make ice roads.

Sometimes the jobbers would build pole roads and have the logs (transported) in the summer. That would work out all right on a short haul, but on a distance of over one mile, it was too expensive. If you want to know how pole roads were built, I will explain them another time.

When I look back to the lumbering days, I cannot see that the City of Midland derived any great benefit from the lumber taken from the topsoil and the large number of logs floated down the rivers. I think you will agree with me when I say that the Dow Plant had made Midland what she is at this date, and what is under the surface had been of more benefit to Midland than the vast amount of timber taken from the top surface.

I was first asked to tell you about the lumber days of Midland. Since then, I have been asked to tell you about other matters in Midland, particularly about the fire department. I will not take up your time today, but if you want to know about it, I will do it sometime in the near future. I helped to organize the first volunteer fire department and was chief from 1877 to about 1880.
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(Newser)  The MyPillow guy hinting at martial law? That's apparently how it looked after a visit by Mike Lindell to the White House on Friday, when a Washington Post photographer caught a shot of the CEO's notes as he entered the West Wing. Jabin Botsford was the one who snapped the pic, and HuffPost tries to make out what Lindell's papers said, based on the bits and pieces that were visible. "Insurrection Act now as a result of the assault on the..." was one fragment. That was followed on the next line by "martial law if necessary upon the first hint of any..." Other eyebrow-raising phrases spotted include "be taken immediately to save the Constitution," "done massive research on these issues," and "Foreign Interference in the election. Trigger ... powers. Make clear this is China/Iran."

story continues below

There was also a note that appeared to reference making Trump surrogate Kash Patel the acting CIA director. White House officials tell the New York Times Lindell met with Trump for no more than 10 minutes, and Lindell tells the paper he was given those notes by a lawyer he wouldn't name. "The attorney said, can you bring these to him?" he said. "It was stuff to help the American people." Lindell reportedly also met with national security adviser Robert C. O'Brien and White House counsel Pat Cipollone. He says officials appeared "disinterested" in his take on things, and he denies the notes he was holding said "martial law," though Botsford's photo clearly shows those words. The Daily Beast also talked to Lindell, who spilled much more about his meeting with Trump. Read the details here. (Read more Mike Lindell stories.)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-15 22:16:04|Editor: huaxia

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Tibetan people hang prayer flags on top of a mountain in Xigaze, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Jan. 15, 2021. Friday marks the third day of the farmers' New Year celebrated in Xigaze according to the Tibetan lunar calendar. In tradition, people here would go early this morning to hang new prayer flags on top of mountains and their home roofs, praying for peace and prosperity of their country. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 15:03:19|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The final scene of a preposterous show performed by certain U.S. politicians appears on stage this weekend in Washington, showing that there is no limit on their ignorance and prejudice in containing China's development.

In a new action against China days before the U.S. government transition, certain U.S. politicians are making up reasons of reducing risks from so-called espionage to minimize procurement of Chinese goods and services. Such moves violated international trade rules and the principles of a market economy, undermined global industrial and value chains, and damaged the interests of companies and consumers in both countries. The trade war with China has failed to boost the U.S. economy, but instead led to a slowdown in U.S. economic growth and an increase of job losses.

Meanwhile, they also imposed new sanctions on six Chinese officials regarding Hong Kong issues, another example of their blatant act to interfere in China's internal affairs, following the latest official interaction between the United States and China's Taiwan region to challenge the one-China principle.

These irresponsible moves are a poison created by a handful of people attempting to promote selfish political interests at the cost of China-U.S. relations. The bilateral relationship is a giant vessel carrying the well-being of 1.4 billion Chinese and 300 million Americans. Also, other countries should have enough mental sobriety and vigilance to avoid being hijacked onto the U.S. chariot or being used as a tool to maintain U.S. hegemony.

It should be noted, above all, that those politicians have clearly overestimated their ability to influence the course of China-U.S. relations. Outwardly, they appear to be tough, but they are actually weak on the inside. They have also underestimated China's strength and determination to take all measures to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests.

China and the United States are actually in a good position to help each other succeed and can cooperate in lots of domains, including, but not limited to, the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling global climate change, and coping with the threat of nuclear proliferation and confrontation. U.S. policymakers in the future should not let this relationship be led astray by a small bunch of extreme forces.

No matter what other absurd measures Washington will introduce in the coming days to tarnish China-U.S. relations, they will not change the course of China's development and the course of China-U.S. relations. In other words, the anti-China policy of the current U.S. administration will only end in failure. China will maintain strong unity, conduct its own activities effectively and set its own calendar for doing so.

Certain U.S. politicians have left a reputation of destroyers of the international order, world peace and stability, and human rights in the world. Time is short for them to wake up to this reality and cure their madness, which is a stain in world history of development.

On a final note: good riddance to the current U.S. administration and its final madness. Enditem
It's a new year but local progressive arguments against firearms and the 2nd Amendment repeat a flimsy premise that's politically charged and hasn't yielded any tangible results.



To wit . . .

KANSAS CITY MAYOR Q LEADS LAWSUIT AGAINST ATF THAT BLAMES GUNS FOR HISTORIC VIOLENCE!!!

It's a distraction at best. Critics of the mayor might call it yet another attack on local freedoms and a preview of emboldened politicos waging culture war amid the upcoming Biden Administration.

What's more important is that Kansas City elected leaders seem far more comfortable in courtrooms arguing against constitutional rights rather than working in neighborhoods to help find community-based solutions to homegrown violence.



Check the deets . . .



The complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court in New York, alleged the ATF didnt show enough oversight when the agency granted a license to firearms maker Jimenez Arms. That company was also the subject of a separate lawsuit filed by Kansas City leaders in April 2020. The company has since filed for bankruptcy, but according to the lawsuit, it has reopened under the name JA.



Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas joined others in a teleconference organized by Everytown for Gun Safety. Mayor Lucas said countless Jimenez firearms are found at scenes of violent crime in Kansas City. Mayor Lucas also said that manufacturers low prices make the guns easy to buy, use and discard.



We have a supply problem with people who are not following legal processes, to transfer guns, to sell guns and get them into Kansas City, Mayor Lucas said.



Nevertheless . . .

Whilst this argument doesn't sway voters in red state Missouri and Kansas. On the national level there is a growing "opportunity" for legislative progress in cutting back 2nd Amendment fredoms with the Biden Administration at the helm.

The fight for/against gun rights is likely to make a reassurance amid Democratic Party control of the White House, Senate And Congress.

Meanwhile, the bravado of gun rights activists seems to have faded.

Example forwarded our way by the BEST & BRIGHTEST TKC READERS . . .



CNN: NRA files for bankruptcy

And so, this debate is no longer theoretical but seeks to disarm locals at the street level in hopes of reducing local violence.



Read more . . .



Fox4: Kansas City sues ATF, alleging lack of oversight in licensing firearms dealer

KSHB: KCMO files lawsuit against ATF to revoke gun manufacturer's license

KMBC: Kansas City part of new lawsuit against the ATF over firearms license

Developing . . .

Photo: (Photo : Unsplash/Josh Applegate)

Motivating your kids to read books is a great way to teach them how to learn new things. It helps them expand their vocabulary and help them ready for school. However, some children are not born to be book-lovers.

Since most parents want their children to learn to love books, it adds pressure to the young tykes. Author of "Taking Back Childhood," Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Ed.D., said that when kids feel pressured into reading, it could overshadow the joy of the wonderful activity.

Dr. Carlsson-Paige said that while parents want to enforce reading into their kids' habits, they should keep it light and fun. Here are easy ways on how to make your kids read books.

Model it

Columbia University Teachers College Reading and Writing Project in New York City lead senior staff developer, Shanna Schwartz, said that she makes sure to let her kids see her read a book. Besides that, she makes sure to show them how she enjoys reading.

Listen to audiobooks

Audiobooks are not called "books" for nothing; they count as reading too. A grade-school reading teacher, Elissa Mostransky, said that one great way to experience fluency is by hearing someone read a book confidently.

READ NEXT: How to Stop Your Toddler From Saying "No" All the Time

Bring books to life

You could bring your kids to London after you read "Harry Potter" together, or go to New York City after reading "Stuart Little." It will surely excite your kids.

Add a theme to your nook

Grade-school reading specialist, Christina Droskoski, said that by making your reading area more appealing, you could entice your child into reading more.

Surround them with books

Syracuse University in New York child development expert Alice Sterling Honig, Ph.D., said that by doing so, you could get your kids hooked with books at an early age. She explained that it would be better to let them bring books everywhere.

READ MORE: Entitled Child: 7 Ways to Prevent Raising One

Read the book and watch the movie together

Read classic books with a movie version, then watch the film together with the family in the evening. A grade-school teacher, Katie Vaccaro, said that it is one great way to motivate any reluctant readers.

Read aloud

Reading aloud is not only educational but also social, Dr. Carlsson-Paige said. Children learn best when they listen to many stories growing up.

LEARN MORE: 5 Effective Ways to Handle Children's Sneaky Behavior

Read the same books to little kids over

Kids learn when you read the same books because they would notice the pictures and then learn to turn the pages. They would see that the story is the same always, which helps develop their pre-reading skills. Dr. Carlsson-Paige said that they learn phonemics with rhymes. It makes kids chime in because they know what comes next.

Make library visits into adventures

You may check-in with the library to have your kids listen to librarians read books. Make sure to get your child a library card, so they own their reading experience, Droskoski said.
Prince William and his the East Anglian Air Ambulance colleagues in 2017 - Heathcliff O'Malley

The Duke of Cambridge has revealed that seeing people die whilst working as an air ambulance pilot traumatised him and made him see the world as a much more, slightly depressed, darker, blacker place.

He said he really worries about those working on the frontline during the Covid pandemic and the effect such high levels of sadness, trauma and death will have on their personal lives.

The Duke, who worked for the East Anglian Air Ambulance from 2015 until 2017, recalled his own experiences in a video call with medics, counsellors and first responders.

Some of it I noticed from my previous spell flying with the air ambulance, he said.

When you see so much death and so much bereavement it does impact how you see the world.

It impacts your own life and your own family life because it is always there.

The former RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot worked as a co-pilot transporting patients to hospital from emergencies ranging from road accidents to heart attacks - PA

The Duke, who was joined on the call by the Duchess of Cambridge, was told that witnessing so much death made you view things in a different light and fear everyone around you was going to die.

He added: That is what really worries me about the front line staff at the moment is that you are so under the cosh at the moment and so pressurised.

Youre so drawn into it, which everyone is, it is only natural that would happen.

But thats what I think a lot of the public dont understand, that when youre surrounded by that level of intense trauma and sadness and bereavement.

It really does, it stays with you, at home it stays with you for weeks on end, doesnt it, and you see the world in a much more, slightly depressed, darker, blacker place.

In 2018, the Duke revealed that one particular incident involving a child "took him over the edge" whilst working for the Air Ambulance.

The Cambridges heard about the mental health support being provided for frontline workers by Hospice UKs Just B counselling and bereavement support line.

Both stressed that it was vital that frontline personnel reach out for support and that the stigma surrounding seeking help for their mental health must end.

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Phil Spencer, Wellbeing Inspector of Cleveland Police, told the couple that the police were seen as the villains sometimes for having to dole out fines and enforce the law.

He suggested that officers may not have engaged with counselling services as much as they could have because they did not want to take up valuable time.

Perhaps further down the line when all this is gone were going to have some broken police officers and emergency services staff, he added.

The Royal Foundation has partnered with NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Department of Health and Social Care to help fund the line, which is for NHS staff, social care workers, carers and all emergency services personnel.

Burdwan/ Alipurduar (WB): Several Trinamool Congress leaders, including two MLAs, were among the people who received the COVID-19 vaccine in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district on Saturday, while many healthcare workers alleged that they could not get the jab though they were asked to come for it. District health officials said that these leaders are all associated with different hospitals as members of the Patients' Welfare Committees, making them eligible for the vaccination programme in the first round.

The vaccination drive at the Bhatar State General Hospital began with local TMC MLA Subhash Mondal getting the first shot. Later, former TMC MLA Banamali Hazra, Zilla Parisha Karmadakshya Jahar Bagdi and Bhatar Panchayat Samity Public Health in-charge Mahendra Hazra also received the vaccine. At Katwa Sub-divisional Hospital, local MLA Rabindranath Chatterjee of TMC was among the 34 people who received the vaccine on the first day.

The Centre is targetting to vaccinate three crore healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase. At a meeting with the chief ministers on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested that public representatives, a reference to politicians, should not be part of this initial exercise. "This is my personal suggestion and no one should take it otherwise. We public representatives are not part of it," he had said.

Even as the TMC leaders received the vaccine on the first day, several healthcare workers alleged that though they were asked to come for the jab, they could not get it. A nurse at the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital said that she was asked to report for the vaccination by 9 am and though she appeared for it on time, she did not get the shot.

Some other nurses at the hospital also levelled similar allegations. The district's Chief Medical Officer of Health Pranab Roy said that the public representatives who received the vaccines are part of the Patients' Welfare Committees at different hospitals.

"Since they are associated with the hospitals to ensure good services, they are also eligible for the vaccine.There is nothing irregular in it," he said.

BJP's district general secretary Ramakrishna Chakraborty said that in the first phase the frontline workers should get the vaccines. "But the manner in which the TMC leaders queued to get the vaccine, it has gone beyond all bounds of shame. On the other side, the frontline workers had to return home without getting the shot," he alleged.

Trinamool Congress district spokesperson Prosenjit Das said that there was no wrong with the leaders of his party getting the vaccine because they have all survived COVID-19. "Officially, those who have survived COVID-19 will be the first to receive the vaccine. So there is no issue of political benefit in it. The BJP does not know the rules. It is their job to complain without knowing the rules," Das claimed.

In the Alipurduar district, TMC MLA Saurabh Chakrbarty's name was on the top of the list for Covid vaccination. However, he claimed that he was unaware of it. "I am not taking any vaccine now and I have informed the health department. First, the common people of Alipurduar should get the vaccine and then I will take my shot. I am not aware as I had not applied for any vaccination," Chakraborty said.

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Frontline COVID-19 workers at Selayang Hospital in Malaysia pose for pictures during International Nurses Day, May 12, 2020.

Muhyiddin Yassins government shouldnt politicize the countrys health system, medical groups said after Malaysia this week declared a national emergency, which much of the opposition criticized as a move to cling to power rather than contain a worsening coronavirus pandemic.

The government should use the sweeping powers granted it under the emergency responsibly and prepare a collaborative COVID-19 response focused on the peoples welfare, the Malaysian Health Coalition (MHC) and the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) said.

Meanwhile, some doctors and analysts interviewed by BenarNews said that an emergency declaration was needed for political stability during the pandemic, especially when Muhyiddins coalition had just lost the support of a parliamentary majority and may have faced imminent elections.

Under the emergency declared by the king on Tuesday through a constitutional provision and authorized through Aug. 1, parliament is suspended with the prospect of snap polls before the second quarter being snuffed out.

In its announcement, the palace said the king was of the view that an emergency declaration was needed because the pandemic was now at a very critical level.

But most of the political opposition said that Muhyiddins government was to blame for not controlling a surge in COVID-19 cases. Opposition politicians said an emergency wasnt required for the coronavirus response, especially because the prime minister on Monday had imposed complete and partial lockdowns to contain the more than 2,000 daily new infections the country has been recording lately.

With great power comes great responsibility, the MHC said after the national emergency was declared. The frontline health professionals who have tirelessly served the rakyat [people] throughout the pandemic must not be politicized.  [We] do not accept any politicization of the health system, said the health coalition, which is made up of 45 medical groups and 18 doctors.

The MMA initially issued a statement thanking the king for declaring a national emergency to bring the COVID-19 situation in the country under control. But the medical association soon changed its tune after learning about some of the more extraordinary powers the government had gained from the declaration.

The EO [emergency ordinance] should be used responsibly and not to bully or arm twist the private health care sector in order to use its resources. For the record, the private health care sector has been consistently offering their services in the battle against COVID-19 from the very start of the pandemic, MMA said in a statement on Friday.

The association was referring to statements made by Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob. A day earlier, he was reported as having said that under the emergency, the government could fine private hospitals RM 5 million (U.S. $1.2 million) and jail those who run the facilities if they refused to admit COVID-19 patients.

The MMA said it viewed the ministers statement with deep concern.

The government should stop playing Big Brother after not being able to contain the pandemic but should instead start listening to feedback from the ground and regard private health care as its key partner, MMA said.

On Friday, Malaysia reported 3,337 new cases, recording a total of 147,855 cases. With 15 new deaths, the virus-related fatalities rose to 578.

System being stretched

Doctors and analysts interviewed by BenarNews described the countrys coronavirus pandemic as dire.

The situation has certainly deteriorated especially in the last two months with cases surging dramatically. The immediate concern is the public healthcare system is being stretched especially with regards to ICU beds, Dr. Christopher Lee, a former deputy director-general of health, told BenarNews.

On Monday, Muhyiddin had said that ICU bed use had reached 80-100 percent capacity at many hospitals. In addition, more than 1,450 medical personnel in hospitals nationwide were unable to work because they had been infected or were under quarantine orders.

The burden on the healthcare system is why an emergency declaration was required, according to Dr. Fazrul Mokhtar, an emergency-ward physician.

Looking at the current situation, a state of emergency declaration is reasonable. We need the situation in the country to be stabilized. Our concern is the well-being of all Malaysians, he told BenarNews.

Holding a general election at this time is a bad idea, said another doctor who works with coronavirus patients in a government hospital but asked not to be identified because he wasnt authorized to speak to reporters.

Whatever helps combat the pandemic is welcome  But as far as elections go, as a Malaysian citizen, I dont think we should do it, seeing as the high numbers we have now are still very much linked to the Sabah election last year, the doctor said.

State legislative elections last September in Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo, led to a huge spike in coronavirus cases after the country had reduced new infections.

Just a few days before the Sept. 26 election, the country reported a little more than 10,000 coronavirus cases. Now, Malaysia close to 150,000 total cases.

PMs earlier request

Still, in October, the king rejected a first request by Muhyiddin to declare a national emergency soon after the Sabah-related coronavirus surge became apparent. The government has managed to tackle the pandemic well and effectively, the king had said on Oct. 25.

The kings rejection of the prime ministers initial request came when Muhyiddins government was clinging to a wafer-thin parliamentary majority, ahead of critical deliberations on the passage of his governments proposed budget, which was passed last month.

When he rejected Muhyiddins first request, King Al-Sultan Abdullah Riayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah also called on politicians to immediately stop all politicking that could disrupt the stability of the countrys government.

What changed?

Two things, said political analyst and retired university academic Azmi Hassan.

The [daily new] positive cases at that time had still not reached a four-figure value and our hospital delivery system was still efficient. The second reason is the political situation, that is, the threat of [snap] elections was still at a premature stage, Hassan told BenarNews.

He was referring to disaffection in Muhyiddins ruling coalition, with its largest party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), threatening to pull support from the government.

Coronavirus response needs to change

According to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, Muhyiddin misled the king and used the worsening pandemic as a pretext to cling to power.

We think the prime minister and the government have been excessive and misguided in conveying advice to the king because [the emergency] is not really related to COVID-19, Anwar, who leads the opposition in parliament, said in a letter to MPs urging them to appeal to the king to withdraw the state of emergency.

The Prime Minister is more focused on efforts to remain in power, Anwar, who leads the Pakatan Harapan coalition said.

Besides, not everyone in the opposition had called for snap polls, he said. Pakatan had said a general election should only be held in 2023, Anwar said.

He also said an emergency was not needed to rope in private hospitals to help fight the coronavirus because these hospitals were already really willing to help government.

Lim Guan Eng, leader of the opposition Democratic Action Party, wondered why an emergency declaration was needed alongside coronavirus restrictions, called the Movement Control Order, which Muhyiddin had announced a day before the emergency declaration.

The Muhyiddin governments coronavirus response needed to change, Lim said in a statement on Tuesday, because its policy flip-flops, double-standards and sheer incompetence so far had caused Malaysians to lose both our lives and livelihood in the battle against COVID-19.
An armed and angry mob surround the seat of government in the capital of a democracy, claiming the most recent election is invalid.

In ferocious clashes between the crowd and the police, several lie dead and many are wounded. Eventually, armed men force their way into the very debating chamber.

And what happens? The mob wins. The government flees for its life. Nice liberal-minded Western governments, especially the American one, along with nice liberal media, rejoice at the outcome of these events, the overthrow of an elected government by unconstitutional means and mass intimidation.

Some of you may recall these events in Kiev, capital of Ukraine, in February 2014. I certainly do, because I found them repellent and wrong. Almost alone among Western journalists, I argued that this had been a violent putsch.

Just imagine the outcry if a Russian diplomat or politician had been mingling with the horrible rabble which stormed the US Capitol in Washington (pictured). And quite right too

The toppled government of President Viktor Yanukovych was ugly and corrupt, beyond doubt. But by the standards of Ukraines young democracy, it was still legitimate.

Elections were due within a year, which could have removed those in power lawfully. The mob did not wish to wait, and even shoved aside a deal brokered by several European statesmen to preserve the rules.

Not long before this explosion, many major figures were seen fraternising with the crowds which later became the mob, including the late US Senator John McCain and Victoria Nuland, then Washingtons Assistant Secretary of State, now tipped for a high place in the Biden administration.

They did not call for the violent overthrow of the Yanukovych government. But they were all quite happy to associate with a partisan crowd in the capital of a sovereign nation, and the demonstrators must surely have taken heart from their presence.

Some of you may recall these events in Kiev, capital of Ukraine, in February 2014. I certainly do, because I found them repellent and wrong. Almost alone among Western journalists, I argued that this had been a violent putsch

Just imagine the outcry if a Russian diplomat or politician had been mingling with the horrible rabble which stormed the US Capitol in Washington. And quite right too. Foreign powers have no business taking sides in the internal matters of independent countries.

So answer me this, all you lofty liberals. I have always despised Donald Trump and the empty-headed movement he created, and I am here quite happy to say that the invasion of the halls of the US Congress by Trump supporters was a grotesque, evil and criminal enterprise, which I utterly condemn without the tiniest reservation.

But will you, even now, say that the violent putsch in Kiev, six years ago, was just as wrong?

No, you wont. Because  as your failure to defend liberty shows  you have no real principles. You put them on as fancy dress when you need to pose. But in reality you will do what you have to, to get the power you want. Your outrage is phoney and selective, and I do not trust it.

Death rates dont tell the full story

Those media who said that the excess deaths during 2020 were the greatest since 1940 were trying to hide the real facts with emotion.

Many of the statistics around Covid need very careful examination. The raw figures are (mostly) correct, but the way they are presented and interpreted is often fishy, and we will have to wait for an independent inquiry to make sense of many of them  if then.

But the comparison with 1940 is plain wrong because the population of this country has risen so much since then. If you allow for that growth, the excess deaths for last year were probably the highest since 2008. Bad, but not that bad.

Also please bear in mind that many of the excess deaths for the past year may well have been caused by delayed or missed medical treatment resulting from lockdowns  not Covid.

The Recovery campaign estimates that 6,000 people died because they failed to access accident and emergency treatment. And this will get worse.

Last week, official figures showed tens of thousands of cancer cases went undiagnosed as NHS waiting lists ballooned. And 4.46 million people in England are waiting for non-emergency surgery, the highest figure since records began in 2007. Lockdowns also kill.

Some goodish news about my colleague Keeba Critchlow and her junior-doctor husband, Ben, who are having to pay for two homes. This is because Ben has had to move for his job but they cannot sell their old flat thanks to the tangle of fire-proofing regulations imposed after the Grenfell blaze. The Housing Ministry have looked into their case and are urging all involved to be more flexible.

They say: This cannot be allowed to continue. We are working urgently with lenders to resolve these challenges, ensuring EWS1 [fire assessment] forms are requested only where absolutely necessary and that the number of surveyors able to complete them is increased significantly to meet demand. There is no doubt that the EWS1 form has sometimes been misinterpreted and demanded by some in the industry when its not needed  causing immense difficulty to leaseholders as a result. Thats not acceptable and must stop.

Lenders, buyers, sellers and everyone involved, please note.

Stick to the law, judge, and spare us the lecture

Are judges entitled to deliver political lectures to defendants? In fact, are judges in criminal trials supposed to get involved in politics at all? I think that, in the days when I used to cover trials at Swindon Crown Court in the 1970s, everyone in the room would have fainted if such a thing had happened.

Yet it now seems to be allowed. In Bristol a few days ago, District Judge Lynne Matthews fined Robin Campbell, an anti-lockdown protester, a bruising 1,500 for the new and very unBritish crime of taking part in a gathering of more than two people.

In the course of sentencing Mr Campbell, who pleaded guilty, Judge Matthews chose to read out a long and moving description of the pain and stress of working in a Covid ward, written by an anonymous doctor and published in The Times.

But when Mr Campbell sought to respond, the judge retorted: I know about the science. What is it about your predicament on November 14 that meant it was proportionate for you to put others at risk?

I think this is just wrong. Some people believe that lockdowns work, though there is in fact no evidence that they do and quite a lot that they do not. I myself think street protests are a waste of time, but I think the law banning them is oppressive and more rigidly enforced than practically any other law in existence in the country. If only burglary was met with such steel and punitive vigour. But I am infuriated by the incessant false claim, by supporters of lockdowns, that their opponents are callous about the lives and health of others.

Did the judge honestly think the defendant knew or cared any less than her about the pain and suffering of Covid? Did she in some way know that he did so, or did she just presume this because of her own view of the matter?

If challenged, could she justify with hard scientific fact her assertion that, by demonstrating against a government policy he disagreed with, Mr Campbell had chosen to put others at risk? I greatly doubt it.

The whole point of the law is its cool impartiality, its judgment of the facts by a jury, and of the law by an impartial, dispassionate judge. If judges are going to start offering politico-medical lectures from the bench, it changes us into a completely different kind of country. In effect, a defendant in such cases is on trial for his opinions, not his actions.

Does Judge Matthews desire such a state of affairs? I doubt it. In that case she should not do this again. But I fear someone else will. Much that we used to know and trust about this country is vanishing with amazing speed.

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Several hundred mourners have turned out to the funeral of a slain True King underworld figure who was gunned down in cold-blood in front of his girlfriend a week ago.

Amar Kettule was hit with a spray of bullets on a side lane near William Street in Fairfield in Sydney's southwest about 2.40am on January 10.

Kettule, 34, was a high-ranking member of the True Kings street gang, with police probing whether a feud with rival DLASTHR gang led to his slaying.

Heartbroken family members, the broader community, and police were at St Thomas The Apostle Chaldean and Assyrian Church on Saturday morning to celebrate Kettule's life.

Men and women alike donned a white shirt with Kettule's smiling face printed on the front, with the back featuring an Ace of Spades card symbol on it and the words 'King Ace' .

Due to Covid-19 restrictions only 100 people were allowed inside the church but that didn't stop mourners from flooding the driveway and surrounding streets.

Inside the church, immediate family members were seated in the pews wearing face masks as they prayed and remembered Kettule.

Amar Kettule, 34, was shot dead in the street in a suspected targeted attack in Sydney's southwest in the early hours of Sunday morning

Kettule's white casket is seen covered in red roses as mourners place more of the flowers on top of his body as it is placed inside the hearse

Family and the broader Assyrian community members flocked to the church early on Saturday morning to farewell the slain underworld figure

White doves were present at the funeral and let out when Kettule's casket was placed in the hearse

Immediate family members wearing the 'King Ace' shirt were allowed inside the church while everyone else waited outside

Upon entering the church, mourners were given a photograph of Kettule with a saying which read: 'God looked around his garden and found an empty place. He then looked down upon the earth and saw your tired face.

'He put his arms around you and lifted you to rest. God's garden must be beautiful. He always takes the best.'

As the ceremony finished and Kettule's casket was carried out, the crowd wept as they farewelled him.

Some of his friends and family were hoisted into the air and started dancing, while others banged on large drums as police officers dressed in blue struggled to keep the rowdy group off the streets.

Two women fainted as the casket was placed inside the hearse and were helped inside by strangers.

One of the men was carrying a silver crown and scepter, representing Kettule's king-like leadership.

Another man could be seen holding a photo frame of his friend, thrusting it into the faces of other mourners.

One man told Daily Mail Australia that Kettule was a good man and didn't deserve to die.

'No one deserves to die. No matter what you did no one deserves to be shot,' the mourner said.

Two men were placed on people's shoulders as Kettule's casket was slowly taken away to the hearse (pictured)

Men carried the casket out of the church and white roses were thrown at it to celebrate Kettule's life

Mourners followed the hearse down the road from the church as drummers continued to play loudly

A police officer is seen directing the hearse driver toward Rockwood cemetery where Kettule will be buried

Women were seen crying and hugging each other as the hearse left the church on Saturday morning to bury Kettule

Mourners are seen crying and a man holds a frame with Kettule's photograph in it as the hearse heads to the cemetery

Kettule's background and gang involvement meant that there was a heavy police presence at the church to ensure the funeral went according to plan.

However, motorbike riders were issued fines and demerit points because of defects on their bikes or helmets.

They were ordered to leave from the front of the church and not come back.

Police however told Daily Mail Australia that their attendance at the ceremony and funeral were to ensure the safety and security of the community.

A flock of doves were placed outside in the driveway, ready to be let go when Kettule's casket was heading to Rockwood cemetery

A grieving woman carrying white roses touches the back of the hearse as it slowly leaves the church to head to the cemetery

Family and community members flocked to the street and chanted and sang as the hearse left the church

Heartbroken women held onto each other as Kettule's casket was ready to be taken to Rockwood Cemetery

A police officer is seen issuing a fine to a motorbike rider outside the church of Amar Kettule on Saturday morning

Motorbike riders were issued fines and demerit points because of defects on their bikes or helmets

There was a heavy police presence at Kettule's funeral who was shot in a suburban alleyway on Sunday, January 10

The hearse slowly drove out of the church as mourners followed the car towards the end of the road

Kettule's grave at Rockwood Cemetery was covered in white roses.

There was also a bunch of black flowers in the shape of an ace in connection to Kettule's 'King Ace' name.

A lone man giving his condolences after everyone had left told Daily Mail Australia that Kettule was a 'good man'.

'I knew Amar since we were eight-years-old and he had such a big heart,' the man said.

'Every Saturday he would go to church and help the poor. He would do everything he could to help others.

'He was also ready to be a father and was about to propose to his girlfriend... he was taken too soon.'

The letters A and K were made up in red roses on white roses to represent Ace King at Kettula's grave

A bunch of white roses were seen at Kettule's grave site at Rockwood Cemetery on Saturday afternoon

Mourners from the church gathered at Rockwood Cemetery and placed white roses near his burial site

Conflict between the two Assyrian gangs DLASTHR (The Last Hour) and the True Kings peaked in 2016, with a spate of shootings and fire bombings in the city's southwest linked to a bloody turf war.

Fairfield City Commander Detective Superintendent Glen Fitzgerald said police were investigating whether Kettule's killing was linked to gang wars in the area.

'We believe the attack to be targeted. He is well-known to police - however this is a violent attack on a suburban street and is unacceptable behaviour,' he said.

Det Supt Fitzgerald said detectives would be looking into whether Kettule's death was a revenge killing.

'It's part of the investigation (the feud) and a line of inquiry but the cause and motive is very unknown, it's still very early in the investigation,' he said.

'We will have a number of police out on the highway doing whatever we can to eliminate any chances of any type of action happening.

'But until we know the cause of this, it's difficult to say what will happen.'

Kettule and his girlfriend were driving their Toyota Prado into the Fairfield Towers apartment complex as the shooting unfolded.

CCTV footage showed Kettule, wearing a white Adidas shirt and gold chains, arriving home with his partner just hours before his death at 7.30pm.

CCTV footage showed Kettule, wearing a white Adidas shirt and gold chains, arriving home with his partner just hours before his death at 7.30pm

Police are pictured at the scene after the deadly shooting. Kettule is believed to be a senior member of the True Kings street gang

At 8.40pm the couple were seen emerging from the apartment. After returning six hours later, Kettule was gunned down in a nearby alleyway.

His death is eerily similar to his brother Dylann's, who was gunned down in a suspected drive-by shooting outside his girlfriend's unit block in January 2014.

Kettule also has links to the Nomads bikie gang and had to be restrained by police in the aftermath of his brother's death when he demanded to see Dylann's body.

The conflict between DLASTHR (The Last Hour) and the True Kings resulted in more than a dozen shootings in Sydney's southwest in 2016.

In March of that year, a True Kings member was driving with another man when shots were allegedly fired at them from another car carrying DLASTHR rivals.

The violence peaked with two separate shooting attacks on suburban houses linked to the turf war four months later, prompting police to set-up Operation Condor.


Panaji:

Amid the raging debate over cow slaughter and consumption of beef, a sadhvi has said those who consider eating beef as a status symbol should be hanged. She said this while attending a meet of various Hindu outfits.



The remarks made by Sadhvi Saraswati on Wednesday triggered a sharp reaction from the Congress, which said her speech would spark communal hatred and asked the BJP-led government in Goa to lodge an FIR against her.



I appeal to the Government of India that those people who consider eating meat of their own mother as a status symbol should be hanged, Sadhvi Saraswati from Madhya Pradesh said.



They (those who eat beef) should be brought before the public and hanged, then only people will know that it is our duty to protect gau mata, she said while commenting on beef consumption during the inauguration of All India Hindu Convention at Ramnathi village here.



Sadhvi Saraswati, president of Sanatan Dharma Prachar Seva Samiti of Chhindwada in MP, also wanted the Hindus to keep arms in their homes to protect themselves.



If we do not stock arms, we will be destroyed in future, she said.



Today Bharat is under attack from all directions. Efforts are being made to separate Kashmir from Bharat and also stop the Amarnath pilgrimage. Bharatmata-Gaumata are being censured, she said.

ALSO READ | Kerala High Court refuses to stay ban on cattle trade for slaughter



Slamming the demand by some political parties to ban the outfits calling for the creation of the Hindu rashtra, she said they should realise that no power in the country can prevent Hindus from establishing the Hindu Nation.



She said there is no such thing as saffron terrorism, adding that saffron means dedicated life for the nation and dharma.



Nearly 130 Hindu organisations from 21 states and countries including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal are attending the four-day convention, its organisers said.



Reacting to the speeches made at the meet, All India Congress Committee secretary Girish Chodankar questioned the Manohar Parrikar-led state governments silence over them.



The statements provoking communal hatred are made during the convention. The state government has become a party to the entire programme by maintaining silence and allowing it to continue, Chodankar alleged.



He also questioned Goa Forward Party leader Vijai Sardesais silence on the issue.

ALSO READ | Meghalaya Assembly unanimously passes resolution opposing Centre's notification on cattle trade for slaughter



Sardesai, whose party is now an ally of the ruling BJP, had in the past hit out at the VHPs claim that it would ban beef in the state. He had said that those who were trying to create communal disharmony would be dealt with strongly, Chodankar said.



Why is he (Sardesai) silent over Sadhvis statement promoting violence? Chodankar asked.



He said the government should have taken suo moto cognisance of the sadhvis comments and filed an FIR against her for hate speech.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.




The head of the country's Covid-19 vaccine taskforce has said there will only be a modest impact to the rollout of the vaccination programme.

Pfizer BioNTech has announced a temporary reduction in supplies as it expands its facilities.

Professor Brian MacCraith told RTE News: After a stressful day it has been very relieving news to hear from Pfizer this evening that the proposed reduction will only apply to one week and that is this coming week.

He said from next month there would be significant growth in supplies coming into Ireland.

An additional 50 people have died with Covid-19 in Ireland, the Department of Health said.

All of these deaths occurred in January.

Another 3,498 cases were confirmed.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said new variants of Covid-19 have recently been identified in Brazil and in travellers to Japan from Brazil.

He added: There is no evidence of these variants in Ireland.

Anyone who has travelled from Brazil in the last 14 days is advised to self-isolate for 14 days, from the date of arrival, and identify themselves, through a GP, for testing as soon as possible.

It is essential that anyone arriving from Brazil self-isolate for 14 days from the date of arrival before entering/re-entering the workplace.

We are particularly appealing to employers to enable their employees to protect each other by staying at home for the full 14 days.
The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike.

We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve.
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As Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the world's largest Covid vaccination drive , those receiving Bharat Biotech's coronavirus vaccine Covaxin were asked to sign consent forms.

Beneficiaries receiving 'Covaxin' will have to sign a consent form, which assures medical care and compensation if any adverse effect was found linked to the Covid-19 vaccine.

As Covaxin is still in "trial mode", individuals being given the vaccine on Saturday were being asked to sign consent forms.

What the consent form says

View Full Image Here's the consent form that beneficiaries of Covaxin would have to sign.

View Full Image Here's the consent form that beneficiaries of Covaxin would have to sign.

View Full Image Here's the consent form that beneficiaries of Covaxin would have to sign.

"The Bharat Biotech Covid-19 Vaccine (COVAXINTM) is a vaccine with approval for restricted use in emergency situation that may prevent COVID-19," the consent form read.

"In phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials, COVAXINT has demonstrated the ability to produce antibodies against COVID-19. However, the clinical efficacy of COVAXIN is yet to be established and it is still being studied in phase 3 clinical trial. Hence, it is important to appreciate that receiving the vaccine does not mean that other precautions related to Covid-19 need not be followed," it added.

The form further said, "In case of any serious adverse events, vaccine recipients will be provided medically recognized standard of care in the government designated and authorized centers/hospitals. The compensation for the serious adverse event will be paid by sponsor (BBIL) if the SAE is proven to be causally related to the vaccine. The compensation will be determined by the ICMR Central Ethics Committee, as appropriate."

As per reports, anecdotal evidence suggests that approval of Covaxin without data from Phase 3 human trials -- as well as the death of a trial participant -- has further eroded trust in the inoculation drive.

The other jab to be given today is Covishield, a version of AstraZeneca and Oxford University's shot made by Pune-based Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-17 04:48:33|Editor: huaxia

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ANKARA -- More than 675,000 health workers in Turkey have received COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac during the first three days of the country's vaccination program, Turkish Health Ministry's data showed on Saturday.

Turkey reported 7,550 new COVID-19 cases, including 902 symptomatic patients, as the total number of confirmed cases in the country reached 2,380,665, according to the health ministry. (Turkey-China-Vaccine)

- - - -

CAIRO -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Saturday that his country's rejection of foreign military interference in Libya and its designation of Libya's Sirte and Jufra as red lines helped preserve the political path of the Libyan crisis.

Sisi's remarks came during his meeting with Adel Abdul-Rahman al-Asoumi, speaker of the Cairo-based Arab Parliament affiliated with the Arab League, said the Egyptian presidency. (Egypt-Sisi-Asoumi-Arab-Unity-Libya)

- - - -

TEHRAN -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Saturday said the Iranian government will spare no efforts to start vaccination by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2021).

Addressing a national committee meeting on fighting COVID-19, Rouhani urged people to observe all necessary health protocols, saying if health protocols are not implemented, the country may run the risk of another peak in COVID-19 cases, official news agency IRNA reported. (Iran-COVID-19)

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MUSCAT -- The target groups in Oman will receive the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine starting Sunday, official Oman News Agency (ONA) reported Saturday.

"In line with the schedule for the implementation of the national campaign for immunization against COVID-19, the second dose of the vaccine for the same target groups that received the first dose a few weeks ago was scheduled to begin on Sunday," ONA quoted a Health Ministry statement as saying. (Oman-COVID-19 Vaccine-2nd Dose) Enditem

Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko discussed during an online meeting with Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault possible cooperation between Ukrainian and Canadian experts in the area of filmmaking, museum and archival affairs, restoration of cultural monuments and more.

"We had much to discuss during the online meeting. The more especially as our countries recently ratified the audiovisual cooperation agreement. I am glad to announce that we agreed to hold a series of webinars between producers and film agencies of Canada and Ukraine in the near future," Tkachenko posted on Facebook.

The ministers discussed possible cooperation in the following projects: the Great Restoration project  possible participation of Canadian experts and restorers; creation of Ukrainian-language audio guides for Canadian national museums; involvement of Ukrainian experts in the digitalization of Ukrainian-Canadian archives; continued exchange of cultural events between Ukraine and Canada.

In addition, Tkachenko and Guilbeault discussed the designation of the Chornobyl Zone as UNESCO World Heritage Site, the commemoration of the Holodomor victims and the anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy.

As reported, the Great Restoration project is to start in Ukraine in 2021. The implementation of the project aims not only to preserve cultural objects but also to make them self-sufficient so that they increase their revenues.

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BELCHERTOWN  A condominium owner prevailed over trustees who attempted to fine her $50 a day for displaying a Black Lives Matter sign in her flower bed, after a judge ruled in her favor in Hampshire Superior Court on Friday.

Margery Jess, owner of a unit at Summer Hill Estates, in October sued trustees of the condominium association who tried to strong-arm her into taking down the sign, threatening fines that would have amounted to more than $18,000 annually.

Judge Richard Carey initially granted Jess a temporary injunction to prevent the association from forcing her to take the sign down or face fines. Carey ruled Friday the condo associations bylaw designed to control the content of signage is unconstitutional and violates free speech protections.

Summer Hill Estates Condominium Trust is hereby permanently enjoined from interfering with Plaintiff Margery Jesss right to post, at and near her condominium and without prior permission of the Board from placing a Black Lives Matter sign or other signs that are consistent with the Rules and Regulations of the Trust that comply with the Courts Declarations above, Carey wrote in a brief ruling.

In her complaint, filed with the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union and Northampton attorney Luke Ryan, Jess said trustees told her to take the sign down on May 30, one day after she placed it in a flower bed outside her condo. Frank Pudlo, chairman of the condominium trust, sent her an email ordering the removal of the sign, arguing it was political during an election year.

Pudlo cited a rule in the associations bylaws requiring owners to seek prior permission to place signs outside their units. Jess sent a request when she learned of the rule, but was denied after a meeting she was not invited to attend, according to court records.

Summer Hill Estates is an over-55 development off Route 202 in Belchertown, billed as a vibrant and growing community, according to its website.

Jesss complaint said her neighbors were displaying signs with patriotic and ethnically based messages outside their units, including a Civil War-era flag. She and the trustees jousted over the matter in emails, court records show.

As some residents have hearts displayed on their doors and windows as an expression of supporting healthcare providers during COVID-19, I (am) supporting our fellow Black Americans as they deal with continued institutional racism and police brutality, Jess wrote in one email.

The Trustees voted today on your request and the majority vote was not to allow your sign to be displayed, the trustees responded. Our decision is to not allow signs with any political intent or connotation. This decision is especially relevant with this being an election year. The other signs (located outside other owners units), are not political and are considered decorations.

The sign remains in the window of Jesss condo, said William Newman, director of the ACLU of Massachusetts Western Regional Law Office.

This case is a poignant reminder of the foundational importance of freedom of speech, particularly in these fraught and perilous times, Newman said. Ms. Jess standing strong for this fundamental freedom has been inspiring.

Jess released a statement lauding Careys ruling.

I am enormously appreciative of the Courts judgment, which guarantees my right to freely exercise freedom of speech in support of anti-racism and social justice in my community, she said.

The ACLU also applauded the judges ruling as part of the civil liberties lobbys efforts to protect free speech and beat back condominium associations efforts to control members First Amendment rights.

Across Massachusetts, we see condo and homeowners associations impeding the right of property owners and tenants to engage in free speech through signs at and near their homes, said Ruth Bourquin, senior and managing staff attorney at the ACLU of Massachusetts. We hope this landmark decision is a wake-up call that such restrictions must end.

Acquisitions of biotechnology startups jumped in 2020, as buyers moved upstream to grab promising drugmakers while they were still private and relatively cheap.

Drug manufacturers bought 19 biotech startups last year, up from 15 in 2019, according to Silicon Valley Bank. Last years total was the highest since the 20 buyouts recorded in 2016. The median upfront sum paid in 2020 was $300 million, compared with $250 million the year before.

Buyers are competing with an exploding initial public offerings market. Eighty-four biotechs went public in 2020, topping the previous peak of 66 in 2014, according to SVB.

Median biotech IPO pre-money valuations, the value before a company goes public, reached a record, $500 million in 2020. Some acquirers aim to buy biotechs before they become more highly valued, publicly traded companies, SVB Managing Director Jonathan Norris said.

Were seeing unprecedented valuations of companies going public and great performance out there," Mr. Norris said.

Buyers closed 2020 with several sizable deals, including Bayer AGs purchase of gene-therapy startup Asklepios BioPharmaceutical Inc. for $2 billion up front, plus up to $2 billion in success-based payments.

Startup acquisitions rose despite the pandemic, which forced buyers to negotiate deals virtually. David Lee, chief executive of Servier Pharmaceuticals, the U.S. subsidiary of French drugmaker Servier Laboratories, said the crisis slowed some deal making efforts, as the company confronted questions such as how to vet opportunities without face-to-face meetings.

Still, Servier last year acquired venture-backed Symphogen A/S, formed a collaboration with venture-funded Celsius Therapeutics Inc., and agreed to buy the oncology business of publicly held Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc.

When you have strong motivation to get things done, you still do," Mr. Lee said.

Biotech acquisitions arent necessarily correlated with economic cycles because pharmaceutical companies have plenty of cash to make deals, said Christiana Bardon, a managing director with MPM Capital Oncology Impact Fund, a cancer-focused investment fund, and with life sciences investor Burrage Capital.

Corporate acquirers can strike when they see a biotech drug reach an important milestone, such as strong clinical trial data, she said. Because of the financing climate, biotechs now often have the option to pass on buyout offers and raise money to remain independent.

If these companies dont see a deal they like on the table they have plenty of resources and opportunities to take that asset forward themselves," Dr. Bardon said.

Pharmaceutical companies in particular are evaluating acquisitions of genetic-medicine companies that could shake up the drug industry, said Gbola Amusa, head of health-care research for investment banking firm Chardan Capital Markets LLC.

Potential targets include gene-therapy companies, which typically use adeno-associated virus, or AAV, to ferry genes into cells, where they make a specific disease-fighting protein.

Some gene-therapy companies are developing one-time treatments for conditions, such as the blinding disease age-related macular degeneration, that could displace top-selling drugs that are taken repeatedly, Dr. Amusa said.

If AAV starts to be able to produce these proteins in the body, that will eliminate a big portion of what Big Pharma is doing," he said.

Because of drugmakers need for growth, and sizable financial resources, the year ahead looks promising for biotech acquisitions, said Otello Stampacchia, founder of health-care investor Omega Funds, adding, We think theres going to be a lot of activity."

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Late-night ferry riders will continue waiting an hour between boats for the foreseeable future, with the Department of Transportation (DOT) failing to provide a timeline for the restoration of full service.

In March, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the Staten Island Ferry would be shifting to hourly service around the clock due to declining ridership and lack of staffing during the initial coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Regular service was restored during daytime hours in June, as the city began to reopen and more people returned to work, but overnight service, from midnight to 6 a.m., has remained on an hourly basis.

In November, Councilman Steven Matteo (R-Mid-Island) penned a letter to DOT Borough Commissioner Tom Cocola inquiring about the potential return of half-hourly, around-the-clock service on the Staten Island Ferry.

In April, de Blasio unveiled his Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) budget proposal, including a reduction in overnight service on the Staten Island Ferry that would save the city $5.5 million and could potentially last until July 1, 2021.

The service cuts were met with immediate backlash from Staten Island officials, who acknowledged the need for reductions at the time, given the low ridership and lack of crew availability, but repeatedly stated that full service must be restored in short order.

The budget, including the reduction in overnight service, was approved in July, with the DOT giving no indication since then of when full service will be restored.

Last month, Cocola responded to Matteo, citing continued low overnight ridership compared to pre-pandemic levels as the main reason full service has yet to be restored.

With respect to the question of when we will begin increasing service again, there are a number of factors involved, with primary being a sizable increase in ridership, Cocola wrote.

Currently, late-night ridership levels remain at just 40% to 60% of pre-pandemic levels, according to the DOT.

Our review indicates that the number of passengers for the 23:30 (11:30 p.m.) trips from Whitehall Terminal have stayed consistent at between 50%-60% of last years count, wrote Cocola. We also reviewed the 23:00 (11 p.m.) and 00:30 (12:30 a.m.) trips which showed that the ridership aboard those ferries have also remained consistent... at just below 50% and 40%, respectively.

The department also pointed out that it is currently using the larger, Barberi-class ferry boats during overnight hours and that increasing service by incorporating smaller, Austen-class boats would leave passengers less room to social distance.

While the Austen-class with two decks and a maximum capacity of 1,107 passengers is certainly available, and up to the task to carry the average number of passengers for both the average weekday service of 161 passengers, or the average weekend service of 224 passengers, it was decided that the Barberi-class would afford more room for social distancing and peace of mind, Cocola wrote.

When asked what percentage of pre-pandemic ridership would need to return in order to restore full service, the DOT failed to provide a specific threshold, instead stating that the department will continue to assess the ever-changing situation.

DOT will continue to monitor the ridership levels to determine when we will be resuming the 30-minute service overnight, a DOT spokesperson told the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com.

FIGHT TO RESTORE FULL SERVICE

Restoring and maintaining around-the-clock half-hour service on the Staten Island Ferry has been a priority of Borough President James Oddo, who authored the bill mandating 24/7, half-hour service back in 2013.

In early April, Oddo told the Advance he is deeply concerned about the mayors ability to unilaterally override the legislation, as he has done by reducing service during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Its a secondary issue for now, in the midst of a pandemic, but its an important issue for Staten Island because the precedent is one that Im concerned about -- the notion of invoking emergency provisions to undo a local law, Oddo said.

The news troubled Oddo, who voiced concerns regarding unilateral executive action being used to undercut legally-mandated service for Staten Islanders.

I get it,' Oddo said. I understand were in a war. I understand were in a pandemic. I understand it makes no sense to have that level of service when ridership is decreasing. But I worry about, and I think Staten Island always has to worry about, allowing unilateral action by an executive.

A representative from the mayors office told the Advance/SILive.com that the mayor is legally permitted to induce service reductions in the event of an emergency, and that the office is working with Oddo to ensure the safety of Staten Island commuters.

The law very clearly gives us the power to change the schedule during an emergency,' said mayoral spokeswoman Olivia Lapeyrolerie. We will continue to work with the borough president to determine the best ways to protect Staten Islanders health and safety.

Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 14:34:47|Editor: huaxia

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An Afghan municipality employee cleans the site of a blast in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 16, 2021. Two policemen lost their lives and another was injured as a blast struck their vehicle in Kabul on Saturday, spokesman for Kabul police Ferdaws Faramarz said. (Photo by Sayed Mominzadah/Xinhua)

KABUL, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Two policemen lost their lives and another was injured as a blast struck their vehicle in Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Saturday, spokesman for Kabul police Ferdaws Faramarz said.

According to the official, the blast happened in Police District 3 at 9:15 a.m. local time, killing two policemen inside the vehicle and injuring another.

Without providing more details, the official said that investigation had been initiated into the deadly incident.

Kabul has been the scene of increasing targeted attacks over the past months.

A blast on a car in Khairkhana locality in the northern edge of Kabul city on Friday evening left one dead and injured another.
The government's continuous introduction of preferential policies, including reasonable tax reduction and fair bidding, is the key to the development of renewable energy and alternative energy, Cheng Xizhong, visiting professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law said on Saturday

BEIJING (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Jan, 2021 ) :The government's continuous introduction of preferential policies, including reasonable tax reduction and fair bidding, is the key to the development of renewable energy and alternative energy, Cheng Xizhong, visiting professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law said on Saturday.

According to the clean power generation target set by Pakistan Federal Government, the proportion of renewable energy power generation in Pakistan will increase from the current 5% to 20% by 2025, and further increase to 30% by 2030.

If hydropower is added, the proportion of renewable energy generation in Pakistan is expected to increase to 60% by 2030, he said in his article published by China Economic Net (CEN).

He said, on November 14, 2020, Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan said that as per the Alternative and Renewable Energy (ARE) Policy 2020 approved by the Federal Government, Pakistan will reshape the structure of the energy industry, further expand its opening-up, and attract domestic and foreign investment through tax exemption, fair and transparent bidding and other measures to comprehensively promote the development of clean energy, so as to ultimately achieve the goal of providing sustainable, affordable and reliable energy.

Nadeem Babar, Chairman of the Pakistan Energy Reform Working Group pointed out that the Alternative and Renewable Energy (ARE) Policy 2020 will be the "guiding outline" of Pakistan's transition to clean energy.

In addition to solar energy and wind energy, Pakistan will also develop geothermal energy, tidal energy, wave energy and biomass energy. He further said that with the continuous increase of hydropower generation capacity in the next few years, the proportion of clean energy power generation in Pakistan may even reach 65% by 2030.

"I believe that the government's continuous introduction of preferential policies, including reasonable tax reduction and fair bidding, is the key to the development of renewable energy and alternative energy," he added.

Cheng said, as far as he knows, Pakistan will implement the competitive bidding system, on the premise of ensuring the transparency of project investment and development, attract powerful investors through open bidding, so as to achieve the minimum electricity price and technology transfer.

At the same time, Pakistan will stimulate the initiative of solar and wind energy equipment manufacturers through tax relief, and encourage local manufacturing, so as to create more employment opportunities.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is playing a key role in Pakistan's clean energy strategy. At present, relevant enterprises of China and Pakistan are jointly constructing A large number of photovoltaic, wind and hydropower projects. When these renewable energy projects are put into operation, not only the problem of power shortage will be alleviated, but also the energy structure will be gradually optimized in Pakistan.

About the new energy cooperation between China and Pakistan, he suggested that first, China's technology in the field of new energy is the most advanced in the world. China is willing to transfer all the technologies and equipment in this field to its friendly neighbor Pakistan.

Second, China is willing to help Pakistan develop its own new energy technology and gradually localize Chinese technology in Pakistan, so as to continuously strengthen its self-reliance ability.

Third, with the landing of China's new energy technology in Pakistan and the operation of a large number of new energy projects, Pakistan is in urgent need of a large number of technical talents. Chinese enterprises and educational institutions can help Pakistan cultivate talents in this field.
A former mayor/state legislator, a public servant and an educator will be honored by Saginaw Valley State University this month for community work that exemplifies the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr.s vision.

Charles Brunner (Bay County), Diane Brown Wilhelm (Midland County) and Frances Elnora Carter (Saginaw County) have been named recipients of the 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Awards, given annually to leaders in the Great Lakes Bay Region. These honorees will receive recognition during the Great Lakes Bay Regional Martin Luther King Jr. virtual celebration at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 18. CNN political contributor Van Jones is the events keynote speaker.

The three recipients are receiving a $1,000 award for a charitable organization of their choice.

The honoree from Bay County is Charles M. Brunner, who served from 2011 through 2016 in the Michigan House of Representatives from the 96th District. He is a former mayor of Bay City (2007-2010) and was a member of the Bay City Commission from 2001-2007. Prior to his time in elected office, Brunner was a teacher for 30 years. As mayor, he was a founding member of what was once known as the Mayors Automotive Coalition, now the Manufacturing Alliance of Communities, and started several other city initiatives including a community clean-up and an adopt-a-park program. For years, Brunner has been active in his community, including in initiatives such as the annual Bay City 4th of July Fireworks festival, Annual Bay City Festival of Lights (co-chair), Annual Kawkawlin River Clean-up, Annual clean-up of both veterans memorials (Project Freedom Walk and Viet Nam Memorial), and clean-up/dedication of the Michael Cathcart Park. Formerly a musician, Brunner played with the rock group Question Mark and the Mysterians.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award honoree from Midland County is Diane Brown Wilhelm, who has been a tireless public servant, sitting on the Midland City Council and the Planning Commission for more than 10 combined years. She currently serves as the Midland City Councils Legislative Director, representing the city on the Michigan Municipal League. In addition, she holds leadership roles in several community service organizations, including Midlands Shelterhouse. Whether serving in city government or volunteer capacities, or while mentoring younger employees as a part of her employment with Accenture, Brown Wilhelm recognizes the importance of listening to people. She thinks strategically, enjoys tackling new challenges and values hard work. A hallmark of personal success is her ability to connect with people, coupled with her passion to be an advocate for people in need.

Frances Elnora Carter is a posthumous honoree of the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Award from Saginaw County. A Saginaw native, Carter earned her bachelor of arts and master of education administration degrees from the University of Michigan. She returned to her hometown in 1951 to become a teacher for the Saginaw Public Schools System, where in 1973, Carter was named the first Black principal in the districts history (Potter Elementary School). After nearly 40 years as an educator, she retired in 1991. She also is a recipient of the NAACP Pioneer Plaque and received a longevity plaque for 50-plus years as a member of Bethel A.M.E. Church in Saginaw. Carter was one of 12 women who chartered a Saginaw chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; she held various offices in the chapter, which earned her a Senior Pearl Award. In addition, she was one of the founders and served as acting treasurer of the Ruben Daniels Education Foundation. Carter was an NAACP life member, Friend of Claytor Public Library and member of the Castle Museum. She was one of the charter members of Top Ladies of Distinction in Saginaw and served as its president, historian and chair of the senior citizen committee.

For more information about the Great Lakes Bay Regional Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration hosted at SVSU, click svsu.edu/mlk, or contact the SVSU Office of Diversity Programs at 989-964-4068.

 Processed by Victoria Ritter, vritter@mdn.net
Willemstad:--- After an extensive preparatory process, APC Bank recently obtained a commercial banking license from the Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten. With this license, APC Bank can now focus on the necessary preparatory work to start operating in Curacao and Sint Maarten.

APC Bank was founded in April 2020 and bought the shares of PSB in May. APC Bank plans to purchase the shares of CHB as well. In addition to these developments, APC Bank worked hard on its business and capitalization plans.

With the license in hand, APC Bank has initiated a communication process that will keep all stakeholders informed of developments. As a kick-off of the communication process, Mr. Oswin (Oz) Eleonora, Chairman of APC Banks Supervisory Board of Directors, briefed PSB and CHB employees on the recent developments in a town hall meeting held on January 15.

The community is also a key stakeholder. Therefore, you can expect to receive updates regularly. Further communication on this topic will follow.
VXI Global Solutions Will Offer Covid Vaccinations to 100% of Its Employees in the Philippines We are committed to doing all we can to keep our employees safe and to keep the economy going, said Jared Morrison, VXIs Chief Operating Officer. Were privileged to take a lead bringing much-needed vaccinations to our employees and to the Philippine people."

VXI Global Holdings B.V. Phils., a leader in customer experience (CX) management, today announced its intent to deliver COVID-19 vaccinations free-of-charge to its entire Philippine workforce of 20,000 employees following the vaccine distribution and administration of the government allocation framework and priority guidelines. It is one of the leading companies of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry which is considered an essential service by the Philippine government during this pandemic.

This program is part of A Dose of Hope, an innovative trilateral partnership between the Philippine government, British-Swedish science-led biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and leading private-sector businesses to address the COVID-19 health crisis. A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed on January 14, 2021, to secure additional doses of vaccine as the country prepares for its immunization program this year. The program is part of the Philippine governments ambitious mission to vaccinate all 108 million Filipinos.

The tripartite agreement states even with the second part, we will be purchasing the vaccines from AstraZeneca and we will be donating 100 percent to the government, said Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Sec. Joey Concepcion on CNNs the Final Word with Rico Hizon in mid-December 2020. Part of the tripartite agreement states that 50 percent of the vaccines will be for the use of the donors, their employees, but following the same protocols for the frontliners, as well.

By partnering with leading private organizations like VXI Global Holdings, we expect to accelerate the vaccine deployment once it is available by end of second to early third quarter this year, added Concepcion. This initiative represents a meaningful step forward for our country as we prepare for our nationwide immunization programs."

We are committed to doing all we can to keep our employees safe and to keep the economy going, said Jared Morrison, VXIs Chief Operating Officer. Were privileged to take a lead bringing much-needed vaccinations to our employees and to the Philippine people. We will make these vaccinations available free to every employee in our Philippine workforce who wants it.

Renowned for its Passion for People ethos that emphasizes employee wellness and safety, VXI operates 11 centers in the Philippines. It is a Hall of Fame inductee and three-time winner of the International ICT Awards for Best Contact Center and BPO Company.

VXI ordered 80,000 doses from AstraZeneca, enough to vaccinate thousands of Filipinos.

About VXI Global Solutions

VXI is a customer experience company, passionate about designing solutions that augment its clients' business processes to deliver higher revenue, greater profitability and happier customers. Founded in 1998, the company has 35,000 employees across 43 locations in North and Latin America, Caribbean, Europe and Asia Pacific.

VXI offers omni-channel customer care and growth services using technology and tools, including purpose-built productivity-enhancing applications that drive higher sales conversion, CSAT, and related key metrics for its clients. Known for its transformation mindset, the company's IT arm, Symbio, offers digital and business transformation solutions that are seeded in its innovation philosophy of co-creation and seamless augmentation. http://www.vxi.com
Spring Tillage Seminars Webinar

Event Time 11.30am

Venue Online



A live interactive webinar with Teagasc Tillage Specialists and Advisors

Join us at 11.30am on Thursday, 21 January, for a live interactive webinar with Teagasc Tillage Specialists and Advisors who will cover topics such as:

BREXIT: Impact for the tillage industry

Optimising the use of Organic manures

Beans  Grower experiences

There will be a variety of contributors sharing their expertise and experience including tillage specialists, advisors and farmers from their farms across the country. Attendees will be able to ask questions and interact with the contributors each day.

IMPORTANT  If you want to get IASIS credits for participating in this webinar you need to log into the Zoom platform. If you watch the webinar through Facebook or YouTube credits cannot be given as your presence cannot be verified for IASIS.

Mercy Health Announces New Testing Site Hours

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - Mercy HealthLourdes Hospital has announced new hours for its flu and COVID-19 testing clinic.Beginning Monday, the Mercy Health Paducah Triage Clinic will be open Monday through Saturday 8 a.m.  noon for flu and COVID-19 testing.The clinic is located at 225 Medical Center Drive in the parking area of Mercy Health-Paducah Urgent Care. The hours and services of the urgent care remain unchanged. Mercy Health established designated flu clinics for members of the community who are experiencing flu-like symptoms, which may include fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat or body aches.The new hours are being implemented in order to stand up a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for healthcare workers to assist in the completion of the 1A tier of the vaccination plan outlined by The Kentucky Department for Public Health. The vaccination clinic is not open to the general public.Healthcare workers can visit mercy.com for details on scheduling a vaccination.

Parler founder and CEO John Matze speaks to The Epoch Times' Jan Jekielek on "American Thought Leaders" in 2019. (Screenshot/The Epoch Times)

Parlers Matze, Family Forced Into Hiding Due to Death Threats, Security Breaches: Filing

Parler CEO John Matze has gone into hiding with his family after receiving death threats, according to a new court filing.

Matze has had to leave his home and go into hiding with his family after receiving death threats and invasive personal security breaches, the filing in Parler v. Amazon states.

Parler sued Amazon Web Services (AWS) after the company refused to continue working with the social media company. While Parler went offline on Jan. 11 as a result, it showed some sort of life on Jan. 17 with a message from its CEO, but nothing else.

Amazon asked the court a day later to redact names, job titles, and descriptions from court documents.

Redaction of the employee identifying information is necessary to protect their safety and security and to prevent potential harassment, Amazon said. These employees safety concerns are well-founded in light of significant and repeated threats of physical violence against AWS, its facilities, and its employees in the wake of AWSs decision to suspend its cloud hosting agreement with Parler.

The motion included screenshots of posts that appeared to be from Parler in which users threatened to carry out violence against Amazon workers, executives, and facilities.

District Judge Barbara Rothstein, a Carter nominee, granted the motion. She said AWS and its employees have demonstrated a well-founded concern for the safety and security of their employees based on threatening and violent content.

This illustration picture shows Parler displayed on a smartphone in Arlington, Va., on July 2, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

In Parlers new filing, lawyers said the companys employees have been harassed and threatened. Many Parler employees are suffering harassment and hostility, fear for their safety and that of their families, and in some cases have fled their home state to escape persecution, Parler said, before noting that Matze himself has gone into hiding.

Recognizing the highly charged nature of this public and polarizing dispute, Parler wishes to protect the privacy of those employees, whether of Parler or Amazon, whose names or personal information appear in documents on which Parler relies, the filing stated.

Matze told Fox News this week that hes been targeted by a hacker group called UGNazi.

They published my street address, they threatened to come through my front door, he said.

The group didnt respond to an inquiry by The Epoch Times.

Matze said he and his family went into hiding and werent sure when theyd return home.

Its probably leveled me out, Matze said. If I was at home right now I think my stress levels would have been like three times higher at least there is that saving grace.

On Parler.com, under a technical difficulties banner, theres a message from Matze that reads:

Now seems like the right time to remind you all  both lovers and haters  why we started this platform. We believe privacy is paramount and free speech essential, especially on social media. Our aim has always been to provide a nonpartisan public square where individuals can enjoy and exercise their rights to both.

We will resolve any challenge before us and plan to welcome all of you back soon. We will not let civil discourse perish!
Highlights of PM Modis speech at vaccination drive

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Jan 16: This is the world's largest vaccination program covering the entire length and breadth of the country. A total of 3006 session sites across all States and UTs were virtually connected during the launch.

The Prime Minister started his speech by paying compliments to the scientists who were associated with the development of the vaccines. He said, usually it takes years to prepare a vaccine but here, in such a short time, not one but two made-in-India vaccine were launched. The Prime Minister cautioned the people to be careful about not missing taking two doses. He said that there will be a gap of one month between the doses. He asked people to keep their guards up even after taking the vaccine as only two weeks after taking the second dose, human body will develop necessary immunity against Corona.

Dont fall for rumours on COVID-19 vaccine: PM Modi advises Indians

The Prime Minister put the unprecedented scale of the vaccination drive in perspective by informing that, in the first round itself, 3 crore people, which is more than population of at least 100 countries of the world, are being vaccinated. He said that this needs to be taken up to 30 crores in the second round when elderly and people with serious co-morbidities will be vaccinated. He said that there are only three countries- India, USA and China, who have the population of more than 30 crore.

The Prime Minister asked people not to give heed to rumours and conspiracy theories as Indian vaccine scientists, medical system, Indian process and institutional mechanism in this regard is trusted globally and this trust is earned with a consistent track record.

The Prime Minister congratulated the country for a united and brave fight against corona. He termed the Indian response to corona as one of self-confidence and self-reliance. He noted a determination of not to let the confidence weaken in every Indian. He dwelled at length on the contribution of doctors, nurses, para medical staff, ambulance drivers, ASHA workers, sanitation workers, police and other frontline workers who endangered their lives to save other. Some of them didn't even return to their homes as they lost their lives in the fight against the virus, noted a solemn Prime Minister. The frontline warriors brought hope in an environment of despondency and fear, today, by vaccinating them first, country is acknowledging their contribution with gratitude, PM Modi said.

PM Modi launches vaccination drive, more than 20 crore people to be covered by second phase

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

Recalling the initial days of the crisis, the Prime Minister noted that India showed alertness and took right decisions at the right moments. Two weeks before the first case, which was detected on 30th January 2020, India had formed High-Level Committee. India had started proper surveillance exactly one year ago from today. On 17th January 2020, India issued its first advisory and India was among the first nations to start screening of passengers at the airports.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 12:53 [IST]
The major hospitals in Munster are reaching crisis point as Covid-19 cases soar, staff absences increase, and the number of patients waiting on trolleys climbs.

The number of people in hospital with the virus has increased by 56% in the past week, and the ICU figure has risen by 73%.

Some 800 staff from hospitals in Cork and Limerick were off duty this week for reasons related to Covid-19, while Cork University Hospital and University Hospital Limerick are both also dealing with dozens of patients on trolleys.

The two hospitals are also the worst affected in terms of Covid-19 numbers of any hospital in the country. CUH had 145 Covid-19 patients yesterday, with UHL dealing with 150. Of these, 26 were in ICU between the two facilities, and there were just a handful of critical care beds available.

Hospitals have struggled with staffing. Picture: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

CUH was also dealing with some 23 patients on trolleys, while UHL had 36. In contrast, some Dublin hospitals  Beaumont and Connolly  had no patients on trolleys.

The Chief Medical Officers in the Republic and the North have said they are "gravely concerned about the unsustainably high level" of Covid-19 infection on the island. | Read more: https://t.co/5fiFLzsYZ5 pic.twitter.com/eVjTA7kSCK  RTE News (@rtenews) January 15, 2021

The situation is being exacerbated by huge rates of forced absenteeism among staff. Limerick hospitals alone had almost 600 staff absent across the group, while CUH had up to 200 nurses and 40 doctors off duty during the past week, according to the hospital's clinical director.

These figures come as the Taoiseach acknowledged that public health restrictions may have been lifted too quickly in December, a situation which has contributed to the current surge in cases.

Addressing this decision yesterday, the Taoiseach said "in hindsight", the decision was the wrong one.

He was speaking as 3,498 more cases of Covid-19 were announced and health officials once again pleaded with people to remain at home and reduce their contacts.

"In hindsight, knowing what we know now, would we have done what we did a month ago? Obviously not," Mr Martin told Virgin Media News.

"Nobody predicted, in any model, the level of community transmission that we're currently experiencing, but at the time we were coming out of the six week, level five series of restrictions, that was preceded by a level three-max series of restrictions, Ireland has been on a lot of restrictions right throughout this pandemic."

In hindsight, knowing what we know now, would we have done what we done a month ago? Obviously not."



Taoiseach Micheal Martin on reopening Ireland ahead of Christmas#VMNews pic.twitter.com/cFDzZqzU4u  Virgin Media News (@VirginMediaNews) January 15, 2021

It echoed remarks by Tanaiste Leo Varadkar, who said the move to level three "turned out to be too quick".

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has said the move late last year from Level 5 restrictions back to Level 3 turned out to be too quick. Mr Varadkar said that this was the advice given to the Government by the National Public Health Emergency team. | Read more: https://t.co/cCKY1UYLQW pic.twitter.com/x9WWCT2BfI  RTE News (@rtenews) January 15, 2021

Dr Corinna Sadlier, Covid-19 clinical lead at CUH, cautioned the situation at healthcare facilities could worsen and that more staff absences are inevitable.

The hospital is stretched at present owing to large numbers of patients with Covid-19, compounded further by staffing issues, she said.

Cork artist Kevin O'Brien's tribute to Cork nurses painted outside CUH. File picture.

Pressures are so great this weekend at University Hospital Limerick that 20 theatre staff are being urgently vaccinated and redeployed from Nenagh to help.

A spokesman for the UHL hospital group said: Theatre staff in Nenagh are redeploying to support the opening of critical care surge capacity in UHL to care for the sickest Covid and non-Covid patients. We are deeply indebted to all of our staff for the enormous efforts they are making to keep patients safe.

Nenagh clinical nurse manager Louise Morgan Walsh said: We are so angry, we are scared, we are afraid.

We can see our co-workers going down with Covid and becoming very ill.

On Friday, University of Limerick Hospitals group head Colette Cowan said 579 staff, including over 200 nurses and 50 medical doctors, are off duty either sick with Covid-19 or isolating as close contacts.

The next two weeks are going to be very difficult, we are in an emergency situation," she said.

HSE chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said ICUs are particularly affected by the shortages. Speaking at a briefing this week, he said redeployment of non-specialist staff is not ideal, but is currently the only option.

HSE figures this week show 6,357 staff were off work, including 3,444 in hospitals nationally. And a further 900 staff have been cocooning due to their own health conditions or family situation.
Journalists covering court cases have been advised against blocking vans carrying suspects to court, and disobeying orders from Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) officials as that may result in the suspects fleeing.

This was said by ZPCS national deputy public relations officer Mr Peter Chaparanganda in a statement yesterday following reports that a freelance journalist, Frank Chikowore, was harassed by ZPCS officers as he was allegedly trying to position himself to film the arrival of political activist Hopewell Chinono and MDC Vice chairperson Job Sikhala, who are facing allegations of communicating falsehoods in relation to the false allegation that a baby was beaten to death by a police officer in Harare.

Mr Chaparanganda said the ZPCS had taken note of the incident that happened at the Harare Magistrates Court on Wednesday, whose video has gone viral on social media platforms.

Officers are alleged to have used a firearm to disperse journalists who were obstructing free passage of a court truck which used to drop the inmates at the court, he said.

The court truck was ferrying D Class inmates who are a high risk to security and upon arrival, the journalists scrambled to position themselves and in doing so, they came too close to a moving court truck and the officers instructed them to pave way.

Unfortunately, one of the journalists refused to take the order and advanced to the moving court truck.

Mr Chaparanganda said the Prison Act empowers officers to use weapons when circumstances permit, to prevent pandemonium that may lead to a mass escape of inmates, loss of property, death or injuries.

Therefore, officers have to protect the inmates from the unseen danger that might occur. However, the officer did not use the fire arm as purported but was ready to take appropriate action in preparation for any eventuality.

This incident was necessitated by the unprofessional conduct that was exhibited by a journalist who refused to respect the simple instruction that was given to him to pave way for a court truck, which was carrying D class inmates, he said.

Mr Chaparanganda said the ZPCS does not condone the harassment of journalists, adding that investigations are underway to establish what transpired on the day in question.

He added that the ZPCS respects human rights, but at the same time tasked to prevent inmates from escaping.

We would like to take the same opportunity to appeal to the journalists and the public not to interfere with officers when they are carrying out their duties.

However, ZPCS is an organisation that respects and appreciates the role of the media, which is to educate, inform and entertain the public. It is also important for the media personnel to discharge their duties in a professional and ethical way in order to avoid unnecessary squabbles with ZPCS, said Mr Chaparanganda. Herald
There is no doubt that state Senate President Pro Tem Jake Corman, a Centre County Republican, was correct when he said recently that increased transparency is the key to boosting public confidence in the Legislature.

But he and other members of the Republican majorities in both houses, which have been in power for a decade, often have voiced that belief while being transparently insincere when it came to doing anything about it.

Corman said he wants lobbying reforms to clearly define relationships between legislators, lobbyists, and political consultants and real-time reporting of campaign contribution expenses.

Yet the rules recently adopted by the Senate for the new session, Cormans first as president pro-tem, do not include any transparency upgrades.

And as noted by the online news sites The Caucus and Spotlight, which last year conducted a joint investigation of legislators expense spending, Corman and other lawmakers have talked a better game about transparency than they have played.

When the news organizations sought spending records in 2020, for example, many senators redacted specific entries and a caucus lawyer advised legislators not to answer questions. That is the opposite of transparency.

The best thing that lawmakers could do to boost transparency would be to make the Legislature subject to the same public disclosure laws that apply to the state governments executive branch and local governments. They also could bar all gifts for legislators, which they now are free to accept without disclosure as long as their value falls below certain limits.

In the interest of transparency, legislators also should end the practice of enacting automatic pay increases at the end of each year without so much as a debate or vote.

The list is endless, which goes to Cormans insight that greater transparency should be a priority. His challenge is to make it happen.
Beijing's top diplomat pledged Saturday to donate half a million coronavirus vaccine shots to the Philippines, Manila officials said -- despite growing resistance there to Chinese-made jabs over concerns about their efficacy.

President Rodrigo Duterte's administration is scrambling to lock in supplies of Covid-19 vaccines for the country's 110 million people, after being criticised for being too slow off the mark in the global race to procure the drugs.

Among other deals, the Philippines has already agreed to buy 25 million doses of Chinese company Sinovac's Coronavac, despite the jab not having been approved by regulators in China.

It is not clear which vaccine China will donate, and whether the donation is part of that earlier deal; the Chinese embassy in Manila did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his counterpart of the intended donation when he was in Manila on Saturday, the Philippines foreign ministry said.

The news follows similar announcements from other countries in the region earlier this week - Cambodia said it would receive one million free doses from Beijing on Friday, after Myanmar was set to get 300,000.

Duterte has actively sought closer ties with Beijing since taking power in 2016, and has defended Chinese vaccines in the face of widespread misgivings over their effectiveness.

Although trials in Turkey found Coronavac to be 91.25 percent effective, other, more robust trials in Brazil only demonstrated an efficacy rate of around 50 percent.

Duterte came under fire last month after he revealed that members of his security team had been given a jab made by another Chinese company, Sinopharm, even though it had not been approved for use.

Nearly half a million people have been infected with the virus in the Philippines, with almost 10,000 fatalities.

Health officials have warned of a possible spike in cases following the Christmas holidays, religious parades and a confirmed case of the more infectious strain first identified in Britain.

cgm/amj/reb
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Frantically digging away at clumps of mud with her bare hands, Carey Mulligan had one thought in mind. She did not want to be remembered as the person who'd killed Ralph Fiennes. The actor had been buried alive beneath a mound of earth, and Carey knew she had a finite amount of time to dig him out.

The stunt was part of a scene for the pair's new film The Dig, based on the real-life discovery of a buried Anglo-Saxon ship filled with treasures in Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, in 1939.

Director Simon Stone is renowned for the authenticity of his films, and that meant a scene where Ralph, who appears as amateur archaeologist Basil Brown, had to be buried beneath an avalanche of mud in a trench.

Carey Mulligan (pictured in character) tells how she almost did for her co-star while making their new film about the earth-shattering archaeological discovery at Sutton Hoo

'It was one of the scariest things I've ever done in my career,' recalls Carey, 35. 'Ralph didn't want to use a stunt double, so they buried him body-first with soil on his face and it was terrifying. If we hadn't got him out quickly he might have choked on the dirt  it felt like tightrope stuff.

'I kept telling Simon, "I don't like this!" I didn't want to be in the newspapers as the person who'd killed Ralph! I had to dig for ages and I still have scars on my knuckles. It felt very urgent and my look of pure fear in the film is very real.'

Carey knew little about the Sutton Hoo treasure until she was sent the script. 'But then when I read it I found it so moving,' she says.

'I've done a lot of period dramas and I've tried not to get pigeon-holed, but this film called out to me because I'd just made a documentary about my grandfather in the Second World War. He went from a tiny Welsh village to seeing the whole world, and his story was at the back of my mind as we made it.'

The stunt (pictured) was part of a scene for the pair's new film The Dig, based on the real-life discovery of a buried Anglo-Saxon ship filled with treasures in Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, in 1939

The story focuses on the relationship between wealthy widow Edith Pretty, played by Carey, and largely uneducated Basil Brown, who she hired to excavate ancient earthen mounds on her land just as Europe was about to go to war.

They were to find what has been described as one of the most important archaeological discoveries in the world. Hidden beneath the mounds was a ship, 1,400 years old, the final resting place of what is believed to be an Anglo-Saxon king. Replete with treasures that would see him into the next world, it completely redefined our thinking about Anglo-Saxon culture.

'There was a huge amount of incredibly intricate and beautiful treasure that had been buried in this ship,' explains Carey.

The screenplay is based on a book by John Preston, whose aunt, archaeologist Peggy Piggott, worked on the dig. Played in the film by Lily James (pictured in character), she has her own backstory, as she begins to question her unhappy marriage

'Golden buckles and jewels and rubies. It wasn't only of great financial value, it had historical value too because it shed new light on Anglo-Saxon society, which had been seen as bloodthirsty and disorderly. The find showed they had a coin-based economy and were well-travelled and traded with other countries.'

Edith and Basil were the real heroes of the discovery. It was their passion for the project and their belief in it as they fought against museum authorities  who were convinced nothing of note would be found  that led to the discovery of the haul.

PRICELESS ARTEFACTS OF AN AN CIENT KING The 27m-long ship  which had rotted into the earth  had been brought up the River Deben The find at Sutton Hoo  a ship and a burial chamber full of treasures  revolutionised our understanding of early England. Until then, the Anglo-Saxon age had been regarded as primitive, but these artefacts showed how sophisticated they were. The 27m-long ship  which had rotted into the earth  had been brought up the River Deben and used as the final burial place for a very rich man, thought to be King Raedwald, a great ruler of East Anglia who had triumphed over the Kingdom of Northumbria. Coins were also discovered at the site in Suffolk The find revealed that money was used much earlier than had been thought He was also an early Christian, worshipping Jesus alongside other gods. His grave was found in one of around 20 burial mounds on the site (many had been looted in Tudor times). The objects in Raedwalds grave included exquisitely designed weapons, a lyre and carved drinking horns. Items such as a shield from Scandinavia and shoulder clasps like those worn by Roman Emperors showed us this was someone who borrowed from other cultures. The iconic helmet found at Sutton Hoo Other treasures included a range of exquisitely designed weapons Coins were also discovered, revealing that money was used much earlier than had been thought, while the most iconic of the treasures is the Sutton Hoo helmet. Its intricate decoration has led to it being called the most important Anglo-Saxon artefact ever discovered. The treasures can be seen at the British Museum and at Sutton Hoo, now a museum itself. Advertisement

It had been Edith's dream with her husband Frank to excavate the mounds, but he died of cancer in 1934 when their son Robert was four. An auxiliary nurse during the First World War, she was determined to start work on the site even when it looked like Britain might be about to go to war again.

The film shows how, shortly after hiring Basil to start work, she discovers that time is running out in more ways than one as she has a heart problem that cannot be corrected. 'Edith's life was tragic in some ways,' says Carey, who studied some of her diaries before embarking on the part.

'She'd been all over the world and had lived this exciting, adventurous life. There's a part of her that still longs for that, which is a huge part of her attraction to the possibility of what lies beneath the mounds.

'Also, I think she felt her son's life had become quite small and she couldn't provide the excitement he wanted. Inviting these people to come into their life and start this adventure opened their world up and created memories for Robert that she could leave behind.'

During the war the land was used as a training ground and the site where the ship had been found was flattened by tanks. Further damage was only prevented after the British Museum stepped in. 'There's something very special about them making the discovery at that time, just before the war,' says Carey. 'They were maybe six months away from never finding the haul.'

It's the unlikely relationship between Mrs Pretty and Basil Brown that drives the film emotionally. 'There's a moment where they both realise that in lots of ways they're very similar,' says Carey.

'They're connected in a way that isn't romantic, it's about finding a friend. They have a shared passion for archaeology and the bond of discovering the ship together is huge.'

Ralph Fiennes admits he became obsessed with the story of the real Basil Brown after he too had an incredibly emotional response to the script. 'I remember reading it and I was in tears and I can't tell you why,' he says.

'It was something to do with the integrity of these people unearthing this thing  it's about nationhood and who you are, the people who are in the earth and what they represent.

'I was born in Suffolk and I'm reclaiming my Suffolk roots. Researching Basil was a thrill because he was extraordinary. He had this working-class background and left school aged 12. He was fascinated by astrology and wrote a book about the history of astrological charts, and taught himself rudimentary German, French and Latin.'

At first local museum officials try to close down Basil's dig, thinking it amateurish. But when word of what he may have found at Sutton Hoo gets out, new characters join the film, led by archaeologist Charles Phillips (Ken Stott).

The screenplay is based on a book by John Preston, whose aunt, archaeologist Peggy Piggott, worked on the dig. Played in the film by Lily James, she has her own backstory, as she begins to question her unhappy marriage.

To help create the feeling of wonder that the original archaeologists would have felt, the director 'hid' replica artefacts around the makeshift site  created in a field just outside London  for the actors to find. And Ralph Fiennes had done his own research in preparation.

'I got some experience on a dig,' says Ralph, who found a real fragment from a ceramic pot during the shoot. 'I saw the care with which the people excavating cleared the sand and grit away. We hope this will help engage people with archaeology further.'

The story ends with the announcement of the discovery to the world, even as the men are being called up to fight.

Gifted by Edith to the British Museum  then its biggest-ever donation  the treasure was kept at London's Aldwych Underground station in the war and finally went on show in 1946, four years after Edith's death.

Basil's name wasn't mentioned and it's only recently that his contribution has been recognised.

'I love the way the film honours the memory of two extraordinary people and what they gave to our country,' says Carey. 'Of course, there is the sense of wonder and magic  it's about buried treasure  but it's something we'll have forever thanks to them, and as a result we have a greater understanding of our past.'

The Dig, from 29 January, Netflix.
With diversity, youre going to have a lot of thought. And with a lot of thought youre going to get a lot of opinions. When you get a lot of opinions, youre going to get a lot of disagreements. Well, were going to learn from each other because were all going to be around that table, he said. That was an overwhelming theme that I heard from my colleagues and theyre going to be in the room.
The Capitol Complex in Harrisburg will be closed starting at 10 a.m. on Jan. 17 in anticipation of protests leading up to President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration.

Harrisburg Burea of Police, Capitol Police, Pennsylvania State Police, and Pennsylvania National Guard members, as well as additional local law enforcement officials, will be in and around the Harrisburg area. The heightened security was implemented in response to FBI warnings that armed marches have been organized to take place at state capitals.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse, on a video published to the citys Twitter page, said he thinks its possible to be optimistic, while also being prepared for whatever comes our way. Hundreds of law enforcement members have been deployed to defend the Capitol, he said.

Im well aware of the concerns many Harrisburg residents have over what may transpire this weekend or next week regarding potential protests in Harrisburg, Papenfuse said. I wanna stress that we are prepared for whatever comes our way. Over the past week, theres been an enormous effort on all levels - state, federal, county, and city - to coordinate and prepare for whatever response is needed.

Street closures can be expected in the downtown area, Harrisburg police said on Friday.

The Capitol Complex will be closed this Sunday starting at 10 a.m., Papenfuse said. That includes Commonwealth Avenue between Walnut and Foster Street and the streets behind it. The city will be closing 3rd Street in front of the Capitol and the 200 block of State Street. Those are the only street closures planned at this time. But, we have the ability to close additional streets as necessary and we will be monitoring the situation very carefully.

Authorities will be working with local and state officials to observe and determine how to respond to protests over the weekend.

Expect to see a strong police presence throughout Harrisburg and dont be surprised if you see our police officers along with uniformed PA National Guards, Papenfuse said. At this point, were going to see how things transpire over the weekend before making a decision on Monday about further preparations for Wednesday. There might be additional street closures for Wednesday. We may recommend certain closures for buildings downtown, including City Hall.

Throughout last week, authorities have provided updates on what measures they are taking to protect residents, businesses, and visitors in Harrisburg. State police said they have put troopers from throughout the Capital Region on elevated alert status and are fully prepared to bring all resources to bear to keep the Capitol safe, including aviation units to offer aerial surveillance, the bomb squad to inspect any suspicious packages or objects and mounted units for crowd control, Lt. Col. Scott Price, deputy commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, said earlier this week.

The Capitol Police has its Special Response Team that specializes in crisis response patrolling the Capitol grounds in full gear already. Barriers are erected around the Capitol.

Read more from PennLive

Police outline plans to protect Pa. Capitol, including street closures, National Guard, air surveillance

Police agencies working together to strengthen protection of Pa. Capitol

A leading doctor has alleged neo-Nazi groups targeted disgraced celebrity chef Pete Evans before he posted a now infamous cartoon featuring the black sun last year.

University lecturer Dr Kaz Ross, who specialises in hate speech and conspiracies, revealed she was sent leaked screenshots of neo-Nazi groups discussing Pete Evans as an individual they could possibly use to promote their political cause.

'They had already identified him as someone they could turn and they were working on that months before he posted that cartoon,' she said.

'The groups are always looking out for opportunities. Way, way back they were saying they saw Pete Evans as someone they could work on and low and behold he delivered.'

A leading doctor has alleged neo-Nazi groups targeted celebrity chef Pete Evans (pictured above)

The offending post from Evans - which featured the Black Sun (pictured above) saw sponsors turn away from the fallen chef in droves

A mock up of the leaked group discussion (pictured above) in a neo-Nazi chat group on Telegram sent to Dr Kaz Ross

In November last year Evans posted a cartoon on his social media pages featuring the neo-Nazi black sun symbol that was widely condemned online.

'An oldie but a goldie. There are many different interpretations of this image. Peace and love to all always,' he captioned the image.

The black sun symbol became infamous around the world soon after it was introduced by top-ranking Nazi Heinrich Himmler during World War II.

The symbol has since been used by numerous neo-Nazi groups and by Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant.

Dr Ross told the Daily Telegraph the neo-Nazi groups are actively looking to recruit on new platforms such as Telegram after QAnon groups were removed by Facebook.

Evans is a QAnon follower, the controversial conspiracy group who are adamant the world is run by elites and paedophiles who eat children, with former US President Donald Trump their saviour.

'They promote the belief that there there is a new world order of elites and they are lying to you and using the media to do it,' she said.

On Saturday Evans refuted claims he had ever been approached or 'targeted' by neo-Nazi representatives on Instagram.

'I am definitely not the right fit, as I celebrate and love all of the different cultures on the planet, as I believe that biodiversity, and our wonderful uniqueness is the key for harmony,' he said.

Pete Evans (pictured above with his wife Nicola) is said to be 'incredibly self aware' when it comes to promoting or sharing his beliefs on social media

'I will confess though, I did watch the film "Romper Stomper" about 30 years ago and thought Russell Crowe was a good actor back then.'

The film Evans is referring to tells the story of the exploits and downfall of a neo-Nazi group in blue-collar suburban Melbourne.

Last month, Facebook removed the page of fallen celebrity chef Evans after he repeatedly shared misinformation about the coronavirus.

Evans, who had about 1.5 million followers on the global social media platform, frequently spread conspiracy theories about Covid and vaccines which have been refuted by medical experts.

Book publisher Pan McMillan, Channel 10, Big W, Dymocks, Woolworths, House and Coles have all distanced themselves from Evans in recent months.
A policeman is being hailed a hero on the Internet for putting his life in danger to save two dogs from a burning house.



The rescue video is from Pasco county in Florida and it has gone viral. In it, the policeman is seen saving two dogs from a house that was engulfed by flames.



Representational Image/AP

The video of the entire incident was caught on his body camera. One could see the path to the location where the dogs were seen roaming around the burning home.

The officer, inching forward, saw the dogs and turned the torch on. He was responding to a call around the area when he saw the dogs wandering around the house. He approached them after seeing them close to the fire.

The video was shared by ABC News on Twitter.

Also Read: Young Boy Who Saved Sister From Dog Attack Now Undergoing Treatment For Scars

A sheriff's deputy rescued two dogs found close to a home that was in flames in Florida, after being notified all residents were safely out of the house. The dogs were returned to their owners. https://t.co/iRABfhs04j pic.twitter.com/OEdULAYSVE  ABC News (@ABC) January 13, 2021

After the canines were rescued, they were safely and effectively returned to their owners, thus the whole task was a success.

Quite often, pet animals are either abandoned during such incidents or left behind by mistake in all the haste when leaving the house. This leads to a lot of pain and distress among the animals as their call for help can go unheard.

Twitter

The policeman put his life in potential danger to rescue the dogs, and made sure they met their owners. He deserves massive respect for doing the right thing and thinking about the mute animals. The video has going viral as an example of the kind of work policemen do.

Massive respect.







Also Read: Man Ties Dog To His Car & Drags It Around The City
Picture the scene: a young bride is alone with her new husband on their wedding night. They make love. But then comes a disturbing test of their union. He examines the bedsheets for drops of blood to prove she had preserved her sexual purity for him.

As part of this traditional process, the sheet is placed on a cushion and put outside the bedroom door where it can be examined by the couples waiting families.

Once they are satisfied with the proof of blood  showing that the brides hymen broke on her wedding night and that she was a virgin bride  this ceremony is finished. The family duly disbands and the young womans torment of trepidation is over.

This is not a scenario from medieval times but happened  as it does regularly  in todays Britain. According to the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and other organisations, such virginity tests are conducted in many countries. They are most common in North Africa and the Middle East, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and South Africa.

Picture the scene: a young bride is alone with her new husband on their wedding night (file image)

While both the Bible and the Koran forbid extra-marital sex, the tests are held to be particularly important by some minority groups in Britain. As a result, there is a flourishing, hidden business with clinics, particularly in London, offering virginity certificates, or even more disturbing, remedial work on the hymen for cosmetic reasons.

The hymen is the membrane at the opening of the vagina, and is regarded in some communities as proof of moral virtue.

Young women are charged between 150 and 300 for certified proof of their purity and up to 3,000 for operations to reconstruct the hymen, even though the World Health Organisation has said that the state of the hymen is not a reliable guide to establishing virginity.

A quick Google search comes up, for instance, with an advertisement for Regency International Clinic in Central London. Hymen repair surgery. Restore your virginity. A 100 per cent safe and minor procedure. Performed with strictest confidence.

The restoration of virginity is a deeply controversial example of how a regressive, fundamentalist culture is imposed on young women brought up in 21st Century Britain. Indeed, the consequences after such ceremonies in some ethnic minority communities of the discovery of clean sheets  and therefore the assumption that the woman had had sex before marriage  can mean anything from family shame, being turned into an outcast, or, in extreme cases, being killed.

Naturally, no evidence is required of a new husband having been a virgin, and, anyway, that would be anatomically difficult to prove.

ITS ABOUT MEN CONTROLLING WOMEN: Regency International Clinic in London advertises its services online as a way of restoring virginity

The Government is now under pressure to ban virginity repair surgery. The Middle Eastern Women and Society organisation, set up to champion the rights of Middle Eastern, North African and Asian women, has launched a petition that says: Virginity tests are unscientific, barbaric and a practice that should be stamped out for good.

Halaleh Taheri, its Kurdish Iranian-born founder, says: We do not want two laws within Britain. There should be just one  and for us all to be equal citizens under it.

She tells a story about her own family which shockingly demonstrates the extreme ways that some women are victimised.

In the 1990s, in Iran, Halalehs cousin married a man she loved but to the disapproval of their families. While breastfeeding her baby, someone crept into the room and bludgeoned her to death.

The baby was suckling blood, says Halaleh, 60, her voice trembling. My cousin was a wonderful woman. We never found out which family member murdered her.

A quick Google search comes up, for instance, with an advertisement for Regency International Clinic in Central London

Like other forms of sexual oppression and humiliation, she says honour killings were considered a domestic issue and the maximum punishment was only six months imprisonment. She tells the story to illustrate the consequences of a culture in which women are the property of men and their sexuality part of the purchase price.

Under sharia law, women have no power, and no support in society. They are so scared, says Halaleh.

In the UK, we do care about women. I would just ask that we show that we treat them equally by stopping virginity tests and the whole culture of sexual purity and impurity.

These are customs from 2,000 years ago but they are still being perpetuated in some communities. In Iran, they stone women for adultery. We have to show that women are equal in Britain.

Virginity tests and domestic violence may affect only a small minority of women but for those who live in fear of being judged by their communities, life can be appalling.

Natasha Rattu, a barrister and executive director of Karma Nirvana, a charity helping victims of honour-based abuse and forced marriage, says that, understandably, young women are mortified by the need to produce blood on their wedding night.

Possibly, they have had boyfriends before their families chose a husband for them. Or they may never have had sex but are fearful that their hymen may have previously been punctured by something as routine as a cycle ride  leading their husband and his family to wrongly think they are impure.

The fact is that hymens can break easily, with half of women not bleeding when they lose their virginity.

For the women who phone Karma Nirvanas helpline, the repercussions and future life chances of a damaged hymen are terrifying. Some purchase blood capsules to use secretly in the hope that they will help them pass their wedding night virginity test. Others seek medical checks or operations.

This is the time to change attitudes, so that women are not judged and valued for their sexual purity. They are not commodities, says Ms Rattu.

Those who insist on such virginity tests, unsurprisingly, are very reluctant to talk publicly.

But Karma Nirvana sent me data from its phone line call-handlers which give a snapshot of womens experiences. The calls fall into pitiful categories.

Some women get in contact because theyve been sexually active with boyfriends pre-marriage and are frightened their families will find out. This is the main market for hymen repair surgery. Others call because they have been raped by men they know, who then force them to seek hymen repair surgery to cover their tracks. Or they need proof of virginity in advance of an arranged marriage.

The average age of callers is 23 and the youngest 17. The bulk are of African, Egyptian, Afghan and Kurdish origin.

Of the ten women who revealed they had undergone virginity tests or hymen repair surgery over the past 18 months, two were victims of forced marriage.

Campaigners are convinced that there are many others who undergo this in secret. Hymen repair is not illegal in Britain and because it is done privately, it is not widely discussed.

Guidance from the General Medical Council is that doctors must obtain informed consent which may not be valid if it is given under pressure or duress exerted by another person.

Rather than focus on young women who resort to such treatments under pressure, there has been a misguided attitude that if a small number of rich women want to spend their money stitching up their vaginas, why should anyone care?

Among those highlighting the practice is womens health campaigner Nimco Ali. She is supported by Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Home Secretary Priti Patel in her bid to make illegal the shaming and mutilation of young women.

She says: Virginity tests suggest that a new bride is like a new car being driven out of the showroom.

Ms Ali believes the issue has previously been ignored by politicians because there has been a false reasoning that this is a matter of private choice and outside government control.

She says: Just because you can pay for it doesnt mean you do it in a civilised country. This goes on in Harley Street and for cultural reasons, so nobody questions it.

We allow women to be flown in from the Middle East and South East Asia, thus supporting the belief that women have to bleed on their wedding night.

If men were suddenly going off to trim their testicles, it would be a public health issue. This is simply a case of profiteering from violence against women.

There is momentum behind the campaigners. The Middle Eastern Women and Society group is organising a conference where medical staff and campaigners will discuss bringing the private clinics into line.

Ms Ali says the Cabinet Ministers who back her are discussing measures that would bring prosecutions against doctors who carry out this procedure.

In a joint statement, Ms Patel and Mr Hancock have said: Despite online advertising dressing up this surgery as a chance to restore your innocence, we know that at root this is about men controlling women.

And they urged husbands, brothers and fathers to speak out against the view that womens bodies are objects that have to be sexually policed, which has absolutely no place in modern Britain.

Perhaps one day soon, womens worth will no longer be measured by drops of blood on the marital bed.
Comparisons between the United States under Trump and Germany during the Hitler era are once again being made following the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Even in the eyes of German history scholars like myself, who had earlier warned of the troubling nature of such analogies, Trumps strategy to remain in power has undeniably proved that he has fascist traits. True to the fascist playbook, which includes hypernationalism, the glorification of violence and a fealty to anti-democratic leaders that is cultlike, Trump launched a conspiracy theory that the recent election was rigged and incited violence against democratically elected representatives of the American people.

This is not to say that Trump has suddenly emerged as a new Hitler. The German dictators lust for power was inextricably linked to his racist ideology, which unleashed a global, genocidal war. For Trump, the need to satisfy his own ego seems to be the major motivation of his politics.

But that doesnt change the fact that Trump is just as much of a mortal danger to American democracy as Hitler was to the Weimar Republic. The first democracy on German soil did not survive the onslaught of the Nazis.

If America is to survive the attacks of Trump and his supporters, its citizens would do well to look to the fate of Germany and the lessons it offers Americans looking to save, heal and unite their republic.

From Nazi ideology to democracy

The Weimar Republic, the first democracy on German soil, was a short-lived one. Founded in 1918, it managed to survive the political turmoil of the early 1920s, but succumbed to the crisis brought about by the Great Depression. It is therefore not the history of the failed Weimar Republic but rather that of the Federal Republic, founded in 1949, that provides important clues.

Just like Weimar, the West German Federal Republic was founded in the aftermath of a devastating war, World War II. And, just like Weimar, the new German state found itself confronted with large numbers of citizens who were deeply anti-democratic. Even worse, many of them had been involved in the Holocaust and other heinous crimes against humanity.

During the first postwar decade, a majority of Germans still believed that Nazism had been a good idea, only badly put into practice. This was a sobering starting point, but Germanys second democracy managed not just to survive but even to flourish, and it ultimately developed into one of the most stable democracies worldwide.

How?

Denazification: Painful and amoral process

For one, there was a legal reckoning with the past, beginning with the trial and prosecution of some Nazi elites and war criminals. That happened first at the Nuremberg Trials, organized by the Allies in 1945 and 1946, in which leading Nazis were tried for genocide and crimes against humanity. A further significant reckoning happened during the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials of the mid-1960s, in which 22 officials of the SS, the elite paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party, were tried for the roles they played at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.

To protect the new German democracy from the political divisions that had plagued parliamentary government during the Weimar period, an electoral law was introduced that aimed to prevent the proliferation of small extremist parties. This was the 5 percent clause, which stipulated that a party must win a minimum of 5 percent of the national vote to receive any representation in parliament.

In a similar vein, Article 130 of the German Criminal Code made incitement of the masses a criminal offense to stop the spread of extremist thought, hate speech and calls for political violence.

Yet as important and admirable as these efforts were in exorcising Germanys Nazi demons, they alone are not what kept Germans on a democratic footing after 1945. So, too, did the successful integration of anti-democratic forces into the new state.

This was a painful and amoral process. In January 1945, the Nazi Party had some 8.5 million members  that is, significantly more than 10 percent of the entire population. After the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, many of them claimed that they had been only nominal members.

Such attempts to get off scot-free did not work for the Nazi luminaries tried at Nuremberg, but it certainly did work for many lower-level Nazis involved in countless crimes. And with the advent of the Cold War, even people outside of Germany were willing to look past these offenses.

Denazification, the Allies attempt to purge German society, culture and politics, as well as the press, economy and judiciary, of Nazism, petered out quickly and was officially abandoned in 1951. As a result, many Nazis were absorbed into an emerging new society that officially committed itself to democracy and human rights.

Konrad Adenauer, the first West German chancellor, said in 1952 that it was time to finish with this sniffing out of Nazis. He did not say this lightheartedly; after all, he had been an opponent of the Nazis. To him, this communicative silencing of the Nazi past  a term coined by the German philosopher Hermann Lubbe  was necessary during these early years to integrate former Nazis into the democratic state.

Where one was going, advocates of this approach argued, was more important than where one had been.

A dignified life

For many, this failure to achieve justice was too heavy of a price to pay for democratic stability. But the strategy ultimately bore fruit. Despite the recent growth of the far right and nationalist Alternative for Germany party, Germany has remained democratic and has not yet become a threat to world peace.

At the same time, there were increasing efforts to confront the Nazi past, especially after the upheaval of 1968, when a new generation of young Germans challenged the older generation about their behavior during the Third Reich.

Another crucial factor helped make Germanys democratic transition a success: an extraordinary period of economic growth in the postwar period. Most ordinary Germans benefited from this prosperity, and the new state even created a generous welfare system to cushion them against the harsh forces of the free market.

In short, more and more Germans embraced democracy because it offered them a dignified life. As a result, philosopher Jurgen Habermas concept of constitutional patriotism  as one interpreter put it, that citizens political attachment to their country ought to center on the norms, the values and, more indirectly, the procedures of a liberal democratic constitution  eventually came to replace older, more rabid forms of nationalism.

In the coming weeks and months, Americans will debate the most effective ways to punish those who instigated the recent political violence. They will also consider how to restore the trust in democracy of the many millions who have given their support to Donald Trump and still believe the lies of this demagogue.

Defenders of American democracy would do well to study carefully the painful but ultimately successful approach of the Federal Republic of Germany to move beyond fascism.

The United States finds itself in a different place and time than postwar Germany, but the challenge is similar: how to reject, punish and delegitimize the powerful enemies of democracy, pursue an honest reckoning with the violent racism of the past, and enact political and socioeconomic policies that will allow all to lead a dignified life.

Taschka is a senior lecturer of history at Wayne State University. This piece was first published in The Conversation.
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It was 2.37pm yesterday (Monday, 11th) when the peace deal was finally brokered: a Bueno Hippo bar and a biscuit each for a moment's peace!

Day One of Homeschooling had not been going to plan. A whiteboard had been sourced, along with special rattly whiteboard markers and a schedule was set to be drawn up. It was supposed to go something along the lines of Home/schoolwork, Break, Home School Hub. Lunch, Badminton, Home/Schoolwork/ Break, Homeschool Hub.

The marker didn't work so chalk that one down to experience! Having went through a range of emotions over the preceding days, from apoplectic rage to conciliatory diplomacy, I was edging towards the former when the thought occurred to me, this is impossible. It is an impossible situation for parents, many of whom I've been speaking to over recent days. Parents who feel they have nowhere to turn to apart from people like yours truly, to have their concerns heard.

But who do I turn to?

Well you! It is simply not normal to work and live in these conditions. Children belong in school, but I'll get to that. A mother of a child with an alphabet of illnesses put it best when she said: 'I am at a point now where I won't have the mental health to enjoy the physical health the government is so worried about.'

The performance of said government over the past week has been nothing short of an omnishambles. On Wednesday Education Minister Norma Foley and Taoiseach Micheal Martin informed anxious parents across the country that Leaving Cert students would be taught in school three days a week. They reassured parents of children with special needs that their children would have their educational and care needs met from Monday. These were exceptions outside of the norm; the norm being that children should not return to school, rather they should be homeschooled.

Parents, in turn, told their children these facts, which, as it happened, turned out to be mutable.

This amounted to a breach of trust in many cases, as parents then had to go back and let their child know they would not be returning to school. Worse still they couldn't say when this would happen. Some couldn't bring themselves to break the news. Making a liar out of a parent of a child who relies on routine and loves school is unforgivable.

The government say schools are safe. Primary schools are safe. Why can't primary school children be taught in schools then? The government has flip flopped under Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Education Minister Norma Foley, whose ascension to one of the top government jobs must, at times, like she's fallen through a trapdoor into hell. I can barely hear myself think as I try to write a column, while coming up with ideas for the front page and fielding calls as the children whoop and holler, pounding the stairs like elephants. The tentative approaches to the kitchen where I am holed away are increasing. The raps on the door becoming gentler, but these sponges, these eager beaver pupils have wants and needs.

I've learned a few things already today:

1). They eat far more than I imagined any human can eat.

2). They have an endless appetite for cartoons.

3). There is no point cleaning a hallway in January.

4). The government has screwed up royally.

5). It's treat time!

President Trump was almost shouting. He directed his son-in-law and his senior strategist from his private quarters at the White House late on election night. He barked out the names of top Fox News executives and talent he expected to answer to him.

"Jared, you call the Murdochs! Jason, you call Sammon and Hemmer!

President Trump was almost shouting. He directed his son-in-law and his senior strategist from his private quarters at the White House late on election night. He barked out the names of top Fox News executives and talent he expected to answer to him.

And anyone else  anyone else who will take the call," he said. Tell these guys they got to change it, they got it wrong. Its way too early. Not even CNN is calling it.

As the clock ticked over into the first minutes of Nov. 4, Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani ranted to top campaign aides: "There's no way he lost; this thing must have been stolen. Just say we won Michigan! Just say we won Georgia! Just say we won the election! He needs to go out and claim victory." Trumps campaign manager Bill Stepien later told associates: "That was fucking crazy."

For weeks, Trump had been laying the groundwork to declare victory on election night  even if he lost. But the real-time results, punctuated by Foxs shocking call, upended his plans and began his unraveling.

Trump had planned for Americans to go to bed on Nov. 3 celebrating  or resigned to  his re-election. The maps they saw on TV should be bathed in red. But at 11:20 p.m. that vision fell apart, as the nations leading news channel among conservatives became the first outlet to call Arizona for Joe Biden. Inside the White House, Trump's inner circle erupted in horror.

Over the next two months, Trump took the nation down with him as he descended into denial, despair and a reckless revenge streak that fueled a deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol by his backers seeking to overturn the election. This triggered a constitutional crisis and a bipartisan push to impeach Trump on his way out the door, to try to cast him out of American politics for good.

But in four years, Trump had remade the Republican Party in his own image, inspiring and activating tens of millions of Americans who werent abandoning him anytime soon. Hed once bragged he could shoot another person on Fifth Avenue and not lose his voters. In reality, many of them had eagerly lined up to commit violence on his behalf.

As Trump prepared for Election Day, he was focused on the so-called red mirage. This was the idea that early vote counts would look better for Republicans than the final tallies because Democrats feared COVID-19 more and would disproportionately cast absentee votes that would take longer to count. Trump intended to exploit this  to weaponize it for his vast base of followers.

His preparations were deliberate, strategic and deeply cynical. Trump wanted Americans to believe a falsehood that there were two elections  a legitimate election composed of in-person voting, and a separate, fraudulent election involving bogus mail-in ballots for Democrats.

In the initial hours after returns closed, it looked like his plan could work. Trump was on track for easy wins in Florida and Ohio, and held huge  though deceptive  early leads in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

But as Bill Hemmer narrated a live "what if" scenario on his election telestrator from Studio F of Foxs gargantuan Manhattan headquarters, the anchor sounded confused. "What is this happening here? Why is Arizona blue?" he asked on camera, prodding the image of the state on the touch screen, unable to flip its color. "Did we just call it? Did we make a call in Arizona?" Because of a minor communication breakdown, Hemmer's screen had turned Arizona blue before he or the other anchors, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, found out that Foxs Decision Desk had called it.

Trump was steaming and he wanted to see his top aides immediately. His son-in-law Jared Kushner, chief of staff Mark Meadows, campaign manager Stepien, senior strategist Jason Miller, and data cruncher Matt Oczkowski took the elevator up to the third floor of the residence at the White House. They met Trump and the first lady halfway between his bedroom and the living room at the end of the hall. Trump peppered them with questions. What happened? What the hell is going on at Fox?

Oczkowski told Trump that based on the campaigns modeling he thought Fox was wrong and were going to narrowly win by maybe 10,000 votes or less, razor close. But the reality was, hundreds of thousands of votes were outstanding in Maricopa County and the picture was too cloudy to be sure. Then Trump told Kushner to call the Murdochs.

The team had been cautiously optimistic that they were watching a repeat of Trumps poll-defying 2016 victory. In the West Wing, mid-level staffers congregated in the hallways buzzing with nervous excitement and anticipation. At the residence about 200 guests  donors, Cabinet secretaries, White House physician Sean Conley, TV boosters Diamond and Silk, and other VIPs  gathered for the official election night party. They munched on beef sliders. Most did not wear masks.

Giuliani was stationed at a table amid the party, laptop open, watching the results come in, as if he were Command Central. His son, White House official Andrew Giuliani, sat at his right. Trump's tight inner circle  children Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka, plus his long-time adviser Hope Hicks, White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and a few others  gathered separately in the Old Family Dining Room to watch the returns on TV. Trump's core campaign team monitored precinct-level results from down in the Map Room on the ground floor, the same room where FDR had once tracked fighting during World War II.

Trump had spent a bellicose summer and early autumn railing against mail-in ballots. After a toxic Sept. 29 election debate with Biden, Trump's internal poll numbers nose-dived. He started choreographing election night in earnest during the second week of October, as he recovered from COVID-19.

His former chief of staff Reince Priebus told a friend he was stunned when Trump called him around that time and acted out his script, including walking up to a podium and prematurely declaring victory on election night if it looked like he was ahead.

White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller's speechwriting team had prepared three skeleton speeches for election night for all the possible scenarios: a clear victory, a clear loss, and an indeterminate result. But the speechwriters knew that if Trump was facing anything other than a resounding victory, the words would be his alone. This president would never admit defeat or urge patience.

The top officials tried to force Fox to retract its call. Kushner called Rupert Murdoch, who said he would see what was going on. Hicks, a former Fox executive, texted current Fox executive and ex-White House staffer Raj Shah. Hicks also gave Fox News president Jay Wallace's phone number to top Trump campaign officials. The Trump campaign's senior-most officials aggressively texted anchors MacCallum and Baier. Throughout the night, a number of Fox commentators friendly to Trump  including Tucker Carlson  questioned the Arizona call on the air. But the call stood.

Making the situation even more awkward, several high-profile Fox News personalities, including "Judge" Jeanine Pirro, were at the White House while their own network spoiled what was supposed to be a victory party.

It was shortly after 1 a.m. on Nov. 4 when Trump finally came down from his living quarters to the main corridor on the second floor of his private residence. His inner circle met him halfway. This was the first time most of them had seen the president that night. About a dozen aides and relatives huddled around Trump as he dictated an improvised speech. Stephen Miller sat on a couch furiously typing the president's stream-of-consciousness thoughts. Aides rushed to print out screenshots of cable news graphics showing Trump's illusory early leads in the key Midwest states. By 2 a.m., Trump wanted to know why he couldn't just say he had won and be done with it.

The speechwriters sent a draft to Trumps longtime teleprompter operator, stationed at his laptop in a small room adjoining the East Room. The draft did not include the words that became the most infamous line of his speech: Frankly, we did win this election.

At 2:20 a.m., maskless aides and supporters in the East Room held up cellphones to record Trump, the first lady, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife walking out to waiting cameras as "Hail to the Chief" played. Dozens of American flags lined the backdrop behind them.

Trump declared victory  and announced that Democrats were perpetrating a giant fraud on the American people.

Both claims were lies.

 Listen to Jonathan Swan on Axios' new investigative podcast series, called "How it happened: Trump's last stand."

About this series: Our reporting is based on multiple interviews with current and former White House, campaign, government and congressional officials as well as direct eyewitnesses and people close to the president. Sources have been granted anonymity to share sensitive observations or details they would not be formally authorized to disclose. President Trump and other officials to whom quotes and actions have been attributed by others were provided the opportunity to confirm, deny or respond to reporting elements prior to publication.

"Off the rails" is reported by White House reporter Jonathan Swan, with writing, reporting and research assistance by Zach Basu. It was edited by Margaret Talev and Mike Allen and copy edited by Eileen O'Reilly. Illustrations by Sarah Grillo, Aida Amer and Eniola Odetunde.

To countless scholars, advocates and political actors, the violent mob that stormed the halls of Congress on Jan. 6 was not exactly surprising. To some, it wasnt a matter of whether a mob inspired by Donald Trump would kick down the doors of the Capitol, but when.

This situation, in this moment, for me feels something like the mythical Cassandra, said Carol Anderson, author of the book White Rage. Anderson was referring to the character in Greek myth cursed with the gift of accurate prophecy that is not believed.

I and many others, we have been hollering Trump is a racist, she said. Trump is a dangerous racist who stokes and speaks to those impulses in his most ardent followers. This isnt economic anxiety that he appeals to, that he speaks to in his voters. Its white supremacy. And, until this nation really deals with white supremacy and how dangerous we ought to know that it is, there will be another demagogue who eventually rises in his place.

To Anderson and others, the warning signs have been clear all along.

Why doesnt he show his birth certificate?

In March of 2011, Donald Trump sat in the middle of a long yellow couch, flanked by the co-hosts of ABCs The View. The daytime gabfest was developing a reputation as a kind of key stop for those who want to test how well they and their ideas play to average Americans. And Trump, a celebrity with no policymaking experience, used his appearance to effectively lay out the terms on which he would run. The nation, three years into President Barack Obamas first term, he said, was a mess, and had been ripped off by every country imaginable.

Then, he doubled down on the baseless conspiracy that he had been perpetuating throughout Obamas rise.

Why doesnt he show his birth certificate? said Trump, then the star of NBCs The Apprentice. If you are going to be the president of the United States, the Constitution says very profoundly that you have to be born in this country.

Story continues

Image: FILE PHOTO - Donald Trump Is Sworn In As 45th President Of The United States (J. Scott Applewhite / Pool via Reuters file)

The comedian Whoopi Goldberg pointed out that such demand would never be made of any white man who is president. The facts were already clear: Obama, born in Hawaii to an American mother, was always a natural-born citizen. But it didnt matter. Trumps insinuations spun a tale. They helped bolster a chorus whose primary argument was not consistent and rational disagreement with Obamas policies but disdain for who Obama was and the very idea of someone like him occupying the White House.

To question Obamas citizenship implied that he was ineligible to sit in the Oval Office. It also harked back to a time when Black Americans were also excluded from every benefit and feature of what it allegedly means to be American.

To someone like Nse Ufot, a political organizer and CEO of the New Georgia Project, Trumps so-called birtherism telegraphed a lust for clear white supremacy, waged through nationwide anger and division.

It was the kind of disinformation I had seen in nations around the world, Ufot said. Today, the average government- or power-seeker knows that hot war is hella expensive  in the cost of lives and weapons and fighter planes. Countries are less and less inclined to spend in that way when you can destabilize a country by pushing disinformation and misinformation and attacking people's faith in institutions they need to be able to trust. We were on that in 2011, 2012 and for sure by 2014.

Anti-Black resentment fueled a movement

By on that Ufot means Obamas opponents were eagerly promoting birtherism, claims of massive voter fraud and a need for new voting restrictions, proven to disproportionately make it more difficult for Black, Latino and low-income Americans to vote. The worries expressed by conservatives about Obamas origins and the threat of widespread voter fraud were, indeed, gaining traction.

I dont want to sound like Ms. Cleo or anything, said Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, referring to the once ubiquitous television psychic. But when I first got to Color of Change in 2011, the very first thing I tried to do was run a campaign against The Apprentice. Robinson said it was clear then that Trumps visibility on a popular show, where he gets to play a smart, shrewd businessman, helped him elsewhere perpetuate dangerous racist tropes, unconscionable junk that would become the foundation of his abomination of a presidential campaign.

Image: A sign for Donald Trump's television show, The Apprentice (Bebeto Matthews / AP file)

When Robinson approached other potential allies with information to pressure The Apprentices advertisers to abandon the show, some were plainly dismissive. Others agreed birtherism was racist and even dangerous. But several asked Robinson if there were more important things to do, he recalled.

When you think about the danger he posed almost a decade ago, Robinson said, the threat that Trumps political resume was essentially to push the Black man for his papers, the notion that this presidency would ever end with something besides a violent white mob is naive.

To Anderson, the fact that the Republican field of potential nominees in 2016 was full of political veterans who had succumbed to a political novice should have been a warning sign of the power and nature of Trumps pull.

By choosing Trump and his birtherism, Republican voters chose a nominee who, to many, symbolized a kilo of pure, uncut white supremacy, Anderson said.

And over the course of his administration, Anderson said, Trump has distracted from crises and errors with inflammatory rhetoric or deeply divisive actions.

You get Muslim bans, and build the wall and shut down the government, Anderson said. You get a president willing to not fund the militarys paychecks so you can keep Confederate generals names on bases. You get calls for a patriotic history that doesnt include any of the ugly stuff. Whats the throughline? White supremacy. White supremacy makes people feel entitled to it all.

Image: Trump Supporters Hold

Early pundits pointed to economic anxiety fueling Trumps supporters, but this was only partially true. The average Trump voter in 2016 earned well above the national median income. What was predictive of Trump support: high levels of anti-Black sentiment, according to the National Election Survey, said Gabriel Lenz, a political psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley.

Those who have said they were Trump voters because they like his tax policy, his judges, his description of himself as pro-life simply have to ask themselves if it was worth it and how they feel about the camp they are in, said Anderson. It includes a man who wore a Camp Auschwitz T-shirt to take Capitol Hill.

Black progress followed by rage and terror

In June 2015, when Trump descended Trump Towers gilded escalator, he acknowledged what people had speculated for years at that point: He was running for president. Then, Trump issued his notorious assessment of Mexican immigrants intermingled with his sense that America had, under Obama, become the laughingstock of the world. Trump promised he, and he alone, would make America great again.

When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best, Trump said that day. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.

The day after Trumps announcement, Dylann Roof, a white supremacist and misogynist, shot and killed nine people in a historic Black church in Charleston, South Carolina. The massacre cannot be linked directly to Trump, but Roofs manifesto echoed some of the themes in Trumps campaign announcement. In the document, which deplored America as a multicultural society where white men wrongly rank among the most disrespected and disadvantaged, Roof said he hoped his massacre would set off an active race war.

Some conservatives scrambled to recast the shooting as an attack on Christians instead of a race-based hate crime that took place at a Black church. Other observers who were willing to publicly connect the dots between Trumps and Roofs sentiments were dismissed or labeled ill-informed about American politics, said Anderson, a professor of African American Studies at Emory University.

Nine Dead After Church Shooting In Charleston (Joe Raedle / Getty Images file)

A more accurate understanding of American politics would have to account for the repeated cycles of Black progress followed by broader white backlash, often punctuated and enforced by bloody events, Anderson said. Its illustrated in the Jim Crow era and the terror of lynchings that followed the Civil War, the staunch segregation that followed Black involvement in World Wars I and II, and the assassinations that disrupted the civil rights movements major gains, said Thomas C. Holt, a history professor at the University of Chicago.

Holt said he can understand the collective shock as the nation watched the destructive mob force Congress into lockdown last week. But acts to commandeer the government  not petition or transform it  are not unprecedented.

For all the sort of rah, rah, rah about American democracy, there have been a number of moments in American history where this same sort of call to violence we saw before the events at the Capitol, with the added element of the blind eye turned by public officials and no real consequences after the fact, said Holt, author of the forthcoming book, The Movement: The African American Struggle for Civil Rights. Thats also a pattern that colors the pages of the African American experience.

Bloody, violent coups occurred across the American South during Reconstruction, forcing Black politicians from elected office and replacing them with white officials. In Wilmington, North Carolina, Black elected officials were rounded up in 1898 and given a choice: resign or die. Many of the white men involved in that coup and others like it around the South were or became mayors, governors, lawmakers, newspaper publishers and prominent businessmen.

The excuses for not understanding that this is how American democracy has functioned relatively recently have worn thin, Anderson said. This stuff is within living memory.

Throughout the 2016 campaign and the early years of the Trump administration, Trump encouraged his supporters to beat hecklers who had the temerity to protest at his rallies, offering to pay their legal fees. About one month before the election, Trump suggested that Second Amendment people could contain Hillary Clinton if she were elected.

Weeks after the election, when hail Trump, became a rallying cry at a white nationalist gathering held in Washington, Trump did not jump to distance himself.

By July 2017, Trump suggested publicly that police ought to be more aggressive and seek to intentionally beat up those arrested in connection with anti-Trump protests. For Anderson it all brought to mind white supremacist politicians in the Jim Crow era who encouraged or looked the other way at violence of the mob and law enforcement variety.

Image: Neo Nazis, Alt-Right, and White Supremacists encircle and chant at counter protesters at the base of a statue of Thomas Jefferson after marching through the University of Virginia campus with torches in Charlottesville, Virginia, Aug. 11, 2017. (Samuel Corum / Anadolu Agency/Getty Images file)

A month later, white nationalists descended on Charlottesville, Virginia, for a rally opposing a plan to remove or cover that citys Confederate monuments. One counterprotester was killed when a white nationalist drove his car into a crowd. Several others were injured. Soon after, Trump made a comment that has defined his presidency: You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.

I think Charlottesville was horrifying, said Lynda Garcia, the policing campaign director for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.That there was a show of domestic terror and the president sat there and didnt condemn it, did nothing to stop it and did nothing to try to heal the country after an event like that.

The unmissable warning sign, though, was that Trump had won over white nationalist support.

It is deliberate and by design, and it is honestly frightening, Garcia said.

Trumps rhetoric had begun to create dangerous realities long before Charlottesville. In conversations with law enforcement across the country in 2015 and 2016, Garcia had been told that hate crime spikes seem to follow Trump rallies. A group of academics reached the same conclusion during the 2016 campaign.

In fact, during the Trump years, hate crimes reached record highs every year. That was true in 2017, in 2018 and in 2019.

In many ways, Charlottesville also gets explained away, Holt said. Did he really mean that? The same ultimately has to be said of the abusive treatment at the border in ways that are just beyond the pale. All of these things indicate a moral compass that is just broken, and if you keep getting away with it you go further each time.

About two months after the events in Charlottesville, a group of psychologists and mental health scholars broke with a long-standing practice among mental health professionals. They typically refuse to comment on the mental health of public officials and candidates. But, the group published a series of essays titled The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump. The words sociopathy, incitements to violence, and malignant narcissist, are not hard to find.

The rage and terror reach a crescendo

In the turmoil of 2020, protesters rallied in cities across the country challenging the repetitive cycle of police exercising extreme and deadly force on Black people and then walking away, often with minimal consequence. Trump insisted that the protests should be squelched with force, tear gas, tanks or other crisis-level tactics. He labeled those who engaged in looting thugs, and proclaimed, When the looting starts, the shooting starts, seemingly endorsing vigilante violence.

Yet in the protests, Trump and his campaign saw a rallying cause for his base, painting a picture of more protests and civil unrest if Joe Biden were elected, while Trumps re-election would restore law and order. The concept relied heavily on a familiar refrain: the role of white fear of Black Americans, and any loss of influence and power.

When Trump lost the 2020 election, his focus shifted to questioning then, in more legal challenges and conversations with election officials, the role of voters in major cities. Trumps ire and attention grew most intense around election results in cities with large Black populations who turned out in large numbers.

Then, Trump issued his final call to action to supporters galvanized by the idea that he had been robbed of the White House. As the rally progressed, one final panic button of sorts was pushed. Election returns from the Senate runoff in Georgia made clear Trumps party had lost its edge in the Senate. Instead of returning two Republicans to the Senate, Georgia had elected two Democrats; a Black man raised in public housing and the Jewish son of an immigrant.

Trump Supporters Hold

Whats notable, Robinson said, is that the mob that stormed the Capitol last week to engage in acts of domestic terrorism felt so emboldened, so empowered, so perfectly entitled to take over one of the nations most hallowed and secure buildings that they arrived with mostly bare faces.

It suggests they didnt expect to be prosecuted but, rather, lionized.

Days after the attack, Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, told MSNBC that the warnings that Trump and his politics were anathema to a multicultural democracy were made. The warnings were often ignored.

There are many people who also bear responsibility for what this nation has been brought to, Ifill said. They sit in newsrooms. The sit in C-suites of Fortune 500 companies. They sit in law offices. They sit in churches. They sit in the halls of Congress. They sit in statehouses. They are the people who have tolerated, condoned and in some instances supported, egged on and championed the thuggery of Donald Trump.

They have been willing to allow our democracy to be debased in this way.

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She is pregnant with her firstborn daughter.

And Lala Kent, 30, draped her baby bump in a stylish grey maternity jumpsuit when she emerged from lockdown in Los Angeles this week with a juice.

The Vanderpump Rules star, who is expecting by her 49-year-old fiance Randall Emmett, accessorized the look with a hot pink Louis Vuitton bag.

Out and about: Lala Kent, 30, draped her baby bump in a stylish grey maternity jumpsuit when she emerged from lockdown in Los Angeles this week with a juice

She is one of a slew of Vanderpump Rules names who are about to become mothers - Stassi Schroeder, Scheana Shay and Brittany Cartwright are all pregnant as well.

Lala and Randall announced her pregnancy this September on her 30th birthday on their podcast Give Them Lala... With Randall.

'I am so excited, I feel very maternal and motherly,' she said. 'I cry about everything. I look in the refrigerator and it could be empty or full and I'm like, it's happy or sad.'

Later in September Lala had a lavish gender reveal in which a skydiver touched down in a pink parachute to indicate the baby is a girl.

On the go: The Vanderpump Rules star, who is expecting by her 49-year-old fiance Randall Emmett, accessorized the look with a hot pink Louis Vuitton bag

Randall had already revealed the previous month that he and his leggy fiancee had started 'working' on having a baby.

He was previously married to Ray Donovan blonde Ambyr Childers with whom he shares two daughters, London, 10, and Rylee, six.

His children accompanied Randall and Lala on their family trip last month to Miami, which they traveled to on a private plane.

Their holiday was a joint trip with Sylvester Stallone and his family - his leggy wife Jennifer Flavin and daughters Sophia, 24, Sistine, 22, and Scarlet, 18.

Bumping along: Sharing a topless pregnancy selfie on her Insta Stories at the start of this month she revealed she had 'officially entered our 3rd trimester'

Lala and Randall planned to get married last April only for the coronavirus lockdowns to throw a wrench in their wedding plans.

Randall, who is nearly two decades Lala's senior, is a producer whose credits include last year's Martin Scorsese film The Irishman.

He is making his directorial debut with the movie Midnight In The Switchgrass which stars Lala amid a cast that includes Bruce Willis and Emile Hirsch.

The new showbiz couple Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly are also in the film which resumed its Caribbean shoot in June after a months-long pause due to lockdown.
Federal health officials warned Friday that a far more contagious variant of the coronavirus first identified in Britain could become the dominant source of infection in the United States by March, and would likely lead to a wrenching surge in cases and deaths that would further burden overwhelmed hospitals.

This dire forecast from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made plain what has been suspected for weeks now: The nation is in an urgent race to vaccinate as many Americans as possible before the variant spreads across the country.

Public health officials emphasized that protective measures already in place should work against the new variant, and urged Americans to redouble their vigilance in wearing face masks, in maintaining physical distance outside their households, washing hands frequently and limiting social interactions and indoor gatherings.

The variant is not known to be more deadly or to cause more severe disease. But the worrisome warning  hedged by limited data about just how prevalent the variant has become  landed at the end of a week when the nations nascent vaccination campaign appeared to be scattershot and still disappointingly elusive for most Americans. It was hampered by confusion over eligibility for people beyond front-line health workers, miscommunication over increasingly limited supplies as demand grew and by bungled rollouts from state to state.

Read | Joe Biden announces plan to vaccinate 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in office

The images of elderly Americans standing or sitting for hours in long lines, anxious for their shots while some were turned away, became emblematic of a patchwork approach that belied the promises of protection for the most vulnerable.

The CDCs projections could also prove extremely troubling for hospitals and nursing homes, many of which are already operating at or near capacity. Medical centers and nursing homes have faced increasing rates of infection among their staffs, causing shortages and leading to increased patient loads that have at times jeopardized patient care.

I want to stress that we are deeply concerned that this strain is more transmissible and can accelerate outbreaks in the U.S. in the coming weeks, said Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases at the CDC. Were sounding the alarm and urging people to realize the pandemic is not over and in no way is it time to throw in the towel.

We know what works and we know what to do, he said.

Also Read | 'Vaccinationalism' is self-defeating, says UN chief as global Covid-19 deaths cross 2 million

The agencys study lends urgency to the plan announced by President-elect Joe Biden, who is proposing to spend more than than $400 billion to combat the pandemic and accelerate vaccine distribution. It is part of his larger $1.9 trillion economic package aimed at offering financial aid and relief to local governments facing shortfalls and to individuals, and businesses that sustained losses during the nearly yearlong crisis.

The more people we vaccinate and the faster we do it, the sooner we can put this pandemic behind us and the sooner we can build our economy back better and get back to our lives and our loved ones, Biden said Friday as he announced a five-point vaccination plan.

Privately, one CDC official said the prospect of the new variants prowess was chilling, and underscored the urgent need for people to follow precautions. A bulletin released by the agency  which used highway emergency sign imagery to warn of rising cases, strained hospitals and new more contagious variants  conveyed the sense of urgency. More spread, more cases, more deaths, it warned.

Also Read | Mike Pompeo pushes new claim of China hiding origin of Covid-19

Covid cases and deaths have broken record after record across the country, with a peak number of deaths, 4,400, announced Tuesday. At least 3,973 new deaths and 238,390 new cases were reported Thursday, and the nation is nearing a milestone of 400,000 deaths.

One in 860 Americans have died of Covid in the last year, according to new figures released by the CDC. But the burden of deaths has not fallen equally across racial, ethnic lines and geographic regions, and there is concern that vaccines will not reach the hardest hit communities, where access to health services is limited and distrust is rampant.

The new variant could further exacerbate health disparities among communities of color, some experts warned.

I see the new strain as a threat multiplied. Take everything we know about the risk of this virus and just multiply it substantially, said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, dean of Brown Universitys School of Public Health. He expressed concern that the vaccines were not reaching vulnerable communities and called for locating immunization sites in communities of color and using public health messages to alleviate vaccine hesitancy. He also proposed vaccinating all people over the age of 55 after health care workers and those in long-term care facilities are inoculated.

Also Read | Human behaviour caused Covid-19 case surge, not mutant: WHO Emergencies Chief

The new variant, called B.1.1.7, was first identified in Britain, where it rapidly became the primary source of infections, accounting for more than 80% of new cases diagnosed in London and at least a quarter of cases elsewhere in the country.

It has since been detected in at least 50 countries, including the United States and Canada, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States, it accounts for less than 0.5% of cases, based on analysis of a limited number of samples.

Other variants circulating in South Africa and Brazil are also considered more contagious, but have not yet been identified in the United States. Japanese authorities said this month that they had detected one of the variants in four passengers arriving from Brazil.

The CDC had announced earlier that starting Jan. 26, all airline passengers arriving in the United States, regardless of vaccination status, would be required to show proof of a negative result from a test for the coronavirus or of recovery from Covid.

In Britain, infections also spiked in children of all ages, fueling fears that the new variant would be just as dangerous in children as in adults, and forcing Prime Minister Boris Johnson to shut down all schools. But while the new variant is more contagious than previous iterations of the virus, children are still only about half as likely as adults to spread it to others, experts have said.

In the new report, CDC scientists devised a model to assess how quickly the variant might spread in the United States, assuming about 10% to 30% of people have preexisting immunity to the virus, and another 1 million people a day will be vaccinated beginning this month.

If the variant were about 50% more contagious, as suggested by data from Britain, it would become the predominant source of all infections in the United States by March, the model showed. A slow rollout of vaccinations would hasten that fate.

We know that thats an overestimate of the current level of vaccination thats occurring, said Michael Johansson, a researcher at the CDC. But certainly, we hope that we get to levels that are higher than that by the time that this period ends.

All viruses accumulate mutations over time; most of the mutations disappear, but those that confer an advantage  greater contagiousness, for example, or faster replication  may take root and spread. A more transmissible variant, in particular, is likely to spread quickly through a population.

The new coronavirus has accumulated mutations of concern faster than many researchers had anticipated. Some variants also contain mutations that may slightly weaken the protection from vaccines.

But the immunity produced by vaccines is extremely powerful and should remain effective for years, said Paul Duprex, the Jonas Salk Chair for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh. Its not going to go from being a 94% efficacy to a 32% vaccine efficacy overnight, he said.

The variant identified in Britain differs by about 20 mutations from previous versions of the virus, including at least two mutations that may contribute to its greater contagiousness. As of Jan. 15, it had been detected more than 70 cases from 13 states  most recently in Oregon  but the actual numbers are likely to be much higher, Butler said. CDC expects these numbers to rise in the coming weeks, he said.

The CDC has sequenced about 71,000 samples of the virus, a minuscule fraction of the 23 million people infected in the country to date. But the agency has ramped up its efforts by about sixfold in the past two weeks in light of B.1.1.7 and other variants, said Dr. Gregory Armstrong, who leads molecular surveillance efforts at the agency.

State and local public health labs have committed to sequencing about 6,000 samples per week, a target they expect to hit in about three weeks.

Agency officials also warned that standard tests for the virus may miss one of the altered genes in the new variant. That should not be an issue for most laboratory-based PCR tests, they said, but some antigen tests may produce false negatives, missing cases of infection.

So far, we havent found evidence of that, but were looking more closely at that, Butler said.

Its not yet clear what makes the new variants more contagious. They share at least one mutation, called N501Y, that is thought to be involved. One possibility, researchers said, is that the mutation may increase the amount of virus in the nose but not in the lungs  potentially explaining why it is more contagious, but not more deadly.

A higher amount of virus in the nose means anyone infected would expel more virus while talking, singing, coughing or even breathing, said Trevor Bedford, an evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

It makes the same situations that generate spread now  people living in the same household, these sorts of non-ventilated indoor contacts  to be more likely to spread, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 23:41:45|Editor: huaxia

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Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (C) and China's ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo (L) welcome the shipment of China's Sinopharm inactivated coronavirus vaccines at the Belgrade Airport, Serbia, Jan. 16, 2021. A million doses of China's Sinopharm inactivated coronavirus vaccines arrived at the Belgrade Airport in Serbia on Saturday, the government confirmed in a press release. The shipment was welcomed at the Belgrade Airport by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, China's Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo, Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar and the head of the Security Intelligence Agency Bratislav Gasic. (Photo by Predrag Milosavljevic/Xinhua)

BELGRADE, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- A million doses of China's Sinopharm inactivated coronavirus vaccines arrived at the Belgrade Airport in Serbia on Saturday, the government confirmed in a press release.

The shipment was welcomed at the Belgrade Airport by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, China's Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo, Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar and the head of the Security Intelligence Agency Bratislav Gasic.

Vucic said that the arrival of the vaccine is a "proof of the great friendship between Serbia and China," and it will help protect the lives of 500,000 people, adding he will get vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccine.

"As an ordinary person and the president of Serbia, I am convinced of the quality of the Chinese vaccine, which will be decided by our competent agency," he said.

Vucic stated that Serbia has procured all vaccines that have arrived so far bilaterally through "negotiating with the Americans for Pfizer, with the Russians for Sputnik V and with the Chinese for the Sinopharm vaccine."

The vaccination would start once the Chinese vaccine gets a final approval by Serbia's Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices.

Serbia has reported nearly 370,000 COVID-19 infections since the beginning of the pandemic, while 3,708 people have died. A total of 5,409 patients are hospitalized across the country, of whom 196 are connected to respiratory ventilators.

After peaking every day in November and December last year, the numbers of new infections are decreasing in January.

The COVID-19 vaccination drive started in Serbia on Dec. 24, 2020, and so far the country has obtained around 1.4 million doses of different vaccines.

Sinopharm is the third vaccine to arrive in Serbia, after the Pfizer-BioNtech and the Sputnik V vaccines.

China has provided help to Serbia over the course of the pandemic. Besides medical supplies, a Chinese medical expert team spent months helping Serbian authorities coordinate the country's anti-pandemic response, while the Chinese BGI group helped build two "Fire Eye" testing labs.

Ambassador Chen said that Serbia and China are fighting the coronavirus side by side, and "China is the first country in the world to promise that its vaccine will be a global public good."

"The Sinopharm vaccine was officially registered in China on Dec. 30, and it arrived in Serbia only after 16 days. The arrival of the Chinese vaccine is part of our joint fight against the virus, and I believe it will contribute to fighting the epidemic in Serbia," Chen said. Enditem
Congress leaders N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and others pay floral tributes to former Union minister S. Jaipal Reddy at Necklace Road on his 79th birth anniversary in Hyderabad on Saturday.  DC Image

Hyderabad: S.Y. Qureshi, former Chief Election Commissioner of India, said that Indian democracy is more in the limelight now, after the Presidential elections in the United States last year. The whole world is looking at India for its democratic values now, he said.

Comparing the two democracies, Qureshi said, The transition of power from the outgoing Prime Minister to the incoming Prime Minister in our country has always been smooth. We never see any problems on that front. Both the outgoing and incoming governments have courtesies for each other and shake hands. The losers of elections in our country trust the Election Commission and its electoral processes, unlike Donald Trump in the USA who has set a very bad precedent.

He was speaking at a webinar organised by the S. Jaipal Reddy Memorial Foundation on Saturday, to mark the 79th birth anniversary of former Union minister S. Jaipal Reddy.

Qureshi said that the model of funding of elections in India should be changed to public funding of political parties.

He strongly ruled out compulsory voting as is prevalent in many countries. It doesn't work. It fails wherever it is introduced. It has failed to increase the poll percentage. Compulsory and democracy do not go hand in hand, he said.

The webinar was attended among many political leaders, followers of Jaipal Reddy, his wife Lakshmi, family members and relatives.
Mandy Moore is known for parenting America's favorite triplets on NBC's This Is Us.

And the Golden Globe nominee is preparing to welcome her first child in real life, after announcing she and husband Taylor Goldsmith are pregnant.

She channeled her inner wood nymph as she cradled her growing baby bump in a beautiful maternity shoot, which she shared Friday on Instagram, writing: 'Almost there.....'

The 36-year-old looked stunning in a floor-length sleeveless floral pleated dress, which flowed in the wind with a matching cape.

She later went for a more sensual look, posing in a skintight little black dress, which accentuated her pregnant belly.

Moore posed for photographer Jenna Jones, teasing her new addition's name: 'Took some photos with @photobyjennajones before BBG gets here.'

Although she may have been referring to the nickname they've been using, as she announced the pregnancy on Instagram in September, writing: 'Baby Boy Goldsmith coming early 2021.'

Maternity chic: Mandy Moore channeled her inner wood nymph as she cradled her growing baby bump in a beautiful maternity shoot, which she shared Friday on Instagram, writing: 'Almost there.....'

Baby bump: The 36-year-old later went for a more sensual look, posing in a skintight little black dress, which accentuated her pregnant belly

Name hint? Moore posed for photographer Jenna Jones, teasing her new addition's name: 'Took some photos with @photobyjennajones before BBG gets here'

She gave a pregnancy update last month, as she prepared for the 'home stretch' in her third trimester, writing on her Instagram Story: 'Question for third trimester pregnant friends- is anyone else suddenly nauseous, exhausted, and weepy? What the heck? I feel like everything just turned on a dime.'

The Candy artist later thanked her 4.4million followers: 'Today is a new day and I definitely feel less "off" but going with the flow and expecting to feel all the feels again soon. Hormones are no joke.'

She said in a followup video: 'I am OK. I am grateful. It is just wild, hormones are crazy. I managed to get out of bed and go on a nice long walk today, and I'm feeling good. I hope you all are feeling good.'

New addition: Although she may have been referring to the nickname they've been using, as she announced the pregnancy on Instagram in September, writing: 'Baby Boy Goldsmith coming early 2021'

Third trimester: She gave a pregnancy update last month: 'I am OK. I am grateful. It is just wild, hormones are crazy. I managed to get out of bed and go on a nice long walk today, and I'm feeling good. I hope you all are feeling good' (pictured in November, 2020)

Moore tied the knot with Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith, 35, back in November of 2018, recently celebrating their second anniversary.

The This Is Us star wrote on Instagram: '2 years have flown by in the blink of an eye and I remain taken aback at my incredible fortune to spend the rest of my days by your side. I'm not sure any declaration of love (here or otherwise) could do justice for just how I feel about you, about us... for what I get to carry around in my heart.

'Thank you for your grace, patience, humor, understanding and so much more. There is no one better, Taylor. Oh and I can't wait to meet this baby boy of ours!! Happy Anniversary, my love.'
Paul Reid of the HSE is not happy with the development. Photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

There is growing anger over the vaccination of staff in private hospitals and clinics ahead of frontline public healthcare workers.

Private healthcare nurses and doctors have been vaccinated in the last week under the HSEs National Vaccination Programme.

Meanwhile, public healthcare workers have been forced to beg the Government for vaccines as Covid ravages hospital wards.

Public hospitals have been treating the vast majority of the record number of new coronavirus cases.

Under a recent Government deal, private hospitals said they would allow just 30pc of their wards to be used to treat non-Covid patients.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is refusing to address the controversy despite the public healthcare service facing its biggest crisis since the start of the pandemic.

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Yesterday, Labour Party leader Alan Kelly said it is scandalous and completely wrong that private healthcare staff are being vaccinated ahead of public nurses and doctors who are dealing with rocketing numbers of Covid cases everyday.

In an extraordinary development, nurses in Nenagh Hospital, Co Tipperary, published a video online in which they pleaded with Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Minister Donnelly to tell them why they had not yet been vaccinated.

In the video, Nenagh Clinical Nurse Manager, Louise Morgan Walsh said: We are so angry, we are scared, we are afraid. We can see our co-workers going down with Covid and becoming very ill.

This comes as it emerged that nurses and doctors in the exclusive Hermitage Medical Clinic in Dublin have been vaccinated.

The Hermitage said 200 staff were vaccinated in line with the HSEs plan to prioritise those who are working in acute settings caring for patients.

It has been reported that staff in the Bon Secours private hospital group have also been vaccinated.

Staff in the Beacon Hospital in Dublin were also given vaccines as the facility is being used as a vaccination centre for healthcare workers.

The Beacon stated that it is not charging the HSE for use of its state-of-the-art vaccination centre and added that staff volunteered to administer the vaccine.

However, HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid said he is concerned that the Denis OBrien-owned Beacon was chosen as a vaccine centre after the hospital refused to sign a deal which would see some of their bed capacity taken over by the State to deal with the significant surge in Covid cases.

Mr Reid is understood to be furious that he was blindsided by news that the Beacon was to be used after the HSE announced it.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar suggested the deal may be reviewed if there was a review clause in the contract.

However, there is no review clause.

Mr Varadkar said designating the Beacon as a vaccination centre is at odds with the hospitals refusal to sign an agreement that

would give the HSE extra capacity.

Fine Gael Seanad leader Regina Doherty said it is disrespectful that Mr Donnelly is refusing to publicly address the issue. She added that the Beacon deal should be reversed.

A HSE spokesperson said: The programme of vaccinating frontline healthcare workers against Covid-19 makes no distinction between them, whether they work in the community or in hospitals or in private or public healthcare.
A 12-year-old boy took his own life in his bedroom just hours after telling his mother he loved her, his heartbroken grandmother revealed.

The family of Ethan Bourne have been left with 'so many questions' after the Arsenal fan was found dead in his bedroom in Waltham Forest, London on January 8.

Just hours before his death, Ethan baked an Oreo cheesecake for his mother and told her how much he loved her.

The next day, he was found dead in his room having taken his own life, his grandmother Samantha Legonidet said.

She told My London: 'He absolutely adored Arsenal, he loved cars, Ferraris.

'He loved fishing, and animals, was really good with his younger siblings. He Loved the PlayStation like all boys that age.

'I guess really he was a typical 12-year-old. A typical boy, didn't really speak about his feelings, which is what we're finding difficult now.

'We've got so many questions as to why this happened.'

The family of Ethan Bourne have been left with 'so many questions' after the Arsenal fan was found dead in his bedroom in Waltham Forest, London on January 8

Ethan had turned 12 five days earlier and was seemingly living a happy life with his mother and siblings in Waltham Forest.

The young boy had recently moved from Redbridge, but would stay with his grandmother every weekend.

He had started secondary school in September, but would attend for just three months as the pandemic forced it to close.

Ethan had gone through a stage of having a bad temper and staying in his bedroom - but seemed to have 'snapped out of it' in the last couple of weeks.

Ms Legonidet said: 'The day before [his death] he had been cooking with his mum. [He] baked an Oreo cheesecake, which his mum still won't let go of.

'He had a really nice evening with his mum. He'd gone to bed at 9.30pm, when his mum had told him it was time to turn the PlayStation off.

'Ethan said, 'Love you Mum, goodnight'.'

The next morning, at around 7.20am on January 8, his mother found he had taken his own life.

'He was our little angel. He's given us 12 years of his life,' his grandmother said.

Ethan's mother had suffered a lot of trauma and was in 'a very bad place' until the 12-year-old was born.

Just hours before his death, Ethan baked an Oreo cheesecake for his mother and told her how much he loved her. The next day, he was found dead in his room having taken his own life

But he 'changed her life and in all aspects saved her' a family member said on a GoFundMe page set up in his memory.

Ethan's mother recently said: 'Ethan saved my life, so why couldn't I save his? 'It's just awful.'

His school friends have been told of the young boy's tragic death, although the school did not tell them how he actually died.

The school has said it was a 'sudden loss of life', Ethan's grandmother said.

'That's all very good and well,' she added. 'But in the current climate, this is a pandemic, no doubt a lot of people will think that Ethan died of Covid.

'But we want to put it out there that this child at just 12 years old has taken his own life.

'Nobody talks about it, and if there's one more young person out there that can maybe see this and actually talk up about anything that they're heard or seen about anybody else.

'Because Ethan had sent a little message to somebody that was quite depressing, a week before he'd passed, and nobody had thought anything of it.

'So for the future we want it to be out there, for the kids to see this as well.

'We never saw no signs and this little boy - his mind must have been in so much turmoil and nobody could see it. In the long term I want there to be more awareness out there.'

Ethan's mother would like a private burial and plot for her son.

'It's the final thing we can give to him, because we won't see 13 or 16 or any other significant times,' his grandmother said.

Writing on the GoFundMe page, Ethan's uncle said: 'This having been such a shock to everybody has put us in a position as a family that we haven't planned for such tragedies and ask with heavy hearts for help from those around us.

'No matter how small, anything would be a great help toward us giving our precious boy the send off he deserves.'

You can donate to the GoFundMe page here.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, or click here for details.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Showers and a few thundershowers. Low 56F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Showers and a few thundershowers. Low 56F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
An Australian public health professor and his son have been freed from a Qatar jail where they were held without charge for five months.

Professor Lukman Thalib, 58, was acting head of Qatar University's public health department when he was arrested on July 27. His son Ismail Talib was also arrested at the same time.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it had assisted the two men, after The Guardian reported they had been recently released, following their arrest three months earlier when the United States alleged that Victorian resident Ahmed Luqman Talib, another of Professor Thalib's sons, had "provided financial or material support" to al-Qaeda.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement it had "provided consular assistance to two Australian men who had been detained in Qatar".

"Owing to privacy considerations we will not provide further comment," the statement said.
Landlord Offers Tenants $100 Reduction in Rent Arrears for Every Hour Given to Charity Work

A Florida landlord of over 500 housing units has come up with a novel way to alleviate rent arrears for the tenants by pledging to forgive $100 of overdue rent for every hour a tenant volunteers at a recognized nonprofit charity.

Staffers at the Contemporary Housing Alternatives of Florida (CHAF), providing affordable housing for low-income families across Pinellas County, grew concerned for their tenants amid the CCP virus pandemic. Around 20 percent of their tenants owed rent due to losing income since March 2020 reports Tampa Bay Times.

It was the nonprofits director of property management, Holly Butler, 48, who dreamt up the rent forgiveness scheme. I thought it might be a kooky idea, but I pitched it, she explained.

Butlers team was on board, calling it the Back on Track program and offering the deal to any of their tenants who had lost work or hours because of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, pandemic.

Holly Butler, CHAFs director of property management. (Courtesy of CHAF)

Rent for a two-bedroom apartment at CHAFs Pinellas Park site averages $700 a month. The nonprofit had suffered a rent revenue loss of approximately $300,000 by the end of 2020.

CHAF CEO Joseph Lettelleir ventured that they might never have seen that money anyway. But the Back on Track program, he asserted, gives tenants some pride and a feeling theyre doing something  Bottom line, theyre good tenants and wed like to keep them.

To date, more than two-dozen resident tenants have taken advantage of the program, pledging their time to food banks, trash-collection efforts, tidying up a trailer park, and clearing up trash along the shorelines with Tampa Bay Watch. One single event removed more than 400 pounds (approx. 181 kg) of garbage from the neighborhood nearby.

The charity Hope Villages of America also partnered with CHAF to support the rent relief program, welcoming volunteers to help sort, pack, and label food for distribution to a food pantry. Twenty tenants pledged 150 hours of their time, combined.

They were excited, Hope Villages CEO Kirk Ray Smith told WTSP. They were glad they were no longer staying anywhere for free.

According to the U.S. Census Bureaus Household Pulse Survey, over 8 percent of Florida residents are experiencing housing insecurity, many of whom have slight or no confidence that they will make their next months rent or mortgage payment.

CHAF has been supporting its tenants since the onset of the pandemic. In April 2020, every household that paid rent on time received a $25 grocery store gift card. The nonprofit also helped tenants access payment plans for staggered rent payments.

The nonprofits latest rent forgiveness program takes a group that is really struggling and offers them an opportunity to hold up their head and do something for the community, said Lettelleir.

I was hoping that it could ignite a passion for community service, added Butler, speaking to WFTS. I thought if they go out and start going somewhere, they could meet people. Maybe it could lead to a job.

CHAF hopes that other landlords of affordable housing will follow suit and help struggling demographics keep roofs over their heads in hard times.

We would love to hear your stories! You can share them with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 16:42:32|Editor: huaxia

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National Guard soldiers secure the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Jan. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

It should be noted, above all, that those politicians have clearly overestimated their ability to influence the course of China-U.S. relations. Outwardly, they appear to be tough, but they are actually weak on the inside. They have also underestimated China's strength and determination to take all measures to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests.



BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The final scene of a preposterous show performed by certain U.S. politicians appears on stage this weekend in Washington, showing that there is no limit on their ignorance and prejudice in containing China's development.

In a new action against China days before the U.S. government transition, certain U.S. politicians are making up reasons of reducing risks from so-called espionage to minimize procurement of Chinese goods and services. Such moves violated international trade rules and the principles of a market economy, undermined global industrial and value chains, and damaged the interests of companies and consumers in both countries. The trade war with China has failed to boost the U.S. economy, but instead led to a slowdown in U.S. economic growth and an increase of job losses.

Meanwhile, they also imposed new sanctions on six Chinese officials regarding Hong Kong issues, another example of their blatant act to interfere in China's internal affairs, following the latest official interaction between the United States and China's Taiwan region to challenge the one-China principle.

These irresponsible moves are a poison created by a handful of people attempting to promote selfish political interests at the cost of China-U.S. relations. The bilateral relationship is a giant vessel carrying the well-being of 1.4 billion Chinese and 300 million Americans. Also, other countries should have enough mental sobriety and vigilance to avoid being hijacked onto the U.S. chariot or being used as a tool to maintain U.S. hegemony.

It should be noted, above all, that those politicians have clearly overestimated their ability to influence the course of China-U.S. relations. Outwardly, they appear to be tough, but they are actually weak on the inside. They have also underestimated China's strength and determination to take all measures to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests.

China and the United States are actually in a good position to help each other succeed and can cooperate in lots of domains, including, but not limited to, the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling global climate change, and coping with the threat of nuclear proliferation and confrontation. U.S. policymakers in the future should not let this relationship be led astray by a small bunch of extreme forces.

No matter what other absurd measures Washington will introduce in the coming days to tarnish China-U.S. relations, they will not change the course of China's development and the course of China-U.S. relations. In other words, the anti-China policy of the current U.S. administration will only end in failure. China will maintain strong unity, conduct its own activities effectively and set its own calendar for doing so.

Certain U.S. politicians have left a reputation of destroyers of the international order, world peace and stability, and human rights in the world. Time is short for them to wake up to this reality and cure their madness, which is a stain in world history of development.

On a final note: good riddance to the current U.S. administration and its final madness. 

Representational image.

Are you Mr Jacob?"

"Yeah, but, do you know me!"

"Not much. But I've just heard Tom Collins talking about you."

"Tom what! I have never made his acquaintance."

"Perhaps you had better do so, as quick as you can, for he is talking about you in a very bad manner. He was calling you bad names, and convincing all these people around here that you are a mean fellow who'd stoop to any level for money!"

"What!!!" you jump from your seat, "where the hell is he!" your blood boils now and you want to pulverise the head of that bloody nincompoop for what he was doing against your good name.

"I think, he has gone to the bar at the opposite side for a refill."

Paying the bill, you stomp off to meet the villain in the neighbourhood bar. But uh oh, you have just missed, the people in the opposite bar would tell you confirming the case that one Tom Collins was indeed talking bad about you.

Enraged, you raid around the whole town after the guy, hardly guessing there is no Tom Collins in the locality. These guys you met in the morning who suddenly grew concerned about your good name were actually pulling your legs.

Hey, don't laugh off the chance of such a practical joke on your life.

The great Tom Collins hoax

This is an actual scene culled out from the Great Tom Collins Hoax of 1874 that gave birth to the phenomenal cocktail named Tom Collins. Though its beginning is shrouded in mystery, during the year 1874 hundreds of New Yorkers who frequented public places were told one Tom Collins had been besmirching their names just before they came to a scene.

"Have you seen Tom Collins was the pickup line. Enraged after listening what the fellow had done to their reputation, they'd set off immediately to settle scores with the man at large.

Imagine, for a brief time, even major newspapers latched on to this sensation that they too joined the hunt for the elusive man named Tom Collins. They propagated the joke by printing news of real-life Collins sightings, urging readers to find the culprit. Illinois The Daily Republican carried a story titled 'Tom Collins still among us' in June 1874.

"This individual kept up his nefarious business of slandering our citizens all day yesterday. But we believe that he succeeded in keeping out of the way of his pursuers. In several instances he came well nigh being caught, having left certain places but a very few moments before the arrival of those who were hunting him. His movements are watched to-day with the utmost vigilance."

Reports of false sightings and predictions on the next move of Collins filled the pages of newspapers. No one knows for sure at what time barmen in New York decided to cash in on this public craze over the imaginary character. Soon it became a routine. Enraged people who barged into the drinking holes asking for Tom Collins were treated to a special cocktail by the name you-guess-what.

"Any Tom Collins here?"

"Yes," the barman would say and fix a drink that would help chill any soul boiling with indignation. "Here's your Tom Collins."

How to fix the drink

That is how the legendary cocktail was born.

The hoax has passed on to even popular culture. You can find songs in the Library of Congress dedicated to the incident. This is how Tom Collins is My Name goes:

Tom Collins wants to see you! He says, You are a beat!Tom Collins! Dont you know him! Tis you he wants to meet!In here just a moment since hes down on you, thats sure!

He just went round the corner, into that other store.

The first Tom Collins recipe was printed in the Bartender's Guide published in 1874 by Jerry Thomas, widely considered as the father of American mixology.

Another cocktail named John Collins existed before the time, which he now changed to Tom Collins for his book. The drink soon became popular in the bars in and around New York.

So how do you fix the drink?

The Tom Collins is a cocktail made with gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup and plain soda water.

Here's the recipe:

(use small bar-glass)

Take 5 or 6 dashes of gum syrup

Juice of a small lemon

1 large wine-glass of Gin

2 to 3 lumps of ice;

Shake well and strain into a large bar-glass. Fill up the glass with plain soda water and imbibe while it is lively.

Tom Collins is a delightful drink to beat the summer. So be prepared to welcome the heat.

(Manu Remakant is a freelance writer who also runs a video blog  A Cup of Kavitha  introducing world poetry to Malayalis. The views expressed here are personal.)
Hyderabad, Jan 16 : Covid vaccination began in Telangana on Saturday with healthcare workers taking first shot at 139 centres across the state.

A female sanitation worker at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad took the first vaccine in the presence of state health minister Eatala Rajender.

Union Minister of State for Home, G. Kishan Redy, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and other officials were present at the formal launch of the programme at Gandhi Hospital.

The vaccination began after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to formally launch the programme was beamed live at all centres.

Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan participated in vaccine rollout programme at Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS).

Ratna Mala, superintendent of Government Hospital at Karimnagar, received the first vaccine at the hospital.

A total of 4,000 healthcare workers in government-run facilities will receive the first dose on Saturday.

Health authorities made all arrangements to vaccinate the beneficiaries at 139 centres spread across all 33 districts. The centres set up at major government hospitals and primary health centres were spruced up for the occasion.

State ministers lighted lamp at various centres to formally inaugurate the programme. MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other public representatives were present at the inauguration.

Health Minister Rajender and director of medical education Ramesh Reddy were to receive the vaccine at Gandhi Hospital.

A maximum of 30 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each centre. Director of public health G. Srinivas Rao said the numbers will be ramped up in phases from Monday and in coming days this will reach the maximum level of 100 beneficiaries per centre.

Majority of beneficiaries during the first few days of the vaccination drive will comprise staff from sanitation and security wings of teaching, hospitals, district hospitals and area hospitals and ASHA, Anganwadi and other workers at primary health centres .

The state health authorities have identified 3.15 lakh healthcare workers in government and private institutions and registered them in Co-Win application, especially developed for Covid vaccination.

The number of centres for vaccination will also be increased gradually from Monday and in next few days the programme will be conducted at all 1,213 centres depending on the availability of the vaccine doses.

Srinivas Rao said Covid vaccine will be given between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday while routine vaccination programme for children and women will continue every Wednesday and Saturday. There will be no vaccination on Sundays and public holidays.

The state has so far received 3.74 lakh doses from Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and they were stored in 2-8 degree temperature. The authorities have already transported over 50,000 doses to the districts.

The authorities reassured beneficiaries that both Covishield and Covaxin approved for emergency use by Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) were safe and that there is no need for any apprehensions.
As the clock strikes and the sun rises bearing witness to the election of a new president, I believe this administration has committed itself to be more inclusive and forward-thinking. The issues of closing the gap of health care disparities, eliminating bad cops from the police forces, inequality institutional racism, and violence in our communities will not resolve themselves merely by the passage of time. A tectonic shift in our thinking and approach is what the new administration promises.

The insurrection event in our nations capital on January 6 provided the final nail to the coffin of the current administration. Like you, I was appalled as I watched with disbelief and stunned silence as the events played out in real-time. The official National NAACPs position is: This incident reflects the latest of the Presidents failed leadership, we witnessed the Capitol under siege by bad actors who had no other objective than to disrupt the constitutional proceedings of a fair and rightful transition of power. Those responsible must be held accountable for their actions that placed members of congress, the VP elect, and staffers in harms way.

Natasha Alford, journalist, digital host, and millennial media executive, summarized the insurrection as an assault on our democracy, and coup incited by President Trump best when she said, When Black Americans talk about generational trauma and terror families this is what we mean. That energy, you saw at the Capitol is the same energy that burned down Black towns, lynched Black citizens, and ensured slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation were encoded into American life.

Regardless of your opinion on the outcome of the national election, the election has been certified by Congress and the new administration will be sworn in on January 20. Its time to move on and concentrate on the issues that keep our communities from being our utopias.

The vitriol that appears in the media is counterproductive from both the far left and the far right in unifying our country. To disassociate ourselves from the lack of civility, integrity, and reestablish our dignity on the world stage from the past four years we must become an America where citizenship means the same to everyone and where humanitarianism is served in world-class proportions. This will allow citizens to mend the fragile fabric that binds us. How do we accomplish this?

Equity and equality make us all a mighty and noble flotilla of ships, sailing the seas of this society and providing opportunities for all citizens. Equality and equity may be inherently different but are also bound together. In order to create true equality of opportunity, equity is needed to ensure that everyone has the same chance of getting there.

I believe citizenship is not passive, citizenship involves a commitment from you to make our community better. This implies getting involved and engaged. The coronavirus restrictions on public gatherings have made it easier for the public to listen in on how your government performs.

Locally, we can address the health inequalities by encouraging all citizens to get vaccinated. African Americans have been disproportionately impacted by the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic and are the most hesitant to take the vaccine. The vaccine is an important step for the community to get the COVID-19 restrictions lifted. I was on a conference call with Teresa Haley, State President for Illinois NAACP, where she discussed the hesitation within the African American communities to take the coronavirus vaccine. She directed the branch presidents to provide webinars and zoom meetings to enlighten our communities on the importance of getting vaccinated. Within the next three weeks, the Edwardsville Branch will be hosting a Coronavirus Townhall to get the word out about the effectiveness and the safety of the vaccine.

Recently, the mayor of the City of Edwardsville reported on the finding of the Race Relations and Equity Committee. In this report, the mayor outlined items the committee believed would make our community more inviting to minorities. We cannot let this report sit on the shelf. It appears as a notice on the citys website. Take a few minutes to read it. What can you contribute to this conversation? If you are asked to serve, serve. If you want to serve, ask.

All the protests over the past nine months have heightened the awareness of the racial inequity in our communities. Eyes have been opened. Citizens that did not think these issues existed now realize they do. What will you do to be part of the solution?

Walt Williams was elected President of the Edwardsville NAACP in December 2020. He lives in Edwardsville with his wife Chris. Williams finds value in a life of public service.
Senior journalist Nidhi Razdan made a shocking revelation on January 15 when she admitted that she was tricked by online scamsters into believing that Harvard University had offered her a job. But she is not alone.

Every day, dozens of Indians across India are cheated by digital fraudsters offering lucrative job prospects in dream companies and institutions. It is a fraud that any of us could fall prey in our professional lives.

The modus operandi is simple. A scamster either clones a corporate email address to send a potential employment offer email to the target. Unaware professionals who click on these mails presume that the mails are genuine.



I have been the victim of a very serious phishing attack. Im putting this statement out to set the record straight about what Ive been through. I will not be addressing this issue any further on social media. pic.twitter.com/bttnnlLjuh

 Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) January 15, 2021

That is what appears to have happened in the case of Razdan. She explained in her statement on Twitter that she was a victim of a coordinated and sophisticated phishing attack. She said that the perpetrators used forgery and misrepresentation to get access to her personal data.

Phishing is when a person(s) disguise as genuine entities to get access to sensitive personal data of individuals. This information is used to cheat people in exchange of financial gains or to commit serious crimes.

This incident could be an eye-opener for job aspirants or corporate executives who are eyeing a job switch. Moneycontrol gives you some tips on how to avoid falling prey to such potential scams:

Always verify with authorised personnel

Whenever you receive an email about a job opportunity from an unknown email address or those marked spam, be aware that these could be fraudsters. Do not respond to this email communication if you are suspicious of its origin.

Say, if it is from XYZ company. Visit the official company website to check what its common email addresses are in the 'contact us' section. The common formats used are the person@xyz.com/in/org. Call up the numbers provided to verify or send an email seeking clarification.

A big red flag is the sender using their personal email address to send a job offer or obscure domain names. For example, instead of Sarah@xyzcompany.com, it could be sarahxyzcompany@123.com and so on.

If the job role is still genuine, there would always be a verified official email address and a phone number provided to the candidate in the communication. Instead of sending an email which could take hours (or even days) to get a response, pick up the phone and make calls.

Some job roles could be confidential and hence not advertised openly. But regular roles in the area of IT services, administration, sales and marketing are advertised by companies on multiple job platforms for better visibility. Cross check this information on the regular job portals to see if the said company is indeed recruiting and if the contact information matches.

Sometimes even clicking on links provided in fake emails is adequate for scamsters to get access to your personal devices and steal information. Stay clear of these links. It is better to apply for a job role at the company's official site or via platforms like Naukri, LinkedIn, Indeed or Monster among others.

Look for anomalies in job offer, description

If a job looks too good to be true, then it probably is. Obvious fake job offers are the ones claiming that you are chosen as the CEO of Google or chief of a central bank after 'a random lottery'.

But the not-so-obvious-ones are where the HR official's name is quoted in the email stating that you have been shortlisted for the position. If it is a big brand, this is time for caution since candidates are typically not shortlisted without one to two rounds of interviews.

If you have indeed given interviews and are waiting for a call-back, emails only from verified company ids should be accepted as proof.

For example, a big brand like the Tata Group in India won't send you job offers from obscure ids like name@tataindia.org. One simple Google search will show you that the Tata group only uses tata.com domain address in their official communication.

Again, call up the company HR whom you interviewed with, to verify the information offered in the job offer email.

If you are unable to verify the domain name via a simple search on the internet, look for the domain manually. For example, if the email sender has listed xyz company id as xyzindia.com, you can go online to see what exists on this .com website page.

If it is the company website, you will be directed to its home page. If not, the web-page will show a message saying 'this domain name is on sale'. This is a clear warning sign that the job offer is fake.

Candidates also often fall for international postings and fancy job titles. There is a warning sign if you are too underqualified for a job post offered to you or for a role that is non-existent in a company.

Say, if a pharma company is hiring a researcher they would require a degree in medicine with some work experience. Now if you are a History graduate and have been sent a job offer by email, this is a sign that there is either some error or the offer is fake.

Similarly, if a jewellery brand has sent a job offer for an API scientist who actually has no role in the gems/jewellery industry, you should know that the mail is fake.

One other scam which entry-level job-seekers fall for is the money-for-employment mails. You may get a mail from XYZ company saying you have been shortlisted for a position for which you would have to deposit Rs 5,000-15,000 into a listed bank account.

Don't fall for this scam by sending money for job roles. No company seeks 'fees' for providing employment.

Seek physical meetings for interviews

Though online interviews are the preferred mode of hiring in the era of Coronavirus, it is necessary that you don't fall prey to scamsters pretending to be recruiters.

Seek credentials of the interviewers prior to a video interview. If it is a known brand, it wouldn't be difficult to check for the profile of the person and his/designation and picture on social networking sites like LinkedIn. If the interviewer appears to be someone else, this is a fraudster and is impersonating someone as part of a phishing attack.

If it is an audio interview, it will be difficult to guess the real identity of the person. In that case, wait for official confirmation from verified domain ids for accepting the job offers.

But if feasible, do seek a physical meeting with the interviewers. This way their identities can be verified and scamsters usually drop out of this process.

Before signing the final offer letter, re-verify once again

If everything goes smoothly and you have finally received the offer letter, congratulations. But the process isn't over yet. Before signing any offer letter, you need to re-verify the email address provided and also with official company contacts.

Company logos and letterheads are very easy to clone, so don't take that as proof. Whether it is an Indian or international brand, re-verify in case you notice the offer letter coming in from suspicious private email addresses.

Wait for confirmation before resigning from current job

You got the dream role in your dream company. The offer letter is in. Great, but don't be in a hurry to quit from your current job. If you have written to the prospective employer seeking their confirmation on the offer letter (for suspicious ids), wait till they respond.

All companies understand that joinees need to serve a few weeks of notice period and hence send job offer letters in advance. If it is an international company, remember that it could take them upto 3-4 days to respond.

Once you receive a final go-ahead, it is all clear. You are free to resign from your current role and begin your journey to your dream employer.

The entire process to verify may sound cumbersome and probably silly to some. But it is better to wait for confirmation than fall prey to a scam that could ruin your professional career.

Posted Friday, January 15, 2021 4:56 pm

A Thurston County Sheriffs Office K9 and an armed suspect were shot Wednesday night near the Thurston-Lewis county line during a vehicle pursuit, which started in Tumwater and came to an end at milepost 88 on Interstate 5 at Grand Mound.

Both the suspect, a 25-year-old male, and the K-9 suffered survivable injuries, according to information released Thursday from the sheriffs office.

The Mason County Sheriffs Office is expected to lead an investigation into the officer-involved shooting. It was not immediately clear who fired shots.

The K9 shot is a 3-year-old German Shepherd named Arlo. The law dog first hit the streets with deputies in 2019 and is the units youngest K9.

A GoFundMe campaign that has since closed was set up to cover Arlos surgery, and it ultimately raised $57,360 of its $25,000 goal, with contributions coming from more than 1,200 individuals. Funds contributed are expected to go to the Thurston County Deputy Sheriffs Foundation.

The pursuit reportedly started around 8 p.m. near Cleveland Avenue and Hartman Court Southeast in Tumwater, according to Thurston County. Deputies attempted to make contact with a vehicle that was driving reckless when the driver fled.

According to the Washington State Patrol, Thurston County deputies requested assistance with a vehicle that entered I-5 shortly after that time. The chase lasted about 15 minutes.

The pursuit led onto the interstate, with law enforcement officers shutting down lanes shortly after the incident.

The subsequent contact with the driver resulted in an officer involved shooting, during which the 25-year-old male driver and TCSO K-9 were struck by gunfire, a news release from Thurston County Sheriffs Office read.

The suspect hasnt been identified by the sheriffs office.

Arlo sustained a bullet to a shoulder and right-rear leg and was initially taken to a veterinary clinic in Chehalis. After receiving surgery on Thursday, he was transferred to Oregon State University School of Medicine by Lacey Fire Department to operate on a bullet that was lodged in his spine.

Currently, the extent of Arlos known injuries are a fractured vertebrae and a fractured scapula, resulting from the incident last night, a Facebook update from the K9 unit read Thursday night. We have confidence that through the skilled hands and knowledge of Arlos care team that he is getting the best care possible.

On Friday, the sheriffs office provided another update through its K9 unit Facebook page.

K-9 Arlo was in good hands throughout the night and was being consoled and in the company of Deputy Turpin (his handler) and Deputy Shenkel (retired handler of K-9 Daro), the sheriffs office wrote. Arlo was scheduled for surgery this morning, but his temp spiked up to 104 degrees, so they are going to get that under control first before they operate. Please keep Arlo and Deputy Turpin in your thoughts and prayers!

Mason County Chief Deputy Jason Dracobly in a Friday morning email said there was currently no update on the suspect, who was sent to an area hospital after the incident.

Coming Onboard

Arlo and his handler, Deputy Tyler Turpin, joined the ranks of the K9 unit in late 2019 after an extensive training and outfitting process. The unit originally got the OK to start accepting community donations and begin the process of acquiring a new dog in April 2019.

The process was lengthy and expensive, costing roughly $26,000 to get the dog outfitted with the dog undergoing 400 hours of training. Outfitting, training and the health care of Thurston Countys K9 unit is covered almost entirely by community donations and is not covered by county tax dollars.

Sgt. Rod Ditrich, team lead for the K9 program, said in a previous story with The Chronicle that they had high hopes for their newest fluffy phenom: For him, its just a game, he said. (But) this dog is going to be one of the best dogs weve had.

In addition to possessing the skills the K9 unit was looking for in a new dog, Arlo is also very playful with kids and those he met out in the community.

When you meet him, hes the nicest dog. Hes the happiest, easy-going dog that youll meet, Turpin said in December 2019. To me, seeing how he works and how he interacts with people, hes the perfect police dog because he loves kids, he likes people, but when its time to do the job, he does the job Hes a gentle giant, is the lack of better terminology, is what I would call him.
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Sir Keir Starmer could scoop a historic victory for Labour in the 2024 general election if he is willing to work with other progressive parties to maximise left-of-centre seats, according to new polling analysis seen by The Independent.

But if the Labour leader refuses to collaborate with Liberal Democrats and Greens, he risks a repeat of the December 2019 election, when Boris Johnsons Tories won a landslide on a hard Brexit platform despite a majority of voters backing parties offering a second EU referendum.

Despite a narrow lead for Labour in the poll, the analysis suggests that Mr Johnson can hold onto his overall majority at Westminster if Nigel Farage repeats his 2019 move of standing aside candidates to allow Conservatives to consolidate the right-of-centre vote.

Internationalist campaign group Best for Britain, which fought for a second Brexit referendum and is now pushing for a strengthening of the EU trade deal, examined the results of a massive 22,000-voter Focaldata poll, conducted in December on the MRP method which allows figures to be broken down to a constituency-by-constituency level.

The raw figures, released earlier this month, suggested a neck-and-neck race with the Tories on 36 per cent and Labour 38, resulting in 284 seats for Conservatives and 283 for Labour, with Lib Dems holding onto just two. This outcome would set the scene for a likely Labour-SNP coalition government with Nicola Sturgeon demanding an independence referendum as part of the price for her support.

But the BFB analysis suggests that the situation would change dramatically if Mr Farage stood down his new Reform UK party to give Tories a clear run, as he did with the Brexit Party in the run-up to the 2019 poll.

In this scenario, Mr Johnson could boost Tory representation to 319  saving his own Uxbridge seat in the process  while Labour could crumble to just 251 seats and the Liberal Democrats be wiped out altogether. On this calculation, Conservatives would be on the brink of an overall majority in the 650-member House of Commons, possibly requiring support from the DUP to get them over the line.

However, if Labour, Lib Dems and Greens were prepared to work together, the analysis suggests an entirely different outcome, with Labour claiming an overall majority of around 50 at Westminster with 351 seats marking its best result since 2005.

Starmers party would seize back almost all of the red wall constituencies lost to Tories in the Midlands and north of England in 2019, while Lib Dems would edge up to 12 seats and Greens would hold onto their sole constituency in Brighton.

Even if bolstered by support from Farage, Conservatives would see their tally of MPs collapse from 365 now to just 205, while not only Mr Johnson but cabinet ministers Dominic Raab, Robert Buckland, George Eustice, Grant Shapps, Simon Hart, Alok Sharma and Alister Jack would be at risk of losing their seats.

This scenario would free Starmer from dependence on the SNP, but would almost certainly require a commitment to reform of the first-past-the-post electoral system, as smaller parties demand proportional voting as the price of their participation.

The analysis emerged shortly after former Conservative cabinet minister Stephen Dorrell used an article in The Independent to call on Sir Keir to lead a Progressive Alliance to unseat Johnson.

Best for Britain chief executive Naomi Smith said: Labour has done well to rebuild since last years election collapse, but as things stand it will need the support of other parties to make a return to government in 2024.

This reliance is even clearer when you add Nigel Farages Reform UK party into the picture, previous iterations of which have stood aside for Conservative candidates over the last two elections in a show of nativist unity.

If Keir Starmer wants a shot at No 10 in three years, the party must be open to working with the Greens and Lib Dems, particularly given the impending constituency boundary changes and SNP strength north of the border.

BFBs analysis of the Focaldata polling is based on a calculation undertaken prior to the 2019 election on how supporters break between parties when their preferred candidate stands down in favour of an alternative who is better placed to win the seat.

Boris Johnson and his dog Dilyn leave a polling station, after he cast his ballot paper, in 2019 (AFP/Getty)

The model assumes that 88 per cent of Labour, Lib Dem, Green and SNP voters would shift to the leading opposition party in the event of a pact, with 7 per cent being redistributed to Tories and five per cent being unwilling to switch.

Labour MP Clive Lewis, who has called for cross-party collaboration on constitutional reform, said that Starmer would have to make an attractive offer to smaller parties.

Lib Dems and Greens arent going to stand down candidates all over the country just to give Labour the chance to govern alone, he told The Independent. There would have to be a quid pro quo from Labour.

That might be a commitment in writing, after having done the work needed to build trust, to work on things like a proportional voting system, a constitutional convention and a devolution package after the election.

Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley said: This data reaffirms what we have known for a long time, that Labour needs to work alongside other parties, rather than against them, in order to stop this damaging Conservative government and help improve the lives of millions of people across the country.

The Greens will always be willing to work with other parties in order to do the right thing as cooperative politics is the only way we will be able to address the health, economic and climate crises we currently face.

The Remain Alliance of anti-Brexit parties in the 2019 election saw Liberal Democrats, Greens and Plaid Cymru agree to field a single candidate in 60 seats, but was shunned by Labour. While only nine of these candidates were elected, on average they saw gains in vote share 5.6 per cent higher than their parties enjoyed in other seats.

Peter Dunphy of the Unite to Reform group, which helped forge the Remain Alliance in its previous incarnation as Unite to Remain, said: This polling demonstrates that Labour cannot win by itself. But it also shows that by working together, progressives can defeat the Conservatives.

It is time for all parties of the centre and left in the UK to find ways to work together and to make this possible Labour must support electoral reform. Nigel Farage will cause trouble for the Conservative Party but he will never act in a way that risks them losing power. For as long as Labour, Greens and Liberal Democrats are in conflict they will be outmanoeuvred.

Labour declined to comment on the analysis. A Lib Dem source said: The Liberal Democrats are focused on electing excellent Liberal Democrat MPs so we can get Johnson out of No10 and the Tories out of government. In 80 seats, where we are in second place, the Liberal Democrats are the only party that can beat the Conservatives.

He comes from local music royalty and now songwriter and guitarist Tadhg Leahy has completed four tracks as part of an Arts Council award he received during the summer. He has enlisted the help of another local talented musician - and another Tadgh, this time violinist Tadhg Murphy - to enrich the tunes, which are inspired by icons of Drogheda.

'Back in June I was given the Covid-19 Music Response award by the Arts Council of Ireland, and I had been working on a few pieces that I hoped my grandmother Helen (Leahy) would accompany me on, especially one I called The Road, after the Chord Road, where we all grew up and lived in,' says Tadhg, whose dad Barry (Baz) is also a well-known and talented guitarist, and uncle Brendan is a renowned drummer. 'Helen didn't really have the time to learn the pieces in time, so for the craic, I asked Tadhg (Murphy) to join me, and in the end, we recorded a 'live session' at home when we could.'

Along with the Road, the two Tadhgs recorded his other compositions 'The River, The Tower and The Bridge' (inspired by the Boyne, Millmount and the Viaduct), which will eventually be released as an EP as soon as the studios open again.

'I was so surprised I won the award in the first place, as they are very hard to get,' explains Tadhg, who studied piano in the Royal Irish Academy of Music. 'I write music at home on a programme called Sibelius, and back in April, my brother rang me to tell me about the Arts Council bursary award for COVID 19, and I thought I would give it a shot with The Road, which I had written the previous summer.'

A freelance musician, who regularly plays in live venues in the town, the grant allowed him to spend time on the project, and bring in Tadhg and other local talent to assist. The results are wonderfully warm and rich melodies, reminiscent of the local heritage after which they are named, so slow and haunting, others lively and jaunty.

Others involved in the project were CC Photography & Videography, edited by Conor Heavey, recorded by David Curley, Bang Bang Visual ,North East Audio and Andy Casey and Clarke's bar.

Currently, you can hear the tracks on Tadhg Leahy Facebook page.
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Practice Nurse Tina Sutton draws off a single dose from a vial, which can provide 10 individual doses to patients, of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (PA)

Doctors are reportedly being forced to throw away vaccines rather than administer second doses or use them on staff.

The revelation comes as hospitals become increasingly overwhelmed by the surge of COVID patients as the virus continues to spread across the UK.

GPs setting up vaccine clinics at short notice who find they have several injection doses left have reportedly been warned by local authorities that they cannot use them on staff or any patients who have already received their first jab.

Medics claim the policy, which has been described as bordering on criminal, is hampering the effort to vaccinate over-80s, along with frontline health and care workers.

Read: Doctors fear being sued for having to choose who receives COVID treatment amid NHS crisis

The instructions are being reported across the country, according to The Telegraph.

Dr Robert Morely, director of professional support at the Birmingham Local Medical Committee, told the publication that the orders are "extremely counterproductive, nonsensical and ludicrous".

He said: This is ridiculous, bordering on the criminal, to actually be wasting vaccines when you have the worst global healthcare crisis for a century."

A general view of a NHS Covid-19 mass vaccination centre that has been set up at Life Science Centre. (SOPA Images/Sipa USA)

Dr Morley said that GPs are struggling to book the exact number of appointments per vaccine due to the uncertainty of the supply chain. He added that some patients do not turn up after booking at short notice.

Instead of throwing away the leftover doses, Morley said: The logical thing to do would be to use it as a second dose for healthcare workers, for example, who may be there in the building.

NHS England reportedly sent out a letter to GPs on Monday telling clinics that no one should be given a second dose but Morley says he believes this strong decree is being taken too literally by local health officials.

Morley said some doctors are taking a stand against the policy and are being very robust in deciding to give the second dose.

Watch: COVID-19: Disruption to vaccine rollout as people trek for miles in snow

Story continues

But he added that others feel less secure and more threatened with fears their vaccine supplies will be cancelled at short notice, their funding will be withheld or their GP contracts could be put at risk.

It comes as healthcare workers continue to administer the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which makes up a large amount of the UKs current vaccine supply. Batches only last a few days after being defrosted so they must be used quickly or they go to waste.

Dr Brian McGregor, a GP who chairs the BMA's Yorkshire regional committee, told the Telegraph that NHS England ordered his local clinical commissioning group to throw away any unused doses.

McGregor claimed they had been warned they would be "performance managed" on the issue.

A box containing 10 vials, which can each provide 10 individual doses, of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, being used at the Pontcae Medical Practice in Merthyr Tydfil. (PA)

"They control our contracts, payments, vaccine supply, regulation, and can make life unbearable," the doctor added.

Dr Julia Patterson, founder of Every Doctor, a campaign to protect the NHS and its workers, echoed the claims saying at least six different workplaces had told her organisation doctors had been forced to bin leftover doses.

The BMA's chair of council, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, told the newspaper: "Reports of vaccination sites feeling pressured to discard unused doses of the Pfizer vaccine are extremely concerning.

This is absolutely unacceptable and morally wrong. Any wasted dose denies a real person the chance to be protected from serious illness or even death.

Read more

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COVID deaths likely to peak in the next 10 days, expert says

He said: "NHS England needs to urgently clarify that doctors and staff have the discretion to ensure that they can make full use of any unused vaccines, rather than have any go to waste. "

An NHS spokesman has told media outlets: "There is absolutely no reason why vaccines should be wasted.

"Local vaccination sites should be managing their appointment lists to ensure all appointments are filled and they have a back-up list of patients and staff who can receive the vaccine at short notice."

Yahoo News has contacted NHS England for comment.

UK: Coronavirus vaccine centre opens in historic cathedral
City Editor

Tom Roeder is the Gazette's City Editor. In Colorado Springs since 2003, Tom has covered the military at home and overseas and has cover statehouses in Denver and Olympia, Wash. His main job, though, is being dad to two great kids.

Postmasters caught up in a major IT scandal told an inquiry yesterday how their lives had been devastated.

Many were forced to the brink of financial disaster and had their health ruined by false accusations of accounting fraud.

Up to 2,500 Post Office staff were sacked, forced to repay cash or even wrongfully convicted and jailed over supposedly missing money.

Peter Murray said he suffered a series of breakdowns and a stroke after he was hounded for 65,000

It later emerged the shortfalls were probably the result of flaws and bugs in computer software.

The Daily Mail has campaigned for justice and the public inquiry opened yesterday with evidence from three sub-postmasters.

Peter Murray said he suffered a series of breakdowns and a stroke after he was hounded for 65,000. The 53-year-old, from Wallasey in Merseyside, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

He said he was suspended without pay and forced to take out loans and borrow from friends to make monthly repayments to the Post Office.

He paid 1,000 a month before learning that he was among many sub-postmasters to face false accusations.

It left me completely devastated, added the father of three. It caused absolute havoc for my family, I have had several nervous breakdowns. It made me feel like a convict, but Im not going to let it beat me.

The 53-year-old, from Wallasey in Merseyside, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He said he was suspended without pay and forced to take out loans and borrow from friends to make monthly repayments to the Post Office

The High Court found that the Post Office was wrong to force sub-postmasters to pay for the discrepancies and 550 have been awarded a collective 58million in compensation.

But some victims, including Mr Murray, were not included in the legal action and are still fighting for settlements.

Shann Rodgers, from Goldsithney near Penzance in Cornwall, said the scandal had ruined her dream life running the village post office and her ordeal had left her feeling a shadow of her former self.

The 62-year-old was forced to raid savings she had put aside for her daughters university education and borrowed money from her elderly parents to meet her employers demands.

She said she could understand how some sub-postmasters had been driven to suicide, adding: We have been treated like scum. This was our dream and they turned it into a nightmare.

Mrs Rodgers said she had feared she would have to leave her home of 25 years if her neighbours found out about the missing money, even though she had done nothing wrong.

She said she still had problems with the Post Offices accounting system, adding: Its not better, they havent fixed it.

Mark Baker, a sub-postmaster in Salisbury, Wiltshire, told the inquiry: Its the sense of burning injustice that they have been accused of doing something that they know they have not done. We have lost people through them taking their own lives.

Maybe other people have died early because of stress. We dont feel that the company has fully accepted the wrongs of the past.

Led by former High Court judge Wyn Williams, the Government-ordered inquiry has faced accusations it lacks the power to fully examine the scandal.

MPs have warned that it will not be able to compel witnesses to attend or be cross-examined, and that Sir Wyn cannot consider compensation claims.

Senior staff from the Post Office and Fujitsu, which developed the Horizon accounting software, will give evidence.

Post Office chairman Tim Parker recently apologised for historical failings and said reforms would stop such events happening again.


Milkha Singh continues to be stable, shifted out of ICU; wife admitted with COVID pneumonia

Covishield: Manufacturer, dose schedule, efficacy rate, possible side effects and price

India

oi-Briti Roy Barman

New Delhi, Jan 16: Covishield vaccine has been developed by the University of Oxford and British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer, Serum Institute of India (SII) -- which is British-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca's manufacturing partner - said that the vaccine would be 90 to 95 per cent effective if the two shots are parted by around 2-3 months.

The vaccine is being touted as one of the most promising vaccines for India where cost and logistics play a big roll.

"You'll be hearing some good news from the UK very soon... It would be a 90-95 per cent effective vaccine if you just keep a two-to-three months' gap between dose 1 and dose 2. They will make that public with documentation."

Effectiveness

Drugs Controller General of India VG Somani said the overall efficacy of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine was found to be 70.42 per cent - well below vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, but above the 50 per cent threshold set by many regulators.

Dosage schedule and storage

The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) has recommended the approval of two full doses of the vaccine administered around 4-6 weeks apart. Immune response could last at least a year. The vaccine can be stored at temperatures between 2C and 8C.

Mild adverse reactions

For Covishield, the fact sheet says a few mild adverse events can happen following immunisation -injection site tenderness; injection site pain; headache; fatigue; myalgia (deep muscle pain); malaise (a feeling of overall discomfort); pyrexia (an abnormal elevation of body temperature); chills; arthralgia (pain in the joint); and nausea.

In such cases, the fact sheets say the common painkiller paracetamol may be used "to provide symptomatic relief from post-vaccination adverse reaction".

Rare adverse reactions

The nerves in the body are covered with a protective layer called myelin - like a network of electric wires that helps transmit messages from the brain smoothly through the body.

Conditions that damage myelin are called demyelinating disorders. The fact sheet says "very rare events of demyelinating disorders" have been reported following vaccination with Covishield, "without the causal relationship establishment".

It adds that Covishield should be given with "caution" to individuals with thrombocytopenia, a medical condition characterised by abnormally low levels of platelets.

Price

Serum Institute of India has said it would price the vaccine at 440 rupees (about $3) for the government and around Rs 700-800 for the private market.

"The firm submitted safety, immunogenicity and efficacy data generated on 23,745 participants aged 18 years or older from overseas clinical studies. Data of Phase-2/3 clinical trials on 1,000 participants within the country was also submitted and it was found comparable with the data from the overseas clinical studies," Somani said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

SII has already stockpiled more than 50 million doses of Covishield so far and currently has a capacity to make around 50-60 million doses a month.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (January 16, 2021) launched the world's largest COVID-19 vaccine drive and said that it celebrates Make in India at a scale that is unparalleled.

Prime Minister Modi launched the pan India rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conferencing and expressed that this trust in Indian vaccine expertise and Indian vaccine scientists are going to be further strengthened by the Made in India Corona vaccine.

Here are the top highlights from PM Modi's speech:

1. PM Modi said that the Indian vaccines are not only much cheaper than the foreign vaccines but they are much easier to administer too.

2. The Prime Minister put the unprecedented scale of the vaccination drive in perspective by informing that, in the first round itself, 3 crore people, which is more than the population of at least 100 countries of the world, are being vaccinated.

3. He said that this needs to be taken up to 30 crores in the second round when elderly and people with serious co-morbidities will be vaccinated.

4. He said that there are only three countries - India, the USA, and China, which have a population of more than 30 crores and that this scale of vaccination campaign has never been attempted in history and this shows India's capability.

5. PM Modi asked people to stay away from rumours and propaganda as these Made in India vaccines have been approved for emergency use only after the scientists and experts were fully convinced about their safety and efficacy. He pointed out that 60 percent of children across the world receive life-saving vaccines that are made-in-India and pass through stringent Indian scientific tests.

6. PM termed the Indian response to coronavirus as one of self-confidence and self-reliance and recalled the journey from one COVID-19 lab to the strong network of 2300 labs, from dependence to self-sufficiency to exporting capacity in masks, PPE and ventilators.

7. The Prime Minister said that India's response to the crisis has been acknowledged globally and was an example of the integrated and unified response from centre, states, local governments, government offices, social bodies who performed efficiently in unison.

A swift and people-powered response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. #LargestVaccineDrive pic.twitter.com/d88OLOmd0e  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 16, 2021

8. PM congratulated the country for a united and brave fight against corona and dwelled at length on the contribution of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, ambulance drivers, ASHA workers, sanitation workers, police, and other frontline workers who endangered their lives to save other. "Some of them didnt even return to their homes as they lost their lives in the fight against the virus," said PM Modi.

9. PM Modi said that the frontline warriors brought hope in an environment of despondency and fear, today, by vaccinating them first, the country is acknowledging their contribution with gratitude.

India is guided by a human-centric approach that will always work to further global good. #LargestVaccineDrive pic.twitter.com/hGC0WKTnvT  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 16, 2021

After the speech, PM Modi took to his Twitter and said, 'India begins the world's #LargestVaccineDrive. This is a day of pride, a celebration of the prowess of our scientists and the hard work of our medical fraternity, nursing staff, police personnel, and sanitation workers."

India begins the worlds #LargestVaccineDrive. This is a day of pride, a celebration of the prowess of our scientists and hardwork of our medical fraternity, nursing staff, police personnel and sanitation workers. May everyone be healthy and free from illness. pic.twitter.com/AEpMMEAyzR  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 16, 2021

Notably, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had earlier this month approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country.
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As President Donald Trump gets ready to leave the White House, some of his family members are weighing launching their own political careers. At least three family members are either being pushed to run for office or are considering their own plans to do so, according to Politico. The one who seems most eager to jump into elected office is Lara Trump, the wife of Eric Trump who is reportedly seriously considering running for the Senate in North Carolina. There will be an open seat in the state in 2022. Trumps eldest son, Don Jr., is also considering his political future and how it could include elected office. But its far from clear what kind of race he could be involved in. The one Trump allies seem most excited about is Ivanka Trump.

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Trumps daughter, who has been a senior White House adviser throughout his presidency, is going to be moving to Florida after her father leaves Washington. And some close to Trump are working to get her into the ring to challenge Sen. Marco Rubio in a primary. Ivanka only got into politics to help her father and help his agenda but whats now clear is that Ivanka is a political powerhouse in her own right, said Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump. Steve Bannon has also been talking up Ivanka Trumps potential to woo some of the presidents supporters, characterizing her on a recent podcast as the second most fire breathing populist in the White House.

This isnt the first time there has been talk of a possibility that Ivanka Trump could run for a Florida Senate seat. The rumors started getting strong last month amid reports that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner bought land in Florida. At the time, Republican officials dismissed the rumors. Just noise, Republican Party of Florida Chairman Joe Gruters said of the rumors. For now it seems Ivanka Trump is weighing her options whereas Lara Trump seems more ready and eager to jump in the fray.
SAN ANTONIO (AP)  Andrea Aycock can only sometimes look at the photos of her hands clasped with her mothers just before she died in May. But shell always cherish the helping hand she got from Anna Adams, an end-of-life doula in San Antonio who preserved that personal moment and so many more for Aycock in her mothers dying days.

Anna came and took care of her, said Aycock, a call center operator in San Antonio. (She) just mainly comforted me.

Just as birth doulas help expectant parents bring new life into the world, end-of-life doulas help the dying cope with their next journey. They help the dying and their survivors face death with empowerment and affirmation instead of fear and anxiety.

Also known as death doulas, these trained professionals provide the terminally ill and their families physical and emotional support before, during and after death. These are nonmedical services that often include relaxation exercises, funeral planning, educating the family on their loved ones condition and simple companionship.

Adams sees death awareness becoming more commonplace in the United States in the way that Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations have grown more mainstream and that there are more calls for the services of end-of-life doulas.

Cultures like the Mexican culture that have these beautiful traditions of staying in connection with that (dying) process are so admirable and so beautiful. Doulas want to make sure that is available to all people, said Shelby Kirillin, an end-of-life doula in Richmond, Virginia, and program development manager for the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA) in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Kirillin sees the rising awareness of death doulas as part of what she calls a death positive movement, where more people are getting back to supporting their dying loved ones at home and engaging with their death more up close and personal, much as their ancestors did.

In the last 100-plus years in our Western culture, that has been taken away from us, Kirillin said. How to be with someone who was dying, how to touch them. That was something that we knew how to do.

INELDA is one of just a handful of death doula organizations in the nation and was launched just five years ago. Co-founder Henry Fersko-Weiss created the first end-of-life doula program in the United States at a New York City hospice in 2003.

Kirillin estimates INELDA has around 40 certified death doulas across the country, yet has trained around 3,000 people in death doula care. Many just sign up to learn more about facing death and dont pursue death doula work, she said, while others branch off to do their own training.

Most death doula services come in three phases.

The first is planning and preparation, which involves getting a terminal patients affairs in order and asking some tough questions that call for honest answers. Where does that person want to die? Who do they want present for those final moments? What do they absolutely need to say or do before theyre gone?

Kirillin said that first phase often addresses the dying individuals regrets and unfinished business, as well as any advance directives, wills, etc. Often referred to as legacy work, such planning makes it easier for families to understand and respect the dying persons wishes.

Fran Morgan is in that early stage with her dying mother, Rosalee, who receives hospice care at the private residence of a family friend.

With Anna in the picture, she will be advocating for all of the things that need to happen, said Morgan, a retired telecommunications company manager in San Antonio. It will release me from those responsibilities, and I can just be with my mom and cherish those final moments.

That second phase is called the vigil, usually the last four or five days of the dying persons life, during which end-of-life doulas and family members spend more time at their bedside.

I call them my angel vigils, Adams said.

During her doula vigils, Adams, 38, often creates a soothing space for the dying with soft music and dim lighting. Sometimes shell add a favorite scent with aromatherapy. Most times, she just gently massages her clients arms and holds their hands.

And in those final moments as they take their last breaths, Adams comforts them with what they most want to hear, be it Bible verses, soothing music or just someone to say its going to be OK.

The final phase of a death doulas work addresses survivors grief. Kirillin said that involves circling back with the family a few weeks after their loved ones death to check on their emotional well-being.

Kirillin stressed that end-of-life doulas do console families but are not licensed grief counselors and will refer families to such resources if necessary.

When it came to caring for Aycocks mother, Adams mostly helped with her bedside care and keeping her visiting nurses on task. Adams also explained to Aycock any of her mothers diagnoses she didnt understand.

Then there was that time Adams took those hand photos of Aycock and her mother. Difficult as it is for Aycock to look at those photos, much less share them, she still holds them close.

She holds Adamss work even closer.

It is the best help that you can get, Aycock said. They provide comfort not only for your loved one that is going through the transition, but for you.

Morgan expects to experience more of that care from Adams.

Im looking forward to the relationship that were going to have, said Morgan, who started working with Adams around three weeks ago. For now my initial experience (and) impression is she certainly has the heart for what shes doing.

Adamss first experience comforting the dying came when she was 16. Fresh from certification as a nursing aid, Adams tended to a best friends cousin for several months at her home with bathing and conversation. That care continued when that cousin transferred to hospice care and well up to her death.

So we just had a bonding moment. I gave her that sacred zone, Adams said. That kind of piqued my interest.

Adams went on to pursue a career in hospice, then for the last four years worked as an EMS manager and dispatcher for a private company. But something pushed her back into working with the dying.

I told my family, God wants me to do this. God is keeping me in line with this,  Adams said.

At the start of 2020, Adams got her end-of-life doula certification. Then during the summer, she partnered with fellow certified doula Sonja Koenig to launch TX Doula Movement, an online training and certification course for death doulas, senior care doulas and doula consultants.

Adams knows of just a handful of death doulas in San Antonio right now, but she expects that number to double later this year when around five of her TX Doula Movement students complete their certification. Adams plans to launch her own doula training service next year.

Adams said the coronavirus has not deterred her from her work, save for having to incorporate more video consultations with families and masks and frequent hand-washings during visits. She has yet to provide end-of-life doula services to someone with COVID-19, but one of the hospice companies she works with takes in COVID-19 patients.

I dont have a problem working with COVID patients, Adams said.

Adams said most hospitals still dont work with death doulas, but hospice services slowly are warming up to them as adjuncts to their own care.

It is relatively new, but were seeing it more, said Rachel Hammon, executive director of the Texas Association for Home Care & Hospice in Austin.

Holistic Hospice Care is one of two hospice centers in San Antonio that works with Adams. Administrator Erica Sandoval said Adams has been a welcome bridge between families and clinical teams.

She can get on (everyones) level, Sandoval said. And shes very calm and very patient. And she just wins their trust and they feel very comfortable with her.

Like Adams, Sandoval also sees parallels between death doulas and Dia de los Muertos, such as the memory books the doulas make for their clients and the Day of the Dead tribute altars families make for their lost loved ones.

I definitely think that theres a good association to that because they are (both about) wanting you to cherish their memories and enjoy the last moments and everything that you can remember of the individual, Sandoval said.
Rahm Emanuel donates $100,000 to a City Colleges of Chicago scholarship he created as mayor, pledging to give annually: Its tied to a CPS-to-college program the former mayor started while in office, the Tribunes Elyssa Cherney writes. Emanuel sees the scholarship and his education platform a key part of his legacy, despite the damage from his administrations handling of the fatal police shooting of Black teenager Laquan McDonald, Cherney notes. Last month, progressive Democrats cited the controversy in arguing that Emanuel shouldnt be appointed to the new presidential Cabinet.

Father Silvano Galli, SMA, says the Togolese are praying and hope for political dialogue and a better 2021.

Vatican News English Africa Service

There is cautious optimism in Togo as economists see the country slowly emerging from recession A challenging 2020.

A challenging year

The year 2020 just ended, was difficult and complicated for many people in Togo. For most of the last three years, there has been the ubiquitous military presence in most cities.

Starting from the (2020) contested elections that saw the confirmation of President Faure Gnassingbe at the helm of the country, to the onset of COVID-19, the people have done all they can to survive the year, Father Silvano Galli, a priest of the Society of African Missions recently told Agenzia Fides.

Ironically, the COVID-19 emergency somehow also had the effect of slowing and silencing the countrys political crisis.

Political dialogue

In 2017, major protests rocked Togo in support of the oppositions demands for the reinstatement of presidential term limits. In 2019, the two-term limit was reinstated in Togo though it does not apply retroactively. President Faure Gnassingbe, who won a disputed fourth term mandate in 2020, can still run for a fifth term in 2025.

The Togolese hope that the paralysed political situation will lead to a dialogue between the protagonists and usher-in a period of serenity. Without dialogue, the possibilities of unrest remain high.

Encouraging economic prospects

Togo is one of the smallest countries in West Africa and has 7.5 million inhabitants. Notwithstanding challenges, economists remain optimistic about prospects. Economic growth in 2021 is projected to reach 5.5% driven mostly by good performance in agriculture. Similarly, the creation of a free zone at the Port of Lome is turning Togo into a busy regional hub.
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In Iran, the IRGC (Islamic Revolution Guard Corps) has its own Navy of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. The main job of the IRGC is to protect the religious dictatorship from the Iranian armed forces and a growing number of angry Iranians. As a result, the IRGC Navy has about as many personnel 23,000), including marines and naval aviation as the Iranian Navy. Th IRGC force has about 40 large missile and torpedo boats (100-200 tons each) and over a thousand smaller craft, many of them just speedboats with dual outboard engines and machine-gun mounts.

Now the IRGC Navy has been extending its reach by building oil tankers for sale to foreign customers. The IRGC owns a growing number of commercial firms and is increasingly accused of using market manipulation and intimidation to take sales from commercial firms. The IRGC has seized or stolen billions of dollars in assets over the last few decades and the profits from these firms are used to finance many of their overseas terrorism projects. The two IRGC built tankers produced so far are Aframax class ships, meaning they have a deadweight tonnage of 80,000 to 120,000 tons and carry up to 750,000 barrels of oil. Earlier the IRGC had converted several cargo ships to warships by arming them and installing a platform for a helicopter. At the same time the IRGC keeps building more smaller armed ships and boats.

The more numerous small craft are technically warships but are largely used for intimidation, harassment and sometimes seizing foreign ships. One example was the seizure of a South Korean chemical tanker in early January 2021. This was part of an effort to force South Korea to release $7 billion in Iranian assets frozen by economic sanctions. The IRGC insists they did not hijack this tanker but seized it for violating pollution laws. The IRGC usually comes up with a phony excuse like that to avoid being tagged as hijackers. The tanker is still be held by the IRGC and guarded by IRGC gunmen. South Korea immediately sent some warships to where the tanker is being held and and tried negotiations to get the tanker released. Negotiations failed so South Korea is seeking help from other Gulf oil states, pointing out letting this Iranian bad behavior go unpunished can increase insurance rates and appear to prove that Iran can do whatever it wants with no consequences.

For actual wartime use or for seizing foreign ships, up to a dozen revolutionary guardsmen will be found on these small boats, armed with assault rifles, machine-guns, and RPGs. Some boats are equipped as suicide bomb craft and only carry a crew of two or three, plus half a ton or more of explosives. Some of these craft have been seen with anti-tank missiles. The Guardian Navy also has a few helicopters and several thousand marines. Its small boats spend a lot of time at sea, mainly patrolling the 2,800-kilometer-long coastline. This includes 740 kilometers in the Caspian Sea. The most active coastline is in the Persian Gulf but the IRGC mission is to keep an eye on the entire country, especially the regular military and any new threats or opportunities. As a result, these small boats wear out quickly and new ones are constantly being delivered, often in large batches. That is usually turned into a media event. The IRGC is a major practitioner of Information War (militarized public relations.)

The IRGC builds its own small boats and regularly holds highly publicized ceremonies to induct new boats into the IRGC Navy. The most recent such event was held in May 2020 for 112 new armed speedboats. Most of these were Zolfaqar, Heidar and Meead type boats. The Zolfaqar is a speedboat with a top speed of 120 kilometers an hour and capable of carrying two Nast 1 anti-ship missiles. It is unclear how effective these 350 kg (550 pound) missiles are when fired from a fast-moving 16.3-meter (52 foot) Zolfaqar. The rocket propelled Nasr 1 has a range of 35 kilometers and uses a small radar in the nose to detect and home in on the largest ship it encounters. In clear weather, the crew of a Zolfaqar could spot the superstructure of a warship or large commercial ship up to 15 kilometers away. Then you turn the boat towards it, fire a Nasr 1 and hope for the best. It would take less than a minute for the missile to reach the target. A warship, if its defensive systems were turned on, could probably destroy or mislead (jam the radar) of the missile. A commercial vessel, like a tanker or cargo ship would probably get hit. If a tanker were loaded, the missile would probably start a fire if the hull was hit. If the superstructure was hit the 100 kg (220 pounds) of explosives in the warhead would do a lot of damage but not sink the ship and would probably not even stop it. Large commercial ships have proved quite capable of taking a missile hit and keep going. While Zolfaqars can haul two 350 kg Nasr 1 missiles, none have been seen firing them and hitting a distant target. Nasr 1 is meant for use from larger surface ships, shore batteries (fired from a truck) or launched from a helicopter.

Zolfaqar is one of two Iranian speedboats based on the British Bladerunner fast boat, one of the fastest in the world. Normally Zolfaqar is only armed with two 12.7mm machine-guns and smaller rocket launchers. Iran smuggled in a 16-ton Bladerunner 51 in 2010 and has since manufactured dozens of Seraj 1 and Zolfaqar versions of it.

Most of the IRGC speed boats are smaller and armed with machine-guns and small rockets. Some will be loaded with explosives and used as manned or unmanned suicide boats. Iran has had some success with unmanned suicide boats in the Red Sea, where they supply Yemeni Shia rebels with large rockets and the tech to produce remotely controlled suicide boats locally.

The IRGC operates most of the 1,500 small boats used by the IRGC seagoing forces and the regular navy. Because of this, the U.S. Navy has had to develop two sets of tactics for dealing with Iranian naval forces. Irans two navies are very different from each other. The traditional navy exists alongside the less well equipped, but more fanatical, forces of the IRGC. Both forces are equipped, trained, and led very differently.

The Iranian Navy has had little access to foreign shipbuilders since the 1980s, but recently become capable of building their own warships. These are crude but they float and their weapons generally work. These surface ships are small craft (1,500-ton corvettes and 2,200-ton frigates) while the submarines are largely of the miniature variety. There are only a few of each and construction is proceeding slowly so that, apparently, mistakes in the previous one can be discovered and fixed. Currently, the only major surface warships it has are three of the new corvettes and frigates, three elderly British built frigates (1,540 tons each), and two U.S. built corvettes (1,100 tons each). There are about fifty smaller patrol craft, ten of them armed with Iranian versions of Chinese anti-ship missiles. Chief among these is the Nasr 1. There are another few dozen mine warfare, amphibious, and support ships. The three most powerful ships in the fleet are three Russian Kilo class subs. Most of the foreign built ships are serving way past their retirement date. There are about fifty mini-subs, most of them built in Iran. There are several thousand marines and twenty or so aircraft and helicopters.

The Iranian Navy is led by officers who think along more conventional lines. Western ship commanders generally have good professional relationships with their Iranian counterparts, even when the Iranian Navy is under orders to give Western ships a hard time. If an Iranian captain radios that he has his orders it means he will follow through with whatever bizarre actions he has been ordered to carry out but will be apologetic about it to his foreign peers.

The Iranian Navy has fewer options than the Revolutionary Guard, simply because the navy has fewer and larger (easier to spot and hit) ships. Since 2005 the navy has generally been stationed on the Indian Ocean and the Caspian Sea, while the Revolutionary Guard has been given responsibility for the Persian Gulf and protecting all those Iranian oil facilities along the coast. Actually, the Revolutionary Guard is there more as a threat to Arab oil fields and tankers because the Arabs and their Western allies have control of the air and can destroy Iranian oil fields and tankers that way.

What the Iranians hope to do at sea is create as formidable a threat as possible, even if this threat, in the form of suicidal speedboats and missile boats backed up by shore-based anti-ship missiles, is short-term. In the long run, any Iranian naval power is toast.
A U.S. Army soldier has been arrested in connection with the death of a veteran and military spouse at Schofield Barracks on Oahu in Hawaii.

Image: Schofield Barracks (Google)

Selena Roth, a 25-year-old Army veteran and military spouse, is the victim, according to an Army statement posted online.

On behalf of the Army community in Hawaii, I extend our deepest condolences to Selenas loved ones, said Maj. Gen. James Jarrard, the Army's commanding general in Hawaii. We are committed to the pursuit of justice, and those responsible will be held accountable.

I know many of us are still in shock," Jarrard wrote. "Our priority is to continue to support the investigation and to ensure Selenas family and our Army community receive the needed support and resources during this difficult time.

Roth's body was discovered after military police conducted a welfare check at the request of a family member, according to the Army statement. Special agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) detained a suspect Wednesday evening.

Army spokespeople did not immediately respond to NBC News phone calls and emails requesting comment.
Reasoning that their corporate brands wont be well-served by supporting insurrection, some of the nations biggest companies have instructed their affiliated political action committees to end contributions to President Donald Trump and 147 Republican members of Congress who supported his effort to overturn the presidential election.

There is another enterprise with an even deeper stake in stable government, with assets worth about $32 trillion, that should follow that lead.

The financial health of public pension plans, their ability to make money in the financial markets, depends on the underlying health of the democratic governments that fund them.

Those plans pay hundreds of millions of dollars in management fees to an array of financial entities, including investment banks and hedge funds.

Every public pension plan, for its own wellbeing, should inform its contracted managers that their services no longer will be needed if their political arms, or individual executives or managers, contribute to any of the 147 members of Congress who voted to destabilize the government of the United States and to disenfranchise millions of American citizens.

Pennsylvanias two big public pension plans have just under $100 billion under management by private-sector entities. The boards of both plans should demand disclosure of the political contribution histories tied to that management. They should ensure that none of the money that taxpayers pay in management fees ends up in the campaign treasuries of politicians like U.S. Reps. Dan Meuser and Fred Keller of Northeast Pennsylvania, who voted in the interest of a would-be dictator rather than in the interest of Pennsylvanians and stable, democratic governance.
India Launches Vaccination Drive With 1st Shot to Sanitation Worker at AIIMS Delhi

India today launched the world's largest vaccination drive against the Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed more than 1.3 million lives, sunk economies, shuttered businesses and shattered daily life the world over. The government had granted approval to two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, developed by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, respectively. In the first phase of the drive, 3 crore people will be vaccinated on priority. LIVE NOW

South Asia is Most Vulnerable to Conflict as Covid-19 Pandemic Causes an Unstable Global Scenario

There is a great deal of debate on whether wars between nations are declining around the globe. The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), a leading provider of statistics on conflict, shows that state-based conflict (where at least one of the conflict parties is the government) in 2019 was at its highest level since World War 2. However, of all the 54 state-based conflicts, only two were interstate. This does lend some credence to the argument that wars between states have become rare. READ MORE

India vs Australia: Team India Fan Demands Justice After Being Subject to Racial Profiling by Guard at SCG

While India's series against Australia Down Under has been marred by racial abuse of the players, there are now reports of fans being subject to racial profiling as well. The SCG officials are investigating the same, after the case of racial abuse of an Indian origin fan has surfaced. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, a fan, identified as Krishna Kumar, has accused the security staff at the stadium of 'racial profiling' and 'unjustified frisking'. READ MORE

He's Not Worthy: Marvel Fans Not Pleased to See Thor Like Hammer with 'Trump' Written Over it

United States President Donald Trump will conclude his term soon. Before President-elect Joe Biden takes up the office, Trump and his family are moving out of the White House, and pictures of their 'moving out' are already up on the Internet. One of the pictures shared online features a rare piece of pop culture collection. Along with Trump's luggage, a person was spotted carrying a large hammer, very similar to that of Marvel's superhero Thor with "TRUMP" written over it. READ MORE

Zayn Malik Sings Chaudhvin Ka Chand in New Song Tightrope, Fans Say 'Tum Lajawaab Ho'

Zayn Malik has a surprise for his desi fans in his new song Tightrope. The track, released as part of his new album Nobody Is Listening which dropped on January 15, includes a verse from a classic Hindi film song. The former One Direction member has paid homage to his desi roots as Tightrope includes the chorus from Mohammad Rafi's iconic 1960s song Chaudhvin Ka Chand. READ MORE

It has been 36 years since Michael Dell started the company that bears his name in Room 2713 in Dobie Hall, a private dorm just steps away from the University of Texas at Austin campus. Amazingly, he is still its chief executive, a rare feat in his industry.

Today Dell is a Fortune 500 company with 165,000 employees that has been a public company, then a private company, and now is public again. It had revenues of $92.2 billion in fiscal year 2020, and provides products and/or services to 99 percent of the Fortune 500.

As have many chief executives, Dell has had to steer his ship through uncharted waters in the plague year. In this interview, he talks about how the company has adapted during the pandemic, and even benefited as demand for technology products needed to work and learn from home peaked.

He has also watched  and counseled  as tech companies consider and act on plans to leave California for Texas.

DISTRIBUTED WORK Matt Mullenwegs WordPress is everywhere

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. How has the coronavirus pandemic affected Dell as a company? What changes have you had to make and do you see those changes sticking once we get back to some semblance of normal?

A: Like all organizations, obviously we took a number of steps to make sure our people were safe. And we reached out to our customers to understand how we could help them, and took a number of steps to protect our business and all the people inside the business.

That worked well. We already had inside Dell a flexible work culture that had been part of our operating model for more than a decade. So when it came time to work from home, we were ready and it worked pretty smoothly.

Weve learned that remote work works really well for many things. You used to leave your house to go to work or to school, or to be entertained or to the gym. Now, those things come to you at your house. Technology is an integral part of that. I dont think its going to go back to the way it was. Theres been an acceleration of digital efforts across all organizations.

Were going to have a kind of hybrid work style where work is something you do, its not a place. Yes, there will be offices, but I think that the nature of offices will change depending on the company and what kind of work theyre actually doing.

Q: How has the pandemic changed the services and the products you offer customers and how easy was it to develop those under these circumstances?

A: The product innovation engine continued in a very strong way. This last year we had a tremendous number of new introductions. 5G is a big topic.

VIDEO SEARCH: Snapstreams tunes into customer needs in expansion

I think everyone realizes the importance of connectivity and weve been very involved in it. Not just creating the first 5G-enabled notebooks, but building out the 5G ecosystem. Our technology is this desegregation of the hardware and software, which means that a lot of the functions that run inside a carriers network become applications that are virtualized and can run in standard server technology. Weve been helping a lot of the carriers in building out their 5G networks.

Our PC business has certainly shifted to respond aggressively to the whole everything-from-home demand condition, and weve been ramping up capacity. Lets say you have two parents and two kids, just to keep it relatively simple. In the past you mightve gotten by with one or two computers, but now, if the kids are learning online and the parents are working online, youre gonna need one per person.

Q: The PC business has had a banner year because of the pandemic after years of it flagging. Notebooks have taken off, but what is the fate of desktops? Have they also fared well, or are they kind of fading away?

A: Theres definitely been a shift to notebooks. The desktops havent gone away. Its not one-size-fits-all.

People have figured out, OK, Ive got a notebook, but you know, I havent really replicated the office work environment I had before, because my screens not big enough. I like a docking station, I want a second display, a larger display. People are building out their home offices, but in many cases they go way beyond what they had at the office.

Q: What about in terms of the enterprise and the server end? What changes have you seen in the services and the products that businesses want with distributed workers, which may continue for awhile?

A: Whats occurred inside organizations is a reprioritization of their spending. (Setting up employees for) securely working from home went to the top of the list in many cases. Other projects were delayed or deferred.

What business leaders figured out was that the only thing that really worked during the last 10 months or so was technology and the digital connectivity they have inside their business. They want more of that. Theyre investing in that. And of course that requires continuing to build out the infrastructure capabilities inside businesses.

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When we entered into this back in late February and early March, we didnt think it was going to end as well as it has, relative to our business. I think that just shows the critical importance of digital technology keep keeping the world operating and running.

Q: More companies and high-profile individuals are relocating from California and Silicon Valley to Texas. Weve had HPE set up shop in Houston. Oracles moving to Austin. Elon Musk is now living in Texas. Some of these companies are competitors of yours. What do you see happening here? Is this the beginning of a bigger migration?

A: For as long as people have been around people have moved from one place to another to seek greater opportunity or a better life. I think Texas has always been a great place and particularly a great place to grow a business.

A number of these leaders have called and asked me, Hey, I hear how great Texas is for business. Is it really true? And I tell them it is. We do business all over the world. Texas is our home and our headquarters and its where I was born, over there in Houston.

Its a friendly place for business. And I think thats attracted more and more businesses over time. Based on conversations that Ive had, I would not be surprised if there are quite a few more leading global companies that move to Texas in 2021.

Q: If more are coming, do you see any potential changes to Texas? If a bunch of tech companies come here, what will Texas be like in 20 years?

A: Well, its certainly different now than it was 20 or 30 years ago. And I think itll continue to change. Youve got a strong education system and great universities. There are 150,000-plus students within a 100-mile radius of Austin, which makes it very attractive for tech companies that are growing.

A lot of these companies already had a presence in Texas. Its not an unfamiliar environment to them. Texas has been an entrepreneurial, growth-oriented place that has allowed people and organizations to grow and thrive for quite some time. I hear from people who moved to Texas, Wow, everybodys so positive and friendly and optimistic. Thats been my experience, too.

Q: What kind of innovations do you see coming to both business and consumer PCs in the next year or so?

A: I think we can look forward to 5G-connected machines and multi-screen devices. We can look forward to continuing to improve performance and mobility and making webcams better.

We have lots of new products coming. Well have a pretty active first quarter of new announcements.

Q: And speaking of innovations: What was your reaction to Apples ARM-based processor, the M1, that it put in some notebooks and the Mac mini desktop? Essentially theyre walking away from Intel, which theyve used for a long time.

A: Well it wasnt surprising, because I think it had been signaled for quite some time.

The microprocessor war, there are lots of different elements to it. You got the semiconductor technology itself with multiple competitors. And obviously we work with both Intel and AMD.

For Mac users, I understand there are a number of compatibility issues in the transition. But the good news is theres a high level of innovation going on (in processors) and well use all of those in creating new products.

Q: Do you see yourself doing any ARM-based PCs? After all, Microsoft sells ARM-based Surface laptops, alongside its Intel models.

A: Again, it goes back to software and compatibility. Weve created ARM-based servers for specific customers in the data center, certainly there are ARM microprocessors throughout all kinds of things. Just creating an ARM-based PC, yeah, thats pretty easy. Could we do it? Yeah, we can do it. Do people actually want it and is it a good product? Thats a whole different problem. When we can create a great product that people will love, well absolutely do it.

Q: One of the really interesting things about you is that youve worked at Dell for a long time. At other companies the founders typically dont stick around as long as you have. Why has it worked with Dell where it hasnt worked with a lot of other companies?

A: I cant tell you why it didnt work at other companies. Ive always been inspired by technology and the role it can have in the economy and in human transformation. Im inspired by everything our customers are doing with technology.

And to me, its been, its been a great adventure for 36 years and it continues to be. We have a fantastic team team and the work that were doing has never been more important. We have an opportunity to tackle big issues and I love what I do.

Q: All of your top leadership team is white. What are you doing to improve the inclusivity and diversity at the management level?

A: Yeah, I see it. Weve made some progress there. Were certainly focused on diversity, equity and inclusion and have made progress at many levels inside the company. Weve been a leader in employee resource groups and making sure everybody feels included and valued inside the business.

And when I looked to the success of generations of team members that were bringing into the company, it is quite a bit more diverse. And the good news is that the aperture is, is opening and were attracting a much more diverse workforce that ultimately will be the future leaders of the company.

twitter.com/dsilverman
A Vermont GOP House Representative has embraced the Black Lives Matter movement, condemning Vermonters and their history as merely tolerant.

Vermont Representative Anne Donahue was responding to the state GOPs effort to appease a leftist initiativ at creating a BIPOC (black and indigenous people of color) bank to serve the needs of Vermonts miniscule minority population. In a carefully worded introduction to their own bill, the Republicans spoke of the historic socio-economic disparities arising from racism, while acknowledging Vermonts proud heritage of tolerance toward BIPOC, and intolerance toward prejudice and slavery.

This, according to Donahue, didnt go far enough: the intro to one of the bills references "Vermonts proud heritage of tolerance toward BIPOC. .I do not think mere "tolerance toward BIPOC" would be a "proud history," nor would I find it a matter of pride today to say that I was merely tolerant of those in the BIPOC community.

Donahue condemns Vermonts heritage -- and its people -- for mere tolerance. This dovetails perfectly with Critical Race Theory, which seeks to eliminate the Constitution in favor of something more tolerant, but never defined. What is it that she now propounds she takes pride in toward the BIPOC community that is more than merely tolerant?

In other words, All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.

Vermont has the narrowest wealth disparity between whites and blacks in the nation. Only Hawaii and D.C. voted at higher rates than Vermonters for Barack Obama. Only Vermont can boast that blacks are more likely than whites to be college-educated. Vermont was first to ban slavery; the first to graduate a black man from college; the first and only to elect a black man to a state legislature before the Civil War.

In Vermont, conservative articles recounting favorable statistics are blocked because they impl[y] a denial of systemic racism. In contrast, the Left in Vermont has waged a calculated misinformation campaign labeling Vermont systemically racist by manipulating incarceration statistics during a fentanyl crisis.

From Donahues email: The definition of "tolerance" includes "the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with." (emphasis added.) To "tolerate" means to "allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something that one does not necessarily like or agree with) without interference."

This is precisely the definition conservatives beg Donahue to employ when their opinions demur from the Black Lives Matter flag (which was fully, not merely, tolerated when displayed at Donahues home alongside her Republicans Against Trump sign).

Vermonts heritage is being denigrated. How can anyone condemn as merely tolerant the American state with the proudest abolitionist record of all? There is only one way -- rewrite history, stifle factual truths, and manipulate statistics deceitfully.

This contrasts markedly with the mere tolerance that Representative Donahue has condemned in Vermonts past. If only she could find it a matter of pride today to say that I was merely tolerant of those [Vermonters in my own] community. Quite the opposite -- she is condemning Vermonters with false ideology and no evidence. After silencing opposing speech in favor of her scurrilous narrative against her own constituency, will she merely let them eat cake?

Image: State of Vermont
NEW HAVEN  A planned MAGA drag in support of now twice-impeached President Donald Trump, due to start Saturday morning at the IKEA parking lot in New Haven and head up the capitol building in Hartford, appears to be a bust.

Fliers promoting the event had been shared on social media, and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker asked residents to stay away, despite reports that the event had been canceled.

Given what occurred last week at the U.S. Capitol and some threats of violence around the U.S., we are encouraging people to stay away from the area of Sargent Drive, Long Wharf and IKEA until this afternoon, Elicker said early Saturday. Our police department is working with local law enforcement to prepare for any potential issues at this event and over the coming days.

Participants had been told to begin gathering at the IKEA parking lot at 10 a.m. As of 11 a.m., the scene was quiet aside from a heavy police presence and the usual crowd of shoppers on a gray morning with heavy rain earlier.

By noon, there was no sign of the so-called MAGA drag at the grounds of the Capitol in Hartford. Had anyone gone, they would have found there was not easy access to the Capitol building.

The circular drive around the Capitol was barricaded on Saturday and no cars could get on the property. The Capitol building itself was surrounded with metal barriers as well. There were a half-dozen Capitol Police cars, marked and unmarked, on the 14-acre Capitol property abutting Bushnell Park.

Christine Stuart of CT New Junkie tweeted video from Hartford at 1:45 p.m. showing a line of two cars displaying Trump flags drive by the state Capitol building. Seven counter-protesters stood in front of the State Supreme Court.

IKEA said that demonstrators did not have authorization to use the parking lot.

Were aware that our New Haven (CT) store parking lot is being promoted as a meeting location for a MAGA event this Saturday, IKEA tweeted Friday evening. We ask those who plan to gather at IKEA New Haven to understand they are not authorized to use the property as a meeting location.

Two New Haven police patrol cars were present at least 45 minutes before the store opened and two hours ahead of the meetup.

Since the store opened at 10 a.m., crowds have arrived to shop, and the police have remained on the property. But there has been no indication of the arrival of any demonstrators.

Trump supporters broke windows and gained access to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, leading to dozens of arrests and the second impeachment of the president for inciting the riot. The FBI later warned that additional armed demonstrations had been planned for all 50 state capitols for the period between Jan. 16 and Jan. 20, the date of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Elicker said Saturday that, Currently we have received no credible threats in New Haven. Connecticut authorities said last week there was no specific threat against public officials here.

This story was updated online.
Moments after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the largest COVID-19 vaccination drive in the world, Prime Minister of India's neighbour Bhutan Lotay Tshering took to Twitter and congratulated PM Modi for the launch and expressed hope that "it comes as an answer to pacify all the sufferings" endured by everyone.

I would like to congratulate PM @narendramodi and the people of India for the landmark launch of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive today. We hope it comes as an answer to pacify all the sufferings we have endured this pandemic. https://t.co/f921VupuJn pic.twitter.com/M9q3KKLFo3  PM Bhutan (@PMBhutan) January 16, 2021

PM Modi launches India's COVID-19 vaccination

PM Narendra Modi launched India's COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conferencing on Saturday and got emotional while talking about hardships faced by healthcare workers. The PM said, "With self-confidence and self-reliance, we fought with the virus. The pledge that we will not let our confidence down in this battle is shown by every Indian," PM Modi said. "Today when we take a look at the last year, we realise that we have learnt a lot as a person, a family and as a nation. Today, when we start our vaccination drive, I want to remember those days when everyone wanted to do something but were not able to find a way due to Coronavirus."

#LIVE | In the past there were pandemics, disasters, wars... but none foresaw the scale and scope of the Coronavirus pandemic: PM Modi recounts the events of the last year as he flags off the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination drive; Tune in to watch - https://t.co/rGQJsiKgt2 pic.twitter.com/OF4OoSR8cW  Republic (@republic) January 16, 2021

READ | In Emotion-laden Speech, PM Modi Flags Off India's Historic COVID-19 Vaccination drive

"The whole country was eagerly waiting to witness this day. Across the country, everyone was asking only one question that when will the Coronavirus vaccine be available. Now it is available and that too in a short span of time. In a few minutes, the world's largest vaccination programme will begin. I want to congratulate the countrymen on this occasion. The people involved in the making of the vaccine, the researchers, the scientists deserve all the praise," he added.

READ | 'India's COVID-19 Vaccination Plan Gives Great Hope To Us': Nepal Foreign Minister Gyawali

'It is essential to take both doses of COVID vaccine; immunity only 2 weeks after second dose,' says PM Modi in reminder to remain vigilant through the process; Tune in to watch #LIVE here - https://t.co/rGQJsiKgt2 pic.twitter.com/iFrvfDXFBH  Republic (@republic) January 16, 2021

READ | COVID Vaccination LIVE UPDATES: PM Modi Launches Largest Inoculation Drive In India

Vaccines for India are less expensive and more convenient to use than vaccine being used in many foreign nations: PM Modi highlights price and temperature control factors of vaccine; urges against falling prey to fearmongering; #LIVE here - https://t.co/rGQJsiKgt2 pic.twitter.com/WdGQiT68oY  Republic (@republic) January 16, 2021

READ | VCK & Thirumavalavan 'condemn' Use Of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, Ask If It's Favouritism
New Delhi, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Jan, 2021 ) :India was set to begin one of the world's largest coronavirus vaccination drives Saturday as the pandemic spread at a record pace and global Covid-19 deaths surged past two million.

The World Health Organization has called for accelerating vaccine rollouts worldwide as well as ramping up efforts to study the sequencing of the virus, which has infected more than 93 million people globally since it was first detected in China in late 2019.

India, home to 1.3 billion people, has the world's second-largest caseload, and the government has given approvals to two vaccines -- though one is yet to complete clinical trials -- aiming to inoculate around 300 million people by July.

Authorities say they are drawing on their experience with elections and child immunisation programmes for the drive, which is a daunting task in an enormous, impoverished nation with often shoddy transport infrastructure and one of the world's worst-funded healthcare systems.

Regular child inoculations are a "much smaller game" and vaccinating against Covid-19 will be "deeply challenging", said Satyajit Rath from India's National Institute of Immunology.

The government has readied tens of thousands of refrigeration tools and about 150,000 specially trained staff to try and overcome some of those challenges.

The vaccines will also have high security, so that doses do not end up being sold on India's large black market for medicines.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday said he wanted "to see vaccination under way in every country in the next 100 days so that health workers and those at high risk are protected first".

His call came as infections snowballed, with 724,000 new cases recorded on average per day globally over the past week, according to AFP's tally -- a record 10 percent increase on a week earlier.
Active cases in Delhi on Friday dropped to 2,795 from 2,937 the previous day, while the positivity rate dropped to 0.44 percent

New Delhi: Delhi recorded 295 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, the lowest in more than eight months, even as city Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the positivity rate has slipped to an "all-time low" of 0.44 percent.

This is also the twelfth time that the daily incidences count stood below the 500-mark in January, and sixth consecutive day since January 10 when the figures have stood below the 400-mark.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal applauded people of Delhi in a tweet, "Well done Delhi! Delhi records the lowest number of Covid cases in the last 8 months. The positivity rate stands at an all-time low at 0.44%. With the resilience of the Delhiites, we are committed to fight and beat Corona."

Jain also tweeted, "Lowest number of cases recorded since 9th of May 2020.Positivity rate in Delhi has been dropped to all time low of 0.44%. Wear Mask and follow social distancing to keep yourself and your family safe."

The infection tally in the city stood at over 6.31 lakh and the death toll mounted to 10,732 with 10 new fatalities, they said.

On 26 April, the city had recorded 293 cases, according to official data.

This month, 585 cases were reported on January 1 and 494 on January 2; 424 on January 3; 384 on January 4, and 442 on January 5; 654 on January 6; 486 on January 7 and 444 on January 8; 519 on January 9 and 399 on January 10; 306 on January 11 and 386 on January 12 and 357 on January 13 and 340 on January 14.

The active cases tally on Friday dropped to 2,795 from 2,937 the previous day, while the positivity rate dropped to 0.44 percent.

These 295 new cases came out the 66,921 tests conducted the previous day, including 38,990 RT-PCR tests and 27,931 rapid antigen tests, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.

The bulletin said that the total number of cases has climbed to 6,31,884, while the recovery rate stood at over 97 per cent.

The Delhi health minister had earlier said that the positivity rate had been below one per cent for the past several days, indicating improvement in the pandemic situation here.

In another tweet, Jain shared a government order, according to number of reserved COVID beds and COVID ICU beds have been further de-escalated at 45 private hospitals having more than 100 beds and providing treatment to coronavirus patients.

A review meeting was held on Friday in which beds availability at 115 private hospitals offering COVID treatment were analysed, the order says.

Keeping in view the low occupancy of beds, it has been decided to further reduce the COVID beds from 30 per cent of total bed capacity to 15 per cent of that capacity, and for COVID ICU beds, from 40 per cent of total ICU beds to 25 per cent of total ICU beds or at least twice the number of occupancy of COVID beds and COVID ICU beds as on January 15, whichever is higher at the 45 private hospitals, the order said.

The other 70 private hospitals, having less than 100 beds, shall have an option of reserving COVID beds and COVID ICU beds at their facilities, it said.

According to the Friday bulletin, out of the total number of 11,950 beds in COVID hospitals, 10,779 are vacant.

It said that 202 beds in COVID care centres are occupied by persons under quarantine, including travellers who have returned by the Vande Bharat Mission and bubble flights.

The number of tests done per million, as on Wednesday was over 5.1 lakh while the total number of tests stood at over 97 lakh.

The bulletin said that 6,18,357 patients have recovered, been discharged or migrated so far.

The number of containment zones in Delhi dropped to 2,451 on Friday from 2,501 the previous day, authorities said.

The number of people in home isolation dropped to 1,275 on Friday from 1,311 the previous day.
Belarus will start vaccinating medical workers at risk from coronavirus, the country's Health Ministry said on Saturday.

"The healthcare facilities are receiving batches of Sputnik V vaccine to vaccinate medical workers of Belarus, those who are at risk, today," the Health Ministry said on its Telegram channel.

"In the first place, it is planned to vaccinate 2,285 medical workers of Minsk, 3,460 in the Brest region, 3,260 in the Vitebsk region, 4,365 in the Gomel region, 1,735 in the Grodno region, 1,610 in the Mogilev region, and 2,485 in the Minsk district," the ministry said.

"The practice of starting vaccination with medical workers is similar to such ones in the world," it said.

"The Health Ministry has distributed the vaccine to regions, depending on requests of healthcare facilities. All matters dealing with cold chain have been addressed," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, Belarus signed an initial contract for delivery of 170,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine in 2020.

"Several small batches of the Sputnik V vaccines were delivered in the past year and a batch of 20,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V on New Year's Eve," it said.

This batch underwent quality control, it said, adding that a testing laboratory registered at the national accreditation system of the Republic of Belarus examined it.

"The demands for the Sputnik V vaccine will be covered by domestic producers in the first quarter of 2021," the ministry said.

According to the Belarusian Health Ministry, as of January 16, 223,537 coronavirus cases and 1,573 deaths were recorded in the country.
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A MAN who owes compensation for assault and criminal damage was himself attacked and robbed when he was on his way to buy an engagement ring, Tullamore District Court was told.

Judge Catherine Staines imposed a 10-month suspended sentence on Aaron Holt, aged 22, from 24 Killane Drive, Edenderry after telling him he must get his priorities right.

Donal Farrelly, defending solicitor, told the court Mr Holt had received 111 staples in his head as a result of the assault.

Mr Holt told Judge Staines he had lost the money he intended to use to buy the engagement ring when he was robbed in the same incident.

Judge Staines said Mr Holt owed compensation to Fintan Phelan in relation to damage caused to a door in a case which dated back to October 2018.

She said he had not paid a penny to Mr Phelan since yet he was saying he was going to buy an engagement ring.

In addition to at least six adjournments in relation to the payments due to the court because of the damage at an apartment on Francis Street, Edenderry, about five warrants had been issued for the man.

Sergeant James O'Sullivan told the court that 750 was still outstanding in compensation.

Mr Farrelly said his client's difficulties were enormous, financially and otherwise, and he also owed 2,000 in relation to a Circuit Court case.

A father of three, he had been able to make payments to the Circuit Court when he was in employment but he was no longer working.

Mr Farrelly said the man was facing a two-year prison sentence if he did not pay the 2,000 but he had no money at present.

The accused himself told the court he had no money and was waiting to get the Covid payment.

Judge Staines said she did not think there was any reality in him being able to pay the 750 to Mr Phelan because of the assault but it was nonetheless a serious matter.

She ordered that 500 be paid from the court poor box to the victim instead.

The Circuit Court case involving Mr Holt relates to an assault on a Hungarian man in Edenderry on November 5, 2016.

The victim, who was aged 21, sustained a broken nose and fractured cheekbone in the assault, and had to be treated both at Mullingar Hospital and in the Eye and Ear and St James's, Dublin.

A sitting of the court in November 2018 was told the prosecution of Mr Holt arose after a group of youths were seen at the harbour area in Edenderry.

They dispersed when a patrol car arrived and the group ran in different directions leaving one person behind, the assault victim. He was described in court as a badly injured individual with cuts to his hands and face.

He had since returned to his home country.

Judge Keenan Johnson told the court he recalled when Mr Holt had been before him in Mullingar Circuit Court for other offences, including assault, and a suspended sentence of two years had been imposed.

He had also been ordered to pay 10,000 compensation in five instalments and Judge Johnson said the youth had a complete meltdown for a period at the time of the offences.

He was described as a talented hurler and boxer in court and a probation report said he now had a sense of responsibility and was receiving counselling.

However, even though there seemed to be a genuine sense of remorse, he was deemed to be at high risk of reoffending.

Also in 2018, Mr Holt was before the District Court for road traffic offences, and the court heard he was addicted to cocaine.

He had driven at 100kph in a 50kph zone in Edenderry before being stopped by gardai and was banned from the road for two years.
Unlike earlier in the pandemic, though, we have an excellent weapon. Not only does each vaccination mean one less person is in danger; it also means one person less likely to transmit the coronavirus to someone else. We dont yet know how much less likely. But since the vaccines reduce the disease by about 95 percent, and, according to preliminary data, even asymptomatic infection by about two-thirds, it would be unlikely that they dont also reduce transmission.

Right now, too many states force people to create accounts online in multiple steps, get through to busy phone lines, upload documents and show up at exact appointments to get vaccinated. Plus, the prioritization schemes in many states are complicated and vague. This all may appear to be a way to ensure fairness, but in reality we know from similar programs that those with more connections, free time and know-how will be better able to navigate this maze while the process slows it down for everyone else  especially those who need it. Like many, Im already hearing such stories: people snagging earlier appointments in New York City, for example, by being able to travel to other boroughs, or having the technical tools, time, social network or family to call and call and call to get a spot.

The desire for fairness is certainly understandable. There has been outrage over people who work at hospitals getting vaccinated even if they have no patient contact  some simply because they were connected with board members. After a local health care clinic in New York apparently distributed some vaccines to people in the neighborhood who werent health care workers, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order declaring that people who vaccinate others outside of prioritization protocols will be fined up to $1 million and risk losing their licenses. There have been similar punitive threats in California, warning medical personnel they could lose their licenses if they vaccinate the wrong person  meanwhile, California is one of the very slowest states at distributing its supply.

Unfortunately, and predictably, though, such restrictions quickly resulted in vaccines being thrown out when medical providers couldnt quickly find people who fit the strict criteria. Even in hospitals, some medical personnel havent been vaccinated because theyve been thwarted by the process  setting up accounts, wrangling the technology. And I doubt that any of this is making the process any fairer. If similar gatekeeping efforts are any guide, when hard-to-navigate barriers are set up  even ostensibly to ensure fairness  they often act to bring about even more unfairness. For example, strict asset limits for who can receive Medicaid for nursing homes or disability insurance often function to limit access for the most needy, while a cottage industry of lawyers will help the wealthy set up trusts and other legal structures to qualify for such aid anyway while preserving their assets.

Especially in this current phase, when we have an enormous vaccine supply sitting in freezers, instead of focusing on how to prevent some people from getting vaccinated, we should get the vaccine to the priority groups even if it sometimes means that people nearby who are not on the priority list get vaccinated, too.
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia expects to re-open its embassy in Qatar in the coming days, Saudi's foreign minister said on Saturday, following a U.S.-backed detente last week in a three-year-old dispute between Arab states.

It is just a matter of logistics, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan told journalists in Riyadh when asked about embassy reopenings.

Full diplomatic relations will resume, he added.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a diplomatic, trade and travel embargo on Qatar in mid-2017 accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar denied that and said the embargo was meant to undermine its sovereignty.

Riyadh on Jan. 5 announced a breakthrough U.S.-backed deal to end the row with Doha, to try to strengthen an Arab alliance against Iran.

The countries have opened up their air spaces to each other and some flights have resumed.

(Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
A local boy has made history after his rare condition had made it into medical journals to help others in the same situation.

Little Tommy O'Callaghan became known as Boss Baby after he battled 49,XXXXY syndrome, a type of chromosome abnormality characterised by the presence of 3 extra X chromosomes in males.

Tommy is just one of five children in Ireland to have the condition and now at two years of age, he is defying the experts and is walking, dancing and using sign language to chat to people around him. Whilst the news about his case study helping others is good, his parents Megan and Thomas still face the possibility of not being allowed to travel to Lanzarote with Tommy next month, where he is to receive vital swim treatment at Swim Lab International.

'We are so delighted that we were listened to, and Tommy's case will help other children who have been diagnosed with 49,XXXXY syndrome, but after more amazing fundraising from the people of Drogheda, we might not get to travel because of COVID,' explain Megan, who is a 29 year old mum of two other children Teegan almost 6, and Ella Mae almost 9.

'Since lockdown in March, Tommy has received no physiotherapy, and even though I have been shown what to do, he needs professional help and support, which we don't get in Ireland, and really need to get abroad.'

Tommy received ground-breaking treatment for his condition in 2019, after another major fundraising effort by Megan and her family, and despite being told by Irish doctors that Tommy may never walk, have facial abnormalities and be intellectually challenged, he is none of those things.

'I was told here he might spend the rest of his life in a facility, but he will never leave my side' says the loving mam. 'He has knee splints which help him walk, and with no physio here, the swim therapy will help him a lot. 'We have taken every precaution, and both have had COVID tests, and there's no way this is a holiday like some people have suggested; we have come so far with his treatment, and now he is changing lives all over the world.'
WASHINGTON  When its over, it wont be over.

On alternative social media, self-styled militia and patriot websites and hate-group platforms like that of the Proud Boys, the message is the same: There are no plans to fade away after Joe Bidens Jan. 20 inauguration.

Theres no reason to believe that the problem we encountered in the U.S. Capitol on the 6th (of January) will dissipate, warns Paul Joyal, a security expert who pointed to FBI alerts about possible political violence. That in and of itself is evidence of a wide-ranging network of men of violence who are willing to take the law into their own hands.

The FBI has warned of possible attacks on government buildings in all 50 states, perhaps in demonstrations this weekend. A massive military presence is already in place in the nations capital to send a muscular message to would-be insurrectionists. Armed extremists had already protested at the state capitols of Pennsylvania and Michigan during the heated presidential campaign.

On Friday, the inspectors general at the Pentagon, Justice Department, Interior Department and Homeland Security announced probes into agency planning before, the response during and actions after the siege of the U.S. Capitol that the FBI had warned about in advance.

Tech companies one by one have taken extremist groups off their platforms, and while that lowers the tone it also makes it harder to follow those who are fomenting violence.

The takeover of the Capitol building came in the wake of a months-long narrative pushed by President Donald Trump and his followers and some GOP lawmakers that the election would be  then was  stolen from him. Thats something repeatedly rejected by state and federal courts, but very much alive in the minds of many of his supporters.

The ultra-nationalist Proud Boys, led by Henry Enrique Tarrio and some of whose members ran as for office as Republicans in Florida, are a prime example of the challenges awaiting the incoming Biden administration.

The groups Miami-based leader Tarrio was detained before he could take part in the storming of the Capitol.

Yet on the now-idled social media platform Parler, an account bearing his name busily sent around that day what amounted to a call to arms, including a celebratory photo of people inside the building hiding from the rampaging crowd.

When the people fear the government there is tyranny. When the government fears the people there is liberty, said the caption on the post by the Parler page Tarrio Unchained, although accounts can be created in other peoples names.

A bevy of tech companies shut down Parlers access to its users following the riot, but that did little to deter.

Do you want total war? asks the quiz on the public-facing portion of Proud Boys: Uncensored. Its a fast-growing member-only group on Telegram, a cloud-based platform that offers users voice calls over the internet, messaging and ability to create or join like-minded groups.

These sorts of social-media-savvy extremist groups are now riling up followers by actively spreading rumors of martial law and military-imposed quarantines.

The Defense Department this week acknowledged the potential threat from within its own ranks of radicalized service members, after arrests included two active-duty members of the National Guard. The Pentagon has not said how many ex-service members have been charged or are under investigation, but the FBI and Justice Department have confirmed that some are. Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller Friday ordered an internal Pentagon review to see if further steps are needed to root out potential extremists in the ranks.

Simply put, we will not tolerate extremism of any sort in DOD, Garry Reid, director for defense intelligence, told reporters Thursday, noting all incoming DOD applicants and National Guard members are screened and must take part in an insider threat program.

Video from the rampage shows many dressed in military garb, some of whom broke through the windows wearing orange tabs on helmets that seem designed to identify them with others in the crowd. Before the Capitol was breached, many of the demonstrators were lined up in military-type positions used to take buildings in combat.

In a briefing conditioned on anonymity, a senior defense official confirmed that extremist groups are looking for allies in the military ranks, something likely to increase.

We know that some groups actively attempt to recruit our personnel into their cause or actually encourage their members to join the military for the purpose of acquiring skills and experience in our military force, the official said.

We recognize that those skills are prized by some of these groups, not only for the capability it offers them, but it also brings legitimacy in their mind to their cause. The fact that they can say they have former military personnel that align with their extremist and violent extremist views. So this clearly is of great concern to us.

Websites like mymilitia.com are full of former service members looking to create local militias. Most are not anti-government but fear martial law or some rupture with democracy. Yet others hint at more.

We are primarily interested in ex-military and law enforcement with more combat oriented . skills and SWAT/SRT backgrounds, said a recruiting pitch from Aegis6ix, looking to establish a unit in South Carolina back in 2017. This is a for-real, privately funded unit that has a dedicated mission in times of national crisis. As for the cloak and dagger routine, I am afraid it is necessary as privacy is one of our greatest concerns.

Aegis6ix did not respond to a reporters inquiry on an email provided on his post.

Im a USMC veteran  still qualified for field duty and eager to do so. Im in the 740 area and myself and others are seeking a group to train with, wrote a retired Marine with the snarky handle Jomamma, in a New Years Day post on an Ohio militia thread where another member discussed the violence that was to ignite days later in the nations capital.

A retired service member who serves in law enforcement said the attraction to extremist ideologies within the military has become part of the culture.

I spent the first several years of my career investigating extremists and gang members in the military, said the veteran, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the subject. Its been an ongoing problem. Based on what Im seeing now, its much deeper. Its part of the culture. I didnt realize how deep until this week.

The Biden administration will face domestic security challenges not seen since the turbulent late 1960s and 1970s. One place it will turn is to fusion centers, which help law enforcement collaborate on intelligence and investigations nationwide.

Created after the 9/11 terror attacks, fusion centers operate in all 50 states, three U.S. territories and 27 major urban centers. They were part of the recommendations in the 9/11 Commission Report, seeking to bolster information sharing across law enforcement agencies large and small.

These centers have evolved to include cyber crime and more recently the growing white supremacist movement that FBI Director Christopher Wray recently called the nations biggest domestic threat.

The fusion center concept, however, is arguably understaffed. There are about 1,000 analysts across the country, a number Mike Sena, president of the National Fusion Center Association, hopes will rise sharply.

The successful rampage into the Capitol, he fears, increases the threat of copycat actions.

If people feel they can storm the U.S. Capitol, what cant they do? Thats one of my concerns, said Sena. Activity like last week just emboldens those who align their ideology to extremist groups.

The Dome of the Capitol building is visible as members of the National Guard stand in front of riot gear laid out on a field on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)AP

The Justice Department and FBI had opened more than 275 investigations and charged 98 people as of midday Friday. In a news conference they said that over the past week they leveled placeholder charges that are now being upgraded to more serious felony offenses, including seditious conspiracy. Many involved in the Capitol melee are now hiring defense attorneys and surrendering, they said.

Sena hopes Congress and the new administration will pass legislation that allows for the designation of domestic terror organizations, much as is done for foreign extremist groups such as al Qaida.

If we want to identify organizations for being terrorist groups, then we need to address it and we need to have some sanctions for that, he said, cautioning there has been past opposition from civil liberties organizations and gun-rights groups.

The designation of foreign extremist groups often involves trying to cut off their funding sources. Thats a tougher prospect for attacking loose-knit domestic extremist groups.

These people dont have money. This isnt like they are flying across the world to train people, Sena said, cautioning there isnt evidence to date showing large-scale coordinated funding.

Tackling domestic extremism could also require greater use of facial recognition technologies, and the kind of monitoring and surveillance used against foreign adversaries, said Joyal, the former Capitol police officer.

If not, law enforcement is put into a box that its only after a probable-cause standard can be met that a crime is planned or about to be committed  before the total capacity of law enforcement is brought to bear, said Joyal, now managing director of the homeland security practice for the consultancy National Strategies Inc.

Several lawmakers from both parties, returning to their districts, have been accosted by Trump supporters going to extremes, emboldened by the violent rampage. It could be a sign of worse to come.

I hope every politician is (soiling) their pants in fear. Theyre no longer safe in public, said one celebratory post on Telegrams Proud Boys: Uncensored group. The post featured a video showing harassment of South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, and garnered more than 12,000 views.

Another post read, Never let these system agents know a moment of peace. Every time they show their faces in public they should be confronted by American citizens telling them how pathetic they are.

Then there are followers of QAnon.

A demonstrator with the Open Up Oregon Rally protest holds a QAnon flag on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020 at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem. (Abigail Dollins / Salem Statesman Journal)TNS

Thats the online conspiracy group that espouses the belief that President Donald Trump has waged a secret war against government elites who, they claim, worship Satan and are pedophile child traffickers.

Given the chance to denounce QAnon, Trump claimed to know little more about them other than the fact they liked him.

Photos and video from the storming of the Capitol show prominent QAnon members in the angry crowds, and many in the throng carried flags and placards with the letter Q.

Most prominent among them was Arizonan Jacob Anthony Chansley, 33, now infamous for his face paint and a buffalo-horned headdress. He had a Parler page, QAnon Shaman. The self-described actor and YouTube personality goes by the name Jake Angeli, and federal prosecutors in a court filing said this week he left a note on Vice President Mike Pences Senate chair warning that justice is coming.

The social-media site Gab.com had been particularly welcoming to QAnon after its members were booted from Twitter, which over the past week shut down more than 70,000 QAnon-linked accounts. Gab was barely operational for much of the week, its CEO citing the rush of new customers and hackers to bring it down. QAnon-themed products were also recently banned from sale on Amazons website.

The QAnon viewpoints add another element to a widening swath of markers being monitored in the armed forces as signs of extremism.

The military gets about half a million applicants annually and winnows them down to about 200,000 new recruits. It conducts aggressive screening of applicants that increasingly includes scrutiny of social media postings and an exam for tattoos and piercings that indicate support for the 3 Percenters, Boogaloo Boys and other extremist groups. The 3 Percenters take their name from the erroneous claim that only 3% of colonists took up arms during the American Revolution.

McClatchy and the Miami Herald have been monitoring militia and supremacist online activity since last May, when nationwide unrest spread amid protests over police killings, which coincided with a parallel rise of extremists.

Several current and former military personnel were detained last June after law enforcement tracked their affiliations to the Boogaloo Boys, known for wearing colorful Hawaiian style shirts to identify themselves. They believe that civil war is in the offing. Two active members of the Virginia National Guard were arrested on Thursday for storming the Capitol.

We dont care what your profession is, who you are or are affiliated with, if you conduct criminal acts we will charge you, Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters Friday, confirming the arrests of the Guardsmen.

The website take-downs in response to the Jan. 6 riot may complicate the DOD screening for extremists, cautioned retired Army. Col. Jeffrey McCausland.

It was always difficult to screen, because of privacy issues, said McCausland, a visiting professor of international security affairs at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. Now its even more difficult.

Much depends on whether this is a permanent or temporary removal of extremist groups from online platforms.

The good news is, you kicked them off Facebook and Twitter, therefore they cant spew their hatred more broadly, McCausland said. The bad news is you kicked them off Facebook and Twitter, where we can better keep an eye on them.



2021 McClatchy Washington Bureau. Visit at mcclatchydc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 21:41:40|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Here are the latest developments from China's COVID-19 control and prevention efforts:

-- Beijing reported two new locally transmitted COVID-19 case in the city's Shunyi District on Friday. One of them, 23, was previously an asymptomatic case, while the other, 51, was a close contact of a previously reported confirmed case.

The capital city has also required inbound travelers to undergo health monitoring for seven additional days following 21 days of medical observation.

-- Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province reported 23 new confirmed cases and 30 asymptomatic infections on Friday, the provincial health commission said on Saturday.

One of the asymptomatic cases was reported in Daowai District in the provincial capital of Harbin. The other new confirmed and asymptomatic cases were all close contacts or secondary close contacts of earlier COVID-19 infections in Huiqi Village, Wangkui County.

-- Northeast China's Jilin Province on Friday reported 13 asymptomatic infections, the provincial health commission said Saturday.

All of them were reported in the city of Gongzhuling and related to a previously reported asymptomatic case from the neighboring Heilongjiang Province.

-- Construction of the first batch of 1,500 rooms for centralized medical observation has been completed in five days in a city in north China's Hebei Province.

The center, using the land of a factory, is among the makeshift facilities with a total of 6,500 rooms planned to be urgently built at six locations in the city of Nangong to cut the spread of COVID-19.

Construction of the project started on Jan. 10 after a cluster of COVID-19 cases was reported in the city, and the rest of the rooms will be ready within one week.

-- Shijiazhuang, provincial capital of Hebei, found 247 residents positive for the novel coronavirus in its second round of citywide nucleic acid testing, authorities said Saturday.

In the first round of citywide nucleic acid testing, 354 positive cases were found in 13 county-level areas of Shijiazhuang.

-- Residents of Shijiazhuang are required to keep staying at home until Jan. 19 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to the city's epidemic prevention and control headquarters office.

Previously, all residents in Shijiazhuang and the neighboring Xingtai were asked to stay at home for seven days after citywide nucleic acid testing was completed a week ago. Enditem
Shocked by the setback in the recent local body elections, the state Congress is in firefighting mode and is planning to plug all the loopholes before the Assembly polls in 2021.

Congress president has summoned Pradesh Congress Committee chief Mullappally Ramachandran, former Chief Minister Oomen Chandy and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala to Delhi for a meeting on Monday.

Chennithala was the chief ministerial candidate of the party even though there was no official announcement. However, after the setback in the local body polls, there has been a call from all corners to bring back the ailing Chandy who is considered the only Congress leader in the state who has access to the grassroot level. Chandy is a leader who can address party leaders across the state by their first name.

While Chennithala has been banking on the powerful Nair Service Society to support his CM candidature, it is reliably learnt that its General Secretary Sukumaran Nair -- the final word in the NSS -- has extended support to Chandy.

Chandy is the only Congress leader in who has the acumen and the right connections to pull a surprise against a reinvigorated CPM. Social organisations and movements favouring the Congress party are for supporting his candidature.

While Chandy is not keeping good health his close associates are of the opinion that he can pull off a stunning victory against the CPM and if he is not projected it will be doomsday for the party.

Ramachandran while speaking to IANS over telephone said: "We are meeting the AICC leadership to chalk out the final strategies for the ensuing Assembly elections. Please don't read between the lines as Congress is a party with collective leadership. We will expose the corrupt, anti-people government of Vijayan and win the next Assembly elections."

The main constituent with Congress party in the UDF, the Indian Union Muslim League, is keen that there is proper preparation before the Assembly elections and a strategy is chalked out to expose the CPM-LDF government's misrule.

E.T. Mohammed Basheer, Member of Parliament and organising secretary of the IUML, while speaking to IANS over telephone said: "Our party has done its due diligence and has found that we have to indeed plug lot of loopholes, not only for the Muslim League but for Congress also. We have to take all social and political organisations affiliated to us into confidence and then get into fighting mode."

--IANS

aal/rs/bg

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 02:01:30|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken in Berlin, Germany, on Jan. 15, 2021 shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) delivering a speech during the digital party conference of Germany's governing party Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The CDU began its digital party conference on Friday with a key agenda to elect a new party leader, which is widely seen as the first step towards selecting Chancellor Angela Merkel's successor. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)

BERLIN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Germany's governing party Christian Democratic Union (CDU) began its digital party conference on Friday with a key agenda to elect a new party leader, which is widely seen as the first step towards selecting Chancellor Angela Merkel's successor.

The party conference in a digital format is a novelty due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Never before had a political party in Germany elected its executive board digitally, according to the CDU.

A digital vote is set on Saturday, and to make the online election legally valid, a postal vote would follow the digital vote, with the final results expected on Jan. 22, according to the meeting schedule given by the CDU.

The CDU has been looking for a new chairperson for almost a year as the plenary party meeting was postponed twice because of the health crisis.

The current party leader, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, already announced her resignation in February last year as she lacked the necessary support among party members.

The three candidates running for CDU chairperson are North Rhine-Westphalia's minister president Armin Laschet, former CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz and foreign policy expert as well as former minister for the environment Norbert Roettgen.

Public opinion on the outcome of the CDU party conference is divided.

Twenty-eight percent believed that Merz and Laschet were most likely to lead the party successfully into the future, while 24 percent attributed this quality to Roettgen, according to a Politbarometer survey published by the German public broadcaster ZDF on Friday.

General elections in Germany are coming up in September and Merkel repeatedly stressed that she would not run again. Enditem
Grassland Farmer of the Year 2020 Awards

Event Time 2pm

Venue Online



Join a live award ceremony to recognise the farmers who are achieving high levels of grass utilisation in a sustainable manner

Teagasc Grass10 and its partners which include AIB, FBD, Grassland Agro, Farmers Journal and Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine will host the annual Grassland farmer of the Year Awards on January 19th @2pm. This time we are going virtual so join a live award ceremony to recognise those farmers who are achieving high levels of grass utilisation in a sustainable manner.

The Grassland Farmer of the Year competition was originally launched in 2017 to coincide with the Year of Sustainable Grassland supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine, in collaboration with other stakeholders which include Allied Irish Bank, FBD, Grassland Agro and the Farmers Journal including Teagasc as part of the Grass10 campaign.

The objective of the Grassland Farmer of the Year Competition is to promote grassland excellence for all Irish livestock farmers in an environmental sustainable manner.

Teagasc research indicates that grass utilisation can be increased significantly on farm. With this background Grass10 launched a grassland competition to recognise those farmers who are achieving high levels of grass utilisation in a sustainable manner. Practices used by these famers to increase grass production and utilisation, include soil fertility and nutrient management, sward renewal, grassland measurement and improving grazing infrastructure are judged in this competition and disseminated to other farmers as a result.

The competition aims to encourage farmers, across the country and across enterprise to optimise the use of the valuable resource that grass is on Irish farms.

The competition has seven categories with an overall prize fund of 30,000. Enterprise awards include Dairy, Sheep, Beef Suckling and Non-Suckling categories. Other categories include Disadvantaged Land winner, Sustainable Farming winner and a Young Farmer (under 30 years) category winner. The young farmer category can include entrants that are farm managers or farming in a collaborative arrangement.

Meet the 2020 finalists here
Marsha Zazula, who with her husband, Jonny, founded Megaforce Records at the front end of a heavy metal wave and gave Metallica, Anthrax and other pivotal bands their start, died on Jan. 10 at her home in Clermont, Fla., about 20 miles west of Orlando. She was 68.

Maria Ferrero, a longtime friend who was a key figure at Megaforce and its associated management company, Crazed Management, said the cause was cancer.

The Zazulas became important players in the early days of the 1980s metal boom, signing and promoting bands through their seat-of-the-pants business, letting musicians crash at their house in Old Bridge, N.J., and releasing breakthrough albums, perhaps the most important of which was Metallicas debut, Kill Em All, in 1983.

We took ourselves out of a comfortable place, rolled the dice  had nothing to lose but nothing to gain necessarily  and put our hearts and souls into doing it, Ms. Zazula said in an interview last year with the website the Metal Voice.
US President will leave Washington, D.C. on the morning of January 20 shortly before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, with a grand ceremony being planned for his departure, according to media reports.

In a report published on Friday, the Associated Press cited people familiar with the plan as saying the farewell ceremony, to be held in Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, will probably feature the reception Trump used to get as President during state visits abroad, "complete with a red carpet, colour guard, military band and even a 21-gun salute", reports Xinhua news agency

Flying in Air Force One for the last time, the President will go to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he will reportedly live his post-presidential life.

What was revealed in the latest report verified previous ones saying that in doing so, Trump wanted to create a split-screen effect to turn audience's attention away from Biden's swearing-in ceremony.

A formal announcement of Trump's plan is yet to be made official.

Trump has said he will not attend Biden's inauguration, which the latter responded by saying "it's a good thing".

Vice President Mike Pence, however, plans to attend the inauguration, a move Biden has welcomed.

Pence on Friday spoke with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris via telephone and pledged assistance.

--IANS

ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Jersey health officials on Saturday reported 5,246 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 96 additional deaths as hospitalizations increased and vaccination appointments grew scarce.

After criticism of the states rollout of vaccines and the difficulty in getting an appointment, Gov. Phil Murphy on Saturday responded, saying the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services previously assured the state it would receive doses from its national reserve. The Washington Post reported that despite the announcement from federal officials that more vaccines were being released from a reserve, the national supply was already depleted.

Governors were given assurances by @HHSGov that wed receive additional vaccines from the national reserve for our seniors, health care workers, and first responders, Murphy wrote on Twitter. We need answers for why this stockpile doesnt exist and our allocations have been reduced from what we expected.

Murphy added that the vaccine would be distributed to those at higher risk of severe cases of COVID-19 due to their age and underlying conditions.

Our first priority is to vaccinate those at higher risk for severe COVID due to age and chronic health factors  and to have the infrastructure in place to rapidly scale up distribution when federal supply meets demand, Murphy wrote on Twitter.

The 7-day average for new confirmed cases is now 5,417, up 9% from a week ago and 10% higher than a month ago.The death toll for January increased to 1,226 confirmed fatalities.

There were 3,677 patients hospitalized in New Jersey with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases as of Friday night. That marked 134 more than the previous night and an increase after two days where the number of people hospitalized dropped.

The state of 9 million residents has now lost 20,414 residents in the COVID-19 outbreak  18,323 confirmed deaths and 2,091 considered probable, according to state data. New Jersey has already announced 1,226 confirmed deaths this month, following 1,890 in December.

New Jersey has now reported 560,423 total confirmed cases out of more than 8.6 million tests administered since officials announced the states first case March 4. There have also been 61,662 positive rapid antigen tests, which the state began reporting publicly last week, though the state has cautioned that could overlap with the confirmed PCR tests.

The statewide rate of COVID-19 transmission remained up slightly Saturday to 1.12, from 1.11 a day earlier. A transmission rate over 1 indicates the outbreak is expanding.

The positivity rate for tests administered on Tuesday, the most recent day available, was 10.24% out of 58,095 tests. The positivity rate had been at 10% or higher since Dec. 22, before dipping below 10% on Monday.

New Jerseys top health official warned Wednesday the state is preparing for a surge in hospitalizations from the latest spike cases that could come as soon as next week and may trigger a new round of restrictions, particularly with elective surgeries.

While hospitalizations have remained between 3,500 and 3,900 for weeks, far below the more than 8,000 peak in the spring, Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said that hospital officials are concerned about the weeks ahead due to available staffing.

What we will not have is the appropriate level of staffing that people are familiar with, conventional staffing, Persichilli previously said. So we will be working with our hospitals if they need to progress to what we call contingency staffing, and hopefully never crisis staffing.

Murphy has warned that hospitalizations above 5,000 patients would likely trigger some new restrictions  particularly on elective surgeries, which include procedures like removing tumors.

VACCINATIONS

More than 327,600 doses of the vaccine have been administered in the state as of Saturday, according to the states COVID-19 dashboard. Of those, 289,620 were the first of two doses people will receive, while 37,921 were the second, according to the dashboard.

The single-day high so far was Jan. 8, when 24,482 doses were administered, according to the state.

New Jersey has averaged about 9,500 shots a day through the first 30 days of the program, including Christmas Day when no doses were administered. The state has been averaging about 17,000 shots a day over the last seven days, state records show.

The state has faced criticism for rolling out inoculations too slowly. Officials stress there may be an undercounting of the number of vaccines administered because of reporting delays and New Jersey, like other states, is depending on the federal government for its supply.

Murphy announced Wednesday people over 65 years old, as well as people with chronic health conditions and smokers are now eligible to get vaccinations.

Officials have said doses should be available for the general public by April or May. Health officials have said they hope to vaccinate 70% of its adult residents  about 4.7 million people  by the end of May.

In recent days, the state has opened the first three of its six planned mega-sites for mass vaccinations. There are also vaccines currently available at 130 locations throughout the state, including local health departments, ShopRite stores, and pharmacies.

More than 1.5 million people have registered to get their vaccine.

VACCINE DOSES ADMINISTERED BY COUNTY

ATLANTIC COUNTY - 10,980 doses administered

BERGEN COUNTY - 37,314 doses administered

BURLINGTON COUNTY - 15,685 doses administered

CAMDEN COUNTY - 18,275 doses administered

CAPE MAY COUNTY - 4,744 doses administered

CUMBERLAND COUNTY - 5,114 doses administered

ESSEX COUNTY - 26,478 doses administered

GLOUCESTER COUNTY - 11,507 doses administered

HUDSON COUNTY - 13,663 doses administered

HUNTERDON COUNTY - 5,149 doses administered

MERCER COUNTY - 7,874 doses administered

MIDDLESEX COUNTY - 24,530 doses administered

MONMOUTH COUNTY - 25,557 doses administered

MORRIS COUNTY - 23,779 doses administered

OCEAN COUNTY - 17,549 doses administered

PASSAIC COUNTY - 14,912 doses administered

SALEM COUNTY - 1,576 doses administered

SOMERSET COUNTY - 12,980 doses administered

SUSSEX COUNTY - 5,627 doses administered

UNION COUNTY - 15,560 doses administered

WARREN COUNTY - 3,326 doses administered

OUT-OF-STATE RESIDENTS - 15,748 doses administered

UNKNOWN COUNTY - 9,709 doses administered

HOSPITALIZATIONS

There were 3,677 patients hospitalized in New Jersey with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases as of Friday night. It was 134 more than the previous night, a spike after two days where hospitalizations had dropped.

It included 651 in critical or intensive care (25 more than the previous night), with 427 on ventilators (11 fewer).

There were 437 COVID-19 patients discharged Friday, according to the states COVID-19 dashboard.

SCHOOL CASES

There have been 111 in-school coronavirus outbreaks in New Jersey involving 564 students, teachers and staff since the school year began in late August, according to the state dashboard.

Those numbers do not include students or staff believed to have been infected outside school or cases that cant be confirmed as in-school outbreaks. Though the numbers keep rising every week, Murphy has said the school outbreak statistics remain below what state officials were expecting when schools reopened for in-person classes.

New Jersey defines school outbreaks as cases where contact tracers determined two or more students or school staff caught or transmitted COVID-19 in the classroom or during academic activities at school.

The number of New Jersey school districts with all-remote learning has increased as students return from winter break, Murphy said on Monday.

There are 339 districts that started 2021 remotely  an increase of 18 all-remote districts from Dec. 21. Only 77 school districts are returning with full in-person instruction (down from 82 on Dec. 21), and 348 are returning with a hybrid of in-person or remote instruction (down from 362).

Another 47 districts are using some combination of in-person, hybrid, or all-remote across multiple buildings  one more than Dec. 21.

AGE BREAKDOWN

Broken down by age, those 30 to 49 years old make up the largest percentage of New Jersey residents who have caught the virus (31.2%), followed by those 50-64 (23.7%), 18-29 (19.2%), 65-79 (11.1%), 80 and older (5.4%), 5-17 (7.5%) and 0-4 (1.5%).

On average, the virus has been more deadly for older residents, especially those with preexisting conditions. Nearly half the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents 80 and older (47%), followed by those 65-79 (32.9%), 50-64 (15.7%), 30-49 (4%), 18-29 (0.4%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0%).

At least 7,644 of the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. That number has been rising again at a steeper rate in recent months, with deaths at the states nursing homes nearly tripling in December.

There are currently active outbreaks at 426 facilities, resulting in 6,802 active cases among residents and 7,368 among staffers.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

As of Saturday morning, there were more than 93.9 million positive COVID-19 tests across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. This week, the world hit a grim benchmark, surpassing 2 million deaths from coronavirus-related complications.

The U.S. has reported the most cases, at more than 23.5 million, and the most deaths, at more than 392,300.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.
A confidential position paper seen by the Irish Examiner reveals the background to the aborted 35m deal to buy ventilators from China via a media company, and the risks identified by the HSE, writes Cianan Brennan.

A 35m deal to bring 1,000 medical ventilators into Ireland from China via an Irish-based media company was halted after the first tranche of 14.1m was spent, with the ventilators deemed unsuitable for use.

The HSE opted to pay in tranches for the contract for 1,000 ventilators with festival management company Roqu Media International, while attempting to source devices elsewhere in order to mitigate significant risk that its due diligence process had flagged up relating to the deal.

It is unclear how many ventilators had been delivered by Roqu by the end of April. The company told the Irish Examiner that just 72 devices had arrived in Ireland at that time, but an earlier communication to media gave the figure of 100.

Read More Deal for unusable ventilators went ahead despite red flags

Upon inspection, the ventilators did not meet the HSE's quality assurance standards and were never deployed in a clinical setting, according to CEO Paul Reid.

A confidential position paper regarding the proposed deal, seen by the Irish Examiner, details the background to the contract, the risks identified by the HSEs due diligence, and the efforts made to mitigate those risks.

In response to a request for comment on the matter, Roqu reiterated a statement given to the Irish Examiner in December, declaring it had brought more than 1.5m pieces of emergency equipment into Ireland since the pandemic began, and stating in light of media coverage, we would like to put on record that Roqu has at all times acted in good faith under the direction and supervision of the HSE.

The HSE said, meanwhile, that it remains in continuing discussions with Roqu with a view to resolving all issues and cannot provide any further information at this time.

HSE CEO Paul Reid said the ventilators were never deployed in a clinical setting as they did not meet the HSE's quality assurance standards. Photo: Sam Boal / Photocall Ireland

The paper, authored by HSE procurement chief Sean Bresnan on March 22, states that supply of ventilators has been identified, albeit with significant risk. He said Roqu had approached the HSE with a view to procuring ventilators from a Chinese supplier named Shenzhen Probe, and that given the volatility in the market place, HSE [sic] will be required to enter into a formal contract arrangement with Roqu Group by COP [close of play] Monday 23 March, the following day.

The 14.1m transfer was actioned on or about March 23rd according to the HSE.

However, some of the risks identified in the position paper regarding the deal appear to have been significant.

It noted that Roqus deal was not with the supplier, but with another trading company, and that this arrangement was not made clear at the outset, while the Chinese trader told the IDA it had informed Roqu it would not be able to supply the same machines that were verified by the HSE at Cork University Hospital as being fit for purpose.

Read More No political involvement in procuring unusable ventilators  Tanaiste

This was contrary to what Roqu told the HSE, the paper states, given it had made clear that the machines would be of the same specification.

Regarding due diligence on Roqus CEO Robert Quirke, Mr Bresnan cites lots of mentions of dealing with countries in Eastern Europe.

He acknowledges Mr Quirke has no background in med tech  no evidence of any involvement in this sector at all.

Contacts had described Mr Quirke to Mr Bresnan as a "good guy".

His company doesnt have a fantastic track record from a paperwork sense  3 years of registrations with no accounts filed, Mr Bresnan states.

Roqu did not directly answer a query on the subject of its accounting history.

Despite this, Mr Quirke was deemed to be green, the lowest level of risk. There are no overt and obvious red flags that the search found but consideration need [sic] to be given to the link to a Chinese manufacturer and how and why he is involved given no track record, the paper states.

A recommendation, included in the paper, from the two men who on March 20 tested the two Prunus Boaray ventilators brought to Ireland by Roqu, appears to be predicated on the ventilators to be procured being of the same make and model, which was not the case.

Five medical ventilators donated to Cork University Hospital by Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai facilitated by Shanghai Municipal Office of Foreign Affairs, as part of Cork City Councils efforts during the global pandemic to help source medical equipment for the city through its strong relationship with Shanghai and other partner cities in China. Photo: Clare Keogh

Mr Bresnan stated that his recommendation was that the deal for 1,000 ventilators in the circumstances and given that the clinical need outweighs the identified risks... be concluded.

Some measures to mitigate the HSEs risk were suggested, as with the deal worth 35m, there is a risk that expenditure of this magnitude will be wasted.

Mr Bresnan suggested that Irish agencies should secure a person with a clinical engineering/medical device regulatory background to act as HSE eyes and ears on ground. That person would have been expected to visit manufacturing sites to ensure products are being produced in accordance with industry standards.

However, given the initial payment to Roqu was made in the days immediately following the papers drafting, its unclear if this recommendation was followed through.

In terms of potential issues with the quality of the machines to be received, Mr Bresnan said this issue would be mitigated by Roqu having contractually committed to providing the  models and to a standard no less than those presented to CUH for clinical and engineering review.
An Army reservist running for Bucks County district attorney is ending his campaign so he can help the Pentagon respond to potential domestic unrest following last weeks insurrection by a pro-Trump mob at the U.S. Capitol.

Danny Ceisler, 28, had raised about $200,000 for his Democratic primary campaign and attracted support from party leaders like Patrick Murphy, the former congressman and undersecretary of the Army. But after the deadly assault on the Capitol and amid FBI warnings of potential new attacks in all 50 states, Ceisler said he received a call Wednesday from the military asking if he could serve on a Domestic Unrest Crisis Management Team at the Pentagon.

We are at a critical point in our nations history, our institutions are under attack, and I am going to do my duty, Ceisler, an Army captain who lives in Bristol, wrote Thursday on Facebook, announcing he was suspending his campaign and would abide by Defense Department restrictions on political activity.

Ceisler, the son of Commonwealth Court Judge Ellen Ceisler and Philadelphia public relations executive Larry Ceisler, arrived in Washington on Friday.

As difficult as it was to leave a campaign that we had spent months building, this was no question, he told The Inquirer Friday. When you get called to serve, you go. Service members across the country have been put through the ringer this year responding to domestic crisis after crisis. Every time, they stepped up and got the job done.

 READ MORE: First it was fraud, then they just didnt like the rules: How Pa. Republicans justified overturning an election

Ceisler previously served in Afghanistan, and then in the Army reserves. Last year he spent six months at the Pentagon working on teams responding to the coronavirus pandemic and monitoring unrest and National Guard activity amid nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Murphy, who served two terms in Congress from 2007 to 2011, said Ceisler did a phenomenal job organizing support among veterans in Bucks County for President-elect Joe Bidens campaign.

Im proud of his public service in the military, and was excited about him becoming our next district attorney, Murphy said. His future is bright.

Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub, 52, is the the last remaining Republican district attorney in Pennsylvanias suburban collar counties outside Philadelphia, after Democrats were elected in Delaware and Chester Counties last year. Weintraub has served as the countys top prosecutor since 2016.

Antonetta Stancu, 42, a former prosecutor who once worked alongside Weintraub, launched her campaign as a Democrat last month.

The primary election is scheduled for May 18.
For starters, Roman Mica makes a case for 4.5 seconds from naught to 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers) at a mile above sea level. Thats exactly the manufacturers quoted time, and dont forget the TRX features 18-inch wheels complemented by 325/65 all-terrain rubber instead of summer tires.Curiously enough, Roman describes the truck as a little understated and a little bit of a sleeper even though the sheer height of the TRX, the ginormous grille, and marker lights in the hood scoop beg to differ. In my humble opinion, only two half-ton pickups can match this Ram in terms of road presence, namely the Raptor and the GMC Sierra 1500 in Denali form.The interior is spectacular and a really great place to spend 1,400 miles, which is how far it took me to drive it from Detroit to here, added Roman. Currently showing just 1,846 miles (2,971 kilometers) on the odometer, the TRX also impresses in terms of aural pleasure and driving experience.In terms of not-so-great things about the TRX , the Goodyear Wrangler boots dont feature the snowflake rating of the Ford F-150 Raptor. Thats not a big deal for most customers, but over in Colorado where its very cold and very snowy during this season, you definitely need snow-rated tires.Speaking of the rubber shoes, these bad boys throw a lot of dirt on the mirror caps and front doors because there are no mud flaps that would alleviate this condition. When it comes to daily driving, Roman also wishes for the TRX to include backup sensors and blind-spot monitoring. Finally and understandably for such a heavy vehicle, the gas mileage is rather abysmal.The TRX couldnt do better than 10.5 miles per gallon (22.4 liters per 100 kilometers) on the way back from Detroit, which is pretty hardcore if you remember the Hellcat engine wants 91 octane or higher-grade fuel. All told, calling this a super truck was the right call according to Roman.
Thiruvananthapuram, January 16 : The NYAY minimum income guarantee scheme proposed by the congress in Kerala in their draft manifesto has kicked up a debate in the state.

Congress's political rivals have pooh-poohed the proposal, dismissing it as an election gimmick. Even CPI(M) leader and finance minister Thomas Isaac in his budget speech made it a point to term the NYAY scheme impractical in Kerala.

The question being levelled against the congress is how they would find the funds to finance the scheme should they come to power.

However, economic experts aver that the minimum income guarantee scheme is feasible if the government could show the political will and implement the necessary economic reforms to effectively tap sources of revenue.

Economist Jose Sebastian told 'Manorama Online' that a government demonstrating exemplary political will could easily implement the NYAY scheme in the state.

If the state government so willed, it would not be too difficult to mobilise resources to fund the scheme, he said. He proposed streamlining of tax collection to generate revenue to fund the scheme.

Both the fronts that alternately ruled the state focused on populist schemes but failed to efficiently collect tax, he said, adding that people should be compelled to pay taxes.

Mr. Sebastian opined that the NYAY scheme would give a fillip to the state's economy. The 6,000 rupees proposed to be given to the poorer sections under the NYAY scheme would easily reach the market and revitalize economic activity in the state, he said.

Former planning board member G Vijayaraghavan echoed Jose Sebastian's sentiments saying that each rupee being given to the indigent sections would get expended and return to the economic system. The money spent by them would move the wheels of the state's economy and a good proportion of it would come back to the government as tax revenue, he said.

Economic expert B A Prakash also supported the NYAY scheme, saying that the decision to give cash directly to the poor sections was a positive sign, He however cautioned that the state government would have to undertake reforms in its economic management for the scheme to become feasible.

The NYAY scheme was first proposed by the congress party at the national level ahead of the 2019 lok sabha elections. The scheme envisages direct cash transfer to the poorest families to ensure a minimum basic income of at least 6,000 rupees per month and 72,000 annually.
She's been sharing a slew of sensational bikini snaps with her fans since arriving in Dubai for 'business purposes' before Christmas.

And Yazmin Oukhellou swapped swimwear for lingerie as she showcased her toned physique in her latest sizzling Instagram snap posted on Friday.

The TOWIE star, 26, posed up a storm as she lounged on a cream sofa in just her grey underwear and a pair of slippers.

Flaunt it! Yazmin Oukhellou swapped swimwear for lingerie as she showcased her toned physique in her latest sizzling Instagram snap posted on Friday

Yazmin exuded confidence as she flaunted her incredible figure in the comfortable Calvin Klein set which say high on her hips and scooped over her cleavage.

She wore her long caramel locks down and styled perfectly straight for the relaxed photoshoot, letting her tresses cascade over her shoulders.

Not forgetting a few accessories, Yazmin donned a stylish gold bracelet and added a full face of makeup to accentuate her pretty features.

Since arriving in Dubai, the beauty has shared several sizzling updates as she made the most downtime at the pool.

Wow! During her business trip to Dubai, the TOWIE star has been sharing regular sizzling poolside snaps to Instagram (pictured on Wednesday)

The TOWIE star showcased her incredibly toned physique in a pretty striped bikini, which she teamed with a matching sarong as she took to Instagram on Wednesday.

The skimpy string bikini top flaunted Yazmin's surgically-enhanced assets, while also highlighting her toned and tanned midriff as she posed for the snap.

While elsewhere on her Instagram Stories, Yaz encouraged her followers to join her conference call where she would later be discussing a business opportunity.

During their getaway, Yaz and her beau James Lock looked happier than ever as they posed for a recent snap while lapping up the sunshine last week.

Live Like Yaz: Elsewhere on her Instagram Stories, Yaz encouraged her followers to join her conference call where she would later be discussing a business opportunity

She showcased her toned figure in a tiny black bikini, while James displayed his rippling six-pack in black board shorts.

Their Dubai holiday comes amid an increasing amount of fury over many influencers and reality stars 'bending rules' to jet abroad, which has only been heightened after Boris Johnson announced the nation would enter a third lockdown.

Yazmin had previously faced criticism from fans when she had jetted out to the city with boyfriend James for 'business purposes'.

She later hit back at the backlash, explaining that she is launching a new business in Dubai in the future.

Smitten: During their getaway, Yaz and her beau James Lock looked happier than ever as they posed for a recent snap while lapping up the sunshine last week

'Just so you know, me and James have come to Dubai because I am launching something very exciting here in the New Year.

'I've had to come now to get everything set up and we will be keeping you posted,' she said in a video shared to her Instagram story.

'So we are here for work purposes, for business. Obviously we'll make the most of it while we're here as well. But we are here for business purposes.'

Several Love Island stars have also been forced to hit back at angry fans after they were criticised for jetting off on holiday during the global pandemic.

But while they have partied, pandemic news has been rumbling at home as earlier this week, it was revealed new rules will require international travellers to come back negative after a PCR test before arriving in England will come into force from Friday.

From 4am on January 15, passengers arriving by boat, train or plane - including UK nationals - will have to take a test up to 72 hours before leaving the country.

They will need to present proof of a negative test result - using a PCR test or on some occasions a LAMP or lateral flow test - to their carrier on boarding while the UK Border Force will conduct spot checks on arrivals.

New arrivals who flout the rules will face a minimum 500 fine, while the operator who transported them will also be fined.

Passengers will still have to quarantine for 10 days regardless of their test results, transport minister Robert Courts said in a statement.
Oregon has recorded its first case of the highly contagious variant of the coronavirus, and that raises questions of what we know about its dangers.

How does a more transmissible variant translate into risk? And how does it affect peoples day-to-day risk levels?

David Kennedy, a biologist who studies the evolution of infectious diseases at Penn State, wrote a recent article that explains how these new coronavirus strains are different, what more transmissible means, what that means for the public and whether the vaccines will be effective against them.

The first thing that I should say is that theres no evidence that theres increased disease severity as a result of these variants, Kennedy wrote for The Conversation. So it doesnt seem like it is now more harmful. But the concern is that more people are going to get infected, and so in total, more people are going to get sick.

But the reason this is so concerning is that you get hit with the increase in transmissibility twice, he said. First, more people will be infected, so it is more likely that you will be interacting with someone who is infectious. And second, the virus is more infectious, so each infected person is more likely to transmit it to you.

Oregon officials announced Friday that a Multnomah County resident with no known travel history tested positive for the variant dubbed B.1.1.7.

Heres what you need to know about the variant.

CDC PROJECTION

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also projects the strain will be the dominant one in circulation in the U.S., possibly as soon as March.

The agencys projection was based on modeling that showed rapid growth of the variant early this year, which could further undermine the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines thats been marked by missed deadlines and underuse of supplies.

The variant currently makes up less than about 0.5% of circulating viruses, the agency estimated in the report, although the exact prevalence of B.1.1.7 in the U.S. is not currently known.

U.K. health officials have attributed a recent surge in cases to the variants ability to spread and have imposed strict lockdown measures. British Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty warned that, while he expects things are going to improve in the spring, the variant might make the reopening of the economy more difficult.

The variant has the potential to increase the U.S. pandemic trajectory in the coming months, the report said.

MUTATIONS ARE COMMON

Virus mutations are common. Viruses mutate a tiny bit every time they copy themselves in order to spread from cell to cell. In the vast majority of cases, these random changes have no effect on how well a microbe spreads. Or they have a negative effect, causing a particular lineage to die out.

When a new variant started to spread rapidly in Great Britain, researchers said it could be the result of something called a founder effect  meaning that version of the virus gained traction simply because it happened to be the one carried by a person who exposed lots of other people, not because of some change in the virus itself.

But mounting evidence suggests that mutations in the virus, not human behavior, are somehow enabling the faster spread, said Brianne Barker, a Drew University biologist who studies the immune system.

A key indicator is that every time the variant arrives in a new location, it seems to spread just as rapidly as it has in the United Kingdom, Barker said.

The odds would be against having it be a founder effect or some behavioral issue in each new country, where we know the restrictions and the behaviors are so different, she said.

MITIGATION MEASURES

Penn States Kennedy said the basics of how were supposed to live our lives and how were supposed to control this are essentially unchanged. The mitigation measures that we have in place, things like social distancing, wearing a mask, avoiding indoor shared spaces, reducing any unnecessary risks, are still the best measures that we have to try to control this, he wrote, at least until we all have access to vaccines.

It remains unclear just how much faster these new strains can spread, or exactly which genetic changes are to blame, Barker said.

Increased transmissibility also means that higher than anticipated vaccination coverage must be attained to achieve the same level of disease control to protect the public compared with less transmissible variants, the CDC report warned.

WILL VACCINES WORK?

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has estimated that the threshold for herd immunity from COVID may now be above 80%.

If theres any good news, neither set of mutations in the new variants is thought to be significant enough that the vaccines will no longer work.

But the health consequences of COVID-19 were bad enough to begin with. If the same fraction of infected people become seriously ill, then an increase in overall infections means more people end up in hospitals, and more people die.

All this means to me, Barker said, is that we have a lot less room for error in all of the interventions that were doing.

We are, in effect, in a race against time, said Pennsylvania State University biologist Maciej Boni. The more illness we wish to prevent, the faster we should make sure every pharmacy and clinic is supplied with syringes.

We have to keep vaccinating, he said. We dont have any alternative.

MORE TRANSMISSIBLE

Both new strains of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, called B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, are thought to be more transmissible. Kennedy, a biologist who studies the evolution of infectious diseases, said most of the data thats available is for the U.K. variant in particular.

Its still not clear exactly how much more transmissible it is, he wrote, but current estimates are that its somewhere between 30% and 80% more transmissible than the original strains that were out there, based on spread of the disease.

The second way they determined it was more transmissible is through something called the secondary attack rate, he said.

What they do is, if they know that somebody is infected, they can look and see how many of their contacts got infected, he wrote. And so they can do that for people who are infected with the original strain of the virus, and they can do that for people who are infected with this novel variant. What they saw was that people who had this novel variant were more likely to infect their contacts, and that increase was about 30% to 40%. So that means that this novel variant is more likely to get passed on to other individuals.

NO CASES IN WASHINGTON

Washington state has yet to record a case of the variant found in Oregon, but health officials expressed alarm at the prospect.

Adding strains that spread more readily to our outbreak will be like throwing gasoline on a COVID-19 wildfire, said Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Public Health  Seattle & King County. Unless we take strong actions to stop it, more transmissible strains will lead to rapid, potentially explosive increases in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. And this will compound the impact and suffering of COVID-19 across our communities and potentially overwhelm our hospitals.

Sources: The Associated Press, David Kennedy/The Conversation, Philadelphia Inquirer/Tribune News Service, Seattle Times/Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag-off the first phase of the pan-India roll out of the COVID-19 vaccination drive  worlds largest vaccination drive - on Saturday (January 16, 2021) at 10:30 AM via video conferencing.

The worlds largest vaccination programme will begin at a total of 3006 session sites across all States/UTs, which will be connected virtually throughout the exercise.

Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each of the session sites. A dedicated 24x7 call centre  1075  has also been established for addressing the queries related to the pandemic, vaccine rollout and the CoWIN software, information released by the Prime Ministers Office said.

Tomorrow, 16th January, India begins the pan-India rollout of COVID-19 Vaccination drive. The launch will take place at 10:30 AM tomorrow morning. https://t.co/zopwtXPmZO  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 15, 2021

The vaccination drive, where the beneficiaries currently will not have a choice between the two vaccines  Covishield and Covaxin  available in India, has been planned in a phased manner, identifying priority groups, the Health Ministry said.

Healthcare workers, both in the government and private sectors including Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) workers, will receive the vaccine during this first phase.

On Friday, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed preparations for the launch of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive. The Union Minister visited the dedicated COVID Control Room which has been set up at the Nirman Bhawan premises of the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

Vardhan said Indias exercise to vaccinate its population against COVID-19 will be the largest immunization drive of the world. The Union Minister reiterated that both the indigenously manufactured vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, have proven safety and immunogenicity records and are the most important tools to contain the pandemic.

He stated that adequate doses of both the vaccines have already been delivered across the country to all States/UTs. He also re-viewed the working of CoWIN, the online digital platform developed by the Ministry to be used to drive the vaccination programme.

The platform will facilitate real time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries for COVID-19 vaccine. This digital platform will assist programme managers across National, State, and District levels while conducting vaccination sessions. It will help them track beneficiary coverage, beneficiary dropouts, sessions planned v/s sessions held and vaccine utilization, said the Ministry.

It added that the platform enables national and state administrators to view and sort data of beneficiaries as per their gender, age and co-morbidity.

They can also view the metadata of vaccinations and Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) reported from constituent districts across States & UTs. District administrators can additionally create session sites at any location by entering the pin-code, followed by specifying the locality or villages and subsequently assigning a vaccinator. Vardhan suggested that the software modifications and lessons learnt while using the highly advanced CoWIN platform be incorporated into Indias Universal Immunization Program.

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The speakers decision to delay sending the article was reminiscent of a similar maneuver a year ago, when she waited almost a month to press charges against Mr. Trump after the House voted to impeach him the first time for pressuring Ukraine to smear Mr. Biden. This time, though, Democrats in both chambers involved in the impeachment case said they expected the delay to be brief. Ms. Pelosi could transmit the article as soon as Monday, they said, prompting the start of a trial just as power is being transferred to Mr. Biden.

The House was waiting, at least in part, to determine the outcome of negotiations between Senate Democrats and Republicans over the shape of a highly unusual proceeding. On the cusp of taking unified control of Washington, Democrats were working to draft rules that would allow the Senate to operate on dual tracks to confirm Mr. Bidens cabinet and begin moving his legislative agenda while trying Mr. Trump.

Unlike a year ago when he sought to use the trial rules to undercut the prosecution, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, who is said to approve of the impeachment drive, appeared more willing to work in concert with Democrats.

Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota, told Business Insider that Mr. McConnell had told him the decision to acquit or convict was a vote of conscience  a stark departure from the last trial, when Mr. McConnell actively worked to acquit the president.

Mr. Cramer said he did not want to convict Mr. Trump, but would consider voting in favor of disqualifying him from holding future office. The Senate could apply that punishment by a simple majority vote, but only if two-thirds of senators first found Mr. Trump guilty. That would take 17 Republicans joining all 50 of the Senates Democrats to vote to convict.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 04:20:31|Editor: huaxia

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Video: "Sadly, the deadly impact of the pandemic has been made worse by the absence of a global coordinated effort," says UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Jan. 15, 2021, calling for "far greater solidarity" on the 2 millionth death from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua)

The UN is supporting countries to mobilize the largest global immunization effort in history.



UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for "far greater solidarity" in his video message on the 2 millionth death from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In the memory of those two million souls, the world must act with far greater solidarity. Now is the time," the UN chief said, highlighting the fact that "our world has reached a heart-wrenching milestone: the COVID-19 pandemic has now claimed two million lives."

"Behind this staggering number are names and faces: the smile now only a memory, the seat forever empty at the dinner table, the room that echoes with the silence of a loved one," the secretary-general said emotionally.

Health workers roll a patient to an ambulance outside of NYU Langone Medical Center, in New York, United States, Jan. 8, 2021. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

"Sadly, the deadly impact of the pandemic has been made worse by the absence of a global coordinated effort," warned the UN chief.

Guterres stressed that safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out -- and the UN is supporting countries to mobilize the largest global immunization effort in history. "We are committed to making sure that vaccines are seen as global public goods -- people's vaccines."

"That requires full funding for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator and its COVAX facility -- which is dedicated to making vaccines available and affordable to all," the secretary-general said.

Noting that the world's leading economies "have a special responsibility," the UN chief said that "yet today we are seeing a vaccine vacuum."

An ambulance carries a COVID-19 victim to a crematorium for cremation in Hyderabad, India, on July 25, 2020. (Str/Xinhua)

"Vaccines are reaching high income countries quickly, while the world's poorest have none at all. Science is succeeding -- but solidarity is failing," warned the secretary-general. "Some countries are pursuing side deals, even procuring beyond need."

The top UN official said that governments have a responsibility to protect their populations, but "vaccinationalism" is self-defeating and will delay a global recovery.

"COVID-19 cannot be beaten one country at a time. We need manufacturers to step up their commitment to work with the COVAX facility and countries around the world to ensure enough supply and fair distribution," said the secretary-general.

"We need countries to commit now to sharing excess doses of vaccines," said the UN chief. "This would help vaccinate all health care workers around the world on an urgent basis and protect health systems from collapse. Others on the frontline, including humanitarian workers and high-risk populations, must be prioritized."

A health worker carries an oxygen cylinder into a hospital in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 14, 2021. (Photo by Lucio Tavora/Xinhua)

"To gain public trust, we must boost vaccine confidence and knowledge with effective communication grounded in facts," said Guterres.

"As the science continues to blaze new trails of hope, let's also remember the simple and proven steps we can all take to keep each other safe: wearing masks, physically distancing and avoiding crowds," he added.

The secretary-general underscored that "our world can only get ahead of this virus one way -- together."

"Global solidarity will save lives, protect people and help defeat this vicious virus," Guterres noted. 
"I am glad you are looking at how to support especially small businesses, the businesses that are 10 people, the businesses that are small but are not getting the PPP [Paycheck Protection Program]." - Pilar Guzman Zavala, chief executive of Half Moon Empanadas

"We are going to push very hard because the single biggest driver of employment are mom and pop small businesses; they employ more people in America than the big corporations do." - - President-elect Joe Biden, in an exchange in a video posted on Twitter by the Biden-Harris transition team, Jan. 15

- - -

The incoming Biden administration, promoting its efforts to help small businesses during the pandemic, posted a video showing a conversation between Biden and the owner of a fledgling empanadas enterprise in Miami. The video, detailing her struggles to keep alive the business during the pandemic, has been viewed more than one million times.

As part of the conversation, Zavala made a pitch for helping small businesses, especially those with 10 or fewer people. Biden made the observation that "mom and pop businesses" employ more people than "big corporations."

Is Biden right? Well, it depends on what counts as a "mom and pop" small business - and a "big corporation."

The Small Business Administration, in a fact sheet using data from 2013, says that 48% of workers are employed at small businesses, defined as 499 employees or less. That means 52% would work on companies of 500 or more.

On top of that, Zavala had mentioned a business of 10 people or less. The SBA fact sheet says just 17% of workers work at companies with under 20 people.

But the Biden-Harris transition team responded with 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics data (from the National Business Employment Dynamics quarterly census) that shows a slight edge for the businesses under 500 people - accounting for 52% of employment, compared to 48% for companies larger than 500 people.

It's a close call either way, but are firms with under 500 people really "mom and pop" businesses? The same BLS data shows that just under 10% are employed by companies with fewer than 10 employees - the firm size mentioned by Zavala that prompted Biden's comment.

The transition team declined to explain what Biden means by "mom and pop" business, pointing instead to the SBA's definition of a small business.

Zavala told the Miami Herald she wanted more help for "the true small businesses - the ones with five people, 10 people." She said that her business had fallen 60% during the pandemic and she struggled to get a PPP loan, with the first two banks turning her down. "I was one of the few lucky ones," she said. "But I had to hustle."

(In 2016, Half Moon employed 40 people, according to a profile in El Nuevo Herald.)

At the same time, Biden also mentioned employment by "big corporations," which would certainly narrow the number on the other side of the scale. The BLS data only has a statistic for companies with a 1,000 or more employees, showing they employ 41% of the workforce.

But the Wall Street Journal in 2017 crunched Census Bureau data and found that companies with 10,000 or more employees (defined as "very large employers," which would certainly include big corporations) employed nearly 28% of the U.S. workforce, compared to just over 34% for companies with under 100 workers (defined by the Journal as "small" businesses). So that comparison affirms Biden's observation, though ironically the article was about how Americans increasingly were more likely to work at a large company rather than a small one.

"The coronavirus outbreak has plunged our economy into the worst downturn since the Great Depression, shuttering thousands of small businesses that American workers rely on for jobs," said transition spokesman Andrew Bates. "Saving and strengthening small businesses is at the heart of President-elect's American Rescue Plan, which leaders ranging from the Business Roundtable to Senator Bernie Sanders have welcomed."

This is a good example of how definitions can make a difference in terms of accuracy. What's a "mom and pop" business? What's a "big corporation"? What's even a small business - fewer than 500 people, 100 people or 10 people?

Biden was responding to a comment about very small businesses, 10 and under. But he did not necessarily embrace it as his definition of small business. His observation about "mom-and-pop businesses" versus "big corporations" would be wrong if one looks only at the companies of smaller than 10 people. But depending on the metrics one uses, Biden is either narrowly correct - or just slightly off. So we will leave this unrated.
Several gang members of the infamous Salvadoran group MS-13 are facing multiple counts of terrorism for alleged violence spanning 20 years.

The US Department of Justice announced that 14 members of the gangs leadership council - known as Ranfla Nacional - are facing charges of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, conspiracy to finance terrorism, and conspiracy of narco-terrorism.

MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, are a street gang that originated in Los Angeles in the 1970s originally as a way to defend themselves against other gangs.

However, they soon became a more traditional gang as well.

Borremeo Enrique Henriquez, or the "Diablito de Hollywood" (Hollywood's little devil) was labelled as the most powerful member of the Ranfla Nacional by the Department of Justice.

Mr Henriquez is currently in prison in El Salvador, but the US are seeking to extradite him, along with 10 others.

Supposedly, they are still running the gang from inside prison.

Read More

The FBI are offering $20,000 in rewards for three other members who remain at large, while the Justice Department attempts to extradite the 11 other members currently locked up in El Salvador.

The department says the remaining free members are Fredy Ivan Jandres-Parada, aka Lucky de Park View, Hugo Armando Quinteros-Mineros, aka Flaco de Francis, and Cesar Humberto Lopez-Larios, aka El Grenas de Stoners.

They are to be considered armed and dangerous.

They directed acts of violence and murder in El Salvador, the United States, and elsewhere, established military-style training camps for its members and obtained military weapons such as rifles, handguns, grenades, improvised explosive devices and rocket launchers, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.

As leaders of MS-13, the defendants controlled swaths of territory and engaged in public relations efforts on behalf of the transnational criminal organization.

Most of the gangs victims are central Americans, with many of them being minors. When many central Americans first arrived in the US decades ago, their children werent admitted to many schools.

As a result, these kids had little to do and were easily led into the gang. Its not surprising then that many of the suspects arrested for possibly being involved with MS-13 are minors.

The Department of Justice went on to discuss the gang, saying: Further, the defendants used MS-13s large membership in the United States to engage in criminal activities, such as drug trafficking and extortion to raise money to support MS-13s terrorist activities in El Salvador and elsewhere, and directed members in the United States to commit acts of violence, including murders, to further its goals.

In El Salvador, it is believed that MS-13 and the Eighteenth Street Gang employ around 60,000 people between them, making them the largest employers in the country.
Navy returns four to land drifting off Isla Contoy

Isla Mujeres, Q.R.  Four men were rescued from a small vessel after it was reported drifting off the coast of Isla Contoy. The four crew were returned to land after vessel, Olivia, experienced mechanical failure.

Personnel from the Mexican Navy were alerted to the drifting vessel, which they report locating 5.4 nautical miles (about 10 kilometers) east of Isla Contoy. In a statement, they said they began the search for Olivia and her crew after receiving an emergency call at the Naval Search, Rescue and Maritime Surveillance Station of Isla Mujeres.

The four crew were returned to land and found in good health

Olivia and the four men were safely returned to land where they were greeted by waiting personnel from the Isla Mujeres Harbor Masters Office to carry out the corresponding procedures.

European powers have warned Iran against starting work on uranium metal-based fuel for a research reactor, saying it contravened the 2015 nuclear deal.

"We strongly encourage Iran to end this activity, and return to full compliance with its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action without delay, if it is serious about preserving this agreement," France, Britain, and Germany said in a joint statement issued on January 16.

The statement added that Iran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal.

The production of uranium metal has potentially grave military implications, the statement said, while noting that under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran committed not to engage in the production of uranium metal or conducting research and development on uranium metallurgy for 15 years.

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said on January 14 that Iran has informed it the country has begun installing equipment for the production of uranium metal, in another breach of the 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran maintains its plans to conduct research and development on uranium metal production are part of its declared aim to design an improved type of fuel, the IAEA said.

Tehran has in past months reduced its commitment under the nuclear accord after a decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to unilaterally withdraw the United States from the deal in 2018 and reimpose crippling sanctions.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have heightened since then.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who was vice president when the deal was signed, has said the U.S. will rejoin the accord if Tehran returns to strict compliance.

Britain, France, and Germany warned earlier this month that Iran risks compromising chances of diplomacy with Washington after Tehran announced that it was starting to enrich uranium to 20 percent purity, a technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.

Tehran has always denied pursuing nuclear weapons, saying its nuclear program was strictly for civilian purposes.

With reporting by Reuters and AP
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SAO PAULO, Jan. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo  Sabesp ("Sabesp" or "Company"), in compliance with the provisions of Article 157, Paragraph 4, of Law 6,404/76 and the provisions of Instruction 358 of the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission ("CVM"), dated January 3, 2002, as amended, hereby informs its shareholders and the market in general that the Sao Paulo State Energy and Sanitation Regulatory Agency (ARSESP - Agencia Reguladora de Saneamento e Energia do Estado de Sao Paulo) published Resolutions N 1,114 and N 1,115: (i) changing the schedule of the Third Ordinary Tariff Revision of Sabesp; and (ii) changing to the Tariff Structure schedule, as follows:

Resolution N 1,114 - Third Ordinary Tariff Revision



Stage Event Period 9 Disclosure of the Preliminary Technical Note - Calculation of P0 January 28, 2021 10 Public consultation and public hearing - Calculation of P0 January 29, to March 1, 2021 11 Disclosure of the Detailed Report, Final Technical Note and Resolution regarding P0 April 9, 2021

Resolution N 1,115 - Tariff Structure Schedule



Stage Event Period* 4 Disclosure of the Preliminary Technical Note with the proposal for the new tariff structure and the respective implementation plan Up to January 28, 2021 5 Hold of the public consultation and public hearing on the Preliminary Technical Note published according to Stage 4 From January 29 to March 8, 2021 6 Analysis of the contributions received, publication of the Final Technical Note, of the Detailed Report and of the Resolution on the tariff structure approved by Arsesp Up to April 9, 2021

*The indicated periods (except for stage 5) may be anticipated as the technical work progresses.

The Resolutions mentioned are available on ARSESP's and Sabesp's websites, in the Investor Relations page.

The Company will keep the market informed on the developments concerning this matter.

IR Contacts:

Mario Arruda Sampaio  (55 11) 3388-8664 ([email protected])

Angela Beatriz Airoldi  (55 11) 3388-8793 ([email protected])

SOURCE Sabesp

Related Links

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Kolkata, Jan 16 : As the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination begun on Saturday, doctors in West Bengal asked the people to continue maintaining the health protocols and hygiene to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

West Bengal's Health Services Director Ajay Chakraborty while monitoring the vaccination drive across the state said that the inoculation is not the last and only resort, but people should follow all the necessary health protocols and hygiene already enforced in public life after the outbreak of the pandemic early last year.

While talking to the media, the official said that the vaccination drive was conducted smoothly on the first day at 202 government and five private health institutions across Bengal.

Thanking the scientists for developing the Covid-19 vaccine, the 86-year-old doctor Sukumar Mukherjee, who got vaccinated at the Neel Ratan Sarkar Hospital, said : "I am confident that the healthcare workers would come forward to take the vaccine for their protection against Covid-19.If people are scared of the side effects, I would say Covid-19 is a much bigger threat for the people." Mukherjee, who was discharged from the hospital last week after chest infection treatment, has played a significant role in the Covid-19 management in Bengal and gave his medical advices to the patients as well.

Demanding the Covid-19 vaccination for all, Indian Medical Association (IMA) President Shantanu Sen said that vaccination-related side affects are mostly of mild nature.

Sen, also the Rajya Sabha member of ruling Trinamool Congress, said that the vaccine doses are intended for boosting immunity against the infectious disease.

"Do not miss the opportunity to be vaccinated," he said and observed that the real benefit of the inoculation programme lies in its amass vaccination' approach'.

Ten senior doctors of the Infectious Diseases and Beliaghata General Hospital have led from the front by sharing the first vial of the vaccine (each vial has 10 doses).

West Bengal health department has selected several senior doctors as the first beneficiaries to receive the Covishield dose during the rollout in Kolkata on Saturday.

Health officials considered that these renowned doctors, leading from the front, would boost in achieving the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the state a success.

Bengal's Minister of State for Labour Nirmal Maji, who himself a doctor, received the Covishield vaccine at the Kolkata Medical College and Hospital.

The Minister, who had contracted the infection earlier and subsequently recovered from the disease, said that he did not feel any after-effects after receiving the shots.

According to the health officials, around 21,000 beneficiaries were shortlisted earlier to provide vaccine at 207 centres across West Bengal on Saturday, but around 16,500 health workers including few legislators obtained the vaccine.

The officials said that only four health workers in different vaccination centres felt minor discomfort after receiving the doses but they subsequently overcome the complications.

The Co-WIN portal, a digital platform created by the Centre to record the necessary vaccination data across India, did not work accurately for many hours after starting the vaccination process forcing the health workers to record the data manually.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee through videoconferencing monitored the process and shared her thoughts with the doctors, nurses, health workers.

Banerjee, also the Chief of the ruling Trinamool Congress, earlier complained that the Centre has allocated inadequate numbers of vaccines while the accusation was objected by the BJP's state chief Dilip Ghosh.
US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens

Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire

ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning

European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

Armenia acting MOD leaves for Moscow

Armenia President, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces discuss current situation on border

Armenia acting PM to residents of borderline village: If we cede our border, Azerbaijanis will get more excited

Armenia MOD not confirming reports about Azerbaijan firing shots at Tavush Province

Ex-President Kocharyan meets with Yerevan residents, "Armenia" bloc members (PHOTOS)

Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

Serj Tankian makes statement on Azerbaijans displayed horrific racism

Man detained in US for intending to commit attempt on Biden

Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD continues disseminating disinformation

Erdogan to visit Baku and Shushi

Two Armenia legislature committees to hold closed joint meeting regarding tense situation on Azerbaijan border

Holy Etchmiadzin on capture of Armenia soldiers: Such behavior of Azerbaijan authorities is strongly condemnable

Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

Armenia opposition MP: Shots are heard Gegharkunik Province

Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan leadership bears responsibility for consequences of actions by its armed forces

Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

140 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

Armenia MOD announces names of 6 Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

Armenia parliament manages to have quorum in 2nd attempt

World oil prices falling

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan popularity rating consistently drops over the past week

Newspaper: Russia peacekeepers commander does not return from Azerbaijan with encouraging news for Armenia

MOD: 6 Armenia soldiers are surrounded, captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

William Shakespeare, 1st man in world to get approved coronavirus vaccine, dies aged 81

Spain Congress of Deputies committee accepts pro-Armenian motion

Ex-PM comments on double-digit growth in Armenia economy

Facebook calls Russia, Iran leading purveyors of disinformation

Erdogan says meeting with Biden will mark 'start of new era' in relations with Washington

Armenia acting Deputy PM on creation of third high-voltage electric communication line with Iran

Vladimir Zaynetdinov: CSTO has taken note of application submitted by Armenia acting PM

Armenia's Pashinyan says addressing UN Security Council not ruled out

Armenia acting FM: International pressure on Azerbaijan is growing

Netanyahu tells Blinken that Israel is against reopening US consulate for Palestinians

23 political parties and 4 alliances apply to Armenia Central Electoral Commission ahead of snap parliamentary elections

Instagram launches ability to hide likes

Iran FM on solutions to problems in the region, territorial integrity

Bloomberg: Support for Erdogan's ruling party hits record low

Inter-agency commission sums up reports on implementation of roadmap for EU-Armenia CEPA

Armenian acting PM on CSTO and Russia and their duties as Armenia's allies

Slovakia allows use of Russian vaccine Sputnik V

Armenia acting PM on situation in Syunik Province: CSTO still hasn't clearly expressed its position

Armenia's Pashinyan: It's very rarely that Baku made provocations in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces on its own

Armenia acting PM: There will be no demarcation of borders until Azerbaijani troops are pulled out of territory

Record-setting number of political parties register to run in snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Blinken describes Egypt as a "real and effective partner"

Armenia's Pashinyan slams opposition again

Yerevan court ends trial over Armenia 3rd President's nephew Hayk Sargsyan

Armenia President expresses condolences on passing away of Catholicos-Patriarch Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan
Nicole Kidman enjoyed a trip to the theatre in Sydney on Friday, to see The Merry Widow with her mother Janelle and her husband Keith Urban.

Posting to Instagram, the Australian actress shared a sweet photo of the trio wearing face masks ahead of the performance, which was held at the Sydney Opera House.

The 53-year-old was dolled up for the occasion, wearing a designer outfit worth approximately $6,000.

Family outing: On Friday, Nicole Kidman stepped out in a $6,000 designer outfit as she enjoyed a night out at the theatre in Sydney with her mother Janelle and husband Keith Urban

The Big Little Lies star looked glamorous in a pink ruffled dress from Australian brand Zimmermann, where dresses retail for an average of $1,500.

She paired the look with a red floral face mask from designer brand, The Vampire's Wife, which is valued at $81, and a pink studded Valentino bag which costs approximately $4,560.

Nicole captioned the post: 'Thank you @operaaustralia! So beautiful to be back at the theatre. Making my mama happy at The Merry Widow'.

Quarantine: The family outing comes after Nicole was finally reunited with her family after completing a mandatory period of self-isolation last month

The family outing comes after Nicole was finally reunited with her family after completing a mandatory period of self-isolation last month.

Nicole spent two weeks quarantining at her $6.5million Southern Highlands estate, after a short trip to Ireland.

The actress was required overseas to shoot scenes for Robert Eggers Viking epic, The Northman, alongside Alexander Skarsgard and Ethan Hawke.

Jetsetter: Nicole was required overseas to shoot scenes for Robert Eggers Viking epic, The Northman, alongside Alexander Skarsgard and Ethan Hawke

According to The Daily Telegraph the A-list star was allowed to self-isolate at home again instead of staying at a state-approved hotel for 14 days, which is what the vast majority of international arrivals must do amid the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the NSW Government website, people returning from overseas are only exempt from staying at a quarantine hotel if there are 'strong medical, health or compassionate grounds'.

Set on a sprawling 45 hectares, Nicole and Keith's Southern Highlands estate boasts traditional sandstone verandahs, pressed metal ceilings, a grand carved cedar staircase and 10 original marble fireplaces.


Investigations editor

Larry Parnass, investigations editor, joined The Eagle in 2016 from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, where he was editor in chief. His freelance work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant and CommonWealth Magazine.
The mob who stormed the US Capitol on January 6 were sent there by Donald Trump. But why did they listen to him? And what did they think would happen once they had brushed past the mysteriously quiescent police and claimed the corridors of power?

Some commentators have suggested that the chaos was essentially racist, partisan and populist: comprehensible, that is, in terms of familiar US political schisms. The goal, these commentators say, was to prevent or delay a vote that would confirm Joe Biden as president. But to a startling degree, the underlying impulse behind the event derived not from traditional US right-wing ideologies, or even from latter-day mainstream Trumpist outrage, but from the increasingly popular QAnon conspiracy theory.

According to a survey conducted last year by the Daily Kos, 56pc of Republicans now believe that the QAnon theory is mostly or partly true. Two recently elected Republican representatives, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, are believers. So, what is QAnon? Well, brace yourself.

Broadly, adherents of QAnon  which has been aptly described as a crowdsourced conspiracy theory  believe that Trump is secretly a messianic genius, waging covert war against a global conspiracy of satanic paedophiles (including, but not limited to, the Democrats, George Soros, most rich people and most celebrities).

Everything Trump does and says is, for QAnon believers, a code. The sacred texts of the movement are a series of drops made by an anonymous poster called Q, who first began posting on a message board called 8Chan, now called 8kun. (Qs online activities suspiciously coincide with the offline activities of Jim Watkins, the businessman who owns and runs this message board.)

These drops are mostly vague nonsense of a patriotic nature: messages that appear to be in code, allusions to the fact that Q is a highly placed military intelligence officer working with Trump on a secret plan to bring about the Storm. The Storm is an apocalyptic event in which all the masks supposedly come off, and Trump leads the righteous in a series of arrests of evil rich paedophiles, restoring order to the cosmos and undoing a conspiracy that began with the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963.

After Biden won the election in November, QAnon Twitter got very excited: appearing to lose, they said, was all part of Trumps secret plan. The Storm was not cancelled; instead, it would happen in January, when the Democrats would try illegally to install Biden in office. At this point, QAnon beliefs found themselves synching seamlessly with the presidents own lies about the election being fraudulent; QAnon posters started to get worked up about voting machines and Trump lawyer Sidney Powells promise to release a Kraken, which they took to be an element of the Storm.

When Trump told the mob at his White House rally to march on the Capitol building, the QAnon believers in the crowd  among them Jake Angeli, the fur-costumed QAnon Shaman  understood this as an announcement that the Storm was upon them. In particular, Trump promised to lead the mob up Pennsylvania Avenue (a lie, of course; all he did was go back to the White House and watch TV).

At last, for QAnon believers, it was really happening.

Of course, when they breached the Capitol, the QAnons found that there was no Storm, no Kraken, no leader, and no plan; they stood revealed as merely a thuggish and theatrically costumed rabble. They rampaged around the Capitol, broke some furniture, caused terror, injury and five deaths, and then  disappointed and bewildered  wandered off.

What was supposed to happen, for the QAnon mob, was the Storm: arrests of senior Democrats, who would be revealed as secret child abusers; a military coup, led by intelligence officers loyal to Trump; and the banishment of liberals from US politics forever.

What actually happened was this: a fictive reality, shared by a highly politically active minority of Americans, had collided with actual reality. In the fictive reality, US politics is an apocalyptic drama of conspiracies and codes, built around a secret war against monstrously evil enemies. In actual reality, a narcissistic president has spent four years stoking up the outrage of the conspiracy believers with his lies.

Trump lost the electoral game, so he decided to puncture the ball so no one else could play. He used a desperate strategy: spurring on his desperately loyal, and desperately deluded, gang of QAnon believers.

It didnt work, this time. But neither Trump nor QAnon are going anywhere just yet. Over on QAnon Twitter, they are already rationalising the failure of the Storm  not by saying that the satanic child-abusers drove them from the Capitol, but by saying that, in fact, anyone who stormed the Capitol in Trumps name was Antifa, conducting a false-flag operation. Against the explanatory power of delusion, mainstream media and democratic institutions alike contend in vain.
Ethan Hawke will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe soon.

The 50-year-old actor had signed on to the upcoming Disney+ series Moon Knight according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Boyhood actor is set to portray a villain alongside Oscar Isaac, who has been confirmed to play the series' titular character.

Suiting up: Ethan Hawke will be portraying a villain in the upcoming Disney+ series Moon Knight, which is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase Four; Hawke is spotted in 2019

Ramy actress May Calamawy has also been cast in an undisclosed role.

The series was first announced at the annual D23 Expo in 2019, and Isaac's involvement in the series was first reported the following year.

Death Note writer Jeremy Slater has been tapped to serve as the show's head writer and Clash director Mohamed Diab will be co-helming the show along with directing team Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead.

The upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe entry is currently set to run for six episodes.

Leading actor: Oscar Isaac previously signed on to portray the main character in the upcoming superhero series; He is pictured at the European premiere of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019

Talented cast: The producers have also signed May Calamawy onto the series in an undisclosed role; she is pictured in 2019

Filming for the show is expected to begin in March, with Budapest being the primary shooting location.

It has not been confirmed which incarnation of the character will be portrayed in the upcoming series.

The Marvel Comics character was created by writer Doug Moench along with artist Don Perlin; the superhero's debut came in 1975.

Moon Knight's most consistent iteration is that of Mark Spector, a mercenary who stumbles upon an ancient artifact during an archeological dig and becomes the physical manifestation of an Egyptian god.

It is also noteworthy that a major part of the character is the management of several separate identities, which may factor into the series.

Established character: Moon Knight has been a part of Marvel comics since 1975 and has previously teamed up with characters such as Captain America and Nova

The show is part of the collective Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which generally deals with the aftermath of the events of the 2019 blockbuster Avengers: Endgame.

The first television entry in the new set of productions is WandaVision, which stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany portraying The Scarlet Witch and The Vision, respectively; the show had its premiere earlier today.

The inaugural film of Phase Four is slated to be the upcoming Black Widow feature, with Scarlett Johansson reprising her longtime role.

Other shows and films in the new set of productions will be centered around characters such as Shang-Chi, Loki and She-Hulk.

An animated anthology series entitled What If...? will also feature as part of the new slate of productions and display potential outcomes of changed major events across the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Blood Bikes South East received a welcome boost heading into 2021 by securing a new premises in New Ross as a result of a co-ordinated effort and the generosity of New Ross based business people.

New Ross-based Independent TD for Wexford, Verona Murphy shared her delight at being able to coordinate an effort to secure a new premises for the voluntary medical emergency transport service.

The Independent deputy explained the series of events which led to the New Ross base for Blood Bikes.

'Vincent Roche from the South East group contacted me in November seeking help and I was honoured to be able to co-ordinate supports from local donors who have given so generously. For anyone who doesn't know, Blood Bikes South East are a wonderful voluntary medical emergency transport service.

'They transport a wide range of urgent medical items such as blood products, medical samples, medical records, scans, x-rays, test results, urgent medicines, medical devices and human breast milk offering an out-of-hours service from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays extending to 24-hour cover every weekend and on all public holidays including Christmas Day and New Year's Day.'

Supporting frontline medical workers during the Covid-19 epidemic, the group have been heavily involved in collecting and transporting PPE for hospital use.

Deputy Murphy said: 'The service is provided completely free of charge to the hospitals, nursing homes, laboratories, patients and families that benefit from it. The group have three motorbikes, one of which was recently sponsored by Wexford Bus. When I contacted some local business people and explained the situation, they were delighted to help. Andrew Breen Jnr of 'Office2Go', along with Breen International Transport provided office premises and bike storage. PJ O'Farrell Construction LTD & O'Brien Transport (Newbawn) Ltd also made generous contributions along with Kelly and Dollard ElectroCity which have allowed Blood Bikes South East to now have a fully operational base in New Ross.'

Deputy Murpny said this has been a hugely positive combined effort. 'I am extremely proud to have played a part in it. Blood Bikes South East's new office is ideally located to access the hospitals in Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny. It is wonderful to see such generosity within our community to charitable causes and it's a great example of people working together to get things done, I look forward to supporting these amazing people into the future,' the deputy concluded.

Blood Bikes South East is completely funded by sponsors and donors. No one is paid for their service and all funds raised goes directly into the service we provide to our community. The group has full charitable status.

To make a donation or become a sponsor along with details on volunteering or getting involved check out the website https://bloodbikessoutheast.ie/
New Delhi:

The Periyar University has announced the result for UG and PG examination for April today at periyaruniversity.ac.in. All the students who have appeared for Periyar University UG, PG examcan access the results from the official website  periyaruniversity.ac.in. The examination for both graduation and post-graduation was held in April this year.

Steps to check Periyar University UG, PG result 2017:

-Log on to the official website

- On the homepage, click on the result section

- A new page will open

- Enter your registration number and date of birth

-Click submit

The result will be displayed- Check and save the result

The Periyar University will soon release the official notification for re-evalution of papers within ten days. The fee for re-totalling is Rs 200 and and for revaluation Rs 250. Also, those who want to attain a copy of the answer sheet may apply with a fee of Rs 250.

About Periyar University:

Periyar University is a university in Salem, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1997. It is named after social reformer Thanthai Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. The University Grants Commissions, New Delhi bestowed 2f status in 1998 and 12(B) status in 2005 to the university. It is accredited by NAAC with 'A' grade.
After much wrangling to gain entry a World Health Organization visit to China is not going to solve the mystery of Covid-19s origins.

Its mission will consist of interviewing Chinese medical and research personnel to see if they tell stories at odds with Beijings official version. They wont. An obvious reason for the long delay and politicking over WHOs invitation was to make sure word was dispatched down the bureaucracy to let local officials and medics know what they were supposed to say.

The real challenge now, which I doubt will enlist much Chinese cooperation, is to ransack Chinas inventory of patient and autopsy samples from before the Wuhan outbreak to find out where and when the new virus manifested itself without being recognized.

Other countries have been willing to do this outside of China. We know the virus was present in France in December 2019 before the Wuhan eruption. A woman with a characteristic Covid rash who turned up at a Milan hospital in November 2019 has been identified as Italys possible Patient Zero; some blood samples suggest the virus may have been present since September 2019.

In comments to the press, WHO officials have alluded to the assumption that China has collected such samples too and hasnt made the results public. Dont hold your breath. Chinese officials now delight in suggesting, based on such evidence, that the virus started elsewhere. China gets credit for alerting the world to its existence. Guess what? Anything is possible until we establish some pattern in unrecognized early cases.

Whats happening in China today might be a more fruitful subject of WHO inquiry than what happened in Wuhan a year ago. In Hebei province this week, 22 million people have been commanded not to leave their homes, in response to whats described as a handful" of cases. Such instances have repeatedly popped up across China with little analysis leaking into the outside world. A lockdown in the city of Kashgar was imposed after a single asymptomatic case led to 137 others, all asymptomatic. Is this a medical miracle or have Chinas citizens gotten the message that they should hide their sore throats and fevers from authorities?

No Western society would stand for the costs China has asked its citizens to bear: enforced mass testing, enforced quarantining, the locking of symptomless or uninfected people in their homes.

China is not Taiwan, Singapore or even South Korea, a country with water on three sides and an impassible military border on the fourth.

Before the pandemic hit, China was the worlds No. 4 international tourist destination with 60 million visitors a year. Business travelers kept investment and trade flowing. Losing these benefits is among the costs Chinas people have been forced to bear. Whats harder to understand is that they did so to avoid costs Western countries didnt have to worry about.

By a count published in January 2020, China has 3.6 intensive-care beds for every 100,000 citizenscompared with 29.4 for the U.S. and 38.7 for Germany.

China has nine cities bigger than New York, 27 bigger than Los Angeles, and 40 bigger than Chicago. Now think of the virus raging through these cities the way it did New York in the spring or L.A. today, with one-tenth the hospital capacity. In case youre wondering, the median age in China is roughly the same as the U.S.

Wuhan, a city of 11 million, is 30% bigger than New York yet its hospital system broke down under a case and death load that, by official statistics, was less than a quarter of that experienced by New York several weeks later. In Wuhan, patients died not only in the hallways but in the streets.

Covid has been a rough experience for everybody. In threatening to land on Chinas large urban agglomerations, though, it might well have looked like the end of the road for the Communist Party.

I was happy to see a New York Times piece the other day that, instead of touting the superiority of its officials, acknowledged that Taiwan benefited from being an island that could shut off travel.

The U.S. has 328 ports of international entry. Even with tourism down 68%, even with the Mexican and Canadian borders closed to nonessential" travel, more than 100,000 people cross our borders every day (not including illegal border crossers).

China may not be a model for any country that isnt China. We can still be grateful for its example. While others have accepted epidemics and focused on treating patients, its economy has helped the world stay upright. Its agricultural and industrial imports have surged. Its factories have been churning out, as the Journal put it, medical equipment and work-from-home gear" in vast quantities to help other countries manage their own adaptations to Covids arrival in the world.

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Covid-19: Over Two Million Around the World Have Died From the Virus President-elect Joe Biden plans a big vaccination push, despite limited supplies. The C.D.C. warns that the new variant could send U.S. infections skyrocketing.

There have now been over two million virus-related deaths worldwide. A funeral in Indonesia on Monday for someone who died from the coronavirus. Credit... Dedi Sinuhaji/EPA, via Shutterstock Two million dead. It is more people than call the state of Nebraska home and about equal to the population of Slovenia. It is roughly as many people who are estimated to have died in the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. And it is more than the total number killed in the decades of Soviet and U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan combined. The global death toll from the coronavirus soared past the two million mark on Friday, just over a year after the virus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan. In addition, there have been almost 500,000 unexpected deaths globally over the past year, a review of mortality data in 35 countries shows  providing a clearer, if still incomplete, picture of the toll of the crisis. Far more people died in most of these countries than in previous years, The New York Times found. And the carnage is spreading faster now than at any other time in the pandemic. It took more than nine months for the world to pass one million deaths in late September, a moment that the United Nations secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, called mind-numbing and an agonizing milestone. In just a little over three months, the virus has claimed another one million lives. And as it spreads, it continues to evolve. It is the same virus, but several variants now circulating around the world are the subject of urgent scientific study as some have been shown to be even more infectious than the iteration that at one point last spring forced about four billion people to shelter at home. One variant that stymied efforts to contain outbreaks in Britain in the fall is now responsible for a flood of patients that is stretching the nations hospitals to the breaking point, officials say. The World Health Organization said this week that the variant had been detected in 22 European nations, and governments across the continent continue to tighten restrictions in response to the threat. More than 230 million people across Europe are now under full national lockdowns, according to the W.H.O. Even before the new variants were discovered, the death toll in the United States already dwarfed that of any other country. The virus has now killed nearly 400,000 Americans, according to a New York Times database. And with the countrys new cases still averaging about 240,000 cases per day, there are few signs of it slowing. Next week, as president, Joseph R. Biden Jr. will take charge of what has been perhaps the worlds most disjointed response to the pandemic. In the course of the past year, even the decision of whether to wear a mask became politicized. Mr. Biden  like his counterparts around the world  will have an increasingly available tool at his disposal in the form of vaccines. He has vowed to have 100 million doses in arms during his first 100 days in office, and other governments have likewise made ambitious pledges. But the initial rollouts in many countries have been met with problems: logistical confusion, shortages of doses, unequal distribution and bureaucratic hurdles that have slowed the process of getting shots into peoples arms. Israels inoculation process has been the fastest, with roughly 25 percent of its population of nine million getting vaccinations in just one month. Britain has sped up its efforts; more than three million people have now been given at least a first dose of a vaccine. And Italy says it has given a million shots. So far, there is no evidence that any of the variants affect the viability of the vaccines that countries have approved for emergency use. However, scientists have cautioned that this may not always be the case as the virus continues to mutate. In nations where the virus appears to have been tamed, the authorities are maintaining vigilance to ensure that it doesnt re-establish its grip. In China, where the market at the epicenter of the outbreak remains closed but others are again open, a team of experts from the W.H.O. arrived this week to begin hunting for the source of the pathogen and how it made the suspected leap from animals to humans. The viruss origin is just one of the many enduring mysteries of a virus that has officially infected nearly 100 million people, and likely many more, around the world. And this week, underscoring just how persistent and pervasive it is, it claimed its first life in China since May. Marc Santora and

Joe Biden plans a vaccination blitz, but supplies are scarce. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 2:22 - 0:00 transcript Biden Unveils Plan to Combat Coronavirus President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. called the current vaccine rollout a dismal failure and vowed to move aggressively to increase availability, improve access and accelerate production of needed supplies. Vaccines offer so much hope. Were grateful for the scientists and researchers and everyone who participated in the clinical trials. Were grateful for the integrity of the process, the rigorous review and testing thats led to millions of people around the world already being vaccinated safely. But the vaccine rollout in the United States has been a dismal failure thus far. And in todays briefing, we discussed five things, five things well do, in an attempt to turn things around. First, we will immediately work with states to open up vaccinations to more priority groups. The process of establishing priority groups is driven by science, but the problem is the implementation has been too rigid and confusing. The second thing were going to change, if were getting more people vaccinated, then we need more vaccination sites. Thats where were going to harness the full resources of the federal government to establish thousands of community vaccination centers. The third change were going to make is were going to fully activate the pharmacies across the country to get the vaccination into more arms as quickly as possible. The fourth thing were going to do is were going to use the full strength of the federal government to ramp up supply of the vaccines. As I said before, well use the Defense Production Act to work with private industry to accelerate the making of materials needed to supply and administer the vaccine. Fifth, we will always be honest and transparent about where we stand, both the good news as well as the bad. Were going to make sure state and local officials know how much supply theyll be getting, and when they can expect to get it so they can plan. This will be one of the most challenging operational efforts ever undertaken by our country. But you have my word, and we will manage the hell out of this operation. But as I said last night, we need funding from Congress to make this happen. And Im optimistic. Im convinced the American people are ready to spare no effort and no expense to get this done. President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. called the current vaccine rollout a dismal failure and vowed to move aggressively to increase availability, improve access and accelerate production of needed supplies. Credit Credit... Amr Alfiky/The New York Times WASHINGTON  President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., racing against a surge in coronavirus cases and the emergence of a new variant that could significantly worsen the pandemic, is planning a vaccination offensive that calls for greatly expanding access to vaccines while promising to use a wartime law to expand production. But his plan is colliding with a sobering reality: With only two federally authorized vaccines, supplies will be scarce for the next several months, frustrating some state and local health officials who had hoped that the release of a federal stockpile of vaccine doses announced this week could alleviate that shortage. Trump administration officials clarified Friday that the existing stockpile would go toward giving second doses and not to new groups of people. The honest truth is this, things will get worse before they get better, Mr. Biden said. And the policy changes we are going to be making, theyre going to take time to show up in the Covid statistics. The president-elect said he would invoke the Defense Production Act, if necessary, to build up vaccine supply. But the team also sought to tamp down expectations. Mr. Biden said his plan wont mean that everyone in these groups will get vaccinated immediately, because supply is not where it needs to be. But, he added, it will mean that as doses become available, well reach more people who need them. The Biden team promised to ramp up vaccination in pharmacies and build mobile vaccination clinics to get vaccine to hard-to-reach and underserved rural and urban communities, emphasizing equity in distribution. Mr. Biden spoke of the tragic reality of the disproportionate impact this virus has had on Black, Latino and Native American people, adding that equity is central to our Covid response. Like the Trump administration, Mr. Biden called for states to expand the vaccine eligibility groups to people 65 or older. The administration will also make programs available for high-risk settings, including homeless shelters, jails and institutions that serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the fact sheet said. In some respects, Mr. Bidens proposals echo those of the Trump administration, which also called this week for opening vaccine eligibility to groups to 65 and older, making greater use of pharmacies and moving vaccinations to federally qualified health centers. The Trump administration has also frequently used the Defense Production Act to give vaccine makers priority with suppliers for raw ingredients and other materials. Mr. Biden unveiled the vaccine distribution plan one day after proposing a $1.9 trillion spending package in response to the economic downturn and the pandemic, including $20 billion for a national vaccine program. The president-elect has said repeatedly that he intends to get 100 million Covid vaccine shots into the arms of the American people by his 100th day in office. Sheryl Gay Stolberg and

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Trump health officials scramble to clarify confusing statements about how vaccines will be released to states. Vials of Modernas Covid-19 vaccine in Santa Rosa, Calif., on Wednesday. Credit... Jim Wilson/The New York Times When the federal government announced Tuesday that it was releasing a stockpile of vaccine doses, some state health officials expected to get a boost in their weekly shipments to help address soaring demand for the vaccines as the pandemic rages out of control. But now, the states face a stark reality. That stockpile consisted only of vaccines earmarked for booster shots for people who had already received a first dose. That means the release of this pool will not expand inoculations to a new group of people. Federal officials have said second doses will be prioritized in the weekly shipments to ensure everyone can get a booster shot. A senior administration official said on Friday that the government expects the two companies producing vaccines, Moderna and Pfizer, to supply between eight and 12 million vaccine doses per week to the American public over the next several weeks  shipments that will then be divided among those getting their first and second shots. The two companies have deals with the federal government to supply a total of 200 million doses to the United States  or enough to fully vaccinate 100 million people  by the end of March. The confusion stemmed from a call that Alex M. Azar II, the federal health and human services secretary, held on Tuesday with reporters and top Operation Warp Speed officials, in which he chided states for not efficiently using the vaccines they had already been sent and urged them to open up eligibility to people 65 and older. Some states, including New York, quickly followed the federal governments advice and opened their doors to a wider group of people, prompting a surge of interest  and confusion  as thousands of newly eligible people sought appointments to get vaccinated. This next phase reflects the urgency of the situation we face  every vaccine dose that is sitting in a warehouse rather than going into an arm could mean one more life lost or one more hospital bed occupied, Mr. Azar said. Later in the call, he said that We are releasing the entire supply we have for order by the states, rather than holding second doses in physical reserves. Going forward, he said, no vaccine doses would be held in a stockpile, and each weekly shipment would go toward people needing a first as well as a second dose. That announcement prompted several states to assume that they would get an influx of new doses that could be used to vaccinate new people, as first reported by the Washington Post. On Friday, Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon, a Democrat, tweeted that she had received disturbing news on Thursday evening: States will not be receiving increased shipments of vaccines from the national stockpile next week, because there is no federal reserve of doses. She added, I am shocked and appalled that they have set an expectation on which they could not deliver, with such grave consequences. However, senior administration officials clarified on Friday that all of the reserve doses were already dedicated to people who had gotten the vaccine, and that Mr. Azar was actually just spelling out the logical extension of a distribution policy that had been established by top federal officials in December, when shipments began. In a statement, a spokesman for the federal health department said that nearly 13 million doses were made available to states so they could order their first and second doses, which is millions more than previous weeks. The spokesman, Michael Pratt, also said that many states have not ordered up to the full amount that they have been allocated by the federal government. I think states have been doing their best to plan with whatever information they can get from the feds on expected future allocations, and then revising those plans if they get less, said Dr. Marcus Plescia, the chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. What is more concerning is that public expectations have been raised and limited supply may lead to significant disappointment. During the first few weeks of distribution, Gen. Gustave F. Perna, the chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, the federal effort to develop and distribute a vaccine to the American public, decided to hold back half of the weekly shipments of vaccine to save those doses for the people who had received an initial shot. He said at the time that it was important to be cautious as manufacturing was getting underway, and to hold onto a stockpile of second doses in the case of any manufacturing glitches. Even then, his decision came under criticism by public health experts who argued that the focus should be on getting as many people as possible their first dose of a vaccine  since clinical trials showed even the first dose offers some protection  given that the country was facing record cases, hospitalizations and deaths. But federal officials stuck to their plan, and as the weeks passed, that stockpile gradually depleted as those who had received the initial shots from Pfizer needed their second dose, which is given three weeks later. The first people who received the Moderna vaccine are now due for their booster shot, which is given four weeks later. Senior administration officials said Friday that the remaining second doses drawn from that reserve are being distributed this week and next week to the states, and that they were never intended to be used toward vaccinating additional people. From now on, officials said Tuesday, each weekly shipment from the manufacturers will include doses for new people as well as second doses for those who are due for their booster shots. Scientists and pharmaceutical companies developed the two federally authorized Covid-19 vaccines in record time, but their distribution has fallen far short of initial goals. Federal officials had promised that 20 million people would be immunized before the end of 2020, but only about 9.7 million have received their first dose so far. Federal, state and local officials have traded blame for the faulty rollout, with the federal government accusing states of being overly prescriptive in who can get the vaccine and not having put in place plans to quickly distribute it. But state and local authorities have countered that they were not given enough money to do the job properly, and scaling up distribution has been difficult because they cannot predict how many doses they will have from week to week. Even as states have complained about federal deliveries, many have struggled to give out all of the vaccine doses they have been sent. Overall, only about 36 percent of the 30.6 million doses that have been distributed have been injected into arms, according to federal data. But as vaccination drives have picked up, that is changing and some states and local governments have warned they are running out. On Friday, New York City said it expected to exhaust its supply of doses by early next week. Katie Thomas and See How Vaccinations Are Going in Your County and State See where doses have gone, and who is eligible for a shot in each state.

The pandemic slowed global migration sharply in 2020. A migrant walking outside an abandoned factory as hundreds took shelter in abandoned buildings in the northwestern town of Bihac in Bosnia and Herzegovina this week. Credit... Marko Djurica/Reuters Since the turn of the century, the number of international migrants has intensified, driven by desires to avoid armed conflicts and humanitarian disasters, escape political repression and seek economic opportunities elsewhere. But the coronavirus pandemic blunted that trajectory in 2020, according to data compiled by the United Nations. In a report released on Friday, the Population Division of the U.N.s Department of Economic and Social Affairs estimated that through the middle of last year, the number of new international migrants was about five million  about two million fewer than expected. Around the globe, the closing of national borders and severe disruptions to international travel obliged hundreds of thousands of people to cancel or delay plans of moving abroad, the department said in the report. Hundreds of thousands of migrants were stranded, unable to return to their countries, while others were forced to return to their home countries earlier than planned, when job opportunities dried up and schools closed. Before the Covid-19 disruptions, the report said, the number of international migrants had grown robustly over the past two decades, reaching a total of 281 million in 2020, roughly equal to the population of Indonesia. In another barometer of the collapse in travel caused by the pandemic, the civil aviation agency of the United Nations said in a report on Friday that the number of airline passengers fell by 60 percent in 2020  1.8 billion passengers compared with 4.5 billion in 2019. The report, by the International Civil Aviation Organization, said the reduction had taken air travel totals back to 2003 levels.

Britain will require travelers from abroad to show a negative test, then quarantine. The new announcement effectively suspends a so-called travel corridor system under which people could come unrestricted to Britain from a limited number of nations considered low risk. Credit... Neil Hall/EPA, via Shutterstock Battling a new variant of the coronavirus within its borders, Britain on Friday toughened measures to guard against importing infections from abroad, announcing that anyone arriving in the country must take a Covid-19 test before traveling and quarantine themselves upon arrival. The new announcement effectively suspends a so-called travel corridor system under which people could come to Britain from a limited and dwindling number of nations judged to be low risk without restrictions. From Monday, anyone who has come from or traveled through any country outside the United Kingdom and Ireland in the previous 10 days will be required to take a pre-departure Covid-19 test and show a negative result. He or she will have to go into self-quarantine for 10 days on arrival, though that period can be shortened to five days by taking a second Covid-19 test after spending several days in Britain. The government also promised to toughen enforcement by increasing the number of spot checks on passengers entering the country. We are operating in a completely new environment in our fight against Covid-19, with several worrying new strains of the virus emerging across the globe, said Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, in a statement, explaining that the new measures apply to British and Irish citizens as well as other nationalities. The move comes on the heels of a decision to suspend flights to Britain from South America and Portugal amid fears over the spread of variants of coronavirus, such as those first identified in Brazil. Britain has been hit hard by a surge in cases caused by the spread of a new and highly transmissible variant of its own. For the week ending Jan. 14, the country reported an average of 52,977 new cases daily and 1,072 deaths. On the positive side, more than 3.2 million Britons have received a first vaccination against the virus. Speaking to press on Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was vital to take extra measures now, when, day by day, we are making such strides in protecting the population. Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, welcomed the new restrictions but criticized ministers for being slow again. Many people will say, Why on earth didnt this happen before? he told news outlets.

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The C.D.C warns that the new virus variant could fuel huge spikes in cases. Health technicians help administer coronavirus tests Thursday at the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael, Calif. Credit... Jim Wilson/The New York Times Federal health officials sounded the alarm Friday about a fast spreading, far more contagious variant of the coronavirus that is projected to become the dominant source of infection in the country by March, potentially fueling another wrenching surge of cases and deaths. In a study released on Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that its forecasts indicated outbreaks caused by the new variant, which was first identified in Britain, could lead to a burgeoning pandemic. It called for a doubling down on preventive measures, including more intensive vaccination efforts across the country. The variant is not known to be more deadly or to cause more severe disease. But the dire warning  hedged by limited data about just how prevalent the variant has become  landed in a week where the nations nascent vaccination campaign was hampered by confusion and limited supplies as demand grew among growing numbers of eligible people. As of Friday, the variant first discovered in Britain had been detected in more than 70 cases from 13 states  most recently in Oregon  but the actual numbers are likely to be much higher, said Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases at the C.D.C. Current spikes in cases threaten to cripple already overwhelmed hospitals and nursing homes in many parts of the country. Some are at or near capacity. Others have faced troubling rates of infection among their staff, causing shortages and increasing patient loads. I want to stress that we are deeply concerned that this strain is more transmissible and can accelerate outbreaks in the U.S. in the coming weeks, said Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases at the C.D.C. Were sounding the alarm and urging people to realize the pandemic is not over and in no way is it time to throw in the towel. We know what works and we know what to do, he said. Covid cases and deaths have broken record after record across the country, with a peak number of deaths, 4,400, announced on Tuesday. At least 3,973 new deaths and 238,390 new cases were reported on Thursday, and the nation is nearing a milestone of 400,000 deaths. One in 860 Americans have died of Covid-19 in the last year, according to new figures released by the C.D.C. But the burden of deaths has not fallen equally across racial, ethnic lines and geographic regions, and there is concern that vaccines will not reach the hardest hit communities, where access to health services is limited and distrust is rampant. Apoorva Mandavilli and

India prepares to launch a vast Covid-19 vaccine drive, aiming to reach 1.3 billion people. A health care worker decorates a chair at a vaccine center on Friday in Pune, India, where the countrys first vaccine doses will be distributed. Credit... Atul Loke for The New York Times PUNE, India  India is preparing to launch one of the most ambitious and complex nationwide campaigns in its history: the rollout of coronavirus vaccines to 1.3 billion people, an undertaking that will stretch from the perilous reaches of the Himalayas to the dense jungles of the countrys southern tip. The toughest part might be persuading doubters like Shankar Patil to roll up their sleeves. Mr. Patil, a 27-year-old applicant to the state police academy, lives in Pune, the city central to Indias vaccine rollout, which is set to begin on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is staking his pride on Indias ability to manufacture enough inexpensive shots to inoculate his country as well as much of the developing world. India aims to do nothing less than protect humanity, Mr. Modi said recently at an online address to the Indian diaspora. Mr. Patil has questions. He and two friends, also aspiring police officers, expressed skepticism about the countrys vaccine approval process, which has been criticized by health experts for a lack of disclosure. We believe in the government, but nobody should play with our health, Mr. Patil said. If the vaccines are truly safe, they should make the data public. Little data has been published from the early trials of one of the two vaccines being rolled out, and the manufacturer has not yet completed its final trial, even as it is being distributed. Doubts about transparency only add to the obstacles. In addition to the logistical challenges, Indian officials must deal with a growing sense of complacency. After reaching a peak in the mid-September of more than 90,000 new cases per day, Indias official infection rates have dropped sharply. Fatalities have fallen by about 30 percent in the last 14 days, according to a New York Times database. City streets are buzzing. Air and train travel have resumed. Social distancing and mask-wearing standards, already lax in many parts of India, have slipped further. That alarms experts, who say the real infection rate is probably much worse than official numbers suggest. And doubts about the effectiveness of the vaccines are making the mission harder still. At least one state, Chhattisgarh, has refused to accept shipments of the vaccine that is still in its final trial. And just days ago, one of Indias top virologists was still weighing whether to receive a jab. Its really not a lack of confidence in the vaccine, Dr. Gagandeep Kang said. Its a lack of confidence in a process that allowed the vaccine to move forward in such a way. If my taking the vaccine would convince other people to take the vaccine, Id think thats not right. Emily Schmall and

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Upgrades will take Pfizers main European vaccine plant offline for weeks, stirring outrage in the region. A health care worker in Reims, France, last week, preparing the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. The delivery of more doses is being delayed in Europe. Credit... Andrea Mantovani for The New York Times BRUSSELS  Pfizer plans to halt production of its coronavirus vaccine for weeks as it undertakes upgrades to its manufacturing plant in Puurs, Belgium, in order to reach its goal of producing two billion doses this year  up from its earlier goal of 1.3 billion. The move, which will reduce deliveries to European Union member states as well as other countries, triggered outrage among health officials across the bloc and added to already strong concerns over the sluggish pace of immunizations. It comes as the virus continues to rage in the region, many people are supposed to be receiving timely second doses and more transmissible variants of the virus are emerging. On Friday, health ministers from six E.U. countries asked for urgent help from the European Commission, which has taken the lead in negotiating vaccine contracts with pharmaceutical companies on behalf of its 27 members. We are writing to you with severe concern about the sustainability and credibility of the Covid-19 vaccination process, following the oral announcements of BioNTech/Pfizer representatives about their delivery difficulties, said a letter addressed to the European commissioner for health, Stella Kyriakides, that was signed by senior ministers from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Officials responsible for vaccination in our countries were informed by BioNTech/Pfizer local representatives that delivery to our countries will be substantially reduced in the coming weeks, the letter continued, adding that some countries were told deliveries would resume Feb. 8, but others were not given a date at all. In a statement, Pfizer said that while its planned upgrade will temporarily impact shipments in late January to early February, it will provide a significant increase in doses available for patients in late February and March. The full impact of the disruption is not clear. Pfizer makes doses for the United States at its plant in Kalamazoo, Mich., and a company spokeswoman confirmed that only markets outside the country would be affected. Britain, which has left the European Union, is supplied by the Puurs plant, so is also likely to see reduced deliveries. The vaccine is also being produced at BioNTechs factory in Mainz, Germany. A plant in Marburg that BioNTech purchased last year is expected to start producing vaccine doses soon. In most of the region, citizens are still in some form of lockdown and the E.U.s efforts to inoculate 450 million people, which began in the last days of 2020, have been marred by shortages of syringes and trained personnel, among other problems. But the pace is stepping up in much the region. Italy, one of Europes worst-hit nations, announced on Friday that it had made its millionth vaccination. Lets continue like this, keeping up our guard, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte tweeted. Germany, the blocs largest and most populous country, has vaccinated some 700,000 people have been vaccinated. France, the blocs second-largest economy, is facing significant vaccine skepticism among other obstacles, and French authorities said on Friday that 380,000 people had been vaccinated. The E.U.s Center for Disease Control reported that Europe has had more than 28 million infections and more than 600,000 deaths, but those figures include a number of countries that are not in the European Union, including Britain and Russia.

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New York Citys Filipino nurses were hard hit by last years surge, and dread the second wave. Belinda Ellis, an emergency room nurse in Queens. Ive worked in Iraq in the height of the war, she said. This was worse. Credit... Desiree Rios for The New York Times Filipino nurses have a long history of working in New York City hospitals, and a number of studies have revealed how hard the coronavirus affected them in the early months of the U.S. outbreak. An analysis by ProPublica found that at least 30 Filipino health care workers in the New York City area had died from the virus by June. And a survey published in September by National Nurses United, the largest nurses union in the United States, went on to find that 67 Filipino nurses had died of Covid-19. That figure, which was pulled from public obituaries, is around a third of the total registered nurses who have died nationwide, though Filipinos make up only 4 percent of those nurses over all. Its really heartbreaking, said Zenei Cortez, the president of National Nurses United and a nurse from the Philippines herself. She also fears that the true toll is worse. The numbers we are producing are all underreported, Im sure of that. Now, another wave of infections has arrived. The infection rate in New York City has risen in recent weeks, and hospitalizations are increasing; more than 450 New Yorkers have died of Covid since the beginning of 2021. Many nurses working in hospitals are better prepared this time: They know how and when to use ventilators, for example. They also have priority in receiving the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which have been shown to be highly effective. But it will be weeks before New York Citys hospital workers are fully immunized. In the meantime, nurses in several of the citys hospitals have warned about a lack of protective gear. And some hospitals are reviving coronavirus units that became a necessity last spring.

Devastated by the pandemic, the travel industry pitches in with testing and vaccination sites. People arriving at a Disneyland parking lot to receive Covid-19 vaccines on Jan. 13. Credit... Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse  Getty Images The coronavirus has brought the travel industry to its knees. The U.S. Travel Association, a trade group that promotes travel to and within the country, estimates that nearly 40 percent of all travel jobs have been eliminated since the virus took hold in March. With hotels at record-low occupancy, some airports running on skeleton crews and fairgrounds emptied of guests, many domestic travel companies and operators have become part of an ad hoc relief effort, donating their resources and newly vacant spaces to help get the pandemic under control. Disneyland has been closed since mid-March, but last week the theme park in Anaheim, Calif., began serving as a vaccination super site. On Wednesday, a section of its Toy Story parking lot was full. Emergency medical workers and local residents over the age of 75 lined up for the first of five Orange County, Calif., Super POD (Point of Dispensing) sites, and Andrew Do, chairman of Orange Countys board of supervisors, says they will soon be able to inoculate 7,000 people a day there. The site is being run by the county, but in addition to providing space, Walt Disney Co. is providing some staffing assistance. Many other corners of the travel industry are looking for a way to pitch in to help end the pandemic. More than a dozen U.S. airports now double as Covid-19 testing sites, including Chicago OHare and Chicago Midway, Los Angeles International, Tampa, Newark and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Sharon Decker is president of North Carolinas Tryon Resort, which is set in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and includes a 300,000-square-foot indoor arena. She wasnt surprised when Polk County, N.C., officials reached out to see if she would be willing to donate that arena as a vaccination site, although she knew it would present logistical challenges. The site opened in mid-December. Those robust public-private partnerships will be key to getting the United States out of the pandemic, said Steven Pedigo, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and an expert in urban economic development. When it comes to a large-scale mobilization effort like nationwide vaccination, there is probably no sector better qualified than the travel industry, he said. This is what they do  they move people, and they move large amounts of goods and services, Mr. Pedigo said. Theyre in the business of crowd control. So it makes sense to do this at a Disney World or an Alamodome. They have the expertise for it.

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A leading public health organization takes stock of U.S. testing strategy. A health care worker carries a swab test to a patient at a testing center in Murray, Utah, on Thursday. Credit... Kim Raff for The New York Times An organization that represents U.S. state and local public health labs on Friday called for a more unified and consistent testing strategy to better combat the Covid-19 pandemic. In a report, the leaders of the Association for Public Health Laboratories criticized the nations testing response as inconsistent and uncoordinated. We are nearly a year into our response to Covid-19 and while we have made progress, we still face chronic challenges, Scott Becker, A.P.H.L.s chief executive, said in a statement. The lack of a coordinated national approach is the most vexing. Since the pandemics early days, fast and reliable tests have been in short supply, seeding long wait times and hampering the ability of public health officials to track and contain the spread of disease. The majority of the tests run in the U.S. have been routed through laboratories  a mainstay strategy in infectious disease diagnostics. But the production of materials and chemicals needed to collect and process test samples has lagged disastrously behind demand, while testing laboratories have struggled to fill employee vacancies, according to the report. The rise of rapid, non-laboratory tests has been billed as a potential solution. But concerns about the accuracy of some rapid tests, which tend to more often miss active coronavirus infections, especially in people without symptoms, have sown confusion about the role these tests can and cant play. The report called for the convening of a panel at the federal level to develop recommendations for a consistent national testing strategy, which would delegate specific roles to public and private testing laboratories, and identify priority populations for testing. It also advocated a federal stockpile for testing supplies to buffer laboratories against future shortages, as well as adequate funding for testing. Better testing efforts, the report noted, could also help track how well vaccines block the ability of the coronavirus to spread from person to person. Well-designed tests could also monitor the globe for new variants of the coronavirus. Citing the bungled efforts to set public expectations about the role of testing in the pandemic, the report also underscored the importance of clear communication. People taking tests, it noted, would need to know how to interpret their results in different settings, such as when patients are looking for a diagnosis, or when vulnerable populations without symptoms are checking themselves for silent infections.

In sharply worded departure letter, Alex Azar, the health secretary, tries to distance himself from the president. Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary, condemned President Trumps embrace of election conspiracies. Credit... Oliver Contreras for The New York Times Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary and one of the most prominent members of the Cabinet, took a parting shot at President Trump in a letter he wrote to him confirming his departure on Inauguration Day, suggesting that he considered quitting after a violent mob stormed the Capitol building last week. In a not-so-subtle condemnation of Mr. Trumps embrace of election conspiracies, Mr. Azar wrote that the actions and rhetoric following the election, especially during the past week, threaten to tarnish the administrations legacy, effectively telling Mr. Trump that his attempts to overturn the election results undermined his term. The letter, dated Jan. 12 and obtained by The New York Times, came days after two Cabinet officials, Betsy DeVos, the former education secretary, and Elaine Chao, the former transportation secretary, resigned after citing the Capitol invasion. The letter was also a notable break for Mr. Azar. He has repeatedly lavished attention and praise on Mr. Trump in his three-year tenure, ingratiating himself with West Wing officials. Still, the White House came close to firing him in the spring after a series of unflattering stories came out about Mr. Trumps handling of the pandemic, articles White House advisers believed Mr. Azar had a role in. Mr. Azar also called on Mr. Trump to demand that no one attempt to disrupt the inaugural activities in Washington or elsewhere and to support a peaceful transition of power. Mr. Azars letter includes just a single acknowledgment of Mr. Trumps influence on health policy, thanking the president for taking on entrenched special interests in health care. He added that with the pandemic raging and the obligations of a transition, he decided to stay on as health secretary until the end of the term. In an interview with ABCs Good Morning America this week, Mr. Azar said he had wrestled with the idea of staying on in the job after the riot, and declined to discuss whether he had talked with other Cabinet officials about the 25th Amendment.

Doctors offices contend with a deluge of requests for the vaccine. People waiting in line to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in Queens, N.Y., on Wednesday. Although only a few vaccination sites have doses, many primary care doctors are still receiving requests from patients. Credit... Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times Doctors offices are overflowing with inquiries from patients who hope to get the vaccine, even though most physicians do not have doses to offer. Overwhelmed with all the requests, staff members in some private medical offices are sending out emails and putting up posters in their offices and notes on their websites making it clear that they cannot provide the shot. But primary care and family medicine is a focal point of preventive care, and its where most people usually receive vaccines, said Shawn Martin, the chief executive officer of the American Academy of Family Physicians. So as patients become anxious about where and when they can receive the coronavirus vaccine, they are turning to their physicians, who in most instances simply do not have the shots. The tension has only increased this week when federal officials indicated that more doses from a stockpile would be sent to states. But they have since clarified that the batch is actually from a tranche saved for second doses. The calls are definitely flooding in, Mr. Martin said. I think the challenge today has been a lack of consistent prioritization and lack of a consistent distribution strategy. And that, he said, has made it even more difficult for physicians to field all the inquiries. Directing patients to the best information about where they may get the shots is not always a simple matter. Some health care services, such as Family HealthCare, a Maryland-based provider, have featured notices on their websites notifying patients that they cannot offer the vaccine. In bright red letters, Family HealthCares website reads: At this point we dont have details on logistics of vaccine distribution and administration. We are unsure if FHC will eventually have these vaccines to administer at our offices as it is dependent on state and local logistics. Dr. Andrew Carroll, a family physician and primary care doctor in Chandler, Ariz., said that his staff has been getting anywhere between 10 to 15 calls an hour inquiring about the vaccine. He said he is disheartened that he cannot actually provide the shot to his patients, particularly since his office bought a freezer equipped to store the Pfizer vaccine, which has to be kept at cold temperatures. To be kind of at the back of the line in terms of distribution for what is probably one of the most important vaccination programs of our lifetimes is so frustrating, he said. Were unfortunately having to tell our patients that we are not giving the vaccine. Dr. Carroll has been sending out emails informing his patients about the situation, but he is still getting calls  and he understands why. He said that some people who are hesitant about the vaccine might be reassured if their own doctors office was the one giving it. Many patients are very reluctant to get a vaccine that doesnt have a proven track record, he said. Theyd rather get the vaccine from somebody they can call right afterwards if theyre having problems.

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Undeterred by the pandemic, Hindu pilgrims gather in India. Pilgrims taking at the Ganges River for the Kumbh Mela festival in Haridwar, India, on Thursday. Credit... Reuters As India prepares to begin an ambitious coronavirus vaccination program this weekend, more than 700,000 Hindu pilgrims gathered to take a dip in the Ganges River on Thursday, the start of the Kumbh Mela, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world. The faithful who traveled to Haridwar, the holy town at the foothills of the Himalayas that is the site of this years pilgrimage, said a dip in the freezing waters will cleanse them of their sins and provide blessings that extend through several generations. The authorities said that about 1,000 people had been fined for not wearing masks or maintaining social distance, but Sanjay Gunjyal, a police official monitoring the crowd, acknowledged the difficulty of trying to enforce the rules. In a limited space, crowd management and maintaining social distancing is extremely difficult, he said. India has recorded at least 10.5 million coronavirus cases  the worlds second-highest total after that of the United States  although the South Asian nations outbreak is widely believed to be worse than the official figures suggest. At least 2,500 security personnel were stationed along the river, where Covid-19 testing centers were set up and attendees fevers were being checked. Their belief system was paramount and not the fear to catch Covid, said Manoj Singh Negi, a spokesman for the police department monitoring the event. That they got to touch the holy waters was the overriding sentiment.

With oxygen running low, a health care system in Brazil nears collapse. Workers carrying empty oxygen tanks at the Getulio Vargas Hospital in Manaus, Brazil, on Thursday. Credit... Edmar Barros/Associated Press A shortage of oxygen tanks in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas pushed the health care system to the brink of collapse this week as hospitals turned away sick people and officials scrambled to transport critically ill coronavirus patients to other states. The states governor, Wilson Lima, said that Amazonas, which grappled with a high number of cases and deaths in May, was in the grip of a more serious second wave. We are in a state of war, he said on Thursday. We face many difficulties in obtaining supplies. Our main difficulty has been in acquiring oxygen. Oxygen consumption has risen because of the rapid increase in patients who require hospitalization. Almost 220,000 people have been infected and 5,879 have died from the virus in the state. With more than 8.6 million cases and 206,000 deaths, Brazil has had one of the worlds worst outbreaks. Dramatic reports from relatives of patients and health professionals shared on social media and in local press reports on Thursday provided glimpses into the anguish of relatives of Covid-19 patients and overwhelmed health care workers. Jesem Orellana, a researcher at the medical research institute Fiocruz-Amazonia, told Folha de Sao Paulo that he had received upsetting videos and audio recordings from his peers. It leaves the impression that an entire ward of patients died due to a lack of oxygen, he said. Other Brazilians, such as Thalita Rocha, a psychologist who was with her mother-in-law at the polyclinic Dr. Jose Lins, in Manaus, took to social media, pleading for oxygen donations. Whoever has oxygen availability, bring it here to the polyclinic. Many people are dying, she said. We are in a deplorable situation. The crisis occurred after demand for oxygen soared above last years peak, in March, when daily consumption averaged 30,000 cubic meters. Currently, the demand exceeds 70,000 cubic meters. This is two and a half times higher than last years peak, said Marcellus Campelo, the secretary of health in Amazonas. We made a contingency plan considering the increase in cases, but the high demand surprised us. Over the weekend, the Brazilian Armed Forces began transporting oxygen cylinders from companies based in Sao Paulo and Fortaleza to Manaus to alleviate the crisis, but officials are scrambling to procure more. Mr. Lima on Thursday imposed a curfew in the city from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Participants in Modernas early clinical trials are being offered a booster shot. Debbie Heglin, a caregiver, got an injection of the Moderna vaccine at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in California this week. Credit... Jim Wilson/The New York Times People who received two shots of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine in its earliest, Phase 1 clinical trial are being offered a third shot, a so-called booster, as part of a continuing study to determine whether repeated vaccinations are needed and whether they are safe and effective, the company said on Thursday. The vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer, both using genetic material called mRNA, were shown in clinical trials to be about 95 percent effective at preventing symptomatic cases of Covid-19 when administered as a two-shot regimen. But they have not been in use long enough to tell how long the immunity lasts or whether additional booster shots will be needed. We anticipate that an additional dose could further boost the levels of neutralizing antibodies, should such a boost be required, and that this is expected to be an advantage of mRNA vaccines, Colleen Hussey, a Moderna spokeswoman, said in a statement. The immune system makes neutralizing antibodies in response to a virus or a vaccine, and can block the virus from breaking into cells. The companys statement said the boosters were being offered to participants six to 12 months after their second shot. Volunteers in early trials received different vaccine doses as part of the companys attempts to calibrate the most effective amount of active ingredient to use. The Moderna vaccine was ultimately given an emergency green light from the Food and Drug Administration as a two-dose vaccine of 100 micrograms of mRNA each. Trial volunteers who got lower doses might especially benefit from a third shot, said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University. In its statement, Moderna said that boosters might also be studied in people who took part in its later, Phase 3 study of 30,000 participants, if accumulating antibody persistence data indicate that this is warranted. Company officials said at a conference this week that they thought protection should last at least a year, according to a report by CNBC. But Modernas chief executive, Stephane Bancel, also said in an interview with CNBC that the vaccine might have to be adjusted in the future to immunize people against new coronavirus variants or strains, much as flu vaccines are regularly revamped. Denise Grady and Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker A look at all the vaccines that have reached trials in humans.

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China says its active caseload exceeds 1,000, and more news from around the world. A quarantine center under construction in Shijiazhuang, a city of 11 million people in northern China. Credit... Yang Shiyao/Xinhua, via Associated Press Chinas National Health Commission said on Friday that more than 1,000 people nationwide were being treated for Covid-19, a day after the country reported its first coronavirus death on the mainland since May. The commission said that 144 new cases had been recorded on Thursday, the highest daily figure since a series of new outbreaks began at the end of last year. Of 1,001 total patients in China, the commission said, 26 were reported to be in serious condition. While the toll remains far lower than in other countries, the surge is challenging the governments much-touted success in wresting the coronavirus under control. Hebei, the northern province surrounding Beijing that has been hardest hit in the latest surge, reported 90 more cases on Thursday. New outbreaks have also appeared in the central province of Shaanxi and in Guangxi, a southern province that borders Vietnam. The new outbreaks suggest that the virus is once again spreading widely despite the measures China has taken, including electronic monitoring and new lockdowns. More than 28 million people have been ordered to remain inside their homes  more than the number affected last January when the central government locked down Wuhan, the city where the virus was first reported. The National Health Commission reported that nine of the 144 cases recorded on Thursday involved people returning to China, but most of the new ones have spread domestically. In Shijiazhuang, a city of 11 million people where residents have been ordered to stay home since last week, the authorities have scrambled to build a large quarantine center in a rural district. The facility, which covers 82 acres, will ultimately have 3,000 trailer-like units, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Chinas Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it would allow a British scientist from the World Health Organization who had been stuck in Singapore to enter the country, after the scientist tested negative for coronavirus antibodies. The scientist is part of a team of experts from the health agency who arrived in the central city of Wuhan on Thursday to begin hunting for the source of the virus. Two members of the team  the British scientist and another from Qatar  were unable to enter because they had tested positive for coronavirus antibodies. The other 13 members are undergoing two weeks of quarantine in Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in late 2019. Steven Lee Myers, Mike Ives, Aurelien Breeden, Constant Meheut, Elian Peltier and
Virtual public meeting Jan. 27 for M-3 (Gratiot Avenue) project in Macomb County

Virtual public meeting Jan. 27 for M-3 (Gratiot Avenue) project in Macomb County

Diane Cross, MDOT Office of Communications, 313-375-2454 Transportation

WHAT:

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is hosting a virtual public meeting to discuss a project planned for M-3 (Gratiot Avenue) in the city of Roseville.

WHO:

MDOT representatives

Residents

Business owners

Community leaders

Media

WHEN:

5 - 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021

WHERE:

Click here to join the Microsoft Teams Virtual Public Meeting

To join by phone without using Internet, call 248-509-0316

Conference ID: 839 626 361#

How to attend a live event in Teams

Accommodations can be made of persons with disabilities and limited English-speaking ability. Large print materials, auxiliary aids or the services of interpreters, signers, or readers are available upon request. Please send a request at least seven days prior to the event to:

Orlando T. Curry

425 W. Ottawa St.

Lansing, MI 48909

Phone: 517-241-7462

Fax: 517-335-0945

TTY: 844-578-6563

CurryO@Michigan.gov

BACKGROUND:

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) will be rebuilding 3.4 miles of M-3 (Gratiot Avenue) between 11 Mile and 14 Mile roads in the city of Roseville. The project includes replacement of the asphalt roadway, water main and storm sewer work, sign replacement, and signal modernization, along with ramp and sidewalks that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Attendees will be able to join the virtual meeting to hear more about the project plans, ask questions, and provide feedback.

Public input is being sought to help MDOT recognize and address any concerns that may result from the project. Please submit public comment by Feb. 12, 2021. Provide your comments and questions using the online comment form, by mail, e-mail or phone to MDOT Public Involvement Specialist and Hearings Officer Monica Monsma at MonsmaM@Michigan.gov or:

Monica Monsma

MDOT Environmental Services Section

Van Wagoner Transportation Building

425 West Ottawa St.

P.O. Box 30050

Lansing, MI 48909

Copies of the meeting presentation will be available by mail or e-mail. Contact Monica Monsma at 517-335-4381 or MonsmaM@Michigan.gov to request a copy.
US President Donald Trumps Instagram and Facebook pages have been restored as of Friday.

It is not clear yet if Trump has access to the pages.

Following the deadly riot that occurred at the US Capitol on 6 January, Facebook banned Trump indefinitely from Instagram and Facebook.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Expressing her dissatisfaction over the "inadequate number of COVID-19 vaccines" supplied to West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said her government "strongly feels" that all people of the state should be inoculated free of cost. The chief minister also said that her government was ready to bear the financial burden for providing the doses free of charge in the state, if need be.

According to a state government official, Bengal was supposed to receive over 10 lakh vaccines in the first phase, but have got 6.89 lakh doses so far. The CM, while telephonically addressing all doctors, nurses, hospital support staff, students  who were attending a virtual meet from the 207 centres where Saturday's inoculation process started  said she "strongly felt that all people of West Bengal should get vaccines free of cost as early as possible", an official statement said.

Chief Secretariat Alapan Bandopadhyay chaired the virtual meet from the state secretariat. "The CM also mentioned that she has requested the central government to supply adequate numbers of vaccines, not only for the frontline workers but also for all the people of West Bengal. If needed, the state might bear the financial burden," the statement said.

During her address, Banerjee thanked health care workers for toiling hard amid the pandemic-induced crisis and providing treatment to the infected, besides performing their other medical duties. Earlier in the day, the chief secretary had held a virtual meeting with senior officials and monitored the entire inoculation process at different sites.

In the first phase of the vaccination drive, priority has been given to healthcare professionals, which include doctors, nurses, hospital support staff, ANMs and ASHAs. Incidentally, Banerjee had said last week that her government was making arrangements to provide COVID-19 vaccines for free to the people of the state.

In an open letter, the Trinamool Congress supremo had said that 'Covid warriors' or frontline workers such as policemen, home guards, civil defence volunteers, and correctional home and disaster management employees would be administered the vaccine on a priority basis.

.
My second most significant lesson about social media came courtesy of an old friend who has travelled to 85 countries and was driving along the Chuyskiy Tract in Siberia to the mausoleum of the ice maiden of Ukok, along the way Instagramming photos of such extraordinary beauty as to make the editor of National Geographic weep. Then came his blunt direct message: Dont believe the photos. This holiday is shit. The food was terrible, the accommodation rudimentary and the locals bemusing, to say the least.

But my most significant social media lesson came via lunch with an old university friend, who casually dropped reference to an anonymous Twitter account that was subjecting me to some low-level trolling. Turns out, the account was his. The online attacks were at the mild end of snark (having worked for Rupert Murdoch, I've had worse) and he thought it all a bit of amusing fun. I was astonished, wounded and later angry. Why put up with such crap from a senior Sydney commercial lawyer leading a double life as a Rupert-hating keyboard warrior, if you dont have to?

Twitter has banned Donald Trump. Credit:AP

It might be that your reaction to President Trumps incitement of insurrection that led to the storming of the Capitol has brought up issues around your experience of social media and reminded you of its peerless ability to alter your mood, or make you feel inadequate, or jealous, or aggressive. Truth is, those same issues have been unresolved since 1997, when US entrepreneur Andrew Weinrich created the first social media site, Six Degrees.

Margaret Simons, in The Age and the Herald last week, forecast that the Trump ban was a tipping point in the increasing regulation of social media, and I think she is right, but perhaps not quite in the manner she intended.
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Maharashtra government has decided to temporarily suspend the first phase of Covid-19 vaccination drive in the entire state due to technical issues with CoWIN App, the state health department said on Saturday.

Vaccinations are expected to begin after 18 January.

The inoculation drive suffered minor setbacks on Day 1 at some places due to glitches in the CoWIN app. In Maharashtra's Thane, the vaccination was halted temporarily when the connection to the CoWIN website was lost. As a result, messages were not being delivered to the beneficiaries.

The state authorities said that there were no connection issues when it was tested on 15 January.

In West Bengal, health workers had trouble uploading beneficiary data, as the app had reportedly slowed down. Tamil Nadu officials in Nilgiris too reported that they were unable to send post-vaccination acknowledgement to several beneficiaries.

The authorities in Punjab said that messages sent from CoWIN failed to reach the beneficiaries. The vaccination centre in-charge then had to telephonically send the acknowledgements.

In Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, some people scheduled to get the vaccine on day 1 did not receive the mandatory message from the CoWIN portal.

Several centres in Karnataka reported problems with CoWIN due to server crash. The app had crashed during a dry run in Bengaluru on 9 January too and the health workers had to rely on manual entry.

Vaccination halted in Odisha

Maharashtra became the second state after Odisha to temporarily suspend the vaccination drive. The Odisha administration has decided to halt the first phase of Covid-19 vaccination for a day on Sunday to observe those who received the vaccine on Saturday.

"We want to observe those who took the vaccine. From Monday, the vaccination drive will continue till all 3.28 lakh health workers are inoculated," said Pradipta Mohapatra, the additional chief secretary (health).

Vaccination drive in India

As many as 1,91,181 people were vaccinated across the country on Saturday after India kickstarted its mega vaccination drive against novel coronavirus.

"Serum Institute of India produced Covishield was supplied to all States/UTs. Bharat Biotech's Covaxin was supplied to 12 States. Total 3,351 sessions held across the country with both the vaccines," the health ministry said.





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Upcoming port projects will include the Centre for Phytosanitary Verification for Puerto Morelos

Puerto Morelos, Q.R.  The Comprehensive Port Administration of Quintana Roo (APIQROO) says they will move forward with port projects this year that will see more than 16 million in infrastructure investments.

While some of the investment money will go toward infrastructure repairs from October 2020 storms, a majority of the money will be spent on improvements for the terminals of Isla Mujeres, Puerto Morelos, Cozumel and Chetumal.

Alicia Ricalde Magana, general director of APIQROO (Administracion Portuaria Integral de Quintana Roo), explained that the rehabilitation of the retaining wall of the Puerto Morelos maritime terminal as well as the repair of the wooden docks of the Isla Mujeres and Puerto Juarez terminals, along with the Caletita ferry dock in Cozumel, are all part of the project.

She says that all those ports were damaged in October and will be repaired. However, one of the highlights of the upcoming projects will be the conclusion of the second stage of the Center for Phytosanitary Verification for Puerto Morelos.

A completed centre would allow for more imports and exports

Ricalde Magana said that once that area is finished, it will allow for the import of items such as vegetables and dried grains and the export of local crops such as citrus, pineapple and dragon fruit.

During this year, she said that a new module of sanitary services will be built in the Isla Mujeres terminal along with the expansion and remodeling of ferry facilities.

Once complete, the Director of the Administration stated that the port infrastructure projects will allow them to expand investment options as well as maintain and improve services to users.


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We are very excited to name Angelica Ramsey as our lone finalist to become the next superintendent of MISD schools. She has a proven record of improving academic outcomes, and we are grateful that she is willing to come back to Texas to make transformative academic improvements at MISD.

Dr. Ramsey currently serves as the superintendent of schools at Pleasant Valley School District in Camarillo, California, a diverse minority-majority district with a student enrollment of approximately 6,500 students since 2016. Under her leadership the last four years, students state assessment scores for English language arts and math now consistently outperform the county and state.

Prior to serving as superintendent, she served four years as chief academic officer and then associate superintendent of the Santa Clara County Office of Education serving approximately 276,000 students in some 31 school districts. During her tenure, her office received four state awards for their collaborative program in visual and performing arts, a comprehensive English learner professional development series, their curriculum leadership council and their STEAM program that helped increase 21st century teaching and learning.

In becoming MISDs superintendent, Ramsey will be returning to Texas where she began her teaching career as a teacher and coordinator for the Fine Arts Academy in the Socorro Independent School District in El Paso. At Socorro, she also served as assistant principal at Socorro High School during which time the school obtained recognized and then exemplary status under Texas then accountability ratings.

Her success led her to be tapped to open and become the first principal at Eastlake High School in Socorro. In her inaugural year, Eastlakes students, who served a student population of 73 percent economically disadvantaged and 23 percent English learners, became the only high school in the district to obtain recognized status. Under her leadership, Eastlake also became the first high school in the region to offer Mandarin classes, implement blended learning, a 1:1 technology program, and be certified in both engineering and Biomedical Sciences with Project Lead the Way Pathways.

In addition to impressing us during our interviews with her, we were also impressed with what others who have worked with her had to say about her.

For example, one of her current board members, Bob Rust, informed us that when she began as their superintendent at Pleasant Valley School District four years ago, Ramsey inherited a district that was a mess of distrust and unrest but with her fresh eyes, keen intellect bordering on brilliance and a very determined work ethic she righted the district through sheer will power and an undying work ethic.

Rust explained that she learned their district through a multi-month listening tour, then went to right to work. He described her as a data driven, fierce, fair and fearless administrator who moved quickly to pick her own team, pushed aside dangling debris left over from the previous administration and eliminated a 30-year tradition of because weve always done it that way that was wasting very scarce resources. We are excited that by beginning next month, she will be afforded the opportunity to do that this spring in MISD in preparation for next school year.

Ramsey also received high praise from the president of the local teachers union, Scott Wright, who acknowledged that although it was highly unusual for a superintendent and a union president to have a collegial relationship, he had one with Ramsey because from the moment he first met her, he was instantly struck about how genuinely she cared about improving our district. He confirmed that she inherited a difficult situation as teacher morale was at an all-time low and there were staffing problems at the district office. He reported that in response, Ramsey committed herself to improving both issues and did so quickly and efficiently. He explained that she understands how vital each employee is bringing together stakeholders to achieve a pleasant working environment for employees and attaining educational goals for students.

Wright also noted that Dr. Ramsey does her homework, comes to meetings informed and prepared, is comfortable in listening to others, has ambitious ideas, and that one of her great strengths is bringing together stakeholders to achieve a pleasant working environment for employees and attaining educational goals for students.

Wright summed up his thoughts this way; Dr. Ramsey has integrity and a calm demeanor, which inspires trust in employees, students, and parents. The praise she has garnered in our district is unprecedented. Whether it be revisiting old practices, tweaking current policies, or exploring new ideas, her enthusiasm and willingness to look at situations honestly prove to be formulas for success. She is solution-oriented and is quick to identify the nature of the issue or problem and solve it.

We could not be more excited about Ramsey and are very much looking forward to her becoming our next superintendent.

To get a sense of her personality and to learn more about her, I encourage everyone to listen to a nine-minute pod cast in which Ramsey was interviewed by searching the internet with these terms: Episode 16: Superintendent Angelica Ramsey - Pleasant Valley School District, California.
Irelands newest Lotto millionaire bought their winning ticket in Co Kerry.

A Quick Picket ticket sold at the Fitzgerald Centra filling station in Listowel won Thursdays 9pm Daily Million draw.

Lotto bosses are urging players to check their tickets as no winner has come forward yet.

The winning numbers drawn were 5, 7, 9, 16, 34, 37 and the bonus number was 21.

Friends Dan OConnor and Charlie Cantillon have run the Listowel filling station for the past 25 years, and they are delighted a customer has become an overnight millionaire.

What a way this is to start the year for one of our lucky customers, said Mr Cantillon.

There has been a lot of lottery luck in the Kingdom lately and its just incredible when you get the call to tell you that you have sold a big winning ticket.

With the ongoing travel restrictions, it is very likely that the customer is a local which makes the win even more sweet for us as business owners and for the wider community too.

Whoever the winners are, we hope that they enjoy the win and they get to celebrate it properly with friends and family once all of these restrictions are over.

The win comes after a bumper 2020 for Kerry in terms of Lotto wins.

Kerry players won more 23m in prizes last year including a 9.7m Lotto jackpot win in Killarney last April.

Daily Million draws take place twice a day, seven days a week at 2pm and 9pm.
EDWARDSVILLE  A St. Louis man was charged with multiple drug, weapon and vehicle-related charges Friday in Madison County.

Juan O. Barnes, 29, was charged Jan. 15 with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class X felony; offenses relating to motor vehicles and unlawful possession of a stolen firearm, both Class 2 felonies; unlawful possession of weapons by a felon, a Class 3 felony; and aggravated unlawful use of weapons, a Class 4 felony.

The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department.

According to court documents, on Jan. 14 Barnes was found to be in possession of between 15 and 100 grams of methamphetamine, a stolen 2015 Honda Civic and a stolen HiPoint JCP .45 caliber gun.

It was noted that Barnes had a prior 2015 conviction for manufacturing/delivery of controlled substance out of St. Louis, and the firearm was loaded was uncased, loaded and immediately accessible.

Bail was set at $150,000.

Other felony charges recently filed by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include:

 Ronald W. Artis, 31, of Granite City, was charged Jan. 15 with unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, a Class X felony; and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a Class 1 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. According to court documents, on Jan. 14 Artis was found to be in possession of more than 15 grams of Ecstasy with intent to deliver. Bail was set at $150,000.

 Kendra D. Thomas, 33, of Collinsville, was charged Jan. 15 with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class 2 felony; and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. According to court documents, on Jan. 14 Thomas was found to be in possession of less than five grams of methamphetamine, and less than 15 grams of fentanyl. Bail was set at $50,000.

 Sarah E. Powell, 40, of Granite City, was charged Jan. 14 with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. According to court documents, on Jan. 14 Powell was found to be in possession of less than five grams of methamphetamine. Bail was set at $25,000.

 Holden R. Mollett, 23, of Granite City, was charged Jan. 15 with two counts of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, both Class 4 felonies. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. According to court documents, on Jan. 15 Mollett attempted to flee in a 1998 Ford Ranger from a Granite City police officer, going more than 21 miles over the speed limit and disobeying several traffic control lights. Bail was set at $25,000.

 Timothy J. Farrar, 30, of Lawrenceville, was charge Jan. 15 with offenses relating to a motor vehicle, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the Illinois State Police. According to court documents, on Jan. 14 Farrar was found to be in possession of a stolen 2011 Ford Fusion. Bail was set at $50,000.
1,800 GPs and practice nurses are being vaccinated against Covid-19 at mass clinics in three locations today.

800 of those will be given the Moderna dose in Dublin's Phoenix Park, while teams in Galway and Portlaoise plan to administer 500 vaccines each.

GPs and their teams were chosen as they're in constant contact with patients and it's hoped they'll be giving the doses to others soon.

The HSE's National Director of Quality Improvement, Dr Philip Crowley, said more of these mass vaccination clinics could be set up in the coming weeks.

"Well for a start we will be giving all of these people a second dose in a month's time.

"Depending on supply of vaccine we would intend to run more of these mass vaccinations clinics probably in the next couple of weeks," he said.

GPs and their teams were chosen as they're in constant contact with patients and it's hoped they'll be giving the doses to others soon. File picture.

Speaking after receiving her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at Phoenix Park today, Dublin GP Sinead Cronin said there is a lot of relief among health workers due to the toll of the pandemic on their personal lives.

"There's a massive sense of relief among GPs, and all our GP nurses and all of our support staff.

"I think Covid has taken a huge amount away from people, as a society, and I think GPs on the frontline have just gone above and beyond at all stages of the pandemic, so its great to see the euphoria today coming out from people getting their vaccines "she said.

Private hospital staff vaccinations questioned

Meanwhile, the Tanaiste has questioned why staff at the Beacon Hospital, which has not made beds available publicly, have received the vaccine ahead of public hospital staff.

Leo Varadkar said the designation of the Beacon as a vaccination centre is at odds with the hospitals refusal to sign a deal on making beds available to the HSE to treat the mounting number of patients with Covid-19.

He pointed out that the Government policy is for those who are dealing directly with patients to have priority for the vaccine followed by those dealing with samples. Healthcare workers who are not dealing with patients are in the third tier of priority, he said.

The Tanaiste has question why staff at the Beacon Hospital have received the vaccine for Covid-19 ahead of public staff.

Labour leader Alan Kelly also criticised a situation n which staff in private hospitals would get vaccines ahead of those in public facilities, including those which had refused to offer beds to the State.

However, a spokesman for Beacon Hospital said only the 90 staff who are giving vaccines to HSE staff have themselves been already vaccinated.

The remainder of Beacon Hospitals 1,700 staff will be vaccinated when scheduled by the HSE, he said.

Yesterday it emerged that the country's vaccination rollout programme may need to be adjusted in the wake of a decision by Pfizer to reduce deliveries to Europe.

The pharmaceutical giant is scaling up its plant in Belgium, but the move could see a delay in the delivery of vaccines to some countries across the continent.

Concerns have also been raised as it was announced the period of time between people receiving the two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine is being increased to 28 days from the current 21 days.

A spokeswoman for the HSE said vaccine roll-out plans have to be flexible.

Pfizer has informed the HSE that there may be fluctuations in orders and shipping schedules over the coming weeks, she said.

"This is a dynamic situation with discussions ongoing at EU level. The HSE remains in close contact with Pfizer to manage the continuity of the supply line.
The High Anti-Corruption Court (HAAC), by its decision dated January 13, ordered the prosecutor general to consider a motion to transfer criminal proceedings on suspicion of the deputy head of the President's Office from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) back to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

"In his decision, the judge of the HACC says that one of the facts that is being investigated under this proceeding is the provision of an unlawful benefit to an official by the MP of Ukraine. Consequently, a criminal offense under Part 3 of Article 369 was committed by the MP of Ukraine and, according to Article 216 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, can only be investigated by NABU detectives," the NABU press service said.

The NABU said that the decision to transfer the case to the SBU in the future may lead to the fact that the perpetrators will avoid responsibility for the crime, since all the evidence collected will be declared inadmissible by the court due to the investigation by an inappropriate agency.

"Limited investigative jurisdiction is provided for NABU and SAPO, defined by lawmakers as a guarantee of an effective and impartial pretrial investigation of corruption crimes committed by top officials. The law directly prohibits the transfer of cases in which crimes under investigation by the NABU are investigated to other pretrial investigation agencies," the court's judge said.

Director of NABU in agreement with the acting the head of the SAPO turned to the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) with a decision to request criminal proceedings in accordance with Articles 110, 216 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and Article 17 of the law of Ukraine on the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. In addition, the director of NABU sent to the PGO a resolution on the need to instruct the pretrial investigation in this case to the NABU detectives, taking into account the provisions of Article 216 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

"However, the prosecutor general does not comply with these decisions," the NABU said.

Later, Tatarov denied NABU's information about the HACC decision.

"The information made public by NABU that the HACC allegedly made a decision against me is not true. The Highe Anti-Corruption Court refused to initiate the appeal," he wrote on the Telegram channel on Friday.
You are here: China

China's spacecraft tracking ship Yuanwang-7 is sailing to the Indian Ocean, beginning its first maritime monitoring mission this year.

The ship departed from a port in east China's Jiangsu Province Friday.

To ensure the success of the mission, the crew members were brought together and quarantined before the voyage to prevent COVID-19 infection. They have examined facilities and prepared medical supplies.

As a member of China's new generation of spacecraft tracking ships, Yuanwang-7 has been developed with the latest technologies in shipbuilding, space monitoring, marine meteorology and shipping power.

Since it was put into use in 2016, the ship has completed maritime missions for tracking space lab Tiangong-2, the Chang'e-4 lunar probe and BeiDou satellites.


In this week's Torah portion, Va'era, God hears the cries of the Israelites and promises to free us from bondage. But when Moshe comes to the children of Israel to tell them that, Torah says:

       They did not hear Moshe, because of kotzer ruach and hard servitude.

Rashi explains the phrase kotzer ruach by saying, "If one is in anguish his breath comes in short gasps and he cannot draw long breaths." For the Sforno, kotzer ruach means "it did not appear believable to their present state of mind, so that their heart could not assimilate such a promise."

So which one is it, a physical shortness of breath or a spiritual diminishment that keeps hope beyond our grasp? Of course, the answer is both. Body and spirit are not separable. If you've ever had a panic attack, you know the feeling of being physically unable to breathe because of an emotional or spiritual reality.

Kotzer ruach means that we were short of breath in body and soul. Our breath and our spirits were in tzuris, suffering. Literally at this point in our story we are in Mitzrayim (hear that same TzR / sound there?) But this isn't about geography, it's about an existential state of being so constricted that we couldn't even hear the hope that things could be better than this.

I know a lot of us are navigating heightened anxiety these days. A scant ten days ago, an armed mob refusing to accept the results of November's election broke in to the US Capitol with nylon tactical restraints and bludgeons. Many members of that mob proudly displayed neo-Nazi or white supremacist identities.

It's becoming increasingly clear that the attack on the Capitol wasn't spontaneous, but planned. The FBI is warning now about armed attacks planned in all fifty state capitols and in DC, on inauguration day if not before.

The covid-19 pandemic worsens by the day. We keep breaking records for number of sick people and number of deaths. Meanwhile the integrity of our country feels at-risk. I mean both our capacity to be one nation when some portion of that nation refuses to accept electoral defeat, and our moral and ethical uprightness.

Anybody here feeling kotzer ruach? Me too.

And... Our Torah story comes this week to remind us that kotzer ruach is not the end of the story. Being in dire straits -- unable to breathe, unable to focus, hearts and souls unable to hope -- is not the end of the story. On the contrary, it's the first step toward liberation.

In our Torah story, our kotzer ruach causes us to cry out. That's where this week's Torah portion begins: with God saying hearing our cries and promising to help us out of narrow straits. If you have a prayer practice or a meditation practice or a primal scream practice, now is the time to cry out. (And if you don't have such a practice, now is a good time to start.)

I don't actually believe that God "needs" us to cry out before God takes notice of us. I think it goes the other way. We need to cry out, because that's the first step in opening our hearts to God -- to hope -- to the possibility that things can get better.

The path toward the pandemic getting better is pretty clear. We shelter in place as best we can, we stay apart, we wear our masks, we get the vaccine. And then we probably keep wearing our masks. But in time, it will be safe to gather again outside of our household bubbles. In time, we will be able to gather in community, and sing together without risk, and embrace.

The path toward restoring the integrity of our nation is less clear to me. I think it involves accountability, and justice, and truth, because I think integrity always asks our commitment to those ideals. Regardless, we begin that journey from here, where we are, crying out with our anxious and broken hearts.

We've entered the lunar month of Shvat, known mostly for Tu BiShvat, the New Year of the Trees, which will take place at the next full moon. The full moon after that brings Purim. And the full moon after that brings Pesach, festival of our liberation. These three full moons are our stepping-stones to spring, and change, and freedom.

When I was working recently with the rabbis and poets and artists of Bayit on new liturgy for Tu BiShvat, one of my colleagues said something that moved me so much I wrote it on a post-it and stuck it to my desk. I wrote,

"Karpas dipped in tears -- like the tears that water our new growth."

Karpas is the spring green we dip in salt water during the seder. The salt water represents the tears of our enslavement, the tears of feeling stuck in kotzer ruach. For us this year those might be tears of grief at covid-19 deaths: 381,000 and counting. They might be tears of grief at how far our democracy has fallen from its ideals, or tears of fear for whatever may be coming.

Our tears can water new growth of heart and soul. Our heart's cry now is the first step toward the changes that will lead to liberation. Then we will fulfill the words of the psalmist: "Those who sow in tears will reap in joy." Kein yehi ratzon.

This is my d'varling from Shabbat services at my shul (cross-posted to my From the Rabbi blog.)

Illustration, by R. Allie Fischman, from Connections: Liturgy, Art, and Poetry for Tu BiShvat, Bayit, 2021.
UK Prime Minister announced that the country will close all travel corridors from Monday onwards in a bid to keep out new variants.

The UK "will temporarily close all travel corridors from 4 a.m. on Monday", the Prime Minister during a virtual press conference at Downing Street on Friday.

The new measure means that travellers entering the country must have proof of a negative Covid-19 test in the previous 72 hours, reports Xinhua news agency.

Anyone arriving in the UK must quarantine for 10 days or they have the choice of doing an extra test on day five to shorten the isolation, Johnson said.

"What we don't want to see is all that hard work undone by the arrival of a new variant that is vaccine busting," he said.

The Prime Minister made the remarks after the UK on Thursday banned arrivals from South America, Portugal and some other countries over fears about a strain of the virus detected in Brazil.

The new rules will be in place until at least February 15, he said.

Meanwhile, Johnson said 3.2 million people have so far received Covid-19 vaccines.

The pressures on the National Health Service (NHS) are "extraordinary" and it would be "fatal" to show complacency now, he said.

"This is not the time for the slightest relaxation of our national resolve," Johnson said, urging the public to stay at home.

England is currently under the third national lockdown since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country.

Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Another 55,761 people have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 3,325,642, according to official figures.

Another 1,280 have died within 28 days of a positive test, which increased the overall fatality toll to 87,448.

--IANS

ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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The power of cooperation is the only tool we have to emerge from the shadow of Covid-19, says the Chinese infectious disease expert

May 27, 2021 08:27 PM
Gurugram, Jan 16 : The Covid-19 vaccine drive in Gurugram was launched on Saturday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching the national-wide drive via video conferencing aimed at ending the pandemic.

The Covid vaccine was first administered to a sanitation worker named Radha Chaudhary, 47, along with district immunisation officer M.P. Singh.

Addressing the country digitally, the Prime Minister said that India managed to make vaccines in a very short period which usually takes years.

Modi also welcomed the efforts of scientists who were involved in vaccine research and process, saying they deserve special praise for making these vaccines and with the help vaccine India will mark victory against the deadliest virus.

The Prime Minister further reminded people to get two doses of the vaccine, after a gap of one month between the first and second doses.

"The necessary doses of the vaccine will develop enough strength to fight against the Covid-19 virus," the Prime Minister said.

Meanwhile, Gurugram has more than 36,000 health workers and on Saturday 600 of them will get the vaccine at six locations in Gurugram -- Wazirabad girls' school, Bhangrola, Daultabad, Medanta the medicity hospital, Chauma and SGT medical college.

According to the district health department, the vaccination drive would be carried out on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Vaccines would be administered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and in each vaccination centre upto 100 people would be vaccinated on a single day.

In Gurugram around 57,729 Covid-19 cases have came to fore out of which 349 people have lost their lives till January 15, according to daily health bulletin.

The district Health Department on Thursday received 85,400 doses of the Covid vaccine for five districts including Gurugram.

Virender Yadav, civil surgeon, Gurugram, had received the doses from Kurukshetra district in Haryana. The vaccine was placed in a cold chain centre in Pataudi under the supervision of Yadav.

From Gurugram, the vaccine has been supplied to other districts which include Faridabad, Nuh, Rewari and Palwal.

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Artist Juliana Notari in front of the "Diva" sculpture installed in the Usina de Arte sculpture park in Pernambuco, Brazil. Juliana Notari

A giant, 108ft vulva-like sculpture installed on a Brazilian hillside late last year caused controversy across the country and beyond.

"Diva" is the work of visual artist Juliana Notari and is located within the Usina de Arte sculpture park in northeast Brazil.

Some took issue because the sculpture was anatomically incorrect for a vulva after it was widely reported as representing one, although Notari never explicitly said this at any point.

A Facebook post included an image showing Notari posing with the 20 men who had built the piece, which many also took issue with considering that it was intended to be a feminist piece.

Politicians and the public reacted with fury, calling it "horrifying," "a disgusting eyesore," and "leftist propaganda."

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A giant, 108ft vulva-like sculpture installed on a Brazilian hillside late last year caused controversy across the country and beyond.

The piece, 'Diva,' is the work of visual artist Juliana Notari and is located within the Usina de Arte sculpture park in northeast Brazil.

Diva is 108 feet high, 52ft wide, and 19ft deep and was widely compared to a vulva in the international press, leading to criticism about its anatomical inaccuracy due to the absence of a clitoris and labia.

The "Diva" sculpture is 108ft high, 52ft wide and 19ft deep. Juliana Notari

However, Notari told Insider: "I have to say that Diva cannot be reduced to a vulva. Diva is a big wound. If she were just a vulva, I would have made the big lips, the clitoris. I am not interested in building just one vulva, as it is precisely its form of wound that makes it possible to open the field of meanings of the work."

The massive piece took over 11 months to construct, which the artist detailed in a Facebook post from New Year's Eve.

She also explained: "In 'Diva,' I use art to dialogue with issues that refer to gender issues from a female perspective combined with a cosmopocentric and anthropocentric western society."

Story continues

The Facebook post also included an image showing Notari posing with the 20 men who had built the piece, which many online took issue considering that it was intended to be a feminist piece.

Others pointed out that the sculpture park, which covers around 74 acres of land, is built on the site of an old sugar mill and that an image of the workers from the post showed that they were all Black.

"Diva" was installed in the Usina de Arte sculpture park in Pernambuco, Brazil which is the site of an old sugar mill. Juliana Notari

Notari replied: "The photo is a portrait of our Brazilian society. The art world, one of the most elite social fields, is not a world apart from society. It mirrors society with all its problems as well.

"Wounds such as slavery, sexism, the extermination of indigenous peoples, and the military dictatorship have not been treated and, therefore, Brazil remains ill.

"I think it is important that art through Diva brought these colonial traumas to the fore. I am not afraid to deal with trauma. It is necessary to endure the discomfort to be able to reinvent itself."

Read More: Anonymous spreadsheets allege sexual harassment and racism at some of the biggest ad agencies in Brazil

Politicians and the public both reacted to the art, with some calling it "horrifying," "a disgusting eyesore," and "leftist propaganda."

Right-wing Brazilian figure Olavo de Carvalho also commented on the giant vulva and tweeted that it should be twinned with a penis.

Artist Juliana Notari paints the "Diva" sculpture she designed in the Usina de Arte sculpture park in Pernambuco, Brazil. Juliana Notari

The artist said: "Historically taken as a sign of women, the vulva for millennia has been attacked, annulled and subdued by patriarchy.

"While the vulva or menstrual blood, for example, are transformed into taboo, on the other hand, we have the phallus consecration, taken as a symbol of victory, courage, strength, power."

Responding to the backlash she received after the installation of the piece was completed, the sculptor also told Insider: "One of the open wounds that Diva puts its finger on is undoubtedly the misogyny that arises from the structural patriarchalism in Brazilian society."

Notari said that this had been constantly reinforced by the hate speeches of the right-wing Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro.

She added: "Their ideas, behaviors and mainly their policies have supported that part of the population that shares these same macho values, which ended up acquiring a kind of 'legitimacy.'"

Diva is part of the 'Dr. Diva's project showcases Notari's work and has been touring across Brazil and Europe for two decades.

One of her most notable works displayed in France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands portrayed a bleeding vagina using cow's blood.

Read the original article on Insider
Denton, TX (76205)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. A few storms may be severe. Low around 65F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall may reach one inch..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. A few storms may be severe. Low around 65F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall may reach one inch.

MEXICO CITY: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday backed the decision by his countrys attorney general not to charge ex-Defense Minister General Salvador Cienfuegos with drug crimes, in a case that has roiled U.S.-Mexico diplomatic relations.

Cienfuegos, who was minister from 2012 to 2018 during the government of former President Enrique Pena Nieto, was arrested in October at Los Angeles airport on charges he worked with a powerful drug cartel. U.S. prosecutors later dropped the case and returned him to Mexico to be prosecuted, citing diplomatic sensitivities.

Mexicos government vowed to thoroughly investigate Cienfuegos case but on Thursday, less than two months after his return from the United States, Mexicos attorney general office concluded that Cienfuegos had no contact with members of the criminal organization.

It also said it had found no evidence that Cienfuegos wealth had increased in any untoward manner.

Its a decision the attorney generals office makes, but one that the government I represent supports," said Lopez Obrador in his regular morning news conference.

On Lopez Obradors instructions, Mexicos foreign ministry on Friday published a 751-page document showing the U.S. evidence against Cienfuegos, including detailed logs of alleged Blackberry communications.

The fallout from the case has soured relations with Washington ahead of U.S. President-elect Joe Bidens swearing in next week. Lopez Obrador on Friday said the U.S. investigation had not been conducted with professionalism."

A U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman said the United States reserved the right to restart the prosecution of Cienfuegos if Mexico did not do so.

Mexico said the failure to alert officials before the arrest marked a before and after" in bilateral ties. In December it created new rules governing how foreign agents, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, operate in the country.

A watered-down, final version of those rules was published hours before the decision to drop the Mexican case against the former general, in a sign that security cooperation between the neighboring countries will continue.

The manner in which the Cienfuegos case was handled by Mexican authorities sent a worrying signal about the rule of law and impunity within the armed forces, with whom Lopez Obrador has developed close ties, analysts said.

This is not only giving them impunity but also allowing extended and deeper impunity," said Falko Ernst, a senior International Crisis Group analyst for Mexico.

We are getting further away from the autonomous accountability and transparency mechanism that would be needed down the line to break high level corruption and collusion between the state and crime groups," he added.

THE GODFATHER

Cienfuegos arrest in the United States followed a multi-year investigation that used wire taps to track a military figure who traffickers called El Padrino, or The Godfather.

The U.S. investigators said they concluded El Padrino was Cienfuegos and that he had helped drug traffickers move tonnes of narcotics.

The U.S. investigation published by the Mexican government appeared to be almost entirely based on messages picked up from a Blackberry device. The alleged messages from Cienfuegos are littered with typographical errors and spelling mistakes.

One source with knowledge of the situation said the case failed to establish ownership of the Blackberry.

The DEA and DOJ declined to comment on specific details of the case. The Eastern District of New York did not respond to a request for comment.

Lopez Obrador said Mexicos attorney generals office had acted because it considered that the evidence presented by the United States governmenthas no evidentiary value."

The president added that if evidence surfaces against others mentioned in the U.S. investigation of Cienfuegos, Mexico could pursue cases against them.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
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On Friday September 1 1939, many months of uncertainty in European capitals concerning German intentions towards Poland were made clear when elements of the German armed forces advanced eastwards into Poland along a wide front in a surprise attack utilising the new tactic of Blitzkreig/Lighting War.

Britain and France, which had guaranteed to come to Poland's aid in the event of being attacked by Germany, demanded that Germany should withdraw immediately. When Germany ignored the British protest note which demanded that it cease military activity and withdraw its troops from Poland by 11 a.m. Sunday September 3rd 1939 or otherwise a state of war would exist between them, at 11.15 a.m. that morning British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain broadcast to the British people over the BBC informing them that the Germany had not replied to or acted on the British protest note and concluded his broadcast with the declaration:- 'that consequently this county is at war with Germany.'

France declared war on Germany at 5 p.m. that Sunday, thus ushering in the period we know as World War 2 in Europe which was to last until the end of hostilities on May 6 1945.

The previous day, Saturday September 2, Taoiseach Eamon de Valera had recalled the Dail and Seanad following the German invasion of Poland and introduced two bills which had been previously drafted to cover such an eventuality.

The First Amendment to the Constitution Bill was an elaboration of the term 'time of war' in Article 28 of the Constitution which according to de Valera's proposal would be now interpreted as 'a time when there is taking place an armed conflict in which the state is not a participant but in respect of which each of the Houses of the Oireacthtas shall have resolved that, arising out of such armed conflict, a national emergency exists affecting the vital interests of the state'.

The Emergency Powers Bill gave the Government almost total powers to secure public safety and the preservation of the state through the issuing of Emergency Powers Orders which came in an unending steam throughout the Emergency.

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The two bills were passed by both houses after a late night sitting and were then sent to President Douglas Hyde for signature early on Sunday September 3, hours before Britain formally declared war on Germany. The Government chose to adopt the term Emergency rather than war for the duration of hostilities in Europe and it is by this name that this period in Irish history is referred to even though it was not until 1941 that a National Emergency was formally declared by statutory order.

Adopting a policy of neutrality was easier said than done but being an island nation was a distinct advantage. In reality de Valera knew that Britain was Ireland's closest neighbour and the country with whom we did most of our trade and that our neutrality would have to be slanted in their favour, a policy concealed from the public at the time and only in recent years has the full extent of this pro-British stance emerged and continues to do so as more and more archive material is released into the public domain from the Irish and British Public Record Offices.

In 1939 the Irish public was informed that Ireland would maintain a strict and even handed neutrality policy towards the belligerents in the looming European war, a stance accepted by the majority of the population but at the same time de Valera made it clear that he would not allow the country to be used as a stepping stone by any belligerent, i.e. Germany, to invade Britain.

At the start of the Emergency the Irish Defence Forces suffered from extreme shortages of modern equipment with which to defend the country. While manpower was available, equipment was not. There was an acute shortage of searchlights, anti-aircraft guns and ammunition, and modern aircraft to defend our air space from incursions by belligerent aircraft.

Lacking radar, there was no way that Air Corps aircraft could be scrambled to intercept belligerent aircraft flying in Irish air space and instead could only fly standing patrols.

The Air Corps also lacked aircraft with night flying capabilities. Movements of all aircraft in Irish airspace from ground observers were relayed to Air Defence Command HQ in Dublin where their movements were plotted and monitored.

Defending Irish territorial waters was in the hands of the Marine Service which commenced the Emergency with fisheries protection vessel LE Muirchu, the former HMS Helga of 1916 Easter Rising fame, followed by LE Fort Rannock acquired on November 11 1939.

Both vessels were adapted for use as warships by fitting each of them with a 12-pound naval gun and Vickers machine guns and were commissioned on January 15 1940.

On January 18 1940 the first of 6 motor torpedo boats arrived from Thornycroft in England for use as coastal patrol vessels but in time were found to be unsuitable for this role. In October 1940 the steam drifter 'Shark' was acquired and entered service as a mine planter while in December 1940 the 3-masted schooner 'Isallt' was purchased for use as a training vessel.

At the outbreak of World War 2 the Germans began a massive mine laying operation in the shipping channels around Britain to disrupt shipping movements and trade using contact mines laid by submarines and surface vessels. Contact mines were large circular balls or spheres filled with high explosive from which a number of horns projected and once one of these horns came in contact with an object, a firing circuit was activated which detonated its contents.

The other types of mine used were impulse mines, better known as magnetic mines, dropped from aircraft onto the seabed of shipping lanes, the firing mechanism of which was activated by the magnetic field emanating from metal hulled vessels. Their use only came to light when ships were sunk for no apparent reason while others began reporting explosions in and around them when there were no German naval vessels or aircraft in the immediate vicinity.

Between September and November 1939 these devices had a major impact on British coastal shipping until effective counter measures were developed by the Royal Navy in November 1939.

On the night of November 22 1939, two of these devices were dropped by parachute from a German aircraft over the Thames Estuary, landing not as intended in the shipping lanes but on mud flats at Shoeburyness where they were discovered, successfully defused and 'made safe' by two Royal Navy bomb disposal teams. The first mine was defused by Lt Commander Ouvry whose actions were successfully replicated by a colleague on the second mine.

Both mines were then dragged across the mudflats to road transport and brought to the Royal Navy establishment HMS Vernon at Portsmouth. Here the two mines were taken apart, their workings studied in great detail and counter measures devised within 48-hours which were successfully implemented resulting in reducing the effectiveness of these devices.

This counter-measure system known as 'degaussing' was extremely effective in neutralising the effects of these weapons. A number of temporary systems were also developed which had the effect of reducing the magnetic field emanating from metal-hulled ships for up to 6 months. Additionally, a number of methods were developed by the Royal Navy which made it possible to sweep shipping lanes for them and detonate them when encountered. Metal hulled Irish ships engaged in the cross-channel trade were 'degaussed' as a matter of routine as these magnetic mines did not distinguish between an enemy or neutral ship.

The German Navy was now left with stocks of a weapon which no longer gave them a tactical advantage until a new version of this type of device could be developed. Rather than scrapping the remaining stocks, the German Air Force acquired them and decided to use these devices as blast bombs and delayed action bombs during the London Blitz, a role in which they were extremely successfully.

For this role, the mines were fitted with a preset clockwork timing mechanism, which fired the mine. Dropped by parachute during an air raid, they could not be heard coming down by those on the ground and could be set to explode when they were 50 feet above ground level, causing tremendous blast damage. When fitted with delayed action timing mechanisms, they often lay undetected on the ground or on the top of buildings, exploding up to 48 hours after they were dropped.

During 1940, bombs from German aircraft fell on Irish territory at several locations:

August 26: Campile and Ambrosetown, County Wexford - three people were killed in the Shelbourne Co-Operative Creamery.

October 25: Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow.

December 20: Glasthule and Carrickmacross, Dublin.

On the nights of January 1 and 2, 1941, the Luftwaffe made a number of incursions into Irish airspace, some due to navigation errors and others due to pilots trying to evade British air defences or taking a short cut while on their way to and from their assigned targets.

Bombs fell that night in Drogheda, County Louth and on the following night at Duleek and Julianstown, County Meath, The Curragh, County Kildare, Terenure in Dublin, Ballymurrin near Oylgate, County Wexford, and Borris, County Carlow, where three people were killed and two injured, the only location people were killed or injured that night.

Around 10.30 p.m. on the night of Wednesday, January 1, 1941, a number of people in the Enniskerry/Kilmacanogue area heard the sound of an aircraft, including Mr Luke Messett who lived in the townland of Stylebawn.

He stepped outdoors to see what was happening and saw searchlights come on over Dublin after which the aircraft seemed to turn back from its course.

He then saw what appeared to be two objects fall from the sky, which he assumed were aircraft, followed by the sound of two heavy thuds. Having no telephone, he went to the house of the artist Paul Henry, who lived nearby, and informed the Garda Siochana in Bray of what he had just seen and heard.

Bray Garda Siochana station contacted the Enniskerry Garda station from where a party of gardai with members of the Local Security Force set out to search for what was believed to be the remains of two aircraft. It was a very cold night with snow lying on the ground but despite these inclement weather conditions, the party searched the area around Stylebawn from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. by torch and lantern light but found nothing.

The next morning, when Mr William Bush stepped out from his cottage, he noticed two strange objects lying 50 yards apart from each other in a field about 100 yards from his house which looked like two large tar barrels.

He went to Paul Henry's house and telephoned the authorities with details of his discovery. Within a short time the Garda Siochana, the Army, and members of the Local Security Force arrived on the scene and evacuated all houses in their immediate vicinity as a safety measure with householders asked to leave their doors and windows open as an anti-blast measure to reduce damage should one or both the objects explode.

During the evacuation process, a young girl was asked by a member of the evacuation party to go up to one of the parachutes and to remove part of it for him as he wanted the silk it was made from to use for clothing purposes but the girl's mother refused to allow her to do this.

The task of identifying and defusing these devices fell to the members of the Army Ordnance Service, working under the direction of Col. McGrath, Director of the Ordnance Service.

Once the objects were identified as German magnetic naval mines being used as bombs, the work of defusing and making them safe commenced. Both mines were 7 feet in length, without the dome (nose cone), were cylindrical in shape, still had their parachutes attached, and contained about 500kgs of high explosives. The task of rendering them 'safe' fell to Commandants Martin Kelly and J.P. Flanagan, who each took one of the mines. Their first task was to ensure that the clockwork timers in them were not running using stethoscopes and once satisfied that these were not activated when the mines hit the ground, then removed the parachute harnesses attached to them which were subsequently examined for identifying marks but none indicating the country of origin was found on them.

Their next task was to locate and identify the type of firing mechanism fuze they were fitted with and after spending several hours examining them, and checking at intervals that clockwork timer mechanisms had not been activated, discovered that fuzes had been stripped off and pulled away using techniques or information which may have been provided by the Royal Navy to the Irish Army.

Eventually after being photographed in detail, and various parts removed for subsequent examination, it was determined that both magnetic mines were in such a dangerous condition that they could not be moved from their landing site for destruction elsewhere.

The decision was then taken to destroy them on the spot using the technique now known as a 'controlled explosion' and in order to minimise blast damage, two tons of sandbags were piled on top of each mine with the aim of directing the blast into the ground.

On Thursday evening, the Government Information Bureau stated on behalf of the Department of Defence that '2 magnetic sea mines dropped by parachute by aircraft the previous evening at Glencormac in the townland of Stylebawn, near Enniskerry, would be detonated by Army Engineers on Friday between 12 Noon and 2 p.m.'

Prior to their detonation, occupants of houses living within a radius of between 2 to 3 miles were advised to open all windows and doors and to remove livestock from the land until after the explosion of the mines.

Eight families living within a mile radius of the mines were evacuated from the area with this operation carried out by Enniskerry Parish Council with the help of Reverend J Kenny, PP, Enniskerry and Reverend Fr Sherwin, CC, Kilmacanogue, with the O'Toole, Burke and McLane families being the first to be evacuated as their houses were about 50 yards from where the mines lay. Anyone living within a half mile of the mines had to stay overnight with neighbours whose houses were considered a safe distance from them.

Most of Friday, January 3, was spent ensuring that sufficient sand bags were piled on them while the afternoon was spent by the military authorities attaching the demolition charges to them, laying the detonation fuse wire and ensuring that the firing system to detonate the mines was fully operational while a cordon was maintained around the entire area to keep spectators out of the danger area.

This cordon was manned by the Local Defence Force and the Local Security with Assistant District Leader Peter Ledwidge of Bray, Section Leader Patrick Ashford, and Assistant Group Leader A Dunne, Enniskerry, on the scene all the day.

Prior to detonation one of the officers pessimistically stated 'We do not know what is going to happen, really. The explosion may level all the houses within several hundred yards radius. It may smash every pane of glass for miles around. The explosion will be probably terrific. We can only hope for the best - and that the sandbags will be effective'.

As darkness fell, local residents assembled at the Old Long Hill while the military checked the firing circuit for the last time. Military lorries did a final circuit of the roads in the immediate area and warned everyone they encountered that they must remain more than one thousands yards from the detonation site. Satisfied that it was safe to proceed with their detonation, shortly after 5 p.m., the detonating charges were exploded with the countryside being lit up by a large flash followed by the sound of a large explosion, which rolled through the surrounding hills like thunder, with a cloud of smoke rising into the sky and hanging over the site for 10 minutes. It was said that the sound of the explosion was heard as far away as 15 miles. Two craters of at least 15 feet in depth and 30 feet in width were left with only the remnants of 12 sandbags remaining out of the 4 tons of sandbags piled on the mines to direct the blast downwards into the ground. Remarkably not a pane of glass was broken even in a cottage one hundred yards away from the blast site.

Throughout this period, Bray Air Raid Precaution Service was 'on alert' with staff on duty at night in Bray Town Hall as no-one knew at that time if this was an isolated incident or that further ones would follow - none did.

This incident was a reminder to members of the voluntary services that there was a purpose to their training and enabled them to exercise their skills on a practical basis in a real situation.

On the basis of items recovered from the mines by the Ordnance Service, the Irish government was satisfied that they were of German origin, and submitted a protest to the German government.

An official Government statement issued on Saturday January 4th stated: 'The two magnetic sea mines which were dropped at Enniskerry have been identified as of German origin. So have the bombs which were dropped at Olygate, County Wexford. Fragments of the explosive and incendiary bombs dropped at the Curragh, Julianstown, Duleek, and Borris have been examined and found to be of German origin. The Charge d'Affaires in Berlin has been instructed to make an energetic protest to the German Government against the violation of Irish territory by German aircraft, and the loss of life and destruction of property which took place as the result of bomb explosions and fire. He was further instructed to claim full reparation, and to insist that effective steps be taken to avoid the recurrence of such happenings. Investigations into the origin of the bombs dropped at other places is proceeding.'

Very quickly the German issued a rebuttal to this statement. 'Those bombs are English or they imaginary,' they said. 'Our fliers have not been over Ireland and have not been sent there, so someone else will have to explain these bombs.' Realistically no German pilot was going to admit in his post-mission debriefing that he had dropped bombs on Irish territory.

After several months and following numerous Irish reminders the German Government responded to the Charge d'Affaires in Berlin with a note stating: 'That after a thorough investigation into the matter, there was nothing to suggest that German aircraft were responsible and that while they did not wish to reject the Irish protest, proposed that further consideration of the matter should be deferred until the war is over'.

Following receipt of this note, the matter was official closed by the Irish Government and no further action was taken.

Why were the magnetic mines dropped in Stylebawn? In this case it's likely that the German aircraft in question were possibly off course due to navigation errors and that when the searchlights came on in Dublin, the crew thought that they over enemy territory (Britain) and dropped these devices and then returned to their base in France or the Low Countries, reporting that they had successfully carried out their mission over British territory. The same reason can be applied to the other incidents that occurred on the night of January 2 and on January 3 1941 when bombs fell on Donore Avenue, South Circular Road, Dublin.

In 1958 the Federal German Government in Bonn (West Germany), as successors to the German World War 2 Government paid the Irish Government 327,000 in compensation for the destruction of life and property in Ireland during the World War 2 years but the Democratic German Republic (East Germany) declined to pay compensation.


Posted Friday, January 15, 2021 4:48 pm

CENTRALIA POLICE DEPARTMENT

Crashes

 A two-vehicle collision with injuries was reported at the intersection of Harrison Avenue and I-5 northbound at approximately 9 a.m. on Jan. 13. The at-fault driver was issued a citation.

 A two-vehicle collision was reported at the intersection of Yew Street and West Main Street at approximately 3:40 p.m. on Jan. 13.

 A hit-and-run that damaged a street sign and utility box was reported at the intersection of Yew and Borthwick Streets at approximately 9:40 p.m. on Jan. 13.

 Just after 6 a.m. on Jan. 15, a single-vehicle collision with a light pole was reported in the 600 block of North Gold Street.

Theft

 Around 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 13, a wallet was reported stolen from the 1300 block of Lum Road.

 Clothing was reported stolen in the 1400 block of Lum Road at approximately 4 p.m. on Jan. 14.

 Clothing was reported stolen in the 1400 block of Lum Road just after 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 14.

Eluding police

 Jon L. Pankowski, 55, of Centralia, was booked into the Lewis County Jail at approximately 9:25 p.m. on Jan. 13 after failing to yield during a traffic stop. He was arrested in the 1500 block of Crescent Avenue after leading police on a short chase. He was also booked on an outstanding warrant.

Criminal Trespass

 At approximately 8:10 p.m. on Jan. 14, Nhial C. Diing, 37, of Centralia, was arrested and released for second-degree criminal trespass in the 900 block of Harrison Avenue.

CHEHALIS POLICE DEPARTMENT

Refusal to Wear a Mask

 Just before 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 13, a caller in the 1400 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue reported that a customer had refused to wear a mask and was refusing to leave.

Crashes

 A non-injury, two-vehicle collision was reported in the 1500 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue at 2 p.m. on Jan. 13.

 A non-injury, two-vehicle collision was reported in the 1900 block of North National Avenue at 1:20 p.m. on Jan. 14.

Vehicle Versus Pedestrian

 A vehicle hit a pedestrian in the 1400 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue just before noon on Jan. 14. The vehicle was traveling 10 to 15 mph and the pedestrian fell to the ground when hit, but was conscious on the scene.

Theft

 A caller reported that two men stole food items in the 600 block of West Main Street just before 1 p.m. on Jan. 13.

 Just before 11 a.m. on Jan. 13, a caller reported that a machete was stolen the night before in the 500 block of West Main Street.

 A burglary in the 1700 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue was reported at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 13. The incident is under investigation.

 A shoplifting attempt was reported in the 1700 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue at approximately 9 p.m. on Jan. 13.

 A possible attempted burglary was reported at 4:45 p.m. on Jan. 14 in the 500 block of South Market Boulevard.

 A third-degree theft was reported at 8:35 p.m. on Jan. 14 in the 1700 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue. The incident is under investigation.

Suspicious Circumstances

 Just before 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 13, a caller reported seeing three young girls jump out of a moving car near the intersection of Southwest McFadden Avenue and Southwest Second Street and take off running. The vehicle then circled the block looking for the girls.

 Just after 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 14, a caller reported a physical dispute in the 1500 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue.

Criminal Trespass

 At 8 a.m. on Jan. 14, a report of criminal trespass was made in the 1200 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue. The incident is under investigation.

LEWIS COUNTY JAIL STATISTICS

As of Friday morning, the Lewis County Jail had a total system population of 142 inmates, including 130 in the general population and 12 in the Work Ethic and Restitution Center. Of general population inmates, 108 were men and 22 were women. All WERC inmates were male.

The federal government will arrange for a further 20 international repatriation flights to bring stranded Australians home, following a decision by Emirates to suspend all flights to and from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The announcement follows the national cabinet's decision to significantly reduce the cap on international arrivals via commercial flights by 50 per cent until mid-February, following concerns that the hotel quarantine system will be challenged by the more virulent British strain of the coronavirus.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said 446,000 Australians had been able to return home since March 2020 and the federal government had organised 90 flights to assist.

Senator Birmingham acknowledged the border restrictions put in place early last year had made it difficult for many people and said the additional 20 flights over the next couple of months would help.
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An internal Capitol Police intelligence report issued three days before the January 6 riot warned that 'Congress itself' could be the target of MAGA protesters.

The report noted that Trump supporters saw January 6 - the day that Biden's electoral college win would be certified by Congress - 'as the last opportunity to overturn the results of the presidential election.'

'This sense of desperation and disappointment may lead to more of an incentive to become violent,' the report warned. It continued that the rioters' potential targets were 'not necessarily the counter-protesters as they were previously, but rather Congress itself.'

Meanwhile, Capitol Police confirmed Friday that they are investigating claims from Democratic congressional members, that Republican congress members gave Trump supporters 'reconnaissance' tours of the Capitol the day before the deadly January 6 riot.

Democrat Rep. Mikie Sherrill said earlier this week that she had seen 'members of Congress who had groups coming through the Capitol ... a reconnaissance for the next day,' NBC News reported.

A Capitol Police intelligence report issued on January 3 said 'Congress itself' could be the target of protestors on January 6. Rioters are pictured outside the Capitol on January 6

The report did not appear to have been shared widely with other law enforcement agencies. Protesters are seen swarming the Capitol building on January 6

About 25,000 National Guard troops will be in Washington, DC, to help protect the Capitol during Biden's inauguration. Troops are see patrolling the fence around the Capitol Saturday

The US Army said the National Guard will help backup other law enforcement agencies. Troops are seen at a road block on Saturday in Washington, DC

A National Guardsman is seen checking a car at a road block in Washington, DC, on Saturday. Troops have been sent to the city ahead of Biden's inauguration

Members of the Pennsylvania 112th Infantry Regiment National Guard are seen at a road block Saturday in Washington, DC

Capitol Police chief Steven Sund, who resigned after the riot, had previously claimed that he had no idea that protesters would storm the Capitol.

Speaking to the Washington Post before the paper published the Capitol Police intelligence report, he said: 'We looked at the intelligence. We knew we would have large crowds, the potential for some violent altercations. I had nothing indicating we would have a large mob seize the Capitol.'

The Washington Post said that the report did not appear to have been disseminated widely amongst other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, but security experts said that it should've alerted officials that there would be major security risks that day.

Sund said that in the lead up to January 6, he had asked top congressional security officials to declare an emergency and call in the National Guard, but the request had been denied.

Captiol Police are shown with guns drawn near a barricaded door during the January 6 riot

People are seen taking shelter in the House gallery as protesters tried to break into the House Chamber on January 6

The Capitol Police said they are investigating claims GOP lawmakers gave Trump supporters tours of the building the day before the riot. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (left) said she saw the tours and thought they were suspicious. Rep. Eric Swalwell was also suspicious of them (right)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (left) said criminal prosecution might be possible if Congress members helped rioters. Rep. Pete Sessions (right) tweeted, and deleted, that he had told 'Stop the Steal' supporters to 'keep fighting'

A week and a half after the riot, however, the National Guard now has a major presence in Washington, DC, as razor wire fences have been put up around the Capitol Building grounds, while road blocks have also been set up.

The US Army confirmed Friday that up to 25,000 National Guard troops will be in Washington, DC, in preparation for Biden's inauguration next week. They'll be there to support 'federal law enforcement mission and security preparations' during the inauguration, to help protect the Capitol, according to The Hill.

The large number of armed National Guard members being sent to Washington comes as law enforcement agencies fear the threat of extremist violence across the country.

The FBI has received information that 'armed protests' are being planned at the Capitol and at all 50 state capitols in response to Biden's inauguration, according to an internal document obtained by CNN.

The document stated that the armed protests were expected to take place from January 16 to at least January 20 in state capitols and in Washington from January 17 to January 20, according to CNN.

Federal authorities are said to be tracking dozens of people who are seen as posting possible concerns of violence that may be going to Washington for the inauguration, sources told the news organization. Security officials are also said to be concerned about cars that might be used to breach security.

On Saturday, National Guard members could be seen stopping cars on the road and speaking with drivers before letting them pass. Guardsmen were also seen patrolling the Capitol Building grounds, while also manning positions outside its fence.

The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General announced Friday that it would be investigating how it and law enforcement agencies prepared for and responded to the Capitol Building riot and siege.

'The DOJ OIG review will include examining information relevant to the January 6 events that was available to DOJ and its components in advance of January 6; the extent to which such information was shared by DOJ and its components with the U.S. Capitol Police and other federal, state, and local agencies; and the role of DOJ personnel in responding to the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6,' Inspector General Michael Horowitz said, according to Fox News.

It is among one of multiple investigations being carried out by the inspectors general, which includes reviews of responses by departments of Homeland Security and Defense and the Interior Department, which oversees the Park Police.

On Wednesday, Sherill and more than 30 other congressional Democrats signed a letter asking Capitol Police and the House and Senate's acting sergeants at arms to investigate the 'suspicious behavior and access given to visitors to the Capitol Complex' on January 5, the day before the deadly riot.

Sherill tweeted that many of the signers, as well as their staffers, who had observed the supposed Capitol tours included people 'who have served in the military and are trained to recognize suspicious activity.'

Members of Pennsylvania 112th Infantry Regiment National Guard check a car at a road block on Saturday in Washington, DC

Members of the National Guard are seen Saturday securing the area near the Capitol for possible protest ahead of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration

National Guard members are seen with their vehicles securing the area near the Capitol, ahead of Biden's inauguration

A National Guard member is seen Saturday at a barrier that's been put up around US Capitol grounds following the riot

Police and armed National Guard members are seen at a checkpoint in Washington, DC, ahead of the inauguration

Police and National Guards are seen manning a gated security checkpoint Saturday in Washington. With inauguration just days away, there's been a noted increase in security personnel around the city

The 'extremely high number of outside groups' inside the Capitol building on January 5, Sherill wrote, was 'unusual for several reasons, including the fact that access to the Capitol Complex has been restricted since public tours ended in March due to the pandemic.'

The people who were seen on the tour, according to the letter, 'appeared to be associated with the rally at the White House' and noted that people who later attacked the Capitol had an 'unusually detailed knowledge of the layout of the Capitol Complex.'

Given the timing of the tours and the attack, the Democratic congressmen asked that any ties between the two groups of people be investigated.

On Friday, two days after the letter was sent, a Capitol Police spokesperson confirmed to NBC News that 'it is under investigation.'

At least 19 people have been arrested and charged in connection with the January 6 Capitol riot, during which five people died, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick who was killed by rioters.

The House impeached Trump for inciting the riot Tuesday.

If members of Congress were found to have helped the rioters in any way, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that they be subject to possible criminal prosecution.

'When were talking about security, we have to talk about truth and trust,' Pelosi told reporters at a press conference.

'In order to serve here with each other, we must trust that people have respect for their oath of office, respect for this institution.'

Pelosi added that 'If in fact it is found that members of Congress were accomplices to this insurrection, if they aided and abetted the crime, there may have to be actions taken beyond the Congress in terms of prosecution for that.'

A list of GOP lawmakers who were supposedly seen giving tours of the Capitol to Trump supporters on January 5 has not been made public, however they have been given to the Capitol Police.

Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell tweeted as 'evidence' Monday that Republican Rep. Pete Sessions had 'met with terrorists who attacked Capitol and killed an officer. He told them to "keep fighting." They listened.'

Swalwell included a screenshot of a tweet that Sessions had deleted on January 7 as 'evidence.'

In the tweet, Sessions had written on January 3: 'Had a great meeting today with folks from "Stop the Steal" at our nations Capitol. I encouraged them to keep fighting and assured them that I look forward to doing MY duty on January 6th."'

Sessions has not commented on the tweet. He was, however, one of the 100 Republicans in the House who voted against accepting Biden's electoral college wins in Arizona and Pennsylvania after the riot.

Although she was not publicly named as having been on the list, Republican Rep. Rep. Lauren Boebert denied that she had been involved in the tour allegations Thursday, claiming that as a result of them, she has received 'death threats and hundreds of vile phone calls and emails.'
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Sri Lanka tourism looks to the skies for hope View(s):

Hotels are clinging onto their last ray of hope  the reopening of the airport to commercial flights  as their only form of business from locals is also hampered as a result of border health checks.

Authorities have stated that the Sri Lankan skies will open to commercial flights officially from January 23 allowing tourists to visit the destination again.

However, the regulations as recommended by the Health Ministry continue to be seeing more and more changes. Just when the January 6 set of regulations were considered the latest it was found out that a new set with more changes was to be forthcoming within the past few days. Hoteliers are facing an issue with the new regulations as one of the key requirements is that any hotel operating as a Level 1 category receiving foreign tourists that have to stay for their first 14 days cannot entertain any Sri Lankans during this time frame. At present 41 hotels are Level 1 approved places of accommodation.

Travelling under a bubble concept tourists must adhere to the regulations and cannot mingle with the Sri Lankans until the 14 days are concluded.

Jetwing Symphony Chairman Hiran Cooray told the Business Times that he believed Sri Lanka will receive a few tourists at the start. He noted that they had already received inquiries but no bookings have been made as yet.

But the latest concern is the fact that hotels that were able to generate some income from domestic tourism are being hampered since health officials continue to warn against travel outside of the Western Province particularly during the long weekends.

In fact, the border checks have continued to act as a deterrent among most resulting in no bookings being made by those who are willing to travel, Mr. Cooray noted.

Former Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) President Mahen Kariyawasam explained that commercial flights will get an allotment of seats in line with the number of tourists they can bring down.

He noted that all airlines will continue to operate to Colombo and that they were all awaiting confirmation.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka Tourism officials have been engaging with the German Travel Association to announce the opening up of Sri Lanka for tourism.

Sri Lanka is expected to bring down the first batch of German tourists shortly in coordination with the Sri Lankan embassy.

Germany is one of the traditional markets for tourism in Sri Lanka and in this respect the authorities have been highlighting the guidelines within which travellers could be welcomed. (SD)
Joseph Baena has proudly followed in his father's footsteps with his passion for bodybuilding and exercise as a whole.

That passion, and his admiration for his dad, Arnold Schwarzenegger, were both put on display when the 23-year-old took to Instagram on Friday and shared a series of photos.

One of them showed Baena standing next to a likeness of Schwarzenegger doing one of his famous bodybuilding poses, with the real-life former Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia champion looking on.

Tale of two Arnolds: Joseph Baena, 23, proudly stood next to a likeness of his father in one of his famous bodybuilding poses as his real-life dad, 73, looked on

Baena, who a dead-ringer for the Terminator star, was all smiles with his arms crossed dressed in a sporty black and grey ensemble with stylish sunglasses.

The former California governor stood to his son's left, on the other side of his likeness image, as he sat on his bicycle.

Seemingly out on one of his near-daily bike rides around the Santa Monica-Brentwood region, Schwarzenegger also looked sporty in an all-blue outfit and sunglasses.

'It's fun going through your camera roll and finding fun pictures and memes you forgot about. Heres a lil camera dump for ya! Enjoy your weekend everyone:) Baena wrote in the caption of the post that also included pictures of himself and with friends.

Browsing: Baena posted the photo with his dad along in a series of snaps

Doodling away: There's a couple of pic of Baena in the series of photos

Head turner: Arnold Schwarzenegger was spotted smoking a cigar while out for a ride in Brentwood in his Mercedes Excalibur

Making a statement: The Excalibur prototype premiered in 1963 and was modeled after the 1928 Mercedes-Benz SSK for Studebaker

Earlier in the day, Baena shared video showing the outdoor gym at the world-famous Gold's Gym near Venice Beach.

'We're back baby, he professed in a likely reference to the restricts amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

After panning around the area full of barbells and weights, he then turned the camera on himself, which revealed him wearing a white protective mask.

Happy to be back: With a love for bodybuilding, Baena also declared; 'We're back baby!!!! along with a few clips of the outdoor gym at Gold's Gym in Venice Beach

Iconic: The gym is just about two blocks from the Pacific Ocean in Venice Beach

Funny: Baena showed off his humorous side when he attempted to do the near-impossible

He also showed off his humorous side when he announced: 'It's a light day,' when he took a few steps towards two gold barbells that each weigh 330 lbs.

'Didn't want to scare the new guys,' he added in the caption.

Amazingly, Baena was able to move the barbells, ever so slightly, during his comedic move captured on camera.

While Baena was posting his father-son photo, the legendary action star was seen out taking a cruise in his classic Mercedes Excalibur in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Jokester: In a stunt for the camera, Baena did a mock attempt at lifting two gold barbells that weigh in at 330 lbs each

Good try: Amazingly, Baena was able to move the barbells, ever so slightly

Baena often likes to showoff some of the flexing moves made famous by his dad during his world champion bodybuilder career that began back in the 1960s.

Many decades later and Schwarzenegger is still considered among the most important figures in the history of bodybuilding.

Baena's mother, Mildred Baena, was the Schwarzenegger family's housekeeper when she had an affair with the legendary action movie star.
Rescuers scrambled to find buried survivors Saturday after a powerful earthquake on Indonesia's Sulawesi island killed dozens, injured hundreds and left more feared trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings, as monsoon rains lashed the disaster-struck region.

At least 46 people died after the 6.2-magnitude quake struck in the early hours of Friday, triggering panic among residents of the island, which was hit by a 2018 quake-tsunami disaster that killed thousands.

Body bags were filled with corpses hauled from beneath crumpled buildings in Mamuju, a city of 1,10,000 people in West Sulawesi province, where a hospital was flattened and a shopping mall lay in ruins.

Others were killed south of the city.

Grieving relatives began burying the dead Saturday and it remained unclear how many more victims could still be under mounds of twisted metal and chunks of concrete strewn across the seaside community.

Also read: Damaged roads, lack of gear hinder Indonesia earthquake rescue efforts

Planes and boats packed with food and other emergency supplies flowed in, as the navy reportedly sent a ship equipped with mobile medical services to take pressure off Mamuju's still-standing hospitals, which have been flooded with hundreds of injured.

Rescuers said a shortage of heavy equipment was slowing the search effort.

Thousands left homeless by the quake took to makeshift shelters -- many little more than tarpaulin-covered tents filled with families -- that were lashed by heavy downpours.

"We're running out of food. There hasn't been any aid from the government yet," 24-year-old survivor Desti told AFP from hard-hit Majene.

"Some people are using coconut leaves as mats," she added.

Many survivors are unable to return to their destroyed homes, or too scared to go back fearing more quakes or a tsunami.

Worried about an outbreak of Covid-19 in the crowded camps, authorities said they are trying to separate high and lower-risk groups.

Mamuju resident Ice said he and his family were buried under rubble when they heard the voices of children searching for those still alive.

"They were shouting 'Who's alive?' and after hearing that I said 'Yes, I'm alive' and then me and my family were able to crawl out from under the rubble," said the man, who sustained a broken arm.

James, a construction supply seller taking refuge at a bus depot, said he leapt from the second storey of his home just before the violent tremor flattened the building.

"After shaking a few times, the house collapsed," he said, adding that his parents and sister also managed to escape.

A pair of young sisters plucked from under the mass of concrete and other debris were treated in hospital.

But the news was more grim for many, as eight corpses were plucked from under a collapsed hospital, while five members of a family of eight were found dead in the crumpled remains of their home.

"It will be essential that children are prioritised in any response, as they may have witnessed the death of loved ones or become separated from their parents," NGO Save the Children said.

Pope Francis expressed his "heartfelt solidarity" with those affected by the disaster.

Landslides triggered by the heavy rains and quake blocked the main access road out of the seaside city, scuttling some residents' attempts to flee.

The city's airport had also been damaged, while the regional governor's office was also partly destroyed.

Read: At least 42 killed and hundreds injured as earthquake hits Indonesia

Power remained out in parts of Mamuju after the quake damaged its electricity grid.

The quake's epicentre was 36 kilometres (22 miles) south of Mamuju and it had a relatively shallow depth of 18 kilometres.

In neighbouring Kalimantan, Indonesia's section of Borneo island, at least five people had died in heavy flooding while dozens more were missing, according to reports.

Indonesia, a sprawling Southeast Asian archipelago of nearly 270 million, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide.

In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.

On December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address "Prarambh: Startup India International Summit" on Saturday at 5 pm where he will interact with startups via video conferencing.

The Prarambh: Startup India International Summit is being organised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on January 15-16.

Today is the second and final day of the summit that aims to reimagine the importance of collaboration between countries to further startup ecosystems.

As per a statement from the Prime Minister's Office, the first day of the event yesterday brought some of the world's leading minds on one platform and enabled government and international organizations to share their views to ignite the minds of young innovators and entrepreneurs.

The summit was yesterday inaugurated by Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry.

Over 1,20,000 registrations were seen on the first day and witnessed the participation of renowned stakeholders from startup communities who engaged in multilateral discussions and showcased the best of their innovations.

A closed-door roundtable was also hosted with emphasis on internationalization for startups and mobilizing global capital for Indian startups while promoting ease of doing business for global venture funds.

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It took exactly one day for three conservative elected officials in one of Pennsylvanias most reliably conservative counties to decide, after the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, that they were done with the Republican Party.

One day.

No hemming or hawing.

And from a group that included even a former leader of the Lancaster County Republican Committee, business owner Ethan Demme.

In a Jan. 7 letter to the county party, Demme and two fellow East Lampeter Township supervisors made clear something that even fellow Republicans who feared for their lives inside the Capitol have not done: They declared that they have limits.

No longer would they associate with a party whose moral decrepitude had fueled the rampage that resulted in five deaths. They announced they were dumping their party, despite the fear of further violence nationwide from extremists from within their ranks, and despite feared attacks at the inauguration of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.

In saying good-bye to their party and becoming independents, they also ousted Republicans from controlling township government. All of this in a county so important to Republicans that presidential hopefuls know to make one or more stops through Amish country every four years.

The denial of the 2020 election results by members of our party and elected officials in Lancaster County is outrageous, they wrote to their GOP chief. Our neighbors voted, those votes became the certified election results and were upheld by our judicial system. Continuing to deny these facts has damaged our system of government and has fomented the seeds of sedition, resulting in violence in our nations Capitol.

 READ MORE: State capitals are preparing for unrest after far-right threats, and residents are dreading it: I feel like Ive been held hostage

The Republican Party we once knew is gone and has left us behind, they continued. As a result, we are disaffiliating from the Republican Party and will seek to work as Independents with anyone who strives for good government, decency for his neighbors, and the rule of law.

In firing off this disavowal of Trumpism, these men did something that most Republican U.S. senators and House members who were barricaded inside the Capitol failed to do.

The trio also did this before the world had seen subsequently released video footage showing law enforcement officers being pummeled by the pro-Trump crowd. Nor had we yet seen the images of an officer howling in pain while attackers crushed him in a doorway.

The Lancaster County Republicans made their statement before understanding, as we learned Friday in the Washington Post, that Republican Vice President Mike Pence and his security handlers had evaded the bloodthirsty mob by just a matter of seconds.

And yet, even that foresight of conviction, outstanding as it appears, may be of little consequence in light of the silence over the last week and a half by many others in elected office in their party.

Its pure politics at this point, Demme said when we spoke by phone Thursday, the morning after the Democratic-controlled House impeached Trump with only a handful of brave Republicans joining in the vote. Theyre unwilling to take a stand. You had only 10 congressmen vote for impeachment on the Republican Party. That number should have been a lot higher.

 READ MORE: The Capitol mob came dangerously close to Pence

A week ago I noted optimism that several Republicans far from Washington were stepping out of silence to condemn the insurrection incited by their president. But not enough had yet joined them. I urged for that chorus to swell. To cleanse the party of its most corrosive elements.

It did not, by and large, happen.

We know that incumbents are afraid of losing their next election if they do. We hear that some are also afraid of being attacked by the extremists in their own party. Physically attacked.

This doesnt leave us with much hope of defusing this horrid situation.

The party is to blame for the handcuffs that bind its members today. Its leaders spent decades tolerating and, with Trump over the last four years, fomenting racial, cultural, and economic resentment by elements on the fringes of its voter base.

Demme was one of the few who didnt wait for the calamitous Capitol riot to find moral clarity.

He is a self-proclaimed Never Trumper. Even before Trumps November 2016 win, he had stood picketing against the reality-TV sensations candidacy. In one such picketing outing, Demme faced pro-Trump Republicans across the way.

Joining him this month in disavowing membership to the party were East Lampeter Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey B. Meyer and Vice Chairman John Blowers. (Meyer declined to be interviewed by phone when I reached him by email. Blowers did not return a phone message.)

 READ MORE: To save America, Republicans must show the way away from Trump. Some have begun. | Maria Panaritis

Demme says the plan, post-letter, is to find like-minded conservatives for whom the extremist lunacy that Trumpism has brought to the surface is a bridge too far.

The goal: Recruit and run moderate independents in general elections two years from now to defeat far-right candidates who take the GOP nomination in the primary. (Independents are barred from participating in primaries in Pennsylvania.)

I think the 2022 elections are going to be where the rubber meets the road for some of these folks, Demme said. And they need to be challenged at the ballot box.

Im talking with folks, we have a meeting today, were organizing, he said. Were saying, Who can we recruit to run?

We should not have to lionize people like Demme as heroes. His party and voters allowed this extremism to take root over decades of winks and nods. Even he remembers finding and trashing a bookshelf full of John Birch Society books at party headquarters when he won the county committee chief post about a decade ago.

His insiders horror about today, however, deserves attention.

It became apparent, especially postelection, that the party allowed this to happen and has done nothing to stop it, he said. I dont see it reforming. Any reform will have to come from outside of the party.
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On Thursday, tech giants with deep ties to the US national-security stateMicrosoft, Oracle, and the MITRE Corporationannounced that they had partnered with several health-care companies to create the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI) to advance the implementation of digital COVID-19 vaccination records.

According to a Reuters report, the VCI aims to help people get encrypted digital copies of their immunization records stored in a digital wallet of their choice because the current system [of vaccination records] does not readily support convenient access and sharing of verifiable vaccination records.

The initiative, on its website, notes that the VCI is a public-private partnership committed to empowering individuals with digital vaccination records so that participants can protect and improve their health and demonstrate their health status to safely return to travel, work, school and life while protecting their data privacy. The initiative is essentially built on a common framework of digital vaccination wallets called SMART Health Cards that are meant to work across organizational and jurisdictional boundaries as part of a new global vaccination-record infrastructure.

The host of the VCI website and one the initiatives key backers is the Commons Project Foundation. That foundation, in partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF), runs the Common Trust Network, which has three goals that are analogous to those of VCI. As listed on the WEF website, the networks goals are (1) to empower individuals by providing digital access to their health information; (2) to make it easier for individuals to understand and comply with each destinations requirements; and (3) to help ensure that only verifiable lab results and vaccination records from trusted sources are presented for the purposes of cross-border travel and commerce.

To advance these goals, the Common Trust Network is powered by a global registry of trusted laboratory and vaccination data sources as well as standard formats for lab results and vaccination records and standard tools to make those results and records digitally accessible.

How CommonPass works, thecommonsproject.org

Another, and related, Commons Project Foundation and WEF partnership is CommonPass. CommonPass, which is also supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, is both a framework and an app that will allow individuals to access their lab results and vaccination records, and consent to have that information used to validate their COVID status without revealing any other underlying personal health information. Current members of CommonPass, including JetBlue, Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines, United Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic, are also members of the Common Trust Network.

This overlap between the Commons Project Foundation/WEF partnerships and the VCI illustrates that the WEF itself is involved with the VCI, albeit indirectly through their partners at the Commons Project Foundation. The Commons Project Foundation itself is worth exploring, as its cofounders, Paul Meyer and Bradley Perkins, have long-standing ties to the RAND Corporation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the International Rescue Committee, as noted in this article published last year by MintPress News. The IRC, currently run by Tony Blair protege David Milliband, is developing a biometric ID and vaccination-record system for refugees in Myanmar in cooperation with the ID2020 Alliance, which is partnered with CommonPass backer, the Rockefeller Foundation. In addition, the ID2020 Alliance funds the Commons Project Foundation and is also backed by Microsoft, one of the key companies behind the VCI.

Wearable IDs for Your Health and Your Wallet

Overlap between digital vaccination records, promoted via initiatives such as CommonPass and VCI, and the push for a new global digital-identity system is no coincidence. Indeed, the developer of VCIs SMART Health Cards framework at Microsoft Health, Josh C. Mandel, noted in his overview presentation on that framework that digital identity is integral to the digital vaccination-record effort. SMART Health Cards, as of now, are expected to include a persons complete name, gender, birth date, mobile phone number, and email address in addition to vaccination information, though it is possible and likely that more personal information will be required as the initiative advances, given that VCI states that these identifiers are merely a starting point.

While advertised as digital vaccination records, SMART Health Cards are clearly intended to be used for much more. For instance, public information on the framework notes that SMART Health Cards are building blocks that can be used across health care, including managing a complete immunization record that goes far beyond COVID-19 vaccines, sharing data with public-health agencies, and communication with health-care providers.

Vaccine Credential Initiative partners, vaccinationcredential.org

Yet, this framework will not be limited to health-care information, as Mandel has said. In his presentation, he notes the application of SMART Health Cards could soon be used as IDs for commercial activity, such as renting a car. The VCI frameworks use of the term digital wallet to refer to its digital vaccination record is also suggestive of future connectivity to economic activity. Efforts to link digital identity, not just to economic activity but also to health data, have recently escalated, for example with the piloting of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (aka GAVI)MastercardTrust Stamp partnership in Africa. That program, first launched in 2018, links Trust Stamps digital-identity platform with the GAVI-Mastercard Wellness Pass, a digital vaccination record, and Mastercards click-to-pay system run on AI technology called NuData. Mastercard and GAVI are both partnered with the ID2020 Alliance, which includes VCI member Microsoft.

Given the reasonable speculation that such platforms would utilize digital currency, specifically cryptocurrency, for financial activity, it is worth noting that VCI member Microsoft filed a patent in 2019 that would allow human body activity, including brain waves and body heat, to mine (i.e., generate) cryptocurrency. This, of course, would link biometrics to financial activity, among other things.

Such a system, as laid out in the Microsoft patent, would likely require the introduction of wearables in order to be implemented. Notably, numerous wearables for contactless identity, digital travel passes, and payment devices have recently been launched. Examples include DigitalDNA, Proxy, and FlyWallet. FlyWallet is particularly notable as their latest product, Keyble, is a wearable that combines digital identity through fingerprint authentication, which enables both contactless payments and health applications such as vital-sign monitoring and data sharing with insurance companies and health-care providers.

The SMART Health Cards framework was developed by a team led by the chief architect of Microsoft Healthcare, Josh Mandel, who was previously the Health IT Ecosystem lead for Verily, formerly Google Life Sciences. Verily is currently heavily involved in COVID-19 testing throughout the United States, particularly in California, and links test recipients results to their Google accounts. Their other COVID-19 initiatives have been criticized due to still-unresolved privacy concerns, something that has also plagued several of Verilys other efforts pre-COVID-19, including those involving Mandel.

Of particular concern is that Verily, and by extension Google, created Project Baseline, which has been collecting actionable genetic information with a focus on population health from participants since 2017. Yet, during the COVID-19 process, Project Baseline has become an important component of Verilys COVID-19 testing efforts, raising the unsettling possibility that Verily has been obtaining Americans DNA data through its COVID-19 testing activities. While Verily has not addressed this possibility directly, it is worth noting that Google has been heavily involved in amassing genomic data for several years. For instance, in 2013, Google Genomics was founded with the goal of storing and analyzing DNA data on Google Cloud servers. Now known as Cloud Life Sciences, the Google subsidiary has since developed AI algorithms that can build your genome sequence and identify all the mutations that an individual inherits from their parents.

Google also has close ties with the best-known DNA testing companies in the United States, such as Ancestry.com. Ancestry, recently purchased by private-equity behemoth Blackstone, shares data with a secretive Google subsidiary that uses genomic data to develop lifespan-extending therapies. In addition, the wife of Google cofounder Sergey Brin, Anne Wojcicki, is the cofounder and CEO of DNA testing company 23andMe. Wojcicki is also the sister of the CEO of Google-owned YouTube, Susan Wojcicki.

Google and the majority of VCIs backersMicrosoft, Salesforce, Cerner, Epic, the Mayo Clinic, and MITRE Corporation, Change Healthcareare also prominent members of the MITRE-run COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition. Other members of that coalition include the CIAs In-Q-Tel and the CIA-linked data-mining firm Palantir, as well as a myriad of health-care and health-record companies. The coalition fits well with the ambitions of Google and like-minded companies that have sought to gain access to troves of American health data under the guise of combatting COVID-19.

The COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition describes itself as a public-private partnership that has enabled the critical infrastructure to enable collaboration and shared analytics on COVID-19 through the sharing of health-care and COVID-19 data among members. That this coalition and VCI are intimately involved with MITRE Corporation is significant, given that MITRE is a well-known, yet secretive, contractor for the US government, specifically the CIA and other intelligence agencies, which has developed Orwellian surveillance and biometric technologies, including several now focused on COVID-19.

Just three days before the public announcement of VCIs establishment, Microsoft Healthcare and Googles Verily announced a partnership along with MIT and Harvards Broad Institute to share the companies cloud data and AI technologies with a global network of more than 168,000 health and life sciences partners to accelerate the Terra platform. Terra, originally developed by the Broad Institute and Verily, is an open data ecosystem focused on biomedical research, specifically the fields of cancer genomics, population genetics, and viral genomics. The biomedical data Terra amasses includes not only genetic data but also medical-imaging, biometric signals, and electronic health records. Google, through its partnership with the Pentagon, which was announced last September, has moved to utilize the analysis of such data in order to predictively diagnose diseases such as cancer and COVID-19. US military contractors, such as Advanced Technology International, have been developing wearables that would apply that AI-driven predictive diagnosis technology to COVID-19 diagnoses.

Predictive COVID-19 diagnosis is also an ambition of another company that backs VCI, Salesforce. Salesforce is one of three companies that created COVID 360, which Salesforce senior vice president Bob Vanstraelen describes as a free full Coronavirus treatment solution for patients and citizens at risk that is hosted on Salesforce Health Cloud and was by Deloittes Israel branch and the Israeli intelligence-linked AI firm Diagnostic Robotics. COVID 360 uses the Diagnostic Robotics clinical-predictions platform and applies it to COVID-19 so that government agencies or caretakers can identify individuals in proximity to a potential positive coronavirus case and mandate coronavirus testing and/or treatment regimes, based on a risk profile generated by COVID 360. Diagnostic Robotics and Salesforce are both members of the MITRE-run COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition.

Salesforce founder and CEO Marc Benioff, inclusivecapitalism.com

Salesforce founder, chair, and CEO Marc Benioff was previously a vice president at Oracle. Oracle, another VCI backer, was created as a spin-off of a CIA project of the same name, and its top executives have close ties to the outgoing Trump administration and also to Israels government. While Benioffs pre-Salesforce history to a CIA-linked company like Oracle is significant, Benioffs close ties to the World Economic Forum also deserve greater scrutiny.

Benioff is not only a member of the WEFs board of trustees, but he is also the inaugural chair of the forums Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a revolution that its architect and WEF founder Klaus Schwab defines as a merging of humans physical, digital, and biological identities. Benioff is also the owner and cochair of Time magazine, which recently ran an entire issue focused on promoting the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the WEF-backed Great Reset.

Benioff also serves on the Council for Inclusive Capitalism, a collaboration between the Vatican and oligarchs to create a more inclusive, sustainable and trusted economic system for the twenty-first century. Alongside Benioff on the council are well-known figures such as Lynn Forester de Rothschild (close associate of Jeffrey Epstein and the Clintons), Mark Carney (UN special envoy for Climate Action and former Governor of the Bank of England), and William Lauder (executive chairman of Estee Lauder, nephew of Mega Group member Ronald Lauder) as well as the top executives of MasterCard, Visa, Dupont, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, BP, and Bank of America. Also present are the heads of the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations.

Benioff and others mentioned in this article are perfect examples of the cross-pollination between groups of oligarchs and their associated foundations and organizations and how these networks are working together to pursue a common agenda. While the push for combining digital identity with vaccination records and economic activity appears, superficially, to be the effort of various organizations and groups, the same individuals and entities appear time and again, pointing to a coordinated push to not only implement such a system but manufacture consent for such a system among the global population.

The effort to manufacture consent for an all-encompassing digital identification system is notable given that its main selling point thus far has been coercion. We have been told that without such a system we will never be able to return to work or school, never be able to travel, or never be allowed to participate normally in the economy. While this system is being introduced in this way, it is essential to point out that coercion is a built-in part of this infrastructure and, if implemented, will be used to modify human behavior to great effect, reaching far beyond just the issue of COVID-19 vaccines.
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A federal prosecutor in New Orleans was arrested Friday on a misdemeanor charge of simple criminal damage, accused of bashing his ex-wifes car in a dispute Thursday in the Seventh Ward.

David Haller, a 39-year-old prosecutor in the criminal division of U.S. Attorney Peter Strassers office, posted $1,000 bail after surrendering Friday morning on an arrest warrant.

Strasser said Friday he couldnt comment on a personnel matter.

Police wrote in court records that Hallers ex-wife reported Thursday that she arrived to sign paperwork at Hallers home about 3:15 p.m. and a dispute erupted. She told police Haller became irate and began striking the hood of her car.

She reported hood dents and a loosened light hanging by wires among the damage from the incident. Police noted a previous domestic disturbance in April involving the former couple.

The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum 6-month sentence should Haller be convicted of it.



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Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.

A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
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MOSCOW  Russia said Friday that it was pulling out of a decades-old treaty that allowed countries to make military reconnaissance flights over each other's territory, escalating its growing military competition with the United States and Europe just weeks before the incoming Biden administration will have to negotiate the extension of the central nuclear arms control treaty between the two countries.

The decision by President Vladimir Putin to leave the accord, the Open Skies Treaty, matches an action taken by President Donald Trump in May. While the treaty, which dates back to 1992, is of limited use to the United States, which has a network of spy satellites, it has been important to European allies as a way of keeping track of Russian troop movements along their borders.

When Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal, which was completed late last year, he predicted Putin was going to come back and want to make a deal. He did not. And Russia's move signaled that the country did not intend to make it easy for the administration of Joe Biden to reverse Trump's rejection of a series of arms control and military monitoring treaties.

The Russian announcement, if followed by an official notification to the other remaining parties in the treaty, starts a six-month clock toward final withdrawal. The notification would also require a meeting of all the signatories  including the European nations who are most concerned about Russian activity after its years of incursions into Ukraine  within 60 days.

But Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that U.S. allies did not appear willing to save the treaty by satisfying Russia's demands in recent months that with the United States out of the treaty, they no longer pass along any intelligence gathered through it to Washington.

The Russian side offered concrete proposals to sustain the treaty under new conditions that corresponded to its foundational provisions, the Foreign Ministry said. We are disappointed to note that they did not receive support from allies of the United States.

But the announcement may also be viewed as an opening move in an intense initial encounter that is coming between Russia and the new Biden administration.

On Feb. 5, the New START nuclear arms control agreement expires, unless both governments agree to a five-year extension. That accord is the last major remaining limit on nuclear competition between the two countries; it restricts both nations to 1,550 deployed nuclear weapons each. Both Putin and Biden have said that, in principle, they want to invoke a provision of the treaty that allows for an extension of up to five years. Because that provision is contained in the original treaty negotiated by the Obama administration, it would not require a new vote in the U.S. Senate.

But it is unclear if Russia may introduce new demands. And Biden has promised that Russia will pay a price for its broad hacking of U.S. government agencies and corporations, revealed last month  meaning he will almost certainly be threatening the country with sanctions at a moment he is also negotiating the treaty extension.

Another complicating factor is that key members of Biden's Cabinet may not yet be confirmed by the Senate in time for the negotiation. The task of dealing with Russia, therefore, will most likely fall to Jake Sullivan, the incoming national security adviser, who does not require Senate confirmation.

I think our diplomats, before making this decision, became convinced that the United States' return is extremely unlikely, Fyodor Lukyanov, a foreign-policy analyst who advises the Kremlin, was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti state news agency. This treaty did not figure among that which Biden wanted to change.

The Open Skies Treaty, which has nearly three dozen signatories, was negotiated under President George H.W. Bush in 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The treaty aimed to prevent military tensions from escalating into war by allowing former Cold War adversaries to fly over each other's territories using planes equipped with sophisticated sensors.

While most modern-day military intelligence is gleaned through satellites, some information can only be gathered by airplane sensors. Perhaps most important, the treaty  which allowed specially designated U.S. military planes to roam deep into Russian airspace and vice versa  was a symbol of a determination to avoid war.

Long before the U.S. withdrawal last year, American officials complained that Moscow was violating the Open Skies accord by not permitting flights over Kaliningrad, the region where Russia was believed to be deploying nuclear weapons that could reach Europe, as well as forbidding flights over major Russian military exercises. Russia has denied violating the treaty and claimed that the United States had breached it.

The Foreign Ministry said Friday that it was starting the process of withdrawing from the agreement but had not yet officially notified the other signatories. Russia's withdrawal had been anticipated in recent months, though Russian news reports as recently as this week said that the Kremlin was also considering a softer move: suspending Russia's participation in the treaty rather than departing it altogether.

This article originally appeared in The New York Time s as Russia to Exit Open Skies Treaty, Escalating Military Rivalry With U.S.

 2021 The New York Times Company
By Tom Hand. January 14, 2020

The Second Amendment: A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

The Second Amendment is corollary to one of the most basic natural rights we have, that of self-defense. However, it has recently been the subject of great controversy. Becoming familiar with the history of this doctrine is critical to understanding it.

Today's 'gun-control' debate in America focuses on two questions. First, does the Second Amendment give citizens the right to keep and bear arms for personal reasons or did it only pertain to the militia? Second, if the right is granted to individuals, can it be restricted or is it unlimited in scope?

To find the answers, we must examine our Forefathers own words on this subject and understand how the Supreme Court has interpreted the Second Amendment.

The right to keep and bear arms has been enshrined in English law since 1689 when it was added to England's Bill of Rights, the precursor to ours. The right was seen by many as a natural right for "self-preservation" and "to restrain the violence of oppression" by the government. ....
SHEFFIELD  Fire investigators have determined the fire that took the lives of two people Wednesday was caused by a faulty chimney system.

Two residents in the home at 1715 Hewins St., James Boltrom, 75, and Dorene Boltrom, 66, died as a result of the fire.

Investigators determined a faulty chimney attached to a wood-burning furnace allowed smoke and flames to escape, said Jennifer Mieth, spokesperson for the state Department of Fire Services.

Authorities determined there were no working smoke detectors in the log cabin-style home.

The investigators report indicated they found several places where the chimney failed and allowed fire into the structure, including in the basement, where investigators found significant amounts of kindling and firewood near the furnace.

On behalf of our firefighters and the town of Sheffield, I offer our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the victims. Were all neighbors in this small town, Fire Chief David J. Ullrich said in a statement.

Smoke alarms provide the early warning needed when you may have less than three minutes to wake up and escape, Ullrich said.

The state fire marshals office said that there were 570 fire incidents involving chimneys, fireplaces and woodstoves in the state in 2019, resulting in more than $2 million in damage and injuring numerous residents and firefighters.

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Germanys dominant party voted for continuity on Saturday by electing Armin Laschet as leader, opting for the candidate who most resembles outgoing chancellor, Angela Merkel, in policy and style.

The close Merkel ally, 59, was elected in a digital conference with 521 votes in a run-off against Merkel rival Friedrich Merz, who fetched 466 votes.

Laschet, head of the countrys most populous state, beat long-time Merkel critic Friedrich Merz in a runoff after Norbert Roettgen, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Bundestag, was eliminated in the first round of voting at the Christian Democratic Unions online convention.

Im aware of the responsibility that comes with this job and will do everything to do well in the upcoming regional elections and to ensure in the national election that the next chancellor comes from the Union," he said.

With Merkel stepping down after elections in September, theres intense focus on the succession in Berlin as Europe seeks to kickstart a pandemic-ravaged economy, reset transatlantic ties with the incoming U.S. administration and take a larger roll on the world stage.

Of the three candidates, Laschet has been Merkels biggest supporter and the most likely to maintain her centrist course, resisting challenges from the right-wing and from the Greens and with a firm commitment to the European Union.

The Germany I imagine is a European Germany," Laschet told delegates ahead of the vote. We need to be able to integrate, to hold a society together."

The son of a coal mining foreman, 59-year-old Laschet graduated in law, once edited a Catholic newspaper and was legislator in the Bundestag as well as the European Parliament before being elected premier of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2017.

His ties to the immigrant community during a previous stint in the regional government earned him the nickname Turkish Armin" and his composed demeanor reminds many Germans of the outgoing chancellor.

The CDU delegates have clearly voted for a continuation of Merkels line, staying in the political center," said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro research at ING. Laschet has proven to be very pragmatic and stands for more fiscal stimulus and support for the green transition without losing the interests of business."

While the party leader usually goes on to be the chancellor candidate for Germanys conservative bloc, that step isnt automatic this time. The Bavarian CSU sister party will have an important say in the decision, and Markus Soeder, the Christian Social Unions leader, is currently well-ahead in the polls.

In a recent Infratest Dimap survey, 32% of CDU-CSU members polled thought Laschet would make a good chancellor candidate. That compares with 80% support for Soeder. Indeed, Laschet himself insisted the party should consider a candidate from the CSU when he spoke at the launch of Soeders biography in December.

Laschet will have a brief window to prove himself during state elections in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate on March 14. If the CDU performs well there, it would enhance his chances of thwarting the Bavarian premier and claiming the candidacy.

At stake is not only how the CDU fares but also the kind of coalitions that will emerge from the next election. On the far-right, the Alternative for Germany is nipping at CDU support, while the Green party has jumped from sixth to second place in opinion polls since the last national vote in 2017 and is shaping up as a potential partner for the CDU/CSU.

After running neck and neck with the Greens earlier in the parliament, the conservatives have opened up a comfortable lead in the polls, thanks mainly to Merkels steady leadership during the pandemic. But lockdown fatigue and an uncertain economic outlook may nevertheless make the party vulnerable when they hit the campaign trail without Merkel for the first time in a generation.

While Laschet is said to be open to a Soeder candidacy and the two have a close professional relationship, some party members say he is too ambitious to simply hand over the chance to become the leader of Europes largest economy.

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Coffee Rebound

Michael McFall thought he would spend 2020 celebrating Biggby Coffee's twenty-fifth anniversary.

by Micheline Maynard

From the January, 2021 issue

The coffee chain, then called Beaner's, launched with a single store on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing that was once an Arby's outlet. McFall joined in 1996 as a barista and became a partner in 1997.



In its first quarter-century, Biggby, which was rebranded in 2007, grew to 235 locations in eleven states. McFall, now its chief executive, hoped to add fifty more during its milestone year.



Instead, things ground to a halt for McFall, forty-eight, who lives in Ann Arbor and works out of an office at Liberty and Fourth Ave. (The company remains headquartered in East Lansing.)



There were days in March and April that he'd go out for downtown walks and run into no one.



"It was wild to be down here," he remembers.



During the early spring stay-at-home orders in the Midwest, thirty-six of Biggby's stores were closed, unable to sell even carryout coffees. Revenue plummeted by 40 percent.



But by Mother's Day, most of the company's franchises had reopened. While it lost eleven stores permanently, it opened nineteen new ones, winding up the year at 243. And despite the temporary halt at some locations, sales also rose. Through mid-December, Biggby's had recorded $145 million in year-to-date revenue, compared with $141 million for all of 2019.



"It's been a long twenty-five years," he says, "but things are really good."



McFall expects Biggby will open at least thirty more stores in the coming year and credits the rebound to two things. First, a Biggby is an inexpensive proposition as franchises go: the fee is $20,000, and franchisees can expect to spend another $250,000 building out their shops.



"The investment is relatively low, and the margin on a cup of coffee is very good," McFall says.



And despite the pandemic, customers kept showing up. "Coffee was something to give them a little slice of normal," McFall says. "They could drive home in their car with the latte sitting there as usual."



McFall, a Kalamazoo College grad who lives on

...continued below...

the western edge of Ann Arbor with his wife Elizaveta and four children, was glad to see activity downtown pick up after the first wave of the pandemic passed.Their favorite restaurants include Cafe Zola, where his wife worked as a teenager, and the Black Pearl on date nights. The kids, meanwhile, often cajole their parents into getting takeout from Slurping Turtle.Despite his love for Ann Arbor, Biggby's four stores in the area face serious competition."Ann Arbor is tough for us. There's a lot of really, really good coffee in Ann Arbor," McFall says.Biggby keeps the footprint of its stores deliberately small. Conventional ones have a counter where customers order drinks and pastries and a few seats, but some of its busiest locations are those with drive-thru service, which has become a major focus.That drive-thru emphasis, and preference for smaller spaces, is why Biggby isn't interested in the empty Espresso Royale stores, McFall says. Back when Caribou Coffee closed twenty-two locations in metropolitan Detroit, Biggby's took only one, with size again an obstacle.McFall says Biggby has developed a close relationship with its 180 owners. During March and April, it held daily online calls to share ideas for dealing with Covid. The plexiglass shields that Biggby installed in its stores were designed by a franchise owner in Owosso.Last year, McFall outlined his management philosophy in a book, Grind: A No-Bullshit Approach to Take Your Business from Concept to Cash Flow. One aspect is looking after employees. Biggby has three full-time and two part-time "personal growth coaches" on staff, who meet with workers to learn their aspirations and advise them on ways to achieve them."We believe in individuals pursuing a life they love, not a life that someone else prescribes for them," McFall says. Even if that results in employees seeking other careers, he says, that's okay.If people were satisfied with their time at the company, he says, "One, they remain loyal to Biggby. And two, they think of Biggby as an amazing company." [Originally published in January, 2021.]

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Kinnitty based Fine Gael Councillor John Clendennen has added his support to the Iconic Newspapers petition to accelerate vaccine roll out via our local and trusted pharmacies.

I am 100% supporting this campaign," said the councillor. "There is little doubt that the roll out needs to be sped up. This lockdown is really tough for people and they need an end to the Pandemic, they need hope."

The councillor said it's obvious that the roll out is only coasting in first gear at the moment.

"It's early days yet in the roll out and many staff in the HSE are doing their very best, but people's frustration is also hugely understandable. People want this to end and to get back to normality. I do think there needs to be more urgency with the roll out campaign. To use the car analogy again, we need to get from first gear up to fifth or sixth gear as quickly as possible.

"Part of that process of going up through the gears will be the inoculation of the staff in our pharmacies and GP surgeries so they can start administering the vaccines to the public."

He said he would like to see the EU speed up its authorisation of the AstraZeneca vaccine, a gamechanger because its storage is easier than the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

"The supply process from the big pharmaceutical companies to our Irish storehouses needs to be sped up."

The Government has ordered more vaccines from AstraZeneca than from the other two pharmaceutical companies. All vaccines are stored and delivered under temperature controlled conditions by the HSE National Cold Chain Service which is managed by United Drug distributors. The vaccines are stored in the National Cold Chain Centre in City West, Dublin.

This week the Tullamore Tribune, Midland Tribune and Offaly Express launched an online campaign and petition backing local pharmacies to deliver the Covid 19 vaccines to our communities - and we need you to sign up! Click on the link below for more
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When the Legislature convenes Tuesday to determine the state spending that helps drive our economy  among other things  it must grapple with two hard truths.

One, new analyses suggest that the oil and gas downturn is not a temporary dip tied to the COVID pandemic but further evidence that the industry is in decline.

And two, as New Mexicos over-reliance on oil and gas revenue has implications for our economy, state finances and the environment, it can and must be addressed to ensure a prosperous future for all New Mexicans.

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Instead of crossing our fingers and hoping the prices and demand for oil and gas go up, two new reports suggest this is the right moment to accelerate the diversification of our economy and stabilize and improve how the state collects the money needed to educate our children, maintain and expand our infrastructure, support health care and public safety, and more.

A new report finds that the top oil companies have faced declining profits for most of the past 10 years and that the oil and gas sector has lost much of the muscle it once had on Wall Street.

This report, from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), concludes that years of over-production have been unprofitable and unsustainable, and the oil and gas industry in New Mexico is unlikely to rebound to historic levels. It recommends the state comprehensively and aggressively overhaul its economic development programs to encourage greater diversification of its industrial and commercial base.

A second report provides a road map to stabilize and diversify our revenue, while also delivering a more equitable tax system and helping build a healthier, more resilient and climate-friendly economy for New Mexico. This report, from public finance experts at PFM who presented it to the Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee in December, offers policy recommendations to meet state tax principles, incentivize investment in clean industries, and ensure resources are available to support key services.

Our reliance on volatile revenue from the oil and gas industry has meant that too often we have been forced to cut funding for early learning, K-12 and higher education, as well as other critical services.

As we emerge from the pandemic to rebuild our state, we must reject the status quo, fix whats broken about our tax system, and commit to the innovations needed to support the investments our children, families and small businesses need to thrive in a 21st century economy.

Among the PFM recommendations worth pursuing: repealing income tax cuts for the wealthy, including the enormous deduction for capital gains income, as well as reinstating the estate tax on those with the most wealth. None of these tax breaks brought any benefit to the state  no new jobs or influx of rich people  but they did deprive the state of important revenue and make us far more reliant on oil and gas revenue.

New approaches to economic development will also be important. In addition to ensuring we have the stable revenue needed to invest in the education, infrastructure and workforce programs that really entice companies to be here, PFM has it right in recommending:

 Providing incentives to industries working on renewable energy technology and processes.

 Leveraging the states anchor institutions to encourage similar industries to cluster near them to reduce costs.

 Expanding good-paying, middle-skill manufacturing jobs through targeted job training and workforce intermediaries.

Taken together, these initiatives can move New Mexico in a better direction, one where we have the revenue to invest in a world-class education system and innovative industries of the future, and one where the skill and strength of our workforce draws businesses as much as our cultures and landscapes do. It is time for a more stable and equitable revenue system and a cleaner and more prosperous economy. It is time to move forward.
Germany's Christian Democrats elected Armin Laschet as chairman on Saturday, aiming to unify their divided party behind a new leader who they hope can succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor when she steps down after federal elections in September.

Laschet, the premier of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia - Germany's most populous - won a runoff vote against Friedrich Merz, securing 521 votes against 466 for his arch-conservative rival, according to a ballot of 1,001 party delegates.

Merkel, Europe's predominant politician and a consistent winner with German voters since taking office in 2005, has said she will not run for chancellor again, and since she stepped down as CDU leader in Dec. 2018, the party has struggled to find a suitable successor.

Laschet said he would do everything he could to ensure the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), could "stick together through this year."

They could then work towards making sure that "the next chancellor in the federal elections will be from the (CDU/CSU) union," he said in his victory speech.

Saturday's digital election will be confirmed by a postal vote with legally binding results expected on Jan. 22.

Laschet, 59, presents himself as the Merkel continuity candidate, and she said last year he had "the tools" to run for chancellor, the closest she has come to endorsing anyone.

By tradition, the CDU chairman is usually - though not always - the chancellor candidate for the CDU and CSU, and the conservative bloc is on course to win September's federal ballot.

However, polls show Markus Soeder, the CSU leader, is the conservative most favoured by voters. Some CDU lawmakers want dynamic Health Minister Jens Spahn to run for chancellor, though he has backed Laschet for the party leadership.

Merkel was succeeded in 2018 as party leader by her protegee Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who struggled in the role and said last year she would step down.

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Others said the legislation addresses issues of inequality and discrimination particularly with the elimination of cash bail. Judges will still have discretion to detain offenders believed to pose a risk, but other will no longer have to raise cash to get out of jail as they await trial.
In a shocking development, as many as 23 elderly people have died shortly after receiving the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. According to foreign media reports, several others have also fallen ill after taking the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, however, there is no confirmation yet if there is a direct correlation.

'We are not alarmed by this': Steinar Madsen

According to a report in The Bloomberg, Pfizer and BioNTech are working with the Norwegian authorities to investigate the deaths. Meanwhile, experts have said that 13 of the 23 people who died have shown common symptoms of mRNA vaccines such as diarrhoea, nausea and fever.

Acting upon this, the Norwegian officials have adjusted their advice on who gets the COVID-19 vaccine, leaving it up to each doctor to consider who should be vaccinated, Associated Press reported on Friday. All the deaths occurred among patients in nursing homes and all were over the age of 80.

The agency listed fever and nausea as side effects which may have led to the deaths of some frail patients, Sigurd Hortemo of the Norwegian Medicines Agency said in the body's first report of the side effects. More than 30,000 people have received the first shot of the Pfizer or Moderna Coronavirus vaccine in the Scandinavian country since the end of December, according to official figures.

"We are not alarmed by this. It is quite clear that these vaccines have very little risk, with a small exception for the frailest patients," Steinar Madsen, medical director with the agency, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. "Doctors must now carefully consider who should be vaccinated. Those who are very frail and at the very end of life can be vaccinated after an individual assessment," he added.

READ | India's first COVID-19 vaccine recipient is Manish Kumar, sanitation worker in New Delhi

READ | WhatsApp postpones new privacy update plan after row; says 'working to counter confusion'

Earlier this week, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said that any side effects of the vaccine will be outweighed by a reduced risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 for elderly, frail people. It added that for very frail patients and terminally ill patients, a careful balance of benefit versus disadvantage of vaccination is recommended. Overall, Norway has seen 57,279 cases and reported 511 deaths.

Across the world, officials expect deaths and other severe side effects to be reported after any mass vaccination campaign given the huge numbers of people involved. But determining whether or not the vaccine caused deaths can be very challenging and requires that all other potential causes be ruled out first. The United Kingdom and the United States have also reported a number of cases of side effects that had fatal consequences.

READ | In Emotion-laden speech, PM Modi flags off India's historic COVID-19 vaccination drive

READ | Hardik-Krunal Pandya's father Himanshu Pandya passes away; condolences pour in

(With AP inputs)

Mail-in primary election ballots are processed at the Chester County Voter Services office in West Chester, Pa., on May 28, 2020. (Matt Rourke/AP Photo)

Insufficient Evidence: Justice Department Closes Probe Into Pennsylvania Discarded Ballots

The Department of Justice on Friday announced it closed an investigation into ballots that were discarded in Pennsylvania.

After a thorough investigation conducted by the FBI and prosecutors from my office, we have determined that there is insufficient evidence to prove criminal intent on the part of the person who discarded the ballots, acting U.S. Attorney Bruce Brandler said in a statement. Therefore, no criminal charges will be filed and the matter is closed.

Brandler recently replaced David Freed, the former U.S. attorney who last year revealed nine military absentee ballots had been tossed in Luzerne County. Freed resigned on Jan. 1. The U.S. attorneys office declined to comment at the time about the investigation.

Luzerne County, with a population of about 317,000, sits in northeast Pennsylvania outside of Scranton.

The probe centered on who discarded the ballots, which were mostly for President Donald Trump. Freed also said investigators found four official, bar-coded, absentee ballot envelopes that were empty. Most of the material was found in a dumpster.

The preliminary findings of this inquiry are troubling and the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections must comply with all applicable state and federal election laws and guidance to ensure that all votesregardless of partyare counted to ensure an accurate election count, Freed wrote in a letter to Shelby Watchilla, director of elections for Luzerne County, in September 2020.

He said interviews revealed staffers were improperly opening nearly all envelopes received, even though they werent supposed to open military ballots until Election Day. Opening any absentee ballot before then violates the controlling statutes and is contrary to Pennsylvania Department of State guidance, Freed said.

Luzerne County Manager David Pedris office later said a contractor was to blame for the discarded ballots. The contractor was fired but not charged. Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, a Democrat, told reporters what happened was a bad error and not intentional fraud. The county and state didnt respond to requests for comment.

FBI agents worked with Pennsylvania State Police officers to conduct the investigation. County election officials cooperated with law enforcement, federal officials said.

Trump mentioned the probe several times. He told reporters in Washington last year: We have to be careful with the ballots. The ballots, thats a whole big scam. You know they found, I understand, eight ballots in a waste paper basket in some location. They found, it was reported in one of the newspapers that they found a lot of ballots in a river. They throw them out if they have the name Trump on them I guess.
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 40F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 40F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
Coronavirus Vaccine India LIVE updates: Gujarat authorities said day one of the COVID-19 inoculation drive went smoothly in the state with around 10,500 healthcare workers  against expected 16,000  receiving the vaccine dose

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A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and Union territories will be virtually connected during the launch at 10.30 am by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site.

India is all set to roll out the world's biggest vaccination programme on Saturday, with over 3 lakh healthcare workers to be inoculated on the first day of the much-anticipated drive, which the government said is "probably the beginning of the end" of COVID-19.

A dedicated 24x7 call centre  1075  has also been set up for addressing queries related to the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine roll-out and the Co-WIN software.

An online digital platform Co-WIN, developed by the health ministry, will be used to drive the vaccination programme.

The 81 sites named in the national capital for administering the jabs include six Central government facilities like AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital and Kalawati Saran Children Hospital and two ESI hospitals.

A trio of a doctor, nurse and a sanitation worker will receive COVID-19 vaccine shots in the presence of Kejriwal at LNJP Hospital, sources told PTI.

In Delhi, the drive will kick off from the state-run LNJP Hospital with a simple ceremony in the presence of Chief Minister Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendar Jain.

This catches the attention of the immune system which recognizes it as foreign and builds up a defence to attack the real coronavirus when an actual infection occurs.

Covishield is a vector vaccine which are slower but cheaper and can be kept stable for six months at standard refrigerator temperatures. The vaccine uses a weakened version of a common cold virus called an adenovirus that affects chimpanzees but doesn't infect humans. It attaches to cells and injects DNA that tells them to make the coronavirus spike protein - the structures on the surface of the coronavirus, giving it that studded appearance.

Developed by the University of Oxford and British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India, Covishield has emerged as the most promising vaccine for countries like India where cost and logistics are a significant consideration.

Certain groups have been advised or directed not to take the vaccine, which is being launched today in India for healthcare and frontline workers. Here are the groups that should not take the vaccine:

The BMC has formed 500 teams, each having two vaccinators, two support staff and one security guard. They will initially run the vaccination program at eight centers, where 12,000 people can be injected every day.

Mumbai has received 1,39,500 vaccine doses compared with the 1,30,000 requested for the first phase, which can be completed in 10 days, he added.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corproation (BMC) have registered 1,30,000 health workers and around 2,00,000 frontline workers through the CoWin app, the civic body chief Iqbal Chahal told LiveMint .

He also thanked the medical and research workers who worked endlessly to develop the vaccine.

Two vaccines - SII's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin - will be administered in India from today onwards.

Speaking via videoconferencing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated all countrymen on the launch of the world's largest vaccination drive.

He also requested people to continue wearing masks, maintain social distancing even after getting a shot as immunity develops after the second dose.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to remember that the COVID-19 vaccines are only effective when two doses are to be taken. "Experts have said that there should be a gap of one month between both vaccinations," he said.

The state has received 9.63 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine and 20,000 doses of Covaxin vaccine, which have been distributed to all the districts.

The inoculation drive is taking place at 285 centres in Maharashtra where 100 healthcare workers will be administered the shots in a day, and cover 28,500 workers, an official said.

Dr Ranjit Mankeshwar, Dean, JJ Hospital, in Mumbai and Dr Padmaja Saraf were among the first beneficiaries to receive the vaccine shots in Mumbai and at Jalna civil hospital, respectively.

The COVID-19 vaccination drive began in Maharashtra on Saturday along with the rest of the country.

The health minister posted a tweet lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership in the battle against COVID-19.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant were present at the GMCH when Bhojje was given the dose. Ninety nine others will also get the dose at this facility on Saturday.

The vaccination drive began in the morning at seven different centres, including two private hospitals, in the state.

Ranganath Bhojje, a worker at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) near here, was the first to receive the vaccine dose in the coastal state, an official said.

A hospital worker became the first person in Goa to receive the coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, health officials said.

He further said 8,100 people will get vaccination at 81 centres in the National Capital.

While inspecting the vaccination drive underway at Delhi's LNJP Hospital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said experts have said the vaccine against COVID-19 is safe and people should not pay heed to rumours.

"This 'Made in India' vaccine represents the determination of self-reliant India. On this historic day, I bow to all our Corona warriors," he added.

In a series of tweets on Saturday, Union home minister Amit Shah lauded scientists and 'COVID-19 warriors' and said, "India is one of the few countries which has won the direction to end the biggest crisis against humanity."

In response, Tewari cautioned the government not to "hide behind vaccine nationalism".

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan responded to Congress leader Manish Tewari's quote questioning why politicians and government functionaries were not getting vaccinated as per the procedure in other countries. Vardhan slammed Tewari saying that he and the Congress are "passionate about spreading rumours".

"Although the state has received 60 percent to the vaccine stock it needs, the remaining consignment will be made available in the next 10 days," the minister said. "Maharashtra needs 17.50 lakh doses of the coronavirus vaccine, as 8 lakh health workers have registered for the programme on CoWIN application. We have received 10 lakh doses and we still need 7.5 lakh more."

Speaking to reporters after attending the vaccination drive in Jalna, Tope said at least 8 lakh health workers have registered for this programme, and for this, the state needs 7.5 lakh additional doses of the vaccine.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said the state has received 10 lakh vaccine doses, or 60 percent of the stock allotted to it, so far and the remaining doses will be available in the next 10 days.

"The compensation for serious adverse event will be paid by sponsor (BBIL) in case if the SAE is proven to be causally related to the vaccine," the form said.

A consent form to be signed by the vaccine recipients said, "In case of any adverse events or serious adverse events, you will be provided medically recognised standard of care in the government designated and authorised centres and hospitals."

Bharat Biotech, which has received a government purchase order for supply of 55 lakh doses of Covaxin, a COVID-19 vaccine, said the company will pay compensation to recipients in case of any serious adverse effects experienced after receiving the antidote.

"We have come to know that the COVID-19 vaccination drive is being conducted by the hospital today. Covaxin manufactured by Bharat Biotech is being preferred in our hospital over Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute.The residents are a bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial in case of Covaxin and might not participate in huge numbers thus defeating the purpose of vaccination. We request you to vaccinate us with Covishield which has completed all stages of trial before its roll-out," the letter stated.

In a letter to the medical superintendent, the association said the resident doctors were "a bit apprehensive" about Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and might not participate in the immunisation drive in large numbers, thus defeating the purpose of the exercise which began in the country on Saturday.

The Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) of the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi requested the medical superintendent to vaccinate them with the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine Covishield.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath also spoke to people who had received the vaccine and warned against believing rumours. "Today is a day of immense happiness and excitement. India is the first country which has launched two vaccines," he said.

Kejriwal visited the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital in Delhi and spoke to health workers who had received the shot. "I have interacted with those vaccinated. No one has any problem. All are happy that they will get rid of coronavirus," he said. "I want to say to all not to pay attention to rumours and misinformation. The experts say vaccines are safe and there is no need to worry."

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was among the politicians and leaders who urged people not to believe in rumours around the COVID-19 vaccines approved for emergency use in India. A massive vaccination drive began across the country on Saturday, and around three lakh healthcare workers were set to get the jabs.

Skalzang Chodon, a safai karamchari, hailing from Skidmang village of Nyoma block, took the first jab at Heart Foundation Hospital shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the world's biggest drive against coronavirus.

A sanitation worker was the first person to be administered the COVID-19 vaccine in Ladakh, which has recorded 128 COVID-19 deaths and a total caseload of 9,646 since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Senior doctors received the first shot of the vaccine at many locations to build confidence and dispel any apprehensions about the vaccine. Punjab and Haryana had received 2.04 lakh and 2.41 lakh doses of the vaccine, respectively.

Senior doctors and other healthcare workers were administered coronavirus vaccine at over 100 sites in Punjab and Haryana on Saturday. Authorities had earmarked 59 sites in Punjab and 77 in Haryana for the drive.

"Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on," the ministry said.

All these people have been kept in single-room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by respective state governments, the ministry earlier had said.

The number of people who have tested positive for the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the country has climbed to 116, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday. "The total number of persons found infected with the new UK variant genome is 116," the ministry said.

Stating that India had hit several milestones of success in the fight against COVID-19, Vardhan said, "Today is perhaps the day of tremendous relief for all of us in the past one year. Data in last 3-4 months, our recovery and fatality rate indicate that we were gradually heading towards victory against COVID-19."

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan held a video conference with the health ministers of all states and Union territories on Saturday evening, as the first day of the vaccination drive got underway across the country.

He added, "There's a small section that is spreading rumours about vaccines, their utility, their safety, to mislead the people in society. But such a large number of people received vaccines today with great joy and enthusiasm, eminent doctors received the vaccine."

The Union health ministry held a press conference at the end of day one of the countrywide vaccination drive and said that no case of post-vaccination hospitalisation was reported till 7 pm on Saturday.

The Health Ministry said that provisional data on Saturday evening showed that 1,65,714 beneficiaries were vaccinated at 3,351 sites across the country on the first day of the COVID-19 vaccination drive. In a press briefing, Additional Health Secretary M Agnani added that 16,755 personnel were involved in the drive.

Listing issues faced by personnel on-ground regarding the Centre's CoWIN app, Additional Health Secretary M Agnani said that in some sites, there was a delay in uploading the beneficiaries' list on the CoWIN app.

Over 16,000 persons were scheduled to receive the jab during the day, but some beneficiaries did not turn up, he said. The drive was conducted at 161 centres.

Day one of the COVID-19 inoculation drive went smoothly in Gujarat on Saturday with around 10,500 healthcare workers  against expected 16,000  receiving the vaccine dose. "Reports are coming in from different centres, and it has been good everywhere, without any problem," said Dr Nayan Jani, state immunization officer.

Swab samples of 10 students from Government Girls Excellence School in Shahpur were collected for testing on 13 January, school principal Virendra Namdeo said. The reports of these students came out positive for the infection on Saturday, he said, adding that reports of 25 more students are awaited.

At least 10 girl students of a government-run school have tested positive for coronavirus infection in Madhya Pradesh's Betul district. The local administration has decided to shut the school for a week, after the infections were detected among Class 12 students.

"After one year, when the SP will come to power, we will ensure free vaccine for all, he said while asking from the government when the poor will get free vaccines.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said he has faith in doctors of the country but not the government. He also suggested that the BJP people should first line up in queues and get themselves vaccinated as the party conducts all programmes in a grand manner.

As the coronavirus vaccine was launched on Saturday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav sought to know from the government how the drive will be conducted and when the underpriviledged sections will get the shot free of cost.

After him, IGMC senior medical superintendent Janak Raj got vaccinated. A total of 1,536 healthcare workers were vaccinated on Saturday for COVID-19 in the state, special secretary health Nipun Jindal said. Jinda said that the target was 2,499 and the percentage coverage is 61.46 percent.

Administering anti-coronavirus vaccines to healthcare workers began in Himachal Pradesh as Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched the inoculation drive at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) on Saturday. Hardeep Singh, a sanitation worker, was the first person in the state to be administered a shot.

"Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on," the ministry said.

All these people have been kept in single-room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by respective state governments, the ministry earlier had said.

The number of people who have tested positive for the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the country has climbed to 116, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday. "The total number of persons found infected with the new UK variant genome is 116," the ministry said.

Stating that India had hit several milestones of success in the fight against COVID-19, Vardhan said, "Today is perhaps the day of tremendous relief for all of us in the past one year. Data in last 3-4 months, our recovery and fatality rate indicate that we were gradually heading towards victory against COVID-19."

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan held a video conference with the health ministers of all states and Union territories on Saturday evening, as the first day of the vaccination drive got underway across the country.

He added, "There's a small section that is spreading rumours about vaccines, their utility, their safety, to mislead the people in society. But such a large number of people received vaccines today with great joy and enthusiasm, eminent doctors received the vaccine."

The Union health ministry held a press conference at the end of day one of the countrywide vaccination drive and said that no case of post-vaccination hospitalisation was reported till 7 pm on Saturday.

The Health Ministry said that provisional data on Saturday evening showed that 1,65,714 beneficiaries were vaccinated at 3,351 sites across the country on the first day of the COVID-19 vaccination drive. In a press briefing, Additional Health Secretary M Agnani added that 16,755 personnel were involved in the drive.

Listing issues faced by personnel on-ground regarding the Centre's CoWIN app, Additional Health Secretary M Agnani said that in some sites, there was a delay in uploading the beneficiaries' list on the CoWIN app.

Over 16,000 persons were scheduled to receive the jab during the day, but some beneficiaries did not turn up, he said. The drive was conducted at 161 centres.

Day one of the COVID-19 inoculation drive went smoothly in Gujarat on Saturday with around 10,500 healthcare workers  against expected 16,000  receiving the vaccine dose. "Reports are coming in from different centres, and it has been good everywhere, without any problem," said Dr Nayan Jani, state immunization officer.

Swab samples of 10 students from Government Girls Excellence School in Shahpur were collected for testing on 13 January, school principal Virendra Namdeo said. The reports of these students came out positive for the infection on Saturday, he said, adding that reports of 25 more students are awaited.

At least 10 girl students of a government-run school have tested positive for coronavirus infection in Madhya Pradesh's Betul district. The local administration has decided to shut the school for a week, after the infections were detected among Class 12 students.

"After one year, when the SP will come to power, we will ensure free vaccine for all, he said while asking from the government when the poor will get free vaccines.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said he has faith in doctors of the country but not the government. He also suggested that the BJP people should first line up in queues and get themselves vaccinated as the party conducts all programmes in a grand manner.

As the coronavirus vaccine was launched on Saturday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav sought to know from the government how the drive will be conducted and when the underpriviledged sections will get the shot free of cost.

After him, IGMC senior medical superintendent Janak Raj got vaccinated. A total of 1,536 healthcare workers were vaccinated on Saturday for COVID-19 in the state, special secretary health Nipun Jindal said. Jinda said that the target was 2,499 and the percentage coverage is 61.46 percent.

Administering anti-coronavirus vaccines to healthcare workers began in Himachal Pradesh as Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched the inoculation drive at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) on Saturday. Hardeep Singh, a sanitation worker, was the first person in the state to be administered a shot.

Coronavirus Vaccine India LATEST Updates: Day one of the COVID-19 inoculation drive went smoothly in Gujarat on Saturday with around 10,500 healthcare workers  against expected 16,000  receiving the vaccine dose. "Reports are coming in from different centres, and it has been good everywhere, without any problem," said Dr Nayan Jani, state immunization officer.

Over 16,000 persons were scheduled to receive the jab during the day, but some beneficiaries did not turn up, he said. The drive was conducted at 161 centres.

The number of people who have tested positive for the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the country has climbed to 116, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday. "The total number of persons found infected with the new UK variant genome is 116," the ministry said.

All these people have been kept in single-room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by respective state governments, the ministry earlier had said.

"Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on," the ministry said.

The Union health ministry held a press conference at the end of day one of the countrywide vaccination drive and said that no case of post-vaccination hospitalisation was reported till 7 pm on Saturday.

The Health Ministry said that provisional data on Saturday evening showed that 1,65,714 beneficiaries were vaccinated at 3,351 sites across the country on the first day of the COVID-19 vaccination drive. In a press briefing, Additional Health Secretary M Agnani added that 16,755 personnel were involved in the drive.

The number of people who have tested positive for the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the country has climbed to 116, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday. "The total number of persons found infected with the new UK variant genome is 116," the ministry said.

All these people have been kept in single-room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by respective state governments, the ministry earlier had said.

"Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on," the ministry said.

Bharat Biotech, which has received a government purchase order for supply of 55 lakh doses of Covaxin, a COVID-19 vaccine, said the company will pay compensation to recipients in case of any serious adverse effects experienced after receiving the antidote.

A consent form to be signed by the vaccine recipients said, "In case of any adverse events or serious adverse events, you will be provided medically recognised standard of care in the government designated and authorised centres and hospitals."

"The compensation for serious adverse event will be paid by sponsor (BBIL) in case if the SAE is proven to be causally related to the vaccine," the form said.

The Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) of the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi requested the medical superintendent to vaccinate them with the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine Covishield.

In a letter to the medical superintendent, the association said the resident doctors were "a bit apprehensive" about Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and might not participate in the immunisation drive in large numbers, thus defeating the purpose of the exercise which began in the country on Saturday.

"We have come to know that the COVID-19 vaccination drive is being conducted by the hospital today. Covaxin manufactured by Bharat Biotech is being preferred in our hospital over Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute.The residents are a bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial in case of Covaxin and might not participate in huge numbers thus defeating the purpose of vaccination. We request you to vaccinate us with Covishield which has completed all stages of trial before its roll-out," the letter stated.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said the state has received 10 lakh vaccine doses, or 60 percent of the stock allotted to it, so far and the remaining doses will be available in the next 10 days.

Speaking to reporters after attending the vaccination drive in Jalna, Tope said at least 8 lakh health workers have registered for this programme, and for this, the state needs 7.5 lakh additional doses of the vaccine.

"Although the state has received 60 percent to the vaccine stock it needs, the remaining consignment will be made available in the next 10 days," the minister said. "Maharashtra needs 17.50 lakh doses of the coronavirus vaccine, as 8 lakh health workers have registered for the programme on CoWIN application. We have received 10 lakh doses and we still need 7.5 lakh more."

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan responded to Congress leader Manish Tewari's quote questioning why politicians and government functionaries were not getting vaccinated as per the procedure in other countries. Vardhan slammed Tewari saying that he and the Congress are "passionate about spreading rumours".

In response, Tewari cautioned the government not to "hide behind vaccine nationalism".

In a series of tweets on Saturday, Union home minister Amit Shah lauded scientists and ' COVID-19 warriors' and said, "India is one of the few countries which has won the direction to end the biggest crisis against humanity."

"This 'Made in India' vaccine represents the determination of self-reliant India. On this historic day, I bow to all our Corona warriors," he added.

Serum Institute of India chief Adar Poonawalla took a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine Covishield.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said experts have said the vaccine against COVID-19 is safe and people should not pay heed to rumours.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging for free vaccines for the lower income groups.

Following the launch of a nationwide vaccination drive, health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said the vaccine will work as 'sanjeevani' against COVID-19 .

The first dose of the coronavirus vaccine was administered to a sanitation worker at AIIMS Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said vaccines available in India are much cheaper than options in other countries, adding that they don't need to be stored in extremely low temperatures.

Stating that the work on other vaccines is progessing at a fast pace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the development and launch of two Made In India vaccines in a short span of time.

A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and Union territories will be virtually connected during the launch at 10.30 am by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site.

A day before a massive countrywide vaccination drive against coronavirus is set to commence, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the step is "probably the beginning of the end" of COVID-19 .

Speaking at the 146th India Meteorological Department (IMD) foundation day, he, however, cautioned that even if the vaccination drive is on, there should not be lowering of guard and people must follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.

"Tomorrow is an important day...it is the last phase of the battle against coronavirus . I say, this is probably the beginning of the end of COVID now which is going to start tomorrow," Vardhan, who is also Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister, said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India's COVID-19 vaccination drive on 16 January via video conferencing.

This will be the world's largest vaccination programme covering the entire length and breadth of the country and all preparations are in place to initiate the programme.

The vaccination programme is based on principles of priority groups to be vaccinated first. Healthcare workers, both in the government and private sectors, including Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) workers, will receive the vaccine during this phase.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had earlier this month approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive.
To cut the COVID-19 transmission chain in Yau Ma Tei and Jordan as soon as possible, the Government today announced it has extended compulsory testing to a specified area in the district.

The area is bounded by Nathan Road to its east, Kansu Street to its north, Ferry Street to its west and Jordan Road to its south.

The Government said it noticed confirmed cases have been recently found in Yau Ma Tei and Jordan over a short period, adding that there are many old buildings with crowded living environments in the district, resulting in higher infection risks in the community.

Within the specified area, buildings with one or more confirmed cases found in a unit in the past 14 days would be included in the compulsory testing notice under the Prevention & Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation.

People who had been present at a relevant building in the past 14 days will have to be tested by January 18.

Twenty buildings fulfilling the above criteria are covered by the compulsory testing notice.

Home Affairs Department staff will visit the buildings in the area to assist residents to undergo testing at mobile specimen collection stations or the community testing centre at Henry G Leong Yaumatei Community Centre.

Since the infection risk in the area might be higher, the Government encourages residents to undergo testing proactively and promptly, even if they are not subject to compulsory testing.

The mobile specimen collection stations will provide free testing services for all residents in the area regardless of whether they are subject to compulsory testing or not.
Dozens of people facing another 14 days in hotel quarantine will be released early, as authorities dare to hope the state has dodged another serious virus cluster.

The state also recorded one new case overnight, a child in quarantine.

About 30 people who were moved from the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane to the nearby Westin hotel this week are now due to be released by 6pm Saturday, after authorities reassessed the situation.

Returned travellers at Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane have been moved to other quarantine hotels. Credit:AFR

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said she was now confident that the initial case in the six-case cluster at the hotel occurred on January 2.
A Clarks Summit attorney who pleaded guilty to stealing more than $50,000 from three clients has been disbarred from practicing law.

David W. Harris III, 56, of Mayfield, who had a law practice in Clarks Summit, agreed to relinquish his law license based on the conviction. He also acknowledged he is under investigation for 13 other complaints filed against him that allege various misconduct, according to an order issued by the Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court.

Harris, who has been an attorney since 1995, was charged in October 2019, after two clients reported he never paid them money owed from a real estate deal and a third client reported he failed to pay inheritance tax on an estate. Harris pleaded guilty this past October to one count of theft by unlawful taking and was sentenced last month to four years probation, the first six months to be served on home confinement.

The disciplinary board order notes the board is investigating the other complaints, including allegations he took money from clients but failed to complete the work for which they retained him, then failed to honor their request for a refund.

The order says Harris agreed to the disbarment, which is retroactive to Nov. 8, 2019, because he acknowledges he could not successfully defend himself against the allegations if the board were to bring misconduct charges against him.
Challenging times for children during COVID-19 By Quintus Perera View(s): View(s):

The stress and the impact of COVID-19 is not only on the children but also on the parents (particularly working parents) who are faced with the additional burden of providing home schooling. There are also concerns that the children are not able to play, and while interaction with school friends and teachers is an essential part of education, this is also not happening.

These were among many issues raised at a recent virtual discussion organised by the Sunday Times Business Club (STBC) on the topic Impact of COVID-19 on children and their (working) parents.

The panelists were Prof. Shehan Williams, Prof of Psychiatry at the Kelaniya University Medical Faculty and Dr. Ravimal Galappaththi, Consultant Psychiatrist, Army Hospital Colombo.

Prof. Williams indicated that in Sri Lanka there are two professions that need no training or qualification  becoming a politician and to be a parent. But he said that parenting children is vitally important in the development of the child.

He expressed that one goes through parenting without any training though the children spend a lot of time in schools. The number one most important role they play in life is parenting for parents.

On parenting they need to ponder regularly to go into the whole situation and they need to really think about their children and even grandchildren. He said: Our kids can benefit, not only by the current educational system, but also from the past as well.

He said that there are children who are brilliant and at the same time there are children who are sometimes, even with the best of efforts, difficult to manage and they are a challenge.

He said the pandemic is seen to be prevalent in society for a long time. While the children do not go to school, they sit in front of the computer screen for a long time taking online classes but find it difficult to concentrate for long periods. The children who have the attention deficiency disorder would find it doubly difficult.

He said that in the virtual world, it is online lessons which is what the schools are trying to do. The teacher is important and what the teacher can provide, but he said that the teachers do not provide in todays context the necessary inputs to the child as there is no schooling. The most important aspect in the school is peer interaction. In schools children learn to socialize.

During the pandemic while parents have more time working from home they should allocate quality time with their children by interacting with them and helping them to develop and have discussions with them.

Reflecting on a situation where children are constantly on the computer playing games etc, he said children below the age of 16 should not be given smart phones, until they pass or complete their O Levels. Modern schools should teach the proper use and abuse of smart phones.

Dr. Galappaththi said that in extreme situations children could get frustrated as they do not have inhibitions when they are young and these danger signals should be acknowledged by parents.

He pointed out that the parents need to be very mindful of giving quality time to their children to avoid frustrations by children who have to stay at home and not even play at times.

He said: We need to fully involve children in parents conversations etc. Parents have a large responsibility and seeking the help of a doctor in managing difficult children in seeking to change their behavioural patterns is not the solution.

The online participants posed substantial queries and the expert panel offered fruitful information which enabled a lively discussion.
The judge hearing the murder case of the late Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa North, Mr J.B. Danquah-Adu, has expressed worry about the unwillingness of counsels from the Legal Aid Department to represent the accused person, Daniel Asiedu.



A High Court Judge, Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, said yesterday that despite writing to the Legal Aid Department asking for counsel for the accused, the court had not received any response; hence, a lawyer had not been assigned to represent the accused person, a situation which is stalling the progress of the case.



Previous lawyer



In November last year, the Lawyer for the accused person, Mr Augustine Obour, who had been defending him for close to five years on pro-bono basis, decided to withdraw his services after a video which went viral showed Asiedu confessing to killing Mr Danquah-Adu.



According to Mr Obour, he found it very difficult defending the accused person when he (Asiedu) had confessed to the whole world, including the jurors who will decide his fate, about his murderous deed.



Legal Aid



Subsequently, the court, in December 2020, wrote to the Legal Aid Department requesting a defence lawyer to be appointed for the accused person together with his accomplice, but nothing has been heard as yet.



Justice Marfo, who raised the issue with a lawyer from the Legal Aid Department who had come to represent an accused person in a separate murder case, said, I dont know why nobody wants to touch this case. It is nothing extraordinary just come and do it to the best of your ability.



She, therefore, encouraged the Legal Aid lawyer to consider representing Asiedu in the case.



The case has been adjourned to Thursday, February 11.



Not guilty



Asiedu and one Vincent Bosso have been charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.



Meanwhile, Asiedu has also been charged separately with murder.



The two have pleaded not guilty to the offences.



Murder



Mr Danquah-Adu was murdered at his residence at Shiashie in Accra on February 9, 2016.



It is the case of the prosecution that Asiedu and Bosso planned to go on a robbery spree but Bosso changed his mind and went home.



The prosecution said Asiedu went to Shiashie and picked the MPs house to rob.



According to the prosecution, in the course of searching for items to steal, Asiedu made some noise which woke up the MP.



The prosecution said a struggle ensued between the two, leading to Asiedu stabbing the MP in the neck and chest and killing him in the process.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-15 23:28:28|Editor: huaxia

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press briefing in Washington D.C., the United States, on March 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

This 11th-hour episode of anti-China insanity is a clear demonstration that those political arsonists, including U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, of the outgoing U.S. administration are running around the clock to hit China, and to dig as many holes for future China-U.S. relations as they can.

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- With less than a week to go, the outgoing U.S. administration announced on Thursday a fresh move to blacklist nine more Chinese firms over groundless national-security charges.

This 11th-hour episode of anti-China insanity is a clear demonstration that those political arsonists, including U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, of the current administration are running around the clock to hit China, and to dig as many holes for future China-U.S. relations as they can.

Washington's latest China-bashing hysteria does not strike as a surprise. Over the past four years, it seems that this administration simply measured the success of its diplomacy by how hard it can batter China. As their days in power are numbered, their desperation to bully China has gone unprecedentedly wild.

From hyping up the so called "red scare," to the extremely provocative move of lifting restrictions on official contacts with China's Taiwan region, and now to expanding its hit-list of Chinese firms, those China hawks are trying desperately to damage the world's most important bilateral relationship beyond repair.

It is their ultimate fear that the end of the outgoing administration could spell the very end to their political life.

In the past few years, the White House has repeatedly launched witch-hunt against Chinese companies by resorting to the flimsy fig leaf of national security.

Photo taken on Dec. 14, 2020 shows the White House in the rain in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

In their obsolete Cold-War thinking, containing China is the most effective way to secure America's interests. However, in this highly connected and interdependent world, Washington's zero-sum logic and its unscrupulous abuse of state power to punish law-abiding foreign investors will only scare away foreign investors, corrode fair competition, and chip away global confidence in a free and open U.S. market.

And once the confidence in America's business environment crumbles, it is immensely hard to build it back.

While those sanctions may inflict some damage on a number of Chinese firms, those punitive plots will never suffocate Chinese enterprises' aspiration to continue to embrace a more open world and join their global partners for mutual benefits.

With their last show of madness, those anti-China political clowns will find their audience cheering for their belated exit. Ultimately, they will fall into oblivion despite their political farce. 



Today we present the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe. Here is Shep O'Neal with the story.

True! Nervous -- very, very nervous I had been and am! But why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses -- not destroyed them.

Above all was the sense of hearing. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in the underworld. How, then, am I mad? Observe how healthily -- how calmly I can tell you the whole story.

It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He had the eye of a bird, a vulture -- a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell on me, my blood ran cold; and so -- very slowly -- I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and free myself of the eye forever.

Now this is the point. You think that I am mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely and carefully I went to work!

I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night, late at night, I turned the lock of his door and opened it  oh, so gently! And then, when I had made an opening big enough for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed that no light shone out, and then I stuck in my head. I moved it slowly, very slowly, so that I might not interfere with the old man's sleep. And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern just so much that a single thin ray of light fell upon the vulture eye.

And this I did for seven long nights -- but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who was a problem for me, but his Evil Eye.

On the eighth night, I was more than usually careful in opening the door. I had my head in and was about to open the lantern, when my finger slid on a piece of metal and made a noise. The old man sat up in bed, crying out "Who's there?"

I kept still and said nothing. I did not move a muscle for a whole hour. During that time, I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening -- just as I have done, night after night.

Then I heard a noise, and I knew it was the sound of human terror. It was the low sound that arises from the bottom of the soul. I knew the sound well. Many a night, late at night, when all the world slept, it has welled up from deep within my own chest. I say I knew it well.

I knew what the old man felt, and felt sorry for him, although I laughed to myself. I knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first noise, when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been ever since growing upon him.

When I had waited a long time, without hearing him lie down, I decided to open a little -- a very, very little -- crack in the lantern. So I opened it. You cannot imagine how carefully, carefully. Finally, a single ray of light shot from out and fell full upon the vulture eye.

It was open -- wide, wide open -- and I grew angry as I looked at it. I saw it clearly -- all a dull blue, with a horrible veil over it that chilled my bones; but I could see nothing else of the old man's face or person. For I had directed the light exactly upon the damned spot.

And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but a kind of over-sensitivity? Now, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when inside a piece of cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my anger.

But even yet I kept still. I hardly breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I attempted to keep the ray of light upon the eye. But the beating of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every second. The old man's terror must have been extreme! The beating grew louder, I say, louder every moment!

And now at the dead hour of the night, in the horrible silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet, for some minutes longer I stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst.

And now a new fear seized me -- the sound would be heard by a neighbor! The old man's hour had come! With a loud shout, I threw open the lantern and burst into the room.

He cried once -- once only. Without delay, I forced him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled, to find the action so far done.

But, for many minutes, the heart beat on with a quiet sound. This, however, did not concern me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length, it stopped. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the body. I placed my hand over his heart and held it there many minutes. There was no movement. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more.

If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise steps I took for hiding the body. I worked quickly, but in silence. First of all, I took apart the body. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.

I then took up three pieces of wood from the flooring, and placed his body parts under the room. I then replaced the wooden boards so well that no human eye -- not even his -- could have seen anything wrong.

There was nothing to wash out -- no mark of any kind -- no blood whatever. I had been too smart for that. A tub had caught all -- ha! ha!

When I had made an end of these labors, it was four o'clock in the morning. As a clock sounded the hour, there came a noise at the street door. I went down to open it with a light heart -- for what had I now to fear? There entered three men, who said they were officers of the police. A cry had been heard by a neighbor during the night; suspicion of a crime had been aroused; information had been given at the police office, and the officers had been sent to search the building.

I smiled -- for what had I to fear? The cry, I said, was my own in a dream. The old man, I said, was not in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I told them to search -- search well. I led them, at length, to his room. I brought chairs there, and told them to rest. I placed my own seat upon the very place under which lay the body of the victim.

The officers were satisfied. I was completely at ease. They sat, and while I answered happily, they talked of common things. But, after a while, I felt myself getting weak and wished them gone. My head hurt, and I had a ringing in my ears; but still they sat and talked.

The ringing became more severe. I talked more freely to do away with the feeling. But it continued until, at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears.

I talked more and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased -- and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound like a watch makes when inside a piece of cotton. I had trouble breathing -- and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly -- more loudly; but the noise increased. I stood up and argued about silly things, in a high voice and with violent hand movements. But the noise kept increasing.

Why would they not be gone? I walked across the floor with heavy steps, as if excited to anger by the observations of the men -- but the noise increased. What could I do? I swung my chair and moved it upon the floor, but the noise continually increased. It grew louder -- louder -- louder! And still the men talked pleasantly, and smiled.

Was it possible they heard not? No, no! They heard! They suspected! They knew! They were making a joke of my horror! This I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this pain! I could bear those smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! And now -- again! Louder! Louder! Louder!

"Villains!" I cried, "Pretend no more! I admit the deed! Tear up the floor boards! Here, here! It is the beating of his hideous heart!"

You have heard the story "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe. Your storyteller was Shep O'Neal. This story was adapted by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Lawan Davis.

We want to hear from you. Do you enjoy horror stories like this one? Tell us about your favorite horror story in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

QUIZ

Quiz - The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

LESSON PLAN

This lesson plan, based on the CALLA Approach, teaches the strategy, classify, to help students understand the story.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

nervous - adj. often or easily becoming worried and afraid about what might happen

underworld - n. the place where dead people go in Greek myths

vulture - n. any one of several large birds that eat dead animals and have a small and featherless head

lantern - n. a light that has usually a glass covering and that can be carried by a handle

terror- n. a very strong feeling of fear

well - v. to rise to a surface and flow out  usually + up

horrible - adj. very bad or unpleasant
Senator Lindsey Graham has released interview transcripts from his inquiry into the FBI's Trump-Russia probe, claiming they show the 'gross incompetence' and corruption behind the effort.

Graham, a South Carolina Republican and chair of the Judiciary Committee, on Thursday released hundreds of pages of transcripts from the committee's inquiry into the origins and aftermath of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, as the FBI probe was code-named.

'I believe that Crossfire Hurricane was one of the most incompetent and corrupt investigations in the history of the FBI and DOJ,' said Graham in a statement.

The transcripts cover the contents of 11 closed-door Judiciary hearings conducted from March to October of 2020, including interviews with former top DOJ official Bruce Ohr and former Acting Attorney General Dana J. Boente.

Senator Lindsey Graham has released interview transcripts from his investigation into the FBI's Trump-Russia probe, claiming they show the 'gross incompetence' in the investigation

Graham harshly criticized former FBI Director Jim Comey (above) and his top lieutenant, Andrew McCabe

Crossfire Hurricane was the FBI's investigation into allegations that Donald Trump's 2016 campaign conspired with Russia to interfere in the election. The probe was later turned over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, whose report ultimately found no proof of such a conspiracy.

Among the revelations in the released transcripts, an unnamed FBI agent who was British ex-spy Christopher Steele's primary contact and handler admitted that it was immediately apparent that Steele's 'dirty dossier' was 'political.'

'I mean, it was obvious,' the FBI agent said when asked if the dossier was political in nature.

The agent said that he did not initially know which political party had funded the dossier, which was paid for by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign.

'It was completely obvious to all of us, whoever was involved in these conversations, what the purpose was of the information was -- to be used by one political party or another,' the agent said.

The dossier contained salacious allegations, including that Russia had compromising videos of Trump, but that and other claims were never verified.

An unnamed FBI agent who was British ex-spy Christopher Steele's (above) handler admitted that it was immediately apparent that Steele's 'dirty dossier' was 'political.'

'I mean, it was obvious,' the FBI agent said when asked if the dossier was political in nature

Nevertheless, Steele's dossier became part of the evidence used to obtain a surveillance warrant on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page from a secretive special court through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Page was never charged with a crime.

'The FISA warrant applications against Carter Page were a travesty, and those who signed them have acknowledged that if they knew then what they know now, they would not have signed it,' Graham said on Thursday.

Another released interview, with an individual identified as 'Supervisory Special Agent 1', reveals that the SSA had requested a 'validation review' of Steele's subsources, and quit Crossfire Hurricane after the request was denied.

The SSA said he was aware that Steele 'had a sub source network that provided him the reporting,' and became aware that he 'was collecting this information for an entity that was conducting opposition research.'

The SSA said he requested an outside review of Steele's primary subsource, but that the proposal was shot down by former FBI deputy assistant director of counterintelligence Peter Strzok and former assistant director of counterintelligence Bill Priestap, saying they feared leaks.

The SSA was concerned enough by the decision to leave Crossfire Hurricane, he said.

Former top DOJ official Bruce Ohr was among those interviewed by the Judiciary Committee

'It is hard to believe that the senior officials at the FBI did not know that the Steele Dossier had been disavowed by the Russian subsource,' Graham said.

'It is equally hard to believe that the warnings from the CIA and other agencies about the reliability of Christopher Steele and the dossier were not known to senior leadership.'

Graham harshly criticized former FBI Director Jim Comey and his top lieutenant, Andrew McCabe.

'The leadership of the FBI under Comey and McCabe was either grossly incompetent or they knowingly allowed tremendous misdeeds,' Graham said.

'There was a blind eye turned toward any explanation other than the Trump campaign was colluding with foreign powers. At every turn the FBI and DOJ ran stop signs that were in abundance regarding exculpatory information,' he added.

'There was no 'there' there. The investigation was pushed when it should have been stopped and the only logical explanation is that the investigators wanted an outcome because of their bias,' Graham said.

A 2019 report from the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General did not find evidence of political bias in the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, but did criticize 'basic and fundamental' errors and omissions in the FISA warrant applications to surveill Page.

U.S. Attorney John Durham has been appointed as a special counsel to pursue a separate investigation into whether Crossfire Hurricane had proper and legal origins.

The ongoing Durham investigation followed Trumps repeated calls to 'investigate the investigators.'
For the first time in the history of U.S. presidential transitions we have not had a peaceful transfer of power. The violent insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was an attempt by supporters of the president to prevent Congress from certifying the legitimate results of a free and fair presidential election. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died in the siege. It remains to be seen if the inauguration ceremony scheduled for Wednesday will proceed in a peaceful fashion.

Nothing like this has ever occurred before. Inaugural.senate.gov is the website of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. The site functions as an explainer of presidential inaugurations and a record of past inaugurations. Every other transfer of power between presidents for the last 224 years was peaceful, if not always cordial. This includes in times of war, economic distress and bitter partisan division.

Planning for this years ceremony, the 59th, was already a challenge because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee is imposing stricter limits on attendance and working on ways to expand digital viewing opportunities. The very real threat of violence related to this years event may force the committee to make further changes to its plans. Most of the information on the site regarding the upcoming ceremony was posted before the attack on the Capitol, so it doesnt reflect any potential changes.

The site has five sections. The first, About the JCCIC, contains two subsections, About the Committee and Past Committees. About the Committee features the photos and titles of the six current members, three Democrats and three Republicans. It doesnt have say how they are chosen or what their duties are.

The Past Committees section lists members of all the committees going back to William McKinleys inauguration in 1901. At the bottom of each list is a Learn More button. Clicking on it takes you to more information, including the theme, location, weather and participants. There are also photos, descriptions and videos of many of the elements of the ceremonies. These vary depending on the year of the election. The ceremonies appear to have become more bloated with the passage of time.

The next section, Inaugural Ceremonies, has four subsections. The first, 59th Inaugural Ceremonies, is at this point just a countdown clock, which is also on the home page  maybe not the best symbol considering bombs were found in Washington during the recent attack.

The next subsection, Inaugural Events, is a description of the events of the day. It includes the procession to the Capitol, the swearing in of the president and vice president, the presidents speech and more. The Inaugural Platform subsection is just a description and by-the-numbers graphic of the physical platform the ceremony takes place on. The Past Inaugural Ceremonies subsection lists all the past presidents and vice presidents, inauguration dates and a link to the same historical information as the Past Committees section has.

The Partners section lists the various government organizations that participate, with links to their websites. The Newsroom section has writings from current and past committee members, details on the upcoming and past ceremonies and some videos of speakers and inaugural trivia. The last section is the Live section, which has nothing now, but I assume it will have a broadcast of the inauguration as it occurs.

The site is a highly polished, antiseptic presentation of one of Americas most important government functions. It has good imagery, typography and navigation. It doesnt give a hint of the cloud hanging over this years event.
Baby Swallows Bicycle Bearing, Doctors Perform Rare Surgery to Remove It

A baby girl was saved from near death after she swallowed a 5-centimeter-wide (approx. 2-inch) piece of metal that got wedged in her throat.

The 9-month-old baby, who hasnt been named, struggled to breathe after the incident and kept crying nonstop. The worried parents, from a small village near Kurnool City in India, rushed their little daughter to the Kurnool KIMS hospital, reported Caters News.

The quick-thinking doctors took an X-ray and finally identified the foreign objecta bicycle bearingthat was causing the baby extreme pain.

The X-ray of the baby revealing the bearing lodged in her throat. (Caters News)

The doctors performed emergency life-saving surgery to remove the metal bearing stuck in the babys food pipe. The medics called the incident very dangerous.

The baby was facing difficulty in breathing and suffering from vomiting, consultant gastroenterologist Dr. Rajendra Prasad said, according to Caters News.

We suspected some obstruction in the esophagus and took an X-ray and did emergency endoscopy, the doctor said.

The babys father showing the bicycle bearing that was removed from her throat after surgery. (Caters News)

Immediately, we made some space in the esophagus using emergency endoscopy equipment and then carefully removed the foreign object with Magill Forceps, Prasad said.

We could save the life of the baby as the parents brought her on time.

The doctor said that the baby girl has now completely recovered and is breathing normally.

The baby was completely healthy when she came for the next follow-up, Prasad said.

Caters News Agency contributed to this report.

This story was last updated in January 2021.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud (L) and Senator Simon Birmingham during a press conference at Parliament House on May 12, 2020 in Canberra, Australia. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

Australia to Charter More Repatriation Flights

The federal government has announced it will arrange 20 chartered flights to bring Australians stranded overseas home.

The decision follows international air carrier Emirates move to suspend its flights to Australias east coast, frustrating desperate expats.

The flights will come from priority areas around the world, Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Birmingham said on Saturday.

He said the absence of Emirates would not hinder the availability of flights and the newly arranged flights would be on top of the current traveller caps.

The capacity that Emirates was able to use within the cap will be allocated to other airlines ensuring that there are still as many tickets into Australia after Emirates decision as there would have been beforehand, Birmingham said. There are other carriers here or elsewhere who will be able to bring Australians home using the seats that Emirates would have been able to fill previously.

One new local case of coronavirus has been recorded in Sydney as Victoria looks to drastically reduce its red zone designations on the NSW and Queensland capitals.

A western Sydney man tested positive in the 24 hours to 8 p.m. on Fridayending a two-day streak of zero cases.

Authorities are still to link the case to a known cluster but believe its associated with the Berala bottle shop cluster.

Relief is on its way so long as we maintain low or zero number of cases and have those testing rates high, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Friday.

Victoria and Queensland reported no new local cases on Saturday.

The lack of cases in Brisbane gave Victoria the confidence to drop Brisbanes traffic light status to orange from Saturday evening.

It means Victorians will not need to apply for an exemption to return home.

South Australia also reduced the barriers for entry from greater Brisbane. From Sunday, entrants will no longer have to self-quarantine for 14 days but will have to be tested three times. Anyone arriving in SA from Brisbane from Thursday will not have to isolate or be tested.

Victorians stranded in Sydney may also be able to return home without an exemption in coming days, with the state hoping to drop several local government areas to orange.

There are clearly some local government areas within Greater Sydney that have now gone a number of days of cases without transmission, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said in Melbourne. I will look very intensively at the epidemiology across greater Sydney over the next couple of days.

But the new western Sydney case may quash those hopes and the wishes for restrictions on Sydneysiders being loosened.

NSW flagged changes were possible next week if testing rates exceeded 20,000, few new cases were reported and health advice allowed looser restrictions.

Just 14,547 tests in NSW were reported to 8 p.m. on Fridaydown on the previous days total of 16,070.

Australias only positive result outside hotel quarantine reported on Friday now appears to be a historical case after the Cairns man repeatedly tested negative.

We are still waiting on the serology test results to be absolutely convinced, but I really do believe that that is a historical case, Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, other states are continuing to ease border restrictions

Western Australia late on Friday assigned a low risk status to Victoria, which has now recorded nine days of no local transmission.

Victorians still need to self-quarantine for 14 days but, unlike residents from medium risk Queensland and NSW, will be able to enter WA without an exemption from Monday.

Travellers from Greater Brisbane arriving in South Australia from Sunday will not have to go into quarantine.

By Luke Costin and Andi Yu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

While the pandemic has been devastating for many businesses leading to millions of closures and bankruptcies, it has proved a boon to one company PublishersAgentsFilms (www.publishersagentsfilms.com) which operates online in connecting writers and filmmakers to publishers, agents, and film producers. Sales doubled over the previous year, because book and script writers had plenty of time at home to write their books and scripts, work with ghostwriters to write for them, or create book and script video trailers to pitch their material. Then they wanted to find publishers, agents, or producers to publish their books or produce their films.

The company, founded over 17 years ago and now based in Lafayette, California, was right there to help them develop their material and make connections. In turn, the writers and filmmakers from U.S., Canada, the U.K., Hong Kong, Australia, Sweden, and other countries around the world, found the company through referrals from publishers, agents, past clients, and people finding the website on the Internet, without the company doing any publicity to get clients. Over the years, the company has worked with over 1500 clients and gained over 300 testimonials.

So now, to enable the company to grow even further and go global, as well as make connections in other industries, the current owner is seeking to sell to new owners, an acquisition by a larger company, or an investment by venture capitalists or angel investors.

The way the company works is this. So far the company has primarily made connections in the publishing and film industries, but it has also made connections for clients pitching projects in the music, investment, and games and toys industries, and those seeking publicity in the media. It has also had a few clients seeking to contact meeting planners and law enforcement professionals. The basic platform connects individuals and companies by a personalized email using special software with contacts in any selected industry. Individual just send a query letter briefly describing their project and its appeal, and then interested contacts respond to them directly for more information. Then, that can turn into a publishing, film, or other kind of deal.

The company recently established the VC Connection (www.thevcconnection.com) to promote the service to entrepreneurs and business owners seeking VC and angel capital for their business. Additionally, it set up an affiliate company My Promeo (www.mypromeo.com), which creates videos to promote products, services, books, songs, and films, and to send personal greetings. The Video Connection features promotional, informational, and personal videos that range from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, and sometimes a little longer. So far the company has primarily created sizzle reels for clients pitching their books or scripts to the publishers, agents, and film producers.

The company founder, Gini Graham Scott, PhD. has an extensive track record as a writer, film producer, and entrepreneur. She has published over 250 books, 50 with traditional publishers and 200 through her company Changemakers Publishing, which specializes in popular business and self-help books. She has written and executive produced 12 feature films, documentaries, and TV series, featured at www.changemakersproductionsfilms.com. She has written the lyrics for and produced over 150 songs with several collaborators who write the music. These songs are featured at www.changemakersmusic.com. She works with dozens of clients as a writer of books, scripts, book proposals, and other materials. She has a PhD from U.C. Berkeley, a JD from the University of San Francisco Law School, and five MAs from Cal State East Bay. You can find extensive information about her at her website www.changemakerspublishingandwriting.com and on LinkedIn. If you put her name in Google, you'll get about 150,000 hits

If you are interested in pitching or promoting a book or script  or are interested in being a partner or the owner of a company that could turn into a multi-million dollar global empire that makes connections with decision-makers in any industry, you can contact the company for more information at PublishersAgentsFilms, www.publishersagentsfilms.com, publisheragents@att.net, (925) 385-0608

Jana Collins

Jones & O'Malley

Toluca Lake, California

(818) 762-8353

jana@jonesomalley.com

Nancy Parker

Executive Assistant

Changemakers Publishing

Lafayette, California

(925) 385-0608

www.changemakerspublishingandwriting.com

changemakerspub@att.net
Amaravati, Jan 16 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy kickstarted the statewide Coronavirus vaccination programme on Saturday from Vijayawada.

He started it at the government general hospital (GGH) in Vijayawada, where he personally observed a frontline worker receiving the vaccine.

"Across the state, 3.87 lakh people have been scheduled to receive the vaccine shot at 332 centres," said an official statement.

The state government has shipped the vaccine shots to all the districts from the central storage warehouse at Gannavaram near Vijayawada.

B. Pushpa Kumari, working as a sweeper in the health department received the first Covishield vaccine shot, made by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India.

Later, Reddy personally observed a nurse, Ch. Naga Jyothi, being administered the vaccine.

After Jyothi, operation theatre assistant P. Jayakumar, general physician L. Pranitha and B. Basaveshwar received the vaccine shots.

In Vizianagaram district, Municipal Minister Botsca Satyanarayana launched the vaccination programme in the presence of local MLA Kolagotla Veera Bhadra Swamy, district collector M. Hari Jawaharlal and other officials.

Satyanarayana said vaccination will start at all Assembly constituencies in Vizianagaram from Saturday.

In the first phase, 26,000 frontline works discharging duties at government and private hospitals will receive the vaccine.

As many as 15 hospitals have started the vaccination drive in the north Andhra district.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
(ASSOCIATED PRESS) - Governors bitterly accused the Trump administration Friday of deceiving the states about the amount of COVID-19 vaccine they can expect to receive as they ramp up vaccinations for senior citizens and others. But the government attributed the anger to confusion and misguided expectations on the part of the states.

Meanwhile, the race between the vaccine and the virus may be about to heat up: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the new, more infectious variant first seen in Britain will probably become the dominant version in the U.S. by March.

The CDC said the variant is about 50% more contagious than the virus that is causing the bulk of cases in this country.

"We want to sound the alarm, said Dr. Jay Butler, CDC deputy director for infectious diseases.

The clash over the pace of the government's COVID-19 vaccine allotments threatens to escalate tensions between the Trump administration and some states over who is responsible for the relatively slow start to the vaccination drive against the scourge that has killed over 390,000 Americans.

Oregon had announced earlier this week that it would expand vaccine eligibility to roughly 760,000 residents 65 and older, as well as teachers and child care providers, because of what it said were promises that the states vaccine allotment would be increased.

But Democratic Gov. Kate Brown said those plans are now in disarray because of deception on a national scale by the administration.

Via Twitter, Brown said she was told by Gen. Gustave F. Perna, who leads Operation Warp Speed, that states will not be receiving increased shipments of vaccine from the national stockpile next week because there is no federal reserve of doses.

As a result of what she called a cruel joke, Brown said the state will now postpone vaccination of senior citizens to Feb. 8, instead of Jan. 23, and initially limit it to people 80 and older.

Late Friday, Oregon health officials said a case of the variant had been diagnose in the Portland area in a patient who had no travel history.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said he was among several governors deceived by federal officials about availability of a strategic supply of doses.

This one is so far beyond the pale to be almost unimaginable, he said. Whos going to be prosecuted for this? What are the states to do when theyve been lied to and made all their plans around this?

Alena Yarmosky, a spokeswoman for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, said governors were told explicitly on Tuesday that they would be provided additional doses. Northam, a Democrat and a doctor, had moved quickly as a result to announce that the state would expand vaccine eligibility.

Now, Northams administration is trying to determine whether those additional supplies dont exist, Yarmosky said.

What were seeing is fully in line with the dysfunction that has characterized the Trump administrations entire response to COVID-19. President-elect (Joe) Biden cannot be sworn in fast enough, she said.

Michael Pratt, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said that states may have been confused in their expectations but that there has been no reduction in doses shipped to them.

Biden alluded to the tensions Friday and pledged to communicate better with states so they know how much vaccine will arrive and when.

Right now were hearing that they cant plan because they dont know, he said. That stops when were in office.

As of Friday, the government had distributed over 31 million doses to states, U.S. territories and major cities. About 12.3 million doses had been administered, according to online tracking by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There is no evidence that the new variant causes more severe illness or is transmitted differently, and mask wearing and other precautions still work, the CDC said. Scientists have also expressed confidence that the vaccines are still effective against it.

According to CDC, the variant has been detected in 12 states and diagnosed in only 76 reported cases. But it is probably more widespread in the U.S. than the numbers suggest, CDC scientists said.

The two COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the U.S. -- made by Pfizer and Moderna  are designed to be given in two doses, three or four weeks apart.

For weeks, Operation Warp Speed had been holding large amounts of vaccine in reserve to ensure that those who got their first dose received their second one on time. The practice was a hedge against possible manufacturing delays. When HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced on Tuesday that he was ending the practice, it was interpreted as essentially doubling the expected supply.

But there was another huge change: He also urged states to open vaccinations to everyone over 65 and younger people with certain health problems, even though most hadnt yet finished dispensing shots to all the health workers first in line.

The result was a scramble by state and local health authorities to figure out exactly how much vaccine they would receive in the coming weeks and how to ramp up shots for a public with higher expectations.

Pratt said doses that were being held in reserve to provide second shots were released last week. Its unclear, however, if they all shipped prior to the Trump administrations announcement early this week that states should open up vaccination to more people. He said states are getting the required second doses they need and the number of first doses is stable.

Pfizer said it is working around the clock to produce millions of doses a day, adding, We foresee no issues in delivering on the commitments we have made to supply Operation Warp Speed. Moderna didnt immediately respond to questions about its supplies.

At Marys Woods, a retirement community in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, residents expressed fear they will have to wait longer for their vaccinations. Several have COVID-19, and others are terrified it could spread to them soon.

Im pretty disappointed, said 75-year-old Joan Burns. Were sequestered and its difficult to talk to anybody. I am as anxious as Ive ever been, and I know its escalating. Were just playing the odds right now, really.

Elsewhere around the country, in hard-hit California, where 3,675 people have died from COVID-19 in the past week, officials are rushing to help overwhelmed county coroners. The Office of Emergency Services said it has secured 98 refrigerated trailers to serve as makeshift morgues.
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Recently, famous Japanese plastic surgeon Mikiya Takasu released a list of celebrities most women ask for. Out of all of the Japanese celebrities that made his ranking, TWICE member Tzuyu was also named as a beautiful face. Keep on reading to learn more.

Mikiya Takasu of Takasu Clinic in Nagoya, Japan, released a list of celebrities who are considered the standard of beauty, and the faces that most women in Nagoya ask to look like. While the list was mostly dominated by Japanese stars, TWICE member Tzuyu stood out as the only K-pop idol on the list.

In Mikiya Takasu's list, he notes that there are more and more women who come into his clinic with photos of K-pop idols. Out of all of the idols that are often mentioned, TWICE member Tzuyu is the one often mentioned. Mikiya Takasu praises that Taiwanese beauty for her natural beauty and for her having no facial defects. According to Mikiya Takasu, her face is perfect!

This is the second time Tzuyu has appeared in Mikiya Takasu's list. She appeared on the list last year at number six, with the plastic surgeon praising Tzuyu for being perfect everywhere and naturally being born beautiful. Mikiya Takasu also warns people, saying, "You might think you can look like a K-pop idol like Tzuyu, but that is a big mistake. It is not easy to become so beautiful."

Mikiya Takasu also noted that the TWICE member was named the most beautiful woman in the world by TC Candler in 2019, proving her flawless beauty.

Despite not being a part of TWICE's Japanese line, Tzuyu has proven herself as quite the star in Japan. Back in early Dec. 2020, Google Data concerning who the most-searched female idols in Japan are for the year was released. While all TWICE members made the list and ranked within the top 10, Tzuyu rose through the ranks and was the number one most-searched female idol in the country for 2020.

When TWICE appeared at the "2020 SBS Gayo Daejun", she also gained praise for her classic beauty. TWICE stunned the audience with their retro-inspired outfits and stage design, but it was Tzuyu that caught everyone's eyes. With her slim figure and her flattering black and white dress with matching black gloves and mesh thigh-high socks, Tzuyu stunned everyone with her timeless beauty. The idol was also wearing sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat, giving off major Audrey Hepburn vibes!

Prior to that, Tzuyu went viral in South Korea after the girls appeared on "Inkigayo" to promote "I CAN'T STOP ME". Following the performance, people praised the idol for her enhanced visuals, claiming that this is the prettiest they have ever seen Tzuyu. She was also applauded for her elegant, doll-like beauty. Despite her fairly simple make-up and her clothes that match the other members, Tzuyu was able to stand out effortlessly.

Are you a fan of TWICE's Tzuyu? Tell us in the comments below!

For more K-Pop news and updates, always keep your tabs open here on KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Alexa Lewis
The province failing to consult with Thompson leadership before announcing the northern citys COVID-19 vaccine super site would be located 10 kilometres away at the airport, with no public transit service, is a hiccup.

The province failing to consult with Thompson leadership before announcing the northern citys COVID-19 vaccine super site would be located 10 kilometres away at the airport, with no public transit service, is a "hiccup."

It does not demonstrate the Manitoba governments penchant for top-down planning, the premier says.

"It demonstrates the Free Press tendency to highlight hiccups in an important effort that were undertaking as a province, which is historic in nature, which is saving thousands of lives," Premier Brian Pallister said at a news conference Friday.

On Jan. 6, Pallister announced a "Vaxport" at the Thompson Airport would be the provinces third inoculation "super site," and would open Feb. 1.

The news came as a surprise to local leaders, including Mayor Colleen Smook, who wrote to senior provincial officials expressing concerns the location is a $25 taxi ride, one way, from northern Manitobas largest city.

Smook spoke to the Free Press after meeting Thursday with public health officials who toured the Vaxport and the Thompson Regional Community Centre, which is in the city and on a bus route. She said they agreed the centre should be a main vaccination site, with Vaxport reserved for people coming from fly-in communities.

On Friday, Pallister made no mention of accommodating the residents of Thompson at the community centre. The premier said they should be happy Thompson was chosen as a vaccine super site.

"I think they should think that theyre getting an access centre  one of three communities in the province that will get a super site  which is pretty good," Pallister said. "Theres a lot of other communities that would be happy to have one in their area."

He said questions about choice of location have been addressed by the provinces vaccination implementation task force.

"I believe the mayors been contacted and other officials have as well about the rationale, which is very logical and eminently defensible for why the super site is going to be located where its going to be located," the premier said.

At Fridays news conference, chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said hed let the task force respond to specific questions about Vaxport, noting: "Its not a simple task to plan these sites."

"Remember, the planning is very difficult due to the nature of these vaccines. Theyre very hard to store," he said.

Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee said a MKO representative was among those to tour the airport site, and expressed concerns about its suitability for First Nations.

"Simple things, such as the availability of washrooms and the place to wash hands, and all the things that go on with waste management  this is an issue," said Settee, who cautioned he wasnt the person who took the tour.

MKO also had concerns about a snowstorm or fog conditions at the airport, as well as the prospect of people waiting in airplane seats if there wasnt space to socially distance people inside, Settee said during a COVID-19 update streamed on Facebook.

"Its an ongoing discussion," he said.

A spokesperson for the province said an update on Thompson and its Vaxport would be available next week.

The province needs a good vaccination plan to kick in fast, said NDP Leader Wab Kinew, who called on the premier to listen to local leadership.

"Northern Manitoba is in a very dire situation for a number of reasons, and we cant really afford to have any delays where the province is walking back different announcements, because the people in the North need the vaccine now," the Opposition leader said.

Manitoba may need to reconsider having three super sites, and look to Saskatchewan for vaccine roll-out ideas, said Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont.

Saskatchewan has had its daily COVID-19 case count soar, but has been able to administer the vaccine to rural communities through primary care clinics and Legion halls, he said.

 with files from Dylan Robertson

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Elvis and Priscilla Presley still remain one of the most iconic couples of all time, despite that the two divorced after six years of marriage. The two had been together for a total of 13 years when they separated, but in that time, Priscilla became someone Elvis could trust. And she once revealed that their relationship never fully stopped once their marriage ended.

Priscilla and Elvis Presley | Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Elvis reportedly didnt want to go through with marrying Priscilla

When Elvis and Priscilla first met, she had only just turned 14. The two were both living overseas; Elvis was serving time in the military, as was Priscillas father. The two met at a party, and Elvis was instantly captivated with her. It took quite a bit of convincing for Priscillas parents to let her spend time with him, but eventually, they allowed it.

After Elvis returned to the U.S., Priscilla remained in Germany, and the two wrote letters to each other for two years. Priscilla eventually moved to back to the U.S. to live with Elvis, and as she got older, Elvis continued to shape her into his future wife.

Elvis reportedly didnt want to marry Priscilla, as he was known to be unfaithful and didnt want to settle down. But his manager, Tom Parker, encouraged Elvis to marry Priscilla because it would look a bit odd if he had allowed a teenager to live with him for so many years and then didnt marry her. Elvis agreed, and he and Priscilla wed when she was 21.

Elvis and Priscilla Presley | Bettmann/Contributor

RELATED: Priscilla Presley Couldnt Be Seen Without Makeup Or Go Out to Dinner While Married to Elvis: He Never Wanted to See Me

Priscilla said Elvis would call me at night after they divorced

Elvis and Priscillas marriage had cracks, despite that they did truly love each other. Elvis was often out cheating, and though Priscilla tried to pretend it wasnt happening, it eventually became too hard.

He wasnt faithful. Not that he had someone special, Priscilla told Sunday Night in a 2018 interview. I tried to turn my back to that, but I just didnt want to share him. Priscilla and Elvis eventually divorced, though she said their friendship and care for each other never stopped.

He would call me at night, she said. I really valued his calls. I valued him telling me, you know, what was wrong I valued his trust in me.

Priscilla said Elvis was still living a life of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, but that it meant something to her that he seemed to trust her more than anyone else.

Priscilla was devastated when she learned of Elvis death

On Aug. 16, 1977, news spread that Elvis had died. It was later confirmed to be a heart attack brought on by his drug use, and Priscilla was devastated when she heard the news  she didnt want to believe it.

He would sometimes check himself into the hospital because he wanted to get away from everyone, she said. He cant be, he cant be  This is a joke, Priscilla recalled of her reaction to his death.

Priscilla later turned Elvis estate into a tourist attraction, allowing people to tour Graceland. These days, thousands flock to the mansion each year to honor the King of Rock and Roll.
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Nurse Martina Byrne was the first person at St Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, to receive the Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

Nurse manager Martina received the vaccine last Thursday, in the capable hands of fellow nurse Yvonne Longmore from Bray.

'It only took a matter of minutes but if enough people take the time to get it, it will positively impact our lives like nothing else,' said Martina. 'It was the easiest and most important thing I've ever done.'

Martina was given a HSE vaccine information leaflet, along with more detailed manufacturer's patient information leaflet, before getting the vaccine.

Afterwards, each person vaccinated was given a vaccine record card, showing the name and batch of the vaccine they have received. They will each return for their second dose, to be fully protected, in three weeks.

'The arrival of the vaccine has brought a much needed buzz to our hospital & staff. This vaccine will hopefully now mark the beginning of the end for Covid,' said general manager of the hospital Hilary Flynn.

The vaccine will be rolled out to all healthcare staff and vulnerable patients in St Columcille's Hospital over the coming weeks.

Only Covid-19 vaccines that have been authorised by the European Medicines Agency, having met stringent safety and effectiveness standards, will be used in Ireland, the HSE has said.

All Covid-19 vaccines will be carefully monitored over time and updated safety data and information will be published and shared by the HSE.

The first delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine was received by the HSE on December 26, and the vaccine programme began on December 30.

First limited stock was given in hospital settings, where medical teams can be on call on site.

The programme is now being rolled out to long term residential care facilities for older people.

This will be aligned with further and ongoing deliveries of the vaccine, over a 6 week rolling programme throughout all 582 nursing homes, public and private, all over the country. Teams will be giving vaccines at each of those locations, making 2 separate visits, 3 weeks apart.

In the later phases of the programme that will focus on the next priority groups, people may be vaccinated through mass vaccination clinics, GP surgeries and community pharmacies.

This will be done by qualified and trained healthcare workers, including hospital doctors, community medical officers, nurses, GPs and pharmacists. More information will be given about the later phases when they have been agreed and implemented.
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Newly-inducted Georgia congresswoman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) will be submitting impeachment articles against President-elect Joe Biden on January 21 due to "abuse of power."

She accused Biden of suppressing foreign aid to Ukraine and pressuring them to complete a negotiation with his son Hunter Biden.

Biden Accused of 'Abuse of Power'

The Georgia Republican's declaration came briefly after the U.S. House voted to impeach President Donald Trump for "incitement of insurrection" after last week's fatal siege at the U.S. Capitol.

The vote of 232-197 with the help of 10 Republicans marked the first time in the history of the United States that a sitting president has been impeached twice.

An outspoken supporter of Trump, Greene voted against the impeachment on Wednesday.

According to Greene, "I would like to announce on behalf of the American people, we have to make sure our leaders are held accountable, we cannot have a President of the United States who is willing to abuse the power of the office of the presidency and be easily bought off by foreign governments, foreign Chinese energy companies, Ukrainian energy companies, so on January 21, I will be filing articles of impeachment on Joe Biden," reported Syracuse.

Greene also took to Twitter regarding her filing of articles of impeachment against Biden.

She won her House seat in November 2020.

When interrogated regarding how filing the impeachment articles will work, the congresswoman brought up the recent violent siege at the Capitol Hills when President Donald Trump supporters breached the building in objection to Congress certifying states' electoral votes.

She said she could not imagine people in this country being very fearful of a Biden administration's future that they had to resort to violence as they did at the Capitol.

Also Read: Twitter Shares Drop by 12 Percent After Permanently Suspending Trump

Greene continued that she does not put up with violence and that the American public needs hope; they need to be aware that there are Republicans in Congress that are willing to stand up and fight for them despite being a minority, and regardless of how the odds are against them, reported Newsweek.

On the abuse of power, Greene lamented, "When he was Vice President of the United States, he abused the power of his office by basically saying that he would withhold a billion dollars of foreign aid to Ukraine until he got a deal for his son, Hunter Biden, with a Ukrainian energy company," reported The Epoch Times.

The impeachment article would also underscore the "widespread evidence" that came to light through Hunter Biden's laptop, citing allegations from former business partner Tony Bobulinski that the Biden family was negotiating with Chinese energy companies with communist China.

Meanwhile, the impeachment articles against the incumbent president will now go to the Senate to commence a trial to determine between convicting him and potentially prohibiting him from running for office again. Though the president will have left office by the time the impeachment trial starts, there may still be repercussions if convicted.

Related Article: Facebook Blacklists All Content That Mention 'Stop the Steal' Ahead of Inauguration Day

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Ukraine's chief sanitary doctor Viktor Liashko has said that the first COVID-19 vaccines should arrive in Ukraine in February.

He said in an interview with the LB.UA online news site that the issue concerned not only the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, but also vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna.

"The chief state sanitary doctor guarantees that the vaccine will arrive in the country. [...] I think it will come in February, probably within COVAX. [...] The vaccine will appear in February, and the first stage of vaccination will begin. Some 375 mobile vaccination teams will be set up. [] We are now working with the National Health Service of Ukraine and the Finance Ministry to pay for each injection," Liashko said.

Ukraine can also obtain vaccines within the COVAX scheme, and these can be vaccines from U.S. companies Pfizer and Moderna, he said.

"This will most likely be Pfizer, because COVAX works with vaccines that are authorized by the WHO for emergency use. The only mRNA vaccine that has received such permission is Pfizer," Liashko said.

He also commented on reports about the 50.38% efficacy of the vaccine from Chinese manufacturer Sinovac Biotech. Ukraine earlier signed a contract with the company and it says the vaccine is 70% effective.

"In fact, 50 plus even 0.1% allows any regulator to register a drug as being effective and with a sufficient evidence base," he said.

On January 13, the Lekhim group of pharmaceutical companies signed an agreement with Chinese vaccine manufacturer Sinovac Biotech to supply Ukraine with five million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Of these, 1.9 million doses will be delivered within the procurement of the Ministry of Health.

Ukraine will also receive eight million doses of coronavirus vaccine as part of the COVAX initiative, enough to vaccinate four million people.

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Throughout this entire period, Belgium was successful in keeping its domestic herd of pigs ASF-free.

Decisive and consistent actions have led to the eradication of ASF in the wild boar population

From the start of the outbreak in September 2018, Belgium's strategy was to eradicate ASF (African Swine Fever) in the wild boar population. A wide variety of measures and actions were taken. Fencing, forests closed to the public, intensive search and destroy programme, hunting and trappingall proved to be key success factors in achieving this goal.

In just one year, no new positive cases were detected. In total 5,422 wild boar were examined for ASF, of which 833 were confirmed positive for ASF. The last positive case confirmed on a fresh wild boar carcass dates from 11 August 2019.

Most important: domestic herd was kept safe and ASF-free at all times

Belgium is one of Europe's key pork producers, exporting more than two-thirds of its pork production. To protect this important sector, it was crucial to prevent the disease from infecting the domestic herd.

On top of the comprehensive bio-security rules that were already in place, extra measures were implemented. This means, amongst other things, that every sick pig must be tested for ASF, regardless of the symptoms. To date, the number of samplings, all negative, amounts to more than 22,000and still counting.

Via continuous monitoring and control, alertness remains high

Despite the regained ASF-free status, Belgium will keep monitoring for animal diseases in the future, both in the domestic herd as well as in the wild population. The surveillance and control measures remain in force for the time being.

European law had already reinstated Belgium's ASF-free status

The OIE publication follows the decision by the European Commission on 20 November 2020 to abolish the regulated zones that were put in place after the outbreak of the virus in wild boar.

Belgian pork will soon be available again, worldwide

Over the last few decades, Belgium has exported pork to more than 70 countries. As Belgium communicates transparently with its trading partners around the world, importing countries will soon be provided with all information necessary to allow trade to resume.

"It is a relief to the Belgian pork suppliers that the OIE has published Belgium's ASF-free status. Importing countries will be provided with all information necessary so that they can lift ASF-related restrictions. Excellent news for importers!"

Contact your Belgian pork supplier

Full information about Belgian pork can be found on:

europeanpork.eu

artofmeat.eu

belgianmeat.com

Or contact Belgian Meat Office:

Press Contact

Joris Coenen, Manager Belgian Meat Office | +32 476 945 486 | joris.coenen@vlam.be

About Belgian Meat Office

Belgian Meat Office coordinates pork and beef export activities. The meat export agency was founded in 2003 under the Flanders' Agricultural Marketing Board (VLAM) umbrella. | www.europeanpork.eu

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1390928/VLAM_Belgian_Pork_1.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1390929/VLAM_Belgian_Pork_2.jpg

SOURCE VLAM / Belgian Meat Office
To prevent the reopening of schools, Chicago educators must organize independently of the CTU through the formation of an Illinois Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee. This committee will unite educators, parents, students and the broader working class, to prepare strike action to close all schools and nonessential workplaces. We urge all those who want to join this struggle to send us your contact information today.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teachers for the districts youngest and special education students were forced back to work last week under threat of discipline, including docked pay and getting locked out of their time-card and CPS Google accounts. Students began returning to these classrooms on Monday, and the return to in-person learning has already produced outbreaks of COVID-19 at multiple school sites.

CTU President Jessie Sharkey speaking at a CTU press conference on January 15, 2021 [Source: Screen capture CTU Facebook]

In the coming week, thousands more teachers are slated to return, followed by tens of thousands of K-8 students on February 1, representing a massive public health risk to Chicago educators, students and the wider community.

On Friday morning, teachers and parents in the Southwest Side Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen marched to demand the schools close. Teachers have been compiling a list of COVID-19 outbreaks, which now includes at least 40 schools where someone has become sick. Only one school, McCutcheon, has been officially identified as having an outbreak.

On Friday, CPS CEO Janice Jackson explained that the reopening in Chicago is part of the Democratic Partys nationwide policy of forcing teachers and students to return to in-person learning while the pandemic rages. Jackson said, I think everybody agrees, kids should be back in school. She added that president-elect Joe Biden has said thats one of his top priorities, to see students back in school. The federal government has stepped up to give us resources in order to do that safely. The time is now.

Expressing the callous indifference of the financial elite, Jackson stated, COVID is going to be part of our lives for a long time.

The aggressive imposition of the demands of the financial aristocracy to reopen the city, backed by the national, state and local Democratic Partyfrom which the CTU has absolutely no independencehas made it impossible to win even the appearance of negotiations. Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey pleaded on Friday, Its forcing us into a corner. Give us an agreement.

The CTU issued an update on negotiations with the CPS indicating that the union has two demands for the district: reinstatement of locked-out teachers and an agreed-upon reopening plan that spells out the level of citywide coronavirus transmission needed before heading back to in-person teaching and set criteria for when schools will reverse course due to outbreaks. The CTU is also reportedly continuing to press for a voluntary return for teachers after a first-dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The union has allowed the schools to reopen and thereby escalated what is already a public health catastrophe in Chicago. They stand utterly exposed in having done nothing to organize a stop to the reopening, to defend the teachers who are being disciplined, or to shut down the more than 40 schools with COVID-19 outbreaks.

A veteran teacher who wishes to remain anonymous told the World Socialist Web Site, Teachers are reporting that there has been COVID already and they just opened! And the schools have not closed. My school has not opened yet. I have asked for a medical accommodation to stay remote and am still waiting to hear. If my request is not granted it is positively criminal!

Maybe Lori Lightfoot or Janice Jackson needs one of their children to get COVID-19 or maybe they need to, maybe they would care about the rest of us then?

He also commented on the health risk facing children, stating, They also say that children dont usually get it. What do we really know about kids and COVID-19? Most of the studies have been about adults and older teens because they are out of the house more and in the workforce. Kids have been at home protected so the evidence on kids is tainted.

But what we do know for sure is that kids act as a carrier of it and may not show symptoms, which means they pass it to adults like teachers in the classroom who bring it home to their family and loved ones. CPS has no liability with this because if staff gets sick they will say you cant prove you got it from the building.

COVID-19 has long lasting effects on our bodies. Many do not fully recover and others have suffered permanent damage. What about many students who have asthma? They cant wear a mask all day for seven hours! These air purifiers are not even appropriate for most CPS room sizes. Its a joke!

In response to claims by CPS officials that schools are not transmission vectors for the virus, he added, The teachers dont believe it. We know the score. Its the public CPS wants to fool! Its all paper lies. At least 400 janitors were supposed to be hired and only 100 were. And what is 400 supposed to do for over 600 buildings anyway? There is no hot water to wash hands. Bathrooms are not adequate even when we did not have COVID. You cant pass paper to kids and have small reading groups, or help kids put their coats and scarves on. You have to be six feet away. Students are better off at home right now.

Another teacher, Mollie, said, I dont agree with the reopening. Vaccines arent available for us yet. People are still getting sick and dying. I know remote isnt perfect but it is safer! Even in-person doesnt guarantee students will do much better since they will still be online. Many of my coworkers and I are very concerned. We either risk our job or our health. Thats the choice we are left with.

Brian Deese, the incoming director of Bidens National Economic Council, stated bluntly on Wednesday the class interests behind the ongoing drive to reopen schools. We need to get the schools open, Deese claimed, so that parents, and particularly women, who are being disproportionately hurt in this economy, can get back to work.

In response to this, a veteran south side CPS teacher said, It seems pretty clear that they want people working. Lightfoot wants bars and restaurants open. And appealing to women is a nice touch.

Rolling out the vaccine at a glacial pace is not helping, but they think its good enough. They are okay with the fallout and lots of dead people. Its an acceptable tradeoff for them. They wont be around in 20 to 30 years when the aftereffects of surviving are known. Theyre sociopaths. And Bidens gonna give everyone another $1,400 so people will be pacified.

Celia, a CPS elementary school teacher, said, Of course its because of money. The Democrats are just as ruthless as the Republicans when it comes to protecting the almighty dollar. But Democrats go on the media daily to share sympathy with our struggles and do nothing to answer us. I agree this is another example of profit above people and its getting tiring.

In order to stop the reopening of schools for in-person learning, teachers must organize independently of the CTU, which has shown itself to be a pliant tool of Lightfoot and the Chicago elites. The turn must now be to the working class, uniting with Ford autoworkers at the Chicago Assembly Plant, Amazon workers at the sprawling hubs throughout the metro region, health care workers enduring ever-greater catastrophe on the front-lines of the pandemic, and all other sections of the working class.

All non-essential workplaces must be shut down and workers paid to stay home until vaccines can be widely distributed. The vast wealth of the financial oligarchy must be redirected to meet the needs of society, including fully funding remote learning and providing every student and educator with state-of-the-art technology.

It is on this basis that we call on educators to join the Illinois Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, which is in the process of formation. We are part of a network of rank-and-file committees that have formed among educators, autoworkers, Amazon workers and other sections of the working class across the US and internationally. Our aim is to prepare for a nationwide political general strike to put an end to the homicidal policies of the ruling class and oppose the growing threat of fascism. All those who wish to join this struggle should sign up today at wsws.org/edsafety.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi should first get himself vaccinated for COVID-19 to clear doubts in the minds of people, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar said on Saturday. Speaking to reporters, Ambedkar said the VBA will hold protests across Maharashtra on January 27 in support of the ongoing agitation by farmers at borders of Delhi for the repeal of three new farm laws.

"The prime minister and CM (Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray) should take the COVID-19 vaccine first and clear all doubts in the minds of the people. Once they get the vaccine shot, I am also ready to get myself vaccinated," he told reporters. He said the upcoming agitation for farmers will be held by Muslim volunteers of the VBA.

"During Delhi's Shahin Baugh protest, Sikhs had guarded agitators, now Muslims will show their support through this agitation," Ambedkar said and named the proposed protest as "Kisan Baugh". Ambedkar said Opposition parties, including the Congress, the CPI and the CPI (M) have failed to support the agitation of farmers.

"Are these parties paralysed? Rahul Gandhi remained present for the agitation but his party was not seen," he said. Queried about the demand raised by the ruling Shiv Sena to rename Aurangabad city as 'Sambhajinagar', Ambedkar said Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj had no links with this city.

"This renaming movement smacks of anti-Muslim sentiment," he added. He said the VBA will contest the upcoming Aurangabad Municipal Corporation election on the issue of water scarcity without forming any alliance.

After markets around the world plummeted in March due to COVID-19, Australian stocks have made a steady comeback.

In mid-February, if you ignored the encroaching COVID-19 pandemic, it was a good time to be an Australian investor.

Both the ASX200 and the All Ordinaries  the two most well-known stock indices in Australia  were sitting comfortably over 7,000 points, the highest mark since their inception in the 1980s.

Fast forward a month and both had lost more than a third of their value, falls not seen since the global financial crisis.

Indices rebound

But, in promising news, the bellwether indices show that Australian stocks have recovered strongly as the year has worn on, no doubt thanks to Australias management of COVID-19 compared with other countries.

The All Ords, which measures the share prices of the ASXs 500 largest companies, is up 0.6 per cent compared with January 1, 2020, while the ASX 200 is up 0.55 per cent.

Since lockdowns were introduced on March 23, the All Ords and ASX 200 have rebounded 52 per cent and 47 per cent respectively.

Buy-now-pay-later interest

And it will come as no surprise that buy-now-pay-later stocks have been among the most successful in 2020, as consumers saved money while unable to go out and spend it.

Behemoth ( ) has seen its shares fly 303 per cent this year, currently sitting over $120 after opening the year at a relatively modest $30.63.

Fellow buy-now-pay-later stock Sezzle Inc (ASX:SZL) has risen 289 per cent since the start of the year, although at one point in late August it was trading at well over $11.

This trend is backed up by Saxo Markets, which revealed that Afterpay was the most traded stock on its platform in Australia.

It was closely followed by healthcare and biotech giant CSL Ltd ( ), Elon Musks ( ), and, remarkably for a company that didnt do a great deal of its bread-and-butter business this year, Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd ( ), but that might have had quite a bit to do with investors selling off.

Year of tech stocks

Saxos head of equity strategy Peter Garnry said it was the year of technology stocks.

This year was all about the online vs offline world as technology companies were catapulted into the future by the COVID-19 pandemic while many physical industries such as aviation, travel, leisure, hospitality and automobiles came under significant pressure due to the severe restrictions and lockdowns, he said.

COVID-19 has amplified the participation rate of retail investors in equity markets, a trend that was already underway before COVID-19 and mainly driven by younger people.

The growing influence of retail traders has altered equity markets and created a new environment that has made it more difficult for traditional institutional investors to navigate.

Garnry also commented on Teslas rise, which points to a positive future for electric vehicles and the metals required to make them, such as copper, lithium, cobalt and nickel.

ASM a star performer

Another company aiming to take advantage of the tech-metal upsurge and strong outlook has been ( ), which was spun out of well-performing gold producer Alkane Resources Limited ( ) at the end of July.

ASM is value-adding to rare earths found at its Dubbo Project in NSW through technology developed by its Korean subsidiary to produce high-quality metals used for emerging EV, green energy and new-age magnet industries.

From 84 cents on August 4, shortly after listing on July 30, shares have risen more than 8-fold to a new record of $6.84 today while the market cap also continues to shine and today sits at approximately $802.4 million.

Healthcare theme

Healthcare was the predominant theme of 2020, of course, and Moderna Therapeutics ( ) was one of the most-traded companies across the globe, according to Saxo.

At home, Mesoblast ( ) was a big gainer since March 23, gaining as much as 458 per cent from lows of $1.02, though its share price has fluctuated.

- Daniel Paproth
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CUTLINE: Manitoba Public Insurance is cautioning against so-called super-speeders, who are clocked in at 50 km/h or more above the speed limit. (RCMP)

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CUTLINE: Manitoba Public Insurance is cautioning against so-called "super-speeders," who are clocked in at 50 km/h or more above the speed limit. (RCMP)

Super speeders are increasing in number, cautioned Manitoba Public Insurance in a recent release.

Male drivers aged 34 and younger account for more than half of speed-related offences issued, and MPI has joined the RCMP in highlighting these cases in recent months.

For their part, the RCMP has taken to social media to point out individual cases, such as a Dec. 29 Facebook post in which they highlighted an 18-year-olds ticket near Portage la Prairie.

They were speeding along the Trans-Canada Highway during winter conditions  they said, because "its fun," according to police.

The driver was fined $1,202 for speeding, $672 for driving carelessly and $672 for driving while disqualified.

There were 522 serious driving offences forwarded to MPI in 2020, which is an almost 60 per cent increase from the same timeframe in 2019.

Speed infractions of 50 km/h or more over the limit qualify and are reported to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles. Drivers are given five business days to contact MPI to schedule a show cause hearing, during which approximately 90 per cent of drivers have their licences suspended from several months to multiple years. This, in addition to being required to pay hefty fines and face possible criminal charges.

"You risk being transported to the morgue as opposed to arriving a few minutes early," said RCMP Insp. Chris Moore. "It is simply not worth it."

More than half of these so-called "super-speeders" were caught on the Perimeter Highway around Winnipeg, Highway 16, the Trans-Canada Highway, Highway 6 and Highway 59.

Although MPI spokesperson Brian Smiley said there were no regional breakdowns of these numbers available, the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 16 both stretch across Westman.

"Excessive speeds are potentially fatal for the responsible driver, their passengers and all other innocent motorists," MPI vice-president Satvir Jatana said.

"These super speeds are inexcusable," she said. "About one in five road fatalities in Manitoba have speed as a contributing factor. This high-risk driving behaviour is careless and potentially fatal."

 The Brandon Sun
3 1 of 3 Houston Police Department Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Jay R. Jordan / Jay Jordan, Staff Show More Show Less 3 of 3





The Texas Center for the Missing canceled a Houston-area Amber Alert for a 3-month-old girl taken by her mother after both were found in Dallas, officials said.

Lashea Benjamin, 39, was arrested Saturday and is in custody in the Dallas County jail, according to the Houston Police Department. Her child, Anyla, is safe and healthy and will be placed with Child Protective Services, police said.
Moderna CEO: World will have to live with COVID-19 forever

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As new, more infectious variants of COVID-19 continue to pop up in the U.S. and other parts of the world, Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, which is the maker of one of two coronavirus vaccines approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration, believes the virus could be around forever.

Speaking during a panel discussion at the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, Bancel said he agrees with emerging data suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 is not going away.

We are going to live with this virus, we think, forever, he said, according to a CNBC report.

Kristian Andersen, an infectious diseases expert at Scripps Research Institute, told Stat News in a report Thursday that new and more infectious variants of the virus that have erupted in places like South Africa, the U.S. and the United Kingdom is cause for concern.

Im very, very concerned that weve now gone from a virus that we could control to a virus that we really cant, unless we do something very dramatic, Andersen said.

Experts say the containment of these new variants would require an expansion of testing and genomic sequencing, contact tracing, social distancing, mask wearing and other efforts to limit the spread of the virus that has already claimed more than 380,000 lives in the U.S.

At least two new variants of the coronavirus have sparked concern around the globe due to data showing them to be more contagious. The 501Y.V2 or B.1.351 variant was first identified in South Africa and has since spread to a dozen other countries. The coronavirus variant known as B.1.1.7, first seen in the U.K., is now in more than 30 other countries.

Even if B.1.1.7 (or some other more transmissible variant) isnt any more likely to cause severe disease or death, we may see a larger volume of deaths in its presence simply because there will likely be more infections than there would be without it, Maia Majumder, a computational epidemiologist at Boston Childrens Hospital, told Stat News.

Experts, like Brooks Miner, an evolutionary ecologist at Ithaca College, are just hoping that enhanced mitigation efforts to limit the spread of the virus or target the mutations could buy the U.S. some time to expand its vaccine campaigns.

Were basically in this race because if we reach herd immunity before B.1.1.7 becomes responsible for a majority of cases, then B.1.1.7 might never become responsible for a majority of cases, Miner said.

Last month, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, predicted the U.S. could achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 by "the end of the second quarter 2021."

By the time we get to the fall, we can start approaching some degree of relief where the level of infection will be so low in society we can start essentially approaching some form of normality," he said.

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organizations chief scientist, noted in a recent report, however, that global herd immunity is highly unlikely this year and it is critical that countries and their populations maintain strict social distancing along with other control measures for the foreseeable future.

Even as vaccines start protecting the most vulnerable, were not going to achieve any levels of population immunity or herd immunity in 2021, Swaminathan said in a Moderna Healthcare report. Even if it happens in a couple of pockets, in a few countries, its not going to protect people across the world.
P2 Science Inc. has announced that John Revay has been appointed vice president, finance, joining the senior management of the company to lead the financial function.

Related: P2 Science Appoints Theodore Anastasiou, Vice President R&D

Revay joins P2 full-time after consulting to the company during the installation of a new ERP system during 2020. He is based at P2s Naugatuck, Connecticut green manufacturing facility.

Revay said, I am thrilled to join such an innovative and successful company. I look forward to helping P2 achieve our ambitions as the company commercializes impactful and creative green chemistry.

P2 CEO, Neil Burns said, We are very happy to add such an accomplished and well-known financial leader to our growing team. The financial side of our company is in good hands with an executive of Johns stature."
Factories face tough times in 2021 By Sunimalee Dias View(s): View(s):

Companies in the investment zones are facing severe stress as a result of the pandemic that has resulted in increased expenses on testing for COVID-19, a tight order situation and staff turnout dropping by 25 per cent.

Factories are operating as usual but with a less number of staff due to certain reasons since some employees are reluctant to report to work amidst pressure from families while other companies have scaled down operations both in the apparel and non-apparel industries, Free Trade Zone Garment Manufacturers Association Secretary General Dhammika Fernando told the Business Times.

He noted that due to the pandemic some companies had found orders getting cancelled and future orders not forthcoming.

Moreover, as a result of the current situation in most of the key markets that buys from Sri Lanka particularly in apparel there has been a drop in orders as consumers are unlikely to go out purchasing. Most of the European markets are under lockdown either partially or on full scale.

Those companies with an increase in orders were the ones capable of manufacturing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Mr. Fernando explained.

He noted that those companies engaged in the manufacture of products like rubber gloves for surgical and non-surgical nature are in demand; in addition those producing electronic items have benefited since their products are in high demand as the medical sector requires fibre optic-based medical equipment.

In this respect, companies still engaged in the manufacture of traditional apparel and fashion industry are faced with less work. Mr. Fernando also noted that there is a possibility that there could be a repeat of 2020 this year as well in terms of the order situation. Sri Lanka was receiving orders for export but following the October second wave there has been a drop as a result of certain orders being diverted to other countries, he noted.

Meanwhile, he also pointed out that there is a concern in the governments management of the quarantining of expatriate workers in Sri Lanka.

He explained that these expatriates are not allowed to select the hotels of their choice to stay in but are arbitrarily assigned hotels by the authorities.

We want to pre-book certain hotels but the government does not allow that, Mr. Fernando said adding that this needs to be streamlined since some of the hotels are not conversant in handling these kinds of guests.

In addition, factories are facing a huge crisis as they are compelled to spend large sums of money in carrying out PCR tests on their staff, he pointed out.

For instance, he noted the Katunayake Zone has carried out 19,000 PCR test in line with the requirement to ensure that 1 per cent daily or 5 per cent weekly tests need to be done incurring a cost of Rs.128 million.

Despite requests by factories to replace these with the Antigen tests, it is learnt that this was not accommodated by the Epidemiology Department.

However interestingly, when the workers were to be sent home for the holidays the authorities had insisted that antigen tests be carried out on the staff prior to leaving.

Another key concern is that the companies were facing issues as a result of carrying out disinfection of premises and close contacts being identified even when one worker detected positive, other officials told the Business Times.

They explained that this process that had to be carried out left them with no choice but to shut down operations from time to time as a result of which they were finding it hard to meet their orders.
(Photo : Youtube/CBS This Morning) Americans are now wearing masks

A new survey shows that more Americans are now routinely wearing masks compared to last year. The survey recorded that 80% of Americans are now into mask-wearing, but it may be too late.

Americans are now wearing masks

According to the latest edition of the survey that was run by Harvard, Northwestern and Rutgers universities, aside from mask-wearing, Americans are also now following social distancing rules.

However, people are still spending too much time without masks indoors with small groups of people that can still spike the spread of coronavirus, according to CTMirror.

Also Read: Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Generated Immune Response in Volunteers, Reported Minimal Side-Effects

More than 200,000 Americans are still being diagnosed with COVID-19 all over the country every day, and with the vaccine rollout effort moving slowly and more infectious variants being recorded and emerging in different states, the behaviors to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus transmission are more important than ever.

Co-author of the report, Dr. David Lazer of Northeastern University told NPR that the Americans have improved a lot in terms of mask-wearing and social distancing. However, in order to bend the curve Americans really need to do much better.

The COVID-19 Consortium for Understanding the Public's Policy Preferences Across States has been surveying around 20,000 people across the United States once a month to review the pattern of their behavior and study who it is connected in slowing the spread of the virus.

According to the data, fewer than 20% of people have been going out to see people in most forms throughout the pandemic. That number includes going to restaurants and using public transport, as well as going to the hospital, which has its own collateral damage.

The public health officials encourage going people to go the doctor despite the ongoing pandemic and the risk that is has.

New data recorded

But there are exceptions, around 40% of Americans are still seeing their friends or their relatives who do not live in the same state or same house and 30% of Americans are going to work. Those numbers are up from spring of last year, but down from 45% and 40% in October 2020.

Gatherings may be small, but they are still happening. Around 9% of respondents said that they have been in a room with 5 to 10 people in the past 24 hours. More than 2.5% had shared an enclosed space with 11 to 50 other people in a day.

Only a little over half of Americans are avoiding contact with other people, the number being 52% and people are tired of the restrictions and being isolated.

In April 2020, around 75% of respondents said that they were avoiding public or crowded places, compared to fewer than 60% by January 11, 2021.

Hand-washing also took a dive, with 72% of people still washing their hands properly, compared to 80% of people washing their hands properly back in April 2020.

Despite these declining numbers, the most impressive one has been for masking, according to KCRG-TV.

Data shows that Americans have finally caught on with mask-wearing as 80% of people are now covering their faces when they leave home, compared to 54% of Americans wearing masks in April 2021.

Related Article: Scientists Warn More 'Super-Covid' Variants are Coming Globally as US Reports Third Homegrown Variant

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Written by Sieeka Khan

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Online Censorship Cancels the Right of Free Speech

Commentary

Theres an astonishing trend afoot, and if something isnt done to stop it in its ugly tracks, your right to freely express an opinion is in jeopardy.

President Donald Trump may be the most reviled person in the United States right now, but the moves to silence him in the public squareand others who have espoused similar ideologiesis a chilling reality.

Social media platforms Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have announced plans to permanently remove all Trump accounts. Not just until he leaves office but forever.

In what universe is it OK to eternally bar an American citizen from exercising his or her fundamental right to free speech at a place where millions gather to exchange ideas? And how unbalanced is Twitters expulsion policy when it allows Irans Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to post all sorts of violent and hate-filled posts about the United States, Israel, and other perceived enemies on its platform?

The ayatollah is OK, but the president of the United States is not?

Am I the only one who wants to read what our chief executive is thinking, no matter what the message might be? Better to know what the powerful are up to than to ignore them. Everyone should be alarmed about being cut off from the most powerful person on the planet.

In addition to social media forever muzzling the president, prominent tech companies controlling app distributionGoogle and Appledropped the Parler app from their offerings. Parler is described as the conservative alternative to Twitter and was a logical choice for Trumps next social media home.

In what seemed to be a coordinated effort, Amazon quickly piled on and informed Parler that its home on the internet would be annihilated. That prompted a lawsuit from Parler.

The stated reason for removing Parlers fast-growing app? Parler doesnt do enough fast enough to delete questionable posts that promote violence and crime. Reportedly, some users partially planned the U.S. Capitol siege via Parler.

Interesting that similar steps werent taken against Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram when those platforms were used to coordinate last years left-wing demonstrations, which frequently turned violent. Why the censorship double standard?

Interesting, too, that a Simon & Schuster book deal was just abruptly canceled with Republican Sen. Josh Hawley after he objected to some of the 2020 election results. The books title? The Tyranny of Big Tech. See the pattern here? Trump, Parler, Hawley. Forced silencing of conservative (only) opinion. Shockingly obvious.

Many of the 74 million Trump voters believe these banishment moves were carried out to curry favor with the incoming Democratic administration. Maybe, but this really isnt about politics. Its about a form of censorship, fair treatment for all ideologies, and everyones constitutionally protected right to freely express their opinions.

An exception: If someone is online inciting hate speech or plotting violence, that is a crime and a job for law enforcement, which has been maddeningly slow to root out internet-based clues before mayhem occurs.

Even progressive Democratic U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have called for breaking up large tech companies. And the liberal-leaning American Civil Liberties Union has issued warnings about Big Tech becoming an unwanted Big Brother.

It should concern everyone when companies like Facebook and Twitter wield the unchecked power to remove people from platforms that have become indispensable for the speech of billions, an ACLU lawyer wrote.

In other words, if some geeky bro in Silicon Valley can decide to permanently kick Donald Trump to the digital curb, you could be next.

Last week, I wrote to support social medias temporary ban of Trumps accounts. In the wake of the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol, it seemed to me to be a necessary steplike placing a belligerent child in the corner for a timeout. But forever denying an American citizen the freedom to express their opinionwhether its an opinion the majority shares or notis anathema to everything we stand for in this country.

The argument that Well, these are private companies, so they can do what they want just doesnt cut it. Big Tech has, collectively, become a monster monopoly of public discourse. And worse yet, our Congress has given them that power and has allowed them to misuse it.

As Harry Truman once said, Once a government is committed to silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens creating a country where everyone lives in fear.

Amen to that.

Diane Dimond is an author and investigative journalist. Her latest book is Thinking Outside the Crime and Justice Box.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Democrats are making extraordinary efforts to suppress all discussion of whether Joe Biden actually won the 2020 presidential election. In fact, they go even farther: they want to suppress all discussion of the extent to which voter fraud occurred. That naturally makes me want to write about voter fraud, and who really won the election.

First, this question: why are the Democrats so hysterical in their insistence that fraud not be mentioned? One reason is obvious. Joe Biden will take office under a cloud, since close to half of all Americans doubt that he really won the election. The Democrats want to stamp out such doubts to preserve Bidens authority as president.

But there is a second reason that may be more important. The Democrats want the lax voting procedures that prevailed in 2020 to continue in the future. They know that efforts will be made in many states to improve ballot integrity, and they want those efforts to fail. By rendering all discussion of voter fraud out of bounds, they hope to forestall reforms that would make it harder for them to cheat, or enable cheating, in the future.

So, did the Democrats steal the presidential election, or not? I dont know the answer to that question. No one does. A number of statistical analyses have been done, which on their face suggest large irregularities. I wrote about one such analysis, by John Lott, here.

Beyond that, major questions remain unanswered. In several key swing states, there were midnight dumps of 100,000 or more votes, virtually all of which were for Joe Biden, something that cant normally happen. Those dumps may have made the difference in the election. I have seen no attempt by any Democrat to explain or justify them. Maybe Ive missed it, and maybe they somehow reflected actual ballots cast, but the burden of proof is on those who seek to justify such anomalies.

Even greater doubts about the election arise from the deliberately loose procedures that governed voting. Something like 69 million mail-in votes were cast, and until two months ago, everyone agreed that mail-in voting is highly susceptible to fraud. But the laxity in 2020 went far beyond the risks inherent in mail-in votes. I put it this way: I dont know whether the Democrats stole the 2020 election, but I do know that they tried hard to steal it.

In a number of states, including my home state of Minnesota, the Democrats pursued a coordinated strategy of collusive litigation to eliminate electoral safeguards. In Minnesotaand the same thing occurred in a number of other statesthe Democratic Party recruited plaintiffs to sue the Democratic Secretary of State, asking that the statutory requirement of witness signatures on mail-in ballots be eliminated. The requirement of a witness signature is, as a practical matter, the only speed bump on the way to fraud in mail-in voting, so the Democrats wanted to get rid of it.

Of course Secretaries of State have no power to change election laws, hence the need for collusive litigation, which is one of the most sinister forms of corruption in todays world. In Minnesota and other states, the Democratic Secretaries of State immediately settled the lawsuits brought against them by their fellow Democrats. The settlements simply agreed to what the Democrats wantedno safeguards to prevent fraud in mail-in voting.

The Democrats knew how corrupt, and therefore likely to fail, this tactic was, so in my state they made sure they had two bites at the apple. They recruited two sets of plaintiffs, one in federal court and another in state court, thereby dodging res judicata if they lost the first case. The key to collusive litigation is that the settlement conspired at by the supposedly adverse parties is ratified by a court. In Minnesota, the federal court refused to approve the Democrats fraudulent settlement, finding no showing to justify it. But a loyal state court judge went along with the Democrats charade. As a result, mail-in ballots in Minnesota, as in a number of other states following similarly corrupt litigation, bore no witness signatures, in plain violation of state law. The door to fraud was wide open, as the Democrats intended.

One of the problems in assessing the 2020 election is that the same lax procedures that enable fraud in the first place also make it more or less impossible to prove after the fact. Sixty-nine million mail-in votes were cast; how many were fakes, and which ones? There is really no way to tell. Once those votes have been counted (sometimes in the absence of Republican poll-watchers, illegally excluded by Democrats from the rooms where counting was going on), there is no way to identify which ones were illegal and pull them out of the vote totals.

So at this point, neither I nor anyone else knows whether the Democrats stole the 2020 election, and we may never know. But, given the lengths to which the Democrats went in order to facilitate voter fraud, there is no reason to cut them slack in judging whether their efforts influenced the result.

No doubt, a number of people are currently investigating the election, either nationally or in particular states. (Not journalists, who dont investigate anything; certainly not anything that could harm the Democratic Party.) Over the next two years, such researchers will publish books on the election. Some will argue that voter fraud swung the election to Joe Biden, while others will argue that he legitimately won, even if his vote totals were swelled by fraud. Books in the former category will have a hard time finding publishers, but someone will publish them, and lots of Americans will read them and discuss their findings. The Democrats efforts to suppress discussion of election integrity will fail.

What is most important is what happens next. Rightly or wrongly, Joe Biden will be our next president. We cant change that. But, by pressing the issue of election integrity in the states, we potentially can ensure that in 2022 and succeeding elections, Americans have confidence that the candidate who got the most legal votes is the winner. To accomplish that, we will have to overcome entrenched opposition not only from the above-ground Democratic Party, but from its press auxiliary, which tries to ban any suggestion that voter fraud is a problem. We all know better, and we cant give in to the Democrats crude efforts at intimidation. Election integrity must be a priority for the next two years, and in the future.
By Automatic Earth

January 16, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - A nd just like that, Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg belatedly found they had fallen on their own swords, as these were already sticking out of their backs. Lets see it as poetic justice. They thought they had the power- after all, theyre just private companies!- to restrict Donald Trumps access to their organizations, and then ban him altogether, only to find that they themselves will now be restricted and perhaps even banned as a result.

They figured since most of the world doesnt like Trump, it would applaud the moves as much as the US Democratic party does. But most of the world doesnt. What it sees, what its leaders see, is a threat to everyone elses freedom of speech, not just Trumps. Those countries and their leaders have been suspicious of the might of US tech companies for longer, and they will now look elsewhere for social media functionality. Its no accident that Facebook alone lost some $47 billion in market cap since the Trump ban.

This does not come from Trump supporters. Angela Merkel, not a Trump fun at all, summarizes the worries: Her spokesman said Monday the German leader found it problematic that corporate managers could deny someone access under rules not defined by law. Thats it right there, the heart of the matter: law. Twitter and Facebook act as judge, jury and henchman, and that is not legal, not even for private companies.

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Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Facebook of all places (love the irony): Algorithms or the owners of corporate giants should not decide which views are right and which are not. There can be no consent to censorship. Poland is drafting legislation which would make it illegal for social media companies to remove posts that did not break Polish law. Removing lawful content would directly violate the law, and this will have to be respected by the platforms that operate in Poland.

While Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) said: Yes, social media should not be used to incite violence and all that, but this cannot be used as a pretext to suspend freedom of expression. How can a company act as if it was all powerful, omnipotent, as a sort of Spanish Inquisition on what is expressed? AMLO is actively seeking a coalation of countries in the world to counter social medias recent policies.

Its quite something that Dorsey and Zuckerberg were/are blind to this. That they were apparently thinking in American terms only when banning Trump, and given political sentiments thought they could get away with it, but did not see the broader international implications. Their shareholders will not appreciate that blind spot. The US is not their only market.

The first things that will happen now is that the EU will look at measures to curtail social medias freedoms in its territory. This is not an obvious matter, many of its countries  see Polands example- will claim they have their own laws and standards, and they often do, but, if only for internal EU political reasons, that wont stick.

Social media are important platforms in politics these days. In EU elections, national parties form coalitions with each other, and these then form bigger coalitions (blocs). A candidate for the European Parliament could potentially be banned in one country, while one from another country, but belonging to the same party or bloc, would not. That cant be, its too messy even by EU standards, so legislation will have to be pan-EU.

The funniest thing that might come of this is Facebook and Twitter re-opening Trumps accounts to appease Merkel et al, but its too late. There are plenty EU companies more than eager to fill the void that Silicon Valley would leave behind (or they can order Chinese). And Jack and Mark will not win the worlds trust back in time, they stepped over the line.

Replacing Facebook wont happen overnight. But if access to it is cut in large parts of the world, it could happen faster than you think. As for Twitter and WhatsApp, oh well, dime a dozen. They can kill Parler, but already large numbers of people are switching over to Signal and Telegram. Cant kill em all, @jack.

Talking of which, did you see the Project Veritas video secretly made by a Twitter employee? This is exactly why Twitter will be restricted and banned. @jack threatening to give many other people the same treatment as Trump is a scary sight for many people across the world, politicians or citizens. You know whos next? You are next.

====

Over 1,000,000 views in less than 2 hours!



Noticeably absent from the trending section? #ExposeTwitter of course! pic.twitter.com/0AFLJDBzrA  Project Veritas (@Project_Veritas) January 15, 2021

Plenty politicians want to ban people from all manner of things, but they want to be the ones doing the banning, not @jack. But as Merkel observes, banning someone with no basis whatsoever in law is not what anyone should want. In the end, refusing someone access to social media turns into the same thing as refusing them access to a computer. Or, maybe an even better example, to a phone. Things like that happen very rarely, and never to a President of the United States. Ma Bell, Baby Bells, AT&T, maybe thats the future of Facebook and Twitter. If theyre lucky.

And while were at it, we havent even mentioned Google yet. Lets turn them into baby-Googles too. Because the biggest threat that Silicon Valley poses is not that they ban Trump and actively tried to influence a US presidential election (remember Zuckerbergs $500 million election fund)?

No, the biggest threat is their algorithms used to spy on you and me to optimize us as victims clients for their advertizers. Thats why this is not just about Facebook and Twitter, but certainly also about Google. These are virtual monopolies were talking about. And while youre at it, add Apple and Amazon. Its their ties to intelligence services that make these companies the most threatening. In the US, this is too far advanced to stop now. But in Europe, there may still be a chance.

This is a big fight when it comes to liberty and personal space. And if you dont fight it now, youve already lost. Pay attention please.
ORANGE, Ohio

Personal welfare: Brainard Road

A be-on-the-lookout (BOLO) alert was issued for a resident, 95, on the night of Jan. 5 after his brother reported that he had recently been released from Hillcrest Hospital, but that he had not heard from him and he was not answering his phone.

Police went to the missing mans home, where they arrived around 8 p.m. to find his pastor and another friend from church -- who serve as his primary means of transportation -- who were also looking for him.

Orange police noted that they had received a welfare check notification from the man around 5:30 p.m. when he pressed his Five-Star medical alert button, but were told to disregard since he was at Hillcrest Hospital already.

There was no sign of the man inside or around his home, where thermal imaging was also used. Neighbors who had recently bought his 1999 Cadillac had not heard from him.

Five-Star was contacted for an updated location and said the last transmission they had was four hours old at Hillcrest Hospital, adding that the mans phone appeared to be off or out of power.

Then, shortly after 9:37 p.m., Hillcrest Hospital staff reported that the missing nonagenarian was still sitting in their lobby, waiting for a ride. The BOLO was canceled and his friend from church went to pick him up. Police were unable to reach his brother by phone.

Identity theft: Emery Road

A resident, 60, came to the police station Jan. 5 to report that he had received a debit card from U.S. Bank, with whom he had had no previous accounts. He learned that the card in question was used for unemployment and child support, neither of which he had.

When he contacted the unemployment department, he was told that an account had been opened in his name. He was further advised to file a police report for documentation.

Warrant served, improper display of license plates, driving under suspension: Chagrin Boulevard

A patrol officer noticed a Ford F-150 with no visible license plate pulling into the Shell True North gas station at 3:25 a.m. Jan. 5 and soon found that the driver, a Cleveland man, 32, had no license or insurance, numerous open suspensions and a warrant out of Cleveland Heights, for which they said to advise and release.

One of the passengers, a Cleveland man, 32, was found to have full extradition papers prepared by the Cuyahoga County Sheriffs Office on a probation violation, for which he was turned over to deputies without incident.

Identity theft: Stonebrooke Oval

A resident, 65, reported receiving two letters from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in response to a fraudulent request for unemployment using his personal information, receiving a temporary PIN number on Dec. 31, then a user name and password on Jan. 7.

He told police that at no point had he requested unemployment, adding that he did not receive nor was he out any money as a result.

Larceny (theft): Park Avenue

For documentation purposes only, management at Firebirds restaurant reported around 9 p.m. Jan. 8 that seven adults, all of whom had dined and drank on separate checks at the same table, had just walked out without paying their bill, which totaled $310.

Disturbance, warrant served: Orange Place

A guest at the Extended Stay South called about 2 a.m. Jan. 9 to report hearing what sounded like a woman screaming for help for the past 20 minutes in another room.

Employees went to that room and found two boys, ages 14 and 4, who said it was not them, later explaining to police that they were playing around after their uncle left them in the room around midnight while he went to the store to get some food.

The uncle, a Cleveland man, 31, returned a short time later with his friend, 25, also from Cleveland, who ended up watching the kids after police found an outstanding full-extradition felony warrant charging the uncle with forgery through the Cuyahoga County Sheriffs Office, where he was taken without incident.

Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun.
The coronavirus pandemic torched travel through Louis Armstrong International Airport, particularly the overseas flights prized by tourism officials and local business leaders as a symbol of New Orleans' global attraction.

But almost a year into the pandemic, after steep declines in passenger traffic and the curtailment of many recently acquired international routes, there are glimmers of hope that some of those flights might return.

British Airways has begun taking bookings for flights from London's Heathrow Airport to New Orleans starting March 2, marking the first potential flights for a global carrier into the city's airport since the virus took hold around the world.

It's a small flicker of life amid a still-turbulent travel environment. A British Airways spokesperson, who asked not to be quoted by name, cautioned that the situation remained "fluid" amid travel restrictions that currently apply to flights to and from the United Kingdom. That could mean the direct link is not resumed on schedule.

"Like other airlines, due to the current coronavirus pandemic and global travel restrictions, we are operating a reduced and dynamic schedule," the spokesperson said. "If a customer's flight is canceled, they can request a refund, rebook or request a voucher for the full value of the ticket, which is valid for travel before April 30, 2022."

+2 First British Airways flight to land at Louis Armstrong International tonight The first British Airways flight from London will land at New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport on Monday night.

Still, even the acceptance of reservations suggests that a direct British Airways flight to Europe, which was announced to fanfare in 2017, could return. Armstrong Airport's other direct flight to Europe, Condor Airlines' New Orleans-to-Frankfurt route, isn't expected back until summer at the earliest. Neither are flights to Toronto and Montreal, given Canada's strict coronavirus restrictions.

As it stands now, British Airways has one return flight scheduled in the first week in March, rising to three flights a week in the next week. Before the pandemic, British Airways was running six return flights a week from Heathrow to New Orleans.

Restrictions on international flights currently mean that only U.S. citizens and permanent residents may take advantage of the flight to New Orleans. And only British passport holders may fly into Heathrow.

Spirit adds direct New Orleans flights to Honduras and Cancun despite virus scare Spirit Airlines said Monday that it is adding two new direct international flights from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, one

Indeed, both countries have recently imposed even tougher restrictions, so that anyone flying in either direction must provide proof to the airline of a negative coronavirus test within three days of the flight, or, if they've had COVID, that they have not tested positive for at least 90 days.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

New Orleans Aviation Director Kevin Dolliole said he deferred to British Airways on its specific plans. But he said airlines generally are trying to manage a very difficult situation.

"The industry overall has been grappling with how to have any sense of real anticipation as to who's going to board their flights 90 days out in the midst of COVID," Dolliole said. "It's not the airlines' fault. They've been wrestling with a very fluid situation and trying to plan for capacities they might reasonably expect.

Why Louis Armstrong New Orleans airport is seeing record passenger traffic in 2019 Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport saw record passenger traffic in May, mainly the result of several new flights commencing thi

"But I would guess that anything beyond 30 days out on the schedule is tentative."

International air travel for passengers flying into U.S. airports was down 77% year-to-year as of October, the latest data available from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Domestic air travel was down 60%.

Dolliole said Armstrong's passenger numbers for November will show traffic down about 60%. That is close to the national average and up from the worst months of the pandemic earlier in 2020, when traffic was more than 95% off from pre-coronavirus levels.

Stephen Perry, CEO of New Orleans & Co., the city's tourism marketing agency, said with most large companies still minimizing business travel and with no major events or conventions booked in the U.S. for the first half of 2021, he expects it will be summer before there is a significant uptick in travel. He also wasn't optimistic that British Airways flights will be able to resume in March.

"Everyone here wants BA back, but we know that is likely to be delayed depending on what happens in the COVID world," he said.

"I think airlines are just testing the waters a bit to find out what the demand looks like, as they'll have to make decisions about pulling planes out of storage," Perry said.

Before the coronavirus struck, New Orleans had steadily increased its number of international flights. Spirit Airlines, in fact, added two new international destinations March, just before the pandemic spread brought international travel to a virtual halt. With Spirit's flights to Cancun, Mexico, and San Pedro Sula, Honduras, it brought the total regular and seasonal direct flights in and out of Armstrong to nine.

Dolliole said all airlines operating international routes from Armstrong have said they fully expect to continue operations once restrictions are lifted.

Airport officials also noted a steady increase in commercial operations at the $1 billion passenger terminal, which was opened in November 2019 to good reviews for the New Orleans-focused food and retail operations. Having worked out lease deals with the companies operating them, about half the nearly 60 concessions have now reopened.
State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), the investment arm of the Vietnamese government, is looking to funnel VND8 trillion (US$347 million) into the charter capital of the flagship air carrier Vietnam Airlines.

On Thursday, Nguyen Chi Thanh, CEO of SCIC, revealed that the state-owned company is working with Vietnam Airlines to settle the share prices for the airlines incoming offerings.

As per the governments Resolution 194 on the bailout for Vietnam Airlines in light of the COVID-19 crisis, the air carrier is allowed to offer more shares to existing shareholders to increase its charter capital. The government has assigned the SCIC to buy shares of Vietnam Airlines.

While Vietnam Airlines is devising the plan to increase its capital via share offering before submitting it for appraisal of the State Securities Committee, SCIC is working to set an offering price that matches the market evaluation, Thanh said.

According to the SCIC leader, in order to set a proper price, Vietnam Airlines must figure out its corporate value, which in turn requires a business plan for no less than five years.

However, the business has yet to provide a long-term business plan as its future are still kept in limbo, with the date for resumption of international flights  a significant baseline for the plan  is still largely uncertain.

As the development of the pandemic on the world remains unpredictable, it is hard to establish a business plan for Vietnam Airlines. Without it, we cant assess the value of the company. Only when Vietnam Airlines returns on international routes can its business operation recover, Thanh remarked.

On behalf of SCIC, Thanh suggested enlisting the help of a reliable international auditing firm to assess the corporate value of Vietnam Airlines.

Meanwhile, SCIC will continue working closely with the airline and report to the Committee for Management of State Capital at Enterprises as well as other relevant authorities to ensure the efficiency and lawfulness of the investment process.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
A health-care worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a UHN COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Toronto on January 7, 2021. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

COVID 19: Provinces Work on Revised Plans as Pfizer BioNTech Shipments to Slow Down

Quebec and Ontario, the two provinces hit hardest by the COVID19 pandemic, say a decision by drugmaker PfizerBioNTech to slow vaccine shipments in the coming weeks will mean changes to their respective game plans.

Ontarios Chief Medical Officer of Health David Williams said the companys decision to delay international vaccine shipments to upgrade production facilities will likely have an effect on the province, though the full impact of the move is not yet known.

Williams said in a statement today that longterm care residents, caregivers and staff who already received their first dose of Pfizers vaccine will receive their second dose between 21 and 27 days later, no more than a week longer than originally planned.

But that time frame will be longer for anyone else receiving the Pfizer vaccine, with second doses being delivered anywhere from 21 to 42 days after the initial shot.

Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube said Friday the reduced shipments mean that 86,775 of the 176,475 doses of the vaccine expected until Feb. 8 wont be delivered as planned.

Health officials are establishing a new distribution plan, but the Quebec Health Department said the strategy to immunize as many people as possible within priority groups will be maintained.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Mike Lindell (L), founder of MyPillow, during a Made in America event with U.S. manufacturers in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on July 19, 2017. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

MyPillow CEO Visits Trump in Oval Office Carrying Mysterious Notes

Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, was seen leaving the Oval Office Friday with mysterious notes.

The notes were photographed by Washington Post photographer Jabin Botsford, but were folded in the middle and most sentences are incomplete.

However, the title of the document reads TAKEN IMMEDIATELY TO SAVE THE  CONSTITUTION.

Move Kash Patel to CIA Acting is also visible on the notes.

Patel is chief of staff to acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller. Gina Haspel currently heads the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The document appears to mention martial law.

 martial law if necessary upon the first hint of any  read the notes.

Its hard to tell what exactly the document is about.

The White House didnt immediately respond to a request for details about the meeting.

@MyPillowUSA CEO Michael Lindell shows off his notes before going into the West Wing at the White House on Friday, Jan 15, 2021 in Washington, DC. pic.twitter.com/AY6AyJNSyE  Jabin Botsford (@jabinbotsford) January 15, 2021

According to a Washington Examiner report which Lindell posted on Twitter, he said he shared with Trump and White House lawyers a document advising the president to replace Haspel. But he said he was just a messenger for an attorney which he didnt name.

Trump read the document and returned it to him.

It wasnt an official thing. It was from a lawyer who said it was a suggestion for him [Trump], he told The Epoch Times. Thats what I get for trying to be a nice guy and deliver something for someone.

He said he gets things every day from people who want to pass documents.

However, the 5-minute discussion between him and the president is not about the document, and martial law wasnt discussed.

Pool reporters said Lindell entered the West Wing at 3:05 p.m. He declined when he was asked to come before the pool reporters to answer questions.

Im sure youll write something nice, he told the reporters.

Joshua Philipp and Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.
Welcome to The Wrap. Each week, we will bring you trending topics, interesting things in the Wabash Valley you may not know about... And maybe some viral videos.

VIRTUAL ESCAPE ROOM

Picture this...you and your research team crash land in Antarctica. You're trapped...and to escape? You'll need to solve puzzles and crack codes.

This is all part of a virtual escape room the Vigo County Public Library is hosting. We talked with Elizabeth Scamihorn from the library. She says this is a fun opportunity for the entire family.

"So with a virtual escape room, it would happen just as you would a regular escape room. You will assemble a team, whether you want to pick the folks from your home or you can just pick partners you've never met before and work through codes and different puzzles to escape the room," Scamihorn told us.

This link will help you get registered, and then on January 25 at 5:00, you'll receive a link to get in on the fun.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE PRESIDENT

One of the big stores of this past week included President Donald Trump's removal from social media platforms.

Twitter fully removed the president's personal account, and Instagram and its parent company Facebook have banned Trump from posting until President-Elect Joe Biden is sworn in on January 20.

We wanted to know what you thought. On Twitter, we posted a poll. Asking, "How do you feel about President Donald Trump being removed from Twitter and other social media platforms?" The results show a near split with 46.4 percent for his removal and 53.6 percent against.

We want you to send us your positive stories, viral videos, and other interesting things to see or do in the community. Find Chris on Twitter or Facebook and share your ideas there.

EMAIL CHRIS

EMAIL EMILY

FIND CHRIS ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
Thank you for reading!

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Switzerland authorities could grant approval to COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca-Oxford as early as this month, reported NZZ newspaper on January 16 citing two unnamed sources familiar with the matter. As per the report, the watchdog Swissmedic is planning a meeting at the end of this month to sign an agreement regarding the jabs in the European nation. Swiss regulators have already approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

The paper quoted the Swissmedic spokesperson saying that if everything proceeds in an exemplary manner and the authorities receive the required data soon, the next approval decision can arrive very quickly. However, the person did not give a definitive date. Meanwhile, Switzerland had already ordered at least 15 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in total after assigning at least $449 million for jabs.

The intense global demand for vaccine doses amid the COVID-19 pandemic and limited production has further restricted the circulation of doses. But the Swiss government has reportedly said that the countrys 8.6 million citizens will be immunised for free by mid-2021.

Read - Nonagenarian Emeritus Professor Gets COVID-19 Vaccine In Jaipur

Read - COVID Vaccine Drive Begins In Mizoram, Health Worker Gets First Shot

India vaccinates 1,65,714 people

Meanwhile, as India kickstarted its vaccination programme on January 16, the Health Ministry in a statement said that at least 1,65,714 people received the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines and no post-vaccination hospitalisation have been reported till now. The first person in India to receive the jab was sanitation worker Manish Kumar after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the vaccination drive. Kumar received his shot at capitals All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) which is one of the 3,006 vaccination centres across the country.

#WATCH | Manish Kumar, a sanitation worker, becomes the first person to receive COVID-19 vaccine jab at AIIMS, Delhi in presence of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. pic.twitter.com/6GKqlQM07d  ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2021

During the launch, PM Modi said, "Normally, it takes many years to make a vaccine but in such a short span of time, not one, but two 'Made in India' vaccines are ready. Meanwhile, the work on other vaccines is progressing at a fast pace. This is a living example of India's capability and talent. India's vaccination programme is based on a very important principle that those who are in need of the vaccine will get vaccinated first. Our doctors, nurses, medical & paramedical staff, sanitation workers in hospitals - be it private or hospital are entitled to get vaccinated. This will be done on priority.

Vaccines for India are less expensive and more convenient to use than vaccine being used in many foreign nations: PM Modi highlights price and temperature control factors of vaccine; urges against falling prey to fearmongering; #LIVE here - https://t.co/rGQJsiKgt2 pic.twitter.com/WdGQiT68oY  Republic (@republic) January 16, 2021

Read - MP Vaccine Drive: My Turn Will Come In Third Phase, Says CM

Read - Amit Shah Hails COVID Vaccine Rollout; Ex-BJP Chief In Karnataka To Discuss Cabinet Rejig
Black Lives Matter protesters set upon a 33-year-old woman in a New York park when she wouldn't stop filming them, calling her a 'Nazi', and hitting her over the head with an egg and a dirty diaper, police said.

The woman, who said she was an independent journalist, refused to stop filming the protesters who had gathered at Madison Square Park in New York on Sunday.

When she didn't, some members of the crowd got angry and surrounded her, accusing her of being a Donald Trump supporter and a 'fascist', a law enforcement source told DailyMail.com.

The woman wasn't injured, police said.

The victim, 33, had been filming Black Lives Matter protesters in Madison Square Park on Sunday when they surrounded her and accosted her when she wouldn't stop filming them

Police are searching for one suspect who caused the woman to drop her cell phone and umbrella

Footage shows the group gathering around the unidentified woman and shoving her around before she is hit in the head by the egg.

Members of the crowd kept asking the woman who she was working for, and why she was recording, and when she identified herself as an independent journalist, they set upon her, a police source said.

In the commotion, the woman's cell phone and umbrella were knocked to the ground.

The group chases after the woman as she attempts to flee, catching up to her.

One man sprays the woman with pink aerosol string and then another person hits her with a skateboard.

One man sprays the woman with aerosol string as she tries to flee from the group

Another suspects hits the woman with her skateboard

The clip also shows a third male suspect rubbing a soiled diaper on the woman's face.

Police said that the suspects fled the scene in an unknown location.

Crimestoppers shared photos of four suspects that they are looking for, including the man who smeared the soiled diaper on the woman and the man who hit her with a skateboard.

Authorities are also looking for the man who sprayed her with aerosol string and the one who knocked her umbrella to the ground.

As of late Friday, the NYPD had made no arrests.
Police in Northern Ireland believe a fire that extensively damaged a multicultural centre in Belfast was started deliberately.

Officers are treating the blaze at the Belfast Multi-Cultural Association property on Donegall Pass in the south of the city as a hate crime.

Vehicles belonging to people working at the centre have previously been vandalised in hate crime incidents.

Police in attendance at the fire-damaged building on Friday morning (David Young/PA)

More than 50 firefighters fought the blaze, which started at around 9pm on Thursday. Seven fire appliances were used to bring the flames under control.

The damage to the property was visible on Friday, with much of the roof of the historic building destroyed.

No-one was inside when the fire started and there were no injuries reported.

The building was being used as a food bank, with volunteers distributing packages to vulnerable people during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The blaze broke out at about 9pm on Thursday (David Young/PA)

In a statement, the association said it had been on the receiving end of a lot of hostility and Islamophobia for years.

It added: We are heartbroken and shocked by these events but it will not deter us from any of our work. Our volunteers, despite shaken, are determined not to let down the communities we support.

Thank-you to everyone who have been in contact to check up on us and extended their support and solidarity. We are immensely grateful for it all.

Arlene Foster and Michelle ONeill said the attack was despicable.

They added: The Belfast Multi-Cultural Association is a vital hub for minority communities in the city, and this mindless destruction will have a huge impact on many peoples lives.

This was a despicable attack.

It not only caused significant damage to what is a well-used community facility, but it also endangered the lives of the firefighters who had to make sure no one was inside the building and battle to extinguish the blaze.

We and our Executive colleagues are committed to doing everything we can to eradicate racism and hate crime.

By Friday evening, thousands of pounds had been raised via a crowdfunding website to help get the centre back to doing its vital work.

It was established by Amnesty Internationals Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan.

He said: The Belfast Multi-Cultural Association carries out valuable work across the community by running a food bank, distributing food parcels to the needy, homeless and vulnerable  especially vital during the pandemic.

In time, they hope to have a community centre for educational and other support programmes.

He added: Belfast Multi-Cultural Association is Belfast at its best.

Its time to rally round, say no to racism and yes to supporting people in need in the city.

Stormont Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey visited the centre on Friday afternoon to view the damage and speak to members of the association.

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey at the scene of the fire (Sinn Fein/PA)

Ms Hargey, who is also an MLA for the area, said she would work to find a temporary home to allow the association to continue its work.

My concern now as Minister for Communities and also as a local MLA is turning to support the organisation, who are carrying out vital work in south Belfast and indeed across the city, supporting minority ethnic communities but indeed the whole community with essential frontline services, and particularly in the midst of a public health pandemic, she said.

I want to work with them in terms of what the department can do to support them and working with other agencies such as Belfast City Council to look at relocating them on an interim basis and to ensure that they can continue the support that theyre providing to the community in the time ahead.
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The violent attack on the U.S. Capitol frightened and enraged millions of Americans, but it was the mobs self-identification as Christians that struck at the heart of the influential Baptist leader and religious thinker Russell Moore.

When I saw the images of Jesus Saves signs, next to gallows being constructed to hang the vice president of the United States and other officials, my response to that was one of rage, just internal rage, Moore said. Because I love my country. I love the United States of America. I love Jesus more.

And what you see happening there was both an attack on our country and also an attack on Jesus Christ, Moore said in an interview on The Long Game, a Yahoo News podcast.

Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, AP

The mixing of Christian symbols with violent insurrection, Moore said, communicates to the outside world something that is the opposite of who [Jesus] actually is.

Since 2013, Moore has been the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant Christian denomination in the U.S. He was one of the most prominent evangelical critics of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign, and after Trump was elected president, Moore came under attack from Trump supporters inside the SBC who wanted him out of his job.

Moore survived the challenge but was less outspoken about Trump after that. He continued, however, to call on conservative Christians to care more about racism, refugees and poverty, while also maintaining conservative positions on abortion, sexuality and marriage, and other hot-button issues. Still, a sprawling network of hard-line conservative religious bloggers has continued to complain about Moore over the past few years.

After Trump inflamed his supporters with lies about the 2020 election, encouraging them to participate in a wild day on Jan. 6, and gave a speech that day exhorting them to march on the Capitol, Moore made a decision to speak out against Trump once again. He wrote a 2,600-word essay and sent it out to the ERLC mailing list.

Moore dismantled the arguments that led to the attempted insurrection, stating clearly that it is not true  and it never was true  that this election was stolen, and said the riot had been incited and fomented by the President of the United States.

President Trump speaks at the "Save America March" rally on Jan. 6. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Furthermore, Moore leveled the most serious charge a Christian can make against the actions of Jan. 6.

The sight of Jesus Saves and God Bless America signs by those violently storming the Capitol, he said, presented to the world a picture of Jesus Christ and of his gospel that is satanic.

Moore said he thought Trump should resign, or be removed by the Cabinet and Vice President Mike Pence, or be impeached and convicted by Congress.

If I were a member of Congress, I would vote to impeach. And if I were a United States senator, I would vote to convict. And I would be willing, if necessary, to lose my seat to do so, Moore wrote. As a matter of fact, I am willing, if necessary, to lose this seat.

That was a reference to his own job, and an acknowledgment that those who tried to oust him four years ago might try again.

Moores latest book, his fifth, is rooted in that experience of feeling isolated and afraid. Its titled The Courage to Stand: Facing Your Fear Without Losing Your Soul.

The book uses the story of the Old Testament prophet Elijah to explore what Christianity has to say about the ideas of strength, courage and power. Elijah is known for calling fire down from heaven against rival prophets, but Moore focuses instead on the moment when Elijah was driven into the wilderness by threats to his life from a hostile ruler. The book argues that the urge to fight can be just as cowardly, if not more so, than the urge to flight.

And courage, he says, is found in uncertainty, not in displays of strength. Those relying on God for strength probably seem to be those lacking in courage, because they have given up on their internal resources or their external reassurances, he writes in the book.

True Christian strength, he writes, is the willingness to endure weakness, isolation, threats, uncertainty and even harm, while standing on principle.

Demonstrators carry a cross to the Capitol on Jan. 6. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Elijah is consistently saying, I dont know. And hes also consistently saying, Im the only one here. And Im standing here by myself. Ive experienced that, Moore said. And Ive also dealt with a lot of people who have experienced it in very different realities.

You assume that that courage means this sense of invulnerability. And thats not at all the case, Moore said. He mentioned a poet named David Whyte who examined the word courage, and the case of people who feel as though they are cowardly, because they are just sensing this kind of fear, and they dont know whats about to happen.

This lack of resolution, the sense of confusion and uncertainty, is central to Moores definition of Christian strength and courage. It is in refusing to seek easy answers in conspiracy theories, or reductionist thinking, or demonizing ones opponents that one shows these qualities.

Whyte, Moore noted, said that walking through that [uncertainty] and living in that is what courage actually is.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
NORTH HAVEN, CT  The North Haven Fire Department will receive more than $77,000 in federal coronavirus relief funds, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro announced this week.

The funds, part of the COVID-19 Supplemental Program included in the CARES Act coronavirus relief package, will be used to purchase supplies to protect North Haven firefighters from exposure to the virus, according to DeLauro.

Our firefighters have been asked to continue their lifesaving work with the increased risk of exposing themselves and their loved ones to COVID-19, said DeLauro, chair of the House Appropriations Committee and representative of Connecticuts 3rd District. They must have access to the emergency medical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and decontamination supplies and equipment necessary to perform their duties. That is why I am thrilled North Haven Fire Department is receiving these federal funds I fought to secure in the CARES Act.

North Haven First Selectman Michael Freda thanked DeLauro and her staff for their hard work in helping us secure this grant award.

This grant will be used to purchase respirators for our fire department to ensure their continued safety from viruses, biochemical contamination, and COVID-19 as our first responders here in North Haven, Freda said.

The greater New Haven area has been significantly impacted by COVID-19, North Haven Fire Department Chief and Emergency Management Director Paul M. Januszewski said. During this pandemic, N95 masks have been difficult to secure and are needed for firefighters that are responding to medical emergencies. This grant will allow NHFD to purchase 45 complete sets of Scott Powered Air Respirators to be used during the response to fire and medical emergencies thereby eliminating the ongoing need for N95 masks. This will also allow other healthcare organizations the availability of N95 masks that may not have otherwise been available. The North Haven Fire Department is extremely grateful for this grant as it provides an enhanced level of safety to our personnel.

Story continues

The grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is part of $100 million in total funding appropriated under the CARES Act for the fiscal year 2020 AFG-Supplemental program and is separate and distinct from the fiscal year 2020 AFG program, according to a news release.

As the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, the committee that determines federal spending, DeLauro said she will continue to fight for robust investments to support Connecticuts firefighters and fire departments.

These brave men and women are working every day to protect us, and this federal funding plays an important role in guaranteeing they have the tools they need to do their job safely, DeLauro said.

This article originally appeared on the North Haven Patch
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Queensland may have dodged yet another cluster of virus cases, with another day of no community transmission leaving health authorities cautiously optimistic there will be no more cases linked to the Hotel Grand Chancellor cluster.

Just one new case of COVID-19 was recorded in Queensland on Saturday  a child who travelled from South Africa with their parents and tested positive in hotel quarantine.

Brisbane's Hotel Grand Chancellor was evacuated several days ago after a cleaner contracted COVID-19. Credit:

As a result, Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said she was beginning to hope there would not be any more cases linked to the outbreak.

"I'm hopeful. I'm not confident, I'm hopeful," she said.
Closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High 'impacts our entire town'

The Washington County Board of Education held a public hearing on the closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High School; the crowd pleaded against it.
Buffalo Grove, Illinois, Jan. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ushio has agreed to supply Vortex Safety Lighting with its CARE222 UV disinfection module for use in occupied spaces to eradicate coronaviruses, bacteria and influenza from the air and surfaces. The patented, filtered excimer lamp generates 222nm, far UVC light. The UV experts at Vortex Safety Lighting are vertically integrated to design, engineer and install turnkey systems. Call 847-850-0585 or visit us at www.vortexsafetylighting.com to learn how to add a layer of protection for your employees and customers.

Vortex Safety Lighting plans to incorporate these lamps into a range of products, including ceiling mounted fixtures with built-in UVC/HEPA filters. Many of Vortex Safety Lightings disinfection products are configurable and ideal for OEM fixtures, to fit nearly any application.

Results from 7 years of laboratory testing and studies suggest that the filtered far UVC light produced from the CARE222 module can reduce pathogens on surfaces in occupied spaces, without posing a health risk to human eyes or skin when used within specifications. In contrast, the more generally used 254nm UV wavelength germicidal lamps can cause acute and chronic damage to skin and eyes when used in occupied spaces

Vortex Safety Lighting is excited to partner with Ushio to create products with the powerful and safe disinfection technology of CARE222 stated Partner and Founder of LED Lighting Inc, Bill Hood.

Vortex Safety Lighting expects to introduce air and surface products by May 2021. For more information on custom OEM designs and products visit the Vortex Safety Lighting website vortexsafetylighting.com

About Ushio America, Inc.

Ushio America, Inc. is a vertically integrated solutions company for lighting systems and components utilizing xenon short arc lamps, lasers, ultra-high-pressure lamps, excimer, metal halide, LEDs (specialty sensing and general illumination), halogen, fluorescent, and miniature incandescent lamps serving semiconductor, printed circuit, video projection, cinema, medical, life sciences, UV curing, germicidal, horticulture, general lighting, graphic arts, scientific medical, infra-red heating, lamp and laser drivers, systems and services, and numerous other applications. Established in 1967 as a subsidiary of Ushio Inc., in Tokyo, Japan, Ushio America offers a full spectrum of over 2,500 products and services to its customers. Visit www.Ushio.com for more information.

About LED Lighting Inc.

In 2004, LED Lighting Inc., an Illinois corporation, was one of the first US companies to sell LED linear lighting sources. Today, we are experts in the field. When it comes to designing custom lighting solutions, few can match our experience, expertise, or dedication to excellence. We work across multiple industries creating custom lighting solutions. Vortex Safety Lighting is our solely dedicated division to creating safer spaces for people to come together by using disinfection technology and the service and maintenance of it.

Email: lisa.shoemaker@ledlightinginc.com



Phone: 847-850-0585

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New Delhi, Jan 16 : Indian military doctors, paramedics and hospital staff are being vaccinated against the coronavirus disease across the country as inoculation drive kicked off on Saturday.

The beneficiaries -- each are being given either of India's two indigenous vaccines -- Covaxin or Covishield. Every beneficiary will receive two doses of the same vaccine, 28 days apart.

The armed forces played a pivotal role in mitigating the sufferings of the people in the face of novel Coronavirus' onslaught. Right from rescuing stranded Indians from Covid-19 affected areas, such as China, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, and others to providing relief materials to all across the country.

The armed forces have put in place all its medical and manpower resources.

Hospitals of the armed forces and medical facilities have been dedicated to treat Covid-19 patients and some of its bases were turned into quarantine centres.

Talking about efforts in the fight against Covid-19, Indian Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh had said that the Navy, in fulfilling responsibilities to the nation and its citizens, turned into 'Care-Givers' during the pandemic.

"Naval aircraft contributed to transportation of samples and test equipment on numerous occasions. naval hospital facilities were made available to the civil administrations at various places to cater to the increased healthcare requirements. In support of the national effort against COVID, naval personnel also displayed innovation in manufacture of solutions like indigenised PPE, and healthcare equipment," Admiral Singh had said.

The Navy undertook its largest ever non-combatant evacuation exercise under the aegis of Operation Samudra Setu, wherein, nearly 4,000 Indian nationals in Iran, Maldives and Sri Lanka were brought back home during the pandemic.

While the natural tendency is to look inwards in difficult times, the government and Indian Navy looked outwards, extending support and succour to friends and partners during the pandemic. Missions Sagar I and II, involving deployment of naval medical teams, medicines and humanitarian aid to friendly foreign countries across the Indian Ocean Region, received wide-spread recognition, reiterating India's commitment to the region.

Prompt implementation of preventive measures across the Navy aided in minimising the disruptive impact of the pandemic on operational readiness.

Similarly, Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane had said that Indian Army reached out and helped all the state governments and the citizens.

"To tackle this pandemic, we had opened number of quarantine camps, facilitated their treatment and their return to their respective homes once their quarantine period was over," General Naravane said.

He pointed that yeoman service and the selfless devotion was put in by the medical fraternity. "For the last six months, they have been day in and day out treating the Covid patients in the services hospitals or the civilian facilities, without caring for their own health and safety," Indian Army Chief had said.

The Indian Air Force carried out international effort towards Covid task. A goodwill flight to Wuhan in China was taken on C-17 employed to airlift 15 tons of medical supplies to China and to evacuate 112 Indian and foreign nationals to India on February 26 and February 27, 2020. Immediate evacuation of Indians from Iran was carried out by employing C-17 on March 10, 2020. The force has also evacuated 49 DRDO personnel (including 25 Covid-19 positive personnel) from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to Vishakhapatanam on November 4, 2020.

The Indian Air Force supplied medical equipment and supplies to Male, Kuwait, Congo, South Sudan and other countries.

Besides the all-out efforts of armed forces, its various organisations and arms like Defence Research and Development Organisation, Defence Public Sector Undertakings, Ordnance Factory Board, Indian Coast Guard, Cantonment Boards, National Cadet Corps had contributed in their own ways to fight the pandemic.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

I have a lot of respect for Joan Bakewell. A trailblazer, at 87 she is still making waves. But last week my heart sank when she appeared on Good Morning Britain saying shes planning to take the Government to court over its decision to delay second doses of the Covid vaccine from three weeks to three months.

She thinks it is unsafe. Waiting might invalidate the first shot. The new plan should be backed up by data and it isnt, she added. Well, I have to say Joan, I love you, but on this youre just so wrong.

We are in the mother of all crises, with vaccine in short supply. Simply put, giving a scheduled second shot to Joan and others means that someone else, whose need for protection is equally important, cannot be given their first. And right now, the urgent need is to give as many people as we can protection in the fastest possible time.

Think of some of those lower down the priority list: carers of disabled children, 70-year-olds with serious health conditions. Their need is great. And think too of the knock-on effect if one of them does get Covid. Its likely theyll get it bad. Perhaps end up in hospital.

Court threat: Angry Dame Joan Bakewell, pictured above, making her point on TV last week. My heart sank when she said shes planning to take the Government to court over its decision to delay second doses of the vaccine from three weeks to three months, writes Vivienne Parry

It means yet another bed isnt available for someone with cancer or heart disease, for a start. And, if they get a jab, we know that scenario can be avoided.

I think back to those times, during my childhood, when extra guests arrived at our house and my mother, alarmed that there might not be enough food to go round, would hiss at us: FHB  family hold back. This is the same. We are all in this together and have to be pragmatic.

Last week, another national treasure, Esther Rantzen, said that shed rather her second dose went to people who work in supermarkets. Thats the spirit!

And Joan, having had just one dose, is not unprotected. The decision to make the change was made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the Government on vaccine programmes. I know a bit about the rigour involved in its process, as I sat on its board during the swine flu outbreak of 2009.

The evidence is that nine in every ten people who have a single shot of the Pfizer vaccine are protected from Covid-19 infection. Meanwhile, the Oxford AstraZeneca jab has been shown to be 73 per cent effective after one dose  that means seven in ten people who have the jab wont get Covid.

But, more importantly, research shows all patients who have one dose are protected against severe disease  not a single person who had the Oxford vaccine, and then did get Covid, ended up in hospital.

Immunity from the first dose of the Oxford jab lasts at least 12 weeks, according to the studies, and there is no reason to think the Pfizer jab would differ.

Yes, that second dose is still important. But the priority is now to retain vaccine stocks and get a first dose to as many people as possible. This, experts agree, will save the most lives.

The AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 vaccine is administered at Superdrug in Guildford, as in-store pharmacists and nurses administer the vaccine on behalf of the NHS (file photo)

Under the initial plan, patients whod had a first shot had a second dose reserved. By releasing these, a million more people will now get a jab faster.

Joan is also worried about safety. It is assumed since the Pfizer vaccine has been licensed on the basis of a three-week interval between doses, exceeding it must be in some way dangerous.

But the choice of three weeks by Pfizer was driven by urgency. It was decided early on that two doses gave the best protection  this is the case with many vaccines. Three weeks was the minimum amount of time they could leave it, as it takes this long for the immune system to respond fully to the first jab.

The results they presented to regulators were based on this timeframe. They didnt study a six-week or 12-week interval. They just needed to get it done. And so they are unable to go on record saying it is safe to extend the period between doses: they simply didnt collect the evidence to back that up. But experience from many other vaccines tells us that a longer interval may actually mean better protection.

The bodys first encounter with a vaccine primes the immune system. The second encounter seals the deal  it makes sure there is the longest-lasting immunity possible.

Many jabs are three months apart  child immunisations, for instance. The HPV vaccine, which is 100 per cent effective, is given in two doses, six months apart.

It is assumed since the Pfizer vaccine has been licensed on the basis of a three-week interval between doses, exceeding it must be in some way dangerous. But the choice of three weeks by Pfizer was driven by urgency, writes Vivienne Parry (file photo)

Those in the top-four priority groups for the Covid jab are likely to get a second dose between March and May, just as the incidence of Covid will be starting to wane.

Also, its likely theyll get a third shot, along with their flu vaccines, in the autumn. They really are going to be well protected.

Much fuss has been made by some doctors about consent. GPs say they feel duty-bound to honour this: patients consented to a course of treatment, and signed a form. Thats why you may have heard a fair few stories of people having their second doses, as planned.

Yet doctors can still use discretion. That frail 95-year-old, for example, who couldnt be reached by phone and whod be deeply distressed by the shock news she wasnt getting that second dose she thought was vital. But consent forms are not contracts. No one is obligated. They dont give patients a right to a particular vaccine.

Most people would understand why their jab was being postponed, if it was explained. And even if the conversation was awkward, well, thats life.

More than a third of over-80s have now had the jab  and more than 3.2 million first doses have been given. Many areas are already doing the over-75s, although this is highly localised.

Everyones now talking about who should be next, who should be bumped up the list, and who shouldnt be a priority. As Ive written repeatedly in this newspaper, its vital all NHS workers are given a shot without delay. Doctors, nurses, porters, cleaners, receptionists  every single person who goes anywhere near a patient. Its the only way we can begin to stamp out hospital-acquired Covid, which is a huge problem.

After that? Well, if we keep up the pace, the vulnerable will be covered by March. Some argue that, as is happening in Indonesia, we should vaccinate younger adults who have to go out to work. And as with flu, could vaccinating children be key? One thing is sure. The more people have either had a jab, or had Covid, the more things will improve. The virus will have constant blocks in its path.

We must focus on getting as many of those blocks in place as we can, as fast as we can. And that, Joan, means one dose for now, not two.
3 1 of 3 Contributed Jersey Mikes Subs / Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Contributed Jersey Mikes Subs / Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Scene Jersey Mikes Subs founder and CEO Peter Cancro stopped by the sandwich shops location in Riverside last Sunday. Cancro was there to say hello and thank the employees for their hard work during the COVID-19 pandemic and for their dedication to giving to the community. In November, Jersey Mikes raised over $2.5 million nationwide for Feeding America, a nonprofit network of food banks.

Out there Actor, director, producer and Americares board member Tony Goldwyn, a New Canaan resident, will host an Americares virtual volunteer event to commemorate the Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service. #Heroes4Health Unite: Be an Americares COVID-19 Hero takes place at 1 p.m. Monday via Zoom. Americares Chief Medical Officer Dr. Julie Varughese will join Goldwyn during the 30-minute online event to energize and encourage volunteers to virtually influence friends and family to spread positive messaging about mask-wearing, physical distancing and hand-washing. Volunteers will receive a digital tool kit with messages that can be shared via social media and messaging apps. To date, Americares, a nonprofit disaster relief and global health organization, has provided 315 tons of critically needed supplies, including masks, gowns and disinfectants, to combat the spread of the coronavirus. It has also trained thousands of health care workers in infection prevention and control, disaster preparedness, and mental health and psycho-social support. Americares is also caring for patients at its primary care clinics in Colombia, Connecticut, El Salvador and India, and providing surge medical personnel in Peru to support health facilities overwhelmed by the pandemic. For more info and to register for the virtual event, visit www.americares.org/TakeActionNow.
Manitoba suddenly stopped booking new COVID-19 vaccination appointments on Friday because a disruption in Pfizers delivery schedule means shipments of vials will only trickle in during February.

A health-care worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccine clinic in Toronto on Thursday, January 7, 2021. Procurement Minister Anita Anand says production issues in Europe will temporarily reduce Pfizer's ability to deliver vaccines to Canada.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Manitoba suddenly stopped booking new COVID-19 vaccination appointments on Friday because a disruption in Pfizers delivery schedule means shipments of vials will only trickle in during February.

Dr. Joss Reimer, the provinces vaccination task force medical lead, broke the news on Twitter late Friday afternoon.

"We are pausing new vaccine appointments due to Pfizer supply disruptions announced today," she wrote.

Friday morning, Ottawa had announced that Pfizer would alter its shipments to Canada and other countries, as it expands the Belgium lab that manufactured most of the doses.

Next weeks shipments to Canada are expected to arrive in full, but deliveries over the following four weeks will be half of what was originally scheduled.

Shipments will be ramped up in March and should make up the difference.

In terms of numbers, roughly 20,000 fewer doses will arrive in February than originally planned. In March, Manitoba is expected to receive four times the number of doses, to make up roughly 80,000 shots.

Meanwhile, Moderna is expected to continue ramping up its shipments to Manitoba.

Reimer wrote that all appointments made to date will be honoured, and that Manitoba might change course once it gets more information. "We anticipated these issues and have contingency plans in place," she wrote.

Manitoba's record on vaccinating people against COVID-19 has been one of the slowest of all the provinces, partially due to stricter protocols on how it reserves and administers second doses.

Yet Dr. Anand Kumar, an infectious disease specialist, questioned Friday's decision to halt appointments given those precautions.

"If it was my call, I would take that first dose and broadly distribute it to anyone who's in a long-term care facility or who's aged 70 and over in the city," he told the Free Press.

Kumar, who is a an intensive-care physician at the Health Sciences Centre, said delaying the booster shot presents the risk of limited immunity. But he said even more deaths could result from leaving so many doses in cold storage.

"Even if their second dose is going to be substantially delayed, the estimate is you get 80 per cent protection with the first dose," he said. "I think that is how you're going to get the greatest impact on the health system and on the number of deaths."

On Parliament Hill, the head co-ordinator of Canadas vaccine rollout said officials have been bracing for supply-chain problems.

"This is a bump in the road, and well continue to cruise forward after that," Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin told reporters.

"We would like to have more predictability (and) assurances that the plan will unfold as we wish it to be, but theres a global demand of unprecedented proportion."

Meanwhile, Manitoba had administered 40 to 56 per cent of its received COVID-19 vaccine doses (of both Pfizer and Moderna) as of Thursday.

The province reported having 13,539 jabs in arms, including 11,401 first doses and 2,138 second doses.

(This doesnt include data on the number of doses administered by First Nations, which have received 5,300 doses of Moderna.)

As of Thursday, Manitoba had received 33,625 doses of both vaccines in total.

The province said all personal care home residents will receive their first dose of vaccine by mid-February, instead of the original target of late January.

So far, only 281 care home residents have been immunized.

"This is a fight where every day counts," NDP leader Wab Kinew told reporters.

"This failure to get the vaccine out as quickly as possible could, unfortunately, have some real-life impacts on people in our province. The flip side of that is the government still has time to turn things around and get it right."

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
New Delhi, Jan 16 : Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sent food cooked in her kitchen for Congress MPs protesting at Delhi's Jantar Mantar. Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi was accompanied by his sister Priyanka at the protest site.

Most of the MPs and MLAs protesting at Jantar Mantar are from the Punjab unit of the Congress. When IANS spoke to Jasbir Singh Gill, Congress MP from Khadoor Sahib in Punjab, he said, "We met Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday and had a long chat. It seems that she wanted to appreciate the work we have done and for this reason she sent the food," he said.

Priyanka sent paneer, rajma, rice, roti and gajrela for the protesting lawmakers. Jasbir Singh Gill also told IANS that most of the time they get food from local gurudwaras and sometimes from people's homes. Congress lawmakers have been protesting against the three contentious farm laws for the last 52 days. Gill also said they would continue with the sit-in protests till the farm laws are withdrawn.

The farmers' protest in Delhi has led to a standstill at the Singhu border where thousands of farmers continue to stay put. This is despite the Supreme Court announcing a four-member committee. This was the second public event attended by the Milan-returned Rahul Gandhi who first went to Tamil Nadu to attend the 'Jallikattu' event.
New Delhi: Japanese carmaker Honda has released the sales figures for its popular model Honda City. According to the sales charts Honda City has sold 21,826 units in the year 2020.

Honda City has been a favourite mid-size sedan in the Indian market since its launch. The car also enjoys the trust of Indian customers and has a high desirability quotient to it. This has resulted in the sales figures for 2020. Honda has sold more than 21,000 units of City which makes it the top player in the segment.

The mid-size segment observed a total sale of 45,277 units between July- December 2020. Honda City has 17,347 units in this sales chart. Honda recognised the steep competition from Hyundai and Maruti-Suzuki and launched the fifth generation of Honda City in India. This surely has helped Honda sell more of this mid-size sedan. As of now, Honda City has captured over 41 per cent of the market share in the segment. The segment observed a 10 per cent growth during July- December 2020.

According to Honda, City's ZX variant is the most wanted among buyers. Half of the units sold belong to the top of the line ZX variant. The company also revealed that CVT gearbox is gaining popularity and it's reflected in numbers. Honda City has 48 per cent share for CVT variant in the first six months of launch.

Rajesh Goel, Senior VP and Director of Marketing and Sales for Honda Cars India Ltd. has said, "The City brand has been synonymous with Honda in India. Continuously re-inventing itself, each generation of the Honda City has offered new technologies and value propositions to enthral its customers, creating a benchmark for quality and trust in the process."

" The launch of fifth-generation of City in July last year gave a much-needed impetus to the mid-size sedan segment despite the challenging times. We want to extend our gratitude to our patrons who have continued to show their love for the City brand and experience the pride of owning this model." He added.

Honda City was launched in the year 2008 in India and since then has been a benchmark in the mid-size segment. Honda City locks its horns with Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Volkswagen Vento, Skoda Rapid, Hyundai Verna.
From making bed arrangements to training staff, contingency measures have been taken by hospitals in Delhi to address the situation if any adverse effects are found in a person after administering a dose of COVID-19 vaccine, authorities at various facilities said on Friday.

The vaccination roll-out is set to begin from Saturday across the country, and 81 sites in Delhi have been chosen for the exercise.

These centres, with nearly an even split of government and private hospitals, include six central government facilities - AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital, Kalawati Saran Children Hospital and two ESI hospitals.

The rest 75 centres, spanning all 11 districts of Delhi, include Delhi government-run facilities, such as LNJP Hospital, GTB Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, DDU Hospital, BSA Hospital, Delhi State Cancer Institute, ILBS Hospital; and private facilities, such as Max Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Apollo Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

Each centre or site, will consist of a waiting room, vaccination room and an observation room. Every person will be observed for at least 30 minutes after the immunisation. "There is a separate area for post-vaccination observation with 10 beds and 20 chairs with emergency equipment. Staff have been trained on handling AdverseEvents Following Immunisation (AEFI). Also, the nodal officer AEFI with identified staff, has already been trained," said Dr D S Rana, Chairman (Board of Management), Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

Anaphylaxis kit and AEFI management kits ready and are also in place, he said. AEFI in general include, headache, inflammation, fever, pain in arm or body pain or vomiting, which can happen after regular vaccination too, doctors said, adding, observation of patients post-vaccination is a regular practice.

Sahar Qureshi, Medical Superintendent, Max Super Speciality Hospital, said, "We are prepared for the vaccination, all the sites are ready as per the government guidelines". "We have all the places ready, whether it is pre-vaccination waiting area, vaccination observation area, vaccination room and our AEFI rooms," he said.

A dedicated team will be there to take care of AEFI, and the emergency team will be heading the unit, where if any patient exhibits any kind of adverse reaction, they will be attended to immediately, from the "mildest of infection to most sever one", which will be addressed immediately, he said. AEFI staffs were trained by the government officials, and they were called and were told about what is expected from them, Max hospital authorities said.

"They were given formal training, and even for the inoculation, nursing staff will be there to check, what is required from them," the doctor said. At Akash Hospital too, observation beds and chairs, 10 reclining beds and 10 chairs, have been put up, especially for such contingencies, authorities said.

At Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC) an 'adverse effects committee' consist of 15 doctors who will look after such cases, and they are full equiped to handle them, said H S Chhabra, Medical Director, ISIC. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said the Delhi government is fully prepared for the vaccination roll-out starting January 16, with over 8,000 healthcare workers to be immunised every scheduled day in the national capital, in the first phase of the exercise.

India's drugs regulator has approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country. A senior official on Thursday had said Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield will be administered at 75 centres while Bharat Biotech-made Covaxin doses will be given at the remaining six facilities in Delhi.

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The United States is deeply concerned over Vietnams conviction and sentencing of three members of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam. The Association is a civil society organization that advocates for press freedom.

On January 5, the Peoples Court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced the Associations founder and head Pham Chi Dung to 15 years in prison. His deputy Nguyen Tuong Thuy and journalist Le Huu Minh Tuan were each given an 11-year sentence. The men were convicted under an anti-state provision that bans the production and dissemination of so-called distorted information about the peoples government.

In a statement, U.S. State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Cale Brown called the sentences harsh and said that they are the latest in a troubling and accelerating trend of arrests and convictions of Vietnamese citizens exercising rights enshrined in Vietnams constitution.

Human rights organizations are also outraged. Amnesty Internationals deputy regional director, Emerlynne Gil wrote, Even by its own deeply repressive standards, the severity of the sentences show the depths being reached by Vietnams censors.

Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, stated that the sentences of the three Vietnamese journalists were shocking and clearly designed to extinguish any form of civil society debate.

Vietnam is ranked 175th out of 180 countries in RSFs 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

The U.S. State Department, in its most recent human rights report, said that among significant human rights abuses in Vietnam were the worst forms of restrictions on free expression, the press, and the internet, including arbitrary arrest and prosecution of government critics, censorship, site blocking, and criminal libel laws.

U.S. Principal Deputy Spokesperson Brown noted, Press freedom is fundamental to transparency and accountable governance. Authors, bloggers and journalists often do their work at great risk and we urge governments and citizens worldwide to ensure their protection.

The United States, he declared, calls on the Vietnamese authorities to release all those unjustly detained and to allow all individuals in Vietnam to express their views freely, without fear of retaliation.
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12:31 | Lima, Jan. 16.

The high-ranking official indicated that the Peruvian Government and the laboratory currently undertake efforts to consolidate an agreement in order to purchase 9.2 million doses.





"1.8 million of these (vaccines) could arrive in the first quarter of this year," she said in remarks to Canal N.









In this sense, the government official noted that there are enough freezers to store the above-mentioned batch.





Johnson & Johnson





Likewise, Ambassador Astete reported that a preliminary agreement has been signed with Johnson & Johnson, which would enable the arrival of their vaccines within the first six months of 2021, probably in May.





The diplomat went on to add that this agreement is important for Peru, since it entails a single-dose vaccine, which would facilitate its arrival and distribution in remote places.









Sinopharm









(END) MVB
'Traditionalist Catholics' destroy homes of 5 Mexican evangelical families

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Two families from Mexicos Tzotzil tribe destroyed the houses of five evangelical Christians on Sunday in the Mitziton community of southern Mexico, near the city of San Cristobal de las Casas.

Esdras Alonso Gonzalez, the director of the Christian ministry Alas de Aguila, alerted news sources to the attacks. He said to El Universal that before the attack started, the local community jailed two Christians, Alejandro Jimenez Jimenez and Miguel Jimenez Heredia.

One year ago, local Catholics prevented evangelical Christians from building a church in the area and forced them to leave. When they returned a year later, local people attacked them in another attempt to make them leave.

In many places in Mexico, Catholicism is mixed with local Aztec polytheism. People sacrifice chickens, dogs, alcohol and soda to Jesus and Catholic saints, which they see as different faces of Mayan gods. People who observe this religion are called traditionalist Catholics (not to be confused with Roman Catholics).

Unlike Christianity, traditionalist Catholicism relies on giving gifts to the gods in exchange for health, good fortune and protection from evil. Many Tzotzil people practice traditionalist Catholicism.

Behind the collection of saints and virgins in the San Juan Bautista church are Ah Puch, Chaac, Ixchel, Kukulkan, and the whole pantheon of ancient Mayan gods. They have adapted to their new names and now celebrate new festivities, but their true essences remain, wrote travel site Matador Network about a Tzotzil traditionalist Catholic church.

The persecution evangelical Christians face among the Tzotzil is religious persecution, said Alonso Gonzalez. Traditionalist Catholics attack Christians because Christians wont celebrate Catholic holidays or attend traditionalist Catholic feasts.

After the destruction of their homes, the five evangelical Christian families must wait on the decision of local authorities who will determine when or if they will be allowed to return, he said. The families affected include 30 people.

Christians among the Tzotzil people have faced persecution before, said Alonso Gonzalez. In 2014, Mexican indigenous activists destroyed 10 houses belonging to Christians because they chopped down trees without the permission of the community assembly. In 2016, Catholic traditionalists destroyed the homes of 350 Christians.

Persecution of Christians in Mexico has risen due to drug cartel violence, persecution by traditionalist Catholics and violent discrimination by anti-Christian left-wing groups, persecution watchdog Open Doors USA reported. Currently, Mexico is 37th on its list of countries that most persecute Christians.

Open Doors USA President and CEO David Curry told The Christian Post that the amount of persecution in Mexico has risen in the past year, mainly due to organized crime killing Christians.

Last year, Mexico was number 52 [on Open Doors USA's World Watch List.] Its jumped up a bunch, he said. "That would most certainly be around the issues of violence and drug cartels.

Traditionalist Catholics often persecute Mexican Christians, too, he said. In this way, they resemble many small, rural groups of people practicing ancient folk religions around the world. Open Doors calls this kind of persecution clan violence.

These rural indigenous groups see Christian churches as an outside force. They can harass and bother churches and believers who might be in the community, Curry said. Its within these four states in Mexico; Chiapas, Hidalgo, Guerero, Oaxaca. Its very localized.

In regions controlled by small clans that practice local religions, native people often get angry when Christians start sharing the Gospel and telling people about Jesus, he said. They dont like to see churches grow.

To help Christians in these areas, believers around the world can pray and share the news about their problems so local governments will feel pressured to help, he said.

Pray for the leaders who are there. Pray for safety for people. The response that most people have hearing Mexico is on the world persecution list is how can that be? Curry said. From the most basic level, we need to pray and share these stories so that people know theyre not alone and so that the pressure builds to protect these people.
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Gov. Whitmer, Gov. Evers, and Gov. Walz: Trump Administration Must Purchase More Vaccines, Allow States to Purchase Directly

Gov. Whitmer, Gov. Evers, and Gov. Walz: Trump Administration Must Purchase More Vaccines, Allow States to Purchase Directly

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 15, 2021

Media Contact: Press@Michigan.gov

Gov. Whitmer, Gov. Evers, and Gov. Walz: Trump Administration Must Purchase More Vaccines, Allow States to Purchase Directly

Washington Post Reports Trump Administration Vowed to Release Vaccine; Reserve That Was Already Exhausted

LANSING, Mich. -- Today, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar expressing their frustrations with the Trump administrations botched COVID-19 vaccine distribution and urged him to grant permission for states to directly purchase doses of the safe and effective vaccine. The governors also urged the Trump administration to purchase as many doses of the safe and effective vaccine as possible so states can get more shots in arms in the coming weeks.

It has become abundantly clear that not only has the Trump administration botched the rollout of the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, but also that the American people have been misled about these delays, the governors said. Pfizer just announced that as of yesterday, they have millions of doses of the vaccine on hand and are waiting on addresses from the Trump administration so they can deliver the vaccine to states. If you are unable or unwilling to give us that supply, we urge you to grant permission for us to directly purchase vaccines so we may distribute them to the people of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota as quickly as possible. Without additional supply or authorization to purchase directly, our states may be forced to cancel plans for public vaccination clinics in the coming weeks, which are expected to vaccinate tens of thousands. Its time for the Trump administration to do the right thing and help us end this pandemic.

After Governor Whitmer and eight other governors sent a letter to Secretary Azar last week requesting that the federal government distribute the millions of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine doses that are currently being held back by the Trump administration, the administration announced that they will release the available vaccine doses. But according to a Washington Post article published this morning, federal officials backtracked and are now claiming that the reserve has already been exhausted, despite the fact that we have not seen an increase in our allocations and despite Pfizers recent announcement that they currently have millions of doses of the vaccine on hand and are waiting on addresses from the Trump administration so they can deliver the vaccine to states.

To view the full letter to Secretary Azar, click the link below:

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WhatsApp has canceled its February 8 2021 deadline for accepting the tweak to its terms of service

WhatsApp on Friday postponed a data-sharing change as users concerned about privacy fled the Facebook-owned messaging service and flocked to rivals Telegram and Signal.

The smartphone app, a huge hit across the world, canceled its February 8 deadline for accepting an update to its terms concerning sharing data with Facebook, saying it would use the pause to clear up misinformation around privacy and security.

"We've heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update," WhatsApp said in a blog post.

"This update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook."

It said it would instead "go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15."

The update concerns how merchants using WhatsApp to chat with customers can share data with Facebook, which could use the information for targeted ads, according to the social network.

"We can't see your private messages or hear your calls, and neither can Facebook," WhatsApp said in an earlier blog post.

"We don't keep logs of who everyone is messaging or calling. We can't see your shared location and neither can Facebook."

Location data along with message contents is encrypted end-to-end, according to WhatsApp.

"We're giving businesses the option to use secure hosting services from Facebook to manage WhatsApp chats with their customers, answer questions, and send helpful information like purchase receipts," WhatsApp said in a post.

"Whether you communicate with a business by phone, email, or WhatsApp, it can see what you're saying and may use that information for its own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook."

Technology experts note that WhatsApp's new requirement of its users makes legally binding a policy that has been widely in use since 2016.

Facebook aims to monetize WhatsApp by allowing businesses to contact clients via the platform, making it natural for the internet giant to centralize some data on its servers.

Countries concerned

The Turkish Competition Authority said it is opening an investigation and requiring WhatsApp to suspend the data sharing obligation on its users.

Several Turkish state organizationsincluding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's media officeswitched to Turkcell telecom's new messaging service BiP in response.

The terms of service tweak also put WhatsApp in the crosshairs in Italy and India, where a petition has been filed in a Delhi court.

WhatsApp's notice to users lacked clarity and its privacy implications need to be carefully evaluated, Italian data protection agency GPDP said in a post at its website.

GPDP said it has shared its concerns with the European Data Protection Board and reserved the right to intervene in the matter.

Facebook has come under increasing pressure from regulators as it tries to integrate its services.

The EU fined the US social media giant 110 million euros (then $120 million) for providing incorrect and misleading information about its 2014 takeover of WhatsApp concerning the ability to link accounts between the services.

Federal and state regulators in US have accused Facebook of using its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram to squelch competition and filed antitrust lawsuits last month that aim to force the company to divest them.

Privacy paramount

User privacy fears have been mounting, with Uber careful to stress that a change in app terms taking effect on January 18 has nothing to do with sharing data.

Encrypted messaging app Telegram has seen user ranks surge on the heels of the WhatsApp service terms announcement, said its Russia-born founder Pavel Durov.

"People no longer want to exchange their privacy for free services," Durov said without directly referring to the rival app.

Encrypted messaging app Signal has also seen a huge surge in demand, helped by a tweeted recommendation by billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.

WhatsApp has sought to reassure worried users, even running full-page newspaper adverts in India, proclaiming that "respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA".

Explore further WhatsApp stresses privacy as users flock to rivals

 2021 AFP
Nearly 40 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Brazil died of the virus as the nation's health care system was inundated with coronavirus cases last year, a new study estimates.

It comes after a more infectious variant of 'super-covid' that scientists worry could evade vaccines emerged in Brazil.

That variant was discovered in the Amazonas, a Brazilian state in the Northwest of the South American country. Scientists believe it may have been circulating there as early as July.

According to the new research, conducted by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, the hospital and health care systems in the country's North and Northeast are weaker and a greater number of residents have poor access to care.

Death risks soared there. Patients hospitalized in the North and Northeast of the country were far more likely to die of COVID-19 than those who were hospitalized in the Southern part of the country, according to the new study, published Friday.

There is no way to know whether these patients were infected with the new variant - the Amazonas region was not hit as hard during the study period, and patients there weren't tested for the variant - but the findings paint grim picture of what can happen if transmission accelerates and cases overwhelm hospitals.

Brazil's coronavirus variant has already been identified in the UK and, and an expert told DailyMail.com it's unrealistic to think variants that have emerged abroad - including Brazil's - won't eventually find their way into the US.

Coronavirus cases in Brazil surged exponentially between February (top left) and August (top right), overwhelming hospitals (center row), where 38% of COVID-19 patients died (bottom)

To-date, 8.3 million Brazilians have had COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University.

More than 207,000 people have died of the infection in Brazil.

The Amazonas state where the variant emerged is now so overwhelmed with coronavirus cases that health care system in the capitol, Manaus, is in 'collapse,' Brazil's Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello said.

Brazil's vice president, Hamilton Mourao blamed the collapse on the new variant.

It's a new low for the hard-hit nation, whose COVID-19 death toll is only exceeded by America's.

But it's not the first time health care system's in parts of the country have been pushed to the brink.

More than 250,000 patients were hospitalized in Brazil between February and August of 2020, according to the national surveillance system tapped by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health researchers.

Of the 254,288 patients hospitalized during that time, nearly half - 47 percent - were younger than 60.

In most places, for most of the pandemic, COVID-19 patients who get sick enough to be hospitalized have been elderly.

Older people have also made up the majority of coronavirus fatalities.

In Brazil, 38 percent of people hospitalized for coronavirus died of the infection.

In US hospitals, that rate hovers around 20 percent - about half the risk seen in Brazil.

Particularly distressing, the death rate among hospitalized coronavirus patients who were younger than 60 was 15 percent across the country.

But in the North and Northeast where the hospitals are weaker, according to the new study, death rates soared.

As cases have surged in countries including Brazil (pictured), there have been more chances for the virus to mutate because more infections means a greater number of chronic cases that give the virus ample time to learn how to better infect humans, experts speculate. One of several more infectious 'super-covid' variants emerged in Brazil

The influx of patients overwhelmed hospitals in the North and Northeast (green, orange) where the health care system is more fragile, leading to the highest death rates

More than 31 percent of hospitalized patients under 60 in those regions died.

'These regional differences in mortality reflect differences in access to better health care that already existed before the pandemic,' said Fernando Bozza, study coordinator and researcher at the National Institute of Infectious Disease.

'This means that COVID-19 not only disproportionately affects the most vulnerable patients but also the most fragile health systems.

'Brazil's health system is one of the largest across the globe to provide care to everyone free of charge and has a solid tradition in the surveillance of infectious diseases. However, COVID-19 overwhelmed the system's capacity.'

The country could be headed for a similar - or worse - crisis now.

'You cannot predict what would happen with this strain that is occurring in Manaus. Totally different from what had happened in the first half,' said Brazil's vice president Moura, of the latest surge and the new variant.

In the UK, hospitals are on the brink as Britain contends with its highly infectious 'super-covid' variant.

'Every region has more Covid patients in hospital than they did in the first wave,' Christina Pagel, the director of the Clinical Operational Research Unit at University College London, told the New York Times.

Only a small number of infections with the UK variant have been detected in the US.

At least 95 Americans have been infected with B117, in 15 states.

No cases of the Brazilian or similar South African variant have been found, but the US also now has three homegrown variants that scientists suspect are more infectious.

None of them seem so far to be more deadly on their own, though Brazil's and South Africa's have mutations that may help them harder for antibodies and the immune system to 'see' and respond to.

But the CDC warned on Friday that the B117 variant could easily become dominant in the US by March, driving up transmissions, cases and, ultimately deaths.

Dr Deborah Birx warned last week that the pattern of case increases in the US suggested a more infectious variant - possibly a homegrown one - is already in driving the spread.

And even hospitals in wealthy parts of the country are already in dire straits.

Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California have resorted to field hospitals to care for overflows of COVID-19 patients, as have parts of Massachusetts.

And that's before more infectious variants have been detected in those areas (although other parts of California have B117 cases).

'As of yet, we don't have great eyes on whether the variant is here,' Dr David Kennedy, a Pennsylvania State University scientist who studies infectious diseases and their evolution, told DailyMail.com.

'They are certainly going to get here at some point, so really it's a question of when, not if.'

Worldwide, 'we started hearing about them in December, but they'd been circulating a lot longer than that,' he added.

'It means these variants have been spreading for a long time before we knew, and it's very likely they've been distributed much more broadly than is currently known,' including, he said when asked, potentially in the US.
U.S. hands over another batch of military aid to Ukrainian Armed Forces - Embassy

The United States has handed over another shipment of military aid to the Ukrainian Armed Forces as part of the Ukrainian Security Assistance Initiative.

The Ukrainian army received armored vehicles and boats, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine reports on its Twitter page.

"Nothing could stop the delivery of 20 Humvees to the Ukrainian Land Forces and the Special Operations Forces along with 84 boats for the Ukrainian Navy as part of the Ukrainian Security Assistance Initiative," the report says.
Hyman's Seafood on Meeting Street will offer free meals to Lowcountry health care workers on Wednesday.

Similar to the restaurant's once-a-year offering for Charleston-area teachers, the gesture is made to show appreciation for the profession that has dealt with a taxing year.

Eli Hyman said he was inspired by a TV program he saw about how many health care workers have died after risking their lives daily during the pandemic. Forbes reports there have been more than 287,000 COVID-19 cases among health care workers, with 953 deaths, as of Dec. 22.

"Literally, theyre putting their lives on the line to save our lives," said Hyman. "It's a very noble thing theyre doing and I'm not sure its quite being recognized by general public."

The restaurant's way of acknowledging this sacrifice is with free shrimp on Wednesday. Health care workers who show a valid work ID will be served Hyman's shrimp and grits, shrimp dinner or Carolina Delight dish for free in one of the five dining rooms blocked off for the occasion.

Hyman said the socially distanced tables in those rooms will allow for around 120 workers. The remaining dining room will be open to regular guests throughout the day.

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In addition to receiving one of the restaurant's three signature meal options, health care workers can also bring in a quarter to exchange for an frose adult slushie beverage. Hyman can't offer the alcoholic drinks for free legally, hence the 25-cent charge.

He said if there is too much of a line or wait, he'll consider extending the promotion to a second day. He also suggests arriving early before the 5 p.m. rush. Hyman's is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays.

"I want to feed as many people as I can, but also don't want there to be a long line," Hyman said. "I don't want this to be a one step forward, two steps back situation."

Hyman, whose grandmother was an educator, has offered the free meal deal for Teacher Appreciation Day for the last four years. This is the first time a free meal is being extended to health care workers.
In his message, the Vietnamese leader said the election of comrade Thongloun Sisoulith shows the trust the Lao Party and people have in him and the recognition of his great contributions to the Lao revolution.

I believe that under the leadership of the LPRP and the General Secretary, the fraternal Lao people will continue to grasp new and greater successes in the cause of reform and successfully implement the Resolution of the LPRPs 11th National Congress, thus building a nation of peace, independence, democracy, unification, and prosperity towards the goal of socialism, he wrote.

He underlined that the Party, State and people of Vietnam will work hard to join hands with the Party, State and people of Laos to maintain and reinforce the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, making bilateral ties deeper and more practical and effective in all areas, benefiting the people of both countries and for peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

The Vietnamese leader expressed his hope that the great Vietnam-Laos friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation will be sustainable forever.

Comrade Thongloun Sisoulith was elected as the new General Secretary of the LPRP Central Committee during the first meeting of the committee on January 15.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also cabled a message to comrade Thongloun Sisoulith to congratulate him on his election.

Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan extended her congratulations to Chairwoman of the Lao National Assembly Pany Yathotu on being re-elected to the LPRPs Politburo.

Standing member of the CPV Central Committees Secretariat Tran Quoc Vuong also congratulated comrade Bunthong Chitmani on being elected as Standing member of the 11th LPRP Central Committees Secretariat.

On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh sent a message of congratulations to comrade Saleumsay Kommasith on his election as member of the LPRP Politburo.

Head of the CPV Central Committees Commission for External Relations Hoang Binh Quan also extended his congratulations to comrade Sounthone Sayachak on being elected to the 11th LPRP Central Committees Secretariat.
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These days, Amanda Salinas scarcely has time to catch her breath.

Six days a week, when she goes to Northeast Baptist Hospital for her nursing shift in the emergency department, she is met with the grim reality of San Antonios COVID-19 surge.

People on stretchers crowding the hallways. Waiting room lines longer than she ever has seen. Patients languishing in the emergency room for days, sometimes for so long that they are discharged before a bed becomes available for them upstairs. Hospital staff weary from working under arduous conditions, with little respite, for the better part of a year.

This isnt the first surge Salinas has endured. She has worked at the hospital under a state contract since summer, when San Antonio was pummeled by its first major wave of coronavirus infections.

This time, things are different.

On ExpressNews.com: As San Antonios COVID-19 hospitalizations soar, hospitals stretch beyond their normal capacities

The first one was manageable. This one is way worse, Salinas said. This is the worst Ive seen.

With about 1,400 COVID-19 patients in hospitals on any given day, San Antonio is contending with its greatest coronavirus crisis yet.

Hospitals, health care workers and local officials are scrambling to ward off disaster.

The boat is leaking, and so the health systems are running around trying to patch the ship, make sure it stays afloat, said Dr. Jason Morrow, a University Hospital palliative care physician and UT Health San Antonio associate professor. But somebody keeps pouring more and more water in.

They are bracing for the possibility that San Antonios hospital systems could become overrun with patients, a worst-case scenario referred to as Crisis Level 3 in a local emergency plan. Scarce resources would be devoted to those with the best chance of short-term survival, with the goal of saving as many people as possible.

On ExpressNews.com: Burnout. Trauma. Disillusionment: The toll of COVID-19 on San Antonio hospital workers

Once you get to Crisis Level 3, we have a very good moral, ethical framework for it, said Dr. Ronald Stewart, a University Hospital trauma surgeon who helped develop the areas crisis guidelines. But to me, the most ethical and most right thing to do is to do everything possible to stay out of Crisis Level 3. Thats what were trying to do.

Although hospitalizations fell slightly this week, the worst may be yet to come.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 26,000 infections have been reported among residents. More than 100 coronavirus patients are admitted to hospitals every day. Projections estimate hospitalizations could swell by several hundred patients by the end of the month  a much larger magnitude than what San Antonio faced over the summer.

Salinas expects further waves of COVID-19 patients from Christmas and New Years Eve to soon make their way to hospitals.

At this point, she said, it feels like the damage is done.

Billy Calzada /Staff photographer

It doesnt matter what we do. Its still not enough. They just keep coming, she said. We just have to do the best we can with limited resources, limited supplies, low morale.

Did not listen

The severity of San Antonios latest surge comes as no surprise.

In the fall, public health and infectious disease experts warned the winter months could create a recipe for disaster. There was a high likelihood of the virus making a resurgence, they said, as cold weather forced people indoors, and as travel and gatherings increased over the holidays.

Sure enough, transmission and hospitalizations began ticking up in San Antonio throughout November. Then they exploded.

Since Thanksgiving, Bexar County has recorded more than 65,000 infections, and COVID-19 hospitalizations have jumped nearly 160 percent.

The curve was not flattened. Now, San Antonio is paying the price.

Were really angry that the community did not listen to what we had to say, said Dr. David Miramontes, medical director of the San Antonio Fire Department and an assistant clinical professor of emergency medicine at UT Health San Antonio. The medical experts told everyone: Dont get together for Thanksgiving. Dont travel for Christmas.

On ExpressNews.com: A dark winter: San Antonio health experts warn of tough months ahead for coronavirus transmission

At Northeast Baptist, Salinas said doctors and nurses are triaging a steady flow of COVID-19 patients, on top of people with other conditions who are sicker than usual from pandemic-related disruptions to their medical care.

Billy Calzada /Staff photographer

The hospital is in gray status, which triggers higher nurse-to-patient ratios and prevents staffers from taking time off. Nurses havent had time for lunch breaks in a month.

In the waiting room, Salinas said, tensions have grown so high at times over the long waits that security guards have had to exercise de-escalation tactics.

I dont think that people who arent in health care understand how intense it is right now, she said.

Case managers are working with patients who arent sick enough to warrant a bed, in some cases sending them home with supplemental oxygen.

For those who are admitted, Salinas said, we have no place to put them. A separate section of the ER has been designated to hold COVID-19 patients waiting for an inpatient bed to become available.

That bottleneck places far more stress on the nurses, Salinas said, forcing them to be everything to everyone as they juggle emergency, intensive care and bedside nursing duties.

As ER nurses, were not trained to do inpatient. We have a completely different skill set than the nurses who work upstairs, Salinas said.

On ExpressNews.com: 18 hours inside a COVID-19 ICU

Salinas husband, Frank, also is treating COVID-19 patients, as a critical care nurse at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital.

Across the hospitals floors, calls for assistance from respiratory therapists and code blues  a patient in need of resuscitation  are ringing out with far more often, he said. Where space allows, there are two patients to a room.

On any given day, when Salinas looks across the unit where he is working, he sees at least half the staffers are temporary employees. One day, he finished a day shift, and by the time he came back the next morning, that unit had twice the number of patients.

Frank and Amanda Salinas are among the more than 1,300 state-contracted medical personnel assisting with San Antonios surge. While most have come from all over the country, the couple have been able to remain in their own community. As a result, they still receive calls from friends and family who are desperately seeking information about hospitalized loved ones.

Billy Calzada / Staff photographer

If it gets any more full, things are going to get even worse for families when it comes to getting information and getting the care that their family member should have, Frank Salinas said.

Amanda Salinas avoids going on social media. Posts from people flouting public health rules or claiming the pandemic is a hoax feel to her like a slap in the face.

Shes resigned to the fact that she and other health care workers may emerge from the pandemic with post-traumatic stress disorder.

As much as they sought to avoid it, local health care leaders have prepared for this moment.

In the spring, when the virus began spreading in San Antonio, the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council, which manages emergency services for the city and the surrounding region, convened a group of physicians to develop crisis standards  a triage protocol for hospitals to follow, should they become overwhelmed.

The result was guidelines for three levels of crisis: rising transmission, expansion to surge capacity and the worst-case scenario.

During the first two phases, hospitals would do everything in their power to accommodate an influx of patients. San Antonio hospitals already have taken many of those steps.

Under the third phase, they would declare an internal disaster. Hospitals would ration medical care to the people most likely to benefit. Doctors would assign patients a survival score based on their level of illness and the health of their organ systems.

Some patients would be offloaded to overflow beds at freestanding emergency centers or a field hospital at Freeman Coliseum.

On ExpressNews.com: Will COVID-19 have long-term effects on the brain? San Antonio researchers are trying to find out.

Hospitals have progressed to the second crisis phase and are flirting with the third, Miramontes said.

If we have to go to the crisis standards of care, its going to be a very sad day in this community, he said.

Morrow, the University palliative care physician, knows crisis standards of care are controversial. During the pandemic, some localities have been sued for their plans, over allegations that they discriminate against people with disabilities or the elderly.

Thats why when he joined the group that was developing guidelines for San Antonio, he knew the guidelines would need to be grounded in equity.

The document specifies that patients with disabilities have the right to accommodations that allow them to benefit equally from care. Factors like age, race, weight or perceived quality of life should not unduly influence a patients access to treatment.

Medical decisions should be individualized and based on short-term survivability, rather than assessments of how long a patient might survive after recovering from an acute illness.

On Thursday, STRACs crisis guidelines received the stamp of approval from the U.S. Office for Civil Rights and were praised by two advocacy groups: Disability Rights Texas and the Center for Public Representation.

On ExpressNews.com: What if we pull the plug too early?: In the age of COVID-19, decisions about death are fraught.

When disaster strikes, Morrow said, its better to have a plan grounded in a strong ethical framework. Otherwise, decisions may be consciously or unconsciously influenced by doctors individual biases.

When doctors are under duress, they may panic and veer from common standards of care.

Billy Calzada /Staff photographer

What about if you have another patient and another patient and another patient, who have equal need, and you cant save them all? Thats not a comfortable place for a physician to be in, said Morrow, who also helps lead the ethics curriculum at UT Health San Antonios medical school.

The guidelines also help protect hospital staffers from the moral injury of being left to make life-or-death decisions on their own, Morrow said.

Stewart still is hopeful San Antonio can avoid disaster. The city is not helpless, he said, and has ways to reduce transmission  particularly if the public pitches in by wearing masks and avoiding contact with people outside their household whenever possible.

Shame and blame have not proved effective in altering peoples behavior during the pandemic, he said. So his appeal to the public is simple: help save more lives.

I would ask my friends, my neighbors, the people in our community, to double down and really work to improve adherence to those public health measures, because it is a strategy thats been shown to work, he said. This is not political. This is medical.

Where did we really get it?

As bad as this surge has been, medical providers have the benefit of experience this time around, said Dr. Minh-Phuong Le, a UT Health San Antonio clinical hospitalist who practices at University.

Coronavirus hospitalizations have risen more gradually than they did over the summer, giving hospitals more time to expand beds and staffing. Testing has expanded significantly, leading to earlier diagnoses and treatment. Doctors and nurses now are intimately familiar with the progression of COVID-19 and what drugs work against it.

Billy Calzada /Staff photographer

Its still hard, Le said, but this time it feels more standardized.

And patients with underlying health conditions now have more treatment options.

At Freeman, an exposition hall has been converted into an ad hoc COVID-19 treatment area. In the hot zone, medical workers swathed in personal protective equipment bustle past lines of white tents, which each can house a coronavirus patient undergoing a monoclonal antibody infusion. Clinical trials have indicated the outpatient treatment can reduce peoples chances of being hospitalized.

The state-supported operation recently transitioned from the purview of the Fire Department to BCFS Emergency Management Division, a local contractor. It can schedule about 90 patients a day, who are infused for an hour.

On ExpressNews.com: UT Health San Antonio specialist explains why diabetics are at greater risk of complications from coronavirus, COVID-19

Miramontes said the infusion center aims to reduce the burden on hospitals by targeting patients who are at a high risk of COVID-19 complications but arent seriously ill.

On Friday morning, that included Jan Hartl and her husband, Herman, who underwent their infusions in adjoining tents after testing positive Wednesday.

Hartl, 66, was shocked by their results. She had been assiduous throughout the pandemic, wearing a mask and avoiding grocery stores. Her only outings were to her job as Wilson Countys treasurer.

Billy Calzada /Staff photographer

As a diabetic, she had worried she wouldnt survive if she contracted the virus. Knowing she finally caught it filled her with anxiety and fear.

I was so careful, she said. Our biggest concern is, where did we really get it?

Across the area, Roger Machin, 54, reclined in a chair as the drugs flowed into his arm. Two days after returning from yachting in Miami with friends, he learned someone on the boat had contracted the virus. Machin initially was asymptomatic but started developing symptoms after receiving his own positive results Jan. 7.

His chief concern is being away from work, which is busier than ever as the virus rages across Texas. His company, which operates in San Antonio, Corpus Christi and McAllen, has created a COVID-19 team to safely allow infected patients to die at home, surrounded by family.

Its a huge need in the community, he said. Having to be home is more upsetting to me, to be honest with you, than being out in the field, helping others.

At University, coronavirus patients are now spread across three floors. Earlier this month, Morrow was working with the hospitals COVID-19 palliative care team, which helps call family members to provide patient updates and emotional support.

From Monday to Sunday, he lost six COVID-19 patients. As the next week began, another four people he had cared for succumbed to the virus.

When he drives home from harrowing days at the hospital, he passes packed restaurant parking lots.

Over the summer, he said, the states mask mandate and order to shut down bars helped bring Texas first surge to heel. The virus once again is burning across the state, but this time urgency is lacking. Many members of the public are going about their daily lives. State officials repeatedly have blocked localities efforts to reduce transmission.

While the arrival of vaccines are a welcome development, Morrow said, they dont negate the need to control the spread of the virus. Reaching herd immunity is a months-long process; inoculation wont solve the immediacy of San Antonios crisis.

On ExpressNews.com: A last resort against COVID-19: A ventilator wasn't enough for this 30-year-old patient, so S.A. doctors improvised

How can we keep doing what were doing, when the deaths keep piling up? Morrow said. If we dont do something different, then the medically at risk in our community will die. Im watching it every day.

Le has been witnessing her share of tragedy, too.

She has watched colleagues work for weeks on end, seen the virus ravage entire families, watched patients younger than her die. She and other health care workers understand they will have to put their own needs, and that of their families, aside as they respond to the crisis.

During one shift in December, Le spotted an ICU patient taking tentative steps with the help of physical therapists.

The woman fell ill during the first surge and has been hospitalized for COVID-19 since June. She had to relearn how to walk, talk and eat.

Yet another surge was underway, and she still was there.
An investigation into the blast that laid waste to Beirut has uncovered links between Bashar al-Assad and the firm which shipped the chemicals that exploded.

Three figures with strong ties to the Syrian government were found to have shared a London office with Savaro Ltd, which reportedly purchased the 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that blew up in the Lebanese capital last August.

George Haswani and brothers Imad and Mudalal Khuri are Syrian-Russian nationals who have helped Assad consolidate power in the war-afflicted country.

Their ties to the ammonium nitrate, which were drawn in a documentary seen by the Guardian, supposedly fuels suspicions the flammable cargo was always meant for the port of Beirut and not Mozambique, which was listed at its destination.

Beirut is still rebuilding from the wreckage of the blast, which killed more than 200 people and razed buildings (pictured the day after the explosion)

An investigation into the blast that laid waste to Beirut has uncovered links between Bashar al-Assad (pictured) and the firm which shipped the chemicals that exploded

Haswani, Imad and Mudalal have all previously been accused by the US government of working hand in glove with the Assad regime.

In November 2015, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Haswani, who it described as a 'Syrian businessman who serves as a middleman for oil purchases by the Syrian regime from ISIL'.

In the same round of sanctions, Mudalal was also named and accused of attempting to ammonium nitrate in late 2013. In 2016, his brother Imad was sanctioned by the US for helping him with his dealings.

The new documentary by Lebanese filmmaker Firas Hatoum links the three men to Savaro through a shared London address at 10 Great Russell Street.

Companies House documents shows Savaro - which filed to deregister this week - used this address as its headquarters.

Papers further reveal that Haswani's since dissolved oil company HESCO also operated out of one of the suites inside 10 Great Russell Street.

And, according to the Guardian, in his documentary Hatoum also claims Imad's now defunct company IK Petroleum shared an address with another London Savaro site.

The enormous explosion was captured in social media footage after a smaller initial eruption caught the attention of residents

Demonstrators take part in protests near the site of the blast at Beirut's port area in August

The documentary's suggestion the Syrian government could be linked to the explosion was met with anger in Lebanon.

Beirut is still rebuilding from the wreckage of the blast, which killed more than 200 people and razed buildings.

In December Lebanon's prime minister Hassan Diab and three ex-ministers were charged with negligence over the catastrophic port explosion.

Ali Hassan Khalil, a former finance minister and Youssef Fenianos and Ghazi Zaiter, two former public works ministers were charged.

The four were charged with 'negligence and causing death to hundreds and injuries to thousands more' in the first such official indictment against a sitting prime minister in Lebanese history.

Denton, TX (76205)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. A few storms may be severe. Low around 65F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall may reach one inch..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. A few storms may be severe. Low around 65F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall may reach one inch.
BJP leaders tear up a banner at MGM Hospital in Warangal as it did not have the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday.  DC Image

WARANGAL: Unhappy with the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modis photographs on the banners set up at vaccination centres, BJP leaders staged protests at several centres against the TRS government in Warangal.

The banners contained the photographs of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, ministers Etala Rajendar, Errabelli Dayakar Rao and Satyavathi Rathod.

BJP activists tore up the banners and questioned the rationale behind not putting up the photograph of the Prime Minister who, they said, is providing the vaccine to all the people in the country free of cost.

BJYM Warangal Urban district president Siddam Naresh Patel, who staged a protest at the MGM hospital in Warangal, said the state government was not giving credit to the Centre which is providing the vaccine.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is giving a vaccine, which costs between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500, free. The collectors should have been well aware that the PMs photograph should be displayed in the banners. The GWMC commissioner too must answer why the photograph was not displayed. We demand the inclusion of the Prime Ministers picturs in the banners throughout the vaccination process. We condemn such an attitude from the state government, Patel said.

Similar incidents took place in Desaipet and Narsampet Government Hospital in Warangal Rural district.
US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens

Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

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ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

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Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

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Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

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European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

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Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

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Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

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Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

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Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

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Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

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Ukraine protests its tourists are blocked in hotels View(s):

The Ukraine Embassy has expressed concern to the Sri Lankan Government that many Ukrainian tourists are blocked in different hotels in Sri Lanka on the 14-day COVID-19 quarantine and are not allowed to leave their hotels even after this period despite repeated negative PCR tests.

The New Delhi-based Ukrainian mission wrote to Sri Lankas Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, requesting assistance to resolve the problems of Ukrainian tourists who arrived in Sri Lanka on vacation in recent weeks.

The tourists continue to arrive in the country and will do so till late January. There is now little information released to the media from tourism or other authorities regarding their movements and other protocols.

It was against this backdrop that the diplomatic note arrived from the Ukraine Embassy. It said five tourists were now stranded at Cinnamon Bey in Beruwala without any explanations on their prohibited exit from the hotel after 14-days quarantine with two negative PCR tests. Copies of their passports, visas, PCR tests and tickets were enclosed.

Despite the request for assistance, these tourists are still inside, the Sunday Times learns. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority has introduced strict procedures and protocols to guide the reopening of the country to a large number of visitors later this month.

Those who wish to come must have a confirmed booking in a hotel classified as Safe and Secure Level 1. When making a hotel booking, US$ 40 per test per person, depending on the number of days of stay, and COVID-19 insurance of US$ 12 per month must be paid.

Once these conditions are fulfilled, the traveller will be issued with a reference number by the hotel. This is mandatory for visa processing. The visa application is online. Dual citizens, spouses of foreign nations and paid commercial passengers with foreign passports will also be allowed under the tourism route with no quarantine if they adhere to guidelines and protocols.

During the initial 14 days of their stay, they are not permitted to mix with local communities. But a bio-bubble will be created to visit multiple sites.
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In the past 24 hours, President-elect Joe Biden has delivered two speeches focused on the nation's covid response.

Thursday night, he laid out a $1.9 trillion-dollar plan to address what he's calling the "twin crises" of the covid-19 pandemic and the economy.

Biden proposed, among other things, that Congress allocate funds for implementing a national vaccination program, reopening schools, sending $1,400 checks to Americans who need them, providing support for small businesses, and extending unemployment insurance. He also proposed increasing subsidies for Affordable Care Act insurance coverage, and providing more assistance for housing, nutrition and child care.

The plan is ambitious and will likely face some pushback in Congress. (Read PolitiFact's analysis here.)

Friday afternoon he offered a more detailed take on his vaccine distribution plan.

On his first day in office, he said, he will instruct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to start setting up mass vaccination centers across the country. Biden promised to have 100 of these sites set up by the end of his first month in office.

He also said his administration will work with pharmacies across the country to distribute vaccine more effectively and employ the Defense Production Act to ensure adequate vaccine supplies. His administration will also launch a public education campaign to address vaccine hesitancy and ensure that marginalized communities will be reached.

Biden maintained during the speech that he intends to reach the goal of "100 million shots the first 100 days in office." He also said he will stick with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest recommendation to distribute covid vaccines to those who are 65 and older, as well as essential workers, to push states to allocate the supply quickly.

During his Thursday speech outlining what he's dubbed the "American Rescue Plan," Biden made several claims about the current response to the pandemic and how it's affecting Americans. We fact-checked and gave context to a couple of the president-elect's statements.

"The vaccine rollout in the United States has been a dismal failure thus far."

The vaccine rollout is far short of what officials promised. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracker, since mid-December, when vaccines first started being distributed, about 30 million doses have been sent out. But only about 11 million have actually been administered into the arms of Americans. The Department of Health and Human Services had initially issued a goal of administering 20 million doses by the end of December.

A key reason for the slow pace, experts said, is that many state and local health departments lack the funding and resources to execute such a mass vaccination campaign. Communication with the federal government has also been dicey. Many states have complained that they aren't informed about how much vaccine they will receive and when  making logistical planning difficult. In addition, the outgoing Trump administration recently changed its recommendations for who should qualify, adding an additional layer of confusion.

Still, public health experts say part of the reason the initial rollout was slow was that it occurred during the December holidays, when many locations were understaffed. And since Congress approved a second covid stimulus bill, states will receive about $3 billion in funding, which will help efforts.

"One in 7 households in America  more than 1 in 5 Black and Latino households in America  report they don't have enough food to eat."

This is accurate. Estimates vary on the exact number of Americans who live in households that are food insecure, but Biden's numbers match recent numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau. The numbers translate to about 14% of all households and 20% of Black and Latino households.

The Census Bureau estimates food insecurity throughout the pandemic in a weekly report. According to numbers from December, 14% of all adults in the country reported their households sometimes or often not having enough food to eat in the last seven days. The data from December also shows that 24% of Black households and 21% of Latino households did not have enough to eat.

A Northwestern University study estimates that at one point during the pandemic, nearly 23% of households experienced food insecurity.

"These crises are straining the budgets of states and cities and tribal communities that are forced to consider layoff and service restrictions of the most needed workers."

This is accurate. State and local governments generally by law are required to balance their operating budgets, resulting in layoffs and reductions in services  though federal aid provided through covid relief helped. Late last year, the Brookings Institution projected state and local revenues would decline by $155 billion in 2020 and $167 billion in 2021. According to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, states and localities had furloughed or laid off 1.2 million workers through October 2020. Brookings also noted that, because state and local governments "are at the forefront of the response to the pandemic" they "will likely need to increase their typical spending to provide crucial public health services and help communities adapt to social distancing guidelines."

Additionally, news reports starting early last summer detail a high number of health care workers being laid off or losing their jobs during the pandemic. Public health workers have also been furloughed or had their hours cut, despite having to create covid testing sites, initiate contact tracing programs and now create mass vaccination campaigns.

"Over the last year alone, over 600,000 educators have lost their jobs in our cities and towns."

This is a softened version of a previous claim about laid-off "teachers" that we rated Mostly False. This number likely refers to Bureau of Labor Statistics data that shows the number of local government education jobs declined from March to October by 666,000.

But that number doesn't refer only to layoffs. Rather, it notes a net decrease in jobs. Reports show that, during the pandemic, some educators have quit, retired or taken a leave of absence.

It's also not clear what type of educators Biden is referring to, and though the BLS does track layoff data by industry, it lumps state and local education data together, which means public college staff numbers are included. The BLS data shows that from March to October 39,000 state and local educators were laid off or discharged.
I still love getting my hands dirty By Yomal Senerath-Yapa At the forefront of pioneering bio-medical engineering research, Sri Lankan-born scientist Dr. Mohan Edirisinghe has been honoured with an OBE View(s): View(s):

The Queens New Year Honours List for 2021 announced recently includes Prof. Mohan Edirisinghe, biomedical engineer and Bonfield Chair of Biomaterials, University College London (UCL). Later this year, the Queen will decorate the Sri Lankan-born scientist with the medal that bears her grandparents profiles  a traditional honour at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle that Dr. Edirisinghe is looking forward to.

The chivalric order Officer of the British Empire will fete Dr. Edirisinghe for the many years spent pursuing advanced materials processing, forming and manufacturing research- in particular propagating his research on healthcare and manufacturing internationally to a wide interdisciplinary audience.

Dr. Edirisinghe had his primary and secondary education at S. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia and then joined the University of Sri Lanka to read Materials, a new course set up by the British Council and the University of Leeds, UK. He could easily have followed the conventional path to engineering but chose Materials instead as it was visionary and novel  two things I seek.

He would later join the University of Leeds for his Masters and then a doctorate and later a doctor of science (DSc) degree, all in the discipline of Materials Science and Engineering.

His academic interest in materials and engineering led to biomedical engineering. When in 2017 Dr. Edirisinghe was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the citation below was read- encapsulating his work:

Mohan Edirisinghe has systematically and continuously pioneered both fundamental and user-inspired engineering research, leading to remarkable progress and international excellence in processing and forming advanced materials. He has invented many manufacturing processes and devices for the preparation of microbubbles, particles, capsules and fibres and has been awarded numerous prizes for his research, including the Royal Society Brian Mercer Feasibility Award for an unprecedented three times (2005, 2009 and 2013). His seminal work has resulted in innovative engineering outcomes that have had enormous impact on industrial practice on a global scale, greatly advancing areas crucial to the betterment of life for humankind, such as optimal drug delivery, smart orthopaedic coatings and the translation of novel medical technologies from the laboratoryto clinical practice.

Even with 500 journal papers published and 14,500 citations, the zenith of his career, Prof. Edirisinghe reckons, remains working with a large research team and graduating 100 odd PhD students, in particular 41 students to-date at UCL.

I really enjoy the diversity of that operation, he says. He also likes competing, and has won many prizes and 43 UK Research Council grants.

A brainchild close to his heart is the taught masters course (MSc) in Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering he created. This is a course at the interface of Engineering-Physical Science/Life Science-Medicine and allied disciplines. It has to-date graduated over 300 students, working in research, industry and regulatory bodies worldwide.

Some of the most rewarding moments, however, remain when his research (as often has happened) gets translated into inventions and patents. In 2010 he won the Venture Prize and this helped him set up AtoCap. In the near future, the products and clinical application of AtoCap will become hugely beneficial to people worldwide- as targeted antibiotic delivery for chronic urinary tract infections- a common infectious disease affecting over 10 million patients per year globally, and particularly the growing elderly population.

Adds Dr. Edirisinghe, I have also been very pleased to see my manufacturing for healthcare technology helping in the anti-pandemic science and technology as featured by United Press International under science news on October 14th 2020.

In the meantime, in his lab, gas taps run and serious youths are always at work.

I still love working with the researchers and getting my hands dirty, I never wanted to be an administrator, says Dr. Edirisinghe. In the lab we do innovative, adventurous and translational research which inspires my day, and has continued to do so over decades Many good thoughts come from group work.
Those headed outdoors for Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be able to enjoy the first fee-free day of the year at national parks and other federal lands in the Pacific Northwest.

National parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges and other federal recreation areas will all waive parking and entrance fees Monday, the first of several fee-free days to come in 2021.

All agencies under the Department of the Interior  the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  will recognize six free days this year, while the U.S. Forest Service, which is part of the Department of Agriculture, will recognize five free days.

Between all four agencies, there will be nine opportunities to visit federal lands for free this year. Parking and entrance will be free on those days, while camping and other fees will remain in place.

Most federal agencies charge minimal parking fees to access outdoor recreation areas, while national parks often charge higher entrance fees. Entrance into Crater Lake National Park, for example, is $30 in warmer months and $20 during the colder season.

Washington State Parks will also offer free parking Monday, one of 11 free days the state park agency recognizes. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department typically offers free parking on only three days of the year: New Years Day, State Parks Day in June, and Green Friday in November.

The federal fee-free days this year include holidays like Veterans Day and Presidents Day, as well as annual public lands celebrations National Public Lands Day and National Get Outdoors Day. Some agencies also celebrate their own specific occasions, like National Park Week and National Wildlife Refuge Week.

A brand new public lands holiday has also been added for 2021: the one-year anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act on Aug. 4, which will be recognized by the Department of the Interior.

Most land management agencies also sell annual passes that allow people to access public lands for free all year. They range from the $30 Northwest Forest Pass offered by the U.S. Forest Service to the $80 America the Beautiful Pass that applies to all federal lands.

Here are the fee-free days for all federal lands in 2021:

Jan. 18  Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Feb. 15  Presidents Day (not recognized by National Park Service)

April 17  National Park Week (National Park Service only)

June 12  National Get Outdoors Day (U.S. Forest Service and BLM only)

Aug. 4  Anniversary of Great American Outdoors Act (Not recognized by U.S. Forest Service)

Aug. 25  National Park Service Birthday (National Park Service only)

Sept. 25  National Public Lands Day

Oct. 11  National Wildlife Refuge Week (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service only)

Nov. 11  Veterans Day

--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB
Germanys largest political party will choose a new leader Saturday, with the winner well positioned to succeed Angela Merkel as the next chancellor of Europes leading economy.

Regardless of the result, it will signal a new chapter for Germany and Europe, where the staid but steady leadership of Merkel has been a constant for the past 15 years. She earned respect for holding Europe together through repeated crises and, most recently, her deft handling of the coronavirus pandemic over the past year.

In a sense, an era is ending, said Herfried Munkler, a political scientist at Humboldt University in Berlin. But in certain basic positions, such as the geopolitical situation and the economic conditions within the EU, that all remains unchanged, regardless of whos the chancellor.

German voters will elect a new government September 26, and Merkels conservative Christian Democratic Union remains the countrys most popular party, according to a survey by Infratest/Dimap last week.

Merkel led the party for 18 years, stepping down in 2018. She was replaced by one-time heir apparent Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who announced her own departure nearly a year ago over internal party strife. Since then, three men have been jockeying for the leadership position. But no clear front-runner has emerged.

While all three candidates appear to have a lot in common  all male, all Roman Catholic, all from the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia  each harbors a divergent vision of the future of the party that has governed Germany for 50 of the past 70 years.

Here is a look at the candidates and where their leadership could take Germany:

Armin Laschet: The Centrist

In terms of experience, Laschet, the governor of Germanys most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, since 2017, has the strongest hand. The only candidate who has won an election and served as a governor, the 59-year-old Laschet has nevertheless struggled to generate enthusiasm for his campaign.

He announced his candidacy last February, flanked by Merkels health minister, Jens Spahn, who ranked above the chancellor as Germanys most popular politician in a survey in late December. Spahn had sought the party leadership position in 2018, but this time around, he pledged to back Laschet.

The popularity of Spahn and another man who is not vying for party leadership, Markus Soder, the governor of Bavaria, has led top Christian Democratic officials to sever the decision over who will run for chancellor in elections from the party leader vote Saturday. That means that whoever is chosen party leader will not necessarily be the next chancellor.

Spahns backing of Laschet was supposed to garner support from those who saw in the 40-year-old Spahn a chance to rejuvenate the party. But instead, it has shifted the focus to a possible scenario in which the health minister could run for chancellor while Laschet remains party leader.

Laschet is seen as the candidate most likely to continue Merkels centrist style of stable politics. He is a strong supporter of German industry and shares the chancellors idea that Germany benefits from diversity and integration.

Staunchly pro-European, Laschet also considers a strong relationship with Russia as central to Germanys success, although he views the United States and NATO as essential to lasting security in Europe.

Friedrich Merz: The Conservative

Merz, a former lawmaker, is viewed as the candidate most likely to break with Merkels style of leadership and return the party to its more traditional conservative identity. At the same time, he has had to reassure voters that he would not move 1 millimeter toward the far-right Alternative for Germany.

Merz, 65, has not held political office since 2002, when Merkel pushed him out as leader of the Christian Democrats party caucus in Parliament. Three years later, he left politics for the private sector, where he amassed a personal fortune that he has played down in the campaign, portraying himself as upper-middle class instead of a millionaire.

He is the least popular with women, who flocked to the party under Merkels leadership and became an important voting bloc. Many recall that Merz voted against criminalizing rape within marriage in 1997, and Anja Karliczek, Germanys minister for education, has warned that his penchant for a sharp quip on hot-button issues such as immigration could threaten party cohesion.

But that style is popular with young conservatives and the partys right flank, which welcomes his criticism of Merkels decision to take in nearly 1 million migrants in 2015 and his calls to return to tighter fiscal policy.

A proponent of strong ties between Europe and the United States, Merz views a deeply integrated European Union more skeptically and criticized the recent 1.8 trillion euro, or $2.2 trillion, stimulus and budget package agreed to in Brussels, which included issuing joint debt  long a no-go for Germany.

Norbert Rottgen: The Dark Horse

Rottgen, a former environment minister under Merkel, has been seen as less of a favorite, although he recently had a strong showing in polls. It is probably not enough, however, to ensure him a clear shot at the party leadership. Still, the 55-year-old foreign policy expert could carve out a path to the top if the race comes down to a runoff between him and Merz.

Rottgen lost his post as environment minister in 2012 after a poor performance in the race for governor of North Rhine-Westphalia that year. Since then, he has become a leading foreign policy expert in Parliament and took many by surprise when he entered the race for the party leadership.

Rottgen has built a following among younger voters and women, pointing to his role in working to transform the German economy to one powered by green energy and emphasizing the importance of improving digital infrastructure and know-how to position the country for a future where it can compete with China or the United States.

Rottgen said he wants to build on the issues of diversity and equality championed by Merkel, ensuring the conservative Christian Democrats remain relevant in the face of a rise in popularity of the Greens, especially among young urban voters. He is in favor of continued European integration and strong ties to Washington, but he says that Germany needs to take a stronger role in the trans-Atlantic relationship.

He many have enhanced his appeal to party delegates who have an eye on the general election in the fall with his willingness to cede the candidacy for chancellor if it is in the partys best interests, stressing the importance of teamwork over individualism.

By Melissa Eddy

c.2021 The New York Times Company
CHICO, Calif. - In light of fires in Southern California, Butte County is sending a strike team to assist in response efforts.

The strike team sent south consisted of three wildland engines from Butte County and two other engines from Lassen and Modoc County.

Southern California is dealing with two fires, the Bonita fire, and the Erbes fire, and it's exactly why these engines were sent down today.

The engines are not going to directly fight a fire, however, they are going to be stationed in Fresno in anticipation of an upcoming wind event down south that poses fire danger weather.

Even though these engines will be moving around, Cal Fire says they're prepared in all areas across the state.

Winds in Southern California through Saturday are expected to reach speeds up to 60 miles per hour in some areas.

There are also high-speed winds expected in Northern California next week. Cal Fire said they're fully staffed and ready.

Two Cal Fire hand crews were also sent down to Southern California just a few days ago to help in cleaning efforts.

LANSING, MI  Online vacation rental marketplace Airbnb is reviewing, and potentially canceling, recently booked reservations in Lansing ahead of planned protests at the Michigan Capitol building Sunday.

If we confirm that guests are associated with a violent hate group or otherwise not allowed on our platform for violating certain community policies prohibiting violence or engaging in criminal activity, we will cancel those reservations and ban them from Airbnb, a company spokesperson said. We are in contact with Governor Whitmers team, Mayor Schor and Chief Daryl Green about this plan, and if appropriate, we may bring information to the attention of local law enforcement.

Airbnbs efforts in Lansing are complementary to its efforts to identify people who may present a risk of violence and others publicly confirmed to have been responsible for violent activity at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, the spokesperson said.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel also issued a statement following Airbnbs announcement, commending the company for helping keep the Michigan Capitol safe.

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor asked Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to deploy the Michigan National Guard to keep the peace during possible armed demonstrations at the state Capitol on Jan. 17 and Jan. 20. Militia groups, the Proud Boys and anti-government extremists in the boogaloo movement are planning armed protests at Michigans Capitol Sunday, according to Schor.

Lansing mayor says Proud Boys, boogaloo groups planning armed protests at Michigan Capitol

Members of the Proud Boys were also present at protests against Bidens electoral victory and COVID-19 restrictions last year. The group clashed with counter-protesters during a march through downtown Kalamazoo in August 2020.

Residents of downtown Lansing should plan ahead to stay inside and avoid demonstrations, Schor said in a statement, and people should consider supporting downtown businesses as the next few days will be even more challenging for Lansing.

Downtown is a vibrant neighborhood and residents and businesses there should feel confident knowing that the Lansing Police Department is working closely with the Michigan State Police, Ingham County Sheriffs Department and other police agencies to ensure these planned events remain peaceful, Schor said.

Schor and Lansing Police Chief Daryl Green were both appreciative of Airbnbs efforts to help keep the city safe.

Airbnb has always been a fantastic partner with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and this effort continues to demonstrate their civic mindedness and high standards of quality, Schor said.

READ MORE:

Michigan National Guard preparing for armed protest at Capitol Sunday

Whitmer activates Michigan National Guard ahead of protests at Capitol

Extreme rhetoric thrives on alternative social media sites growing after Facebook, Twitter crackdown
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Japans SoftBank Group and Hughes Network Systems LLC have invested $400 million in OneWeb, a broadband satellite communications company acquired by a consortium of investors comprising the UK government and Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Global.

The investment will take the total funding in OneWeb to $1.4 billion, a company statement said. The UK government and Bharti Global had invested $500 million each to acquire OneWeb under a bankruptcy resolution process.

As part of the investment, SoftBank will gain a seat on OneWebs board. Hughes Network has infused capital through its parent EchoStar, and is an ecosystem partner, developing essential ground network technology for OneWebs system, the company said.

The capital raised to date positions the company to be fully funded for its first-generation satellite fleet, totalling 648 satellites, by the end of 2022," it said.

OneWeb plans to start high-speed internet services in India by mid-2022.

In December, it had launched 36 satellites from Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia, taking the total to 110. OneWeb aims to have a total of 648 low-earth orbit satellites as part of its plan to deliver high-speed and low-latency broadband services globally.

Both (SoftBank and Hughes) are deeply familiar with our business, share our vision for the future, and their commitment allows us to capitalize on the significant growth opportunity ahead for OneWeb," Bharti Enterprises chairperson Mittal said.

Mittal had in November said that OneWeb will boost rural broadband connectivity in India and other developing countries, including those in Africa.

For rural broadband, I would say Africa, India and less developed countries will benefit from OneWebs satellite network. They will have the biggest benefit. For critical applications such as defence, the ministry of defence in the UK is already engaging with us because they need connectivity in very remote areas," Mittal had said.

For 5G services, satellite network will play an important role as it will reach areas where fibre and radio airwaves cannot penetrate, Mittal said.

The cost of using a satellite network is the highest among the three mediums, and thus, fibre and spectrum will be the preferred modes of transmission of data wherever they will be available, he added.

Mittals comments come amid the Centres push to ramp up broadband services in urban and rural areas as millions access internet from their homes since March due to covid-led restrictions, resulting in greater dependence on wireless networks and affecting service quality.

OneWeb, based in the UK, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the end of March 2020 after failing to secure $2 billion financing from lead shareholder SoftBank.

The portfolio firms of Bharti Global and its subsidiaries include Bharti Airtel, One-Web, Gleneagles and Hoxton Hotels, Emtel and Hike.

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A Pike County woman will spend up to 40 years in prison for drug delivery resulting in death and related counts, Pike County District Attorney Raymond J. Tonkin announced Friday.

Pike County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Gregory Chelak sentenced Lisa Ann Schmidt, 50, to 13 to 40 years in prison, and she is required to pay $10,000 to the Crime Victim Fund, Tonkin said.

A jury found Schmidt guilty after a three-day trial in November, he said.

An investigation in November 2017 revealed that Schmidt had sold Jennifer Bosch of Westfall Twp. drugs that resulted in her overdose death, Tonkin said. Further investigation revealed Schmidt was involved with transporting drugs, including heron and fentanyl, from New Jersey into Pike County, he said.

Schmidt remains at the Pike County Correctional Facility.
POTTSVILLE  A Pottsville man was arrested Thursday after he shot another man while shooting at a dog in public in the 300 block of Market Street, police said.

Seth Clayton Howard, 34, of 1711 W. Market St., was charged by Pottsville police Cpl. Renee Truscott with one felony count each of aggravated assault and aggravated cruelty to animals; 10 misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person; and one misdemeanor count each of simple assault and disorderly conduct.

In her affidavit of probable cause filed in district court, Truscott said around 1:30 p.m., Howard intentionally fired multiple shots from his Glock 23 .40-caliber at a pit bull, killing it.

One of the shots fired by Howard struck the owner of the dog, a 35-year-old Pottsville man, Truscott said.

That man suffered serious injuries when struck in his right thigh and was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, Allentown, for treatment.

Pottsville Police Chief Richard F. Wojciechowsky said that Howard put the handgun down after the shots were fired and a Pennsylvania State Constable in the area at the time assisted with securing the weapon.

Pottsville police arrived and immediately took Howard into custody, the chief said.

Truscott said Howards actions also placed multiple people in the area, both on foot and passing motorists in close vicinity, in danger of death or serious injury, and also caused a substantial alarm and risk to residents of the area.

When police examined the firearm, Truscott said, it was found to contain one round in the chamber and two rounds in the magazine. A total of 10 spent .40-caliber shell casings were recovered at the scene that were consistent with the ammunition loaded in the gun, Truscott said.

Witnesses heard multiple gunshots and saw a man in a gray sweatshirt with a gun in each hand and another man in Army fatigues sitting on the First United Methodist Church steps with his arms up.

Officers were seen just after 2 p.m. kneeling around the black and white dog on the sidewalk. Two police officers then carried the dog to the back of a city dump truck that had arrived. The truck then pulled away.

People were yelling at the officers, upset that the dog was being put in a dump truck.

Madison Accordino and Wendy Lamp, receptionists at Pottsville Dental Center, reported hearing multiple shots while inside the business located on West Market Street.

When she looked out the window, Lamp said she saw the man with the guns and the other man on the steps.

Accordino and Lamp said police arrived very quickly.

Howard was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge James K. Reiley, Pottsville, and committed to Schuylkill County Prison unable to post $75,000 straight cash bail.

Howard will now have to answer to the charges at a preliminary hearing before Reiley at 10 a.m. Jan. 25.

The Trump administrations final attempt to sabotage the census is dead. On Friday, the Justice Department told a federal judge that the Census Bureau would not release data on the number of undocumented immigrants living in each state before Jan. 20. NPRs Hansi Lo Wang first reported the DOJs filing. Donald Trump intended to use this data for the apportionment of congressional seats among states; his plan, if successful, would have stripped seats in the House of Representatives from states with large undocumented communities. Trumps political appointees tried to rush out this data before the presidents term ends, but the task proved impossible. Joe Biden is certain to undo the directive, ensuring that congressional seats will be apportioned based on the entire population of each stateas required by the Constitution.

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Trump spent much of his term rigging the census to maximize the political power of white rural voters at the expense of immigrants, racial minorities, and city dwellers. He first sought to add a citizenship question, which would have produced a severe undercount of immigrants and Latinos. The Supreme Court blocked that question in 2018, finding that the administration illegally lied about its purpose when it claimed, absurdly, that gathering citizenship information was necessary to enforce the Voting Rights Act. Trump then asked his administration to compile data on undocumented immigrants using existing administrative records. In July 2020, he directed the Census Bureau to exclude these immigrants from the population count used to distribute congressional seats among states. If successful, this plan would strip seats, as well as votes in the Electoral College, from more diverse states like California.

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Civil rights groups sued to block Trumps directive, but the Supreme Courts conservative majority dismissed their challenge as premature in December. Over the next month, the entire scheme collapsed. The Census Bureau blew past the Dec. 31 deadline for the apportionment data. Its directorSteven Dillingham, a Trump appointeethen tried to rush out the information before Jan. 20. Dillingham reportedly called this report the bureaus number one priority, and deputy directors Nathaniel Cogley and Benjamin Overholtboth Trump appointeespushed career employees to produce Trumps report before the inauguration.

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Whistleblowers at the Census Bureau revealed this last-minute scramble to Peggy E. Gustafson, the inspector general of the Commerce Department (which houses the bureau). In a scathing letter, Gustafson wrote that career employees have been given incomplete and faulty data on undocumented residents. Due to the compressed timeline, these employees were forced to forgo standard data quality checks. They were not given precise guidelines to determine who, precisely, counts as an undocumented immigrant. And they were obligated to use datasets from outside the bureau whose accuracy they could not verify. One whistleblower called the work statistically indefensible. (Congressional Democrats reacted to the letter by calling for Dillinghams resignation or termination.)

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A competent administration probably could have achieved many of Trumps census goals.

On Wednesday, in response to Gustafsons letter, Dillingham told the Census Bureau to halt work on the tabulation of undocumented immigrants. And on Friday, the Justice Department bowed to the inevitable, telling a federal judge that the bureau will not be in position to finalize or provide apportionment data until many weeks after January 20, 2021. (In other filings, the DOJ suggested that it could finalize the information by March 6 at the earliest.) Justice Department lawyers asked the judge to stay ongoing census litigation for 21 days. The move is effectively an admission that Trumps project is doomed, and an acknowledgment that Biden is poised to formally kill it within weeks.

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Trumps inability to manipulate the census is one of his most remarkable failures. His attempt to add a citizenship question was foiled by lies, stupidity, and bad luck. While the case was pending at SCOTUS, documents emerged that proved the real purpose of the question was to create an advantage for Republicans and non-Hispanic whites. This revelation may have persuaded Chief Justice John Roberts to cast the fifth vote blocking the addition. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform later obtained more documents demonstrating that Trumps operatives at the Justice Department lied under oath to conceal this racist goal. Federal courts also thwarted the administrations plan to halt the census early in light of ample evidence that the count was incomplete. These rulings were eventually put on hold by the Supreme Court, but they added two final, crucial weeks to the census count. Now Trumps ploy to strip House seats from diverse stateson the basis of inaccurate datahas collapsed in the twilight of his term.

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Had Trump succeeded, he would have handed Republicans an unearned electoral advantage for the next 10 years. The citizenship question would have shifted representation from immigrant-rich communities, especially urban areas, toward white, rural regions by producing an undercount of Latinos, both documented and undocumented. Moreover, it may have provided states with the information necessary to exclude immigrants from the population when redrawing legislative and congressional districts. This method of redistricting would undermine the bedrock democratic principle of one person, one vote, and entrench the electoral power of Republicans until at least 2030. A competent administration probably could have achieved many of Trumps census goals. The Supreme Courts conservative justices seem favorable to a nativist overhaul of the process that diminishes representation for noncitizens. Trumps appointees, however, got too tangled up in their own mendacity and ineptitude to get the job done. When the chief justice rejected the citizenship question, he sent administration officials a message: lie better next time. But these officials never figured out how to lie better, and they have now run out of time to learn.
As Manitoba ponders loosening its pandemic restrictions, public health officials are watching infection rates surge in the North.

As Manitoba ponders loosening its pandemic restrictions, public health officials are watching infection rates surge in the North.

Northern Manitoba has one of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases linked to recent holiday season gatherings, second only to Winnipeg, provincial data show. Test positivity rates in the region have spiked, and boasted nearly half of the province's total daily new case count Friday (84 of 191).

It is "definitely a concern," said Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, during a Friday news conference with Premier Brian Pallister.

The premier said he wants public input on gradually loosening the provincewide code red restrictions that have been in place for two months.

Asked if the North will have to remain in code red even as other regions open up, Roussin said no decisions have been made  but regional tailoring of public health orders hasn't been ruled out.

"It's definitely on the table," he said.

Officials have been waiting on the post-holiday case count data before making any changes to public health orders currently in effect until Jan. 22.

In response to a Free Press inquiry, a provincial spokesperson provided a regional breakdown of cases that have been traced back to holiday gatherings (which are banned, along with most other household visits under the current rules).

As of Friday, 659 Manitobans had tested positive for COVID-19 linked to holiday gatherings, producing a total of 3,633 close contacts. Most of those gatherings were in the Winnipeg, Northern Health and Prairie Mountain regions.

In the North, with many communities suffering from a lack of proper housing, holiday gatherings led to 118 known positive cases and 885 contacts.

A total 27 northern Manitobans have died of COVID-19, including a man in his 70s, whose death was announced Friday.

The northern communities with the highest active case counts are in the Island Lakes and Shamattawa/York Factory/Split Lake regional health districts, according to provincial data.

In Shamattawa, 52-year-old Ernie Redhead said he's been mostly staying home, watching the news. Case counts are creeping up even though it seems like people in the community are wearing masks and properly physically distancing, he said.

"It's pretty scary," Redhead said, speaking to the Free Press by phone while making a drop-off at the gas bar Friday afternoon in the remote community of about 1,000.

"I'm scared for my grandchildren; not for my sake, but for my grandchildren's sake. It's pretty freaky, actually," he said.

"Where does the fear come from? I don't know, the rumours, people that you see dying on TV, increase of beds, the hospital beds."

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay
More contagious COVID variant found in 15 US states

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While more than 23.5 million people in the U.S. have been infected with COVID-19 and over 392,000 of them have died, a variant of the novel coronavirus that's even more contagious has been found in at least 15 states and might lead to a further rise in the number of cases and deaths, according to health officials.

I want to stress that we are deeply concerned that this strain is more transmissible and can accelerate outbreaks in the U.S. in the coming weeks, The New York Times quoted Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as saying. Were sounding the alarm and urging people to realize the pandemic is not over and in no way is it time to throw in the towel.

At least 88 cases of the variant of the coronavirus, known as B.1.1.7, first identified in Britain have been found in 15 U.S. states, as of early Saturday, according to the CDC.

At least 40 cases have been detected in California; 22 in Florida; five each in Colorado and Minnesota; four in New York; two each in Texas, Maryland and Connecticut; and one each in Utah, New Mexico, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Georgia, a CDC map shows.

Experts say the containment of these new variants would require an expansion of testing and genomic sequencing, contact tracing, social distancing, mask-wearing, and other efforts to limit the spread of the virus.

On Thursday, a team of experts, led by the World Health Organization, arrived in Chinas Wuhan city to investigate the origin of the novel coronavirus.

The experts will stay in Wuhan for about a month and Chinese authorities will arrange for them to visit the Huanan food market, local scientific research institutes, and hospitals, according to The Epoch Times.

WHO is just a figurehead in my eyes  a tool, to put it bluntly, a local resident, identified as Zhang Hai, whose father died of COVID-19 last year, was quoted as saying. It is now looking for the source of the virus, and the first anniversary of the outbreak has passed, and all (evidence) is gone.

Zhang filed a suit at the Wuhan Intermediate Peoples Court last June, alleging that the governments decision to cover up information about the outbreak was behind his fathers death.

Seeking compensation of roughly $286,730 from Chinese authorities, he argued that the Wuhan city government, Hubei provincial government, and General Hospital of Central Theater Command in Wuhan were responsible.

The Wuhan municipal court rejected the case, and Zhang filed a second lawsuit two months later at the Higher Peoples Court in Hubei Province, which rejected his case. In October, he filed a civil complaint to the Supreme Court in Beijing and is awaiting a response.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar accused China of severely limiting outside access to information about the coronavirus.

Lets consider when and how the United States became aware of the virus, Azar said during a speech at conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. We learned about an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown origin in Wuhan, China, on December 30 (2019), not through that countrys official channels, as required under the International Health Regulations, but through media monitoring that we do, as well as through a notification from Taiwans Economic and Cultural Office here in the United States.

On Friday night, the U.S. State Department said there was reason to believe that scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology might have been infected with COVID-19 in the autumn of 2019, but China didnt allow a transparent investigation.

The [Chinese Communist Party] has prevented independent journalists, investigators, and global health authorities from interviewing researchers at the WIV [Wuhan Institute of Virology], including those who were ill in the fall of 2019, the State Department said. Any credible inquiry into the origin of the virus must include interviews with these researchers and a full accounting of their previously unreported illness.

Meanwhile, Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, the maker of one of two coronavirus vaccines approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration, said this week he believes the virus could be around forever.

We are going to live with this virus, we think, forever, he said during a panel discussion at the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, according to a CNBC report.

Kristian Andersen, an infectious diseases expert at Scripps Research Institute, told Stat News in a report Thursday, Im very, very concerned that weve now gone from a virus that we could control to a virus that we really cant unless we do something very dramatic.
Uzkimyosanoat has announced commencement of urea production at the new, $985-million ammonia and urea production complex Navoiyazot.

Navoiyazot is one of Uzbekistans largest chemical plants and produces mineral fertilizers by processing natural gas. Construction of the new, world-class complex began in September 2016 to replace two outdated and energy inefficient facilities - built in the 1960s. The new complex produced its first urea on December 23, 2020.

Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov, Chairman of Uzkimyosanoat, said: I would like to thank our national and international partners who supported the construction of the new ammonia and urea production complex at JSC Navoiyazot. Commissioning of the new complex was completed within 53 days despite Covid and existing restrictions, testament to the hard work of all involved.

This world-class industrial facility is another step towards natural gas monetization via the production of export oriented and high value-added products  and the first urea production is a milestone achievement.

The new complex has capacity to produce 660,000 tonnes of ammonia and 577,500 tonnes of urea. Some 330,000 tonnes of ammonia will be used to produce new urea and 330,000 tonnes to produce ammonium nitrate.

At full production capacity, the complex will expand Uzbekistans domestic chemical production by 9.5 per cent, provide annual revenue of 600 billion Soums and export $58 million worth of additional products.

Completion of the plant will meet domestic agriculture demand for urea and provide up to 100-150 kg per ha of additional mineral fertilizers during agrotechnical periods for grain and cotton crops.

Production will also be exported to neighbouring countries in Central Asia as well as Turkey, Ukraine, and Georgia.

Japanese banks and financial institutions provided $577 million of loan finance for the project, a $320 million loan was provided by the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan, with $88.7 million coming from the companys own funds.

Additional cooperation was provided by a consortium of Japanese companies, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Corporation. The complexs main equipment was imported from Japan and Europe. It also uses production technologies from leading international companies, such as production of ammonia Haldor Topsoe (Denmark); production of urea Sapiem (Italy); and granulation of urea Uhde (Germany). Tradearabia News Service
Theyre the majestic national parks that are home to some of Britains wildest and most beautiful landscapes  and some of our most engaging characters too.

So its no wonder Channel 4s The Yorkshire Dales And The Lakes: Season By Season, celebrating life through the year in Englands biggest expanses of protected countryside, has been such a delight. Now the shows back with a look at spring.

In Grasmere, Cumbria, father and son sheep farmers Peter and Robert Bland are at their busiest, marking up new lambs before setting them free on the open fell with their mothers.

Channel 4s The Yorkshire Dales And The Lakes: Season By Season celebrates life through the year in Englands biggest expanses of protected countryside (Lake District pictured)

Its been hectic, says Peter, who must notch his entire flock on their ears with his farms mark so they can be identified if they get lost. When this busy times coming up, you lie awake at night thinking, How the hell are we going to do this? But once the time comes you just knuckle down.

As we see the lambs head up the rugged 2,000-acre common to explore their new home, Peter remarks, They go this way and that. But theyll stay there for their lifetime. Weve bred them to grow up big and thrive, its a unique style of farming.

More than a tenth of the Lake District is forested and to remain healthy it must be thinned to let in more light.

Near Kendal, woodsman George Read, 75, and his son Kevin manage the forest with horses, and are now training Georges granddaughter Saskia, 20, in the skill of horse logging  the extraction of timber by horse.

In Grasmere, Cumbria, father and son sheep farmers Peter and Robert Bland (pictured) are at their busiest, marking up new lambs before setting them free on the open fell with their mothers

Theyve done it this way for centuries and no man-made invention has yet rivalled it. You dont find very many people my age doing it and hardly any women at all, says Saskia. Everyone thinks of big strong men, but its not, anyone can do it.

In Yorkshire, poet, playwright and broadcaster Ian McMillan, who narrates the new series, says, I like the massiveness of Yorkshire, I think of it as Britains Texas. Theres still a sense of community and geographical tradition.

'Yorkshire people have that wonderful relationship formed by having to get up in whatever weather and off they go. You might walk past them but you wouldnt see the cycle of their seasons, their relationship with these animals and how they all rely on each other.

With spring comes birdsong from species thriving in the Dales thanks to gamekeeper Ian Sleightholm and his children, whose management of the moor has led to lapwings, curlews and merlins finding havens to breed in.

Every spring he works with bird ringer David Banes to capture and ring chicks so their populations can be closely monitored.

This is a lifelong passion, says Ian. My grandfathers a countryman and he took me out and pointed out all the different birds and bird calls. Passing that knowledge on is something I think were losing nationally.

In Wensleydale, 91-year-old Jane Kemps 60-acre woodland has become a sanctuary for the red squirrel. My husband was a tree man so that was how the trees got planted, she says.

We didnt introduce the squirrels, they just came. Non-native greys have pushed them further north, but were surrounded by hills with little vegetation, so weve got natural barriers to the greys.

Its left to Ian McMillan to sum up the appeal of the series. Its about people who uphold traditions and pass them down, he says. Above all, its about incredible human endeavour.

The Yorkshire Dales And The Lakes: Season By Season, tomorrow, 8pm, More4.
A 21-year-woman has been arrested for allegedly stealing a USPS truck and taking it on a mile-long joyride before plowing it into more than a dozen cars in Brooklyn.

Police said the woman, who has not been identified, got behind the wheel of an unoccupied postal truck on Fulton Street and Patchen Avenue in Bed-Stuy around 6:05 p.m. Friday night.

She then allegedly drove the vehicle for seven blocks crashing into multiple vehicles along the way.

Police sources told New York Daily News she traveled for around a mile slamming into around 14 cars.

Sources said the suspect then tried to flee when the truck packed out at Fulton Street at Kingston Avenue, before NYPD officers pulled her from the car and arrested her.

A 21-year-woman has been arrested for allegedly stealing a USPS truck and taking it on a mile-long joyride before plowing it into more than a dozen parked cars in Brooklyn

Police said the woman, who has not been identified, got behind the wheel of an unoccupied postal truck on Fulton Street and Patchen Avenue around 6:05 p.m. Friday night in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood

She then allegedly drove the vehicle for seven blocks crashing into multiple vehicles along the way

One of the cars left wrecked after the 21-year-old's Friday night joyride

Dramatic surveillance footage on NBC New York shows a startled pedestrian looking around at the road at something off camera.

The USPS truck then speeds into shot and slams into the back of a silver car in the road, shoving it into another parked car.

An NYPD cruiser speeds up alongside the truck and two officers jump out with their guns drawn.

Another cop car parks up behind the truck.

The truck is seen trying to reverse out of the area but is blocked in.

Separate footage from the scene shows the postal truck after it had smashed into the back of a silver car.

Dramatic surveillance footage on NBC New York shows the USPS truck speeding into shot and slamming into the back of a silver car in the road

An NYPD cruiser speeds up alongside the truck and two officers jump out with their guns drawn

Separate footage from the scene shows the postal truck after it had smashed into the back of a silver car as cops open the driver's door and drag the woman out, throwing her to the ground and restraining her

Two NYPD officers are seen tentatively approaching the driver's door while another officer is seen on the other side of the truck.

One of the officers opens the driver's door and drags the woman out, throwing her to the ground and restraining her.

Several cops move in as they handcuff the woman.

An eyewitness told CBS Local he had seen cops with their guns drawn as they swooped on the suspect who was still inside the truck.

'Officers had their guns out and then they came, when it stopped, they came around and they looked on the,' Newton Pottinger said.

Police said no one was injured in the commotion but sources said around 14 cars were damaged

One of the smashed-up vehicles left in the wake of the Friday night joyride

Police tape covers the area where the truck has rammed a vehicle into another car in front

Sources said the suspect then tried to flee when the truck packed out at Fulton Street at Kingston Avenue (above), before NYPD officers pulled her from the car and arrested her

'They came around to the side where the driver was, that's on the sidewalk, they told her to open the door, they told her to put her hands up in the air.'

Another New Yorker told the outlet his car was one of the multiple damaged in the joyride.

'When I got hit, I looked in my rear view and that's a mail truck behind me,' said Duncin Odell.

'I'm like, do I have to chase them? And then I see the cops and I'm like, oh, they're chasing them.'

Wrecked cars, broke glass and debris were left on the scene of the chaos Friday night.

Police said no one was injured in the commotion and the USPS truck had been secured.

The suspect was arrested and charges are pending against her. Her identity has not been released.

The damaged USPS truck after the carnage. The truck was unoccupied at the time of the theft

The aftermath of Friday night's chaos in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn

Wrecked cars, broke glass and debris were left on the scene of the chaos Friday night

Police tape cordoning off the truck after the NYPD arrested the suspect
One thing is for sure, they are getting tired of the restrictions. Asked how they buy food, 56.7 percent of respondents said they go to offline venues like supermarkets, while only 26.3 percent keep using online delivery. Even among young people, who are thought to be more comfortable with online shopping, 49.3 percent favor going to the stores and only 26.4 percent to shop online.

Pollster Tillion Pro surveyed the spending patterns of 5,111 people between 20 to 60 to analyze the way Koreans eat, dress and shelter amid the "new normal."

A year has passed since the coronavirus pandemic hit Korea on Jan. 20, 2020 and the unprecedented reaction across the world has changed all aspects of people's lives.

One 43-year-old working mother with two children said she bought 80 percent of her groceries and other daily necessities online in the early phase of the pandemic. But a year later, she buys 80 percent of those products offline. "I realized that the quality products I bought online varied too much," Chung said.

Others go to superstores not just to buy necessities. "I like to move around, but gyms are closed and it's not easy to go outside due to the freezing weather," said a 45-year-old office worker. "Superstores are the only places I can go to get some air."

Another 45-year-old office worker said, "You might be able to find a wide variety of products online, but there are products you need to go to offline stores to buy. When that need arises, I put on a mask and make a quick trip to the supermarket."

Some 42.5 percent of respondents said their living expenses decreased over the past year, while 33.5 percent said it increased. What was especially noteworthy was that older people tightened their purse strings more than younger ones.

Among respondents in their 60s, 48.3 percent said their spending declined, compared to 44.9 percent of respondents in their 50s, 40.6 percent in their 40s, 40.4 percent in their 30s and 38.2 percent in their 20s.

So why did young people save less? One 29-year-old who lives alone in Seoul said, "In my age group there's just very little spending you can cut down on. My expenditures declined because I stopped going to the gym, but then I spent more money ordering food. There are only so many corners I can cut."

Prof. Kim Si-wol at Konkuk University said, "Younger people tend to live alone and their spending is concentrated on basic needs like food and rent. That means they have little room to reduce spending."

Some 47.7 percent said that they saved most money in leisure and travel. As global air traffic ground to a standstill, most people were left stranded at home.

One 25-year-old office worker said, "Two years ago, I spent W5 million on vacations in Australia and Southeast Asia, but this year I spent pretty much nothing on overseas travel" (US$1=W1,100).

"I also spent practically nothing on clothes since I mostly work from home wearing my sweats," he added. He used the money saved to buy stocks for the first time, snapping up W2 million worth of Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor shares.

Spending on clothing and cosmetics also plummeted, 60.2 percent of respondents said. But spending on home appliances increased to make lockdown more bearable.

One in four people said they got a new computer or laptop due to telecommuting and online classes. A 50-year-old housewife bought a dozen household appliances last year, including a robot vacuum cleaner, two bidets, a massage chair, an induction oven, a dishwasher and a TV. "I started spending more time at home and ended up watching home shopping channels that fueled impulse buying," she admits.

Will spending habits return to the old normal after the pandemic ends? Prof. Lee Jun-young at Sangmyung University said, "Declines in overseas travel and growth in sales of household appliances may be temporary phenomena, but other areas of business will see long-term effects. People got a taste of telecommuting and mobile shopping, which will end up becoming indispensable parts of our lives."
Workers at Paris-based aluminum sheet manufacturer Constellium in Muscle Shoals, Alabama were sent back to work Tuesday after they approved a five-year contract brought back by the United Steelworkers (USW), ending a nearly month-long strike. More than 400 aluminum workers at the plant walked out December 15 after voting near-unanimously to strike against unfair labor practices, including unsafe working conditions, threats by the company to end seniority rights, and cuts to health care benefits.

Constellium plant in Muscle Shoals, Alabama (Credit: Constellium.com)

Both the vote totals and substantive details of the contract have not been made public by the USW, in line with its policy of isolating the struggle of the Constellium workers.

The USW has said nothing about whether the contract addresses the critical issues of job security, health and safety measures, or workers health care benefits and time off. The USW made no attempt to fight for greater COVID safety measures as the global pandemic rages, with new strains of the disease being found in the United Kingdom, Japan, and more immediately, in surrounding states such as Texas and Georgia.

The strike was called after negotiations between the USW and Constellium failed to produce an agreement prior to the November 1, 2020 expiration date despite dragging on for months. Throughout the strike, both the company and the union worked to systematically black out news of the struggle in an attempt to keep the striking workers isolated from the wider working class against the backdrop of an increasingly tense political situation in the United States and internationally.

In a further effort to prevent Constellium workers from linking up with wider sections of the working class, including educators in Alabama, the USW maintained virtual silence on the strike on its website and across most of its social media accounts.

In the same manner that it betrayed steelworkers in the US in 2018, oil workers in 2019, and Asarco miners in 2020, the USW has refused to disclose details of the negotiations with Constellium.

The central fear of the USW all along was that the stand by Constellium workers might spark a broader movement among other sections of workers who face similar attacks on their safety and living standards, such as auto or meatpacking.

Seeking to cover its betrayal of the strike against the backdrop of the out-of-control COVID-19 pandemic, the USW employed the help of the so-called global union IndustriALL and the French metalworkers union FTM-CGT to isolate workers.

In late December, FTM-CGT and IndustriALL issued toothless letters of protest against Constelliums attacks on its US workforce, proclaiming their support for the striking workers and voicing empty promises to mobilize the international working class. It is now plainly obvious that these declamations of support were a sham, aimed at covering up of the betrayal by the USW.

The USW has not publicly released terms of the contact settlement, neither the highlights of the contract, much less the full agreement. The most detailed statement about the terms of the contract was given by USW International representative for USW Local 200, Kevin Key, in an interview with WAFF 48 News, who said, the new agreement had some built-in protections, such as shift preferences based on seniority to help protect workers seniority. This is not a guarantee of seniority rights, but a concession to Constellium.

According to WAFF 48, workers will also receive a 15 percent raise over the life of the contract, on average three percent per year. This barely allows workers to keep up with the rising costs of health care, education, shelter, food, clothing, and fuel, expenses that for the most part have risen sharply over the course of the economic crisis of 2020 triggered by the pandemic. The union also claimed that it eliminated the wage tier with this contract, again without spelling out the details.

What union officials hailed as a victory is in fact a corporate-friendly agreement aimed at extracting the largest possible amount of profit off the backs of workers in the midst of a mounting financial crisis and devastating pandemic. An unnamed Constellium spokesperson presented the settlement in glowing terms to the local media. Constellium Muscle Shoals LLC is pleased that employees represented by the United Steelworkers Union, Local 200, at our Muscle Shoals plant have voted in favor of our proposed collective bargaining agreement. We look forward to these employees returning to work beginning January 12, 2021, as we continue to serve our customers and the community.

In Colbert County (population 55,241), where Muscle Shoals is located, there are 5,222 confirmed cases of the virus and 70 deaths. The state of Alabama currently has reported 414,583 cases of COVID-19 and 5,945 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. Hospitals in the state are so overwhelmed that Dr. Don Williamson, president of the Alabama Hospital Association, told FOX10 News, We are at the precipice, and over the precipice...We are holding on now by our fingertips.

In spite of the known risks to workers in factories and schools, the unions refuse to insist on implementing necessary measures to save lives, that is: to shut down all non-essential production, and that the companies pay all employees a full income until the pandemic is under control and cover any and all health care costs.

The USW and other unions have long spewed nationalist rhetoric aimed against workers in other countries, primarily China, to blackmail workers into voting for sellout contracts in the name of keeping plants competitive. This divide-and-rule strategy of pitting US workers against their overseas brothers and sisters was reiterated by USW District 9 Director Daniel Flippo, who wrote on Facebook before the 2020 US elections, The larger point is that the way we bring America back is by being cognizant of where things are produced and as much as possible, buying American made products, they are made by your neighbors... It is okay to support one party or the other, I certainly do most of time, but it is never okay to put that party above your faith in our country or its principles. I do not support what President Trump has done relative to workers and Labor. But he is the President and I respect that.

In opposition to this nationalist program, workers need an international strategy, uniting workers in a common struggle against the transnational steel companies. The World Socialist Web Site called for Constellium workers to form rank-and-file committees early on in the strike, with the aim of linking up with workers at Constelliums plants in Europe and China, who face attacks similar to those levied against their brothers and sisters in North America.

With the rapid spread of a new, more infectious strain of COVID, international unity is even more critical. This is especially true for workers in the US, where democratic rights are threatened by the breakdown of democratic forms of rule.

The Socialist Equality Party calls on workers to form rank-and-file committees, following the examples of teachers and autoworkers, who are linking up independently of the trade unions and capitalist political parties to save jobs and lives. These committees must aim not to pressure the unions to fight, a hopeless task, but to advance an independent program of struggle for workers.

These committees need to be completely independent of the unions and big business political parties in order to build the framework through which workers can struggle for their demands. They must be democratic organizations, based on fighting for the needs of workers, not what the corporations say they can afford. They will give workers the potential to link metal and mining workers across the globe in a struggle to overthrow the capitalist system and place these industries under public control to meet the needs of the global working class, not the profit interests of a few wealthy individuals.

The WSWS and Socialist Equality Party will do everything we can to help workers build these committees and lead the way forward against the attacks on their rights. If you are a metalworker who is interested in building a rank-and-file committee at your workplace, we encourage you to contact us today.
Update at 6:54 p.m. written by Tracey Petersen: Tuolumne County  Tuolumne Public Health reports two new deaths bringing its total to 38.

The deceased include a male in his 70s who was hospitalized and a female in her 80s who was a resident of a local care facility and is one of todays reported cases. Health officials advise that an investigation is ongoing.

There are a total of 19 newly identified community COVID-19 cases and 6 new Sierra Conservation Center (SCC) inmate cases reported by public health for a total of 25. Public health says 18 of the new cases appear to be isolating. A total of 8 individuals have been released from isolation and 2 are currently hospitalized.

Todays community cases in Tuolumne County residents include 2 males and 3 females under 20, 3 males their 20s, 1 female in her 30s,1 male in his 40s, 2 males and 1 female in her 50s, 2 males and 1 female in her 60s, 1 male and female in their 70s and one female in her 80s who sadly passed.

Tuolumne County has a total of 3,304 cases split between 2,118 community cases and 1,186 inmate cases. Total recovered community cases are listed as 1,956 with 124 active community cases and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports 78 active inmate cases today. Total tested 23,138.

Public Health updates that over 400 individuals were vaccinated today (Friday, Jan. 15) during a Public Health point of dispensing (POD) event for pre-identified individuals following the CDPH Phased guidelines. In the written update they add, The department continues to work with its healthcare partners to coordinate the continued administration of vaccine according to; State guidelines, the availability of vaccine that Public Health and healthcare providers have on hand, and resources to administer. We ask the public to please continue following our website and local media for updates. Details regarding testing sites are below.

Original post at 5:15 p.m. written by Sabrina Biehl: Calaveras County  Calaveras public health reports one new COVID-19 death today, further details are not being released. Today the countys report added 23 new COVID-19 cases. A total of 76 are defined as active COVID-19 cases. As reported here an increase in cases part of resolving a backlog with the states CalRedie system. Public health says the case count is approximate and may change or even decrease due to duplicates, incorrect addresses, or individuals found not to reside within Calaveras County and notes that hospitalization data comes from the California Department of Public Health and has a one-day lag. The report has 11 hospitalizations today down from 12 yesterday. Total cases is 1,240 with 548 men and 681 women, the majority, 566 cases, are between 18-49, and 295 are over 65. The zip codes with the most cases are in the Valley Springs 95252 and Campo Seco 95226 areas. A total of 1,141 or 92% have recovered.

As reported here Calaveras has a new COVID-19 call center at 209-754-2896 to provide community members with verified information about COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and other frequently asked questions.

Calaveras Public Health partnered with Dignity Health Mark Twain Medical Center to vaccinate people living in Calaveras County who are 65 years of age and older. Persons 65 years of age and older interested in getting the vaccine should call (209) 754-2564. Those who call will need to provide their full name, date of birth, and phone number. COVID-19 vaccines, including their administration, are free. More information on vaccine phases is on our COVID-19 page here.

Tuolumne County is planning mass COVID-19 vaccination clinics as detailed here. For those who qualify as Phase 1A, the Tuolumne County vaccine interest form has been posted here.

A mobile COVID-19 testing team shared between Tuolumne, Mariposa and Calaveras Counties, and Yosemite National Park. The traveling sites, which will be open at the Groveland Community Hall on Mondays and Tuolumne Memorial Hall on Thursdays from 7 AM to 7 PM, began operations today. One note regarding the Tuolumne site; it will NOT be open next Thursday, January 21st due to a scheduling conflict. The first day of operations in Groveland will be Monday, January 18th. Walk-ins will be accepted, but it is recommended to schedule an appointment up to one week ahead of time and can be set up at the same LHI website as for the Mother Lode Fairgrounds testing site which is open 7 days a week: www.lhi.care/covidtesting. More details, including Calaveras testing dates, are in our events calendar here.

The San Joaquin Valley Region has 0% of normal ICU bed capacity available. View the regional and county-specific ICU statistics by visiting our updating COVID-19 Information section here.

If you are having COVID-like symptoms, self-isolate and contact your healthcare provider or your local hospital, more information is at the regional website www.valleycovidhelp.com.

The Tuolumne COVID-19 call center is open during normal office hours for people who have questions or concerns, call 209-533-7440 for information.

County/Date

Active New Cases (Total)

% Countys Pop Hospital/ ICU (may include non-residents) Released (presumed Non-Infectious total) Deaths Est. County Pop. (Ave. Deaths All causes/mo.) Alpine 1/15 1 0 (73)

6.5% of pop. 0 0 (72) 0 1,117 (10*) Amador 1/15 126 17 (1,374)

3.6% of pop. 17 29 (1,223) 25 37,325 (30.5) Calaveras 1/15 76 23 (1,240)

2.8% of pop. 11 9 (1,141) 23 44,286 (30) Madera 1/15 2,902 229 (12,778) 7.9% of pop. 33 103 (9,746) 130 160,089 (73) Mariposa 1/15 30 3 (334)

1.8% of pop. 1 7 (300) 4 17,778 (11*) Merced 1/15 3,761 293 (23,492) 8.1% of pop. 51 281 (19,435) 296 287,420 (111.7) Mono 1/15 171 3 (823) 5.8% of pop. NA 16 (648) 4 13,961 (10*) San Joaquin 1/15 7,381 904 (56,484) 7.2% of pop. 309/77 240 (48,355) 748 782,545 (440) Stanislaus 1/15 4,916 575 (41,270)

7.3% of pop. 345/78 98 (35,624) 720 562,303 (419.6) Tuolumne 1/15 124 9 (3,304) 6.3% of pop. 2 8 (1,956) 38 52,353 (53.1) Amador excludes Mule Creek State Prison from their report the % of pop. would be 7.5%

If the Sierra Conservation Center cases were excluded Tuolumnes would be 4%.

10* means less than 10 deaths per month on average in that county. For other county-level statistics view our page here.

Public health officials relay it is very important for the public to remain vigilant about following recommended safety measures and business/activity guidelines in order to keep themselves and those around them safe and healthy.

Those measures include:

Electricity production in the Integrated Power System of Ukraine in 2020 decreased 3.3% compared to the same period in 2019, to 148.81 billion kWh, the Ministry of Energy has told Interfax-Ukraine.

Nuclear power plants (NPP) last year reduced electricity generation by 8.2% compared to the same period last year, to 76.202 billion kWh. In particular, production of electricity at Zaporizhia NPP amounted to 28.162 billion kWh (26.7% less compared to 2019), Yuzhnoukrainsk some 19.441 billion kWh (8.7% more), Rivne NPP some 17.559 billion kWh (8.2% more), and Khmelnytsky NPP some 11.041 billion kWh (45.9% more).

Thermal power plants (TPP), as well as combined heat and power plants and cogeneration plants reduced their output by 6.2%, to 52.34 billion kWh. In particular, TPPs reduced production by 11.9%, to 39.553 billion kWh, while combined heat and power plants and cogeneration plants increased by 17.6%, to 12.787 billion kWh.

Hydro power plants and pumped storage power plants reduced production by 3.7%, to 7.581 billion kWh, and block stations increased by 4.3%, to 1.845 billion kWh.

Electricity production by non-traditional sources (wind farms, solar power plants, biomass) grew almost twice, to 10.841 billion kWh.

The share of nuclear power plants in the structure of electricity production accounted for 51.2%, thermal power plants, combined heat and power plants and cogeneration plants 35.2%, hydro power plants and pumped storage power plants 5.1%, block stations 1.2%, alternative sources 7.3%.

In December 2020, electricity production in the Integrated Power System of Ukraine grew by 7.2% compared to the same month in 2019, to 15.241 billion kWh.
Watch: Indias vaccine maker administered the jab

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Jan 16: Serum Institute CEO, Adar Poonawalla was administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine today, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide drive.

Poonawalla's company is manufacturing the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

He posted a video in which he is sitting on a couch as a man injects the vaccine. He said that he is taking the vaccine which is being reserved or the healthcare staff at this stage and he was taking it to endorse its safety and efficacy.

I wish India & Sri @narendramodi ji great success in launching the worlds largest COVID vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that #COVISHIELD is part of this historic effort & to endorse its safety & efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine myself. pic.twitter.com/X7sNxjQBN6  Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 16, 2021

"I wish India and Narendra Modiji great success in launching the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that Covishield is part of this historic effort and, to endorse its safety and efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine," he said in a tweet.

COVID vaccine: BJP MP Mahesh Sharma becomes first public representative to get vaccinated

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine said that citizens should not fall for rumours. He said that citizens should not fall for propaganda or rumours over the vaccines.

Emotional PM Modi launches WORLD'S BIGGEST vaccine drive | Oneindia News

The DGCI has given approval after they were satisfied with the data of the vaccines. Please stay away from rumours, the PM also said. Our vaccines have global credibility and life saving vaccines have been given to 60 per cent children that are globally made in India, the PM said.

India's vaccines are developed in a way keeping in mind the conditions of the country and they will give a decisive victory to the nation, PM Modi also said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 14:40 [IST]


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A group of Italian restaurant owners defied COVID-19 restrictions Friday evening and stayed open for business after the official 6 p.m. closing time.

One of the eateries that stayed open was the Loste Ria restaurant in Rome, where every seat was taken on Friday.

Armando Minotti, owner of the Loste Ria restaurant in Rome, said recent losses were making it impossible to provide for his children.

"For three weeks, I haven't been able to give a weekly allowance to my wife to fill the refrigerator so my kids can eat. We are done for," he said.

Minotti suggested the Italian government's financial aid for the hospitality industry wasn't enough.

"If the cops come in, and they surely will, we will let them in, we will accept the fine, but we are going to stay open and we won't close anymore. Because it is impossible to go on like this," he said.

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Two Taliban fighters who had infiltrated a base of pro-government Afghan militiamen killed 12 of them, officials and the insurgent group said Saturday.

The night-time attack at a post manned by the militiamen occurred in the district of Ghorian in the western Herat province late on Friday, the governor for the district Farhad Khademi told AFP.

"Twelve pro-government militiamen were killed in the Taliban attack in Ghorian district last night," he said.

Herat provincial council member Mohammad Sardar Bahaduri confirmed the attack and said it was carried out by two Taliban fighters who had infiltrated the base.

"The militiamen were dining when the attack happened," he said.

The Taliban also said two of its fighters had carried out the attack and then returned.

In a separate incident, a vehicle carrying policemen was struck by a roadside bomb in the centre of the Afghan capital Kabul, police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz told reporters.

Two policemen were killed and one wounded in the attack, he said.

Violence has surged across Afghanistan in recent months, especially in Kabul, which has been rocked by a new trend of targeted killings.

The bloodshed comes even as the Taliban and government negotiators engage in peace talks to end the nearly two-decades-long war in the country.

Representatives from two warring sides are currently in the Qatari capital Doha discussing the agenda for the talks.

str-mam-jds/qan
Moshi, Tanzania, Jan. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zara Tours was founded in 1986 and currently operates in Tanzania. They offer safari, cultural tours, and treks for thousands of tourists annually. For years Zara has been recognized for its excellence in tourism in a variety of areas. Their most recent accomplishment was in Guiyang, China, where they were presented with the Best Mountain Tourism Award for their treks of the Kilimanjaro Marangu Hiking Route. The Tanzania Embassy in China received it during the 2020 annual conference of the International Mountain Tourism Alliance.



This award adds to a list of over a dozen Zara Tours has won in as many years from several organizations. These awards include:



Best Mountain Hiking Route



Best Tour Operator in Tanzania



Best Mountain Climbing Tour Operator



Best Seasonal Camp in Serengeti



Sustainable Business Award



Outstanding Contribution to Promoting Travel to Africa



Business Entrepreneur of the Year



Sustainable Tourism Award



Top Porters/Guides

Zara Tours has not only been recognized for their properties, staff, and operations, but their CEO, Zainab Ansell, and charity, Zara Charity, have also been recognized for their contributions to the community.



Built with sustainability in mind, Zara is honored to be awarded time and again for providing excellent experiences for guests. Their passion offers tourists with an adventure of a lifetime when they visit Tanzania. In fact, its the reason they are nominated for and win awards.

Mrs. Ansell cares deeply for her community and knows tourism creates opportunities for jobs, education, and a better life for those in and around Moshi. Keeping tourism alive, desired, and sustainable for years to come is the key to a healthy local economy.



About ZARA TOURS

With over 30 years of experience, award-winning Zara Tours offers the best in trained climbing guides, accommodations, and safari operators to give a once-in-a-lifetime experience you will want to relive time and again. Our local company owns and operates local hotels, lodges, and wild camps to create a truly amazing adventure while giving proceeds right back into the community. Find us online at https://zaratours.com.



Press Contact

Godwin

zara@zaratours.com

+1 866 550 4447



Publicity and Marketing Department



New via https://news.kisspr.com/pr/16320





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Disclaimer: The information does not constitute advice or an offer to buy. Any purchase made from this story is made at your own risk. Consult an expert advisor/health professional before any such purchase. Any purchase made from this link is subject to the final terms and conditions of the website's selling. The content publisher and its distribution partners do not take any responsibility directly or indirectly. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the company this news is about.





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Echoes from the past are sounding, reverberations from a socially conservative Ireland we thought was boxed up and dumped in historys underground cellars. This week we came face to face with the States system for dealing with unmarried mothers  arrangements that are easier to explain than forgive.

Heres how it was: Pregnant girls dumped in mother and baby homes; male relatives giving them a beating, throwing them out because of the shame; women pressurised and bullied into parting with their infants  with no help to keep them; landlords refusing to rent to single mothers; and employers sacking them on the spot. Women labelled sluts and sinners, shunned if they failed to abide by an exacting moral code in a community where sex education hovered between non-existent and woeful. Women held to a higher standard than men in our so-called republic of equals.

Not equal if you were poor. Or friendless. Or your family shut the door in your face.

The moral high ground was a congested space in Ireland back in the day. Church, State and society assembled there  all wagging fingers at girls who fell from grace, as it was characterised.

Did I say back in the day? The last mother and baby home only closed 23 years ago. Ireland wasnt, after all, a picture-postcard utopia (poor but contented) of comely maidens dancing at the crossroads  it was a land where girls, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, were treated like pariahs if they became pregnant outside marriage.

Public opinion was unanimously hostile to them from 1922 to 1998, the period covered by the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, which reported this week. But what moulded the public viewpoint? The Catholic Church exerted virtually unchallenged moral authority and the State was supine beneath it; society rolled in behind. This was an Ireland where no one was allowed a private life, although a few prominent people were exceptions to the rule.

Theyd break your heart, the stories recorded. They could be the voices of our sisters, mothers, aunts and grandmothers. Their lonely desperation leaks from the reports pages. Stories of mothers standing at institution gates pleading for a glimpse of the child theyd left there  to no avail. One girl tried to bring her seven-week-old baby home and wound up sleeping for two nights in a field with the infant when the family turned them away. Powerless, she returned to the institution.

Their families said callous things, called them names they couldnt forget: Your child will be a bastard. What about the neighbours? Have it adopted and you can come home. But youll never get married if you keep the child. The girls mothers, even when sympathetic, seemed helpless to intervene, according to the report. Some of the mothers-to-be were as young as 12  children who didnt even know theyd had sex. No one seems to have raised a red flag about sexual abuse. Four in five of those who went through the homes doors were aged between 18 and 29. Some of them came from crowded and impoverished households where the family ran to 14 or 16 children. One illiterate, pregnant 19-year-old said shed received no schooling because her mother kept her at home to help. Her baby coincided with her mothers ninth.

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Why were these girls abandoned by their childs father? Sometimes it was social distinction which prevented marriage. Or families were resistant if the girl had TB or any kind of disability. A number of men were married already. One young father-to-be said he couldnt marry because he was intending to wed a girl hed met in the US. Lack of means was another barrier  men saying they couldnt maintain a wife and family. In the 1950s, Ireland had the lowest and latest marriage rates in the western world. We know the reasons  we just dont know why such a culture of misogyny took root. Why Ireland went to the bother of establishing an independent state  only to turn it into a Republic where women were stigmatised as sluts and sinners, while their sexual partners suffered little or no repercussions.

Mother and baby homes were often the only shelter available to unmarried girls, according to the report, which says while they were not a uniquely Irish phenomenon, the proportion of Irish unmarried mothers who were admitted to mother and baby homes or county homes in the twentieth century was probably the highest in the world. Within those high walls, mothers were reminded constantly of their lack of options. The pressure to surrender their babies for adoption or fostering was overwhelming. If they went to their babys father for help, a small sum of money and an instruction to clear off wasnt unusual.

Without family support, women who wished to raise their child found it almost impossible. Few earned enough money to support themselves and a baby. It was difficult for them to find accommodation or hold down a job. So strong was the moral stranglehold, a girls family fretted about the broader reputational damage if she kept her baby  entire families risked being disgraced. Mother and baby homes were a solution that suited Church, State and society. What suited the young women who entered those institutions, whether willingly or because no other choice remained to them, was immaterial. They had their babies and handed them over.

The babies that lived, that is. Some 15pc died in the homes, 9,000 babies over the decades  a death rate double the national average. Those scraps of flesh were surplus to requirements in a nation that differentiated between legitimate and illegitimate children. The label was only abolished in 1987 after years of campaigning.

The State financed the institutions but abdicated its duty of care towards the inhabitants. No doubt there were some good intentions, but the nuns lacked experience of child rearing and appear to have underestimated the mother-child bond.

Today, despite Taoiseach Micheal Martins undoubtedly sincere State apology, many survivors are critical of tracing arrangements. Adopted people lack unrestricted rights to records on their families of origin, but the Attorney General advises it is constitutionally unacceptable to allow this because of a birth mothers right to privacy. The State is confronted by a Judgment of Solomon here.

The cultural map of Ireland has altered since those mother-and-baby-home decades, with rapid social change and landmark, progressive referendums supported by the public. Yet we must also grapple with our history. We tell ourselves weve stepped out of the shadows and into the light as a liberal, pluralist democracy. But all is not rosy in 21st-century Ireland: direct provision is another murky abuse thats hidden in plain sight.

Finally, historian Catherine Corless, whose research into infant deaths in Tuam led to the commissions establishment, is a national treasure. Catherine, we salute you: you have done the State some service.
Privacy Row: Is WhatsApps print ad drive effective in restoring consumer confidence?

Whatsapp has been in the dock ever since it announced updation of their privacy policy earlier this month that allows the messaging app to share commercial user data with parent company Facebook. The revised privacy norms allow the sharing of business interactions across the group. Those who do not accept the updated privacy policy, which come into force in February 2021, will not be able to access their chats on the messaging platform.

47% Indians find Whatsapps updated privacy policy unacceptable: Inshorts poll

With the debate raging over WhatsApps updated privacy policy in India, a whopping 47% respondents of an Inshorts poll said that they would not accept the policy and would look for alternatives of the messaging app.

WhatsApp, Facebook top two apps based on usage in India: App Annie

On Wednesday, App Annie released its annual State of Mobile 2021 report. The report indicated that app downloads in India grew by almost 30% year-on-year up to 24.27 billion downloads in 2020. Games were the most downloaded app category and represented 2 out of every 5 download. Indians time spent on mobile surged from an average 3.3 hours a day in 2019 to 4.6 hours a day in 2020.

Long copy sheds its cocoon to engage an attention deficit audience

Do long copy ads still find favour with clients and agencies? No matter how well-written, do long copy ads manage to engage todays attention deficit audience? Adgullys premier TwitterChat endeavour, the first of 2012, dwelled on the topic  Longer narratives are back, why not long copy?

Brand War: Sebamed Vs Dove, Lux, Pears  smart move or missed opportunity?

Sebamed, a German personal care brand, has launched a new campaign, wherein it names well-known soap brands such as Lux, Pears, Dove and even Rin. Industry experts say that while the campaign has helped the brand create awareness and break through the clutter, the execution is out of place and it is a missed opportunity for Sebamed.

Bombay High Court restrains Sebamed commercial from all mediums

The Bombay High Court has granted an ad-interim ex-parte injunction to Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) in a suit filed by HUL against the advertisements of Sebamed that had claimed that its cleansing bar had the perfect PH for sensitive skin. In their advertisement, Sebamed had claimed that Dove, Lux and Pears, well-known soap brands that HUL has been marketing for decades, had higher pH, which harmed sensitive skin.

INS reinforces Prints relevance for advertisers through a series of ads

The print media suffered severe disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent nationwide lockdowns. Now, the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) has come out with a series of print campaigns to reinforce that Print still delivers and is relevant for advertisers and readers alike, even amid the strong march of digital media. Referring to the ASCI-ISA report findings, INS said, Advertising seen on traditional media continues to enjoy high trust amongst the consumers. Advertising in newspapers (86%) emerged as the most trusted, followed by TV (83%) and Radio (83%).

Back in the black, tyre brands are banking on innovation & convenience to woo consumers

After 8-9 months of severe COVID-19 and lockdown impact across industries in 2020, the last couple of months saw India Inc gearing up to embrace the new normal. Analysts expect the tyre industry to maintain the growth momentum owing to an improved outlook for the auto sector, strong rural demand and increasing personal mobility trend. Demand is improving gradually in the tyre sector on the back of healthy growth in the replacement market and gradual recovery in the OEM segment month on month.

After a turbulent year, the positive winds of change in the real estate sector in 2021

As in the case of most other sectors, the real estate sector also had a tumultuous time in 2020 due to the pandemic and nationwide lockdown. However, some positive changes are being seen in the real estate sector as the economy is gradually limping back to normalcy. Some leading names in the real estate sector speak to Adgully about the signs of revival in this sector.

How ZEISS Vision Care India continued to develop its business beating COVID-19 disruptions

Like many other industries, the COVID-19 pandemic had a strong impact on the eyecare services industry across the globe. However, ZEISS Vision Care India has worked around the challenges that the pandemic threw and kept the wheels of the company moving. In conversation with Adgully, Sunil Gopinath, Head - Marketing, ZEISS Vision Care India, speaks about how Zeiss Vision Care India navigated through the pandemic challenges and how they engaged with their business partners and the customers across the country.

2021 is the year of rebuilding fundamentals: Kishan Kumar MS, Wavemaker India

2020 was that speed-breaker on a busy expressway no one saw. No wonder everyone had to force-stop and then restart! exclaimed Kishan Kumar MS, Chief Growth Officer & South  Head, Wavemaker India.

2021 will be a year of higher order gratification of consumers: Deba Ghoshal

Deba Ghoshal, Vice President and Head of Marketing, Voltas Ltd, looks to capitalising on the momentum garnered by the festive season of 2020. In 2021, he expects the demand for need-based products to be high. He also anticipates a lot of business coming in from the Tier 2 and 3 markets over the next 2-3 years.

Building an app for Bharat is actually a very challenging task: Anuj Bhansali, PhonePe

Continuing with the Video Knowledge Series by Adgully in partnership with mFilter, the latest episode features Anuj Bhansali, Head, Trust and Safety, PhonePe. In this interaction, Bhansali talks about building an app for Bharat and the challenges, role of safety and trust, initiatives by PhonePe and their vision for 2021.

India is on the cusp of becoming one of the biggest online gaming markets: Manav Sethi

Octro Inc has become the largest and fastest growing mobile gaming company in India. Octro recently stated that its game, TeenPatti, witnessed 800% growth in paying users in 2020. Manav Sethi, who joined Octro Inc as Global Chief Marketing Officer in July 2020, is very upbeat about the online gaming industry in 2021.

"Plannings importance is linked to its ability to help clients navigate the VUCA world"

In conversation with Adgully, Gulshan Singh, National Planning Director, FCB Interface, speaks about the increasing complexity of business which is also creating unprecedented opportunities for planners and for advertising. Singh also shares insights on how planners are helping clients and creative partners navigate the VUCA world.

Fantasy Sports industry is moving in the right direction at a very fast pace: Vinit Godara

Vinit Godara, Co-founder and CEO, MyTeam11, looks back at 2020 and major learnings gained from the year, as well as shares his vision for 2021 and the factor that will further contribute to its growth in the year ahead.

In the post-pandemic world, Cinema and OTT will co-exist: Vinit Mehta, Brightcove

The movie theatre business has faced unprecedented disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After staying shut for several months, even as cinema halls have re-opened, the crowds are just not there. In conversation with Adgully, Vinit Mehta, Head of Sales, Indian Sub-Continent, Brightcove, offers several useful suggestions that the cinema hall business can adopt in the new normal.

Zing wants to instil strong moral grounds via its content offering: Pankaj Balhara

Pankaj Balhara, Deputy Business Head - Music Cluster, ZEEL, shares the key focus areas for 2021, content strategy, ways to strengthen the consumer connect and more.

WPP appoints Rob Reilly as Global Chief Creative Officer

Rob Reilly, who is currently Global Creative Chairman of McCann Worldgroup, will join WPP in May, reporting to CEO Mark Read. In partnership with Read, and the CEOs and Chief Creative Officers of WPPs agencies, Reilly will champion creativity within and beyond the company, fostering a culture that delivers extraordinary work to WPPs clients.

Misleading Ads: Demystifying Trans Fat Free claims made by brands

The Indian Food regulator notified changes to the regulation on Trans Fats in the last week of 2020. What are Trans Fats? Part 21 of the series of articles on Misleading Ads by Advocate Aazmeen Kasad, serves to demystify the term, use of the Trans Fat Free claim by certain products and provide an in-depth understanding of what the law on the same is.

#Twitterchat: How Dating and Matrimony Apps are changing the way we meet people

Dating and matchmaking as a concept has evolved tremendously in India. The growing digitisation in India and growth of technology has only facilitated peoples need for companionship. Addressing the various facets of the dating ecosystem, Adgullys much appreciated property, #TwitterChat, has put the spotlight on Are Dating and Matrimony Apps Changing The Way We Meet People? in its latest episode.

Ad volumes of H2 2020 grew 34% over H1; HUL remains biggest advertiser: BARC

In a challenging year for India and the world, it was reassuring to see an increase in ad volumes on TV in the second half of 2020. Hindustan Unilever was the biggest advertiser in 2020 with a 30% growth in ad volumes over 2019, followed by the Reckitt Benckiser Group, with their ad volumes growing by 37% in 2020 over 2019.

Hybrid OTT TV subscription services users to reach 273 mn in 2025: Juniper Research

Juniper Research has unveiled its whitepaper, Tuning into the Future of Video Streaming, which discusses how the business models of OTT TV and on-demand video will change, including a forecast for the number of users of ad-supported subscription VoD services in 2025.

Theres a very thin line between using data for user experience & invading users privacy

Every entrepreneur of a start-up should have a fair understanding of marketing. It is important to assess demand and have the right marketing strategy. It is important to know the maturity of the category. In this podcast, Radha Radhakrishnan discusses the importance of communication for start-ups with Sanjay OS, Lead  Digital Marketing, BYJUs, the importance of communication for start-ups.
Over the past day, January 15, five ceasefire violations were recorded in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Donbas. One Ukrainian serviceman was wounded.

In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group East, the armed formations of the Russian Federation fired grenade launchers of different systems and small arms several times near Hnutove (20km north-east of Mariupol) and Talakivka (17km north-east of Mariupol), the press center of the JFO Headquarters informs.

Outside Trudivske (47km south of Donetsk), the enemy fired several rounds of small arms on Ukrainian positions. As a result, one Ukrainian defender received a gunshot wound. The soldier was immediately taken to a medical facility, where he is receiving the necessary medical care.

In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group "North", the Russian occupation forces opened fire from an under-barrel grenade launcher, heavy machine gun and small arms near Pivdenne (40km north-east of Donetsk).

Ukrainian troops fire back in response to the attacks.

The OSCE representatives were informed about all the facts of ceasefire violations through the Ukrainian side of the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC).

Today, January 16, no ceasefire violations have been recorded in the Joint Forces Operation area.

The situation in the JFO area remains controlled by Ukrainian troops.

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New Delhi: China, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, has resorted to almost every dirty trick and illegal activity to become a heavyweight in the international arena. One of the ways that China has advanced towards its goals in recent years, is through theft of ideas, research and key technologies. Christopher Wray, director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, on July 7, 2020, said that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was doing all it can to exploit the openness of democracies by stealing research.

There are several methods that the CCP and the Chinese government employs to steal valuable research, data and critical technologies from other nations. Some examples of these are - hacking foreign companies, co-opting Chinese nationals, luring foreign experts and sending out personnel who intentionally hide their affiliations to China to obtain sensitive information.

On July 21, 2020, the US Department of Justice published a press release, wherein they stated that two Chinese hackers in the US were charged with operating a global intrusion campaign that targeted intellectual property and confidential business information. The press release also revealed that the two hackers worked with the Guangdong State Security Department of the Ministry of State Security (MSS). The MSS is the intelligence, security and secret police agency of the Chinese government, and is responsible for foreign intelligence. It was discovered that the hacking campaign run by the duo lasted for ten years and targeted companies were in technology-rich countries like - United States, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The press release also included remarks from Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, stating that the CCP possesses insatiable hunger for American and other non- Chinese companies hard-earned intellectual property, including COVID-19 research.

In another case of Chinese theft, a US residing Chinese citizen admitted he was involved in stealing more than $1 billion worth of trade secrets. Hongjin Tan was employed as an associate scientist at a petroleum company, Tan was assigned to a group that was tasked with developing next-generation battery technologies for stationary energy storage. During his trial, Tan admitted to intentionally copying and downloading the technologies research and development materials without authorization from his employer. U.S. Attorney Trent Shores for the Northern District of Oklahoma stated that individuals like Tan wished to steal American trade secrets and take them home to China so that the Chinese government can replicate their technology.

In another similar incident, Hao Zhang of China was found guilty of economic espionage and theft of trade secrets. As per a press release of the US Department of Justice, between 2010 and 2015, Zhang managed to steal trade secrets from semiconductor companies Avago and Skyworks. Avago is a designer, developer and global supplier of a broad range of analog, digital, mixed-signal and optoelectronic components and subsystems with a focus on semiconductor design and processing. Whereas, Skyworks is an innovator of high-performance analog semiconductors. The Judge, in his verdict, stated that Zhang intended to steal the secrets for the benefit of the Chinese government, which for years has tried to develop high-performance semiconductors domestically but failed. U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson for the Northern District of California rightly stated that "countries without freedom are unable to innovate and when they fail to innovate, they resort to theft". He added that theft was not innovation.

The most recent case of Chinese espionage and came to notice when an MIT professor was arrested in the US on charges of grant fraud. As per a January 14 press release of the US Department of Justice, Gang Chen had failed to disclose contracts, appointments and awards from the Chinese government to the US Department of Energy. Also, Chen was charged with failing to file a foreign bank account report (FBAR) and making a false statement in a tax return. As per reports, Chen received $29 million in undisclosed foreign funding, with $19 million coming from Chinas Southern University of Science and Technology.

In February last year, top officials of the US government held a conference in Washington to discuss the topic of Chinese theft of intellectual property from US tech firms and the academic sector. John Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security who opened the conference stated that the threat from China was real, persistent, well-orchestrated, well resourced, and it was not going away anytime soon. FBI Director Christopher Wray added that the threat of China stealing research, trade secrets, technology and sensitive data was one of the greatest long-term risks to the US and the world. Wray further stated that the FBI at the time of the conference has approximately a thousand cases involving China's attempted theft of US-based technology.

According to Wray, Beijing has identified critical target areas and already has a well-established plan to carry out these kinds of thefts. In addition to targeting innovation and R&D data, the Chinese government is also going after cost and pricing data, as well as internal strategy documents. Chinas plans also extend well beyond mere defence sector companies, but they also target other sectors from agriculture to wind turbines and medical equipment.

In this grand theft plan of China, the academic sector gets no exception. In January last year, the Chair of Harvard University's Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department was changed for having a connection to the Chinese government and making a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement. US Officials now fear that sensitive R&D work done in Harvard with US government grants may have found its way to the hands of the CCP and the Chinese government.

The Chinese telecom giant Huawei which already has a bad reputation due to its links to the Chinese government has also been accused of stealing technology from six companies. The Chinese telecom firm has already been deemed a national security risk by many countries and has been banned from being a part of 5G installation projects in several governments due to fears that the company would share sensitive data with the Chinese Government. Cisco Systems Inc. was one of the first companies to take Huawei to court and sue it for unlawful copying of its intellectual property back in the early 2000s. Financial Times has also reported that during a trade show in Chicago in 2004, a Huawei employee was found to be going to a rival companys booth in the middle of the night and taking pictures of the circuitry inside a networking device. Huawei, however evasively termed the incident as an unfortunate misunderstanding.

China's growth and prosperity, in recent years, has not been fuelled by its hard work or innovation but on that of foreign companies and nations. Being unable to innovate, China turned to outright theft of the ideas, research and data of foreign firms that have spent years and a substantial amount of efforts & resources to develop their ideas. China has taken advantage of the openness of the free world to coerce, manipulate and encourage theft for its benefit. At the same time ,China has kept its markets and economy closed to the outside world. But the world has become aware of China's predatory practices and its despicable tactics. China now finds itself cornered from multiple fronts and faces criticism for all its actions. From being tagged as an oppressor and human rights abuser for its aggressive actions in the South China Sea and persecution of Uighur minorities in occupied East Turkistan, it has now won a new title of being a thief.
SCHENECTADY  The Schenectady police officer involved in a controversial arrest last year was formally issued a counseling notice by the department for using foul language when he spoke to a teenager on a domestic violence call in 2019.

After responding to the incident on Congress Street on Nov. 10, 2019, Officer Brian Pommer told a juvenile, Your dads an (expletive) and whoever the (expletive) that lady is, I want to smack her in the mouth.

City police determined the comments failed to de-escalate the situation and made the incident more difficult to resolve.

This conduct is unprofessional and reflects poorly on the Schenectady Police Department, the city of Schenectady and law enforcement as a professional, wrote Lt. Brian Whipple in a counseling notice which also determined Pommers actions violated department policy.

The counseling notice was among documents the city released Friday to comply with a judge's order that rejected a police union effort to keep it secret.

Pommer was involved in a controversial incident over the summer in which a video showed him kneeling in the area around the head and neck of a man he was arresting, an encounter that inflamed tensions in the city following weeks of protests against systemic racism and police brutality. Police and prosecutors insist Pommer kneeled on the man's head and not his neck, according to official report of the incident released by the Schenectady County District Attorney's office.

The city released the notice and other documents Friday in response to a Freedom of Information Law records request from the Times Union. It comes weeks after a state Supreme Court Justice Mark Powers dismissed the Schenectady Police Benevolent Associations attempt to keep the counseling under wraps. The city had already released much of Pommer's personnel file to comply with the repeal of a state law that once shield such records from public disclosure.

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Pommer responded to the call in the citys Mont Pleasant neighborhood for a 16-year-old who was out of control following an argument with his father, according to materials released by the city. Officers previously were called to the same residence four months earlier when the youth removed his ankle bracelet.

A claim of discourtesy was filed the following day by a female family member who said Pommer also stepped on a door decoration and said oops in a very condescending way and bumped into her in a hallway and didnt say anything.

An investigation of the three-count complaint revealed both of those claims were unfounded. However, the claim of discourtesy was sustained.

Ultimately, the incident ended with Pommer and his unidentified partner leaving after advising the complainant that while the juvenile had committed a violation-level offense, she should contact the departments youth aid bureau and the local probation office. No arrests were made.

Pommer was formally issued the notice on April 15, 2020, and ordered to follow an improvement plan and review the departments standard of conduct.

The documents released Friday by the city also include a questionnaire Pommer filled out when he was a candidate to join the police department in 2012.

In it, he makes reference to a past effort to join the Schenectady police in 2009, but notes that he was rejected because he failed a polygraph test. It is unclear from the document why he failed the test. In the same form, he acknowledges using a steroid and a barbiturate one time each.

Pommer then went on to join the Marines Corps and was honorably discharged in 2013 after serving in Iraq.

The state Legislature last year repealed 50-a, a law that for decades had blocked the release of the personnel files of police officers and firefighters.

Yet the citys police union initially filed a lawsuit last September asking that the city be blocked from releasing information about unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct and cases that resulted in counseling rather than discipline.

The police union argued that such disclosure would violate the privacy of officers.

All personal information was redacted from files released Friday, including details on Pommers previous employers and other identifying information.

Pommer was disciplined for violating two city Police Department policies following the encounter with Yugeshwar Gaindarpersaud last July: Those related to discourtesy and reviewing evidence.

The eight-year veteran of the department agreed to be suspended for six days without pay and undergo field training.
Geddes, N.Y.  The FBI has put up a billboard on Interstate 690 near Syracuse as part of a national campaign to identify those involved in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.

The billboard, which went up Friday near the interchange of I-690 and the New York State Thruway in the town of Geddes, asks passing motorists to call or leave an online tip identifying people who participated in the insurrection that resulted in five deaths.

One Syracuse man, 65-year-old Albert Ciarpelli, is among the dozens of people who have already been charged by the FBI. A Rochester man, accused of being part of a group of people at the Capitol who said they would kill Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, was arrested Friday.

The national campaign is part of a partnership the FBI has with digital billboard companies across the country to slot in FBI messaging whenever open billboard spaces are available.

This is just another way to get the information out to more people, said Sarah Ruane, a spokeswoman for the FBIs Albany Field Office.

Ruane said the FBI is using around 9,600 billboards in 46 states.

The FBI asks that anyone with information can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or visit fbi.gov/USCapitol. Ruane said that all told, the FBI has received more than 150,000 tips related to the violence at the Capitol.

Contact Jacob Pucci at jpucci@syracuse.com or find him on Twitter at @JacobPucci.
As Brexit finally becomes a reality and the UK parts way with the EU, new online retail arrangements are set to hit Wexford consumers hard.

Under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK there will be additional costs for Irish consumers when purchasing items online from the UK.

The Minister for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation Robert Troy explained how it will work: 'We are now operating under a new set of rules for online trading and I want to remind Irish consumers to be alert to potential additional costs and changed entitlements when buying from UK online retailers.

'The main concerns for consumers are the possibility of additional costs, by way of VAT and Customs charges that may apply depending on the value and origin of the goods in question.

'Some online retailers are alerting consumers to these charges and some are including these additional charges in their final price. Consumers need to check out each retailer's policies and also whether there may be additional charges from the delivery company in respect of fee collection, for example.'

Listing the terms of the agreement, Minister Troy said Wexford consumers should be aware that: only goods of proven UK origin are tariff free. That goods bought from the UK but not of UK origin which cost more than 150 may be subject to customs duty. Irish VAT will apply on goods bought in the UK that cost more than 22. Where UK VAT has been charged on the purchase of goods, Irish VAT will still apply when the good(s) is imported into Ireland.

If an Irish consumer is charged UK VAT, a refund of such VAT should be sought by the consumer from the supplier.

Minister Troy added, 'We want consumers in Wexford to continue to enjoy the benefit from shopping online with the UK as one of our major trading partners, but I would urge Irish consumers to think ahead when buying from online retailers outside the EU and to visit the Consumer and Competition Protection Commission's website (ccpc.ie) which has lots of clear and useful information on charges and consumer rights.

'It also has helpful links to Revenue's website (revenue.ie) which also provides essential information for Irish consumers who intend to purchase goods online outside the EU single market.'
I am glad that the movie was made, because among ourselves, we know this is not news, she said. You would think scientists are smart  smart and dedicating their life for something noble. How can someone be that horrible and racist and narrow-minded? I believe science makes us better human beings. We do it because we believe its worth it, and it should be the part of the scientist or engineer personality to fight for the right thing.
"When this occurs, the support of regional governments will be important to efficiently distribute and implement them," the high-ranking official expressed.

Esta manana, la ministra Pilar Mazzetti y el gobernador regional de Piura, Servando Garcia, suscribieron un convenio de colaboracion interinstitucional para la ejecucion del Hospital de Alta Complejidad de esta region. pic.twitter.com/kqgehHQFxT

LAST Saturday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and his team made their usual weekly briefing on the status of the coronavirus in Trinidad and Tobago.

Given the rise in cases, the addition of a state of emergency was added to the existing public health measures, setting a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Delhiites woke up to a gloomy morning as a blanket of dense fog enveloped the national capital and the air quality dropped to severe category, resulting in a delay in flights and train services on Saturday.

The Air Quality Index worsened as it rose to 492, as opposed to Fridays 460, leading to low visibility.

Around 80 flights originating from and over 50 flights bound to Delhi have been delayed, mainly due to dense fog and other operational reasons today, said airport officials.

Further, the Delhi Airport, in a tweet on Saturday morning, urged passengers to keep an eye out on updates. Only CAT IIA and CAT IIB compliant aircraft and pilots are able to operate. Passengers are requested to contact the Airline concerned for updated flight information, it said.

On Friday, Delhi's minimum temperature rose to 6.4 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal, due to partly cloudy weather, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The maximum temperature stood at 20.8 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal.

Moderate fog lowered visibility to 201 metres at Safdarjung and 300 metres at Palam in the morning, an IMD official said. Dense fog is predicted in parts of the city on Saturday. According to the IMD, very dense fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres. In case of dense fog, the visibility is between 51 and 200 metres, moderate at 201 and 500 metres, and shallow at 501 and 1,000 metres.

On Thursday, the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded a minimum of 2 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal. It was 3.2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. Cold and dry northerly/northwesterly winds from the western Himalayas brought the minimum temperature down in Delhi on Thursday. The wind direction then changed to northeasterly. This, along with partly cloudy weather, resulted in an increase in the minimum temperature, said Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD's regional forecasting centre.

The city's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was 460. It was 429 on Thursday, 354 on Wednesday, 293 on Tuesday and 243 on Monday. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, satisfactory at 51-100, moderate at 101-200, poor at 201-300, very poor at 301-400, severe at 401-500.

A store sign for Tesco is pictured in central London, on Jan. 14, 2008. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

Tesco Supermarket in Manchester Closes Briefly Due to CCP Virus Outbreak

UKs Supermarket giant Tesco on Saturday briefly closed one of its branches in Greater Manchester after a staff member passed away amid a CCP virus outbreak.

Customers of Tescos Stretford branch on Chester Road found their local store closed on Saturday morning.

The supermarket chain had confirmed on Friday that a number of colleagues at the branch were off work due to self-isolation, test and trace, or COVID-19.

It also confirmed that one staff member had passed away, without confirming the cause of death out of respect for the employees family.

The store has now reopened after a few hours of closure.

A spokesperson for the supermarket chain said the store was closed to allow a deep clean.

The safety of our colleagues and customers is our immediate priority, the spokesperson wrote, in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times.

Our Stretford Extra is now open again after a temporary closure to carry out a deep clean and ensure that colleagues can get tested before entering the store, the statement reads.

We continue to work in partnership with Trafford Council and follow all Government guidance and recommendations agreed in consultation with the local Public Health authority, and apologise for any disruption this may have caused, it added.

The store said that it started testing all of the branchs 455 staff members since Friday in partnership with Trafford Council.

It also said that the store has a number of measures in place to minimise the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday reminded people to follow government guidelines while shopping in supermarkets.

Please remember that this disease can be passed on not just by standing too near someone in a supermarket queue, but also by handling something touched by an infected person, Johnson said in a televised briefing.

And remember also that one in three people with COVID have no symptoms. And thats why that original message of hand, face, space, washing your hands is as important as it has ever been.

Tesco on Tuesday joined other major supermarkets in the UK that said that customers not wearing a face covering would be denied entry to their stores.

Laws enacted in the spring mandate face-coverings in indoor public areas, with exceptions, but stores have generally taken a light-touch approach, preferring to offer masks for free, but not to challenge.

The shift in policy chimes with a tougher approach by police under Englands third lockdown to the enforcement of laws aimed at stemming the spread of the CCP virus.

Simon Veazey contributed to this report.

The mother of teenage actor Archie Lyndhurst has said the CBBC star died from a brain haemorrhage while he slept at his family home in west London.

An inquest into the 19-year-old's 'unexplained' death on September 22 had been abandoned months after the star passed away following a 'short illness'.

The teenager, who had been acting since the age of 11 and was son of Only Fools and Horses star Nicholas Lyndhurst, starred in the hit CBBC show So Awkward as Ollie Coulton and was dating co-star Nethra Tilakumara.

His devastated mother Lucy Lyndhurst has now revealed that Archie had died in his sleep after an intracerebral haemorrhage caused by acute lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukaemia - an incredibly rare condition which kills just 800 people a year.

Lucy and her husband Nicholas Lyndhurst, 59, found out the 'harrowing' details from his second post mortem just four days before Christmas.

Actor Nicholas Lyndhurst's son Archie, 19, was pronounced dead at home in Fulham, West London on September 22 after a 'short illness' (Pictured: Lucy, Archie and Nicholas Lyndhurst)

'Darling, magical boy': Sharing nine photos of Archie with his parents, Lucy said the family were still awaiting answers as to why he died (Nicholas Lyndhurst with Archie)

Lucy told her followers that 'the pain of our loss is beyond anything we have ever felt before, and wouldn't wish upon anyone'

Archie, who was the beloved son of Only Fools and Horses star Nicholas Lyndhurst and his wife Lucy Smith, starred in the hit CBBC show So Awkward as Ollie Coulton

His devastated mother Lucy Lyndhurst has now revealed that Archie had died in his sleep after an intracerebral haemorrhage caused by acute lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukaemia - an incredibly rare condition which kills just 800 people a year

Posting on Instagram, she wrote: 'He died from an Intracerebral Haemorrhage caused by Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma/Leukaemia.

'This is not Leukaemia as we know it, the word Acute in medical terms means rapid. He assured us that there wasn't anything anyone could have done as Archie showed no signs of illness.

'Archie had numerous bleeds on the brain and the Dr went to great lengths to reassure us that he wouldn't have been in any pain as it happened in his sleep.'

Lucy also shared pictures of Archie as a young child and pictures of him with Nethra, who she called 'the love of his life'.

Paying tribute to her only son, she said: 'The world is a very different place without him. One of my last conversations with him was about all that was going on in the world, the chaos, anger about all different subjects.

'He looked at me with his huge blue soulful eyes, shook his head and said 'All the world need is love Mama, it's so easy to love'.

'He loved life, he valued everyone in it and every moment he was given. He was always singing, and had such energy and passion in everything he did.

'To be part of his life has been the biggest joy mad honour. We miss him everyday and always will.'

The teenager starred in So Awkward as Ollie Coulton and also appeared as a young Jack Whitehall in the BBC's Bad Education in 2014.

Heartbreak: Sharing a photo of actor Nicholas kissing Archie as a young boy, Lucy said: 'We will love you forever and ever'

Lucy Lyndhurst said her son 'was and remains our absolute world' in the heartbreaking social media post. She added the couple would miss their son 'every day'

Actor Luke Milligan also paid tribute, saying: 'Tonight my brother travelled to heaven on the Pussy Wagon, to join his fellow angels and start his new journey!'

Police were called 'to a report of a concern for welfare' on September 22 and the young actor was declared dead at the scene. His death is being treated as 'unexplained but not suspicious'.

Sharing nine images of her late son on social media, Lucy told her followers: 'The pain of our loss is beyond anything we have ever felt before, and wouldn't wish upon anyone.'

Inquests: What are they and why are they held? An inquest is an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding a death where the cause is still unknown, or if the person died a violent or unnatural death, or in prison or police custody. The purpose of the hearing is to find out who the deceased person was and how, when and where they died. Coroners can reach one of a set list of conclusions, or return a 'narrative conclusion' if none of the categories are appropriate. Among the mots common conclusions are: Accidental death Misadventure Suicide Natural causes Unlawful killing The coroner can also make recommendations designed to prevent similar deaths occurring in future. Some inquests require a jury, for instance after an unnatural death in custody or in relation to health and safety at work. Deaths due to natural causes and most illnesses do not require an inquest to be held. Advertisement

She added: 'We've never known anyone live like Archie. He cherished and absorbed every moment he had.

'Until we meet again our darling magical boy. We will love you forever and ever and will be forever grateful for choosing us to be your parents. We were beyond lucky.'

Fellow actor and Archie's close friend, Luke Milligan, also paid tribute, writing: 'Tonight my brother travelled to heaven on the P**** Wagon, to join his fellow angels and start his new journey!

'Will miss you forever buddy! Until we meet again, go flyyyy high my man! Goodnight and Goodbye for now!'

Archie's girlfriend, actress Nethra Tilakumara, who starred alongside Archie in the CBBC show So Awkward, hasn't yet commented on his funeral but described the teenager as a 'beautiful soul' at the time of his death, writing: 'Every day with you was the best day ever.'

She shared the poignant tribute to her Instagram, alongside a photograph of her late boyfriend taking pictures with a Polaroid camera.

Ms Tilakumara wrote: 'There was once a boy named Archie Lyndhurst and he made me the happiest girl in the whole wide world.

'A boy in a white beanie with his skateboard, swaggered through two wooden doors with an unimaginable lust for life down the hallway of Sylvia Young Theatre School.

'He sat across from me while my head was buried in a script, trying to book a job.

'He was there for his friend who was really nervous and auditioning too, he was always there for his friends.

'Blissfully unaware, I had no idea my future was sitting right in front of me.'

She added: 'Boyfriend doesn't do it justice. Archie you were my Person and Best friend all in one.

'To spend the rest of my life laughing and going on adventures with you, was just it for me.

'Everything made sense with you. You made me laugh like no one else and you loved me in such a way that I will forever just be grateful for.

'Being loved by you was a bonus, but I can proudly say you are the most incredible person that I have ever met and had the pleasure of being in love with.'
For the first time in more than 15 years, the Palestinians are to hold elections, setting legislative polls for May 22 and a presidential vote on July 31.

The dates were published Friday in a presidential decree by Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.

Why was this decision taken now and what are expectations surrounding the polls?

- Why now? -

Abbas's decree followed renewed unity talks between his secular Fatah party and its longtime rivals, the militant Islamist organisation Hamas.

After more than a decade of infighting, Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Authority (PA) based in the occupied West Bank, and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, lately found common ground in opposition to Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank.

In September, spurred further by the shock normalisation of relations between Israel and two Arab Gulf countries, the Palestinian rivals agreed to launch presidential and legislative elections within six months.

The accords with Israel, signed first by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, then later also by Morocco and Sudan, have been condemned across the Palestinian political spectrum.

Friday's announcement also came ahead of the inauguration next week of US President-elect Joe Biden and amid hopes that his administration will chart a different course to that of Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel and its settlements in Palestinian territories.

The PA cut ties with Trump's administration, accusing it of egregious bias towards Israel.

- American factor? -

Now, with a new president at the door of the White House, the Palestinians feel the need to show more openness to US engagement, said Palestinian analyst Ghassan Khatib, a former cabinet minister.

They also need to address criticism of their political structure, he said.

"The Europeans and the Americans have been complaining about the lack of legitimacy and the need to renew the legitimacy of the Palestinian leadership," Khatib said.

"It might encourage the US to try to promote an Israeli-Palestinian political process," he added.

"Whether they will succeed or not depends on many other factors, including the political reality in Israel."

Right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving premier, will be seeking a fifth consecutive term in office in March polls.

For both Fatah and Hamas, a goal of the Palestinian elections is to gain legitimacy, according to Khatib, who added that for cash-strapped Hamas, it is also about continued aid from Qatar.

- Abbas? Hamas? -

The elderly president did not say Friday if he would seek another term in office.

His original mandate expired in 2009 and he has since governed by decree.

In addition to holding the presidency, Abbas is also head of Fatah and president of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), recognised internationally as representing the Palestinians.

An opinion poll published last month by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 66 percent of respondents wanted him to resign.

The survey said that should Abbas run again, he would lose to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Khatib said no party should be able to completely crush the other in this round of legislative polls -- set to be held under a new fully proportional electoral system -- reducing the chances of conflict.

But "we don't know if things are going to be smooth because it's an awkward situation, whereby one election is happening under two different governments," he said.

The response from the international community also remains to be seen, particularly in case of a breakthrough by Hamas, which the US and the European Union consider a terrorist organisation.

- Potential pitfalls? -

In Abbas's decree, he said he expected polls to be held "in all governorates of Palestine, including east Jerusalem", which was annexed by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War but is considered occupied territory by much of the international community.

Israel bans all Palestinian Authority activity in mainly-Arab east Jerusalem, and there was no indication the Jewish state would allow a Palestinian vote within the city.

It is also unclear whether Hamas will allow Fatah to campaign unhindered in Gaza, and if Fatah will extend such freedom to Hamas in the West Bank.

Human rights organisations have repeatedly warned of the repression of critics by both sides.

There is "plenty of scepticism" about the election plans, analyst Nour Odeh told AFP.

"People are still watching because it's a long way from today to May 22," she said.

"Everyone appreciates that a lot of things can happen."

Short link:



Businesses yesterday called for tougher lockdown measures, with some going as far as proposing a long curfew spanning from 6 p.m to 6 a.m.

The curfew now starts at 9 p.m. and goes till 5 a.m. Businesses also called on the Government to free up the importation of Covid-19 vaccines to allow private sector participation and to allow people to travel overseas to get vaccinated.



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Dozens of health workers clapped and cheered the "vaccine carrier" staff as the coronavirus vaccines doses reached Mumbai's Cooper hospital on Saturday morning.

With 'arti' thalis and sweets, the staff of Cooper hospital waited outside the facility to welcome the first beneficiaries of the vaccination drive.





Maharashtra: With Arti thalis and sweets, the staff of Cooper hospital in Mumbai wait to welcome the beneficiaries. #CoronaVaccinepic.twitter.com/CenNDVU0jk a ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2021

The hospital is one of the 285 centres in Maharashtra where the vaccnation will be conducted in the first phase. It is also among the centres where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be live through a webcast.

At each centre, the vaccine will be provided to 100 health workers on the first day, which cover 28,500 workers.

The prime minister through video link will view vaccination sessions at Cooper hospital, and at Jalna district hospital in Marathwada.

The state has received 9.63 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine and 20,000 doses of Covaxin vaccine, which have been distributed to all the districts. Vaccinations will be given daily from nine in the morning to five in the evening.

In Mumbai, the vaccination campaign will be launched by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at the centre in Bandra- Kurla complex.

Also read: Coronavirus vaccination drive LIVE updates: PM Modi urges Indians to take both doses; follow COVID protocols
Everyone will know that Coronavirus has caused and is causing substantial loss and distress to SMEs and large businesses alike and many have already shut up or under immense financial strain to stay afloat.

by Victor Cherubim

With UK crashing into its deepest recession of any major economy, we also see the UK holding the record for having administered the largest number of vaccinations around the world. According to statistics, 2.9 million of the UK population have already been vaccinated up to date.

The economic shock triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the GDP to fall by 8.2% below the level seen in February 2020. At the same time, we are seeing signs of the Kent variant of the pandemic, known as 202012/01, under control.

According to new research from Cambridge University, the R rate is dropping below 1in the 22 London Boroughs. This according to research is a sign that the virus may have peaked in early January 2021, as in some parts of England the R rate could be as low as 0.6.This is not all.

COVID-19 is not always bad news?

Today, 15 January 2021, small and large business are cheering a landmark Supreme Court ruling that appears set to force insurance companies to pay out on disputed corona virus business interruption claims worth at least 1.2 billion.

Everyone will know that Coronavirus has caused and is causing substantial loss and distress to SMEs and large businesses alike and many have already shut up or under immense financial strain to stay afloat.

A test case involving complex legal and insurance cover issues was brought to the Supreme Court, by the Financial Conduct Authority, (FCA) the business regulator in UK, against six large Insurers, Insurance Companies, among them Hiscox and RSA on behalf of 370,000 policy holders.

In September 2020,The High Court in London had allowed that the policies issued by these Insurers did not cover most of the Disease Clauses as well as certain Prevention of Access to Business Clauses in their policy cover. This was a body blow.

Six Insured appealed against this decision, which was also taken up by the FCA on their behalf. The Supreme Court was asked to set the parameters for valid claims from various policies taken.

What was the case about?

Hundreds of thousands of businesses that were forced by the UK Government to close due to the First Lockdown, or faced significant losses made claims on their business interruption insurance. But leading insurance companies and insurers (brokers) disputed their claims arguing their policies did not cover the restrictions.

Supreme Court lights up Covid business interruption policy pay outs

Five Judges, headed by Lord Reed, President, Supreme Court in their 112 -page verdict today (15 January 2021) overruled the original High Court judgment, in favour of the policy holders.

The interpretation of four types of clauses

The Four Types of Policy Clauses and their wordings referred to for convenience as:

Disease Clauses, Prevention of Access Clauses Hybrid Clauses and Trends Clauses.

Without going to at length to the legal interpretation of all these clauses, the public is aware of the Insurance industry always had relied on the small print in these Clauses.

The Companies who refused to pay claims to insured due to disruption to their business during Coronavirus, will now have to make certain interim payments wherever possible.

The judgment should be a massive boost to all businesses reeling from a third lockdown who can now demand their claims are paid, said Richard Leedham, Partner at Mischon de Reya who represented the Action Group who originally brought this claim against Hiscox. Many will remember this legal firm also represented the Royal Household and Princess Diana, years ago.

In fact, thousands of small businesses including many estate agents will now be due pay-outs after the Supreme Court judges ruled in policy holders favour on two key areas of argument. These are that disease clauses within business interruption policies can include COVID-19, and that agents who were told to close their branches by the government are due compensation.

Besides, the Supreme Court agrees that inability rather than hindrance of use must be established but holds that this requirement may be satisfied where a policy holder is unable to use the premises for a discrete business activity or is unable to use a discrete part of the premises for its business activities. The Supreme Court further interprets the wording requiring; prevention of access in a similar manner.

Landmark judgment

Readers will note that when I studied for my Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers exams in London, many moons ago, I was told by my tutor, that in our Ship Charter Parties the Clause interpretation English Law was often, in fact always, stipulated in drawing up the contract. Small wonder why in Sri Lanka we also sometimes refer to English Law in our Terms of Business. The reason is the clarity and precise interpretation of the terms of law and precedent.

Landmark Control mechanism in Corona Virus

Need I say, that in UK there is a paranoid belief in control of the strains of both the Kent and the Brazilian variant (501.V2) strain of Covid19 by vaccination. You would be surprised that Boris Johnson has opened a Vaccination Service at the historic Lichfield Cathedral, in UK. The pews in the Church have been removed and Vaccine cubicles have replaced. The vaccine has literally taken the place of The Almighty.
AIIMS Delhi vaccinates first Indian as PM launches Indias historic drive

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Jan 16: A sanitation worker became the first person to receive vaccine jab at AIIMS, Delhi on Saturday.

First Indian gets vaccinated | Witness the historic moment | Oneindia News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually launched nation-wide covid-19 vaccination drive. Billed as the world's largest vaccination program, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first inoculate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase.

Launching the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination program through video conferencing, Modi said people who need it the most will get the corona vaccine first.

When PM Modi got emotional while kicking off the historic vaccine drive

He stressed that this type of large-scale vaccination campaign has never before been run in history. He pointed out that India is vaccinating three crore people in its first phase of vaccination. Modi added that in the second phase, 30 crore people will be vaccinated. He said there are only three countries in the world with a population over 300 million - India, China and America.

The Prime Minister praised those scientists who had been involved in making the vaccine against Corona for the past several months. He exuded pride how two Made in India vaccines were readied in such a short period.

Modi highlighted the need to have two doses of corona vaccine. Between the first and second doses, a gap of about one month will be kept. The body will develop the immunity against the corona only 2 weeks after the second dose. He said India's fight against COVID 19 has been one of self-confidence and self-reliance.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 11:58 [IST]
JACKSON COUNTY, MI  The Jackson County Health Department and Henry Ford Allegiance Health have increased their COVID-19 vaccine distribution and plan to expand once more vaccine is available, officials said Jan. 15.

To date, 6,156 doses of vaccine have been administered in Jackson County, according to a news release. Both organizations have focused on vaccinating the first priority groups, which includes health care workers and essential frontline workers, the release states.

With long-term care facilities also being a top priority, a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens has identified 86 congregate living settings in Jackson, including nursing homes, assisted living, adult foster cares and retirement communities, the release states. The partnership offers on-site vaccination to the 4,600 residents and staff at those facilities, according to the release.

Vaccine clinic at Jackson nursing home immunizes 70 against COVID-19

Individuals can learn their priority group by filling out a survey created by JCHD. After the survey is complete, individuals will receive an email notification once vaccine appointments are available, according to the release.

Businesses in Phase 1B  which includes food and agriculture workers, critical manufacturing workers, public transit, grocery, USPS and workers with unique skill sets such as non-hospital laboratories and mortuary services  will be notified once scheduling is available for their employees.

Patients in the Henry Ford Health System are encouraged to confirm they have a Henry Ford MyChart account to help schedule an appointment.

Local vaccine updates are also available by calling the COVID Vaccine Information Line at (517) 817-4469. Information on vaccine locations, shipments to providers, doses administered and vaccine prioritization can be found on the states website.

READ MORE:

Jackson County still working through first phase of COVID-19 vaccinations

Henry Ford Allegiance Health partners with Jackson County to expand community vaccination effort

Supply holding back Jackson County COVID-19 vaccination efforts, health department says
In this century, soft power is often said to have replaced hard power: that is, the power of enormous influence over the lives of millions has replaced tanks and guns. For example, Swedens power no longer lies with its military policies, which once commanded so much of northern Europe: Swedish power is now invested in Ikea, Volvo and Spotify.

Poland enjoyed some prestige from producing a Polish Pope, but its soft power today reposes in the fact that it is the worlds fourth-largest exporter of video games, after China, Japan and Hong Kong. The Polish CD Projekt Red is the industrys leader.

Communism is no longer fashionable these days so the power of Chinas Communist regime is seldom admired, but it reaches a lot of soft power through the two billion users who download personalised videos via its TikTok.

Neutral little Switzerlands soft power resides in the vast amount of money and gold deposited in its vaults.

Music and sport exercise global soft power. More people probably know about the Irish Famine and the infamous Charles Trevelyan via The Fields of Athenry than through any history book. Sportsmen and women have always had soft power: from Muhammad Ali to Sir Lewis Hamilton, men of colour have championed their people through the reach of their sporting achievements.

Influencers like the Kardashians have created soft power for themselves  and for others in their wake. Ive been astonished by how many young women attract hefty revenues through the simple procedure of recommending cosmetics via their websites. More power to their elbow!

But surely we must acknowledge that the mistress, the queen and the empress of contemporary soft power is Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex. Like her or critique her, the global-reach soft power that she has achieved over the space of a few short years is amazing. The lady has built a soft-power empire.

Her half-sister Samanthas book, The Diary of Princess Pushys Sister, published next week, may not present a flattering picture of Meghan, but it is unlikely to detract from her power. It may even add to Meghans stock, under the Barnum principle that any publicity is good publicity.

Think about it: in the summer of 2016, Meghan Markle, a leading actress in a middle-ranking TV series, meets Prince Harry, a lost soul never at ease with his station in life. Less than two years later, they are married at Windsor with the full pomp and ceremony of the Church of England, Meghans previous divorce notwithstanding (and a fast-track reception into the Anglican Church effected). Nice house bestowed on couple, and marriage is followed by birth of a son. And then, in late 2019, the Sussexes decamp to Canada and subsequently California, where they settle down to fashioning their new life.

What a smart career move that turned out to be! Last year, the couple clinched a deal with Netflix worth a reported $100m. I say the couple, but few doubt that the business acumen is Meghans, as well as the pitch, the concept and the imagination. It was announced they would use the deal for inspirational family programming that informs but also gives hope. Deft touch: theres a global audience for that.

Then, towards the end of 2020, came the Sussexes deal with the aforementioned Spotify, for a reported $25m. They now have their own broadcast outlet, Archewell Audio  named after their toddler son, Archie, who has made a first appearance via Spotify podcasting. There have been some grumblings that at a time when the revenue of professional musicians has dwindled to the most meagre returns, the Sussex deal seems disproportionate. On the other hand, Meghan and Harry have pledged to do all sorts of good deeds for charity, and have hired a fleet of staff to help promote wellness, mental health care and womens causes. Theyre absolutely on the hot-button topics.

There are critical mutterings in Britain  among royals, and among the populace, where the couples popularity has fallen  but from Meghans viewpoint, she is living a richly fulfilling life. She has her man (Harrys already talking Californian like his neighbour Gwyneth Paltrow, telling us to imagine that we are all little raindrops), she has her son, and she has created, from her own bold initiatives, a business empire worth millions of dollars.

But its not just the money. Meghans soft power can command almost any global celebrity to her side, from Oprah Winfrey to Elton John and Gloria Steinem, matriarch of American feminism. Anything Meghan endorses will gain favour. It is reasonable to suppose that the doors of the Biden-Harris White House will be open to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Sure, people will say jealous things, but thats the price of success. When one or other of his grandparents departs this world  Philip will be 100 this year; Elizabeth, 95  Harry will wish to return for the ceremonial adieux, and there may be all kinds of mixed feelings. But you have to hand it to Duchess Meghan: she has moved the chess pieces on the board of life brilliantly, and deserves to be acknowledged as the very epitome of soft power.

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Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia Krisjanis Karins discussed bilateral cooperation issues during a video meeting on January 15, the Government portal reports.

During the conversation, Shmyhal drew attention to the fact that the Latvian market is important for Ukrainian products, in particular the food and processing industries.

He also suggested that the Latvian side continue to attract additional freight traffic and create the most favorable conditions for the transportation of goods.

"It would be expedient, inter alia, to use the Zubr container train and the Black Sea ports, in which a network of ferry services and sea container lines operate, being part of international transport corridors and the most efficient logistics transport routes," the PM noted.

Shmyhal added that Ukraine expects to sign a Common Aviation Area Agreement with the European Union, which will provide an opportunity to further liberalize transport relations with EU member states.

Apart from that, the Prime Minister stressed that Ukraine continues to comprehensively reform the energy sector.

During the virtual meeting, Shmyhal thanked his Latvian counterpart, as well as Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, for supporting the initiative to provide the Eastern Partnership countries with a COVID-19 vaccine and for their consistent position on the Nord Stream 2 project.

According to Shmyhal, Ukraine appreciates Latvia's support in countering Russian aggression, as well as support of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Latvia in a long-term humanitarian aid program for the areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions affected by the hostilities.

The Ukrainian prime minister also invited Latvia to join the work on the creation of the Crimean Platform and its further activities, given the important role of Latvia in promoting Ukraines interests in the EU and NATO.

As Shmyhal stressed, Kyiv highly appreciates Latvia's support for Ukraine's European integration and Euro-Atlantic aspirations as well as crucial reforms.

For his part, Krisjanis Karins assured that Latvia is ready to share with Ukraine the experience of reforms, in particular in the anti-corruption sector, which will have a positive impact on both the economy and foreign investments.

PM Shmyhal invited his Latvian counterpart to visit Kyiv on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Ukraines independence.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A massive relief package proposed by President-elect Joe Biden is expected to provide financial aid to families and businesses struggling through the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic while ramping up the nations vaccination efforts.

On Thursday, Biden unveiled the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, a proposal that, if passed, would provide larger stimulus checks, an increased federal minimum wage, additional unemployment assistance, funding for state and local governments and enhanced vaccination efforts.

With Democrats now controlling the White House, as well as both chambers of Congress, federal lawmakers may be able to pass the proposed legislation more quickly than past relief bills, where partisan politics often held up the approval process.

Heres a look at whats included in the American Rescue Plan.

LARGER STIMULUS CHECKS

The proposed plans would provide a $1,400 stimulus check to all eligible Americans, in addition to the $600 received late last year, bringing the total relief payment to $2,000.

An additional $1,400 per person in direct checks will help hard-hit households cover expenses, spend money at local businesses in their communities, and stimulate the economy, according to the plan.

Eligibility for the stimulus checks would also be expanded to adult dependents and mixed status households, who may not have qualified for previous rounds of payments.

INCREASED FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE

The proposed plan calls on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, allowing workers to better provide for their families.

Hard working Americans deserve sufficient wages to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads, without having to keep multiple jobs. But millions of working families are struggling to get by. This is why the president-elect is calling on Congress to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, and end the tipped minimum wage and sub-minimum wage for people with disabilities so that workers across the country can live a middle class life and provide opportunity for their families, according to the plan.

UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE

The proposed plan calls for the extension of federal unemployment relief programs currently set to expire in mid-March.

Under the plan, the programs, which provide additional financial assistance to those out of work as a result of the pandemic, would be extended through September 2021.

The plan would also provide an additional $400-per-week unemployment benefit to help cover household expenses.

SMALL BUSINESS RELIEF

The proposed plan calls on the federal government to provide $15 billion in grants to more than a million of the countrys hardest hit small businesses.

Additionally, the proposal calls for the leveraging of $35 billion in government funding into $175 billion in additional small business lending and investment.

In addition, the president-elect wants to work with Congress to make sure that restaurants, bars, and other businesses that have suffered disproportionately have sufficient support to bridge to the recovery, including through the Community Credit Corporation at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), according to the plan.

COVID VACCINATION/TESTING FUNDING

The proposed plan commits $160 billion to create a national vaccination program, expand testing, mobilize a public health jobs program and take other necessary steps to fight the coronavirus.

Of the $160 billion committed to addressing the coronavirus, $20 billion would be invested in a national vaccine program, $50 billion would be invested in enhanced testing, $30 billion would be invested in the nations Disaster Relief Fund, $10 billion would be invested in the domestic production of pandemic supplies and $11 billion would go towards a global response to the pandemic.

Remaining funding will be used to set up a public health jobs program, address health disparities, protect vulnerable populations and research emerging strains of the virus.

EDUCATION FUNDING

The proposed plan commits $130 billion to safely reopen schools across the country with proper COVID precautions in place.

These funds can be used to reduce class sizes and modify spaces so students and teachers can socially distance; improve ventilation; hire more janitors and implement mitigation measures; provide personal protective equipment; ensure every school has access to a nurse; increase transportation capacity to facilitate social distancing on the bus; hire counselors to support students as they transition back to the classroom; close the digital divide that is exacerbating inequities during the pandemic; provide summer school or other support for students that will help make up lost learning time this year; create and expand community schools; and cover other costs needed to support safely reopening and support students, according to the plan.

The proposal would also commit $35 billion to expand the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, providing millions of college students additional financial aid through their university, and $5 billion for the Hardest Hit Education Fund, which supports student populations that have been hit disproportionately hard by the pandemic.

CHILD CARE

The proposed plan includes the formation of a $25 billion Emergency Stabilization Fund to help child care providers.

It will help providers pay for rent, utilities, and payroll, as well as increased costs associated with the pandemic including personal protective equipment, ventilation supplies, smaller group sizes, and modifications to make the physical environment safer for children and workers, according to the plan.

It will also assist those that have had to shut down meet their financial obligations during the pandemic, so that they can reopen, according to the plan.

The plan also calls for a $15 billion expansion of the Child Care and Development Block Grant program to help parents who are experiencing job loss and are struggling to provide child care.

Additionally, Biden is calling on Congress to increase child care tax credits for one year, allowing families to recoup up to 50% of money spent on child care for children under age 13.

FIGHTING HUNGER

The proposed plan includes an extension of the 15% Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit increase through September 2021.

Maintaining the increase through the summer - when childhood hunger spikes due to a lack of school meals - is a critical backstop against rising food insecurity, according to the plan.

The proposal also calls for a $3 billion, multiyear investment in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), as well as $1 billion in nutritional assistance for U.S. Territories, like Puerto Rico.

TRANSIT FUNDING

The proposed plan calls for $20 billion investment into the countrys hardest-hit public transit systems.

This relief will keep agencies from laying off transit workers and cutting the routes that essential workers rely on every day, while making these transit systems more resilient and ensuring that communities of color maintain the access to opportunity that public transportation provides, according to the plan.

On Thursday, MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye released a statement praising the proposed plan, which is expected to bring significant financial aid to the cash-strapped transit agency.

COMBATTING EVICTIONS AND FORECLOSURES

The proposed plan calls for an extension of the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums through September 2021.

These measures will prevent untold economic hardship for homeowners, while limiting the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, according to the plan.

The proposal also calls for a $30 billion investment in rental and critical energy and water assistance for hard-hit individuals and families, as well as a $5 billion investment in emergency assistance for those at risk of homelessness.
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Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, Jan. 12, 2021. (Andrew Harnik/Pool via Reuters)

US Imposes Fresh Sanctions on Iran

WASHINGTONThe United States on Friday imposed sanctions on companies in Iran, China, and the United Arab Emirates for doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and on three Iranian entities over conventional arms proliferation.

They are the latest in a series of measures aimed at stepping up pressure on Tehran.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington had sanctioned seven companies, including Chinese-based Jiangyin Mascot Special Steel Co and UAE-based Accenture Building Materials, and two people for shipping steel to or from Iran.

He said Irans Marine Industries Organization, Aerospace Industries Organization, and the Iran Aviation Industries Organization had also been blacklisted over conventional arms proliferation.

In a statement later on Friday, Pompeo said he was also increasing the scope of metals-related sanctions against Iran administered by the State Department.

Those who knowingly transfer 15 materials which the State Department says are used in connection with Irans nuclear, military or ballistic missile programs, including certain types of aluminum and steel, would be subject to sanctions, he said.

The Iranian presidents chief of staff, Mahmoud Vaezi, dismissed the sanctions.

During his four years in office, U.S. President Donald Trump has tried to force Tehran back into talks over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its activities in the Middle East. Saying the agreement did not go far enough, Trump in 2018 quit an Iran nuclear deal, which Tehran struck with world powers in 2015 to rein in its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, has said he will return to the 2015 nuclear pact if Iran resumes strict compliance with it.

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DENVER  Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday said the Trump administration showed gross incompetence when it provided false information about the existence of a federal vaccine reserve.

The criticism came three days after the administration announced the federal government would begin releasing second doses of the vaccine being held in a reserve.

It was later discovered that the administration had already started shipping the available doses at the end of December, depleting any reserves along with the hopes that states would receive double the supply in the coming weeks.

Were glad that every dose was sent out, but  on several calls with state governors, the White House lead us all to believe that there was a second dose that had been paired that would be released soon, Polis said at a news conference.

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Polis previously tweeted: Im shocked we were lied to and there is no national reserve. He said the state had been led to believe it would receive 210,000 doses next week but later found out it would get just 79,000.

A White House administration official said states have still not ordered all of the doses allocated to them, and called it a problem with states expectations.

Colorados goal is to give vaccines to 70% of residents 70 and older by the end of February. Polis said the additional supply would have covered half of the 70-and-over population in the state.

Polis said about 50,000 Colorado residents 70 and older have already received the vaccine.

Im still confident well meet our initial timeline because we did base that on the conservative figures of what we knew we could expect through the normal supply chain, he said.

Colorado is expecting shipments of 34,700 Moderna and 35,100 Pfizer doses over each of the next two weeks, Polis said. In mid-February, officials expect supply to increase but Polis warned, we have been misled before.

Polis also said 64,500 Colorado health care workers have been vaccinated and 48,000 have received their second dose.

The governor also announced he would be issuing an executive order that would prevent health care providers from charging any copays or fees for coronavirus vaccines.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some  especially older adults and people with existing health problems  it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.

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Nieberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
The state Senate on Friday morning approved a second eight-year term for Associate Justice Andrew J. McDonald after a brief debate and a protracted voting process in the legislatures COVID-era rules, with several written votes in favor of the jurist being read aloud from the Senate podium after being delivered from lawmaker offices in the Capitol complex.

The vote was 26-6, with opposition coming from conservative Republicans including Sen. Eric Berthel of Watertown, Sen. Craig Miner of Litchfield, Sen. Henri Martin of Bristol, Sen. Dan Champagne of Vernon, Sen. Heather Somers of Groton and Sen. Kevin Witkos of Canton.

While Senate opponents did not speak during the floor debate, the balloting showed lingering feelings over the 2018 Senate vote that killed McDonalds nomination to become chief justice, and which surfaced in the House on Thursday.

Six Republicans voted in favor of the 54-year-old McDonald, who would have become the nations first openly gay chief in 2018, but the Senate rejected the nomination.

He did go through a difficult period when he was put forward as a potential chief justice of the Supreme Court, said Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield. That did not work out for him. But since that time he has continued to write many, many decisions, upheld, my understanding is, and well-respected by his collagues. And I just think that as much as he might still be somewhat controversial in some respects, once you serve a term, its hard to go back to the private sector, so I think Justice McDonald should be renominated.

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved his nomination on Thursday, with some lingering opposition over his opposition to the death penalty and allegations of judicial activism from some conservatives.

McDonald was appointed to the high court by then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in 2013, after a two-year stint heading Malloys Capitol legal office. Prior to that, McDonald served as a state senator from Stamford.

Sen. Rob Sampson of Wolcott, who is challenging an elections-related fine and who in December lost a lawsuit against Gov. Ned Lamonts emergency powers to close state businesses in the pandemic, recused himself from the debate. Sen. Dennis Bradley, D-Bridgeport and Sen. Alex Kasser, D-Greenwich, were absent.

The vote for McDonald was the first item on an agenda that the Senate flew through before noon, finalizing terms for 13 other judicial appointments, including including Superior Court Judge Gary L. White of Stamford, Superior Court Judge Shelley A. Marcus of Branford, Senior Judge Marcia Gleeson of Avon, Superior Court Judge Peter L. Brown of Hamden and Senior Judge Frank DAddabbo Jr. of Cromwell.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
Representative Image.

As India begins the inaugural of the worlds largest COVID-19 vaccination drive, Moneycontrol spent a day at three of the biggest hospitals in Delhi, all of whom began by inoculating their own staff and other healthcare workers on Day 1.

The national capital has been at the forefront as it is one of the worst affected by COVID-19 among Indian cities with 6.31 lakh infections and 10,732 deaths as a result of the pandemic, since April.

The next step of the vaccination drive will involve non-medical frontline personnel, like police, paramilitary, armed forces, sanitation and municipal workers. This could take at least a week or more. Only then will hospitals turn their attention to senior citizens or those with the risk of comorbidity.

As one entered the compound of Safdarjung Hospital, one could find scores of security personnel guiding the queue of health workers through the different wings. Posters of the COVID-19 vaccines were plastered throughout the hospital complex.

One could find scores of media personnel enquiring about the way towards the vaccination centres.

Abhay Kumar( name changed), 34, a member of the administrative staff at the Safdarjung hospital said, "The vaccines were delivered around 8:30 in the morning today. We will be vaccinating only the internal staff today as per government order.

"As per my knowledge around 73 people have received the shot till now", he said. A lot of government officials have been visiting the hospital the whole day to oversee the drive," he added.

"The process has been a little slow today, I think it will take at least a week to vaccinate so many doctors," Kumar remarks.

Smriti Mittal (name changed), hails from Ajmer, Rajasthan. She is an intern with Safdarjung Hospital. She says "As far as I know, only the senior doctors and the nursing staff is getting the shot today. I think my number will come only after a few days."

Outside Gate No. 7 of Vardhaman Mahavir Medical College adjacent the Safdarjung Hospital, a small group of men were protesting. The protestors shouted slogans for the government officials to administer the vaccine shot before opening it to the public.

Unlike the Safdarjung Hospital which is abuzz with honks of ambulances, vehicles and angry security personnel, the environment at Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital, NCT Delhi, in Malviya Nagar was starkly opposite and sombre.

The entrance gate of the hospital was decorated with strings of marigold. The entire hospital complex was flooded with posters of the COVID-19 vaccine. Some members of the hospital staff were standing the entrance to receive the officials from the Sub Divisional Magistrate Office.

Second floor of the main building was designated as the Covid19 vaccination centre at Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital.

At the waiting area on the second floor right outside vaccination centre, a registration booth was set up.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an official from the hospital said, "Our hospital has received a list to vaccinate 400 internal members today and the list is issued from the SDM office on behalf of the central government."

"The process is going a slow today because so many doctors are on duty and some are on leave. Moreover, so many people from the government and nodal officers have been coming in to inspect here."

" Very soon a lot of doctors who run their private clinics will also be coming to get a shot," the official added.

At Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital in Saket, Ashutosh Chaturvedi, 31, Emergency Nursing Head was the first person to receive the Covishield shot.

In a conversation with Moneycontrol, Ashutosh said, " I am happy to be the first person from the hospital to get vaccinated but my family was a little anxious since so many rumours about the vaccines are doing rounds."

"I think when the health workers will be the first ones to get vaccinated, the general public too will get confident that the vaccines are completely safe," noted Ashutosh.

Ashutosh shared that he was kept under observation for 45 minutes after receiving the vaccine.

He said, " I had no side effects and have been feeling completely normal ever since. I soon got back to duty after the shot."

Ashutosh will receive the next shot of the vaccine 28 days later.

Dr. Sahar Qureshi, Medical Superintendent, Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, Saket was overseeing the implementation of the vaccine drive with the nursing and the administrative staff.

Explaining the procedure Sahar says, " Around 15 days ago we were informed that the hospital would be turned into a vaccination centre. We have been preparing for it ever since.

"Today, we received the vaccines around 8 in the morning," shared Sahar.

"The process begins by registering the people on the Cowin portal. Thereafter a medical checkup is conducted. After the vaccination, the person is kept under observation for 30 minutes in the presence of the concerned officials from the hospital and the government. "

"Our doctors take the vitals of the patient after they have received the shot. Thereafter the details of the patient and that they have been vaccinated is updated on the Cowin portal," Dr. Sahar shares.

"So far we have vaccinated 65 people today. We had received a list to vaccinate 100 people," she said.

From Monday we will be vaccinating 300 people at the hospital and two more centres will be set up for the same," Dr. Sahar added.

Twenty-seven Texas agencies would like the Texas Legislature to allocate $898.6 million to address risks related to cybersecurity and legacy systems, according to the 2020 Prioritized Cybersecurity and Legacy Systems (PCLS) report To comply with state law, the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) produces a PCLS report during every even-numbered year. Information is collected through a survey, and roughly 80 agencies have the opportunity to participate.The funding requested in this latest report, which was submitted in October 2020 and released last month, eclipses the amount requested in the 2018 PCLS report, which included a $482 million request from 28 agencies.The $898.6 million would cover 59 different projects. Enterprise Solution Services Director Krishna Edathil, who conducted the survey and published the report, said in an email that additional details about the projects and how the funding breaks down by project wouldn't be disclosed.While it is unknown how much of the requested money would go toward cybersecurity projects versus legacy modernization projects, Edathil provided a brief explanation as to why the current funding request was so much more than the 2018 request."Several agencies submitted modernization projects of larger applications which impacted the overall request," he said."As this is the third report, many agencies engaged early and had teams allocated to work on developing their projects," he added. "The growth seems to align with the ongoing agency prioritization of modernization and cybersecurity."One can only speculate that COVID-19 had an impact on the 2020 report by putting a bigger spotlight on technology shortcomings among Texas agencies.It's also impossible to predict how much money the Texas Legislature would provide for the cybersecurity and legacy modernization projects. In his email, Edathil indicated that the state approved more than $200 million for projects requested in 2018.In related news, DIR has issued a far-reaching Request for Offer (RFO) for technology related to the modernization of the Texas Agency Network (TEX-AN), which manages voice and data communications. According to DIR documentation, the RFO proposals should outline an expansive portfolio of data and voice services to improve workflows, security and scalability in order to address needs around remote work, cloud computing, next-gen 911, automatic billing and other functions.DIR estimates the contract will span four years, with four one-year optional renewals. DIR will hold a webinar to address questions on Jan. 19.
Washington: Frustrated by the loss of his Twitter account and forced to accept that he soon must leave office, President Donald Trump has effectively stopped doing his job, delegating daily responsibilities to Vice-President Mike Pence while hunkering down with a shrinking group of acquiescent aides and contemplating additional presidential pardons.

Trump had considered leaving the White House before his final day in office, even as early as this weekend, but he has opted to depart on the morning of President-elect Joe Bidens Inauguration Day, according to two people familiar with discussions who cautioned that, with Trump, plans are always subject to change.

President Donald Trump has asked for an elaborate send-off on the morning of Inauguration Day. Credit:Bloomberg

The President has requested a major send-off on the morning of inauguration. It would begin with a throng of cheering, flag-waving staffers and supporters to see him off on the White Houses South Lawn, according to a person familiar with the planning, and continue to a more formal ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, featuring a red carpet, military band, colour guard and 21-gun salute. Hell make his final Air Force One flight to Florida, to take up residence at Mar-a-Lago, his West Palm Beach, Florida, estate.

While Trump is still unwilling to formally concede to Biden directly, or to participate in the traditional show of the peaceful transfer of power by attending his successors swearing-in, Pence called Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and congratulated her and offered assistance ahead of inauguration, according to a person familiar with the call.
The health authorities reported cases of adverse event following immunisation (AEFI), one each at Vijayawada and Anantapur, two in Nellore and five in Kurnool.  Associated Press

Vijayawada: On the first day of the Covid-19 vaccination programme, 19,108 healthcare workers were given the Covishield vaccine by 8.30 pm and nine cases of adverse events following immunisation were reported on Saturday.

State health authorities administered the vaccination in 332 session sites and covered 19,108 persons against the target of 31,570. They said the the Centre had given them the target to administer the vaccine at 143 session sites to 14,300 persons and they had crossed it.

On the other hand, the health authorities reported cases of AEFI (adverse event following immunisation), one each at Vijayawada and Anantapur, two in Nellore and five in Kurnool.

In Anantapur government hospital, a woman health worker identified as Akhila developed giddiness soon after administration of the Covid-19 vaccine and started vomitings. She was immediately given medication and she recovered. The authorities admitted her in the hospital and kept her under observation as a precautionary measure.

In Nellore district, a woman nurse developed giddiness after administration of Covid-19 vaccine at the community health centre at Kota. At Kavali, a doctor developed giddiness after getting the vaccine at the area hospital. Both of them returned to normal after some time.

In Kurnool district, five healthcare workers in different cases developed nausea after getting the vaccine at a primary health centre at Nannuru all through the day.

In Vijayawada government hospital, a woman sanitation worker, Radha Krishna, developed giddiness and fainted soon after taking the vaccine. Health authorities treated her and she recovered in about 15 minutes.

Sources said that she had not eaten in the morning before taking the vaccine and might have fainted due to weakness. She later had her lunch. Health authorities said she might have vasovagal shock  the bodys response to certain triggers.
SHIRAOI, Japan - The Upopoy National Ainu Museum and Park has attracted a total of 198,485 visitors in the six months since its opening in mid-July, the operator said Wednesday.

Although the initial target had been set at 1 million visitors per year, the Foundation for Ainu Culture, which operates the facility, said at a press conference that "[the figure] is considered to be good as the number of visitors has been limited due to the coronavirus crisis."

Upopoy houses the National Ainu Museum, a cultural exchange hall, a workshop facility, a crafts studio and an area modeled after a traditional Ainu village.

The Ainu word upopoy means "singing together in a large group."

The complex opened on July 12, 2 months later than initially planned due to the virus outbreak.

The museum and hall require advance reservations in order to limit the number of visitors at one time.

According to the foundation, the average daily number of visitors during the six-month period was 1,177 on weekdays and 1,509 on weekends and holidays. By month, 44,016 visited in September, and 52,359 in October.

However, the number halved to 28,795 in November when infections once again started surging, and dropped even more sharply to 8,305 in December.

This is mainly because of a series of cancellations of school trips and other educational trips.

Still, the number of visitors to Upopoy as part of educational trips totaled 48,532 from 603 schools over the six-month period.

For the next fiscal year, it has already received reservations from 422 schools that are expected to bring 50,320 visitors.

The foundation believes that teachers among others in educational fields "show great interest in the facility as a place to learn about Ainu culture."

In order to attract more visitors while implementing measures against the virus, Upopoy later this month will start a service that can produce smartphone pictures in which users will be depicted in Ainu folk costumes, without actually wearing them.

It will also start a program that allows visitors to simulate traditional Ainu hunting and games.

The museum plans to replace items on display in the special exhibition room every two months.

The foundation said it hoped many more people will learn about Ainu culture and how wonderful it is through hands-on programs, while taking thorough measures against the virus.

"Although there are some issues to be dealt with, such as traffic congestion in the area, we are grateful for the efforts being made to revive Ainu culture amid the ongoing pandemic," said Tadashi Kato, former executive director of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido.
Colorado Springs School District 11 added to the number of schools pivoting to remote learning amid the increase in coronavirus cases in El Paso County.
Emmanuelle Levesque France

At the age of 12, during a visit to the Tate Gallery in London, Emmanuelle encountered the first paintings that made her want to paint. The paintings of Van Gogh and Francis Bacon, and the colours of the Fauves and the Expressionists profoundly affected her, and the young artist lived a truly poetic experience. She decided to attend a fine arts workshop outside her regular school curriculum, and after receiving a high school diploma in the arts, she joined the School of Fine Arts.

She studied drawing and preferred figurative painting initially. The light of the Brittany coast, always changing and capricious, was a source of inspiration and desires for her. After painting from nature and photos, she decided to give free rein to her imagination and to trust the colours as her only medium, and thus she moved definitively to abstraction.

On a trip to Russia she met many passionate artists (musicians, actors, filmmakers), and on returning to France, she became a schoolteacher. The overwhelming artistic imagination of children taught her much and this experience helped her to affirm her own colours as her joie de vivre. She then devoted herself entirely to painting.

Today, Emmanuelle uses a knife to maintain a crude gesture, structure the space and give more intensity and energy to the colours. She has chosen abstraction and now, released from the subject, she has become interested in the work of abstract painters from the Parisian School. She particularly likes the colour saturation and sometimes shocking contrasts. Meanwhile, she also admires clean and poetic work. Open to exploring techniques, Emmanuelle shows a predilection for oil painting, which she continually returns to. She develops her own pigments and tries to find new relationships of colour.

Following on from the thought of Kandinsky, Emmanuelle never strays from the spirituality of colour and art.
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SANTA FE, N.M.  Members of the New Mexico National Guard have been deployed to Santa Fe, the U.S. Postal Service has removed collection boxes from the area around the Roundhouse, and the FBI is staffing a command post due to the potential for violence at capitol buildings in all 50 states ahead of the presidential inauguration next week.

Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber said he has talked with mayors across the country, as well as the governor and law enforcement. He said they know there will be demonstrations this weekend, and he and the police chief have urged protesters to be peaceful.

The right to protest, the right to speak your opinion and have your voice heard is guaranteed by the Constitution, Webber said. We respect it and it is an absolute foundational part of our democracy. What is not protected by the Constitution is inciting a mob to violence. People in our city have the right and the expectation that theyll be safe, and that their security will be a priority for this city government and the state of New Mexico.

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Late Friday, the mayor issued a proclamation of emergency due to civil unrest. The proclamation asks the citys leadership to coordinate with the states emergency response, and for employees who are not involved in public safety to avoid downtown and the Capitol as much as possible. It asks the public to protect and respect life, property, peace and liberties, maintain civil liberties and engage in reflection regarding how to come to common understandings as a community and protect and preserve our democracy and government.

The proclamation will last three days, but it may be extended.

Local leaders of both the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys Office of New Mexico stressed that they are not focusing on free speech or peaceful protests, but they are preparing for violent demonstrations. Supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the nations Capitol in Washington, D.C., last week following a protest and rally.

The U.S. Attorneys Office in New Mexico is working closely with the FBI and our other federal law enforcement partners, and we are prepared to act if there is a nexus to our jurisdiction that warrants federal charges, acting U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Fred Federici said in a statement.

FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said federal agents are working with federal, state and local agencies to monitor threats and share intelligence.

FBI assets are on standby to support investigations and respond to any potential threats of violence to the state Capitol, federal buildings, and other key facilities, Fisher wrote in a news release.

On Wednesday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state emergency, putting the New Mexico National Guard on standby. Members of the guard, which has about 4,000 soldiers and airmen in its ranks, also have been deployed to Washington.

Some members of the Guard could be seen Friday afternoon walking through the state Capitol grounds, along with local law enforcement, surveying the area. In addition to erecting fencing, officials have set up several concrete roadblocks along the roadways leading to the complex. Security cameras and no trespassing signs have also been put up.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Postal Service temporarily removed three mail collection boxes from within a half mile of the Roundhouse and is closing a nearby facility at noon Saturday.

In a news release, the Postal Service said the changes were security preparations for the potential upcoming civil events and meant to protect the mail and the public.

Journal staff writer Isabella Alves contributed to this report.
NVIDIA has just unveiled a 12 GB version of the GeForce RTX 3060, which will be available sometime in February. However, a new EEC registration by Palit suggests that even more Ampere cards are on the way. Specifically, the board partner has registered multiple SKUs for the GeForce RTX 3050 Ti and GeForce RTX 3080 Ti; both are rumoured to be arriving within the next few months.

4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 5G , Accessory , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker

Stock issues with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series cards may remain until May at the earliest, but it seems that board partners are preparing for more Ampere releases. AIDA64 Extreme has already added the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti to its repository, suggesting that a release is on the horizon. At the same time, Manli registered multiple SKUs with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) for the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, among other graphics cards.

PALIT has done the same, but with 27 registrations for GeForce RTX 3080 Ti SKUs. According to Videocardz, NVIDIA is yet to set a release date for the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, with the company keeping the graphics card on hold until stock levels of Ampere GPUs have improved. Conversely, we may not see the card at all if stock levels remain poor throughout 2021, but Videocardz states that NVIDIA has not cancelled the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, yet.

Prime Minister to weigh in on legalising gambling

BANGKOK: Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha says he will consider legalising gambling in Thailand, a contentious course of action that has been opposed for decades.

COVID-19crime

By Bangkok Post

Saturday 16 January 2021, 09:31AM

A raid on a gambling den in Phuket in 2016. Photo: The Phuket News file

Much of Thailands recent coronavirus outbreak has been linked to a number of illegal gambling dens, prompting suggestions that legalising gambling would be a more practical approach in containing the spread of Covid-19, Bangkok Post reports.

Gen Prayut recently admitted it was hard to curb gambling and is now said to be open to holding public discussions about the pros and cons of legalising gambling, even though he opposes it personally.

Gen Prayut, in his capacity as chairman of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), on Friday said it was time to begin discussing the possibility of legalising gambling in Thailand, according to CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin.

The PM said the key question was whether legalised gambling would be considered morally correct by most Thais since not everyone considered gambling acceptable.

On Thursday he approved the formation of a 15-member committee tasked with inspecting the handling of illegal border crossings by migrants, which is also believed to be a factor in the current spread of Covid-19.

The panel is headed by Pakdee Pothisiri, a former member of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).

Gen Prayut has also approved the formation of a 10-member committee tasked with inspecting state officials investigations into cases of illegal gambling.

The two committees have been tasked with working until the end of the Covid-19 pandemic and are required to report their findings to Gen Prayut every month.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said that the two committees would work with the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) to track the money trail of both illegal activities.

"I believe these committees should be able to  to some extent  win the trust of the members of the public," Mr Wissanu said.

"After all, locals are believed to know best about whats going on in their communities, so they are being urged to cooperate with these authorities," he added.

In addition, the Royal Thai Police said it will find out by Monday whether any police officers in the Bang Bua Thong district of Nonthaburi should be held responsible for allegedly turning a blind eye to an illegal gambling den that was raided on Thursday night.

More than 40 suspects were detained in the operation that was carried out by the Crime Suppression Division (CSD).

RTP spokesman Pol Maj Gen Yingyos Thepchamnong said the probe to identify the owners and masterminds behind illegal gambling dens in Rayong, Chon Buri, Chanthaburi and Trat provinces  which have become major Covid-19 clusters  will soon be completed.
For months, President Donald Trumps message to his supporters was clear:The election was being stolen from him, and they needed to fight to take it back.

So on Jan. 6, during a Trump-promoted rally to Stop the Steal, thousands laid siege to the U.S. Capitol in a stunning attempt to do just that. The fallout of their failed insurrection, which resulted in five deaths, was swift: Trump was deplatformed from nearly every major social network and, on Wednesday, impeached for a historic second time.

When he emerged on camera a short while later, tail tucked between his legs, to condemn the rioters whom he himself had incited, and to call for a peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden, his base felt betrayed.

So he basically just sold out the patriots who got rounded up for him, one person wrote in a 15,000-member pro-Trump Telegram group. Just wow.

In online havens for MAGA extremists, including Gab, CloutHub, MeWe, Telegram and far-right message boards such as 8kun, the tone toward Trump is shifting. HuffPost reviewed thousands of messages across these platforms and found that a growing minority of the presidents once-devout backers are now denouncing him and rejecting his recent pleas for peace. Some have called for his arrest or execution, labeling him a traitor and a coward. Alarmingly, many of those who are irate about Bidens supposed electoral theft are still plotting to forcibly prevent him from taking office  with or without Trumps help.

We dont follow you, another Telegram user wrote, addressing Trump, after the president put out his video urging calm and order. Be quiet and get out of our way.

It has become apparent that now  after his mass radicalization campaign of voter-fraud disinformationand conspiracy-mongering  even Trump cant stop the dangerous delusion hes instilled across the country, or the next wave of violence it may soon bring.

In online fringe communities, some far-right Trump supporters are plotting to keep him in power by any means necessary. (Photo: Telegram)

Federal authorities are urgently warning of armed protests being planned in all 50 state capitals in the days leading up to Bidens inauguration. Politically motivated extremists will very likely pose the greatest domestic terrorism threats in 2021, according to a new joint intelligence bulletin from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Counterterrorism Center. The document, first obtained by Yahoo News, attributes this threat to false narratives that Bidens victory was illegitimate, or fraudulent, and the subsequent belief that the election results should be contested or unrecognized.

Ahead of last weeks riots, Trump supporters openly planned their attack on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other mainstream platforms, where they shared materials including flyers titled Operation Occupy the Capitol. These sites have since cracked down aggressively on such behavior, causing extremists to migrate to lesser-known corners of the internet to plan their next move.

While this has hindered their ability to spread propaganda and enlist new recruits, their new social channels are subject to less scrutiny and havealready exploded in reach.CloutHub, MeWe and Telegram shot to the top of the charts of popular free apps on the App Store and Google PlayStorein the wake of the siege. Gab has also reported a massive surge in new users, with about 10,000 people signing up every hour.

In these spaces, HuffPost has observed calls to burn down the Capitol,launch an armed revolt, pop some libtards and TAKE THIS COUNTRY BACK WHATEVER IT TAKES!! Some posts are more specific:Civil War is here. Group up locally. Take out the News stations, one person declared. LETS HANG THEM ALL, another implored. LETS FINISH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

The Boogaloo Bois, a far-right militia organizing to foment civil war, is capitalizing on the unrest to issue online a renewed call to arms. The FBI has warned specifically of potential Boogaloo violence during planned rallies at state Capitol buildings in Michigan and Minnesota on Sunday.

Theres a war coming, and cowering in your home [while] real patriots march with rifles ... will make you a traitor, commented a member of an encrypted Boogaloo chat.

Some extremists, however, are urging each other not to attend any of the upcoming armed protests. The Proud Boys, a rabidly pro-Trump neo-fascist group that helped storm the Capitol, is cautioning its followers that such demonstrations could be fed honeypot events set up by authorities in order to seize attendees guns.

It seems that even the Proud Boys are losing faith in Trump: A Telegram channel run by the group reposted a message with Trumps video along with the text The Betrayal of Trumpist base by Trump himself continues.

Many in Trump's base feel abandoned and betrayed by his condemnation of the Capitol rioters. (Photo: Telegram)

For four years,the presidents supporters have worshipped him like a god.His rallies have been likened to cult gatherings.Nearly half of his campaign donations came from small donors, trouncing Bidens 39%.For most of his presidency, Trump enjoyed strong support from the Republican base, polling well above 90% with that group. But after the Jan. 6 riots, his support is plummeting at record rates.

MAGA world has stood unwaveringly by Trumps side through multiple allegations of sexual assault (including rape), animpeachment for abuse of power, revelations that his administration literally caged children, a historic rise in national debt, countless lies, blatant self-enrichment by him and his family members,a pandemic that has claimed close to 400,000 American lives under his leadership  nearly a fifth of all deaths worldwide  and more.

So to see his America First army suddenly begin to turn on him is truly remarkable. Its happening broadly among his supporters, and even among the far-right extremist communities that have flourished online during Trumps presidency.

Among the recent messagesexcoriating Trump in dedicated pro-Trump networks:tbh I hope they hang Trump at this point; He deserves whats coming to him; he is literally done he will die in jail; Seriously hoping theyll lock him up or lynch [him]; Guy is the biggest cuck ever at this point;Cant wait til the left locks up his bitch ass. Rot in prison. Several people have proclaimed that at this point, Trump can only redeem himself by declaring martial law to maintain power by force.

After losing to Biden, Trump systematically attacked the allies that propped up his presidency in a desperate effort to keep his re-election fantasy alive.

He first turned his adherents against Fox News, which stoked his ire by accurately projecting Bidens electoral victory in Arizona before a few other networks did so. Then, when some Republicans  including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell  declined to play along with his unsupported claims of mass voter fraud, Trump sicced his base on them. After that came Trumps own vice president, Mike Pence, who refused Trumps unconstitutional demand to reject votes in favor of Biden. (Mike Pence didnt have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, Trump tweeted on the afternoon of Jan. 6, provoking chants of Hang Pence during the riots.)

Now that Trump himself appears to finally be backing away from his Stop the Steal hoax, a growing faction of his supporters is through with him, too.

But after the dramatic failure of his slow-motion coup, as he counts down the days until his return to life as a private citizen, Trump presumably has more pressing concerns than maintaining his followers devotion. Aside from the hundreds of millions of dollars in personal debt hanging over his head,it seems increasingly likely that he could face criminal prosecution, from which he will no longer be immune. And following his latest impeachment, if the Senate convicts him, it can also vote to disqualify him from ever running for office again.

With so much at stake and no sane hope of clinging to power, its now in the presidents best interest for his base to avoid further violence, which could increase his chances of conviction. But the reality is that the monster Trump created doesnt need him anymore.

He can promise and call for peace all he likes, one Gab user wrote. Wont make a blind bit of difference.

Related...

The Plot To Storm The Capitol Was Brewing For Days In Pro-Trump Online Media

Donald Trump Is Disappearing From The Internet

Online Police Communities Are Rife With Conspiracies And Support For The Capitol Riot

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
IndiGo has announced that it has added Leh to its domestic flight network. The airline will operate two new daily flights - one from Delhi to Leh and other from Leh to Delhi. The flights will begin operations on February 22, 2021, and bookings for these are now open.

"In order to further strengthen domestic connectivity, IndiGo, India's leading carrier, announced Leh as its 63rd domestic destination," read a press release by IndiGo.

"Leh, the capital of Ladakh is known for its magnificent landscapes, crystal clear skies, adventurous activities, Buddhist monasteries and festivals," the release added. The company notes that Leh is an attractive tourist destination, especially between April and September.

Announcing the new flights, Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer at IndiGo, Sanjay Kumar said, "We are pleased to begin expansion of our domestic network beyond the pre-COVID levels. This will also be our first destination amongst the seven regional stations we announced recently. We are working towards enhancing regional connectivity, which will not only increase access but also promote domestic trade and tourism in the country."

"IndiGo is committed to providing an affordable, on-time, safe and hassle-free travel experience onboard our lean clean flying machine," Kumar further added.

Flight 6E 2016 will operate from Delhi to Leh. The Leh-bound flight will take-off at 5:45 am and would reach its destination at 7:20 am. The fare for this flight is Rs 2,905. The Delhi inbound flight 6E 2037 will depart from Leh at 8:00 am and would reach the national capital at 9:35 am. The fare for the Delhi-bound flight is Rs 2,932. Both flights will run daily from February 22, 2021, onwards.

Also Read: Hackers tried to open communication channel with us: IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta
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WASHINGTON - The Mall will be shuttered to the public for nearly a week, federal officials announced Friday, the latest in a series of unprecedented security measures that will all but prevent most people from viewing the inauguration in person on Wednesday.

The extraordinary measure was just one that was announced Friday as the heavy safety cordon around the nation's capital tightened. Virginia will shut down four major bridges leading into downtown D.C. ahead of Inauguration Day. And defense officials authorized 4,000 more National Guard troops, swelling the total expected in the city to 25,000.

State leaders were also hurrying to protect government buildings, while mobilizing additional police officers and National Guard troops ahead of expected right-wing protests this weekend and Inauguration Day. Some governors worried violence could shift from D.C. to less fortified state capitols. Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan declared a disaster Friday ahead of the inauguration and asked for federal aid.

D.C. Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser and representatives from the Secret Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency and National Park Service advised the public at a Friday news conference that they are still prepared for unprecedented security threats in the coming days. They urged - as they have repeatedly - for people to stay away from D.C. They are hoping to avoid a repeat of the Capitol siege.

"We cannot allow a recurrence of the chaos and illegal activity that the United States and the world witnessed last week," said Matt Miller, head of the Washington Field office for the Secret Service, which is heading inauguration security.

The heightened security measures conjured a stark image for Inauguration Day: a celebration of democracy mostly devoid of citizens.

Every four years people from all over the country flock to the nation's capital for the inauguration. But two weeks after the heart of the country's democracy was attacked by a mob of pro-Trump rioters, there will be no dancing on the Mall. No throngs pressing to get a view of the presidential motorcade on Pennsylvania Avenue. And few tourists mugging for photos in oversized T-shirts of the new president.

On Wednesday, National Guard troops in the city will likely outnumber spectators for the presidential swearing-in.

As part of an agreement with the Secret Service, Virginia announced the bridge closures Friday evening.

From Tuesday at 6 a.m. to Thursday at 6 a.m., the Virginia State Police will shut down the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, Arlington Memorial Bridge, Interstate 395 Bridge, and 14th Street Bridge to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

The closures show the lengths that federal and local law enforcement are going to prevent armed extremists from corralling in Washington in the wake of violent threats targeting lawmakers ahead of the inauguration.

Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and members of the Virginia delegation - including Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, and Democratic Reps. Don Beyer, Gerald Connolly and Jennifer Wexton - said the bridge closures were intended to ensure the transfer of power will be "as peaceful as possible."

"The 2021 Presidential Inauguration Ceremony will see the strongest Capital-area security response in history," they wrote in a joint statement. "We worked together to push for a response that balances protecting public safety in a manner commensurate with available intelligence about threats without going too far."

The announcement came as more National Guard troops streamed into D.C. on Friday. They will come from all 50 states, three territories and D.C., defense officials said.

Numerous states also have activated guardsmen to either protect civilians and state facilities this weekend, or to hold on standby status in case violence erupts. Among the states expecting to have guardsmen on the streets are Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington state.

Fences were going up around state capitols in Sacramento and Phoenix, where some mailboxes were removed as jittery officials worried they could be used to hide explosive devices. Armed guards were stationed around Georgia's Capitol.

Michigan state officials will shutter the state legislature from Tuesday through Thursday after receiving threats of violence deemed credible.

In the District, National Guard members have staffed an increasingly fortified perimeter that encompasses the Capitol, White House and portions of downtown. Clad in their camouflage uniforms and helmets, they are mostly carrying rifles without magazines of ammunition in them, in an apparent attempt to avoid accidents. The magazines can be carried in pouches on their tactical vests or in pockets, and attached to the guns within seconds if needed.

A D.C. National Guard spokesman, Capt. Edwin Nieves Jr., said the decision on how guardsmen are handling their weapons is made in coordination with the agencies the National Guard is supporting, which include police and the Secret Service.

"Guardsmen are armed and equipped commensurate with the missions they have been asked to do," Nieves said.

None of the security measures were expected to alter the inaugural ceremony itself, which had already been pared back because of concerns about the pandemic. Nevertheless, officials called the security buildup "unprecedented" and historians reached decades back to find parallels for the coming inauguration.

"This may be the most unusual inauguration in American history. Maybe not the most consequential, but the most unusual," President-elect Biden said at an event Friday.

The Mall has never been shuttered during an inauguration since the ceremonies began being held on the West Front of the Capitol in 1981, said Jim Bendat, an inaugural historian and author of "Democracy's Big Day."

Bendat said Biden's inauguration could be the smallest since 1945. That year, Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to hold the swearing-in at the White House because he was in ill health and the United States was fighting World War II, Bendat said. Only about 1,000 people attended.

"It's a pretty stunning development, but it's also understandable given what happened on January 6th," Bendat said of the closure of the Mall. "It's really sad. What we had on January 6th was a real assault on democracy. Now, this is a real symbolic assault on democracy."

Bendat said the Mall has long been the spot where thousands have gathered to watch and participate in the peaceful transition of power from one administration to the next.

Crowds have regularly numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Bendat said the largest crowd on the Mall was believed to be for President Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009, which some estimates put at 1.8 million.

But not this year.

People attempting to enter the fortified downtown area will be subject to searches. Bowser asked residents to sign up for alerts about closures, which may change over the next few days.

While most of downtown has turned into a fortress meant to keep people away, there will be slices of land available for demonstrations, despite Bowser's request that the interior secretary deny all permits in downtown Washington. The Park Service said at a news conference Friday that it will screen and escort two groups of up to 100 permitted demonstrators each to areas near the U.S. Navy Memorial and John Marshall Park on Inauguration Day.

Jeff Reinbold, superintendent of the Mall and Memorial Park, said, "We've had the chance to talk to them and make sure they're able to scale their First Amendment demonstrations to the size we have available."

Maryann Tierney, regional administrator with FEMA, said that she has deployed regional teams to D.C., Maryland and Virginia following the president's emergency declaration around the inauguration. Her teams have pre-staged ambulances and moved food and other resources closer to the District in case need arises.

Leaders also said they are prepared to redirect resources away from downtown D.C. if demonstrators are scared away by their security posture.

"We do recognize that because we have such a robust and hardened perimeter . . . there is the potential for people to go elsewhere, whether it is back to their state capitals or other parts of the city," Miller said.

He added that the National Guard Bureau would be ready to respond to other state capitals "in a timely and appropriate fashion" if there is intelligence detecting threats outside of the city.

Acting D.C. police chief Robert Contee said that his officers would be "on hand to ensure a peaceful day, both for inaugural events and around our great city."

The regional and federal team is preparing for threats as early as this weekend. Federal officials had previously warned of the possibility of armed demonstrations in D.C. and all 50 state capitals between Saturday and Wednesday.

Miller said his agency is investigating and talking with a number of extremist groups about plans for imminent demonstrations in D.C.

"There's a great deal of chatter, and it's what you don't know that we're preparing for," he said. No one raised their hand to say they're coming, "but we're preparing as if they are."

Bowser said they are having a "daily download" with the FBI to get that information.

Instead of vast throngs heading to D.C. as is customary for the days leading up to inauguration, some were canceling trips and D.C. residents were planning on fleeing the city or hunkering down.

Mollie Davis, a 20-year-old from St. Mary's, Md., spent the past year watching and cheering for the only politician she has seen stutter like she does. Biden's success on the national stage put her at ease, she said, and made her feel for the first time like nothing, not even her speech disorder, would stand in the way of her dreams of a career in politics.

Jan. 20 was supposed to be a day for Davis to celebrate that hope on the Mall with her dad. But she began to reconsider her plans to watch the swearing-in ceremony in person when the number of coronavirus cases began to surge in the area. Last Wednesday's insurrection was the final straw. She canceled her trip downtown out of fear of armed protesters descending once again on the nation's capital.

"It would have been cool personally to see a person who stutters sworn in in person, but at the same time, I am concerned for a lot of people's safety, so it's for the best," she said. "I've made my peace with that."

Two Northwest D.C. fathers, Tim Mazzarell and Jon Groteboer, said on a recent day at a playground, they would take their respective families away from the capital for the inauguration.

Mazzarell is going to a family home in Rehoboth, Del., Groteboer to a family cabin in West Virginia.

"It seems safer in the woods," Groteboer said.

"I was shocked about what happened last week," Mazzarell said. "It got so unsettling to be around."

Jeff Brooke, 58, another D.C. resident, said he will treat this Inauguration Day like a "snow day" by stocking up on food and water, and staying indoors in case businesses close and another curfew is enacted.

Asked about whether D.C. will go back to normal after the extreme security measures on display in the city, Bowser says D.C. will go to a "new normal" after the insurrection last Wednesday.

"We all have to think about a new posture, we certainly have to think about a new posture in the city," she said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Michael Brice-Saddler, Perry Stein, Lauren Lumpkin, Tim Craig and Paul Schwartzman contributed to this report.
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John Earle Sullivan, 26, will be released on bail after being charged in relation to the siege of the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday

A left-wing activist charged over his role in the siege of the U.S. Capitol Building has made his first appearance in court.

John Earle Sullivan, 26, told CNN that he entered the Capitol during last Wednesday's siege merely to document the chaos, but was later arrested after video emerged purportedly showing him egging on the rioters.

Sullivan has been charged with one count of knowingly entering a restricted building, one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and one count of interfering with law enforcement.

On Friday, he appeared via Zoom from a jail cell in Utah for his first court hearing.

A judge granted Sullivan bail on strict conditions, despite a prosecutor pleading for him to remain behind bars until after Joe Biden's Inauguration.

As part of his release, Sullivan has been ordered to stay inside his home in Utah, and not travel to any protests, whether locally or in Washington, DC.

He will also have to surrender his passport and avoid communication with any witnesses or co-defendants.

The 26-year-old activist has additionally been ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and is prohibited from possessing weapons. The judge noted that Sullivan's father had removed firearms from his home.

The prosecution pleaded for Sullivan to remain behind bars until after Inauguration Day, arguing that he could pose a risk to public safety.

They claimed that the left-wing activist 'thrives on chaos'.

The judge denied the motion, saying the demand did not meet threshold under the Utah bail reform amendments.

However, the judge agreed to the prosecution's request for Sullivan to stay off social media. The left-wing activist frequently shares posts on Instagram, and uploads video to YouTube.



Sullivan filmed multiple videos of the event, before posting them to YouTube under his username 'Jayden X'

In one of the clips, he is seemingly heard encouraging other rioters as they enter the building

While Sullivan remains behind the camera throughout most of the footage, he pans down at the start of the video to show how he is decked out in a ballistic vest for the riot, pictured

The FBI alleges that Sullivan is heard saying he smashed the glass pane to the left

According to a release by the DOJ, last Wednesday, Sullivan, 'wearing a ballistics vest and gas mask, entered the U.S. Capitol through a window that had been broken out, pushing past U.S. Capitol Police once inside'.

He filmed multiple videos of the event, before posting them to YouTube under his username 'Jayden X'.

In one of the clips, he is seemingly heard encouraging other rioters as they enter the building.

'We got to get this s**t burned,' he purportedly states, before adding: 'It's our house motherf*****.'

Elsewhere in his recorded clips he says to rioters: 'You guys are f**king savage. Let's go!'

'This s**t is ours! F**k yeah. I can't believe this is reality.'

The DOJ further alleges he told rioters: 'We accomplished this s**t ... We are all a part of this history.'

The department added that Sullivan admits to 'filming and being depicted in video footage' from the moment Ashli Babbit was shot dead by a Capitol police officer.

Included in the affidavit are grabs from a 50-minute-long video from Sullivan's YouTube account in which he shows off the gear he is wearing as he joins the Trump supporters at the rally.

Sullivan had voluntarily given the footage to the FBI following an interview on January 7, the day after the riot.

He is rarely seen in the video but narrates at certain points and can be heard speaking to others storming the Capitol and interacting with law enforcement.

As rioters climbed over the wall, Sullivan is heard saying 'You guys are f*****g savage, let's go!' before offering a person his hand to help him climb up.

He then films as he climbs through a broken window into the Capitol building before roaming through the building and telling law enforcement to stand down so they don't get hurt.

'You are putting yourself in harm's way,' he tells them, adding 'the people have spoken' and 'there are too many people, you gotta stand down, the people out there that tried to do that s**t, they got hurt, I saw it, I'm caring about you.'

Sullivan is heard in the footage offering a Trump supporter help to climb the wall

At another point, he is heard saying he has a knife as he tries to get through a crowd

The affidavit shows the gas mask and vest that Sullivan was wearing as he joined the riot

During the footage, Sullivan is seen entering an office where he looks out a window at the crowds of Trump supporters swarming outside.

'We did this, we took this s**t,' he states as a banging is heard off camera.

As he pans away, the window pane beside him that was previously unbroken is now smashed.

'I broke it, my bad, my apologies,' Sullivan states.

'Well, they already broke a window so, you know. I didn't know I hit it that hard. No one got that on camera.'

At a later point, Sullican shouts, 'Hey guys, I have a knife, I have a knife, let me up,' as he joins a group of rioters trying to break glass windows to get through another door and get further into the building.

The video provided to the FBI also includes the moment that Babbitt was shot as Sullivan stood beside her.

'There's a gun, there's a gun, there's a gun,' Sullivan had shouted moments before as the rioters broke through the windows.

The affidavit lists Sullivan's own video as evidence of his crimes

At one point, Sullivan enters an office where he is heard praising other rioters

Sullivan films as he climbed through the smashed window of the U.S. Capitol

'Shots fired,' he shouts again as he zooms in on the fatally injured Babbitt lying on the ground.

The shooting occurred in an area of the building that Sullivan was not allowed to be in.

However, Sullivan painted a far different picture of his time inside the Capitol when he spoke with Anderson Cooper on CNN last week.

He appeared on the cable network alongside a documentary filmmaker, with the pair portrayed as passively watching the chaos unfold.

Sullivan spoke with Rolling Stone last week saying he was pretending to build rapport with those MAGA supporters who stormed the Capitol.

'I had to relate to these people, and build trust in the short amount of time,' he stated.

According to the publication, Sullivan is already facing rioting and criminal mischief charges 'stemming from a Black Lives Matter protest in Utah last year'.

He explained himself further in a Q&A posted to his YouTube account on Tuesday.

'For any misconceptions on why I was there in the first place, because I was documenting this event,' he claimed.

'This monumental event in history. If you knew about this s**t, would you not be there as well. Maybe some of you are scared? And that's valid ... but I put myself in that situation all the time and that what my job is to do, that's what my livelihood is ... otherwise I'm broke and I have no life.

'I was there just to record and what I do is blend in with the crowd. Blending in is the key to not getting f****d up.

Sullivan painted a far different picture of his time inside the Capitol when he spoke with Anderson Cooper on CNN last week, claiming he was only there to document the event

'Yes, they were kinda doing illegal sh**,' he added.

'So they were already in a position to do some more illegal s**t by f***ing me up ... They already think I'm Antifa which is not true and they think I'm with BLM and while I think black lives matter I'm not with the organization.

'I have my own organization, Insurrgence USA.'

Sullivan claims the organization is a social justice group that calls itself anti-fascist and protests police brutality.

'Our mission is the unification of our nation because a people united will never be divided,' Insurgence USA's website states.

He also spoke about his earlier encounter with the FBI in which he was detained and questioned about his videos from the Capitol after he had given several national TV interviews about what he had witnessed.

'I was not arrested, I was detained,' he said, two days before he would find himself under arrest by federal agents.

'The FBI did show up to my house yesterday and they got the original files of the video. I gave that to them via USB hard-drive.

'Either they take my phone or you give them the f*****g footage, that's pretty straight forward ... I have nothing to hide.'

Dozens of rioters stormed the Capitol last week (pictured), following a rally held by Trump

Sullivan is one of more than 170 people who have now been charged in relation to the siege.

He 'claimed to be an activist and journalist that filmed protests and riots' in his interview with the FBI yet admitted 'that he has no press credentials and the investigation has not revealed any connection between Sullivan and any journalistic organizations', his charging documents state.

Some pundits have been left dismayed by the seemingly soft charges that have been leveled at some of the alleged rioters. Many have thus far been charged with misdemeanor offenses.

However, acting US Attorney Michael Sherwin said his office will increase charges after more evidence is gathered.

'This is only the beginning,' he told reporters on Tuesday.

'The gamut of conduct is mind-blowing. The FBI is working with the US attorney's office. We're looking at significant felony cases tied to sedition and conspiracy. Their marching orders are to build seditious and conspiracy cases. Those have prison terms of up to 20 years,' Sherwin stated.
ANN ARBOR, MI  An 11-story senior apartment high-rise in downtown Ann Arbor has changed hands again and rent increases have sparked concerns.

Local officials say theyre in communication with tenants of the 116-unit Courthouse Square Apartments at 100 S. Fourth Ave. and doing what they can to mitigate the impacts and keep people in their apartments.

Courthouse Square has provided low-income senior housing in downtown Ann Arbor since 1995 and some are worried its future as affordable housing could be in jeopardy, though officials assure public subsidies for rent will continue.

We learned over the past few weeks about rent increases at Courthouse Square, said Teresa Gillotti, director of the Washtenaw Count Office of Community and Economic Development. Tenants reached out with concerns about the increases, and specific queries about whether or not the property will remain affordable and senior.

Courthouse Square is still a senior affordable property, with restrictions in place due to use of low-income housing tax credits, Gillotti said, noting the Michigan State Housing Development Authority is responsible for compliance related to an ongoing mortgage and affordability agreement.

Theres been some quick work to learn more of the details from tenants about proposed changes, she said. We connected with MSHDA on whether or not the proposed rent increases still meet the MSHDA standards required for this property. At this point, MSHDA has confirmed that the increases do not exceed the maximum required by MSHDA.

It appears the rent increases were only for tenants using housing choice vouchers, and not all tenants in the building, Gillotti said.

The property is now being managed by Farmington-based KMG Prestige, which is listing one-bedroom units for $1,131 per month and two-bedroom units for $1,351 per month.

Under New Ownership and Management! a listing on apartments.com states.

Courthouse Square Senior Apartments. 100 S. 4th Ave. in Ann Arbor on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021.Jacob Hamilton | The Ann Arbor News

Many Courthouse Square tenants have their rent subsidized through housing vouchers. Various agencies, including the Ann Arbor Housing Commission, are working to ensure those arrangements continue as rents rise.

Originally a hotel built in the 1960s, the city took ownership of the building in the 1990s through tax foreclosure and later sold it to Virginia-based First Centrum, which used low-income housing tax credits to renovate and convert it to affordable housing for people 55 and older.

In 2013, Ann Arbor-based Wickfield Properties purchased it for $4.25 million and made upgrades while keeping the apartments affordable.

An item on the Downtown Development Authoritys Jan. 6 agenda noted a new sale of the property required a new escrow agreement with the DDA, which provided a $100,000 loan in 2000 to help with building upgrades.

Details about the sale are not yet available through the city assessors website, but Wickfield Properties confirmed it sold the building to Redwood Housing, a company with offices in Seattle and Austin, Texas, for an undisclosed price.

They are great buyers and its my understanding they intend to keep it affordable senior (housing) and will be doing a fairly extensive renovation, Wickfields Brad Hayosh said.

Redwood and KMG did not respond to requests for comment.

We strive to make a positive impact on tenants, communities and the environment through thoughtful engagement and integrated development, Redwoods website states.

The extent of such development activity varies greatly  some projects may require a significant investment due to the failure of core systems or a generally inhospitable living environment and other projects may be in need of green focused improvements and new support programs. Irrespective of project type or complexity, we have a strong track record of allocating the appropriate amount of resources and capital to make a positive difference in our communities.

Courthouse Square Senior Apartments. 100 S. 4th Ave. in Ann Arbor on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021.Jacob Hamilton | The Ann Arbor News

Legal Services of South Central Michigan has been making sure tenants are aware of their rights and, with the Ann Arbor Tenants Union, hosted a virtual information session to answer tenant questions Thursday, Jan. 14.

At the end of December, Courthouse Square sent voucher tenants a letter asking them to sign a lease amendment, which would increase the full rent for their apartment substantially on March 1, regardless of when their leases expire, said Libby Benton, Legal Services staff attorney.

We are advising tenants that under the terms of their leases and state law, Courthouse is not permitted to increase their rents mid-lease in this situation and tenants are under no obligation to sign the lease amendment.

Legal Services, a nonprofit with an office in Ypsilanti, is available to provide further advice to tenants, including those who may have already signed the amendment, Benton said. Tenants can call 734-665-6181 for help.

Thursdays meeting was well attended, Benton said, noting representatives from MSHDA, the city and Housing Commission also attended and answered questions.

Courthouse Square Senior Apartments. 100 S. 4th Ave. in Ann Arbor on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021.Jacob Hamilton | The Ann Arbor News

The Housing Commission has had several conversations with the new owner and manager, Executive Director Jennifer Hall said.

My impression is that they do want to be good community partners and continue to provide affordable rental housing for seniors, she said.

However, due to disinvestment in the property, they want to make capital improvements. Increasing rents is one way to raise the capital to make property improvements.

The Housing Commission is trying to partner with them to assist with increasing revenue to invest in the building and the tenants, without displacing low-income tenants, Hall said.

The commission has about 50 clients with tenant-based vouchers who live at Courthouse Square, Hall said.

Generally, as long as rents, including utilities, are at or below the commissions payment standard, tenants will not pay more than 30% of their income on rent, she said.

Courthouse Square agreed to decrease their initial proposed rent increase and limit the rent increase for our voucher tenants to our payment standard, which is 110% of the fair market rent, as published annually by HUD, Hall said.

So, if rents are increased for our tenants, but are at or below the payment standard, then the tenant portion should stay the same and our rent subsidy increases.

If a tenants household composition or income changed since they last had an income certification, their portion of rent can go up or down when rent increases, Hall said.

Every households situation is different and we have to meet with every household to determine the exact impact that a rent increase will have on that household, she said.

Courthouse Square Senior Apartments. 100 S. 4th Ave. in Ann Arbor on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021.Jacob Hamilton | The Ann Arbor News

The Housing Commission also is providing 10 project-based vouchers to Courthouse Square to increase the number of tenants with a rental subsidy, Hall said.

The new owner requested 116 of those so all tenants could have a subsidy, but the Housing Commission does not have enough funding to do that, Hall said.

If under the new federal administration theres a significant increase in voucher funding, the Housing Commission could increase the number of voucher subsidies for Courthouse Square, Hall said.

There are other tenants who live at Courthouse Square who have vouchers with other agencies such as MSHDA, Hall said.

Any tenant who does not have a rent subsidy will be impacted the most by a rent increase. We are all trying to figure out how to mitigate that impact.

MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS:

Q&A: Ann Arbor affordable housing leader explains ambitious $397M plan

After completing 2 new developments, Ann Arbor Housing Commission looks to next 11

A closer look at $1.4B in projects in Ann Arbors new capital improvement plan

Ann Arbor dioxane polluter vents frustration with local officials in new court filings

Ann Arbor SPARK to distribute $4.7M in small business grants
Theres an infamous internet maxim best known as Rule 34: If it exists, theres internet porn about it. Nowhere is this rule more evident than in the vast catalog of self-published romance and erotica available on Amazon. Kindles direct publishing scheme makes it incredibly easy to have your original content appear worldwide. And while thats been a boon for authors who have traditionally been locked out of the overwhelmingly white and straight publishing industry, it also means that a few short months after protests exploded across the country in response to the death of George Floyd, a book appeared in the Kindle library called My Antifa Lover: A Riot of the Heart: Steamy Romance Against Fascism.

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Written by Jessica Stranger, My Antifa Lover bills itself as the story of a young congresswoman [who] falls in love with a daring masked protestor in Seattle, Washington. After encountering him at a non-violent burning down of a federal building she cant tell what is hotter, the fire or her feelings developing for him. This description raises some questions. Primarily, how exactly does one non-violently burn down a federal building? Also, did My Antifa Lover predict the storming of the Capitol? After spending $3 of Slates money and approximately four hours slogging through this 88-page book, the only answer I can imagine is that the person who wrote the description was drunk.

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As a bona fide romance enthusiast, a person who isnt a fan of fascism, and someone who read the 50 Shades series entirely voluntarily, this book is right up my alley. Unfortunately, My Antifa Lover is not only laughably bad from the syntax level up; it also delivers on approximately zero of its promises. There is no burning of a federal building, nonviolent or otherwise. The protester the young congresswoman falls in love with isnt antifa, nor is he masked. There isnt even any sex!

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The betrayal here is deep. Lets get into it: My Antifa Lover is primarily told from the perspective of Alexandria Preston, who is indeed a young congresswoman. Im assuming shes in the House of Representatives, but I can only guess because Stranger seems to not understand how exactly our government worksor where its located. The book takes place in Seattle, even though we are ostensibly dealing with the national legislature, which is preparing a bill aimed at reducing divorce rates in America. According to our plucky narrator:

The divorce rates were increasing up to 80% and this was nowhere a reliable source anymore for a safe and secure relationship. Anyways, I shrugged off all the thoughts in my brain and went into the meeting room after smoothing out my black skirt and sliding my hair down my face.

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You might be asking, How does one shrug off thoughts in their brain or slide their hair down their face? I have no answers for you.

Anyways, this new bill forces men to pay $1 million to their wives if they want to divorce them. This is the future liberals want. Still, Alexandrias motive for supporting it isnt entirely clear. She says at one point that she agreed for personal reasons, then goes on to mention a sister, but this sister is quite literally never mentioned again. In fact, when Alexandria talks about her family later in the novel, she says she only has my mother and my little brother who just joined college. I can only assume that Alexandrias unnamed plot device sister was murdered by her husband after he divorced her. R.I.P.

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After the bill is sent to the Senate for review, Alexandria finds herself at a press conference where she comes to a realization about mens motivations: All the boys protesting made me think that they were against this law because they wanted to screw whoever they liked. Marry whoever they wanted and leave the girl when she gets old and useless. Hmm. Despite the protests, the head of the congress house Benedict Wilbur supports the bill because of something something the police. The politics of this book are both convoluted and a bit further to the right than the title suggests. Stranger is no stranger to political romance; her most recent novel, Not My President but My Lover: Who Could Possibly #Resist? A Sordid Love Affair with President Donald Trump, requires no further description than its title. Importantly, Not My President is marketed as satire. And though My Antifa Lover is not, I dearly wish it were.

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Its at the press conference that Alexandria encounters her nonmasked protester, who eloquently asks her, Would you have passed this bill if you ever a man? (Typos are not mine.) She narrates, He accused me with his eyes more than his words and my breath got caught in between my throat as his question settled in my mind. Alexandria has never thought about how she would feel about this law if she were a man. Alexandria is stunned to realize her actions might unfairly affect half of her constituents. Alexandria is in love. It only goes downhill from here. She leaves the press conference shaken to her core, with a promise that if she sees the protester again, shell have to slap that devilish smile off his face myself.

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This does not happen. The next time she meets the protester, its at a lake that she says she claimed as a child. This, despite the fact she also says she grew up in Nashville, not Seattle. The fake childhood lake is apparently also a favorite of the protester, who we find out is named, I shit you not, Corner Smith. Corner helps Alexandria work through her internal turmoil about the divorce bill while Alexandria admires how the sunset glow fell upon his dark hair that wasnt covered with a cap right now.

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It was at this point that I began to wish for the sweet release of death, a wish that was very nearly granted when Alexandrias home is later stormed by protesters hellbent on killing her for her involvement with the bill. Why they chose to target a random congresswoman rather than the author of the bill is unclear. As Alexandria cowers in her home, her one thought is not to call her security team but to call Corner to yell at him for leading the mob. Naturally, we find out when he rescues her that he wasnt involved. He invites her to stay with him while her house is cleaned up, and the two watch documentaries about squirrels and do not have sex or even kiss. Alexandria decides to speak against the bill she has already voted for, provoking the ire of Benedict Wilbur. Wilbur exacts his revenge by revealing that Corner Smith is actually Chris Wilbur  his son. Alexandria finally makes good on her promise and slaps Corner/Chris. The two dont speak for some length of time that I cant be bothered to check. During that indeterminate period, Alexandria ignores all his calls, texts, and unannounced visits to her home. Here I started to think Alexandria needed a new security team.

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This suspicion was only confirmed when Alexandria is lured to an abandoned house on the outskirts of town after her secretary informs her a Congress house meeting is taking place there. Smart woman that she is, Alexandria doesnt tell anyone about this strange meeting place and is ambushed at the house by unnamed assailants who set the building on fire with her in it. In her dying moments, Alexandria thinks only of her regrets about Chris/Corner.

I should have told him that I loved him. I should have let him know that I cared. That after doing all the work of the day, he was the last person I thought about before I went to sleep every night. But all I did was create hurdles, break promises and tell him lies. And now when I die, he will never know the truth. The truth that he has become the most important person in my life in the past two months.

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Bear in mind that the two still have not kissed.

Its not over yet, folks. The total lack of actual romance apparently wasnt enough to stop Chris/Corner from installing a tracking device on Alexandrias car during one of his unannounced visits to her home. Alexandria, girl, please get a new security team. This bit of stalking ends up being her saving grace, though, because Chris/Corner busts into the burning building to save her after following her there. After the requisite hospital room reunion, we find out Benedict Wilbur is behind the entire scheme. For the crimes of holding Alexandrias secretary at gunpoint, arson, and attempted murder, Wilbur is fired from the seat of Congress. Thats it.

Some other stuffwhich does not include sexhappens at the end, but honestly, Im out. I will say that in its sheer awfulness, the novel manages a truly stunning feat: In pissing off its target audience of liberal romance readers and conservative Amazon reviewers who didnt bother to read the book, My Antifa Lover has united the two broken halves of this country. I hope Jessica Stranger is proud.




US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged Friday there were "Covid-like" illnesses among staff at a Chinese virology institute in autumn 2019, casting further blame on Beijing as health experts arrived in the country to probe the pandemic's origins.







In a statement, the top US diplomat urged the World Health Organization team that landed in Wuhan, Thursday, where Covid-19 was first detected, to "press the government of China" on the "new information."







"The United States government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the (Wuhan Institute of Virology) became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both Covid-19 and common seasonal illnesses," Pompeo said.







He said this contradicted reports that none of the staff at the institute had contracted Covid-19 or related viruses.







"Beijing continues today to withhold vital information that scientists need to protect the world from this deadly virus, and the next one," Pompeo said.







Covid-19 was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019 and has since billowed out across the world killing more than two million people so far, and infecting tens of millions as it eviscerated the global economy.







The WHO says establishing the pathway of the virus from animals to humans is essential in preventing future outbreaks.







The outgoing administration of Donald Trump has consistently blamed China for Covid-19, which has killed 390,000 people in the United States, with the president routinely calling it the "China virus."







With five days left in his job, Pompeo has been striking out at his primary targets of China, Iran and Cuba.







Earlier in the week, Pompeo alleged that Iran has become a new "home base" for Al-Qaeda, an assertion mocked by Tehran and questioned by experts. (AFP)


New Delhi:

It has been a month since Kolkata based model turned actress Sonika Singh Chauhan breathed her last followed by a tragic car accident took place near Lake Mall on Rashbehari Avenue in South Kolkata.

Chatterjee who was behind the wheel had been admitted to ICU and got released days after his stabilisation.

From Chatterjee's arrest to his instant release on bail, a bunch of controversial happenings took place till the date.

Meanwhile, latest media report suggests that Vikram Chatterjee is nowhere to be seen and police are unable to contact him for questioning.

Though his lawyear Rajdeep Majumdar is trying to convince people that his client is not at all trying to escape the scene, his absence at his Swinhoe Street house raised the doubts further.

On May 31, Kolkata Police moved the Alipore court seeking the addition of Section 304 of the IPC which is culpable homicide not amounting to murder, a non-bailable offense which could land the actor in jail for up to 10 years.

At present, Chatterjee is out on bail, as the charges slapped against him included bailable offenses under Section 304A - causing death due to negligence, rash driving and damage to public property.

Moreover, Vikram's anticipatory bail plea which was to be heard before on June 5, now gets postponed for a July hearing.

Also Read: Sonika Singh death: Drunk actor Vikram is behind this tragic accident?

Though the officials have enough evidence from the video, CCTV footage and bills of the pubs to prove that he was drunk when his car met with an accident, the police are not likely to move for his arrest as yet.

Even a couple of days after Sonika's death the actor had addressed a press conference to claim that he was neither drunk not speeding his car which may be considered at the reason of the accident.

But after a huge protest by his friends and colleagues Vikram finally admitted to drinking.

Sonika who was a gem of Mumbai modelling circuits beside her tollywood career had also been hosting a prime time show on a national channel.

On the other hand, Vikram who is currently working in a bunch of bengali soap has also tried his hands in the movies like 'Khoj', 'Elar Char Adhyay' and 'Ami Ar Amar Girlfriends'.

Also Read: Sonika Chauhan dies in car accident, Vikram Chatterjee admitted in ICU

Meanwhile, both Sonika and Vikram's friends are running social media campaigns seeking justice for their respective stars.











For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Related US capitals on edge for armed protests as Trump presidency nears end

A heavily armed man has been arrested in Washington at a security checkpoint near the US Capitol, where President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated next week, authorities said.

Wesley Allen Beeler, of Virginia, was taken into custody after police found him with a handgun and more than 500 rounds of ammunition, shotgun shells and a magazine for the gun, according to a police report obtained by AFP.

He had tried to pass through the checkpoint using fake inaugural credentials, CNN reported, citing a law enforcement source.

Washington is under a high state of alert ahead of Biden's Wednesday inauguration, after a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6.

Five people died in the assault, including a police officer.

Security officials have warned that armed pro-Trump extremists, possibly carrying explosives, pose a threat to Washington as well as state capitals over the coming week.

Thousands of National Guard troops have been deployed in Washington and streets have been blocked off downtown with concrete barriers.

The National Mall, which is normally packed with people every four years for presidential inaugurations, has been declared off-limits at the request of the Secret Service, which ensures the security of the president.

Short link:


100%

Website radiosindia.com uses latest and advanced technologies like: Php. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 127081 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 15337 bytes (14.98 kb uncompressed) and 3270 bytes (3.19 kb compressed).

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-04-18, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
As India prepares to start vaccinating healthcare workers against Covid-19 starting Saturday, the Union health ministry has laid down list of precautions and contraindications for the inoculation, along with a comparative factsheet for both the vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin.

The rulebook contains information on vaccine platform, physical specifications, dosage, cold-chain storage requirements, contraindications and minor AEFIs (adverse event following immunisation).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick-off India's massive COVID-19 vaccination drive on Saturday (January 16) via video conferencing, even as adequate doses of Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin' and Serum Institute's 'Covishield' vaccines have been delivered across the country to all states and Union territories.

Here is a walk-through of the Covid-19 vaccination rulebook

- A dose of Covishield and CoVaxin may cost in the range of 200 to 295 in India. The full initial procurement amount of 1.65 crore doses of COVISHIELD and COVAXIN vaccines have been allocated to all states and Union Territories in the proportion of Health Care Workers database, the Health Ministry has said.

- In a letter to all states and Union territories, the Health Ministry underlined that the coronavirus vaccination is indicated only for 18 years and above under the emergency use authorisation. Besides, interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines is not permitted, the ministry said. Second dose should also be of the same COVID-19 vaccine which was administered as the first dose," the letter written by Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary, Health Ministry said.

- The Health Ministry cautioned about mild side effects following vaccination for both the vaccines. In case of Covishied, some mild adverse effects may occur like injection site tenderness, injection site pain, headache, fatigue, myalgia, malaise, pyrexia, chills and arthralgia and nausea.

- Some mild adverse effects in case of Covaxin include injection site pain, headache, fatigue, fever, body ache, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, dizziness-giddiness, tremor, sweating, cold, cough and injection site swelling. Paracetamol may be used to provide symptomatic relief from post vaccination adverse reactions, the letter added.

- If required, COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines should be separated by an interval of at least 14 days.

- "Pregnant and lactating women have not been a part of any COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial so far. Therefore, women who are pregnant or not sure of their pregnancy and lactating women should not receive COVID-19 vaccine at this time," the letter stated.

- The vaccine should be administered with caution in persons with a history of any bleeding or coagulation disorder (like clotting factor deficiency, coagulopathy or platelet disorder, it said.

- "Following conditions are not contraindicated for COVID-19 vaccines -- persons with past history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and or RT-PCR positive illness, history of chronic diseases and morbidities and immuno-deficiency, HIV, patients on immune suppression due to any condition," the letter stated.

- The government's vaccination app, CO-WIN, will initially be accessible to healthcare workers alone and will be open to usage for the general public within a month. The Co-WIN app is the backbone of the mega vaccination drive and is designed to enable citizens to self-register for the Covid-19 vaccination process,

- Besides the COVID warriors, the app will effectively be used by central and state governments to implement the inoculation drive.

- The Union Health Ministry has asked programme managers to ensure that the information about precautions and contraindications for COVID-19 vaccination should be disseminated to across all levels and through them to cold-chain handlers and vaccinators for ready reference.

- The ministry cautioned against administration of the vaccine in persons with a history of anaphylactic or allergic reaction to a previous dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and in those with immediate or delayed onset anaphylaxis or allergic reaction to vaccines or injectable therapies, pharmaceutical products, food items, among others.

- As per the Health Ministrys letter, in case of persons having active symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection, coronavirus infected patients who have been given anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma and acutely unwell and hospitalised patients due to any illness, the COVID-19 vaccination is to be deferred for four to eight weeks after recovery.

Earlier this week, the Centre finalised purchase orders for 1.65 crore Covid-19 vaccines  1.10 crore Covishield doses and 55 lakh Covaxin doses. The purchase order set off one of the most crucial steps ahead of the first phase of vaccination -- that of transporting the vaccines across the length and breadth of the country.
COVID Rules Eased Slightly in Southern Illinois

By The Associated Press

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS - Governor Pritzker announced Friday that the spread of COVID-19 has slowed enough to ease restrictions slightly in southern Illinois, but indoor dining at restaurants is still not allowed.Illinois, one of only 3 states nationwide that ban indoor dining, has had the latest ban in place for 75 days. The Illinois Restaurant Association says thousands of their members report revenue down about 80%, and the group says 5,000 Illinois restaurants could close permanently without relief.The reduction from Tier 3 to Tier 2 rules still doesn't approve indoor dining at bars and restaurants, but it could resume sooner than original rules allowed. Under the new rules, restaurants will be allowed to resume indoor dining at 25% capacity or a maximum 25 customers if the region hits certain benchmarks, including a seven-day average positivity rate below 8% for three straight days.As of Friday, Region 5 which covers southern Illinois had a single-day positivity rate of 7.8%.Tier 2 rules also mean that activities such as group fitness classes and gatherings of up to 10 people will be allowed, retail businesses will be able to increase capacity limits and museums and other cultural institutions can reopen. Casinos can also reopen, as Harrahs in Metropolis did on Saturday.Pritzker also announced the state will move into Phase 1B of its vaccination plan on Jan. 25. In that phase, people 65 and older and essential workers can get the vaccine. The state will partner with pharmacies to be vaccination sites.Pritzker said stricter Tier 3 rules have also been lifted in central Illinois including Peoria and Bloomington, and counties in northwest Illinois. In Chicago, tougher restrictions will remain in place.
After two Midlanders were charged Wednesday for their involvement in riots at the U.S. Capitol, law experts discussed how the case may move forward and the possibility of additional conspiracy charges.

Jenny Cudd, a floral shop owner, and Eliel Rosa, an asylee from Brazil, were charged with two misdemeanors for their roles in riots that broke out on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6. They each face up to a year-and-a-half in prison for allegedly entering and remaining on restricted grounds and disorderly conduct or violent entry.

A criminal complaint and probable cause affidavit show the FBIs case against them is based on security footage inside the Capitol building and their own social media posts. Cudd posted on social media during and after the riots describing their participation, and security cameras captured them walking inside the Capitols rotunda and nearby areas for about 20 minutes, according to the documents.

But even with video evidence, the prosecution must prove Cudd and Rosa knowingly entered a restricted area and intended to disrupt the legislative session, according to Amber Baylor, associate law professor and Criminal Defense Clinic director at Texas A&M University.

One reason for initially charging these misdemeanors is that perhaps (news) interviews and the Facebook recordings led to some of those elements in a way that makes the prosecution feel comfortable in charging, she said.

The FBIs affidavit references a Facebook video in which Cudd said, Hell yes, I am proud of my actions, as well as her statement that she would do it again in an interview with television station KOSA.

Cudd has denied she was among the rioters who broke through barricades at the Capitol building and assaulted police officers to gain entrance, saying in news interviews that she walked through an open door with several hundred people.

Im sure her defense will change, said Patrick Metze, director of the criminal defense clinics at Texas Tech University.

He added that her lawyers will likely shape the narrative after reviewing the FBIs evidence and would probably encourage her to remember the Fifth Amendment  or the right to remain silent.

She should probably stop talking instead of trying to win the battle of public opinion, Metze said. Its not going to work out for her.

One of Cudds lawyers, San Antonio-based attorney Don Flanary, told the Reporter-Telegram she intended to plead not guilty at a hearing next week. Entering a not guilty plea wouldnt close the door for future plea deals, according to Baylor.

If Cudd and Rosa opt not to negotiate deals with the prosecution, Baylor said their defense teams would likely attempt to undermine the prosecutions case by arguing they were unaware they entered restricted grounds or that the statutes theyve been charged under are too vague to apply.

Metze said some rioters may argue that President Trump gave them permission to enter the Capitol building when he told them to march there during a speech shortly before the violence began.

However, if the U.S. Attorneys Office adds conspiracy charges to the mix  as some legal analysts have theorized  any defense would become considerably more complicated, Metze said.

If they (the prosecution) can develop conspiracy charges, they will develop those, he said. I can tell from news reports that they believe there were conspiracies.

Individuals who were involved in a crime  like trespassing  can be convicted of more serious charges committed by others in the group if prosecutors can prove those individuals conspired in the initial crime.

In this case, the prosecution would need to prove the rioters planned to enter the Capitol and disrupt the legislative session, and that the subsequent violence, vandalism and alleged murder of a Capitol police officer was also planned or could have been reasonably expected, Baylor said.

She noted that some Black Lives Matter protesters and others who protested George Floyds death were charged with gang activity when violence or vandalism occurred at those protests.

The consequences are really striking in contrast when comparing charges against those who protested police brutality and rioters who stormed the Capitol building, Baylor said. The charges against Cudd and Rosa could easily be the same as for a mischievous tourist, she said.

Disorderly conduct is a very commonly applied misdemeanor  it can be applied for things as insignificant as being very noisy, using profanity, being obnoxious and being drunk in public, she said.

Metze said its not uncommon for the prosecution to develop evidence later and file additional charges. He said Cudd and Rosa are low-hanging fruit compared to those being investigated for the death of Officer Brian Sicknick. Investigations for conspiracy also take longer to make headway, he said.

As the investigators put it all together, if there were some kind of conspiracy here, it will emerge, Metze said.

A second hearing for Cudd and Rosa, at which time they will enter their pleas, is scheduled for 1 p.m. Jan. 21 in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey in D.C. That hearing will be held virtually.
The temperature is forecast to plummet below zero degree Celsius again in northern mountainous provinces from Sunday, while it is likely to drop in the central region, under the influence of an increased cold front from Saturday night.

The cold spell is moving southward, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, and will leave its first impact on the northern mountainous provinces, then other places in the region, the central area and finally some south-central localities.

There will be rain and medium rain in the northern region Saturday night to Sunday morning and light rain in the central area on Sunday.

Localities in northern and north-central regions will experience extreme cold, especially in northern Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Ha Giang, and Lao Cai Provinces, with temperature falling to 8-11 degrees Celsius.

The temperature in the mountainous region will range between 4 and 7 degrees Celsius, with some high mountainous places to see mercury as low as below zero degree Celsius.

Sleet - a mixture of rain and snow - will be expected in Ha Giang and Lao Cai Provinces.

Temperatures in north-central provinces from Quang Tri to Quang Ngai will be around 14-18 degrees Celsius.

In the Central Highlands and south-central regions, people may feel extremely cold in the early morning and night of Sunday.

Meanwhile, in the southern region, the weather will also get colder.

From Monday, northern localities will see the return of sunlight during the day while the extreme cold will continue in the early morning and at night.

The Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control has ordered subordinate authorities to implement measures to keep the elderly, children, and students safe, in order to avoid similar damages caused by a previous strong cold spell hitting the north and north central provinces from January 7-11.

The students can be allowed to stay home if necessary.

Protection measures for animals and plants should also be carried out.

In addition, there must be proper safety guidelines for visitors looking to see frost and snow at tourist destinations.

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Itching to get your hands on some novels from fresh talent? This year's new authors are covering a cornucopia of subjects ranging from chilling crime to love stories set to be adapted for screen.

Here are just some of the new names that should bring joy during lockdown and beyond. Keep an eye on publishing dates, which could be prone to change...

Thrills and chills

1. Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler (4th Estate, Feb 4)

Online fakery is certainly a zeitgeist topic and this terrific debut sees a young woman who suspects her boyfriend of cheating, go through his phone. In doing so, she discovers he has a secret online identity as a conspiracy theorist. It provides much food for thought about how to maintain a sense of self in a world of online fraudsters.

2. People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd (Mantel, out now)

Husband-and-wife writing team Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos collaborated for this taut, tight thriller under the pen name Ellery Lloyd. Told from three viewpoints - an Instagram influencer mum, her cynical former novelist husband and an anonymous follower with a terrible grudge - it's a great contemporary subject, examining Instagram culture and the consequences of sharing too much of yourself on social media.

3. Girl A by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins, Jan 21)

Watch out for HarperCollins' lead debut this year. Girl A is a story of survival and hope as a set of siblings deal with the aftermath of growing up in their 'house of horrors' at the hands of their father, a religious fanatic. TV rights have been snapped up by Sony with the Chernobyl director attached, book rights have been sold in 26 territories and early endorsements have flooded in from Chris Whitaker, Louise O'Neill, Jessie Burton, Jeffery Deaver and more.

4. Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz (Sphere, May 13)

This lead fiction debut is less a 'whodunnit', more a 'who was the victim and what did she leave behind?' It features two main female voices - Alice and Ruby - one is a murder victim and the other, the person who finds her body. Alice is sure Ruby is the key to solving the mystery of her life - and death. And Ruby - struggling to forget what she saw - finds herself unable to let Alice go. Not until she is given the ending she deserves.

Love and relationships

5. The One Hundred Years Of Lenni And Margot by Marianne Cronin (Doubleday, Feb 18)

This sparkling debut explores the relationship between 17-year-old Lenni, who is living on the terminal ward of a Glasgow hospital, and fellow patient, 83-year-old Margot, who she meets in the art therapy room. Together they share stories from Lenni's short life and Margot's long one, celebrating our huge capacity for love and friendship when we need it most.

6. The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman by Julietta Henderson (Bantam, Apr 1)

This ultimately uplifting book is a story of dreams dashed and then realised again, told alternately through the eyes of 12-year-old Norman and his mum, Sadie. Norman's dreams of appearing at the Edinburgh Festival with his comedy partner Jax are dashed when Jax dies suddenly. Seeing this, his single mother steps in and takes the reins to get him to the festival, doubling as a road trip to find his missing dad.

7. Snowflake by Louise Nealon (Manilla Press, May 13)

Nealon is a new Irish talent who brings us this literary coming-of-age novel about a young woman who lives on a farm in rural Ireland with her dream-obsessed mother. She escapes her sheltered village life to spread her wings at university, but finds things aren't all they seem. TV rights have already been snapped up by Element Pictures, the team behind Normal People.

Race and identity

8. We Are All Birds Of Uganda by Hafsa Zayyan (#Merky Books, Jan 21)

In a story spanning generations, that moves between Uganda and London over a difficult, unsettled century, this debut sees Sameer, a successful lawyer, return to his family home because of an unexpected tragedy, where he begins to unravel his family history. The author, who is an international dispute resolution lawyer, bases the story on her own, moving from present day London to 1960s Uganda, exploring racial tensions, generational divides and what it means to belong.

9. How The One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones (Tinder, Jan 21)

Booker prize-winner Bernardine Evaristo has described this as 'a hard-hitting and unflinching novel from a bold new writer who tackles head-on the brutal extremes of patriarchal abuse'. Cherie Jones, a black female lawyer from Barbados, sets this story in 1984 Barbados, when a heavily pregnant woman finds her husband fleeing the scene of a bungled burglary where a white man has been shot dead in front of his wife. The novel is a powerful exploration of women surviving male violence with resourcefulness and courage.

10. King Of Rabbits by Karla Neblett (William Heinemann, Mar 25)

This coming-of-age story explores the magic and confusion of childhood, following Kai, part of a mixed race family living on a rural council estate, and how he perceives the world. Despite his difficult background - his three sisters have different fathers and his mother is being encouraged into crack addiction by his crooked dad - Kai's top priority is to become the fastest runner in school, like Linford Christie. King Of Rabbits covers class, race and how society so often fails young working class men.

History highlight

11. A Net For Small Fishes by Lucy Jago (Bloomsbury, Feb 11)

Lucy Jago takes us to the court of James I, in which she revisits a real scandal: the poisoning of courtier and poet Sir Thomas Overbury in 1613. The story is angled from the point of view of the two women who were involved and their motivations, considering lust, witches and sorcery along the way.
A woman gets her jab at the mass vaccination centre in Dublins Phoenix Park (Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland/PA)

A mass-vaccination drive for GPs and practice nurses has begun in Ireland.

Three centres delivering Moderna vaccine jabs have been opened in Dublin, Galway and Portlaoise and will operate across the weekend.

The initiative has been rolled out as the authorities adjust wider vaccination plans to reflect the temporary reduction in supply of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines.

The slow down in supply to European countries is due to Pfizer upgrading its production facilities in Belgium.

1/2. Meitheal mAr na tAre ag dul A neart go neart. Dr Nuala OaConnor ICGP Lead for COVID-19 and Marie Philbin, Chief Pharmacist AMRIC checking vaccines before administration to GP teams in Portlaoise this morning. pic.twitter.com/e5ZIEIxuYQ  Dr Colm Henry, CCO HSE Ireland (@CcoHse) January 16, 2021

Ireland hopes to have vaccinated four million people by the end of September.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said supply was the only factor that would limit the speed of the programme rollout.

He said the anticipated European approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab at the end of January would be significant.

The truth is the only constraint at the moment is supply, he said.

We can speed it up but not until the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine is approved.

Were hoping thats going to happen on January 29 and that will allow us then to scale-up and speed-up the programme and well get that vaccine out to GP surgeries, pharmacies, mass-vaccination centres, and that will really allow us to increase the numbers being vaccinated every week quite considerably.

Vaccines are safe and are tested to the highest standards. Two #Covid19 vaccines have been approved in the EU with more to come in the near future.



Below I answer some of the top questions Iave received about vaccines.



Please share so that other people can get the facts too pic.twitter.com/lexq6ZgVDv  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) January 16, 2021

Another 50 Covid-19 deaths were confirmed in Ireland on Friday, along with 3,498 new cases of the virus.

On Saturday, bolstered travel restrictions came into effect requiring passengers arriving into Irelands port and airports to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test.

Travellers need to show evidence of their test result prior to boarding any plane or ferry bound for Ireland and also produce it to immigration officials upon arrival.

The PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test for coronavirus must have been taken within 72 hours of departure.

Failure to produce evidence of a negative test result on arrival in Ireland in a criminal offence attracting a fine of up to 2,500 euro or a prison sentence of up to six months.

Expand Close Passengers arriving into Dublin airport have to produce evidence of a negative Covid-19 test from Saturday (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Passengers arriving into Dublin airport have to produce evidence of a negative Covid-19 test from Saturday (Brian Lawless/PA)

The new rules do not apply to anyone travelling from Northern Ireland.

Some international travellers are exempt from the new requirements, including international transport workers in the aviation, maritime and road haulage sectors.

Children aged six and under are also exempt.

Transit passengers who stop off in Ireland en route to another destination and do not leave the airport also do not need to produce a negative test result.

Extra restrictions apply to travellers arriving from Great Britain, South Africa and Brazil.

The measures, introduced in response to the emergence of new Covid-19 variants in those places, require passengers to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in Ireland.
The COVID-19 death toll in Uttar Pradesh rose to 8,570 on Saturday with 12 more fatalities, while 533 new cases pushed the state's infection tally to 5,96,137, an official said.

Giving updates on the vaccination drive against the coronavirus, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters here that 13,419 health workers were administered COVID-19 vaccine in the state till 3:30 pm.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched India's COVID-19 vaccination drive and asserted that made-in-India vaccines being rolled out will ensure a "decisive victory" for the country over the pandemic.

On the COVID-19 situation in Uttar Pradesh, Prasad said, "The number of active cases in the state stands at 9,162. So far, 5,78,405 people have recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals."



He said that in the past 24 hours, 533 new cases have been reported and 930 people have been discharged after recovery.

The death toll stands at 8,570, Prasad said, adding that the recovery rate of the state is now at 97.02 per cent.

Over 2.60 crore tests have been done in the state so far, with over 1.23 lakh conducted on Friday, he said.

Prasad said besides health workers, the director general for family welfare and head of various institutions like the SGPGI also voluntarily took the COVID-19 vaccine.

"In UP, till 3.30 pm, 13,419 health workers were vaccinated and everyone has given a positive feedback," he said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens

Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire

ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning

European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

Armenia acting MOD leaves for Moscow

Armenia President, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces discuss current situation on border

Armenia acting PM to residents of borderline village: If we cede our border, Azerbaijanis will get more excited

Armenia MOD not confirming reports about Azerbaijan firing shots at Tavush Province

Ex-President Kocharyan meets with Yerevan residents, "Armenia" bloc members (PHOTOS)

Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

Serj Tankian makes statement on Azerbaijans displayed horrific racism

Man detained in US for intending to commit attempt on Biden

Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD continues disseminating disinformation

Erdogan to visit Baku and Shushi

Two Armenia legislature committees to hold closed joint meeting regarding tense situation on Azerbaijan border

Holy Etchmiadzin on capture of Armenia soldiers: Such behavior of Azerbaijan authorities is strongly condemnable

Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

Armenia opposition MP: Shots are heard Gegharkunik Province

Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan leadership bears responsibility for consequences of actions by its armed forces

Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

140 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

Armenia MOD announces names of 6 Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

Armenia parliament manages to have quorum in 2nd attempt

World oil prices falling

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan popularity rating consistently drops over the past week

Newspaper: Russia peacekeepers commander does not return from Azerbaijan with encouraging news for Armenia

MOD: 6 Armenia soldiers are surrounded, captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

William Shakespeare, 1st man in world to get approved coronavirus vaccine, dies aged 81

Spain Congress of Deputies committee accepts pro-Armenian motion

Ex-PM comments on double-digit growth in Armenia economy

Facebook calls Russia, Iran leading purveyors of disinformation

Erdogan says meeting with Biden will mark 'start of new era' in relations with Washington

Armenia acting Deputy PM on creation of third high-voltage electric communication line with Iran

Vladimir Zaynetdinov: CSTO has taken note of application submitted by Armenia acting PM

Armenia's Pashinyan says addressing UN Security Council not ruled out

Armenia acting FM: International pressure on Azerbaijan is growing

Netanyahu tells Blinken that Israel is against reopening US consulate for Palestinians

23 political parties and 4 alliances apply to Armenia Central Electoral Commission ahead of snap parliamentary elections

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Iran FM on solutions to problems in the region, territorial integrity

Bloomberg: Support for Erdogan's ruling party hits record low

Inter-agency commission sums up reports on implementation of roadmap for EU-Armenia CEPA

Armenian acting PM on CSTO and Russia and their duties as Armenia's allies

Slovakia allows use of Russian vaccine Sputnik V

Armenia acting PM on situation in Syunik Province: CSTO still hasn't clearly expressed its position

Armenia's Pashinyan: It's very rarely that Baku made provocations in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces on its own

Armenia acting PM: There will be no demarcation of borders until Azerbaijani troops are pulled out of territory

Record-setting number of political parties register to run in snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Blinken describes Egypt as a "real and effective partner"

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Andy Stanley's megachurch begins 'phased approach' to reopening in-person services North Point Ministries hopes 3 campuses can resume adult services in February

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North Point Ministries, led by Pastor Andy Stanley, has announced a phased approach to reopening in-person Sunday services after it suspended such services for most of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The nondenominational multi-campus ministry based in suburban Atlanta announced on its website the staggered reopening plan for in-person adult and student services but assured that to create a socially distanced environment, it will continue to make adult services available online and on-demand.

Bill Willits, North Points executive director of ministry environment, told The Christian Post in an email that North Points churches are beginning to reopen slowly, thoughtfully and carefully with COVID protocols in place.

According to Willits, three of North Points seven churches  Browns Bridge, East Cobb, and Woodstock City  are hoping to reopen fully with live adult services in February.

Our other campuses will be reopening when we can ensure a safe experience and adequate spacing for adults, students and kids at the same time, he explained.

The executive director stated that due to the size of most of North Points campuses, the churches cant simply open as usual with 6 feet of spacing between individuals.

So we are starting with a staggered approach focusing on our children and student environments, he explained. Of course, anything we do is predicated that there [will not be] a rise in the number or severity of COVID cases, school closings and hospital bed limitations.

Currently, North Points childrens ministries are meeting on campus twice per month while the student ministry meets weekly.

According to Willits, middle school students meet in the morning and high school students meet in the afternoon. Each group meets in larger than usual areas to insure proper spacing requirements.

For example, our student environments are actually meeting in our adult auditorium and our children environment is meeting in our student space for this reason, Willits wrote.

North Points churches are among many worldwide that have navigated the waters of the COVID-19 pandemic by switching to online-only services to mitigate the spread of the virus.

As many state and local governments have issued orders limiting the size of public gatherings, including religious services, some churches have openly defied ongoing lockdown orders, arguing that continued government restrictions on their services violate their First Amendment rights.

In August, the 62-year-old Stanley responded to critics who claimed he was bowing to Caesar because North Point suspended in-person services.

We did not suspend services because of government pressure; there was none," Stanley, a well-known Christian author and the churchs founder, said in a video message at the time. "Were not afraid, were not bowing to social, cultural or political pressure.

Stanley also said that he got voicemails, emails and letters from longtime church members who told him they were leaving North Point because of the decision to suspend services.

This is the version of Christianity consumed with winning, Stanley said at the time. Its a version that sees itself perpetually under attack and consequently feels the need to attack back. It requires an enemy for sustainability.

The decision to suspend services for the remainder of 2020 was made as North Point was hoping to begin gathering again in early August. Stanley told the church community in July that a large part of the decision to suspend was because the church could not guarantee the safety of attendees.
As NOLA Public Schools contends with the largest swell in coronavirus cases to date, the district and its charter schools are bracing for another looming crisis: the financial fallout from the relentless COVID-19 pandemic.

Teacher and staff layoffs, increased class sizes and scaled-back programming will all be on the table this fall due to plummeting sales tax revenue, which is expected to gut school funding by as much as $34.9 million -- $800 per student -- during the 2021-22 school year starting in July, according to several charter and district leaders.

Added to that, pre-COVID financial projections from the last two years used to calculate current school funding outpaced the actual revenue the district received, meaning that charters would owe the district as much as $700 a student by the end of next year because the district will have doled out more money to schools than what came in. The district is allowing charters to borrow that money until the balance is no longer negative, but that will mean less for items like salaries and contracts.

"Our pie is going to shrink," said Stuart Gay, the school district's chief financial officer. "Everyone will be dipping into fund balance at some level throughout the city. We just hope everyone has been prepared as much as possible to get through this."

Gay said he thinks schools will only have to weather two years of declines because starting in the 2022-23 school year, per-pupil dollars are expected to pick back up.

But in interviews this week, charter leaders with InspireNOLA and Einstein Schools said unless they get additional funding or loans, they and others could be forced into staffing cuts, slashes to tutoring programs and more by next year.

"We would definitely have to look at every position, every resource and every expenditure to make sure were making the smartest and most student-centered decisions," Einstein Schools CEO Michael McKenzie said. "Essentially I think its one of those situations where we have to do more with less."

Specific details about how management for all the 76 schools will handle the funding decline are still to come, as district leaders plan to brief charter leaders on grim budget forecasts ahead of financial planning for fiscal year 2021.

Louisiana public schools receive funding comes from three major sources: state money through the Minimum Foundation Program, local sales taxes and property taxes.

Gay told Orleans Parish School Board members recently that business closures have decimated the city's tourism-driven economy and that sales tax revenues plummeted 39% from March to June 2020 compared to that period last year, and are expected to fall 36% through this fiscal year ending in June.

Fortunately, Gay said, the district anticipates more money coming in from higher property tax assessments, and the assumption is that sales tax will recover as the economy becomes stronger in the next couple of years.

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There have also been some funds set aside just for schools as they deal with the fallout of COVID-19, but those are to compensate for pandemic-related expenditures, not revenue losses and must be spent on items such as technology for distance learning, protective gear for teachers and sanitation supplies.

Gay said the district is still dispersing about $8.2 million in federal funds to local public and non-public schools from the Elementary and Secondary School Relief Fund, allocated by Congress through the first COVID-19 relief bill passed last year.

In the coming months, city schools might get as much as $30 million from the second stimulus bill passed in late December, a slice of the $1.2 billion earmarked for Louisiana schools, he said.

Gay said he expected those new funds to be used for summer school programs, as well as for more sanitation supplies, mental health services, after-school programs and more. What's at risk are budget items for regular, ongoing expenses like teacher salaries and transportation contracts.

And while some charter organizations got Paycheck Protection Program loans to help protect staff salaries, the largest two groups -- InspireNOLA and KIPP New Orleans -- did not qualify because they employ too many people, according to Jamar McKneely, InspireNOLA's leader.

And Christopher Hines, the chief operating officer of Crescent City Schools, said schools that have large special education enrollments will see "compounding effects" of the per-pupil drop. Higher needs students typically get more funding, but that means schools serving them will see a higher drop next year too, Hines said.

District officials said they will offer relief by not making charters immediately pay back the difference between what district gave schools and what the district actually got in revenue while the balance is negative.

Looking forward, Gay said the district would look into borrowing money or offering loans, but that officials were still understanding how that liability would affect the central office.

McKneely, however, said some sort of loan might be the only recourse to prevent his organization from cutting "essential necessities" when his budget hits red.

"The longer we lose sales revenue, the harder the impacts that schools will experience," McNeely said.
Following an outcry, UC Berkeley is reversing its plan to disband a campus institute that for four decades has served as a pipeline into the social sciences for students of color and has lifted them into the highest echelons of academia.

The Chronicle reported in December that the university planned to dismantle the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, which supports mainly Black and Latino students earning doctorates in the social sciences. About 220 students have gone through ISSI since 1976 and have gone on to teach at dozens of leading universities, including Harvard, Morehouse College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The institute was to close at the end of the current semester.

The Chronicle article brought the situation to the attention of some powerful faculty members (and others) who had not been aware and who started advocating on our behalf, said Deborah Freedman Lustig, associate director of the institute, who added that ISSI received offers of financial help and was inundated with emails of support.

Hundreds of people also added their names to a petition that had been posted since the summer to try to save ISSI, bringing the signatures to about 1,300, Lustig said.

The response made clear that there has been insufficient prior consultation with faculty and other stakeholders about UC Berkeleys plan for the institute, a network of academic programs, said a letter Thursday to ISSI from Linda Haverty Rugg, associate vice chancellor for research, and Randy Katz, vice chancellor for research. The letter said the university had intended to dismantle the institute but preserve its individual programs.

Our plans impact on the broader campus intellectual support for social justice research was inadequately addressed, the letter said.

Rugg and Katz said the university will suspend all decisions and actions related to ISSIs programs and organizational structure, a proposal from Katz approved by campus Chancellor Carol Christ.

Christ will create a task force on social justice research that will make recommendations for how Berkeley can best support the network of faculty, staff and students pursuing research on social justice issues.

Supporters of ISSI, including founder Troy Duster, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of sociology and grandson of Ida B. Wells, co-founder of the NAACP, greeted the reprieve with cautious optimism.

This is a welcomed development, a promising opening for a serious reconsideration of priorities, Duster told The Chronicle.

Lustig told supporters that a vigil planned for Saturday has been canceled  for now.

We'll save that as a possible action if needed, she said. While reversing the decision to close ISSI is a great first step, there are unanswered questions about the building, funding and so on. And maybe we will just turn the planned vigil into a big celebration once we get even better news about our future and once we can gather in person more safely!

UC Berkeley pays $350,000 a year to run ISSI, which the pandemic and its economic hit have made harder to afford, campus officials have said. The claim has received particularly strong pushback from institute graduates and others who say that money is a small price to pay for the magnitude of benefit it buys.

Also troubling, the university has said, is that the institute resides in the historic but crumbling 1927 Anna Head building  and they dont know of anywhere it can move to.

The institute is a network of seven centers identified by their academic focus: ethnographic research, social medicine, Latinx research, Native American issues, research on social change, right-wing studies and the new Asian American research center. There is also the competitive Graduate Fellows Program for doctoral students, which provides a stipend so students can study instead of teach or hold down another job.

Duster pointed to the storming of the Capitol by right-wing supporters of President Trump to highlight the importance of ISSI, and its Center for Right Wing Studies.

As the (universitys) statement rightly puts it, we can use this moment, this situation, to step back and reassess just how important it is to have ongoing studies of white supremacists and their relationship to our criminal justice system, he said. The Center for Right Wing Studies has been at the forefront of this work, for a decade focusing attention on what has now surprised the Capitol and led to the current national crisis.

With the centers housed together, the institute has been able to help close the academic gap between haves and have-nots. Supporters say that having all the ISSI components together has been its formula for success.

With the cost to restore the Anna Head building estimated in the tens of millions of dollars, however, the university has advised against spending the $250,000 needed to make the building accessible to disabled people.

In their letter, Rugg and Katz said a priority is to find the best physical space possible for the students, and preserve their community.

The letter also emphasized that UC Berkeley has made a significant investment in intellectual support for social justice issues, and that a goal of the new task force will be to align all such efforts on campus.

The university plans to hire additional faculty with expertise in social justice across several disciplines, the letter said.

ISSI will continue to exist in the interim, pending the recommendations of the task force and further consultation with the campus community, the letter said.

The task force will issue its recommendations by the end of 2021.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov
New Delhi, Jan 16 : There was no dearth of secessionist claims. It seems like throughout the second half of the century, after the Indian Union came into being, almost every corner of the country wanted a separate nation, every province harboured a desire to be declared a sovereign state.

The idea was to create a third dominion called "Princestan", where the 565 princely states would stay outside the ambit of the two free states and retain paramountcy under the aegis of the departing British. The success of such a malevolent plan would have made the newly independent nation unstable and vulnerable.

However, three persons stood in the way of the nefarious British plan to balkanise India. This is the hitherto untold story of how Jawaharlal Nehru, Lord Mountbatten and Sardar Patel battled the rulers of the princely states at every twist and turn to foil that cunning plan, even as the process of decolonisation had begun.

According to the author Sandeep Bamzai, this was how "Princestan" was formed. An intricately researched and elegantly written epic history peopled with larger-than-life characters, it is the work of a major scholar at the peak of his abilities. He puts in great effort to add perspectives from a variety of sources - letters, memoirs, biographies, news reports and even his personal experiences - to ensure that we understand what was going through the minds of not only those in power, but also those fighting to oppose them.

The beauty of this book (Princestan: How Nehru, Patel and Mountbatten Made India; by Sandeep Bamzai; Rupa & Co) lies in the author's sincere and unbiased approach blended with a unique writing style. The sensitivity and thoughtfulness that the writer has displayed while describing every anecdote are incredible.

'Princestan' is principally a political history - Bamzai covers the major events that occurred in India right after Independence, and their impact on the political and social landscape.

Over various chapters the author gives us the perspective of the different lives caught in this crossfire between the newly independent nation India and its princely states.

How a section of diabolical princes actually managed to a large extent to stay out of the ambit of Hindustan and Pakistan till brought to heel by Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel and Lord Mountbatten in what people believed was a relay run. The princes never wanted independence. The Nizam of Hyderabad convinced the British to be called His Exalted Highness.

The princes together representing the British Monarchy in India actually had something called Narender Mandal which was the chamber of princes and the Chancellor of the Chamber of Princes was the Nawab of Bhopal Hamidullah Khan.

Further, you come across in the book many reference points about a diabolical plan being hatched at the behest of British PM Winston Churchill and Viceroy Lord Wavell using Mohd Ali Jinnah and the canny head of the Political Department Sir Conrad Corfield to 'keep a bit of India' as they pushed forward with a plan to de-colonise India. To balkanise India, they encouraged a catalogue of crafty Indian Princes to speak the forked tongue of freedom from the Indian National Congress and independence for themselves.

Led by the saboteur Nawab of Bhopal and a handful of other powerful princes, they wanted to create a Third Dominion called Princestan in parallel to India and Pakistan. This is the story of how that plan to vivisect India was foiled.

Churchill called Wavell to his office before he was ousted in the election and told him to make sure that we keep a bit of India. That conspiracy is Princestan. It is an easy read, perfect foundation for anyone who wants to experience India after 1947. The reason I would urge you to read this book is for you to rethink and re-access the entire situation.

The plan was led by the Chancellor of the chamber of princes, the Nawab of Bhopal, who was operating under the patronage of Mohd. Ali Jinnah, Lord Wavell and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Bamzai has dug deep into the archives, unpublished material and letters while concluding his well-researched book.

Mountbatten lambasted the princes and told them they had to sign a standstill agreement with either India or Pakistan as the Dominion was formed. There was a record which says that the Princes and particularly the Nawab of Bhopal were sold out by the decoloniser called Mountbatten. The Narender Mandal or the Chamber of Princes is called the bastard child of the Montague-Chelmsford reforms and the INC never believed in it. Bamzai writes it with supportive details.

Bamzai writes in the book that Gandhiji was not ambivalent towards the princes like Nehru and Patel and some of the other Congress leaders. Gandhi in the Second Round Table conference said that "You shouldn't toe the British line and you should make Independence easier for the country." Gandhiji never wanted any sort of revolt from any section of the society. His methods were more towards assimilating whether the princely states or the different castes of Hindus and Muslims together in one battle. Gandhiji believed in people to coexist in India.

Organization of All India states conference is Nehru's creation. Nehru threw down the gauntlet at Gandhi and said we have to ensure that the princely states stay with the rest of the Union of India. The princes were virulent organisms. They didn't understand anything, but themselves. They were totally power drunk. Nehru's upbringing, his thought process was constantly evolving and it was always anti-monarchical. Nehru always lambasted and fulminated against the princes. The fact was that he was anti-monarchical from the beginning. Nehru never ever liked the princes and this stems from his anti-monarchical and Fabian socialist thinking. Bamzai has been both empathetic in his approach and meticulous while documenting.

There were dialogues with various princes at various times and in most cases the princes always won till Mountbatten lashed out at them and told them that there's no other way if you were thinking post August 15 you would create your little empire and the British are going to support you. That's where Princestan comes in.

Patel asked Menon: "Are you happy with the contours of what you see?" Sardar Patel also asked this to Menon, will Mountbatten bring all 565 apples in a basket and place it for him? Menon answers with the affirmative to Patel and Patel gives a thumbs up and that is how India is created.

VP Menon is a hard-nosed tough bureaucrat who had worked with Mountbatten earlier. He travelled endlessly from Odisha to Bhavnagar. Patel was smart enough to understand there was this guy who could deliver the basket of apples he was promised. Menon goes to Shimla, works on the Dicky Bird plan, ratifies the plan from Nehru, approves the plan from Mountbatten. Menon then calls Patel and explains to him how Nehru and Mountbatten have gone beyond the Dicky Bird plan and they have a new plan that both have approved.

At all times in the run-up to the Independence of India, Nehru, Patel and Mountbatten play a crucial role.

There is a view that Nehru was a pacifist, but as a Fabian Socialist, he abhorred the Monarchy and all its manifestations. Nehru believed in the concept of a whole unified India which included the provinces and the princely states and he front ran the whole thing himself by taking on the rulers of Nabha, Faridkot and Jammu & Kashmir.

Bamzai's book "Princestan" is shaking up the widely-held belief that Nehru was a soft leader and Patel the Iron Man of India. He writes further that on his return to India, Nehru announced at every twist and turn in the freedom struggle this visceral hatred for the Indian Princes who he thought were blood-sucking leeches not allowing democracy to take root in their kingdoms. He even took on Gandhiji's concept of keeping aloof from the princes for he believed they were trustees and as such meant to rule.

The trinity of Nehru, Mountbatten and Sardar Patel in equal measure contributed in making India whole. Nehru envisioned it, Mountbatten facilitated it by breaking the bad news to the Princes and Sardar Patel actioned it aggressively after he was appointed minister of states in July 1947.

Bamzai has mentioned in the book with facts why equal credit should also be given to bureaucrat V.P. Menon who helped the Sardar in roping in the errant Princes and reorganising the states and the map of India.

This book is sure going to ruffle some feathers in a section which is appropriating Patel's legacy and pitching it against Nehru. The anecdotal references from probably the world's best literature not only reveal the bibliophile in him, they are also tremendously motivating.

Bamzai succeeds magnificently by furnishing an insightful post-independence (albeit Nehruvian) narrative history of India that sheds light on the unprecedented miracle that is the Indian nation-state.

Very rarely has history been told in such colour and with such emotion. It rightly deserves to be called Bamzai's masterpiece.

(Ashutosh Kumar Thakur is a Bengaluru-based management consultant, literary critic and advisor with Kalinga Literary Festival. He can be reached at ashutoshbthakur@gmail.com)
Profile: Lisa Junger, Developer and Information Security Lead at ThoughtWorks

Women are underrepresented in the tech sector myth or reality? Three years ago, we launched a diversity series aimed at bringing the most inspirational and powerful women in the tech scene to your attention. Today, wed like you to meet Lisa Junger, Developer and Information Security Lead at ThoughtWorks Germany.

A research study by The National Center for Women & Information Technology showed that gender diversity has specific benefits in technology settings, which could explain why tech companies have started to invest in initiatives that aim to boost the number of female applicants, recruit them in a more effective way, retain them for longer, and give them the opportunity to advance. But is it enough?

Three years ago, we launched a diversity series aimed at bringing the most inspirational and powerful women in the tech scene to your attention. Today, wed like you to meet Lisa Junger, developer and Information Security Lead at ThoughtWorks Germany.

Todays Woman in Tech: Lisa Junger, developer and Information Security Lead at ThoughtWorks Germany

Lisa Junger works as a developer and Information Security Lead at ThoughtWorks Germany, where she is passionately looking for different solutions in order to shape the world of tomorrow through technology.

Previously, she worked as a project manager in various countries for different non-profit and also for-profit organizations. After several years in personnel- and organizational-development, Lisa decided to give her passion for technology a new meaning and learned to program.

What got you interested in tech?

In my childhood my family was predominantly socio-scientifically oriented, thus I had very little contact with IT. Though at the same time my parents always encouraged me a lot to try out different things and to go my own way. This is one of the reasons why I had a very broad interest in various topics from an early age. For example, my two favorite subjects at school were French and Physics.

I didnt write any real code until I joined the Rails Girls.

I chose to study Psychology because I hoped to combine my passion for positive knowledge, quantifiable results, and human and social phenomena. Later, as a statistician, I wrote scripts for data processing and this is what I perhaps would call my first contact with tech. But it wasnt until I joined the Rail Girls that I started to write real code.

Did you receive support from your family and friends?

At first, I would have probably never gone further down this road, if I hadnt met some of the fantastic women at Rails Girls. They are still important contacts and role models for me today. First and foremost, of course, in regards to technical issues, but also in regards to the exchange of phenomena in the IT industry and the challenges of being a software developer, woman, and career changer.

At ThoughtWorks, Ive always worked with people who believed in me and my abilities  technically, culturally, and as a team lead. Over the past six years, Ive been able to rely on the support of the organization from my first steps in software development to technical team lead roles, through to my current role as being in charge of the IT security for Germany.

Men, as well as women on all levels of management, have opened doors and created opportunities for me to follow this path, by lending me their own credibility or by passing on opportunities to me, which they had for themselves. For example, even in my first professional software development project, my colleagues naturally insisted that I present the project at hackathons and in lectures. They stood by my side during my first technical talks without putting me on the sidelines. Since that time I have had the opportunity to present technical topics or speak at conferences alone or together with experienced colleagues.

How did you end up in your career path?

After my studies, I spent some time as a statistician in the public healthcare sector for various research projects, supporting the methodological implementation and statistical evaluation of different research projects. Afterwards, however, I decided to become a trainer and project manager responsible for continuing education programs in the context of personnel and organizational development from global companies through to small NGOs.

I quickly came into contact with people who gave me insights into professional software development.

Through the joint work with an NGO of engineers in Burkina Faso, I rediscovered my passion for working methods, which are based on quick feedback and continuous improvement. Finally, I decided to spend a few months fully concentrating on software development, also because I realized just how much influence technical systems exerted over my life.

Through communities such as the Rails Girls or the Ruby Usergroup, which supported me massively during my first steps in software development, I quickly came into contact with people who gave me insight into professional software development. This is how I started an internship and came into contact with ThoughtWorks, where I eventually started as a Junior Software Developer.

A day in Lisass life

Since the end of 2019, I have been the Regional Infosec Lead at ThoughtWorks and, thus, became the central contact person for information security and risk management throughout Germany. My day-to-day work consists largely of continuously monitoring risks with all our delivery teams, proactively developing measures together, and advising on technical security and good practices. I also support escalation processes and, if necessary, manage incident response. Furthermore, as Diversity & Inclusion Leader I am responsible for leading and coordinating diversity-related activities at ThoughtWorks.

With different teams, I have primarily developed web applications through many layers of the technical stack. From scripts to automate deployment processes, infrastructure as code, backend services in Java and Python, to user interfaces in different flavors of Javascript.

We have developed, for example, an email solution that makes encrypted communication easy for users and decentralizes data storage or a technical platform for a large e-commerce marketplace, just to name two examples.

Why arent there more women in tech?

A large part of our economic world and the associated jobs were, at some point, made by men for men. They have their origin in the assumption that the family breadwinner puts in his work and is supported by the rest of the family. In order to expand the available labor force, women have long ago entered the radar of our economic order. Even if these times seem to be in the distant past, many basic processes and assumptions can still be found. For people with other life models, this requires great efforts of adaptation. Since white men still dominate the German IT landscape, the transformation is slower here. We see that many women are either leaving the IT industry or are retiring to less technical roles.

Many influential positions lack diversity, and thus the understanding and need for change.

Many influential positions lack diversity and, thus, the understanding and need for change. There is a lack of role models and cultures that allow everyone to come to work with their whole self without having to adapt to historically developed expectation patterns. Just to name a few examples: Established large companies have difficulties with the visibility of women in IT professions amidst long-established structures and processes and internal politics that often reward similarity. Dynamic young start-ups expect working hours and flexibility that are hardly manageable for people without traditional family support structures. On top of all of this, there is a good portion of everyday sexism and racism, which is rarely believed to still exist. A lot has to change here.

Would our world be different if more women worked in STEM?

Technology has a constantly growing influence on our everyday life. From our work tools, through to our private exchanges with our friends, and to political decision-making processes. Algorithms determine what answers we find on the Internet to our questions, and hardly anyone in Germany today leaves their home without a smartphone. This social reality is generated to an overwhelming extent by a comparatively small group of people. In a society where, for example, 50 percent of the population is women, they should be equally involved in creating this reality. The same applies, of course, to other social groups.

Ideally, we also manage to bring technical innovations closer to users. In Kenya, for example, a technical innovation center, Silicon Savannah, is currently being established that will certainly be better able to address the challenges in sub-Saharan Africa than the centers in Europe, North America, and Asia.

In terms of diversity, we are still at the very beginning.

Diverse teams create working environments in which different opinions and perspectives are heard and questions are addressed more openly. Through this way, more innovative solutions are often found, maybe or perhaps because of the fact that the path to them confronts us with our own values and ideas. Teams with diverse perspectives also have a better chance of representing the target groups of their software and, therefore, developing better working solutions for them.

In terms of diversity, we are still at the very beginning. The history of womens equality to date shows us how long it takes to make these changes. We are at the very beginning of a non-binary consideration of gender, diversity of origin or multiple discrimination, and intersectionality.

Could you name a few challenges (or obstacles) women in tech face?

I am still occasionally asked at tech conferences who I am accompanying. So the first assumption is that women do not show up at technical conferences or even give a lecture out of their own professional interest. The woman is implicitly told in each of these situations that she somehow does not belong there. Its not true that fewer women are interested in technical professions, but in my experience, an extra portion of motivation and commitment is necessary just in order to stay.

The age of the basement dwelling developer is mostly over.

It happens from time to time that I solve the problems in the team and not the problems in the code. In my experience, women are often relied on when it comes to moderating workshops or making sure that everyone feels comfortable. These things are undoubtedly important for the productivity of the team, yet a vicious circle can spring forth from this: Women spend their time communicating, while men solve technical problems. This creates competence profiles over time that confirm the stereotype.

What advice (and tips) would you give to women who want a tech career?

Working as a software developer, as I experience it, is far more creative than is often assumed. We are allowed to create new things every day and often solve problems collaboratively. The days of the programmer in the basement are largely over. While I personally have never had as much fun with an activity as I had with programming, it is important to know that learning the craft is a path that requires a lot of energy, dedication and frustration tolerance and it is not always easy not to doubt yourself. The time to enter the IT industry is very favorable right now, because software developers are desperately needed everywhere.

More Women in Tech:

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Mexico posted a record spike in coronavirus cases on Friday, with 21,366 newly confirmed infections, about double the daily rate of increase just a week ago. The country also recorded 1,106 more deaths.

It was unclear if the spike was due to the presence of the U.K. virus variant, of which only one case has so far been confirmed in a visiting British citizen.

The country has now seen almost 1.61 million total infections and has seen registered over 139,000 deaths so far in the pandemic.

The country's extremely low testing rate means that is an undercount, and official estimates suggest the real death toll is closer to 195,000. So little testing is done that 8% of all those who got a test later died during recent weeks; normally, only people with severe symptoms are tested..

Teams vaccinating frontline health care workers administered about 59,000 shots on Friday, bring the total so far to over 415,000. The numbers are still inadequate for the 750,000 frontline health care workers, each of whom will require two doses.

In Mexico City, the current center of the pandemic in Mexico, 90% percent of hospital beds are full.

Mexico has pinned much of its hopes on cheaper, easier-to-handle vaccines made by China's CanSino. But that vaccine has not yet been approved for use.

The country has also expressed interest in getting the AstraZeneca vaccine and the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
India is set to start its COVID-19 vaccination drive from January 16 with two vaccines - Covishield and COVAXIN. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had on January 3 granted emergency use authorisation to the two COVID-19 vaccines developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), and Bharat Biotech, respectively.

According to the government, 1.1 crore vials of Covishield and 55 lakh vials of Bharat Biotech have been ordered.

Further, the Centre said while it is assigning proportion of Covishield and COVAXIN for states and Union territories, state governments can take their own call on how to distribute both the vaccines among their priority groups. It, however, cautioned that doses cannot be mixed, i.e. an individual who got first shot of Covishield will have to get a second shot also of Covishield.

Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here

Here's a look at what states have received and what they have planned:

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

>> Delhi: A senior government official said "Covishield will be the default option" with COVAXIN being used "if need arises". The national capital has recieved 2,54,540 doses of Covishield and 20,000 doses of COVAXIN.

>> Punjab has only received stock for Covishield (2,04,000 doses), said Rajesh Bhaskar, state programming officer for COVID-19.

>> Officials of Mumbai's Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also said they have received stock of Covishield and will hence be using only that vaccine.

>> Maharashtra has received 9.63 lakh doses of Covishield and another 20,000 doses of COVAXIN.

>> Andhra Pradesh has cited fewer doses of COVAXIN as the reason for prioritising Covishield. State Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar said they have received 4.7 lakh doses of Covishield and 20,000 doses of COVAXIN.

>> In Telangana, state health official said Covishield will be used for healthcare workers, but COVAXIN might be used for "special groups such as senior politicians and government officials". The official said faith in Bharat Biotech's vaccine is high, because it was developed in the state capital of Hyderabad.

>> In Chattisgarh, State Health Minister TS Singh Deo expressed concern over the lack of efficacy data for COVAXIN, and said it is "not safe to use any vaccine still in trial mode". The state will hence be using Covishield predominantly.

Check here for the latest updates on all COVID-19 vaccines

>> Rajasthan has received 5,62,500 doses of Covid-19 vaccines, including 20,000 doses of COVAXIN.

>> Sikkim has so far got 1,250 vials of Covishield in the first batch.

>> Haryana has so far received 2.41 lakh doses of Covishield in its first batch.

>> Uttarakhand has got 1,13,000 doses of Covishield.

>> Manipur has received 54,000 doses of Covishield vaccine.

>> Kerala has received 4.33 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine.

>> Gujarat has got 5.40 lakh doses of Covishield.

>> Puducherry has received 17,500 doses of Covishield vaccine, and it would be used in Puducherry and Karaikal regions, officials said.

>> Jammu and Kashmir has received the first consignment of 1.46 lakh doses of Covishield.

>> Tripura recieved the first consignment of 56,500 doses of Covishield vaccine.

>> Madhya Pradesh has received 94,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine for the first phase.

>> Assam has received 12,000 doses of COVAXIN and 2.40 lakh vials of Covishield for itself and Meghalaya.

>> Karnataka has received 6.48 lakh doses of Covishield.

>> Odisha received 20,000 vials of COVAXIN and 4.08 lakh doses of Covishield.

>> Goa got its first consignment of 23,000 doses of Covishield.

>> West Bengal recieved 10 lakh doses of Covishield as part of the first consignment, of which 3.11 doses are for the neighbouring states.

>> Mizoram got 18,500 Covishield vials in first phase.

>> Bihar received 54,900 vials of Covishield vaccines.

>> Tamil Nadu got 5,36,500 doses of Covishield and 20,000 doses of COVAXIN.

>> Telangana received 3.64 lakh doses of Covishield as part of the first consignment.

>> Uttar Pradesh has received around 1.6 lakh doses of Covishield.

The Health Ministry on January 14 had clarified that both the approved vaccines will be treated at par.

Asked if the recipients would have the option to choose between the two vaccines, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "There is no such option available to any of the beneficiaries in any country."

Vinod K. Paul, head of the Centre's Vaccine Strategy Panel told Reuters, "No vaccine is a backup to the other - both vaccines are equally important, both vaccines are hugely immunogenic. They excite immunity against the virus."

Paul added that as of now, India is not allowing vaccine takers to choose between the two options and defended moving ahead with the COVAXIN, which Bharat Biotech developed with the Indian Council of Medical Research, saying all COVID-19 vaccines in the world, including those by Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc, are administered under emergency authorisation.

The scientific rigour under the circumstances of the pandemic has been respected in a robust manner, Paul said. There is no pressure on Indias regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization. They take decisions based on science and regulatory norms.
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A former British military interpreter trapped with his sick wife in a freezing 'hellhole' migrant camp on a Greek island has been told they qualify to come to the UK.

Nesar, who worked for almost two years on the front lines in Helmand, said the news was 'a dream come true'.

The 29-year-old said his wife Nazarin, 28, had broken down and cried with relief after he received an email telling them they qualified for sanctuary 27 months after fleeing Taliban death threats in Afghanistan.

Speaking from the island, he said: 'This is a New Year's present from the UK Government  wonderful news which we hope will mean safety, security and at last peace.

'I had to read the email from the Afghan team telling me I was eligible several times to make sure. It is a huge relief for both of us.

Nesar (on the left) worked for almost two years on the front lines in Helmand

This newspaper's award-winning Betrayal of the Brave campaign first told of the plight of the couple and how they were trapped with 19,000 others in the squalid Moria camp on Lesbos  branded the 'worst refugee camp on Earth'  in July

'I thank the UK Government for showing compassion and recognising both my loyal service when I stood shoulder-to-shoulder in bad times with their soldiers and the threat we translators face because of it.

'I thank too with my heart the Daily Mail and its friends for telling my case so people heard my voice. The support for us and other translators will never be forgotten.'

This newspaper's award-winning Betrayal of the Brave campaign first told of the plight of the couple and how they were trapped with 19,000 others in the squalid Moria camp on Lesbos  branded the 'worst refugee camp on Earth'  in July.

It highlighted calls from former Army officers and Afghan veterans for the couple to be allowed to apply for relocation to the UK.

Two months later the campaign told of the couple's heartbreak after appearing not to qualify for a change in Government policy that exempted those who had already fled Afghanistan to third countries because of threats from being able to relocate to the UK.

But Defence Secretary Ben Wallace instructed that 'discretion' be used on a 'case by case' basis.

Peter Gordon-Finlayson, former Army captain and founding member of the Sulha Alliance, which campaigns for interpreters, said: 'The Sulha Alliance is delighted that the Government recognises Nesar's qualification for relocation to the UK. He is truly a worthy recipient of UK support.'

It is unclear whether Nesar's case will be processed while he is in the camp, at the British embassy in Athens or by allowing the couple a temporary visa so it can be handled directly in the UK.

Nesar, who worked with the British in Helmand from September 2009 until 2011, missed out on policy allowing Afghans sanctuary in Britain. Royal Marines seen above in Helmand in 2014

Experts point out that Britain let interpreters working with the military during the Iraq conflict apply successfully from third countries.

It would be the first time that an Afghan interpreter had successfully relocated from a third country.

It is understood there are no plans to change the general policy on third countries. Nesar added: 'Ideally we would ask to come to the UK as soon as possible because the situation here is very difficult and dangerous.'

After a summer fire destroyed Moria, the couple now share a canvas tent with three other families in a new camp called Kara Tepe.

It has been hit regularly by floods and there is electricity for only three hours a night. Robberies and stabbings are common.

'We have gone from one hellhole to another,' said Nesar.

The couple reached Europe's largest migrant camp after a perilous crossing of the Aegean with 49 migrants in a rubber dingy on the final day of 2019.

He worked with the British in Helmand from September 2009 until 2011, followed by three years with US Special Forces and two years as an officer in the Afghan Army's Commando Unit.
Reuters

Fiat Chrysler and PSA sealed their long-awaited merger on Saturday to create Stellantis, the world's fourth-largest auto group with deep enough pockets to fund the shift to electric driving and take on bigger rivals Toyota and Volkswagen. It took over a year for the Italian-American and French automakers to finalise the $52 billion deal, during which the global economy was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. They first announced plans to merge in October 2019, to create a group with annual sales of around 8.1 million vehicles.

"The merger between Peugeot S.A. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. that will lead the path to the creation of Stellantis N.V. became effective today," the two automakers said in a statement.

Shares in Stellantis, which will be headed by current PSA Chief Executive Carlos Tavares, will start trading in Milan and Paris on Monday, and in New York on Tuesday.

Now analysts and investors are turning their focus to how Tavares plans to address the huge challenges facing the group  from excess production capacity to a woeful performance in China.

Tavares will hold his first press conference as Stellantis CEO on Tuesday, after ringing NYSE's bell with Chairman John Elkann.

FCA and PSA have said Stellantis can cut annual costs by over 5 billion euros ($6.1 billion) without plant closures, and investors will be keen for more details on how it will do this.

Marco Santino, a partner at consultants Oliver Wyman, said he expected Tavares to disclose the outlines of his action plan soon, but without divulging too many details at first.

"He has proven to be the kind of person who prefers action to words, so I don't think he will make loud statements or try to over-sell targets," he said. Like all global automakers, Stellantis needs to invest billions in the years ahead to transform its vehicle range for the electric era.

But other pressing tasks loom, including reviving the group's lagging fortunes in China, rationalising its huge global empire and addressing massive overcapacity.

"It will be a step by step process, also to allow the market to better appreciate every single move. I don't think we will have all the details before one year," Santino said.

FCA CEO Mike Manley - who will head Stellantis' key North American operations - has said 40% of the carmaker's expected synergies would come from convergence of platforms and powertrains and from optimising R&D investments, 35% from savings on purchases, and another 7% from savings on sales operations and general expenses.

In a statement, a spokesman for the federal health department said that nearly 13 million doses were made available to states so they could order their first and second doses, which is millions more than previous weeks. The spokesman, Michael Pratt, also said that many states have not ordered up to the full amount that they have been allocated by the federal government.

I think states have been doing their best to plan with whatever information they can get from the feds on expected future allocations, and then revising those plans if they get less, said Dr. Marcus Plescia, the chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. What is more concerning is that public expectations have been raised and limited supply may lead to significant disappointment.

During the first few weeks of distribution, Gen. Gustave F. Perna, the chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, the federal effort to develop and distribute a vaccine to the American public, decided to hold back half of the weekly shipments of vaccine to save those doses for the people who had received an initial shot. He said at the time that it was important to be cautious as manufacturing was getting underway, and to hold onto a stockpile of second doses in the case of any manufacturing glitches.

Even then, his decision came under criticism by public health experts who argued that the focus should be on getting as many people as possible their first dose of a vaccine  since clinical trials showed even the first dose offers some protection  given that the country was facing record cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

But federal officials stuck to their plan, and as the weeks passed, that stockpile gradually depleted as those who had received the initial shots from Pfizer needed their second dose, which is given three weeks later. The first people who received the Moderna vaccine are now due for their booster shot, which is given four weeks later.

Senior administration officials said Friday that the remaining second doses drawn from that reserve are being distributed this week and next week to the states, and that they were never intended to be used toward vaccinating additional people.

From now on, officials said Tuesday, each weekly shipment from the manufacturers will include doses for new people as well as second doses for those who are due for their booster shots.
MUMBAI : Private sector lender HDFC Bank is expected to post a net profit of 7,818.2 crore in the three months to December, 5% higher than 7,416.48 crore reported in the same period last year, according to an average of estimates by 15 analysts polled by Bloomberg.

The bank will declare its Q3 FY21 results on Saturday.

Analysts at Emkay Research said overall business momentum for HDFC Bank remains healthy, compared to the industry. A structurally better cost-income ratio and high provisioning buffer (0.7% of loans in Q2) should help absorb the ensuing moderate asset-quality risk, leading to continued healthy return ratios, it said.

However, in the wake of a spate of recent management churn and adverse events, including misconduct in auto business and new card acquisition suspension, we believe that the new top management has a task cut out to overcome these hurdles and sustain its historic management premium," Emkay said in a report on 6 January.

HDFC Bank recently informed the exchanges that its loan book grew about 16% year-on-year (y-o-y) at 10.8 trillion in Q3 FY21, which Emkay said was mainly driven by retail (festive pick-up) and continued momentum in working capital corporate loans.

ICICI Direct said on 8 January that HDFC Bank is expected to report a net interest income (NII) of 16,258.8 crore in the December quarter, up 12.8% y-o-y.

We expect margins to be stable at 4.3%. Other income may see improvement sequentially with profit after tax growth expected to be 10% YoY to 8,205 crore. Asset quality may be stable due to lower slippage led by standstill but restructuring numbers to be watched," ICICI Direct said.

Meanwhile, analysts at Motilal Oswal believe that HDFC Bank has shown robust traction in the corporate portfolio, thus compensating for the softness in retail lending.

Over the first half of FY21, the corporate segment contributed entirely to the overall loan growth, raising its share to 52% of total loans. It continues to focus on lending to high-rated corporates, which has enabled sharp decline in risk-weighted assets/total assets to about 65% (as against 75% in FY19)," Motilal Oswal said on 7 January.

Shares of HDFC Bank closed at 1,466.35 on the BSE on Friday, down 0.12% from its previous close.

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Heads of state of the E3 group of countries: (L) French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on April 25, 2019. (Philippe Wojazer/Reuters), (C) German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, Germany, June 18, 2018. (Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters), (R) Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson in London on Oct. 29, 2019. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

France, Germany, UK Concerned by Irans Latest Breach of Nuclear Deal

Governments of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom on Saturday voiced their concern over Irans latest breach of the nuclear deal.

The statement came in response to a report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog stating that Iran has started working on uranium metal-based fuel for a research reactor.

We, the governments of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, are deeply concerned by Irans announcement that it is preparing to produce uranium metal, the three countries said on Saturday in a joint statement.

Iran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal. The production of uranium metal has potentially grave military implications, the statement reads.

Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), Iran committed to not engaging in production of uranium metal or conducting research and development on uranium metallurgy for 15 years.

The three governments said they strongly urge Iran to halt this activity, and return to compliance with its JCPoA commitments without further delay if it is serious about preserving the deal.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday informed its member statement of Tehrans activities.

Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi today informed IAEA Member States about recent developments regarding Irans plans to conduct R&D activities on uranium metal production as part of its declared aim to design an improved type of fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor, the IAEA said in a statement on Wednesday.

The agency issues ad hoc reports to member states when Iran commits a new breach of the deal, though it declines to call them breaches, leaving that call to parties to the 2015 accord.

The deal specifically imposes a 15-year ban on Iran producing or acquiring uranium metal, a sensitive material that can be used in the core of a nuclear bomb.

Separately Iran also plans to enrich uranium to 20 percent, a level it last reached before the 2015 deal, at its Fordow site buried in a mountain, and it started that process last week. It had so far only gone as far as 4.5 percent, above the 3.67 percent limit imposed by the deal but still far short of the 90 percent that is weapons grade.

U.S. intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe Iran had a secret, coordinated nuclear weapons program that it halted in 2003. Iran denies ever seeking nuclear weapons and says its aims with nuclear energy are entirely peaceful.

Reuters contributed to this report
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Lucknow, Jan 16 : With the vaccination drive against coronavirus kicking-off in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, Amar Bahadur, a junior assistant at King George's Medical University's Public Health Dentistry department, received the first shot of the vaccine.

"There was a lot of excitement before the vaccination. There was absolutely no problem after receiving the vaccine shot. I have full faith in the vaccine jab. I want to appeal to my countrymen to participate actively in this vaccination campaign and drive the coronavirus out of my country. This is a major achievement of the scientists of our country. Casting any kind of aspersions about the vaccine is not right, " Bahadur said after being vaccinated.

Earlier, the vaccine was transported from the Cold Chain Point in Lucknow at 8 a.m on Saturday. The vehicle carrying the vaccine was escorted to the hospital by the police. From there the police personnel delivered the vaccine box to the vaccination site at 9 a.m. After this the health workers present in the waiting room were called one after another. The details recorded in the portal and the manual list were matched and the first dose of the vaccine was given.

After receiving the vaccination shot, to monitor the health of the beneficiary, he/she was kept in the observation room for nearly 30 minutes. A team of health workers and an ambulance were on standby to handle any emergency. Vaccination began at 12 hospitals in the city.

On Saturday, 31,700 people will be vaccinated in Uttar Pradesh. This vaccine jab is being given to the health workers first.

Medical and Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh said, "In UP, injections of 10,55,500 'Covishield' and 20,000 'Covaxin' have been received. The health department is fully geared up. The names of 8,57,000 health workers of the state have been listed. Cold chains are fully ready in the state." Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad, said, "This vaccine will be given at 317 centres in the state. At each centre nearly 100 people will be getting the vaccine shot. Its second dose will be given after 28 days."
As the COVID-19 inoculation drive rolled out across India on Saturday, Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla joined the healthcare workers in getting the Covishield vaccine shot. Poonawalla shared a small video of him receiving the jab on Twitter.

"I wish India & Sri @narendramodi ji great success in launching the world's largest COVID vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that #COVISHIELD is part of this historic effort & to endorse its safety & efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine myself," he tweeted.

Covishield is developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca and manufactured by the Pune-based SII.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching the world's largest vaccination drive against the pandemic.

.
The family of a two-week-old baby who is thought to have been murdered have paid tribute to the 'beautiful and brave' girl as her suspected killer remains on police bail.

Felicity-May Harvey, who was born with a cleft lip and palate, was rushed to hospital last Friday, prompting a call to police amid concerns for her welfare.

Following her death on Monday, Greater Manchester Police opened a murder investigation and arrested a 24-year-old man. He has since been bailed pending further enquiries.

Officers were outside a property in Heywood, Rochdale, earlier this week as they investigated Felicity-May's death.

Felicity-May Harvey's family have paid tribute to their 'beautiful and incredibly brave' baby girl, who died at hospital on Monday. She was just two-weeks-old

Paying tribute, the infant's family said: 'Our hearts are broken after losing our precious baby girl, Felicity-May. She was a gorgeous baby and always so alert, looking around with her big blue eyes.

'She was absolutely beautiful and incredibly brave and she melted the hearts of everyone who met her. What made her extra special was her cleft lip and palate, and despite the challenges of this she was the most happy and content little girl.

'She was and always will be loved by her mum, sisters and family and there is a huge void in all our hearts and lives now that she has been taken from us.

Police were outside a property in Heywood, Rochdale, earlier this week, following the death of Felicity-May on Monday

A 24-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder has been bailed pending further inquiries. Felicity May's family described her as their 'special star'

'She was our special star, and it is not fair that she shone brightly for only a short time. When we look up at the sky, we will look through the clouds and know that the brightest star shining is our Felicity-May.

'Rest in peace baby girl. Sleep tight. Until we meet again, our precious angel.'

Earlier this week police asked for anyone with information regarding her death to come forward.

Detective Chief Inspector Carl Jones, of GMP's Major Incident Team, said: 'This is a desperately sad incident where a baby girl has lost her life and we are doing what we can to support her loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.

'Our investigation is ongoing; as always, we are keeping an open mind and have specialist officers working at the scene and on the investigation to establish the full facts of this case.

Police were first called amid concerns for Felicity May's welfare last Friday and launched a murder investigation following her death on Monday

'This is a heart-breaking time and we ask the public to refrain from speculation and respect the family's privacy at this time.

'Anyone with information should do the right thing and contact us with information so we can continue to try and ascertain the circumstances behind this tragedy.'

Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 3400 quoting incident 1896 of 08/01/2021. Details can be passed anonymously to the independent Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
LONDON  All at once, the coronavirus seemed to change.

For months, Dr. Steven Kemp, an infectious disease expert, had been scanning a global library of coronavirus genomes. He was studying how the virus had mutated in the lungs of a patient struggling to shake a raging infection in a nearby Cambridge hospital, and wanted to know if those changes would turn up in other people.

Then in late November, Dr. Kemp made a startling match: Some of the same mutations detected in the patient, along with other changes, were appearing again and again in newly infected people, mostly in Britain.

Worse, the changes were concentrated in the spike protein the virus uses to latch onto human cells, suggesting that a virus already wreaking havoc around the world was evolving in a way that could make it even more contagious.
(TNS)  When Susan Hoffman learned that Pinellas County next week will launch a patient portal with CDR Maguire to handle coronavirus vaccine appointments, her first thought was good luck.Hillsborough launched its online portal and call center with the Miami-based emergency management consulting firm on Tuesday. Hoffman, 71, tried to log on when her age group window opened at 2 p.m., but she just got a spinning widget. When she was finally able to fill out the lengthy questionnaire and select times for her first and second dose, she was met with an error message three times.She tried calling, but a recording said she faced a seven-hour wait.It was beyond frustrating, said Hoffman, a retired attorney who lives in St. Petersburg.Pinellas and Pasco counties announced this week they hired CDR Maguire to manage online and telephone appointment registrations for the limited weekly shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine. They follow the system rollout in Hillsborough County on Tuesday that brought a flood of complaints from residents.On Tuesday, the system successfully scheduled all 9,000 appointments available for the week for people ages 65 and older, the only segment of the public given access by Gov. Ron DeSantis after health care workers and long term care facilities. But those who didnt get a time slot were often met with error messages and busy phone lines that caused confusion and wasted hours trying to get in.CDR Maguire CEO Tina Vidal-Duart said the website never crashed, but frozen screens and errors were a result of the sheer volume of hits to the system. She said a now-resolved coding glitch caused users to receive an error message when they should have seen a message saying all appointments were filled.What were seeing is an inundation, a volume that no one has ever seen, Vidal-Duart said in an interview Wednesday. I can only equate it to Black Friday at Walmart, where you have thousands of people all trying to go through one door.Besides the counties work distributing vaccines in partnership with state Department of Health, vaccines are being distributed by hospitals, pharmacies and community health centers.But the Hillsborough phone line received 26,000 calls in one minute on Tuesday, causing the automated system to calculate hours-long waits to speak to an agent, Vidal-Duart said. The registration window for people ages 65 to 74 opened at 2 p.m., but Vidal-Duart said all 4,000 appointments for that group were booked within five minutes.The county offered 2,000 appointments for people ages 85 and older and 3,000 appointments for those ages 75 to 84 during earlier time windows.Hillsborough County Emergency Management Director Tim Dudley said no technology is without limitations and he was satisfied that CDR Health successfully booked all 9,000 appointments for the week on Tuesday.That allowed for vaccinations at the countys three sites to be administered Wednesday through Friday. Dudley said the main problem was the limited supply, and the system cannot schedule appointments when there is no more vaccine available.Where the rubber meets the road is when were putting the vaccine in arms and thats what weve been doing, Dudley said.Because Hillsborough County has not yet received notification from the state for how many vaccines it will receive next week, appointment scheduling for next week has not yet opened. But patients can still set up their online profiles at www.patientportalfl.com.Pinellas County has also not yet announced when it will open the registration through the CDR website and phone line for next weeks distribution of roughly 10,000 vaccines. In addition to the three state Department of Health vaccine distribution sites, Pinellas plans to open two more sites but has not yet disclosed those locations.Pinellas marketing and communications director Barbra Hernandez said the county has no reason to be concerned over CDRs technology capabilities for next weeks rollout. Unlike Hillsboroughs registration windows tiered by age, Pinellas will use a template that is open for all ages over 65 at once.She said demand far exceeds the vaccine shipments from the state, making it so appointments book up sometimes in a matter of minutes.So it isnt necessarily a function of the technology, but rather the demand and the delays that are a result of too many calls or users trying to get a satisfactory outcome at the same time, Hernandez said.Fortunately, the State is rolling out additional vaccine distribution channels through places like pharmacies, Publix and healthcare providers that we believe will be very helpful in expediting the process of getting shots in arms, she said.Along with the three Tampa Bay counties, CDR Maguire has also contracted to provide reservation software to Orange County. The firm, which specializes in disaster recovery, pivoted to COVID-19 response this year through millions of dollars worth of contracts with the state for testing infrastructure and emergency medical facilities.
ADRIAN, MI  Police in Adrian are investigating a pair of deaths.

About 10:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 15, police responded to a residence in the 900 block of Frank Street for a welfare check, according to a news release from Adrian Police Department. Upon arrival, officers found two deceased males in the residence.

Officers identified a person of interest in the deaths, police said. This person fled the scene in a vehicle, which he later crashed.

This person then fled on foot from the crash scene. Police located him a short distance away and took him into custody without further incident.

Police did not disclose additional details, such as the decedents names, ages, or relation to each other. The arrested mans name is likewise being withheld until he is arraigned on potential criminal charges in court.

The investigation is ongoing.

Adrian police were assisted by Lenawee County Sheriffs deputies, Madison Township police officers, Michigan State Police troopers, the MSP Crime Lab, and the Lenawee County Narcotic Team (or RHINO).

Police are asking anyone with information regarding this incident, or any witnesses that have not yet made a statement to them, to call Detective Sgt. Lamar Rufner at 517-264-4808 or to submit their information via email at APDTips@adrianmi.gov.

Read more:
It was a death that left fans across the nation devastated.

And 11 years after Torchwood's Ianto Jones was tragically killed off, star John Barrowman delighted fans by paying a visit to the character's shrine in Cardiff on Friday.

The Doctor Who star, who played Ianto's lover Captain Jack Harkness in the BBC spin-off, said no one noticed him visiting the homage as he was wearing a mask after returning to the UK to film the upcoming series of Dancing On Ice.

It's still there! John Barrowman delighted fans of the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood on Friday by paying a visit to the shrine erected in honour of Ianto Jones in Cardiff

John shared a snap of his face alongside the shrine, which continues to be a attraction in the city, over a decade after it was first made to honour Ianto after his death.

The actor donned a mask for his outing as the nation continues to be gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He penned the caption: 'Out for my walk and nobody knew it was me paying some respect to #Ianto Jb.'

Secret! The Doctor Who star, who played Ianto's lover Captain Jack Harkness in the BBC spin-off, said no one noticed him visiting the homage as he was wearing a mask

Moving: Fans were devastated when Ianto was tragically killed off in the 2009 mini-series Children Of Earth, passing away in lover Jack's arms after breathing poisonous gas

John's post was flooded with responses from fans who shared their own experiences visiting the shrine, with some admitting it was painful reliving Ianto's passing.

One wrote: 'Just watched Stolen Earth this week and it was heartbreaking but amazing to see Ianto Jones in Doctor Who again. Love that a shrine still exists for him!'

Another added: 'Well this was an unexpectedly painful trip down memory lane. I really thought I was over Ianto Jones. Wtf heart.'

A third wrote: 'BRING TORCHWOOD BACK ON SCREEN,' with one fan also writing: 'Still one of the top gut-wrenching scenes in any show I've watched.'

Elated: John's post was flooded with responses from fans who shared their own experiences visiting the shrine, with some admitting it was painful reliving Ianto's passing

Fans were distraught when Ianto was killed during the miniseries Children Of Earth, after he and Jack were trapped in a building filled with poisonous gas.

While immortal Jack could survive the ordeal, he was forced to hold lover Ianto in his arms as he slowly died, leaving viewers in floods of tears.

His death sparked a nationwide campaign by fans to be resurrected which raised over 15,000 for Children In Need, and a shrine was erected in Cardiff in his honour, close to where the series was filmed.

Dramatic: Torchwood acted as a very adult spin-off of Doctor Who, with Captain Jack forming a team to investigate extraterrestrial events

Torchwood acted as a very adult spin-off of Doctor Who after Captain Jack's first appearance in 2005, with the immortal time agent forming a team to investigate extraterrestrial events.

For many Ianto's relationship with Jack took centre stage, at a time when LGBT relationships on TV were few and far between.

Despite Ianto's death, actor Gareth David-Lloyd has reprised the role in multiple Big Finish audio dramas, and previously said he'd be open to reprising his role.

Serious: For many Ianto's relationship with Jack took centre stage, at a time when LGBT relationships on TV were few and far between

He told Radio Times in 2015: 'I'd absolutely come back. I think it'd have to be done in the right way and I'm sure it would be, with all the brilliantly creative people involved.

'But there was such drama and such uproar at Ianto's death  I don't think it could be something that happened too easily.

'It would have to be a sort of laboured resurrection, a story in itself, rather than just a case of sticking on a resurrection glove and he's fine again.'

Last year John surprised Who fans nationwide by secretly reprising his role as Captain Jack for the episode Fugitive of the Judoon opposite Jodie Whittaker's incarnation of The Doctor.

His appearance was kept secret until it aired, sending viewers into a frenzy, and he returned once again in the New Year's Day Special Revolution of the Daleks.
Amritsar, Jan 16 : Farmer leader Baldev Singh Sirsa on Saturday said he will not be able to appear before the counter-terror task force, National Investigating Agency (NIA), on Sunday owing to his pre-occupations relating to the wedding of his granddaughter and he would remain busy in family affairs till February 7.

He said he got the notice on WhatsApp at a short notice and there was no formal notice from the agency.

The President of Lok Bhalai Insaf Welfare Society, one of the unions participating in talks with the Government of India over the new farm laws, on Friday night came to know from a reporter that the NIA issued him a notice in connection with a case registered against banned outfit the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).

Talking to the media in this Punjab city, Sirsa accused the central government for trying to derail the farmers' protest by adopting various means.

"First, they (the government) tried to put pressure on us (farmers) through people and politicians and then through the Supreme Court. Now it is using the NIA," he said candidly.

Without mincing words, he said, "The government is trying to 'torpedo' our agitation." Accompanying three others who too got the NIA notice regarding the case against the SFJ activists, the farmer leader, who didn't participate in the last and the ninth round of talks between the farmers and the government, asked the NIA to give him time to appear before it after February 7.

"Before it, it is difficult for me to appear (owing to the marriage of my granddaughter)," he said.

Sirsa said many people associated with the agitation have got the NIA summons. "The government tries to terrorise those working for farmers. We are not afraid and going to bend with such tactics. The government is bent on defaming the protest." In a surprise move, the NIA has sent notices to over a dozen of people, including a journalist, farmer leaders associated with the agitation and others, in connection with its probe into the SFJ case.

The NIA last month filed a charge sheet against 10 Khalistani terrorists, including US-based designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, in the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) case in the special NIA court in Mohali in Punjab.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Businesses yesterday called for tougher lockdown measures, with some going as far as proposing a long curfew spanning from 6 p.m to 6 a.m.

The curfew now starts at 9 p.m. and goes till 5 a.m. Businesses also called on the Government to free up the importation of Covid-19 vaccines to allow private sector participation and to allow people to travel overseas to get vaccinated.
(Natural News) Revolutions in France, Russia, or Cuba didnt happen by accident because they were planned, preached, and promoted by leftist thugs. Those thugs did not know that all revolutions devour their own.

(Article by Don Boys republished from AllNewsPipeline.com)

In the eighteenth century, some eloquent, highborn French wanted a national makeover that stemmed from their hatred of Christ and the Bible, Christian morality, property rights, orderly government, and strong father-led homes. There were some legitimate complaints against the government but none that justified anarchy and wholesale executions without a trial.

The promoters of the French resistance, rebellion, and revolution were willing to wait for the time to strike.

It took decades, but it came. It took decades in America, but it is here.

Waiting gives revolutionaries time to organize and gather their cadre of conspirators. The French were led to the guillotine by suave, sophisticated, and often sincere spokesmen such as Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and other brilliant, immoral, but arrogant conspirators who detested revelation and deified reason. With the passing years, the leaders who replaced Voltaire and Rousseau were more vicious and deadly. They spoke about liberty, equality, and fraternity while they mocked their essence.

Voltaire and Rousseau would have been horrified if they had lived to see the Reign of Terrorheads rolling hour after hour in the middle of Paris; thousands of innocent people killed, usually without trial; climaxing in the dictatorship of Napoleon Bonaparte. Voltaire was known for freedom, independence, and defense of the little guy as expressed in his alleged comment, I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. He would not have approved of the revolution that became a repulsive river of blood emanating from the guillotine in the center of Paris.

Rousseau famously wrote, Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains, so he would have vetoed the revolution. Both men would have been aghast, even ashamed with the destruction, deception, and death. However, their humanism, secularism, and distrust, distaste, and disdain for the crown, the church, and the cottage set the stage for what followed decades after their initial attack.

But they started it and are stuck with it. Thats what happens when a nation rejects heavenly revelation and snuggles up to human reasoning.

I wonder what Voltaire and Rousseau would have thought of present-day America where one is condemned for what he did, wrote, or said 30 years ago! Where you cant say, All lives matter or Blue Lives Matter, but must say, Black lives matter. Where historical monuments are being destroyed, and history is being rewritten to resemble a fairy tale.

The French should have seen it coming over the decades as critics of the crown, the church, and the cottage became progressively louder, bolder, and shriller.

Local and clandestine Jacobin clubs (consisting of Philosophers, Freemasons, and Illuminati) were the workhorses of the Reign of Terror in 1793 during the dictatorship of the revolution. At the time, there were up to 8,000 clubs in France consisting of about 500,000 members. They were no longer merely civic or social clubs but instruments of terror.

Their ostensible responsibility was to help with the running of local governments, policing the local markets, and raising supplies for the military and local police departments. They presented themselves as the epitome of public virtue and were quick to point out anyone suspected of disloyalty to the cause. And, with missionary zeal, they helped destroy all vestiges of Christianity. They became the tool of terrorist leader Robespierre whom he manipulated to his advantage.

Members of the Jacobin clubs were snake in the grass Frenchmen who had been radicalized over decades and were waiting for the signal to rebel, resist, riot, and revolt. All leaders of the plot had secret names for one another in their private correspondence. It was arranged so that no one knew many members.

Most historians smile at the suggestion that the French Revolution was promoted by conspirators decades before the streets exploded and the guillotine blade became dull with constant use. Just another conspiracy theory.

Those historians are wrong.

Yale President Timothy Dwight was an American educator, Congregational minister, and President of Yale from 18861898. He documented the origin of the revolutionary Jacobin organizers who agitated for a brutal revolution. He declared, About the year 1728, Voltaire, so celebrated for his wit and brilliancy and not less distinguished for his hatred of Christianity and his abandonment of principle, formed a systematical design to destroy Christianity and to introduce in its stead a general diffusion of irreligion and atheism.  With great art and insidiousness the doctrines of  Christian theology were rendered absurd and ridiculous; and the mind of the reader was insensibly steeled against conviction and duty.

Dwight continued, The fabrication of books of all kinds against Christianity, especially such as excite doubt and generate contempt and derision.  The being of God was denied and ridiculed  The possession of property was pronounced robbery. Chastity and natural affection were declared to be nothing more than groundless prejudices. Adultery, assassination, poisoning, and other crimes of the like infernal nature, were taught as lawfulprovided the end was good.  The good ends proposed  are the overthrow of religion, government, and human society, civil and domestic. These they pronounce to be so good that murder, butchery, and war, however extended and dreadful, are declared by them to be completely justifiable.

Note the similarities: There was a design to destroy, as today. There was an attack on Christ and the Bible, as today. There was an attack on property, as today. Horrible crimes were permitted if they were for a good cause, as today. If the end was desirable (to them), then the means were justified, like today. The worst crimes, even murder, were acceptable, as today.

The slow but sure erosion of the foundations of France began with Voltaire and was continued by the self-righteous philosophers and anti-crown, anti-church, anti-family fanatics over the following decades.

They dispensed with the corrupt Roman Catholic Church and installed the Cult of Reason. A prostitute was enthroned at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris as the goddess of the French people. France was renamed The Republic of Virtue! The press and theaters were turned into tools for state propaganda. More than 2,000 churches were renamed Temples of Reason and became the voice of this cult. Crosses offended some people, so they were outlawed; religious monuments and statues were destroyed; public and private worship and education outlawed; Christian graves were desecrated. Churches were closed or used for immoral, lurid, licentious, scandalous depravities; and priests and ministers (along with those who harbored them) were executed on sight for a while.

What was their theme again? Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.

The Apostle Peter warned about this in II Peter 2:19 when he wrote, While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

(Dr. Don Boys is a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives who ran a large Christian school in Indianapolis and wrote columns for USA Today for 8 years. Boys authored 18 books, the most recent being Muslim Invasion: The Fuse is Burning! The eBook is available here with the printed edition (and other titles) at www.cstnews.com. Follow him on Facebook at Don Boys, Ph.D.; and visit his blog. Send a request to [email protected] for a free subscription to his articles, and click here to support his work with a donation.)

Read more at: AllNewsPipeline.com and Revolt.news.
Doctors and nurses are calling for protection from 'inappropriate legal challenges,' as they fear criminal investigations could follow decisions to withdraw life support while treating Covid-19 patients.

Last November Boris Johnson warned health workers could 'be forced to choose which patients to treat, who would live and who would die,' should the NHS become overwhelmed by the pandemic.

Health organisations including the Medical Protection Society and British Medical Associations have today written a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock warning the NHS is at risk of being overwhelmed within weeks.

The letter calls for new legislation that protects NHS staff from criminal or internal investigations, should they need to withdraw life support from one patient in order to focus on treating others.

It calls for the legislation to be backdated, to protect staff's decision taken since the start of the pandemic.

Health organisations are calling for emergency legislation, backdated to cover the entire pandemic, that protects health workers from potential criminal investigations for withdrawing life support from certain patients

The letter reads: 'The first concern of a doctor is their patients and providing the highest standard of care at all times.

'We do not believe it is right that they or other healthcare professionals should suffer from the moral injury and long-term psychological damage that could result from having to make decisions on how limited resources are allocated, while at the same time feel vulnerable to the risk of prosecution for unlawful killing.

'Let us be clear - healthcare professionals should not be above the law, and the emergency legislation we propose should only apply to decisions made in good faith, in circumstances beyond their control and in compliance with relevant guidance  it would not apply to wilful or intentional criminal harm, or reckless misconduct.

'Such an emergency law would also be a temporary response to the Covid-19 crisis, applying retrospectively from the start of the pandemic.

The letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, pictured in Downing Street on Wednesday, was signed by the likes of the British Medical Association and the Medical Protection Society

'The Government moved quickly to create clarity over indemnity arrangements for clinical negligence claims via the Coronavirus Act 2020, and the GMC also acted to reassure doctors by publishing guidance for their staff on how they will take the context created by Covid-19 into account when considering complaints about doctors. While these measures are positive, they do not address the concerns we are highlighting.

'We do not underestimate how difficult this issue is.

'There will be a time in the future when we will need to debate the range of legal and ethical challenges that have been raised by this pandemic, and these discussions will not be easy.

'In the meantime, this crisis is upon us now and healthcare professionals need immediate action.'

Among the other bodies to sign the letter are The Doctors' Association UK, British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Medical Defence Shield.

It follows a survey of 2,400 health workers, which revealed more than a third are concerned about being investigated after deciding to 'withdraw or withhold life prolonging treatment due to capacity and resource constraints during the pandemic'.

The Medical Protection Society survey also found 61% are concerned about facing an investigation as a result of a clinical decision made while working in an extremely challenging, high-pressure environment.

Conservative MP and practising NHS doctor Dan Poulter said: 'Given the unprecedented scale of the challenge currently facing our NHS, it is essential that our hardworking doctors can focus fully on delivering the best possible care for their patients without fear of retribution.

'With the current wave of the Covid-19 pandemic stretching our NHS to the limit, there are increasing numbers of patients requiring life-sustaining care and we could very soon be in a position where doctors may be forced to choose which patients to treat with the limited resources available to them.

'It is important that we see greater clarity provided by Government to ensure that there is full protection in place to protect frontline staff from complaints that might arise as a result of the challenging working conditions created by the pandemic.'

Michael Mylonas QC, Serjeants' Inn, added: 'Acute services throughout the country are already under unprecedented pressure and this will increase substantially with the combined impact of the more transmissible strains and growing numbers of medical staff self-isolating due to infection.

'In emergency departments throughout the country, doctors will have to take decisions as to who should receive ICU services.

'In the absence of national guidance, doctors in different hospitals  perhaps even neighbouring hospitals may well apply different criteria and reach different decisions.

'This places an enormous additional burden on healthcare workers, provides no certainty about the treatment that will be available on attending hospital and invites legal challenge.

'The Government must provide decisive leadership on this issue.'

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman told the BBC that existing arrangements will cover the 'vast majority of liabilities'.

They added: 'Dedicated frontline NHS staff should be able to focus on treating patients and saving lives during the pandemic without fear of legal action.'
Oregons historic Labor Day fires were barely out when the states Department of Forestry unveiled its plan to log and replant the Santiam State Forest, which comprises nearly 50,000 acres of state-owned land spread like a disjointed jigsaw puzzle over Clackamas, Marion and Linn counties.

The state land sits amid a patchwork of private forestland, national forest and land owned by the Bureau of Land Management. The Riverside and Beachie Creek fires burned through about one-third of the Santiam with roughly a quarter  12,900 acres  experiencing the most intense fires.

The 13-page recovery plan laid out in early December will play out over the next two and half years in a combination of logging burned trees, replanting, repairing roads and culverts and restoring trails and campgrounds.

Both the agencys state forest division and the three counties depend on revenue from logging in state forests and the underlying industry jobs. Agency officials say they need to act with urgency to recoup some of the value of the burned timber before it deteriorates and begin to restore the forests harvest capacity. They also argue quick action is needed to forestall potential impacts to habitat and water quality and restore public access to some of the states most accessible recreation sites.

Yet the hasty revision to the normal operating plan for the Santiam State Forest has also drawn significant blowback, not only for the lack of public process and available detail, but about the volume of post-fire logging envisioned and its impact on water quality, damaged soils, fisheries, carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat.

The forestry department is charged with managing state forests for the greatest permanent value to the state. Agency leaders interpret that to include a host of different economic, social and environmental values. But a Linn County jury disagreed in 2019, and the agency is now facing a $1.1 billion verdict after the jury found the department had shortchanged 13 rural counties by failing to maximize logging revenues on state forests over the last two decades. The verdict has been appealed, but many believe that gives harvest primacy over all other values.

The recovery plan reprises the same arguments and tensions over the highest and best use of those lands that played out in the trial. The public comment period on the plan closed last week and attracted hundreds of comments from residents, concerned citizens, timber companies, loggers, environmental and recreation groups, as well as state agencies including the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Environmental Quality.

The comments reflect the full spectrum of that debate, but boil down to whether the forest should be allowed to recover naturally or if that process should be heavily managed -- and what outcomes those two approaches will create over the next few decades.

We dont want to see them turn this beautiful place into a big tree farm, and that seems like the direction theyre headed, said Rebecca White, wildlands director at Cascadia Wildlands.

At the other end of the continuum:

Focusing on areas with merchantable timber salvage will allow maximized returns and greater value back to all Oregonians, Amanda Astor, forest policy manager for the Associated Oregon Loggers said in her comments. It is the states sole job to restore these landscapes as quickly as possible.

The department is moving full steam ahead. It has already auctioned off two timber sales, with plans to complete the remaining auctions by June 30. Agency officials say they wont take public comment on any of the additional sales because they need to move quickly.

The plan comes amid a frenzied effort by private and industrial forestland owners to salvage value from their own burned lands, heavy logging of trees along roads in the fire zones, and potential federal timber sales. That could saturate wood markets and depress prices. And the agency, like other landowners, faces potential shortages of loggers to do the work and seedlings to replant.

Last week, conservationists asked the agency and the Board of Forestry to pause the effort, ensure it meaningfully incorporates public feedback and is implemented consistent with a federally supervised habitat conservation plan that the agency is currently developing.

That controversial management plan hasnt been finished or approved by the state board and federal authorities. But its a high priority for the governor and environmental groups and would fundamentally change how the agency manages state lands, creating hard conservation commitments on state forests in exchange for protection from lawsuits if logging harms endangered species or their habitat.

Some board members expressed their own concerns last week. Agency officials plan to update them at the boards meeting in March after incorporating public feedback. But in reality, the policy board has no authority over the agencys operating plans for the state forests.

Its not our decision; its the state foresters decision, said Brenda McComb, a retired forestry professor from Oregon State University who sits on the board. My hope would be that ODF would view this as an opportunity to not only follow the guidance of the (habitat conservation plan), but really think about what kind of forests theyre trying to create.

Recovery efforts

Of the 12,900 acres of the Santiam Forest that burned with high severity, the forestry department says roughly 3,600 acres of young trees -- aged 30 years or less -- were completely lost and will need to be replanted. Another 3,500 acres of older stands are proposed for salvage logging, including up to 3,000 acres of clearcutting.

The department says its unclear how much merchantable timber will be recovered. Initial estimates put it as high as 80 million board feet over the two-year period, about double what the agency would typically harvest off the Santiam over the same period.

Under its normal forest management, the agency is directed to manage one-third of its forest for older, complex and layered forest types -- areas with a mix of tree species, downed wood and a layered canopy that make good wildlife habitat. In reality, however, the agency has never come close to that goal, and has manipulated its implementation plans in those areas to goose its harvest numbers and patch holes in the agency budget.

The agency has acknowledged that some of those areas are also slated for post-fire logging in the Santiam. Officials say they plan to leave green trees wherever possible, though they havent clearly defined what constitutes a green tree. They also say it will leave more snags and downed wood per acre as well as larger stream buffers than required in those areas. Given those constraints, they now say the agency is unlikely to hit the upper end of the initial harvest estimate.

Agency officials say there are no plans to alter operating plans on other state forests in light of extra wood coming off the Santiam. But it has stopped auctioning unburned stands on the Santiam, and they say timber sales there will likely decrease below pre-fire levels after the initial salvaging until the forest is fully restored.

Salvage volume from the Santiam is not factored into the annual harvest objective for the division, Liz Dent, chief of the agencys state forest division, said in an email last week to environmental groups. That would result in lost revenue to other counties.

Range of critics

Pushback against the recovery plans is coming from all directions, with various parties offering different rationales for their positions and often making conflicting scientific claims.

Loggers, timber companies and those dependent on the wood products industry want to get as much wood out of the forests and replant them as soon as possible to get back into a regular harvest rotation.

They point to the departments mandate to support rural communities, claiming that leaving more dead and downed trees will only provide fuel for future wildfires. They maintain aggressive harvesting and replanting will reestablish the forest faster, while providing more structure to control erosion and promoting greater carbon sequestration because younger, growing trees store more carbon dioxide.

They also question the agencys legal authority to implement the recovery efforts in line with the habitat conservation plan, which has yet to be approved by the Board of Forestry or federal authorities.

Maximizing restoration of the forest must be a priority and we encourage ODF to offer as many restoration timber sales and as much merchantable volume as possible, Laura Wilkeson, state forest policy director at Hampton Lumber, said in her comments. Harvesting standing dead trees and promptly reforesting these lands will help create jobs in the short term that will aid the recovery in local communities while helping to restore the forest in the short and long-term.

Erosion control is critical in any logging job, but especially after a fire. Water systems for nearby towns, as well as the City of Salem, are dependent on clean runoff from watersheds in the Santiam Canyon, as are salmon and other species. Some of those watersheds already suffer from erosion and increased turbidity associated with previous landslides, road building and logging. The Oregonian/OregonLive and Oregon Public Broadcasting recently published a joint investigation spotlighting the drastic impacts of clearcutting on municipal water supplies throughout the state

The Forestry Department says more than 60 percent of the stands along the 174 miles of streams in Santiam burned with high severity. Officials say all salvage operation with continue to comply with the cutting buffers in its management plan, and it will undertake targeted restoration activities to accelerate recovery in some circumstances.

That does not inspire confidence for some, who want the agency to avoid cutting altogether or establish much wider stream buffers.

Denise Collinss home in Elkhorn burned during the Beachie Creek Fire, but she plans to rebuild. She says there were already erosion problems on nearby Evans Creek, a tributary of the Santiam River that is bordered by state, private and federal timberland. Community members had previously attended meetings with federal officials to discuss those issues.

Now the state plans to clearcut two new tracts near town.

I can see the damage from my deck, she said. I have a birds eye view of the muddy water coming down. They tried to mitigate it, but the damage is done and keeps on going. Now theyre going to clearcut both of those patches? I can only see it being magnified.

In an age of global warming, forest carbon is also getting more attention. In an executive order last spring, Gov. Kate ordered all state agencies to take specific actions to reduce or mitigate carbon emissions. But the agencys recovery plan for the Santiam does not contain the words carbon or climate.

Academics say very little forest carbon is actually released in a wildfire. What does go up in smoke are branches and needles, according to Lisa Ellsworth, a forestry professor at OSU. Standing dead trees, roots and soil, if they are left in place, are still sequestering carbon, she said, and the natural regeneration of new vegetation accelerates the process.

A burned forest is almost as good as an unburned one, she said. Theres a faster rate of carbon uptake in young trees, but youll never reach the same amount than when you leave these larger structures out there. Theres a much greater carbon loss when you pull that material out.

Thats one reason conservation groups and others want a larger portion of the forest left to regenerate naturally. They say salvage logging exacts a steep tax on the ecosystem by disturbing already damaged soils, removing the phosphorous and nitrogen in dead trees and destroying the natural seed bank left after a fire. Replanting also involves the application of herbicides.

They point to areas like Eagle Creek and the Santiam Pass that were previously devastated by wildfire and are now emerging as thriving post-fire ecosystems. And they contend salvaging and replanting will increase future fire risks, as research shows fire burns more intensely in young, densely packed stands of uniformly aged trees.

The best path to restoring complex old forest is by conserving complex young forest, not through salvage and replanting, Cascadia Wildlands said in its comments on the plan.

Many species thrive in a post fire environment, even the spotted owl. And some, like the black-backed woodpecker, depend on it. Hunting advocates point out that the early mixed conifer forests that emerge after a major fire are also ideal habitat for game and non-game wildlife species.

Coordination with (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) on all species of wildlife habitat is of great importance, and this requirement of coordination should be addressed in the plan, Erik Colville, the president of the Capitol Chapter of the Oregon Hunters Association said in his comments.

That lack of coordination and process during the plans hasty development was a major bone of contention for some.

Conservation groups pointed to the lack of specific detail about harvest operations and the lack of public access allowed to the proposed logging sites to see actual forest conditions. If the agency is offering tours to prospective logging operators, they said, it should be bringing the public in with them.

Officials with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Environmental Quality expressed a variety of concerns. Among other topics, they said they need more detail on how the proposed operations would impact habitat, drinking water, landscape connectivity for fish and wildlife species, the risk of introducing invasive weeds, and increasing fire risks from developing densely stocked stands.

Still others are concerned about the cumulative impact of the forestry departments actions when coupled with roadside logging, the huge harvest taking place on private lands, and potential federal timber sales.

Sam Drevo owns a rafting company based in Mill City. Like other mountain biking, horseback riding and outdoor enthusiasts, he wants to see recreation dollars return to local economies as quickly as possible, and would like the department to reopen unscathed portions of the forest now.

In the meantime, he says hes been shocked by the extent of the logging already taking place, by the cumulative impact, and by the seeming lack of attention to things like stream setbacks when hes come across active operations on recent hikes.

It doesnt seem like theres any collaboration in managing the fallout, he said. It just seems like theres a hall pass for indiscriminate cutting.

-- Ted Sickinger; tsickinger@oregonian.com; 503-221-8505; @tedsickinger

Correction: Erosion and turbidity issues on Evans Creek are associated with previous landslides, road runoff and logging on federal and private lands in the watershed, not state forest lands. Community members previously attended meetings to discuss those issues with federal officials, not the state forestry department, as a previous version of this story said.
Nepal Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said on Friday that India is at the forefront in vaccinating people against COVID-19, which gives great hope to the country next door. He said Nepal too will be availing India's Covishield and Covaxin vaccines.

"Today as we wait for the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, India is one of the frontrunners. This has given us great hope. I take this opportunity to congratulate India and its innovative companies for success. Being next door, we believe we too will be availing these vaccines," Gyawali said in a speech during an event organized by the Indian Council of World Affairs at Sapru House.

The Nepal Minister also praised India's achievements in infrastructure, industrialization, and decades of successful democratic practice. "Amity with all and enmity with none is our motto. Guided by the same principles we seek to foresee relations with neighbours and all friendly countries around the world," Gyawali said.

READ | Nepal Favours Talks To Resolve Border Issue With India; Wants 'good Ties' With China Too

Hon Foreign Minister @PradeepgyawaliK speaking at the Indian Council of World Affairs (Sapru Hause). In the distinguished audience are academics, think-tanks, analysts, and media persons, among others, physically present as well as virtually linked. pic.twitter.com/BNo27t567g  Nepal Embassy, India (@EONIndia) January 15, 2021

READ | Nepal's Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali Meets EAM Jaishankar In New Delhi

Nepal awaits India's Covishield vaccine

India and Nepal held a Joint Commission meeting on Friday which was co-chaired by Gyawali and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Congratulating India "on the remarkable success" in the production of Covishield and Covaxin, Nepal requested for early provision of vaccines.

As per a release from the Nepal Embassy, India has assured that the requirements of the neighbouring country would be in prioritized after the vaccine roll-out. Nepal has approved the emergency use of the Covishield vaccine, which is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII). India has given emergency use authorization to two vaccines Covishield and Covaxin. The Coronavirus vaccination drive begins on January 16.

READ | Nepal Approves Use Of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Vaccine Covishield Produced In India

The 6th meeting of Nepal-India Joint Commission has started at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. Hon Foreign Minister @PradeepgyawaliK and the External Affairs Minister of India, H.E. Dr S. Jaishankar are leading the respective delegations which consist of... pic.twitter.com/DCYoKH02WX  Nepal Embassy, India (@EONIndia) January 15, 2021

READ | Embattled & Cornered, Nepal PM KP Oli Sending Foreign Min To 'reclaim' Indian Territories

(With inputs from agency)
Premium Times Services Ltd, Publishers of Premium Times- an online news brand of both local and international repute  is a media company with headquarters in Abuja, offices in Lagos and Washington D.C. and representatives across Nigerian states.

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For the past several years, members of the food community and environmentalists alike have looked to kelp, a type of seaweed, as the shiny future of food.

For humans, kelp has high concentrations of potassium, magnesium, iodine and a bunch of vitamins. For Mother Earth, kelp doesnt require irrigation, pesticides or fertilizer, like many land-based crops do.

Kelp is a core part of the new climate cuisine, said Bren Smith, 48, the founder of the nonprofit GreenWave, which promotes regenerative ocean farming, a type of farming that deliberately improves the health of the place being farmed. (And for chefs: It is an umami-heavy ingredient that is flexible in its culinary application.)

Michael Doall, 53, a marine scientist and the associate director for bivalve restoration at Stony Brook Universitys School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, said that kelp soaks up excess nitrogen, mitigating harmful algae blooms. The seaweed, Mr. Doall said, shields farms and shorelines by absorbing wave energy.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 20:55:07|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has given the green light to the trading of peanut futures, an important oil crop.

Trading of the peanut futures will be launched on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange starting Feb. 1, according to a statement on the CSRC's official website.

Trading of the peanut futures will help provide relevant farmers and enterprises with open, consistent and transparent price signals and effective risk-management tools, and will boost the steady and sound operation of the sector, according to the statement.

The CSRC will ask the exchange to make all the necessary preparations to ensure the steady operation of the trading. Enditem

Man rolls vehicle dodging deer

GRATZ  A Lykens man was cited for driving without insurance after an accident on Specktown Road in Lykens Township, Dauphin County, around 6:10 p.m. Jan. 9.

State police at Lykens said Charles Troy, 40, was driving a 1988 Ford Bronco east when he tried to avoid hitting a deer by turning the wheel of his vehicle, causing it to roll onto its drivers side.

Troy was not injured and, police said, Gratz fire police assisted.

Man charged with strangulation

ELIZABETHVILLE  A Middletown man was arrested by state police at Lykens after an incident on West Main Street in this Dauphin County community around 6 p.m. Jan. 7.

Police said Nicholas Lingle, 39, was charged with strangulation, simple assault and harassment and will have to appear before Magisterial District Judge Rebecca Margerum, Elizabethville.

The charges are the result of a domestic violence incident between Lingle and a 31-year-old Elizabethville woman, police said.
Alabama is sending 500 more National Guard soldiers to Washington for Wednesdays presidential inauguration, Gov. Kay Iveys office announced.

That makes a total of 750 Alabama National Guard soldiers going to the capitol for the swearing-in of President-elect Joe Biden. The governors office had announced 250 soldiers were going to D.C. on Thursday.

The deployments are at the request of General Daniel R. Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Ivey Press Secretary Gina Maiola said.

Governors of other states are also sending National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., where the National Mall has been closed to the general public as part of an intense security effort, the Associated Press reported.

The moves come after the violence on Jan. 6, when a mob stormed the Capitol and interrupted the certification of Joe Bidens win in the Electoral College vote, causing deaths, injuries, and damage.

The rampage came after a rally at which President Trump made false statements about his election defeat and urged his supporters to stop the steal and fight like hell.
Final preparations are underway for the nationwide rollout of the coronavirus vaccination drive , which will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.

PM Modi will also interact with the first beneficiaries of the vaccine after launching the massive vaccination drive against the novel coronavirus.

Billed as the world's biggest vaccination programme, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first inoculate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase.

A total of 3,006 session sites across all States and Union Territories will be virtually connected during the launch. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on an inaugural day.

Several hospitals across the country have been decorated with flowers and balloons where people will be inoculated.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan will visit AIIMS Delhi to witness the launch of the vaccination programme.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will witness the launch of the Covid-19 vaccination programme at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital today. "Doctors, nursing and sanitation staff will be given vaccine today," said Suresh Kumar, Medical Director of the hospital.

BHU Hospital in Varanasi was decorated with balloons ahead of the Covid-19 vaccine drive. "Covid protocols will be strictly followed and vaccination will be administered to people in slots to avoid crowding," said Dr NP Singh, Additional CMO of BHU.

Preparations are also underway at the civil hospital in Amritsar.

In Telangana, Area Hospital, Nampally in Hyderabad has been decorated with flowers and balloons ahead of the start of the first phase of nation-wide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

Patna's Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) has also been decorated.

Karnataka's Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute has also been decked up for the drive.

Over one crore people (1,05,27,683) have been infected with Covid-19 so far and the death toll is close to 1.52 lakh according to Friday's health ministry update. There are over 2.13 lakh active COVID-19 cases in India.

In the next phases of the vaccination drive, people aged over 50, and those who are below 50 years but have serious health conditions or co-morbidities will be vaccinated, according to the health ministry.

The DCGI has currently approved two vaccines -- Pune-based Serum Institute of India has developed the Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, while the Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad's Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Medical Council of research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology.

The vaccination programme in the country will use Co-WIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Work), an online digital platform developed by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which will facilitate real-time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries for COVID-19 vaccine.

This digital platform will assist programme managers across all levels while conducting vaccination sessions.A dedicated 24x7 call centre - 1075 - has also been established for addressing the queries related to Covid-19 pandemic, vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN software.

The full initial procurement amount of 1.65 crore doses of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines against Covid-19 have been allocated to all States/UTs in the proportion of Health Care Workers database, the Union Health Ministry stated.

Most of the states have received the first batch of the coronavirus doses including Delhi which has received 2,74,000 doses of vaccine, followed by Maharashtra receiving over 9 lakh doses and Andhra Pradesh around with 4.7 lakh doses.

Meanwhile, on the first day of the Covid-19 vaccination drive, India's caseload rose to 1,05,42,841 with 15,158 people testing positive for the infection in the past 24 hours.

With agency inputs

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Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.

The decade of the 60s was a turbulent time in America. The U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War and antiwar protests broke out all over the country. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Less than five years later, his brother, Bobby Kennedy, suffered the same fate.

The country saw civil rights movements, a lot of pot-smoking, and space travel with man landing on the moon. And The Beatles touched the hearts and souls of millions.

The Beatles had 20 Number One hits in America. The group recorded more than 200 songs in their eight years together. They also produced their own movies such as A Hard Days Night, Help, and Magical Mystery Tour.

There have been many movies made about them since including Birth of the Beatles, Backbeat, and George Harrison: Living in the Material World, and others inspired by them. In 2021, Beatles fans can look forward to another film sharing never-before-seen footage of the group through their eight-year run.

A brief recap of The Beatles

Paul McCartney | Samir Hussein/WireImage

Beatlemania in the U.S. welcomed in the New Year in 1964. While I Want to Hold Your Hand was not the first recorded single for the foursome, it was the first hit in America.

Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the hit was released in the UK in late November. Being aired on American radio stations, Capitol Records was forced to release the 45 early, selling 250,000 copies within days, according to BestClassicBands.com.

The song made #1 on the Hot 100 Singles Chart at #45 and stayed there for seven weeks. It wasnt their first recording, however. Love Me Do was their debut single recording in October 1962, according to Rolling Stone.

The Beatles first live concert in the U.S. came in February 1964 playing at the Washington Coliseum in D.C., according to The Washington Post. The two-night concert series followed the appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show with some 73 million people watching on their television sets, according to EdSullivan.com.

The Beatles changed the music scene in the 60s and is still considered the most influential band ever. McCartney and Ringo Starr are alive today. Lennon was shot and killed in New York City in 1980, and George Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001.

The Beatles in film

RELATED: Paul McCartney on the Short Session With Michael Jackson That Led to Say, Say, Say

The Beatles broke up, officially, in 1970. It had been a few years coming and the break-up wasnt pretty. There have been many rumors alleging various reasons, but in truth, one of the most contributing factors was the wear-and-tear of Beatlemania on the group. The individual band members were wanting to pursue their musical interests.

In the half-century since, there have been numerous books and films about The Beatles. The film Let it Be, was particularly unsettling to McCartney, who was saddened by the breakup.

In 2021 there is a new movie coming, one that should be upbeat. Director Peter Jackson of Lord of The Rings fame started the project last year. While the timing was a bit hampered by the coronavirus, Jackson and his team are working in New Zealand, known for nipping the virus in the bud.

The Beatles: Get Back is being assembled from 56 hours of previously unseen footage of the band, according to CNN. There are 150 hours of audio also available for the film to draw from.

The footage is described as the story of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Star, when the Fab Four were preparing for their first live show in two years, filmed in 1969. It reveals the band practicing 14 new songs and will include the groups last live performance, held in London.

McCartney shared his joy on Reddit

Got a question for Paul?

Head to @Reddit NOW to ask him anything!https://t.co/OW9JLEE8DZ pic.twitter.com/dJIJZIFb2e  Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) December 23, 2020

Recently the now 78-year-old McCartney took to Reddit promoting his new album, McCartney III and answering some fan questions. Some asked about the upcoming movie.

Hi Paul! I saw the sneak peek released yesterday by Peter Jacksson from the upcoming Get Back documentary and got really excited! one fan wrote. He asked if McCartney was excited as well and whether McCartney was familiar with the footage Jackson was reviewing for the film.

McCartney said he is. I was very happily surprised when Peter Jackson told me hed been reviewing the unseen 56 hours of footage and he found it to be entertaining and upbeat. McCartney, too, is upbeat about it, saying he has since seen some clips. Its pretty exciting, I must say. Crazy!

It is also pretty exciting to have Sir Paul McCartney respond to you on Reddit, or anywhere!

A fellow fan wrote, Highlight of your life Paul f McCartney responded to your comment eh?

The owner of a monument company who pleaded guilty to taking money from some families and not providing a gravestone will be allowed judicial diversion.

An order from Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman would allow Trent Wichman, of Wichman Monuments, to have his cases dismissed and expunged if he successfully completes his probation and pays required fees.

Last June 10, Wichman pleaded guilty to six counts of theft of property, which are Class E felonies.

Authorities said he paid restitution to all listed victims before he pled guilty.

At the sentencing hearing, the state recommended a sentence of two years for each felony, that the sentences be served concurrently, and that the sentences be served on unsupervised probation. It was also recommended that Wichman perform 40 hours of community service, and submit to a mental health assessment and a drug and alcohol assessment, and follow any recommendations.





Judge Steelman approved the state's recommended sentence, and included the judicial diversion.

Click here to read the order.
Join Indian Army: Registration open for NCC Special Entry Schemes 49th course

New Delhi

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Jan 16: The Indian Army has invited application from unmarried male and female candidates, including the wards of battle casualties of the Army personnel for the grant of short service commission.

There are a total of 55 vacancies which will be filled up and the forms to apply are available online. The candidates can fill and submit the forms until January 28. Once selected, candidates will undergo pre-commission training for 49 weeks at the Officers Training Academy at Chennai.

Eligibility:

Nationality. A candidate must either be: (i) A citizen of India, or (ii) A subject of Nepal, or (iii) A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka and East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India provided that a candidate belonging to categories (ii) and (iii) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India. Certificate of eligibility will, however, not be necessary in the case of candidates who are Gorkha subjects of Nepal.

Age Limit:

For NCC candidates (including wards of Battle Casualties) 19 to 25 years as on 01 Jan 2021 (born not earlier than 02 Jan 1996 and not later than 01 Jan 2002; both dates inclusive).

Note. Candidates should note that the date of birth as recorded in the Matriculation/Secondary School Examination Certificate or an equivalent certificate on the date of submission of applications will only be accepted and no subsequent request for its change will be considered or granted.

Education qualification:

Degree of a recognized University or equivalent with aggregate of minimum 50% marks taking into account marks of all the years. Those studying in final year are also allowed to apply provided they have secured minimum 50% aggregate marks in the first two/three years of three/four years degree course respectively. Such students will need to secure overall aggregate of minimum 50% marks in degree course if selected in interview, failing which their candidature will be CANCELLED.

Service in NCC:

Should have served for minimum three academic years (wef 22 Feb 2013 to onwards till date)/two years (23 May 2008 till 21 Feb 2013) in the senior Division/Wing of NCC.

Grading. Should have obtained minimum of 'B' Grade in 'C' Certificate Exam of NCC. Applicants, who are not holding NCC 'C' Certificate on date of application, are not eligible to apply for the course.

For more details click here.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 11:14 [IST]
Tricia Watson, trust advisor at Isabella Wealth, was among 74 professionals who attended the Cannon Trust School offered by Cannon Financial Institute. CFIs School is a three-year school, consisting of 38 hours of classroom instruction each year. Diplomas are awarded upon completion of the entire sequence.

Additionally, Watson successfully completed the Cannon Trust School with the Honor Graduate Designation, Cannons highest academic distinction. This award is given to those students who complete each level of the course with a 90 or above on each of the comprehensive exams given at the conclusion of each class.
On January 14, President-elect Joe Biden unveiled his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, dubbed the American Rescue Act, which he has urged Congress to pass within days of his January 20 inauguration. This was followed the next day with a speech in which Biden outlined his vaccination plan, pledging to administer 100 million coronavirus vaccines within the first 100 days of his administration, although the current rate is far below that.

Biden speaks during at The Queen theater, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, in Wilmington, Del. [Credit: AP Photo/Matt Slocum]

The second announcement was significant mainly for what was not in it. Biden focused on the vaccine entirely to the exclusion of efforts to prevent the spread of infections, which will kill hundreds of thousands more before they can be vaccinated. Above all, there is not the slightest suggestion of the only serious measure to contain the pandemic: a full-scale lockdown of the economy, including closing non-essential businesses and schools, and providing income for working people and fully-resourced remote education for children until it is safe for everyone to resume normal life.

In announcing the plan, Biden paid lip service to widening income inequality, taking note of those few people at the very top who are doing quite well in this economy. He correctly pointed out that the wealth of the top one percent has grown roughly $1.5 trillion since the end of last year, four times the amount for the entire bottom 50 percent of American wage earners.

The American Rescue Act does not aim to reverse this trend through aggressive taxes on pandemic profiteers such Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, who recently became the worlds richest man after earning some $165 billion last year, based almost entirely on the meteoric rise of Tesla stock. In fact, there are no tax increases for the wealthy at all, with Biden allowing the wealthy to keep their ill-gotten gains while the federal government borrows the moneyfrom these same billionaires, at a hefty price in terms of interest paymentsto foot the bill.

Despite a majority of House Republicans and senators such as Ted Cruz (Texas) and Josh Hawley (Missouri) seeking to overturn his election victory last week, even after President Donald Trumps fascistic coup attempt, Biden pleaded for unity with his Republican colleagues. He welcomed their input in modifying the legislation. This process has already begun, as the $1.9 trillion cost of the package is $1.1 trillion less than the Heroes Act, which passed the Democratic-controlled House last May, largely along party lines.

In fact, the combined cost of the $900 billion relief bill passed last month and this latest $1.9 trillion proposal is still less than the Heroes Act. The effect of the Democratic Party taking control of both houses of Congress as well as the White House is a smaller relief package than Pelosi proposed last year, when the Republicans still controlled the Senate and Trump was in the White House. This is under conditions where the need of millions of people for government assistance is far greater than it was roughly eight months ago.

The package includes $415 billion in public health measures, of which $170 billion is slated for the reopening of schools so as to get parents back at work producing surplus value for the ruling class. In order to facilitate this, Biden promised more testing and transportation, additional cleaning and sanitizing services in those schools, along with protective equipment and ventilation systems.

Some $50 billion is allocated for COVID-19 testing and another $20 billion for a national vaccination program. In Fridays speech detailing the five steps a Biden administration plans to implement in order to vaccinate the population, Biden lumped teachers in with health care and grocery store workers as essential workers, and therefore prioritized for receiving the vaccine.

Notably, Biden didnt say that every teacher would have to be vaccinated prior to returning to in-person, in-school instruction. Unlike groceries and hospitals, which are essential for the preservation and continuation of human life, schools are not. They can be closed temporarily or operated remotely.

This underscores the fact that Biden's focus on reopening the schools "safely is an not example of the Biden administration following the science. Rather, it exemplifies the fact that Biden will follow the dictates of the financial oligarchy, which is well represented in his administration.

In another step down from the Heroes Act, only $350 billion is allocated for state, local and tribal government aid, roughly a third of the $1 trillion in the earlier Democratic proposal, which the Democratic leadership knew would never be passed by the Republican-controlled Senate.

The bill also includes $15 billion in grants to small businesses and $35 billion for state and local governments to administer low-interest loans. These small sums are an invitation for the Republicans to make a counteroffer that would boost the subsidies and include large corporations and banks, as in the bipartisan CARES Act enacted last March.

Other proposals, which have little chance of being included in a bipartisan bill, include:

Increasing the federal per-week unemployment benefit by $100 to $400 and extending it through September 2021. The proposed $400 a week supplement is still $200 less than what was included in the CARES Act.

Raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15, still a near-starvation amount. The proposal didn  t lay out a specific timetable, meaning it could be years before it took effect, even were it not blocked by the Republicans and some right-wing Democrats.

Increasing the Child Tax Credit to $3,000 per child and $3,600 for those under age six.

A 15 percent increase in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (food stamp) Program through September, and an additional $3 billion towards the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.



Drawing the ire of millions, Bidens plan for direct cash payments would be set at $1,400, instead of the $2,000 that many thought was coming after Biden touted $2,000 checks while stumping for Democratic challengers in Georgias November senatorial election runoff.



If you send Jon [Ossoff] and the Reverend [Raphael Warnock] to Washington, those $2,000 checks will go out the door, Biden said during a rally. This was a deliberate lie, since the proposal from December, to which Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed, was to increase the $600 payment to $2,000 through an increase of $1,400.

The fact is neither $1,400 nor $2,000 is enough for the millions out of work and the millions more that have fallen further into debt. A recent study on American household credit card debt conducted by the website Nerdwallet found the average credit card debt for a US household was $7,027. Overall, 42 percent of those surveyed said their household financial situation had worsened since the onset of the pandemic, with 51 percent of those claiming a decrease in income, while 22 percent had a job loss.

Nearly 11 million jobs have yet to return since the lockdowns initiated in March of 2020, and roughly one million more unemployment claims were filed last week. Last weeks Labor Department monthly jobs report revealed an overall loss of jobs for the first time since March, with US payrolls declining by 140,000 in December.

Figures from the Commerce Department released on Friday showed that US retail sales, the backbone of US economic activity, decreased by 0.7 percent in December after falling by 1.4 percent in November. At the same time, with teachers and other workers being blackmailed back into schools and workplaces, the coronavirus, and its new variants, have embedded themselves across the country, resulting in a world-leading death toll of some 400,000.

It is under these conditions that Bidens proposal, as he acknowledges, will do little to prevent this ongoing, preventable catastrophe, with the president-elect once again gravely intoning that a very dark winter is still on the horizon. As the WSWS has previously noted, mass death is not preordained nor inevitable, but the deliberate policy of the ruling class, which subordinates all aspects of society to its own the further enrichment.

The resources and material means exist to provide everyone with shelter and sustenance until vaccines can be administered to essential workers. The urgent task remains organizing workers on the basisi of an internationalist socialist program and perspective in order to expropriate the ill-gotten wealth of the pandemic profiteers and use it for the preservation of life.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 16:51:25|Editor: huaxia

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A staff member checks a COVID-19 inactivated vaccine product at a packaging plant of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd. in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

- The world finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel as an increasing number of countries started conducting mass vaccination.



- However, the pandemic situations around the world are still challenging as several variants of coronavirus reported in different countries pose new threats.

BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Global COVID-19 deaths just surpassed 2 million on Friday, with over 93.4 million cases recorded worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Scores of countries have started to conduct mass vaccination, however, the pandemic situations around the world are still challenging as several variants of coronavirus reported in different countries pose new threats.

Health workers wheel a patient on a stretcher out of an ambulance at the Maimonides Medical Center in New York, the United States, Jan. 5, 2021. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

GLOBAL CASES INCREASE

Less than a week ago, the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University reported on Sunday that COVID-19 cases around the world surpassed 90 million.

According to the latest data, the United States still had the most cases and deaths around the world, which stood at 23,491,421 and 391,540, respectively. India recorded 10,527,683 cases, ranking second and followed by Brazil with 8,393,492 cases and the world's second largest death toll of 208,246.

Countries with more than 2 million cases also include Russia, Britain, France, Turkey, Italy, Spain, and Germany while other countries with over 50,000 deaths include India, Mexico, Britain, Italy, France, Russia, Iran and Spain, according to the CSSE tally.

Global cases hit 60 million on Nov. 25, surpassed 70 million on Dec. 11 and reached 80 million on Dec. 26.

A medical worker receives inoculation of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in downtown Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, Jan. 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)

MASS VACCINATION UNDERWAY

The world finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel as an increasing number of countries started conducting mass vaccination.

Israeli Ministry of Health announced on Friday that the number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country has exceeded 2 million, over 21.5 percent of its total population.

Also on Friday, data from the Turkish Health Ministry showed that over 600,000 health workers have received their first doses of vaccine developed by China's Sinovac company during the first two days of the country's vaccination program.

So far, 38 of the 46 countries that have started vaccinations are high-income countries, according to Mariangela Simao, Assistant Director-General for Drug Access, Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals at World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday called for fair access to vaccines, stressing that more efforts should be made to ensure that middle and low-income countries are equally protected.

"I want to see vaccination underway in every country in the next 100 days, so that health workers and those at high-risk are protected first," he said.

Even in some developed countries, the public is not satisfied with the vaccination campaigns. In the United States, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday the region is out of COVID-19 vaccines and demanded the federal government to send additional doses. And the New York region is not alone in short of vaccine supply.

In France, where the first jab had been administered to more than 318,000 people by Friday, the government was criticized for a slow start of the campaign.

A man wearing a face mask walks past an advertising board reading "Stay Home Save Lives" in London, Britain, Jan. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

NEW VARIANTS SPREADING

It has posed a new threat that the new variants of COVID-19 first detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil are rapidly spreading across the world.

Researchers at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine have discovered two new COVID-19 variants likely originated in the United States.

Brazil's Health Ministry confirmed Friday the country's first case of reinfection with a new variant of COVID-19, detected in the northern state of Amazonas.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Friday that Britain will close all travel corridors to the country from 0400 GMT on Monday in a bid to keep out new coronavirus variants, just one day after the country imposed bans to arrivals from South American countries and Portugal.

Britain is not alone to impose travel bans over the new coronavirus variants. Earlier this week, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that the entry of all non-resident foreign nationals into Japan will be suspended as the country reported four cases of a new variant on Sunday.

Countries including Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Iraq, Peru, Ireland, Russia and Germany have all upgraded or extended travel restrictions over concerns about new variants of the coronavirus. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-15 22:27:55|Editor: huaxia

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Jan. 16, 2021 marks the fifth anniversary of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). President of the AIIB says it would be in the interest of the int'l community rather than in the interest of China only. Check out #AIIB's future development plans. #GLOBALink
This story was originally published by Grist and has been republished here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

For decades, the potential for a nuclear catastrophe felt like a waking threat, just around the corner. Then, in 1968, many of the nations once responsible for pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war collectively agreed to reverse course, signing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Member nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union, agreed to end the stockpiling of nuclear weapons and eventually move toward full disarmament. While it didnt end the threat of nuclear weapons overnight, this framework helped set in motion a new era. Today, the global arsenal of nuclear weapons is a fifth of what it was during the height of the nuclear arms race in the 1980s.

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Half a century later, the nations once stockpiling nuclear weapons are now stockpiling fossil fuels, which are already upending life on Earth as we know it. Thats why a group of activists, policy experts, and academics are beginning to push for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, modeled off its predecessor on nuclear weapons. Both treaties are rooted in the idea that there are certain technologies and certain substances that pose such a global risk to humanity that we have an obligation to address that risk together, explained Carroll Muffett, the president of the Center for International Environmental Law. Muffett is on the steering committee of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative, which officially launched in September.

In mid-December, the New York City Council held a virtual hearing to consider endorsing a resolution for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. It could become the second city in the world to do so, following Vancouver, Canadaassuming another city doesnt get there first. The Los Angeles City Council is poised to endorse the treaty, and Barcelona, Spain, has also introduced a similar resolution. By adopting the treaty, cities could build momentum for a multinational agreement to wind down the dangerous production of fossil fuelsnot just curbing emissionsin a similar approach to the global disarmament of nuclear weapons.

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New fossil fuel projects are coming online, even as the world already has more fossil fuels developed than it can possibly extract while staying below 1.5 degrees, said Muffett. And so the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty emerged from the recognition that the world is facing a threat of truly global, historical proportion.

The treaty calls for a fossil fuel phaseout to happen in three key ways: 1) nonproliferation, where countries end the expansion and exploration of fossil fuel production; 2) global disarmament, where cities deplete existing fossil fuel stockpiles by decommissioning old fossil fuel infrastructure and removing subsidies; and 3) a peaceful, just transition to renewable and low-carbon energy.

It is envisioned as a complement to the Paris Agreement, which commits to limiting global average temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, and ideally below 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) above those levels. The landmark agreement sets to achieve these goals largely through greenhouse gas emissions cuts without putting the onus on countries to curb the production of fossil fuelseven though fossil fuel use is the worlds primary source of carbon dioxide emissions.

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I was absolutely shocked the first time I sat down and went through the Paris accords and searched for the words oil, gas, coal, and fossil fuels. They dont exist, said Tzeporah Berman, a longtime Canadian activist who is the international program director at Stand.earth and also a member of the Steering Committee of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative.

Its especially important for this global framework to facilitate a just transition to clean energy.

This omission is discussed in the recent Production Gap report, a collaboration between research institutions and the U.N. Environment Program that highlights the discrepancy between countries climate commitments and the ongoing production of fossil fuels. Last years report, released in December, found that in order to keep the world below 1.5 degrees C of additional warming, countries will need to decrease fossil fuel production by 6 percent every year. And even though fossil fuel production was curbed by 7 percent in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report warns that countries are still planning to produce far more fossil fuels by 2030.

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Berman points out that this gap isnt solely the failure of the Paris accords; many climate laws and policies consistently overlook the supply side of the equation. I mean, look at even our climate champions, California, Canada, Norwaytheyre all in fossil fuel production at this moment in history, said Berman. Despite aggressive emissions goals, all of these governments continue to build new fossil fuel infrastructure, investing more deeply in the substances they have pledged to nearly eliminate from the economy.

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The theory of climate policy for 30 years since Kyoto has been that if we can reduce demand for fossil fuels and increase the price of carbon, the market itself will constrain production, said Bergman. Thats not happening fast enough. And the markets are distorted today by governments continuing to increase subsidies to the fossil fuel industry: billions and billions of dollars.

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Most recently, the majority of energy-related stimulus spending money by G-20 nations has been invested in fossil fuels, continuing to lock in dangerous levels of emissions. As of November 2020, G20 governments had committed USD 233 billion to activities that support fossil fuel production and consumption, the Production Gap report states. Thats compared with the only U.S.$146 billion invested in renewable energy by G-20 nations. By explicitly addressing the supply side of the climate crisis, the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty offers a way for countries to shift course.

The ultimate goal is for the treaty to become a multinational cooperative agreement in which wealthier nations with the longest histories of fossil fuel production can be the first movers. Meena Raman, who is based in Malaysia and leads the climate program for the international advocacy organization Third World Network, notes that its especially important for this global framework to facilitate a just transition to clean energy: Its really about assisting developing countries to move in that direction that needs to happen, and for developed countries to stop it, phase out, and power down.

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The United States, the largest oil and gas producer in the world, is in a position to become a first mover. As President-elect Joe Biden moves to rejoin the Paris Agreementwhich the United States officially left in Novemberhe will also have an opportunity to put the country on a pathway to phasing out fossil fuels. Theres a lot the Biden administration could do to this end, Muffett said, including directing the Department of the Interior to halt fossil fuel lease sales and permitting, directing the Environmental Protection Agency to develop more stringent greenhouse gas emissions rules, and reinstating the crude oil export ban.

Assuming Congress could get on board, the United States could also pass its own resolution to facilitate a national phaseout of fossil fuel production as a precursor to a multinational treaty. Until then, states and cities can play a crucial role, just as they did in passing resolutions building upon the 1968 treaty to encourage further negotiation and steps toward disarmamenta history Muffett reminded New York City Council members of last month.

In 1979, faced with the existential threat of nuclear weapons, New York City took a stand and called on the U.S. and other nations to end the escalating nuclear arms race that threatened humanity with nuclear annihilation, said Muffett. New York has the opportunity and the urgent responsibility to show that same leadership today.
EMA claimed that hackers leaked Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine's data. The health agency also believed that the cybercriminals also changed the information contained in the document to undermine the public's trust.

The European Medicines Agency focuses on reviewing and approving COVID-19 vaccines in the European Union. The health agency also monitors, evaluates, and supervises any new drugs and medicines introduced to the EU.

"The ongoing investigation of the cyberattack on EMA revealed that some of the unlawfully accessed documents related to COVID-19 medicines and vaccines have been leaked on the internet," said the agency via Bleeping Computer.

What the leaked COVID-19 data contains

EMA stated that the leak includes internal and confidential email correspondence of Pfizer from November, which relates to the company's COVID-19 vaccine's evaluation processes.

"Some of the correspondence has been manipulated by the perpetrators prior to publication in a way which could undermine trust in vaccines," added the company.

Also Read: Over 400GB of 214 Million Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn Users Have Been Exposed by 'Misconfiguration' Coming from Chinese Company SocialArks

The health agency also confirmed that the critical documents were leaked online last December of 2020. Aside from the email correspondence, the leak also includes EMA peer review comments, email screenshots, PowerPoint, PDF, and Word documents.

If you want to see the exact screenshot, you can click here. Once you view it, you'll see that the hackers' intent was to highlight that the Pfizer vaccine was fake. The cyber attackers claimed that they acquired Pfizer's big data scam.

Experts claim that COVID-19 vaccine hacks are diabolical

EMA confirmed that the leaked information was manipulated to weaken people's trust in the vaccines. The agency also announced that it previously launched a joint investigation in collaboration with law enforcement and several other relevant entities.

On the other hand, the giant tech firms BioNTech and Pfizer confirmed that the hackers indeed breached their COVID-19 vaccines' documents, which are store in EMA's servers.

Since this is a serious matter, security experts said that the breaches involving COVID-19 are diabolical, as stated in Healthcare IT News' latest report. They explained that although the pandemic seems to get worse, hackers still consider the novel coronavirus as a great asset for their gains.

Related Article: WhatsApp Users' Mobile Numbers from Found Via Indexing on Google Search

This article is owned by TechTimes.

Written by: Giuliano de Leon.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Phoenix: Federal prosecutors said there was strong evidence the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol last week aimed to capture and assassinate elected officials, but the head of the investigation cautioned Friday that the probe is still in its early stages and there was no direct evidence of such intentions.

The assassination plot accusation was contained in a motion prosecutors filed in Phoenix in the case against Jacob Chansley, the Arizona man who took part in the insurrection while sporting face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns.

Strong evidence, including Chansleys own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States Government, prosecutors wrote.

Magistrate Judge Deborah Fine ruled that Chansley should not be released from custody, calling him "an active participant in a violent insurrection that attempted to overthrow the United States government" and a danger to the community.

Chansley appeared in court in Phoenix as Washington DC's security chiefs ordered internal investigations into the failure to anticipate or repel the violent invasion and occupation of the Capitol, resulting in five deaths.

WASHINGTON  The nearly 1,100 members of the New York National Guard deployed to Washington on Friday began their mission patrolling the Capitol building and its grounds, and working on traffic control ahead of Wednesday's inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Col. Richard Goldenberg, a spokesman for the New York National Guard, said their presence was required in light of the events of Jan. 6, when a mob of supporters of President Donald J. Trump stormed the Capitol as members of Congress voted to accept the results of the presidential election, resulting in five deaths and dozens of injuries.

More than 20,000 National Guard troops from around the nation have been deployed to the city to ensure a safe inauguration. Final numbers of guardsmen and other security forces will be announced by the U.S. Secret Service, which has ultimate responsibility for inauguration safety.

The New York National Guard sent 1,090 troops, 200 of whom are members of the Air Force; the rest are soldiers, spokesman Eric Durr said.

This is kind of a routine mission, Durr said. We normally send personnel to the District of Columbia for every inauguration.

ANNA MONEYMAKER/New York Times

Leading up to Inauguration Day, some of the New York guardsmen have been on duty in and around the Capitol; they are armed, Durr said. Others are assisting in traffic control. All are prepared to be redeployed to address potential civil unrest.

Col. Jamey Barcomb, the senior officer on the ground for the New York National Guard, said his unit has been stationed in the Capitol and were being relocated to the Library of Congress to provide security to key infrastructure in the area.

Goldenberg said the troops are staying in area hotels. The primary duty is the one that has been consistent with all previous inaugurals, which is providing security assistance to local law enforcement, he said.

Barcomb explained that he and members of his unit train for these types of events year-round.

We prepare to work with civil authorities, said Barcomb. We will do tabletop exercises and command-post exercises as individual units. And we will also, at times, do integrated training exercises with civil authorities for that purpose.

Unlike previous missions, this mission required a much faster and more robust response to respond to the civil disturbances, he said.

Barcomb, who has been with the Army National Guard since 2006, explained how important this mission was to him.

My greatest hope is that we are able to look back on this many years from now, and realize that  although it was an unfortunate circumstance that brought us here  we made a positive difference, he said. We were able to help facilitate the peaceful transition of authority.

Jay Silver is a graduate student in Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
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Despite the Covid pandemic, Dubai recorded AED551 billion ($150 billion) worth of non-oil external trade in the first half of 2020.

Imports accounted for AED320 billion, exports AED77 billion, and re-exports AED154 billion, a Dubai Customs release said.

A total volume of 44 million tonnes of goods were traded through Dubai during the period, including 30 million tonnes of imports, 8 million tonnes of exports and 6 million tonnes of re-exports.

"Customs transactions processed by Dubai Customs grew by 23% in 2020 compared to 2019. The sharp rise in transactions reflects the strength and resilience of the economy and the emirates proven capability to weather external economic shocks and turn challenges into real opportunities," added the release.

The report highlighted the "major role" played Dubai Customs in "supporting the strategy which sees Dubai as the worlds capital of the new economy. This is done through reinforcing the companies of the future economy such as the e-commerce businesses by facilitating trade and reducing costs for them so that they can set up regional operations in Dubai.

"For that, Dubai Customs is developing the Cross Border e-Commerce Platform; the collaborative blockchain-based e-commerce platform, which caters to the needs of all stakeholders in the e-commerce supply chain.

"The platform aims to increase the share of Dubai-based e-commerce businesses in local and regional distribution to AED24 billion by 2022, through augmenting the number of regional and global e-commerce companies operating in Dubai in the coming years. In order to motivate e-commerce companies to establish e-logistics distribution centres in Dubai, the government aims to reduce the total cost of e-commerce operations by 20% - including the costs of returned goods, storage, and transportation. E-commerce sales are expected to rise 23% to $27 billion (AED100 billion) in 2022.

Dubai Customs, the report continues, is "reaping the fruits of successful investment in advanced technologies and smart applications over recent years. Business run smoothly without any significant interruptions during the remote and home working period. There were automatic approval and clearance of about 97% of no-risk consignment transactions in 2 minutes without any human intervention.

"From March 15 to June 2, employees completed 8.5 million minutes of audio and video calling using Microsoft TEAMS, shared screen for 2.1 million minutes, and sent 1.1 million instant messages. They conducted 298,000 individual and group calls.

"As part of the economic stimulus package announced by the Government of Dubai to alleviate the burden on businesses and help them navigate the challenges of Covid-19 pandemic, Dubai Customs launched an initiative offering 80% discount on fines for customs cases and violations detected or committed before March 31, 2020.

"Dubai Customs also introduced an initiative waiving late fines on renewal/cancelation of Customs representative card targeting Customs brokers and agents.

"Dubai Customs was named named the "2020 World PMO of the Year" at the PMO Global Awards organised by the PMO Global Alliance, the leading global community of project management professionals.

"Dubai Customs outclassed government and private organisations from 20 countries worldwide to win the prestigious global honour. With 125 projects worth AED350 million implemented between 2007 and 2019, Dubai Customs has demonstrated outstanding standards in implementing projects based on Industry 4.0 technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain as part of its mission to protect society and facilitate trade.

In support of the UAEs sustainable economic development, Dubai Customs has been able to meet the challenges of the global economic recession arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

ACHIEVEMENTS

"The year 2020 saw new pioneering achievements for Dubai Customs in terms development of Customs work processes and innovation of new solutions and initiatives to ensure the smooth flow of trade and mitigate the impacts of the global pandemic," said the report.

This follows the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to promote sustainable economic development and consolidate the UAE's global leadership, added the report.

Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director General of Dubai Customs, said: "Against all odds Dubai Customs has kept pace with the UAE's successive pioneering accomplishments in 2020, the year of preparation for the next 50. Dubais foreign trade is gradually recovering with steady growth momentum despite disruptions from the Covid-19 outbreak. This is particularly reflected in the strong growth of customs transactions due to our use of advanced technologies that helped us maintain our business uninterrupted during lockdown and remote working period. Dubai Customs also introduced several milestone projects supporting our direction to play a major role in future trade transformations. These include the launch of the Blockchain-based cross-border e-commerce platform, which paves the way to attract more logistics and e-commerce companies."

In terms of society protection, Dubai Customs also launched "Siyaj", the leading security initiative which employs 24/7 integrated smart control systems to curb illegal trafficking and smuggling, he added.

Musabih further noted: "We continue to implement our strategy to lead the customs sector through the development of innovative, technology-based customs systems that facilitate customs operations and speed up the flow of trade and passengers. The International Monetary Fund's note commending Dubai Customs for exemplary implementation of Blockchain technology is a source of pride for us and prompts us to continue pursuing our vision of being the world's leading customs administration supporting legitimate trade."

"Dubai Customs has made available all necessary tools to boost the productivity of its employees during the remote working period. These included the virtual desktop which enables user to host all office applications and work from anywhere, Mizlay which enables employees to safely access their emails and other Dubai Customs applications, and Microsoft TEAMS for online meetings and communication. More than 18,000 meetings have been conducted through TEAMS. Exchange of information via TEAMS accounted for 15% against 85% for email in March while in April the usage of TEAMS program increased to 34% compared to 66% for email. "

HEALTH AND SAFETY

It added that Dubai Customs launched several initiatives to ensure a healthy and safe environment at work, including provision of 200 mobile phone disinfection devices to all department, sections and customs centres to protect staff from the spread of coronavirus.

"Safe Station was one of the innovations that Dubai Customs incorporated in its back to office plan. The 21 temperature check kiosks were deployed to help monitor the health status of employees. Dubai Customs also launched the Safe Customs Inspector Corridor which is a state-of-the-art, fully-equipped PPE innovation that ensures the protection of inspection staff.

"Dubai Customs Future Centre for Research and Development received Accredited Innovation Lab (AInL) certification from the US-based Global Innovation Institute (GInI). The organisation is now the first Customs administration in the world to get such a global accreditation.

"GInI granted Innovation Lab accreditation to Dubai Customs based on a number of assessments which covered strategy, innovation support, design, infrastructure, security, resources, and innovation maturity. GInI operates the worlds most recognised, comprehensive, and professionally-managed evidence-based innovation certification programme for individuals and corporations.

"Dubai Customs developed 32 disruptive innovations throughout 2020, raising the number of innovations developed by the government department between 2010 and 2020 to 237.

Dubai Customs also received 17 global awards of excellence for outstanding achievement in innovation in 2020 to raise the total number of recognitions and awards to 127.

"Dubai Customs recycled 161,753 counterfeit, IP-infringing products for 59 international brands in 2020, instead of being destroyed. DCs IPR department resolved 255 intellectual property dispute cases in 2020.

"The department organised 56 IP awareness events and workshops that benefited 2,667 participants including students, supervisors, government staff and customs inspectors. As many as 367 trademarks and 203 new trade agencies have been recorded by Dubai Customs during 2020. Moreover, the IPR department also registered 8 knowledge assets and innovations supporting Customs work that were developed internally by DC teams and employees.

"Dubai Customs launched Siyaj (Fence) initiative, the smart integrated system to control Dubais customs entry-points. The new system is based on a number of sophisticated AI technologies, rapid intervention teams that work around the clock, drones, and the K9 sniffing dog unit for targeting and inspection operations inside the customs zone.

SEIZURE

The initiative will enhance Dubai and the UAEs security and help protect the society from the hazards of illegitimate shipments and smuggling while facilitating trade and supporting the global supply chain.

"Within its role of protecting the society and securing the borders, Dubai Customs officers foiled the largest narcotics smuggling operation at coastal borders to date, seizing 662 kg as part of Safe Nation campaign.

"The seizure, carried out by the Creek and Deira Wharfage Customs Center, which operates under the Sea Customs Management, comprised diverse types of narcotics. The seized drugs included 306.44 kg of crystal meth, 201.44 kg of opium and cannabis, and 122.72 kg of narcotic pills and psychotropic substances and 32.62 kg of heroin.

"The Safe Nation campaign continued to deal severe blows to drug traffickers and smugglers in Dubai. In another major drug haul, Dubai Customs staff seized 76.31 kg of narcotics at Hamriya Port.

Officers intercepted the drug trafficking operation seizing 30.15kg of crystal meth and 46.16kg of hashish, together worth Dhs47.5m, which was found stashed inside an inbound container shipment."

TRAINING

"Dubai Customs carried out 732 training courses during 2020, targeting 4,000 staff participants, spanning a total of 29,000 training hours. Of these 676 online training courses were conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic. DCs summer training program 2020 qualified 1179 students over 912 training hours.

"Dubai Customs "Leaders" training programme graduated the fifth batch of employees who joined the program to develop their leadership competencies and gain learning and skills on how to overcome current and future challenges."

The report shed light on the programme, which Dubai Customs launched at the end of 2019, and engaged 16 employees from different departments and centers in Dubai Customs.

The 54-hour programme, accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management, ILM, included different sessions that covered topics like personal skills, authorisation, leadership, team motivation and leadership skills.

"During the programme, a Virtual Reality Leadership Lab was launched to train the employees in a unique and more interactive content. Dubai Customs succeeded in establishing a sustainable model for corporate social responsibility, and managed to overcome all obstacles and challenges during this exceptional year due to the Covid-19 pandemic."

The report concluded by saying that the government entity conducted 140 community-oriented and charitable initiatives benefiting more than 63,000 people from all segments of society. -- Tradearabia News Service
UPDATE:

Jenna Ryan, the North Texas real estate agent who took a private plane to participate in the U.S. Capitol protest that evolved into a violent riot on Jan. 6, has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

In a filing from the Department of Justice submitted Jan. 15, prosecutors said authorities recovered a deleted Facebook live video showing Ryan entering the Capitol building through the Rotunda entrance.

Jon Cherry/Getty Images, MBR / TNS

"We are going to f---ing go in here," Ryan could be heard saying in the video as she approaches the top of the stairs. "Life or death, it doesnt matter. Here we go."

Ryan then exposed her face on camera, saying, Yall know who to hire for your realtor. Jenna Ryan for your realtor.

The video continued to show her entering the building, chanting U-S-A! U-S-A! and yelling, Here we are, in the name of Jesus! She exposed her face on video again while inside the building.

Ryan previously claimed she did not enter the Capitol building.

She posted a public statement to her Twitter page on Jan. 8.

"I was invited to go to Washington D.C. by a friend to witness the march," Ryan wrote. "Unfortunately, what I believed to be a peaceful political march turned into a violent protest. I do not condone the violence that occurred on January 6, 2020, and I am truly heartbroken for the people who have lost their lives. Hatred and violence toward each other are not going to solve our country's issues. As a nation, we need to come together Republican, Democrat and Independent and have an open and honest discussion about the issues in our country and resolve our issues in peace."

EARLIER:

Facebook.com/jenna.ryan1

One Dallas-area woman flew by private jet to participate in the initial protest at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday that turned violent as the mob breached the building.

Realtor and radio host Jenna Ryan took a private jet with three others to Washington D.C. to protest the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory over President Donald Trump.

AFTER THE CHAOS: Internet detectives are identifying scores of pro-Trump rioters at the Capitol. Some have already been fired.

"OK guess who's going to DC by private jet?!?! Meeee," Ryan wrote on Facebook on Jan. 3. She and three others can be seen in the private plane in a photo posted Jan. 5.

Newsweek's Lydia Smith reports that Ryan flew from US Trinity Aviation in Denton.

Twitter/@dotJenna

Ryan posted several videos and photos from the Capitol grounds on her Facebook and Twitter accounts. In one photo posted to Twitter, she poses next to a broken window.

"Window at The capital," Ryan wrote. "And if the news doesn't stop lying about us we're going to come after their studios next..."

Ryan also livestreamed from the Capitol grounds. It is unclear if she ever entered the building.

"All these working-class people taking the week off," Ryan said in the stream. "We flew here for freedom. They want to steal the election, they want to steal everything."
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There was welcome news late last week for Leaving Certificate students who were concerned about returning to school three days a week.

Following pressure and an announcement from the teachers' union the ASTI that they were directing their members to teach classes remotely, it was announced that Leaving Cert students would now be learning remotely having been told a day earlier that they would attend school three days a week.

Three Summerhill College students expressed their concerns about returning to school, along with sitting exams following a tumultuous year at school.

"There's just too much risk for students having to go in for three days and then spending the other four days with their family," Summerhill College student Josh Gilligan told The Sligo Champion. "Anyone our age could have the virus and not know, it's very easily done and then transmit to a family member that could be high risk."

Eamonn Flynn, also a Summerhill College student, branded the Government's initial decision to send Leaving Certs back as 'a joke'. He believes that the welfare of students has not been taken into account.

"It is clear that the government want a ' leaving cert at all costs' completely disregarding the students' health (well being, mental health, anxiety levels). What also frustrates me is that the government are so indecisive with the decisions they are making.

"One day I hear schools are closed and the following day you hear rumours that schools will be open for leaving cert students for three days."

The students are concerned that public opinion suggests they do not want to do their leaving cert, and that they would prefer not to go to school. But, their education has been disrupted hugely since last March and they feel they are missing out.

The to-ing and fro-ing from remote learning and classroom learning has also not helped.

Josh said: "The over and back from this hugely disrupted us in 5th year to be honest, which in my opinion is a more important year for learning more about the course and leaving cert is more a revision of everything you learnt in 5th year.

"To be fair to our teachers they've done their absolute best to help us and trying to get us to engage but a lot of us thought last year we were going be back soon anyway, I don't think anybody knew that we were going to miss the rest of the year from March. So we basically got nothing done while we were going over and back in the first lockdown."

Eamonn is of the same opinion: "It's been disruptive for everyone. It's hard to keep motivated and keep studying especially now when it's so unclear on whether predicted grades or the leaving cert is taking place. Like last year's class of 2020 they received 40% in their orals. So do us leaving certs still study for our orals when they could be cancelled or do we spend our time elsewhere."

Stephen Doyle, another Summerhill College student, feels that remote learning can leave some students at a disadvantage: "It isn't the worst, but some teachers are more well equipped for remote learning than others, and this is disruptive. Also the fact that not everyone has access to online services at all times, puts some people at an unfair disadvantage."

Questions remain over how the Department of Education will proceed with this year's Leaving Certificate. The uncertainty is agonising for students, and most are hoping a decision can be made early.

"I believe that most students want an option to choose if you want predicted grades and if you want to sit your leaving cert you can, because some students perform better on the day and some definitely under perform," said Josh.

"Personally I would be happier with predicted grades and think if we got the option the government would be making the right decision in doing that as in some subjects we are still only half way through our courses and will be rushing to even get near finishing them. Cancelling the exams completely would not be right either."

Eamonn feels that the 'leaving cert at all costs' mentality is putting extra pressure on students.

"The government are so certain on their view of a leaving cert at all costs. Many leaving cert students are struggling with personal issues and the uncertainty on the leaving cert exam on top of that is so draining on the student. I feel as the government want the leaving cert to go ahead because they make millions with the fees the students have to pay to sit the leaving cert."

Like most, Stephen wants a decision made early so preparation can be done. He is of the opinion that changes will have to be made to the exams if they are to go ahead.

"If the decision was made in a timely fashion, with clarity I would not be annoyed but if the decision was made in a few months, I would be very frustrated as I would have spent a lot of time studying and preparing for the leaving certificate. I want the leaving certificate exam to go ahead but I believe there needs to be some adjustments made to take into account the time and immense pressure and stress we have been put under in recent months.

"I believe one solution is to simplify the leaving certificate by removing orals and practical exams and taking off some topics that are on the courses. I don't feel adding extra questions to the exam is sufficient and could create the problem where some students run out of time."

As students are often conditioned to believe that their leaving cert is the most important thing going on, it's an added pressure. It doesn't help, then, that they feel as if their concerns are not being listened to.

Do they feel under pressure now with the leaving cert likely to go ahead?

"To be honest yes," said Josh. "We now have the added pressure of mocks coming up in March and then the leaving cert. I think a lot of students are not going to be in the right frame of mind.

"I completely feel like we haven't got a voice at all, I think the majority of students want the same thing, our health not to be jeopardised for the sake of sitting an outdated exam. The government seem very adamant for us to sit a leaving certificate. A lot of students have tried to be heard whether it's an email to some politicians or sharing messages on social media.

"We want people to realise that we're not doing all of this because we're lazy and just don't want to do a leaving cert, we're doing this for the safety of ourselves and our families."

Stephen believes the stress of exams is unnecessary, but also understands the need for the exams to go ahead.

"I believe there is way too much emphasis put on the leaving certificate, it is outdated and very traditional, since we are in very uncertain times there should be changes made to the leaving certificate not only for this year but for future students. Also the amount of stress put on students doing the leaving certificate is immense and unrequired. But in the current society the leaving certificate is required, especially if you want to go onto third level college."

Decisions have already been made in the UK regarding the summer exams. Students believe it's wrong that their peers across the border in Northern Ireland have more certainty than they do in the south.

Stephen said: "I do feel under pressure especially now with the amount of media coverage it is receiving, the uncertainty we face is adding a lot of stress to an already stressful situation. When you see other places cancelling their exams such as the United Kingdom this adds to the uncertainty seeing as we mirrored their system last year. It is unfair that two students living on the one island both in their final year of second level education, one has certainty about their exams whereas the other's is up in the air."

Eamonn added: "There is far too much emphasis on the leaving cert. I don't see how the government can't come out and say there will be an option of predicted grades or you can sit your leaving cert. That is the only way to keep everyone happy. I understand completely that it's not as easy as just coming out and announcing it. If students who picked predicted grades aren't happy that's their own fault they could have sat the leaving cert because the option was there."

We have all learned lessons as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and we have all learned what's important in life. Josh has realised that there is more to life than exams. "The pandemic has definitely taught me personally what's important in life and education is one but to a certain extent, people put way too much emphasis on the leaving cert,

"I personally think the leaving cert is an outdated test that doesn't test you on what you know and your knowledge but how good you are at remembering information. I think the leaving cert should be focused on what you want to do in the future. If it wasn't for my family and friends 2020 would've been hell."

Now that they will be learning remotely for the month of January at least, the three students told The Sligo Champion: "We as a group are happy with the decision the teachers union have made to put our health before education and how willing they are to help us. We are not happy that the department came out and said the schools are closing with 'regret', they seem to not care at all about the health of the 95,000 students and teachers. But all in all we are very happy that our teachers have fought for their health and our health."
Mandsaur/Bhopal:

Seeking to douse the smouldering embers of the farmers unrest, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday visited Mandsaur where six people were killed in police action, and presented Rs 1 crore to the kin of three of the deceased.

In a gesture loaded with symbolism, Chouhan visited the families of the slain farmers with his wife Sadhna, and promised action against those responsible for their bereavement.

Meanwhile, Congress heavyweight from Madhya Pradesh Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was on Tuesday detained and prevented from visiting Mandsaur, where prohibitory orders barring assembly of more than four people is in force, began a 72-hour Satyagraha in Bhopal as a mark of solidarity with farmers.

Chouhan, who has been facing a firestorm of political protests following the killing of farmers, reached Mandsaur on a special plane and headed straight to Badwan village to give a healing touch to the family of Ghanshyam Dhakad.

The state government had on Tuesday sanctioned financial aid of Rs 1 crore for the families of each of the six deceased killed during the peasants stir.

Madhya Pradesh has seen a phenomenal growth in agriculture under Chouhan, clocking an average of 13.9 per cent over the five-year period 2010-15. However, farmer suicides have also gone up because of rural indebtedness.

Also read: Madhya Pradesh farmers protest: Shivraj Singh Chouhan appeals farmers to end protests, says will fast to bring peace in state

Chouhan later visited Lodh village and consoled the family members of another deceased farmer Satyanarayan. He then went to Nayakheda in neighbouring Neemuch district to meet the family of Chainram Patidar. On the demand of Chainrams father Ganpat, Chouhan announced a tarred road to be laid from Kuchlod to Nayakheda, a community centre in the village and a memorial to the deceased farmer.

He handed over the family members of the slain farmers documents relating to the compensation amount transferred to their accounts online.

The chief minister also visited Piplyamandi and took stock of the properties burnt during the violence. He spoke to traders and assured them of compensation for destruction of their properties during the agitation.

Later, at Barkheda Panth, Chouhan met the kin of the deceased farmer Abhishek Patidar and assured his mother Rukabai that action would be taken against those responsible for the death of her son.

He also visited Chillod Piplia to meet the family of Kanhaiyalal, another victim of police firing. Chouhan promised Kanhaiyalals widow Sumitra Bai that a job would be given to their daughter.

Chouhan assured Kanhailyalals father Dhurilal Patidar of action against policemen who were allegedly threatening villagers after the firing incident.

Also read: MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan: I have always tried doing a lot for farmers, and their problem is ours

The chief minister will stay in Mandsaur overnight, officials said.

On June 6, five farmers were killed as the agitation by peasants demanding a loan waiver and remunerative prices for their produce turned violent in Mandsaur.

Besides, a 26-year-old farmer had died in Badwan village, also in Mandsaur, allegedly after being beaten up by police.

Meanwhile, Scindia, Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha, began a 72-hour Satyagraha at T T Nagars Dussehra Maidan in Bhopal this afternoon.

The scion of the erstwhile royal family of Gwalior, garlanded the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi on stage before sitting on satyagraha.

Pictures of six farmers - five of them killed in police firingwere also put up on the stage.

Scindia and his supporters were yesterday detained in Ratlam while on way to Mandsaur, amid dramatic scenes.

He had accused the states BJP government of being dictatorial and vowed to fight for the cause of the farmers.

The farmers protests, which began on June 1 over various demands, including loan waiver and better prices for their produce, took a violent turn on June 6, when five of them were killed in police firing at Mandsaur.

The protests soon spread to the other districts of western Madhya Pradesh, including Neemuch, Dhar, Ratlam and Jhabua.

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There have been 60 further deaths of people who contracted Covid-19 and 3,231 new cases of the virus confirmed by the Department of Health this evening.

This takes the number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 to 2,595, while the official case count has risen to 169,780.

Earlier today, HSE CEO Paul Reid confirmed that hospitals have gone into surge capacity as ICU numbers continue to rise.

There are now 191 Covid-19 patients in ICU as of this afternoon and Mr Reid confirmed that the agreement signed with private hospitals has been initiated to cater for spillover from the public health service.

Read More

The HSE boss said there are also 250 Covid-19 patients outside of ICU that are requiring significant assistance such as additional oxygen.

1,854 people are in hospital with the virus today, while Mr Reid said 125 extra beds in private hospitals will now become available for non-Covid patients.

Of the cases notified today:

1,465 are men / 1,712 are women

54% are under 45 years of age

The median age is 42 years old

931 cases are in Dublin, 388 in Cork, 238 in Louth, 155 in Waterford, 151 in Limerick, and the remaining 1,368 cases are spread across all other counties.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: "This virus has taken root in every single part of the country. A significant percentage of the population - in excess of 1 in 10 in some counties - is currently either a case or a close contact. This is a huge burden of infection. When you consider that a significant percentage of our daily cases will directly lead to hospitalisation and mortality, the urgency with which we need to act becomes clear. By staying at home, you are protecting our health and social care services as they struggle against the enormous burden of infection that many weeks with thousands of daily cases of COVID-19 represents.

The improvements in cases is not happening fast enough. Too many people are still not complying as fully as we need with the advice. There are early indications that we may be levelling off in terms of improvement, but at far, far too high a level of infection. The UK variant is very likely making our challenge more difficult. Please follow the public health advice. The safest place at the moment is at home. Please stay at home.

Dr Cillian De Gascun, Medical Virologist and Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, said: Due to the nature of the mutation found in the UK variant of the virus, it is inevitable that it will become the dominant variant here in Ireland over time. The UK variant has adapted to us: simply put, it is better at moving from person to person when we come into contact. So what we must do is reduce its opportunities to spread by cutting out socialising. Stay home. Do not visit anyone elses home. Do not attend illegal gatherings. Remember the simple and effective measures from springtime  wash your hands well and often, wear a mask, cough and sneeze into your elbow, keep 2 metres of space from others, and phone your GP at the very first sign of COVID-19 symptoms.

Elsewhere in Northern Ireland, there have been an additional 22 deaths and 705 new cases today.
Two area doctors and an attorney were among seven appointed to the Texas Medical Board District Three Review Committee by Governor Greg Abbott.

Dr. Celeste Caballero, a Lubbock pediatrician with Covenant Medical Group, Dr. Sharmila Dissanaike, a Lubbock physician with the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and Mindi McLain, an Amarillo attorney, were each appointed to fill positions on the board, according to a news release from Abbotts office.

Caballero is a graduate of the University of Texas and is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Texas Medical Association.

McLain earned degrees from Texas A&M University and the Texas Tech University School of Law. She is currently a partner and attorney with Wright Law TX, PLLC. McLain is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Amarillo Area Bar Association and Texas Panhandle Women. She also serves on the West Texas A&M University Enterprise Center Executive Council and is vice president of the Board of Directors of the Texas Panhandle Regional Development Corporation.

Dissanaike is the Peter C. Canizaro Chair of the HSCs Department of Surgery. She is a member of several committees and boards including a Governor of the American College of Surgeons, national Committee for Ethics and the Advisory Council for Rural Surgery, Board of the American Burn Association, Southwest Surgical Congress, Lubbock Medical Society, American Medical Association, Residency Review Committee for Surgery for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, Texas Surgical Society and a past president of the North Texas Chapter of ACS.

Dissanaike did her medical training at the University of Sydney, Australia, completed a surgery residency at HSC and a fellowship in trauma and surgical critical care at the University of Washington. She has practiced medicine in Lubbock since 2007.

Other members of the board include Dr. Ogechika Oge Alozie, an El Paso physician of infectious disease, Taylor Gillig, of Arlington who is chief executive officer and co-founder of The Cookery, Michael Burley, of Southlake, who is Regional Administrator for Region VI at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Dr. Gabrielle Rich, D.O. an obstetrician and gynecologist of Big Spring.

Caballeros and McLains terms will expire in 2022; Alozies, Gilligs and Richs terms expire in 2024; and Burleys and Dissanaikes terms expire in 2026.

Why has the Lankan MPs links to Kasargod come under the ambit of the Indian agencies

NIA summons farm union leader for questioning in Sikhs for Justice case

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Jan 16: Baldev Singh Sirsa, the president of the Lok Bhalai Insaf Welfare Society, one of the unions taking part in the talks with the government over the new farm laws has been summoned for questioning by the National Investigation Agency.

The NIA summons is in connection with a case registered against a leader of the proscribed Sikhs for Justice (SJF). Sirsa has been summoned as a witness in the case.

The NIA has asked Sirsa to appear at the agency's headquarters in New Delhi on January 17 at 11 am..

How the pro-Khalistan Sikhs For Justice is influencing the farmers protest

The case was registered against SJF chief, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu for an alleged conspiracy to create an atmosphere of fear and lawlessness and also to cause disaffection in people and to incite them towards rising in rebellion against the government of India.

An NIA source tells OneIndia that they are probing the source of funds to several NGOs in India that were allegedly provided by the SJF. The NIA has prepared a list of such NGOs which have been allegedly receiving funds from pro-Khalistan outfits.

Sirsa is among the several persons who have been issued summons for the purpose of answer questions in the case relating to Pannu.

In its FIR, the NIA had accused Sikhs For Justice and other Khalistan outfits of entering into a conspiracy. Huge funds are being collected abroad for the on-ground propaganda against the government of India. The funds also being used to stage demonstrations outside the Indian missions at UK, Canada and USA. The funds that were collected are being sent through NGOs to pro-Khalistan elements based in India to undertake acts of terror and create fear in the minds of the people, the NIA's FIR also said.

The SJF leadership has planned large scale disruptive activities aimed at damaging government and private property. They also plan on disrupting supplies and services, the NIA said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

Further the SJF was also accused of incessant social media campaign aimed at radicalising and recruiting impressionable youth to agitate and undertake acts of terror for the creation of a separate Khalistan.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 10:21 [IST]
President Donald Trump will be leaving Washington in the morning of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration day.

Trump plans an event outside Washington, source says

Trump will leave Washington D.C next Wednesday just before Biden's inauguration to start his post-presidential life in Florida. On Friday, a source familiar with the issue said that the president plans to leave the White House on the morning of January 20. he refused to abide with the tradition and participation in the the ceremonial transfer of power, the ABC News reported.

The source added that Trump, who announced plans not to attend Biden's inauguration, is instead planning an event outside Washington where Air Force One is headquartered. According to the Associated Press, the events may include a 21-gun salute, military band, red carpet, and color guard.

Read also: Trump Supporters Feel the President Was Undone by Media and Big Tech

The event is understood to take place on January 20, while officials consider the elaborate state visit-style send-off, as per the AP. Then, Trump will fly to Palm Beach, Florida, to start his post-presidency at his Mar-a-Lago club, the insider said.

The president's inauguration rehearsal on Thursday was reportedly postponed due to security fears. The president-elect's run-through was supposedly on Sunday but has been pushed to Monday. Biden is set to have a train journey from Wilmington, Delaware, to D.C. However, schedules have been halted over threats of violence, sources said to Politico.

Read also: Trump Calls for Unity to Stop Violence; Denounces Capitol Riot

FBI director warned of possible nationwide violence during the inauguration

Hours after FBI Director Chris Wray warned of possible armed violence nationwide on Biden's inauguration, the postponement came. Wray said in the first briefing since the January 6 riot, "When we talk about potential threats, we have to say that we are seeing an extensive amount of online chatter about a number of events surrounding the inauguration."

Since rioters stormed the Capitol building last week, law enforcement officers have locked down the area. Over 20,000 National Guard members are deployed at the Capitol, and thousands of Guardsmen sleep on the building floor.

White House aides plan to work for Trump

Sources told Reuters that the plan could change as it remains unclear if Trump would speak on Wednesday. Trump is likely to be in Florida by the time Biden is inaugurated midday on Wednesday.

Several White House aides reportedly plan to work for Trump as the former real estate tycoon works to retain his clout in the Republican Party. Some advisers urged the president to host Biden for a White House meeting before the inauguration day. However, an administration official said that there had been no sign that Trump will do that.

Read also: Biden Reveals $1.9 Trillion 'American Rescue Plan' Including $1,400 Stimulus Checks

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Federal funding and a big boost from online consumer spending filled Michigans coffers with more money than initially expected  but experts warned the deep economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will still likely be felt for years.

The Michigan Department of Treasury and the state House and Senate fiscal agencies projected Friday that the state will collect $24.3 billion in revenue for the general and school aid funds, up $1.2 billion from estimates made last August. For the 2021-2022 fiscal year, officials predicted combined revenues would total $25.3 billion, $874.8 million more than the previous projection.

Revenues are still down 2 percent compared to last fiscal year, and officials were quick to acknowledge federal COVID-19 stimulus initiatives such as increased unemployment benefits were behind the boost  not any major economic improvements.

What were seeing is this...difference between the economic indicators and the revenues, Michigan Treasury Director Rachael Eubanks said. Its really that federal stimulus thats giving us that revenue.

The biggest threat to future economic growth is how quickly the state and country are able to pull through the pandemic, experts said Friday during the states first Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference of 2021. The biannual conference helps inform lawmakers and Gov. Gretchen Whitmers administration on negotiating the annual budget and state spending.

The sooner it gets better, the sooner things will improve, said Jim Stansell of the House Fiscal Agency. The longer it drags on, the longer...the economy will take to improve.

For now, income tax withholding payments from federal unemployment benefits, substantial changes in consumer spending habits and other indirect benefits from federal dollars are helping keep the state budget afloat.

In the year prior to the pandemic, tax collections from online sales totaled about $17 million a month in Michigan. Since the pandemic started, its averaged $65 million a month  although because live events and other in-person services are still closed, its hard to predict whether those trends will hold in future years and what impact that will have on state revenues, said Eric Bussis of the Michigan Department of Treasury.

Although unemployment numbers broke records during the pandemic and continue to remain high, consumer spending hasnt taken a corresponding hit because of expanded unemployment benefits.

The fiscal situation could have been a lot worse for Michigan and the rest of the country considering the severity of the recession caused by COVID-19, said Gabriel Ehrlich, director of the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics at the University of Michigan.

While some industries are expected to rebound quickly as vaccines are distributed and the latest wave of COVID-19 cases subside, others harder hit by the pandemic, such as leisure and hospitality industries, could take years to recover, economists projected.

Legislative Republicans warned against interpreting the better-than-expected revenue forecast as more than a one-time boost from federal stimulus dollars.

The rosy picture we see today at the state level is not an accurate depiction of what is happening in our homes around kitchen tables and in local businesses, Senate Appropriations Chair Jim Stamas, R-Midland, said in a statement.

Michigan House Appropriations Chair Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, said in a statement the current state of affairs is wildly unsustainable, and reiterated his stance that the administration should fully reopen the economy before expecting the Legislature to allocate federal funds.

There wont be a real economic recovery  and the state budget wont be truly healthy  until our economy is reopened, Albert said. I will continue to work with legislative colleagues to ensure the people of Michigan get the help they need to deal with this pandemic, while also ensuring any future funding does not allow the governor to continue on this path.

State Budget Director Dave Massaron said the state is staring down a structural gap in fiscal year 2023, noting the additional dollars should be viewed as one-time funds that can be put to use for upgrading schools, vaccine distribution and COVID-19 recovery.

Moving forward, he said state and local governments still need additional federal help to shoulder the burden of ongoing COVID-19 response, as the indirect benefits of previous federal stimulus packages wont last forever.

When it comes to federal funding made available to Michigan in recent weeks, Massaron said we need to work very quickly to put it to use to help residents recover from the pandemic.

Related:

Michigans budget forecast better than predicted, but still clouded by coronavirus pandemic

Michigans budget shortfall likely smaller than expected, but big challenges still loom

Whitmer administration calls for federal funding to help fill Michigans multibillion-dollar budget hole

Coronavirus prompts projected $3.2B drop in Michigan tax revenue, more losses expected

Michigan set to lose billions in tax revenue as coronavirus hits state budgets nationwide

Michigan to lay off 2,900 state employees amid budget woes caused by coronavirus outbreak

Yes, Michigan is in a recession, and a quick recovery is unlikely

When and how will it end? Considering the end-game for Michigans coronavirus crisis
LAVAL, QC, Jan. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (the "Company") (TSX: ATD.A) (TSX: ATD.B) will host a conference call with analysts to discuss the Company's strategic goals and the opportunities it sees for operational partnerships with Carrefour SA going forward.

When: Monday, January 18, 2021

Time: 8:00 a.m. EST

Live call dial-in: (888) 390-0549 (NA toll-free) or (416) 764-8682 (International)

Conference ID: 72819822#

Webcast: A live webcast of the call can be accessed from the Investor Relations section of Couche-Tard's website at https://corpo.couche-tard.com/en/investor-relations/corporate-presentations/. The webcast will be archived and available for replay following the call.

About Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.

Couche-Tard is the leader in the Canadian convenience store industry. In the United States, it is the largest independent convenience store operator in terms of the number of company-operated stores. In Europe, Couche-Tard is a leader in convenience store and road transportation fuel retail in the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark), in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), as well as in Ireland, and has an important presence in Poland.

As of October 11, 2020, Couche-Tard's network comprised 9,261 convenience stores throughout North America, including 8,085 stores with road transportation fuel dispensing. Its North American network consists of 18 business units, including 14 in the United States covering 47 states and 4 in Canada covering all 10 provinces. Approximately 109,000 people are employed throughout its network and at its service offices in North America.

In Europe, Couche-Tard operates a broad retail network across Scandinavia, Ireland, Poland, the Baltics and Russia through 10 business units. As of October 11, 2020, Couche-Tard's network comprised 2,722 stores, the majority of which offer road transportation fuel and convenience products while the others are unmanned automated fuel stations which only offer road transportation fuel. Couche-Tard also offers other products, including aviation fuel and energy for stationary engines. Including employees at branded franchise stores, approximately 22,000 people work in its retail network, terminals and service offices across Europe.

In addition, under licensing agreements, more than 2,220 stores were operated under the Circle K banner in 15 other countries and territories (Cambodia, Egypt, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jamaica, Macau, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam), which brings the worldwide total network to more than 14,200 stores.

For more information on Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. or to consult its quarterly Consolidated Financial Statements and Management Discussion and Analysis, please visit: https://corpo.couchetard.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements set forth in this press release, which describes Couche-Tard's objectives, projections, estimates, expectations or forecasts, may constitute forward looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation. Positive or negative verbs such as "believe", "can", "shall", "intend", "expect", "estimate", "assume" and other related expressions are used to identify such statements. Couche-Tard would like to point out that, by their very nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties such that its results, or the measures it adopts, could differ materially from those indicated in or underlying these statements, or could have an impact on the degree of realization of a particular projection. Major factors that may lead to a material difference between Couche Tard's actual results and the projections or expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements include the effects of the integration of acquired businesses and the ability to achieve projected synergies, uncertainty related to the duration and severity of the current COVID-19 pandemic, fluctuations in margins on motor fuel sales, competition in the convenience store and retail motor fuel industries, exchange rate variations, and such other risks as described in detail from time to time in the reports filed by Couche-Tard with securities regulatory authorities in Canada. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Couche-Tard disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking information in this release is based on information available as of the date of the release.

SOURCE Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.

Related Links

http://corpo.couche-tard.com


Greene King is to rename four of its pubs over possible links to racism.

The UK pub chain announced it would rebrand three venues currently called The Black Boy  in Bury St Edmunds, Sudbury in Suffolk, and Shinfield in Berkshire  as well as the Blacks Head in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, due to their potentially offensive connotations.

The move comes after the companys historic links to slavery were exposed through a University College London (UCL) database of slave profiteers in June last year. That prompted Greene King to pledge it would make substantial investment in black, Asian and minority ethnic (Bame) communities as part of anti-racism efforts in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.

Bosses said the racial origins of four pubs names had not been definitively confirmed but the rebrand is to go ahead nonetheless as part of a bid to make the company a "truly anti-racist organisation.

Nick Mackenzie, Greene Kings chief executive since 2019, said it was important to acknowledge the chains history but acknowledged it was just as important to work proactively to eradicate racism in our society today.

We have looked at pub deeds, consulted with colleagues and while the origins of these pub names are obscure, he said on Friday, and what is clear is that there is a perception that they are linked with racism today and we want to make this positive change for the better".

Weve thought long and hard and feel this is the right thing to do as it is incredibly important to us that our pubs are warm and welcoming places for everyone as we continue on our journey to become a truly anti-racist organisation, he added.

When the UCL database was revealed last summer, Mr Mackenzie admitted the companys links to slavery were inexcusable. Shortly after, reports in The Telegraph suggested Greene Kings 19th century founder, Benjamin Greene, received the equivalent of 500,000 in compensation for his West Indies plantations after abolition.

Mr Mackenzie accepted there would be some backlash over the decision to tackle racism by rebranding venues, and said his firm remained conscious of the history and heritage of pub names.

The pubs being rebranded are to have their new names chosen by the communities they serve via online polls, with locals selecting from a list of pre-set suggestions for each of the four venues.

Greene King said the renaming idea had come as a result of thorough research into the pubs histories. It is part of the companys plans for increased inclusion, which last year led bosses to pledge all 38,000 employees would be educated on the slave trade.

While no distinct origin was found by Greene King for the Black Boy name, a hotel in Norfolk with the same name has said its own research suggested a possible link to slavery.

Firstly, the most favourable suggestion was that it was named after King Charles II who was nicknamed The Black Boy because he had black hair and a swarthy complexion, the hotels website says.

But it adds: Secondly, it may have a connection with the black boy slaves who were used as servants in local wealthy households in the 17th century.

Meanwhile, the proprietor of The Black Boy in Bury St Edmunds said he was happy to see the venue rebranded.

Now is the right time to make this change and I look forward to the new name continuing to reflect the heritage and history of this pub which has been a part of Bury St Edmunds for hundreds of years, Mark Eames said.


BERLIN (AP)  Germany, France and Britain pressed Iran on Saturday to back off the latest planned violation of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, saying that Tehran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday Iran had informed it that it had begun installing equipment for the production of uranium metal. It said Tehran maintains its plans to conduct research and development on uranium metal production are part of its declared aim to design an improved type of fuel.

Uranium metal can also be used for a nuclear bomb, however, and research on its production is specifically prohibited under the nuclear deal  the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action  that Tehran signed with Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and the United States in 2015.

Since the unilateral American withdrawal from the deal in 2018, the other members have been working to preserve the accord. Iran has been using violations of the deal to put pressure on the other signatories to provide more incentives to Iran to offset crippling American sanctions re-imposed after the U.S. pullout.

A joint statement from the German, French and British foreign ministries said they are deeply concerned by the latest Iranian announcement.

Iran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal, it said. The production of uranium metal has potentially grave military implications.

We strongly urge Iran to halt this activity, and return to compliance with its JCPoA commitments without further delay if it is serious about preserving the deal, the statement added.

The ultimate goal of the deal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, something Iran insists it does not want to do.

President-elect Joe Biden, who was vice president when the deal was signed during the Obama administration, has said he hopes to return the U.S. to the deal.
On the occasion of the 176th anniversary of the first arrival of Indian immigrant labourers to these shores, I intend to comment briefly, through a couple of letters to the press, on the current status of Indo-Trinidadians after their presence here for over a century and a half. They may be regarded as ethnic-focused, divisive and contentious, or may be deemed irrelevant and inconsequential in these times.



Photo: The Canadian Press The signature of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., is on the article of impeachment against President Donald Trump, after an engrossment ceremony before transmission to the Senate for trial on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump's impeachment trial is likely to start after Joe Biden's inauguration, and the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, is telling senators their decision on whether to convict the outgoing president over the Capitol riot will be a vote of conscience.

The timing for the trial, the first of a president no longer in office, has not yet been set. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made it clear Friday that Democrats intend to move swiftly on President-elect Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion COVID aid and economic recovery package to speed up vaccinations and send Americans relief. Biden is set to take the oath of office Wednesday.

Pelosi called the recovery package a matter of complete urgency."

The uncertainty of the scheduling, despite the Houses swift impeachment of Trump just a week after the deadly Jan. 6 siege, reflects the fact that Democrats do not want the Senate trial proceedings to dominate the opening days of the Biden administration.

With security on alert over the threat of more potential violence heading into the inauguration, the Senate is also moving quickly to prepare for confirming Biden's nominee for National Intelligence Director, Avril Haines. A committee hearing is set for the day before the inauguration, signalling a confirmation vote to install her in the position could come swiftly once the new president is in office.

Many Democrats have pushed for an immediate impeachment trial to hold Trump accountable and prevent him from holding future office, and the proceedings could still begin by Inauguration Day. But others have urged a slower pace as the Senate considers Bidens Cabinet nominees and the newly Democratic-led Congress considers priorities like the coronavirus plan.

Biden has said the Senate should be able this time to split its work, starting the trial and working on legislation and confirmations.

Trump is the only president to be twice impeached, and the first to be prosecuted as he leaves the White House, an ever-more-extraordinary end to the defeated presidents tenure. He was first impeached by the House in 2019 over his dealings with Ukraine, but the Senate voted in 2020 to acquit.

When his second trial does begin, House impeachment managers say they will be making the case that Trumps incendiary rhetoric hours before the bloody attack on the Capitol was not isolated, but rather part of an escalating campaign to overturn the November election. It culminated, they will argue, in the Republican presidents rally cry to fight like hell as Congress was tallying the Electoral College votes to confirm hed lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

For Republican senators, the trial will be a perhaps final test of their loyalty to the defeated president, and his legions of supporters in their states back home, and their own experiences sheltering at the Capitol as a pro-Trump mob ransacked the building, disrupting the tally of Electoral College votes and attempting to overturn Biden's election. It will force a further re-evaluation of their relationship with the defeated president, who lost not only the White House but majority control of the Senate.

These men werent drunks who got rowdy  they were terrorists attacking this countrys constitutionally-mandated transfer of power, said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., in a statement Friday.

They failed, but they came dangerously close to starting a bloody constitutional crisis. They must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

McConnell, who has spent the past days talking to senators and donors, is telling them the decision on whether or not to convict Trump is theirs alone  meaning the leadership team will not work to hold senators in line one way or the other.

Last week's assault angered lawmakers, stunned the nation and flashed unsettling imagery around the globe, the most serious breach of the Capitol since the War of 1812, and the worst by home-grown intruders.

Pelosi told reporters on Friday that the nine House impeachment managers, who act as the prosecutors for the House, are working on taking the case to trial.

All lawyers and some of Pelosi's closest allies, the managers have argued that while it is important to turn a new page with the Biden presidency, it is also crucial to reckon with the Jan. 6 violence in the Capitol.

The only path to any reunification of this broken and divided country is by shining a light on the truth, said Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., who will serve as an impeachment manager.

Thats what the trial in the Senate will be about," she told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Trump was impeached Wednesday by the House on the single charge, incitement of insurrection, in lightning-quick proceedings just a week after after the siege. Ten Republicans joined all Democrats in the 232-197 vote to impeach, the most bipartisan modern presidential impeachment.

McConnell is open to considering impeachment, having told associates he is done with Trump, but he has not signalled how he would vote. McConnell continues to hold great sway in his party, even though convening the trial next week could be among his last acts as majority leader as Democrats prepare to take control of the Senate with the seating of two new Democratic senators from Georgia.

No president has ever been convicted in the Senate, and it would take a two-thirds vote against Trump, an extremely high hurdle. But conviction of Trump is not out of the realm of possibility, especially as corporations and wealthy political donors distance themselves from his brand of politics and the Republicans who stood by his attempt to overturn the election.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Thursday, Such unlawful actions cannot go without consequence. She said in a statement that the House responded appropriately with impeachment and she will consider the trial arguments.

At least four Republican senators have publicly expressed concerns about Trumps actions, but others have signalled their preference to move on. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., issued a statement saying he opposes impeachment against a president who has left office. Trump ally Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is building support for launching a commission to investigate the siege as an alternative to conviction.

The riot delayed the tally of Electoral College votes that was the last step in finalizing Bidens victory as lawmakers fled for shelter and police, guns drawn, barricaded the doors to the House chamber.

A Capitol Police officer died from injuries suffered in the attack, and police shot and killed a woman. Three other people died in what authorities said were medical emergencies.
Anthime Joseph Gionet, a far-right media personality nicknamed Baked Alaska who is known for livestreaming himself participating in illegal activity, was arrested by the F.B.I. on Friday and accused of illegally storming the Capitol during the attack on the building by President Trumps supporters last week.

Mr. Gionet, who has been banned from Twitter and YouTube for his content, livestreamed himself in the mob on DLive, a streaming service becoming more popular after a mass exodus of right-wing figures from more mainstream platforms. He posted a video that showed supporters of Mr. Trump taking selfies with officers in the Capitol who calmly asked them to leave the premises. The video showed the Trump supporters talking among themselves, laughing, and telling the officers and each other: This is only the beginning.

Mr. Gionet was arrested in Houston on Friday, according to the Justice Departments website, and charged with two federal crimes. In a court filing, Nicole Miller, an F.B.I. agent, said Mr. Gionet had recorded a 27-minute video in which he appeared to chant, Patriots are in control, and said, We are in the Capitol building, 1776 will commence again.

The authorities on Saturday also arrested Lisa Marie Eisenhart, the mother of Eric Gavelek Munchel, the man pictured holding zip ties in the Capitol during the riot. Jack Jesse Griffith, another person arrested Saturday, was identified through an Instagram video posted by someone else at the riot, according to documents. Both were arrested in Tennessee.
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GPs are being forced to throw away leftover vaccines rather than give patients second doses or use them on staff, medics have revealed.

The revelation comes as hospitals are told to clear as many beds as possible ahead of a potential mass influx of Covid patients, with some health chiefs frustrated that London's 64-bed Nightingale Hospital at the ExCel centre had just six patients yesterday.

Local NHS leaders are said to have issued the vaccine disposal instructions to doctors organising clinics, despite Professor Chris Whitty saying yesterday the UK's roll-out of vaccinations was being held back by delayed deliveries of the Pfizer jab.

This is despite Britain leading the way on the continent with 3.5 million people - one in 20 - already vaccinated, while there are also plans to roll out jabs to those in their 70s - further down the priority list than those aged over 80, care home residents and frontline health and social care workers - as early as next week.

Officials insist the programme could go even faster if there were enough supplies to keep it running at pace.

Some surgeries are taking a stand against the orders, described as 'bordering on criminal', but others fear their supplies will be cancelled if they don't comply.

Supply chain uncertainty - particularly around the Pfizer jab which needs to be kept at -70C - means GPs are struggling to book the exact number of appointments for clinics and in some cases patients haven't turned up having been given little time to prepare.

The NHS said there was 'no reason' why stocks should be wasted, insisting vaccination sites should make sure a back-up list of patients and staff who can get the jab at short-notice if there are such absences is drawn up.

Dr Robert Morley, the director of professional support at the Birmingham Local Medical Committee said the instructions were being reported by doctors across the country.

He told the Telegraph: 'This is ridiculous, bordering on the criminal, to actually be wasting vaccines when you have the worst global healthcare crisis for a century.

'The logical thing to do would be to use [the leftovers] as a second dose for healthcare workers, for example, who may be there in the building.'

The British Medical Association described the reports as 'extremely concerning, absolutely unacceptable and morally wrong', warning any wasted dose denies someone the chance to be protected from the virus, and, perhaps ultimately, death.

The crisis in hospitals has also escalated, with bosses told to prepare extra wards and critical care beds over the coming weeks.

While infection numbers are finally beginning to drop, the number of hospitalisations could rise in the next fortnight due to how long it can take people to become seriously ill.

In other coronavirus news:

Both Brazilian Covid variants are 'likely' already in the UK, expert warns, as aviation bosses warn industry 'urgently' needs help to survive;

PM suspends ALL travel corridors from 4am Monday and everyone needs negative Covid test for entry;

Even Whitty and Vallance sound half-way cheery as Boris says mass compliance with third lockdown has brought COVID outbreak under control;

Chancellor WON'T bring in a one-off levy to cover the 280billion spent fighting coronavirus;

More than 300,000 Covid jabs are delivered in one day as Government announces nearly one in 20 Britons have now had a vaccine

A health worker prepared the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine at Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire today before administering doses to patients

Cubicles erected inside Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, for people to receive an injection of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine

Former RAF Flight Sergeant Louis Godwin receives an injection of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine at Salisbury Cathedral today

Dr Robert Morley, the director of professional support at the Birmingham Local Medical Committee told the Telegraph: 'This is ridiculous, bordering on the criminal, to actually be wasting vaccines when you have the worst global healthcare crisis for a century'

Scotland brings in further coronavirus measures in response to 'extremely serious' situation Toughened lockdown restrictions have come into force in Scotland due to a rapidly spreading strain of Covid-19. In response to what the First Minister called an 'extremely serious' situation, further measures have been brought in to stop the spread of coronavirus and limit non-essential contact. People who live in a Level 4 area - currently all of mainland Scotland - should not leave or remain outside their home, except for essential purposes. Working from home has become a default position for all businesses through statutory guidance and services, and only those who cannot do their job from home should go into a workplace. Guidance previously issued to only allow essential work to be undertaken inside people's homes has also been placed into law. Ms Sturgeon confirmed coronavirus regulations will change to forbid people from leaving home for anything other than an essential purpose and that police can challenge people for doing something considered not to be essential after they have left the house. Entering businesses to purchase takeaway food and drinks has also been stopped. Now, premises will need to operate using a hatch or counter at the door. Drinking alcohol in public outdoors has also been banned. Non-essential click-and-collect services are now prohibited. Essential services - including clothing and footwear stores, homeware stores, garden centres/plant nurseries, baby equipment shops, electrical goods (including repairs), key cutting and shoe repair shops, and bookstores - can continue to offer click-and-collect services, but must operate with timeslots. In a statement to Parliament, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Wednesday: 'The situation we face in relation to the virus remains extremely serious. 'We must continue to do everything possible to reduce case numbers - this is essential to relieve the pressure on our NHS and to save lives. 'Both individually and collectively, these additional measures - in further reducing the interactions that allow the virus to spread - will help our essential efforts to suppress it. 'At this critical and dangerous moment, please: Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.' Commenting on the click-and-collect ban for many shops, Scottish Retail Consortium director David Lonsdale said: 'Industry has spent months pleading for greater visibility over potential next steps with Covid restrictions and a more consistent approach. 'The only constant in recent weeks, however, is a continual chopping and changing of the Covid Strategic Framework, with every twist and turn to Government rules adding fresh complexity and confusion. 'Food takeaway firms and retailers operating click-and-collect are striving to implement and operationalise these latest Byzantine new restrictions to a ludicrously short timetable, more so given ministers have only just published the regulations and guidance.' Advertisement

A total of 3,514,385 Covid-19 vaccinations had taken place in England between December 8 and January 15, according to provisional NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 324,711 on Friday's figures.

Of this number, 3,090,058 were the first dose of the vaccine, a rise of 320,894 on Friday's figures, while 424,327 were the second dose, an increase of 3,817.

But yesterday it emerged that vaccine manufacturer Pfizer is shrinking and delaying its deliveries to Europe while it expands its factory in Belgium.

The company makes one of just two vaccines that are being given to the public in the UK and confirmed that Britain would be affected in late January and February.

Concerns about vaccine deliveries in the UK swelled this week as the Government repeatedly refused to reveal how many are available and how many more are coming next week.

Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, said that the amount of vaccines available was the 'limiting' factor of how fast the country's roll-out could go.

It comes as the opening of the West Midlands' second mass vaccination centre at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley is 'imminent'.

Prof David Loughton, chief executive of Wolverhampton's hospital trust, said: 'As far as the Black Country Museum is concerned, it's opening is fairly imminent, I believe it's about (January) the 25th.

'Most importantly, we are in the final stages of identifying a number of other sites and that will be rolled out as quickly as possible.

'We're also confident in terms of hitting the (vaccination) targets that we need to hit by the middle of February.'

Dr Peter Ingham, a Sutton Coldfield GP and specialist primary care advisor overseeing Birmingham's Millennium Point mass vaccination centre, added: 'We are looking at other sites, I cannot confirm the details of those currently, but we're looking at another three sites for large vaccination centres to open, imminently.'

Meanwhile, toughened lockdown restrictions have come into force in Scotland due to a rapidly spreading strain of Covid-19.

In response to what the First Minister called an 'extremely serious' situation, further measures have been brought in to stop the spread of coronavirus and limit non-essential contact.

People who live in a Level 4 area - currently all of mainland Scotland - should not leave or remain outside their home, except for essential purposes.

Working from home has become a default position for all businesses through statutory guidance and services, and only those who cannot do their job from home should go into a workplace.

Guidance previously issued to only allow essential work to be undertaken inside people's homes has also been placed into law.

Ms Sturgeon confirmed coronavirus regulations will change to forbid people from leaving home for anything other than an essential purpose and that police can challenge people for doing something considered not to be essential after they have left the house.

Entering businesses to purchase takeaway food and drinks has also been stopped. Now, premises will need to operate using a hatch or counter at the door. Drinking alcohol in public outdoors has also been banned.

Non-essential click-and-collect services are now prohibited.

Essential services - including clothing and footwear stores, homeware stores, garden centres/plant nurseries, baby equipment shops, electrical goods (including repairs), key cutting and shoe repair shops, and bookstores - can continue to offer click-and-collect services, but must operate with timeslots.

In a statement to Parliament, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Wednesday: 'The situation we face in relation to the virus remains extremely serious.

'We must continue to do everything possible to reduce case numbers - this is essential to relieve the pressure on our NHS and to save lives.

'Both individually and collectively, these additional measures - in further reducing the interactions that allow the virus to spread - will help our essential efforts to suppress it.

'At this critical and dangerous moment, please: Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.'

Commenting on the click-and-collect ban for many shops, Scottish Retail Consortium director David Lonsdale said: 'Industry has spent months pleading for greater visibility over potential next steps with Covid restrictions and a more consistent approach.

'The only constant in recent weeks, however, is a continual chopping and changing of the Covid Strategic Framework, with every twist and turn to Government rules adding fresh complexity and confusion.

'Food takeaway firms and retailers operating click-and-collect are striving to implement and operationalise these latest Byzantine new restrictions to a ludicrously short timetable, more so given ministers have only just published the regulations and guidance.'

Meanwhile, both Brazilian Covid variants are 'likely' already in the UK, a Sage expert has warned after Boris Johnson declared that all arrivals to the UK will have to have tested negative for coronavirus from Monday.

Two variants of interest have been identified in South America; the first has a small number of mutations and eight genomically confirmed cases of this variant have been identified in the UK.

The second, which has been detected in Manaus and in travellers arriving in Japan, has not been detected in the UK but was described yesterday by government adviser Prof Wendy Barclay as the 'variant of concern'.

However, Professor John Edmunds, who works on the Government's Covid response, said this morning he would be surprised if both strains weren't already in the UK.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'In terms of the South African one, we had imported cases already by the time we put in additional restrictions for South African travellers.

'For the Brazilian one... I don't think there is evidence that we've imported cases of the Manaus strain, as far as I'm aware at least, but it is likely that we probably have quite honestly.

'We are one of the most connected countries in the world so I would find it unusual if we hadn't imported some cases into the UK.'

GPs are being forced to throw away leftover vaccines rather than give patients second doses or use them on staff, medics have revealed

BOTH Brazilian Covid variants are 'likely' already in the UK, expert warns, as aviation bosses warn industry 'urgently' needs help to survive Both Brazilian Covid variants are 'likely' already in the UK, a Sage expert has warned after Boris Johnson declared that all arrivals to the UK will have to have tested negative for coronavirus from Monday. Two variants of interest have been identified in South America; the first has a small number of mutations and eight genomically confirmed cases of this variant have been identified in the UK. The second, which has been detected in Manaus and in travellers arriving in Japan, has not been detected in the UK but was described yesterday by government adviser Prof Wendy Barclay as the 'variant of concern'. However, Professor John Edmunds, who works on the Government's Covid response, said this morning he would be surprised if both strains weren't already in the UK. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'In terms of the South African one, we had imported cases already by the time we put in additional restrictions for South African travellers. 'For the Brazilian one... I don't think there is evidence that we've imported cases of the Manaus strain, as far as I'm aware at least, but it is likely that we probably have quite honestly. 'We are one of the most connected countries in the world so I would find it unusual if we hadn't imported some cases into the UK.' Meanwhile, Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, warned there will be many more variants this year, but the current vaccines should protect against the strains circulating in the UK. 'As we look forward through 2021, we're going to see lots of new variants and we're going to have to get used to that,' he said. 'But the critical question is whether some of these new variants are adapting because of immunity amongst human populations - whether that is because of infection... or indeed as a result of vaccination.' But he said that new variants were being detected early, and stressed: 'If indeed we do need to make new vaccines we will be able to stand those up really quickly.' Aviation minister Robert Courts told the same programme the decision to suspend all travel corridors was part of efforts to prevent the spread of exactly this. He said allowing people to travel without having to self-isolate was 'fine back when we were assessing the public health risk from the [original] virus.' However, he added: 'We've reached the position now where the Joint Biosecurity Centre can't give live scientific updates to predict which countries or regions may originate new variants.' It comes as aviation bosses warn the industry 'urgently' needs help to survive after the Prime Minister said yesterday that from 4am on Monday all travel corridors will be suspended and anyone coming to the UK must have proof of a negative test in the previous 72 hours. Even then people will still have to isolate for 10 days - or five if they have another negative result during that period. Advertisement

Meanwhile, Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, warned there will be many more variants this year, but the current vaccines should protect against the strains circulating in the UK.

'As we look forward through 2021, we're going to see lots of new variants and we're going to have to get used to that,' he said.

'But the critical question is whether some of these new variants are adapting because of immunity amongst human populations - whether that is because of infection... or indeed as a result of vaccination.'

But he said that new variants were being detected early, and stressed: 'If indeed we do need to make new vaccines we will be able to stand those up really quickly.'

Aviation minister Robert Courts told the same programme the decision to suspend all travel corridors was part of efforts to prevent the spread of exactly this.

He said allowing people to travel without having to self-isolate was 'fine back when we were assessing the public health risk from the [original] virus.'

However, he added: 'We've reached the position now where the Joint Biosecurity Centre can't give live scientific updates to predict which countries or regions may originate new variants.'

It comes as aviation bosses warn the industry 'urgently' needs help to survive after the Prime Minister said yesterday that from 4am on Monday all travel corridors will be suspended and anyone coming to the UK must have proof of a negative test in the previous 72 hours.

Even then people will still have to isolate for 10 days - or five if they have another negative result during that period.

The new regime will be backed by tougher spot checks and will stay in place until at least February 15 as ministers and scientists work out how to manage the threat posed by mutations of the virus.

Travellers from South America, Portugal, some of central America and South Africa are already barred from coming to the country.

However, Abta, a trade association of travel agents and tour operators, said the government should provide support 'as a matter of urgency' for the jobs and businesses at risk, while the British Airline Pilots' Association warned the industry would 'not be there to support the post Covid-19 recovery' without 'a clear plan of action and a proper package of support'.

There were also fears from some travel bosses that rarely-used airports might have to be mothballed or given aid to save costs.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of trade body Airlines UK, told Today: 'What we're saying to the government is clearly this is a national health emergency and ministers need to act to keep the public protected, that's absolutely right, but what we need is a road map out of this, so when the time is right we can remove these restrictions when it's safe to do so and start to look ahead to the spring and summer.

'Easter is the date we've got in mind as to when we can have an aviation sector again because if we don't start to bring in revenue to the sector, we're going to be in a very difficult place indeed.

'We've now had pretty much 12 months without any revenue coming in which is just not sustainable and airlines are effectively staying in business by taking on billions of pounds of debt which will need to be paid back.

'The government did give a period of grace before the introduction for pre-departure testing which was supposed to come into effect yesterday but has been pushed back to 4am on Monday to allow a few days to get these flights back home.

'But in terms of the volume of flights airlines are operating we're talking about less than 10% based on where we would normally be and in terms of long haul flying for places like South America where there are flights a huge number of those are freight only.

'Cargo has been the saving grace for the sector over the last 10 months so a number of airlines have increased the number of cargo flights to bring in some much-needed revenue to the sector.'

Mr Courts said the steps had been taken to prevent the variants from arriving and spreading in the UK and that there were now a 'robust' set of measures lined up.

Elsewhere, a World Health Organisation spokeswoman said today that public health measures such as social distancing are working to stop the transmission of new strains of coronavirus, but 'we have to do them better'.

Dr Margaret Harris told the BBC: 'The thing we're seeing with quite a few of the different strains that have been identified in different countries is they're not proving more dangerous in terms of making you sicker, but they are more efficient at transmitting.

'The public health measures that we know work: the distancing, not gathering in large numbers, understanding who has the virus and who has not, keeping the two apart, all those measures do work.

'They work over and over again in a number of countries, so we have to do them better.

'Some of the actions at the borders, like testing people, quarantining people, understanding where they're coming from, are all part of ensuring who has the virus, who has not and keeping them apart.'

Professor Chris Whitty today said supplies are 'limiting' UK's jab roll-out

Her comments come as Professor Edmunds warned removing coronavirus restrictions at the end of next month would be a 'disaster' and put 'enormous pressure' on the NHS.

He said: 'I think it would be a disaster if we removed restrictions in, say, the end of February when we have gone through this first wave of the vaccination.

'First of all vaccines aren't ever 100% protective, and so even those that have been vaccinated would be still at some risk.

'Secondly, it is only a small fraction of the population who would have been vaccinated and if you look at the hospitalisations at the moment, about half of them are in the under 70s, and they are not in the first wave to be vaccinated.

'If we relaxed our restrictions we would immediately put the NHS under enormous pressure again.'

Britain is already leading the continent with 3.3million people vaccinated - one in 20 - and a million immunised in just five days, but officials insist the programme could go even faster if there were enough supplies to keep it running.

Countries in the EU have criticised Pfizer for shrinking its deliveries as it emerged Norway would get a batch 18 per cent smaller than expected next week.

The UK is already stretching Pfizer's jabs - which have to be kept in specialist freezers at below 70C - as far as they will go, stretching the gap between doses from three to 12 or more weeks and using thinner needles to reduce wastage and squeeze more doses out of the vials.

Pfizer is based in the US and developed the vaccine with German firm BioNTech. They manufacture Europe's supplies at a facility in Belgium.

The German health ministry revealed yesterday that its supplies were being delayed.

The ministry said: 'At short notice, the EU Commission and, via it, the EU member states, were informed that Pfizer will not be able to fully meet the already promised delivery volume for the next three to four weeks due to modifications at the plant.'

Pfizer expects to have finished the work on its Belgian factory by mid-February, reported news website ENCA.

Germany, Norway, Spain, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden were among the countries expecting deliveries.

In a letter to the European Commission, leaders from some of those countries described the delay as 'unacceptable', the Financial Times reported.

'Not only does it impact the planned vaccination schedules,' they wrote. 'It also decreases the credibility of the vaccination process'.

Britain has now officially left the EU so it is not involved in the European Commission complaint, but the company told the FT Britain's supply would also be affected.

They said: 'Although this will temporarily impact shipments in late January to early February, it will provide a significant increase in doses available for patients in late February and March.'

A Pfizer Denmark spokesperson told the Associated Press: 'This temporary reduction will affect all European countries'.

Boris Johnson and his vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi this week repeatedly refused to be drawn on putting numbers on Britain's deliveries, claiming it was a matter of national security because 'the whole world is looking to acquire vaccines at the moment'

The UK has ordered 40million doses of Pfizer's vaccine, alongside 100million of one made by Oxford University and AstraZeneca - those are the only two approved.

Although Britain's vaccination programme is hurtling forward and now immunising more than 250,000 people per day, pressure is growing on the Government to hurry it up even more.

The NHS looks on target to hit the 13.9million most vulnerable people by mid-February, but lockdown rules will likely have to remain until significantly more people - potentially everyone over the age of 50, around half the population - has been reached.

Officials say the 'rate-limiting factor' of the vaccine roll-out is not how quickly the NHS can use up the supplies but how quickly they're coming in.

Professor Chris Whitty said in a Downing Street press conference yesterday: 'The thing which is limiting us at the moment is not the capacity of the NHS to deliver, it is the vaccines delivered.

'That is true across Europe, that is true across the world, and it's something which all of us need to do is to make sure we use the vaccines we've got as efficiently as possible.'

MEDICS USING NARROWER NEEDLES TO SQUEEZE MORE VACCINE DOSES OUT OF VIALS An extra dose of the coronavirus vaccine can be extracted when narrow needles are used, Dr Mary Ramsay said. Above is a low dead space needle (left) and a high dead space needle (right). It isn't clear whether these are the needles being used by the NHS Medics giving out coronavirus vaccines are using smaller needles to squeeze more doses out of the vials, experts say. Using needles that are narrower and have less space between the end of the syringe plunger and the start of the needle  known as dead space  can reduce wastage of the vaccine. The needles contain up to a fifth less dead space and can save so much vaccine fluid over the course of a vial that an extra dose can be drawn out of it. Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisations at Public Health England (PHE), revealed in a meeting of Parliament's Science and Technology Committee that it was being done. She said an extra dose could be removed from both the Pfizer/BioNTech vials, which come in five doses, and the Oxford/AstraZeneca ones, which come in eights or 10s. It could give a significant boost to the UK's supplies, meaning more Britons could be vaccinated with each delivery. In a batch of five-dose vials intended for 1,000 people, for example, getting an extra dose out of each one could stretch to immunise 200 more people. Bosses at AstraZeneca, appearing in the same committee, said they didn't take issue with the practice but that vaccinators must always use a full dose and must never make one up using scraps from different vials. It is not clear how many centres are already using the narrower needles. Although Dr Ramsay said they have been used since the start of the roll out. It comes after it was revealed a sixth or seventh dose could be extracted from vials of the Pfizer vaccine, because of extra fluid put in by manufacturers. They said this had been put in to protect against spillages and fluid getting stuck in the syringe, but if these are reduced more doses can be removed. Advertisement

Rishi Sunak rejects wealth tax: Chancellor WON'T bring in a one-off levy to cover the 280billion spent fighting coronavirus

Rishi Sunak has rejected a proposal for an emergency wealth tax to recover the staggering 280billion the Government has spent so far on the coronavirus pandemic.

The Chancellor was presented with plans for a one-off levy on those with assets of more than 500,000, or 1million for a couple, including their family home and pension.

But Mr Sunak has told allies that he has ruled out the suggestion because he believes it would be 'un-Conservative' and go against the party's aspirational values. However, he is still considering proposals to raise tens of billions from the better-off by sharply hiking capital gains tax.

The Wealth Tax Commission last month proposed a 5 per cent levy on housing, pension, business, equity and savings wealth that it forecast would raise 260billion.

The tax would apply to every UK resident with assets of 500,000 or more and would include homes excluding mortgage debt.

About one in six adults  8.2million people  would be liable, but the tax would largely fall on older generations who have paid off more of their mortgages and built up larger pension pots.

Almost 40 per would be aged over 65, while just 6 per cent would be between 35 and 44 years old. The Commission recommended households pay the levy at a rate of 1 per cent a year for five years.

It estimated up to 10 per cent of those affected would be 'asset-rich, cash poor' and not have the ready money to pay for it. For those people, it suggested smaller payments for a longer period.

Lord O'Donnell, a former head of the Civil Service, said in the report's introduction: 'It is broadly accepted that if the Prime Minister is to stand by his promise not to return to austerity then taxes will eventually have to rise.

'This will mean breaking another manifesto commitment. Or it means thinking seriously about new taxes.'

It comes as Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance sounded a tone of optimism amid signs the UK's Covid resurgence is finally coming under control and as one in 20 people in Britain have been vaccinated.

Speaking in a Downing Street briefing, chief medical officer Professor Whitty said coronavirus infections were 'levelling off' thanks to the 'enormous efforts' of Britons following lockdown rules since they began this month.

He said hospital admissions and death counts would continue to rise into next week at least, because of how long it takes people to fall seriously ill or die, but that data suggests even the new super-infectious variant is coming under control.

A total of 3,234,946 people across the UK have now had the first dose of a Covid vaccine and the number of positive tests announced - 55,761 - was 18 per cent lower than last Friday. Daily deaths were also down slightly on last week, at 1,280.

Speaking about lockdown working even on the fast-spreading variant that emerged in Kent and now accounts for a majority of all cases in the UK, Professor Whitty said: 'We were not sure this was going to be possible with this new variant, but this demonstrates with the actions everyone has taken we are now slowing this right down and we are hoping that in due course it will start to drop.'

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has rejected a proposal for an emergency wealth tax to recover the 280billion the Government has spent so far on the coronavirus pandemic

SAGE published its weekly estimates of the R rate (illustrated in black) and the daily growth rate (illustrated in red) across the country and said the rate of spread appears to be coming down in regions that have been in lockdown since they were put in Tier 4 in December - London, the East and the South East. An R number between 1.2 and 1.3 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 12 and 13 other people. A growth rate of between +2% and +5% means that the number of new infections is growing by between 2% and 5% every day

'Covid hole in economy is much smaller than feared' The economy fared much better than expected during the November lockdown, triggering predictions that a 'vigorous rebound' is on the cards. Output, or gross domestic product, contracted by 2.6 per cent in November, the Office for National Statistics said. This would still be a large fall during normal times, but is much smaller than the predictions of 5 per cent. And while it was the first time the economy had shrunk since April in the depths of the first lockdown, November's decline was a fraction of the 18.8 per cent slump recorded that month. At the end of November, the economy was 8.5 per cent smaller than its pre-virus size. Ruth Gregory, an economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said the 'Covid-19 economic hole' is now 'far smaller' than anticipated. She said GDP could return to its pre-virus as soon as the first quarter of 2022, and that even late this year is 'plausible'. Dean Turner, an economist at the wealth management arm of banking giant UBS, said that businesses were now more resilient to lockdowns, adding: 'We remain confident that pent-up demand will drive a vigorous rebound as restrictions are eased, most likely from the second quarter onwards.' Advertisement

Lord O'Donnell argued that governments have made 'radical changes to taxes when there has been public understanding that change is needed'.

Public sector debt is now 2trillion-plus, more than the value of the whole economy, and from April to November the Government borrowed 284.7billion to cover the gap between spending and revenue.

This is three times the previous high since comparable records began in 1984.

Other ideas thought to be under consideration by Mr Sunak, who will present the next Budget in March, include raising capital gains tax (CGT).

CGT is charged on the profits made from selling investments not held in a tax-free account such as an ISA.

Entrepreneurs often pay it when they sell a stake in their business to expand it, or pass it on to new owners.

It is charged on profits of more than 12,300 at ten per cent or 20 per cent depending on the seller's overall income.

The Office for Tax Simplification has suggested cutting the tax-free sum and aligning CGT rates with income tax bands of 20, 40 and 45 per cent.

The Institute for Public Policy Research think-tank estimates that this could raise an extra 90billion over five years.

But entrepreneurs have argued that the UK could lose much more in the long term as businessmen take their ideas overseas.

There have also been calls for the stamp duty holiday to be extended beyond its deadline of March 31.

But a Treasury source said: 'The Chancellor announced this as a time-limited stimulus. There is no point in doing something time-limited if you extend it.'

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson praised the public's efforts at following lockdown rules and appealed for people not to weaken, saying they must 'think twice' before leaving the house. 'This is not the time for the slightest relaxation of our national resolve and our individual efforts,' he said. 'So please stay at home, please protect the NHS and save lives.'

Professor Whitty said that the NHS is still under 'extraordinary' pressure but he believed the peak of infections had already happened in much of the country and hospitalisations could top out in the next week to 10 days in most places.

'The peak of deaths, I fear, is in the future,' he said. 'The peak of hospitalisations in some parts of the country may be around about now and beginning to come off the very, very top.'

'Because people are sticking so well to the guidelines we do think the peaks are coming over the next week to 10 days for most places in terms of new people into hospital.'

Sir Patrick also sounded a positive note about the direction of travel, but added that the measures in place were the only thing holding the disease back: 'Take the lid off now this is going to boil over for sure.'

The big policy announcement for the PM's appearance was that, from Monday, all arrivals to the UK from abroad will have to test negative and isolate for 10 days when they get here, regardless of where they come from.

Amid fears over new mutant strains coming into the country, triggered by the discovery of a worrying variant from Brazil in travellers in Japan, he said that from 4am Monday all travel corridors will be suspended and anyone coming to the UK must have proof of a negative test in the previous 72 hours.

Even then people must still isolate for 10 days - or five if they have another negative result during that period.

The new regime will be backed by tougher spot checks and stay in place until at least February 15 as ministers and scientists work out how to manage the threat posed by mutations. It was revealed that 11 people in Britain have been diagnosed with one of the variants that have sprung up in Brazil, although it is thought to be the milder of the two and it's not clear how much of a threat it poses.

The Prime Minister is facing demands to take advantage of the space created by the tough restrictions to push ahead on vaccinations as figures showed the number of jabs being administered rocketing to 320,000 a day. Almost 3.7million doses have been given out.

Giving cautious reasons to be hopeful, Professor Whitty said it appeared that infections were 'levelling off' in some parts of the country, particularly those that were in Tier 4 lockdowns before Christmas - namely London, the South East and the East of England.

But he said the number of people testing positive for the disease is 'still extremely high'.

He said it is 'very likely' that the situation will improve by the spring but cautioned that life would not go back to how it was before the pandemic.

'What no-one thinks is that suddenly in spring it is all over and that is the whole thing done. What we expect is things to be substantially better than they are at the moment,' Professor Whitty said.

'The hope is that is a kind of reasonable timeframe to be thinking about. But if we try to put a hard stop on this we will be caught out by events.

'But I think that broad time-frame still feels to me a reasonable one, provided what we are not expecting is completely back to two springs ago.'

Hopes the peak of the second wave has finally passed have grown after a raft of official data and scientific estimates offered the strongest evidence yet that restrictions are tackling the mutant strain.

SAGE said that the R number is between 1.2 and 1.3 - down from 1.4 last week - and the growth rate was between 2 per cent and 5 per cent a day. However, the group stressed that the data represent the average situation over the past few weeks, rather than the present state of play, with daily cases steadily falling.

Cambridge University researchers have said they believe R is below 1 in the East of England, London, the South East, West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber.

Public Health England revealed yesterday that weekly Covid cases fell in every age group except the over-80s, while Department of Health figures showed dozens of boroughs saw a drop in infection rates.

Mr Johnson has shelved the idea of toughening lockdown for now, after days of swirling rumours that non-essential click and collect and exercising with a friend could be banned in England.

But despite the optimism over the vaccine rollout there are still huge challenges, with new figures showing the economy is on track for a double-dip recession. GDP was down 2.6 per cent during the looser national lockdown in November.

Above is the case rates by age groups in the UK. The highest levels are in the 20-29 and 30-39 age groups, data from the ZOE Covid-19 study shows

Boris Johnson speaks with the CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourle and his team by video link in Downing Street yesterday

The latest PHE surveillance update shows an improvement in the outbreak in the week up to January 10

Tory MPs in London and mayor Sadiq Khan are also angry that the capital seems to be lagging behind in the vaccine drive.

It also emerged that a Brazilian coronavirus variant that experts fear could make vaccines less effective may have first emerged in Britain in November. Labour accused No10 of 'putting lives at risk' by being too slow to close the borders.

The NHS is expected to remain under huge strain for months to come, as the trend in hospital admissions and deaths lags weeks behind cases.

And Mr Johnson is still facing calls from experts to tighten the controls.

Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth said last night that he believes the mid-February target for vaccinations will be met and should be raised.

'Everyone I've spoken to who understands what's happening with vaccination seems to think they will meet this target,' he told BBC Question Time.

'So I think they will meet that target, but they need to go further and faster. Because if we were able to vaccinate just under 30 million people, we would reduce hospitalisations and deaths by 99 per cent, and we should be targeting that now.'

Modelling by Cambridge scientists  whose warnings of 4,000 deaths a day spooked No10 into imposing England's second lockdown  bolstered claims that the original restrictions were working.

The team said cases began to drop on December 21 and that the ban on Christmas mixing in the worst-hit areas worked to cut the spread.

The experts - who believe deaths will peak 'over the coming days' - also put the UK's R-number at now less than one, despite the latest official Government estimate issued last week claiming it was between one and 1.4.

The powerful Covid O Cabinet committee met yesterday to consider the state of play, including signing off a travel ban from South America due to fears over an emerging super-strain in Brazil. However, it did not ramp up the lockdown in England.

Ministers are instead focusing on improving compliance, with an ad campaign delivering alarming messages such as: 'Don't let a coffee cost lives.'

Professor Andrew Hayward, director of the University College London (UCL) Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said last week's data on cases 'probably relates to the lockdown measures'.

But he told Times Radio: 'My concern is that what we've really got going on here is we've more or less split the population in two  those who can afford to stay at home and work and those who can't.

'I suspect what we're really seeing is a very fast decline in those who are staying at home, and either a levelling off or potentially even a continuing increase in those who are continuing to work.'

He said the national picture was also being impacted by the two different strains of the virus.

He added that 'what concerns me' is there is more activity than in the first lockdown, with three times as many people now using the London Underground and twice as many people using cars and buses.

Sunak warns of 'harder' times to come with UK on track for double-dip recession despite GDP only falling 2.6 per cent during coronavirus lockdown in November Rishi Sunak warned things will 'get harder before they get better' as figures showed the UK is on track for another recession, with GDP tumbling by 2.6 per cent amid the second Covid lockdown in November. Restrictions in force in all four UK nations sparked another slump in activity after six months of improvement following the emergence of the disease. The impact was far more limited than many analysts feared as firms managed to find ways of working around the curbs. But it means the economy was still 8.5 per cent smaller in November than in February. Business groups warned that any December rally will have been smothered by the harsh 'tier' controls in England, and a double-dip recession now looks 'inevitable' with the new even tougher draconian to tackle mutant Covid. Mr Sunak said it was 'clear things will get harder before they get better and figures highlight the scale of the challenge we face'. However, he said the vaccine drive offered hope for recovery, and the Treasury was ready to support people hit by the crisis. Advertisement

Asked if further lockdown measures were necessary, he said: 'I do', adding it needed to be possible for 'those people who can't afford to work from home to work from home with the right financial packages to support that'.

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter of the Statistical Laboratory at Cambridge University has said coronavirus deaths are likely to peak in the next week to 10 days.

Sir David said the lockdown measures were having an impact, with the peak in infections having passed 'a good few days ago' which would lead to a reduction in the numbers dying from the disease.

'They are likely to level off in a week - 10 days maybe - at a peak which is probably going to be bigger than the first wave peak of 1,000-a-day, but then should decline due the reductions in cases that we are seeing and, of course, the vaccine programme,' he told BBC Radio 4's The World At One.

He warned, however, that hospital admissions would fall more slowly.

While the Government's plan to vaccinate all over-70s and the clinically extremely vulnerable by mid-February covered around 90 per cent of those dying from the disease, he said only 55 per cent of those being admitted to hospital and 25 per cent of those in intensive care were over 70.

'We are going to see the reduction in hospitalisations and in particular in intensive care is going to be a lot slower,' Sir David said.

In accordance Mr Johnson's new travel rules travellers from South America, Portugal, some of central America and South Africa are already barred from coming to the country.

Mr Johnson said: 'It's precisely because we have the hope of that vaccine and the risk of new strains coming from overseas that we must take additional steps now to stop those strains from entering the country.

Earlier, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps defended the timing of the South America border ban amid complaints ministers have been 'behind the curve' responding to the threat of new Covid variants.

The ban, also covers the Central American state of Panama and Portugal  due to its strong travel links with Brazil  and the former Portuguese colony of Cape Verde.

It applies to everyone who has been in the area over the past 10 days - although UK and Irish nationals are exempt - and came into force at 4am.

Scientists analysing the Brazilian variant believe the mutations it shares with the new South African strain are associated with a rapid increase in cases in locations where there have already been large outbreaks of the disease.

British and Irish nationals and others with residence rights are exempted from the measures that were backed by the Scottish and Welsh governments, though they must self-isolate for 10 days along with their households on their return.

Mr Shapps described the ban as a 'precautionary' measure to ensure the vaccination programme rolling out across the UK was not disrupted by new variants of the virus.

Asked if the Brazilian strain was currently in the country, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Not as far as we are aware, I think, at this stage.

'There haven't been any flights that I can see from the last week from Brazil, for example.'

Dr Mike Tildesley, an epidemiologist who advises the Government on its scientific pandemic influenza group on modelling group, said the UK was late in imposing the travel ban but that it should minimise the risk from the 'more transmissible' variant.

'We always have this issue with travel bans of course, that we're always a little bit behind the curve,' he told BBC Breakfast.

Tories voiced concerns about the vaccination drive in London, after Mr Khan yesterday complained about a lack of supplies.

Only two per cent of people in the capital were vaccinated against coronavirus by January 10, compared to five per cent in the North East and Yorkshire. Fewer than 30 per cent of London's over-80s have had the one dose of the vaccine  compared to the highest figure of 43.8 per cent in the North East and Yorkshire.

The first regional breakdown showed the Midlands had vaccinated the most people against the disease, managing to get first doses to 387,647 in the first month of the roll-out. This was more than double the 186,291 in the East of England and almost twice as many as London's 199,986.

London has accounted for only 10 per cent of the country's vaccinations so far despite being home to 16 per cent of the population with some nine million people. The capital and the East are the only regions where the share of vaccines has been smaller than the share of the population.

NHS leaders in the capital insist that London 'is getting its fair share of vaccine supply' and added: 'We have more than 100 vaccination sites up and running across London, including the NHS Covid-19 vaccination centre in the ExCeL London, and more are opening all the time.'

But Tory MP for Wimbledon Stephen Hammond told MailOnline he was 'concerned' about the low vaccination rates - and said the capital needed to be 'prioritised' because people lived more closely together.

'I want to make sure London is not left behind. I think they mayor has been rather slow on this,' the former health minister said.

'We need to make sure that London is getting the same share of vaccine as the rest of the country, and probably needs slightly higher priority because of the more dense living in London and that's where some of the more vulnerable rates have been in the second outbreak.'

Other senior Conservatives said they were seeking urgent clarification from ministers on why the numbers were 'very low'.

Leaked Government targets show that officials are planning to double the number of people protected against Covid next week alone, aiming to hit 500,000 jabs per day and add 3.6million people to the current total 2.6m. Data yesterday suggested that 223,726 jabs were done on Monday, showing the programme is expanding fast.

WASHINGTON - While President Donald Trump and many of his top aides seem to have left the nation's business behind, largely disappearing from view in the days since Joe Biden's election was formalized and Trump-inspired violence erupted, one corner of the administration has moved into overdrive.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has made near-daily announcements of major foreign policy actions, many of which appear designed to cement Trump priorities and create roadblocks to new directions already charted by the incoming Biden team.

Among the barriers put in place are the relisting of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, the designation of Yemen's Houthi rebels as terrorists, the removal of long-standing restrictions on contacts between senior U.S. officials and their Taiwanese counterparts, the recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the long-contested Western Sahara, the fast-track approval of controversial arms sales and a slew of new sanctions against Iran.

All of those changes can be undone. But each complicates the challenges Biden will face in putting his own stamp on policy.

Biden officials express little doubt that most, if not all, of them are motivated by domestic politics. But they have not spoken out against them, in part because of the "one president at a time" tradition regarding U.S. national security interests overseas.

"We've taken note of these last-minute maneuvers," said a senior Biden transition official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity before the inauguration. Each is being reviewed, the official said, "and the incoming administration will render a verdict based exclusively on one criterion: the national interest."

A White House official cited differing rationales for several of the recent moves, saying that some of them had been under consideration for some time. "It's not like one size fits all," the official said.

Trump adviser Jared Kushner pushed for recent decisions on matters such as Morocco and arms sales to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as part of the payoff for Arab countries that agreed to normalize relations with Israel. Much of the rest, including actions on Cuba and Taiwan, "Pompeo just kind of did on his own," the official said.

"I wouldn't dispute that there were a lot of domestic political incentives for Pompeo to give a final push on Cuba, Iran and Taiwan," said another person with direct knowledge of the policy process. Officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

While Biden has remained silent, lawmakers have spoken out against some of the actions. Both Republicans and Democrats have criticized the Houthi designation - announced Jan. 10, to take effect the day before Biden's inauguration - as have numerous humanitarian organizations working to keep millions of Yemenis from starving.

U.S. involvement in the Yemen war has long been controversial. Saudi Arabia is accused of causing thousands of civilian deaths in its fight against the Iranian-backed Houthis who control much of the country.

Bipartisan majorities, with no sympathy for Iran or the Houthis, have cited human rights concerns in repeated efforts to block Yemen-used military assistance to the Saudis, and their partner in the war, the United Arab Emirates, with measures that Trump has vetoed or otherwise circumvented.

Objections to the terrorist designation center primarily on what Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch, R-Idaho, and House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking Republican Michael McCaul of Texas said would be "devastating humanitarian impacts."

Yemen, with more than 24 million people who rely on outside assistance for survival, imports about 90 percent of its food. Under the designation, aid organizations helping starving Yemenis in Houthi areas could be charged with criminal acts. "Good intentions must not be eclipsed by significant unintended consequences," Risch and McCaul said in a statement Monday following Pompeo's announcement.

Treasury officials, including Secretary Steven Mnuchin, opposed the designation, arguing that the action was so rushed that sanctions waivers to ensure the steady flow of food and other supplies to civilians were not ready to be implemented.

Others objected internally based on concerns that it would undermine ongoing diplomatic efforts to resolve the war and accomplish little. "The reason there was dissent . . . was the question: What do we get from this? What leverage does it give us" in pushing a diplomatic solution, the person familiar with the process said. "The feeling from a lot of us was that it doesn't give us much."

Biden has said that he intends to cut back on arms sales to the Saudis and push for more diplomacy and humanitarian assistance for Yemen. But reversing the Houthi designation cannot be done with the stroke of a pen. Under statute, it requires an act of Congress, or an administration review, after which the secretary of state finds that changed circumstances on the ground of U.S. national security warrant a reversal.

Pompeo's main motivation appeared to be another opportunity to cast Iran as the primary generator of problems in the Middle East and to place additional obstacles in Biden's path. The administration emphatically opposes his plans to reenter the international nuclear deal with Tehran that Trump exited in 2018.

Both Biden and the Iranians have said they are willing to trade "compliance for compliance," with each side reversing the steps they have taken outside the parameters of the agreement since the U.S. withdrawal. For Iran, that means reversing the activation of additional uranium-enriching centrifuges, and a return to sharp limits on the quantity and quality of enriched material.

For the United States, it means lifting of all nuclear-related sanctions, as agreed in the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). But most U.S. sanctions - charging terrorism support, ballistic missile development and other types of activity - remain, and Pompeo has piled on even more measures in recent days.

Iran is expected to demand that those sanctions - which have been secondarily applied to other nations doing business in Iran, including in Europe - also be eased. But any effort by Biden to negotiate over them will probably be time-consuming and run into congressional objections. In an additional land mine laid this past week, Pompeo declared, in a Wednesday announcement that puzzled intelligence and counterterrorism experts who saw no substantive evidence, that Iran is the now the "new home base" and "operational headquarters" for al-Qaida.

Biden's argument is that once the nuclear issue is back on track - with Iran's breakout time for production of enough fissile material to build a weapon put back from two or three months to at least one year, where it was when Trump quit the deal - he will build international and domestic support and push for additional agreements.

But time is short to unravel and analyze the tangle of new measures that the current administration has put in place, and tempers are high all around. In Iran, where the economy is foundering, parliament has decreed that sanctions must be lifted by early February or Iran itself will leave the JCPOA. Iran is also about to enter into a heated political season, with presidential elections scheduled for early summer.

Pompeo has spent much of the past year berating China and arguing that the Trump administration's hard-line policies are one of the many areas in which the president "flipped the script" on traditional appeasement. Biden has said he shares concerns about Chinese territorial and trade aggression, but he wants to review the situation and join with like-minded democracies, particularly in Europe, in confronting Beijing.

China experts see the most volatile part of the relationship as Taiwan, where the administration has softened restrictions on arms sales and diplomatic relations that were enshrined decades ago in laws governing U.S.-China relations.

Most recently, Pompeo announced Jan. 9 that he was removing all "self-imposed restrictions" on interactions between high-level U.S. officials, including in the military, with their Taiwanese counterparts. The United States, he said, would no longer "appease the Communist regime in Beijing."

The State Department scheduled a visit to Taipei this past week by Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, following precedent-shattering trips there last summer by senior American delegations. The trip did not take place, however, after Pompeo abruptly canceled all scheduled diplomatic travel - including his own - on Tuesday, citing the need to assist in the change of administrations here.

Like many of the other last-minute administration actions, Biden could simply reverse the new Taiwan policies if he chooses. But Pompeo has put him in a difficult position, requiring an overt act that could be seen as pro-China at a time when he is still developing and implementing his own strategic posture toward Beijing.

"Why are they doing these things?" asked a former senior U.S. diplomat, speculating as to Pompeo's additional motivation. "The fact is that a substantial number of extreme right-wing representatives [in Congress] have never bought the idea of normalization with China. And the embers of 'two Chinas' never fully died out.

"I'm inclined to believe this is heavily Pompeo-driven, as opposed to Trump thinking things up. I believe Pompeo is laying down these markers as a campaign platform for 2024," the former diplomat said.

Biden has also said he intends to return to the diplomatic normalization with Cuba established under the Obama administration, a task made more difficult this past week by Pompeo's re-designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.

The move was widely seen as a gift to what future Republican presidential candidates see as an important domestic constituency - Cuban American voters in southern Florida - with little credible policy basis. Reversing it will be important to Biden's plans, but it will be time-consuming.

U.S. law outlines two paths to reverse the designation. In the first, the president must certify to Congress that there has been "a fundamental change in the leadership and policies of the government of the country concerned," that "government is not supporting acts of international terrorism" and that it will not in the future.

For the second, the president must notify Congress, 45 days before a recission takes place, that the government in question has not provided support for acts of international terrorism over the previous six months, and that it promises it will not.

- - -

The Washington Post's John Hudson contributed to this report.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI  When U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer was sworn into office Jan. 3, he was eager to get to work on the policy priorities he championed on the campaign trail: Promoting economic freedom, individual liberty, and combating the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead, just three days later, the first-term Republican congressman from Grand Rapids found himself in an almost unimaginable situation: Fleeing the House Chamber, gas mask in hand, after a violent mob of President Donald Trumps supporters charged into the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Its been the worst week of my life, said Meijer, who on Wednesday, Jan. 13 cast what could be the hardest vote of his career when he supported an effort to impeach Trump for a second time.

I didnt want to be in a position where Im having to decide whether to impeach a president of my own party. But I think the assault on the Capitol was very much a watershed moment for me.

Meijer, an army veteran whose family founded the Meijer supercenter chain, was one of 10 Republicans in the House to vote in favor of impeaching Trump. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, was the other Republican member of Michigans congressional delegation to support impeachment.

The vote placed Meijer in the spotlight in a big way.

Hes appeared on CNN, where he rebuked President Trumps claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. He spoke on MSNBC about the threats hes received in the wake of the impeachment vote, and said he is altering his routine and working to get body armor.

And, in a lengthy interview for a New York Times podcast, he spoke in-depth about the reasons behind his impeachment vote and the chaos that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Meijer, in an interview with the Grand Rapids Press/MLive, said the impeachment vote was probably an act of political suicide, and could more than likely lead to a primary challenge during the next election for his congressional seat.

It was agonizing, said Meijer, 33, who represents Michigans 3rd Congressional District.

This was not a decision that was arrived at lightly in any way, shape or form. It was only after basically nonstop agonizing and deliberation. I couldnt help but come back to the fact that in order for us to heal, in order for us to move past this point, in order to get to a point where we can talk about unity  we have to have accountability for what happened.

Reaction among constituents has been a mixed bag, Meijer said.

Ive had a number of supporters reaching out and saying thank you, this is exactly why I voted for you, this is exactly why I supported you, he said. Ive had a number of people who reached out and they were livid.

Meijer added, I dont expect somebody to agree with how I approached this and the decision I made to impeach. But what Ive been trying to communicate is to help folks understand why we got to this point, and why I made the decision that I did.

Related: Congressman Meijer says Republicans should take responsibility for lies about election fraud after Capitol attack

While hes received threats, Meijer said he does not fear for his life. However, he said he has exposed myself to something that I have to take seriously, and that hes now altering his routine and keeping a low profile.

I am taking a number of security precautions, including purchasing body armor for any eventuality, he said. As we saw after January 6, anything can happen. So, Im prepared for anything to happen.

Meijer said Trumps actions on Jan. 6, particularly a video the president posted on Twitter amid the Capitol siege that did not condemn the mob, wiped out the accomplishments Trump made during his time in office.

That includes Trumps efforts to end foreign wars and create the coronavirus vaccine through Operation Warp Speed, Meijer said.

The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 happened the same day as lawmakers were certifying the results of Democrat Joe Bidens victory in the 2020 presidential election.

Meijer said he knew it was going to be a long day, possibly requiring an overnight stay at the Capitol, so he brought a pillow, blanket, and two bottles of whiskey --- one from Eastern Kille Distillery and another from Long Road Distiller.

He said he knew emotions were high surrounding the certification vote, but he never imagined that the day would culminate with a violent mob storming the U.S. Capitol, resulting in the death of five people.

When I say it was the worst week of my life, it wasnt because I was afraid, he said, referring to his mindset following the violent attack and the days leading up to the impeachment vote.

Part of it was the absolute gut punch that I felt after seeing the Capitol getting overrun and seeing lawmakers fleeing for their lives and seeing a Capitol police officer dying.

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As the world crossed a "heart-wrenching milestone" of two million deaths from COVID-19, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres lamented that the deadly impact of the pandemic has worsened due to the absence of a global coordinated effort and said that "vaccinationalism" by governments is "self-defeating" that will delay a global recovery.

Since its discovery at the end of December 2019, COVID-19 has now spread to all corners of the world, with cases in 191 countries and regions. Deaths due to the disease reached the grim milestone of one million only in September. In addition, the socio-economic impact of the pandemic has been massive, with countless jobs and livelihoods lost globally, and millions pushed into poverty and hunger.

"Our world has reached a heart-wrenching milestone: the COVID-19 pandemic has now claimed two million lives. Behind this staggering number are names and faces: the smile now only a memory, the seat forever empty at the dinner table, the room that echoes with the silence of a loved one," Guterres said on Friday.

According to Johns Hopkins University's coronavirus tracker, the deadly virus has so far claimed 2,008,237 lives and infected 93,816,953 people globally. Guterres said the deadly impact of the pandemic has been made worse by the absence of a global coordinated effort and called for the world to act with far greater solidarity in the memory of those two million souls".

The UN chief said as safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out, we are seeing a vaccine vacuum and noted that the world's leading economies have a special responsibility. Science is succeeding but solidarity is failing. Some countries are pursuing side deals, even procuring beyond need. Governments have a responsibility to protect their populations, but 'vaccinationalism' is self-defeating and will delay a global recovery, he said.

Warning that COVID-19 cannot be beaten one country at a time, Guterres voiced concern that vaccines are reaching high income countries quickly, while the world's poorest have none at all. "Our world can only get ahead of this virus one way together. Global solidarity will save lives, protect people and help defeat this vicious virus, he said.

Guterres said the UN is supporting countries to mobilise the largest global immunisation effort in history and the world organisation is committed to making sure that vaccines are seen as global public goods people's vaccines. That requires full funding for the access to COVID-19 tools accelerator and its COVAX facility -- which is dedicated to making vaccines available and affordable to all, he said.

The UN chief stressed that manufacturers need to step up their commitment to work with the COVAX facility and countries around the world to ensure enough supply and fair distribution. We need countries to commit now to sharing excess doses of vaccines. This would help vaccinate all health care workers around the world on an urgent basis and protect health systems from collapse, he said.

Emphasising that those on the frontline, including humanitarian workers and high-risk populations, must be prioritised for the vaccine, Guterres said in order to gain public trust, "we must boost vaccine confidence and knowledge with effective communication grounded in facts".

Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said Guterres is expected to get the COVID-19 vaccination next week. As he himself committed, we will release a photo and video of that because he was very much committed to do it publicly," he said.

Also read: COVID-19 vaccination: 23 elderly people dead after Pfizer shot in Norway

He also told them that if farmers want to sell their produce in other markets, they should be facilitated to do so as it was provided for under the new farm laws.  DC Image

Hyderabad: Agriculture minister Sin-gireddy Niranjan Reddy directed officials of the marketing department to draw up plans to help farmers sell their Rabi produce to traders as envisaged by Chief Mini-ster K. Chandrashekar Rao.

The minister said that the Centre had not taken any decision on the minimum support price under the new farm laws. The state was unlikely to purchase the produce in the face of volatile prices. Against this backdrop, he asked officials to ensure that farmers are not at a loss when they sell to private traders. He also told them that if farmers want to sell their produce in other markets, they should be facilitated to do so as it was provided for under the new farm laws.

Niranjan Reddy said that officials should explain to the farmers the conditions under which the government cannot purchase crops that are coming into the respective agricultural markets. He asked agriculture and marketing departments to work in coordination to help farmers get remunerative prices.

The minister instructed the authorities to make arrangements to issue coupons depending on the yield of crops in the area, farmers and harvest time. Facilities like licensed traders, hamali sheds, open CC platforms should be provided to the farmers in the agricultural markets.

Chilli crop should not be dumped in the market at once. All 191 markets in the state and 72 sub yards should allow day trading.

The minister stated that crops can be stored not only at the warehouses with a capacity of 24 lakh metric tones but also in sub-yards.

Farm officials should ensure that crop booking is 100 per cent complete, the minister said. Agricultural extension officers (AEOs) should visit the field and strictly enforce crop registration. AEOs should be prepared for farmers meetings at their respective forums.

Rabi harvests should end in March. Niranjan Reddy said that agriculture authorities should motivate farmers in that direction. Farmers are likely to suffer losses due to untimely rains if delayed.

Agriculture Secretary Janardhan Reddy, marketing director Lakshmi Bai, horticulture director Venkatram Reddy, Markfed managing director Bhaskarachari were present.
Thanks to her success, Joan Rivers was in the company of many A-Listers throughout her lifetime. The comedian reached celebrity status herself and thus was no stranger to famous people. But when she developed a friendship with Prince Charles, she learned to deal with a completley different class of fame. But how did the comedian develop a friendship with Prince Charles, and what did their friendship teach her about dealing with royalty?

Joan Rivers | Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Rivers first met Prince Charles through a mutual friend and they hit it off thanks to their mutual love of painting. When she was given the opportunity to paint with the royal, she discovered that he had a great appreciation for humor. As someone who made their living on entertaining people with her jokes, its no doubt that the pair were able to develop a friendship over time.

How Joan Rivers and Prince Charles became friends

Oh, well, first of all, Ive always  since Ive met both of them, theyre just fabulous, Rivers shared about Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles in a 2005 interview on Larry King Live. And finally, its really coming out now what theyre like. And I met him through a mutual friend. And we both paint. And I was lucky enough to be invited to paint with him in the South of France, which Ive done. And hes just got a great sense of humor. And he always thinks Im funny. So it started out that way.

RELATED: Inside the Moment Prince Charles Realized Camilla Parker Bowles Was The One

Once Rivers developed a friendship with Prince Charles, she had the opportunity to get friendly with the Duchess of Cornwall also. It was enough for the comedian to secure an invitation to the royal wedding. And although The Joan Rivers Show star was excited about the wedding, she was extremely nervous about picking the right outfit for the special occasion.

The Jewelry author was nervous about attending the royal wedding

A little nervous? Rivers responded when King asked her if she was nervous about attending Prince Charles Wedding. Insane. What do you wear? You dont want to look over the top. You dont know, should you wear your good pin, should you  I was hysterical. Melissa and I for weeks and Blaine Trump, my very good friend, I mean, everyone was just in there helping me what to wear, what not to wear.

Joan Rivers | Anwar Hussein Collection/ROTA/WireImage

Eventually, Rivers settled on an outfit that was a little demure for her tastes. In retrospect, she was a little disappointed that she didnt push herself to go for something more dramatic. And I picked something. Now Im a little sorry because I could have gone a little wilder. Of course, Rivers would eventually learned that the key to maintaining a friendship with the royals is to be true to herself, outfits and all.

How Rivers learned to deal with royalty

But Rivers also shared that dealing with royalty also required her to be careful about the words she was using so as not to offend them. The late comedian revealed that theres a delicate balance of being yourself but also editing some of your more crass language.

I think the way I deal with them, truly, is  I just say what I think, the way I do with everybody, Rivers revealed. But you always couch it. I know with Prince Charles, because with him, I always say, Excuse me for saying this, sir, but shes a pig. You know? And he just thinks thats hilarious. So thats how we get along. Clearly, Rivers knew how to handle a relationship with royalty. Wed be interested to see if other people who have befriended royals share her sentiments.
The Indian-American diaspora is decorating the front of the US Capitol building with thousands of kolam tiles to welcome Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Biden and Harris will be sworn-in as President and Vice-President on January 20. To welcome the new president in the White House, thousands of artists, citizens, and students of all ages from across the country are collaborating to combine their local pieces for the inauguration.

Some beauty after the chaos: in front of the U.S. Capitol Thursday, thousands of kolam tiles are being made to welcome @JoeBiden @KamalaHarris later this month.



Many believe kolams can help heal divides and welcome whats next. #2021kolam @2021Kolam pic.twitter.com/ec17xADRKy  Indiaspora (@IndiasporaForum) January 8, 2021

Read: White House Social Media Accounts To Be Transferred To Bidens Team On January 20: Twitter

'Beauty after chaos'

"Some beauty after the chaos," Indiaspora Forum tweeted with pictures showing artists making kolam tiles. On January 6, the US Capitol witnessed a deadly riot as hundreds of Trump supporters laid siege to the US Congress building while a joint session to certify Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' win was underway. Five people died during the incident, including a Capitol Hill police officer. The incident has led to the second impeachment of Donald Trump.

Read: Biden Unveils $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Stimulus Plan, Says 'theres No Time To Waste'

The Indian diaspora in the United States posted images the next day showing people gathered from across the country to make kolam tiles, which is a form of drawing particularly famous in the southern part of India, where Vice-President Kamala Harris' mother came from. A kolam is an Indian art form of geometric patterns, used as a sign of welcome. It is drawn outside the homes using rice flour or coloured powder.

Read: President-elect Joe Biden To Unveil Economic & Vaccination Rescue Package On Jan 14

The Indiaspora Forum asked people across the United States to send their own kolams before January 14, which it said will be woven into a movie to welcome President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris. It has also set up accounts with the name @2021kolam across all social media platforms for people to share their kolams. It aims to create America's largest collaborative kolam for the inauguration of Biden and Harris.

Read: Vaccines And Masks: Biden Plan Aims To Break Pandemic Cycle


Ian Sylvester of Hudson waves a 6-foot American flag during a rally in support of President Donald Trump while protesting the election results at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver this month

. Hundreds of people gathered to protest the certification of the Electoral College vote.

GRANTS PASS, Ore.  As a drive-in coronavirus vaccination effort in Jackson County takes shape, more details were released about a similar event in Josephine County on Friday evening.

Public Health officials said that the Josephine County clinic will begin on January 24 and 25 at the Josephine County Fairgrounds in Grants Pass, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.

On January 26, the clinic will open at Illinois Valley High School in Cave Junction, from noon to 4 p.m.

Like the Jackson County clinic, Josephine County's effort comes in cooperation with Asante, the Oregon National Guard, and other community partners. The goal is to provide at least 3,000 doses of the vaccine to local residents.

While the clinic will be open to all people in Phase 1a, the Josephine County effort is also available to teachers and school staff members who serve pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade  something that the Jackson County clinic immediately prior is not offering.

Governor Kate Brown announced on Friday that educators and school staff would be made eligible for vaccines on January 25, and health officials indicated that some counties might make that expansion slightly sooner,

People who have had immediate allergic reactions of any severity to food, drug injections, or insect stings are asked not to attend these clinics and contact a primary care provider instead.

County officials promised that more information would posted in the coming days on the county website, here.
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
Several groups representing scientists and doctors have expressed concerns over Indias vaccine approval process.

The concerns come after India approved a vaccine by Indian drugmaker Bharat Biotech. The vaccine was approved for emergency use on January 3, before it had completed late clinical trials.

Late clinical trial data gives evidence about how effective a vaccine is in preventing illness from coronavirus infections.

Many scientists have warned that approving a vaccine without evidence from late trials is risky. And a lack of clarity in the approval process could lead many people to delay getting the vaccine or to refuse to get it at all.

More than 10.4 million coronavirus cases have been reported among Indias nearly 1.4 billion people.

Two Vaccines

Bharat Biotechs vaccine was one of two that India approved for emergency use. The second was a form of the AstraZeneca vaccine. It is made by the worlds largest vaccine manufacturer, Serum Institute of India. Serum Institutes vaccine was approved because of partial results from studies in Britain and Brazil that showed it was about 70 percent effective.

At first, a member of Indias COVID-19 task force said the Bharat Biotech vaccine would be used as a backup.

Backup is a term that means something can be used to replace or support another person or thing.

But on January 5, health officials said Bharat Biotechs vaccine would be made available to people who give their permission. People given the vaccine will also need to get follow-up visits.

The move suggests India will send out both vaccines. But it remains unclear which states will receive which vaccine and for what reasons.

On January 16, India will begin giving vaccines to an estimated 30 million doctors, nurses and other front line workers.

After that, the shots will start going to around 270 million Indians who are either over age 50 or have other health issues, sometimes called co-morbidities.

China and Russia have also released vaccines while late clinical trials were still going on. But India, which is the worlds largest manufacturer of vaccines, has drawn criticism for not being clear in its approval process and for using two different standards. A standard is a level of quality that is considered acceptable.

The group of experts that approved the vaccines met three times. In the first two meetings, on Dec. 30 and Jan. 1, they were not pleased with Bharat Biotechs application. They asked for more data on its ability to prevent illness from COVID-19, notes from the meeting show. The AstraZeneca vaccine, meanwhile, was approved on Jan. 1.

Notes from the Jan. 2 meeting show that the company presented updated data. But it is not clear what new evidence led the experts to change their minds.

Dr. Vineeta Bal of Indias National Institute of Immunology noted the need for transparent approvals that include data to confirm vaccine effectiveness.

This is a process that Indian government officials are themselves sabotaging, she said.

Indias top drug official would not comment on the issue. The identities of the experts that approved the vaccines have not been made public.

Balram Bhargava heads the Indian Council of Medical Research. He said the restricted use of a vaccine on the basis of data from early clinical trials is legally possible in a pandemic. The group is a co-sponsor of the clinical trials.

Im John Russell.

Aniruddha Ghosal and Sheikh Saaliq reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

clinical trial  n. a kind of research study in which human subjects are assigned to one or more treatments in order for researchers to study the effects of those treatments.

task force  n. a group of people who deal with a specific problem

application  n. an official request for something, usually made in writing

update  v. give someone the most recent information

transparent  adj. open an honest, without secrets

sabotage  v. to destroy or damage (something) so that it does not work correctly

sponsor  n. a person or organization that pays the cost of an activity or event

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Under Obama, Vilsack brought us cloned farm animals, lab-grown meat and more GMOs than any Agriculture Secretary before or after him

No More Malarkey Joe Biden just nominated one of Monsantos best friends to head the US Department of Agriculture.

During his eight years under Obama, Tom Vilsack earned the nickname Mr. Monsanto for approving more new genetically modified organisms than any Agriculture Secretary in history, and for making gobs of money for every approval.

The Organic Consumers Association has compiled a list of GMOs we have to thank him for:

 Roundup Ready sugar beets. A judge ruled Monsantos sugar beets would inevitably contaminate other crops, eventually eliminating a consumers choice to eat non-genetically engineered food.

 Roundup Ready alfalfa. Monsantos first genetically modified perennial went wild, costing alfalfa growers millions.

 Monsantos DroughtGard corn. The GMO seeds actually ended up yielding 11% LESS corn than conventional corn during the 2012 drought.

 Dicamba-tolerant Xtend soy and cotton. Several states have banned Monsantos dicamba herbicide since its approval in 2015, after it drifted and destroyed millions of acres of conventional soy, as well as nurseries, vineyards, vegetables, trees and native plants.

 Roundup Ready lawn grass. Vilsack told the Scotts Miracle-Gro it didnt need permits to sell genetically engineered grass commercially.

 Agrisure corn. Vilsack allowed Syngenta to sell corn seed with genetically engineered traits that were illegal in China to U.S. farmers. The corn crop was rejected by the markets, costing farmers $1.5 billion.

 Ethanol-only corn. Unsuitable for human or animal consumption, Syngentas ethanol corn has the potential to destroy the genome of edible corn where cross contamination occurs.

 2,4-D-tolerant corn, cotton and soy. A known endocrine disruptor, Dows 2,4-D is linked to cancer, thyroid disorders, decreased fertility and birth defects. Vilsacks approval of the crops increased the use of 2,4-D as much as 600%.

 Innate potatoes. The former Monsanto scientist who invented this RNA interference GMO exposed the dangers of his work four years after Vilsack approved it. He found an accumulation of toxins in the potatoes, and even scarier, he found their double-stranded RNA enters the human bloodstream, where it can influence our own cell function.

 Arctic Apples. These ever-green apples dont turn brown when they bruise or start to rot, and even retain their bright green pigment when they are juiced. These GMOs were also created using RNA interference technology.

 Cloned animals. When Vilsack was asked in 2010 if cloned cows or their offspring had made it into the North American food supply, he claimed he didnt know. Needless to say, this aroused alarm. While Europe responded with an embargo, Vilsack left the door open for cloned animal products to be labeled USDA Organic.

It is very likely that the offspring of cloned animals are now being used to produce organic milk and other food, the Organic Consumers Association says.

 Synbio dairy substitutes. Vilsack allowed companies like Perfect Day to begin using genetically-altered yeast cultures to manufacture synthetic dairy substitutes. Most vegans have no idea their non-dairy cheese is a product genetic engineering.

 Lab-made meat. Vilsack gave companies like Memphis Meat the green light to engineer cell-cultured meat without requiring USDA inspection or labeling. A former USDA staffer of his ended up lobbying for the company.

Click here to send your senator a message telling them to vote no on Mr. Monsanto for Agriculture Secretary.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 23:47:56|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) held a new missile drill on Saturday, saying that it successfully fired ballistic missiles on the Indian Ocean, over a distance of 1,800 km, Press TV reported.

"One of our main purposes in defense policies and strategies is to be able to hit the enemy's warships, including aircraft carriers and battle cruisers, with long-range ballistic missiles," Hossein Salami, IRGC's commander in chief, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the exercise.

The maneuver, codenamed Great Prophet-15, consisted of the detection of hostile mock warships by the surveillance systems of the IRGC's Aerospace Force, and their destruction using ballistic missiles of various classes within a 1,800-km range, according to official news agency IRNA.

Salami noted that it is customary to hit mobile naval targets with low-speed cruise missiles, and praised the development of the long-range tactic as a "great defense achievement" of the IRGC's Aerospace Force.

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri also attended the war-game, and issued a warning against any hostile threat to Iran's national interests.

"Choosing a barrage of long-range missiles against naval targets illustrates that if the enemies of the Islamic republic have ill intentions against our national interests, maritime trade routes, and territory, they will come under missile strike and will be destroyed," he said. Enditem

Xiaomi's MIUI 12.5 is the company's latest operating system that was announced last month as an upgrade to the MIUI 12 software. MIUI 12.5 brought new animations and enhanced privacy controls among other features. Now, Xiaomi has announced that it is starting to release the developer version of MIUI 12.5 for 28 smartphone models. The list include the recently-launched Mi 11, Mi 10, Mi 10 Pro, Mi 10 Extreme Commemorative Edition, Mi 10 Youth Edition, Mi 9, Mi 9 Pro, Mi 9 Transparent Exclusive Edition, Mi 9SE, Mi CC9 Pro, Mi CC9, Mi CC9e, and Mi CC9 Meitu Custom Edition.

Xiaomi announced the rollout of MIUI 12.5 Developer Edition for China as of now, according to an official Weibo post. Several Redmi smartphone are also listed among the 28 smartphones that will receive the update. Xiaomi had earlier confirmed that the stable rollout for MIUI 12.5 will begin for the first batch of smartphones in April 2021. Units in China will receive the update first, and then Xiaomi will announce the expansion to global markets at a later stage. The list of Xiaomi smartphones that will receive the MIUI 12.5 update includes Redmi 10X, Redmi 10X Pro, Redmi K30, Redmi K30 5G, Redmi K30i 5G, Redmi K30 Pro, Redmi K30S Extreme Commemorative Edition, Redmi K30 Extreme Commemorative Edition, Redmi K20, Redmi K20 Pro, Redmi Note 9, Redmi Note 9 Pro, Redmi Note 8, Redmi Note 7, and Redmi Note 7 Pro.

MIUI 12.5 brings a host of new features to Xiaomi smartphones including lower power and memory consumption, better optimisation of system apps, and better graphics rendering over MIUI 12. Further, it brings animated Super Wallpapers and comes with the ability to prompt users with a pop-up when an app attempts to access their clipboard data. MIUI 12.5 also brings an option to share approximate location instead of the exact location with certain apps.
KALAMAZOO, MI  The mud is coming out.

Well, a small portion of it anyway.

Eagle Creek Renewable Energy will begin dredging impoundment sludge from a Kalamazoo River side channel next month; an initial stab at removing mass quantities of sediment that began choking the river last year after the company drained its Morrow Lake reservoir.

The company, which owns the Morrow Dam in Comstock Township, will dredge a roughly 3,000-foot oxbow section of river near the townships Wenke Park thats been filled-in with sediment which Eagle Creek allowed to wash down from the 1,000-acre upstream reservoir.

The work is expected to begin in February. For the moment, state regulators say its the only sediment dredging Eagle Creek has committed to conduct in the river.

This is kind of voluntary, said Kyle Alexander, head of the local water resources division office at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). They came to us and said, heres some areas we can get started on.

Alexander said EGLE plans to push for additional dredging when it sits down with Eagle Creek attorneys in the near future to discuss violations of state environmental law.

I can almost guarantee part of the ask on our part will be for additional restoration, not just at the river oxbow but further downstream as well, he said.

David Fox, director of licensing and compliance for Eagle Creek, said the company is analyzing data on sediment accumulation in the river gathered during December surveys and that will be used to develop plans for additional investigation work.

Fox said a sediment management plan may include more removal actions if deemed necessary upon coordination with EGLE, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is overseeing a separate Superfund cleanup in the river this year thats been complicated by the accumulation of reservoir mud.

STS Hydropower, a subsidiary of Eagle Creek (which is owned by Ontario Power Generation), finished a gate replacement project at Morrow Dam in December and has refilled the reservoir that it drained with little warning in November 2019 after getting spooked by an inspection report that prompted what the company called an emergency move.

Morrow Dam is the largest in Kalamazoo County and is rated as high hazard, meaning it could endanger peoples lives were it to fail and unleash flooding.

State regulators were upset at the sudden reservoir drawdown, which they say Eagle Creek offered little to no advance warning about despite the companys claim to various lawmakers, officials and media outlets that it was done in close consultation with state regulators.

As result, the state says, spring rains helped wash years worth of newly unfrozen sediment through the dam and down the river, where it piled into side channels and formed huge mud bars and flats that have smothered wildlife habitat and recontoured bends in the river.

The DNR says anglers have reported new sedimentation as far as Lake Allegan, about 40 miles downstream where the next dam in the river is located.

The full extent of the damage and total amount of sediment that washed down is still being estimated using data from bathymetric surveys and laser-based measuring tools.

Alexander said EGLE is expecting a report from Eagle Creek this month on sediment volume that would include an analysis of any contaminants that washed down as well. That should help target priority areas for more dredging.

Whatever the total amount of sediment that mobilized and moved downstream was, it will never all be captured and removed, Alexander said. That would be impossible.

In Comstock Township, Fox said the oxbow side channel where dredging is planned functions as a naturally occurring sediment trap, and Eagle Creek thinks that removing material from this location could enable this section of the river to act as a control measure that will trap sediments that may migrate downstream from areas below the dam.

The company wants to use Wenke Park as a staging ground for equipment, something which the township parks department is presently evaluating and would need to approve.

Scott Hess, township superintendent, said Comstock staff are hoping the dredging operation will receive more oversight from EGLE than theyve noticed so far. Hess said it would have been helpful to have state regulators present during a meeting with Eagle Creek recently at Wenke Park.

EGLE would have to approve a dredging and disposal permit.

Hess said township residents have expressed concern about sediment in the river depositing in grassy yards and other areas in the floodplain when the river rises in the spring.

Will Merrill Park be black with sediment? Who is going to be responsible for that? Hess asked. As soon as the river rises this spring, I think youll hear a lot more hootin and hollerin over this sediment once it gets up on the shorelines.

Hess said the township is glad to see the Morrow Lake reservoir refilled. The fire department had to rescue several people at different times last year who kayaked into the reservoir from upstream and then got stranded in the muck while trying to reach the boat launch.

We had to bring in the airboat from Cooper Township two or three times to get people out of there, Hess said.

Related stories:

Morrow Lake refill begins after dam repair

Kalamazoo River to be lowered twice for dam repair

County board upset by Kalamazoo River mud mess

PCB cleanup begins on river stretch choked by lake mud

Kalamazoo River looks like a mudhole amid drawdown

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$245M cleanup of Kalamazoo River a huge deal

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New Delhi:

In order to discuss the presidential poll strategy, the Opposition leaders met on Wednesday. The process for filling the nominations for the July 2017 election has been started.



All 10 members of the opposition sub-group formed for this purpose met in the chambers of the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, sources said.



This is the first meeting of the sub-group since its formation a few days ago. The sources said the leaders would discuss probable names for the post, but would await a government initiative in this regard.

ALSO READ: President election: PM Modi invites Uddhav Thackeray for dinner to discuss strategy



A three-member government panel comprising three senior ministersRajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naiduis slated to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.



A united opposition, after several rounds of parleys between leaders of various parties, is hoping to zero in on a mutually acceptable presidential candidate with the ruling dispensation.



If that does not happen, it is expected to put up a united candidate against the official NDA nominee.

ALSO READ | RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat good choice for President, will make India a 'Hindu Rashtra': Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
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A person's lumbar spine is a structure of interconnecting joints, nerves, bones, and muscles which all work together to flexibility, strength, and support the whole body. But, this complex structure is susceptible to pain and injury.

If you're experiencing a constant ache, to a sudden, shooting pain in the back, then you're most likely to have lower back pain. The symptoms of back pain can range from muscle aching to a burning sensation in the back radiating down to the leg. It can also worsen with lifting, bending, twisting, or walking.

What is Lower Back Pain?

Most low back pain is the result of an injury, such as ruptured disks, muscle sprains, or strains due to lifting heavy objects and poor body mechanics. It can also be a result of one or some of these problems of the lower back such as the ligaments, nerves, muscles.

Certain diseases may also be causing low back pain such as arthritis, kidney, infection, cancer of the spinal cord, infections of the spine.

Low back pain is most probably to occur in persons between the ages of 30 and 50 which is partly due to the changes in body aging. This can be experienced for a few days or a few weeks, while chronic back pain can last longer than three months.

Spine Surgery for Lower Back Pain

For someone who's been struggling with back pain for a long time now, spine surgery can be a great treatment option, especially if non-surgical treatment (i.e. medications and physical therapy) fails to relieve the symptoms. Sydney is one of the best places to visit when deciding to undergo surgery, as they have experts in all areas of spinal surgery. The spine surgeon Sydney locals would recommend spine surgery if the exact source of back pain is determined. So the first thing you need to do is to have your back checked.

Types of Spine Surgery

1. Open Surgery. This type of spine surgery is classically known as "open surgery", which means that the area being operated on is opened with a long cut to allow the surgeon to examine closely the spinal anatomy. Recently, technological approaches have allowed more spine conditions to be treated with a minimally invasive surgical technique.

2. Minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS). This procedure typically does not involve long incisions, and open manipulation of the muscles and tissues to prevent significant damage to the muscles bordering the spine. Typically, this results in less pain after surgery and a faster recovery. The goal of this type of surgery is to give the patient the same outcome as open surgery, but with fewer complications and less pain.

The indications for minimally invasive spine surgery are the same as those for traditional open surgery. Spine surgery is usually suggested if there is no relief of the painful symptoms caused by your back problem after a non-surgical treatment such as medications and physical therapy.

Minimally invasive methods can be applied for common procedures like lumbar decompression and spinal fusion. Decompression relieves pressure on spinal nerves. This is done by removing parts of the bone or a herniated disk while Spinal fusion corrects problems with the small bones of the spine (vertebrae). To provide healing of the painful vertebrae, together the painful vertebrae are to be fused or integrated into a solid bone.

Surgical Approaches

1. Anterior approach. The surgeon accesses the spine from the front of your body, through the stomach.

2. Posterior approach: A cut is made in your back.

3. Lateral approach: The passage to your spine is done through your side.

Spine Surgical Procedures

Types of Lower Back Surgery. There are different types of surgery for lower back pain, including:

1. Laminectomy and laminotomy. A laminectomy removes the lamina, which is located at the back of the vertebrae. Removal of only a portion of the lamina is called a laminotomy.

2. Discectomy or Microdiscectomy. This is the removal of a bulging or herniated intervertebral disc thus, removing pressure from the compressed nerve. Microdiscectomy is a MISS procedure.

3. Spinal fusion. A surgical technique used to join two vertebrae to stabilize the spine. Spinal fusion may include the use of bone graft with or without instrumentation (eg, rods, screws). There are different types of bone graft, such as your own bone (autograft) and donor bone (allograft)

4. Disc replacement: As an alternative to fusion, the injured disc is replaced with an artificial one.

5. Foraminotomy: Removal of bone or tissue at/in the passageway (called the neuroforamen) where nerve roots branch off the spinal cord and exit the spinal column.

Lumbar spine surgery helps patients recover from acute and chronic back pain. Moreover, even the elderly or those with major spinal problems often achieve a higher level of function once symptoms are alleviated. But before resorting to any type of treatment, always talk to your doctor about your lower back pain as they can best help and give you advice on what course of action to take.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
WASHINGTON - As rioters overran the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, an officer guarding the building shook hands with two people in the mob and admitted defeat, according to the account the men provided FBI agents.

Robert Bauer and Edward Hemenway told an FBI agent that after they rushed into the building with the crowd, one Capitol Police officer shook their hands, gave one a partial hug and told them both that "it's your house now."

"Sorry," Hemenway recalled telling the officer.

"It's your house now, man," he said the officer replied.

Bauer told the FBI he "believed that the policeman was acting out of fear," according to an affidavit filed Thursday in federal court in the District.

No specific officer is identified in charging papers by federal law enforcement officials, who are relying on the defendants' own recounting of their experience inside the Capitol.

Other court documents have described Capitol Police officers' failed attempts to hold back the crowd. One said he was unable to detain a rioter because there were too many others threatening him. More than 50 D.C. police officers and an unknown number of Capitol Police officers suffered injuries.

But the actions of some Capitol Police officers have come under scrutiny. Several have been suspended and more than a dozen others are under investigation for suspected involvement with or inappropriate support for the protest.

"The department is actively reviewing video and other open source materials of some USCP officers and officials that appear to be in violation of department regulations and policies," a Justice Department spokeswoman said. "Our Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating these behaviors for disciplinary action, up to, and including, termination. Several USCP officers have already been suspended pending the outcome of their investigations."

The chief of the Capitol Police and House and Senate sergeants at arms have all resigned in the wake of the attack that left a Capitol Police officer and four rioters dead. It took nearly four hours to secure the building from rioters seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Another court record unsealed Friday, after the arrest of a Rochester, N.Y., man named Dominic Pezzola, highlights fears of what could have happened had the rioters reached the public officials formally counting the electoral college votes. A witness told the FBI that after the riot, Pezzola said "they would have killed [Vice President] Mike Pence if given the chance."

The mob came very close to reaching Pence, who was not evacuated from the Senate chamber until about 14 minutes after Capitol Police announced that the complex had been breached.

Pezzola used a Capitol Police riot shield to break one of the building windows, according to the FBI. He is accused of trespassing, destroying government property and obstructing an official proceeding; the final charge is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Jacob Anthony Chansley, the shirtless, tattooed man often referred to as "QAnon Shaman," likewise wanted to "capture and assassinate elected officials" and left a note on Pence's chair reading, "It's only a matter of time, justice is coming."

Later, in a hearing in federal court in Arizona, where Chansley was arrested, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Allison walked back the claim of an assassination plot, saying that while it "may very well be appropriate at a trial," raising it at this stage could "mislead the court." Allison asked that the reference to an assassination plot be stricken from the record.

Defense attorney Gerald Williams said in court that his client "was there merely acting as a protester" and that there was no evidence he engaged in violence.

But Magistrate Judge Deborah Fine ordered him held until trial, citing evidence that he incited the mob inside the Capitol and ignored pleas from police to desist.

"This is not a protest. This is a riot. This is an insurrection," she said. "Mr. Chansley's idea of protesting is committing the unlawful acts that we're discussing here," which she described as "frightening not only to people at the Capitol but people across the United States of America."

In the District, acting U.S. attorney Michael Sherwin downplayed the idea Friday of a specific conspiracy or plan to kidnap or kill lawmakers.

"We don't have any direct evidence of kill capture teams," Sherwin said at a news briefing.

Sherwin said federal prosecutors have charged 98 people in last week's riot and had 275 open investigations, and he expected that number to swell in the days and weeks ahead.

"Even your friends and family are tipping us off," said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Steven D'Antuono. "So you might want to consider turning yourself in instead of wondering when we're going to come knocking on your door. Because we will."

Officials noted that among those already charged were current law enforcement officials, including two from Virginia.

"We don't care what your profession is, who you are, who you're affiliated with," Sherwin said. "If you were conducting or engaged in criminal activity, we will charge you and you will be arrested."

Pezzola is associated with the Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group with ties to white nationalism that has been linked to previous violence in Washington.

A Texas man was arrested Friday and charged in connection with making threats regarding the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, allegedly including that he and others would return on Jan. 19 carrying weapons and massing in numbers so large that no army could match them, prosecutors said.

Troy Anthony Smocks, 58, of Dallas, was charged by criminal complaint with knowingly transmitting threats in interstate commerce. A D.C. police affidavit alleges that Smocks traveled to the Washington area on Jan. 5, then posted Parler messages under the name "ColonelTPerez" or "@Colonel007." In messages viewed tens of thousands of times, Smocks allegedly said that he and others would "hunt these cowards down like the Traitors that each of them are," specifically threatening "RINOS, Dems, and Tech Execs," prosecutors said.

In a post copied and pasted on another social media site where it was viewed at least 54,000 times, a D.C. police affidavit said, Smocks went on to say, "We now have the green light. [All] who resist US are enemies of Our Constitution, and must be treated as such. Today, the cowards ran as We took the Capital. ... It wasn't the building that We wanted. . . it was them!" Smocks has made a flight reservation to leave the United States Jan. 15, police said.

Also arrested was a woman prosecutors say triumphantly carried out a piece of a wooden sign for the speaker of the House.

Bauer traveled to the Capitol from Kentucky with his wife, according to court papers, stopping along the way to pick up his cousin Hemenway in Winchester, Va., according to the court papers. Both are charged with trespassing; it was not immediately clear whether they had attorneys. Bauer's wife is not accused of entering the Capitol; according to the court records, when they approached the building, she went back to her hotel.

They came for the rally because of "crazy things" they heard on social media, Hemenway told the FBI. Then President Donald Trump said "something about taking Pennsylvania Avenue," and they followed the crowd to the Capitol, according to the court papers.

As they approached the scaffolding set up for President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, Bauer said he saw people throwing objects at police in riot gear. He said he told them: "What the hell are you doing? They have stood down."

They then followed a crowd into the building, where they encountered the police officer who allegedly told them they had won.

Another woman charged Friday, Jennifer Leigh Ryan, of Texas, planned to storm the Capitol before Trump spoke, according to court documents.

"We're going to go down and storm the Capitol. They're down there right now, and that's why we came and so that's what we are going to do. So wish me luck," she said in a video posted on Facebook that morning.

Later, the FBI said, she posted a video of herself entering the building and saying: "Life or death, it doesn't matter. Here we go." Turning the camera to her face, she added, "Y'all know who to hire for your Realtor. Jenna Ryan for your Realtor."

Ryan told a local news station that she flew to D.C. on a private plane "because our president . . . asked us to go."

It was not immediately clear whether Bauer, Hemenway, Pezzola or Ryan had attorneys.

- - -

The Washington Post's Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report.
They are the Bachelor in Paradise lovebirds and fan favourites who recently sparked engagement rumours.

And on Friday, Glenn Smith revealed when he's going to propose to girlfriend Alisha Aitken-Radburn.

During an Instagram Q&A session, fans were quick to ask Alisha, 28, when her hunky beau, 32, will get down on one knee, when she shared a sweet video of his response.

Headed for the aisle: On Friday, Glenn Smith revealed when he is going to pop the question to his girlfriend, Alisha Aitken-Radburn

She asked Glenn, who coyly answered in a video: 'When the time is right.'

However, Alisha went on to reveal that she is 'not a super super big marriage person,' but she does want a 'big party'.

'I'm actually not a super super big marriage person, a greater commitment for me is someone wanting to raise a family with me,' she said.

Revelation: However, Alisha went on to reveal that she is 'not a super super big marriage person', but she does want a 'big party'

'I do want a ring someday though and a good party (probably a backyard wedding with lots of fairy lights).'

Last week, the couple sparked engagement rumours - which were fueled by Bachelor champions Locky Gilbert and Irena Srbinovska.

On Instagram, Alisha revealed she had received a cryptic Christmas card from the fellow Perth-based couple, sparking rumours that she and Glenn could be preparing to tie the knot in future.

Interesting: Last week, the couple sparked engagement rumours - which were fueled by Bachelor champions Locky Gilbert and Irena Srbinovska

Intriguing: On Instagram, Alisha revealed she had received a cryptic Christmas card from the fellow Perth-based couple, sparking rumours that she and Glenn could be preparing to tie the knot in future

'Dear Glenn and Alisha,' the letter began. 'Wishing you both a very Merry Christmas and we hope that the new year brings some exciting new adventures and ...maybe even an engagement. Love Locky and Irena xox.'

Adding more fuel to the fire, Alisa underlined the word engagement and wrote the words 'Hmm' alongside a crying with laughter emoji.

Alisha and Glenn found love on the 2020 season of Bachelor In Paradise.

Ukrainian singer Alyona Alyona became a winner of the Music Moves Europe Talent Awards 2021, the EU sound of today & tomorrow.

"Alyona Alyona received a EUR 10,000 career support package from the award's partners. Alyona Alyona also received the most votes of all the nominees making her the winner of the Public Choice Award 2021, winning another EUR 5,000 and getting to do a filmed live session in the Deezer Studios in Paris, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine posted on Facebook.

The Music Moves Europe Talent Awards are co-funded by Creative Europe, the EU funding programme for the culture and audiovisual sectors, and are implemented by Eurosonic Noorderslag and Reeperbahn Festival with the support of partners from the music industry.

The eight winners were revealed at the digital award ceremony of the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival on 15 January 2021.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 14:48:17|Editor: huaxia

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A woman receives the COVID-19 vaccine at Rajawadi Hospital in Mumbai, India, Jan. 16, 2021. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide vaccination drive on Saturday to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Fariha Farooqui/Xinhua)

NEW DELHI, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide vaccination drive on Saturday to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through the day as many as 300,000 recipients would receive their first shot of the vaccine at 3,006 sites set up across the country. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the inaugural day.

Speaking on the occasion, Modi said a total of 30 million people would be given the vaccine in the first phase of vaccination, and nearly 300 million would be reached out by the end of the second phase.

He appealed to the recipients to continue observing all precautions, like wearing facemasks, social distancing and washing hands, after taking the first shot of the vaccine.

The PM also urged them to take the second shot at the appropriate time and not miss it.

Meanwhile, TV footage showed people applauding as vaccines were being taken inside the vaccination centers and administered to the recipients.
America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American
The Morrison government is under pressure from within to increase the caps on the number of Australians allowed back into the country after Emirates abruptly suspended flights and cut off a major option for stranded travellers trying to get home.

The government is now scrambling to arrange special rescue flights and will redistribute Emirates' seats to other foreign airlines, with acting foreign minister Simon Birmingham promising on Saturday there would be "no loss of capacity into Australia".

"There are still pathways into Australia through other commercial carriers," Senator Birmingham said. "The capacity that Emirates had within the cap to bring Australians home will now be reallocated to those other airlines."

However, while Singapore Airlines yesterday indicated it would maintain flights to Australia, Japan Airlines said it would review its scheduling for February, potentially cutting off another key path for Australians trying to come home.
NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- 75% of Americans say MLK day (Jan. 18) is an essential holiday for remembering the importance of U.S. civil rights, according to a recent survey by Reputation Leaders. Most see Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy as not just a great speech but also a continuing commitment to civil rights.

Young African American woman

A survey of 1,007 U.S. adults nationally found that 80% of Americans agree that civil rights are as important in 2021 as at any time in the last 30 years, evidenced by 3 in ten (29%) reporting they were personally and negatively affected by discrimination in 2020. Over half (53%) of those cited racial discrimination.

Two-thirds of Americans surveyed said that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that America still needs to address education, job, and health access inequalities faced by minorities.

More Americans thought that the workplace via HR was the right place to create and pursue racial justice than other options such as activism, politics, or the judicial system.

For employers, their commitment to diversity will impact the talent they can attract and retain in 2021. 45% of workers say this commitment would significantly impact or even be non-negotiable in deciding to work for a new employer. Employees with a workplace culture that is empowering and accepting feel most proud to work for their employers.

85% of workers were proud to work for employers who had acted to address racism in their organization. 28% of workers did not think there was any racism in their organization.

In 2021, half of American workers look to their employers to act on race and minority equality issues. Unfortunately, 45% of American workers do not expect their employer to make significant progress on diversity and inclusion issues in 2021. This affects how proud they are to be employed there.

79% of those who think their employer will make significant progress on diversity and inclusion are proud to be employed there compared with 53% who are proud of their workplace but expect no D&I action.

Methodology

Using the ThoughtBite framework, Reputation Leaders ran a U.S. national online study from January 6-8, 2021, to explore American opinions on racism and discrimination. Interviews were conducted among 1,007 U.S. adults aged 18 and over, matching the U.S. demographic profile by age, gender, and region.

Full results are downloadable from https://www.reputationleaders.ltd/media/mlkday2021

For more information on DE&I, Purpose, and Reputation, contact [email protected]

Reputation Leaders is a thought leadership and reputation consultancy that causes people to think differently about your brand. We specialize in thought leadership studies that help our clients lead on essential issues, build reputation, and earn media headlines.

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SOURCE Reputation Leaders Ltd
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 16 : Shocked by the setback in the recent local body elections, the state Congress is in firefighting mode and is planning to plug all the loopholes before the Assembly polls in 2021.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has summoned Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief Mullappally Ramachandran, former Chief Minister Oomen Chandy and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala to Delhi for a meeting on Monday.

Chennithala was the chief ministerial candidate of the party even though there was no official announcement. However, after the setback in the local body polls, there has been a call from all corners to bring back the ailing Chandy who is considered the only Congress leader in the state who has access to the grassroot level. Chandy is a leader who can address party leaders across the state by their first name.

While Chennithala has been banking on the powerful Nair Service Society to support his CM candidature, it is reliably learnt that its General Secretary Sukumaran Nair -- the final word in the NSS -- has extended support to Chandy.

Chandy is the only Congress leader in Kerala who has the acumen and the right connections to pull a surprise against a reinvigorated CPM. Social organisations and movements favouring the Congress party are for supporting his candidature.

While Chandy is not keeping good health his close associates are of the opinion that he can pull off a stunning victory against the CPM and if he is not projected it will be doomsday for the party.

Ramachandran while speaking to IANS over telephone said: "We are meeting the AICC leadership to chalk out the final strategies for the ensuing Assembly elections. Please don't read between the lines as Congress is a party with collective leadership. We will expose the corrupt, anti-people government of Vijayan and win the next Assembly elections." The main constituent with Congress party in the UDF, the Indian Union Muslim League, is keen that there is proper preparation before the Assembly elections and a strategy is chalked out to expose the CPM-LDF government's misrule.

E.T. Mohammed Basheer, Member of Parliament and national organising secretary of the IUML, while speaking to IANS over telephone said: "Our party has done its due diligence and has found that we have to indeed plug lot of loopholes, not only for the Muslim League but for Congress also. We have to take all social and political organisations affiliated to us into confidence and then get into fighting mode."
Zespri is preparing for trial partnerships with unauthorised kiwifruit growers in China in the lead up to the Chinese growing season in October.

Subject to annual approval, the trial will last up to three years and is one of the approaches Zespri is using to combat illegally grown Zespri G3 kiwifruit, SunGold, in China.

It is estimated that Chinese demand for Zespri fruit grown during the northern hemisphere season could reach 50,000 tonnes in five years.

We've always said that we think that the solution is going to be a combination of legal options, political dialogue and now, potentially commercial means, subject to the right conditions, says Zespri International China strategic project lead Matt Crawford.

Weve been really well supported by the New Zealand and Chinese governments, which is encouraging as we continue to navigate through this complex issue.

4000ha of counterfeit fruit

Zespri estimates that 4000ha of unauthorised G3 is growing in China  double the estimated amount in 2019.

Once COVID restrictions lifted in China early last year, we managed to get some of our people there to talk to growers and other people in the Chinese industry.

From this, 4000ha is our best estimate of the amount of G3 thats in the ground in China. Thats not a perfect number, but is the best estimate we can get from around the vicinity of key growing regions.

With the next Chinese grafting season starting this month and continuing into February, Matt says Zespri are expecting more illegal G3 to be in the ground before partnership trials begin in October.

That's why were ensuring that were as prominent as possible in China by publically talking about our intentions and lifting the profile of plant variety rights and their importance.

Late last year, Zespri CEO Daniel Mathieson spent five weeks in China doing just that.

He had a number of encouraging engagements with both Beijing and provincial governments, raising this issue and seeking feedback on what a partnership could look like.

We wanted to send a strong message ahead of the grafting window.

Three pronged approach

Despite the move to work with counterfeit growers, Zespri still plans on taking legal action.

Were certainly being as active as we can in the counterfeit space. For example, were in the process of taking legal action against a nursery that has been involved in propagating our plant material.

Understanding how impactful legal approaches can actually be is a big part of stepping through this process, because PVR law in China can be difficult to enforce. So, were stepping through this pretty carefully.

The cost of counterfeit

Part of the partnership planning process is figuring out what a potential economic model with China may look like, says Matt.

This will be of great interest to New Zealand growers, as 2020 licenses to grow G3 cost a minimum of $378,000 per hectare.

Were still working through what any commercial arrangements might look like.

For our other global supply markets we dont use licenses, but instead charge a commission on the fruit thats procured for Zespri.

Matt says its too early to tell how much battling counterfeit growing in China has cost Zespri.

Part of it will be costed under the usual business we do in China, but well work out the economics of it further down the track.

Feedback from NZ growers

Matt says that growers in New Zealand are very interested in how the situation progresses.

I think it's fair to say that the issue is one at the forefront of growers minds.

What we are hearing from growers is that the more they learn about the scenarios and challenges in China, the more they understand our pragmatic approach to it.

We can assure growers that at this early stage, were prepared to look at all available options to ensure the best approach is used to slow the spread of illegal growing, and to mitigate the risks in China.
It is illegal, or at least on paper it is, for the CIA to spy on American citizens on American soil. So why was the CIA spying on Mr. Edward Butowsky and/or Matt Couch? If you have read Joe Hoft's excellent piece (see here) on the latest trials and travails of Ty Clevenger, an intrepid attorney battling the Deep State, who has been fighting for more than three years to secure the release of damning documents exposing the Russia hoax and sedition by the Obama Administration, you know he is forcing the FBI to cough it up.

But the latest response also contained this bombshell--the CIA was spying on his clients as well. Ty's latest account of this new info dump from the US Department of Justice is posted at LawFlog. Here are some key snippets:

In The Transparency Project v. Department of Justice, et al., my client asked to see records indicating whether the CIA or its Directorate of Digital Innovation, its contractors, etc. inserted Russian fingerprints into the metadata of the emails that were released publicly. (You can review the entire request by clicking here and reading Paragraph 11). In a joint report filed today, the CIA informed the court that it intends to assert a Glomar response to the request, i.e., that it cannot confirm or deny the existence of such records. . . . [In other words], The Central Intelligence Agency will neither confirm nor deny that it fabricated the Russian fingerprints in Democratic National Committee emails published in 2016 by Wikileaks and Guccifer 2.0., and the FBI implicitly acknowledged today that it never reviewed the contents of DNC employee Seth Richs laptop despite gaining custody of the laptop after his murder.

Full disclosure--Mr. Clevenger is a friend of mine. He writes in his article that he reached out to me and I made some phone calls to retired friends who held senior positions at the CIA. My friends and I agreed that a GLOMAR response to the basic question, Did you spy on Mr. Butowsky and/or Mr. Couch was a tacit admission-yes!
On Dr Scilla Elworthys work desk at her home in Oxford, UK, there stands a framed photo of Guan Yin, the goddess of compassion, or the Chinese adaptation of the Sanskrit Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, who embodies the compassion of all the Buddhas.

As a goddess, Guan Yin is the pinnacle of mercy, kindness and love, and as a Bodhisattva, she represents one who has earned moksha (release from the cycles of birth and death) and is destined to become a Buddha, but has forgone the bliss of nirvana and instead takes birth time and again with a vow to lead all the rest of humanity to the Truth.

Guan Yin is my guide. I am attracted to Eastern philosophies, especially Buddhism. I strongly believe we are all interconnected, and that our thoughts are very powerful, says Scilla, the youthful 77-year-old peace builder and author of The Business Plan for Peace: Building a World Without War (2017), which, in the words of Nobel Peace Laureate and civil-rights activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu, demonstrates  steadily and sensibly  how anyone can develop this inner power to build their own personal contribution to the future, and to a world that works for all.

It was a similar motivation that led Scilla to set up The Oxford Research Group (ORG) almost 40 years ago to facilitate effective dialogue between nuclear decision-makers and nuclear disarmament activists. The result was path-breaking work for which Scilla and ORG were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988, 1989 and 1991.

Scilla was also the force behind Peace Direct, a nonprofit launched in 2002 to fund, promote and learn from local peace-builders in conflict areas. In 2003, she received the Niwano Peace Prize in Tokyo for promoting nonviolent methods of resolving conflict.

Born in 1943 in the town of Galashiels in Scotland as the youngest of five siblings, Scilla was energetic and outspoken as a little girl. Two incidents stand out for her from childhood. The first was when, at 11, she decided to shoot at the nest of a bird in the woods near her home.

My four elder brothers had taught me to use the shotgun, and I remember how the shells of the egg, the embryo, and the sky-blue feathers of the mother bird fell on me I was so shocked by the violence I was capable of even as a child that I kept the gun away. Thats when I knew that violence was unacceptable, she says.

Scilla narrated the second episode, which happened when she was 13, in her TED talk that has garnered over 1.4 million views: It was 1956. I was watching a grainy old black-and-white television, and I saw these visuals of Soviet tanks crushing young people in Budapest. I ran up to my room and began packing my bags. When my mother asked me what I was doing, I said, I am going to Budapest, theres something horrible happening there and I have go to! though I had no idea where Budapest was.

Scillas mother managed to handle the situation and encouraged Scillas education in the direction of social sciences.

After completing higher studies at Trinity College, Dublin, Scilla had an eventful youth: she got a pilots licence, married, moved to South Africa, had a daughter, and became an advocate for racial equality.

Her approach was always action-oriented  from founding the first multi-racial theatre in South Africa, to setting up a minority-rights group in France to writing a report on female genital mutilation that led the World Health Organization to launch a campaign to eradicate the practice.

Everywhere Scilla went, she noticed that women are underrepresented but very powerful at the grassroots. This observation led her to launch Rising Women Rising World in 2013. The intention was to identify women who had sufficiently strong biographies so that they could be in positions of decision-making, and to get them into round-tables where peace agreements were being drawn up, says Scilla.

Research has found that when women are part of the peace negotiation between warring parties, the agreement lasts decades longer, and yet only a tiny percentage of peace treaties are drawn up with women negotiators or signatories in the room.

Scilla believes women make better peace negotiators than men because  unlike men in positions of authority who bargain for maximum assets or profit from the deal  women represent those who are suffering the trauma of war and negotiate for their care and compensation. Feminine intelligence is all that is needed to break the cycle of violence, she says.

Scilla launched her initiative FemmeQ to awaken this feminine intelligence in both men and women because she believed that was the only way to achieve the UNs sustainable development goals. She has been conducting workshops and train-the-trainer sessions for the past few years.

On January 2, 2020, she awoke with a strong feeling that something big and threatening was coming towards us. Getting into action, she decided to put down all her learnings of the past 50 years of peace-work into a small book, The Mighty Heart (2020).

She also developed workshops based on the concepts in the book. There is a time in our lives when we are faced with a crisis. Thats when we have to develop a mighty heart to be able to take a stand and have a courageous conversation, and to do it in a way that doesnt provoke more antagonism, she says, adding,

Growing a mighty heart means you are giving of your skills instead of trying to take what you can in terms of profit. She urges people to spend at least 20 minutes a day on inner work to develop peace and calm within themselves. Those who have faced their own fear and inner critic are the ones who can develop presence in a crisis, she says.

In 2016, Scilla met the Dalai Lama at a conference in Brussels. After listening to her speak about the outlines of her new book  why war continues, how peace can be built, what it will cost, and who can do it  he stood up and announced to the packed hall: We need individuals like Dr Elworthy to start to the work of preventing war. This has been my personal dream for many years.

That book, The Business Plan for Peace (2017), is now a full-time project and Scilla is putting her vision into action once again, working with governments and organisations around the world.

Having visited India in 1997 to unsuccessfully negotiate disarmament with the countrys leaders, Scilla doesnt hold out too much hope on the governments of India and Pakistan being able to arrive at any sort of peace agreement in the near future. Instead, she hopes enough youth on both sides will stand up for an end to conflict.

If the aim is the prevention of armed violence, then it doesnt matter what weaponry or how many soldiers you have. What matters is how many capable young people are available and motivated to make this happen  youth and women with a sense of fearlessness and independence, she says.

She goes on with a word of caution: Of course, sometimes, when you take a stance for nonviolence and peace, you can be vulnerable. But be unafraid. The heart is much stronger than the mind if you give it half a chance.

She points towards Gandhis moral courage in standing up to an empire, and says there are still lessons from his life that can be relevant today, the most important of which is to work for a greater cause. The highest attribute of a human being is to be in service, she avers.

That sounds like something a Bodhisattva would say.

Hear Dr Scilla Elworthy speak at eShes Indo-Pak Peace Summit Led by Women on January 16. Schedule and registration here.

First published in eShes January 2021 issue

Wayne LaPierre, NRA vice president and CEO, attends the NRA annual meeting of members in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 27, 2019. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

National Rifle Association Leaves New York for Texas by Filing for Bankruptcy

The National Rifle Association (NRA) announced Friday that it plans to leave New York by filing for bankruptcy and reincorporating in Texas.

The NRA has more than 5 million members nationwide and seeks to protect Second Amendment rights. The NRA was chartered as a nonprofit in New York in 1871 and is incorporated in the state. It is headquartered in Virginia. Going forward, the NRA said a committee will study opportunities to relocate segments of its operations to Texas and elsewhere.

Today, the NRA announced a restructuring plan that positions us for the long-term and ensures our continued success as the nations leading advocate for constitutional freedomfree from the toxic political environment of New York, NRA vice president and CEO Wayne LaPierre said in a statement.

The plan can be summed up quite simply: We are DUMPING New York, and we are pursuing plans to reincorporate the NRA in Texas.  This plan represents a pathway to opportunity, growth and progress.

The Lone Star state has some 400,000 NRA members. LaPierre said the organization plans to hold its annual convention in Houston later this year.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, welcomed the NRA in a Twitter post. Welcome to Texasa state that safeguards the 2nd Amendment, he wrote.

LaPierre said that no major changes are expected to the organization operations or workforce. The move to Texas involved the NRA and a subsidiary filing voluntary chapter 11 petitions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division.

As you may know, chapter 11 proceedings are often utilized by businesses, nonprofits and organizations of all kinds to streamline legal and financial affairs, LaPierre noted.

The announcement comes after New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, sued the NRA in August 2020 over allegations that top executives engaged in diversion of millions of dollars away from the charitable mission of the organization for personal use by senior leadership, awarding contracts to the financial gain of close associates and family, and appearing to dole out lucrative no-show contracts to former employees in order to buy their silence and continued loyalty.

The NRA said in announcing the exit from New York that the organization was in its strongest financial condition in years.

The NRAs bankruptcy filing listed between $100 million and $500 million in assets and between $100 million and $500 million in liabilities, noted The Associated Press.

In its filing, the NRA said that LaPierre made the decision to file for bankruptcy protection in consultation with a special litigation committee comprised of three NRA officials that was formed in September 2020 to oversee its legal strategies. The NRA board voted Jan. 7 to clarify LaPierres employment agreement, giving him the power to reorganize or restructure the affairs of the organization.

Shortly after the NRA announcement, James said in a Twitter post that while she and her office review the organizations bankruptcy filing, they will not allow the @NRA to use this or any other tactic to evade accountability or oversight.

President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 8 said he will defeat the NRA while hes in office.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
On Thursday, French Prime Minister Jean Castex and Health Minister Olivier Veran unveiled health measures decided by President Emmanuel Macron at a national security meeting the day before.

There is overwhelming public support for a full lockdown to stop the hurricane of COVID-19 deaths sweeping across Europe. An Elabe poll found 83 percent of French people expected a lockdown, and 75 percent preferred a lockdown to a 6 p.m. evening curfew. Despite the torrent of media propaganda opposing a lockdown as a threat to corporate profits, 52 percent preferred a nationwide to several regional lockdowns.

A nurse holds a phone while a COVID-19 patient speaks with his family from the intensive care unit at the Joseph Imbert Hospital Center in Arles, southern France, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020 [Credit: AP Photo/Daniel Cole]

Nonetheless, trampling upon public opinion, the government decided to only impose a nationwide 6 p.m. curfew, keeping open schools and nonessential industries. With Health Ministry statistics showing that two-thirds of COVID-19 transmission occurs in schools and workplaces, this guarantees that mass infections will escalateeven as the far more contagious British variant of the coronavirus spreads across Europe.

The policies of the European Union (EU) and of Macron, endorsed by union bureaucracies who signed to approve multitrillion-euro bank and corporate bailouts, are politically criminal. It is ever more apparent to masses of working people that their lives count for nothing in Macrons calculations. Only independent action by the working class can impose a scientifically grounded policy to stop the pandemic.

At the conference, Castex began, We are today a bit above 15,000 daily cases, that is three times the goal of 5,000 daily infections we had set ourselves. He also reported 2,500 daily admissions to hospital due to COVID-19. He said the situation in France is better than in several neighboring statesincluding Britain, which is devastated by the new strain, and Germany, which now sees over 1,000 daily deaths, compared to around 400 in France.

In fact, what is taking place is an international catastrophe. Europe this week passed the mark of 600,000 COVID-19 deaths, after seeing the 300,000 mark reached on November 12, 400,000 on November 28 and 500,000 on December 22. With approximately 100,000 people dying in Europe every three weeks, the number of deaths in Europe could easily reach one million this winter. Even if the pandemic did not accelerate in France, it would see nearly a half million cases, 75,000 hospitalizations, and 12,000 deaths in January alone.

Nevertheless, Professor Jean-Francois Delfraissy, who heads the National Scientific Council, insisted, We are not in an extreme emergency situation. While noting that there would be three difficult months and that the situation would only improve after the summer, Delfraissy opposed a lockdown. We recommend continuing the return to school. We think that data on the spread of the English virus are not clear enough to push us to close the schools.

Castex and Veran therefore insisted thatwhile keeping sites like restaurants, bars, gyms, and artistic venues closedschools and nonessential industrial production should stay open. Castex in effect argued that halting the virus is less important than vaccinations: We can now count on a more powerful weapon, the vaccine, which is our main source of hope to exit from this crisis.

Vaccination in France is disastrously slow, however. The Macron government became a global laughingstock when it emerged that only 5,000 people had been vaccinated in France by January 6. Castex hailed this delaydue to focusing vaccinations on rest homes and imposing a lengthy procedure to obtain consent, ostensibly to respect elderly residents with dementiaas a choice to respect the principles and priorities set by the National Health Authority.

While admitting to not having todays figures on vaccinations, Veran pledged, We are aiming for one million people vaccinated by the end of January. He said vaccines would be made available to all those over age 75. However, even if the Macron government attains this pace, this still means that around 66 million people in France would not be vaccinated and would still be at risk.

Based on this contempt for public well-being, Castex rejected a lockdown: Throughout the country, a curfew will go into effect starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday, for at least 15 days This aims to further reduce social contact at night but allow continued economic activity, education and movements during the day.

Castex made clear that he would not allow school closures, as this would disrupt the economy by keeping parents from working. With schools fully open, he said universities will reopen to first-year students for smaller classes, and then gradually to the entire student body. He said: The closure of schools can be considered only in the last extremity. I know certain countries did this. My position is that, in effect, the health situation must be very serious to close schools, as we know the consequencesincluding health consequencesof closing schools are horrific.

The Macron regimes staggering indifference to mass deaths testifies to an increasingly fascistic character. While Castex claims the situation is not very serious, and Delfraissy denies there is extreme emergency, over 100,000 people die each month in Europe of COVID-19.

The governments argument that the British variant of the coronavirus does not pose enough of a threat to take serious action is a lie contradicted by scientists. Already, they estimate that around two percent of infections in France are from the new variant, which is 50-70 percent more contagious and has led to a surge of deaths in Britain. This proportion rises to six percent in the Paris area, five percent in the Marseille region, and three percent in the Lyon region.

Epidemiologist Vittoria Colizza bluntly said, We will need stricter measures. She explained: The situation will very rapidly become quite critical. As this variant is more contagious, it could become dominant by March We must act starting now, because by then the incidence will be extremely high and the circulation of the virus will be far harder to control.

Epidemiologist Pascal Crepey said, There is the impression that the epidemic is under control, but the British variant will change that. Calling for 100,000 vaccinations per daythree times the speed Veran proposedhe added, The campaign really must speed up If there are supply problems, we should vaccinate until we run out. Vaccines are more effective in patients arms than in refrigerators.

Averting an even greater disaster requires the political mobilization of the working class. Mass wildcat strikes spreading from Italy across Spain, France, Britain and beyond in the spring of 2020 imposed lockdowns that nearly stopped transmission of the virus. However, the premature exit from lockdowns in Mayafter which EU governments set up no effective system to identify, test and trace contacts for COVID-19 casesallowed for its mass resurgence.

At that time, EU states insisted that lockdowns economic cost was too high, citing the impact on small business. This has been exposed as a fraud, aiming to give a false veneer of popularity to a policy of enriching the financial aristocracy. To keep COVID-19 from totally swamping hospitals, the state has closed small businesses while nonessential industrial production was kept open to pump profits to the banks and major corporations, who received 2 trillion in EU bailouts.

Halting the resurgence of the virus requires the formation of independent, rank-and-file safety committees in workplaces and schools, independent of the unions, and the building of an international political movement in the working class for socialism. Power, including the power to determine health policy, must go from a bankrupt and failed ruling elite to the working class, so that the full resources of society can be used to address critical social needs like stopping the pandemic.
Festive spirit could be felt in the air at Castlehyde House, County Cork when Michael Flatley presented Mary Gamble of Barnardos with a 3,600 cheque.

The funds were raised from the sale of a limited edition print of one of Michael Flatleys paintings that was donated by the world renowned dancer.

The auction of the print was conducted pro bono by auctioneer Michael Sheppard of Sheppards Irish Auction House in Durrow, County Laois.

Wed like to say a huge thank you to Michael Flatley for his support of Barnardos with this sale, said director of fundraising at Barnardos Mary Gamble.

A wonderful 3,600 was raised to help support vulnerable children and families across Ireland. Every day, Barnardos works in communities across the country to build better futures for the children and families who need us most. Last year alone we worked with over 21,000 children and their families, but there are many more that need our help.

This year, in light of the current crisis, our services were in more demand than ever, she added. For many, 2020 has been a year harder than any they have ever experienced before. With the support of Michael we can continue to be there for those that need us most.

Thanks to this wonderful donation, we can now provide 250 hours of early years support to help vulnerable children be school ready as well as providing over 500 hot meals for children attending those services.
Fr Michael Commane: "I can well imagine it's a lonely ministry being a bishop. Dealing with priests can't be the easiest of jobs!"

Diarmuid Martin is about to hand over his episcopal baton to his successor Dermot Farrell, though of course, he remains an archbishop.

Readers of this column, who attend Mass, will be aware that in the Eucharistic Prayer the priest prays for the pope and the bishop of the diocese. It is a long and wholesome tradition that the assembled people pray for their bishop and the pope.

It's a lovely reminder of the unity of the community and it is also a prayer of hope that in spite of all our differences we are in unity with our bishop and pope. No, not that we are nodding the head in subservient obedience, rather that the unity of people, with their bishop and pope help us on our pilgrimage or journey, that ultimately leads us to God.

So for example at Mass in the Catholic Diocese of Ferns people pray for their bishop Denis, in Kerry they pray for Raymond and in the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin people pray for their archbishop Diarmuid.

A new man, Dermot Farrell has been appointed to Dublin. So once he's installed as archbishop we'll be moving from Diarmuid to Dermot.

In his 16 years as archbishop in Dublin Diarmuid Martin made it a priority of his ministry to clean up the long sad legacy of clerical child sex abuse in the diocese. It was by no means an easy job. He was a most competent church leader, who also performed well on radio and television and had no problem answering difficult questions, honestly.

Over the last 10 years or so I have met Diarmuid Martin a number of times. On every occasion I found the man interesting and engaging. Maybe because both of us have an interest in things German made it easier for us to converse.

On one visit when I thought I might get 15 minutes of his time, we spent an hour chatting. And on another occasion, when I called on him for advice I found him most helpful and indeed decisive.

At least from my perspective I got the impression that he had an inspiring and forward-looking understanding of the role of the church in the world in which we live.

I can well imagine it's a lonely ministry being a bishop. Dealing with priests can't be the easiest of jobs!

That reminds me of hearing a story about a well-known priest in Dublin, who having fallen out with Diarmuid Martin, never again mentioned his name at Mass.

And no doubt Diarmuid Martin was not everyone's favourite person, certainly not the priest who stopped mentioning his name at Mass. But from my own personal experience I found him a fine man and he was certainly always polite and kind to me. I never had any inhibition telling him exactly what I thought and I felt he appreciated that.

I wish him every joy and happiness on his new journey. Diarmuid, thank you for your listening ear and kindness.

And thank you too for your leadership as archbishop during often difficult times.
 Flash

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Friday that Britain will close all travel corridors to the country from 0400 GMT on Monday in a bid to keep out new coronavirus variants.

Britain "will temporarily close all travel corridors from 0400 on Monday," to "protect against the risk of as yet unidentified new strains", the prime minister said at a virtual press conference at Downing Street.

The new measure means that travellers entering the country must have proof of a negative COVID-19 test in previous 72 hours.

Anyone arriving in Britain must quarantine for 10 days or they have the choice of doing an extra test on day five to shorten the isolation, Johnson said.

"What we don't want to see is all that hard work undone by the arrival of a new variant that is vaccine busting," he said.

The prime minister made the remarks after Britain on Thursday banned arrivals from South America, Portugal and some other countries over fears about a strain of the virus detected in Brazil.

The new rules will be in place until at least Feb. 15, he said.

Meanwhile, Johnson said 3.2 million people across Britain have received vaccines.

He said that his government was stepping up the enforcement of travel quarantine rules at the border and in the country.

"It's precisely because we have the hope of that vaccine and the risk of new strains coming from overseas that we must take additional steps now to stop those strains from entering the country," he said.

The pressures on the National Health Service (NHS) are "extraordinary" and it would be "fatal" to show complacency now, he said.

"This is not the time for the slightest relaxation of our national resolve," Johnson said, urging the public to stay at home.

Joining Johnson for the press conference, Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty said the coronavirus infections may have already peaked in some regions of the country.

"We are seeing some levelling off" thanks to "enormous efforts" by Britons, he said.

However, he said the peak of deaths is likely to be in the future due to the delay in hospitalization.

The British government's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance also said the restriction measures in place must remain in place to suppress the figures.

England is currently under the third national lockdown since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Britain's coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number, is estimated at between 1.2 and 1.3, compared with last week's one and 1.4, the British government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said Friday.

If the R number is above one, it means the number of cases will increase exponentially.

According to SAGE, the R number varies in the country. It has gone down slightly in London, the South East and South West, as well as the North East and Yorkshire, but it has risen slightly in the East of England, Midlands and North West.

Another 55,761 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,316,019, according to official figures released Friday.

Another 1,280 have died within 28 days of a positive test. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 87,295, the data showed.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 10:01:44|Editor: huaxia

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ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Friday expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia's Tigray region and refugees hosted there.

"I remain extremely troubled by the humanitarian situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and its impact on civilians, in particular Eritrean refugees hosted in the region," Grandi said in a statement.

Grandi also noted "some positive developments" recently in accessing and assisting vulnerable populations, including the transport and distribution of food to some 25,000 Eritrean refugees in the Mai-Aini and Adi Harush camps in Tigray.

He said the UNHCR and partners carried out a rapid assessment mission last week at the two camps with the Ethiopian Agency for Refugee and Returnee Affairs and have been able to start restoring the water supply and limited health services.

UNHCR and partners "have not yet had any access to the Shimelba and Hitsats refugee camps since the start of the law and order operation two months ago."

"I am very worried for the safety and well-being of Eritrean refugees in those camps. They have been without any aid for many weeks," Grandi said.

Reports of additional military incursions over the last 10 days are consistent with open source satellite imagery showing new fires burning and other fresh signs of destruction at the two camps, the UNHCR chief said.

Last month, the Ethiopian government affirmed that the recently concluded military operation in Ethiopia's conflict-hit Tigray regional state "was not a direct threat to the Eritrean refugees" residing within and outside refugee camps in the region.

Noting that the East African country has "a very long and cherished history of hospitality and generosity" to people who are forcibly displaced due to man-made and natural calamities, the state of emergency task force stressed that the Ethiopian government is presently providing protection to nearly 1 million refugees mainly from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan, who are being hosted across 26 camps and non-camp locations.

The Ethiopia refugee operation is now home to nearly 200,000 Eritrean refugees across the country, most of them are mainly sheltered in Tigray and Afar regional states as well as in the capital, Addis Ababa, according to figures from the Ethiopian government. Enditem
While the World Health Organisation (WHO) team landed in Wuhan, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on January 15 alleged that there was COVID-like illness among staff at a Chinese virology institute in autumn 2019. In a press statement, the top US Official again blamed Beijing for the outbreak of the deadly virus and urged the WHO to press the government of China on the new information. The 15-member international team of the health experts had arrived in China on Thursday and they are taken with probing into the origins of the lethal coronavirus infection that has killed nearly two billion people across the globe.

Pompeo said, The United States government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the (Wuhan Institute of Virology) became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both Covid-19 and common seasonal illnesses.

READ: Pompeo Offers Burst Of Actions, Attacks Before Leaving State

Further, he said that this contradicted reports that none of the staff at the institute had contracted COVID-19 or related virus. Pompeo added that Beijing continues to withhold vital information that scientists need to protect the world from this deadly virus, and the next one. The top US diplomat also claimed that the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which presents itself as a civilian institute, has collaborated on publications and secret projects with Chinas military.

The WIV has engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017, Pompeo said.

READ: Pompeo Cancels Europe Trip Citing Biden Transition After Luxembourg Snub

Two WHO members test positive

The unprecedented coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019 and since it has infected tens of millions of people across the globe. The Trump administration has repeatedly blamed China for the outbreak with the President routinely calling it the China Virus. WHO, on the other hand, has said that establishing the pathway of the virus from animals to humans is essential to preventing future outbreaks.

Meanwhile, upon arrival in Wuhan, two members of the international team have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies. According to WHO, the 15-member team had undergone COVID-19 tests in their home countries prior to leaving for Wuhan, however, upon reaching Singapore, two members of the team tested positive for Immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies, but negative for PCR. WHO has said that the two scientists are still in Singapore undergoing tests for COVID-19 for both IgM and IgG antibodies.

READ: Mike Pompeo Reacts To China Embassy's Xinjiang 'emancipation' Tweet After Massive Flak

READ: Pompeo Hits Iran For Al-Qaida Support On His Way Out

By Patrick J. Diegnan, Jr.

Last week, when I was standing with Gov. Phil Murphy at the graduation ceremony for 17 new train engineers, I thought to myself that it was high time to call attention to the progress achieved under the leadership of state Department of Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti and NJ Transit President Kevin Corbett. People are rightfully frustrated by the challenges facing New Jersey transportation, however, it is important to recognize that Gov. Phil Murphy inherited a department that had been ignored by the prior administration.

Its impossible to ignore how far the agency has come. Despite the horrific impacts of COVID-19 on NJ Transit and its workforce, this progress is undeniable  and nothing short of remarkable. Last year alone, NJ Transit achieved three significant milestones. In June, the agency launched its first-ever 10-Year Strategic Plan and 5-Year Capital Plan  two comprehensive documents that finally provide a long-term strategic vision and roadmap that will guide the agency over the next decade.

Last month, NJ Transit achieved what few thought possible in 2018: The successful certification of its Positive Train Control system, before the Dec. 31, 2020 deadline. Forty-one U.S. railroads were subject to the Federal Railroad Administrations (FRA) statutory mandate to certify their projects by that date, but FRA Administrator Ron Batory attended only one certification ceremony  NJ Transits  to commend what was, by all accounts, an extraordinary come from behind accomplishment and victory.

In addition, anyone who regularly travels into New York City knows about the infamous Portal North Bridge. For far too long, this unreliable, 111-year-old swing bridge has been getting stuck in the open position  causing endless delays and frustration for riders.

NJ Transit has spent the past three years pushing aggressively to replace this bridge, and the result may be the agencys crowning achievement  a Full Funding Grant Agreement from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), which includes a nearly $800 million commitment to fund a new Portal North Bridge. Estimated at $1.8 billion, this project will not only improve reliability on the Northeast Corridor for the hundreds of thousands of people commuting between Washington D.C. and Boston every day, it will generate thousands of jobs and spur economic growth throughout our great state and the region.

Portal North is hardly the only previously long-stalled project weve heard about that NJ Transit is advancing. Since 2018, the agency has advanced $2.3 billion in capital projects, which  including the Portal North Bridge  adds up to more than $4 billion in construction work that will significantly improve reliability and the customer experience, while playing a major role in New Jerseys economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. As a point of contrast, in 2017 NJ Transit had just $60 million of hard-money construction contracts on the street.

The agency has likewise focused on staffing, technology and equipment to improve the quality of customer communications and the commuting experience. Since 2018, NJ Transit has graduated more than 920 bus operators, and with the next graduating class in the spring, it will have a full roster of more than 390 train engineers. This is quite the turnaround from suffering a net loss of 61 engineers during the previous administration.

NJ Transit also has more than 100 new multilevel rail cars on order, and more than 300 new buses were either delivered last year or are on order. This includes eight electric buses for a pilot program that will begin later this year.

Finally, NJ Transits response to the COVID-19 pandemic was early and aggressive. The response was focused on the health and safety of both customers and employees. They have leveraged technology to upgrade their mobile app so a customer can now see how full their bus or train is before they board. This allows for the maximum level of social distancing onboard their vehicles.

To be clear, there is still much work to be done at NJ Transit. The agency must continue to improve reliability and on-time performance and follow through on deliverables laid out in its new 10-year strategic plan, including increasing service on its most congested bus routes, improving accessibility, and continuing to advance its net-zero emissions bus program. But while NJ Transit certainly deserves criticism when its warranted, it also deserves credit when its earned.

State Senator Patrick J. Diegnan, Jr. represents the 18th Legislative District, which is comprised of several municipalities in Middlesex County.

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Residents of Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, are required to keep staying at home until Jan. 19 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to the city's epidemic prevention and control headquarters office.

Previously, all residents in Shijiazhuang and the neighboring Xingtai City were asked to stay at home for seven days after citywide nucleic acid testing was completed a week ago.

In Xingtai, residents except for those in Nangong are allowed to resume life and production order from Saturday, as all samples collected from two rounds of citywide nucleic acid testings were negative in Xingtai except in the county-level city of Nangong, according to the COVID-19 prevention and control office of Xingtai.

By the end of Thursday, there were 553 locally transmitted confirmed cases and two imported cases being treated in hospitals in Hebei, mostly in Shijiazhuang and Xingtai.
PARIS (Reuters) - A top French general in West Africa has dismissed calls for his country to engage more in Central African Republic (CAR) after rebels earlier this week attempted to take the capital Bangui, saying that the situation was different to a rebellion in 2013.

The Central African army has been battling groups backed by former president Francois Bozize that are seeking to overturn a Dec. 27 vote in which President Faustin-Archange Touadera was declared victor despite fraud claims.

Russia and Rwanda have sent troops to back the government. A separate U.N. peacekeeping mission also operates in the country, but France, which until 2016 had some 2,000 troops in the country, has remained largely in the background during the latest fighting.

France, the former colonial power, sent troops in December 2013 to try to end a cycle of tit-for-tat killing that began when mainly Muslim Seleka fighters toppled Bozize, prompting reprisals by Christian anti-Balaka militias.

"We are not in the same situation as 2013. There are 11,000 men ... belonging to the MINUSCA (U.N. peacekeeping mission) and the Central African army so the conditions are not the same," General Jean-Pierre Perrin, who heads up a French military base in neighbouring Gabon, said during a visit to Bangui on Friday.

"Mr Bozize's adventure has no future," he told reporters.

Paris still has about 300 soldiers working in CAR as part of a European military training mission and last week carried out fighter jet flyovers to warn rebels advancing on the capital.

Perrin dismissed suggestions that Paris was being usurped by Russia in CAR.

"Those on social media trying to split the relationship between France and CAR or oppose us to its other partners, including Russia, are neither France or CAR's friends," he said, adding that he had held talks with Russia's most senior general in CAR.

(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Frances Kerry)


A former Goldeman Sachs intern has shared details from her 'internship from hell' with the finance firm, describing 16-hour work days, a 'cutthroat' environment, and the humiliation of not having her own desk.

Emily, who is originally from California but now lives in Tokyo, broke down the 'traumatic' experience in Goldman Sachs' New York Securities Division, which she called the 'Internship From Hell.'

'The whole summer felt like a huge experiment/boot camp/interview to see who could come out on top and who was most competitive and most cutthroat,' she said in a lengthy YouTube video.

'Traumatic': Emily, a former Goldman Sachs employee from California who now lives in Tokyo, shared a lengthy video about her internship with the company

Emily admitted that she relives the 'trauma' of the summer of 2016 every time she retells the story of her internship, but she hopes her story is 'helpful and enlightening' to current college students who think they want to work in finance.

So far, her video has been watched over 205,000 times.

She explained that during the summer before her senior year, she landed a competitive internship in the arm of Goldman Sachs responsible for stocks and trading.

She was among many: There were 200 interns who were rising college seniors in the New York office in that division alone, as well as another 50 who were rising college juniors.

All of them were there to learn, but more importantly, to compete for a handful of job openings.

'That whole summer was just a ten-week interview,' she said.

The first of the ten weeks was reserved for orientation, which was held at the firm's office in New Jersey.

Long hours: She said interns were expected to be there first, so she would arrive at 5:40am  but she'd stay until 9:30pm

When the training session wrapped for the day around 3pm, she and the other interns would have to 'cross the river' to the Manhattan office, which Emily considered a burden.

Goldman's office in NYC's Financial District is an eight-minute ferry ride from its Jersey City office, with three minutes of walking on either end.

Back in New York, the interns had to meet and network with employees to build connections  because soon they would be applying to intern on individual teams for three three-week rotations.

'HR did not assign our rotations. We had to fight for them,' Emily said.

At the end of the training week, interns ranked their top choices for rotations  and were ranked in turn by employees  before getting matched on a team.

But once they landed on their first rotation and started working, they already had to find time to network for their second.

'You have a bunch of work to do for the team, you have a bunch of learning to do because you don't know jack s*** about finance, you have a project  like presentation  that you have to present at the end of your three-week rotation that you need to work on outside of your regular work hours,' she said.

Tough: She complained that during training, they had to move between offices and network for specific teams to interview on

Buys busy: She said that throughout the ten-week program, interns had to learn, do work, complete internship projects, and network daily

'And at the same time you have to fight with people for your next rotation.'

Emily said other interns would 'backstab' each other to try to score coveted spots.

Once they landed on their second rotation, they would do it all again: work for the team, learn, work on a presentation, and network for the next rotation.

'The intensity of the cutthroat competitiveness just skyrocketed in the third rotation, those last three weeks,' she said.

The entire thing was 'exhausting.'

Emily was also put out by the added humiliation of wearing a name tag throughout her internship.

'The best part was, all of the interns had to wear a name tag every single day for the entire summer. It was like wearing a big L on your face,' she said.

While the name tags identified people as interns, they also gave employees power to complain about them: Emily said that any employee who interacted in any way with an intern could write a note to HR, which would deduct 'points' from the intern's score.

An experience: Emily complained that interns did not have their own desks and had to wear name tags every day, calling the internship 'traumatic'

Another indignity, she said, was that interns didn't get their own desks.

'A lot of the times we didn't have a proper desk on the trading floor,' she said. 'We just got a stool. Like a plastic stool ... where we could sit behind people and shadow them.'

But the worst part seems to have been the legitimately long hours, leaving interns stressed and short on sleep.

'Because you're the intern, you have to show your willingness and hard work and initiative, and you have to come to the office before anyone else does,' she said.

'I came to the office  this still hurts me, to this day  I came at 5:40 in the morning. I arrived at the office before the sun came up.

'You end up working on your project after work hours,' she went on. 'So everyone leaves at 6 or 7 or 8pm, and then you say until like 9:30 or 10 to work on your project.

'I would come to the office at 5:40 in the morning and then I would leave at 9:30pm and I literally did not see the sun.'

She would be so exhausted that she often skipped showering to get just a few more minutes of sleep, and said others behaved similarly. Meanwhile, everyone was stressed and gained a lot of weight because they stress-ate.

A little longer: She took a job with them but has since quit, and still harbors negative feelings about the experience

By the end of the internship, she was 'disillusioned' with the whole industry, recalling: 'I was so exhausted and filled with resentment and hatred toward the whole internship process.'

But by then she had already set up a job interview with the Hong Kong team for one of her final days of the internship.

After interviewing with 10 different people  with call times starting at 6:30am New York time, before a full workday, and 10:30pm, after her workday  she didn't feel any better.

We are helping billionaires who want to become ultra-billionaires. So if you really think about that, how meaningful is that?

'Nobody could come up with a decent answer for how their job is meaningful,' she griped, saying that answers ranged from people liking who they worked with to enjoying making a lot of money.

Even one who said he liked helping people didn't change her attitude.

'All these hedge fund people are millionaires or billionaires who have made a lot of money already and want to make even more money,' she said. 'So we are helping billionaires who want to become ultra-billionaires. So if you really think about that, how meaningful is that?'

Still, surprisingly, she ended up taking the job in Hong Kong, deciding not to pass up the opportunity to have her visa approved and her moving costs covered to the tune of $10,000.

She has since quit, and still harbors negative feelings about the experience.

'It is not a pleasant world and I do not recommend it,' she said.
The stay at home lockdown measure appears to be working with confirmation that the key close contacts stat has dropped dramatically since the turn of the year.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, outlined the situation in the daily National Public Health Emergency Team statement on January 15.

We have worked exceptionally hard in recent weeks to reduce our close contacts. At the end of December, the number of close contacts per confirmed case peaked at approximately 6. That has now dropped to 2.3 contacts. This enormous effort is the reason we are seeing case numbers beginning to fall," he said.

Dr Glynn urged the public to continue to stay away from others on a day when NPHET revealed that there were 1,850 COVID-19 patients in hospital of whom 184 were in ICU.

We know that it is extremely difficult to keep our close contacts to a minimum, particularly over an extended period of time. But this is the main way we can protect ourselves and our loved ones from COVID-19. Again today, we are reporting the highest number of people with COVID-19 to date in our hospitals. We must stay home to protect ourselves and each other, he said.

A further 3,498 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were confirmed up to midnight January 14.

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community. As of yesterday, the dashboard includes information on Total Vaccines Administered (1st Dose).
The death has been announced of the Very Rev Brian Moller, a former Dean of Connor

The death has been announced of the Very Rev Brian Moller, a former Dean of Connor.

He was aged 85.

Born in 1935, he was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and was ordained in 1962.

He began his ecclesiastical work as a Curate at St Peter's Belfast in 1961, moving to a curacy at Larne in 1964.

In 1968, he became priest in charge of St Comgall's in Rathcoole, serving there until 1985, when he took over at St Bartholomew's in Stranmillis.

He was made a Canon of Lisburn Cathedral in 1990, and became Dean of Connor in 1998.

Dean Moller retired in 2001. After his retirement he founded the Retired Clergy Association, becoming its first president.

He continued to be active in the association until his death

His friend and colleague Canon Walter Laverty, paid tribute to him last night: "He was a very kind, generous, helpful and warm-hearted person, who had a very wide range of interests.

"A wise and learned person, he will be very badly missed."

A death notice for the late Dean said that his funeral would be strictly private, because of the current restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 emergency

"Remembered and loved always by the entire family circle."

The former Dean is survived by his sons Jeremy and Julian and daughter-in-law of Elaine.

His wife Kay predeceased him.

His family requested no flowers. Donations in memory, if desired, are to Cancer Research NI c/o Gilmore Funeral Directors Ltd, 13 The Square, Comber.
Oregon government workers prepared for possible violence at the state Capitol in the days leading up to Inauguration Day, and preparations included covering the first floor windows of the Capitol with plywood.

The unusual measures pained Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, who said during a press briefing Friday that he was saddened such precautions are necessary. Floor sessions and committee meetings planned for early next week were also cancelled or postponed.

This is really a traumatic thing to have Oregon, which is the most open Capitol in the nation, about to become a fortress, Courtney said, during the briefing organized by the Associated Press.

The ground floor windows of the @OregonCapitol have been boarded up in advance of potentially violent demonstrations over the coming week. #orpol #orleg pic.twitter.com/aJtnMbiJZA  Chris Lehman (@CapitolCurrents) January 15, 2021

State workers had already placed concrete blocks in front of the Capitol when lawmakers met in Salem on Monday so that new and reelected legislators could take their oaths of office.

SALEM, OR - JANUARY 15: A worker walks based a permitter fence set up at the state Capitol on January 15, 2021 in Salem, United States.Oregon Governor Kate Brown mobilized the states National Guard in preparation for far-right protests scheduled at the capitol this weekend. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)Getty Images

Demonstrators opposed to the states COVID-19 public health restrictions, upset that the Capitol is closed to the public during the pandemic and angry that President-elect Joe Biden won the November election gathered in Salem in recent weeks. During a Dec. 21 special session, some people breached the Capitol when a Republican lawmaker opened a door to them. Left-wing demonstrators also clashed with far-right demonstrators on Jan. 6.

Gov. Kate Brown has called up the Oregon National Guard to help respond to possible violence in Salem and potentially other unspecific locations in the coming days.

SALEM, OR - JANUARY 15: A security fence surrounds the state Capitol building on January 15, 2021 in Salem, Oregon. Oregon Governor Kate Brown mobilized the states National Guard in preparation for far-right protests scheduled at the capitol this weekend. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)Getty Images

 Hillary Borrud
Stacker scoured various news outlets and public health resources to ask and answer 30 common questions people have about the COVID-19 vaccines.
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Nearly 70,000 migrant workers in 137 countries awaiting departure By Tharushi Weerasinghe Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment criticised by stranded workers for not using insurance fund to facilitate repatriation View(s): View(s):

As many as 69,000 Sri Lankan migrant workers are awaiting repatriation from 137 countries, with many people pleading with the Government to bring them back to Sri Lanka, due to difficulties they are currently facing.

Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told Parliament last week that so far 61,750 Lankans have been repatriated.

He also revealed that 89 workers have died from the virus. The number that came back from West Asia alone is 31,102. Many of them were affected by the pandemic, he said.

The Minister also admitted that the price of air tickets had risen. He blamed this on various increased costs that airlines had to bear which were passed on to passengers.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) had been instructed by Foreign Employment Minister Priyankara Jayaratne to distribute funds to workers within the next two weeks. These funds were to be given to meet compensation payments to cover repatriation expenses of migrant workers.

When workers do not have banks accounts that we can transfer the money to, we will be organising common pickup locations for towns and even doorstep distribution will be done to dispense the funds over the next two weeks, he said.

The SLBFE had recently been criticised by stranded workers for not using its insurance fund to facilitate repatriation. However, SLBFE General Manager and Spokesperson Mangala Randeniya said, the insurance and welfare funds of the Bureau can only legally be released to workers registered with the Bureau who were not able to obtain their return ticket from their employer as per the employment contract they signed.

In most instances, this happened because the employee had unanimously violated the contract with the employer for various reasons. Especially in West Asia, the employer was contractually obligated to pay for the employees return ticket when the contract was legally terminated.

However, some employees abandoned their contracts once abroad in pursuit of other jobs. The Bureau had systems in place to facilitate such a change. Nevertheless, many workers elude the system and switch jobs without following due protocol, as there was documentation and cancellation charges involved.

When an employee breached their contract and took up a job without an official release signature from their contractual employer, they lost the legal right to be employed under another employer thereby making their employment illegal in a certain sense. This then exempted the second employer from any responsibility, such as paying for the return ticket, Mr. Randeniya said.

A valid justification was required for the violation of contract by the employee. There were mechanisms in place to assist workers who were subject to harassment and other difficulties, Mr. Randeniya continued: There are provisions in place to safeguard our workers who are genuinely in difficult situations.

A reasonable time allocation of five years was also being provided for the workers to lodge any complaints and request a change of employer. Workers whose contract violations fall out of the legal framework of the Bureau were those that had been illegally employed for over five years. The Bureau could only release funds to those workers who fall into the legal framework of the Bureaus processes.

Even so workers have only been asked to pay for their tickets home, the quarantine facilities have been provided free of charge in new centers set up in army training centers, he said. He added that the Bureau understood that still meant some workers would have to expend all their savings to return.

He told the Sunday Times the State Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion was in the process of setting up a mechanism to expedite the process and compensate workers regardless of their legal status. Funds from the treasury would be used for these processes and there was currently no ceiling on the value that could be spent for the return of these workers. Workers were being misled by influential personalities, Mr. Randeniya also said. While noting that these workers were the Governments responsibility, he said the violations of terms of contract by the workers results in delays.

We will protect and take care of our workers even the ones who have violated their contracts and international regulations but we are currently unable to fit them into the welfare schemes that are in existence, but we are working on it as we speak, he said.

Every worker that wished to be brought back would be brought back reassures the SLBFE.

We will honour every migrant worker for their contribution to this countrys foreign exchange irrespective of their legal status, said Mr. Randeniya. He said this would be done carefully, while keeping the well-being of the local community in mind.

In addition to the expenses, a compensation of Rs. 500,000 was also being distributed to the families of migrant workers who had passed away abroad. Twenty-five such claims had been honoured so far.

B. Kandeepan, Director General and Head of the Foreign Ministrys COVID team said there were two aspects to the issue of people entering the country  the approval and the booking. Anyone entering the country needed the approval of the Foreign Ministry, the Sri Lankan Missions abroad and the General Service Agents of accommodations and airlines.

Four types of flights were currently operative. Scheduled commercial flights transport people generally bring home people that opt for government quarantine, which was completely free. Any returnees coming into government quarantine only had to bear the cost of their plane ticket. The other types include charter and cargo flights which most people book separately as groups under special requests. Returnees using this method opt for the paid quarantine option which means that they would also pay for the mandatory on arrival PCR test that would be administered. The on-arrival PCR test and the 12th day PCR tests were both free of charge for the passengers that use the government quarantine option.

The last type of flight was known as a mercy flight only two of which had been operating since the beginning of the pandemic.

Sixty-three thousand people had been repatriated since the pandemic began. This number included forty-one thousand migrant workers.

Approximately ten scheduled commercial flights come into Sri Lanka per week. The number of scheduled commercial flights was subject to change based on the domestic situation in the country. The second wave had temporarily slowed the number of flights down but things were back on track now, according to the Director.

A majority of the unemployed migrant workers had been brought back with the total figure coming close upon ten thousand workers. Some had continued abroad on concessions like half-pay and the SLBFE had procured extensions of contracts for some. Over 40,000 migrant workers had been brought back so far and over 40,000 more were awaiting repatriation.

Pix by T K G Kapila
Trump may be on trial, but the system that produced him will be acquitted

By Jonathan Cook

January 16, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - It is a fitting end to four years of Donald Trump in the White House.

On one side, Trumps endless stoking of political grievances  and claims that Novembers presidential election was stolen from him  spilled over last week into a mob storming the US Capitol. They did so in the forlorn hope of disrupting the certification process of the electoral college vote, which formally declared his opponent, Joe Biden, the winner.

On the other side, the Democratic party instituted a second, unprecedented impeachment process this week, in the slightly less forlorn hope that Trump leaves office disgraced and humiliated, foreclosing any possibility he can run again in 2024.

Barely concealing its alliance with the incoming Biden administration, Silicon Valley has shut down Trumps social media megaphone. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has lobbied the joint chiefs of staff to cut an unhinged Trump out of the chain of command, in a move that was reportedly rejected out of hand by Pentagon officials because, they told the New York Times, it would amount to a military coup.

And Biden, who boasts that he was the author the Patriot Act years before 9/11, has been touting a new domestic terrorism bill, as though the US did not already have a plethora of ways to crack down on dissent, of both the legitimate and the illegitimate varieties.

With this as the backdrop, Washington DC is designating the inauguration of Biden next week a national special security event.

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Authoritarian tribes

All this is not just the latest sign that the US political system has degenerated into tawdry theatre. It is growing evidence that US politics is devolving into a permanent confrontation between two authoritarian tribes. Both are convinced that the other side is un-American, perverting the true republic. Both are unwilling to compromise, believing they share no common ground. And ultimately both are fighting for a rotten cause.

This is not a divide between ethical and unethical politics. This clash is now a bitter grudge match. It is civil war by other means. Not only is the chasm between these rival camps widening, but the real criminals are making off  as they always do  with the loot.

Each tribe has been coalescing for a while now around a centre of gravity. On the Republican side that became clear with the emergence of the Tea Party and the birther movement during Barack Obamas tenure. But it took Trumps election as president in 2016 to create a proper oppositional centre of gravity on the other side.

Those in the Democrat tribe who now disdain Trump and his supporters for their desperate refusal to accept Novembers result overlook how they greeted Trumps victory in 2016. They struggled to accept the legitimacy of that outcome too, even if they did not resort to the overt violence of the mob at the Capitol.

It began with arguments that, while Trump might have won the electoral college vote, he lost the popular vote. Four years ago, the electoral college also faced self-serving accusations that it had disenfranchised the majority.

The Democrat tribe took to the streets as well, in protest marches in cities across the US under the banner of the Resistance, denying Trump was their president. That was understandable, given his personal behaviour and the policies he advocated. But it did not end there.

Russian conspiracies

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The disavowal of the Trump presidency quickly regressed into a dangerous narrative  one that has never properly gone away, despite the dearth of evidence to support it. The claim was not only that the Russians interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump win, but that Trump himself had actively colluded with Russia to steal the election from his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Anything that had damaged Clinton  including emails showing that the Democratic leadership rigged its own primaries to make sure she was the partys candidate rather than Bernie Sanders  got sucked into that vast conspiracy theory. That included the messenger of these bad tidings: Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange.

For years, the Democrat tribe has invested its considerable energies in fruitless efforts to prove its theory, including the first bid to remove Trump through an entirely self-defeating impeachment process.

None of this could be justified politically. It was a Democrat counterpoint to Trumps MAGA slogan: Make America Great Again. Democrats promised the much less catchy SAPD: Save America from President Deplorable.

Antagonistic tango

For this tribe, Trump was an illegitimate president from the outset, one whose election to the highest office in the land revealed something unwholesome about their country they preferred to avert their gaze from because it might implicate them too. Removing Trump largely eclipsed the struggle to improve the lives of ordinary Americans.

The obsession with Trump above everything else seemingly rationalised any means  fair or foul  to be rid of him. Few thought about how this would look to his supporters or to those not already safely ensconced in one or other tribe.

Had they wished to understand, they needed only look to the storming of the Capitol last week. How they felt watching the building being ransacked  a Deplorable putting his feet up contemptuously on Pelosis desk  was how Trumps tribe felt watching their president being denounced as a Russian agent and dragged through impeachment proceedings.

This mood is not likely to dissipate. The two political tribes are locked in an antagonistic tango, mirroring each others moves, each others grudges, each others sense of victimhood. Much more unites them than they would ever care to admit.

Festering culture war

This may be the pathology, but what of the cause.

What we see here is the culmination of a festering culture war stoked by an unhealthy investment by both sides in a simple-minded and highly divisive identity politics.

Much has correctly been made of the white supremacism of the most loyal sections of Trumps tribe, and that was on show again during the invasion of the Capitol. The confederate flag, the neo-Nazi slogans, the T-shirts extolling the Jewish supremacy of Israel are all indicators of a toxic politics of white grievance that may be less articulated but is still felt by a wider swath of Trumps supporting constituency.

This ugly identity politics is rightly rejected by the other tribe, but is nonetheless mirrored in its equally deep commitment to identity politics. The progressive coalition of identities at the core of the Democratic party may be more reassuring to modern sensibilities, but has served in practice to accentuate to parts of the Trump tribe the supposed threat to their white identity.

This is not to equate the justified struggle of Black Lives Matter against endemic racism, including in the police, with the reactionary forces seeking to preserve some notion of white privilege. It is to simply observe that when the political field of battle exclusively revolves around identity, then one cannot be surprised if each side continues to frame its struggle in precisely those terms.

Those who live by the identity sword are likely to die by that same sword.

The Trump tribe want their president, and the Republican party more generally, to guarantee a white supremacism they fear is being eroded as the Democrat party flaunts its progressive, multicultural credentials. The Democrat tribe, meanwhile, wants to challenge the old order  and most especially reactionary institutions like local police forces  that have been an oppressive bulwark against change.

This dynamic can lead only to permanent confrontation, bitterness and alienation.

Class struggle

There is a way out of the dead-end culture war that pits one tribe against the other. It is to formulate an alternative, popular politics based on class struggle  the 99 per cent against the 1 per cent. But neither the Republican nor the Democratic leaderships, or the respective medias that cheerlead them, has any interest in encouraging a political realignment of this sort.

The Democratic party is not a vehicle for class struggle, after all. Like the Republican party, it is designed to preserve the privileges of an elite. Its biggest donors, like the Republicans, are drawn from Wall Street, Silicon Valley, the arms industries. The political battle in the United States is between two parties of capital united by far more than divides them.

The shadow play of US politics is the enervating, antagonistic confrontation of identities described above. While ordinary Americans get stoked into a mutual tribal loathing by a corporate media that profits from this theatre of hate, the elite enjoys a free hand to pillage the planet and the commons.

While we fixate on identities that have been crafted to divide us, while we remain immersed in the surface of politics, while we are distracted from the real battle lines, those elites prosper.

Political paralysis may not harm the establishment. But it is profoundly damaging to us, the 99 per cent, when our communities are being ravaged by a pandemic, when our economies are in meltdown, when the planet is on the brink of ecological collapse.

We need a functioning political system that reflects popular priorities, like Medicare For All, a dignified minimum wage and free college; that understands the urgency of the challenges posed by multiple crises; and that can marshal and channel our energies into solutions, not into endless, irresolvable confrontations based on grievances that have been cultivated to weaken us.

Trump is not the enemy. That target is far too small and limited. The class he belongs to is our enemy, as is the system of privilege he has spent the past four years upholding and his successor will defend just as assiduously.

Whether Trump is ultimately convicted or not in the Senate, the system that produced him will be acquitted  by Congress, by the new president, by Wall Street, by the corporate media.

It is we who will pay the price.
Sexual harassment has been endemic in Egypt for decades with 99 per cent of Egyptian females experiencing harassment and violence at least once in their lifetime, according to the findings of a UN study.

One of the biggest problems is that being in a conservative society, survivors of sexual assault are shamed into silence, with their families hushing up the incidents for fear of being socially stigmatised.

However, 2020 saw a reckoning over assailants. The year saw the birth of an Egyptian Me Too movement that encouraged victims of sexual assault to speak up.

It started with an Instagram account, Assault Police, which told the story of a male AUC student who raped, assaulted and blackmailed several females. The aim of the account was to encourage the victims to tell their stories. However, the account became an anonymous platform that encouraged victims of dozens of perpetrators to tell their stories and created a powerful Egyptian Me Too movement.

The same movement uncovered a gang rape horror story known as the Fairmont incident, in which the sons of a number of well-known families in Egypt drugged raped a female in a hotel room in 2014. They recorded the incident and sent the videos to their friends. The account encouraged the victim to tell her story after six years of silence, leading to the arrest of the assaulters.

As the campaign gained momentum, a law was passed in August to protect the privacy of victims. Article 306 of Egypts penal code declares that those found guilty of verbal sexual harassment in a private or public place will be sentenced to a minimum of six months in prison and a fine of no less than LE3,000. If offenders repeat an act of verbal sexual harassment they will get a minimum of one year in jail and will be fined not less than LE5,000.

Unwanted sexual contact is also penalised by the law. According to the law, a sexual harasser will be given a minimum one year in prison and a fine between LE10,000 and LE20,000. If sexual harassment occurs at work and is directed by a manager or someone in a position of authority, that person can be sentenced to a minimum of two years in prison and fined no less than LE20,000. The maximum punishment for this crime is five years in prison and a fine of LE50,000.

Entitled Ways and Methods to Eliminate Sexual Harassment in Egypt a UN study showed that surveyed females and males agree that the enforcement of the law addressing sexual harassment was perceived as a first step in addressing the problem.

Moreover, the National Council for Women (NCW) in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice has prepared a report that sheds light on the legislative framework for the current legal protection of women under the constitution and national laws and within the framework of the national strategies launched by Egypt and the ratified conventions and charters, Isis Mahmoud, head of the NCW training department, said.

Mahmoud said the council had created an ombudsman office hotline 15115, a WhatsApp phone number 01007525600, and the offices e-mail [email protected] for complaints.

This is in addition to the General Secretariat for Mental Health number 02-26186911 that girls and women can report to, about any act of sexual harassment made against them.

Another significant development was both Al-Azhar and Dar Al Iftaa (the countrys main Islamic advisories) issuing statements stressing that female attire has no connection with assaults and asking victims of such crimes to report their abusers because silence only serves to spread such crimes and nourish the societal conditions that make them acceptable.

While the UN report noted that 75.7 per cent of women who had been sexually harassed said it had occurred while they were wearing conservative clothing and no makeup, male respondents cited women wearing tight clothes (96.3 per cent) and women who do not conform to religious ethics regarding their appearance (97.5 per cent) as the main reasons for sexual harassment.

The NCW has also been keen to combat all kinds of gender-based violence against women. The latest 16-day campaign was launched last month aiming at eliminating violence against women including cyber bullying.

According to the data available for domestic violence, incidences in the 2014 the Demographic Health Survey reveal that 36 per cent of married women between age (15-49) have experienced physical violence since the age of 15.

Despite this years advances, violence against women in Egypt is widespread, and male supremacy is the accepted norm. Such inequalities are considered the basis for domestic violence and exploitation of women. Violence remains a fact in their lives which is rarely discussed.

Only by understanding the various dimensions of the Egyptian culture which regulates violence against women, can we develop programmes and interventions to empower women to refuse and resist this violence, head of the Egyptian National Council for Women Maya Morsy said.

Also, the NCW has developed a national anti-gender-based violence (GBV) strategy in conjunction with the United Nations Population Fund, formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, the UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide.

UNFPA also provided additional support to NCW and the Ministry of Health and Population and other relevant institutions to implement progressively a package of essential services such as protection, health, counselling and legal aid for females who are survivors of sexual harassment, Mahmoud said.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 14 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Lavelle R. Lee, 32, and a 31-year-old man were outside on the sidewalk when someone shot them. Lee suffered three gunshot wounds to the chest and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 1:14 a.m., according to police.
British-Ghanaian rapper, Solo 45, who held four women against their will and repeatedly raped them, has had his prison sentence increased.



The Grime star, whose is real name is Andy Anokye has been told he will serve an additional six years, the Court of Appeal ruled.



Anokye was convicted at Bristol Crown Court of 30 charges that spanned the course of two years.These were 21 rapes, five counts of false imprisonment, two counts of assault by penetration and two of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.



He was given a 29-year extended sentence, made up of a 24-year jail term and an extended licence period of five years, in July last year.



Following a hearing on Friday, senior judges concluded the sentence was "unduly lenient" and increased it to 35 years - with a 30-year jail term and five years additional licence.



The judges said the original sentence did not reflect the fact he carried out multiple offences of rape against four separate victims.



His sentence was referred to the court by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme.



Solicitor General Michael Ellis QC said the decision to increase it recognises the severity of the abuse and the danger he poses to the public.



A bid by Anokye to appeal against the length of his original sentence was also rejected.



Anokye, who was signed to Island Records and had collaborated with Stormzy, JME and Wiley, was described as a 'violent, controlling narcissist and a bully' by prosecutors during the case.



Graphic video clips filmed by Anokye were played to the jury, in which the rapper was seen interrogating the women about previous sexual partners, slapping them, insulting them, and raping them. .

He claimed the acts were part of consensual role play.



Judge William Hart, passing sentence in 2020, said Anokye had "become addicted" to the "perverted pleasure" he took from abusing the women.



The judge said his career "was flourishing at the time" and he "would have gone to great heights".



The judge added: They are in no way tarnished by your misdeeds which you carried out in a private way.













Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Window repair company Speedy Glass has never seen times like these.

Their Portland emergency crews have been on call every weekend and employees have sometimes worked 15-hour days boarding up windows as the city has faced a conspicuous jump in burglaries and vandalism. Over the summer, Speedy Glass was booked out a month and a half for window replacements.

The wait time has since dropped to two to three weeks, but regional manager Kelly Hewitt said that is at least in part because some businesses are opting to leave boards up rather than replace windows that could be smashed again.

Portland vandalism reports are up nearly 50% and many other property crimes are spiking, too, amid an unchecked crime wave that is unnerving the citys businesses and prompting some to consider walking away.

On Jan. 3, Speedy Glass lost the window on one of its own front doors when an intruder shattered it and burst into the empty shop on Northeast Broadway. The alarm sounded immediately and the intruder fled after rifling through some drawers and grabbing a handful of candy.

The burglar was long gone when police arrived more than an hour later. Hewitt said the business was lucky to sustain only $450 worth of damage, acutely aware that other businesses have faced much greater losses over the last nine months.

Throughout the pandemic, businesses have been asked to put up more and more money just to be able to operate and deal with the COVID guidelines, Hewitt said. And then they continue to take an added loss because people keep breaking things.

Police response

Downtown Portland business owners have been complaining for months about a sharp uptick in vandalism and other crime, often committed by people who have used protests for racial justice as a cover. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler promised to take a tougher stance on vandalism after more than a dozen businesses and buildings were damaged during back-to-back nights heading into the New Year, but admitted this week that the city and police are ill-equipped to crack down on the criminal destruction.

While downtown may be the epicenter of that activity, business owners throughout the city are raising alarm about a shocking increase in window smashing, vandalism and brazen burglaries that have taken place during the pandemic, with a muted response from the city and police.

Reports of vandalism within Portland were up 47%, while reports of burglaries were up 32% from March to November 2020 compared to the same period a year prior, according to data from the Portland Police Bureau. And as burglaries rose, so did the response time from the police. Officers took an average of 87 minutes to respond to burglaries from July through November 2020, up from 44 minutes in the previous fiscal year.

Police Bureau spokesman Lt. Greg Pashley said the city has seen an uptick in crime across the board since the start of the pandemic, but the police simply havent had the resources necessary to adequately respond to the criminal activity.

Roughly 100 sworn members left the bureau in the second half of 2020, he said, leaving the police with 850. Pashley said that is far too few for a city Portlands size. At the same time, he said the bureau was forced to pull officers away from their regular jobs last year to respond to nightly protests where people often clashed with police. Pashley said that forced other crime victims to wait -- sometimes even when there was an immediate threat to life.

Had the pandemic been the only contributing factor, the response would have been different, Pashley said. It was not the pandemic that drew all resources to certain parts of the city night after night.  It was also not the pandemic that caused the bureau to lose so many of its sworn staff.

We said throughout the second half of 2020 that we couldnt provide the service we desired and that the community expects from its police, he added. The Police Bureau is doing what it can to serve with the resources we have.

The uptick in crime has added insult to injury to business owners who are struggling to navigate the economic fallout from the pandemic.

In some cases, business owners have had to repeatedly deal with property damage, finding themselves cleaning up graffiti or replacing windows over and over again. Aaron Smith, general manager at Mt. Hood Glass, said his company has returned to some stores four or five times in the last nine months to replace windows.

Law enforcement buildings have also been a major target of window smashers. According to Willamette Week, Multnomah County will pay $35,000 to replace a large window that vandals broke at the countys brand-new, $324 million courthouse on Jan. 6.

But in other cases, businesses have suffered much more than property damage.

Billy Galaxy, the owner of a vintage toy shop downtown that bears his name, said burglars broke into a storage unit at his store on both July 27 and 28 of last year. Police were occupied responding to protests elsewhere downtown. He said he walked in on the burglars on the second night, prompting them to flee, but that they had already taken tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise, some of which he had spent years collecting.

Galaxy said he soon found some of his items being sold online and was able to track down the storage unit where he believes his vintage toys are being stored. He provided the police with that information, but found himself frustrated with their limited response. Six months later, the case remains open and no arrests have been made.

I dont want to drag the police through the mud, Galaxy said. I get they have a lot going on, but so does everybody else. That doesnt mean that theyre exempt from doing their job, even if their job is harder than it normally is.

Repeated damage

Pam Coven, the owner of Imeldas and Louies Shoes, had her Alberta store burglarized three times between April and September of last year. On Oct. 24, two men then backed an SUV into her Hawthorne store, shattering the windows and causing structural damage to the building. Police responded quickly, but the intruders had already thrown as many purses and shoes as they could into the car and fled. Coven provided security footage to investigators, but the case remains open and no arrests have been made.

Coven has already paid to install tempered glass at her Hawthorne store and is in the process of putting bars on the windows. But those steps didnt prevent the store from being vandalized during a Thanksgiving protest. Multiple Hawthorne businesses had their windows smashed and graffiti sprayed on their storefronts during that incident.

Coven said she understands the desperation that people are feeling during the pandemic and hopes crime will dissipate as the pandemic recedes. But she also said she wants to see the city take a more forceful approach toward the criminal activity, especially when it comes to those engaging in indiscriminate property destruction.

The vandalism drives me nuts because its biting the hand that feeds you, to attack the small businesses or any retailer or restaurant, thats where people work, Coven said. If you sabotage those businesses, youre going to take that opportunity from someone who needs that job.

Businesses have continued reporting break-ins in the first two weeks of 2021.

Earl Ninsom, owner of PaaDee, a well-known Thai restaurant on Southeast 28th Ave., said someone used a crowbar to break in Jan. 3. The person stole $150 in cash before casually walking out while the restaurants alarm was going off, Ninsom said.

It was the first time that the restaurant had been broken into since opening a decade ago, but it wasnt the first time that Ninsom had dealt with property damage in the last year. His other restaurants, Hat Yai and Eem, both had their windows smashed last year, costing the businesses hundreds of dollars to replace.

The break-in prompted PaaDee to invest more into installing security cameras and lighting. The added investment comes at a time when the restaurants sales are down 40% and it is preparing for what could be especially slow winter months with indoor dining still banned.

The restaurant industry, we all know how hard it is to survive this pandemic, Ninsom said. There will be a lot of restaurants and food carts that wont make it. To have to be worried about (break-ins) too, its just sad.

A limited response

Renata, an acclaimed Italian restaurant in Portlands Central Eastside, was broken into twice last year.

The first break-in came in May, when an intruder managed to get through the restaurants patio door and steal an iPad. The suspect, Shayne Edward Orvis, 26, failed to turn off the location tracker on the device, which enabled police to locate and arrest him.

The arrest came two months after Orvis was arrested for a burglary at a Pearl District apartment building, before being let go on a supervised pretrial release. As of November, Orvis was back on the streets and there was a warrant out for his arrest but police didnt know his whereabouts, records show.

Another person broke Renatas front door window in December before trying to flee as the alarm system went off. Sandra Arnerich, the restaurants co-owner, said police responded immediately and managed to catch the suspect trying to leave on a bike.

But the second break-in prompted a frustrated Arnerich to email Mayor Wheeler.

I sent an email to the mayor telling him what were experiencing as business owners in Portland and how hard this insecurity makes it for us to operate, especially when we are really hanging on with a thread, Arnerich said. Its really frustrating as a business owner, paying the amount of taxes we have to pay to the city, and having this amount of insecurity around us.

Tim Becker, a spokesman for Wheelers office, said the mayor is aware of the increase in crime against local businesses. He said police are in the process of increasing the number of patrol officers, with the hope of having 365 available within the next few months. He also said that the mayor has asked the Police Bureau and Bureau of Emergency Communications for an assessment and evaluation of response times to 911 calls.

We are processing the report to determine whether further resources and strategic adjustments may be needed to enhance safety and security for local businesses and neighborhood business districts, Becker said.

But business owners have yet to see concrete action from the city that they say is needed.

Even when Renata was open before the pandemic, Arnerich said customers and employees regularly suffered break-ins to their vehicles. Since the pandemic began, she said the amount of trash and graffiti in the neighborhood has grown exponentially, as have the number of people camping on the streets. Arnerich said it took hours for the police to respond when a woman outside the restaurant was having a mental health crisis several weeks ago.

During the pandemic, Renata has repositioned itself as a frozen pizza business. While the restaurant is moving forward with that concept, Arnerich said she has considered moving away from Portland due to the insecurity she feels within the city and isnt sure if theres a future for Renata as a restaurant in the Central Eastside.

This city definitely feels less safe to me, Arnerich said. I dont know why our city leadership isnt doing more to keep the city in better shape.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg
Failing to respect the system threatens our democracy. Since the presidential election on Nov. 3, there have been three events that have demonstrated a lack of respect for our system:

The storming of the Capitol by protesters on Jan. 6 was an anarchic and lawless act that resulted from a failure to respect the system. The president and the protesters decided that objections to the Electoral College vote should be sustained and the vote of the Electoral College should not be certified because they believed that allegations of fraudulent and unlawful voting practices were true. Ignoring the system created by the Electoral Count Act of 1887 that authorizes Congress to make that decision, the protesters attempted to disrupt the process and usurp the function vested by law in Congress.

Preceding that event, the news media condemned U.S. senators for availing themselves of the process prescribed by the Electoral Count Act of 1887 for filing objections to certification of the Electoral College vote. That condemnation was based on the medias determination that the objections based on voter fraud and electoral irregularities were baseless and should be rejected. Irrespective of the ultimate affirmation by Congress of that position, the media displayed a lack of respect for the system by acting pre-emptively. Waiting until Congress had rejected the objections to condemn the senators who filed them would have shown respect for the system.

The Express-News Editorial Board criticized U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz by asserting that his objection to the Electoral College vote was an abandonment of democracy. That assertion displayed a lack of respect for the system by ignoring that the Electoral Count Act of 1887 is the product of our democratic government, and consistent with the essence of democracy authorizes the peoples elected representatives to participate in the process of determining whether the Electoral College vote should be certified.

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The first event following the election that displayed a lack of respect for the system was the medias condemnation of those who filed lawsuits that alleged widespread voter fraud and illegalities. That condemnation was based on the medias decision that such unlawful voting had not occurred.

Regardless of the ultimate affirmation of its decision by the courts, the media ignored that the judicial system exists for the purpose of permitting parties to submit their claims to courts for resolution. Instead of showing respect for the system, displaying confidence in the courts and awaiting the courts decisions, the media determined the cases were without merit and condemned the parties for filing them.

Even though parties are entitled by law to file lawsuits contesting elections and members of Congress are entitled by law to file objections to the Electoral College vote, it is arguable that it was not right in this instance for them to take those actions, and, therefore, the actions were abuses of the system. To have predictable, fair, orderly and effective processes, what is right must be determined according to objective standards of a system governed by law rather than by each individuals personal assessment. To have a stable and enduring government, there must be respect for that system.

Having respect for the system does not require believing that the system is perfect. No system of government, whether democratic or authoritarian, is perfect for the reason that it is created and administered by imperfect people. Respect for the system does require, however, that its defects be corrected by means prescribed by the system.

Respecting the system is essential to saving our democracy.

Robert R. Barton is a retired Texas district judge in Kerrville.
Seventy-five years ago, prosecutors at the Nuremberg Trials, that followed World War II, made history in an unexpected way. They asked the court to dim the lights and enter into the record a new form of evidence to document human rights violations: A film.

For more than an hour, horrific footage played of Nazi concentration camps, which was taken as the allies liberated them. As the light bounced from the screen and landed on the defendants, it found them bewildered. These men, once the most feared members of the Nazi regime, were reduced to stammering, tremors, and tears. The film left everyone in the court stunned.

The prosecutors choice to move away from witness testimony and prioritise raw documentation to prove atrocities was not obvious. But it was filled with wisdom and intended to stand the test of time.

Today, when we watch the eight minute and 46 seconds video of George Floyds last horrific moments on earth, or an angry mob storm the US Capitol, we reflexively demand accountability. To get there, we are all walking on a path cleared by the prosecutors at Nuremberg.

To connect these key moments in history, I emailed Ben Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor from Nuremberg, to get his thoughts on how digital videos compare to his use of film in that hallowed courtroom. They are equally galvanising, he said, and should rightly be used to seek justice for victims, regardless of who the perpetrators of crimes against them might be. For him, the legacy of Nuremberg was crystal clear: No one is above the law, and the eyes of the world are watching.

Recommended AI experts warn against crime prediction algorithms

Ferenczs sense of determination, at a young age of 100, is stirring. Yet, I found the certainty from his email slowly dissipated as I opened a new tab and stepped back into the morass of the internet.

Even as the internet and smartphones have expanded our collective power to; capture, store, and share information, accountability in our digital age is often out of reach because our faith in the reliability of digital media is broken.

Trust in online media continues to plummet. Irrefutable images of chemical weapons attacks in Idlib, Syria, mass arrests on the streets of Minsk, Belarus, police brutality of Black Lives Matter protesters across the United States, are overwhelmed by hashtags and posts that cast doubt on their veracity. Todays contrarians allege that these images are hoaxes, the product of fake news or vast conspiracies.

The CEOs of the major platforms, Facebook, Twitter, and Google, have been called before Congress twice in the last three months to explain what they have done to take action and fight misinformation and disinformation with content moderation. In attempting to moderate dangerous content, much of which is anti-Semitic, racist, or filled with hate speech  todays platforms are doing critical work, and, at first glance, seem to be the standard-bearers of Nurembergs most enduring lessons.

Yet, thats just too tidy of a story.

In reality, content moderation is messy and filled with intractable challenges. These complexities raise the question, should we even want content to be moderated by a single centralised authority? Especially when one considers their methods. To deal with the scale of the problem, automated moderation tools are being deployed by platforms that are often just too blunt for the task at hand. They make errors. And with the coronavirus pandemic clearing out offices, major platforms have warned users that automated takedowns would only increase  and so too the errors.

Prominent human rights organisations have sounded the alarm that algorithmic takedowns resulted in the wholesale destruction of key evidence of human rights abuses and international crimes. Human Rights Watch noted that in 2020 nearly 11 per cent of social media content it cited as key evidence in its work, was taken down by algorithms. Groups from the Syrian Archive to Amnesty International and Witness, have all reported unprecedented levels of content deletion. Black Lives Matter activists report that their accounts continue to be taken down or muted with no notice or explanation.

It is one thing to limit the spread of violent and dangerous content to millions of people. Yet it is something quite different to prohibit civil society members from responsibly preserving and analysing data to protect human rights and advance accountability.

Protection and preservation dont have to be competing goals. But out of fear of competition, big tech platforms have made them incompatible. Platforms would prefer civil society wait in their lobby to ask for permission to access public domain content, rather than risk that more open policies could let competitors leverage the platforms user data and compete with them.

The problem for human rights activists begins the moment users click the banal I agree button to accept the platforms terms and conditions. Buried within some of their endless contracts are clauses that compel users to waive US federal-level fair use (and common sense) doctrines and make it illegal to download content and preserve it in private archives for safekeeping.

The Supreme Court heard arguments this past November that challenge the validity of these types of policies and will likely hear another key case later this year to make a final determination if scraping and archiving tools violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Until then, by the strictest reading of the law, NGOs and human rights organisations that try to follow Nurembergs example and preserve evidence of human rights violations are at best vigilantes and at worst felons.

True accountability goes way beyond content moderation.

It requires a level of nuance and expertise to protect the safety and dignity of users that we cannot afford to entrust to the platforms alone. Human rights experts have offered many sophisticated proposals to get this done, but, in all cases, these solutions still require social media platforms to permit the experts to do their work.

Yet, over the last decade, a growing number of technologists have dropped incremental approaches to solving the problem of Big Techs hegemony, by supporting alternative platforms that shift the balance of power to decentralise the internet. Together, these new protocols and platforms are often called Web3.

At the Starling Lab that I lead at the USC Shoah Foundation and Stanfords Department of Electrical Engineering, we have evaluated and deployed a range of decentralised technologies to help restore trust in our digital media and advance the cause of human rights.

Weve found many viable solutions and arrived at important innovations through advances in distributed cryptography. The latest generation of Web3 technology holds the promise that as you decentralise information, you also make it more secure and trustworthy.

For instance, solutions like the recently released Filecoin protocol, which was developed with contributions from our faculty and alumni, lets users leverage distributed computing systems that enable millions of users to help seal files and preserve their integrity. The more people who join the network and contribute their computing power, the stronger the seal becomes.

Consider a world in which; human rights defenders upload evidence to a secure distributed storage network, safeguard their files by making copies of them on millions of mobile phones, and allow qualified researchers to help verify the validity of their contents with different points of view and expertise. Together these efforts create a web of trust that end-users can reference to come to their own conclusions. Thats what activism, historical archival work, content moderation, and accountability will look like in the twenty-first century.

By decentralising power, you ensure even nascent civil rights movements have their chance to track and protect the information they need to make the case for society to understand the crimes that are least understood.

Nuremberg teaches that  the path to accountability begins with preserving the primary records of history with a sense of duty of care. The internet brings us an unparalleled power of documentation and the means to securely transmit information to the activists and experts who can act upon it. The question is whether we hold ourselves accountable to ensure they can.

By doing so, we dont acquit or excuse big tech for its failings but instead, pursue accountability to renew our trust in the internet itself. Web3 offers us tools and methods to do just that. The stakes have never been higher.

And as Ferencz reminds us: the eyes of the world are watching.

Jonathan Dotan is a fellow at Stanford University. He is the director and co-founder of the Starling Lab for Data Integrity, based at the USC Shoah Foundation and Stanford Department of Electrical Engineering
In a year where the Department of Defense struggled to address a global pandemic, uncertainty at home, and multiple security challenges abroad, the F-35 program stands out as a success story. The aircraft continues to provide exceptional capability for three U.S. Armed Services and more than a dozen foreign operators. In the face of COVID-19 slamming their supply chains on the home front, the F-35 industrial team still managed to produce a near-record 123 fighters. 2020 also saw the roll-out of the first version of the Operational Data Integrated Network (ODIN), the new logistics support program. This is a remarkable record for any large, complex defense program in normal times, much less while struggling to deal with the human and economic toll caused by a global pandemic.

COVID-19 has brought heartache and death to this country. It has also disrupted the operations of businesses large and small. The Department of Defense (DoD) has struggled along with every other organization to protect its people while conducting the necessary business of defending the nation, maintaining force readiness and ensuring the continuation of modernization efforts. In addition, the U.S. military deployed to support state and local governments with their pandemic responses and even helped with the development of COVID vaccines.

The defense and aerospace industry also responded to the challenges posed by the virus. Protection of its workforce was and remains the number one priority. At the same time, industry knew that it had to continue to make progress on programs and plans to equip the military.

An example of how well DoD and the defense industry has coped with the ravages of the pandemic is the Lockheed Martin F-35 program. For example, the pre-COVID plan called for producing 141 F-35s in 2020. This was revised downward in May to between 117 and 123, as DoD planners and industry saw what was happening. The Lockheed Martin team was proactive in changing its production plans and cleaning methods to protect workers. Nevertheless, the program reached its new goal, delivering 123 aircraft, including nearly 50 to foreign partners and countries using the Foreign Military Sales system. 2020 also saw the delivery of the 500th F-35 and the completion of more than 250,000 flight hours across the global fleet.

The cost for the F-35 continues to decline, with the price for the benchmark F-35A projected to drop to under 80 million dollars by 2021. According to industry sources, the F-35s reliability continues to improve. The newest production aircraft average greater than 70% mission capable rates, and some are consistently near 75%.

Last year saw F-35s from all three Services participate in numerous exercises and training events. One of the most noteworthy of these was Project Convergence, an Army Futures Command program designed to help develop an artificial intelligence and machine learning-based battle management system to direct a host of new weapons systems, such as the Extended Range Cannon Artillery. In a major exercise, the ability to conduct fire missions based on sensor data from Marine Corps F-35Bs passed to Army long-range artillery was demonstrated.

Having declared the carrier-variant of the F-35  the C model  fully operational, the Navy and Marine Corps spent 2020 getting ready to deploy it aboard U.S. aircraft carriers. Together with deployments of advanced versions of the Boeing F/A-18E/F, the Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye, the Bell Boeing CMV-22B Osprey, and the new Boeing MQ-25 aerial refueling drone, the F-35C will transform the carrier air wing.

Despite limitations imposed on close contact because of the pandemic, countries acquiring the F-35 continued to induct aircraft, stand up units and conduct training missions during 2020. In July, Italian Air Force F-35s returning home from an air policing mission in Iceland stopped in the United Kingdom to train alongside Royal Air Force F-35Bs.

The U.S. has also participated with many partner countries and overseas allies in training exercises with the F-35. Last October, the Israeli Air Force and U.S. Air Force conducted a joint exercise in Israeli skies.

Defying COVID, the United Kingdom sent its newest aircraft carrier, the Queen Elizabeth, to sea for a pre-deployment exercise in late 2020. Not only did the Queen Elizabeth demonstrate its ability to operate the short-takeoff and landing variant of the F-35, the F-35B, it also hosted a squadron of U.S. Marine Corp F-35s in a clear demonstration of how the F-35 enhances interoperability with allies.

In 2020, more countries also entered the Joint Strike Fighter community. In a landmark agreement, the United States will sell the United Arab Emirates up to 50 F-35s, along with advanced unmanned aerial systems and air-delivered munitions. An agreement between Warsaw and Washington for Poland to acquire 32 F-35s was signed in early 2020.

Given the impacts of COVID on virtually all the Department of Defenses activities, it would be surprising if there were no problems with the F-35 program. One such virus-related impact was the need to delay a decision on full-rate production, previously planned for March 2021 to a later date. This was not due to problems with the F-35 itself, production lines, or deployment of software. Rather, it reflected problems in operational test and evaluation, as the need for social distancing made it difficult to complete a number of required test and evaluation activities.

In addition, the pandemic forced delays in completion of the Joint Simulation Environment (JSE), an extremely sophisticated virtual testing regime being built to assess the performance of advanced aircraft, particularly the F-35. According to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, a combination of technical challenges and the impact of COVID19 was delaying the maturation of the JSE. This will prevent the completion of F35 Block 3F softwares Initial Operational Test & Evaluation by the original target date of March 2021.

2020 proved the resilience of the U.S military and the defense and aerospace, industrial base. Despite the COVID-19-created delay in fielding the JSE and conducting the full operation test and evaluation program, F-35s continues to roll off the production line, enter service and perform extraordinarily well in exercises and on operational deployments. All in all, 2020 can be recorded as a remarkable success for the F-35 program.

Dan Goure, Ph.D., is a vice president at the public-policy research think tank Lexington Institute. Goure has a background in the public sector and U.S. federal government, most recently serving as a member of the 2001 Department of Defense Transition Team. You can follow him on Twitter at @dgoure and the Lexington Institute @LexNextDC. Read his full bio here.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Police are asking for the publics help identifying a car and its driver that they say is connected to a November shooting that occurred in West Brighton.

Two unidentified individuals got into a verbal dispute with a 47-year-old man in front of a building on the 600 block of Cary Avenue, and one of the unidentified men shot the man in his back as he walked away from the dispute on Nov. 8 around 8:25 p.m., according to a media release from the NYPD.

The individuals fled in a silver Acura MDX on Cary toward Broadway, according to police. EMS responded and transported the victim to Richmond University Medical Center in critical but stable condition.

The two individuals sought for questioning are described as dark-skinned males approximately 20-30 years of ages, who were wearing masks at the time of the incident.

Police released a photo Friday night of the car allegedly used to flee the scene. The driver of the vehicle can be seen in the photo.

Anyone with information regarding to this incident is asked to call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are kept confidential.
Ba Kieu Temple, officially called Thien Tien (Heavenly Fairy) pavilion, is located on the east side of Sword Lake, facing Ngoc Son Temple in Hanoi. This is the rare relic of Hanoi and Vietnam worshipping the Mother Goddess.

Based on the surviving ancient documents and epitaph from the Later Le Restoration dynasty, the temple belonged to Ta Vong Village, Tho Xuong District, then in the mid-nineteenth century, its jurisdiction was changed to Ha Thanh Village, Dong Cac Ward, Tho Xuong District, Hanoi province. The current location of the temple is in Dinh Tien Hoang Street, Ly Thai To Ward, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi City.

The temple is dedicated to Mother Goddess Lieu Hanh and her two maidens named Quynh Hoa and Que Hoa princesses. Mother Goddess Lieu Hanh is one of the Four Immortals along with Tan Vien (the God of the Mountain), Saint Giong and Saint Chu Dong Tu in the pantheon of genii worshiped by the Vietnamese people.

An ancient banyan tree next to Ba Kieu Temple.

The temple was built in the Later Le Restoration and expanded in the mid Canh Tri reign in the 17th century. Being made of precious materials including wood from Xua jungle and rock from Nhue mountain from Chau Ai region in central Vietnam, through the hands of skillful craftsmen, Ba Kieu Temple became really a rare architectural masterpiece. The temple was built in the shape of the  (gong) of Chinese characters, which comprises Dai Bai (Chamber of Ceremonies), Phuong Dinh (Fang Pavilion) and the Hau Cung (Back Chamber).

Suffering the ups and downs of history, Ba Kieu Temple was damaged and has been restored many times, but still it retains the ancient features.

The special value of Ba Kieu Temple is created by the relics of the Le Tay Son, Nguyen dynasties it preserved until today. First and most precious among them is a large bronze bell (94cm in height, 45cm in mouth diameter) cast in the 8th year of the Canh Thinh reign (1800). The bell was offered by the marquis of Nhuan Trach Tran Duy Ung, a dignitary under the Tay Son Dynasty. There are also four stone shafts considered to be the important historical records:

- Hung Cong Bi (the stele of Hung Cong) erected in the 8th year of the Canh Thinh reign (1800) recording the donation of Tran Duy Ung  a mandarin under the Tay Son reign;

- Trung Tu Huyen Chan Tu Bi Ky recording the restoration of Huyen Chan temple which was built in the 19th year of the Tu Duc reign (1866);

- Thien Tien dien nguyen phung quan nhan the thu huong hoa Le toc to tien tong huong bi (the stele of second ancestral lineage of the Le family voluntarily receiving the hereditary care of Thien Tien pavilion and allowed by the villagers) established in the year of the Tu Duc reign (1874) records the 5 generations of the Le clan from the forefather Trong Le to the fifth Trong Tin;

- Le toc bi ky (The stele of the Le clan) found in the 8th year of Bao Dai reign (1933) records the Le Chat Ky and Le Van An both enjoyed the worship of the local people.

Still preserved in Ba Kieu Temple are the 27 papers conferring titles on Mother Goddess Lieu Hanh and her two fairy maidens Quynh Hoa and Que Hoa. The papers are the precious and rare artifacts, especially for the Mother Goddess worshipping. Among the 27 conferring papers, three issued in 1783 or the 44th year of Canh Hung reign and other three in 1787 under the Le dynasty, three by Quang Trung under the Tay Son dynasty (1792), and other three under the reign of Canh Thinh (1793). Over the reigns of Kings Minh Menh, Thieu Tri, Tu Duc, ong Khanh, and Duy Tan of the Nguyen dynasty, the Mother Goddess was conferred fine names and ranked among Supreme Mother Goddess.

With outstanding values, Ba Kieu Temple together with the relic complex of Ngoc Son Temple and Hoan Kiem Lake area have been the pride not only of Hanoians but also of all Vietnamese forever. Hanoitimes

Thanh Dat

Banyan trees beat Hanois summer heat Hanoi is not only known for its old streets but also century-old banyan trees, which have stood against time and witnessed many historical ups and downs.
In a significant development, NCLT has restrained MGF company headed by Shravan Gupta against creating any third party rights relating to a 3.65 Acres Gurgaon prime property. MGF had sought transfer of development rights to itself, based on demerger order. NCLT has forbidden MGF aginst creating any such rights.

MGF had obtained an order from the Director Town and Country Planning Haryana for transfer of development rights of a partilcular land from Emmar to MGF. It did this manipulation by presenting an NCLT order dated 08.01.2018, totally out of context. The transfer which MGF obtained to the land of 3.65 acres located in village Gatta, Gurugram, was not part of the order passed by NCLT on the aforesaid date.

NCLT has found two versions of MGF which were absolutely inconsistent to each other. They obtained a licence to their favor on a statment that right has been vested to them through demerger order which was not true. Based on these facts NCLT has directed MGF not to create any third party rights relating to 3.65 acres Gurugram land.

This is not the first time MGF and its chairman Shravan Gupta has been accused of fraud and manipulation. Emaar Properties has already alleged fraud by Gupta and his associates while he was the MD and CEO of their erstwhile joint venture, Emaar MGF Land. In its petition, it has sought security in the form of bank guarantees of Rs 2,400 crore to cover losses in the joint venture in India.

According to Emaar, around Rs 2,400 crore, or over one quarter of its FDI, was siphoned off by Gupta and his family for their personal benefit.

The UAE-based developer, which entered India in 2005, invested about Rs 8,500 crore in the Indian real estate market through Emaar MGF. Emaar said it had commissioned a private investigation into the matter by the Globe Detective Agency to probe connections between MGF and shell entities.

The probe allegedly also revealed that the company had given several land parcels which were purchased from third parties at prices higher than the market value.

Citing several instances of alleged fraud and illegal acts through joint development agreements, transfer of land parcels to MGF shell entities without approval from Emaar or transfer of inferior land parcels from MGF entities to Emaar's subsidiaries, Emaar has sought a restraint order on Gupta and associates from any transaction on their movable or immovable funds and assets.

Emaar issued a legal notice on October 29, 2019 to Gupta, his wife and MGF about the fraudulent conduct of MGF on breach of their fiduciary responsibility, after it received the investigation report earlier in the year.

Gupta was the Managing Director and CEO of the joint venture Emaar MGF Land until 2016. He finally resigned as the Managing Director of the joint venture company in 2016 and the demerger of MGF was approved in July 2018.

Emaar claim MGF and Gupta used shell companies to siphon funds from Emaar MGF or its subsidiaries. The modus operandi for siphoning off funds included joint development agreements (JDA) with MGF group shell companies - owned by employees or relatives of the Gupta family -- without disclosing their true relationship with MGF or its promoter families, and under these agreements, deriving revenue or benefits from Emaar MGF despite having paper or no obligations.
Summer was good to Ox. The Argentine steakhouse, which survived the pandemics early days selling Tex-Mex feasts, Fathers Day grill kits and its own grilled meats and bone marrow clam chowder in boxes to-go, built a small farmers markets worth of outdoor canopies in its Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard parking lot in August. For a couple of months, at least, nightly sales at this pop-up patio approached pre-COVID levels.

In September, heavy winds damaged more than half of those canopies. The next day, wildfire smoke began to choke off outdoor dining at restaurants across the state. By mid-October, when cold, wet weather began causing cancellations, chef-owners Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quinonez Denton were actively planning to move operations indoors, going so far as to install a virus-zapping ionization filter in their ventilation system.

We did that, and then we started to build movable plexiglass separators so we could mix tables and change them around, Greg Denton said. But then at the end of the day, we figured if we put all this effort in and then got shut down, its going to be really difficult, because then youve invested all this money. And we knew there would be a spike in COVID cases in November and December as families got together. So we made the decision to shut down. And good thing we did.

On Nov. 13, around the time Ox was planning to reopen its dining room, Gov. Kate Brown announced a freeze on dining across the state.

Instead of moving indoors, the Dentons chose to mothball their restaurant entirely, hoping to reopen sometime this year when better weather, a diminished virus, a widely distributed vaccine or some combination of the three makes dining out safe again. In doing so, Ox joined more than a dozen Portland restaurants and hundreds more across the country that have gone into hibernation, closing their businesses through the long winter in a counterintuitive effort to keep them -- and the jobs they support -- alive.

First, the good news. Though some of Portlands best-loved restaurants and bars including Akadi, Andina, Ataula, Jacqueline, Magna, Palomar, Reel M Inn and Sunshine Noodles have gone into hibernation, most say the temporary closure is just what it sounds like -- a period of rest and renewal before a spring awakening.

We will reopen, full stop, said Carey Bolton, the longtime manager turned co-owner of Southeast Portland fried chicken-slinging dive bar Reel M Inn. Its gonna take some time and a safety measure. This isnt worth someones life. But we will reopen when its safe to do so. Daily I pray to those chicken gods that we will be able to reopen.

That will come as a relief for those who took the November announcement of Reel M Inns indefinite closure as if they had lost a loved one. And Bolton might not even need those chicken gods. Back in 2018, when Reel M Inns lease was up and Bolton and husband Alex Briggs took over the business, it was Chris Briggs, a partner at Southeast Portland beer bar Loyal Legion, who stepped in to buy the structure itself, which had looked destined to become another anonymous Southeast Division Street mixed-use building. Chris just happens to be Alexs brother.

In June, when Brown first lifted coronavirus restrictions for Multnomah County, my first stop was Reel M Inn. There, longtime employee Mel Gonzales was slinging tallboys of pineapple-infused kolsch and tasty fried-chicken sandwiches over the bars Dutch doors. But as spring turned to summer, the bar eventually allowed customers back indoors, creating a safety hazard for employees.

The girls were scared, Bolton said, referring to her mostly female staff. We had people in here, they pull their masks down because theyre drinking, and they dont put their masks back up. It was just too much. On our last day, we were slinging birds, and we were so busy, and a couple of chef buddies came by saying, I dont know how you do this.

In this June 2020 photo, Reel M Inn's Mel Gonzales sells fried-chicken sandwiches and tallboys of pineapple-infused kolsch over the top half of a Dutch door. The restaurant is now "closed indefinitely," with plans to reopen later this year.Michael Russell | The Oregonian/file

The bar could have muddled along with its six sidewalk tables, Bolton said. But with a business model that relies on high volume and alcohol sales to stay afloat, food prices would have had to go up beyond the point where they were comfortable.

Theres so many talented bartenders with these great cocktail programs, and now, with cocktails to-go, they can make enough money to keep the lights on, Bolton said. That doesnt work for the Reel. Our cocktail program consists of a bottle of Jameson.

Just around the corner on Southeast Clinton Street, local seafood favorite Jacqueline was struggling with its own decision to close. Busy with outdoor dining throughout the summer, a time that required working the hardest three months weve ever worked and pivoting every day, the restaurant had exhausted its Paycheck Protection Program loan by the beginning of October.

I was sitting with our managers, talking about what we needed to do to winterize the patio, to put something on the front door to keep the cold air out, to staff up more, to spend a bunch more money just to see revenue go down, chef-owner Derek Hanson said. We all knew another shutdown was coming, and it was just the right move.

One issue unique to Jacqueline: Over the past four years, the restaurant has become best known for its $1 happy hour oysters, a loss leader unlikely to translate well to takeout.

With dollar oysters, if youre not doing volume, youre just going to hemorrhage money, Hanson said. My main oyster guy would drive them down for me from the Puget Sound and charge about 70 cents an oyster. Add in loss and labor, we maybe broke even on them. And I loved it! It was the kind of place I wanted to go to. The energy it created was my favorite thing about Jacqueline, and I hope to do it again.

Until that day, Hanson is using the pandemic to get back to another passion: brunch. After being shut for two months, Jacqueline recently reopened as Fair Weather, a cafe and morning restaurant with a new espresso machine, house chocolate chip cookies and Dungeness crab toast eggs Benedict.

Jacqueline, the Southeast Portland seafood destination, emerged from hibernation this week as Fair Weather, a new cafe and brunch restaurant serving some of Jacqueline's best-loved dishes with an egg on top.Michael Russell | The Oregonian

Jacqueline isnt the only restaurant to emerge from hibernation early.

Palomar, the Southeast Portland daiquiri bar that took over its buildings roof last summer with one of the citys most dramatic pandemic-time patios, folded its wings in December, only to flutter back to life when Oregon legalized takeout cocktails at the end of 2020.

Going into hibernation mode wasnt necessarily what we wanted to do, Palomars Ricky Gomez said. Because every time you close, it does cost revenue, and every time you try to ramp back up, it takes staffing and time when youre not bringing revenue back in. But we tried. We did to-go food for three weeks, and in the third week we had two orders in five days of service.

Sunshine Noodles, a Cambodian-influenced pop-up restaurant and bar at North Mississippi Avenues Psychic Bar, pressed pause at the end of 2020, only to reemerge three weeks later as Prey + Tell, a new ghost kitchen concept built around chef Diane Lams hit pepper-lime chicken wings. Lam had been watching as out-of-town corporations began swooping in to dominate the takeout landscape through ghost kitchens -- virtual restaurants sold exclusively through third-party delivery apps. She thought she could do better.

A lot of our work at Sunshine has been providing resources for people to escape and enjoy themselves, Lam said. Were doing this fried-chicken brand to have a front-facing version of (a ghost kitchen), reclaiming this area that deserves to be in the hand of hospitality professionals.

Whether to stay open or hibernate requires an accounting balancing act. At Bistro Agnes, Oxs yet-to-reopen sister restaurant downtown, fitting plexiglass around the exposed kitchen would have cost more than $3,000, and potentially wreaked havoc with the restaurants HVAC along the way. The propane and propane accessories needed to warm outdoor dining spaces arent free, or easy to find. When Ox was offering meal kits to-go, even paper bags were hard to come by.

Distributors would tell you, Youve gotta be ready to take these things as soon as they come in, so you should buy three or four cases of bags, and thats $400, Denton said.

Even after negotiating with the landlord, Ox still owes $6,000 in rent each month. Not all bills can be put on hold. And the Dentons say it will cost up to $70,000 to jumpstart their steakhouse whenever it reopens this year.

We could get creative and do it for less, Denton said, but you need a couple of weeks of labor in the bank, and of course during this time everything breaks down, and suddenly you need a new refrigerator because you had to turn everything off for months, and thats $5,000 right off the bat.

 Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com, @tdmrussell
COVID-19 vaccination drive: Jab and job go hand in hand for doctors

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Jan 16: Spending barely half-an-hour under mandatory observation after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine shot, Dr Sunny Kalra lost no time in going back to attending patients at BLK Super Speciality Hospital, this time with renewed confidence.

Although happy to be vaccinated on the very first day of the world''s largest vaccination programme on Saturday, what really broadened Dr Kalra''s smile was the sense of relief that he saw on the faces of his patients.

"My doctor is vaccinated. Hurray!''. It was that kind of sense of security and relief they had when I told them that I have just got inoculated and they are in safe hands.

"That is what made me realise how important it was for them as well," said Dr Kalra, consultant Chest and Respiratory Diseases, BLK Super Speciality Hospital at Rajendra Place.

"I am very confident that this assurance that we now have after getting the vaccine will motivate all health workers further to do their best for the patients," he added.

BLK Super Speciality, Max Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Apollo Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital are among the private hospitals chosen as the vaccination sites by the administration.

Messages of congratulations, doctors posing with a victory sign for the media with their infectious smiles -- visible even under the cover of mask -- and the many ''just got jabbed'' selfie by the health workers, it was a rare and happy day at the BLK hospital, which has witnessed many dreary days in the past due to the ongoing pandemic.

"I was already motivated enough, and then the PM''s speech on TV which I saw just moments before I was getting inoculated also helped. I had a good sleep last night when they (the hospital administration) told me that I will be inoculated today.

"I had a good breakfast and now I look forward to a fulfilling day," said Dr Sandeep Nayar, senior director and head of department, Chest and Respiratory Diseases, who was the first one to be vaccinated at the hospital.

"There is no local or systemic reaction. I am as healthy as before. Also, I am happy that as an HOD I could lead by example and hope there won''t be any doubts in the mind of others regarding the vaccine now," said a visibly calm and relieved Dr Nayar.

Though there was no apprehension whatsoever in the mind of doctors and healthcare workers, the same can''t be said for the families waiting back home with bated breath.

Dr Kalra, whose phone kept buzzing with messages from his family members asking ''if he is doing fine'', said it only stopped after he sent his photo on the family whatsapp group telling "it (vaccine) is done and I am doing absolutely fine".

"There will always be those two or three members in your family who are worried about things. It was the same in my case as well. I, as a doctor, was always confident.

"Now, when they know I am doing fine, they are also feeling relaxed. It will help them to prepare for themselves when the time comes -- which I am sure will be sooner enough," said the 39-year-old.

According to the hospital, the whole staff, which consists of approximately 3,000 people, will be vaccinated in another 10-12 days. The hospital administered Oxford''s Covishield for the vaccination drive on Saturday.

The Delhi government has received 2.74 lakh doses of the vaccine so far from the Centre which would be sufficient for 1.2 lakh health workers.

There are a total of 2.4 lakh health workers in the national capital and more vaccine doses are expected to arrive soon, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India''s COVID-19 vaccination drive and asserted that the made-in-India vaccines being rolled out will ensure a "decisive victory" for the country over the coronavirus pandemic.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also urged people not to believe in rumours and listen to experts who say COVID-19 vaccines are safe.

"I have interacted with those vaccinated. No one has any problem. All are happy that they will get rid of coronavirus," the chief minister said at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital where he inspected the vaccination drive.

The vaccination exercise was conducted at 81 sites across all 11 districts in Delhi. Six central government hospitals AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital, Kalawati Saran Children Hospital and two ESI hospitals are also part of the drive.

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Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 18:46 [IST]
"Winnipeg  One Gay City!" proclaims bus-shelter advertisements designed more than 20 years ago by artists Lorri Millan and Shawna Dempsey to promote queer visibility in Winnipeg.

"Winnipeg  One Gay City!" proclaims bus-shelter advertisements designed more than 20 years ago by artists Lorri Millan and Shawna Dempsey to promote queer visibility in Winnipeg.

The posters were banned back then. Fast-forward to today: they are being displayed in eight transit shelters as part of University of Manitoba School of Art Gallery's 'One Queer City' exhibit.

"Before gay marriage, before what was then called Lesbian/Gay Pride Day was an official day in the city of Winnipeg, before the rainbow flag was flying proudly over city hall and there was the projections of the rainbow on the (legislature), it was very difficult to be out. If one was out, there was a real chance of harassment or even violence," said Dempsey.

"It's so inconceivable now how vulnerable we were. We wanted to take that reality and imagine its inverse."

The original project was developed in 1997, when Dempsey and Millan proposed a series of bus shelter ads depicting "fabulous, fun, friendly" representations of homosexuality. Winnipeggers pose with joyous faces and cheerful slogans; "Where the fishing is great!," reads one poster that depicts a woman carrying a fish she had caught. "Where everyone is light in the loafers!" reads another, depicting a man dressed as the Golden Boy.

The idea was to imagine Winnipeg as a "queer utopia," Dempsey said. They played with the city's official "One Great City" slogan, designed bus shelter ads and commissioned an advertising company.

With queer visibility in the '90s came demonization, Millan said, so the bus shelter ads were intended to demonstrate "we are everywhere," within the context of a "slick, professional-looking" ad campaign.

"We made these bus shelter ads to make ourselves visible in the world, to destigmatize homosexuality and create an alternate portrait, a joyful, innocent portrait of who we are," Dempsey added.

But somewhere between production and installation of the ads, Millan said, the ad company decided the project was "confusing, misleading, false advertising," and the Canadian Advertising Standards Council backed it up.

Thanks to what Millan calls a "purely homophobic reaction," the posters were never installed.

Dempsey and Millan filed a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, and eventually reached a settlement with the advertising company in 1999.

By then, Winnipeg had elected its first openly gay mayor, Glen Murray.

"We did not want any backlash on him," Dempsey said.

The ads weren't displayed for more than 23 years, until the U of M School of Art Gallery approached the artists with the idea to stage an exhibition.

The works are in their rightful home  bus shelters throughout the city  along with work from other queer Winnipeg artists in the "One Queer City" exhibit.

Artists Jean Borbridge, Mahlet Cuff, Dayna Danger, Ally Gonzalo and Larry Glawson have each contributed an ad to the project.

Dempsey said the "intergenerational solidarity" of the exhibit is important because it drives home the notion that "not only are we here, queer and fabulous, but we are various, we are multitudinous."

Millan said it's likely still provocative for some people.

"The world is very different but it's still hard for people to come out," she added. "Part of me thinks there's still some reinforcement that it can play a part in showing or highlighting the fact that yes, we are absolutely everywhere."

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers
ISLAMABAD: Bitterness has once again emerged between the Muslims and Sikhs of Nankana Sahib after a Lahore court pronounced mild sentence upon three Muslims who had instigated and led a frenzied all-Muslim mob to attack the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib - the birthplace of Sikhs first master Guru Nanak Dev, in January 2020.

While the Sikhs under the aegis of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee have decided to challenge the mild punishment given to the accused in the court, they have also filed a petition in the court for the annulment of the sentence.

On Friday, a meeting of prominent Sikh leadership of Pakistan including president of PSGPC Satwant Singh, former president Bishan Singh, Mastan Singh, Sikh leader Gopal Singh Chawala etc was held at Nankana Sahib during which they decided to initiate a nationwide movement to protest against the mild punishment to the accused and also to challenge the courts verdict.

Notably, on January 12, Pakistans anti-terrorism court sentenced three persons including Mohammad Imran for two years of imprisonment, his younger brother Salman and cousin Mohammad Ahmad Raza for six months of imprisonment each.

The court, however, acquitted other four accused namely Mohammad Aslam, Adil Javed, Zulfiqr and Irfan in want of sufficient evidence against them.

All of them were accused of attacking Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Sikhs first master Guru Nanak Dev in January 2020. Satwant Singh informed media that there was much anger among the Sikhs for giving mild imprisonment to the persons who had dared to attack Sikhs religious place.

Earlier the Sikhs and Muslims of Nankana Sahib had come on verge of clash after Mohammad Imrans younger brother Mohammad Hassan had allegedly abducted a Sikh girl of Nankana Sahib Jagjit Kaur, converted her into Islam, and forcibly married with her.

Jagjit Kaur now Ayesha Bibis family had lodged a police complaint against the family members of Mohammad Hassan which resulted in strained relations between Sikhs and Muslims of Nankana Sahib who came on brink of the clash.

As the issue snowballed into a major controversy Pakistan Punjabs governor Chaudhary Mohammad Sarwar had to intervene to bring a truce between two families. Former president of PSGPC Mastan Singh said that they would seek at least ten years of imprisonment for all the accused.

Gopal Singh Chawla while talking over the phone informed that members of the Sikh community in Pakistan are discussing the issue at the highest level and would take the next step.

On the other hand, Mohammad Sultan Sheikh, counsel for the accused informed that his clients would be filing a petition for overturning the sentence pronounced upon them by the court.

He said they had pleaded to the court that the investigation team (police) had failed to trace the unknown assailant and also claimed that the recoveries made by police were planted and urged the court to set aside the sentence awarded to the three accused and set them free.

Live TV
Sheffield Turns Coronavirus Tide, Covid-19 Infections Half Rest of England, implies Fast Pandemic Recovery

Hope you had a great start to 2021, 2020 the year of the Pandemic has finally coming to an end. However the chinese virus is not done with reeking havoc on the worlds population, at least in western nations with their ageing populations that for the likes of Italy stand at an average age of 45 against developing nations such as Pakistan with an average age of just 22 years which at least goes some way to explain why the covid crisis is just not as bad as it is in the West. Though India with an average age of 26 seems to be suffering that bit more than Pakistan is so this anomaly could be down to -

a. A weaker strain of the virus.

b. Less testing so most patients with covid are unrecorded much as was the case in the West during the March / April first wave of the chinese virus.

What about Britians fifth largest city Sheffield, where do we stand in this final pandemic wave catastrophe at the start of 2021?

Ensure you subscribe to our youtube channel for new ahead of the curve Covid-19 videos during 2021.

By N Walayat

http://www.walayatfamily.com

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A social media-driven "cult of the guru" within education is giving flashy "Kardashian" academics disproportionate influence over schools at the expense of more complex ideas and research, new research argues.

Scott Eacott, an associate professor of educational leadership at the University of NSW, applied the "Kardashian Index" to 50 education researchers from around the world, including 11 from Australia, and found almost a quarter - eight men and four women - had a score high enough to qualify them as a social science Kardashian.

Three were from Australia, and eight were frequent keynote speakers at education conferences.

Kim Kardashian, pictured with husband Kanye West, inspired the creation of the Kardashian Index. Credit:AP

Named after influencer Kim Kardashian, the index was developed in 2014 to measure the discrepancy between a scientist's social media profile and their publication record. A high index increased the likelihood that they were famous for being famous.
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is leaving the door open to tighter travel restrictions, including a possible ban on outbound air travel as COVID-19 case counts climb across the country.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seen during a news conference in Ottawa, Friday, January 15, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is leaving the door open to tighter travel restrictions, including a possible ban on outbound air travel as COVID-19 case counts climb across the country.

"Were always open to strengthening them as necessary," Trudeau said, referring to measures restricting international flights.

Officials are keeping a close eye on countries where more easily transmissible strains of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 have broken out, he said.

The prime minister pointed to worrisome mutations in Brazil as well as the United Kingdom, whose outbound flights Canada banned in December.

Those flights have been permitted again after government began requiring incoming passengers to present proof of recent negative COVID-19 tests before boarding.

"We will continue to look at various variants, various geographies, and make sure were taking the right decisions and the right measures to keep Canadians safe," Trudeau said at a press conference at Rideau Hall on Friday.

The choice of whether to bar travel to the United States lies largely with the U.S., not Canada, since the country of arrival has jurisdiction over who enters, he added.

Earlier this month, a survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies found that 87 per cent of respondents said they would support a total ban on international travel until there are several consecutive days of reduced numbers of COVID-19 cases.

Leger vice-president Christian Bourque said the response is consistent with similar questions asked throughout the pandemic, but also reflects a growing desire by Canadians for governments to take tougher action to curb the spread of COVID-19.

That urge comes amid a backlash to provincial and federal politicians travelling to beaches abroad over the holidays.

The prospect of a hard-nosed travel bans raises constitutional questions around freedom of movement.

Section 6 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that "every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada."

All rights are subject to reasonable limits, but can only be reined in when it's "necessary and proportionate," Michael Bryant, executive director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said in an interview.

"While the precautionary principle would suggest that when in doubt keep people home, our constitution demands more than just a when-in-doubt approach for particular activities."

Overseas sojourns shoulder the blame for only a fraction of outbreaks.

Under two per cent of all coronavirus cases reported in Canada stem from foreign travel, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

A ban on outbound trips makes little sense to Michael Feder, a Vancouver-based lawyer with expertise in constitutional law.

"Its the coming back thats trouble," he said.

"No ones annoyed that Alberta politicians went to Hawaii. Theyre annoyed that they went to Hawaii and came back."

The requirement for international passengers to show negative results on a recently conducted COVID-19 test followed by two weeks of self-isolation on home turf amounts to a strong barrier against viral spread. An outright flight ban would do little to bolster that defence, but it would encroach on mobility rights, Feder said.

"I think its infuriating to see elected leaders taking off for sunnier climates," he said, calling it an "act of hypocrisy."

"But I dont actually see how a restriction on outbound travel does anything to help Canada combat the pandemic."

Trudeau sought to explain the disparity between stringent lockdown measures such as Ontario's stay-at-home order or Quebec's curfew and the open runway on jetting off to a Caribbean all-inclusive.

"Different jurisdictions will set up the rules that they think are best based on the best advice of their public health officials. On the federal side we have discouraged non-essential international travel, including by imposing mandatory quarantines for anyone returning to Canada and now mandatory testing for anyone before they get on a plane to come back to Canada," he said.

The new curtailments prompted airlines to slash flight schedules over the past week, with Air Canada and WestJet announcing 2,700 layoffs.

Air Transat flight numbers have fallen by more than 90 per cent year over year, the company said.

A ban on non-essential travel would mean a total shutdown, at least for a time, said Air Transat spokesman Christophe Hennebelle.

"However 'essential travel' is defined, such a ban would probably mean that we would need to stop our operations entirely, unless specific support is granted to help us maintain some form of connectivity," he said in an email.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2021.
The family of Nora Quoirin have insisted there is compelling evidence the 15-year-old was abducted in Malaysia, despite an inquest ruling her death was an accident.

Nora's body was discovered dead nine days after she went missing from a holiday resort in August 2019.

An inquest into her death was held in the country and a coroner ruled Nora's death was accidental rather than criminal, and said there was no third-party involvement.

Her family said testimony during the inquest in the south-east Asian state showed she was abducted, and branded this month's official findings 'incomplete'.

In an interview with Irish broadcaster RTE, Meabh Quoirin said: 'When we went into the inquest, we had a lot of unanswered questions and while many of those questions cannot be answered we actually found out a great deal about what went on during those 10 days when Nora was missing.

'In fact we felt it really strengthened our case, our belief, that Nora was abducted and we found some compelling evidence to support our view on that.'

Nora Quoirin died while on holiday with her family in Malaysia in August 2019. A coroner this month ruled her death was accidental, sparking complaints from her parents.

Nora was born with holoprosencephaly  a disorder which affects brain development  and her family have said she would not have wandered off on her own.

The teenager had poor motor skills, needed help to walk, and her mental age was about five or six, her parents previously said.

The family were staying at Dusun eco-resort near Seremban, about 40 miles south of the capital Kuala Lumpur and reported Nora missing the day after they had arrived.

Her naked body was discovered beside a small stream about 1.6 miles from the resort.

RTE said the family would appeal to the High Court in Seremban for a re-examination of the evidence heard at the inquest.

Ms Quoirin said: 'When we started this we wanted to find out what happened during the ten days in Malaysia but we also of course want justice for Nora and we will continue to fight for that.'

Quoirin died after 'getting lost in an abandoned palm oil plantation,' a Malaysian coroner said earlier this month, ruling out murder or sexual assault.

Police insisted there was no foul play and an autopsy conducted in Malaysia found that she probably starved and died of internal bleeding after days in the jungle.

Her family added: 'We believe we have fought not just for Nora but in honour of all the special needs children in this world who deserve our most committed support and the most careful application of justice.

'This is Nora's unique legacy and we will never let it go.'

Nora's parents Meabh and Sebastien Quoirin, pictured during a desperate search for their daughter, plan to appeal to the High Court in Seremban for a re-examination of the evidence heard at the inquest

Her relatives recognised there was no physical evidence to aid the coroner.

The charity for British nationals in crisis overseas, LBT Global, has been supporting the family since her disappearance and continues to do so.

Speaking earlier this month, Chief executive Matthew Searle said: 'This is a hugely disappointing day for the family.

'It is clear that Nora could not have physically carried out the movements suggested.

'It is crucial that to deliver a comprehensive verdict the coroner would have to have fully taken into account Nora's condition - that they did so is not immediately apparent.

'We will support the family tirelessly as they move forward.'

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John Schultz (seated) is surrounded by friends and leaders in the Grand Holy Royal Arch Chapter of Pennsylvania. Schultz was honored Wednesday for 75 years of service with the organization.
Brynn Anderson/AP

Fresh on the heels of outrage and fallout over the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, a newly released ABC News/Washington Post poll reveals that nine in 10 Americans opposed the Jan. 6 attack.

The poll also found that seven in 10 Americans feel that President Donald Trump should take responsibility for the attack. Another 56 percent in the national survey assert that Trump should be barred from ever holding elected office again, and 54 percent believe he should be criminally charged for inciting a riot. Yet another 66 percent said that Trump behaved irresponsibly in his statements and actions following the election.

America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American
Public and regulatory feedback from the screening procedure will be incorporated into the Final EIA, which is targeted for completion in December 2021.

A definitive feasibility study for the project is well underway and targeted for completion by the end of the year

( ) ( ) (OTCMKTS:EROMF) can move forward to the next stages of the permitting process for its Chvaletice Manganese Project after concluding the six-month screening of its preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by the Czech Ministry of the Environment.

Public and regulatory feedback from the screening procedure will be incorporated into the Final EIA, which is targeted for completion in December 2021.

A definitive feasibility study for the project is well underway and targeted for completion by the end of the year.

Procurement and fabrication of the projects demonstration plant are on schedule, with delivery to the Chvaletice site expected in the summer of 2021.

Important permitting step

Euro Manganese chief executive officer CEO Marco Romero said: We are pleased with the outcome of this important step in the Chvaletice Manganese Projects permitting process.

We appreciate all the thoughtful input we have received from our stakeholders, and we are confident that we will be able to successfully address their concerns in our detailed plans.

Following more than four years of environmental baseline and impact studies, process design and engineering, we purposely provided much more detailed information to the public and regulators about our project than is normally required at this stage of the permitting process.

I am grateful that we were provided with such useful feedback."

Shares on the move

In line with strong newsflow and an improving manganese market, the company's market capitalisation and shares have been on the rise.

Market cap today is approximately A$125.4 million while since closing at A$0.06 on September 3 shares have been on an upward trend, closing at A$0.72 yesterday and reaching a new record high of A$0.80 on Wednesday.

High standards applied

The project team based in the Czech Republic paid great attention to detail and actively engaged with local authorities and community members early and frequently in the planning process

Romero added: The Ministrys screening procedure was open to the public.

The fact that only two submissions from individuals were received speaks volumes to the thoroughness and professionalism of our teams consultations, the high standards we have applied to the project design and to the willingness of local residents to positively engage with us.

Final EIA

Work on the final EIA, which will address the stakeholder and regulatory agency inputs received, is scheduled to begin in mid-2021 and expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The procurement and fabrication of the projects Demonstration Plant, which remains on schedule, will provide high purity manganese materials for supply chain qualification by EMNs potential customers.

Chvaletice Manganese project is intended to recycle waste from a decommissioned mine in the Czech Republic to produce ultra-high-purity manganese products, principally for electric vehicle batteries.
Re: Remove Trump from office?

For the last four years I have been saying what is this guy doing as I am sure everyone else did except for those that actually like the guy. Or do they? Donald Trump is no president, he is a president in name only. He should have been removed after the first impeachment but he has brainwashed so many people even those in his own party.

I believe the only reason he is still there is because the Republicans are scared for their lives now from the mob he has created. I hope and pray for the American people that stand against Trump the terrorists leader and those in his party that voted for the impeachment. The new president will have a lot of work trying to fix the mess that was created.

Julius Whitlock

Yes please get rid of Trump he is the worst president America ever had.

He needs anger management classes as clearly he has an anger problem.

Bye Bye Trump

Jenine Tepsa

Yes remove him. Should have removed him the first time around but no, Republicans scoffed at the Dems.

So Trump continued being Trump and his followers with similar instincts and few brain cells followed and voila. Riot. Deaths

Removal of Trump will send a message but his poison will carry on with or without him.

We in Canada have our differences. Let us hope it never gets to this level of disrespect, violence and hatred

Elaine Hatch

You dont have to be a psychic to see what was in store for the United Sates when Trump became the President. He is a want-to-be dictator and loves being in the presence of evil dictators. Its all about the ability to hold others lives in his hands. Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Kim Jong un, Putin kill millions of people with a wave of their lethal wands and these are his heroes. He gave a voice to evil and had a band of Senators supporting him out of fear for their careers, or so they could keep their jobs and status.

His only concern is himself, because he knows, once he has lost his presidency, those who he has done wrong will be coming for him!

Beverly Horne

This President has done more good for the people of the USA than most others. The continuous anti-Trump slander the main stream media spouts out both in our country and the US is outrageous. Has anyone seen the actual video of the President inciting a violent protest? Or are they just believing the lies of the far left main stream media. It's high time the pompous Trump bashing Canadians start focusing on what our so called leader is doing in this country, lying, breaking the law, racist, sexist, promoting communism and prejudiced are just a few titles we can paste on him.

The US was just getting back on it's feet with a booming economy, lowest unemployment, controlled immigration policies to name a few. It will be sad to see President Trump go, but on a positive note maybe the Dems will actually start doing their job instead of whining about the president 24/7.

Dave Yelland


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Bracing for the potential of violent protests in the days leading up to the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, state officials are calling up National Guard troops, erecting imposing fencing and shutting down Capitol grounds in response to the F.B.I.s warning that armed protesters could target the capital cities across the country.

A survey by The New York Times of all 50 states found at least 19  including California, Oregon, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Washington, Kentucky, Maine, Illinois and Florida  that are activating National Guard troops in their capital cities. Texas, Virginia and Kentucky are among states planning to close their Capitol grounds at different points in the coming days.

Some states where legislatures are preparing to convene, such as New Mexico, have placed protective fencing around their Capitols. Michigan and Indiana took the extraordinary step of canceling their legislative activities next week because of the possibility of violence.

The moves by state officials point to the growing fear over continuing violence around the country in the aftermath of the mob attack last week on the U.S. Capitol in which assailants supporting President Trumps efforts to overturn the presidential election forced their way inside the building.

( ) ( ) was one of the ASXs most successful companies in 2020  its shares rose as much as 1,671 per cent across the year, and have ticked even higher less than a fortnight into 2021.

This is largely due to its 100%-owned Julimar Nickel-Copper-PGE Project in Western Australia, where earlier in 2020 it made a nickel-copper-PGE discovery in an emerging new resources province about an hour northeast of Perth.

The company was active even as things slowed down in the lead-up to Christmas  it launched a A$100 million placement targeting institutional investors, followed by a A$10 million share purchase plan for retail investors, both of which commanded significant interest.

In early December it changed its name to Chalice Mining Limited, to better reflect the multi-element discovery it made at Julimar.

Approval for new exploration areas

Just four days into the new year Chalice received approval to conduct initial non-ground-disturbing exploration activities within a previously untouched area of the greater Julimar Complex, immediately north of the discovery.

The new area hosts very large airborne EM anomalies, which have the potential to expand the discovery considerably.

Managing director Alex Dorsch said: This access approval has been eagerly anticipated and is highly significant, as it allows us to finally start to understand the true scale of the Julimar discovery.

We are pleased to be working together with the various state government departments and agencies to facilitate the first-ever ground-based nickel-copper-PGE exploration programs in the area.

But its only the beginning

Dorsch said the company was well-placed to deliver further value for shareholders.

The demand for our capital raise has been incredibly strong, and this is testament to the scale and quality of the discovery at Julimar, but also the potential of the region to become a new world-class base and precious metals mineral province, he said.

This rapid growth trajectory reflects the significance and ever-increasing scale of the Julimar discovery, as well as our rapid and successful de-risking activities on the project.

Chalices market cap now sits at approximately A$1.45 billion, its share price last week hit a new record high of A$4.61 and, at the end of 2020, the company had circa A$140 million in cash and investments.

Gonneville Intrusion

A 6-rig drill program is underway across a ~1.6-kilometre-long section of the 26-kilometre-long Julimar Complex, called the Gonneville Intrusion. This intrusion is host to multiple zones of high-grade PGE, nickel, copper, cobalt and gold mineralisation.

The very first drill hole in March 2020 returned a staggering 33 metres at 6.5 g/t palladium, 0.7 g/t platinum, 0.1 g/t gold, 1.6% nickel, 0.7% copper and 0.1% cobalt from 44 metres depth.

Mineralised core from the Julimar project.

Another intersection in a deeper zone returned 25.7 metres at 3.9 g/t palladium, 2.3 g/t platinum, 0.7 g/t gold, 0.2% nickel, 0.8% copper and 0.02% cobalt from 418.7 metres depth.

Referring to Gonneville, Dorsch said It is shaping up as a world-class discovery of critical metals on its own. Drill results have continued to surprise on the upside as our drill coverage has expanded.

We are also scoping out potential new high-grade zones, and we look forward to releasing more results.

We remain on track to deliver a maiden mineral resource estimate at Gonneville by the middle of the year.

Managing director Alex Dorsch.

Ongoing success

In November 2020 the company announced it had intersected its sixth and seventh high-grade zones of PGE-nickel-copper-cobalt-gold at the Gonneville Intrusion which continue to grow the Julimar discovery into a globally significant deposit. None of the seven high-grade zones are yet to be closed off.

On top of that, a high-grade PGE-gold oxide zone has been defined over an area of 1,700 metres by up to 750 metres and this is open to the north.

Numerous growth opportunities

Dorsch said: The Gonneville PGE-nickel-copper-cobalt-gold discovery continues to grow on multiple fronts, with another round of exceptional drill results extending the known high-grade zones, defining new zones and further reinforcing the numerous growth opportunities across the project.

Given the width and grade of the drill results we are continuing to see over a very large area, the scale of the Gonneville Intrusion itself, and the significant growth potential beyond the limits of the current resource drilling, it is clear that Julimar is emerging as a globally significant deposit of critical metals in Western Australia.

Recently, Chalice secured three private properties at the Julimar project, covering a combined area of 945 hectares. One of these properties covers around 85 per cent of the Gonneville Intrusion.

Securing title to these properties is an indication of the confidence Chalice has in Julimar becoming a mining operation.

PGEs in demand

The platinum group elements are six precious metals clustered together in the periodic table - platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium.

PGEs have many desirable properties and as such have a wide variety of applications. Most notably, they are used as auto-catalysts (pollution control devices for vehicles), but are also used in jewellery, electronics and hydrogen fuel cells.

Palladium is very rare and is currently one of the most valuable precious metals, with an acute supply shortage driving prices to a recent record high of US$2,856/ounce in February 2020. The current spot price is approximately US$2,400/ounce.

And while the Julimar Project has garnered the most headlines this year, it is far from Chalices only prospect.

Nine rigs active

There are nine rigs drilling in total across Chalices key projects, which also includes a >5,000 square kilometre holding in the exciting Victorian Goldfields.

This level of greenfield exploration activity is quite remarkable and speaks to the determination of the company to make significant scale discoveries and cement its status as one of the leading explorers in Australia.

- Daniel Paproth



Photo: (Photo : Facebook/Petit Peony)

A mom creates unique onesies for tiny NICU patients after seeing miracles happen to her youngest daughter. She wanted to give back to the community after her life-saving heart transplant.

On May 18, 2018, Kate Bowen gave birth to her youngest daughter, Georgia. Her newborn had life-threatening complications for months after suffering a rare cardiac arrest. The infant also had to rely on a machine to help her pump blood throughout her body.

Saw many miracles since the baby's birth

When Georgia was just four months, she endured a heart transplant. Bowen told "PEOPLE" that she and her daughter saw many miracles throughout and are still seeing more of them. After her youngest had recovered, she went home with her three other siblings.

The "Petit Peony" children's clothing designer and founder, Bowen, wanted to help others whose kids are also underground medical crises. She created special onesies so babies, she calls, "Georgie" could have comfortable clothing to wear.

READ MORE: Laura's Law: Man Helps Pass Legislation to Save Others after Losing His Wife

Developed onesies for tiny NICU patients

Due to the pandemic, the 38-year-old mom expanded her business in early 2020. She quickly tapped her clothing business supply chain to produce one million masks to donate to Boston Children's after the medical director told her its needs.

Bowen's creation of GCB Medical Supply in May increased its sales, including gowns and PPE. Now, it services roughly 150 hospitals nationwide. The mom-of-four launched the Georgia Claire Bowen Foundation by the end of the year.

READ NEXT: Girl Holds Bake Sale to Raise Money for Dad's Funeral

Donates to the pediatric heart research

Ten percent of her company's profits, amounting to $1M, went to the Boston Children's Hospital's pediatric heart research. She plans to donate one million dollars yearly as long as she could.

The initial money she donated has helped establish the Georgia Claire Bowen IMPACT (Imagining More Possibilities in Advanced Cardiac Therapies) Initiative. It would support cutting-edge treatments at Boston Children's.

A pediatric cardiologist from the hospital, Christinia VanderPuym, MD, believes that many families would be at their darkest when placed in that circumstance. She said that the family had turned its tragedy into a positive opportunity across the country.

CHECK THIS OUT: Dad Loses 40 Pounds to Save Sick Son in Need of a Liver Transplant

She explained that while Georgia was lucky to survive her condition after getting the transplant, the toddler still has a long medical journey, and all of them are involved. Bowen's youngest daughter may suffer if her body rejects the heart growing up.

The Warren, Vermont, mom said that her child's life depends on innovation. She explained that the artificial-heart research that she funds helps her send pictures of her daughter's heart to her doctors. Apart from that, it has also helped to create a portable ultrasound wand.

Bowen said that she does not want to sit back and watch other people find answers to her daughter's health. She believes she needs to be active in finding advancement in her field to make sure her daughter could change the world in the future.
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As the country battles through Level 5 COVID-19 restrictions, Swords Order of Malta remains on the frontline against the pandemic, offering a lifeline to the most vulnerable members of the community.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Ireland in March 2020, Swords Order of Malta has been offering a vital service to those in need and those who are confined to their homes.

Mandy Canty, officer in charge of the Order of Malta Swords unit, explains: 'What we do is if people need any shopping or medical supplies brought to their house and they can't leave the house, they give us the money and we go down and do the shopping and bring it back to them, so they don't have to leave home. If they need any medication from a chemist we'll go and get it.

'We've been running since last March and it's working out grand. You kind of have your regulars who would have no family, but ALONE has taken a good bit up as well. We've also joined Carers Ireland and that's another project that the Order of Malta are doing, where if somebody is a frontline carer who needs hospital attention or whatever we can be called in to sit with the person they care for until someone else to look after them.

'We also do the work with Crosscare delivering food hampers to those that are in need as well. We've been running the service for people that need it. A lot of people, after you were able to go out again, they wanted to do their own shopping or whatever, but we're still fully active if someone needs us.'

Swords Order of Malta has up to 25 dedicated volunteers working around the clock, so that they more than welcome calls for assistance.

Mandy says that the service is plays a vital role in the community, particularly for the elderly, many of whom are afraid to leave their homes for fear of contracting the virus.

'The service is very important, people are terrified, especially the elderly. We have one lady that literally her nerves are gone. I did report it to the public health nurse and they said they'd get someone to talk to her, but I think it's more isolation and loneliness with a lot of them. They're in their house on their own, they're afraid to go out, they don't want to catch it (COVID-19), they're high-risk and they're afraid to go to the shops. An awful lot of people would have families and it would be an odd time that they'd ring us, but there's a handful out there that have no family.'

Swords Order of Malta is appealing to the local community to contact the service if they are in need of any assistance, however small. You can contact Swords Order of Malta at: 086-1255235
The operator of a private security firm that hired state constables to patrol the controversial Mariner East Pipeline in what prosecutors called an illegal buy-a-badge scheme has been acquitted of bribery and related charges.

James Murphy, 62, was charged along with four other men in late 2019 by then-District Attorney Thomas P. Hogan, who said the group improperly employed state constables at points along the pipeline. The constables, Hogan said at the time, were violating their state-given authority by acting as private security, and the executives who hired them tried to obscure their payments to them.

 READ MORE: Mariner East pipeline employees, contractors illegally paid state constables in buy-a-badge scheme, DA says

But during after a hearing late Thursday, Chester County Court Judge Jeffrey R. Sommer ruled that prosecutors failed to provide evidence that Murphy was guilty of any wrongdoing by hiring the constables at the direction of his superiors.

Murphy runs Raven Knights, a private security firm that contracted with Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline builder, to hire the constables. Raven Knights owner, Richard Lester, also faced criminal charges before his death in September.

Murphys exoneration comes months after another of his co-defendants, Frank Recknagel, had his case dismissed by a magisterial district court judge on similar grounds.

 READ MORE: A criminal case over the Mariner East pipeline raises questions about the role of constables in Pennsylvania

The remaining two defendants, Michael Boffo and Nikolas McKinnon, are scheduled to appear for a hearing in the case on Jan. 26 at the Chester County Justice Center in West Chester.

New Delhi: Relations between India and Nepal offer limitless potential, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said after meeting Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali here on Saturday (January 16).

Gyawali, accompanied by Nepalese Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal, arrived here on Thursday on a three-day visit.

On Friday, he held wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar covering the entire expanse of bilateral ties.

"Had a wonderful meeting with the Foreign Minister of Nepal, Shri @PradeepgyawaliK today. India's relations with Nepal are not limited to governments in both the countries but it is driven by the people of the both the nations. India-Nepal relations offer limitless potential," Singh tweeted.

Ties between India and Nepal came under severe strain after Nepal last year published a new political map that showed the three Indian territories -- Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh -- as part of Nepal.

In their talks, Gyawali and Jaishankar on Thursday carried out a comprehensive review of all aspects of the bilateral cooperation and explored ways to further strengthen ties in key areas of connectivity, trade and energy.


Among the top picks this year are Euro Manganese and gold players Perseus Mining and Tietto Minerals.

has released its Top Australian Stock Picks for 2021, covering predictions across a range of sectors, including investment recommendations, potential catalysts and bull/base/bear target price scenarios for 22 companies.

This year, ( ) ( ) ( ), ( ) and ( ) ( ) (OTCMKTS:EROMF) (FRA:E06), have made the metals and mining list.

Euro Manganese strategically located

Euro Manganese is developing the Chvaletice Manganese project in the Czech Republic and Canaccord says it is the only direct manganese supplier for the battery supply chain on the ASX.

Chvaletice is targeting production of ultra-high-purity electrolytic manganese metal (HPEMM) with specifications exceeding 99.9% manganese and ultra-high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) with a minimum manganese content of 32.34% - both of which exceed typical industry standards.

Notably, the demand for high-purity manganese products is growing rapidly, fuelled largely by the Li-ion and electric vehicle markets, particularly in Europe where 100% of high-purity manganese products are imported.

Investment highlights

EMN is confident of progressing partnership options and financing, with the projects location in the heart of Europes fast-growing EV production hub making it a European and globally strategic asset.

Canaccord stated: Being located in the Czech Republic we believe it will gain favourable treatment by the EU battery supply chain and development cycle.

We believe that the operation will be the first large scale, ex-China producer into production, and due to favourable chemistry, we expect it will be placed at the low end of the cost curve.

The project has strong ESG credentials given it will reclaim and rehabilitate existing tailings during the processing, which is another feature of EU-based projects.

Potential catalysts

In 2021, EMN will build a pilot plant to process ore and generate samples for offtake partners and expects the feasibility study for project to be completed by the end of the year.

Canaccord stated: We anticipate any signing of offtake agreements to be a strong positive for the equity.

The company continues to investigate options for partnerships, and if an experienced or large-scale partner is found we would expect a material rerating of the equity.

Funding arrangements are also a key focus in 2021, with the EU indicating a desire to accelerate the project by providing funding.

If a low-cost debt option is provided this would significantly de-risk our model, given we run a 12% WACC and 40% risk weighting in setting our price target.

Canaccord recommended a speculative buy rating with the target price at A$0.55.

The project is favourably located in central Europe where a large battery supply chain is being established.

Perseus top 5 ASX gold producer

Perseus Minings 200,000 ounces per annum Yaoure Gold Project was commissioned on time and budget by the end of 2020, with the first gold pour five weeks ahead of schedule.

With the successful delivery of the project, the company owns and operates three gold mines, and Canaccord expects this will increase PRUs group production by around 90% from FY20 to about 500,000 ounces per annum by FY21/22.

Investment highlights

At full production, Yaoure will elevate PRU to a top 5 ASX gold producer (by production).

Canaccord stated: We estimate that Yaoure will deliver a material increase in group gold production (>480,000 per annum by late 2021), and with it, a substantial lift in earnings and FCF.

To put this in perspective, this run rate would put PRU in the top five largest gold producers on the ASX (currently 10th).

Additionally, the acquisition of Exore Resources, which held a highly prospective 2000 square kilometre land package in Cote dIvoire, could add valuable mine life to Sissingue.

The most advanced is the nearby Bagoe project, which hosts mineral resources of 530,000 ounces at 2.3 g/t and offers the potential for mine life extensions (currently to 2023).

Attractive valuation metrics

Canaccord stated: PRU is currently trading on a 2022 FCF yield of 35% (vs sector average of 14%) and a 2022 EV/EBITDA of 0.9 (vs sector 3.9x).

PRU also trades on a P/NAV of 0.66x (vs sector average of 0.72x).

A successful ramp-up at Yaoure should close this valuation gap, in our view.

Potential catalysts

With construction of the projects processing plant and associated infrastructure largely complete, Perseus will now focus on satisfying continuous performance tests and positioning to declare commercial production in the March 2021 quarter.

The first shipment of gold from Yaoure and an updated life of mine plan for the project (taking the actual commissioning date, current mining rates, operating costs and possible increases in mineral resources into account) are also anticipated in the March 2021 quarter.

The company expects to commence drilling and a DFS for Bagoe in early to mid-2021.

Canaccord listed PRU as a buy rating and target price at A$2.05.

Upon successful delivery of Yaoure the company would own and operate three gold mines.

Tietto pursues resource growth

Tietto Minerals has recently commenced a new diamond drilling campaign at its 3.02 million-ounce Abujar Gold Project in Cote dIvoire, which is designed to underpin 2021 gold resource growth and a definitive feasibility study (DFS) on its proposed largescale open-pit mining.

Up to six rigs will complete 7,00011,000 metres of drilling per month, targeting multiple new and existing prospects on three parallel corridors to drive further resource growth with the prefeasibility study on track for delivery in the first quarter of 2021.

Investment highlights

Tietto is targeting open pit mining from a single large pit with smaller satellite feed/heap leach sources, and potentially underground if economics allow.

Canaccord stated: We see the upcoming PFS for the Abujar Gold Project as a potentially strong catalyst that will give a clearer picture of what a future development could look like.

We believe there is evidence that supports the opportunity for a high-margin starter pit that the market may not be pricing in.

This starter pit could yield 500,000 ounces in years 1+2 of a potential 9-year LOM, operating at 3.5 million tonnes per annum to produce an average of +150,000 ounces per annum.

The company is well-funded with around A$55 million in cash with Canaccord NAV (85% attributable) Unrisked at A$728 million and Risked at A$596 million.

Potential catalysts

In the near-term, the company aims to aggressively grow Abujar gold resources at extremely low drilling costs whilst progressing its PFS (due in late January) and DFS (due in the September quarter.

The company is also moving towards securing the last two statutory approvals, the mining licence and mining convention for the project with the aim to release an updated resource in the June quarter.

Canaccord recommended a speculative buy rating with a target price of A$0.90.
In Radicalizing Her (Beacon, Apr.), journalist Gowrinathan examines the motivations of female resistance fighters.

Why do programs aimed at rehabilitating female resistance fighters keep getting it wrong?

Because theyre borrowing from an already faulty formula in the development world for empowering women. Whether in response to a hurricane, or poverty, or in a war zone, most of the programs offered to women tend to be re-feminizing and depoliticizing. Theyre given sewing machines, or asked to bake cakes, or given chickens and cows. These programs are narrowly focused on the abject victimhood of the woman, and, more often than not, on her sexualized identities. Shes a victim of rape; shes a victim of female genital mutilation; shes a victim of early marriage. And this view of women has been carried over into de-radicalizing programs. Its just that the disconnect is much more evident with women who have been leaders on the battlefield and are now being told they can run a pastry shop or sew little baby girl dresses.

How does Western feminism misjudge female fighters?

To me, the erasure of the female fighter from conversations on gender and power is not only dangerous, its also anti-feminist. A lot of this hinges on the positioning of Western feminism to violence, and the insistence on nonviolence as the only form of acceptable political resistance. The issue there is that you get forced into this binary to condone or condemn violence. When really, violence is simply a reality for these women. Theres a great line in the book from Sandra [a FARC commander]: So if a soldier comes at you with gun, women should respond with what? A Bible? A book? Kindness? I think thats a big part, being able to not simply condemn this woman for her choice but to be able to contextualize that choice, and also recognize the political project inside of it and not simply dismiss it because it was a violent resistance.

What lessons can minority activist groups in the U.S. take from these liberation movements?

If you go deep enough into your own struggle, you can find the political throughlines to other struggles. Its not about being a Tamil, or being a Black woman, or being queer, or Muslim. Its about being able to see that the way a soldier behaves to a woman in a refugee camp and the way the police deal with Black people in the U.S. is the same process of state violence. And how it maps onto the bodies of marginalized women becomes a kind of throughline that we can fight along rather than dividing into these narrow boxes of identity. I worry that that happens too often these days, and that we lose sight of those political throughlines between struggles.
The account of their escape from Hong Kong, their stay in Taiwan and their arrival in the United States was provided by Samuel Chu, founder of the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a Washington-based advocacy group that arranged for the mens travel and lodging and is helping them apply for asylum. None of the five men wanted to be identified out of concern that it could endanger their relatives in Hong Kong. One of them spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Image Samuel Chu, founder of the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council. Credit... Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

While in Taiwan, they were held on a military base and not allowed to communicate with their family and friends, though the man who agreed to be interviewed said they had been treated well. They believed that the United States offered the best chance for them to restart their lives, he said.

After weeks of negotiations, the men were allowed entry into the United States on humanitarian grounds, Mr. Chu said.

Their arrival in the United States could create further tensions between China and the United States, posing an early challenge for the incoming Biden administration just as relations between the two countries are at their lowest point in decades.
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Sam Toia of the Illinois Restaurant Association said Illinois is one of only three states with a complete statewide shutdown of indoor dining. Thats despite a study published in Nature magazine that suggests a balance can be struck to keep people safe and protect businesses. The study, based in part on data collected from cellphones, used the Chicago area as an example and said that if restaurants partially reopened with capped maximum capacity at 20%, Chicago could cut down new infections by more than 80% while only losing 42% of overall restaurant visits.
Lehigh Valley Health Network is asking area residents to double down on COVID-19 mitigation measures, now that coronavirus-specific hospitalizations are running double their peak in April.

In Lehigh County, the average daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations is 411.9 for the most recent seven-day period tracked by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Thats up slightly from 409.6 in the prior seven days. Northampton Countys most recent seven-day average for daily COVID-19 hospitalizations is 52, up from 41.1.

LVHN shared its advice to wear a mask, social distance and wash hands frequently in a Facebook post Friday.

St. Lukes University Health Network, meanwhile, has been touting its approach to treating COVID-19 patients with monoclonal antibodies, announcing this past week more than 500 people have received the treatment.

Statewide, 761,777 people have contracted COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic last year and 19,188 total deaths have been related to the virus. New Jersey has now reported 560,423 total cases, with 20,414 deaths.

Pennsylvanias death rate from the virus has been accelerating, with the state on Tuesday reaching 18,000 deaths since March and 19,000 total deaths four days later.

Cumulatively from the pandemic, the state reports 25,209 cases and 603 deaths in Lehigh County and 20,432 cases with 506 deaths in Northampton County.

Statewide, 367,814 Pennsylvanians have received a partial vaccination against COVID-19, with 59,899 receiving the full two-dose vaccination. Lehigh Countys vaccination totals are 20,597 partial and 3,558 complete, with 14,460 partial and 2,388 complete in Northampton County.

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
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US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens

Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire

ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning

European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

Armenia acting MOD leaves for Moscow

Armenia President, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces discuss current situation on border

Armenia acting PM to residents of borderline village: If we cede our border, Azerbaijanis will get more excited

Armenia MOD not confirming reports about Azerbaijan firing shots at Tavush Province

Ex-President Kocharyan meets with Yerevan residents, "Armenia" bloc members (PHOTOS)

Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

Serj Tankian makes statement on Azerbaijans displayed horrific racism

Man detained in US for intending to commit attempt on Biden

Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD continues disseminating disinformation

Erdogan to visit Baku and Shushi

Two Armenia legislature committees to hold closed joint meeting regarding tense situation on Azerbaijan border

Holy Etchmiadzin on capture of Armenia soldiers: Such behavior of Azerbaijan authorities is strongly condemnable

Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

Armenia opposition MP: Shots are heard Gegharkunik Province

Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan leadership bears responsibility for consequences of actions by its armed forces

Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

140 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

Armenia MOD announces names of 6 Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

Armenia parliament manages to have quorum in 2nd attempt

World oil prices falling

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan popularity rating consistently drops over the past week

Newspaper: Russia peacekeepers commander does not return from Azerbaijan with encouraging news for Armenia

MOD: 6 Armenia soldiers are surrounded, captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

William Shakespeare, 1st man in world to get approved coronavirus vaccine, dies aged 81

Spain Congress of Deputies committee accepts pro-Armenian motion

Ex-PM comments on double-digit growth in Armenia economy

Facebook calls Russia, Iran leading purveyors of disinformation

Erdogan says meeting with Biden will mark 'start of new era' in relations with Washington

Armenia acting Deputy PM on creation of third high-voltage electric communication line with Iran

Vladimir Zaynetdinov: CSTO has taken note of application submitted by Armenia acting PM

Armenia's Pashinyan says addressing UN Security Council not ruled out

Armenia acting FM: International pressure on Azerbaijan is growing

Netanyahu tells Blinken that Israel is against reopening US consulate for Palestinians

23 political parties and 4 alliances apply to Armenia Central Electoral Commission ahead of snap parliamentary elections

Instagram launches ability to hide likes

Iran FM on solutions to problems in the region, territorial integrity

Bloomberg: Support for Erdogan's ruling party hits record low

Inter-agency commission sums up reports on implementation of roadmap for EU-Armenia CEPA

Armenian acting PM on CSTO and Russia and their duties as Armenia's allies

Slovakia allows use of Russian vaccine Sputnik V

Armenia acting PM on situation in Syunik Province: CSTO still hasn't clearly expressed its position

Armenia's Pashinyan: It's very rarely that Baku made provocations in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces on its own

Armenia acting PM: There will be no demarcation of borders until Azerbaijani troops are pulled out of territory

Record-setting number of political parties register to run in snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Blinken describes Egypt as a "real and effective partner"

Armenia's Pashinyan slams opposition again

Yerevan court ends trial over Armenia 3rd President's nephew Hayk Sargsyan

Armenia President expresses condolences on passing away of Catholicos-Patriarch Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan
Beating the heat! Brittany Cartwright put her baby bump on display while enjoying some pool time on Friday, January 15.

Read article

The former Vanderpump Rules star, 31, shared a photo of herself in a red one-piece bathing suit lying on a pink float via her Instagram Story.

The pregnant star placed her hand on her belly and noted that it was 87 degrees in California, where she and husband Jax Taylor live.

Courtesy of Brittany Cartwright/Instagram

Cartwright also posted a photo of her pool setup, revealing a pack of pop tarts, three Fruit Crisps apple packs, a cheetah-printed water cup and a water bottle on a towel beside the water.

Gotta keep my snacks close by, she captioned the snap.

Earlier this month, the former reality star shared a series of pictures of herself wearing a nude bra and matching undies ahead of her baby boys arrival.

Read article

I got glammed up and did a selfie shoot lol, she captioned the photos via Instagram. Its important to feel confident in your body especially during quarantine + pregnancy. Everything is growing- my lips, my feet, my belly, my boobs lol!

The Kentucky native said that putting on makeup and getting her hair done  she curled her long locks for the shoot  can make a huge difference in your mood, I know this firsthand!

Courtesy of Brittany Cartwright/Instagram

The Bravo alum, who has been open about being sick all day since getting pregnant, announced in September 2020 that she and Taylor, 41, are expecting their first child together.

Mom & Dad. The love of our lives is coming soon, Cartwright wrote via Instagram at the time alongside the babys ultrasound.

The couple announced their departure from Vanderpump Rules three months later, after eight years on the Bravo series.

Although this is difficult to share, Brittany and I will not be returning for another season of Vanderpump Rules, Taylor wrote in a joint statement in December. We are excited to take this time to focus on our growing family and share with you our new endeavors.

Read article

The couple, who wed in June 2019, thanked their fans, saying, we love you.

The pairs exit came in the wake of Bravo firing Stassi Schroeder, who welcomed her first child in January, and Kristen Doute from the show in June 2020. The two were let go after a story about them wrongfully called the police on former costar Faith Stowers in 2018 resurfaced.
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Digital Editor
A special quarantine regime introduced in the country due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic was extended until April 1 in Azerbaijan, the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers of the republic informed today.

"The current sanitary and epidemiological situation in the world, including in Azerbaijan, associated with a new type of coronavirus has been analyzed. In order to prevent the spread of the virus and its possible consequences, it was decided to extend the period of the special quarantine regime in the country until 06:00 on April 1, 2021, the message reads.

At the same time, the government, given the gradual decrease in the number of infected, decided to soften some of the restrictions introduced under the special quarantine regime from January 18. From 00:00 on January 18 in Baku, Sumgait, Ganja, Mingachevir, Shirvan and Absheron region, and in the regional centres of Lankaran, Masalli, Jalilabad, Sheki, Zagatala, Guba, Khachmaz, Yevlakh, Barda, Bilamiliuvar the SMS authorisation for movement is abandoned.

From January 25, museums, exhibition halls and shopping facilities, hairdressers and beauty salons aside from large shopping centres and malls will open in Azerbaijan. Traffic between cities and regions of the republic will be restored. On February 1, local customer service will resume in catering facilities, restaurants, cafes, tea houses and other facilities from 06:00 to 00:00. The Baku Metro remains closed, and public transport will not work on Saturdays and Sundays until the end of the special quarantine regime.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of the new coronavirus a pandemic. According to the latest data, the number of people infected with coronavirus worldwide has exceeded 93 million, more than 2 million have died. To date, 226,549 cases of Covid-19 infection were registered in Azerbaijan. 213,773 people recovered, 2,983 died. The highest daily increase in the republic was recorded on December 13 - 4,451 cases.
Scout Willis appeared to be taking advantage of the sunny California weather on Saturday as she spent some time at a picturesque Malibu beach.

The 29-year-old daughter of actors Demi Moore and Bruce Willis was accompanied by her pup Grandma during her time near the ocean.

The social media personality was seen letting her beloved pup spend a little time in the sand before picking her up and carrying her off.

Scroll down for video

Fun in the sun: Scout Willis was spotted wearing a red one-piece swimsuit as she took an early-morning trip to the beach on Saturday morning

Furry friend: The 29-year-old was accompanied by her dog Grandma, who did not seem to enjoy the sand too much

Willis wore a form-fitting red one-piece swimsuit that allowed her to show off her curvy legs and toned arms.

The influencer was also spotted wearing a pair of tinted square sunglasses to keep the radiant California sun rays out of her eyes.

She tied her beautiful brunette hair up in a bun for the length of her beach trip.

Willis was not seen with a face mask despite the rising level of coronavirus cases in Southern California.

Stylish: In addition to the swimsuit, Willis wore a pair of wide-framed sunglasses for her beach trip and kept her hair tied back in a bun

Famous parents: The social media personality is the second daughter of actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore

Not seen on the beach trip with Willis was her boyfriend, musician Jake Miller.

The social media personality has been taking a break from social media as of late, and her beau appears to have adopted the same mindset with regard to his own outlets.

This stands in contrast to the usual stream of photos that the two share to their respective Instagram accounts, many of which show moments that the couple had shared.

The most recent post featuring the couple came in November and featured the two standing together at the top of Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park.

Marking the occasion: In November, Willis' boyfriend Jake Miller shared a photo of the couple in Yosemite National Park to commemorate their third anniversary

The couple had apparently taken the wilderness excursion to celebrate their third anniversary.

Willis wore a blue bra underneath an orange knitted sweater that she paired with a set of black leggings and hiking shoes.

Her boyfriend remained topless for the shot while wearing a pair of black jeans and brown work boots.

The commemorative caption for the photo simply read: '3 years.'

A first-time mum has described the moment she held her still-born baby in her arms - her eyes taking in his long, beautiful fingers, perfect chubby cheeks and nose and mop of curly, velvet-soft dark hair.

Kara Martin, 37, from the Snowy Mountains knew something was wrong on October 5 when, at 28 weeks, she couldn't feel her baby boy Bodhi moving around when she went to bed.

The single mum checked for his heartbeat - something she could always find in 30-seconds after years of working as a paedeatric nurse - but couldn't find it.

Kara says she had 'the biggest smile' on her face when she got to hold Bodhi in her arms the first time - even though she was devastated at the death of her baby

Her dad, who is suffering a terminal illness, and mum also got to come and 'meet' Bodhi - their middle daughter's first chiild

The 37-year-old has dreamed of having a baby for a long time, and decided she would have one on her own with the help of a donor and IVF

Her own heart was breaking as she drove down the road to Cooma Hospital. The doctors were struggling to find Bodhi's heartbeat and the ultrasound technician looked sad as she spun the monitor around to show the baby, un-moving on the screen.

'She said 'I am sorry' and I said 'I understand what you are trying to tell me, if there was a heartbeat you would see it',' she told Femail.

Kara wanted to go home, knowing she would get no rest if she were to stay in the hospital, and realising she would need her strength to drive to see her specialists in Canberra the following day.

Bodhi weighed just one kilo when he was born, Kara remembers his long, skinny fingers and long feet and says he was perfect

But the hospital was hesitant to let her go - because she would be home alone. So she called her mum, dad and younger sister and told them the devastating news.

'They let me go when I promised to call them before I went to Canberra in the morning,' she said.

So she went home, let her two dogs onto her bed for the first time ever, and cried through the night at the loss of the life growing inside her.

Kara had wanted to be a mum since she was young - and had decided two years earlier that if she was going to be a parent she had to do it herself.

What are three things Kara wished she had known? 1 - How common losing a baby really is in Australia and around the world. 2 - That kick counts don't mean anything. 3 - That she could have gone to hospital at anytime once she noticed changes - and staff wouldn't have minded. 4 - There is government-funded maternity leave for mums who lose their babies after 20 weeks. 5 - There are so many charities who help provide support and comfort to mums in hospital following the death of a baby. These include heartfelt - who organised a photographer to take photos - and organisations supplying clothes to hospitals to fit tiny still-born babies. If you or anyone you know is affected by the loss of a baby or child, call the 24/7 National Support Line on 1300 0 72637. Advertisement

She had enlisted the help of an IVF clinic, waited four months on the sperm-donor list and then once she was approved took another four months to find the right man for the job.

'I was touched by a letter he wrote to his future children and by the fact he would be happy to meet Bodhi one day,' she said.

The fertility testing, IVF procedures, needles and specialists appointments were endless - but all the stress and angst at the lengthiness of the procedure fell away when the pregnancy tests came back positive.

After that Kara, her parents and sisters were just excited for a new baby to be born into their loving family - he was due to arrive early and just before Christmas - and for her dream of being a mum to be finally realised.

Just days before Bodhi died Kara had dismantled her spare room - ready to set up his nursery.

But then everything happened so fast, according to Kara, Bodhi always measured ahead of his age and had good movement.

The mum says she was grateful to the charities and hospital staff who helped during her loss - including those who donated the cute, tiny outfits for Bodhi to wear

On Friday October 2, days before he died doctors 'had a listen' to the growing baby and he 'sounded great'.

What are Kara's tips for showing support to a loved one who has lost a bay? 1 - Talk about the baby by name - Kara says she is still a proud mum and wants to remember Bodhi as he was. 2 - Remember there are no right or wrong words - so always say something. 3 - Remember a loss is a loss - and once someone loses their baby (whether be a still birth, infant death or miscarriage) the future they imagined with it disappears too. Advertisement

'But over the next few days his movements changed and I couldn't feel them all the time,' she said.

'I looked online and saw that it was okay as long as he met kick counts, which he did, but now I know that means nothing.'

Once Kara got to Canberra Hospital she said the specialist were amazing, calling Bodhi by his name, and really showing they cared for her and her unborn child.

She was booked in for a C-section the following morning, on October 7, the day now marked on her calendar as Bodhi's birthday, after tests confirmed what Kara had been told at her country hospital.

She remembers being excited, and telling the kind hearted doctor who shared his own story of losing a child with her, she just wanted to meet her baby.

After he was born he was brought out to Kara's sister, an hour later the mum woke up, no longer pregnant and prepared to meet her baby.

'When I saw Bodhi for the first time I had the biggest smile on my face. He was absolutely perfect in every way - he had the longest feet and fingers. I was so excited to meet my son,' she said.

'He had the same serious facial expression as one of my nieces. He was so very real - and at the age where he could have lived if he was born alive.'

She was able to spend four days and three nights with Bodhi in hospital.

Kara has since found out she has a slightly heart-shaped cervix which can make it more difficult to conceive. She is planning on going through another round of IVF to conceive a full sibling to her beloved Bodhi.

'I can never replace Bodhi, he will always be my first baby, the one that made me a mum,' she said.

And although Kara appears confident, and is moving through her pain with the love and support of people she is terrified she will never be able to be a mother to a living child.

'To be pregnant again is really scary and is bringing me a lot of anxiety, because I have this fear that I won't be able to have another child,' she said.

'I was given a 20 percent chance on conceiving from the beginning and I didn't respond well to treatment. I had six eggs collected and three were mature enough to be used. One of those eggs took - and that was Bodhi.'

At $12,000-$13,000 per round IVF is expensive - and with just a 20percent chance of getting pregnant Kara fears she may never be a mum to a living baby, pictured left pregnant and right with Bodhi

What support has Kara received following the death of Bodhi? At the hospital before the birth Kara said she received a lot of support in hospital to help her through the loss of baby Bodhi. It started when she arrived, and the doctors asked if she had a name picked out for her baby. They then referred to him as Bodhi, which comforted her greatly. During the preparation of Bodhi's birth Kara also met with a very supportive doctor. 'I remember sitting on the edge of the operating table, curled over a pillow waiting for my spinal to be put in, holding onto George who was working in theatres. We quietly spoke while everyone got ready. 'He told me how sorry he was that Bodhi had passed and shared with me how he and his wife survived the loss of one of their children. He smiled and looked me in the eyes and asked how I was feeling to which I replied excited. Not the response you would expect to hear in this situation so I elaborated. Im excited I get to meet my son soon. 'Thats whats been helping me get through. Thats what Im looking forward to. 'It seemed kind of serendipitous that George and I met that day. This kind gentle soul who was about to witness the birth of my sleeping angel, who had survived losing his own living child, carried my grandfathers name. The name I bestowed onto Bodhi to carry as his own. Bodhi George Martin.' At the hospital after the birth The midwives waited until Kara was awake and in her room to weigh and measure Bodhi - as it is a special moment. They then offered some tiny outfits to the mum to choose from - as anything she had for Bodhi was too big. Hospital staff also met with her to give her ideas on how to spend a few days with her son - making memories which helped as she was not in the state of mind to think of activities. Bodhi was put in a cot which kept him cool and Kara was in a birthing suite with a cold room where Bodhi could be stored to help preserve him for longer. Plaster casts were made of his feet, his outfits were changed twice and Kara was able to keep two of them. she was also given a blanket to nurse him in and was able to take it home. Heartfelt - a charity - sent a photographer to take photos of Kara, Bodhi - and her parents meeting him. Her parents and sister were all allowed to visit despite Covid regulations limiting visitors to a spouse. Since leaving the hospital Kara has huge support from her family. she has also found support online where she has posted about Bodhi. People have reached out to her to tell her their own stories of losing babies. Speaking about him has helped her to heal. Advertisement

Kara has documented her efforts trying to conceive as well as her pregnancy and Bodhi's still birth and says it helps her to process the information. Bodhi 'was perfect' measuring well and sounded good in his last scan before he died

In spite of this knowing she can try to conceive again in April helps to keep her going.

'I have to start from the beginning again, and if it doesn't happen then that will be something I will have to work through - not ever having my own children.'

'People think IVF is foolproof, that you will end up with a baby, but that's not how it works.'

The IVF rounds are expensive and have to be paid in full - as single parents can not get any financial assistance from the government.

Kara wants to thank everyone who showed her support, including all of the charities working with the hospital to make her loss as bearable as possible.

Bodhi was cremated and his ashes now live at home with Kara - in the home she hoped they would share.

If you or anyone you know is affected by the loss of a baby or child, call the 24/7 National Support Line on 1300 0 72637.
Georgia Love has been dumped from what she described as her 'dream job' at Channel 10.

On Saturday, a network spokesperson confirmed the former Bachelorette star, 31, no longer worked for the network.

They said in a statement: 'During her time with Network 10, Georgia Love made a valuable contribution as a freelance reporter.

Gone! Georgia Love (pictured) has been dumped from what she described as her 'dream job' at Channel 10. On Saturday, a network spokesperson confirmed the former Bachelorette star, 31, no longer worked for the network

'As with any casual position, the availability of work ebbs and flows with the requirements of the company.'

On Friday, The Daily Telegraph reported that she'd exited the role under 'mysterious circumstances'.

An alleged source told the paper: 'Nothing was really said about it  one day a memo just went around saying that "Georgia no longer works here".'

They said in a statement: 'During her time with Network 10, Georgia Love made a valuable contribution as a freelance reporter. As with any casual position, the availability of work ebbs and flows with the requirements of the company.' Pictured covering Derby Day in October

The paper went on to claim that Georgia's exit is believed to be part of the brutal Covid-19 cost cutbacks at the network last year, which saw least 25 jobs slashed.

Daily Mail Australia reached out to Georgia for comment at the time.

Georgia landed what she described as her dream job with the channel in 2017, as a reporter at Ten Eyewitness News Melbourne.

Cuts: On Friday, The Daily Telegraph reported that she'd exited the role under 'mysterious circumstances' with other staff informed of her departure in a memo

She wrote on Instagram at the time: 'Eight years ago I did two weeks' work placement at Channel 10 News and absolutely fell in love with the workings of a metro newsroom.

'I knew I never wanted to do anything else with my life. Today, I worked my first day in that very newsroom.'

In June 2018, the former reality star announced she would be presenting the weather for Ten Eyewitness News.

Dreams: Georgia landed what she described as her dream job with the channel in 2017, as a reporter at Ten Eyewitness News Melbourne. In June 2018, the former reality star announced she would be presenting the weather for Ten Eyewitness News

She last posted a job-related Instagram image in October, in which she was depicted covering Derby Day.

Georgia also donned a mask for a Channel Ten news report in July, while pointing out that Covid had made her work more difficult.

In addition to her job at Ten, Georgia is also a budding Instagram influencer, regularly promoting products on her social media.

Busy: In addition to her job at Ten, Georgia is also a budding Instagram influencer. She also co-owns a business with her fiance Lee Elliott, 39 (right) - a pyjama line called Georgia Elliot

She also co-owns a business with her fiance Lee Elliott, 39 - a pyjama line called Georgia Elliott.

In happier news, Georgia has announced that she and Lee plan to marry sometime this year.

Georgia and her plumber beau, who met on The Bachelorette back in 2016, will marry in Tasmania after scrapping their plans for an Italian destination wedding.
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Sweat gushed out of every pore, forming a wet sheen like a frogs skin, as I futilely tried to touch my head to the floor while keeping my legs straight (Dandayamana Vibhaktapada Pascimottanasana, or standing separate leg stretching pose). My soaked clothes mightve weighed 10 kilos  though I only wore a threadbare T-shirt and shorts that used to be part of a pyjama set. I  and the 15 or so other people in the boiling room with mirrors all along one side (to better see our suffering, perhaps?)  smelled terrible. And yet, I was smiling.

Just let the sweat happen  feel all the gunk, all the toxins seeping out of the body!

The teacher, Sarah, may have had a point  but I felt like I was on fire.

The stretching and the heat is so good for you  its like power washing for your joints!

Ive been going to hot yoga classes every day for several weeks, struggling through 26 postures over 90 minutes in a room heated to more than 40 degrees Celsius. Im not very flexible, and usually hate exercise. Im certainly not the stereotypical yogi, ridiculously muscular, without a gramme of fat, fond of herbal teas, and typically female (or, if a guy, sporting a man bun).

But when my flatmate asked me to come along one spring evening, I thought itd be fun to give it a try. Stepping into the practice room, the heat was like walking into a sauna  so oppressive that I wasnt able to even think about being intimidated by other people; about halfway through, I genuinely wondered if I was going to collapse from heatstroke.

But the environment also felt so comfortable, so supportive (it helped the teacher only had words of encouragement when I could barely do any of the poses she guided us through). Afterwards, lying on my rented mat panting from exhaustion, I felt a surge of euphoria, and awoke the next day with more energy than Id had in years.

Fast-forward to the present. Im beginning to fall in love, and the benefits have been numerous.

My self-confidence has grown; just finishing each class feels like a tremendous accomplishment. Feeling my brain melt into mush as I can only focus on the teachers instructions has done wonders for reducing COVID-related anxiety. Ive learned the importance of self-love and body positivity  each class has people of all ages, body types and genders, and its especially inspiring to see older men with larger bodies.
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When defeated armies are retreating, they always lay mines behind them if they have time. The mines slow pursuit, they may inflict casualties on the victors, and they give the losers something purposeful to do amidst panic and despair. Thats what Mike Pompeo has been doing just before time is called on his ideologically driven term as United States secretary of state.

Opinion

When defeated armies are retreating, they always lay mines behind them if they have time. The mines slow pursuit, they may inflict casualties on the victors, and they give the losers something purposeful to do amidst panic and despair. Thats what Mike Pompeo has been doing just before time is called on his ideologically driven term as United States secretary of state.

Pompeo started last Saturday by declaring that the U.S. State Department would end its restrictions on direct intergovernmental dealings with Taiwan, a policy in place since the U.S. transferred its diplomatic recognition from the Republic of China (ROC-Taiwan) to the Peoples Republic of China (PRC).

"No more," said Pompeo. "I am lifting all these self-imposed restrictions." But they were not "self-imposed." They were a key part of the 1979 deal that let the U.S. have its cake and eat it too: to go on protecting Taiwans de-facto independence while formally accepting that Taiwan is legally a province of China.

So the United States agreed that there was only one China (without actually saying that Taiwan was not its legitimate government), while China agreed that "the American people" would continue to carry on "commercial, cultural, and other unofficial contacts with the people of Taiwan." They could talk and trade all they like; just no public, official contacts.

This is why we all employ diplomats. They can square the circle and let us be friends, or at least trading partners, by coming up with a formula of words that veils our differences. The U.S. could go on selling arms to Taiwan, sail the 7th fleet down the strait between Taiwan and the PRC, pretty well anything  except have U.S. government officials talk openly to ROC officials.

Then, 41 years later, Pompeo springs his little surprise. China exploded, of course, accusing Pompeo of "seeking to maliciously inflict a long-lasting scar on China-U.S. ties." Fair comment, but Pompeos real target was the incoming Biden administration, which will have to reverse this policy while the Republicans shower it with accusations of being "soft on China."

On Sunday: another land-mine. Pompeo designates Yemens Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organization. That means nobody can deal with them, so attempts to broker an end to the long and devastating war between the Houthis and the Saudi Arabian-backed, internationally recognized (but no more legitimate) government are now outlawed.

It wins more time for Saudi Arabia to go on bombing the place in the hope of restoring its candidate to power, but it makes it far harder to bring aid to the diseased and starving millions in most of the country (which is controlled by the Houthis, who are not terrorists). It will take the Biden administration some time to unpick this mess.

Monday: Pompeo puts Cuba back on the list of "state sponsors of terrorism." Its nothing of the sort, but this will please the older generation of Republican-voting Cuban refugees in south Florida, and the Republicans can call Biden a "Commie-lover" while hes reversing it. Besides, it was Obama who took Cuba off that list, and all his works must be destroyed.

Tuesday: Pompeo announces that Iran is now the main home of al-Qaeda, the Islamist terrorist organisation that planned and carried out the 9/11 attacks on the United States, and later created the "Islamic State" that devastated Iraq and Syria for a number of years.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called Pompeos assertions "warmongering lies," which seems about right. They are certainly lies  nobody who knows the region believes that the Shia Muslim theocracy in Iran would have anything to do with the Sunni Muslim extremists of al-Qaeda. In fact, al-Qaeda routinely murders Shias as heretics.

And they really are "warmongering" lies, designed to sabotage Bidens policy of rejoining the 2015 international deal that guarantees Iran will not build nuclear weapons. (Donald Trump abandoned it in 2018, presumably because it was Obamas signature achievement in foreign policy.)

If the United States does not end its savage sanctions against Iran and re-commit to the deal within months, it will finally collapse, and the risk of an eventual nuclear war in the Middle East will move from remote hypothesis to plausible prospect. But it lets Republicans accuse Biden of being "soft on Iran" and "soft on terrorism" when he tries to fix it.

Come to think of it, "land mines" is the wrong image here, because land mines are hidden. Pompeo is setting slow-burning fires in plain sight, which is why a European foreign minister recently described him as a "political pyromaniac"  and this is his "scorched-earth" policy.

Thats the other, bigger thing that retreating armies often do. Burn it all down. If we cant have it, nobody can. And Pompeo still has time to insult North Korea and start a fight with Mexico before he leaves the scene.

Gwynne Dyers latest book is Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy (and Work).
The Union Health Ministry on Saturday evening said that over 1.6 lakh people received the first shots of Covid-19 vaccine today after the country kickstarted its mega vaccination drive against novel coronavirus earlier today.

A total of 16,755 vaccinators were involved in organising COVID-19 vaccination sessions. Total of 1,91,181 beneficiaries vaccinated for COVID19 on day 1 of the massive nationwide vaccination drive, the health ministry said. The earlier number of 1,65,714 was recorded till 5:30 pm today.

"Serum Institute of India produced COVISHIELD was supplied to all States/UTs. Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN was supplied to 12 States. Total 3,351 sessions held across the country with both the vaccines," the ministry's official said.

The government also said that COVID-19 vaccination drive was successful on Day 1. No case of post-vaccination hospitalisation reported so far.

"Since it was the first day of vaccination, a few issues came up- delay in uploading beneficiary list at some session sites and healthcare workers vaccinated though not scheduled for today's session," the government clarified in its press briefing. Resolutions provided for both the issues, it added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the vaccination programme covering the entire length and breadth of the country and urged people to show patience during the COVID-19 immunisation drive as they had shown till now in fighting the pandemic.

Following that, hospital cleaning worker Manish Kumar became the first person in India to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Kumar received his shot at Delhi's premier All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), one of 3,006 vaccination centres established around the country.

AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria and V.K. Paul, a top COVID-19 adviser to Modi, were also given the shots in the presence of Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had earlier this month approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country.

The government has already bought 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVISHIELD shot, produced by the Serum Institute of India, and 5.5 million of Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN.

COVISHIELD is 72% effective, according to the Indian drug regulator, while Bharat Biotech says COVAXIN's last-stage trial results are expected by March.

While nationalist politicians are cheering COVAXIN, some health experts consider it rushed, as the vaccine has only limited, "clinical-trial mode" approval.

In addition to efficacy concerns, the close monitoring required for its use will be a massive challenge.

According to the government, the shots will be offered first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers and around two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities.

The cost of vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers will be borne by the central government.

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The marked low-pressure area located to the south-southwest of Diego Garcia continues to

develop slowly and has now become a tropical disturbance.

The centre of the system is outside the main cloud mass and overall environmental condition is not that favourable at

the moment.

At 10.00 hours on Saturday morning, it was located at about 1250 km to the northeast of

Mauritius and is moving in a general westerly direction at a speed of about 20 km/h. As the

tropical disturbance moves towards the West, it will evolve in a more favourable

environment with good surface convergence and improved divergence aloft together with

reduced vertical wind shear.

The system is likely to develop further into a tropical depression by this early evening. Most

Numerical Weather Prediction models are intensifying the system into a moderate tropical

storm on Sunday 17 January. In the event that this scenario is confirmed, the storm will be

named ELOISE.

Weather models are also indicating that the system will move in a general westerly direction

heading towards Madagascar. On this forecasted trajectory, it will not directly influence

weather at either Mauritius or Rodrigues, unless there is a drastic re-curvature towards

southwest or the south. And considering model uncertainty, this forecast is likely to change

The Mauritius Meteorological Services is closely monitoring the development of this system

and this bulletin will be updated tomorrow by mid-day.

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STORRS  The University of Connecticut released its COVID-19 safety plan for the upcoming semester Saturday, sharing its plan to safeguard against the coronavirus as students began to return to campus over the weekend.

The Spring 2021 Reopen Plan covers all UConn campuses statewide (except UConn Health), including residential and commuter students, and assumes a combination of in-person, remote learning and hybrid classes, the plan said.

Important to the ability to reopen campuses is UConns ability to continue compliance with social and physical distancing requirements in all spaces, the use of PPE (face coverings), and other barriers to prevent the spread of COVID-19, especially in areas where maintaining six-feet of physical distancing is difficult, and following strict cleaning and disinfecting protocols across all campuses, officials said in the safety plan. UConns goal is to provide the best educational and campus experience for all students wanting to come to UConn.

The number of students staying on campus remains severely limited, officials said in the plan.

At the universitys Storrs campus, 4,559 students will live on campus, with an additional 6,385 living off-campus but physically attending classes. A total of 10,423 possible Storrs students will take classes online only.

At the schools Stamford campus, 143 students will take up residence; 225 will commute for in-person classes; and 1,920 will take only online classes.

The entire student body is receiving coronavirus tests as they return to the campuses, with individual and group testing planned throughout the semester, spokesman Stephanie Reitz said in an email.

Residential students will be quarantined for the first two weeks of classes, which begin Tuesday. All instruction will be online during that time, according to the plan.

The implementation and execution of the (plan) is the result of months of planning and preparation. We, as a university, have worked closely with the Connecticut Department of Public Health in the development of policies and procedures to best protect our students, faculty, and staff. Lessons learned over the past semester have guided us in developing our overall strategy, officials said in the plan.

UConn is ready and postured to deliver the educational standard of excellence that we are known for providing to our students by faculty and staff.

The complete plan will be posted for public consideration at reopen.uconn.edu, Reitz said.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

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Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

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Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

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Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

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ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

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Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

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Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
Gurugram, Jan 17 : The crime branch units of Gurugram police have arrested three criminals wanted in a sarpanch's husband murder case, officials said on Saturday.

The accused were identified as Bharat (20), Mohit (27) and Puneet (24).

Two of them carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh each in the murder case of Manoj Dagar, the husband of Alipur village sarpanch in Gurugram's Sohna block, on July 13, last year.

Police have also recovered 5 automatic pistols, 2 country-made pistols, 36 live cartridges along with 2 mobile phones and 1 WiFi dongle from their possession.

"The criminals were apprehended on Saturday from the different locations of the city after a tip-off received by the crime branch teams of Sector-17, Sector-39 and Sector-40.

The Haryana police had fixed a bounty of Rs 1 lakh each on Bharat and Mohit on their arrest in this murder case. The police will seek further remand of the culprits from the court for investigation" said Preet Pal Sangwan, ACP (Crime).

"The arrested criminals were the key members of the Ashok Rathi gang. Besides, Mohit and Puneet were also involved in dozen cases of murder, attempt to murder in Gurugam, Palwal and Faridabad districts," Sangwan said.

During interrogation, the accused disclosed that their group members had suspected the involvement of Dagar in the murder case of their kingpin Ashok Rathi. So, to take revenge on Rathi's murder, Bharat had killed Dagar while the remaining accused was present at the spot.

"Dagar's murder was a pre-planned incident due to rivalry between the criminals and sarpanch's husband. The accused has confessed to the murder. They also revealed they were planning to eliminate seven more people but were nabbed before they could execute the plot," Sangwan added.

On July 13, Manoj was shot outside a private hospital in Sohna. The victim succumbed to injuries at a private hospital on July 15.

In connection with the case, the investigation team had earlier arrested four accused -- Pushkar, Mahesh alias Nishu, Ankit and Mukesh Kumar alias Prince.

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LISBON: Portugal 's Finance Minister Joao Leao has tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said on Saturday, a day after he took part in an in-person meeting in Lisbon with top EU officials including Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

The 46-year-old minister has so far shown no symptoms and will continue to work from home during a period of self-isolation, a statement from his ministry said. Self-isolation could last between 10 to 14 days.

Leao's positive test result was announced more than 24 hours after he attended the meeting at the Belem Cultural Center on Friday to discuss Portugal's top priorities during its six-month EU presidency, which started this month.

Prime Minister Antonio Costa was also at the meeting, as were several other ministers and secretaries of state. Costa recently had to self-isolate for 14 days after a lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, who then tested positive for the virus.

Several EU officials travelled to Lisbon for the meeting, including von der Leyen, the Commission's Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans and European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager -- all of whom were present.

Official images of the meeting shared on the government website showed it took place in a large room and all participants wore face masks.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Lanka expecting to get Indias COVID-19 vaccines within two weeks By Kapila Bandara in Hong Kong View(s): View(s):

More than a week after Indias top diplomat pledged priority for Sri Lanka in providing coronavirus vaccines, a report says that up to 20 million doses would be distributed by India to neighbouring countries in the next two weeks.

It is not clear at this stage whether the vaccines will be free for Sri Lanka, how much each will cost if not free, or how many doses will be delivered.

On Friday, US financial news network, Bloomberg News, reported citing a source that an Indian state-run company would buy vaccines from the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech International for supplying to Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Seychelles and Mauritius.

The plan was still under discussion, Bloomberg said.

Some supplies may be free and treated as aid, the source told Bloomberg.

The first batch of the vials would be shipped over the next two weeks, Bloomberg quoted the source as saying.

A Indian High Commission spokesman last night referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modis speech at the launch of the all-India rollout of COVID-19 vaccination drive yesterday. Mr. Modi said, India is guided by a human-centric approach that will always work towards furthering global good. We have received a request from the Government of Sri Lanka for supplying COVID-19 vaccines. Guided by our Neighbourhood First policy, requisite steps are being undertaken to ensure its early supply with a view to contain the spread of the pandemic as well as help in economic revival. Discussions between the two sides towards finalising necessary modalities and relevant decisions are under progress.

During Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankars visit to Colombo last week, he said Sri Lanka would be prioritised when the India-produced vaccines were available.

In Beijing, on Tuesday, January 12, Sri Lanka also handed over a request for Chinese vaccines.

Payday is typically a disappointment. And so these locals marched in snowy weather to demand more cash from fast food chains. Sadly, the current, COVID economic climate has everyone desperate for money despite efforts to print up more paper currency as fast as possible.

Workers from Stand Up KC strike at local McDonald's KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) - Workers from Stand Up KC will go on strike Friday at noon with support from Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas. The strike will take place outside of the McDonald's at 3051 Van Brunt Blvd., calling to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Politicians gave extremists opportunities to mobilize political violence by profusely alleging the 2020 election was stolen from the Republican party, experts say.

Right-wing extremist groups have long posed a threat to Americans but were largely unaddressed after 9/11 shifted the focus from domestic terrorism to foreign terrorism. However, homegrown extremism has intensified, partly because of grievances like income inequality, but primarily because politicians enflamed people who already feel like the system is stacked against them, said Jakana Thomas, a political science researcher at Michigan State University who studies the overlaps of terrorism and civil war.

We have an issue of American exceptionalism, we believe that these things cant happen to us, Thomas said. So, if (politicians) flame radicals or terrorists, it doesnt stand to reason in their minds that in America there would be an emergence of radical extremism. But around the world, you would know that this kind of rhetoric mobilizes violence.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security identified domestic violent extremists as the primary threat to Americans in 2020, and predicted those groups will continue to target individuals institutions. An analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies of 893 terrorist attacks in the U.S. dating back to January 1994 found that right-wing extremists perpetrated two-thirds of the attacks and plots in 2019 and over 90% between Jan. 1 and May 8, 2020. Both agencies predicted violence would intensify during the general election.

The combination of the mass number of people who are willing to mobilize and politicians who are willing to discredit government institutions are indicators of post-election violence, according to Michael Wahman, an MSU assistant professor who studies new African democracies.

It seems completely unlikely that political leaders could not see this coming, particularly given what we experienced during the summer, Wahman said. When you delegitimize elections, as some politicians did, that could come with the consequence of violence. That shouldnt come as a surprise to political leaders.

People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)AP

Post-election violence is an attempt to change the results of an election by voicing grievances against the process through extreme methods, like invading the U.S. Capitol, Wahman said.

Related: Domestic terrorism represents growing threat to United States

The threat of right-wing extremism existed before the election, said Javed Ali, a former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, who pointed to the Oklahoma City attack in 1995, when two anti-government extremists killed 168 people and injured 680 others.

That brought home the reality of the far-right terrorism threat to the U.S., Ali said.

At that time, the FBI was more aggressive in knocking the threat back, then overseas threats took center stage. Extremists were then considered lone-wolves who werent part of specific groups, but rather a broad, far-right movement, Ali said.

Now, militias and extremists have organized anti-government demonstrations through social media. Experts pointed to the actions taken in April 2020 by armed protestors who stormed the Lansing Capitol because they believed Gov. Gretchen Whitmers stay-at-home orders infringed on their civil rights.

Related: Michigan extremism a dress rehearsal for Capitol riot, experts say

Supporters of President Donald Trump are confronted by Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)AP

Militias and extremists have been connected through social media and the proliferation of misinformation from trusted elected officials, experts said. Ali said social media can play a major role in accelerating a persons path toward extremism, drawing comparisons to ISIS, the group that managed to weaponize all of that better than any other terrorist group.

The terrorist organization was active on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube before those companies began removing ISIS content around 2014. Similarly, some of those platforms removed Trump, and experts believe its because his words may have incited extremists to invade the Capitol.

Related: Extreme rhetoric thrives on alternative social media sites growing after Facebook, Twitter crackdown

These militia movements are a part of America, but now its easier to coordinate for them over social media and share their grievances, Thomas said. They believe the election was stolen from them and that their democracy is being taken from them. Now, not only are they trying to terrorize people into changing policies, some of them really expect a war. So, if they are coming armed to the teeth for war, the government has to take that seriously.

On Jan. 13, two Michigan Republicans and all seven of the Democratic representatives joined the U.S. House in impeaching the president a second time by a 232-197 vote, charging him with incitement of insurrection.

U.S. Reps. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, and Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids, said they decided to support impeachment when it became clear to them that Trump showed no remorse for his role in provoking the attack. They cited Trumps statement that his reaction to the riots was totally inappropriate after expressing admiration for the mob.

President Trump betrayed his oath of office by seeking to undermine our constitutional process, and he bears responsibility for inciting the insurrection we suffered last week. With a heavy heart, I will vote to impeach President Donald J. Trump. pic.twitter.com/SREfFp0nd2  Rep. Peter Meijer (@RepMeijer) January 13, 2021

Wahman believes if politicians dont denounce extremism and stop spreading polarizing misinformation, the incidents of political violence by extremists are sure to continue.

The question is whether politicians will feel like its in their own interests to build up trust in institutions, or if they want to continue to mobilize, Wahman said. Some of these protestors will start to figure out now that this comes with a great personal cost for them. Their activity that day (Jan. 6) showed some of them thought that this is a cost worth taking.

Online groups linked to pro-Trump mobs that swarmed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 are planning marches at state capitols in all 50 states on Jan. 17, according to law enforcement agencies. The Michigan National Guard, FBI, State Police, and Lansing-area officials have upped security measures in downtown Lansing, around the capitol, erecting fencing and mobilizing police and other law enforcement.

Read more:

Michigan National Guard preparing for armed protest at Capitol Sunday

Police seeking man in U-M hoodie involved in violent riots at U.S. Capitol

Security increased at Michigan Capitol as FBI warns of possible armed protests
Erick Ortiz slumped in a chair when he came back from Milby High School on Nov. 3. He told his wife that he had been on his feet for five hours, monitoring about 20 students taking the PSAT in his classroom.

Her heart sank at the thought of him closed in a room with so many students.

I remember telling him, Dont tell me you walked around. Why didnt you just stand there? Maria Ortiz said. He said, We have to stand and monitor them.

About four days later, Erick Ortiz began feeling sick. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 8, and after a nearly month-long battle in which he was intubated, Ortiz died on Dec. 6. The science teacher was 52.

For dozens of Texas families whose loved ones worked in schools and died of COVID-19 in recent months, the grieving period comes with a barrage of questions: Did the fatal infection happen on-campus? Could school leaders have done more to ensure safety? Were the benefits of bringing nearly 3 million children back on campus worth the potential risk of lives lost?

As with so much about the pandemic, there are few simple or unanimous answers.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas public school pre-K enrollment tumbles 22 percent

Some survivors of the deceased, such as Ortizs family, argue that education employees have been put in unnecessarily dangerous positions, through rushed back-to-school policies or lax enforcement of safety protocols.

Others, such as the widow of 57-year-old Goose Creek CISD middle school teacher Kenneth McVay, who died of COVID-19 in mid-December, are comforted by robust health protocols on campuses and the irreplaceable public service provided by educators amid the pandemic. School leaders across the state report that many students in online-only classes are struggling with their academics and mental health, while children in face-to-face classes are performing better.

In my mind, teachers are front-line personnel, the same way doctors and nurses are, said Robin Creed McVay, herself a middle school counselor. I feel the loss of my husband very deeply, but I wont say we made a bad decision or wrong decision. We are where we thought we needed to be.

From the outset of the pandemic, the potential public health effects of resuming in-person classes have stirred intense debate among education leaders, school employees and their families.

For some school staff, the prospect of on-campus COVID-19 spread inspires grave concerns, sparking calls to keep instruction online. Many families shared those concerns, evidenced by nearly half of Texas public schoolchildren remaining in virtual classes into at least late October, according to state data.

Several months later, the ultimate impact of reopening campuses on the states 800,000-plus school employees remains murky. No government agency tracks the number of COVID-19 deaths or hospitalizations among school staff.

Through media reports, obituaries and other sources, the Houston Chronicle identified nearly 40 school employees in Texas whose deaths have been linked to COVID-19. The deceased  administrators, teachers, custodians, bus drivers, paraprofessionals  ranged in age from 35 to 74.

Six worked in the Greater Houston area, including Alvin ISD assistant principal LeRoy Castro, 58; Cleveland ISD teacher Michael Moore, 48; Cypress-Fairbanks ISD teachers aide Marie Le, 69; and Spring ISD teacher Joe Diaz, whose age could not be verified.

Courtesy

The nearly 40 deaths identified by the Chronicle likely is an undercount against the 37,000 confirmed cases of COVID reported by public school districts between early August and the winter break.

Safe in school?

At least some of the deaths likely are not traceable to in-school spread. In November, the family of Mesquite ISD bus driver Clarkster Toure told a Dallas-area television station that it suspects she contracted COVID-19 at church.

However, other families are left to ponder whether their loved ones would be alive if schools remained closed.

Maria Ortiz said the decision to put so many students in a classroom with Ortiz during the PSAT was likely what caused his infection.

They couldnt keep distancing at six feet with so many kids, Maria said. He told me a couple of times that he felt that some of the kids were sick. They're coughing, and maybe their parents just give them a couple of Tylenol and go to school because kids are very resilient.

The family of 64-year-old school bus driver Sandra Robinson, who spent three decades in Beaumont ISDs transportation department, also believes she picked up COVID-19 while on the job.

Her grandson, Kevin Robinson, advocated for changes to district protocols, such as allowing more employees to work from home if they can.

One death doesnt really change a lot, said Robinson, who was raised by his grandmother for most of his childhood. It takes a lot of sacrifice for real change to happen. Once it starts affecting more people, once it hits their families and children, the district will take it more seriously, and then the city, then the state and the whole ladder.

Creed McVay, whose husband worked as a structural engineer before joining the teaching staff at Gentry Junior School in his native Baytown in 2019, also suspects her husband was infected while on campus.

She does not blame local or state education leaders for his death, however. Before he became ill, McVay reported to his wife of 35 years that Gentry Junior staff took common precautions: making kids sanitize their hands at the start and end of school, cleaning desks daily, ordering students to keep their masks on.

When Creed McVay went to pack up her husbands classroom in early January, before students and staff returned from winter break, she found desks well-spaced and surrounded by plexiglass dividers.

I felt like they had taken every possible precaution to protect my husband and those students in that room, Creed McVay said. And as I glanced around the classrooms when I was in there, it was the same setup everywhere.

Teachers are not disposable

For now, state and Houston-area education leaders continue to move forward with in-person classes, often with support from medical officials. Local health authorities have reported finding minimal on-campus spread of COVID-19, though that trend could be tested amid a spike in infected students and staff during the past month.

Texas Education Agency leaders have given no indication that they plan to allow public school districts to return to all-online classes. Under current state guidelines, districts must offer in-person classes to all families that want it, with few exceptions.

While the agency does not track mortality data, all of us who work in education have been saddened by educator deaths from COVID. One teacher death is too many, TEA officials said in a statement. Those working both in schools and also in support of schools right now are doing the absolutely essential work of ensuring that a generation of children receive the educations they deserve even in these extraordinarily challenging times.

Although the leaders of two large Texas districts, Austin and Northside ISDs, are urging families to keep children home from school, no Houston-area superintendents have issued similar calls or pushed state officials to relent on face-to-face classes.

Asked earlier this month about any urgency to shutter schools, Houston ISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said the district is not at that point right now, citing feedback she has received from city of Houston and Texas Medical Center officials.

I know there are grave concerns with the positivity rate and the new strand that has reached the city of Houston, Lathan said. But I want to make sure everyone is aware that those conversations are ongoing, and theyre not just hit-or-miss conversations.

If Maria Ortiz had her way, campuses already would be closed. If they have to open, she said, school leaders should make sure everyone is following CDC guidelines by keeping distanced, doing more contact tracing and providing more protection to teachers.

I am angry that this is happening in many schools. Teachers are not disposable. They have families, Maria said, her voice breaking. Families must be protected, as well.

Isaac Windes of the Beaumont Enterprise contributed to this report.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com

shelby.webb@chron.com
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The state of has managed to vaccinate 85 per cent of total beneficiaries on the first day of the nationwide vaccination drive, said Dr Srinivas Rao, Director of Public Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

"After Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the vaccination drive across India from Delhi via Video Conferencing, the state was able to kick start the vaccination drive in 139 centers across the state," Dr Rao told ANI.

"For today, we have just decided to vaccinate 30 beneficiaries per cent across the state. So we have estimated to vaccinate 4,200 beneficiaries across the state. Against the 4,200 beneficiaries, we were able to vaccinate 3,530 beneficiaries by 3 pm today. And by now we might have reached 85 per cent of our estimated target," he said.

Further talking about the vaccine drive in the state, Dr Rao said, "There has been no much of refusal towards the vaccine and if there has been any, we tried to convince them by explaining them and motivate them to get the vaccine shot. All the beneficiaries who have been given the vaccine shot have been put under medical observation for about 30 minutes at the vaccination centre."

Stating that no severe reaction towards the vaccine was reported today, he added, "20 minor reactions have been recorded across the state from the beneficiaries after getting vaccinated. The reaction towards the vaccine has been very minor like dizziness or swelling or itching sensation have been noticed among these 20 beneficiaries. Till now there has been no serious or severe reaction towards the vaccine."

"From Monday, the number of beneficiaries will be increased from 30 persons to 100 persons per cent. And the number of vaccination centers will also be increased. In the coming two months we would be able to cover all the health care workers across the state from both public and private health care centers," he added.

The director of public health further said that by the end of February or by the start of March, we would be able to deliver the vaccine to the common public who are above 50 years of age and to people who have long-term health issues.

"The MoS for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy and State Health Minister Etela Rajender has participated in the inauguration of vaccination drive in Gandhi Hospital here in Hyderabad. The Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development for Telangana state, K Tarakarama Rao has taken part in the launching of a vaccine drive from the Urban Primary Health Centre in Tilak Nagar here in Hyderabad," said he said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens

Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire

ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning

European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

Armenia acting MOD leaves for Moscow

Armenia President, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces discuss current situation on border

Armenia acting PM to residents of borderline village: If we cede our border, Azerbaijanis will get more excited

Armenia MOD not confirming reports about Azerbaijan firing shots at Tavush Province

Ex-President Kocharyan meets with Yerevan residents, "Armenia" bloc members (PHOTOS)

Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

Serj Tankian makes statement on Azerbaijans displayed horrific racism

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Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

Armenia opposition MP: Shots are heard Gegharkunik Province

Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

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Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

140 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

Armenia MOD announces names of 6 Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

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World oil prices falling

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NEW DELHI: Manish Kumar was surrounded by television cameras and microphones for more than an hour at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), with journalists waiting to take a byte from him.

As journalists jostled to get a quote from the 34-year-old, they created a crowd that defied most social distancing norms of the covid-19 pandemic, albeit while wearing masks.

In fact, the gathering was similar to those present with the likes of newsmakers like Union health minister Harsh Vardhan, NITI Aayog member Vinod K. Paul and AIIMS director Randeep Guleria who were also present at the hospital at the same time.

Kumar, a machine operator at AIIMS sanitation department, was the man of the occasion, after all, having become Indias first beneficiary of a covid-19 vaccine on Saturday, when he received a shot of Bharat Biotech Internationals indigenously-developed Covaxin at the premier healthcare institute.

Everyone was nervous about taking the vaccine. So, I just went to the administration and said I want to take the vaccine first because I wanted to show them that it is safe. Also, what was the risk? The prime minister (Narendra Modi) was watching online, and the health minister (Harsh Vardhan) was there. Our director at AIIMS, Randeep Guleria, was also there. What could go wrong?" Kumar said, adding that he was feeling fine even as two hours had passed after the vaccination.

Kumar said he was informed on Friday evening that he was accepted for vaccination on Saturday along with his friend, Mohammed Shokat Ali, a 37-year-old plumber in his department. However, Ali was nervous about the vaccination.

I was nervous till today morning. But when he (Kumar) got the vaccine, I decided to follow and take it. I was the sixth person to get the vaccine," Ali said.

On Saturday, both Paul and Guleria also received their first shot of Covaxin at AIIMS, after which they appealed for confidence in the vaccine, saying that it was safe.

Their confidence in Covaxin was in contrast to that shown by some doctors at other central government hospitals in Delhi, where the shot is being administered.

At Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in central Delhi, the resident doctors association (RDA) wrote a letter to their medical superintendent A.K. Singh Rana, saying that they would like to be vaccinated with Serum Institute of Indias Covishield instead of Covaxin.

We would like to bring to your notice that the residents are a bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial in case of Covaxin and might not participate in huge numbers, thus defeating the purpose of vaccination," the RDA wrote in the letter on Saturday, a copy of which was seen by Mint.

The concerns over Covaxin are rooted in the controversy over its clearance by the Drugs Controller General of India V.G. Somani, who gave the vaccine an emergency licensure despite the lack of efficacy data from its phase 3 trial.

The emergency licensure was given in clinical trial mode based only on its safety and immunogenicity data. While immunogenicity, found in a phase 2 trial, shows that a vaccine induces an immune response against a disease, efficacy data shows how effective it is in protecting against the disease as compared to a placebo. Phase 3 trials, in which efficacy is found, is considered more stringent than phase 2 used to determine immunogenicity.

Bharat Biotech did not have efficacy data when it got the emergency licensure, which effectively raised concerns over its effectiveness.

Healthcare and frontline workers receiving Covaxin have to sign an informed consent form because it has an emergency licensure in clinical trial mode. The government has said they will not have a choice between that and Covishield.

Till Friday evening, most beneficiaries scheduled to get a covid-19 jab on Saturday morning did not even know which of the two they were scheduled to receive.

We have not been informed which vaccine we will get," Ajeet Jain, nodal officer for covid-19 at Delhis Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, said on Friday, as he showed how the hospital was preparing for the start of the covid-19 vaccination.

Of the 81 hospitals in Delhi, six, including AIIMS and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, are central government-operated hospitals and all have been allocated Covaxin by the Delhi government, while the remaining 75, which are a mix of Delhi government-supported and private hospitals, are administering Serum Institute of Indias Covishield. Delhi had received 254,000 doses of Covishield and 20,000 doses of Covaxin.

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The plea by Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lokshakti) also sought the presence of a former top court judge on the reconstituted committee. (Photo:PTI)

New Delhi: Two days ahead of the Supreme Court's hearing on the ongoing farmers agitation, a farmers' union on Saturday urged the top court to withdraw the three members of the committee set up by it on January 12 to resolve the impasse over the three contentious farm laws and appoint members who are impartial, not aligned with any political party and have the trust and goodwill of the farmers.

The plea by Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lokshakti) also sought the presence of a former top court judge on the reconstituted committee.

The plea seeks the removal of three members  Dr Parmod Kumar Joshi, Ashok Gulati, and Anil Ghanwat  in its reply to the Centres application filed on January 11 seeking to stop the agitating farmers from taking out a tractor kisan rally at Delhis Ramlila ground on Republic Day.

Bhupinder Singh Mann, national president of Bhartiya Kisan Union and All India Kisan Coordination Committee, has already recused himself from the committee stating that he cannot go against Punjab and its farmers agitating against the laws. The BKU (Lokshakti) is part of the Kisan Ekta Morcha heading 40 farmers unions holding protests at Delhi borders for over 50 days.

Seeking the removal of three members, BKU (Lokshakti) has said in its petition that all three of them have in no uncertain terms supported the three farm laws saving that they have opened up opportunities for the farming sector and must be implemented.

The court had on January 12 issued a notice on the Centres application seeking to injunct the agitating farmers from taking out a rally on Republic Day. BKU (Lokshakti) has sought dismissal of the Centres application.

Referring to the support to three farm laws by Dr Joshi, Mr Gulati and Mr Ghanwat, the reply filed by advocate A.P. Singh on behalf of BKU (Lokshakti) says that their presence on the committee is in the teeth of the two principles of natural justice  Nemo judex in causa sua meaning that no one should be made a judge in his own cause, and Audi alteram partem  the rule of fair hearing.

"It is important to mention here with great regret that the principle of natural justice is going to be violated by making these persons as members of the committee... How they will hear all farmers on equal parameters when they have already supported these laws, the petition said.

The top court by its January 12 order had suspended the implementation of three farm laws and had set-up a committee of four experts on agriculture to hear all including those opposed to or supporting the farm laws, government and other stakeholders and submit its report with recommendations to the court.

The four-member committee set-up by the top court included Bhupinder Singh Mann, Dr Parmod Kumar Joshi; agricultural economist and director for South Asia of International Food Policy Research Institute; Ashok Gulati, agricultural economist and former chairman of the commission for agricultural costs and prices; and Anil Ghanwat, president, Shetkari Sanghatana.

On Delhi Police seeking injunction against the farmers' proposed tractor rally, the reply says that the New Delhi district area where Republic Day parade takes place is already under prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC that bars the gathering of more than five people.
(Newser)  As the US presidency changes hands on Wednesday, one of the Trump administration's remaining Cabinet members will officially remove his own name from the payroll. CNN reports that on Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar submitted his letter of resignation to President Trump, and while he listed the accomplishments he saw at the department under his watch, he also took what appeared to be a veiled jab at his soon-to-be ex-boss. "Unfortunately, the actions and rhetoric following the election, especially during this past week, threaten to tarnish these and other historic legacies of this Administration," Azar noted, calling the Jan. 6 Capitol riot "an assault on our democracy." Azar also pleaded with Trump to keep condemning violence and warn against anyone trying anything that might upend next week's inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

story continues below

The Guardian notes Azar will formally step down at noon on Wednesday, right as Biden is sworn in. On Friday night, Azar slammed CNN's coverage of his resignation, in which Anderson Cooper said Azar used his letter to take a final "swipe" at Trump, per Fox News. Azar posted on Twitter that "I handed in my letter this week along with every other political appointee," and that "I am still here serving the American people at HHS" until Biden takes over. He posted a photo of his letter to the president that cited the work the health department had done with him at the helm, including its "remarkable response" to the pandemicmost notably, the rapid development of two vaccines. CNN notes that Azar neglected to mention the current US death toll of 390,000, the initial delay in rolling out tests, and the downplaying of the virus and safety guidelines by Trump and others. (Read more Alex Azar stories.)
Trial Date Changed in Anderson Rape Case

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - A Metropolis man charged with raping a teen in McCracken County appeared in court on Friday.According to the McCracken County Court Clerk, 48-year-old Nathan Anderson appeared for a pretrial conference. The clerk said a trial date had been scheduled for January 27, but this was modified and a new trial date has not been announced.Anderson is facing charges of third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, third-degree sexual abuse, and unlawful transaction with a minor. The charges stem from accusations that he had sexual contact with a teenage girl over a 14-month period.Authorities say Anderson might have committed similar crimes against the girl in at least four states.
A man sparked a mass evacuation and armed response at a German airport when he shouted 'Allahu Akbar after police confronted him for not wearing a face mask.

The 38-year-old man, from Slovenia, acted aggressively towards police at Frankfurt International Airport when police approached him for not wearing a face mask at around 5.16pm today.

The man shouted, 'I will kill you all, Allahu Akbar', before he abandoned his luggage and attempted to flee the scene.

Terminal 1 of the airport was evacuated and footage saw armed officers surrounding a suspect while all passengers were seen standing outside the airport with the regional train station also closed.

Police pointed a gun at a suspect at Germany's Frankfurt International Airport

A Federal Police Directorate Frankfurt Main Airport spokesman said: 'A federal police patrol approached a Slovenian man who was not wearing mouth and nose protection.

'He immediately showed aggressive behavior towards the officers and said, "I will kill you all, Allahu Akbar".

'Due to his...behavior, the forces deployed assumed that his statement was serious.

'The man then tried to flee, but was immediately overwhelmed by the emergency services under threat of a firearm.'

Their statement added that the man, who was 'known to police', left his luggage behind when he 'tried to escape'.

The unattended suitcase led to a large part of the departure hall to be cordoned off.

There were also reports of an armed man in another terminal.

Passengers are seen outside the terminal while Frankfurt Airport tweeted: 'Passengers are asked to follow the instructions of the security staff on site'

The federal police said in their statement: 'Since a connection between the two incidents could not be ruled out, this led to the expansion of the cordoning off and evacuation measures.

'The deployment resulted in greater disruption to air and rail traffic at Frankfurt Airport.'

The airport was reopened around 8pm. The suspect being investigated for suspected threats and resistance to law enforcement officials, police confirmed.

'The interrogation and investigations into the incidents are currently ongoing,' they said.

Armed officers surround a man (left) while police are seen in the terminal of Frankfurt Airport (right)

Passengers were evacuated from the terminal as Frankfurt Airport tweeted: 'We will keep you informed as soon as we receive updates from the authorities'

'So far there is no information about the motivation. There are parallel investigations into the evidence of the armed persons.'

Earlier Frankfurt Airport tweeted: 'Due to an ongoing police operation, parts of Terminal 1, the regional train station and the transition to the long-distance train station are currently closed at Frankfurt Airport.

'Passengers are asked to follow the instructions of the security staff on site.'

'As a result, there may be delays in the operational process. Passengers are therefore asked to check the flight status in advance on the airline's website.'
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There is an astonishing trend afoot and if something isnt done to stop it in its ugly tracks your right to freely express an opinion is in jeopardy.

President Donald Trump may be the most reviled person in the United States right now but the moves to silence him in the public square  and others who have espoused similar ideologies  is a chilling reality.

Social media platforms Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have announced plans to permanently remove all Trump accounts. Not just until he leaves office, but forever.

In what universe is it OK to eternally bar an American citizen from exercising their fundamental right to free speech at a place where countless millions gather to exchange ideas? And how unbalanced is Twitters expulsion policy when it allows Irans Ayatollah Khamenei to post all sorts of violent and hate-filled posts about the U.S., Israel and other perceived enemies on its platform?

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The ayatollah is OK, but the president of the United States is not?

Am I the only one who wants to read what our chief executive is thinking no matter what the message might be? Better to know what the powerful are up to than to ignore them.

In addition to social media forever muzzling the president, prominent tech companies controlling app distribution  Google and Apple  dropped the Parler app from their offerings. Parler is described as the conservative alternative to Twitter and was a logical choice for Trumps next social media home.

In what seemed to be a coordinated effort Amazon quickly piled on and informed Parler that its home on the internet would be annihilated. That prompted a lawsuit from Parler.

The stated reason for removing Parlers fastest growing app? Parler doesnt do enough, fast enough to delete questionable posts that promote violence and crime. Reportedly, some users partially planned the siege on the U.S. Capitol via Parler.

Interesting that similar steps werent taken against Twitter, Facebook or Instagram when those platforms were used to coordinate last years left-wing demonstrations which frequently turned violent. Why the censorship double-standard?

Interesting, too, that a Simon and Schuster book deal was just abruptly cancelled with Republican Sen. Josh Hawley after he objected to some of the 2020 election results. The books title? The Tyranny of Big Tech. Forced silencing of opinion. Shocking.

Many of the 74 million Trump voters believe these banishment moves were carried out to curry favor with the incoming Democratic administration. Maybe, but this really isnt about politics. It is about a form of censorship, fair treatment for all ideologies and everyones constitutionally protected right to freely express their opinions.

An exception: if someone is online inciting hate speech or plotting violence that is a crime and a job for law enforcement, which has been maddeningly slow to root out internet-based clues before mayhem occurs.

Even the liberal-leaning American Civil Liberties Union issued warnings about Big Tech becoming an unwanted Big Brother. It should concern everyone when companies like Facebook and Twitter wield unchecked power to remove people from platforms that have become indispensable for the speech of billions, an ACLU lawyer wrote.

In other words, if some geeky bro in Silicon Valley can decide to permanently kick Donald Trump to the digital curb, you could be next.

Last week I wrote to support social medias temporary ban of President Trumps accounts. In the wake of the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol it seemed to me to be a necessary step  like placing a belligerent child in the corner for a time out. But forever denying an American citizen the freedom to express their opinion  whether its an opinion the majority shares or not  is anathema to everything we stand for in this country.

The argument that, Well, these are private companies, they can do what they want, just doesnt cut it. Big Tech has, collectively, become a monster monopoly of public discourse. And worse yet, our Congress has given them that power and has allowed them to misuse it.

As Harry Truman once said, Once a government is committed to silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens creating a country where everyone lives in fear.

Amen to that.

www.DianeDimond.com; email to Diane@DianeDimond.com

US military aid to Egypt, Jordan and Israel was explicitly excluded from a list of deep cuts to domestic and foreign spending ordered by the White House in a last-minute sign of outgoing President Donald Trumps frustration with last months omnibus spending package.

The White House notified Congress on Thursday night of the presidents intent to cut $27.4 billion in government spending, including funding for overseas vaccination programs, treatment of HIV/AIDS, migrant and refugee assistance, the Environmental Protection Agency and foreign cultural exchange programs.

Lawmakers are unlikely to act on the notice amid impeachment proceedings against the president following an attack by a mob of Trump supporters on the Capitol last week.

But the decision triggers an automatic 45-day freeze on the funds until it is reversed, most likely by President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office Wednesday. Al-Monitor has reached out to Bidens transition team for comment.

Trump ordered the massive cuts after publicly railing against what he called wasteful spending included in the omnibus bill passed by Congress in late December.

Its called the COVID relief bill, but it has almost nothing to do with COVID, Trump said in a televised appearance in late December.

The bill contains $85.5 million for assistance to Cambodia, $134 million to Burma, $1.3 billion for Egypt and the Egyptian military, which will go out and buy almost exclusively Russian military equipment, he said. Much of the funding included in the bill had been requested by the White House's fiscal 2021 budget request.

The initial proposal to cut foreign aid, first reported by The Washington Post, originally included a halt of all US military and economic aid to Egypt, Al-Monitor has learned. That cut was later removed after consultations between senior White House advisers before Congress was notified Thursday. The White House did not respond to Al-Monitor's request for comment by publication time.

Trumps rare criticism of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in December appeared to be in reference of Cairos purchase of Russia's Su-35 fighter jets. The outgoing US president once dubbed Sisi his favorite dictator and heaped praise on the Egyptian regime, despite its massive human rights abuses and a seemingly stalemated counterinsurgency effort in the Sinai.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper reportedly warned Egyptian officials in 2019 that purchasing the Su-35s could trigger economic sanctions and limit future defense deals with Washington. The administration has held off on such penalties so far.
JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) -- Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves has extended his coronavirus mandate issued last month.

The governor issued the order this afternoon just a couple of hours before it was scheduled to expire.

The new date is February 3 at 5 p.m.

Reeves removed five counties for a mask mandate in the order, but added two additional counties.

All counties in the WTVA viewing area remain under the order to wear a mask while in public.

Retrictions saying no more than 10 people indoors and no more than 50 people outdoors remain in effect.

He is also requiring masks to be worn inside all public schools and businesses.

The order still limits crowds at indoor sporting events for grades K-12 to no more than four spectators per student or 250 ticketed spectators, whichever is less.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. US President-elect Joe Biden has named Ike Hajinazarian as the White House Regional Communications Director.

Ike Hajinazarian most recently served as the Western Pennsylvania Regional Press Secretary for the Biden campaign after working on the campaign in communications roles during the primary and general elections in New Hampshire, Nevada, Texas, Ohio, and other states, Bidens office said in a news release.

Prior to joining the campaign, he worked on Capitol Hill, first as Press Assistant to Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana, and later as the Deputy Press Secretary on the House Homeland Security Committees Majority Staff. Born in Columbus, Ohio to Lebanese-Armenian immigrant parents, Hajinazarian is a graduate of Indiana University and the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management.
Instead of a crowd of protesters outside the steps of the Capitol on Saturday, there was only a handful of people, including 9-year-old Landon Willett, carrying a sign that read "socialism sucks" on one side and "freedom ?" on the other.

"I feel great," Landon Willett said, his mouth covered by a mask with an American flag and a Pokemon character on it.

He was joined by his father, Kevin Willett, 61. They carried the sole sign that morning that expressed any sort of political leaning. Kevin Willett said he was surprised to see no one there.

"I thought it would be packed," he said, adding that they'd be there on Sunday, too.

City and state officials warned residents this week to avoid the downtown area in case of protests erupted. But Saturday saw a calm and barren atmosphere.

Willett had prepared to argue alongside supporters of President Donald Trump. Instead, there were two men there with opposing views who had also expected a crowd. As the father and son and two men discussed the recent attack on the Capitol in Washington D.C., city police and State Police vehicles drove around the area.

A man with a Trump sign arrived around 1 p.m., and as he stationed himself, four kids on bikes rode by him, with one playing an anti-Trump song on his phone.

"I told you I'd do it," the child told his friend, laughing and riding away.

The man stood there, sign in hand, and no significantly-sized audience around.
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Three men were arrested Thursday following the robbery and gunpoint kidnapping of two men last week in Gloucester County, authorities said.

The incident happened on Jan. 8 around 7 a.m. when two men called 911 from a wooded area off Barnsboro Road in Mantua Township and told police they had just been kidnapped at gunpoint from their Glassboro apartment, according to a statement from the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office.

The men said they were taken to the wooded area by their assailants in a car owned by one of them that had been taken by force at the time of the home invasion robbery, the office said.

The two men, who were not identified, were treated for undisclosed injuries at Inspira Hospital in Mullica Hill and their stolen car was located about two hours later abandoned on a street in Monroe Township, officials said.

The office said it teamed with the Glassboro Police Department to investigate the attack on the two men and were able to identify and arrest three men.

Glassboro residents Blake P. Hartmann, 19, and Dev A. Sepulveda, 19, were both charged with robbery, kidnapping, burglary, aggravated assault, theft/carjacking, theft and various weapons-related offenses, authorities said.

Larry Archer, 43, was charged with hindering apprehension, receiving stolen property and fencing stolen property for allegedly selling the proceeds of the robbery, the office said.

The trio remained in police custody Friday pending detention hearings, authorities said. Its unclear if the accused kidnappers previously knew the alleged targets of the robbery.

The detectives involved in this investigation deserve high praise for their professionalism, skills, energy and unity of effort which played a large part in the rapid identification and apprehension of the defendants, Acting Gloucester County Prosecutor Christine A. Hoffman said in a statement.

When senseless acts of violence impacting our communities occur within Gloucester County, our office, coordinating with our local, county, state and federal partners, will continue to undertake an energized and highly effective response to achieve a quick resolution.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
Prime Minister Lotay Tshering and Sri Lankan premier on Saturday congratulated their Indian counterpart for the landmark launch of the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination drive, hoping it would mitigate the sufferings endured by the people due to the pandemic.

Modi on Saturday launched the world's largest vaccination drive with healthcare workers at the frontline of India's COVID-19 battle getting their first jabs, showing the light at the end of a 10-month tunnel that upended millions of lives and livelihoods.

Shots of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines were administered at medical centres across the country.

"I would like to congratulate PM @narendramodi and the people of India for the landmark launch of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive today. We hope it comes as an answer to pacify all the sufferings we have endured this pandemic," Tshering tweeted.

In a similar post on his Facebook account, Tshering said that, "in this pursuit of securing and distributing the vaccine of an impressive magnitude, Your Excellency has displayed profound and compassionate leadership."



"We send prayers for the good health and well being of Your Excellency and the people of India," Tshering added.

In his reply, Modi thanked Tshering for the good wishes.

"Thank you @PMBhutan! A vaccine, which was earlier believed to be impossible in such a short time period has become a reality thanks to efforts of our scientists, doctors and innovators," he tweeted.

India is ready to do everything possible for a healthy planet, Modi said.

Rajapaksa took to Twitter to congratulate Prime Minister Modi and the Indian government on the launch of the vaccination drive.

Congratulations PM @narendramodi and the Government of India on taking this very important step with this massive #COVID19Vaccination drive. We are starting to see the beginning of the end to this devastating pandemic, the Sri Lankan prime minister said in the tweet.

Rajapaksa's tweet came in response to the Indian High Commission's post on Twitter acknowledging the vaccination drive.

A human-centric approach to further global good, the Indian mission's tweet said.

Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, during his three-day visit to the country from December 5 to 7, told Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that India has agreed to give priority to when supplying its COVID-19 vaccine to other countries.

The president told the Indian minister that wishes to obtain the Indian vaccine.

Earlier, launching the drive, Modi reminded people that two doses of the vaccine are very important and asked them to continue with masks and social distancing even after receiving the jabs.

Reassuring people that emergency use authorisation was given to the two 'made in India' vaccines only after scientists were convinced of their safety and effectiveness, he said the vaccines will ensure a decisive victory for the country over the pandemic.

Dawaai bhi, kadaai bhi, Modi said, asking people to guard against complacency and follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Last night, I wrote about Lani Guinier, Bill Clintons nominee to head the DOJs Civil Rights Division. Clinton withdrew her nomination because, in essence, she advocated voting and legislative practices that were not race-neutral. I compared Guinier with Kristen Clarke, Joe Bidens nominee for the same position, and found Clarke to be more extreme than Guinier.

I also pointed out that, unlike Clarke, Guinier was a good-faith advocate for the positions she held. Her advocacy appeared in scholarly writings, not in unvetted hit pieces. To my knowledge, she did not viciously attack those who took positions with which she disagreed.

In this post, I want to highlight the viciousness and the dishonesty of Clarkes attacks on some of President Trumps nominees, especially Amy Coney Barrett.

Clarke alleged that Barrett, who has Black children, has alarming insensitivity to racial harassment. (See video below beginning at the 4:00 minute mark.) To support this patently false claim, she cited Smith v. Illinois Department of Transportation (7th Cir. 2019).

But that case doesnt remotely support Clarkes attack. Then-Judge Barretts decision affirmed summary judgment for the defendant in a decision issued by a lefty Obama-appointed district judge, Edmond Chang. Is Judge Chang alarmingly insensitive to racial harassment?

The plaintiff in that case alleged racial harassment in employment. The record showed that he was a poor employee, whose problems at work had nothing to do with race.

Trying to establish a basis for his case, the plaintiff offered far-fetched expert testimony that proved nothing and that the district court (that lefty Obama appointee) excluded. He provided evidence of the use of the f-word, but no evidence that the profanity related to the his race.

He pointed to a single use of the n-word, which Clarke emphasized in her attack on Barrett. But the use of that word was by a Black supervisor.

The plaintiff introduced no evidence that the Black supervisors use of the n-word changed his subjective experience of the workplace, a prerequisite for proving his harassment case. He testified that his time with the employer caused him psychological distress. But that was for reasons that predated his run-in with his supervisor and had nothing to do with his race.

The plaintiff failed to convince any of the three other judges who heard his case  Judges Chang, Manion, and Flaum  that his allegations should survive summary judgment. Chang is a liberal, Manion is a conservative, and Flaum is a moderate.

Yet, Kristen Clarke insisted that Barretts similar view of the case shows an alarming insensitivity to racial harassment. And, in addition to her dishonest testimony, her groups public statement against Barrett cites the Smith case as evidence of Barretts failure to appreciate an employers obvious violation of Title VII. What a crock.

Clarkes discussion of Smith exemplifies her dishonest, scorched earth tactics against nominees who dissent from her leftist worldview  not just Barrett, but also Neil Gorsuch, Bret Kavanaugh, and Ryan Bounds. She presents prior decisions in a false light to portray such nominees as bigots.

But none of these nominees ever advanced the view that one race is superior to another. Clarke did.

Clarkes outfit attacked Neil Gorsuch in a letter noting that Judge Gorsuch has written a number of opinions on employment law issues in which he has generally affirmed district court decisions dismissing claims asserted by people of color, women, and disabled people. But in my experience, most courts of appeals generally affirm such district court decisions. Thats mainly because many such claims  like many claims brought by White men,  are obviously lacking in merit. The Smith case discussed above is a good example.

When Brett Kavanaughs nomination was before the Senate, Clarke agreed with an interviewer that confirming Kavanaugh could cause the Supreme Court to treat civil rights as the late nineteenth century Court did when it enabled the imposition of segregation. (See link at around the 4:40 mark.) She offered no support for this ridiculous view.

As for Ryan Bounds, a nominee for the Ninth Circuit, I discussed Clarkes treatment of him in a previous post (Part Two of this series). As a student, Bounds wrote some insensitive columns about racial affinity groups. His writings were nowhere near as offensive as Clarkes assertions as a student that Blacks are genetically superior to Whites.

Nonetheless, Clarke insisted that Bounds be disqualified based on his student writings. And she made it clear that Bounds apology for what he wrote all those years ago would not suffice.

None should suffice in Clarkes case, either.


County councillors have been told it is "unlikely" that funding will be made available for upgrading two narrow sections of the sections of the N73 Mitchelstown to Mallow.

Last October dozens of lorries took part in a 'slow drive' along a stretch of the N73 to highlight the dangerous condition of the road at Clogher Cross and Annakisha South, which at time was described by Cllr Frank Roche as "an accident waiting to happen."

Cllr Roche (Ind) said that since being elected to the authority he had been "inundated" with calls from hauliers about the damage caused to trucks along the narrow stretches of road.

"At sections of the road it is almost impossible for two trucks to pass without scraping each other or one of them having to go into the ditch. This has resulted in numerous minor accidents and damage caused to trucks," he told the Corkman.

"Of far greater concern to me and many drivers is that the narrow nature of the road could lead to something far worse. To my mind this is a serious accident waiting to happen. The local school bus uses that road twice a day. Can you imagine the carnage that could happen if it was in a collision with a HGV," he added.

Cllr Roche said it was clear that widening the road by between three and five feet would solve the problem, pointing out that Cork County Council had already purchased the land needed for this and had ensured that hedgerows along the side of the road had been cut back.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has provided some funding to Cork County Council for a new road designs. These have been completed and the authority is preparing to put the projects out to tender.

However, TII has informed the council that the projects have been put on the long finger due to what an official said were "competing demands" for funding.

In a letter read out to councillors at the January Fermoy Municipal District meeting a TII official wrote "unfortunately, funding for this programme of works is limited".

"It is unlikely that we will be in a position to fund the construction of both projects next year. While we are committed to supporting the improvement of the N73, there are competing demands on available funding," wrote the official who added they would continue to keep the situation under review.

The revelation did not go down well, with Cllr Roche who said that funding for the projects should be put on TII's priority list and predicted the lack of movement on the issue could lead to further protests by hauliers along the route.

Cllr Frank O'Flynn (FF) said the reply was "a waste of paper", while Cllr Deirdre O'Brien (FF) described the letter as "very disappointing" given the that the projects were "essentially shovel ready."

Her proposal that the council write to Transport Minister Eamon Ryan seeking his intervention was unanimously backed by colleagues.
ALBANY, N.Y.  The Mohawk Valley has administered 86% of its coronavirus vaccines since starting the process last month, according to New York State.

All regions outside of New York City have distributed over 85% of the allotted vaccinations, and are now waiting for word from the state on new shipments.

According to state statistics, the Mohawk Valley receive 24,300 doses of the first shot, and have administered 20,887 to date.

But many local hospitals are already out of shots, and dont know when theyll be getting more.

Gov. Cuomo says the federal government is not providing doses fast enough.

You have a rush of 7 million people, I want the vaccine, I want it now, I was told Im eligible -- that entire flood has to go through a syringe. All this volume and it has to go through the point of needle literally and figuratively. That's the situation the federal government created, said Cuomo.

A shot shortage isnt the only issue with the vaccination process  people are still struggling to make appointments on the phone or online.

On Thursday, some people even had appointments canceled after they made them using a leaked link. Several people found a link to schedule appointments at the AUDelicious site in Utica, only to have it voided hours later.

Cuomos secretary, Melissa DeRosa, says they canceled the appointments because they wanted to give everyone a fair chance of scheduling a spot, not just those who were lucky enough to come across the leaked link on social media.

We understand the frustration if someone got the link not knowing that there was devious intent in how it got out, however, as the governor said there are 7 million people vying for 250,000 shots and the system to sign up has to be fair, she said. We felt it was important that we reset those appointments and when they went online this morning to the public, everyone had the same fair shot at getting those appointments.

Viewers told NEWSChannel 2 they were able to make appointments for AUDelicious at later dates, but it is not yet clear if the state is still planning to open it as a mass distribution site. It was not included in the list of vaccination sites on the state website as of Friday, Jan. 15.

However, SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Marcy is listed as a site, and shows appointments available. It is not clear when that site will open.

Scam that cheated thousands of Indians: Cops arrest 12 including 2 Chinese women

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Jan 16: Following raids across Delhi, twelve persons including two Chinese nationals have been arrested in the National Capital Region.

The arrested persons have been accused of luring Indian cellphone users into earning easy money by liking videos on the social media platforms and following those accounts. The main intent of these persons was to install malware into these phones and install banned software in them.

In the operation, two Chinese women Chaohong Deng Daoyong, 27, and Wu Jiazhi, 54, were arrested from Lajpat Nagar. The suspects used a malicious app to make phone users knowingly or unknowingly follow social media accounts. This would be used later. To manipulate and influence Indian users said DCP (Cyber Cell) Anyesh Roy.

Loan app scam: 2 Chinese nationals arrested

Tens of millions of Indians had downloaded these malicious apps and there were at least 40,000 confirmed victims who had lost their money to this fraud, he also said. The police also said that there are two other Chinese nationals who are the kingpin of this racket and they are on the run. They moved out of India in early 2020, he also said.

The fraud began when the users started receiving WhatsApp messages containing encrypted URLs from international numbers.

"These messages promised good, easy money in return for clicking the like button on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, and for following social media accounts," the DCP also said.

Clicking on the website link would lead to a link to the download the app. Upon registering, the users would receive social media videos to link and accounts to follow. They would be paid Re 6 for each such action and the number of tasks and amount paid for each action would rise substantially if the users opted for a VIP membership by paying between Rs 1,000 and Rs 50,000.

The gang made crores of rupees and routed them to shell companies in which Indian and Chinese people were found to be directors. "The Indians who were made directors were people like accountants, office boys and drivers working for the Chinese people," the DCP also said.

Further the social media accounts being promoted were passed off as belonging to celebrities, but were in reality freshly created accounts with unknown origin and ownership.

Roy said, when these social media accounts would receive a large number of followers, they could later be used to manipulate and influence Indian social media users. The app would seek dangerous permission of users to discreetly install several software packages and apps. One of these apps was the QQ Browser app which belongs to the QQ family of apps banned by the Indian government in June last year," he also said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

The app itself was a malware that would make users follow thousands of social media accounts without their knowledge. The website and app being used in this fraud were hosted to IPs found to attached to Chinese companies. He said that the police began probing this fraud after receiving a complaint from a woman who lost Rs 50,000. On Wednesday the police raided several places in Delhi-NCR and arrested 12 people. The police recovered Rs 2.5 lakh in cash from them and also froze several accounts which had money up to Rs 4.75 crore.

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Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 10:30 [IST]

Sydney man accused of breaching Control Order in Sydney, Australia on Jan. 16, 2021. (AFP)

Australian Terror Extremist Back in Jail 2 Weeks After Release

A 25-year-old Sydney man is back in jail, less than two weeks after he was released, for allegedly breaching a court order by accessing online material about beheadings and torture.

Radwan Dakkak, an ISIS supporter, was arrested by Australian Federal Police (AFP) in the Sydney suburb of Denistone this morning.

According to police, he has an extremist ideology aligned to the ISIS terror network.

The AFP will allege Dakkak breached his control orders by accessing material online in support of executions, beheadings, and torture.

The offence carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.

The man was released from prison on Jan. 1 and is subject to a control order that remains in force until Dec. 30.

This man is now the fifth person arrested by the AFP for breaching a control order since July 2020, AFP Acting Commander Alex Nicholson told reporters on Saturday.

While we are continuing to see high-risk terrorist offenders breach their control orders, police are ensuring offenders whove breached their orders are arrested, charged, and face the consequences of their actions, he said.

Nicolson said no specific or impending threat to the community has been identified in relation to Dakkaks arrest and investigation.

The conditions of Dakkaks control order meant he could not access extremist material online. It also restricted his movement, associations with people, and imposed a curfew.

Due to the conditions of the control order, police were able to act quickly to arrest Dakkak.

There is a general concern that people are not complying with their orders, Nicholson said, adding that police will remain vigilant and monitor people subject to control orders to keep the community safe.

Dakkak was first arrested in July 2019 by New South Wales Joint Counter Terrorism Team for his role in associating with people suspected to be part of ISIS.
WASHINGTON: By the busload and planeload, National Guard troops were pouring into the nations capital on Saturday, as governors answered the urgent pleas of U.S. defense officials for more troops to help safeguard Washington even as they keep anxious eyes on possible violent protests in their own states.

Military leaders spent chunks of Thursday evening and Friday calling states in an unprecedented appeal for more National Guard troops to help lock down much of the city in the days before President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration. In dribs and drabs, governors responded, some agreeing to send an extra dozen, 100 or even 1,000, while others said no.

The calls reflect fears that violent extremist groups are targeting the city in the wake of the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The threats range from armed insurgents to possible attempts to plant explosive devices at so-called soft targets. But as Washington begins to resemble an armed camp, with more than 25,000 Guard due in the city by early next week, concerns about violence at state capitals has grown.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said she turned down the federal request to send at least 100 more National Guard troops to D.C. I didnt think that we could safely fill that commitment, Brown said. Oregon has already agreed to send 30 to Washington, but state leaders are worried about violence at the state capitol in Salem.

Others agreed, setting off a dizzying torrent of military flights and convoys into the region.

The peaceful transfer of power is a central tenet of American democracy, and Connecticut stands ready to aid in the protection of our country. said Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, who had initially approved sending 100 Guard and on Friday agreed to send 200 more.

All told, more than 130 U.S. Air Guard flights in the past 72 hours have carried at least 7,000 Guard troops to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, according to U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal numbers. Thousands more are in buses and military trucks, thundering up highways toward Washington.

Army Gen. Dan Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, called adjutants general around the country, and others, such as Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, called governors to seek help. McCarthy praised the states, saying defense and military officials are keenly aware of the threats they also are facing.

The governors and the TAGs have been great. They helped us a lot, McCarthy told The Associated Press. Thats the thing that in the midst of a really horrible situation youre seeing the greatness of this country, everybody coming together and help each other get through this.

What began in early January as a routine deployment of about 350 members of the D.C. National Guard to help with expected protests exploded over the past two weeks into a vastly greater operation to protect the inauguration and the U.S. Capitol, and to shut down access to the city and many of its historical monuments.

As protesters stampeded their way into the Capitol on Jan. 6, only a bit more than 100 National Guard were scattered around the city, guarding checkpoints and Metro entrances. Hours later, five people were dead, the Capitol was in shambles and all 1,100 of D.C.s Guard had been activated.

By the next day, as information came in about more violence being planned, requests went out for 6,200 Guard members from the surrounding states.

By Thursday night, as law enforcement and defense officials poured over maps and staged security drills, they concluded they would need at least 25,000 to adequately lock down the Capitol grounds and a wide swath of D.C., including the National Mall. And they agreed that the bulk of those Guard will be armed.

At that point, the new round of calls to the state governors and military leaders began.

Many governors were willing to help, but they made it clear that their own state capitals were their priority. Some agreed to send more, while others couldnt. And the numbers varied widely.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf doubled his initial commitment of 1,000 to 2,000. Other states were able to scrape up an additional dozen.

After reviewing the threats to its own state, Minnesota decided it could significantly increase its contribution and will send 850 Guard rather than the 130 initially tapped to go, according to the states adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Shawn Manke.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had already agreed to send 700. On Friday, he announced hed be sending 300 more even as he ordered nearly 600 to secure the Ohio statehouse in Columbus. Similarly, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper initially agreed to send 200 Guard, and on Friday spokesman Ford Porter said the state will send 100 more. Iowa first said it was sending 250 and now the number is 265.

The vast military response comes as Congress and law enforcement authorities are trying to figure out how the U.S. Capitol was overrun so dramatically on Jan. 6. Leaders of four committees in the Democratic-controlled House sent a letter Saturday requesting briefings and documents from the FBI and other federal agencies as part of their review of the insurrection.

The appeals for more of Americas citizen soldiers also underscore the Pentagons limits on the use of active-duty troops. Under the law, they cant be used for law enforcement, and officials are intent on avoiding the appearance of armed active-duty forces being used against U.S. citizens on American soil.

Active-duty forces are routinely prepared to respond to emergencies in Washington, such as flight violations in restricted airspace over D.C., and a quick reaction force is always on standby. Other active-duty units will take part in various inaugural ceremonies.

Associated Press writers Andrew Selsky in Salem, Oregon; Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut; Farnoush Amiri in Columbus, Ohio; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Steve Karnowski in MInneapolis; David Pitt in Des Moines, Iowa, and Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

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Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 45F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 45F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.
World Health Organization officials said Friday that they would like to see vaccination programs under way in every country in the world within the next 100 days, with frontline health workers and high-risk groups prioritized.

Speaking at the agency's regular briefing at its headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO emergency committee met this week and stressed the need for equitable access to vaccines around the world.

Tedros said the committee recommended use of the WHO-organized COVAX vaccine cooperative to ensure this is happening. The WHO's European division Thursday noted 95 percent of the vaccines that have been administered in the world so far have gone to 10 countries.


After four years, three months of baseless voter fraud allegations, two impeachments, and one attack on our nation's capitol, we've finally done the unthinkable -- we made it to the end of Donald Trump's Presidential reign of terror. Yet as the press has struggled to keep up with our Commander in Chief, getting wrongfully booted from briefings, working tirelessly to find new ways of sourcing information from a notoriously closed-off, media-hating administration, and, even for several public figures like Jim Acosta, becoming the story themselves -- it seems the events of this presidency no longer exist in a quadrennial vacuum. The rules of engagement for the press in Trump's America will seemingly live on, leaving behind four cautionary tales of how opportunistic politicians can beat us at our own games -- and how to act before it's too late.

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From recognizing when you're being played to learning to fearlessly wade through a flood zone of "shit," as Steve Bannon put it, these are the four biggest takeaways as the press corps begins to grapple with the aftermath of Trump's America.

1. Donald Trump played the media like a fiddle.

Ahh, folks, remember the 2012 election? The good 'ol days when the year's biggest scandal du jour stemmed from Republican challenger Mitt Romney's comment about having "binders full of women"? Rich with headlines noting this dryness, like Rolling Stone's straightforward jab, asking, "Is This The Most Boring Election Ever?" America's decision and its surrounding fanfare were relatively unpassionate, a far cry from the exciting messages of "Hope" and "Change" from Barack Obama's legendary campaign just four years earlier. Yet as the election came and went, securing 44 a second term in office, it seems Donald Trump, fresh off a short-lived White House run in 2011, saw a golden opportunity. Through a throwaway campaign rich with controversy, he could set America's political institutions and the media, ablaze; dominating the news cycle, the national conversation, and reportedly create the groundwork to establish his own TV news network. To manifest the second act of his already successful television career, Trump did what seemingly no politician could before -- use the media establishment, and each of its then ironclad conventions, to further his own agenda.

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How, exactly could he pull off this unprecedented feat? Regularly appearing in film, television, and the news since the late 1980s, the pop-culture icon that is Donald Trump had more than 40 years of experience mastering our ever-shifting media landscape. This equipped him with an arguably unparalleled ability to manipulate reporters, social platforms, and in turn, the American people. Aside from his experience hosting and producing the wildly successful reality series, The Apprentice, and making himself a pervasive presence synonymous with both wealth and New York, Donald Trump was also a relatively early adopter of Twitter, launching his now bygone page back in 2009, which he grew to two million followers in 2012. Through running this successful multimedia empire, both personally and professionally, Trump garnered an expert understanding of what exactly makes the media tick. From hosting SNL to appearing on several late-night talk shows, we grappled with how to treat Donnie's new persona, questioning if he should be categorized with other celebrity politicians, who often ran unsuccessfully for their leadership positions, or recognize him as a serious candidate in our election.

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On November 8, 2016, Donald J. Trump won the United States' presidential election after receiving an unparalleled gift of nearly $3 billion in free advertising, according to MarketWatch, "blowing away rivals in both parties."

Moral of the story? If you can't adapt quickly, you can and will pay the price.

2. Striving for constant, unwavering fairness is unrealistic and can lead to dangerous false balances.

When I was a young reporter, I worked at a well-known publication absolutely obsessed with maintaining the illusion that each of its staff members, from the lowliest of interns to each of their editors in chief, were essentially political eunuchs, the embodiment of neutrality in an increasingly polarized society. Each month, we'd convene for company-wide meetings, consisting of our team's PR manager, who ironically worked for a recent presidential administration, lecturing us on how one even slightly politically-charged social media post could send our whole operation crashing down.
January 16 : Actor Arbaaz Khan believes that Rape is a massive social issue and justice for victims depends upon the whole support system, including family and society.

Actor Arbaaz Khan graced the poster launch of his next, Return Ticket, a gut-wrenching drama based on rape victims. Khan will be seen portraying the role of a person fighting for justice for a rape victim in the film.

During his interaction with News Helpline on the sidelines of the poster launch, Actor Arbaaz Khan got candid about social issues in India.

Talking about the social issues in India, Arbaaz said, In society, there are a lot of issues and we are trying to get justice for them, particularly for the rape victims. Sometimes the justice is delayed and also denied. But as long as the support system of family and society works, justice prevails. It also depends upon the victim, as they show courage to come out and raise their voice for justice. The film Return Ticket is based on such a sensitive topic. So even in this film, you will see that the topic has been explained very precisely and in a creative manner

When asked earlier too stars have played a role of heroism, fighting for justice, whats his view after getting this opportunity, on this Arbaaz said, As an actor, this role owes me a lot. Because there are different range of ages are shown in the film. From playing the role of a 25-year-old young person to a 60-year-old man, which I have never played before. It was very interesting to play such a character. I really enjoyed playing it.

About the film, currently the film Return Ticket is in the post-production stage. The movie release date is set to release in 2021 itself. The movie is directed by Nishant GK Ranjan.

Indian fisher groups to launch anti-Lankan protest near Katchatheevu By S. Rubatheesan View(s): View(s):

Ahead of scheduled Tamil Nadu Assembly elections on May 28, Indian fishermen groups are set to stage a protest near the Katchatheevu islet next Saturday (January 23) with black flags.

Their aim is to condemn Sri Lankas moves to auction more than 100 Indian trawlers in custody and denial of their traditional right to fish around the islet.

The Rameshwaram fishermen groups met this week and collectively decided to launch a protest with black flags in mid sea towards the islet which comes under the jurisdiction of Sri Lanka in terms of the Indo-Lanka agreement of 1974.

A resolution was passed by the Rameshwaram fishermen groups alleging that Sri Lankan government continued to prevent them from fishing around the islet which they claimed as their traditional right. The groups also condemned the Sri Lankan Governments decision to auction the seized Indian trawlers.

Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda told the Sunday Times the protesting Indian fishermen could come but, in keeping with the law, they would not be allowed to engage in fishing activities.

Navy Spokesperson Indika de Silva said the Navy was not aware of such a protest being planned by Indian fishermen next week. It is too early to comment but anyhow, the Navy will act according to the law.

The Navy has continued to arrest Indian fishermen entering Sri Lankan waters in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, the annual St. Antonys feast at Katchatheevu this year will not be held because of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the two countries, Jaffnas District Secretary K. Mahesan said.

During the annual festival held in the first week of every March, some 2000 pilgrims from India and more than 5000 devotees from Sri Lanka meet at the uninhabited island for a two-day feast at St. Anthonys shrine. The saint is regarded as the Guardian of fisherfolk at mid sea.

(See related story on Page 16)
Students and staff at Martin Luther King, Jr., Middle School literally struck up the band to celebrate Wednesday's large donation of school supplies by 100 Black Men of Greater Beaumont. The organization has been in partnership with the school for at least eight years, their work focusing on mentoring programs with students.

As COVID-19 has interrupted that work, secretary Alvin Eldridge says they were granted permission to use the grant money obtained from the Foundation for Southeast Texas to purchase school supplies in lieu of supporting their mentoring efforts.

Eldridge says a portion of the school supplies were also donated by group members and area businesses. A table decorated with balloons was filled with the boxed donations of over 500 notebooks, over 1,000 pencils, disposable face masks, and 76 mesh backpacks, each of which contained 2 award winning books - "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds and "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander.

After the school band played and Principal Julie Corona and student council president Jamiya Wilson thanked the group for their donations and support, staff presented the 100 Black Men of Greater Beaumont members with gifts of thanks.

President John Eugene says the celebratory event "exceeded all expectations" of what the organization anticipated for the donation drop-off.

Corona stressed the impact the group has in their support of the school and its students. "It's not just making a donation. It's really about making a difference for our students and our community," she said.

As Covid-19 put a halt to the usual Christmas carol service at Dangan National School, they were determined to do something to mark the Christmas season.

Michelle Prior, special education teacher, said they decided they would like to do something for the members of their community who may have been cocooning and felt more isolated than previous years.

Diarmuid, Nathan and Dara with Christmas logs they made

The children in Junior infants to second class made Christmas cards and Christmas tree decorations and the children from 3rd to 6th class made traditional Christmas logs and wrote letters.

All items were placed in a gift bag and were delivered throughout the community.

We hope they brought some joy to all the wonderful members of our community who support us each year. A special word of thanks to our fantastic caretaker Bernie Sheridan and acting principal Master Gannon for supplying the holly and logs.

Wishing all our pupils, families, staff and community in Dangan, Kilmore the very best for 2021, said Michelle.

The giftbags and logs ready for distribution to people in the community who were cocooning or feeling isolated
Punjab CM writes to PM Modi, seeks free COVID vaccine for poor

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

Chandigarh, Jan 16: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking free COVID-19 vaccine for the poor in the state.

The chief minister acknowledged the receipt of 2,04,500 doses of Covishield vaccine and also thanked PM Modi for making this vaccine available on priority to healthcare workers (HCWs).

COVID-19: Dr Reddy's gets DCGI nod to conduct phase 3 clinical trials for Sputnik V vaccine

In a statement, Singh requested PM Modi to consider providing free vaccine to the poor with a view to lessen the disease burden and also ensuring a check on the further spread of transmission, thereby allowing more economic activity.

Referring to some reports that apart from HCWs and frontline workers (FLWs), the remaining population may not be provided free vaccine, he pointed out in his letter, "the people of the state have gone through a very difficult times due to COVID-19 wherein economic activities have nosedived and the economy has still not recovered from this shock".

COVID-19 vaccine, border issue discussed during India, Nepal talks

"It would be difficult for the poorer sections of the society to pay for the vaccination," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

He said the COVID-19 pandemic has been an unparalleled disaster and heavy expenditure had to be incurred in the state''s COVID-19 response. His government had already requested the Centre that the accumulated balances with the state in the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) may be permitted to be used as necessary for COVID response, Singh wrote.
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Posted Saturday, January 16, 2021 7:23 am

Marijo was well into her 80s, but she wasn't letting her age or her move to an assisted living facility on the Kitsap Peninsula slow her down. She'd visit with her daughter daily, bring home bags of books from the library, where she had great conversations with the librarian, walk along Liberty Bay and point out birds and critters.

She's gone now. Or the Marijo her family and friends knew, a former school librarian whose worst fear was a dementia diagnosis. She can't get out of a chair unless someone verbally directs her. She's largely limited to "yes" and "no." She's lost 25 pounds.

Ten months of pandemic-lockdown isolation took her.

The coronavirus vaccine has brought hope to the state's 70,000 residents of 4,000 long-term care facilities who continue to bear the brunt of the deadly virus. But as the new form of protection arrives, residents like Marijo and their loved ones are grappling with the effects of lockdowns that shielded them from the virus but left them vulnerable to the trauma of social isolation.

"I feel like I lost nine precious months," her daughter Kay Jensen said in December.

The Marijo, 89, that Jensen remembers is in there, somewhere. She sang "Jingle Bells" like nobody's business. When Jensen brought in her favorite macaroni and cheese and homemade apple sauce, her mother inhaled everything on her plate. The smell of Belgian waffles on Christmas Eve conjured a reaction.

Social isolation is difficult for anyone, but advocates say that for residents with Alzheimer's or dementia, a lack of visits and decrease in mental stimulation can accelerate cognitive decline that in some cases may be irreversible. Having and keeping connections keeps our brains engaged in even basic ways, said Dr. Carolyn Parsey of UW Medicine's Memory and Brain Wellness Center.

"Aspects of socialization and talking and interacting with people, those skills can stay pretty strong in people who have memory loss," Parsey said. "When we aren't engaging those parts of the brain that normally are pretty well preserved and are relative strengths with people with dementia, we start to see them deteriorate."

Throughout Washington, 500 more people died of Alzheimer's or dementia than expected this year, according to an analysis by the Alzheimer's Association. That number, which is 10% higher than normal and known as "excess deaths," could be due to a number of factors related to the pandemic  lack of services, an overburdened health system, or fear of seeking treatment, according to the association.

It's not just that visits stopped, but that a resident's world, which used to include meals in a dining room with friends and outings with neighbors, has been reduced, in some cases, to their room. Telephone calls and evolving technology like FaceTime can help fill the void but don't replace close contact.

"To lose all of that, any human being, no matter their age or medical condition, would decline," said Dana Gargus, Kitsap County's long-term care ombudsman.

Robyn Grant of the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, gave an example of residents needing help with their meals.

"Someone might deliver it to a room, but it's more than just a tray," said Grant, the organization's public policy and advocacy director. "Milk cartons need to be opened, straws need to be placed, meat needs to be cut."

Valuing connection

Marijo was a stay-at-home mother of Jensen and her two siblings in Olympia, then went through night school to earn a librarian's teaching certificate in her early 50s, after she and her husband divorced.

She taught in Olympia public school libraries, and had a heart for kids with learning challenges, specifically students with dyslexia, before it was a commonly known learning disorder. She especially loved holidays, looking for any reason to decorate the library and find a book to go with the day.

She kept in touch with some families and had a big group of friends in Olympia. Her mailbox still overflows with messages from friends and gal pals.

"It's evidence of her valuing connection with people," Jensen said.

Marijo cared for her own mother, who lived to 99 and spent the last two years in a nursing home that, according to Jensen, was the epitome of the stereotype of an "old-fashioned" facility. Marijo had a lot of guilt about the experience, which motivated her to become a volunteer ombudsman for other families with loved ones in long-term care.

At 80, she told her children she was uncomfortable driving, and they started noticing changes. There were subtle shifts in her previously impeccable penmanship. She burned a pan through, twice, because she forgot to turn off the stove. Her children visited and found her cupboards bare; she was eating spaghetti with ketchup.

She received her Alzheimer's diagnosis about five years ago.

"It was her worst nightmare that this would happen," her daughter said.

A daily routine

Every morning, Jim Russell stops by a Starbucks inside a Safeway, buys an ice coffee with cream on the side and heads to Aegis Madison, a long-term care facility in Seattle. He drops the coffee, along with trail mix and apple chunks, with the concierge at the front desk, who then calls another staff member to bring the treat to Russell's daughter, Lynne.

The coffee drop-off has become a routine for Russell and Lynne, who is 55 and has early-onset Alzheimer's. Routine is important. Russell, 79, lives in an apartment building across the street from Lynne, but the closeness he sought when he moved there following Lynne's diagnosis and his wife's death is hampered by the facility's lockdown.

They talk on the phone and through Facebook Portal, and he visits her in Aegis' "outdoor living room."

Russell noticed a drop off in her capability soon after the facility shut its doors. She's an extrovert and loved going for walks and on trips with Russell. She had symptoms of depression and would grow agitated. Russell bought her a stationary bike from Walmart and had it delivered to the garage and put together, then had it taken to her room. Time on her bike helps her calm down.

"You just realize how extraordinarily important it is to be there and be able to touch her, and look her in the eye and see her smile," Russell said. "There's no hugging, no laughing, no sitting and just enjoying being with her. You get to be jealous of the people who are in the facility who take care of her."

Jensen, whose medical background includes work as an intensive care nurse, went as far as to ask her mother's facility if she could apply to be a caregiver, though she  and Russell  are quick to commend the care their loved ones have received at their respective buildings. The only thing separating her from the facility and being with her mom, Jensen thought, "was a nametag." Facility officials told her she would be a liability.

A delicate balance

Long-term care facilities, especially memory care units, are in a delicate balance between preventing COVID-19 from infiltrating, potentially infecting the most medically vulnerable, and preventing loneliness, which health experts say is also toxic.

People with dementia are at a higher risk of COVID-19, because they don't understand masks or social distancing, and may not be able to articulate what symptoms they have if they do get the virus.

"If you have dementia and you are ill enough to be hospitalized, you go to the ICU, you are going to pull out IVs, and resist treatment, you don't understand what is happening, alien people are looking at you in PPE, and then they have to sedate you, and every time you sedate someone with dementia it accelerates cognitive decline," said Dr. Tatiana Sadak, a University of Washington nursing professor who specializes in dementia. "Going to a hospital fixes one thing but creates more problems."

Loneliness is dangerous, too; it's more dangerous than smoking, Sadak said. Sitting in a chair all day compromises circulation, stress triggers an inflammatory response.

But from a public health standpoint, facilities don't have a choice, Sadak said.

"My heart bleeds for families and care staff, they are picking up the brunt of it," she said. "But how can you protect people with the highest risk for the lethal outcome, when you weigh out the dangers of lack of socialization?"

'I wish I could be with you'

Long-term care facility employees have worked to fill in the gaps left by reliable visitors, but they say it's impossible to address every need, especially in an industry that's struggled with staffing numbers and turnover largely because of long hours and low wages. Employers have utilized an "all hands on deck" approach, so hours are filled with additional tasks like delivering meal trays or helping set up an iPad for a family conference.

"No caregiver in a long-term care facility is going to have the time to sit down and read someone's mail to them," said Gargus, the Kitsap County ombudsman.

At Aegis Living facilities, including the building where Lynne lives, staff members have a goal to touch each resident 10 to 15 times a day to address social isolation, said Chris Corrigall, vice president of lifestyle enrichment at Aegis.

It can be emotionally taxing, Corrigall said, and social isolation for residents with dementia was considered a threat even pre-pandemic.

"Our model within the pandemic and outside the pandemic is similar in that we meet them where they are, and nurture them through that, even if we need to repeat that process over and over," he said. "We have strategies in place that help our seniors feel comfort and feel safe, but there's no question it is challenging."

Because her mother had declined so severely, Jensen was last month made an essential support person, a designation for loved ones or caregivers of residents who can't do outdoor or remote visits or are in circumstances like failure-to-thrive or end-of-life care. She visits daily, wearing personal protective equipment.

"While I am grateful to be in there, I'm very, very sad it's because she had to get bad enough that there was a reason for me to go," Jensen said.

Russell set up an Amazon Echo and a Facebook Portal device for Lynne, and printed photos of her three sons and relatives on a glossy paper. He has a list of her favorite musical artists taped on a wall, like Dolly Parton, Lyle Lovett and George Michael. For her birthday in early December, her friends organized a Zoom party, so she could see each of them. Her three sons visit, too. She often "loops," repeating words or phrases like "well, that's the way it goes" or "you know how it is," a behavior that is common among people with dementia.

But when she sees her boys, Russell says, she trembles with excitement. Then she says, "I wish I could be with you."

___

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Even though she hasnt had to deal with the cruel hand of dementia personally, Olivia Colman found the unbearably sad situation at the heart of her new film almost uncomfortably acute.

In The Father, a moving exploration of old age and the tricks the mind can play, she portrays Anne, the devoted daughter of emotionally uptight Anthony (Sir Anthony Hopkins), who is stricken with dementia, leading to a tangled web of grief, confusion and occasional black humour.

Anyone who has had to deal with an ageing loved one will recognise this scenario. But Olivia says the power of the script  co-written by Frenchman Florian Zeller, on whose play the film is based  made it spring vividly to life for her too.

Olivia Colman has spoken about on her lacklustre schooldays, why she only keeps her awards on show for a year  and what made her change her tune about the Queen

I found it heartbreaking, she says. Ive been relatively fortunate about this with the people who have been very close to me, because it must be an awful, awful thing to watch.

'But even for myself, my own memory isnt what it was, so it wasnt a great leap of imagination to watch Anthony and see how your brain could start to play tricks on you and take you to places you hadnt expected to go.

Your memory does change. As an actor I used to be a bit cocky about learning lines, because it used to come easily to me. But thats definitely changing. I have to put in more time than I used to, and Ive started to do a thing my parents do too.

Im a bit of a hermit at the best of times

'Theyll go upstairs and say, I dont know why I came up here, and I used to think, Oh, thats totally ridiculous but Im doing it myself now. Also, I can remember what I did three years ago but I cant remember what I did yesterday. Thats quite common though  at least I hope it is!

Olivia, whose final series as the Queen in The Crown is now on Netflix, says she was inspired to take the role of Anne by her mother Mary, an NHS nurse. Shes retired now, but she did it for 40-odd years. She was a district nurse who went to see her patients in their homes.

Drama queen Olivias screen successes: The actress as Queen Anne in The Favourite (left) and the Queen in The Crown (right)

She specialised in geriatric care and actually ended up as a dementia ambassador. Ive always been very proud of her and the way she tries to help people, so I was particularly interested in this part because of what my mum devoted her life to doing  although Im actually not sure shell be able to cope with watching this herself.

In the film Annes mother is many years dead and rarely referred to. Its her relationship with her father that dominates the screen, one that is made more complicated by the fact that he clearly feels Annes late sister Lucy, a glamorous golden-haired artist in contrast to Annes dowdy office worker, was, and still is, his favourite child.

Oh, God, it must be so painful, says Olivia, 46.

I know it happens because I have friends who say, My parents have said that. I have a brother and a sister, and if my mum and dad have a favourite theyve certainly never let any of us know.

'But my friends who know theyre not the favourite  or even that they are  well, its a poisonous thing to have around you, isnt it? I didnt have to have any experience of that to understand how painful it would be.

HOPKINS : WHY MY DAD RESENTED ME Olivia and Anthony Hopkins in The Father The twist in Olivias new film The Father is that although it deals with the heart-wrenching topic of dementia, the story is told largely from the point of view of the sufferer. Anthony, father to Olivias character Anne, is an elegant widower in his eighties who lives in an airy London flat filled with books, paintings and opera, until his grip on reality starts to loosen. He was obviously a successful man, says Sir Anthony Hopkins, who plays him. Hes bright, he was an engineer. Hes disciplined and ordered and used to having his own way, and probably a bit of a tough father. Hes not a bad man, just an authoritarian, and its a terrible thing when he finally starts to lose it. He says he based the character on his own father, Richard. I didnt consciously play it that way but I look at the film now and think, Thats my old man, thats my father. My parents didnt suffer from dementia  at least, I dont think they did  but my father could be pretty tough and argumentative and he suffered from depression towards the end. He had a year of decline from heart disease, and he had become quite belligerent with me, maybe because I represented someone who had more years ahead of them than he did. I do remember, after he died, picking up his glasses and a book hed been reading and thinking, God, did he ever exist? Do any of us really exist? I dont know. Advertisement

Anne loved her sister Lucy as much as anybody else  and to make it worse her father not only forgets that Lucys gone, but also makes it look as though he loved her more than Anne did, or misses her more than she does, which leaves it all layered with love and upset.

Coincidentally, weve recently seen the Queen struggling with the acknowledgement that she preferred Andrew to Charles, Anne and Edward in The Crown. Olivia was a controversial choice when she took over the role from Claire Foy, given her self-professed republicanism and what one newspaper columnist described as a left-wing face.

Yet today she insists that immersing herself in the world inhabited by the royals has given her a much greater appreciation of the monarch. I dont know these people. I wouldnt dare suggest that I understand the real Queen, but I do feel much more affectionate towards her than I used to, she says.

Id never really thought about it before, but now having played her, Im slightly in love with her. She has such humility and stoicism and I think that as royals go, shes very impressive.

The most recent series has stoked further controversy with what some commentators feel are liberties taken with the truth, but Olivia is unequivocal about this. Were making a drama out of some facts we know, but the rest of it were making up, she says emphatically.

Although some critics have said she comes across like a Grimsby fishwife in the role, it still earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress, the latest in a long line of awards. In fact there have been so many high-profile parts recently that we tend to forget some of her earlier triumphs.

After breaking through as Sophie, hapless Marks long-suffering girlfriend in Peep Show almost 20 years ago, shes plotted her path wisely in both comedy (she was sublime as Sally Owen, the super-loyal PA to Hugh Bonnevilles Ian Fletcher in Olympic comedy Twenty Twelve), harrowing drama (playing domestic abuse victim Hannah in 2011s Tyrannosaur earned her rave reviews) and even TV commercials (who can forget those hilarious Kev And Bev ads for the AA?).

But it was her turn as gout-ridden Queen Anne in 2018s The Favourite that finally won her the Best Actress Oscar.

As for the fame that comes with such success, she says shes more or less learned to live with it. It is quite odd, she admits.

I always wanted to act but I never assumed Id be particularly well-known, I just wanted to work. In the beginning I had many years of not working, and Im very grateful for that because it means you really appreciate it when you are working.

Drama queen Olivias screen successes: Sophie in Peep Show (left) and as DS Ellie Miller in Broadchurch (right) alongside David Tennant

As for being famous, Im a bit of a hermit at the best of times so in that respect life hasnt changed that much. My friends  the people I love  dont care about any of that. Im lucky in that I have friends from school and that keeps me level. Im lucky too that my husband and I have been together for more than 25 years so he knew me beforehand.

Shes usually reluctant to talk about her home life with writer Ed Sinclair, whom she met while doing a teacher training course in Cambridge and with whom she promptly fell in love (she has said that it was thunderbolts straight away for her).

The couple live in north London with their two teenage sons and young daughter, whose privacy is strictly guarded, but today shes quite open.

Despite all the schoolgirl gollys and goshes (and the odd expletive) she peppers her speech with, Olivia says that when shes not working her life is quite ordinary.

I get to do a lot of stuff through my work, so because I feel very fulfilled with that I feel like Im allowed not to do much else when Im not working. I like being at home. I love being with my family  being Mum is the most beautiful thing in my life. So as for what I do with my downtime... well, I dont really do anything. All of which has rendered her more or less tailor-made to enjoy the lockdowns.

My friends are laughing at me, she says. As soon as the first lockdown happened they phoned me and said, You must be happy! Im lucky because I do enjoy being at home and I love being with my husband, so being locked in with him has been like a dream come true.

Drama queen Olivias screen successes: As Angela Burr in The Night Manager (left) and as Fleabags godmother (right)

I mean, I have missed going to work, but actually I have to say that Im probably the only person who could do this happily for two solid years. My husbands a very good cook and Im not so Ive been trying to get better at that, but mostly its just been about being at home with the kids.

'It felt like such an opportunity to have time with school-aged kids  it will never happen again so Ive been trying to enjoy being with them, and trying to endear myself to them by making food they like.

Shes very close to her own parents, Mary and retired chartered surveyor Keith. Hes a lovely man. Hes getting on of course  hes relatively frail compared to the young man I remember, and thats upsetting. But hes a very nice Daddy. My mum is also lovely, very kind and supportive. Ive been very lucky.

Supported she may have been, but she was not particularly successful at school in her hometown of Norwich until she was 16 when she was cast in the leading role in a school production of The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie.

Yet she was so convinced that acting was not a practical possibility that she spent a term on a teacher training course at Homerton College, Cambridge, before she finally gave in and moved to Bristol to attend the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Thats where I found my tribe, and realised Id found what I wanted to do, she says.

After that it was a matter of just plugging away at it. My mum wanted me to get a sensible job instead, and after I left drama school she and my dad said, We suppose youll give it a year. I said, No, Im going to give it ten or 20 years. Because it was all I could do, Im so rubbish at everything else. I think theyre all right with me being an actor now...

Meanwhile, shes awaiting the reaction to The Father, and theres talk she may scoop up another fistful of awards. She shrugs.

I have won some awards, which is lovely and which Im grateful for. But I have this thing that I keep them in my sitting room for a year and after that they have to go somewhere more private. I think you should be proud for a year and then move on and pretend it hasnt happened and start again.

The Father will be released in cinemas soon.


In addition, the same nurse allegedly took medical supplies from Stroger Hospital and performed an invasive procedure without a doctors signoff, the report said. On March 25, 2020, the complainant invited the nurse over because her daughter and daughters fiance were feeling ill. The two agreed to an IV flush and the ER nurse came over, the report said.
Ronita Roy never ceased to surprise her two daughters or, for that matter, anyone who knew the retired nurse and founder of a non-profit devoted to social justice.

Ronita Roy never ceased to surprise her two daughters or, for that matter, anyone who knew the retired nurse and founder of a non-profit devoted to social justice.

Even facing Stage 4 pancreatic cancer earlier this year, she revealed another facet of her remarkable life that stunned her adult children, Roxanne and Kathleen Roy.

Supplied As a young woman, Roy lived in the Philippines. At left, Roy with daughters Kathleen (right) and Roxanne, and grandchildren, Mikayla and Nolan.

"Even 36 years in, I was like, Seriously, I thought you (and Dad) just met through friends when you got here," says Kathleen, about how her mother met their father, Noel Roy, who died in 2013.

"She was like, No, no, we were pen pals."

As her mother told her, the girls dad had a neighbour from the Philippines who suggested he write to Ronita, then working as a science teacher in Lupao, north of Manila. The romance was slow-moving, involving three years of letter-writing and long-distance calls before she agreed to come to Canada.

Supplied photos Ronita Roy, who died March 26 at the age of 69, planned to spend her retirement enjoying road trips in her restored 1960 Pontiac Laurentian.

"It was like the original online dating, I guess," Kathleen says with a laugh.

Their mom spent little time acclimatizing. She and Noel married after four months. She worked several part-time jobs while attending Red River Community College, leading to a long career in nursing, before retiring and, in 2008, founding the Manitoba Advocacy Group for Social Justice Inc.

Roy (nee Osio) died March 26 at age 69 at Riverview Health Centre, just as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across Canada, leaving her family and countless friends and acquaintances without a proper way to pay respects to a woman who helped hundreds since her arrival here in 1983.

Up until her diagnosis in January, she continued to be the driving force behind MAG, helping economically disadvantaged Winnipeggers.

Starting the non-profit more than a decade ago was another surprising turn for those who knew her, but not because no one would have expected her to take on a significant role serving others, when she already had a fair bit on her plate, says her best friend, Irene Puloski.

At the time, Roy had just finished battling leukemia. Almost immediately after it went into remission, "she decided she wanted to stand up for the financially and physically disadvantaged," says Puloski, who helped create MAG with Roy.

Supplied Ronita Roy delivers food hampers to MAG clients.

It took several years of groundwork before MAG had a framework and funding in place to operate as a non-profit, becoming an organization that has since helped dozens of individuals, providing weekly food hampers and bus tickets, among other supports.

Yet during that span, Roy was dealing with another personal challenge. In the late 2000s, her husband was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, a degenerative neurological illness that ultimately led to his placement in long-term care.

"She visited him every single day," Kathleen says.

Before the illness, Roy and her husband had planned to spend retirement taking road trips in a 1960 Pontiac Laurentian that he had spent years restoring. She wasnt a car buff but she would go with her husband to shows around Manitoba and made friends everywhere. As Kathleen tells it, her mom was a meticulous planner while her dad was a spontaneous bon vivant  a good match.

"She was always up for anything, though," Kathleen notes, adding one day her parents left on an unplanned trip through the U.S. and returned to Canada crossing the border into Nova Scotia.

While they did not always see eye to eye with their mom in their teens and early adulthood, their relationship with Roy deepened after their dads death in 2013.

Supplied Roy, her husband, Noel, and their daughter, Kathleen, in the 1980s.

"I used to think she would always nag on me," says Roxanne, Roys youngest.

Indeed, Roy was not one to remain silent regarding what she thought of her daughters pivotal life decisions. They may have butted heads at times, but their mother was always there to help, regardless.

"Now that I have my own family and kids, I realize she wasnt nagging," Roxanne adds. "She was just speaking from experience."

Perhaps Roys greatest lesson was resilience. She would tirelessly pursue goals even when they seemed insurmountable. Such was the case when adopting Roxanne from the Philippines, which often felt impossible.

Biologically Roys niece, Roxanne came to Canada at age 11 in 2001. Roys sister had five children and lived in poverty. Roy particularly worried about Roxanne, whod been abused by her biological father.

"They fought really hard to bring me here, even when I was refused entry to Canada several times."

Supplied Roy and her best friend, Irene Puloski, at a fundraiser in 2018.

Roxanne recalls how frightened and lost she felt at first in her new home.

But the Roys treated her as their own from the start.

Other family members came over the years, too. As did countless other newcomers, thanks to Roy, who became a certified immigration consultant. She frequently did the work free of charge.

"She wouldnt ask for money because she knew these folks were already financially stressed," Puloski says.

Also a nurse, Puloski met Roy later in life.

Roy had already retired from her position as Central Park Lodges assistant director of nursing.

Supplied Roy with daughters Kathleen (right) and Roxanne, and grandchildren, Mikayla and Nolan.

"She just didnt have the energy to keep going after being diagnosed with leukemia," Puloski recalls.

Still, she kept busy, enrolling in a facilitators course at Klinic Community Health, where she met Puloski. They quickly became friends. And they often co-facilitated the Get Better Together program, based on a Stanford University initiative aimed at helping individuals with chronic health conditions, such as Type 2 diabetes, develop better habits to reduce the impact of disease.

"She never drove. I had a car, and so we ended up spending four days out of the week together," Puloski says. "I could start a sentence and she could finish it."

Roy spent her final days with her daughters and grandchildren Mikayla and Nolan, as well as Puloski.

"One night at the hospital I said, Lets pretend were on a camping trip, and thats what we did," Puloski says. Soon someone was in Roys room with a guitar, and they all were singing along to Elvis Presley tunes.

"We had a really enjoyable time in spite of the fact we knew we were losing her."

Months later, the wound of her death remains fresh for her children and closest friend. And the loss is being felt in the community. Puloski says MAGs future is uncertain because of the pandemic without Roy at the helm. And so many others will no longer benefit from her everyday kindness.

"She would open her home to anyone."

Puloski adds Roy would often invite her daughters friends, who had nowhere else to go during the holidays, into her home, even ensuring they received gifts. And when Roys nephew Jaime Adao Jr. was murdered in a home invasion in 2019, she again was there to help.

"She was devastated, of course," Puloski says. At the time, the family could not go back to their home and so Roy had them stay with her, she adds.

"She never took advantage of anyone, and she was there for everyone," Puloski says, her voice cracking with grief.

"I loved and admired her so much."

joelschles@gmail.com
As India launched the "world's largest vaccination drive" against novel coronavirus on Saturday, Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said, "Today is perhaps the day of tremendous relief for all of us in the past one year." Vardhan interacted with the health ministers of all the states and union territories and took stock of the COVID-19 vaccine drive across the country.

"The vaccines have been presented before the country like 'Sanjeevani' for us, in the fight against COVID19," the health minister said, adding, "The fight was gradually heading towards victory, now it seems almost definite that the step towards victory will be taken quickly."

India started its COVID-19 vaccination drive with healthcare workers and frontline workers. Nearly 3 crore essential service providers will receive COVID-19 vaccines during the initial phase of vaccination drive.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide coronavirus vaccination drive on Saturday morning. He reminded the citizens that that two doses of the vaccine are very important in the fight against coronavirus.

India earlier granted emergency use authorisation for two ingenious coronavirus vaccine  Covishield by Serum Institute of India and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech. Reassuring people that emergency use authorisation was given to the two 'made in India' vaccines only after scientists were convinced of their safety and effectiveness, Modi said "the vaccines will ensure a decisive victory for the country over the coronavirus pandemic."Dawaai bhi, kadaai bhi," Modi said, asking people to guard against complacency and follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.

During his briefing to media, Union health minister said, "There's a small section that is spreading rumours about vaccines, their utility, their safety, to mislead the people in society. But such a large number of people received vaccines today with great joy & enthusiasm, eminent doctors received the vaccine."

"A debate has started that why are Health Ministers or people's representatives not taking vaccine. I was asked that why am I not taking vaccine? I told them that I'll wait for my turn, which will come when people above 50 yrs of age will be administered vaccine," he further added.

"If people's representatives would have taken the vaccine first, then people would have said that these leaders have protected themselves first of all. So, we should not get worried about such discussions."

Over 1.6 lakh people receive COVID-19 jab on the first day of India's vaccine drive. Over 3,300 session were held across the country.

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More electricity in Texas was generated from wind power than coal last year, another sign of the rapid emergence of renewable energy in the state.

Since 2015, the amount of wind-generated electricity has more than doubled in Texas, and last year 23 percent of the states power came from wind turbines.

About 18 percent of electricity generated in 2020 came from coal, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas reports.

Five years ago, wind contributed less than 12 percent of the states power, while 28 percent of electricity generated in 2015 came from coal.

Solar power made up just over 2 percent of the total electricity generated in the state last year, but adoption of solar has increased exponentially in Texas. Five years ago, solar contributed .001 percent of the states electricity.

On ExpressNews.com: Texas is emerging solar power capital, with assist from San Antonios CPS Energy

While coal has declined and renewables are swiftly growing, natural gas remains king among energy sources in Texas. Last year, 46 percent of the states power came from natural gas-fired plants. In 2015, natural gas contributed 48 percent of the electricity in Texas.

But as a share of the states power sources, natural gas may have reached its peak, said Carey King, assistant director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

As more solar farms come online, the introduction of additional battery storage onto Texas electric grid likely will supplant some of the electricity generated by natural gas, he said.

Battery storage capacity in Texas is expected to grow more than seven-fold this year, from 215 megawatts of available battery storage last year up to over 1,500 by the end of this year, ERCOT says.

And more solar power is coming online this year as well. ERCOT projects there will be three times the amount of solar power generation in Texas this year compared with 2020.

With more battery storage capacity, solar farm operators can charge massive batteries when the sun is highest during the day, and then discharge the batteries to power homes in the evening. Thats when households typically use the most power.

Its probably a good chance that natural gas has reached, in terms of a percentage, the highest generation that it might have, King said. The solar and batteries will start to chip into the gas.

In San Antonio, CPS Energy is accepting bids to add 900 megawatts of solar power to the utilitys generation mix. The addition will double CPS solar capacity.

While CPS didnt provide 2020 power generation figures, renewable power made up 15 percent of all electricity generated by CPS in 2019. That year, a third of the citys electricity came from natural gas, while 21 percent came from coal-fired power plants.

In prior years, before the utility shut down the J.T. Deely coal plant in late 2018, coal contributed more than one-third of the citys electricity annually.

The utility's remaining J.K. Spruce coal plant is the fourth-largest coal plant in Texas, according to the Energy Information Administration.

On ExpressNews.com: CPS Energy has cut emissions, but remains large polluter in Texas

Nuclear power generated 29 percent of San Antonios electricity in 2019, a significantly higher share than the statewide portion. Across Texas, nuclear contributed 11 percent of the states power, which was roughly the same percentage as five years earlier.

While construction on new nuclear power plants has been nearly nonexistent over the past decade  largely due to their high cost  smaller, modular nuclear reactors are a potential answer to develop affordable nuclear power.

But that technology is far off, King said. It could take decades before the new class of reactors starts generating power.

Still, he said in the future nuclear reactors could help replace the final fossil-fuel-based power sources when the economy is nearly decarbonized but wind and solar capacity is almost maxed out.

Any new nuclear is maybe 20 years out, King said. In some sense, if you want to go low-carbon, youre hoping that the entire nuclear industry doesnt just whittle away. Because in 20 years, when youre kind of wind and solard out  then thats when youd want the nuclear.

Amid the pandemic-related economic shutdowns, Texans used a hair less electricity in 2020. The total amount of power generated in the state last year was .75 percent less than 2019.

It may be surprising that its a small change, King said, but the buildings are still there, and its not like they shut down the buildings and gave up.

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net
Lets call this column, and perhaps the next couple of columns, an old-timers memories of the past offered with the hope that they may help u Read more
After 23 elderly persons passed away shortly after receiving their first shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, the Norway government has warned that the coronavirus vaccine may be too risky for the old and terminally ill.

Norwegian officials have informed that of the 23 senior citizens who died after vaccination, 13 who were autopsied likely died of the common side effects of the shots of the first vaccine that had gained approval for emergency use. "Pfizer vaccine might have caused severe reactions in frail, elderly people, a Bloomberg report quoted the Norwegian Medicines Agency as saying.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has warned: For those with the most severe frailty, even relatively mild vaccine side effects can have serious consequences. For those who have a very short remaining life span anyway, the benefit of the vaccine may be marginal or irrelevant.

Both Pfizer and BioNTech are coordinating with the Norwegian drugs regulator to ascertain the cause behind the deaths of the 23 elderly persons and the former has said that the incident is not alarming and in line with expectations."

Even in France, a frail patient had died within two hours of getting vaccinated. However, authorities ruled out that it was due to the side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

The United States also reported 21 cases in the month of December, where the beneficiaries developed severe allergic reactions after taking the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. According to Americas Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this boils down to 11.1 cases of vaccine receivers reporting allergic reactions per million doses.

Lander has said in talks that an opportunity to explain science is his Achilles heel: I love teaching and more than that, I firmly believe that no matter what I do in my own scientific career, the most important impact that I could ever have on the world is going to be through my students.
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CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (CJ:TSX) Cardinal Energy Ltd. ("Cardinal" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has approved an operating and capital budget for 2021 that will focus on debt reduction, maintaining production levels and abandonment and reclamation expenditures.



Highlights of 2021 Budget

Generates adjusted funds flow of $70 to $75 million;

Approximately $40 to $45 million or 55% to 60% of adjusted funds flow will be utilized for debt repayment;

Forecasting a 20% reduction in net bank debt by year-end;

Executing a conservative capital program of $25 to $30 million focused on reactivations, continued upgrades to our pipeline and facility infrastructure, and increasing CO2 injection at the Midale enhanced oil recovery project;

Maintaining average production levels between 17,500 and 18,000 boe/d; and

Investment of $5 million for asset retirement obligations ("ARO") complementing the government subsidy grants.

Cardinal's 2021 conservative budget takes advantage of our low corporate decline rate and focuses on optimizing our long life asset base. The budget includes reactivating and optimizing shut-in production, proactively upgrading our pipeline and facility infrastructure and increasing our CO 2 injection program for our enhanced oil recovery project at Midale, Saskatchewan.

2021 Budget

Cardinal's 2021 budget is expected to produce adjusted funds flow of approximately $70 to $75 million and assumes an average royalty rate of 15%, a West Texas Intermediate ("WTI") oil price of US$52/bbl, US/CAD exchange rate of 0.78 and a $2.52/mcf AECO natural gas price. During 2021, Cardinal's operating expenses are forecasted to average approximately $18.00/boe however expensed well reactivations will add approximately $2.00/boe of operating costs in 2021 as the Company plans to increase the workover and well reactivation program that was suspended in 2020 due to low oil prices. The Company has a significant inventory of low cost workover candidates that will provide increased production to largely offset natural declines in 2021.

The 2021 budget does not contemplate drilling any new wells resulting in a 3% decline in average annual production. We will revisit a potential drilling program in the second half of 2021 depending on commodity price levels. Cardinal maintains a deep, diverse inventory of unbooked potential development drilling opportunities spread across our asset base. With continued strengthening in oil prices and the meeting of our debt reduction priorities, we expect development drilling activities to resume.

The 2021 budget results in adjusted funds flow net of capital expenditures and ARO expenditures of approximately $40 to $45 million which is earmarked for debt repayment.

2021 Budget Summary

Average production (boe/d) 17,500 to 18,000 Adjusted funds flow ($ mm) $70 to $75 Year-end net bank debt ($ mm) $157 - $162 Total capital expenditures ($ mm) $25 - $30 Operating costs ($/boe) $20.00 - $20.75 Transportation costs ($/boe) $0.30 - $0.40 G&A ($/boe) $2.05 - $2.25 US$ WTI ($/bbl) $52.00 US/CAD Exchange Rate 0.78 US$ WTI-WCS Basis Differential ($/bbl) ($13.50) US$ WTI-MSW Basis Differential ($/bbl) ($5.50) AECO ($/mcf) $2.52

ARO

Cardinal has allocated approximately $5 million of its 2021 budget for ARO expenditures which will complement the $18.4 million of government subsidies received to date from the Alberta Site Rehabilitation Program and the Saskatchewan Accelerated Site Rehabilitation Program through our service provider applications. The Company expects to receive the benefit of additional funding in subsequent government subsidies through these programs. In 2020, Cardinal executed on approximately 45% of the available funding with environmental, site decommissioning and well abandonments (119 gross operated wells abandoned) as well as a significant amount of work was completed on downhole abandonments and facility reclamations.

Budget Sensitivities

Input Effect on adjusted funds flow ($ mm) US $1/bbl change in WTI $3.8 US $1/bbl MSW basis $1.5 US $1/bbl WCS basis $2.9 Fx $0.01 $1.1

Summary

Cardinal will continue to prudently manage our balance sheet and asset base. As commodity prices have recovered materially since the lows experienced in 2020, the Company is in a position to accelerate debt reduction. Due to the low decline and deep inventory of reactivations across our asset base, in 2021, Cardinal will maintain production levels deploying limited capital. After taking into account the budgeted capital and ARO expenditures, our 2021 budget is expected to generate approximately $40 to $45 million (55% to 60% of adjusted funds flow) which will be utilized to reduce debt. Cardinal plans to exit the year with a healthy balance sheet targeting a 2.2x net bank debt to adjusted funds flow ratio.

During 2021, we plan to continue with our ARO and environmental spending through a $5 million Cardinal funded program which will complement the government subsidy programs to reduce our future liabilities and inactive well count.

Our conservative budget gives us the flexibility to pay down additional debt, increase our capital program or increase our ARO expenditures should commodity prices continue to increase, or reduce capital spending in the second half of 2021 if commodity prices deteriorate.

Cardinal's annual 2020 reserve results will be released on February 25, 2021 with the 2020 financial and operating results to be released on March 16, 2021.

Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to Cardinal's plans and other aspects of Cardinal's anticipated future operations, management focus, objectives, strategies, financial, operating and production results. Forward-looking information typically uses words such as "anticipate", "believe", "project", "expect", "goal", "plan", "intend", "may", "would", "could" or "will" or similar words suggesting future outcomes, events or performance. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date thereof and are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Specifically, this press release contains forward-looking statements relating to our capital expenditure plans including the 2021 budget, focus and the allocation thereof and results therefrom, future operating, transportation and G&A costs and expenses, future debt repayment, year-end net bank debt, future average production volumes, adjusted funds flow, adjusted funds flow net of capital expenditures and ARO, capital required to maintain production, abandonment and reclamation obligations and plans, availability of government subsidy programs, commodity prices, exchange rates and differentials, corporate decline rate, drilling inventory, opportunities and future drilling plans. Cardinal's asset base and future prospects for development and growth therefrom, budget flexibility and plans if commodity prices continue to improve and the timing for release of future reserves and financial information.

Forward-looking statements regarding Cardinal are based on certain key expectations and assumptions of Cardinal concerning anticipated financial performance, business prospects, strategies, regulatory developments, including continued availability of government subsidy programs, the impact (and the duration thereof) that the COVID-10 pandemic will have on (i) the demand for crude oil, NGLs and natural gas; (ii) our supply chain including our ability to obtain the equipment and services we require; and (iii) our ability to produce, transport and/or sell our crude oil, NGLs and natural gas, current and future commodity prices, differentials and exchange rates, applicable royalty rates, tax laws, future well production rates and reserve volumes, future operating, transportation and G&A costs and expenses the performance of existing and future wells, the success of our exploration and development activities, the sufficiency and timing of budgeted capital expenditures in carrying out planned activities, the availability and cost of labor and services, the impact of increasing competition, conditions in general economic and financial markets, availability of drilling and related equipment, effects of regulation by governmental agencies, the renewal of our credit facility and our ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms which are subject to change based on commodity prices, market conditions, drilling success and potential timing delays.

These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Cardinal's control. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of general economic conditions; volatility in market prices for crude oil and natural gas; industry conditions; currency fluctuations; imprecision of reserve estimates; liabilities inherent in crude oil and natural gas operations; environmental risks; incorrect assessments of the value of acquisitions and our exploration and development programs; competition from other producers; the lack of availability of qualified personnel, drilling rigs or other services; changes in income tax laws or changes in royalty rates and incentive programs and subsidies available to the oil and gas industry; hazards such as fire, explosion, blowouts, and spills, each of which could result in substantial damage to wells, production facilities, other property and the environment or in personal injury; and ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources.

Management has included the forward-looking statements above and a summary of assumptions and risks related to forward-looking statements provided in this press release in order to provide readers with a more complete perspective on Cardinal's future operations and such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Cardinal's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits that Cardinal will derive there from. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing lists of factors are not exhaustive. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and Cardinal disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

This press release contains future-oriented financial information and financial outlook information (collectively, "FOFI") about our prospective results of operations, year-end net bank debt, adjusted funds flow, adjusted funds flow net of capital expenditures and ARO and components thereof, all of which are subject to the same assumptions, risk factors, limitations, and qualifications as set forth in the above paragraphs. FOFI contained in this press release were made as of the date hereof and is provided for the purpose of describing our anticipated future business operations. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any FOFI contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required pursuant to applicable law. Readers are cautioned that the FOFI contained in this press release should not be used for purposes other than for which it is disclosed herein.

Drilling Locations

Cardinal maintains a deep inventory of unbooked potential development drilling opportunities. There is no certainty that we will drill all drilling locations and if drilled there is no certainty that such locations will result in additional oil and gas production. The drilling locations on which we actually drill wells will ultimately depend upon the availability of capital, regulatory approvals, seasonal restrictions, oil and natural gas prices, costs, actual drilling results, additional reservoir information that is obtained and other factors. While certain of the unbooked drilling locations have been de-risked by drilling existing wells in relative close proximity to such unbooked drilling locations, other unbooked drilling locations are farther away from existing wells where management has less information about the characteristics of the reservoir and therefore these is more uncertainty whether wells will be drilled in such locations and if drilled there is more uncertainty that such wells will result in additional oil and gas reserves, resources or production.

Supplemental Information Regarding Product Types

This press release includes references to budgeted 2021. The Company discloses crude oil production based on the pricing index that the oil is priced off of. The following table is intended to provide the product type composition as defined by National Instrument 51-101  Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities.

Light/Medium Crude Oil Heavy Oil NGL Conventional Natural Gas Total (boe/d) 2021 56% 27% 4% 13% 17,500-18,000

Advisory Regarding Oil and Gas Information

Where applicable, oil equivalent amounts have been calculated using a conversion rate of six thousand cubic feet of natural gas to one barrel of oil. Boes may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of six thousand cubic feet of natural gas to one barrel of oil is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. Utilizing a conversion ratio at 6 Mcf: 1 Bbl may be misleading as an indication of value.

Non-GAAP Measures

This press release contains the terms "adjusted funds flow", "net bank debt" and "net bank debt to adjusted funds flow" which do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS" or, alternatively, "GAAP") and therefore may not be comparable with the calculation of similar measures by other companies. Cardinal uses adjusted funds flow and net bank debt to adjusted funds flow ratio to analyze operating performance and assess leverage and feels these benchmarks are a key measure of profitability and overall sustainability for the Company. Net bank debt is used by management to analyze the financial position, liquidity and leverage of Cardinal. Adjusted funds flow is not intended to represent operating profits nor should it be viewed as an alternative to cash flow provided by operating activities, net earnings or other measures of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP. "Adjusted funds flow" is calculated as cash flow from operating activities adjusted for changes in non-cash working capital and decommissioning expenditures. "Net bank debt" is calculated as bank debt plus current liabilities less current assets (adjusted for the fair value of financial instruments, the current portion of lease liabilities, the current portion of the decommissioning obligation and the current portion of the liability component of convertible debentures). "Net bank debt to adjusted funds flow" ratio is calculated as net bank debt divided by the trailing 12 months adjusted funds flow.

About Cardinal Energy Ltd.

One of Cardinal's goals is to continually improve our Environmental, Safety and Governance mandate and operate our assets in a responsible and environmentally sensitive manner. As part of this mandate, Cardinal injects and conserves more carbon than it directly emits making us one of the few Canadian energy companies to have a negative carbon footprint.

Cardinal is a Canadian oil focused company with operations focused on low decline light, medium and heavy quality oil in Western Canada.

For further information:

M. Scott Ratushny, CEO or Shawn Van Spankeren, CFO or Laurence Broos, VP Finance

Email: info@cardinalenergy.ca

Phone: (403) 234-8681

Website: www.cardinalenergy.ca

Address: 600, 400  3rd Avenue SW, Calgary, AB T2P 4H2




Using Woo-Commerce for your e-commerce store is great. But having a website on Woo-Commerce doesnt mean it will rank on the first page of search engines like Google. To rank your online store, you need a complete WooCommerce SEO guide by which you can boost traffic on the website. SEO helps in reaching out to a wider audience and increase sales as well. In this article, we will deep dive into the WooCommerce SEO guide to know how to bring traffic to your online store.

WHAT IS SEO AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is the practice of increasing web traffic on your site by bringing your website on Googles (or other search engines) first page. Through this, potential customers come to your website and make a purchase. It is also done for brand awareness. Coming to your WooCommerce online store, Google will show your products on the search engine results page when someone will search for it.

TOP 5 WOOCOMMERCE SEO PLUGINS FOR STORE OPTIMIZATION

1. Rank Math SEO Plugin

Rank Math is one of the best WordPress and WooCommerce SEO plugin. You can download it for free and start using it to rank your WooCommerce online store. It has customized SEO settings, controls, and features by which you can select how you want your website to appear in search with structured data. You can run a detailed SEO analysis on your site to identify issues and correct them to boost SEO. It also helps in tracking keyword ranking for your products.

The themes like Schema and eCommerce by MyThemeShop are also useful to boost the SEO of your WooCommerce online store as they both are SEO-friendly.

2. Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO is another WooCommerce SEO plugin having more than 5 million downloads. Through this plugin, you can get to know about the issues related to SEO on your website and can rectify them. It has lots of options and features to improve the SEO of your website. You can try its free version, and if you love it, then dont forget to buy its premium plan. It helps in increasing readers engagement, attract more visitors through Social media and from Google.

3. WP Smushit

Your WooCommerce online store requires high-quality pictures of the products that you are selling. But, when you use high-quality pictures it takes a long time to load the picture that affects your websites speed. Therefore, to rectify this you need WP Smush Plugin which helps in speeding up your WordPress site by resizing and compressing all your images without making them fade.

4. All In One Schema Rich Snippets

All In One Schema Rich Snippets provides you a brief synopsis of your website page in the search results of different search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. It also provides you an overview of the entire content on the page by which you can check whether the content is looking good or not. The plugin is also helpful in optimizing content for SERPs and improving CTR.

5. Broken Line Checker

Broken pages are one that you had added in the past but now have taken down. Such pages show 404 error on product pages. It results in a negative point for your WooCommerce online store as they are useless. The Broken Line Checker is downloaded for such pages to bypass such internet penalties. This tool also monitors links in comments and posts. It easily identifies the links that dont work on your website. This WooCommerce SEO plugin helps in optimizing your WooCommerce store.

FEW SEO SETTINGS IN WOOCOMMERCE

Title and Tagline - The first step of SEO on your WooCommerce store is to decide and write a suitable Site Title and Tagline. Your Site title will be your brand name, and the tagline must be related to your products that you are selling on the WooCommerce store.

Your Site Should be Indexable  Once you have added the title and tagline for your website, now move to Settings>General in your WordPress admin area and check if the Search Engine Visibility is unchecked. It must remain to uncheck otherwise, it will discourage search engines from indexing your website.

Opt for an SSL Certificate - If you have a WooCommerce store on WordPress, then you must have an SSL certificate to make your customers trust your site. However, this is now compulsory with many web hosts in the WordPress/WooCommerce hosting industry. You must install an SSL certificate and make sure it is valid to boost the SEO of your online store.

Canonicalization  To prevent duplicate content issues, it is recommended to use a canonical tag. It is a way of informing search engines that a specific URL is a master copy of a page. Your WooCommerce online store should not be accessible from multiple URLs. It becomes more important when you have multiple pages on your website that have similar content as this may result in a duplicate content issue.

Remove Base and Category Base -You should remove unwanted prefixes, such as a shop, product, or any other from the URLs to make your URL easy to remember by your user. It will also help SERPs to easily access the URLs of your WooCommerce store. It will help to have a better user experience.

WooCommerce applies /product-category/ automatically before the actual category of your product that you can check in your permalink. It must be removed as this makes the URL longer. The shorter the URL, the better for users and SERPs.

Remove Generator Tag from WooCommerce- When you enable the WooCommerce Generator tag, it prevents WooCommerce from loading a meta generator tag from the header of your sites code. It will disable the WooCommerce version that you are using as it is of no usage for the customer or visitor of your e-commerce site.

Remove Schema Markup- Doing this will disable Schema Markup on shop archive pages. The use of Schema Markup is recommended by Google. Dont use any other Schema type on shop archive pages.

Remove Snippet Data- Disabling the option of Snippet Data is also recommended by Googles guidelines. It will prevent Schema data from being added to your product category pages.

OTHER WOOCOMMERCE SEO TIPS

Keyword in Product Description  Make sure you have added keywords in the product description for which you want people to show this product. You can use Keyword Planner or UberSuggest to help you in selecting the right keyword for your product. A good description of the products on your WooCommerce site will help in getting high ranks. Easy Navigation  Make sure to create easy navigation for the users between your pages. Easier the navigation on your site, the higher the chances of an increase in ranking of your WooCommerce store. High Speed  Ensure to check the speed of your website. It should not take much time to load the page. Even a 1-second delay can affect your website. WooCommerce SEO plugins help you in preventing such issues.

Conclusion

SEO is important to optimize WooCommerce stores and hence it should not neglect. It helps you in ranking your store higher in SERPs. Using SEO plugins helps in removing all the issues of your website related to SEO and it also helps in enhancing user experience.
Galveston, TX (77553)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies. Low 77F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies. Low 77F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.
The New Deal. The Interstate Highway System. The Great Society. When our nations leaders aim high the names of their accomplishments are enduring, etched in our history books. We continue to enjoy the astounding benefits of many of these federal programs, from Social Security to Medicare to the fruits of the Works Progress Administration.

President-elect Joe Bidens Build Back Better plan, with its massive public investment and bold guiding principles, could remake the U.S. economy for the better, and if enacted it will join that list of national public achievements.

Or it could fall short in the way that the 2009 Recovery Act and 2020 CARES Act did: Allowing many Americans to keep their heads barely above the rising water of economic insecurity, but failing to lift most to higher ground in a time of immense need.

Our incoming president announced his immediate domestic agenda Thursday in what amounts to a pair of shots in the arm for the American economy. The first is focused on COVID-19 relief, which should quite literally put more vaccinations in the arms of the public and money in the pockets of millions of struggling American households. The second, which Biden plans to unveil in an address to Congress next month, is the framework of Build Back Better.

Fully implemented, this program as described would launch more than $2 trillion in investment in 21st century infrastructure, clean energy and domestic manufacturing. It would set the stage for a newly competitive U.S. economy with more equitable foundations, while turning the tide on the global climate crisis. America the laggard could become America the leader  thats the promise behind the Biden plan.

But the list of things that could block its enactment is long, and that list begins with partisanship, political myopia and hypocritical deficit hawks. The proposed price tag on the relief bill is already drawing some complaints. Build Back Better will be another early test for the new Congress: Can visceral differences be set aside for the greater good during an economic emergency? Are lawmakers going to dig in, or are they willing to shape an agenda that will over time return dividends in terms of jobs and competitiveness? Short-term relief is a necessary Band-Aid; long-term investments will be truly transformational. Making them may mean tax increases and significant borrowing, which many on Capitol Hill have been willing to tolerate for corporate tax cuts and increased defense spending. If they now fret about the deficit while denying the working class a chance at economic improvement, they will show America their true colors.

We all know how hard it is to convert campaign rhetoric into policy that improves the lives of working people. The good news for Biden is that virtually every corner of the economy would benefit from substantial public investment in infrastructure, which he campaigned on: From the roads, bridges, and transit and water systems we must modernize, to the electric-vehicle manufacturing and broadband expansion we must spark. That makes them popular proposals. And by declaring that Build Back Better will be made in America, the president-elect will further broaden public support and put lots of American manufacturers to work.

Plenty of critics will be dismayed by Buy America domestic preferences in an expansive economic program, especially coming from a new president who is clearly more globally inclined than his predecessor, but context is important. First, even after four years of America First rhetoric, our countrys procurement markets remain far more open than other major economies that are part of the Agreement on Government Procurement. Second, significant public investments in the U.S. have been accompanied by Buy America preferences for decades, from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.

Now is the time for another one. By combining a Rooseveltian level of investment with a Reaganesque Made in America appeal, Biden can cement his legacy as a president who not only brought us out of an epic economic crisis, but also shaped a federal policy that rewarded future generations too. Rebuild American infrastructure and rebuild American industry. Go big, so that the benefits accrue in working America. Joe Biden can do this, with the right allocation of political capital. I hope he spends it wisely and succeeds.

Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide has urged the governing New Patriotic Party not to engage in blame games over their loss of Parliamentary seats.



The New Patriotic Party (NPP) currently has 137 seats in Parliament in contrast to the party's 169 seats in 2012.



There have been a lot of explanations with some critics blaming the NPP executives for the party's loss.



Some people have argued that the party leaders were complacent, hiding behind the President's free Senior High School (SHS) policy and thinking it would do the magic for them to win seats in Parliament.



Contributing to Peace FM's "Kokrokoo", the Deputy Information Minister advised the party to unite and leave their past behind them.



He called on them to rather support President Akufo-Addo's vision to develop the nation.



"We must know that we have a government and so we must unite. We should rally support behind President Nana Akufo-Addo and also strengthen our party," he said.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
As DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone lay on the ground at the US Capitol building, stunned and injured, he knew a group of rioters were stripping him of his gear. They grabbed spare ammunition, ripped the police radio off his chest and even stole his badge.

Then, Fanone, who had just been Tasered several times in the back of the neck, heard something chilling that made him go into survival mode.

"Some guys started getting a hold of my gun and they were screaming out, 'Kill him with his own gun,'" said Fanone, who's been a police officer for almost two decades.

Fanone, one of three officers who spoke with CNN, described his experience fighting a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters who'd invaded the Capitol in an insurrection unheard of in modern American history.

Federal officials have said the details of the violence that come out will be disturbing.

"People are going to be shocked by some of the egregious contact that happened in the Capitol," acting US Attorney Michael Sherwin said Tuesday in reference to attacks on police officers.

Fanone, a narcotics detective who works in plain clothes, heard the commotion at the Capitol and grabbed his still brand-new police uniform that had been hanging in his locker and put it on for the first time, he said. He raced to the building with his partner and helped officers who were being pushed back by rioters.

But Fanone, who said he'd rather be shot than be pulled into a crowd where he had no control, was suddenly in his biggest nightmare as an officer. And in those few moments, Fanone considered using deadly force. He thought about using his gun but knew that he didn't have enough fire power and he'd soon be overpowered again, except this time they would probably use his gun against him and they'd have all the reason to end his life.

"So, the other option I thought of was to try to appeal to somebody's humanity. And I just remember yelling out that I have kids. And it seemed to work," said the 40-year-old father of four.

A group within the rioters circled Fanone and protected him until help arrived, saving his life.

"Thank you, but f*** you for being there," Fanone said of the rioters who protected him in that moment.

Fanone's anger and frustration was a sentiment felt by law enforcement around the country, furious that Trump supporters had breached the grounds of the Capitol on the very day Joe Biden's win was confirmed by the House and Senate.

Fanone's dramatic encounter with the Trump supporting rioters was repeated all over the grounds of the US Capitol as law enforcement officers battled to push them back. Fanone, one of scores of officers who were injured in the brutal battle, shared his story for the first time, still suffering the effects of a mild heart attack.

Since the breach of the Capitol, investigators have been dissecting every aspect of the day's events, from the response of US Capitol Police to the nationwide manhunt for everyone involved.

Investigators are now looking into the notion that here was some level of planning, with enough evidence to indicate that it was not just a protest that got out of control, law enforcement sources tell CNN.

"Certainly some things that we saw on the ground were some indication that there were some coordination going on, but I think as we get further into the investigation, a lot of that will be revealed," acting MPD Chief Robert Contee told reporters Thursday.

Fanone said the rioters had weapons, either of their own or taken from his fellow police.

"We were getting chemical irritants sprayed. They had pipes and different metal objects, batons, some of which I think they had taken from law enforcement personnel. They had been striking us with those," said Fanone, who added that he wasn't going to be sitting at a desk while an insurrection was happening at the Capitol.

"And then it was just the sheer number of rioters. The force that was coming from that side," he added. "It was difficult to offer any resistance when you're only about 30 guys going up against 15,000."

Fighting off 'bear mace'

Officer Christina Laury, a member of the Metropolitan Police Department's gun recovery unit, got to the Capitol at around 12:30 p.m. ET and saw the riotous groups gaining ground.

Laury, who was guarding the line to make sure there were no gaps for anyone to slip through, was hit with a much stronger type of pepper spray that's supposed to be used only on bears, she said.

"The individuals were pushing officers, hitting officers. They were spraying us with what we were calling, essentially, bear mace, because you use it on bears," she said.

"Unfortunately, it shuts you down for a while. It's way worse than pepper spray," Laury added. "It seals your eyes shut. ... You've got to spray and douse yourself with water. And in those moments it's scary because you can't see anything and have people that are fighting to get through."

She was lucky enough not to be struck with anything but saw others beaten with objects.

"They were getting hit with metal objects. Metal poles. I remember seeing pitchforks. They're getting sprayed, knocked down," said Laury, who added that reinforcements kept rotating in so others could rest during the hours-long battle.

"Just puling officers back to heal up and (reinforcements) stepping in to get to the front line. And then they go down and more officers step in and the officers that were knocked down, they're better again and they're just battling because the bottom line is, we're not letting anyone through."

'He was practically foaming at the mouth'

Officer Daniel Hodges was one of those officers who tried to battle back rioters but was roughed up in the fight. Hodges gained notice after footage of him circulated being crushed by a door. The 32-year-old officer is seen in the clip with blood dripping through his teeth as he kept gasping for enough air so he could yell "Help" at the top of his lungs.

Hodges raced to the Capitol to offer support like many others and soon found himself being assaulted from an angry mob that, he said, believed they were patriots.

"There's a guy ripping my mask off, he was able to rip away the baton and beat me with it," said Hodges, who was stuck in the door and added that his arm was bent before they ripped the weapon away.

"He was practically foaming at the mouth so just, these people were true believers in the worst way."

Hodges was eventually rescued by other officers who eventually came to his aid.

"You know things were looking bad," said Hodges, who miraculously walked away with no major injuries and may have suffered a minor concussion. "I was calling out for all I was worth, and an officer behind me was able to get me enough room to pull me out of there and get me to the rear so I was able to extricate myself."

This was Hodges's first visit to the Capitol building.

'They felt entitled'

The patrol officer said he had been hearing about the possibility of violence for years so he wasn't surprised that the rioters would storm the Capitol. What did surprise him was how the insurrectionists thought the police would be on their side.

"Some of them felt like we would be fast friends because so many of them have been vocal," Hodges said. "They say things like, 'Yeah, we've been supporting you through all this Black Lives Matter stuff, you should have our back' and they felt entitled."

He added, "They felt like they would just walk up there and tell us that they're here to take back Congress and we would agree with them and we'd walk in hand in hand and just take over the nation. But obviously that's not the case and it will never be the case."

Now, only days before Biden's inauguration, federal authorities are warning of other threats that may come.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has publicly warned people not to come to the city for the inauguration.

Hodges echoed her sentiments, and wanted not only residents, but Trump supporters and extremists to stay home too. But with one caveat.

"Stay home. Stop this," said Hodges. "On the other hand, I hope they're caught. Let's leave it at that."

Medical Imaging is the process of allowing users to visualise their digital scans to better understand their prognosis.

Singular Health Group Limited (ASX:SHG) allows users a better way to understand what was once only privy to the privileged intellect.

What intrigued me about Singular Health is the nature in which this technology is allowing users to walk into their body.

Understanding ones medical prognosis used to be frustratingly complicated. Now with the help of Virtual Reality (VR), things are changing.

The use of VR is by no means new as it has been widely used in gaming and several educational processes such as simulators for aviators, construction and building and the mining environment.

Fundraising for IPO

Thomas Hanly shares with us his thoughts on the industry as the company prepares itself to complete the fundraising for the IPO which is currently open.

I like the medical field as it is a sector that is inelastic. Like the childcare and aged care industry, there is an unlimited demand and requirement. The competition is intense, but the playing field is spacious.

I like the fact that they are focusing on the ASEAN sector instead of chasing the US market. To me, this is a good strategy as there is an unlimited uptake in private healthcare due to a lack of government assistance in this region. ASEAN are early takers of technology and the population is hungry for growth.

There is a demonstration of the use of the product by Dr Alex Simonin, who is a neurosurgeon at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, Western Australia.

Great opportunities

As a new IPO, I think that this business has great opportunities. Like all new technology, there is some risk of non-performance, but I guess that is the case for any business.

The stigma of a typical cash-burn technology play is probably what comes first to mind but I think Thomas has addressed that in this Coffee with Samso.

Podcast

About Singular Health Group

Singular Health develops better health literacy with the ability to access, understand and use information to make decisions, and take action about health and healthcare.

With the help of its core proprietary technology, the Volumetric Rendering Platform (VRP), 2D medical imagery can be converted into volumetric 3D models which can be visualised, manipulated, modified and reviewed using a standard monitor or by utilising virtual reality.

As an example, the VRP can convert a standard 2D axial view of a thorax into a 3D volume-rendered thorax that can be viewed and manipulated in virtual reality.

The core value proposition of the VRP is that it:

Allows for the real-time conversion of medical imaging data (allowing end-users to volume render 2D data, typically within 120 seconds from the time the imaging file is available); Possesses in-situ processing capabilities and does not rely upon any internet connectivity and/or external code libraries or processing to convert images from 2D to 3D, which acts to both protect patient confidentiality and enable off-line usage of the technology in remote and rural locations; Assists in the integration of Singular Healths technology into the medical and education markets and workflows, any alterations, measurements, screenshots or videos (derivatives of the main scan) are saved in industry-standard file formats (.obj, .stl, .json, .jpeg, .mp4). This not only makes derivative information much more transferable and viewable on traditional 2D DICOM viewers but also permits the usage of files in third-party computer-aided design packages and media viewers whilst still preserving the proprietary nature of the rapid volumetric rendering; Allows end-users to experience a fully-immersive viewing experience with 360-degree viewing and in some instances the inclusion of a 4th dimension, which is the time taken to perform a virtual surgical action and/or review 4D scans (such as functional MRIs); Is designed to operate using the graphics processing capabilities of high-end yet retail grade hardware, including Alienware laptops, thin-client desktops and Oculus Rift S virtual reality headsets. The combined cost of the hardware is approximately $5,000 resulting in low capital expenditure by end-users; and Can be integrated with picture archiving and communications systems within hospital and clinical environments to provide easy, industry-standard access to the medical imagery used as inputs for the software.

The directors believe that the VRP provides multiple opportunities for growth through the development of surgical visualisation and planning products, patient education products and geological and resources focused products.

About Thomas Hanly

Holding a Bachelors degree in resource and environmental economics, Thomas early career saw him work as an economic analyst for AgricultureNZ before moving to the United States where he obtained his Series 7 and was employed in private banking with Merrill Lynch.

With a strong understanding of capital markets and an interest in technology, he was heavily involved in the early 2000s driving the development and commercialisation of a financial services start-up in the United States before returning to Australia.

Prior to joining Singular Health, Thomas held a number of board positions of privately held companies in Australia and Singapore and acted as an independent consultant assisting with the funding and commercialisation of innovative technologies. Recently, Thomas provided strategic technology transfer advice for the development of new acid leach membrane technology from Monash University and helped to develop carbon tax offset strategies with Calibre Group in Perth.

Please let us know your thoughts and send us any comment to info@Samso.com.au. Remember to Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Samso Media and our mail list to stay informed and make comments where appropriate. Other than that, you can also give us a Review on Google.

For further information about Coffee with Samso and Rooster Talks visit: www.samso.com.au

Samso is primarily a consulting company that delivers digital information to the market in terms of creating organic content.

Samso simplifies your story to customers or investors. Samso creates organic content for you to engage your audience and BRAND yourself to them.

Samso provides bespoke research and presentation for clients to engage their customers or investors.

Organic content allows audiences to feel a real sense of sincerity when you share your business strategy, allowing your business to stand out among the sea of social media traffic.

Working with Proactive Group allows exposing our Insights to over 1.2 million monthly unique views internationally.

Samso has nearly 30 years of experience in developing business ideas and concepts in the Australasian region.

Samso has worked primarily in the mineral resources industry, capital markets and corporate finance. Noel Ong is the founder of SAMSO.

Disclaimer

Samso and affiliated companies accept no responsibility for any claim, loss or damage as a result of information provided or its accuracy. The information provided is general in nature, not financial product advice, see a financial expert before making any investment decision. Your personal objectives, financial situation or needs have not been taken into consideration. There may be a conflict of interest present with commercial arrangements with companies and/or stock held. Samso or an associate may receive a commission for funds raised.
By Paul Mulshine

President Trumps visit to the Mexican border the other day came two years after a visit he made to the same part of Texas, the area around McAllen.

I was on the border with photographer Andre Malok at the time. We had spent the prior night in Laredo, Texas, a city of 260,000 on the opposite side of the Rio Grande from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, which has 270,000 residents. There was nothing but a narrow stretch of river between them.

We drove past 150 miles of unprotected border before we finally came upon a wall. TV crews from all over the world were parked along it, all looking for something to report.

This was a perfect opportunity for Trump to head to some vulnerable section of border nearby and get plenty of free camera time pointing out how easy it is to cross that Rio which is not so Grande.

Nope. He had a brief photo op and returned to D.C. The networks were reduced to showing footage of Air Force One.

This was a small incident, but typical of Trumps governing style. His claim to fame in The Apprentice was his supposed skill in picking subordinates. But he had no such skill.

Trump was great at making deals. But as a chief executive, he just wasnt a very good one. He missed all that stuff about delegating authority and hiring good advisers.

Instead he followed his own advice. This caught up with him when against all advice he interrupted Democrat Joe Biden 71 times during their first debate. Many political pros say that cost him the election.

But it was what happened next that made a lot of people question his sanity. After he was diagnosed with COVID-19, Trump was being treated at Walter Reed Medical center when he ordered the Secret Service to drive him around in a limousine so he could wave to the people.

According to Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair, Trumps behavior was so bizarre that Donald Jr. wanted to hold an intervention. Sherman quoted a source as saying, Don Jr. thinks Trump is acting crazy.

Hes been acting crazy ever since. There are credible reports that COVID-19 causes a decline in brain function in some people. I suspect Trump was among them.

Further evidence was that call to the Georgia secretary of state in which Trump pleaded I just want to find 11,780 votes. Georgias electors had already been chosen by then and there was no way state officials could change them.

Then there was Trumps attempt to order Vice President Mike Pence to reject the electoral votes from four key states. The Constitution limits the vice presidents role to simply presiding over the tally of the votes.

Any competent legal adviser could have told Trump that this was nonsense. If a vice president could throw out the votes of states that went against him, then he could change the results any time his party lost. If Vice President Al Gore had followed Trumps line of thinking in 2000, he could have made himself President Al Gore.

Thats the sort of conflict the Constitution was designed to prevent. And conservatives are supposed to believe in the strict construction of the Constitution.

But Trump lost all credibility as a conservative after he lost the election. That was evidenced when he went against Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell in calling for those $600 coronavirus checks to be raised to the $2,000 the Democrats sought.

Then there was Trumps campaign strategy, which he seems to have concocted on his own.

He relied heavily on rallies. They were great fun to watch but they mainly drew diehard supporters who were going to vote for him anyway.

Meanwhile he failed to reach out to those crucial voters in the middle, many of whom might have voted for a president who acted more presidential.

Last but not least, there were those tweets, which went out all hours and often in all capital letters. They alienated a lot of the suburbanites who might otherwise have been attracted to Trump, said state Sen. Declan OScanlon, a Republican from Monmouth County.

If you could eliminate half of Trumps tweets, I mean just randomly, he would have been re-elected, OScanlon joked.

On a more serious note, OScanlon said other leading Republicans should have told Trump, None of what you are doing is good for our cause.

Theyre telling him now. But once again you have to wonder if hes listening.

Paul Mulshine is a columnist for The Star-Ledger and nj.com.
President Donald Trump is planning to move out of the White House on Wednesday morning, just before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. Sources told ABC News that Trump had requested a big send-off to be planned for the morning of Jan. 20.

Sources familiar with Trump's plan noted that the president wanted his departure ceremony to have a military-like feel.

They said he wanted to hold a farewell ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, the usual jumping-off point for Air Force One in Maryland outside of Washington, D.C., where he would give remarks to the departing members of his administration and supporters.

However, details are not yet finalized, according to the report. Sources said Trump hopes to leave the White House with a red carpet and military honors.

They added that some sort of military flyover had been suggested. Although details of the ceremony are still under consideration, sources said it might include a color guard and a 21-gun salute.

Trump will then fly down to Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida with a small number of staffers who will be part of his post-presidency operations. The president has previously changed his travel plans in the weeks since the election, USA Today reported.

According to a U.S. News report, Trump will make his private resort his residence after his presidential term. Before he was permanently banned on Twitter last week, Trump tweeted that he would not attend Biden's swearing-in.

Trump family members are also reportedly relocating to Florida - the president's frequent destination during his term. However, some Palm Beach resort neighbors have made it clear that they do not want Trump to be around.

Trump's departure comes after the House impeached him for a second time on the grounds of inciting a riot that enveloped the U.S. Capitol last week which resulted in the deaths of at least five people, including one police officer.

Related story: Pelosi Calls for Trump Impeachment in Fear He'll Pardon Capitol Rioters

Mike Pence Calls Kamala Harris Days Before Inauguration

Vice President Mike Pence called Kamala Harris on Friday to congratulate her and offer assistance, Slate reported.

Pence's move comes as he appears to have taken over many of the president's roles after the attack in U.S. Capitol, which caused the recent impeachment proceedings against Trump.

Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence are expected to attend Biden's inauguration. This with the former presidents and their families, such as the Obamas, Clintons, as well as former president George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush.

Meanwhile, according to the former president's spokesperson, former president Jimmy Carter will not attend the inauguration due to the pandemic and his health condition.

CNBC reported that Trump is the only president in the United States' history to be impeached twice. The House of Representatives first impeached him in December 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress concerning his efforts to press the government of Ukraine to investigate the Biden family. But the then GOP-controlled Senate acquitted him.

After the insurrection that took place at the Capitol, the National Guard will deploy up to 25,000 troops to Washington to assist in the Capitol's security matters. This is more than the number of U.S. service members in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan combined.

Related story: McConnell Approves of Second Impeachment Efforts Against Trump
Matt Damon is the latest Hollywood A-lister to arrive in Australia.

The 50-year-old actor, who is based in the US, quietly landed in Sydney with his family via a private jet on Saturday.

He wore comfortable black jeans, a matching coloured T-shirt and a face mask as he touched down at Sydney Airport.

Fancy seeing you here! Matt Damon cut a casual figure as he quietly touched down in Sydney with his family on a private jet on Saturday

Matt completed his ensemble with a pair of black sneakers and kept a low profile in a black cap.

He also held a white jacket as he walked behind his family after they exited the plane.

It's unknown exactly why The Martian star is in Australia.

In good company: He wore comfortable black jeans, a matching coloured T-shirt and a face mask as he touched down at Sydney Airport

Arrival: Matt completed his ensemble with a pair of black sneakers and kept a low profile in a black cap

In November last year, The Daily Telegraph reported that Matt and his wife Luciana Barroso snapped up a $22million mansion in Byron Bay.

The five bedroom property, which overlooks Wategos Beach, is regarded as one of the area's most prestigious homes.

The purchase follows rumours in 2018 that Matt was preparing to relocate with his family to Australia.

New project? It's unknown exactly why The Martian star is in Australia

Paradise Down Under! In November last year, The Daily Telegraph reported that Matt and his wife Luciana Barroso snapped up a $22million mansion in Byron Bay

Matt is one of several Hollywood megastars in Australia at the moment.

Actor Zac Efron recently spent time in Adelaide filming his latest Stan project, Gold, after spending much of the Covid-19 pandemic holed up in Byron Bay.

Meanwhile, Melissa McCarthy and Luke Evans are also in Byron Bay filming Nicole Kidman's new Hulu mini-series Nine Perfect Strangers.

Natalie Portman is in Queensland filming Marvel blockbuster Thor: Love and Thunder, while British star Idris Elba recently arrived in Sydney to film Three Thousand Years of Longing.

New home? The purchase follows rumours in 2018 that Matt was preparing to relocate with his family to Australia
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 (Sin Chew Daily) -- Bilateral trade between Malaysia and China achieved 4.6 per cent of growth to hit RM470.7 billion as of November 2020, says Ambassador of China to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing.



The bilateral trade grew amidst COVID-19 pandemic based on figures released by China.

Ouyang said traditionally both countries were good friends and were closely linked in economic development. China-based companies were offered lots of investment opportunities in Malaysia.

"With the implementation of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), these developments offer new opportunities," he said.

Ouyang said in a virtual meeting with council members of the China Entrepreneurs Association in Malaysia (PUCM) that association's main mission is to boost bilateral trade.

PUCM president Datuk Keith Li told Bernama that both countries are positive on developments in mid- and long-term.

Li said Malaysia is an important neighbor to China. Relationship between both countries was important in One Belt One Road initiative.

Li said the Chinese ambassador looked forward to PUCM taking the lead in having more interactions in politics, economy, trade, humanity and technology for both countries.

"As small- and medium-sized enterprises are limited in resources, they need a platform to propel development, and PUCM offers its services to these SMEs," he said.

Li also expressed his gratitude for the support extended by the Embassy of China in Malaysia to PUCM over the past five years.

He said PUCM would continue to work with relevant agencies to create new opportunities and new developments for friendship between China and Malaysia.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-15 21:29:47|Editor: huaxia

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Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, delivers a speech while attending an online seminar to share reading experience in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- More political advisors nationwide should engage in reading to lay a solid foundation for improving political consultation, China's top political advisor Wang Yang said Thursday.

Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, made the remarks while attending an online seminar to share reading experience in Beijing.

The reading activity is an innovative measure for CPPCC members to improve their capability to fulfill duties, Wang noted, calling for continuous efforts to promote reading among the political advisors and encouraging them to share reading experiences.

The CPPCC National Committee initiated the reading activity last April and more than 1,800 national political advisors have participated in the activity. Enditem
Bengaluru, Jan 17 : Karnataka Health Minister K. Sudhakar on Saturday said nearly 62 per cent of designated frontline health workers were inoculated but not a case of serious side effect was reported across the state as part of the first day.

He was speaking to the media after the video conference with the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan here.

"Volunteers turning up in such large numbers (62 per cent) was indeed unexpected by any stretch of my imagination. I did expect an encouraging response but surely, it was not as big," Sudhakar who himself is a medical professional revealed.

According to the minister, Karnataka had sent information to 21,658 people for first day vaccination out of which 13,408 have been turned up.

The minister claimed that across the state among all districts barring Bengaluru, Kodagu district has recorded highest number of vaccination with 84 per cent, followed by Uttara Kannada with 80 per cent while and Dakshina Kannada records least turnout registering just 34 per cent.

In the case of Bengaluru civic body jurisdiction, it recorded an average 65 per cent turnout while Bengaluru city stands at 53 per cent vaccination and Mallasandra primary health centre recorded lowest turnout at just 28 per cent vaccination.

"People should come forward voluntarily to take the vaccine. There is no side effect or serious threats reported anywhere. In some cases, swelling is reported while taking the jab which commonly occurs, when someone gets injected," he said.

"All precautions have been taken in case of any side effects. 20,000-30,000 people have been involved in clinical trials. There is no need to panic at all. The vaccine is most affordable at Rs 210 in our country. In other countries, it is almost 10 times more. People with comorbidities will be covered in the next phase," Sudhakar said in response to a question.

Appealing people to not to politicise the vaccination drive, he added that vaccination drive will resume in government hospitals from Monday while some of the private hospitals will continue on Sunday.

"Vaccination is voluntary and not mandatory. Vaccination is completely safe and no side effects have been found till now," he said.

The Minister also said Karnataka has received eight lakh doses of vaccine and 7.43 lakh people have been identified for the first phase of vaccination.

"We have requested the Central government to provide additional eight lakh doses of vaccines," he said.

The minister visited Jayanagar General Hospital, St. John's Hospital and K.R. Puram Hospitals to review the vaccination process.

According to the Health Department, Covishield will be administered in 237 centres and Covaxin in six centres in Bellary, Shivamogga, Hassan, Chikmagalur, Chamarajnagar and Davanegere.

A total of 7,17,439 health warriors will be vaccinated in the first phase and we have received 8,14,500 doses of vaccine and the initial phase is expected to complete within a week.

In Bengaluru, 1.71 lakh health workers will receive the vaccine in phase one. Karnataka has been provided with the Covishield vaccine which will be delivered to the vaccine centres from the cold chain points on the day of vaccination. The same vaccine will be administered in the second dose after 28 days.
Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

NEW HAVEN  A city man was arrested Friday after allegedly refusing to wear a mask while inside the courthouse on Elm Street, according to Connecticut State Police.

Pedro Borrero, 36, was charged with second-degree breach of peace and violating the precepts of Executive Order 9B-2a(1), which mandates the wearing of a face covering.
Larry Rendall Brock Jr was arrested after a picture emerged of him on the Senate floor carrying the plastic zip-tie handcuffs

As investigators continue to piece together what really took place during last Wednesdays Capitol attack, prosecutors reveal that zip ties found on one rioter substantiate their fears that he planned to take hostages during the siege resulting in bodily harm to officials.

According to reports, prosecutors believe members of the violent mob planned to assassinate elected officials, specifically retired Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr, who carried plastic zip-tie handcuffs intending to use them to take hostages.

Read More: 275 criminal cases opened in Capitol riots investigation: prosecutors

Thursday, the former Air Force officer was arrested after a picture emerged of him on the Senate floor wearing a helmet and heavy camouflage vest while carrying the plastic handcuffs.

He means to take hostages. He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer said of the 53-year-old Dallas resident during his hearing.

The father-of-three was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. He has since been released to home confinement.

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

A traumatizing event

As we previously reported, late Tuesday evening, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez conducted an hour-long Instagram live that attracted nearly 100,000 people and used that time to field questions from her constituents and supporters on the app.

Not surprisingly, she received several questions about her experience on January 6th and only a few minutes into the video makes the stunning admission about fearing for her life.

I had a pretty traumatizing event happen to me, and I dont even know if I can disclose the full details of that event due to security concerns, but I can tell you I had a very close encounter where I thought I was going to die. You have all of those thoughts where, at the end of your life, these thoughts come rushing to you, she explained. Thats what happened to a lot of us on Wednesday. I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of that day alive. And not just in a general sense, but in a very specific sense.

Story continues

READ MORE: Chuck Norris denies attending Capitol riots after photo of look-alike goes viral

AOC also explained that she didnt feel safe when instructed to shelter with other members. She admitted to her followers that there were QAnon and white-supremacist sympathizers and, frankly, white-supremacist members of Congress in that extraction point who I know and who I have felt would disclose my location and would create opportunities to allow me to be hurt, kidnapped, et cetera.

Substantiating her fears is the fact that NJ Rep. Mikie Sherrill recently revealed that several Republican members gave reconnaissance tours to would-be rioters on the eve of the siege. And adding insult to injury, three other Democrats have been infected with COVID-19 after being forced to shelter with Republicans who refused to wear masks.

So I didnt even feel safe around other members of Congress, AOC concluded bleakly.

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Kolkata, Jan 16 : The Covid-19 vaccination drive began in West Bengal on Saturday with a doctor of a private hospital receiving the first shot, while Minister of State for Labour Nirmal Maji was administered the Covishield vaccine at the Kolkata Medical College and Hospital, officials said.

Bengal's Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim told the media that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee personally monitored the vaccination drive across the state.

According to the health officials, around 1,800 frontline health workers on Saturday were selected for the innoculation drive at 212 session sites, including medical colleges, private facilities and primary healthcare centres in the districts across the state.

Doctor Bipasha Seth, the first person to receive the shot, said : "It's a great day for the humanity. I feel delighted after receiving the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine." Maji after vaccinated at the Kolkata Medical College and Hospital, said that he believes that the vaccine would eradicate the dreaded disease soon.

Hakim said, "Today is a great day for all of us and I believe we may gradually emerge from the pandemic as the dreaded coronavirus has already claimed a huge number of lives across the world and also in India." The Minister said that all the adversaries and distress of the people for the past one year expected to be over.Health officials said that approximately 90,000 frontline health workers associated with government and private hospitals and health care centres have been registered for the first phase of vaccination in West Bengal.

In Kolkata, SSKM Hospital, Kolkata Medical College Hospital, Neel Ratan Sarkar Hospital, R.G. Kar Hospital, School of Tropical Medicine and B.C. Roy Child Hospital have been selected as the vaccination hubs.

The vaccination drive in West Bengal witnessed some hurdles on the first day after the health officials faced technical troubles in operating the Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) application, developed by the Centre to monitor and track all the systematic process of vaccination.

Health workers confronted difficulties while they tried to upload the necessary data about beneficiaries receiving the vaccine dose on the CoWIN app as the online application was reported to have delayed impeding its operation.However, officials said that the online processes are being done manually.
Legislation to ease the financial burden of the Fair Deal scheme on farmers will be brought before the Dail within the next three months, and has been welcomed by Wexford Senator Malcolm Byrne.

Changes to the scheme will put a cap on how much farmers and business owners have to contribute towards nursing home costs and will ease the financial burden on farm families and small business owners who avail of it.

Senator Byrne said that there are dozens of Wexford families impacted every year by the current legislation.

'At present, because there is not a cap on the level of contribution, this can cause serious financial hardship and farm families in particular and they are concerned that they may lose the family farm. But this is a really welcome move and will help farm families and small businesses when they are often faced with difficult decisions concerning an elderly family member.

'I have come across many families who have faced potentially huge financial burdens while wanting to provide the best-possible care for a loved one. This will give them some comfort.'

The Minister for Older People, Mary Butler, has also indicated that a new plan to allow people grow old in their own homes with state support will be introduced by 2022. But for now, the minister said changes to the Fair Deal scheme are necessary as farmers are reluctant to sign up because they fear they will lose their farms.

The current system sees farm families and small business owners required to set aside 7.5 per cent of the value of their land annually to fund a place in a nursing home and there is no cap on contributions. But in order to qualify for the new scheme the farmer/business owner, their partner or nominated family successor must have worked the farm or business for three out of the previous five years.
County Wexford students are set to be awarded a 12,000 scholarship at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT).

The college has launched its 2021/2022 President's Scholarship Programme for CAO applicants.

The 3,000-a-year scholarship encourages and rewards young people who show a capacity to shape a better society and each year up to five exceptional undergraduate students are awarded scholarships with a total value of up to 12,000 per person.

In what will be the sixth year of the scholarship programme aimed at CAO applicants, WIT President, Prof Willie Donnelly is calling on family, friends, communities, sporting clubs, people in the arts and volunteering organisations to encourage inspiring Co Wexford people who hope to start college in September 2021 to put themselves forward for the scholarship.

Co Wexford has fared well in the past six years.

Among the 23 President's Scholarship recipients to date are five students from each corner of Wexford. They include: Lauren English Adams, a past pupil of FCJ, Bunclody; 2018 President's Scholarship recipient Aoife Molloy from New Ross; 2019/2020 President's Scholarship recipient Megan Lanigan, from Gorey. In her application she outlined: her participation in secondary school life, which included being involved in Young Social Innovators, AIB Build a Bank Challenge, Student Enterprise Programme, Meitheal Mentoring Programme and the Yearbook Committee. She won the Student of the Year Award in Transition Year. Over the duration of her school years she made 'GoPro' videos to capture her experiences and posted them to YouTube, these videos are used by her school to showcase Transition Year to incoming students. She has also completed both Silver and Bronze Gaisce Presidents Awards. She hopes in the future to work as a Social Media or Digital Marketing Manager in a multinational company, with her course BA (Hons) in Marketing and Digital Media.

In spring 2021 a ceremony will be held to formally announce the five recipients for 2020/21. The five include two Wexford students from Enniscorthy and Ramsgrange.

WIT President Prof Willie Donnelly said: 'These are exceptional individuals whom we are proud to call students of WIT. Since 2016, the breadth of initiative shown by scholarship students has been across community, volunteering, innovation and creative spheres. We welcome applications from CAO applicants to WIT who may be creative, are innovators, are leaders, or people who make significant contributions to community. The pandemic will have impacted many people's lives and we would like for college applicants who have made a difference to be given the support and encouragement to apply.'

Each President's Scholar receives an annual bursary of 2,000 per year of study along with 500 per semester. President's Scholars are also part of the Student Ambassador programme for the duration of their studies, representing the college and the academic School in which they study.

For more details see www.wit.ie/CAOscholarship.
UNHRC sessions: Lanka turns down invitation to co-sponsor new resolution By Namini Wijedasa View(s): View(s):

A new resolution will be brought before the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva by the Core Group on Sri Lanka  Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Britain  after the Government turned down an invitation to co-sponsor one.

While civil society sources indicated that its text is conciliatory, Admiral (Prof) Jayanath Colombage, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that it would also be politically challenging to the Government to agree to even a consensus resolution, which would see Sri Lanka refrain from objecting at the UNHRC.

There had been no question of co-sponsoring a resolution that actually brought down the Government, having been against the constitution, against sovereignty and against the people. And even a consensus resolution, I cant say whether it will or will not happen, but, politically, it will be a huge challenge.

At the sessions in March last year, the Government under newly-elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa withdrew from resolution 30/1 which Sri Lanka co-sponsored at the UNHRC in 2015. It also withdrew from subsequent roll-over resolutions 34/1 and 40/1. These moves were aimed at promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in the country. Several commitments were made, such as to establish a judicial mechanism with a special counsel to investigate allegations of violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law.

Sri Lanka stands firm on withdrawing from the process, said Admiral Colombage, claiming the former Defence Secretarys victory at the 2019 Presidential election was seen as a democratic mandate given by the people of Sri Lanka to revisit the co-sponsoring of the resolution.

The Core Group is pressing ahead with a new resolution with or without the Sri Lankan Government, civil society sources said. But cooperating with them on this matter was seen as politically untenable because of the Governments declared policy.

It seems unpalatable to work with the Core Group and given commitments on accountability mechanisms, etc, one source pointed out. It would also seem that excessive negotiation is required to reach the point of consensus resolution.

Admiral Colombage indicated that this had not been discussed yet. The sessions are due to start at the end of this month. The Core Group is not in agreement with Sri Lankas request for closure on 30/1 and successor resolutions, to wrap up engagement with Geneva. Countries like Britain and Canada, political analysts said, were under considerable pressure from the Tamil diaspora which has kept up the lobbying of foreign Governments.

In a latest missive on Friday, Tamil political parties represented in Parliament  the Tamil National Alliance, the Tamil National Peoples Front and the Tamil Makkal Tesiya Kootani  together with local Tamil civil society organisations wrote to the missions of 47 member States represented in the UNHRC, calling for a resolution that declared Sri Lanka had failed in its obligations to investigate allegations of violations committed during the armed ethnic conflict and atrocity crimes including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

It wanted the resolution to acknowledge that there is no prospect for accountability in Sri Lanka by way of its own domestic mechanisms or through hybrid mechanisms. It requested member States to urge in the new resolution that other UN organs, including the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, take up and refer the matter to the International Criminal Court and any other appropriate or effective international accountability mechanisms.

Britain has long supported efforts at the UNHRC to deliver truth, accountability and transitional justice for all the victims of the conflict in Sri Lanka and to improve human rights in the country, including through UNHRC resolutions 30/1, 34/1 and 40/1, a Spokesman for the British High Commission in Colombo said. We continue to believe that the UNHRC framework is the best way to establish truth and achieve justice and lasting reconciliation for all communities in Sri Lanka.

In February, June and September 2020, the British Government set out its continued support for the UNHRC framework as well as its concerns about the human rights situation in statements delivered at the UNHRC on behalf of the Core Group on Sri Lanka.

We will continue to engage with the Government of Sri Lanka to set out the importance we attach to justice, accountability and human rights, the Spokesman asserted. Ahead of the March 2021 session of the UNHRC, we will continue to work with our international partners and with the HRC on how best to take forward this longstanding priority for the UK.
Actor Sidharth Malhotra swept everyone off their feet with his glamorous debut. The Hasee Toh Phasee actor is one of the most sought after stars in Bollywood and has been going strong ever since his debut in 2012. One more thing that his fans and followers look up to him is for his intensive workouts and his toned body and chiseled abs. A lesser-known fact about the handsome actor is that he is a certified scuba diver. Read on to know more about it.

Also Read | Sidharth Malhotra Is A Total 'water Baby' And These Pictures Are Proof

Sidharth Malhotra's a certified scuba diver

According to a report by India.com, Sidharth Malhotra is a certified scuba diver and was also seen performing the underwater sport in his film Ek Villain. The actor is an inspiration for everybody out there to be fit and have a chiseled body and eat right. He takes his fitness very seriously and not just that, he is a water baby too. The actor is really fond of being in the water, be it swimming or even scuba diving. The Jabariya Jodi star was recently vacationing in the Maldives, with rumored girlfriend Kiara Advani and posted pictures and videos from his getaway where he can be seen enjoying the serene underwaters. You can see his scuba diving video here.

Also Read | Sidharth Malhotra Shares His Beach Look On Instagram, Fan Calls Him A 'handsome Hunk'

He captioned his post saying, "At Peace, Under water ". He could be seen swimming in the deep blue sea and had a lot of fish swarming around him. He posted a lot more videos from his trip to the Maldives, and in most of them he was enjoying the serene, clear waters, be it the stunning blue sea or the swimming pool. You can see a few other posts from his Maldivian vacation here. Other than Sid, celebrities who love and enjoy scuba diving are Shraddha Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, and Sushmita Sen.

Also Read | Sidharth Malhotra Is All Smiles As He Is 'diving Into 2021'; Watch

Sidharth Malhotra's Movies

Sidharth Malhotra recently featured in a music video opposite actor Diana Penty titled Challon Ke Nishaan. The song released on December 21, 2020, and is sung by Stebin Ben. The video has been directed by Bosco Leslie Martis, with music from Sunny Inder and lyrics by Kumaar. The actor who is to be seen in Shershaah opposite Kiara Advani soon also announced another project titled Mission Majnu on December 23, 2020. Sidharth shared the news on his Instagram and wrote, The deadliest covert operation undertaken by our intelligence agency behind enemy lines! Presenting the first look of #MissionMajnu. The Shantanu Bagchi-directorial will star Rashmika Mandanna opposite Sidharth Malhotra, marking the film her Hindi language debut.

Also Read | Sidharth Malhotra And Kiara Advani Spotted At Mumbai Airport Ahead Of New Year's

Scuba divers in Bollywood

Parineeti Chopra

Sidharth's Hasee Toh Phasee co-star Parineeti Chopra also learned scuba diving for her film Kill Dil. According to a report by CNTraveller, Parineeti stated that she learned scuba diving for a movie but now it has become her obsession. She also said that being underwater is like being in another world altogether. You can see pictures of Parineeti Chopra scuba diving here.

Sonakshi Sinha

The Rowdy Rajkummar actor is also a water baby and according to a report by CNTraveller, she stated that she traveled to the Maldives once for a photoshoot and that was the first time she went snorkeling. The actor stated that it felt like she had entered a different world altogether and now she plans her holiday and vacation schedules around diving and snorkeling. You can see Sonakshi Sinha's Instagram post here.

Image Credits: Sidharth Malhotra Official Instagram Account

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.
This year our dine and drink business locations throughout the Gorge have suffered with closures. You can help support your favorites by purchasing take out and gift cards. Many of these business will offer curb-side delivery and some will deliver to your home. Lets keep the Gorge going strong!
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
Curtis Honeycutt is a syndicated humor columnist. He is the author of Good Grammar is the Life of the Party: Tips for a Wildly Successful Life. Find more at curtishoneycutt.com.
New Delhi, Jan 16 : As India begins world's largest immunization drive amid concerns over rushed approval to the vaccines by the drug regulator, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday assured people that there is no need to be afraid and urged them to have faith in the experts who gave their nod.

As many as three lakh healthcare workers are being inoculated on the day with doses of either Bharat Biotech's Covaxin or Oxford's Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India. Several experts have, however, raised concerns over the hasty approval accorded to Covaxin despite lack of adequate efficacy data.

"There is no need to be afraid. Experts are right," Satyendar Jain told IANS on being asked about the vaccine hesitancy among people rising out of lack of trust on the regulatory process. The drug regulator had approved the two jabs for the restricted emergency use on January 3.

Covaxin has been in the spotlight since the recommendation. It's approval for the immunization programme has drawn flak from public health advocacy groups, researchers, scientists and activists in the domain.

It was only administered to beneficiaries in the central government hospitals on the day.

Besides this, the health minister said that he met all the people who received the vaccine and nobody experienced any difficulties post-inoculation. Some of the side-effects of the vaccines are headache, fatigue, pain in muscle, injection site tenderness, weakness, chills and nausea.

In Delhi, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin has been allotted to six Centre-run hospitals, while 75 Delhi government and private hospitals received Covishield. The Delhi government has set the target to inoculated 8,100 healthcare workers at 81 vaccination sites on the day.

"First to receive the vaccination will be health workers, then frontline workers such as civil defence volunteers and police officials, then people above 50 years, and then people below 50 years but with co-morbidities," added Jain.

Jain, along with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited Delhi-government run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital to inspect the preparations made for the vaccination drive in the city, as the first phase of the drive began across the country.

"The vaccination process is running smoothly, and the people who have been vaccinated are not experiencing any difficulties or side-effects. I want to request people to not pay heed to any kind of misinformation or rumours because the vaccine is entirely safe according to the experts," Kejriwal assured.

Nationwide, almost three lakh beneficiaries, belonging to the priority groups, are being administered the silver bullet at over 3,006 vaccination sites across the country. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site.

The world hopes this vaccination drives across other nations as well marks the beginning of the end of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

(Aakanksha Khajuria can be contacted at aakanksha.k@ians.in)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The far-right social media personality known as 'Baked Alaska', 33, has been arrested by the FBI over his involvement in the MAGA mob riot after he posted a video online showing himself inside the Capitol.

Tim Gionet, who has often pushed neo-Nazi conspiracy theories online, was arrested by federal agents in Houston, Texas, Friday on two charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Gionet livestreamed footage of himself among other Donald Trump supporters inside the seat of American democracy after the mob invaded the building and sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives.

His arrest on federal charges comes after an arrest warrant was also issued by a Scottsdale judge Thursday saying Gionet had violated conditions of his release by traveling from Arizona to Washington DC to take part in the deadly siege on the Capitol that left five dead.

He was out on bail on assault charges for allegedly pepper-spraying a bar worker.

Scroll down for video

The far-right social media personality known as 'Baked Alaska' has been arrested by the FBI over his involvement in the MAGA mob riot after he posted a video online showing himself inside the Capitol

Federal prosecutors said in a court filing that Gionet had recorded a 27-minute live video of himself inside the Capitol where he chanted 'Patriots are in control', 'Whose house? Our house' and 'Traitors, traitors, traitors.'

He livestreamed the footage on blockchain service DLive which has become a hive for right-wing fanatics.

In the video Trump supporters in 'Make America Great Again' and 'God Bless Trump' hats are seen milling around and taking selfies with cops inside the Capitol as the officers calmly ask them to leave the premises.

The Trump supporters talk among themselves, laugh, and tell the officers and each other: 'This is only the beginning.'

Gionet says, 'We are in the Capitol building, 1776 will commence again' - the year of America's independence.

Later in the footage he is heard telling other rioters not to leave the building, the documents say.

At another point in the video, Gionet appears to be in one of the offices in the Capitol and films himself pretending to call the US Senate.

He turns his device around to his clearly show his own face inside the building and picks up a phone from the desk.

'I can call the US Senate apparently,' he shouts.

'Hello US Senate - we have a fraudulent election we would like to report,' he said, as he repeats Trump's unfounded claims of voter fraud despite dozens of lawsuits and probes finding no evidence to support this.

'We need to get our boy Donald J. Trump into office. Yeah can we do that real quick?' he says, pretending someone is on the line as fellow mob members laugh.

Tim Gionet (pictured), has often pushed neo-Nazi conspiracy theories online, was arrested by federal agents in Houston, Texas, Friday on two federal charges

Federal prosecutors said in a court filing (part of which is above) that Gionet had recorded a 27-minute live video of himself inside the Capitol

When told to leave by law enforcement about 25 minutes into the footage, prosecutors write that Gionet first tells them he is part of the media before he verbally abuses a police officer calling them 'a f**king oathbreaker you piece of s**t.'

At the time of the riot, Gionet was out on release on misdemeanor charges of assault, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass over an incident where he is accused of refusing to leave a Scottsdale bar and then pepper spraying a bar worker.

Terms of his release included an agreement that he would not leave the state, reported AZCentral.

Prosecutors filed a motion to revoke his release on bail after Gionet streamed the footage of himself at the Capitol - evidence, they said, that he had broken the terms and left the state to head to DC.

As well as footage inside the Capitol, Gionet had also livestreamed footage of himself interviewing people in the street the night before the deadly riot.

Gionet then failed to attend a scheduled court hearing on the Arizona charges and his attorney Zach Thornley was unable to reach him on the phone.

Gionet livestreamed footage of himself among other Donald Trump supporters inside the seat of American democracy after the mob invaded the building and sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives

As well as footage inside the Capitol, Gionet had also livestreamed footage of himself interviewing people in the street the night before the deadly riot

Scottsdale Judge James Blake issued a warrant for his arrest.

Gionet, whose full name is Anthime Joseph Gionet, is known for pushing his white supremacist, neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic views and has been banned from Twitter and YouTube.

Gionet used to work for Buzzfeed News and support Black Lives Matter before his views turned increasingly right-wing.

Thousands of supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol on January 6 as Congress was meeting to vote to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's electoral win.

Lawmakers were forced to go into hiding for several hours as Capitol police grappled to take back control while the mob defecated in the Senate and House, invaded Nancy Pelosi's office and looted items potentially including state secrets.

Five people were killed in the violent riot including a police officer who was hit over the head with a fire extinguisher by a rioter.

Law enforcement officials across the country have been working to locate and arrest suspects who committed federal crimes and so far have brought nearly 100 cases in federal court and the District of Columbia Superior Court.

Donald Trump was impeached for the second time this week after House lawmakers voted that he had 'incited the riot'.

Trump supporters storming the Capitol on January 6 during the violent siege
We all need good news stories right now, especially ones which remind us that honesty, integrity and decency are alive and well in our community.

A Drogheda boy is being commended for his honesty after reuniting a man with 700 which had been lost on the Rathmullen Road last Monday (4th).

Sean Rafferty (13) was out walking with his aunt Estelle Churchill when he made the discovery, and hours later, two facebook posts connected the missing money with the man who had dropped it.

'We were just going for a walk near our house, when Sean kicked a small plastic bag, and when he asked me what it was, I said it was probably rubbish, but he decided to take a closer look,' says Estelle, who looks after Sean.

'I was so shocked when I saw how much money was in it, and I knew someone would be missing it, so I thought I would try Facebook before I went to the Garda station.'

Estelle posted on her own page and that of Drogheda Dolls about finding a large sum of money, not knowing that local man Johnny Cunningham was doing the same thing!

'I went out on my bike last Monday for a cycle to Oldbridge and on the way back, at some point, I lost my money, which was for a late Christmas present for my son. When I copped it was gone from my pocket, I immediately retracked my journey to see if I could find it but I didn't,' explains Johnny. 'I was upset thinking it's gone; I definitely won't be getting it back. I prayed whoever found it badly needed it.'

Meanwhile after he had joined Facebook just to post about his missing money, the local grapevine had been busy, and he was quickly put in touch with Estelle.

'I heard of Estelle posting a thing up of a young lad finding a large amount of money and I said to myself it can't be mine surely, but sent a message to see and when she wrote back saying what my description was what her lad found I was emotional and so happy with such honesty,' he tells the Drogheda Independent.

'I met her on the town and they gave me the money and I was shaking with happiness and the best part was I went to throw the young lad 20 for his honesty and he said to me, it's ok you don't have to pay me for doing the right thing. I tell you I went to bed with a smile on my face the length of West Street.'

Estelle says Sean has a heart of gold, and is just happy to know that he did the right thing.

'I am so glad the money went back to its owner, as I got over 30 messages telling me people had lost money that day,' says Estelle with a laugh. 'Sean doesn't really know about all the fuss, but I am so proud of him for being so honest.'

Last year, when Sean was a 6th class student in St Paul's NS, he did a 50km walk and run over the space of a week, and raised 564 for his three chosen charities; Dyspraxia Ireland, Dyslexia Association of Ireland and Society of Autism Ireland. He also wrote letters to each person who sponsored him, and delivered treats to the frontline workers in Our Lady of Lourdes hospital.

'Estelle should be so proud of herself as she is raising a fine young lad that will go far,' added Johnny. 'He is a well mannered young man, and i'm just so shocked and grateful they where so honest. It's just incredible'.
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On the day he became the most disgraced president in U.S. history  the first to be impeached twice  Donald Trump had something he wanted to get off his chest.

On the day he became the most disgraced president in U.S. history  the first to be impeached twice  Donald Trump had something he wanted to get off his chest.

In a scripted five-minute video recorded in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump begrudgingly condemned the storming of the U.S. Capitol and called on his supporters to remain calm in the run-up to inauguration day.

TALI ARBEL / ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES Donald Trump's Twitter account was suspended by the company last week.

But he made no mention of the impeachment charge  supported by 10 House Republicans  that he incited the mob violence, failed to acknowledge any responsibility for the unprecedented insurrection, and declined to congratulate, or even mention by name, president-elect Joe Biden.

What Mr. Trump made sure to do in this historic moment was to vent his outrage over an insult that is clearly driving him to distraction  being banished from his chief instrument of governance, Twitter.

"I also want to say a few words about the unprecedented assault on free speech we have seen in recent days. These are tense and difficult times. The efforts to censor, cancel and blacklist our fellow citizens are wrong and they are dangerous. What is needed now is for us to listen to one another, not to silence one another," he declared in the lone passionate segment of an otherwise flat pre-recorded speech.

It has been said Mr. Trump is addicted to Twitter the way other people are dependent on oxygen. For the past five years, he has used the platform to attack journalists, fire underlings, disparage women and minorities, make policy statements out of the blue and spread outright lies.

What are absolutely not true are suggestions, from Mr. Trump and others on the right, that Twitters decision on Jan. 8 to cut him off from his almost 90 million followers over "the risk of further incitement of violence," after an insurrection that left at least five dead, was in any way an assault on free speech.

JABIN BOTSFORD / THE WASHINGTON POST For the past five years, U.S. President Donald Trump has used the platform to attack journalists, fire underlings, disparage women and minorities, make policy statements out of the blue and spread outright lies.

There is no democracy in the world in which anyone, including a sitting president, has a free-speech right to incite violence. Mr. Trumps address to his supporters before they marched on the Capitol, exhorting them to "be strong" and "fight like hell," was not just offensive; it was a clear incitement to mayhem.

Far from being protected speech, incitement to violence is a criminal offence, because it threatens lives and democracies, which rely on elections, not civil wars, when it comes to the transfer of power. It is not "censorship" to silence a voice promoting violence. There is also no First Amendment right guaranteeing Mr. Trump the right to tweet.

The right of free speech refers strictly to government entities, which cannot censor or limit a citizens right to express themselves. It does not apply to private companies such as Twitter, which can shut their digital doors to anyone violating their terms and conditions  and incitement of violence is a clear violation.

"If Jack Dorsey decides he wants to kick everyone off Twitter, and the only person that can tweet on the platform is him, thats well within his right as the CEO of Twitter," Nick Bilton noted in Vanity Fair magazine.

Denying Mr. Trump his digital bullhorn has also done little to mute hateful comments, as U.S. authorities have reported an alarming increase in online chatter suggesting further violence in days to come.

What is critical now is that Twitter, having finally laid down the law for Mr. Trump, begins to police the largely lawless Twitterverse and exile an army of online haters who feel it is their "right" to promote bloodshed in 280 characters.
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When we think about the late Audrey Hepburns legacy, we often think of her style, elegance, and classic girl next door look, Hepburn was a gifted actor and dancer who was extremely intelligent, even speaking five different languages. However, its also now clear that Hollywood crafted an image of her.

Hepburn was a self-proclaimed introvert who loved being alone and out of the spotlight. She also had a very challenging childhood, which left a mark on her for the rest of her life. In fact, her real name wasnt even Audrey Hepburn.

Audrey Hepburn | Graphic House/Archive Photos/Getty Images

RELATED: Was Audrey Hepburn Married?

Audrey Hepburn had a rough childhood

Though she was the picture of elegance, Hepburns childhood was far from glamorous. The How to Steal a Million actor was born in Belgium and spent her childhood in England and the Netherlands.

Hepburns parents were Nazi sympathizers and members of the British Union of Fascists. However, her father abandoned the family when Hepburn was just a girl, and the actor often went hungry. The actor began dancing as a way to make money.

When she was a teen dancing in Amsterdam, Hepburn was discovered by French novelist Colette who hand-picked her for the titular role in Broadways Gigi. Audiences were immediately mesmerized by Hepburn, and she was immediately thrust into the limelight in the 1950s.

RELATED: Audrey Hepburns Most Iconic Role Was Almost Played by Marilyn Monroe

Audrey Hepburn wasnt always confident in her appearance

Though the world knew Hepburn for her glamorous roles in films like My Fair Lady and Breakfast at Tiffanys Hepburn didnt always have the highest self-esteem. In fact, she often picked apart her appearance.

Id like to be not so flat-chested, she once said. Id like not to have such angular shoulders, such big feet, and such a big nose. The actor was particularly conscious about her feet, she wore a size 10 despite her petite frame. She also idolized Marilyn Monroes curvy figure and bombshell blonde hair.

Hepburn was so self-conscious about the size of her feet that she would order her signature ballet slippers one-half size up so that they did not look like she had squeezed her feet into them.

However, there was one thing that always gave Hepburn a boost  fashion. Clothes always give me a great deal of self-confidence, Hepburn says in director Helena Coans new documentary, Audrey.

RELATED: Julie Andrews Would Have Spat in Someones Eye If She Had Made My Fair Lady Like Audrey Hepburn

This was Audrey Hepburns real name

The actor will go down as one of the most legendary performers of all time. However, Hepburn wasnt even her real last name. The Roman Holiday actor was born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; her family called her Adriaantje. Her mother Ella was a Dutch noblewoman, and her father was a British commoner.

The Funny Face star didnt begin calling herself Audrey Hepburn until 1948. It actually worked out in her favor. Had anyone connected the dots that her parents were Nazi sympathizers while she was rising its fame, it would have absolutely crushed her career.

A new era of Australia-US relations begins this week as Joe Biden is formally inaugurated as the 46th President of the world's wealthiest and most powerful country. After four volatile years of the Trump Administration, it is time to welcome a more enlightened agenda and, hopefully, a less erratic approach to global affairs from the US.

While Mr Biden and incoming vice-president Kamala Harris have outlined a suite of comparatively moderate progressive policies, they will effectively flip the switch on Mr Trump's retrograde Administration, which retreated from global agreements, denied climate change, rebuffed science, traded in conspiracy theories and recklessly undermined credible institutions.

US President-elect Joe Biden. Credit:AP

Mr Biden has vowed that, from his first day in office, the US will return to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. He has also promised to convene, within 100 days, a climate summit featuring leaders of the major global economies, and plans to institute a target for the US to achieve net-zero emissions before 2050.

Mr Biden's tasks on the domestic front, at least for the foreseeable future, will not be easy. The US is grappling with a raging pandemic which has claimed more than 388,000 lives in less than a year, and its political divisions are starker and deeper than at any time in the past 50 years.

Health Ministry reviewing prevention and control of COVID-19 The Health Ministry is currently reviewing the strategy of prevention and control of COVID-19 in the country within the past year, Deputy Director General, Public Health Services I, Dr. Hemantha Herath told the Sunday Times last morning. We are carrying out an exhaustive review process and are looking into probable options of change, he said, preparing to attend the third such meeting yesterday. Of the scheduled five meetings all attended by high-level officials of the ministry including the Director-General, the last two are to be held shortly. Thereafter, the findings and probable options on how to deal with COVID-19 will be placed before a wider forum of experts from outside the Health Ministry before the end of January, he said, adding that such reviews are essential. Currently, though the number of people who are being tested positive for COVID-19 is small for a given Medical Officer of Health (MOH) area, these numbers are spread across many MOH areas, it is learnt. Concerns over use of masks with exhalation valves Many health experts have expressed serious concerns over the use of masks with exhalation valves or vents by the public as a protection against the new coronavirus. The World Health Organization (WHO) advises that in areas of known or suspected community or cluster SARS-CoV-2 transmission (Sri Lanka is at Alert Level 3 of cluster-based infections), the public should wear a non-medical mask indoors (shops, shared workplaces, schools etc.) or outdoor settings where physical distancing of at least 1 metre cannot be maintained. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States of America recommends the use of non-medical disposable masks (single-use masks). The CDC does not recommend the use of masks with exhalation valves or vents because this type of mask may not prevent a person from spreading COVID-19 to others. The hole in the material may allow respiratory droplets to escape and reach others. Research on the effectiveness of these types of masks is ongoing, the CDC adds. AASL Chairman assures guidelines will be followed strictly There will be no negligence from the side of the airport, assured Airport and Aviation Services Limited (AASL) Chairman, Major General (Retd.) G.A. Chandrasiri, as Sri Lanka readies itself to reopen both the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Katunayake, and the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) for tourists next Thursday (January 21). A specific programme is in place and it will be followed, with operations being launched at midnight on Wednesday (January 20), he said. The Sunday Times learns that the two airports are expected to get 3,300 passengers per day inclusive of those arriving on repatriation, cargo, charter and transit flights. Mr. Chandrasiri said that while this number will include about 750 repatriates per day (there were only 300-400 this week at the BIA and the MRIA), the others will be tourists from around the world except the United Kingdom (UK). Explaining the arrangements, he said that the repatriates will be sent into 14 days of quarantine at a state centre or designated hotel, depending on their choice. Under the other category will be tourists which would also include passengers coming in for commercial purposes and other programmes. They would be handled by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and come under different procedures than the repatriates. They would be in a bio-secure bubble and will be taken to hotels, said the AASL Chairman. He said that the tourists should arrive with an RT-PCR negative report taken 96 hours prior, while undergoing testing on Day 1, Day 5 and then Day 14. All airport staff coming into contact with the tourists will wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), said Mr. Chandrasiri, adding that currently four BIA staff members, comprising the Airport Manager and three from the Fire Unit, have tested positive for COVID-19 and are receiving treatment. They had contracted the virus from outside the airport. What happens if you test positive for COVID-19? DG gives clear picture of procedure and facilities at both state and private sector institutions With many people requesting the Sunday Times to give a clear picture of the procedures with regard to hospitalization and quarantining, here is what Director-General Dr. Asela Gunawardena says: If you test positive for COVID-19: If you test positive for COVID-19 through an RT-PCR test or Rapid Antigen Test and are symptomatic (showing symptoms of the disease such as fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath), you will be taken to a designated hospital for treatment. You will be kept there mandatorily for 14 days or more until symptoms disappear and will be discharged after an exit RT-PCR test becomes negative.

If you test positive for COVID-19 and are symptomatic or asymptomatic (without symptoms) but you are in a high-risk group such as over 60 years of age or whatever age but with co-morbidities (other diseases such as diabetes, kidney & heart disease, pressure etc.), you will also be taken to a designated hospital for treatment. Once again, you will be kept there for 14 days or more until symptoms disappear and then discharged after an exit RT-PCR test becomes negative.

If you are mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic, you will be sent to an intermediate care centre where you will be mandatorily kept for 14 days. Thereafter, you will be discharged without an exit RT-PCR test as there is clear medical evidence that after the 10th day you are not infective (can spread the disease to others). Once you test positive, what happens to your close (first) contacts: Once you test positive, your close contacts will be asked to mandatorily self-isolate (be in quarantine) in their homes for 14 days. If their homes are congested, they will be taken to quarantine centres. RT-PCR testing will be done on them either on the 5th, 7th or 10th day, most often on the 10th day, to establish whether they too have got infected. An intermediate care centre being run by a private hospital The Health Ministry has granted permission to Lanka Hospitals at Narahenpita to run an intermediate care centre at a 60-room hotel just up the road from its location at Colombo 5. The COVID-19 positive people sent there are being looked after by the medical and nursing staff of Lanka Hospitals. The food is being prepared by the hotel staff but they have no contact with the patients, it is learnt. An intermediate care centre being run by the army This is while the army is running an intermediate care centre at a 100-room beach hotel, close to Galle. Here too, while the staff prepares the food, the food is kept at the door of the patients while other logistics are being run by the army. The Sunday Times understands that the army may turn more hotels into intermediate care centres. Procedures followed when a person turns positive Setting down the procedure, Dr. Gunawardena says that when a person tests positive, either at a state or private laboratory, the laboratory mandatorily informs the Epidemiology Unit. COVID-19 is a notifiable disease. The Epidemiology Unit, in turn, informs the Operations Centre of the Health Ministry which is the central coordinating mechanism. Then the Ops Centre informs the Regional Epidemiologist and the MOH of the area from which the positive case has been found where the person is to be taken. This would be based on bed-availability and also taking into account the persons gender and whether others in the family (like babies) have to be considered and the choice of the person whether he/she prefers state or private facilities. Thereafter, arrangements are made to transport these people either in ambulances available at regional level, hired vehicles or buses provided by the army which is a great source of strength, the DG explains. He says that if there are large numbers and there is an overload in the system, there could be a delay, as the ambulances transport only about six people in one go. However, more than 90% of people who test positive are taken to the respective hospital or intermediate care centre within 24 hours, he assures. With regard to poor facilities at some hospitals and intermediate care centres, Dr. Gunawardena says that he did visit the Punani centre two weeks ago. I wont say that the facilities are 100% optimal because there are a large number of people accommodated, but we are trying our best in challenging circumstances, he said, adding that it is the largest centre accommodating around 600-700 people. When asked about running water, he said that there is pipe-borne water but the centre is located in an arid area. Sometimes the people too are very careless and every day the taps are broken. Do you know that there is a dedicated pippa baas (plumber) 24 hours a day? Referring to complaints that the Sunday Times has heard that a treatment centre on the northwestern coast where the womens section has only one bathroom for about 30 people, the DG said he had not received such a complaint. I will look into it, he assured, pointing out that all facilities may not be equal and ideal. The health authorities are making a huge effort to give the best to a large number of people but all such centres may not be geared similarly in these difficult times.
On Monday afternoon, Dan Zimmerman, the managing editor of the website The Truth About Guns, logged into Facebook to learn that the page dedicated to his website had been unpublished.

The notification informing him of this, he says, also posed an odd question: Do you agree or disagree? He clicked the latter option, to disagree with the decision, but that turned out to be an ineffectual form of protest.

No warning or explanation was given and we havent been able to publish anything to our timeline there since, Zimmerman wrote in a post on TTAGs website Thursday.

He asked readers to sign up for the sites email list, noting that although its Twitter and Instagram accounts remain active, that could easily change: The cancellations will apparently continue until all of the objectionable opinions and subject matter have been neutralized.

We were hoping this was just a crazy mistake and it would resolve itself, Zimmerman told me Thursday, from a coffeeshop in Austin, where The Truth About Guns is headquartered. But Facebook is a notoriously opaque entity. Its virtually impossible to talk to a human.

He said he was genuinely at a loss to explain the unpublishing: Weve done literally nothing that we havent been doing for ten years. In fact, I would argue that weve actually played a lot of things down the middle for the last year, two years, than we did prior.

I understand Facebook dumped a lot of accounts that were using the hashtag stop the steal; We did not, Zimmerman continued. We never got into the presidential election at all, other than discussion of the Biden agenda.

That must be a bit frustrating, I suggested.

Incredibly, Zimmerman agreed.

He is one of many Americans who has seen his social media accounts deleted, suspended, or banned of late, as companies such as Facebook and Twitter respond to the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol and the civil unrest which preceded it and has yet to abate.

The most thorough shellacking, in this regard, has been endured by President Donald Trump himself, who has been banned from Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat as part of what the journalist Derek Thompson aptly dubbed history's first private-sector impeachment. Trump was also impeached Wednesday by the House of Representatives, becoming the first president in our history to earn that dubious distinction twice.

And those sites  along with giants such as Amazon, Google, Apple, Pinterest, YouTube and Reddit  are taking additional steps that have affected plenty of other Americans, most of them on the right.

These actions have elicted outrage from Republican leaders who would rather discuss their own grievances than the coronavirus pandemic, for example, or the chaos in Washington, D.C., or their own roles in arguably inciting it.

Big Techs PURGE, censorship & abuse of power is absurd & profoundly dangerous, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said on Jan. 9th, from  ahem  his Twitter account. That account remains fully operational and he has also used it recently to scoff at calls for his resignation in light of his role leading the fight to reject electors from key states unless there is an emergency audit of the election results, as he put it in a fundraising text message sent out Jan. 6.

Many Americans have little sympathy for such claims, in part because what Big Tech is doing is not, in fact, censorship. Censorship is a function of the government. Companies such as Facebook and Twitter, as huge as they are, are part of the private sector.

Nor can the people being thrown off such sites claim that theyve been cancelled  theyre simply being deprived of access, in some cases temporarily, to popular social media sites. And frankly, its a little tendentious for a person on social media to loudly assert that theyre being silenced when the very fact that we can read their plaints is proof that they are not.

But a case such as Zimmermans does raise real questions about the standards that these powerful companies are using to evaluate content posted on their sites, and the lack of transparency about their conclusions after the fact.

I couldnt examine The Truth About Guns Facebook page, of course, since it was unpublished. But the website itself probably wouldnt set off alarm bells for most readers. The sites focus is squarely on firearms, rather than the broader cultural wars in which guns are so symbolic. In addition to the posts about political debates related to guns, it posts gear reviews, industry news, and guides for beginners on various aspects of gun ownership.

Overall, the men and women  mostly men  who write for TTAG seem to be Second Amendment enthusiasts rather than extremists. (We have plenty of both in Texas, and over the years you learn to tell the difference.) And, unlike many right-leaning outlets, The Truth About Guns hasnt been trafficking in conspiracy theories about this years presidential election.

In fact, on Nov. 7th  as soon as the Associated Press called the election for former vice president Joe Biden  Zimmerman wrote a post acknowledging that Biden would be president-elect unless the various lawsuits Republicans had filed proved successful and, accordingly, advising readers to keep an eye on a pair of U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia.

If the Republicans can hold onto control of the Senate, much of the worst parts of Bidens anti-gun agenda can and should be blocked, he wrote.

A spokesperson for Facebook on Friday confirmed that The Truth Against Guns Facebook page had indeed been taken down, as part of our ongoing work to remove coordinated inauthentic behavior.

No one is entitled to the platform Facebook provides, of course; the companys executives are entitled to unpublish any page they like, just as you would be entitled to throw someone out of your house for any reason whatsoever.

But cases such as this one help explain why many conservatives, at the moment, feel that Big Tech is telling them theyre unwelcome on their premises.

erica.grieder@chron.com

Simon Bourke: 'The question is why weren't ASTI consulted before the Government announced its decision to partially reopen the schools? Why weren't the TUI (Teachers Union of Ireland)?'

As the fiasco that was the 2020 Leaving Cert drew to an undignified close there was but one crumb of comfort for those who would follow, for the class of 2021: It couldn't possibly be that bad again.

They had seen the impact on their predecessors, saw how the on-off uncertainty surrounding exams which were confirmed, moved forward and then finally cancelled had pushed their peers almost to breaking point.

They had looked on, aghast, as the calculated grades system spat out results arbitrarily, favouring some over others and reducing living, breathing, panicking students into binary numbers.

But they gained solace in the knowledge that lessons had been learned, that the class of 2020 were an outlier, the unfortunate ones caught in the eye of the storm.

And when the schools reopened in September it seemed like normal business had resumed. True, life inside those familiar corridors had changed markedly, there were masks, pods and a sense of eerie unfamiliarity, hand sanitising, one-way corridors and staggered entry times.

At least they were in class though, with their teachers, availing of the one-to-one interactions so crucial at this point in their development.

Better still, they had received confirmation their exams would be going ahead, from no less an authority than the Taoiseach. Okay, so he said the same last year, but no-one knew what was going on last year.

This year he and Minister for Education, Norma Foley, had a plan. The details of that plan remained unclear but it ended with a roomful of students quietly scanning the contents of English Paper 1 some day in the summer, and that was all that mattered.

Yet all it took for that plan to be scattered to the wind was a rise in positive cases. The schools, which had appeared impregnable, were shut once more.

If it had ended there it wouldn't have been so bad, the students, teachers and parents could have been fooled into believing the plan was still on track, that this was but a mere bump in the road.

But there was a proviso in the plan, a puzzling one: Leaving Cert students were to return to class for three days a week, the rest would remain at home. This came totally out of leftfield. Had it been part of the plan all along or was it possible they were simply making it up as they went along?

Either way the backlash was unpleasant. Students threatened to strike, schools vowed to shut their doors and teachers wondered how they were going to teach classes at home and in school and also care for their own children.

A couple of days later we had evidence that this hadn't been part of the plan at all when ASTI (Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland) said it was advising its members not to attend class the following week.

The Minister was forced into an embarrassing u-turn, the three-day week was scrapped and we ended up right back where we started.

The question is why weren't ASTI consulted before the Government announced its decision to partially reopen the schools? Why weren't the TUI (Teachers Union of Ireland)?

Why weren't the school principals, the teachers, the parents, anyone? But more than that, much more than that, why weren't the students?

Time and time again, since the beginning of the pandemic, those at the heart of this issue have been reduced to the role of bystanders, their future played out on television screens, radio waves and the column inches of papers like this.

Would any other cohort of people be treated so shabbily? Most Leaving Cert students are at least 17 years-old, many are 18 or older. They are not children, they are young adults, old enough to vote, to drive, to drink, and old enough to be consulted on a situation which will affect them long after Micheal Martin and Norma Foley move onto something else.

But as far as the debate on the state examinations goes they may as well not exist. And when the final decisions are made and the plan is unveiled in all its majestic glory you can bet they will be the last to know. Their only recourse may be to take vengeance at the next election.
Texas A&M International University president Dr. Pablo Arenaz shared news this week of the passing of longtime TAMIU faculty member Dr. Frances Gates Rhodes  associate professor, College of Arts and Sciences, department of Humanities  due to complications of COVID-19.

Dr. Rhodes, or as most of us better knew her, Panchita, was a beloved faculty member here, Arenaz said. She was a passionate advocate for her discipline, for her students, for her colleagues and for this university. The students and graduates she inspired easily number in the thousands. In her passing, we lose a gifted and special educator and friend. Respected by her students, colleagues and all who were fortunate to be part of her ever-widening orbit, her dynamic presence here will be much missed

Rhodes, who retired this past May after some 38 years of service, was an associate professor of English, former chair and  at the time of her retirement  a senior lecturer.

She had the distinction of being a former Laredo State University graduate who would return to become a faculty member in the very classrooms that helped mold her academic pursuits.

Originally from Eagle Pass, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and a Master of Science in English Education from the former Laredo State University.

Under the LSU tutelage of her mentor, the late Dr. F. Allen Briggs, she was encouraged to continue her education and would go on to earn a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics at The University of Texas at Austin.

She returned to Laredo in 1982 as a visiting instructor as she completed her Ph.D. She would also teach at Southern Methodist University, UT-Austin and the Austin Independent School District. She also taught at Western Oregon State College, Eagle Pass Independent School District and the Holding Institute.

At LSU and TAMIU, she took tremendous pride in teaching classes that Dr. Briggs had first initiated, infusing each with her characteristic commitment and wit.

In addition to her research in linguistics, her research expanded to include childrens literature, especially that of the Holocaust, young adult literature, language in contact and the importance of storytelling. Completely bilingual in English and Spanish, she was a frequent guest in Laredo and Eagle Pass classrooms for childrens reading programs and a lifelong advocate for the importance of folklore study.

Active in the universitys Faculty Senate, she served as Faculty Ombudsman for the Faculty Senate, as a sponsor for Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society, and was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, among others.

She still somehow found time to pursue other interests, including helping to found the Knit and Wit Society, a group dedicated to crochet, embroidery, knitting and conversation; not exactly in that order.

We have great fun, great conversations, great projects, great food and a lot of loving sisterhood and support in times of trouble as well as joy, " she recently remarked.

Throughout the years, Knit and Wit members have contributed to several international, national and local organizations, including knitting caps for newborns in Asia, Africa and Latin America via Caps for Good; quilt squares for blankets for AIDS patients in South Africa; blue and red scarves for the Special Olympics; purple caps, scarves, booties and ninja dolls for the Purple Stitch Project; scarves for Navajo elders, and caps for foster children in the Austin area. She joined members in a special magazine feature this past December in the Laredo Morning Times Dvino Magazine.

One of her proudest accomplishments was her leadership in helping to establish the Dr. F. Allen Briggs Folklore Collection at the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library.

Her thoughts offered at the collections 2009 dedication now strongly echo her own stellar contributions at LSU and TAMIU. Then, she noted Briggs inspiration was that of someone who had great wisdom, great passion for his profession and a great heart for his students.  A role model for us all.

Rhodes is survived by her two adult children, Bianca Rhodes Spies and Christian Gates Spies, and her grandchildren, Christa Gates Spies, Abigail Ruth Spies and Carson Spies Ehresman.

Services are pending and a memorial is planned at a future time.

After Nature World News reported about Earth's oceans storing immense heat, new study have shown how the planet may not be similar again after the next 20-30 years.

Earth may have the profound ability to quickly take in close to one-third of carbon emissions caused by plants and humans, but a new study indicates that this ability could be halved over the next 2 decades, no thanks to the present-day rate of global warming.

The study published in Science Advances journal was undertaken by researchers from the Woodwell Climate Research Center, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Waikato, New Zealand.

The study involved over 2 decades of collated data from measurement towers in each major biome worldwide. The team was able to identify a highly critical temperature tipping point, which is far beyond plants' ability to capture and store atmospheric carbon. Thus, the cumulative effect, known as the 'land carbon sink' plunges as the temperature continues to skyrocket.

Sharp Declines in Photosynthesis Detected Beyond Specific Temperatures

Science has already revealed that the activity of soil microbes and land plants known as the terrestrial biosphere is primarily responsible for most of the Earth's breathing as it silently exchanges oxygen and carbon dioxide. Ecosystems worldwide absorb carbon dioxide via photosynthesis and release it to the atmosphere via the respiration of plants and microbes.

However, these past few decades have revealed that the biosphere has absorbed far more carbon than it has released, thereby extenuating climate change. This may not continue, especially as this temperature continues to spread rapidly across the planet. The researchers happened to detect a temperature threshold after which carbon uptake by plants slows down and carbon release accelerates.

Lead author and postdoctoral researcher at Northern Arizona University, Kathryn Duffy, detected the sharp declines in photosynthesis beyond this temperature threshold in almost every biome worldwide. This observation was made after removing other effects such as sunlight and water.

Duffy has this to say about this discovery "The Earth has a fever that is growing steadily, and just like what happens to the human body, we know each biological process has a wide range of temperatures at which it performs optimally and most desirably, and one beyond which function starts deteriorating. "So, we wanted to know how much these plants can withstand"

ALSO READ - Unbelieveable: Earth's Oceans Store Unparalled Amounts of Heat

This Research, The First to Detect Temperature Threshold

This research was the first to detect the specific temperature threshold for photosynthesis from the observational data at a broad scale. Although temperature thresholds for respiration and photosynthesis have been primarily studied in labs, the Fluxnet data provides a window into what the Ecosystems around the world are experiencing as well as how they are responding.

Duffy had to team up with the researchers at the University of Waikato and at Woodwell Climate, who developed a new approach of late known as MMRT or MacroMolecular Rate Theory to address the question. The basis of this new approach is rooted in the principles of thermodynamics. The use of MMRT allowed scientists to generate temperature curves for each major biome as well as the globe.

The results of this study were quite horrifying. The scientists discovered that temperature peaks for carbon uptake have already been exceeded in nature with no temperature check on respiration. That is 28 degrees Celsius for C4 plants and 18 degrees Celsius for the more prevalent C3 plants.

According to a biologist at the University of Waikato and co-author of the study, Vic Arcus, the most striking matter this analysis revealed is that the temperature optima for photosynthesis in every ecosystem were incredibly low. The findings suggest that temperature increases above 18 degrees Celsius could be potentially detrimental to a planetary carbon sink.

"The land carbon sink won't continue to offset emissions or buy us time without controlling warming to remain below or at the levels established in the Paris Climate Accord," says the co-author.

RELATED ARTICLE - Agrivoltaics: The Answer to Water Demand, Carbon Emissions and Rural Areas
Posted Saturday, January 16, 2021 7:29 am

In an ignominious retreat, losing Republican gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp has withdrawn his lawsuit against Secretary of State Kim Wyman alleging widespread election irregularities and fraud.

Culp's lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court last month, tried to sow doubts about his 545,000-vote loss to Gov. Jay Inslee. It claimed "intolerable voting anomalies" in an election "that was at all times fraudulent."

But, facing a threat of legal sanctions for making meritless claims in a court of law, Culp's attorney, Stephen Pidgeon, withdrew the lawsuit Thursday night, according to a copy of his motion supplied by the state Attorney General's office.

The lawsuit was withdrawn "with prejudice," meaning it cannot be refiled.

The about-face by Culp occurred after Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office warned Pidgeon that the state intended to file a motion to dismiss the case, and intended to take the unusual step of asking a judge to impose sanctions unless Pidgeon withdrew the case by noon Friday.

The notice, which Ferguson personally signed off on, said the claims made by the Culp campaign were "factually baseless." For example, it said, counties had contacted the people Culp claimed were deceased and found the voters were alive, or had died after voting.

Culp's tactics  and resulting defeat  are reminiscent of the post-election flailing by President Donald Trump, who similarly leveled debunked fraud claims in an unsuccessful effort to overturn his loss to President-elect Joe Biden.

"Rather than concede gracefully, Mr. Culp has used this lawsuit to distract from the magnitude of his loss and to sow confusion. Mr. Culp also fundraised off his baseless allegations, even as the country has erupted in violence stoked by the types of reckless allegations made in this litigation. This past week has put into stark relief the damage that has been wrought by such untruths," Ferguson's notice said.

On a Facebook live video with supporters Friday, Culp said that continuing the lawsuit would have cost millions of dollars, only to risk it being thrown out and being forced to repay the state's legal fees.

"Given this minefield in front of us, we're going to back off, go around it, and live to fight another day," said Culp.

"It doesn't mean that the war's over," Culp added later. "It just means that we're not going to engage in this particular battle through the courts."

In a videotaped segment shown during the event, Pidgeon said the lawsuit had to be dropped due to "technicalities." He said the campaign would "leave this battleground now, and instead bring our case for election reform to you and the court of public opinion."

Pidgeon may still face consequences for filing a lawsuit filled with false and unsubstantiated claims. The state Democratic Party announced Friday it had filed a complaint with the state bar association against Pidgeon, arguing he should be disciplined for violating several professional-conduct standards for attorneys.

"Dr. Pidgeon's frivolous complaints constitute nothing more than a desperate and legally unjustifiable attempt to undermine the electoral process on behalf of his defeated client," said the complaint filed by attorneys Dmitri Iglitzin and Gabe Frumkin.

Pidgeon was paid $50,000 by the Culp campaign for his legal efforts, according to filings with the state Public Disclosure Commission. He is a far-right conspiracy theorist who has worked on conservative political causes, including challenging Inslee's COVID-19 restrictions. Pidgeon, who ran for Attorney General in 2012, also has spread discredited theories that President Barack Obama was a secret Muslim who intended to impose an Islamic caliphate on the United States.

The state Republican Party did not back the Culp lawsuit, and state GOP Chairman Caleb Heimlich has defended the integrity of the election overseen by Wyman, the state's sole remaining statewide Republican elected official.

Culp and his campaign manager, Chris Gergen, have launched a new political-action committee, New Patriot PAC. Gergen said the PAC will fight to win local races and work to "clean house" within the Republican Party.

The PAC is registered to an address in Las Vegas, where Gergen moved after the election.

___

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Island residents not affected by UK travel corridor suspension

The Manx Government has confirmed the UK's temporary suspension of its travel corridors does not affect travel to the UK from the Isle of Man.

Yesterday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed the tighter border restrictions are aimed at protecting the progress made with the rollout of vaccines.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Howard Quayle says Manx residents should only travel off-island for absolutely essential reasons.

He said: "Procedures relating to returns could change with very short or even no notice."

The new UK restrictions will come into force from Monday at 4am.



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Posted Friday, January 15, 2021 5:01 pm

In a win for the timber industry, critical habitat designated for the threatened northern spotted owl will shrink significantly  by about 3.5 million acres  in the Pacific Northwest.

The decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service comes after Lewis, Skamania and Klickitat counties teamed up with a lumber lobbying group, the American Forest Resource Council, in an attempt to chip away at the designation.

The takeaway is that we got most of what we asked for, Lewis County Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Eric Eisenberg said Thursday.

The decision to exclude 3.5 million acres stands in contrast to what USFWS proposed back in August to remove about 200,000 acres from the 9.5 million acre designation scattered across the West Coast. The shift, which comes after hundreds of public comments, is likely to spark legal challenges from environmental groups, according to news reports.

The new designation is in response to years of litigation by the three counties, as well as several lumber companies, which ended in USFWS agreeing to revise the area.

In December, after a 12-month study, USFWS announced that the species was eligible to be uplisted from threatened to endangered. Since it was first listed under the Endangered Species Act in the 1990s, populations have declined more than 70 percent. USFWS declined to uplist the species, citing higher priority actions, and again sparking lawsuits.

In their decision to reduce protected habitat, USFWS said the new, smaller designation wont lead to the extinction of the northern spotted owl, and that the benefits of excluding the 3.5 million acres outweigh the costs. The agency said that when they revised the area in 2012, no acres were excluded based on economic impact.

However, we have reconsidered those incremental economic impacts in light of our commitment to our Tribal, State, and local government partners and give weight to the needs of the local tax and economic base as well as the custom and culture of the citizens most impacted by a critical habitat designation in addition to updated information that suggests that economic benefits could accrue, the agencys new rule reads.

Those economic impacts, Lewis County officials say, are massive. The countys comments, submitted to USFWS in conjunction with Skamania and Klickitat counties, cite catastrophic economic impacts on the counties.

The comment estimates economic losses between $66 million and $77 million annually, and describes the decline of the counties timber industry since the 1990s.

Lewis County has lost eight mills, and per capita and total personal income since 1990 has lagged behind the state and nation. In 1990, in Skamania County, there were four full-time mills running multiple shifts. The County has since lost all but one mill, the comment reads. With three ensuing critical habitat designations, the Counties tax base and timber employment levels have continued to erode.

The decline of timber revenue in the state has been felt acutely in Lewis County  home of the Onalaska Loggers, Morton Timberwolves and the granddaddy of all logging shows  where communities have historically relied on the industry.

In a November letter to the editor, now-County Commissioner Lindsey Pollock described a weaponized version of science that crushed local economies and put the last nail in the coffin of our timber towns.

In the counties comments, they also argued that much of the forests in the critical habitat designation are too young to be favorable habitat, and that few northern spotted owls have been documented in those areas. On Wednesday, the American Forest Resource Council commended the decision.

The status quo has not only failed the (northern spotted owl), misguided federal policies have devastated rural communities and businesses that depend on the forest, President Travis Joseph said in a press release. This rule rights a wrong imposed on rural communities and businesses, and gives us a chance to restore balance to federal forest management and species conservation in the Pacific Northwest.

USFWS seemed to agree with the organizations argument that releasing more land could allow for more forest management meant to prevent major wildfires, like the ones that ravaged Oregon this summer.

We also agree that good management of the Forest Service lands may provide additional environmental benefits including possibly reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire, the rule reads. For example, we recognize that having more lands in the potential timber harvest base may permit the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service to allow longer cycles between timber harvests.

The USFWS also said that land no longer designated as critical habitat could still aid the recovery of the species, and that the biggest threat currently facing northern spotted owls is the invasive barred owl. To combat the non-native competitor, the agency has extended their Barred Owl Removal Experiment, which started in 2013 and has killed more than 3,000 barred owls, until August.

According to Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney Jonathan Meyer, several regulations are still in place that limit the countys ability to harvest timber.

It doesnt just throw open the gates  you cant just go in and clear cut it and kind of shrug your shoulders, he said. But this was certainly a major impediment, and one that the county felt was not properly applied to the designated land.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 03:35:21|Editor: huaxia

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Aerial photo taken on Sept. 24, 2020 shows containers at Dalian port in northeast China's Liaoning Province. (Xinhua/Yao Jianfeng)

The EU's statistical agency said that imports from China into the EU between January and November 2020 grew by 4.3 percent year-on-year.

BRUSSELS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China continues to consolidate itself as the European Union's (EU) main trading partner and is the only country that has seen an increase in imports into the bloc during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Eurostat figures released on Friday.

The EU's statistical agency said that imports from China into the EU between January and November 2020 grew by 4.3 percent when compared with the same period the preceding year.

The value of imports from China grew to 350 billion euros (423 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eleven months of 2020, up from 335.6 billion euros in 2019.

Other trading partners such as the United States, Britain, Russia, Turkey, Japan, South Korea and India all experienced declined imports of goods into the EU.

A China-Europe freight train carrying medical supplies bound for Madrid of Spain departs from the city of Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, June 5, 2020. (Photo by Lyu Bin/Xinhua)

For the exports, China, Turkey and South Korea experienced growth in exports from the EU. The value of exports to China saw modest growth of 1.1 percent, amounting to 182.7 billion euros.

EU exports to Turkey grew by 2.1 percent and by 3.5 percent to South Korea. All other trading partners showed in the Eurostat graphics registered declines in exports from the EU.

Trade with the United States recorded a significant drop in both imports (186.5 billion euros) and exports (322.3 billion euros), down by 13 percent and 9.3 percent respectively.

The statistics showed a somewhat strong recovery of the trading activities within the EU, as internal trade in the bloc in November 2020 saw an increase of 0.6 percent when compared with November 2019.

However, trade with the rest of the world remained gloomy in November. Imports into the EU stood at 151.3 billion euros, down by 6.2 percent compared with November 2019, and exports from the EU were worth 176.6 billion euros, a year-on-year drop of 1.5 percent. (1 euro = 1.21 U.S. dollars)

An employee works at an assembly workshop of FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co., Ltd. in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, Sept. 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan)
PERINTON, N.Y. - Nearly 100 cats have survived a house fire in a town outside Rochester, New York, according to an animal protection group.

This photo, provided by Lollypop Farm shelter, shows one of the 97 cats rescued from a house fire in Perinton, NY, outside Rochester, NY, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. Many of the cats suffered smoke inhalation, the Humane Society of Greater Rochester said, and it wasn't clear whether all of them would survive. (Paige Engard/Courtesy Lollypop Farm via AP)

PERINTON, N.Y. - Nearly 100 cats have survived a house fire in a town outside Rochester, New York, according to an animal protection group.

The Lollypop Farm shelter had been told as many as 70 cats lived in the Perinton home when it caught fire.

But its workers had rescued 97 cats as of late Thursday, the Democrat and Chronicle reports.

Many of the cats suffered smoke inhalation, the Humane Society of Greater Rochester said, and it wasn't clear whether all of them would survive.

The fire began about 1 a.m. Thursday and was confined to one room, according to the Bushnell's Basin Fire Department.

Two adults were outside when firefighters arrived and declined medical treatment, Bushnells Basin Assistant Fire Chief Mark Alberts said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

What does the consent form that must be signed by Covaxin recipients say?

India

oi-Briti Roy Barman

New Delhi, Jan 16: The consent form that must be signed by Covaxin beneficiaries states that its efficacy is yet to be established. It assures compensation by Bharat Biotech in case of a serious adverse event that is proven to be causally related to the vaccine. It further states that beneficiaries would be provided care in government-designated facilities if they suffer any adverse events.

The form read that only phase 1 and 2 trials have been completed, and that phase 3 is still on.

"In phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials, Covaxin has demonstrated the ability to produce antibodies against COVID-19. However, the clinical efficacy of Covaxin is yet to be established and it is still being studied in phase 3 clinical trial. Hence, it is important to appreciate that receiving the vaccine does not mean that other precautions related to COVID-19 need not be followed."

"In case of any adverse events or serious adverse events, you will be provided medically recognised standard of care in the government designated and authorised centers/hospitals," it adds.

For those receiving Covaxin, their health status will be examined and scrutinised before giving the vaccine and after vaccination they will be monitored for seven days for any adverse events. Similar process will be followed after the second dose which will be given after four weeks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

Authorities have said that both Covishield and Covaxin approved for emergency use by Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) were safe and that there is no need for apprehension.

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Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 15:29 [IST]
OAKLAND, Calif. and TORONTO, Jan. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Harborside Inc. ("Harborside", or the "Company") (CSE: HBOR), (OTCQX: HBORF), a California-focused, vertically-integrated cannabis enterprise, today announced that Greg Sutton, Chief Operating Officer of Harborside, has stepped down from his position effective January 15, 2021.

"On behalf of the whole team, I want to extend my heartfelt appreciation to Greg for his contributions and tireless efforts during his tenure with Harborside. We wish him the best in his future endeavors," said Peter Bilodeau, Interim CEO of Harborside.

For the latest news, activities, and media coverage, please visit the Harborside corporate website at http://www.investharborside.com or connect with us on LinkedIn , Facebook , and Twitter .

About Harborside:

Harborside Inc. is one of the oldest and most respected cannabis retailers in California, operating three of the major dispensaries in the San Francisco Bay Area, a dispensary in the Palm Springs area outfitted with Southern California's only cannabis drive-thru window, a dispensary in Oregon and a cultivation/production facility in Salinas, California. Harborside has played an instrumental role in making cannabis safe and accessible to a broad and diverse community of California consumers. In 2006, Harborside was awarded one of the first six medical cannabis licenses granted in the United States and today holds cannabis licenses for retail, distribution, cultivation, nursery and manufacturing. Harborside is currently a publicly listed company on the CSE trading under the ticker symbol "HBOR". Additional information regarding Harborside is available under Harborside's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

The Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Harborside Inc.
India begins one of the world's largest Covid-19 vaccination programme on Saturday, hoping to end a pandemic that has killed 1,51,918 people in the country and ravaged the economy.

The country's nationwide vaccination drive against the novel coronavirus will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 10:30 am via video conferencing.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday christened the inaugural day of the coronavirus vaccination drive saying the step is "probably the beginning of the end" of Covid-19.

The Covid vaccination drive, covering the entire length and breadth of India, will inoculate 3 crore healthcare and frontline workers with two locally-manufactured shots.

Take a look at India's Covid vaccination drive:

1) Covid vaccines: More than 300,000 healthcare workers will be inoculated on day one of the long-awaited Covid-19 vaccination drive using vaccines developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and the other one by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

2) Session sites: A total of 3,006 session sites or vaccination centres across various districts of all states and Union Territories will be virtually connected during the launch. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site.

3) Beneficiaries: The beneficiaries will not be able to choose between the Oxford vaccine and a Bharat Biotech vaccine, whose efficacy is not known. Both are being produced locally.

4) What PM Modi said: Taking to Twitter, PM Modi wrote: "Tomorrow, January 16, India begins the pan-India rollout of Covid-19 Vaccination drive. The launch will take place at 10:30 AM tomorrow morning." The Prime Minister had said that India would enter a "decisive phase" in the fight against the pandemic with vaccination drive. PM Modi has also said politicians will not be considered frontline workers.

5) Timing: The world's largest Covid-19 vaccination drive will be held daily from 9 am to 5 pm, except on the days earmarked for routine immunisation programmes.

6) Covid vaccination process: Each pre-registered beneficiary will visit the vaccination centres at the designated time and date. At the entrance, the people will confirm their appointment and produce their government identification document for confirmation. After verification, they will be registered at the centre and sent to the vaccination room where they will be administered the Covid-19 vaccine.

7) CoWIN app: The Central Government aims to manage the entire process digitally with its own app, CoWIN, which will link every vaccine dose to its recipient. This online digital platform will assist programme managers across all levels while conducting vaccination sessions.

8) Helpline: A dedicated 24x7 call centre - 1075 - has also been established for addressing the queries related to Covid-19 pandemic, vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN software.

9) 1st vaccine shot: As per reports, Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Medical College Principal Sudhir Bhandari will be the first person in Rajasthan to be given the Covid-19 vaccine jab, while in Madhya Pradesh, a hospital security guard and an attendant will be among the first to get the shot.

10) COVISHIELD vs COVAXIN: The Centre has bought 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVISHIELD vaccine, produced by the Serum Institute, and 5.5 million of Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN. COVISHIELD is 72% effective, as per the Indian DCGI, while Bharat Biotech says COVAXIN's last-stage trial results are expected by March.

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New York prosecutors conducted an hours-long interview of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trumps former personal attorney, about his old employer's finances.

The interview with the 54-year-old, took place on Thursday, sources told Associated Press (AP). It focused in part on Trumps relationship with Deutsche Bank, his biggest and longest standing creditor.

The interview, at least the second of Cohen by the Manhattan district attorneys office, comes amid a long-running grand jury investigation into Trumps business dealings.

New York prosecutors conducted an hours-long interview of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trumps former personal attorney, about his old employer's finances. Cohen is pictured returning to his apartment in New York after being released from prison due to concerns over the spread of coronavirus in prison facilities, on July 24, 2020

Cohen, pictured behind Trump in Ohio in 2016, is being questioned regarding his former employer's business and tax dealings

Cohen, the disgraced Trump fixer, is spending the remainder of his three-year federal prison sentence at his Upper East Side flat due to the coronavirus pandemic

The New York investigation is one of several legal entanglements that are likely to intensify as Trump loses power  and any immunity from prosecution he might have as a sitting president  as he departs the White House.

The Manhattan-based grand jury has been continuing its work despite the coronavirus pandemic, which has curtailed many court operations.

District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has been waging a protracted legal battle to get access to the presidents tax records.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on Trumps request for a stay and a further appeal after he leaves office January 20.

The Republican president also faces a civil investigation, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, into whether Trumps company lied about the value of its assets to get loans or tax benefits. Cohen also is cooperating with that inquiry.

James is probing whether Eric Trump and various corporate entities artificially inflated property values. Trump is pictured with his son Eric at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC in 2016

New York Attorney General Letitia James has opened a civil litigation into whether Trumps company lied about the value of its assets to get loans or tax benefits

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has been conducting a criminal investigation of Trump and the family company, the Trump Organization (file photo from February 2020)

He previously told Congress that Trump often inflated the value of his assets when dealing with lenders or potential business partners, but deflated them when it benefited him for tax purposes.

The White House declined to comment. A message seeking comment was sent to Cohens attorney.

Trump has repeatedly called the investigations by Vance and James, both Democrats, a baseless political 'witch hunt.'

Vance has declined to provide specific details about the investigation, but pointed to news reports of what prosecutors described as 'extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization' in court filings.

Among the reports Vances office referenced in court filings was a 2017 article about Ladder Capital, a commercial mortgage lender that made more than $250 million in loans to the Trump Organization that were secured by Trump properties.

Jack Weisselberg, the son of Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, is a director of Ladder Capital.
A moped rider was killed following a collision with a London ambulance in south west London.

The incident happened near the Chelsea & Westminster hospital shortly before 9pm on Friday.

Police raced to the scene after the incident. The rider, who is believed to be in his 20s, was taken to hospital where he died a short time later.

A moped rider was killed after he collided with an ambulance in south west London last night

The rider was killed only 50 yards from the front entrance to the Chelsea & Westminster hospital on the Fulham road

Police are urging witnesses to come forward. The rider has not yet been identified

Police have not yet notified his next of kin.

Crash scene investigators are examining the scene of the incident at the junction of Fulham Road and Netherton Grove in SW10.

Officers are asking members of the public who may have witnessed the crash or have footage of the incident on their dash cams, CCTV systems or mobile phones to come forward.

Scotland Yard confirmed nobody has been arrested in connection with the incident and enquiries are ongoing.

According to the Metropolitan Police: 'A man believed aged in his 20s, was taken to hospital for treatment  he died at 23:48hrs. Next of kin have yet to be informed. Enquiries into the circumstances continue.

'There have been no arrests. Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or tweet @MetCC and quote CAD6720/15Jan.'
Afghanistan has witnessed a surge in violence despite the ongoing intra-Afghan peace talks to resolve the conflict in the country In the last few months. In an attack by Taliban "infiltrators" Thirteen members of Afghan Local Police lost their lives. The attack took place in Ghorian district of Herat province on Friday night, Security officials in Herat said on Saturday.

Tolo News shared the information on Twitter. The Tweet reads, "At least 13 members of Afghan local police were killed in an attack by Taliban "infiltrators" in Ghorian district, Herat province, on Friday night, Herat police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walidaza." The attack comes hours after the United States announced that it has reduced the number of its troops to 2,500 in Afghanistan as per the US-Taliban agreement signed in Doha last year in February.

Meanwhile, Three policemen killed in explosions on Saturday morning in four provinces in Afghanistan. The attack left many people injured.

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Gujarat: HC imposes Rs 25k fine for seeking Gujarat Governor recall

More than 130 flights delayed at Delhi Airport due to dense fog

Afghanistan: Explosions in 4 provinces, 3 policemen killed

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At the meeting, the city leader expressed his pleasure at good friendly and cooperative relations between Vietnam and the Netherlands, especially since the establishment of the diplomatic ties in 1973 and strategic partnership relations in water management and climate change adaptation in 2010.The Netherlands is currently the major trading partner and the eighth largest foreign investor of Ho Chi Minh City with 153 projects having the total investment capital of nearly US$2 billion.On the base of the desire to strengthen the mutual cooperation in the fields of climate change adaptation and sustainable agricultural development, HCMC has made efforts to materialize the potential cooperation, notably the public-private partnerships (PPP) initiative for the Sustainable Greater Ho Chi Minh City Flood Protection Scheme.As for Mr. Elsbeth Akkerman, she highly appreciated achievements of Ho Chi Minh City in the fields of urban infrastructure and public transport development.Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular are still the top destination for Dutch businesses. The Netherlands is ready to support Ho Chi Minh City in smart city, anti-flooding projects and transfer of advanced construction technology, affirmed the Dutch ambassador.

By Van Do- Translated by Huyen Huong
The cancellation of cervical cancer checks because of Covid pressures is putting womens lives at risk, a senior MP and charities have warned.

Tory MP Caroline Nokes, who chairs the Women and Equalities Select Committee, said that check-up cancellations and womens fears of attending GP clinics during the pandemic could mean up to 600,000 women miss out on getting a smear test.

She warned against womens medical issues being pushed to the back of the proverbial queue.

It comes as Marina Wheeler, Boris Johnsons ex-wife, said women should not put off cervical screening during the pandemic because the consequences of not going can be so great.

Left waiting: Michelle Wright, pictured above with her son Hugo, was told the backlog of appointments caused by the first lockdown meant she would have to wait at least 12 weeks

Ms Wheeler told The Daily Telegraph her own cancer was spotted early thanks to a routine smear test.

During the first national lockdown, smear test services were paused in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as in some practices in England. The Jos Cervical Cancer Trust charity estimated 600,000 fewer tests than normal were carried out last April and May.

Ms Nokes, who raised the subject with the Prime Minister last week, said she was concerned a similar number of tests could be cancelled or missed during this lockdown.

Writing in The Mail on Sunday ahead of Cervical Cancer Prevention Week, Ms Nokes says: Is it because cervical cancer is exclusively a female cancer that it seems to be OK to not carry them out at the moment? I felt real hope that predominantly female cancers were not going to be forgotten during the pandemic. But apparently my optimism was misplaced.

Roz Chadd, a Conservative councillor in Hampshire, was last week told by her local GP surgery that she could not have a smear test. She said she was worried women were being forgotten.

Dr Jodie Moffat, Cancer Research UKs head of early diagnosis, said: Its concerning to hear reports that cervical screening is being cancelled in some parts of the country again. In the first wave, decisions to pause screening in England were made locally in the absence of national guidance.

Councillor Roz Chadd, 36, received a letter last Monday summoning her to her smear test. She called her GP the same day but was told check-ups had been suspended

This time, NHS England should provide clear guidance based on expert advice to ensure there is a consistent approach across the country, instead of certain areas making their own decision.

Women are invited to have smear tests every three years between the ages of 25 and 49, and then every five years until they reach 65.

Jos Cervical Cancer Trust said: While it is not ideal if you cant get a test, and you may be feeling worried, cervical cancer takes many years, not months, to develop and remains rare. Its unlikely that it would develop in the time that your appointment is delayed. If you think youre experiencing symptoms of cervical cancer, whether you are waiting for a test, up to date, or have never been, contact your GP.

A spokesman for the NHS said: The NHS guidance that cervical screening should continue has not changed and this has been communicated to GP practices.

Anxiety of missing out on crucial tests When Michelle Wright received a reminder to get a smear test last autumn, she was told the backlog of appointments caused by the first lockdown meant she would have to wait at least 12 weeks. Ms Wright, who had an operation to remove cancerous cells after they were spotted in a smear test seven years ago, was keen to get a check-up booked in, so she tried again last month. Her Farnborough, Hampshire, surgery texted her to say it was reducing appointments and postponing hers for the time being. It said that because Ms Wright, 34, had been OK since her treatment to remove cancerous cells in 2014, she was not deemed to be high risk. The HR manager said this made her anxious, because she had not had a smear test since her son, Hugo, was born two years ago. Roz Chadd, 36, received a letter last Monday summoning her to her smear test. The Conservative councillor in Hampshire called her GP the same day but was told check-ups had been suspended. Advertisement

Why is it always women stuck at the back of the queue?

By Caroline Nokes for the Mail on Sunday

Earlier last week I received a reminder that my cervical screen was due, and tweeted about it, expecting the usual reaction from those who do not like discussing things below the waist.

The response I actually received was an email from a Hampshire resident about smear tests not being carried out at the moment.

So I was one of the lucky ones. My test is this week  which is also Cervical Cancer Prevention Week.

Others have not been so lucky, however, and it leads me to ask: is it because cervical cancer affects exclusively women that its been deemed acceptable not to carry out the tests at the moment?

Prevention is, as we all know, better than cure, and early detection of abnormal cells is the best way to make sure treatment is prompt and lives are not lost unnecessarily, writes Caroline Nokes (file photo)

Covid-19 and the vaccination programme are the number one priority, of course, and I take my hat off to all those brilliant medical staff and volunteers on the front line of the largest ever peacetime logistics operation. They are doing an incredible job and the number of people who have already been vaccinated is outstanding.

But do womens medical issues have to get pushed to the back of the proverbial queue? Following my colleague Tracey Crouchs brave decision to talk so publicly about her breast cancer diagnosis, and the exhortations to check our bits and bobbins for signs of cancer, I felt real hope that predominantly female cancers were not going to be forgotten during the pandemic. But apparently my optimism was misplaced.

Prevention is, as we all know, better than cure, and early detection of abnormal cells is the best way to make sure treatment is prompt and lives are not lost unnecessarily.

I dont know what at the moment means, or how long it will take for services to be reinstated in all those surgeries that have cancelled them. I dont know for women with currently undetected cervical cancer how long is too long. But I do know that take-up of screening was already too low, and in the pandemic it has dropped still further. So surely those women trying to make appointments should be able to access this vital service?

Last year, the Women and Equalities Select Committee, which I chair, started looking at the gendered economic impact of Covid, the impact on BAME people and the impact on access to services for people with disabilities.

Studies show women have carried the greatest share of home schooling, that there are real concerns about accessibility of childcare, that their careers have suffered (file photo)

The reports we have published so far have been striking, those with protected characteristics have been hard hit by the pandemic in myriad ways.

Studies show women have carried the greatest share of home schooling, that there are real concerns about accessibility of childcare, that their careers have suffered. According to the Trades Union Congress, in this latest lockdown, 70 per cent of working mothers who asked to be furloughed for childcare reasons were refused.

Pregnant Then Screwed found in their survey that of women made redundant, 46 per cent said a lack of childcare played a role.

The 2020 Mumsnet survey was incredibly stark, a near 80 per cent of mothers saying home schooling had fallen largely to them, impacting their ability to work. All of this has been echoed in the evidence the committee received in our inquiry.

We know womens lives have been heavily impacted by Covid, but we must make sure their access to life-saving screening is not, and work to ensure that at the moment is kept to a bare minimum.
Solstice Power Technologies, Inc. (https://solstice.us/), a software and customer management company dedicated to bringing affordable solar power to every household in America, has closed an oversubscribed $3.1 million funding round. The funding was led by Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures with additional investments from American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Schneider Electric Ventures, Next Wave Impact, Active Impact Investments, Powerhouse Ventures, Gratitude Railroad, H/L Ventures, SustainVC, Halcyon Angels, and prominent angel investors. The funding will be used to expand Solstices operations to additional states in 2021 following a year of unprecedented household impact and revenue growth for the company in which it quadrupled its revenue run rate. Initially, Solstice will focus on Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Maine, New Jersey, with more states quickly following.

The clean energy industry is poised to experience exponential growth in 2021 as demand for climate solutions surge from governments, corporations, and civil society. Climate change is a top concern for many Americans and its mitigation requires massive clean energy expansion, yet 77 percent of American households cannot install rooftop solar power due to rented housing, the structure of their rooftop, the upfront cost, or access to financing. Solstice connects households and community organizations to community solarshared solar farms that are installed in a centralized location where local residents can enroll in a portion for free, without any home installations, and enjoy guaranteed savings on their monthly utility bill.

The benefits of renewables have mainly accrued to higher-income homeowners over the last several decades, and there has never been a more urgent time to democratize access to the green economy, said Steph Speirs, Co-Founder and CEO. Solstice has worked for years to put solar within reach of excluded households, and we are excited to partner with our investors to accelerate an equitable transition to clean energy.

We are pleased to renew our support to Solstice in its mission to both facilitate access to renewable electricity for all and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy. The company plays a key role in this ecosystem, as an effective orchestrator between the project developers and local energy consumers, but also with local business or community partners eager to promote clean energy, said Edouard Bulteau, Principal at Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures.

One of the only companies in the solar industry co-founded and led by women of color, Solstice has generated demand for 111MW of clean energy across 25 community renewable projects in multiple states, with the total clean energy capacity from enrolled households, small businesses, and nonprofits representing the environmental equivalent of not burning 31 million pounds of coal. In addition, Solstices software manages the end-to-end customer experience for the life of the 20-year renewable energy project on behalf of developers and financiers, from customer enrollment to billing/crediting to ongoing customer engagement.

Building community trust is the motivating force for Solstices work. As part of its community partnership program, the company shares its revenues with local partners (such as municipalities, schools, employers, and houses of worship) that spread the word to their members about the benefits of green power. Since 2019, Solstice has donated more than $150,000 to these local community groups and individual Ambassadors in order to build clean energy wealth closer to home.

"We were excited to invest in Solstice because of their accomplished and exceptional leadership team. Community solar is a fast-growing category for great reasonsthe cost of solar has plummeted, but rooftop is simply not possible for many people and this allows affordable energy to be delivered to exponentially more people," said Mike Winterfield, Founder and Managing Partner of Active Impact Investments.

In owning the customer experience for community renewable energy projects, Solstice advocates for these projects to include more lower-income populations and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Among the chief barriers for participation in clean energy is the minimum FICO credit score qualification requirement of 680+ imposed by project financiers and/or developers in an effort to mitigate perceived payment default risk. Upon discovering that the traditional FICO standard excluded more than half the country from participating in solar, Solstice partnered with the Department of Energy to create the EnergyScore, an innovative and proprietary qualification standard that is simultaneously more accurate than FICO credit scores in predicting utility bill payments, as well as more inclusive of low-income Americans. The funding proceeds will expand the deployment of the EnergyScore to additional projects across the country, giving clean energy to households that would have otherwise been locked out of the market.

Solstice is a mission-driven company that shares our desire to close equity gaps in America by making solar energy available to every American. Community solar saves consumers money on their current energy bills today while simultaneously building community resilience. Solstice knows how to deliver the power of the sun to underserved communities and we fully embrace that goal moving forward, said John McIntyre, Managing Director of the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact Fund.

Solstice is a shining example of the way we should be doing business in the U.S. said SustainVC Managing Principal and Solstice board member Sky Lance. Founded by women of color, Solstice is not only speeding the adoption of solar in the U.S., but they are pushing to get green energy into the hands of those that need it most.

About Solstice Power Technologies

Solstice is dedicated to bringing affordable solar power to the 77% of Americans who cannot install a rooftop system. Community solar offers a solution, enabling residents to support local clean energy at no upfront cost and save money on their electric bill every year. Solstice offers customer solutions for the community solar industry--enrolling households and local organizations in shared projects, creating financing innovations that expand access to underserved Americans (the EnergyScore), and providing a frictionless subscriber management software platform for projects. To learn more about Solstice and community solar in your area, visit http://www.solstice.us or watch Emerson Collectives recent short film on Solstices work at http://www.bit.ly/solsticefilm.

Media Contact

Grace McMeekin

Solstice Power Technologies

781.850.6569

grace@solstice.us
With the worldwide death toll from the coronavirus pandemic topping 2 million on Friday, a new variant of the virus that has begun spreading in the United States has health experts on edge.

The reason these mutations or series of mutations in particular are our concern is really because of the higher transmissibility as well as the potential to make the existing vaccines less effective, Yahoo News Medical Contributor Dr. Kavita Patel said.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, over 75 cases of this variant, known as B.1.1.7, have been identified in 12 states, including New York, Georgia, Connecticut, Colorado, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin. In California, at least 32 cases have been detected, while 22 cases have so far been identified in Florida.

On Friday the CDC predicted the B.1.1.7 variant could become the dominant strain in the United States by March.

The B.1.1.7 variant, which was first reported in the United Kingdom and is considered roughly 50 percent more transmissible than the original, is not the only new strain of the coronavirus to have emerged in recent weeks. Others have been reported in South Africa and Brazil, raising questions about whether the current vaccines will be effective against all of them.

Patel added that while the new mutation does not appear to be deadlier than the previous strain, its rate of transmission is concerning.

If a hundred people get infected with what we have seen before, and then those same hundred people are infected with the U.K. variant, there will be 50 additional people in that second group that get infected just because that variant is so much more likely to infect other people, Patel explained. When you have that many more people getting infected, some of those people are going to the hospital. Some of those people might die.

For this reason alone, communities where the new, more infectious variant is present may need to consider furthering safety measures, Patel said.

At the moment, most health experts dont think B.1.1.7 is responsible for the postholiday surge in some areas of the country. However, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins told the Washington Post on Wednesday that he wouldnt be surprised if U.S. cases of the B.1.1.7 variant began to grow pretty rapidly, and warned that the U.S. needs to take immediate action to minimize potential damage from this new variant.

One important step to slow the spread of the new variant would be to increase the countrys genomic surveillance capability to be able to track the viruss evolution, and to be able to trace the new, more transmissible variants.

Unlike the U.K. and other countries, the U.S. so far does not have a robust, centralized system for identifying genetic variants of the coronavirus. However, since November, the CDC has taken steps to ramp up its sequence-based strain surveillance efforts.

With the B.1.1.7 variant now circulating, scaling up vaccination has never been more crucial, Patel said. But, since the vaccine rollout has been sluggish so far, we cannot just wait for vaccines. Patel laid out steps the American public should take right now to help control the spread of the new variant. Luckily, they are not any different from what has been recommended for months to prevent infection by the original strain.

Vials of saline for nasal swab samples at a Covid-19 testing site operated by the County of San Diego on the campus of California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) in San Marcos, California, U.S., on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021. San Diego County health officials confirmed Wednesday that the Covid-19 variant found in the U.K. and in Colorado was detected in a patient in San Diego. Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg

Steps to avoid the spread of the new coronavirus variant

Wear an effective mask properly (over your nose and mouth).

Stay home whenever possible.

Socially distance at minimum 6 feet.

Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds (or sing Happy Birthday twice).

Avoid poorly ventilated indoor places.

On masks, Patel noted that its important to consider their effectiveness.

We now know that the quality of a mask matters and how you wear it matters. If youve got a very thin piece of cloth that is just covering your mouth, that is not enough protection. If possible, it would be incredibly important to wear a higher-grade surgical mask or some of the more commercially available KN95s or N95, Patel said.

Bottom line: The better the mask, the better the protection.

Ramping up vaccination

Regarding the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines approved for emergency use in the United States, Patel said they are believed to work effectively against all of the virus mutations because of how the vaccines work.

The recent variants that have been identified, however, are concerning because they have mutations in an important location of the viruss genome  the spike protein, which is the pointy structure that gives the coronavirus its crownlike profile, and the key that allows it to enter human cells.

The vaccines currently available were developed to create antibodies to multiple regions of that spike protein. This is why experts are confident that some of the mutations in the newly identified variants wont affect the efficacy of the vaccines.

[Vaccines] dont just work against one form of that spike protein. They help the body create an immune response to multiple aspects of receptors of those spike proteins, Patel said.

Whats most important now, she said, is actually getting the vaccine administered to people in the United States. As of Thursday, over 29 million doses had been distributed, but only 10.3 million Americans had received the first dose, according to the CDC vaccine tracker  a number that fell far short of the federal governments projection to vaccinate at least 20 million with the first dose by the end of 2020.

This week the Trump administration reversed course and said it will no longer hold back millions of doses to ensure second doses will be available. And on Thursday President-elect Joe Biden unveiled his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to meet his goal of administering 100 million vaccine doses by the end of his first 100 days in office.

Scaling up effective outpatient treatments

Until America ramps up its vaccination numbers, therapeutic treatments should also be bolstered.

We actually do have treatments that have been helpful in both decreasing the mortality and whether people die from this disease, as well as decreasing their length of stay in the hospital, Patel said. Treatment involves administering antibodies from patients who have had COVID-19, as well as man-made ones such as monoclonal antibodies. Both of these therapeutics, if given early, can help neutralize infection, helping prevent more serious outcomes.

There have been concerns that some antibody treatments may not work as well if the virus has mutated, according to former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb. However, so far it is unclear to what extent these new variants evade the antibody treatments we currently have, and further research is necessary to determine that.

Patel said these treatments, which are still expensive, are continuing to be studied extensively. While the outpatient antibody treatments arent perfect, they are an option to offer her patients in a clinic setting, and to help relieve the strain on overwhelmed hospitals.

Finally, Patel recognizes that many Americans are experiencing COVID-19 fatigue, but she says now more than ever the most important thing we can do is to refresh and reinvigorate the basics of virus mitigation efforts.




New Delhi, Jan 16 : Christians in Pakistan continue to face extreme persecution in every area of their lives, an annual report on the global persecution of Christians has revealed. Ranking Pakistan fifth in the list of 50 countries worldwide where Christians are persecuted for their faith, The World Watch List said that the believers who have converted from Islam face the greatest levels of persecution in Pakistan, but "all Christians are considered second-class citizens in this strongly Islamic" country.

The list is compiled by the Christian advocacy group Open Doors USA and is released at the beginning of each year. It uses data from Open Doors field workers and external experts to quantify and analyze persecution worldwide. Countries are ranked by the severity of persecution of Christians, calculated by analyzing the level of violent persecution plus the pressure experienced in five spheres of life.

The 2021 report highlights the plight of minority Christian community in Pakistan "which is given jobs perceived as low, dirty and dishonourable, and can be victims of bonded labour". The report says that there are some Christians among the middle classes, but they are still considered inferior to their Muslim counterparts and often face severe workplace discrimination.

"Pakistan remains one of the hardest places to live as a Christian, and violent persecution against Christians and church buildings continues to be particularly bad," it says.

It adds that Christian girls are at risk of abduction and rape, and are often forced to marry their attackers and coerced into converting to Islam. The World Watch List also once again put Pakistan's notorious blasphemy laws into spotlight by stating in its annual report that these laws are "vehemently defended" by the Islamic extremist groups which attack or kill those believed to have contravened them.

"There has been a clear pattern, girls from religious minority communities are kidnapped and later converted to Islam in areas where said religious minorities comprise a sizable proportion of the population. In Sindh, such cases mostly take place in areas populated by Hindus like Umar Kot, Ghotki and Tharparkar districts. In the Punjab, similar incidents are reported in areas where the Christian community are in sizable numbers," journalist Waqar Gillani wrote in The News International.

As reported by IndiaNarrative.com earlier, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the ugliness of persecution of minorities in Pakistan. Not only have the minority communities been denied relief aid but have also faced massive discrimination during distribution of food in the lockdown period, a fact acknowledged in the report.

The International Christian Concern (ICC), which works to raise public awareness and provide advocacy for persecuted Christians and other religious minorities around the world, has reported several incidents of Christians and Hindus being denied food aid in Pakistan because of their religious identity.

"In some incidents, these individuals were asked to convert to Islam to receive desperately needed assistance to survive the Covid-19 pandemic," the ICC said.

It is thus not very surprising that year after year, Pakistan continues to be redesignated as a "country of particular concern" by the US State Department on the recommendation of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Ironically though, in spite of the United States accusing Imran Khan government of "engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom" Pakistan, just like its iron brother China -- another major human rights violater -- made it to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), last year.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
Queensland premiere Annastacia Palaszczuk took some time out from her busy schedule to attend the Magic Millions Race Day 2021 on the Gold Coast on Saturday.

The 51-year-old looked chic in a navy blue dress in a slinky fabric, which clung to her form.

She kept her face mask on as she walked around the grounds of the Gold Coast Turf Club in Bundall, despite it not being a requirement.

Off the clock: Queensland premiere Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) took some time out from her busy schedule to attend the Magic Millions Race Day 2021 on the Gold Coast on Saturday

The politician's brunette hair was worn sleek and down, in soft waves around her face.

She opted for a soft and natural makeup palette with a peachy eyes-shadow and a muted foundation shade.

She completed her look with a pair of strappy beige heels and a matching clutch bag.

Safe: She kept her face mask on as she walked around the grounds of the Gold Coast Turf Club in Bundall, despite it not being a requirement

Chic: The 51-year-old looked chic in a navy blue dress in a slinky fabric, which clung to her form. Annastacia carried a white straw hat with a blue ribbon in her hand

Annastacia carried a white straw hat with a blue ribbon in her hand as she strolled around the event.

Also attending were power couple and Magic Millions originators, Gerry Harvey and Katie Page.

Katie, 65, beamed as she posed in a white maxi dress with an eye-catching silhouette motif along the hem.

Stars: Also attending were power couple and Magic Millions originators, Gerry Harvey and Katie Page Both pictured

Lovely: Katie, 65, beamed as she posed in a white maxi dress with an eye-catching silhouette motif along the hem

She added a large straw hat and a pair of statement earrings, as well as a trendy abstract necklace.

He blonde hair was worn down but off her face, and she opted for a warm makeup palette.

Australian entrepreneur Gerry, 81, smiled as he posed alongside his wife, while wearing a blue shirt and striped tie with black slacks and dress shoes.
Johnnie Moore: Biden, conservatives have much in common on international religious freedom Moore is optimistic after meeting with Biden team

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President-elect Joe Biden and his upcoming administration have similar priorities with conservative evangelicals on international religious freedom policy, Johnnie Moore, who served as an informal evangelical adviser to the Trump administration, told The Christian Post on Friday.

Moore, an evangelical public relations executive who also serves on the congressionally mandated U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, announced on Twitter that he had met with members of the Biden administrations transmission team and believes that religious freedom can be kept bipartisan.

Although he was unable to share the details of this conversation, which happened virtually, he did express a level of optimism.

Both Democrats and Republicans tend to support the cause of international religious freedom, he said. Often, the sort of language Trump administration leaders and Biden appointees use to talk about international religious freedom in countries like China or Myanmar sounds exactly the same.

If you didnt know who said them, you couldnt guess, said Moore. International religious freedom is an antidote to the complicated time were living in. It can be the antidote to our polarization.

Moore, who also serves as the president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, said that the Trump administration has done excellent work on upholding religious liberty abroad.

The administration created an annual State Department ministerial that twice invited leaders from around the world to discuss religious freedom in Washington, D.C., created a permanent special adviser to the president on religious freedom issues, freed an imprisoned missionary in Turkey and met with people persecuted for their faith around the world.

However, political divisions in the U.S. have grown so intense that the Biden administration may avoid continuing even excellent Trump policies, he fears. Bidens representatives didnt tell Moore if they would continue hosting the ministerial.

My number one concern is that we are in a hyper-politicized moment where the Biden-Harris administration will miss the achievements of the Trump administration," Moore said. "That could happen for various reasons. Im trying to do my part to make sure they build on them."

Although the Biden administration has made calls for unity after winning the election, it has not taken action to work with evangelical or conservative leaders who supported Trump, Moore believes.

To successfully lead a bipartisan effort to promote religious liberty, Biden must join allies outside his own party.

"We havent seen anything, frankly, but talk, he said. I dont know a single conservative evangelical in the country that [Bidens transition team] has substantively engaged with on a single issue.

The Biden administration faces a rapidly changing world. Moore said it feels like eight years of change happened during Trumps four-year presidency. The change comes from both Trump's reshaping of American priorities and from the rise of China as another global power.

The U.S. should take a similar approach to China as it once took with the Soviet Union, the religious freedom activist said.

President Xi Jinpings actions resemble those of late Chinese dictator Chairman Mao Zedong more than they resemble the actions of the nations recent presidents. Todays China combines the power of modern surveillance with communist propaganda. It holds global ambitions to extend its power and authoritarian system using diplomatic influence.

Often, supposedly neutral organizations like the U.N. fall under the influence of dictators and authoritarians in China and elsewhere, he said.

The Chinese have worked to control or influence [international organizations], said Moore. My concern is the U.S. should absolutely take a multilateral approach to these issues but I would hate to see the Biden-Harris administration fall into the arms of the multilateral system.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  In the crazy and confusing world that teeters around him, an eighth grader contemplated the miracle of a bowl of cereal.

He started thinking about how cereal comes to exist, how it requires the farmers to grow the crops that become the grain in the cereal, said Priscilla Del Aguila, his teacher at eCademyK8, Albuquerque Public Schools online magnet school. He started thinking about who is keeping the world going.

Thats quite a lesson.

Del Aguila said she thought it was one that should be expanded upon with all the eighth-grade students in her virtual homeroom.

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She threw out the idea to the 21 students in November, asking them to come up with a way they could collaborate on a project that considered the workers of their world.

What they came up with was writing thank you notes to essential workers who even in these dangerous times of pandemic and pandemonium keep the world going.

They came up with seven categories of workers  medical care, sanitation, mail, fire, farmers, scientists and grocery store employees  and divided up into groups of three, spending a few minutes each school day for two months to connect virtually via Google Meet to discuss their categories and to craft their notes of gratitude.

The results were not only a deeper understanding and appreciation for those who keep the world going but a connection to each other in these days of isolation and anomaly.

Eighth graders dont like to talk about what theyre thinking, and this helped bring them out of themselves, Del Aguila said. Virtual schooling has been difficult for most students, especially in the realm of connecting with each other. This project was very meaningful because students really worked together to create these thank you letters. They put their heart and soul into these and I would love for them to be read by our community.

And so I turn the rest of the column over to them (with some minor editing and condensing).

To the farmers: I hope are doing good with the virus around. Anyways, thank you for picking crops and growing them so that I can have my tomatoes, corn, vegetables and also some potatoes with my beans.  You have a very big meaning to us because you can end humanity because most food comes from you. You pick the cotton for our clothes, you pick the vegetables for my health, you pick the grain for my cereal, you take care of the cows for my burgers, you help everyone. Thank you and I hope you all have a great next year.  Dylan Garret, Josiah McDaniel, Vicente Ordaz

To the grocery workers:  We appreciate how you are going to work every day and risking your lives to help people get food and other essential items. Thank you for also being strong during this difficult time. We realize that many of you have families to worry about and appreciate your sacrifices to help maintain access to food and other essentials we all took for granted before the pandemic. Your dedication has helped our families stay fed and has helped renew our faith in humanity. We know it is hard, but we believe if we all stay strong, vigilant and willing to help each other, we will all get through this.  Sofia Wood, Lillian Wood, Sophia Martinez

To the sanitation workers:  You have done your best to keep everything sanitized and clean and this has affected us because it has helped to give us a sense of safety when going outside to go shopping or traveling. We encourage you to keep working at your jobs because you have allowed us to even leave our houses without worrying about catching coronavirus and just disease in general.  Mason Woods, Orion Hopkins, Anthony Tewahaftwea

To the medical workers: You all truly affect our lives, you keep the world going and youre brave enough to do what others cant. Even before this COVID-19 was a thing, you made sure we were healthy and strong. All of us in this world are hoping you guys are doing safe and we also want you to be strong and be able to be focused, too. Lastly we want to thank you, we appreciate you and all that you have done, stay strong and stay healthy.  Lia, Gisele, Gabriella

To the scientists:  We are so grateful for all that you have done, for making new medicines, fighting climate change and so much more. Without you scientists and the medicines you have made I may have not gotten better from an upper respiratory infection I had. Thank you again for trying your best to help people with medicines and other things, keep working hard, youre very important to everyone even when they dont realize it. Well, you probably dont have that much time so this will be it, but we hope you have a great day and keep working hard.  Aryanna, Angelique, April

To the postal workers: Thank you for delivering mail to everyone during this pandemic. It is hard to believe that you are still doing this while trying to be safe and not get the COVID. It is amazing that you are still working to help people out by delivering their mail. Once again thank you for putting yourself out there to make sure people get their mail. It is something that many people dont realize what an amazing thing you are doing.  Stephen, Dylan, Diego

To the firefighters:  If it were not for you firefighters, trees, houses, cities and maybe hiking trails would still be burning and creating smoke. If you firefighters did not put out the fire, soon we would be breathing in the ashes or burnt wood and a lot of us would have been still dying if it were not for the firefighters.  Even though the fire is hot and theres smoke in the air, you guys put that aside and save the people who are trapped in there. If you guys keep on doing what youre doing, then other people might want to be you guys in the future. Therefore, you have taught all of us lessons with fire, how to put out a campfire, what to build with other than wood all the time, why we have smoke alarms and how to control the fire.  You firefighters are our heroes.  Tyrell, Cameron, Derrick

Let us adults add our thanks for these people who keep our world, however crazy and confusing it is these days, going  and to these students who one day soon will do the same.

UpFront is a front-page news and opinion column. Reach Joline at 730-2793, jkrueger@abqjournal.com, Facebook or @jolinegkg on Twitter.

After witnessing three waves of COVID-19 which has claimed over 10,000 lives so far, began its vaccination drive on Saturday administering the jab to over 4,300 health workers amid cheers and applause, with Chief Minister affirming that the vaccines are safe and urging people not to fall for rumours.

Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that the drive was successfully conducted on the first day.

Thirty-four-year-old Manish Kumar, who is a machine operator at AIIMS, was the first person in the national capital to get the jab in the presence of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.

Against a target of 8,117 health workers, a total of 4,319 were administered vaccines on the first day in 11 districts of Delhi, official figures showed.

According to official data, one "severe" and 52 "minor" cases of AEFI (adverse events following immunisation) were reported among health workers who received the shots.

A total of 32 heathcare workers, including seven women, were vaccinated at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital, while 45 persons got the jab at Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital.

Although there is a target of vaccinating 100 persons at every centre daily, the numbers were low on the first day with officials citing various reasons including that the registration process took longer than expected.

An official, however, added that the process will get smoother and the numbers will go up with each passing day.

"I feel proud and humbled to be a part of this historic moment," said Biji Tomy, a nurse who got the first vaccine shot at government-run LNJP hospital, as the countrywide COVID-19 immunisation drive began on Saturday.

A similar sentiment prevailed on the first day of the exercise among healthcare workers in Delhi who received the shots at 81 sites chosen for the drive.

Vikas Dogra, the head of pulmonology department at Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, who also received the vaccine shot, urged people not to believe in rumours.

"I didn't feel anything after vaccination. Those who are spreading rumour that the vaccine is not safe, I want to say that they are not experts. It is a baseless thing and I want to tell people that they should not believe in rumours," he told PTI.

At the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH), healthcare workers who received the jab were greeted with gift hampers.

According to the Union health ministry, 4,319 persons were vaccinated at 81 centres in the national capital.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the world's largest vaccination drive against the pandemic.

The Delhi health minister said that it is a big day for the whole country as the vaccination started, adding "we think that the corona should end now in the country."



Manish Kumar, who became the first person in Delhi to get the COVID-19 vaccine at AIIMS, said he had himself asked the hospital authorities to be vaccinated first as his colleagues chosen for the exercise were "scared" to get the jab.

Kumar, whose mother Laxmi Rani also works at the hospital, said he was not at all nervous, had a good sleep and was "proud of getting the vaccine".

"I did not know that I am the first person to receive the vaccine. I had a good sleep last night, came here (hospital) in the morning and talked to the other staff who were to get the shot," he said.

"Many of them were scared. So, I went to my seniors and said I should be given the vaccine first. I wanted to prove to my colleagues that there is no need to be scared," Kumar told PTI.

Kejriwal on Saturday urged people not to believe in rumours and listen to experts who say COVID-19 vaccines are safe as he inspected the COVID-19 vaccination campaign at LNJP Hospital and interacted with some health workers who received the shot and lauded their contribution in fighting the pandemic.

"I have interacted with those vaccinated. No one has any problem. All are happy that they will get rid of coronavirus," the chief minister said.

Earlier in the day, Vardhan said that the two vaccines -- the indigenous Covaxin from Bharat Biotech and Covishield from the Oxford/AstraZeneca stable -- were a 'sanjivani', life infusing, in the fight against the pandemic.

"These vaccines are our 'sanjivini' in our fight against the pandemic. We have won the battle against polio and now we have reached the decisive phase of winning the war against COVID. I want to congratulate all frontline workers on this day," he told reporters shortly after the vaccine shots were administered.

The vaccination exercise was conducted at 81 sites across all 11 districts in Delhi. Six central government hospitals -- AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital, Kalawati Saran Children Hospital and two ESI hospitals -- are also part of the drive.

Besides LNJP Hospital, Delhi-government run GTB Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, DDU Hospital, BSA Hospital, Delhi State Cancer Institute, ILBS Hospital are among the vaccination sites.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP leaders and workers celebrated the launch of the vaccination drive by distributing sweets and giving roses to health workers outside vaccination centres in the city.

Delhi BJP president inaugurated the vaccination drive at Shanti Mukund Hospital. Sweets were distributed to the people and health workers on the occasion.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Eleven novels, four non-fiction books and four plays into her career, it stands to reason that Kate Mosse is a trove of writerly wisdom.

Every writer will feel at some point isolated and overlooked and under-appreciated, especially when they see things going better for other people, she says. Its part and parcel of being a writer. A writer needs to concentrate on their own work and not compare themselves to others. That way, madness lies.

Then theres this: The brilliant writer Kit de Waal once told me something great: never dip your pen in other peoples pain.

And this: I say to all writers, the person you are as a reader is not the person you are as a writer. You need to let your writing self find you.

Another tip, for those taking notes, is to separate the joy of the work and what happens to the work. Things like reviews, whether it gets to Number One  these things are out of my control, she says. so I dont let them influence and spoil my joy of the writing.

The British writer, a founder of the Womens Prize for Fiction, is on a roll when she talks about how to write good historical fiction: The thing I tell writers is that, make sure none of the 21st century is there. You cant put 21st-century ideas into the mouths of 16th-century people, or else you break the fourth wall and the novel fails. These characters have to have the attitudes of their time, however uncomfortable they may be.

Readers, naturally, have found contemporary parallels in Mosses latest historical fiction series. The City of Tears, the second book in the Burning Chambers series (the first, eponymously titled instalment was released in 2018), explores the devastating effects of religious wars, as well as the experience of becoming a refugee and leaving ones homeland.

History goes in cycles, Mosse says. One of the most significant stories of the Bible sees Moses leading people to a new land. Stories of displacement are as old as people themselves.

Readers find themselves back in Mosses beloved Languedoc, in the south of France, where Minou Joubert lives happily and quietly with her husband Piet and two children in a green valley set in the foothills of the mighty Pyrenees.

Piet starts to support Calvinist rebels in the Dutch Provinces, making him a target for Vidal, a powerful Catholic cardinal. Vidal had nearly succeeded in killing Minou and taking her inheritance some years ago. The couple attend a royal wedding in Paris after nearly a decade of religious wars, kick-starting a taut and fierce chain of events that will have long-term consequences for the entire family.

As is Mosses trademark, the novel concerns itself primarily with amplifying womens voices throughout history through its fictional characters.

There was a great deal of dishonesty surrounding how women lived in the past, she says. There was this sense that all women were kept at home and did the sewing, and thats not true. It was never true.

It was so important to animate the lives of ordinary women. Historical fiction is often about a tiny, minute part of society, namely the court, which means that so many women in historical fiction are the queens and duchesses and mistresses of great men.

History was so often written by men with a male agenda, so we ordinary women were all too often written out. Fiction can take us to places that history often cant. If a woman loses her child, her heart breaks in a way that ours would now. Were the same as them in the end and thats what I find so fascinating.

Mosse began her writing career as a non-fiction writer. After working in publishing for years  she was an editorial director at Random House  she penned Becoming a Mother at the behest of a literary agent friend after complaining that she could find no such book on the market during her two pregnancies. Part-memoir, part guide, the 1993 title became one of the most respected books of its kind. Two contemporary novels followed before she found her metier in historical fiction with the hugely successful Labyrinth in 2005.

I tiptoed up to being a writer, she reflects. It was only with my fifth book that I realised the sort of writer I was supposed to be.

On her pivot from contemporary fiction to historical fiction, Mosse adds: Im not interested in putting on the page what I can see outside the window. Im interested in imagining what was here before. The films I tend to enjoy arent the modern, gritty ones. They are ones that shine a light on the past as a way of knowing who we are now. Everything about where we are in the present day is dictated by what happened before.

As with many historical fiction writers, the research is among her favourite parts of the process. The background work on this series was three years in the making.

Once you read into the paintings of the time, once you go to churches and read about christenings and deaths, its all there in plain sight, Mosse says.

There are two novels left to write in the Burning Chambers series; one of which will eventually take the reader to South Africa.

In a case of coming full-circle, Mosse has returned to non-fiction for her next book. This year she publishes An Extra Pair of Hands, a timely and deeply personal story of finding herself in middle age, caring for elderly relatives. Exploring the challenges and riches of a multi-generational household, Mosse recounts the experiences of caring for her father, then mother and finally for her 90-year-old mother-in-law.

The book will be part of the Wellcome Collection Life Lines series, and will be published in early June to coincide with National Carers Week in the UK.

Naturally, care work has been thrown into sharp focus by the pandemic, and Mosse examines the current care landscape in the face of slashed budgets and austerity.

I dont necessarily like putting myself on the page  I wouldnt describe myself as a confessional writer, she says. Yet care is the most important issue, in some ways, of contemporary society. Its ignored and overlooked, and there needs to be proper policy and strategy put in place.

Another motivation for the book was to debunk the idea that care work, while certainly challenging, is thankless and unrewarding.

I spend a lot of time with older people and I find the language around older people depressing, Mosse adds. Its all a problem. They are treated as if they matter less. Yet my experience has been of being with these joyous older people who give as much as I could ever repay in care.

Writing and releasing work during the pandemic has been a different experience for Mosse, who usually thrives on the face-to-face interactions from readers. An online publication event will happen on Wednesday, giving her the chance to interact with fans.

I love the out-and-about stuff, she says. You learn about the book even more from the [readers] comments. A novel is only really finished for me when it starts to be read by others, and they bring their own thoughts and fears and contexts to the house.

I do try to engage with people who ask me questions. In a funny sort of way, theyve given up time and money to be with your book. I think the least they deserve is an answer.

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The City of Tears by Kate Mosse is published by Mantle. Details of a live reading event, taking place on January 20, are available on katemosse.co.uk

Ting Ting  sun bear at Oakland Zoo The aim is to use precautions to prevent any potential spread but not inhibit the high standards of care and attention our animals rely on to be happy and healthy

Zoonotic diseases are a threat to human and animal health worldwide, as more than two-thirds of all emerging infectious diseases of humans are zoonotic. A zoonotic disease is a disease that can be transmitted from animals to people or, more specifically, a disease that normally exists in animals but that can infect humans.

To address this crisis, Oakland Zoo and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) are launching a new initiative. Reduce the Risk: A Crisis in Human and Animal Health aims to reduce zoonotic disease threats by combating wildlife trade that poses a risk to human and animal health.

The current COVID-19 crisis was knowable, predictable, and preventable. AZA members are experts in safely and effectively importing, exporting, and transporting animals, and have expertise in preventative veterinary care, including quarantine, and measures to enhance resiliency to animal disease and pathogens, said Dan Ashe, President, and CEO of AZA. This expertise can provide critical input into national and global policy conversations around wildlife trade and inform the public that zoos and aquariums are safe places to visit.

Reduce the Risk builds upon existing AZA initiatives, connects these efforts across the community, and provides AZA members and partners with a comprehensive framework through which they can take collective action.

The initiative was developed with input from wildlife trade and animal health experts from inside and outside of the AZA community and will utilize four strategic pillars:



Strengthen national policy on wildlife trade.

Advocate for stronger wildlife trade policies at the global level.

Increase AZA programs and efforts that support the Reduce the Risk initiative goal.

Educate and mobilize the public to help us reduce the risk of zoonotic diseases.

As we continue to navigate the devastating human loss and economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and as we chart a course toward recovery, we must acknowledge the origin of our current and tragic circumstance: the spillover and transmission of a zoonotic disease, quite possibly in a live animal market in Wuhan, China. But even more important than acknowledging this, we must act now to avert another similar event. Unless we learn these lessons and take steps to reduce related risks, the same will be true of the next pandemic and the next said Dan Ashe, President, and CEO of AZA.

With approximately 50% of Oakland Zoos animal residents being rescues, many of those rescues were also victims of (illegal) wildlife trade from overseas. Animals confiscated by officials at SFO and the Port of Oakland have been brought to Oakland Zoo over the years where they have been treated by veterinary hospital staff, quarantined, and then monitored for health by animal care and veterinary hospital staff.

Oakland Zoo has been vigilant in avoiding an increase of zoonotic disease transmission since the beginning of quarantine in March of 2020, by continuing strict practices that include:



Any staff exhibiting clinical signs of COVID-19 are not allowed on Zoo premises.

Daily health assessments and temperature checks conducted by supervisors.

Masks are worn by all staff.

Continuous hand washing throughout shifts.

Social distancing with all personnel (staff and volunteers) in shared areas - break rooms, office spaces, etc.

Limited volunteers and vendors/guests also complete a COVID survey before entering the Zoo.

"The aim is to use precautions to prevent any potential spread but not inhibit the high standards of care and attention our animals rely on to be happy and healthy," says Darren Minier, Assistant Director of Animal Care, Conservation and Research at Oakland Zoo.

Launching in Spring 2021, Oakland Zoo is opening a new 400 square foot exhibit, focused on addressing and demonstrating the effects and devastation of the (illegal) wildlife trade industry - responsible for decimating many animal species and also many zoonotic diseases.

Our new exhibit about the wildlife trade industry is one of the most important messages we can pass on to our visitors. Combating the wildlife trade globally helps protect animal species populations and protects people from zoonotic diseases. As a wildlife conservation organization, this is at the heart of our mission, said Dr. Joel Parrott, President, and CEO of Oakland Zoo.

Additional information on Reduce the Risk can be found on the AZA website at: http://www.aza.org/reduce-the-risk .

ABOUT OAKLAND ZOO AND THE CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA:

Oakland Zoo, home to more than 850 native and exotic animals, is managed by the Conservation Society of California (CSC); a non-profit organization leading an informed and inspired community to take action for wildlife locally and globally. With over 25 conservation partners and projects worldwide, the CSC is committed to conservation-based education and saving species and their habitats in the wild. Oakland Zoo is dedicated to the humane treatment of animals and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the national organization that sets the highest standards for animal welfare for zoos and aquariums.

ABOUT ASSOCIATION OF ZOOS AND AQUARIUMS (AZA):

Founded in 1924, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, animal welfare, education, science, and recreation. AZA is the accrediting body for the top zoos and aquariums in the United States and 12 other countries. Look for the AZA accreditation logo whenever you visit a zoo or aquarium as your assurance that you are supporting a facility dedicated to providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for you, and a better future for all living things. The AZA is a leader in saving species and your link to helping animals all over the world. To learn more, visit http://www.aza.org.

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New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday (January 16, 2021) has suspended its inspector and stenographer involved in the case of alleged bribery and has also written to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to take action against the two deputy superintendents of police involved.

This comes two days after CBI booked these four personnel for allegedly receiving a bribe to compromise on the investigation against companies accused of bank fraud.

The following are being probed: RK Rishi DSP, CBI Academy Ghaziabad, Sameer Kumar Singh, Stenographer, BS&FC Delhi, HQ, New Delhi, Kapil Dhankad Inspector BS&FC Delhi, HQ, Delhi, RK Sangwan DSP, SCII, HQ, New Delhi.

Allegations are that officials, under the scanner, took bribe inside CBI HQ and were on the payroll of companies who are being probed by CBI for bank fraud.

On Thursday, raids were carried out at 14 locations including Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon, Meerut, and Kanpur at the premises of the accused. Searches were also conducted inside the CBI HQ.
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As TFTP reported last year, it was reported that the top climate change scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration received $4 million in funding from Congress along with permission to study two highly controversial geoengineering methods in an attempt to cool the Earth. According to Science Magazine, David Fahey, director of the Chemical Sciences Division of NOAAs Earth System Research Laboratory, told his staff last week that the federal government is ready to examine the science behind geoengineeringor what he dubbed a Plan B for climate change.

This plan is in congruence with the plan backed by billionaire Bill Gates in which plans have been made to spray dust into the atmosphere to dim the sun that would potentially reflect sunlight out of Earths atmosphere, triggering a global cooling effect.

The Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx), launched by Harvard University scientists, aims to examine this solution by spraying non-toxic calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) dust into the atmosphere  a sun-reflecting aerosol that may offset the effects of global warming.

What could possibly go wrong?

Before we go any further, it is important to point out to new readers that we are not a satire site. We are not a conspiracy theory site. The information you are about to read is factually accurate and 100% real despite the ostensible skeptics who claim otherwise.

After years of planning, SCoPEx is about to go live.

According to a report out of Forbes Magazine this week, SCoPEx will take a small step in its early research this June near the town of Kiruna, Sweden, where the Swedish Space Corporation has agreed to help launch a balloon carrying scientific equipment 12 miles (20 km) high. The launch will not release any stratospheric aerosols. Rather, it will serve as a test to maneuver the balloon and examine communications and operational systems. If successful, this could be a step towards a second experimental stage that would release a small amount of CaCO 3 dust into the atmosphere.

As TFT has reported, Harvard announced in July of 2019 that it has created an external advisory panel to examine the potential ethical, environmental and geopolitical impacts of this geoengineering project, which has been developed by the universitys researchers.

The experiment will spray calcium carbonate particles high above the earth to mimic the effects of volcanic ash blocking out the sun to produce a cooling effect. This appears to be the same as NOAAs Plan B.

Naturally, there are many critics of geoengineering.

The idea of geoengineering the planet has become so controversial that the government will soon be referring to it by a different name in a likely attempt to distract. Fahey recommended changing the nomenclature from geoengineering to climate intervention, which he described as a more neutral word.

This is exactly like renaming the U.S. Department of War to the Department of Defense.

As not to be too controversial, however, Fahey emphasized that this is not an approval to begin geoengineering. Rather, it is a move by the US to prepare for the possibility that it may do this one day.

Geoengineering is this tangled ball of issues and science is only one of them, he said.

One of the things Im interested in doing is lets separate the science out, he added. The idea is to give policymakers a clear view of how a hurry-up bid to save the planet would work.

This type of talk is concerning to many people, including environmental groups, who say such efforts are a dangerous distraction from addressing the only permanent solution to climate change: reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

Scientist cite several volcanic eruptions in the past which led to global cooling, but that had devastating effects on other parts of the world.

David Keith, a professor of applied physics and public policy at Harvard University, recognizes the very many real concerns of geoengineering, according to Forbes. To offset these risks he has proposed the creation of a risk pool to collect funds for the risks associated with playing mother nature  up to and including cooling an area so much that inhabitants are unable to grow food.

As Forbes reports:

Again, these temperature decreases bring with them serious risks. Freezing temperatures in 1815 led to failed crops in near-famine conditions. British scientists have cited stratospheric aerosols from volcanic eruptions in Alaska and Mexico as the potential cause of drought in Africas Sahel region. Major disruption of the global climate could bring unintended consequences, negatively impacting highly populated regions and engineering another refugee crisis. David Keith has proposed the creation of a risk pool to compensate smaller nations for collateral damage caused by such tests, but such a payout might be little comfort to those displaced by unlivable conditions.

Indeed. No amount of money would compensate for a family losing all of their land to freezing temperatures and being forced to relocate to another country. But these are some of the risks involved in weather modification.

The idea of injecting particles into the atmosphere to cool the earth also seems outright futile considering what scientists are trying to mimicvolcanic eruptions. If we look at the second largest eruption of the 20th century, Mount Pinatubo, which erupted in the Philippines in 1991, it injected 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide aerosols into the stratosphere. Scientists from the USGS estimated that this 20 million tons only lowered the temperature of the planet by about 1F (0.5C) and this only lasted a year because the particles eventually fell to back to Earth.

While this talk of geoengineering may sound like something out of a dystopian science fiction movie, the reality is that it has long been on the table of governments and think tanks from around the world. In fact, in November 2018, a study published in Environmental Research Letters, talked about doing the exact same thinggeoengineering and planes spraying particulates into the atmosphere to curb global warming.

Whats more, that study echoed the sentiments of then-CIA director John Brennan when he addressed the Council on Foreign Relations in 2016, detailing a similar process of spraying chemical particulates in the atmosphere to cool the planet.

At the meeting, Brennan addressed instability and transnational threats to global security at a meeting with the Council on Foreign Relations. During his long-winded talk of threats to US interests and how the largely CIA-created ISIL threat is impacting the world, Brennan brought up the topic of geoengineering.

Another example is the array of technologiesoften referred to collectively as geoengineeringthat potentially could help reverse the warming effects of global climate change. One that has gained my personal attention is stratospheric aerosol injection, or SAI, a method of seeding the stratosphere with particles that can help reflect the suns heat, in much the same way that volcanic eruptions do.

Brennan went on to echo the calls from some scientists who have called for aerial spraying.

An SAI program could limit global temperature increases, reducing some risks associated with higher temperatures and providing the world economy additional time to transition from fossil fuels. The process is also relatively inexpensivethe National Research Council estimates that a fully deployed SAI program would cost about $10 billion yearly.

Again, this is not some conspiracy theory. Watch him say all of this in the video below starting at the 12:05 marker.

The extent to which Brennan talked about stratospheric aerosol injection shows that he and the CIA have likely been considering this for some time.

Although we are hearing more and more talk about geoengineering, it has been around for a very long time and not just in the realm of conspiracy theories. In fact, scientists have already suggested that it could be going on right now, unintentionally.

Researchers with NOAA previously suggested that contrails from airplanes may be inadvertently geoengineering the skies.

Chuck Long is a researcher with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory at the University of Colorado in Boulder. At the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in 2015, Long and his team released their paper, Evidence of Clear-Sky Daylight Whitening: Are we already conducting geoengineering? The analysis found that vapor from airplanes may be altering the climate through accidental geoengineering.

To be clear, no one here is claiming to be an expert on climate change or the effects of geoengineering. But one thing is clear and its the fact that there is still much to be debated and learned before humans deliberately begin altering Earths climate. Aside from doing nothing to curb carbon emissions, if we are so quick t
ORLANDO, Florida  A waitress concerned that a young boy might be being abused secretly flashed notes at him in order to see if he needed help, reports say.

When Flaviane Carvalho flashed a note that said Do you need help at the boy, he nodded yes. Thats when Carvalho, a manager and server at Mrs. Potato Restaurant, called the Orlando Police Department, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Now police are crediting Carvalho with saving the boy from abusive parents, according to USA Today.

Abuse, I say lightly, Detective Erin Lawler said Thursday, according to the Sentinel. It was torture.

The boys 34-year-old stepfather, Timothy Wilson II, was arrested on charges of child abuse and neglect on the night the waitress called police, according to an arrest affidavit. The childs 31-year-old mother, Kristen Swann, 31, who was also at the restaurant, was arrested a week later on a child neglect charge.

Police say the incident occurred at the restaurant on Jan. 1, clickorlando.com reports. The boy was at the restaurant with his stepfather, mother and younger sister.

Carvalho said she noticed the boy had scratches and bruises, and that he was the only one who did not receive an order for food.

When I looked to the boy, I saw a big scratch between his eyebrows, Carvalho said in a video released by OPD. I started observing them and I could (see) that he was super quiet and sad. She says she first flashed a sign at him that asked if he was OK, then another asking if he needed help.

SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING: We talked with an Orlando Restaurant Manager who saw a family withholding food from a boy at a table. She noticed bruises on his body and created a sign to secretly ask the child if he needed help. When he signaled "Yes" she called us. pic.twitter.com/U8m9MG1KUN  Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) January 14, 2021

The Sentinel reports the boy was examined at a hospital and had bruises on his eyelids, earlobes and arms. He also was 20 pounds underweight.

Police tell the Sentinel the boy said his parents withheld food as punishment and also would make him exercise excessively. The boy said he had been hung upside down from a door while tied by his ankles and neck, and that he had been beaten by objects and fists. He also reportedly was handcuffed to a moving dolly.

That child was destined to be killed, police Chief Orlando Rolon tells the Sentinel. Thats how severe the injuries were. Thats how horrific the recollection of the abuse the child shared with us was.

Specialty chemicals company Lanxess is expanding its position as one of the world's leading manufacturers of biocides and antimicrobials by acquiring French company Intace SAS.

A Paris-based biocide company, Intace is a manufacturer of specialty fungicides for the packaging industry.

In 2020, Intace had generated sales in the mid-single-digit million euro range. Its products are used in particular in paper, paperboard, soap packaging, labels and bank notes.

"We are actively participating in the market consolidation of the consumer protection sector. With the acquisition of Intace, we are strengthening our biocide technology platform for packaging and labels in the consumer goods industry," said Nicolas Gallacier, the head of Marketing Industrial Preservation & Coatings at Lanxess Material Protection Products business unit.

The Lanxess Material Protection Products business unit employs around 660 employees and has production sites in Krefeld-Uerdingen and Dormagen (Germany), Sudbury (Great Britain), Pittsburgh and Memphis (USA), Jarinu (Brazil), Jhagadia (India), Changzhou (China) and Singapore.

Oliver Kretschik, VP Biocides business line at Lanxess' Material Protection Products business unit said: "We expect to integrate the new product portfolio within a short period of time. Intace's strong customer network can soon benefit from Lanxess global footprint and regulatory expertise."

Products from this business unit are used in a huge variety of applications worldwide.

With its broad range of active antimicrobial ingredients and preservatives, the business unit provides customer-specific solutions for various branches of industry such as the paints and coatings, disinfection and wood protection industries as well as the building sector and beverage industry.

Material Protection Products also provides a comprehensive technical service and regulatory support as well as project-specific research and development.

Lanxess expects the transaction to be completed in the first quarter of 2021.-TradeArabia News Service
FLINT, MI -- Santino Guerra, the youngest person ever elected to the Flint City Council, says he has tested positive for COVID-19.

Guerra, who was 19 when he was elected to the council from the 3rd Ward in 2017, announced in a brief news release on Friday, Jan. 15, he had contracted coronavirus.

I have tested positive for COVID-19, Guerra said in a written statement. Im experiencing moderate symptoms and will be quarantining until I fully recover. In the interim, constituents and others may contact the City Council office at 810-766-7418 for assistance. I ask residents to continue to take the virus seriously and stay safe.

Guerra, who works for the Genesee County Sheriffs Office, studied criminal justice and sociology at the University of Michigan-Flint. He defeated incumbent Kerry Nelson to win his seat on the council in 2017 and survived a recall attempt later that same year.

In October, he was targeted a second time for recall, but the Genesee County Election Commission rejected petition language filed against him, saying it was unclear and potentially confusing for voters.

As a councilman, he worked closely with Kettering University students on an electric scooter ride-share start up that launched in the city in 2019.

In January 2020, Guerra ran for state representative in a special election to finish the term of Sheldon Neeley, who left the state Legislature after he was elected mayor of Flint.

In that race for 34th District representative, Guerrra finished third in a field 10 Democrats.

Read more:

Youngest-ever Flint city councilman honored at Michigan House

Flint councilman Santino Guerra eyeing state rep seat in 2020

Kettering students show off new scooter ride-share company in Flint
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Four members of a suspected Albanian crime gang have been charged with money laundering and drug dealing offences following raids across London and Essex.

Officers from the National Crime Agency along with teams from the Metropolitan Police and Essex Police targeted a number of properties on Wednesday morning.

The search teams recovered 340,000 in cash and suspected cocaine worth an estimated 400,000.

Officers from the National Crime Agency and the Metropolitan and Essex Police forces raided three addresses in London and Essex where they recovered drugs, cash and cutting agent

Four men have been arrested and charged in connection with the haul following Wednesday's raids. The four men, who are all from Albania, were remanded in custody to appear at Isleworth Crown Court next month

Some four kilograms of cocaine were recovered by search teams. Matt McMillan of the NCA said: ''These were large cash seizures, with the ability to cause serious disruption to serious and organised crime'

According to the NCA, Rrustem Dauti, 30, and Fisnik Kurtucai, 32, were arrested on suspicion of money laundering.

Florian Mehsi, 22, was arrested on suspicion of drugs and immigration offences.

A fourth man, Azem Gashi, 26, was also arrested on suspicion of drugs offences.

Officers raided addresses in London and Essex where they recovered significant amounts of evidence.

In one house, officers recovered a bag with approximately 100,000 in cash inside.

This raid led officers to target an address in Essex where they recovered a further 140,000 in cash and a chemical agent used in the cutting of cocaine.

Officers then raided a third address house where they recovered four kilos of cocaine and a further 100,000 in cash.

All four men were taken to Acton Police station where they were charged and later appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court, where they were remanded in custody to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on February 12.

OCP Operations Manager Matt McMillan said: 'The NCA and Met continue to work in partnership to detect and apprehend individuals suspected of profiting from drug trafficking.

'These were large cash seizures, with the ability to cause serious disruption to serious and organised crime.'
Weather Alert

...FROST ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 8 AM EDT FRIDAY... * WHAT...Temperatures in the lower to mid 30s will result in frost formation. * WHERE...All of northern New York, and much of central and northern Vermont away from Lake Champlain. * WHEN...From 1 AM to 8 AM EDT Friday. * IMPACTS...Frost could kill sensitive outdoor vegetation if left uncovered. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. &&
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Digital Editor
A new agreement on the Information technology (IT) sector that seeks to increase cooperation in 5G, Artificial intelligence (AI), and submarine cable network was on Saturday signed between Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Japan's Minister for Internal Affairs Takeda Ryota.

The Japanese Minister during the signing of the agreement said, I am convinced of the critical importance for Japan and India to deepen cooperation in various fields as both countries share values and a larger diplomatic vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. I am therefore extremely pleased to have been able to sign this comprehensive MOC with Minister Prasad in the field of ICT and digital."

The current agreement is seen as signifying the increased level of trust between the two countries even as the IT sector has become a vital part of the daily lives of people around the world.

On 5G, the Japanese minister said, "Japan is willing to share our experience and expertise and work together towards the successful introduction of 5G in India.

Japan already has experience in AI and optic fibre cables in India. Japanese company NEC had laid the submarine optical fibre cables between Chennai and Andaman and Nicobar which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August 2020. In terms of AI, a Japanese company Olympus has been working with the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology in Hyderabad to introduce AI-assisted diagnosis of colonoscopy.

Under the COVID pandemic, it is increasingly recognized that the digital transformation is becoming even more important. In order to accelerate the digital transformation across the society, we would like to further engage in cooperative projects in the ICT with India", Takeda said, highlighting the connection between IT and impact on the economy. The development comes in the run-up to India and Japan celebrating 70 years of establishment of relationship in 2022.
John Sullivan, the suspected agent provocateur filmed allegedly instigating protesters to commit crimes and committing crimes himself while inside the Capitol Building, was arrested on Thursday and hit with a federal charge.



If Sullivan is an FBI informant or an agent provocateur as many suspect that is very likely to come out in court.



From Liberal Utah activist charged with joining Capitol riot:

A liberal activist from Utah was arrested on Thursday on federal charges that he took part in the riot at the Capitol last week.



John Sullivan, 26, founder of a protest group called Insurgence USA, was charged in a criminal complaint with one felony count of interfering with law enforcement in connection with a civil disorder, as well as misdemeanor charges of unlawful entry and disorderly conduct.



[...] FBI Special Agent Matthew Foulger said in an affidavit supporting the criminal complaint that a series of statements Sullivan made on video encouraged the lawbreaking.



Foulger said that as the crowd rushed the Capitol building, Sullivan declared: We accomplished this shit. We did this together. Fuck yeah! We are all a part of this history, and Lets burn this shit down.



[...] The felony charge against Sullivan suggests prosecutors view his case as more serious than most of the scores of other cases filed against alleged rioters. Most who simply surged in with the crowd are charged solely with the two misdemeanors. The civil disorder charge, brought under the 1968 Anti-Riot Act, carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison.

Here's video of Sullivan's antics (see the full thread):





I studied video shot by Sullivan (Jayden X) in the Capitol and compiled some moments of him zealously celebrating the invasion & instigating the mob all the way up to Ashli Babbit's shooting. Watch with audio on.



No committed BLM activist would say or do this  and he isn't one pic.twitter.com/uE5VmUf6mU  Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) January 14, 2021



Here he is provocateuring at a BLM rally last year:





BLM inc. threatening to rip the president out of the White House



They say they wont wait until the next election.



Theyre openly calling for a revolution.



This is domestic terrorism on full display, out in the open. They dont even try to hide it. pic.twitter.com/OyhNSzBEwu  Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 29, 2020



John Sullivan's father is a retired Air Force General and his brother is a MAGA activist who encouraged people to attend the Capitol protest to "eradicate" the Antifa/BLM movement.





This is retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Sullivan, the adoptive father of John and James Sullivan.



James has taken on his father's conservatism while John has apparently delved into "burn it all down" nihilism, sabotaging the cause of BLM at every turn. pic.twitter.com/Qs4yHVP96w  Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) January 14, 2021



Many are now wondering if Jade Sacker, another ostensibly leftist journo who was seen congratulating Sullivan after entering the Capitol and working with Sullivan in the past, is going to be arrested.





Seated w/Sullivan on CNN is Jade Sacker, a photojournalist who followed him into the Capitol to film his exploits as part of a documentary project. Here she's heard congratulating him - "We did it!" - and he says, "Is this not gonna be the best film you've ever made in yr life?" pic.twitter.com/KWLVfgKPA7  Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) January 14, 2021



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Thousands of people flooded into London's Chinatown today after a 'vaccine bus' promised Covid-19 jabs with no appointment, NHS number or ID needed. Adults crowded onto a pavement outside a barbershop next to the small van, after an advert was posted on the Chinese Information and Advice Centre charity's website and said 'undocumented migrants' were welcome. The advert said: 'A vaccine bus is available in London Chinatown to offer free vaccine jab to the Community without appointment. Date: 27 May 2021 (Thursday) Time: 12 - 5pm. You DO NOT need to have: NHS number, any proof of address, personal identification. Undocumented migrants also welcomed. Stay safe! Get vaccinated!' Vaccine buses have popped up around the UK with volunteer groups enlisted to help run them in areas where take-up has been low such as Luton and Bolton, but the demand in Chinatown is the highest seen so far. Covid-19 jabs can only be booked via the NHS website or at a GP surgery, and it is not clear if the vaccine being offered was one of the three approved ones. Those who are not eligible have been told to wait to be contacted. Currently, people in England can an only get their jab if they are aged 30 or over, will turn 30 before July 1, are classed as clinically vulnerable, have a learning disability, or are a frontline health or social care worker. You can also have one if you get a carer's allowance, get support following a council assessment or your GP record shows you are a carer. Patients have been warned not to take up offers of the jab from non-official providers. But the bus is an official service, run by Westminster Council in partnership with NHS England and goes to different locations within the area.

The City Council last fall voted to spend $1.9 million to purchase a commercial building at 651 Prairie Pointe Drive as a possible new site for City Hall. It is a three-level building of some 40,000 square feet with an unattached garage on approximately four acres. The city closed on the building in mid-December.

Are you a meatpacking worker? Contact the World Socialist Web Site for information on organizing a rank-and-file safety committee at your workplace.

Since the beginning of the pandemic in March, more than 50,000 workers in the US meatpacking industry have tested positive for COVID-19 and over 250 workers have died. Though the entire industry has been a hotbed for COVID-19 infections, the situation at Tyson Foods plant in Waterloo, Iowa has been especially alarming, with more than 1031 of the 2800 workers at the plant testing positive for COVID-19, while 6 have died.

Workers in a hog slaughter and processing plant [Credit: Wikimedia Commons]

The plant became infamous throughout the country after a lawsuit revealed that management had placed bets on how many workers would become infected while publicly denying the existence of any cases in the facility. While the lawsuit specifically named Board chair John H Tyson and then-CEO Noel White as defendants, a whitewash internal investigation commissioned by Tyson, and carried by former Attorney General Eric Holder, found only seven local plant officials responsible.

One worker who spoke to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, described the conditions in the plant: Its unsafe every day. Its a scary moment coming here, he said. But I got bills to pay, so its likeyou have a choice, but its either be without a job or get sick.

The worker, who is 45 years old, said that conditions at the plant were similar, if not worse to that of being in the prison: I came straight from the prison system to here. Coming from the prison system, dealing with COVID inside of prison, to coming out here to a plant that has a high percentage of COVIDits scary because I got children, and Im like taking my chances. I got to pay bills.

The worker was told by Tyson management to not be afraid of the virus and to not get tested. The worker interviewed by the Courier said he knew three co-workers who got sick and never returned to work.

From the beginning, Tyson has received critical assistance from the United Food and Commercial Workers union in maintaining production in spite of mass infections and deaths. UFCW Local 431 even collaborated with management last spring to implement a $500 perfect attendance bonus, as hundreds of workers were becoming infected.

This mirrors the role of the trade unions in every industry, including the United Auto Workers, the American Federation of Teachers and others, which have worked hand-in-glove with management to suppress workers opposition and enforce a policy of herd immunity, allowing countless numbers of workers to contract the virus.

A mood of rebellion against the pro-corporate trade unions across the country, demonstrated above all by the creation of rank-and-file safety committees by workers at auto plants, Amazon warehouses and schools. These committees, completely independent from the unions, are fighting to build a nationwide movement to shut down nonessential production, with workers' wages fully guaranteed, in order to contain the pandemic.

In Waterloo, the indifference of the union to the plight of workers in the plant is so unconcealed that it was even acknowledged by the local press. The Journal interviewed several workers in an article published January 2 denouncing Local 431.

I feel like [paying dues is] a waste of money, said one worker interviewed by the newspaper. Im not expecting them to go fight for me if I did something wrong  but the things that they should do, its like they dont want to do.

The Journals reporters attempted to contact the local dozens of times without success before the article ran. However, the UFCW later published a letter through an attorney disputing the papers article. The letter, which was not initially made public until an open records request by the Journal, was sent to local public officials.

In a series of highly unusual public remarks, County Sheriff Tony Thompson, who had pleaded unsuccessfully with Tyson for weeks to close the plant last spring, accused the union of the colluding with Tyson, calling one union bureaucrat overly complimentary of the company during a tour of the plant last April. Another union official was very comfortable with Tyson supervisors and far less representative of the workers who were getting sick, Thompson said.

Thompson denounced the UFCW's letter as an attempt to shield itself from liability. They're using the same playbook that corporate Tyson is using, which I thought was kind of weird.

Thompson said, The first thought I had was, Shame on Tyson corporate. But that was very closely followed by, Doesn't Tyson have a union that should be protecting these people? And if they don't, why don't they? And if they do, where the hell are they? Thompson said.

My role [as chair of the local Emergency Management Commission] was to try to determine why we werent able to get that plant shut down, why we werent getting more assistance from the people that I felt like ought to be providing us that assistancepart of which should be the union if they truly gave a s-- about their membershipand we weren't getting any of that, Thompson concluded.

The World Socialist Web Site spoke to one worker at Tyson Foods Chick-N-Quick plant in Rogers, Arkansas about the conditions in his facility.

The worker, who requested to remain anonymous due to fear of retribution, said, It's terrible right now. Right now, people are afraid and feel very unsafe. There is no protection and there are many workers who have become infected. There are some areas in the plant where the distance between workers is only a foot.

Each worker has their station, and there are plastic barriers separating those workers from each other, but it only separates the upper portion of the person, so if someone sneezes it doesnt directly hit the person next to them. The problem is when we eat lunch. When we go to lunch we pass through the halls and it is very narrow. People are packed in like sardines. So I don't understand why there are these separators on the line, but absolutely nothing in the cafeteria or the bathrooms. The worker told the WSWS that over 200 of his coworkers had tested positive. Tyson is also increasing the line speed each day, making work more strenuous and more difficult to maintain social distancing practices.

In response to the widespread outbreak, last month management began testing a small number of workers at the plant, trying to assess the overall spread of the virus through a small sample group of 20 workers a week. The worker told the WSWS in one week 17 out of the 20 tests were positive. This extremely high positivity rate means that the real number of infections each week is far higher.

The worker said that he was only notified of this by his coworkers, as management has worked to keep the information private, Management doesnt tell us anything. I only found this out from coworkers, because we know each other and management is not reporting anything to the health department. They are trying to just do it at the plant and control the situation.

In response to the lack of safety measures and the rapid spread of the virus, workers at the plant are becoming increasingly angry, though they are afraid to speak out in fear of losing their jobs: Look, workers are afraid though they want to do something. They want to file a complaint or go on strike, but people are very afraid because the company is intimidating and threatening us with disciplinary action, which means firing us.

As the COVID-19 pandemic spirals out of control in workplaces across the globe, it is imperative that workers in the meatpacking industry across Iowa, the United States and the world organize rank and file committees, independent of the unions, to join in a common struggle against the capitalist sacrificing of human lives for private profit.
Former employees of the Orleans Parish District Attorneys Office rolled plastic carts filled with their possessions out of headquarters Friday after new District Attorney Jason Williams told them they were out of a job.

Williams sent packing at least 10 employees who worked under former District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, and in an interview he said there will be more personnel moves in the days to come.

The office has roughly 200 staffers, and more than 200 people have applied to work under Williams, according to his chief administrative officer, Tyronne Walker.

While the office hasnt released a full list of departures, junior and senior staffers alike were among those told to leave Friday, including high-profile employees like Cannizzaro's chief assistant, Bobby Freeman Jr., and the chief of trials, David Pipes.

Walker argued the employees werent fired, only told that they werent being hired by the new administration. Freeman took issue with that characterization of his ouster.

He can play with the verbal acrobatics all he likes, said Freeman, who served briefly as interim district attorney in 2008. It was clearly a termination.

Williams' office shake-up follows a playbook used by newly elected progressive prosecutors in other U.S. cities aimed at quickly shifting traditional take-no-prisoners approaches to criminal justice.

In 2017, for instance, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner dismissed 31 staffers during his first week in office, casting those firings as a needed step to implement his progressive vision.

In New Orleans, the parting of ways was months in the making. Throughout the campaign, Williams vowed to make employees reapply for their jobs to ensure they agreed with new policies like diverting more cases, keeping juveniles out of adult court and ending use of Louisianas habitual offender statute to increase sentences.

Interviews began last week. Since then, prosecutors and other staffers have been left to wonder whether they will be allowed to stick around.

Williams said he leaned heavily on the interviews in deciding whether to keep employees from the Cannizzaro era on payroll. Hes been highly critical of hard-nosed tactics practiced under the former district attorney, like sending fake subpoenas to crime victims and witnesses.

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There were a lot of people who were following very strict policies and things they were told by their supervisors, Williams said. But there's always instances in which a person does have some autonomy, or had some autonomy, and I wanted to know what they did in those decisions, and I wanted to know what they thought about some of the things they were told to do.

Williams said he focused on section chiefs and attorneys first, but there will be more interviews of non-lawyers on staff soon.

+10 New Orleans DA Jason Williams names top deputies; fate of office's current staff still unclear Newly installed Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams announced two key hires at a news conference Thursday, his first major moves t

We need to make sure everybody is committed to the work that we're trying to do, and that's not just the job of lawyers, that's the job of everyone, he said.

Office spokesman Ken Daley was among those out of a job. At least four staffers left for other work before Friday, in addition to a number of employees who resigned or retired during the transition, Walker said. Jason Napoli, a member of the major offense trials unit who prosecuted Cardell Hayes in the killing of Saints star Will Smith, started a new job handling felony cases in Plaquemines Parish this week.

After receiving word of their fate Friday morning, some employees gathered to commiserate at Dmac's Bar & Grill on Norman C. Francis Parkway.

Freeman said he got the news in a meeting with Walker and First Assistant District Attorney Bob White.

It was unexpected, I will say, Freeman said. Ive been at the office for 24 years, under five administrations.

In 2008, Freeman was interim district attorney for a brief period between Keva Landrums resignation to take office as a judge and Cannizzaros swearing-in. He lamented Fridays loss of institutional knowledge and said he felt sadness for his colleagues and the community at large. He hopes to continue work as a prosecutor elsewhere.

I felt like I did my job, and I had done my job with an eye toward justice, he said. Its a calling. You have to really feel this. Because its kind of thankless.

Its not unusual for employees to come and go with new district attorneys, but such shake-ups can come with a risk of lawsuits.

When Eddie Jordan took office as Orleans Parish district attorney in 2003, he fired dozens of White staffers. Forty-four of them filed a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination, which dogged Jordan throughout his tenure and ultimately led to a $3.7 million judgment against the office. The lawsuit was one of several reasons that Jordan resigned in 2007.

After Krasner sent staffers packing in Philadelphia, several former employees sued him alleging age discrimination.
Before Carlisle firms up a plan to tackle racial equity in the Cumberland County borough, some community members Saturday cautioned officials not to move too quickly.

You have to address the wound before you can dress the wound, said LaRock Hudson, borough resident for 20 years.

We cant talk about right now and how can we move forward until we talk about the scars.

LaRock was among more than 100 people in attendance at a virtual town hall held in coordination with Carlisle Borough officials and the Carlisle Martin Luther King Commemoration Committee. The event was facilitated by Brandon Flood, secretary of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons.

The town hall was intended to be the first of several and a follow-up to council members pledge last year to examine their role in racial oppression and how Council can help borough government and the community make strides toward racial reconciliation and improvement of conditions for those who live and / or work in the Borough of Carlisle.

Flood said race relations have been a long standing issue in Carlisle and solutions, at least in the eyes of the general public, have seemed few and far between. As the country transitions to a new leadership under President-elect Joe Biden, he stressed the borough needs to respond sooner rather than later.

These are things as local residents and local government that we can tackle and address while we wait for that relief from the state and federal side Flood said.

Among the issues touched upon during the more than 2 1/2-hour meeting were affordable housing, the criminal justice system and schools, as well as the possibility of creating a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

This is a first step. This is just opening the door to the conversation and it needs to be more than conversation and we need to actually do something, said Deb Fulham-Winston, council member.

We need to understand it and we need to give people the time and the space to be able to bring their concerns to light, she said.

Questions were brought up about the racial makeup of elementary schools in the borough. Council member Brenda Landis said housing is critically tied to education, something council can control through zoning.

The makeup of schools is based on where people are living and where they can afford to live, so zoning could be changed in some areas to allow for more density, she said, acknowledging its a tough topic to talk about because youre talking about peoples neighborhoods.

It allows folks of different backgrounds and different means to authentically live together, and I think that starts to break down some of those concerns, she added.

Others suggested teaching students about racial issues and history through book clubs, mentoring programs, churches and events in the community.

However, some like Tawanda Hunter Stallworth of Middletown, who has been integral in the restoration of Lincoln Cemetery in Carlisle, stressed its important not to confuse multiculturalism with racial equity. While Stallworth said its great to share those cultural aspects and traditions, Carlisle has a real problem with race.

If youre looking at issues such as poverty statistics and median income, those are the issues that are at the heart of the problem, Stallworth said.

If we learn about how to make falafels and learn about different recipes, thats not going to fix the fact that our children are being incarcerated and being arrested far more easier and far more quickly than our white children, she said.

Stallworth suggested Carlisle needs to think about the things that can be done systemically which can most help the community.

But much like Hudson, Sonya Browne, shelter supervisor for Domestic Violence Services of Cumberland & Perry Counties, recommended council not move too quickly.

She stressed people in the community are hurting due to racial inequities and personal prejudices and biases, and before anything can be fixed stories need to be heard.

You need to do more than listen. You need to believe. You need to believe that what they are saying is the truth and not saying No, not in Carlisle, not in our beloved Carlisle. Because there are stories and there are situations and there are hurts, she said.

You need to know whats going on in your community and how people are feeling in your community before you make the right stand, Browne said.

frewper BHPian

Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Pune Posts: 147 Thanked: 362 Times

Re: Planning a road-trip, but my car needs quite a few repairs Quote: 2000rpm Originally Posted by Repair the car and you can retain it for 6 months more for the ROI on repairs.



If the Seltos is not already booked, I would retain it for more than a year and wait for the facelift which I expect soon on the Seltos!

I would absolutely 100% agree to this. You can fix this car now and keep it a little longer. The amount you spend on the car and buying the car a year later, you will save money on the insurance component alone.



Moreover if you are not really interested in the facelift model once it comes out (may happen) you still will have an option to buy the outgoing model, and will get additional discount on it as well.



No matter which option you choose there is no way you will loose any money if you fix the car now and buy the seltos later.

Also fixing up the car will also help in selling the car sooner, than selling a car with problems and people low balling.



You should in no way take the road trip with the problems that is currently present on the car. All are directly related to the safety of your trip. I would absolutely 100% agree to this. You can fix this car now and keep it a little longer. The amount you spend on the car and buying the car a year later, you will save money on the insurance component alone.Moreover if you are not really interested in the facelift model once it comes out (may happen) you still will have an option to buy the outgoing model, and will get additional discount on it as well.No matter which option you choose there is no way you will loose any money if you fix the car now and buy the seltos later.Also fixing up the car will also help in selling the car sooner, than selling a car with problems and people low balling.You should in no way take the road trip with the problems that is currently present on the car. All are directly related to the safety of your trip. Last edited by frewper : 16th January 2021 at 16:03 .
Spain's health minister said on Saturday that his government will attempt to avoid a full-scale lockdown as it stands by its pledge to vaccinate a large part of its population by the summer despite the delay in the distribution of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Health Minister Salvador Illa said that stricter measures such as the lockdowns imposed in the UK or The Netherlands are not being considered, despite Spain reporting 40,197 new cases on Friday, its highest daily figure since the start of the pandemic.

Illa also said that even though Spain will only receive 56% of the expected doses next week from Pfizer, Spain's vaccination program is on course to immunize 70% of the population by the summer.

U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced on Friday it will temporarily reduce deliveries of its COVID-19 vaccine to European countries while it upgrades production capacity.

Illa said the following week the allotment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine should return to 100% of the expected amount.

Spain has administered over 600,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

It is also rolling out the Moderna vaccine, with less than 500 doses administered so far.

(IMAGE CREDITS:AP)

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Editors Note: This is the 12th in a series of stories about local nonprofits and how they have dealt with the challenges of the pandemic and their plans for 2021.

GLEN CARBON  Online cookie sales may be the most high-profile move that the Girl Scouts have made because of COVID-19, but its only one of many things the organization has done to not only survive but thrive during the pandemic.

Not just the cookie program, but our program as a whole has been affected in many ways by COVID-19, Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois CEO Loretta Graham said. It looked like everything fun or meaningful was going to be canceled, like field trips and things these girls could be doing, and that was a little disappointing.

The world is upside down, but our girls depend on their troop leaders to be the person they can trust to make things better for them. A lot of things were uncertain, and the coronavirus came, but it didnt stop the Girl Scouts. We just had to do things a little differently.

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois, located at 4 Ginger Creek Parkway in Glen Carbon, serves about 9,000 girls and engages 3,500 adult volunteers in 40 counties in southern Illinois.

I couldnt do this without our wonderful, strong, determined and passionate volunteers, Graham said. The girls have so much planned. Were going to keep moving forward and were ready for 2021, and its getting off to a really good start.

Thanks to the combined efforts of the volunteers and the girls themselves, the Girl Scouts have managed to stay as busy as ever since the first coronavirus restrictions were implemented in mid-March of 2020.

We encouraged our girls to not be disappointed and to get out and help others, Graham said. The girls started having troop meetings by way of Zoom and we used social media. One troop even had a Zoom meeting with the famous (diversity educator) Jane Elliott.

Normally we send cookies (to military personnel) overseas, but this year we also sent them to first responders and healthcare workers and law enforcement, all essential workers who were working day in and day out to help people with coronavirus.

Forming new partnerships with other service organizations has helped the Girl Scouts to expand their reach during the pandemic.

We found that in many areas where there is no (in-person) school, the main reason these kids went to school is they could get a good meal, and now thats taken away from them, Graham said. We also received a grant and started a partnership with PCs for People to provide families computers for as little as $20.

We are working to get these events to all 40 counties. There is going to be a big event in Fairview Heights on Jan. 26. Many families in this community and the surrounding area can benefit from this event! Girl Scouts will also be following up to provide free digital literacy courses to enhance their benefits from receiving a computer.

Then there is the Girl Scout cookie program, which is the largest girl-led entrepreneur program in the world.

Girl Scout cookies can now be ordered online and shipped right to your home through Digital Cookie, the organizations safe online sales program. They will also accept donations to U.S. military members through a partnership between Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois and local nonprofit H.E.R.O.E.S. Care.

Girl Scout Cookie Season officially started on Jan. 9 and runs through March 16.

Because the girls cant go out and sell cookies one-on-one, they are using the internet to sell cookies, Graham said. I talked to a lady last night and she said that in 24 hours, they sold 100 boxes of cookies.

With our cookie program, those girls are still setting their goals and making good decisions. They are not taking no for an answer and they are pushing ahead and seeing the bigger picture and how this could be to our advantage. Theyre managing money and building relationships while learning business ethics and business management as well.

Girl Scout of Southern Illinois is working with various service organizations to see if they can use their parking lots to set up drive-through cookie booths set up in all of the counties that it serves.

I just had a big meeting with Girl Scout leaders, and Im amazed about some of the unique things that they are doing, Graham said. We are still continuing to build girls of courage, confidence and character and they are certainly making our world a better place.

As with other nonprofits throughout the nation, the Girl Scouts have had to change their fundraising methods during the pandemic.

Fundraising has been challenging, but like we tell our girls not to stop, so thats not going to stop us either, Graham said. We normally have a big gala at one of the local hotels and we couldnt do it this time, so we had a virtual gala and it turned out to be pretty good.

We didnt raise as much money as we would if we had a regular gala, but it didnt stop us. We continue to have relationships by Zoom and talk to foundations and businesses to help Girl Scouts.

Graham realizes that many fundraising efforts are currently focused on helping people deal with the economic impact of the pandemic, but it also enables the organization to help some of its own members.

We are not living in a preventive world right now  we are living in a crisis intervention world and just about all the funding is going to go into crisis intervention, Graham said. Girl Scouts is a preventive organization, but we have gotten some funding as a result of the current situation.

Were finding girls that dont have computers and they dont have the money to get computers, and they are missing out. They cant apply for jobs because they dont have computers, but we find that once we give the girls computers, they are teaching family members how to use them.

For more information about Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois, call 800-345-6858, go to www.gsofsi.org or visit the Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois Facebook page. For more information on how to receive one of the computers mentioned above, visit https://pcsrefurbished.com/event/registration.
Few TV personalities have had the decades-spanning media impact as broadcast journalist and author Barbara Walters.

From the 1960s onward, the Emmy Award-winning Walters was a mainstay on the evening news, and even branched out into producing her own shows (including creating, producing and starring on hit daytime talk show The View, which continues to be a ratings hit).

But the woman behind the headlines soon became a headline herself when NBC and ABC competed to sign her, with the latter offering her a world record-breaking contract if Walters worked exclusively with them.

The financial value of the contract created a media frenzy, but making more money wasnt the only perk that influenced Walters decision to move to ABC.

Media tycoon Barbara Walters does not come from a media family

RELATED: From 20/20 to The View: What is Barbara Walters Net Worth?

Many well-known cable talking heads and primetime reporters come from well-established media families (and often a lot of wealth). Prominent examples include Anderson Cooper, Chris Wallace and Tucker Carlson.

Cooper hails from the famously rich Vanderbilt family (and his dad was a journalist, author and screenwriter). Wallaces father was a 60 Minutes reporter. And Carlsons dad was the Corporation for Public Broadcastings president.

Not so with Walters. Walters was born on September 25, 1929, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Dena Seletsky Walters and nightclub impresario Lou Walters, reports Biography.com.

After graduating from college, Walters worked as a secretary. She got her start in the news industry when she became an assistant at WRCA-TV, a local affiliate of NBC.

During her time at the local station, she practiced writing for TV. This helped Walters to slowly climb the corporate ladder. After a few other media gigs, including some time at CBS writing for the Morning Show, Walters got her first job at NBC as a writer for the Today show. Soon, she was a co-host for Today. And thats when her career really took off.

She was poached away from NBC by rival ABC

RELATED: How Did Barbara Walters Lose Her Power at The View?

Walters remained on the show for 11 years, during which time she honed her trademark probing-yet-casual interviewing technique, explains Biography.com. Then, the opportunity came knocking. NBCs rival network ABC wanted Walters. Soon, NBC and ABC were in competing negotiations with the journalist, and Walters final decision made headlines.

Barbara Walters yesterday accepted an offer of $1 million a year over the next five years to become a major personality of ABC News and the coanchor, with Harry Reasoner, of The Evening News, announced an April 23, 1976 edition of the New York Times. She will thus become the worlds highest-paid newscaster and the first woman ever to present the evening news over a major television network.

Barbara Walters decision wasnt just about the money

Barbara Walters | John Lamparski/Getty Images

RELATED: Barbara Walters on the Most Fascinating Interview of Her Career  and the Biggest Regret of Her Life

Walters choice in 1976 to move to ABC set off a media frenzy about her record-breaking new salary, but a closer look at her contract reveals it wasnt just about the money.

The New York Times points out that her contract with ABC also guaranteed that she would be able to host four 60-minute-long primetime programs on ABC, produced by her own company but paid for by the network.

Her new agreement also included her appearances on different political shows to interview politicians, as well as being involved in ABC documentaries. [T]he NBC offer did not include a job as coanchor of the networks major news program, notes the publication.

That was a premonition to Walters future as a groundbreaking interviewer. She soon became renowned for her in-depth interviews with the worlds most noteworthy individuals. For instance, she has interviewed prominent leaders and icons like Hugo Chavez, Katharine Hepburn, Vladimir Putin and Monica Lewinsky, plus numerous U.S. presidents.

Her self-made achievements have won her dozens of Emmy nominations, an induction into the Television Hall of Fame, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Emmys.
Vaccinations for the COVID-19 virus continues in phases set by the state, and vaccines based on age alone are not yet available in Wasco, Sherman and Gilliam counties, all served by the North Central Public Health District (NCPHD), according to a press release from Shellie Campbell, interim director.

Oregon scrambles COVID-19 vaccine priority list again Oregon is once against scrambling its priority list for COVID-19 vaccinations, with some seniors priority pushed from this weekend to March.

In Salem, Maj. Gen. Mike Stencel, Adjunct General or Oregon said in a press conference Friday, Jan. 15, that the National Guard had, in an agreement with the Oregon Health Authority and the Governor, offered Wasco County the Fort Dalles Readiness Center in The Dalles as a vaccination distribution center and a vaccine clinic.

NCPHD has already held its first mass vaccine event by invitation only at the Fort Dalles Readiness center, the District reported Friday, Jan. 15.Vaccine events are currently planned twice weekly at the Readiness Center and will be limited to Phase 1a groups, which includes medical and dental providers, law enforcement and others, the District reported. They anticipate each event will vaccinate about 50 people, with a stand-by list in case of no-shows.

Those receiving the vaccine are contacted by the District and scheduled in advance. The events are by invitation only.

The Health district continues developing list of eligible recipients in Phase 1a. The first event, which was intentionally smaller since it served as a trial run, vaccinated 21 people, the District reported.

Not all Phase 1a individuals eligible for the vaccine have yet been vaccinated due to limited vaccine supplies. The District plans to add educators to the list of persons eligible to receive vaccine starting Jan. 25.

Vaccinations of Phase 1a groups are complete in Sherman County and will be finished late next week in Gilliam County.

Jessica Donnell, who works at The Dalles Dental Care, said she got the vaccine to keep myself and my patients safe.

Michelle Greenup, of The Dalles Dental Care, said she got vaccinated Just to keep people protected around me. I have a lot of older family members I dont want to get sick. After getting her vaccine, Greenup said, It wasnt bad at all. It was delightful for a shot.

Molly Dodd Martinson, who works at Columbia River Dental in The Dalles, said, Im a dental hygienist so its been kind of concerning even though weve worn full protection. And Im 50 and I have a medically compromised son.

Kristen Slatt, vaccine coordinator for NCPHD, said the health district continues to identify the many organizations that fit within the four groups in Phase 1a. Broadly, the groups include all health care personnel, emergency responders, and staff and residents of assisted living facilities and other group homes and treatment facilities.

Progress details

Within the NCPHD district, vaccination of the Phase 1a group is almost finished. This group includes hospitals (given vaccines directly by state), urgent care clinics, skilled nursing and memory care facility workers and residents (given vaccines by pharmacies under a federal program) and emergency medical service providers and other first responders including law enforcement, fire and ambulance crews

Vaccination of Phase 1a groups 2-4 had begun as of Tuesday, Jan. 12. These include:

 Group 1a 2 includes staff and residents in assisted living facilities and other residential facilities and group living/treatment (such as residential substance abuse and psychiatric treatment programs), residents and staff in adult foster homes, age-eligible residents plus all staff in group homes for children or adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, hospice programs, behavioral health mobile crisis care, those in secure transport and individuals working in correctional settings.

 Group 1a 3 includes home health care workers, parents and caregivers of medically fragile children or adults living at home, children who meet age requirement (18 for Moderna vaccine used by NCPHD) or adults who live at home and have a medical condition or disability and non-emergency medical transport staff.

Group 1a 4 includes all other outpatient care staff not in previous groups, including ambulatory surgery outpatient infusion centers, out-patient physical, oral/dental health, addiction, mental health, veterinary care, laboratory, pharmacy, phlebotomy services, chiropractic, naturopathic, massage and acupuncture providers, school nurses,Healthcare staff who provide direct COVID services including testing, blood donation staff, direct service providers to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and other high-risk populations and death care workers.

There are many hundreds of people eligible in phase According to Health Officer Mimi McDonell, NCPHD has been receiving 100 doses of vaccine a week for the past several weeks.

The Sherman County Medical Clinic received its own supply of the vaccine and was able to proceed through Phase 1a more quickly.

The NCPHD is nearing completion of a comprehensive list of all the entities in its three-county service area that fall within the four groups of Phase 1a, and is offering vaccine clinics to eligible individuals within the four groups of Phase 1, NCPHD reported.
VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) -- People are continuing to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Vigo county health officials said right now...They can't take anyone new. The Vigo County health department said so far vaccinations have gone well. They told News 10 roughly 60 people a day receive their first dose of the Moderna vaccine.

The health department isn't scheduling anyone new to receive the vaccine right now at any site in the county.

They want to make sure they have enough vaccinations.

So right now, the health department is only scheduling appointments through February.

Health officials said they will start scheduling more people when they receive more vaccinations from the state.

They said, "So, they're only adding appointments and sites based on what we will have. This is why we're not scheduling out as far as what people want."

Health officials told News 10 the best thing you can do is to keep checking the state website. You'll be able to check for additional vaccination sites and possible appointments.

Health officials are also warning us about what we need to continue to do to stop the spread of COVID-19. There's a new strain of the virus in Indiana, and health officials want you to stay diligent.

Health officials told News 10 this new strain is more contagious than the original. They said they don't know yet if it's more severe or not because Covid affects everyone differently.

They also told News 10 the vaccine will fight against this new strain.

However, health officials want you to know you can't rely solely on the vaccine to help stop the spread.

Roni Elder with the Vigo County Health Department said, "Once you complete the two doses then you're okay to maybe feel a little more comfortable around people but when you're out in public you should still wear your mask."

Elder said we need to be diligent in making sure we're following all health protocols.

Only that will help stop the spread of COVID-19, and the new strain.

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) -- As the Philippine Navy eyes foreign shipbuilders to acquire additional multi-mission vessels, including warships and submarines, as part of its long-term modernization program, a local company wants to get a share of the country's defense spending on maritime assets. But it admits the ambitious plan could not be carried out without challenges.

Propmech Corporation, a Manila-based boatbuilder and engine repair company said it is "absolutely 100%" sure it wants to work with the government to develop larger naval assets that could be deployed to the country's territorial waters for long-haul patrol and security.

"The Navy, the government, is an important partner of ours, an important client," Propmech Director Glenn Tong told defense reporters during a virtual conference on Friday. "We are definitely interested and we look forward to, if given the opportunity in the future."

Since its establishment in 1991, the company has sold P7-B worth of maritime vessels to the government, including landing craft utility ships for the Navy, high speed tactical watercraft boats for the Philippine National Police, and aluminum rescue boats for the Philippine Coast Guard.

Propmech's projects include the 12 units of the Navy's multi-purpose attack craft or MPACs, which have now evolved into four variations and were built from 2007 to 2019.

The MPACs play a key role in some of the Navy's internal security and coastal defense operations.

The most notable was in early November last year, when Air Force and Naval operatives intercepted and clashed with the notorious Abu Sayyaf Group in the Sulu Sea, killing all 7 bandits onboard a speedboat. While the Air Force provided aerial support, the Navy used one of its MPAC units to pursue the gunmen at high sea.

Propmech cited the MPAC's "effective ballistic armor" that protected the soldiers while coming under heavy fire from the armed group.

The government, in recent years, has acquired big-ticket items for the Navy abroad, including its first-ever missile-capable frigates from South Korea and two warships from Indonesia. Defense and Navy officials have also expressed interest on patrol vessels from Israel and Australia, as part of the country's continuing efforts to strengthen its naval fleet.

Tong said while Propmech is keen on collaborating with the Navy to design and build bigger ships for territorial defense, he admits local shipbuilders will need more than just the capacity to build and maintain the vessels, but also acquire expertise on "additional electronics, navigation, and certain special capabilities" that their clients will require.

"I think, in terms of the ability to build vessels, the Philippines can actually do a lot. We have some large-sized shipyards. We have some medium-sized shipyards. A lot of the assets can potentially be built here. What we lack is probably the experience, the proven track record," Tong explained.

"It's one thing to be able to physically build the ship, another to have the experience to make a warship," he added.

On the upside, tapping local shipyards to build the Navy's warships can be good for the economy, particularly the labor sector.

Propmech alone currently has about 600 employees.

"One of our advantages (if Navy ships are built locally) is that we can do the maintenance without having to fly engineers from abroad. And we can keep the equipment in good running condition for a long time," Tong said.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana had previously said instead of outsourcing projects abroad, he favors Philippine-based shipbuilding companies to generate more jobs for Filipinos, both for the development and maintenance of Navy vessels.
On Thursday, Airbnb (ABNB) announced it will not be taking new bookings and will be canceling existing ones in the Washington, D.C. area during the week of the presidential inauguration. HotelTonight, which Airbnb acquired in 2019, will also cancel all reservations.

Airbnb stands alone in this decision to implement a hardline mandate ahead of the inauguration on Jan. 20. Expedia-owned VRBO (EXPE) and all major hotel chains are keeping their doors open as the nation reels from last weeks pro-Trump insurrection and the devastating coronavirus pandemic.

There are approximately 5,000 Airbnb properties in the DC area, with hosts making an average daily rate of about $145, though the occupancy rate was about 55% this time last year, according to AirDNA, which scrapes and analyzes data on Airbnb and VRBO.

The home rental platform will be reimbursing hosts for the payouts and the company is exempting those who previously booked long-term stays and honoring requests for medical/hardship examples (which will be reviewed and confirmed by Airbnb).

This decision to block reservations fits into its Capitol Safety Plan it announced earlier this week, which also included banning individuals identified as involved in criminal activity during the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 and enforcing stricter ID verification checks.

Washington DC, Grand Hyatt, hotel entrance. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

As weve learned through media or law enforcement sources the names of individuals confirmed to have been responsible for the violent criminal activity at the United States Capitol on January 6, weve investigated whether the named individuals have an account on Airbnb, the company said in a statement.

This move comes as D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser asks the public not to attend the inauguration. Airbnbs work continues to be informed by inputs from our local host community as well as Washington, D.C. officials, Metro Police and Members of Congress throughout this week, the company said.

VRBO did not announce any restrictions and its D.C. listings remain active and available. Marriott (MAR), IntercontinentalHotelGroup (IHG), Hilton (HLT), and Hyatt (H) plan to remain open even as the demands for them to shut down get louder. Local boutique hotels like Capitol Hill Hotel and The Avery Georgetown are still taking new reservations. Marriott and its subsidiaries alone, including Courtyard by Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Residence Inn and Renaissance Hotels, have 198 properties in the D.C. area.

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D.C.s hotel workers union, United HERE Local 25, represents 7,200 hospitality workers in the metro D.C. area. In a statement this week, the group called for all hotels except those hosting security personnel to shut down. Around 20,000 National Guard troops will be in D.C. starting this weekend to protect the nations capital as President-Elect Joe Biden gets sworn in.

Guard Members were seen checking into the Hyatt Place Washington D.C./National Mall on Thursday, according to CBS affiliate WUSA9. Other activist groups including Black Lives Matter D.C. and ShutDown DC have also demanded hotels close up shop and prevent visitors from coming to the capital.

Melody Hahm is Yahoo Finances West Coast correspondent, covering entrepreneurship, technology and culture. Follow her on Twitter @melodyhahm.

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The whole world is on display on the outer walls of Philadelphias City Hall.

The ornate Beaux-Arts building, one of the largest municipal buildings in the country, is covered in 250 sculptures crafted by Alexander Milne Calder. They depict famous mythological figures, as well as animals and people symbolic of different parts of the globe. Its northern pavilion harkens back to Europe, while its eastern gives nods to Asia. Africa is paid homage to in the southern pavilion, while America is the subject of the western one.

But the decorative arts arent just on view in the exterior. The interior is filled with gorgeous tile work and glamorous chandeliers. Even the door handles have adornment.

Its no surprise that it took 30 years to build this temple to governance, which was completed in 1901. Its nearly 700 rooms are stretched out along more than 14.5 acres of floor space. It still operates as a municipal building too, and is filled with offices, meeting rooms and court halls.

Take a closer look at the beauty of Philadelphias City Hall in the gallery at the top of this article.

Want to see City Hall for yourself? Tours are temporarily canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but when they reopen there are two tour options. The city Hall Tower Tour takes you inside the 548-high tower where youll find a breathtaking view of the city skyline, Benjamin Franklin Parkway and more. Theres also the City Hall Interior Tour which runs on weekdays and includes a look at many of the buildings most glamorous spots. You can learn more about both tour options at phlvisitorcenter.com/CityHall.

A former priest who sexually abused three boys as young as 10 on church youth club trips in the 1970s and 80s has been jailed for five years.

Stephen Hardwicke, 63, tricked boys aged between 10 and 15 to perform sex acts by using a card game, Harrow Crown Court heard.

The abuse took place when Hardwicke was a leader and helped at the Way In church youth group, which was connected to Stanmore Baptist Church in Harrow, London.

A court heard how some of the abuse happened on overnight trips to Wales or Hertfordshire.

The abuse happened before Hardwicke became a priest at St Laurence Cowley Church in Uxbridge - he was suspended once a police investigation was opened.

Stephen Hardwicke, a former priest in Uxbridge, was jailed for five years on Friday, having been previously convicted of five counts of historic indecent assault against boys as young as 10 in the 1970s and 1980s

Last November Hardwicke was found guilty on five counts of historic indecent assault, following a nine day trial.

In one incident a victim was made to take part in sexual activity as part of a card game, prosecutors said.

Hardwicke carried out the abuse by taking 'special interest' in his victims and made them feel as if they had nowhere else to turn, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Police said Hardwicke took advantage of his young victims' vulnerability by sexually abusing them on numerous occasions.

The initial allegation of abuse was reported to police in October 2015 and further investigations led officers to find another victim in 2017. Hardwicke was arrested and charged in June 2018.

Following the sentencing, Bambi Hammond of the CPS said Hardwicke 'wilfully abused' his position of trust within the church.

She added: 'As a church leader Stephen Hardwicke was in a position of trust and he wilfully abused this. He used his position to allow him to commit his crimes against young boys.

'Hardwicke took a special interest in these children's lives. He groomed them and made sure he was the only person they could turn to.

'These heinous crimes have left a long-lasting impact on Hardwicke's victims who have suffered psychological harm as a result of this abuse.

'I hope these convictions go some way in providing a sense of closure to these victims.'

The abuse took place while Hardwicke was the leader of a youth group connected to Stanmore Baptist Church in Harrow

Detective Constable Nicola Cameron, the Met Police's investigating officer from the Edgware Child Abuse Investigation Team, said historic abuse crimes should be reported to officers.

She said: 'Hardwicke took advantage of his young victims' vulnerability, sexually abusing them on numerous occasions when the opportunities presented themselves.

I would like to praise the victims' courage in reporting what happened to them to police.

'A crime committed over 30 years ago is still a crime. While investigations into non-recent sexual offences can be challenging, we have specially trained officers who will follow up all lines of inquiry, and seek to prosecute when the evidence will support it.'
Do you have a horse going to the U.S. to race? If so, Standardbred Canada has some important information you need to know regarding eligibility fees.

Prior to travelling the United States to race, Canadians are encouraged to pay their eligibility with Standardbred Canada. Canadians may opt to pay the U.S. eligibility fee when going to the U.S. to race, but this is not advised IF you plan on returning to Canada to race in the same year if your horse is solely Canadian owned, as you will be required to pay the Canadian eligibility fee as well.

To avoid duplication of payment, Standardbred Canada advises members with horses that are solely Canadian-owned and heading to the US to race, but returning to Canada this year, to only pay the Canadian eligibility fee.
BELGRADE -- Donald Trump and his American supporters have complained loudly about bans on the outgoing U.S. president by the biggest names in social media since the violence at the Capitol that sparked Trump's impeachment this week.

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and Amazon Web Services are among nearly a dozen tech giants to cut off Trump or his allies over their unfounded accusations of vote fraud or perceived incitement of political violence ahead of the U.S. inauguration.

There has been a huge ripple effect in the United States, including a robust debate about free speech and a social-media shakeout that could further insulate like-minded users from being challenged by those outside their "epistemic bubbles."

Some of the political Twitterati in Serbia have meanwhile sought to affect their own minor social-media shake-up in the Balkans in response to the Trump bans.

"We're hanging out here until something better happens," Vladimir Djukanovic, a lawmaker from President Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), shared on the Gab social network on January 11, under a cover photo that zoomed in on the left-wing Antifa movement's logo.

It was the Serbian politician's first post on the 3-year-old microblogging platform, which employs a sort of mash-up of the Facebook and Twitter formats and has thrived as a digital congregating ground for the alt-right.

The @RealDonaldTrump account on Gab has some 1.2 million followers, including Djukanovic and at least a handful of his SNS party colleagues, a fraction of the 88 million who followed the U.S. president's now-deleted Twitter account.

Gab's algorithms are proprietary, but an initial browse on January 15 featured a long list of dubious pro-Trump and conspiracy-minded accusations without evidence, including blaming leftists and the media for the January 6 storming of the Capitol, praise for exposing "deep state" conspiracies, and memes targeting Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.

Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner this week reportedly discouraged the outgoing president from migrating to "fringe social-media platforms such as Gab and Parler," Bloomberg reported, citing three unnamed sources "familiar with the matter." They said a social-media aide had also questioned the management and capacity of the sites.

Djukanovic is a part-time talk-show host and former Radical Party member who is regarded as being well to the right within President Vucic's SNS.

He has publicly celebrated convicted Serbian war criminal Ratko Mladic's birthday and backed anti-Western positions on issues like Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and China's claims to disputed South China Sea territories.

Djukanovic was a frequent Parler user, too, until Amazon Web Services effectively shut it down by denying services the same day he turned up on Gab.

Free-Speech Debate

The free-speech debate around the actions of the commercial tech giants has continued.

A survey of Americans suggested more than 60 percent of them backed Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's decision to ban Trump over the risk he might incite violence.

Abroad, public regrets about the ban on Trump have been expressed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France's leadership, as well as by Chinese leaders and Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny.

Meanwhile, Djukanovic and a few other prominent politicians in Serbia have deleted their Twitter accounts and taken public stands as they migrated to Gab and other sites generally seen as more welcoming of nationalist and right-wing posts.

"If they change their crazy censorship decisions, maybe I'll return," Djukanovic said, via Parler, about Twitter's policy.

A number of Djukanovic's ruling-party colleagues were also active on Parler before Amazon's cutoff made Parler untenable.

The leader of Serbia's euroskeptic, anti-vaccine, nonparliamentary Enough Is Enough party, Sasa Radulovic, announced he had abandoned Twitter for that platform on January 8.

He has since also joined Gab, where in his first post he suggested most Serbian citizens believe a pharmaceutical "mafia" is involved in spreading the coronavirus and one-third of them believe the Chinese government created it.

"And that's a 'conspiracy theory'? People ask obvious questions," Radulovic said, going on to accuse the media of "insulting and making fools" of them.

Gab's founder once said that while he hadn't "set out to build a 'conservative social network' by any means," he had "felt it was time for a conservative leader to step up and to provide a forum where anybody can come and speak freely without fear of censorship."

The Pennsylvania-based platform said on January 9 that it was getting "10,000+ new Gab users every hour" to add to a base of monthly users that was said to be 3.7 million in April.

But as the social-media migration continued this week, other platforms also appeared to see a ripple effect from the bans on Trump and propagators of unfounded alt-right theories.

CNN's Brian Fung said instant-messaging platform Telegram told him that 97 percent of the "explosion of growth" that took it over 500 million active users came from outside the United States.

Last year, the Simon Wiesenthal Center human rights organization described Telegram as an "online weapon of choice for [the] violent far-right."

Djukanovic remains active on Telegram, where he urged others to leave Twitter.

Although launched with an eye to serving pro-democracy activists, critics suggest that Telegram's relaxed content rules have been abused to spread disinformation, hate, and bigotry.

"Telegram has transformed into a nerve center for far-right sympathizers, many of whom come from the former Soviet Union," an investigative article asserted last week in Rest Of World.

Trump's banned private Twitter account had about 88 million followers.

Trump still appeared to have some access to the @POTUS Twitter account for the president of the United States, where a denunciation of Twitter and suggestion that Trump might create his own "platform" appeared before it was quickly deleted, according to AP.

That account currently has around 33 million followers, but will be transformed into Biden's recent @PresElectBiden account on inauguration day, January 20.


The Chinese government is under growing pressure to reveal the true origins of the coronavirus pandemic after US intelligence placed a Wuhan lab at the centre of the mystery.

American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said workers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill with Covid-like symptoms in autumn 2019  weeks before the alarm was raised about the contagion ravaging the city.

He also claimed its scientists were experimenting with a bat coronavirus very similar to the one that causes Covid, and had worked on secret military projects.

The Mail on Sunday first revealed concerns about the secretive lab on April 5 last year  some 287 days ago. Now the new allegations from the top of the US administration come as investigators from the World Health Organisation (WHO) land in Wuhan to look into the pandemics origins.

Chinese government is under growing pressure to reveal the true origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured: Researcher at a lab in Wuhan

American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said workers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill with Covid-like symptoms in autumn 2019. Pictured: Wuhan Institute of Virology

However, the team will be under the close scrutiny of Beijing officials and have no plans to visit the institute. They have also been accused of downplaying concerns that a leak was to blame.

Last night Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, called for full transparency, saying: The secrecy surrounding Covid has cost millions of lives and destroyed peoples futures. It has to stop. Its time we pushed for greater access from the WHO and joined others to sanction those keeping secrets.

Mr Pompeo, who will leave office next week when Joe Biden succeeds Donald Trump in the White House, said: Beijing continues to withhold vital information that scientists need to protect the world from this deadly virus, and the next one.

The Wuhan site was one of just five laboratories in the world carrying out controversial gain of function research, which artificially speeds up the evolution of viruses and, in some cases, enhances their ability to infect humans.

As The Mail on Sunday revealed last year, the scientists were manipulating coronaviruses sampled from bats in caves nearly 1,000 miles away  the same caves where Covid-19 is suspected to have originated.

In some cases they used a method of cloning that leaves no trace of lab engineering. This newspaper has also now unearthed minutes from a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party branch at the institute from November 2019 which warned that the lab was dealing with highly pathogenic micro-organisms and states that once the test tube containing the virus is opened it is like opening a Pandoras Box.

Matthew Pottinger, who stood down as Trumps Deputy National Security Adviser this month, recently said the most credible theory about the origin of this new coronavirus was that it escaped from a laboratory in China  and that the Wuhan institute was the most likely source.

The British Government has been cautious about speculating on the causes of the pandemic before the conclusion of the WHO investigation, which could take years.

The team will be under the close scrutiny of Beijing officials and have no plans to visit the institute. Pictured: Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli inside Wuhan lab in 2017

Yet critics have called the probe a whitewash since its composition and access to data are dictated by the Chinese regime. Beijing has backed away from its original claim that the virus originated in Wuhans wet market, but no plausible alternative theory has yet emerged.

Many prominent scientists still think there was natural transmission from an animal. The US government does not believe the leak was deliberate, but was a catastrophic accident caused by poor safety procedures surrounding the high-risk experiments.

One of the leading Wuhan scientists, Batwoman Shi Zhengli, admitted her first thought on hearing about the virus was to wonder if it was a leak from her lab.

A British security source said: If the US claims can be substantiated, it would finally give the lie to the theory that a bat travelled 1,000 miles to infect a pangolin in a Wuhan wet market which then somehow jumped the species barrier to people  and just a few miles from the only laboratory in China which manipulates bat viruses to make them contagious to humans.

In its statement released late on Friday, the US State Department said that it was sharing new information about the lab, outlining its belief that several researchers inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both Covid-19 and common seasonal illnesses.

Pompeo, pictured, claimed the institutes scientists were experimenting with a bat coronavirus very similar to the one that causes Covid

This raises questions about the credibility of WIV senior researcher Shi Zhenglis public claim that there was zero infection among the WIVs staff and students.

The statement added that the institute has not been transparent about its work on bat coronaviruses, and that far from being a purely civilian lab, it had collaborated on secret projects with Chinas military [and] engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017.

The statement criticised Chinas clampdown on doctors, scientists, and journalists who tried to alert the world, and said vital data was still being withheld.

It concluded that the credibility of the WHO inquiry would suffer without unfettered access to virus samples, lab records and personnel, eyewitnesses, and whistleblowers.

Many experts now believe that the virus was brought into the Wuhan market by customers, rather than originating there. Despite intensive efforts, researchers have failed to find a clear intermediate host an animal that would have allowed the virus to jump from bats to humans.

The WHO is still dismissive of suggestions the pandemic could have started with a lab leak. Peter Ben Embarek, head of the ten investigators who landed in Wuhan last week, insisted that Covid-19 is clearly a natural virus, and that the lab leak theory was unlikely to be true.

He conceded his team would investigate the possibility of a leak, but his pre-emptive statement will fuel fears that the WHO, long criticised for its complacency and complicity with the Chinese regime, is engaged in a whitewash.

Lab we first spotlighted in April... and have been investigating ever since Fear that the pandemic may have originated with a leak from a laboratory first erupted on April 5 last year after The Mail on Sunday revealed that a government source believed this explosive concept was no longer being discounted. This senior figure pointed out: Perhaps it is no coincidence that there is that laboratory in Wuhan. Since then, the story has taken off around the world, despite being dismissed as a conspiracy theory by the scientific establishment and those with links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Last April, we also exposed links between China and World Health Organisation boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and his bodys complicity in Beijings initial cover-up of the pandemic. The issue was picked up instantly by Donald Trump, who later severed funding from America, the WHOs biggest financial supporter. The following week, we revealed that the US government was backing high-risk research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Again, this led to the termination of funding, sparking huge debate. Fear that the pandemic may have originated with a leak from a laboratory first erupted on April 5 last year. Pictured: Researchers work in a lab of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in 2017 In May, we ran exclusive reports on a pair of landmark scientific studies that cast doubt on Chinas claims that the new disease had erupted in a wild animal market. Later that month, the nations top scientist confirmed their theory was misplaced. We have also obtained censored Chinese reports suggesting the disease started significantly earlier than claimed and disclosed how the head of biosecurity at the secretive Wuhan lab had confessed to serious safety concerns. In recent weeks, we have disclosed how leading scientists closed ranks to dismiss conspiracy theories over the idea of a lab leak, and revealed growing concerns over the Wuhan links of British scientist Peter Daszak, a member of the critical WHO inquiry into the origins of this pandemic. We were also the first mainstream paper to set out the full theory of a Wuhan lab leak, the issue now being debated around the world. Advertisement

Lab girl who has vanished from the face of the earth

A year-long hunt by The Mail on Sunday and Western intelligence officials for a Chinese lab researcher believed to be the worlds first Covid-19 patient has been thwarted by a suspected state cover-up.

Huang Yanling, who worked at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, was named as Patient Zero in online reports that were widely shared inside China in the early weeks of the outbreak last February.

The revelation created a direct link between the pandemic and the lab suspected to have accidentally unleashed it while conducting dangerous experiments on bat coronaviruses.

'PATIENT ZERO: The only picture thought to show missing former Wuhan lab worker Huang Yanling (left)

The reports did not say when she contracted the virus or if she survived.

Chinese government and lab officials stepped in swiftly claiming Huang was safe and well elsewhere in China.

A post purporting to be from Huang appeared on WeChat, Chinas equivalent of WhatsApp, telling colleagues and teachers at the institute she was alive and insisting the reports were false.

The message read: To my teachers and fellow students, how long no speak. I am Huang Yanling, still alive. If you receive any email [regarding the Covid rumour], please say its not true.

A separate post by her former boss, Professor Wei Hong Ping, claimed Huang left the institute in 2015 and had contacted him by phone to deny the reports.

A day later, a Chinese news agency made a vague claim to have spoken to her new employer without providing details.

Inexplicably, however, Huang has disappeared from social media and has not been heard from since being identified as Patient Zero, while her biography and research history have been scrubbed from the institutes website.

Almost one year on, the only trace of the student researcher is a grainy picture of her salvaged from the institutes website and circulated on the internet.

Wuhan team bitten by bats Scientists at the Wuhan lab admitted being bitten while collecting samples in a cave which is home to coronavirus-infected bats. One researcher said one animals fangs went through his rubber gloves like a needle. Researchers in thin overalls and rubber gloves handle bats while gathering samples in a clip filmed by a Chinese television crew Staff inside the top-secret facility were also shown handling bats without gloves and working on live viruses without masks in apparent breach of strict World Health Organisation safety rules on PPE, according to footage captured by a Chinese TV crew and broadcast in 2017. The revelations will raise further questions for the WHO team which is investigating the origins of Covid-19 following months of wrangling with Beijing over access to the Wuhan site. Advertisement

In the days after the initial reports, bloggers and internet users in China suspicious of officials denials pleaded with Huang to make a public appearance to prove she was alive. To stop this rumour spreading, Huang should just come forward and do a blood test, said one. Another posted: No matter where you live, Huang, you will be found.

Chinas internet censors quickly stamped out discussion of Huang, and extensive enquiries within the country by The Mail on Sunday, including messages to her former colleagues, have failed to turn up any trace of her.

Huang remains an enigma, the only picture of her showing a woman in her 20s with long hair, peeking out from behind a colleague. Her name is included among the writers of three scientific papers issued by the Wuhan institute between 2013 and 2015, including research into staphylococcus bacteria.

Western governments and intelligence agencies are also understood to have tried and failed to locate Huang amid a ferocious crackdown on any challenge to Chinas official narrative that the outbreak has no link to the Wuhan facility.

In its statement yesterday, the US State Department complained that the Chinese Communist Party had prevented investigators and global health authorities from interviewing researchers at the Wuhan institute including those who were ill in the fall [autumn] of 2019.

Beijing continues today to withhold vital information that scientists need to protect the world from this deadly virus and the next one, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added.

Chinas reluctance to produce Huang to quash the alleged rumours has fuelled the belief that she is either dead or is being held by the state to cover up the institutes culpability for the pandemic. It has also generated lurid speculation about her fate, with some claiming Huang must have been hastily cremated. Everyone on the Chinese internet is searching for Huang. Most believe she is dead, said one blogger.

In the same month that Huang was named as Patient Zero, a user of Chinese social-media platform Weibo, claiming to be a researcher in Wuhan, alleged the virus had leaked from the institute.

The lab denied the allegation and said the claim came from an overseas impostor posing as one of its researchers.

Pumping out propaganda and lies

China is aggressively promoting flimsy theories that Covid-19 originated outside the country as World Health Organisation experts begin their investigation in Wuhan into the pandemics source.

The countrys state-run media last week leapt on a report that a woman with symptoms of the virus has been traced to Milan in November 2019 as proof that the pandemic started abroad.

A leading Chinese scientist declared in the nationalistic Global Times: Other countries potentially had Covid outbreaks before Wuhan and investigations should be carried out there as soon as possible.

The news from Italy made headlines in many Chinese newspapers, drawing online comments such as the world owes China an apology.

The countrys state-run media last week leapt on a report that a woman with symptoms of the virus has been traced to Milan in November 2019 as proof that the pandemic started abroad. Pictured: Shi Zhengli, known as China's 'bat woman' for her virus-hunting expeditions in bat caves, releases a fruit bat after taking blood and swab samples from it in 2004

Beijing leaders have made repeated attempts to divert blame for the pandemic by claiming it was introduced to China by foreigners. In March last year, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian tweeted suggestions that the US Army might have brought in the virus when its troops competed in the Military World Games in Wuhan in October 2019.

Last November, Chinese scientists argued the virus may have originated in India in the summer of 2019 when a heatwave forced animals and humans to share the same water sources. A month later, a state-run newspaper claimed the virus might have been introduced to China in frozen meat imported from Australia, following earlier claims that people may have been infected by imported fish.

More recently, newspapers and TV stations have played up reports questioning the efficacy of Western Covid-19 vaccines as China struggles to gain international acceptance for its own home-grown versions.

It'll be an unforgivable insult to two million dead if the world lets China bury the truth, says IAN BIRRELL

It has taken 14 months since a sinister new disease emerged in Wuhan for the global health body responsible for protecting the world to be allowed into the Chinese city to investigate the origins of the pandemic.

The belated arrival last week of a team from the World Health Organisation (WHO) follows persistent stonewalling from Beijing officials, months of wrangling over the terms of the inquiry and unexpected visa problems.

The ten officials were granted access only after Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHOs director-general who has consistently kowtowed to China, made a rare rebuke of his Beijing friends over the last-minute delays.

It is no exaggeration to say this investigation is of utmost importance for everyone on our planet and the future of humankind.

We have to understand how Covid-19 emerged so as to protect the worlds 7.6 billion population and future generations. The findings could touch on everything from our relationship with nature on a crowded planet through to the frontiers of scientific exploration and even the future of Chinas appalling Communist dictatorship.

The belated arrival last week of a team from the World Health Organisation (WHO) follows persistent stonewalling from Beijing officials, months of wrangling over the terms of the inquiry and unexpected visa problems. Pictured: Wuhan Institute of Virology

We have no definite proof yet about the pandemics birth beyond its probable link to bats found in caves in southern China

At the heart of the investigation lies one simple question: is this new virus a natural disease that spilled over from wildlife to humans  or did it leak from a laboratory in Wuhan, home to the worlds top coronavirus research unit?

This issue has led to a chilling war of words between two superpowers after Donald Trumps childish jibes about the Chinese Virus or Kung Flu. So now a vital scientific quest for the truth about a disease that has killed two million people and devastated the globe lies entangled in a tussle for world supremacy and the culture wars corroding many Western democracies.

I have long loathed most things about Trump yet he is not wrong to blame China and suggest a cover-up of historic magnitude.

Trump is not wrong to blame China and suggest a cover-up

The more I have investigated these issues for The Mail on Sunday over several months, the more my scepticism has melted.

We have no definite proof yet about the pandemics birth beyond its probable link to bats found in caves in southern China. We know new diseases have appeared often in history. We know that Mother Nature can be a lethal assassin as well as being beautiful and bountiful. So Sars-Cov-2  the coronavirus strain that causes Covid-19  might be a natural eruption.

But why did it begin in Wuhan? There is no evidence of horseshoe bats flying hundreds of miles from their Yunnan caves to the central China city. Nor has any expert found another wild creature that might have amplified the virus from these bats before passing it to human beings.

Scientists  like journalists  should follow evidence until it is disproved, even when it leads into uncomfortable terrain. Anything else is a betrayal of their creed. But there is a growing dossier around Chinas curious behaviour: the desperate cover-up; the threats against doctors who made public their concerns about the virus; the deletion of databases; the erroneous blaming of an animal market; even claims the virus came from outer space.

There is also a big question about three Wuhan laboratories where scientists work with bats and viruses  especially the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was carrying out risky research that many have long feared might unleash a pandemic. It is well known, from grant applications and published papers, that gain of function work has been done in Wuhan  artificially forcing evolution of viruses to advance human understanding.

Researchers were combining snippets from different strains of bat coronaviruses to increase virulence. They created chimeric diseases (new hybrid micro-organisms), sometimes using cloning techniques that show no sign of human manipulation. They injected viruses into mice with human genes, cells or tissues in their bodies. And they tried to see how bat diseases jump the species barrier.

At the heart of the investigation lies one simple question: is this new virus a natural disease that spilled over from wildlife to humans  or did it leak from a laboratory in Wuhan (pictured), home to the worlds top coronavirus research unit?

We know also that Sars-Cov-2 has unusual properties. It is, for instance, well adapted to infect multiple organs in human bodies.

Then there is the furin cleavage site  a mutation that allows its spike protein to bind to many human cells and is not found on similar types of coronaviruses.

Crucially, too, the behaviour of Shi Zhengli  the labs most famous scientist known as Batwoman for collecting virus samples in those Yunnan caves  raises suspicions.

Why didnt she mention the furin cleavage site when publishing the genetic sequence for Sars-Cov-2, despite analysing its other novel features? Why did she claim three miners died of a fungal infection in 2012 although it later emerged they died from a mysterious respiratory disease caught while clearing bat droppings in one of those caves?

Why did she obscure a link to their fatalities when publishing a key Nature paper about the closest known relative to Sars-Cov-2?

Why did she change the name of this sampled virus without any mention of her action in that influential paper, which was taken as indication of natural transmission?

Why didnt she publish any data about her discovery of a new Sars virus? Why did she not mention eight more Sars viruses collected from the mine until she had to clarify that paper in Nature after inconsistencies were spotted? Why have their details still not been shared?

So many questions. So few answers. We do know, however, that Prof Shi was surprised by a coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, so far from the caves  and that her first thought was whether it had escaped from her lab.

We know also that there can be leaks from labs working with microscopic pathogens  and that the Wuhan lab chiefs had voiced safety concerns.

None of this equates to proof. But the WHOs task is to find the truth. Unfortunately, this arm of the United Nations, which employs many dedicated staff doing essential work, is shackled by geo-politics and failing in it duty to protect public health.

Once this pandemic is under control, we need a new global health body with funds, independent leaders and the ability to respond faster.

The organisations current boss, the former foreign minister in a brutal Ethiopian government, took over from a Chinese doctor, Margaret Chan, whose own tenure was tainted by a failure to deal properly with the 2014 ebola epidemic in west Africa. She now sits on a key Communist Party advisory body.

WHO officials are failing in their duty to protect public health

I saw the horrors of this disease in Liberia at the height of that outbreak. WHO officials slapped down warnings from the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, even refusing to help fix visas for experts. Shamefully, they never learned. With Covid-19, they stayed silent on Chinas early cover-ups that led to such disastrous consequences. They also helped propagate false claims that denied human transmission and were painfully slow to declare a global health emergency.

Yet the WHOs inquiry will merely build on reports by scientists working under this repressive and deceitful Communist dictatorship rather than carry out their own investigations. The WHO even allowed Beijing to vet its experts  with disquiet over the role of Peter Daszak, a controversial British scientist who is a long-term scientific collaborator with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and who led efforts to dismiss talk of a possible lab leak as conspiracy theory.

The US State Department is right to turn up the heat on the WHO. For if it fails to investigate every possible cause of this pandemic, it is insulting the two million people whose lives the virus has taken.
A man has been charged after he allegedly breached a court order less than two weeks after he was released from prison, by accessing online material that supported executions, beheadings and torture.

Radwan Dakkak, 25, from Denistone in Sydney's north-west, was jailed for a maximum of 18 months in December last year on two charges of knowingly associating with a member of a terrorist organisation.

Radwan Dakkak is arrested on Saturday. Credit:Australian Federal Police

He was released with time served when his sentence expired on January 1 this year.

The day before he was released, the Federal Court imposed an interim control order on Mr Dakkak which included numerous conditions, including a curfew from 11pm to 5am, reporting daily to police at Parramatta, and a prohibition on accessing extremist material.
'Keep an eye out for Magpies on your journey which are one of our most distinct birds with their striking black and white plumage with purplish-blue iridescent sheen and loud noisy chattering.'

During these extraordinary times we are so fortunate to live in this wondrous parish rich in nature, beauty and with history around every corner.

Castlemagner Community Development Association would strongly recommend that people get out and enjoy their own locality and discover all that is on offer on own doorstep. This week's road is in the townland of Subulter (Sobaltair) and will take you into the bordering parish of Kilbrin by crossing Marybrook Bridge then at Orchard Cross turning onto the Ballyhest road (R580) and completing the ring by retuning via Davey's Road (L1204) in the townland of Ballyrusheen.

Please note these are not intended as detailed walking notes merely notes of historical interest and snippets of information on the flora and fauna that you may encounter while discovering and exploring within the safety of your 5km. Again, any errors are the writer's who is happy to be corrected.

In former times Subulter was a parish within its own right comprising of two townlands, Subulter & Knocknanuss. In the 1800s Subulter was a hive of activity with two fairs held annually, and some of its wealth as a parish may be due to the presence of limestone that was burnt and used to increase the fertility of the farmland.

But Subulter was also an important religious seat from the 8th century with the remains of an ancient church and a monastic settlement. The ancient church fell into disuse in 15th century. The old ruins of the church are situated in what is known locally as Church Field which is not visible from the road. The tradition of naming of fields is a wonderful way of recording some of our history, stories and country lore.

Further along the road by Marybrook Bridge is where the Knights Templars had their monastic site. Due to the fertile land and quality water source it is believed that these 'warrior monks' bred strong boned horses to send to the Crusaders in the Holy Land.

It is unlikely that these horses were anything like the thoroughbred steeds as depicted and romanticised in modern films, rather they may have been more akin to a carthorse, able to within stand the arduous journey and then carry a heavily armoured knight.

Marybrook Bridge is one of five bridges within the parish of Castlemagner. It has recently been tastefully repaired by Cork County Council. There is a bench where you can sit and enjoy the babbling river. The river is called the Awbeg (not to be confused with the river of the same name that flows through Doneraile).

On some old Ordnance Survey maps the river is called Marybrook. This river then flows through the Assolas Bridge and Bannagh Bridge before it joins the Blackwater at Roskeen.

The land here is fertile and has an underground limestone cave system that runs from the Subulter Quarry to the Ballygiblin Quarry. Even though written about from the 1800s there seems to be little or no information available as to whether these caves have ever been explored.

Tony O'Mahony (botanist and author of Wildflowers of Cork City & County) recorded the discovery of Rosa Rubignosa, a rare native variety of Wild Rose (Dog Rose) on the rim of the Subulter Quarry. He also found some on the Mallow/Kanturk road east of Kippagh Crossroads. This rare rose is a thorny deciduous shrub with light pink single flowers in summer that are good for pollinators. Later in Autumn it produces red hips which are a good resource for birds in winter months.

Keep an eye out for Magpies on your journey which are one of our most distinct birds with their striking black and white plumage with purplish-blue iridescent sheen and loud noisy chattering.

Even to this day Magpies are treated to the highest level of respect and decorum due to the many piseogs (superstitions) that surround them depending on the number of Magpies present. There are many variations of the old rhyme:

One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret, Never to be told

To keep bad luck at bay, salute a lone Magpie or greet him and enquire after his wife! Magpies being both omnivorous and opportunistic foragers are one of the most common birds and are widely distributed throughout Ireland. They are considered pests by many as they rob other birds' eggs and young fledglings.

Magpies are not native but have been around since 1676, when the first sightings were of a flock of about a dozen birds that were blown by a storm from Wales to Wexford.

On your walk you will see various native trees, especially tall ancient Oaks and Ash. There is also a pair of stately Limes that possibly were part of the parkland that once would have surrounded Subulter House (no longer standing as it was razed by an accidental fire).

The Limes serve as an elegant reminder to us how important it is to plant trees for future generations to enjoy.
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Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Russian-made Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine can receive authorization in Peru within a month, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2021) Russian-made Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine can receive authorization in Peru within a month, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) told Sputnik.

On Friday, the Peruvian Health Ministry said that it had struck a non-disclosure agreement with the Sputnik V developer, the Moscow-based Gamaleya Research Institute.

"The Russian Direct Investment Fund confirms negotiations with the Health Ministry of Peru. The Russian vaccine can be registered in the country within a month," the RDIF said.

According to the Peruvian Health Ministry, the country is also in vaccine talks with US pharma company Moderna.
As some governors criticized the Trump administration Friday for a potential shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, Connecticut officials said they have no indication next weeks shipment here will be affected.

The Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said earlier this week that the federal government would stop holding back a reserve of second vaccine doses in an effort to speed up the distribution.

But in a tweet Friday, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said she had been informed by the head of Operation Warp Speed that states will not be receiving increased shipments of vaccines from the national stockpile next week, because there is no federal reserve of doses.

In subsequent tweets, Brown characterized the news as deception on a national scale, and said she was demanding answers from the Trump administration.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond Friday to a list of questions sent by Hearst Connecticut Media about the potential impact on Connecticut.

On Thursday, Gov. Ned Lamont said Connecticut would receive an additional 50,000 doses of the vaccine, which a spokeswoman for Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe later confirmed would come out of the national stockpile.

The state has been receiving around 46,000 doses of vaccine from the federal government each week, so a boost of 50,000 doses would be roughly equivalent to one weeks supply, according to the governor.

The Lamont administration indicated they were led to believe that boost in doses would be ongoing but its unclear how many extra the state will receive each week.

Lora Rae Anderson, Geballes spokeswoman, said Friday there was no communication or indication, Connecticuts allotment of vaccine had changed.

Numbers from the state Department of Public Health show Connecticut is projected to receive 96,125 doses next week.

Maura Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for DPH, said those numbers include 50,000 doses from Operation Warp Speed, and allocation of excess vaccine that would have been administered at long-term care facilities.

Connecticut has remained among the nations leaders, administering the most COVID-19 vaccines per capita in the Northeast, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC has added a vaccination tracker to its website. Overall, more than 31 million doses have been distributed nationwide. Less than half  a little more than 12 million  have been administered to patients, according to the CDCs data.

In Connecticut, vaccine sites began administering the shots this week to those 75 and older who are not living in nursing homes.

As of Thursday, 171,035 doses of vaccine had been administered in Connecticut, Lamonts office said. Of those, 154,994 people have received their first dose and 16,041 have received their final dose.

The vaccination efforts come as Connecticut recorded 1,878 new COVID-19 cases on Friday. The new cases were found among 30,303 tests for a daily positivity rate of 6.2 percent.

Hospitalizations continued to decline with 20 fewer patients, dropping the statewide total to 1,098. However, 41 more deaths attributed to the disease were recorded Friday, increasing the death toll to 6,594.

Yale New Haven Health announced Friday it would open vaccine clinics to those 75 and older beginning next Wednesday.

Sites will open in North Haven, New London, Old Saybrook and Trumbull, with a site in Greenwich opening the week of Jan. 25. More are expected to open in the future.

Health care providers are also expected to begin reaching out directly to their patients. Some hospital systems are also scheduling vaccinations directly through their websites. UConn Health and Hartford Health Care have prominent links on their websites where patients can register.

The state has announced three options for seniors to register for a vaccination appointment.

Residents can apply through the state website to access the Vaccine Administration Management System, a federal portal. That option requires users to have an active email address.

Those without access to a computer can also call 877-918-2224 to schedule an appointment. State officials have warned the phone system is experiencing delays due to a high call volume.
Ireland could face shortages of fresh food and other goods in a matter of weeks if post-Brexit trade rules are not relaxed, road hauliers have warned.

Food consignments are getting blocked in UK warehouses or stopped at Irish ports due to extra Brexit checks, leaving drivers stranded and hauliers carrying the cost.

Fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish and other perishable foods coming in to Ireland via the UK are most at risk, but even biscuits, curry sauce and canned goods are getting stopped, hauliers told the Irish Independent.

And because hauliers work on a round-trip basis, this could eventually slow down Irish dairy or pharma exports going to the EU.

The fresh product thats coming from the UK is going to run out. Its not coming in. Its coming in very, very slow and in very small quantities. Its a shambles, Limerick-based haulier Cunningham Transport told the Irish Independent this week.

Its crazy and it cant go on, said Darren Murphy of Monaghan-based BM Transport. Weve lost all efficiencies in our businesses. Trying to keep ahead of all this stuff is just a nightmare. Its all cost, cost, cost.

Independent TD Verona Murphy said one large supermarket had 33 loads of fresh produce sitting in Dublin Port on Thursday night that will end up being destroyed if they cant clear customs in time.

They dont have three days shelf life to sit in a port, she said.

They will be either sent back to the UK or they will be just destroyed here, and the cost of that is in excess of a million euros, said the TD, who is a former president of the Irish Road Haulage Association.

Thats job losses immediately, and its certainly empty shelves in the supply chain.

The Government has advised Irish hauliers to avoid the UK land bridge, where possible, and use direct ferry routes to and from France, but they are maxed out due to the extra demand.

We still need more routes off the island, said Simon McKeever of the Irish

Exporters Association. I am in no doubt that it is long-term demand. Companies just want to completely avoid the land bridge where they can.

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The Revenue Commissioners say they are clearing over 70pc of goods at Dublin Port, but the remaining 30pc  mainly food  needs to be physically checked, which is causing massive delays.

And the port is operating at only a fraction of its normal capacity.

Exhausted and frustrated freight transporters say things will only get worse if more goods start to come in to Ireland from the UK.

One haulier said he had spoken to colleagues about possible industrial action if the situation doesnt improve.

Will we stop? Will we protest? Will we go out to Dail Eireann? Will we block the port? This is the way fellas are thinking now. These are big guys that are on their knees.

Hauliers say UK companies dont know how to fill in the customs paperwork, a problem thats compounded by a lack of customs agents in Dublin to process it. They are also struggling to get to grips with new IT systems.

It means that even goods with their paperwork in order are not getting through.

Most of our loads are single commodities  the most simple sort of clearances you can do, said Darren Murphy. And were still only bringing in two trailers a day because theyre struggling to get the clearances.

He said a load of biscuits that one of his drivers brought in to Dublin Port this week was held up for a full day, despite having the right documentation.

They never examined the load. They never came back looking for any more details  nothing. But they held him for a full nine hours, at which stage his working day was basically up. So I lost a full days operations on a truck, for nothing.

The Irish Freight Transport Association (IFTA) says that to keep goods flowing, no more than 6pc should be subject to documentary or physical checks.

The group wrote to the Taoiseach yesterday calling for a six-month stay on some of the declarations hauliers have to make to give them time to get used to the system.

The Taoiseach said the Government would do everything possible to minimise the disruption but that these were the negative practicalities of Brexit that come with a 10-fold increase in customs declarations.

Fianna Fail MEP Barry Andrews has raised the issue with the European Commission but admitted he has been given no hope whatsoever that any alterations will be made.

The IFTA says problems will start to arise as supermarkets run down their pre-Christmas stockpiles.

Tesco has experienced some disruption to supplies to the island of Ireland, its chief executive said on Thursday. But SuperValu, Aldi and Lidl say they have enough stock and are not facing Brexit-related issues.

If we start to see things absent on shelves, we may need to roll back things for a period.

We may need to be pragmatic about this, Mr McKeever said.
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As the states 60-day legislative session approaches, it has become clear that the progressive agenda Democrats will be pushing is adverse to the values of hardworking New Mexican taxpayers, and it will be pushed through without sufficient transparency or the publics full involvement.

Progressives in the Legislature have stated their intentions to raise taxes, make our state the late-term abortion capital of the country, further devalue life by allowing euthanasia of the old and disabled, disarm and defund law enforcement, increase electric rates while eliminating 40% of our states total revenue which comes from oil and gas, and further stoke racial and cultural divisions through identity politics.

After spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat moderate Democratic legislators who have long opposed this out-of-touch agenda, progressive majorities in both the House and Senate are planning to ensure these and other radical initiatives become law in New Mexico.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives in ways no one could have imagined. Small businesses are closing their doors permanently and employment has been devastated by the governors shutdown orders; our kids are not being educated properly; and weddings, funerals, family gatherings and worship services have been decried as selfish indulgences.

Despite these disruptions to your daily lives, Democratic leaders have decided to push through their agenda without any delay and no regard for public input in the 60-day session when a vaccine could allow a fully transparent and inclusive session in a couple of months.

Most troubling is this progressive agenda will be adopted without the publics active participation, will be done without the traditional debate our legislative system relies upon and without the full engagement of legislative analysts and policy experts.

For over 100 years our system of government has not only encouraged citizen engagement, (it) has been an essential component of the legislative process because our Legislature is the last volunteer legislative body in the nation. Yet in 2021, using COVID-19 as an excuse, the majority has all but decided that citizen input is no longer essential.

We strongly disagree with this irresponsible agenda and we are dismayed over the Democratic-controlled Legislature restricting public involvement in the process. Limiting the ability of both citizens and legislators to fully engage in legislative review, especially at a time when the Democrats are poised to push an agenda that dramatically alters our daily lives, strikes at the core of transparent lawmaking.

Democracy dies when it is conducted in darkness and developing public policy in private backrooms will only result in the people being forced to endure policies they may fundamentally oppose.

Unfortunately, the New Mexico House of Representatives is hurtling towards this darkness. Transparency is not just a buzzword, transparency is what separates us from a kangaroo legislature.

We are prepared to advocate even harder this session not just for policies we believe will make our great state thrive, but for the long held right of the public to fully participate in our representative form of government.

So lets open up the legislative process and allow all citizens to participate once the pandemic has eased and vaccines have been made available to everyone.

We can do this by simply waiting until April or May to convene the legislative session, and then the public can truly be part of the legislative process by appearing at committee hearings, sharing opinions with legislators face-to-face and holding legislators accountable for the laws they pass.

Anything less is a travesty imposed on the very people we were elected to represent.

Platina Resources Limited ( ) (OTCMKTS:PTNUF) (FRA:P4R) is focused on building its presence in Australia with high-value metals including gold after divesting international assets last year.

Exploration is being ramped up at the Challa Gold Project in Western Australia which was acquired in June last year and is the company's primary current focal point.

Platina is also looking to make the most of its Owendale Scandium Project in New South Wales and the Munni Munni Project in WA, which it believes has the potential to host one of Australias largest undeveloped palladium deposits.

Notably, gold and palladium prices climbed to record highs last year while scandium is also doing well, and the company is confident its renewed focus on these metals could be worthwhile.

Challa in proven province

The Challa Gold Project is between the prolific Mt Magnet and Sandstone gold districts in Western Australia and is 500 kilometres northeast of Perth and includes two high-quality exploration licence applications covering 293 square kilometres.

The Sandstone province has produced more than 1.3 million ounces of gold from numerous underground and open pit mining operations, while Mt Magnet produced in excess of 6 million ounces since discovery in 1891.

Nearby, the Youanmi Gold Mine produced 670,000 ounces of gold throughout its lifetime and is currently the focus of new resource drilling of high-grade gold lodes.

Soil sampling confirms prospectivity

An initial soil sampling program at Challa last year confirmed several highly prospective zones, and the company is now planning to conduct a more comprehensive gridded soil program to pinpoint targets for follow-up drilling.

The assay of 696 soil samples confirmed a strong correlation to mineralised outcropping veins which were previously identified in the October reconnaissance program that returned grades of 1.62 g/t and 5.89 g/t gold in rock chip samples.

Substantial shareholding in gold explorer

On December 23, Platina became a substantial shareholder in ( ), now holding 5,748,535 shares for a 5.007% interest, further increasing its exposure to gold in Western Australia.

On completion of the sale, the value of Platinas stake was C$12.65 million (A$13.2 million) and in addition to the cash funds, the companys shares can be sold over time to fund exploration activities, reducing the need to raise new equity, and avoiding the dilution of its share capital.

Nelson is seeking another Tropicana deposit, currently undertaking a maiden diamond drill program at the Grindall prospect (Woodline Gold Project) in the Fraser Range with 1,000 to 1,500 metres to be completed by the end of January.

International assets divested

The company sold its Skaergaard gold and palladium project in Greenland for A$13.7 million in November, as part of a revised strategy to redirect focus away from overseas territories as international COVID-19 restrictions persisted.

Canadian-listed Major Precious Metals Corp (CSE:SIZE) (OTCMKTS:SIZYF) (FRA:3EZ) acquired Platinas stake with the ASX-listed junior receiving C$500,000 in cash (A$520,000) and 55 million Major shares.

Platina also withdrew from the Blue Moon Zinc Corp (CVE:MOON) Joint Venture in the US, following the prolonged suspension of field activities.

Blue Moon hosts a drill-ready high-grade VMS-style zinc-copper-gold deposit with significant resource expansion and development potential, and the company has retained a 5% equity in the Canadian-listed company which has ownership of the project.


The 101st Michigan Legislature held its first session on Wednesday. In the coming weeks the House and Senate will organize the policy and appropriations committees through which new bills (usually) must pass on their way to potential enactment. No votes are expected before then.

The majority caucuses in the House and Senate (both Republican) sometimes signal priorities with the first bills they introduce. With no voting, this report describes those bills plus some others of general interest.

2021 Senate Bill 1: Limit state health department epidemic orders without legislative approval

Introduced by Sen. Lana Theis (R) on January 13, 2021, to restrict emergency orders the state health department (the Department of Health and Human Service) may impose in response to an epidemic to 28 days unless an extension is approved by the legislature. A state Public Health Code adopted by the legislature in 1978 gives the department the authority to issue such orders.

2021 House Bill 4001: Establish new legislator conflict of interest rules

Introduced by Rep. Pamela Hornberger (R) on January 13, 2021, to prohibit a legislator who knows he or she has a personal or professional interest in a bill or measure from voting on it, and also if the legislator is related or financially or legally obligated to a person or entity that would benefit.

2021 Senate Bill 2: Increase unemployment benefits

Introduced by Sen. Paul Wojno (D) on January 13, 2021, to increase the maximum period a person is eligible to collect state unemployment benefits from 20 weeks to 26 weeks.

Senate Bill 3 and House Bill 4002: Exempt certain pension income from state income tax

Introduced by Sen. Paul Wojno (D) and Rep. Joseph Bellino, Jr. (R), resepectively, to repeal the age-based limitations and restrictions on income tax deductions for retirement and pension benefits that were enacted as part of a 2011 tax reform and business tax cut.

Senate Bill 12: Exempt outpatient cardiac catheterization from medical services rationing (certificate of need)

Introduced by Sen. Dale W. Zorn (R), to exempt outpatient cardiac catheterization services from a state Certificate of Need law that requires medical service providers get permission from a panel of existing providers before investing in a new or expanded service.

Senate Bill 13: Give tax break to certain business owners and developers

Introduced by Sen. Dale W. Zorn (R), to give tax breaks equal to 50% of their state business tax liability by certain developers and business owners selected by political appointees on the board of a state Strategic Fund agency. If the tax break exceeded the firms tax liability the difference could be applied to future tax bills for up to 10 years.

Senate Bill 20: Authorize 3-mill "sinking fund" property tax for school buses

Introduced by Sen. Dale W. Zorn (R), to allow school districts to use a sinking fund property tax for pupil transportation (buying school buses). Under current law, schools may levy up to 3 mills for 10 years for a sinking fund, which is a permanent account that may only be used only for land purchases and the construction or (major) repair of school buildings, or (under recent expansions) to pay for information technology and school security measures.

Source: MichiganVotes.org, a free, non-partisan website created by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, providing concise, non-partisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill and vote in the Michigan House and Senate. Visit www.MichiganVotes.org.
A slip of the tongue and a celluloid crusaders unfortunate downfall View(s):

Confusion has been worse confounded in the public mind following the conviction this week of politician and self-proclaimed corruption crusader Ranjan Ramanayake for contempt of court by the Supreme Court for allegations made in 2017, that a majority of lawyers and judges in Sri Lanka were corrupt. This acute confusion must be set to rights, sooner rather than later.

Clarifying pertinent questions

As an aside, those carelessly exaggerated words,  a majority was what returned to haunt Ramanayake now embarking on a four year jail term as he struggled to explain in proceedings in Court that, what he actually meant was that lawyers were corrupt and worked for money. That lawyers work for money is self-evident and needed no further excited blabbering in front of television cameras. That said, whether the inference of corruption can be drawn merely by this fact is a different question altogether.

Even so, the question before the Bench was limited to his claim that a majority of the Lankan judiciary was corrupt. This was not only said on one day in consummately brash Ramanayake style but repeated several times later, even after contempt charges had been filed. It was this repetition that inclined the Court towards not accepting his explanation that including the judiciary in his statements was by a slip of the tongue. So, some pertinent questions need to be clarified.

First and foremost, contrary to what some attention seeking alarmists claim (who, it is a fair bet to assume, would not have bothered to read the Courts decision), criticism of judges, the judiciary and judgments are not frozen in time as a result of this ruling. This is said as reassurance to many who will be wont to shiver and shake to even comment critically on judicial rulings. That should not be the case, let it be said quite clearly. In other words, the principle here, is of temperance, of substantiation, of legitimate criticism and choosing ones words measuredly. Fair comment on judgements has always been an accepted principle in functionally democratic countries.

Confining contrasts and comparisons to each case

There is nothing very new here as a result of this particular ruling. True, the four year rigorous imprisonment sentence imposed on the flamboyant politician who let his unruly tongue, (and his accursed tape conversations with judges) run away from him, has led to considerable public concern. This is being contrasted by some against alleged murderers being freely set free in other circumstances. These comparisons, though emotive, are not quite fair. The context of each case is peculiar to its own. Let those discharges, acquittals and other sundry releases of grand corruptors, killers and torturers be assessed (mercilessly) on their own demerits.

But to return to our main focus, there is an urgent need for enactment of a contempt law for Sri Lanka, irrespective of the Ramanayake ruling. In stressing the criminal nature of the act in question in this case, it is interesting that the Bench quoted Englands onetime Master of the Rolls, Lord (sic) Denning as saying that, a contempt of court is an offence of a criminal character a man may be sent to prison for it. Broadly, this is true of course. England and India, though recent practice India has been disturbing as we will see, have contempt laws defining civil and criminal contempt as well as prescribing punishments. No man or woman on the Clapham Omnibus, as it were, can turn around and say that he or she did not know that a particular action would not attract a ruling on contempt or that, a punishment meted out was not fair or proportionate.

This is unlike in Sri Lanka, I may add, which has been (typically) struggling to codify principles on contempt of court for decades. That said, there is a specific context to that quote by a British judge who was himself, most notable for shrugging aside perceived affronts to the Court. This extended, it must be recalled amusingly, to keeping his calm most impressively when a litigant who was dissatisfied with a particular ruling that he delivered, threw a book at him while he was on the Bench. Later, he recounts that he was complimented by that same litigant for his coolness under fire, (The Due Process of Law, 1980). So context is important in these matters.

Protection of fair comment

Indeed, the British Courts have been very strict in using its contempt powers where there is disobedience to its Orders. This is, in fact, the context in which Lord Denning emphasized the criminal nature of the offence (In Re Bramblevale Ltd, 1970), quoted by Sri Lankas Supreme Court in the Ramanayake ruling. But contempt rulings and jail terms for writings or speech critical of the judiciary are exceedingly rare. The reason for this, as explained by Lord Denning himself, is that, we will never use this jurisdiction as a means to uphold our own dignity. That must rest on surer foundations.

Why that must remain so is set out cogently by him in reasoning that has echoed down the ages. Thus, contempt powers will not be used to suppress those who speak against judges as we do not fear criticism, nor do we resent it. For there is something far more important at stake. It is no less than freedom of speech itself. In that same breath, he added that, every effort of the Court must be to preserve the right of fair comment, even if it is outspoken at times and that, we must rely on our own conduct itself to be its own vindication.

What amounts to fair comment have been amply explained in precedents across the Commonwealth. Even so, such safeguards are less useful if a Court is determined to prevent justifiable criticism of itself. We saw this recently across the Palk Straits when the Supreme Court found prominent constitutional advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court over two tweets that he posted which was critical of the Chief Justice of India as well as the long hiatus that the Court took in its sittings over the intensified spread of covid-19 in New Delhi.

The Bar must activate itself, at least on this

Outrage swept the land uniting scholars, members of the Bar and even retired judges in what was seen as an outrageous attempt by the Supreme Court to stifle freedom of expression. Finally, it was the Court which blinked first in this unprecedented standoff, sentencing Bhushan to a token fine of one rupee. However, the precedent that the Indian Court set was ominous for the region as I observed at the time in a guest contribution to Indias The Wire, August 28th 2020. In this case, the apex Court of India acted on its own powers, utilising constitutional provisions which gave it unfettered discretion to impose any kind of punishment.

Remarkably, in so doing, it disregarded the countrys own contempt of court law which specifically prescribed fair procedures and punishments thereto. Enraged by this ruling, the Indian Bar, constitutional advocates and citizens have commenced a call for reform of the Indian contempt law. For Sri Lanka, much effort has already gone into similar efforts, including more than a decade ago when the Bar Council, during the Presidency of the late Desmond Fernando, appointed a committee to draft a draft contempt law on which this columnist served. However, these efforts have not been successful.

At least on this, the currently grievously somnolent leadership (if it can call itself that) of the Bar must activate itself. It may look to the Indian Bar as an inspiring example thereof.

One afternoon in early January, Heather Lewis sat in her car outside Montgomery County Correctional Facility counting crisp $50 bills into an envelope  $500 altogether, which may (or may not) some day be refunded.

For now, it was the price of freedom for a woman Lewis had never met, whod been jailed for close to a week on $5,000 bail with charges of driving under the influence.

Lewis is the force behind the Reuniting Families Bail Fund. Its the first community bail fund to serve Philadelphias suburbs, rooted in research that even a brief jail stay increases the likelihood of a conviction, a longer sentence, unemployment, and even future criminal activity. It began organizing in November 2019, raised $100,000, and posted its first bail in June 2020. But its been slow going, Lewis said, because shes hit barriers at every turn.

Were in hostile territory, she said.

Lewis has struggled to access detailed information she needs to post bail, including whether a given defendant is even eligible to be bailed out. (Those who also have probation detainers may remain jailed for months without bail.) And, she faces barriers not seen in Philadelphia, where two bail funds have started in the last few years  and have dramatically stepped up their work during the pandemic to post more than $5 million in bail for 750 defendants in 2020.

 READ MORE: How probation detainers keep locked up indefinitely, even when they haven't committed a crime

For one thing, unlike Philadelphias funds, Reuniting Families is required to act as a surety under local rules. That means the fund can post just 10% of assigned cash bail  but if the defendant is rearrested or misses court, its the bail fund, not the defendant, that owes the entire bail amount. For another, Lewis said, jail officials have refused to grant access to interview potential clients to make sure they have someplace to go if she posts bail.

Court leaders, county commissioners, and jail officials all referred questions to a county spokesperson, who said in an email that the Montgomery County Administration and Courts strongly supports any efforts to reduce the number of people being held in jail because they are unable to post bail.

The spokesperson said the county is committed to working with the bail fund, and noted a 40% decrease in the jail population since the start of the pandemic, to just under 800 people.

Currently, Reuniting Families guidelines are to cover bails of up to $5,000, for nonviolent offenses. In a review of the dockets the week of Jan. 11, Lewis said she found nine more people who would qualify.

Before venturing in to bail out her sixth and seventh clients, selected based on such a review and little else, Lewis took a breath.

Im going to try leaving my business card this time. Ive never asked if Im at least allowed to leave my card for the folks were bailing out, she said before heading into the lobby. I had fliers, and they were like, You need to take that back. (This time, an amiable staffer did let Lewis leave a business card.)

The topic of bail reform has been a lightning rod in Montgomery County, where two top officials in the public defenders office were fired last year after filing a brief criticizing bail practices there. The brief described a multitude of individual and community harms caused by dysfunctional bail practices that result in unnecessary and prolonged pretrial detention. Those practices, it said, included cursory hearings at which defendants rarely had lawyers, and were often burdened with high cash bail without regard for their ability to pay.

In July 2020, Montgomery County announced the creation of a pretrial service unit that could provide information to magistrates setting bail, as well as various forms of supervision and court date reminders. The county spokesperson said funding has been budgeted for 10 positions to support the unit, however, as of this month, the unit is not up and running yet.

Keisha Hudson, former deputy chief defender for the Montgomery County and now the managing director of The Appeal, an advocacy organization backing systemic reforms, warned that the pretrial program as currently planned does not go far enough.

I dont think you can have true pretrial reform until you have representation for people who are arrested and charged at that first proceeding where bail is set, she said. She said lawyers were not notified of the initial hearing, and it usually took weeks to get a bail-reduction hearing scheduled. The impact once youre sitting in jail and you cannot afford to get out, that drives other statistics, particularly the high plea rate. You see a lot of people pleading guilty so they can get out of jail.

Neither of the countys current co-chief defenders responded to an inquiry.

 READ MORE: In Philly, your race predicts whether youll be locked up or go free until trial, study says

On the other hand, those who are free to fight their cases often see better outcomes, said Lewis, who came into the criminal justice realm as a social worker. She would like to be able to connect those she bails out with Montgomery Countys participatory defense hub, which she also coordinates. The hub was the first of its kind in the region, created to help defendants to advocate for themselves.

One hub member, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said she was jailed for weeks during the pandemic on $500,000 bail after going unrepresented at a bail hearing. (Her lawyer was told the wrong hearing time, she said.) The mother of four finally got some of the charges tossed out and got bail reduced  only to be rearrested when a prosecutor refiled charges. The second time, though, I was working with participatory defense and I knew not to just sit there and not say anything again, or they would put me back in jail, she said. She told the judge about herself and her family, and was released on her own recognizance.

Its not unusual for bail funds to run up against official opposition. One of the first modern bail funds, the Bronx Freedom Fund, was shut down by a court order until legislators cleared the way for it to resume operations in 2012. There are now some 80 bail funds around the country, and at least five in Pennsylvania. But that tension with the system remains part of the plan: The Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, which was once the nations largest, ceased operation in 2019 after organizers came to feel it was propping up the system rather than reforming it.

In Philadelphia, the system has made some allowances for the bail funds, organizers said, including permitting them to enter the jail to meet with clients and to use the countys bail-assignment system to recoup refunded bail directly from the court. In 2018, the court also abolished its controversial policy of retaining a 30% cut of all bail.

According to Malik Neal, of the Philadelphia Bail Fund, about 93% of defendants who are bailed out appear for court. Bail fund activists have also put in efforts to make sure those bailed out will be successful, including jail support to greet those coming out of jail with rides, supermarket gift cards, social-service referrals, and other resources.

But there has also been opposition, even as the bail funds have been instrumental in keeping the jail population below pre-pandemic levels.

District Attorney Larry Krasner has criticized the bail funds for securing the release of people who later committed crimes or became victims. In some cases, said Candace McKinley, who heads the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund, they have bailed people out only to find they are rearrested and their bail is raised. Then, the fund bails them out all over again.

There has not been an accommodation of the work we do. But we expect that because were abolitionists, were not reformists. Were not here to make the system better or kinder, McKinley said. We want to shrink the system of mass incarceration down enough that we can one day end mass incarceration and build systems that better serve our communities.
NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Decision Diagnostics Corporation ("Decision Diagnostics" or the "Company") (OTCMKTS: DECN) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court for the Central District of California, and docketed under 21-cv-00418, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Decision Diagnostics securities between March 3, 2020 and December 17, 2020, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Decision Diagnostics securities during the Class Period, you have until March 16, 2021 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

Decision Diagnostics purportedly offers, among other products and services, prescription and non-prescription diagnostics and home testing products.

From March 2020 to at least June 2020, Defendants claimed that the Company had developed a finger-prick blood test that could detect COVID-19 in less than one minute. Defendants also made various representations regarding the Company's progress towards achieving U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") emergency use authorization ("EUA") for this purported COVID-19 finger-prick blood test.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements, and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operational, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and failed to disclose to investors that: (i) Decision Diagnostics had not developed any viable COVID-19 test, much less a test that could detect COVID-19 in less than one minute; (ii) the Company could not meet the FDA's EUA testing requirements for its purported COVID-19 test; (iii) accordingly, Defendants had misrepresented the timeline within which it could realistically bring its COVID-19 test to market; (iv) all the foregoing subjected Defendants to an increased risk of regulatory oversight and enforcement; and (v) as a result, Defendants' public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On December 17, 2020, the SEC filed a complaint in federal court against Defendants, alleging that they had issued a series of press releases that falsely claimed that Decision Diagnostics had developed a finger-prick blood test that could detect COVID-19 in less than one minute (the "SEC Complaint"). According to the SEC Complaint, from March 2020 to at least June 2020, Defendants made false and misleading statements about the existence of Decision Diagnostics' COVID-19 device and progress towards achieving FDA EUA for that device. As alleged, at the time of these claims, Decision Diagnostics lacked a proven method for detecting the virus and had no physical testing device. The SEC Complaint further alleged that the statements created the misleading impression that Decision Diagnostics would soon introduce the COVID-19 test to the market, which led to surges in the price and trading volume of the Company's stock.

Following the filing of the SEC Complaint, Decision Diagnostics' common share price fell $0.06 per share, or 60%, to close at $0.04 per share on December 18, 2020.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP

Related Links

www.pomerantzlaw.com


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If Fox News wants to restore its cable news ratings dominance, changes will have to be visible far lower in its organization than what is being reported.

Though I was angry over its election night coverage and have been dismayed at the behavior of a number of its on-air personalities, I take no joy in the ratings crisis that seems to be engulfing Fox News. For all its faults, its reach, resources, and stable of outstanding talent like Tucker Carlson make it an essential voice in a nation with a media scene that is getting scarier by the day. There is no doubt in my mind that, if FNC disappeared or lost its cable system distribution, as at least one of its rivals seems to be advocating, conservatism would be in a much weaker position.

Yesterday, The Daily Beast published an article with four authors, one of them a departed FNC staffer who charged sexual harassment and settled for an undisclosed sum, claiming:

Amid ongoing ratings struggles, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace are fighting for their jobs as their boss Rupert Murdoch has swooped in to take a more hands-on role at the network in recent days, multiple network insiders told The Daily Beast.

Fox disputes the report:

In response to a request for comment for this story, a Fox Corporation spokesperson said, Your premise is wrong. It is wishful thinking by our competitors. But when pressed for a statement of support for Scott from Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch, none was forthcoming.

I have no inside knowledge of the situation there, but firing the CEO is a frequent response for corporations in crisis, even when the roots of the trouble lie elsewhere. If nothing else, it is highly symbolic. In Japan, it is almost a rule that a CEO takes responsibility for serious misbehavior that had nothing to do with him, and that practice has drawn at least some admiring notice overseas.

Were Scott and Wallace responsible for hiring liar and cheater Donna Brazile, a move that still rankles? Did they encourage Chris Wallace to play the role in the presidential debate that he did? I have no idea, but the top of a firm is responsible for whoever made those decisions.

The Beast indicated that the Murdoch family is stepping in:

Rupert Murdoch, who turns 90 in March, is returning to the United States after spending most of last year in the United Kingdom, and reversing Foxs ratings decline is his top concern, according to a person familiar with his thinking. He had been waiting to receive the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccinewhich he has received in recent daysbefore coming stateside. The media mogul is now playing a more active role in decision-making at the network with his son Lachlan. Part of their increased involvement, sources said, included the overhaul of Foxs daytime lineup, which was announced Monday and included moving news anchor Martha MacCallum out of the early primetime 7 p.m. slot in favor of more opinion-based programming at that houran obvious attempt to appeal to a hardcore conservative base. The Murdoch pair are said to be disenchanted with Scott and Wallace, with the poor ratings being the main topic of conversation. I mean, Rupert got involved with the shuffling of the lineup, so thats never a good sign for someone in charge, a current Fox staffer told The Daily Beast. What is the point of having a manager running your business if you have to run the business yourself?

While Lachlan Murdoch is the CEO of the parent Fox Corporation and Rupert Murdoch is co-chairman with him, the Murdoch family does not show up among the top ten shareholders. But because, like the New York Times Company, Fox Corporation has two classes of shares with radically different voting rights, the Murdoch family is able to exercise control. From a Fox Corporation SEC filing:

As a result of his ability to appoint certain members of the board of directors of the corporate trustee of the Murdoch Family Trust, which beneficially owns less than one percent of the outstanding Class A Common Stock and 38.4% of Class B Common Stock, K. Rupert Murdoch may be deemed to be a beneficial owner of the shares beneficially owned by the Murdoch Family Trust. K. Rupert Murdoch, however, disclaims any beneficial ownership of these shares. Also, K. Rupert Murdoch beneficially owns or may be deemed to beneficially own an additional less than one percent of Class B Common Stock and approximately one percent of Class A Common Stock. Thus, K. Rupert Murdoch may be deemed to beneficially own in the aggregate approximately one percent of Class A Common Stock and 38.9% of Class B Common Stock. This concentration of voting power could discourage third parties from making proposals involving an acquisition of FOX. Additionally, the ownership concentration of Class B Common Stock by the Murdoch Family Trust increases the likelihood that proposals submitted for stockholder approval that are supported by the Murdoch Family Trust will be adopted and proposals that the Murdoch Family Trust does not support will not be adopted, whether or not such proposals to stockholders are also supported by the other holders of Class B Common Stock.

The Daily Beast says that a possible successor as CEO is someone that conservatives generally regard with great distaste:

According to multiple insiders, there is speculation that David Rhodes, a former Fox News vice president, could return to replace Scott. Two people familiar with the matter said Rhodes, who has also led Bloomberg and CBS News, is often mentioned as Lachlans top pick to take over the network CEO role. According to a current staffer at Fox News, the Murdochs like Rhodes a lot, adding that they felt that Scott was always a temporary solution.

From my standpoint, if FNC wants to regain the viewership it lost, the personnel changes that are necessary would be farther down the organization chart, in the on-air and supervisory editorial staff. Chris Wallace has lost the trust of lots of conservatives. Ace points a finger at Bill Sammon, a former on-air personality with senior editorial responsibilities. I just don't know who was calling the shots on wrongly predicting Ohio and the incredible early, but ultimately correct call on Arizona election night. And I don't know who is responsible for the hiring and continued employment of on-air personalities that are viewer repellants for conservatives.

I do suspect that unless there are changes far more dramatic than those announced a couple of days ago, Fox News will not regain any lost ground quickly. Trying to be CNN-lite wont cut it. Roger Ailes discovered a niche that was, as the late Charles Krauthammer joked, "half the country." That is a market position that is enviable and worked like a charm for many years. Discarding it was a mistake.

I presume that the rest of the major media would love to see FNC disappear, for ideological and competitive reasons. It would be a tragedy if they get their apparent wishes fulfilled.


Letters: Trump a 'cancer' on the presidency, he must be removed from office
With the COVID-19 pandemic surging to critical levels in California, we naturally wonder how it happened.

How did California go from exemplifying success in taming the coronavirus last spring to an epicenter of disease, with 2.5 million COVID-19 cases, nearly 28,000 deaths and the second highest infection rate of any state?

Gov. Gavin Newsom describes it as a surge on top of a surge and more deadly today than any time in this pandemics history.

As infection rates soared, state and national media outlets almost immediately began exploring underlying causes and a consensus of sorts emerged.

Californians, we were told, let down their guard and began ignoring pleas from Newsom and health officials to wear masks, stay home as much as possible and avoid gatherings.




The government eased some restrictions on previously shuttered or scaled back businesses while maintaining its current social distancing measures as the number of new COVID-19 cases in the 500s for the fifth consecutive day, Friday.







According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the country added 580 more coronavirus infections, including 547 local ones, raising the total caseload to 71,820. The daily total marked a slight jump from 513 posted a day earlier.







Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun announced Saturday that the government will extend its current social distancing level for two weeks from Monday but ease business restrictions on cafes, gyms and certain other indoor facilities.







Under the new measures, the capital area will continue to enforce Level 2.5, the second highest in a five-tier system, and the rest of the nation will remain under Level 2.







The ban on private gatherings of five or more people, and the restriction on business operations after 9 p.m., will also be kept intact.







However, indoor gyms, cram schools and karaoke establishments will be allowed to reopen on the condition that they strictly adhere to antivirus measures.







Restrictions on cafes and houses of worship will also be eased in response to criticism that they are excessive, Chung said.







The third wave of the pandemic began in mid-November, pushing the daily infection count up to a peak of 1,241, Dec. 25, as the daily figure breached the 1,000 threshold multiple times.







To cope with the soaring number of cases, the health authorities adopted Level 2.5 measures in the greater Seoul area and Level 2 in other parts of the country Dec. 8.







There were 19 more deaths Friday, raising the total to 1,236, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)


As part of NI comedy royalty, Tim McGarry has many strings to his bow. From stand-up and after-dinner speeches, to TV's Give My Head Peace and work on the radio, he's got plenty to keep him going.

But like lots of his peers on the comedy circuit, 2020 brought with it big changes.

"We were on tour back in the spring, and we were supposed to do 29 shows," says Tim. "We had sold out all over Northern Ireland, and as things started to get more serious around the world, we got to a gig in Armagh where we'd sold out two nights at 400 seats.

"On the first night, only half the audience showed up. The next night the theatre closed and we suddenly lost all our live shows."

As well as the end of the Give My Head Peace tour, Tim lost a string of gigs and after-dinner jobs.

"That was all pretty bad, but luckily we had A Perforated Ulster for Radio Ulster which we did without an audience in July. You'd normally have around 300 people in for that, so it was different, but we were lucky to do it.

"It was all under very strict conditions with the BBC, so it was all good and safe, and then we got four episodes of Give My Head Peace commissioned too.

"It's been hard to believe in many ways that the work has carried on coming in from those sides - but it's very hard on the comedians who rely very much on the stand-up."

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And while he's been able to continue working, dad-of-two Tim says not getting out in front of a live audience for such a long time has been difficult.

"With the best will in the world, this work without a live audience, online or on Zoom or whatever, it isn't the same," he says. "I've done a couple of wee minor things, some wee sketches that I've posted now and again to keep people amused, but comedians are mad egotists.

"We're needy b*******, and we love all that, being out in front of people and getting a laugh. When things were relaxed a bit back in the autumn, there were a couple of gigs in the Limelight - under very strict rules like people having to eat pizza and get their temperatures taken and all that - and it was great.

"It was the first time in six months I'd been in front of an audience, and honestly the first gig - I did two in a night - I felt like I'd forgotten how to do it. It was like being out of practice in a room full of people and I wasn't sure of the rhythm of it. But by the second, I was feeling great.

"Under normal circumstances I'd do a couple of corporate things a week, I'd be doing a tour, some stand-up gigs, all different events, so I'd be out in front of audiences 30 or 40 times a year."

Recording panel show The Blame Game with a Zoom audience was a strange experience too, he says.

"It was great that it happened, but there's usually about 300 in the studio, and this was like performing to a window of Currys," says Tim. "It was all these TV screens on and the more this stuff happens the more you realise what a comedy setting is.

"Laughter is infectious. If you're in a room of people laughing, it has an effect. If you're in the house on your own watching someone on a screen, you just don't laugh as loud."

And looking forward to getting back on stage at some point, the funnyman says jokes about the pandemic are definitely not off limits.

"Nothing is above humour if you do it right," says Tim.

"It's a serious situation, no doubt, but a sense of humour always helps. You have to have a sense of ridiculousness I think, even in a very serious situation. I'm not underplaying it at all, because people are getting very seriously ill, and they're losing their lives. But you have to keep laughing. People told jokes during the war, and people will tell jokes during a pandemic."

I find comedy therapeutic  its important to stay positive

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Former music teacher Teresa Livingstone has earned a reputation as one of Belfasts top comics. Combining music with laughter, the pianist caught the comedy bug after an improv class at Belfasts Crescent Arts Centre.

And like stand-ups everywhere, she has seen her live work dry up through the course of the pandemic.

I think at the start it just felt a bit crazy, says Teresa (41). I think when it happened back in March and there were cancelled gigs we all thought, right well those gigs are cancelled, grand, these things happen all the time.

But at this stage the penny is dropping - although to be fair it dropped very quickly with a lot of people. Were having to think long term and get imaginative about how things will carry on.

And while lots of performers have moved online, including Teresa herself, the comedian says working without a live audience is one of the biggest challenges shes faced.

Any stand-up is really tough without an audience, she says. Some people have adapted quickly with podcasts and putting content out in different ways. I did a couple of live streams online at the start, but its only recently Im really beginning to pick it up again.

When youre trying material out normally, you depend massively on the audience to know how youre doing. Sometimes youll need to try something five or 10 times in front of different people to see if something is working, because even if one audience laughs youre not guaranteed to get the same response from a different group.

One of the misconceptions that goes with stand-up is that if you tell a joke once then you need to try something completely different the next time. But youre honing jokes and stories all the time. You keeping trying things out and moving them around, and keep working on your material.

Some people are really meticulous in the way they work. Theyll do a script and perform it, but thats not me at all. If I end up with something that gets a laugh its like, yes, keep that!

Explaining a bit about the process, Teresa, who develops educational resources alongside her comedy work, says she tries to record her performances to make sure she can pick out the stand-out moments.

If I remember Ill go on stage with a phone in my pocket to record the audio, she says. But about nine times out of 10 Ill forget to press record. You sort of work as you go, but if you get a big laugh its like, tick, that one stays in.

Posting stuff up online doesnt have the same effect. Youll maybe get someone writing LOL under something youve done, but theres nothing quite as good as an audience laughing  or as loud as the echo of silence in a venue if people dont like what youre doing!

And with all of us living through such an extraordinary time, Teresa, who is working with the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival at the end of this month, says carrying on with comedy is a must.

You can joke about anything in the right way, she says.

At the absurdity, at how absolutely utterly bizarre the whole thing is. Every now and again, even after all this time I sometimes think to myself, is this actually happening? Have our lives transformed this much?

I think we have to laugh about it. Northern Ireland has been through some really dark times and I think it was the people who carried on laughing that kept us going.

I find comedy therapeutic myself. Youve got to stay positive, and even if its just a distraction, well I think thats okay.

Having a distraction and a laugh can be a good thing, because its worth remembering everything will come back eventually  and as crazy as its been, not all the jokes will be about lockdown. Well find other things to laugh about too.

'We're so excited about our baby's arrival, although being pregnant in a pandemic is daunting'

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She's the star of Soft Border Patrol, Derry Girls and Give My Head Peace - and now Diona Doherty is getting ready to become a mum for the first time.

Due in March, the 31-year-old, along with stand-up husband Sean Hegarty, has seen big disruption to her work through the course of the pandemic, but with the arrival of her much longed-for baby just weeks away, Diona is looking on the bright side.

"We're so excited the baby is coming, but being pregnant with your first baby in a pandemic is pretty daunting," she says. "I haven't had the same hands-on appointments women normally get, so it's felt a bit skeleton at times.

"On the other hand, I had four plays I was supposed to have done in 2020 since being pregnant. I was so sick, it was like a blessing in disguise that I managed to get out of them without having to cancel."

Combining acting and stand-up with writing for TV, stage and radio, Diona's workload is diverse, so she's managed to keep on going while live gigs have been cancelled.

"At the beginning I shed tears over it," recalls the comic. "Literally everything I had was cancelled within in the space of four or five days. I was devastated because at that stage there were no grants yet, and at the beginning the self-employed were very much excluded."

Some TV work has carried on though - although the filming process was far from the norm.

Expand Close Diona Doherty stars alongside Marty Reid (Uncle Andy) in a recent episode of Give My Head Peace / Facebook

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"We shot Give My Head Peace with these massive two metre wooden sticks between every actor," laughs Diona. "It was really strict but it worked in keeping us within the rules.

"They were there literally on set to measure out the space between each actor and we had our temperatures checked the whole time."

And with all the disruption to work, Diona and Sean, who has three sons from a previous relationship, took the opportunity to chase their IVF baby dream during the summer, opting for treatment in the Czech Republic.

"We'd tried IVF before and were unsuccessful," says Diona.

"And then we'd started a round in March but it got cancelled with everything going on, so we said we'd hang on until November - which at the time, we thought meant everything with Covid would be totally done and dusted.

"But then at the end of that first brutal lockdown we thought, let's just go for it, because we realised the same thing could happen again.

"It was as good a time as any because all my work was cancelled too, and being pregnant as an actor isn't all that easy."

To the couple's delight, Diona found out she was expecting a baby girl.

"I'm pretty confident we've got a good year coming," says Diona. "Of course it'll be weird with a baby in the mix - I've not had that to deal with before - but we'll handle it. I guess that's one of the beauties and the downsides of working the way we do. I'll take some time off with the baby, but if a job comes up, I'll jump in and do it, but then at other times I'll have lots of time to enjoy it all. We'll muck in and figure it out, things have worked out so far!"

You cant beat a live audience

Stand-up comedian Sean Hegarty (37) is one of the best-known names on Northern Irelands comedy beat. But with gigs pushed back, figuring out what comes next workwise hasnt been easy.

Its all good, says Sean, who lives in Craigavon with wife Diona Doherty. Its just important to try and stay positive and look at the bigger picture because there are people a lot worse off than us.

Its probably the same for a lot of people who do this work, but its the social side of it you miss a lot, interacting with other comedians and the audience. Everything is online now so its a bit of a strange time, but you just have to get on with things.

And with a baby on the way in the spring, Sean is staying fit and positive.

With the baby coming, theres a big build up, he says. So Im definitely focusing on keeping busy. In the last lockdown I took on running massively.

I ran my first marathon when I was 18, so back then I thought, right Ill train for my second now. It was 18 years on from the first one that I trained for my second  I was 36. I downloaded an app and away I went. I felt quite fit and everything, so it was good.

With his second marathon completed, Sean turned his attention to raising money when he read a story about a local school being vandalised.

It was a school near our house, and when I found out what had happened I did another marathon to help raise funds to help with the repairs, he says. It was good. Im still running now, and Diona and I joined a gym a few months ago, but thats closed now with the restrictions.

Making his mark across Northern Ireland and beyond, Sean says getting back in front of an audience is key for comedians.

You buzz off that normally, he says. You cant beat the feeling of coming off stage when youve had a good reception. Social media goes mad, you get more followers, and it all kicks on from there.

Without that its quite sad, but Im sure all stand-ups must feel the same. You post a video online and you have to look later to see the likes and shares, but when you tell a joke the reaction is instant and you know straight away if youre doing a good job. You cant beat that live, raw feeling. Its an intimate sort of thing you go through, on a sort of a journey with the audience, all these strangers in a room laughing at the same thing.

I hope when things get back to normal that the audiences are up for getting out to comedy nights again. I think some will be socially anxious, and I suppose thats to be expected. Like when will it be acceptable to sit in a packed-out room again? But I hope people will want to get back out again. We need it, people need to laugh.

I have regressed in many ways to my teenage self

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He's one of Northern Irelands top funnymen, but in a single hour last March, Micky Bartlett lost a years worth of work.

I was making a podcast one afternoon and pressed record at 4pm, recalls the 33-year-old. By the time I turned it off an hour later, my whole calendar had been wiped clean. Im laughing now, but at the time I was in complete shock, the same as everyone else back then. I didnt think at the start of the first lockdown it would last three weeks  and look where we are now.

With more gigs lined up than ever and tours across the world, last year should have been the big one for the comic.

Its one of those things, like 2020 could have been my year, he says. Well it felt a bit like that anyway. I was due to finish a tour of Northern Ireland, then a tour of the UK, then Australia, back for the Edinburgh Fringe before returning to Australia, with other gigs in between.

Then all of a sudden, the whole thing was gone. My whole schedule was wiped. Its been mad, but not all bad. Ive become really good at drinking and taking naps. In fact I slept through most of 2020. Did anything happen?

Moving back home with his parents in Lurgan, Co Armagh, comedian Micky admits hes had the odd strop through the course of the pandemic.

Well before all this I basically didnt have a home, he says. I was an on-the-road comedian for two years so I just felt like I didnt really need a house, and then all of a sudden here I am at home with two pensioners.

Its not cool, and its just really been an experience of my parents realising how much of a mess I am. I think they had their suspicions anyway to be fair, but its all been confirmed in black and white now.

If Im being serious, I think it would have been a lot worse if Id been on my own.

It must be hard for people living by themselves sometimes, although I have regressed in many ways to my teens, which isnt great. Ive been known to say things like, no one understands me, this is a prison, why is there nothing to eat? Things like that.

And my wee sister is out with her mortgage and her kids and all that, so the contrast is quite clear with me here locked in the house with two very disappointed people.

But lifting the mood, Micky has learned to embrace what he calls a manly form of yoga.

Its called DDP Yoga, and its like this really toxic, masculine yoga, which is why its okay for me to do it, he says. Its all the same stretching and farting and things like normal yoga, except sometimes someone will shout, Okay brother! Its a general fitness thing for me. I put on weight in the first lockdown with the drinking, so I had to do something.

With such a lot of work cancelled last year, Micky is hopeful things will start looking up as 2021 carries on.

I really miss the live audiences, 100%, he says.

Thats the best bit, the immediate feedback and the excitement of it. Ive been doing it over 10 years and I just love it.

I think its one of those things, theres a certain point where the comedian version of me and the real me are the same.

I cant really do anything else. I have some gigs booked in for later in the year and hopefully theyll be able to go ahead.

The whole situation is so weird and insane, how much our lives have changed and how we reckon the politicians have handled it, well its a comedians job to make fun of all that.
As the fascist coup incited by outgoing US President Donald Trump unfolded in Washington on January 6, New Zealands Labour-led government responded, like political leaders around the world, with a mixture of nervousness and evasion.

Several hours after the coup began playing out in the local media, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern released a statement on Twitter. Avoiding any real characterisation of the Washington events, Ardern declared: I share the sentiment of friends in the USwhat is happening is wrong. Democracythe right of people to exercise a vote, have their voice heard and then have that decision upheld peacefully should never be undone by a mob.

Jacinda Ardern [Credit: Wikimedia Commons]

She concluded by saying: I have no doubt that democracy will prevaila complacent remark that deliberately obscures the seriousness of what was taking place in Washington.

Ardern, whose Labour-led government was re-elected last October, has regularly been portrayed in the worlds media, entirely falsely, as a progressive and compassionate leaderthe antithesis to Trump. Her silence over Trumps key role in the attempted coup, which is far from over, proves the opposite.

Even over the past week, as Trump faced impeachment while continuing to defend his seditious speech as totally appropriate, and with evidence emerging of more planned fascist violence, Arden has made no further comment. Her continued silence speaks volumes.

In fact, Ardern has, throughout her more than three years in office, enjoyed a close relationship with the White House. The Trump administration played a significant role in Ardern forming government following the 2017 election. US ambassador Scott Brown, a Trump appointee, made extraordinary public statements criticising the National Partys reluctance to fully align with US threats against North Korea.

In the wake of Browns intervention, the racist and nationalist NZ First Party announced it would form a coalition with Labour and the Greens. Arderns government rested centrally on NZ First, despite it receiving just 7.2 percent of votes in the 2017 election. Ardern handed several critical ministries to NZ First. Party leader Winston Peters became both deputy prime minister and foreign minister, and Ron Mark the defence minister.

The Trump-like NZ First for years fomented anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim chauvinism, similar to that in the fascist manifesto of the Christchurch terrorist Brenton Tarrant. Before taking office, NZ First and Labour both campaigned against Chinese immigration and Beijings influence in the Pacific, seeking to align New Zealand with the US economic and military build-up against China. The deeply unpopular NZ First is effectively moribund after getting just 2.6 percent of the vote in the election last year.

During the 2020 campaign both Ardern and National Party leader Judith Collins pledged to work with Trump if he remained in office. Neither criticised Trumps threats to ignore the US election outcome and carry out a coup, or his incitement of fascist violence. Collins praised Trumps foreign policy record, dishonestly declaring he had done stuff with Israel and UAE that proved he wasnt ready to rush into war.

As the WSWS has pointed out, the coup attempt on January 6, incited and directed by Trump, was a watershed in the erosion of democratic norms and a turn to dictatorship in the centre of world imperialism. Under conditions of explosive social polarisation and rising class struggles, exacerbated by the disastrous COVID-19 pandemic, the ruling classes around the world, including in New Zealand, are turning to authoritarianism and fascism.

There is certainly alarm in New Zealands political establishment over the implications of the January 6 coup plot. Opposition leader Collins repeated that the US events were a disgraceful attack on democracy and called for a peaceful and orderly transition of power. Despite widespread evidence of prior planning of the coup, former Labour prime minister and ex-UN official Helen Clark claimed; never in ones wildest imagination could one have envisaged the dangerous events involving mob violence unfolding in Washington DC.

The countrys ruling elite relies on its decades-long strategic partnership with the US to advance its imperialist interests in the Asia-Pacific. Welcoming Bidens electoral victory in November, Ardern emphasised that her administration had enjoyed positive and cooperative relations with the United States over the period of the Trump administration, especially in the Indo-Pacific and Pacific Island regions, and wanted this to continue.

At the same time, there has been support for Trump in the New Zealand ruling elites. Sections of big business and the media have repeatedly praised Trump for his purported achievementsboosting the stock market to unprecedented heights and imposing vicious levels of inequality while militarily confronting China and Russia.

In response to the greatest crisis of capitalism since the Great Depression the NZ ruling class is rapidly moving to the right. The Labour-Green Party coalition government is presiding over soaring social inequality and poverty. Its main response to the COVID-19 crisis has been to hand out billions of dollars to big business. Meanwhile tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs and 30 percent of households have reported a drop in income this year.

Acutely aware of broad disillusionment among the working class with the entire political establishment, the ruling class, as in the US and Europe, is promoting nationalism and xenophobia while strengthening the state in preparation for violent crackdowns on resistance to deepening attacks on the jobs, social position and basic rights of working people.

This has encouraged the emergence of far-right and fascist groups, which are being elevated and protected by the political establishment. On Thursday, a pro-Trump freedom rally, led by media figure Billy Te Kahika, attracted 50 protesters outside the parliament building in Wellington, which was vandalised in an axe attack two days earlier.

The recently released report of the inquiry into Tarrants 2019 terror attack on two Christchurch mosques, in which 51 people died, has meanwhile white-washed the state agencies and suppressed evidence of the growing threat of fascist networks. In response, Ardern has promised to significantly increase the resources of the intelligence agencies and introduce tougher hate speech lawsmeasures that will be ultimately used against the working class.
On Friday afternoon the Ministry of Health published the planned schedule for vaccine dose allocations for the Grand Duchy. Once all vaccination centres have opened, 25,000 people can be vaccinated per week, Minister of Health Paulette Lenert said.

Luxembourg will receive 16,000 doses in January, 25,500 in February and 35,100 in March. Up until the end of March, 43,200 people in the country will be able to get the two-jab vaccine. While these figures derive from agreements made with the European Commission, they remain theoretical until all producers are given authorisation by the EMA.

On Monday 18 January the Limpertsberg vaccination centre will open its doors, where 7,600 vaccinations can be given per week.

While BioNTech/Pfizer have planned to deliver vaccines every week, this schedule may see changes following the announcement that the producer has had to scale back production in order to expand the site in Puurs, Belgium. February would see an increase in doses being shipped again.

Moderna's deliveries are less frequent.

Other vaccines are expected to be confirmed by the EMA in the coming weeks; AstraZeneca in January and Johnson & Johnson in February.

All in all, Luxembourg has signed agreements with the European Commission to purchase a sufficient number of vaccines for at least 1,2 million people in the Grand Duchy, totalling in 2,226,355 vaccines. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one jab.
New Delhi:

With the commencement of presidential election, the BJP's electoral victory in the recent assembly polls is set to help its nominee get elected as the next president of India.

The BJP has initiated moves to reach out to the Opposition parties on selecting a consensus candidate for the upcoming presidential poll.

But the party's victories in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have ensured that its share in the electoral college, which would elect the next president, goes up significantly.

The term of President Pranab Mukherjee is coming to an end on July 24 and the nomination process for the July 17 poll began on Wednesday.

Read more: Prez poll: PM Modi invites Uddhav Thackeray for dinner to discuss strategy

The electoral college which elects the president through the system of proportional representation comprises elected MPs and members of state legislative assemblies -- a total of 4,896 voters including 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs.

While 233 are elected members of the Rajya Sabha, 543 are from the Lok Sabha.

While the Lok Sabha Speaker, an elected member, can vote, two nominated members from the Anglo-Indian community in the Lok Sabha and 12 nominated MPs in the Rajya Sabha cannot.

The value of an MLA's vote depends on the size of the state he or she represents. But the value of the vote of an MP is the same and does not vary.

The total value of the electoral college is 10,98,882. Before the assembly polls, the NDA was short of 75,076 votes in terms of value. But after BJP's astounding performance in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur, the gap will narrow down to 20,000 votes, an official in the Election Commission explained.

If it is able to get the support of parties like AIADMK with 134 MLAs and BJD with 117 MLAs, it can see the person of its choice in the Rashtrapati Bhawan easily.

Read more: Opposition leaders meet to discuss Presidential election strategy

In the 243-member Rajya Sabha, the BJP as of now has 56 members, while the Congress with 59 is the single largest party.

With wins in assembly polls, the BJP is set to emerge as the single largest party in the Rajya Sabha too next year and the NDA's tally would be close to 100. It would, however, still be short of a majority in the upper house.

Mayawati's BSP, which finished a poor third in Uttar Pradesh with a tally of just 19 seats, will not be in a position to send her to the Rajya Sabha again when her current term ends next year.

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This week: Pitkin Countys front line workers are eligible for the COVID19 vaccine, but can your employer require you to get vaccinated? Also a look at the two back-to-back worldwide ski events Aspen is hosting beginning March 10. Host Alycin Bektesh is joined by Madeleine Osberger, Erica 
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An additional 200 Connecticut National Guard personnel will be deployed to Washington ahead of the presidential transition next week, Gov. Ned Lamonts office said Friday evening.

The additional authorization signed by Lamont on Friday brings Connecticuts total contribution to more than 300, a news release said. The personnel will aid and facilitate the peaceful transition of presidential power for the upcoming inauguration, the release said.

A 1st Armored Division soldier at Fort Bliss, Texas has been charged with sexually assaulting three women over the past year, including a fellow soldier who was found dead a year on New Year's Eve.

Pfc. Christian G. Alvarado, of 1st Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment, was arraigned on Thursday in a general court-martial hearing and charged with three counts of sexual assault, one count of aggravated assault and two counts of making a false statement to Army investigators, according to a Jan. 7 charge sheet.

Alvarado is accused of raping Fort Bliss soldier Pfc. Asia Graham on Dec. 30, 2019, while she was "unconscious," according to the charge sheet. Graham, who was assigned to the same battalion as Alvarado, died a year later on Dec. 31 after she was found unresponsive in her barracks room.

Army Times was first to report this story Friday.

Read Next: Army Offers $25,000 Cash Reward for Tips on Drill Sergeant's Murder

Alvarado is also charged with raping an unidentified woman on May 8 in the El Paso, Texas area. The victim was allegedly "incapable of consenting to the sexual act because she was impaired by ... alcohol, and the accused knew or should have known of that condition," the charge sheet states.

On August 26, Alvarado was charged with the sexual assault and ggravated assault of another unidentified woman near Fort Bliss, according to the charge sheet.

Fort Bliss spokeswoman Lt. Col. Allie Payne told Military.com said the Army would not say if the two unidentified women in the case were soldiers because of privacy concerns.

Graham was 19 and a native of Cherryville, North Carolina. The investigation into her death is still ongoing, but Army Criminal Investigation Command, or CID, does not suspect foul play, according to Fort Bliss officials, who are awaiting the results of an autopsy for the cause of death.

Graham had reported her sexual assault to her chain of command on June 1. The findings of an investigation conducted from June to October prompted Graham's brigade commander on Nov. 3 to order an Article 32 investigative hearing that was held for Alvarado on Dec. 1.

On Jan. 8, Maj. Gen. Sean Bernabe, the general court-martial convening authority for the case, ordered the referral of charges against Alvarado to general court-martial.

A trial date has not been scheduled for Alvarado, who entered the Army in July 2018 and arrived at Bliss in February 2019.

"As a reminder to the Fort Bliss community, charges are merely accusations and Pfc. Alvarado, like all Americans, is presumed innocent until proven guilty," according to a Fort Bliss news release.

The charges against Alvarado come six months after the Army was shocked by the death of Spc. Vanessa Guillen. Guillen, a soldier at Fort Hood, Texas, was allegedly murdered by a fellow 3rd Cavalry Regiment soldier shortly after going missing from the base. The case prompted Army leaders to launch an independent review of the leadership at Hood, resulting in the finding that the chain of command allowed a culture of sexual harassment and sexual assault to fester unchecked.

Army leaders are now working to take action on 70 recommendations that came out of that review. Among other findings, investigators found major flaws Army's Sexual Harassment and Assault Response Prevention (SHARP) program at Hood which leaders suspect may be an Army-wide problem.

Separate from the Fort Hood independent review, the Army selected Gen. John Murray, commanding general of Army Futures Command, and one of the Army's most senior commanders, to lead an in-depth investigation into the chain of command's actions related to Guillen.

Graham joined the Army in July 2019 and arrived at Bliss in Dec. 2019 after completing basic combat training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and advanced individual training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina to become a human resource specialist.

Col. Geoffrey Whittenberg, commander of the 1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade, said Graham's unit was "deeply saddened" by death.

"Pfc. Graham was a valued member of the Iron Eagle team and did an outstanding job for this battalion," Whittenberg said in a Jan. 2 news release put out after Graham's death. "Her loss is felt not just in our formations but across the Army. We lost a skilled human resource specialist who wanted nothing more than to serve her country and her battle buddies."

Graham's awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Related: 'Gravely Disappointed:' 14 Fort Hood Leaders Fired, Suspended in Wake of Vanessa Guillen Murder
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  True Health New Mexico has been acquired by a Minnesota-based company pending regulatory approval, officials announced in a news release this week.

True Health parent company Evolent Health has agreed to sell the firm to Minneapolis-based Bright Health Management Inc. for $22 million, plus excess above capital reserves, said True Health president and CEO Mark Epstein.

True Health members, providers and brokers should not notice any difference day-to-day  the companys medical management services and plan products will stay the same, as will ID cards, he said. Evolent will continue to provide back-office administrative services and clinical program support, and True Healths branding will not change. The company will maintain its Albuquerque headquarters, its leadership team will stay in place, and no layoffs are expected among True Healths 65 or so staff members.

All the operational aspects that our key stakeholders experience will stay the same, Epstein said.  Basically what is going to change is we have a new investor owner who through 2021 and beyond will continue to invest in New Mexico and True Health New Mexico to help us grow our services and our platform.  What people will notice over time is growing offerings and opportunities.

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True Health New Mexico, which was founded about three years ago, has roughly 34,000 members after the latest open enrollment period. The company doesnt offer Medicaid programs, but serves about a quarter of New Mexicans who use have individual insurance through healthcare.gov, and significant portions of the small group and large group insurance markets as well, according to Epstein.

The deal is still subject to approval by the New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance.

Epstein said Friday the company is on track to get them all the right forms, and he doesnt see any obstacles. He said he expects the deal to close in the first half of 2021  or ideally in the first quarter.
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Resident doctors at New Delhis Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital have written to the Medical Superintendent asking for them to be vaccinated against COVID-19 using the Covishield vaccine instead of Covaxin.

In the letter dated January 16, the Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) said its present members are a "bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial in case of Covaxin." The doctors said that Covaxin manufactured by Bharat Biotech was being preferred at the hospital's vaccination site over Covishield produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII). Covaxin is still undergoing phase-3 trials.

The association further claimed that due to this apprehension, resident doctors "might not participate in huge numbers, thus defeating the purpose of vaccination."

"We request you to vaccinate us with Covishield which has completed all stages of the trail before its rollout," the letter reads.

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COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

India began its massive COVID-19 vaccination exercise on January 16. Priority is being given to healthcare and frontline workers, who had already been registered on the purpose-built CoWIN application.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved both vaccines  Covishield and Covaxin  for restricted emergency use. However, beneficiaries will not be able to choose between the two jabs.

While launching the vaccination drive on January 16, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also asked the people to be aware of propaganda and rumours about the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved for public use in India.

Our Indian scientists and experts have guaranteed the safety of the vaccine, so the people of the country must not listen to any kind of propaganda and rumours surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine, PM Modi said.

COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker: All you need to know about manufacturing and pricing

As of January 16, India had reported more than 1.05 crore confirmed COVID-19 cases. The death toll from the outbreak in the country stood at over 1.52 lakh. While more than 1.01 crore patients had recovered, 2.11 lakh cases remained active. Globally, more than 9.32 crore individuals have been infected by the virus and over 20 lakh people have died so far.

A speedy rollout of vaccines is being seen as the best way to curb the spread of COVID-19 and restore normalcy in the pandemic-battered global economy. More than 50 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have already vaccinated a large number of people from high-risk groups.

The Centre is hoping to vaccinate 30 crore people by July, in a bid to stop the novel coronavirus pandemic.

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Australian nickel players are well-placed to benefit from the continued rise in the nickel price and forecast increased demand over the next 15 years.

The metal is a critical component for steel production and is used in EV batteries

Nickel is sitting above US$17,000/tonne and continues its steady climb as analysts forecast high demand in the coming years of post-COVID-19 recovery.

The price has risen almost 60% since hitting US$11,000/tonne in mid-March, 2020, partly due to increased demand from China for nickel in stainless steel  for which around 68% of the worlds supply is used.

Prices of Chinese iron ore futures have also risen, putting further upward pressure on prices and nickel stocks held in Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses have fallen to 18,361 tonnes - the lowest since mid-2019.

Conversely, stocks in LME-registered warehouses are over 240,000 tonnes, the highest since mid-2018.

Vital for energy transition

Demand is also growing from the electric vehicle market, which is expected to hit A$1.1 billion by 2027, with nickel being one of the key components of batteries.

According to Wood Mackenzie vice chairman of metals and mining Julian Kettle, the energy transition starts and ends with metals.

He said: If you want to generate, transmit or store low/no-carbon energy you need aluminium, cobalt, copper, nickel and lithium.

For renewable energy generation and storage and electric vehicles and associated infrastructure, the world will require an additional 50 million tonnes of aluminium, 23 million tonnes of copper, 500,000 tonnes of cobalt, 3.5 million tonnes of lithium and 3.1 million tonnes of nickel.

Kettle said: These heady growth scenarios will double the aluminium, copper and nickel market over the next 20 years.

One can argue about both the pace and scale of the energy transition but the criticality of metals to its realisation is without question.

EV uptake growing steadily

Wood Mackenzie principal analyst transportation and mobility Ram Chandrasekaran predicts that worldwide electric vehicle sales will be close to 4 million, (up 74% from 2020) this year due to the stimulus programs in many countries including EV support in plans to offset the economic impact of the pandemic.

Notably, China extended its subsidy policies to 2022 and several EU countries have increased subsidies for EVs, as well as more stringent emissions targets.

Chandrasekaran said: The new US administration has also pledged to support EVs and is expected to drop the Federal Governments opposition to Californias more stringent fuel economy and vehicle emissions standards.

Those trends all point to a year of rapid growth in 2021, although EVs will still be only about 5% of total worldwide vehicle sales.

The nickel price is currently above US$17,000/tonne.

Australian nickel players

The strong price and forecast demand bodes well for ASX-listed nickel hopefuls, including ( ) (FRA:T59), ( ) ( ), ( ) ( ) and ( ).

Auroch Minerals

Auroch will commence RC drilling next week at the high-grade Nepean Nickel Project in WA and is well-positioned to leverage the strong nickel price.

Managing director Aidan Platel said: With the nickel price already well over US$17,000/t and forecast to continue to rise significantly over the next few years, 2021 will be a transformational year for Auroch as we consolidate our existing highgrade nickel sulphide resources and move towards scoping studies, whilst at the same time continue to aggressively explore for new nickel discoveries.

Chalice Mining

Chalice saw its shares skyrocket in the back of a globally significant, high-grade PGE-nickel-copper-cobalt discovery at its Julimar project in Western Australia last year and recently received a key access approval to additional exploration areas at the project.

Managing director Alex Dorsch said: This access approval has been eagerly anticipated and is highly significant, as it allows us to finally start to understand the true scale of the Julimar discovery.

The company is fully funded going forwards with around $120 million in cash to continue its 6-rig resource definition drill program and reconnaissance exploration activities at Julimar.

Blackstone Minerals

Blackstone is developing the Ta Khoa project in Northern Vietnam and has started drilling the high priority nickel-copper-PGE target at the King Snake prospect.

Nine active drill rigs are currently continuing activity at KCZ, Ban Chang, Ta Cuong and Ban Khoa.

A maiden resource at the Ban Chang target is being targeted for the first quarter of 2021 and the company has also started metallurgical testing on the Ban Phuc DSS deposit with an aim to develop a flow sheet for a product suitable for the lithium-ion battery industry.

Legend Mining

Legend has had substantial exploration success at the nickel-copper Rockford project in Western Australias prolific Fraser Range, announcing in December that it identified new nickel-copper targets in the areas northwest.

The company is encouraged by the definition of three new target areas on wide-spaced aircore drilling and considers this validation of its exploration approach in identifying key areas across the Rockford project and defining new drill targets.

Legend will now follow-up with reverse circulation and diamond drilling at the Hurley prospect and will design a 2021 regional aircore drilling program targeting aeromagnetic and gravity targets across the project.
Dharamsala:

A private tourist bus from Amritsar fell into a gorge near Dhaliara, around 60 km from here, killing at least 10 passengers and injuring 30 others.

The deceased are yet to be identified, Dharamsala Superintendent of Police S Gandhi said.

The injured have been rushed to Tanda Medical College in Kangra, the officer said.

Last month, In a tragic incident, around 29 pilgrims from Madhya Pradesh were killed when their bus fell into Bhagirathi river near Nalupani while returning from Gangotri shrine in the Himalayas.

Himachal Pradesh: 10 died, at least 30 injured after a bus carrying pilgrims from Punjab, met with an accident near Dhaliara in Kangra. pic.twitter.com/RPg7OEyirP  ANI (@ANI_news) June 15, 2017

The mishap had occurred at around 6 pm as the bus fell 300 metres down the road into the river, Uttarkashi District Magistrate Ashish Shrivastava had informed.

Also Read | Uttarakhand: 29 pilgrims from Madhya Pradesh killed as bus falls into Bhagirathi river

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WASHINGTON - When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced this week that the federal government would begin releasing coronavirus vaccine doses that had been held in reserve for second shots, no such reserve existed, according to state and federal officials briefed on distribution plans. The Trump administration had already begun shipping out what was available, starting at the end of December, taking second doses for the two-dose regimen directly off the manufacturing line.

Now, health officials across the country who had anticipated their extremely limited vaccine supply as much as doubling beginning next week are confronting the reality that their allocations will remain largely flat, dashing hopes of dramatically expanding access for millions of elderly people and those with high-risk medical conditions. Health officials in some cities and states were informed in recent days about the reality of the situation, while others were still in the dark Friday.

Because both of the vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States are two-dose regimens, the Trump administration's initial policy was to hold back second doses to protect against manufacturing disruptions. But that approach shifted in recent weeks, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

Operation Warp Speed, which is overseeing vaccine distribution, stopped stockpiling second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the end of last year, those officials were told. Shipping of the last reserve doses of Moderna's supply, meanwhile, began over the weekend.

The shift, in both cases, had to do with increased confidence in the supply chain, so Operation Warp Speed leaders felt they could reliably anticipate the availability of doses for booster shots - required three weeks later in the case of the Pfizer-BioNTech product and four weeks later under Moderna's protocol.

But it also meant there was no stockpile of second doses waiting to be shipped, as Trump administration officials suggested this week. Azar, at a briefing Tuesday, said, "Because we now have a consistent pace of production, we can now ship all of the doses that had been held in physical reserve." He explained the decision as part of the "next phase" of the nation's vaccination campaign.

Those in line for their second shots are still expected to get them on schedule because second doses are prioritized over first shots and states are still receiving regular vaccine shipments. But state and local officials say they are angry and bewildered by the shifting directions and changing explanations about supply. Their anxiety was deepened by projections that a highly contagious virus variant would spread rapidly throughout the United States and as daily covid-19 deaths averaged 3,320 this week.

The health director in Oregon, Patrick Allen, was so disturbed that he wrote Azar on Thursday demanding an explanation. In his letter, he recounted how Gustave Perna, the chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, had "informed us there is no reserve of doses, and we are already receiving the full allocation of vaccines."

"If true, this is extremely disturbing, and puts our plans to expand eligibility at grave risk," Allen wrote. "Those plans were made on the basis of reliance on your statement about 'releasing the entire supply' you have in reserve. If this information is accurate, we will be unable to begin vaccinating our vulnerable seniors on Jan. 23, as planned."

HHS spokesman Michael Pratt confirmed in an email that the final reserve of second doses had recently been released to states but did not address Azar's comments, saying only, "Operation Warp Speed has been monitoring manufacturing closely, and always intended to transition from holding second doses in reserve as manufacturing stabilizes and we gained confidence in the ability for a consistent flow of vaccines."

But the explanations by the federal government were conflicting. The 13 million doses made available for states to order this week - for delivery next week - represented "millions more" than in previous weeks, Pratt said. He also said states have not requested the full amount they have been allocated.

Guidance circulated Friday among HHS officials acknowledged, however, that "the notion that there is a large bolus of second doses that will be released to jurisdictions is not accurate." And state and municipal health officials said their allocations for next week had increased only marginally, if at all.

Chicago Public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady said her city's share had gone from about 32,000 doses to 34,000 doses. "I have stopped paying a whole lot of attention to what is being said verbally at the federal level right now," she said.

Nirav Shah, the director of Maine's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said he learned only Friday, by calling his state's designated contact at Warp Speed, that the reserve no longer existed.

Maine still plans to broaden vaccination next week to those 70 and older. "Who is in line will not change," Shah said. "The velocity of that line will change because this bolus of doses that we intuited was coming based on Azar's comments is not coming."

In an email that reached some state officials Friday morning, Christopher Sharpsten, an Operation Warp Speed director, called it a "false rumor" that "the federal government was holding back vaccine doses in warehouses to guarantee a second/booster dose."

In fact, that information had come fromAzar, who said Tuesday that the "next phase" of the country's vaccination campaign involved "releasing the entire supply we have for order by states, rather than holding second doses in physical reserve."

Azar's comments Tuesday followed a Jan. 8 announcement by President-elect Joe Biden's transition team that his administration would move to release all available doses rather than holding half in reserve for booster shots. Biden's advisers said the move would be a way to accelerate distribution of the vaccine, which is in short supply across the country.

Azar initially said the Biden plan was shortsighted and potentially unethical in putting people at risk of missing their booster shots. When he embraced the change four days later, however, he did not say that the original policy had already been phased out or that the stockpile had been exhausted. Trump administration officials and Biden's team alike have sought to reassure the public that increasing the pace of immunizations would not endanger booster shots.

Azar also signaled to states that they would soon see expanded supply, urging them to begin vaccinating adults 65 and older and those under 64 with high-risk medical conditions. Officials in some states embraced that directive, while others said that suddenly putting hundreds of thousands of additional people at the front of the line would overwhelm their capacity.

In subsequent conversations with state and local authorities, federal officials sought to temper those instructions, said people who participated in the conversations. Perna, for instance, spoke directly to officials in at least two of the jurisdictions receiving vaccine supply, explaining that allocations would not increase and that they did not have to broaden eligibility as they had previously been told, according to a health official who was not authorized to discuss the matter.

The revised instructions led some state and local officials to hold off on changes. One state health official noted that the updated eligibility guidance announced Tuesday did not appear on the website of the CDC, even though it was stated as federal policy by Azar and by Robert Redfield, the CDC director, in their remarks. Under the original recommendations, adults 65 and older and front-line essential workers were to comprise the second priority group, known as Phase 1b, after medical workers and residents and staffers of long-term-care facilities.

There was additional confusion from another change Azar announced this week - making allocation of doses dependent on how quickly states administer them. He originally said that would not take effect for two weeks.

But Connecticut Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday tweeted that federal officials had notified him thatthe state would receive an additional 50,000 doses next week "as a reward for being among the fastest states" to get shots into arms. West Virginia, meanwhile, which is moving at the fastest clip, according to CDC data, did not get any additional doses, said Holli Nelson, a spokeswoman for the state's National Guard.

In a sign that the incentive structure may not be long-lived, a senior Biden transition official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to address ongoing deliberations, said this week that the team did not look kindly on a system that "punishes states."

Biden has said he wants to see 100 million shots administered within his first 100 days - an aim that will depend on quickly accelerating the pace of immunization. Together, Pfizer and Moderna have agreed to sell 200 million doses to the United States by the end of March, which is enough to fully vaccinate 100 million people.

- - -

The Washington Post's Jacqueline Dupree, Carolyn Y. Johnson and Laurie McGinley contributed to this report.

President-elect Joe Biden on Saturday filled out his State Department team with a group of former career diplomats and veterans of the Obama administration, signaling his desire to return to a more traditional foreign policy after four years of uncertainty and unpredictability under President Donald Trump.

Biden will nominate Wendy Sherman as deputy secretary of state and Victoria Nuland as undersecretary of state for political affairs - the second- and third-highest ranking posts, respectively. They were among the officials chosen to serve under the incoming secretary of state, Antony Blinken.

The team ``embodies my core belief that America is strongest when it works with our allies,'' Biden said in a statement. He said he was confident ``they will use their diplomatic experience and skill to restore America's global and moral leadership. America is back.''

Among the others are:

-Longtime Biden Senate aide Brian McKeon, to be deputy secretary of state for management.

-Former senior diplomats Bonnie Jenkins and Uzra Zeya, to be under secretary of state for arms control and undersecretary of state of democracy and human rights, respectively.

-Derek Chollet, a familiar Democratic foreign policy hand, to be State Department counselor.

-Former U.N. official Salman Ahmed, as director of policy planning.

-Suzy George, who was a senior aide to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, will be Blinken's chief of staff.

-Ned Price, a former Obama administration National Security Council staffer and career CIA official who resigned in protest in the early days of the Trump administration, will serve as the public face of the department, taking on the role of spokesman.

-Jalina Porter, communications director for Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., who is leaving Congress to work in the White House, will be Price's deputy.

Price and Porter intend to return to the practice of holding daily State Department press briefings, officials said. Those briefings had been eliminated under the Trump administration.

Jeffrey Prescott, a former national security aide when Biden was vice president, is Biden's pick to be deputy ambassador to the United Nations, He would serve under U.N. envoy-designate Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

Five of the 11 are either people of color or LGBTQ. Although most are not household names, all are advocates of multilateralism and many are familiar in Washington and overseas foreign policy circles. Their selections are a reflection of Biden's intent to turn away from Trump's transactional and often unilateral ``America First'' approach to international relations.

Sherman led the Obama administration's negotiations leading to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, from which Trump withdrew, and had engaged in talks over ballistic missiles with North Korea during President Bill Clinton's second term. Nuland served as assistant secretary of state for European Affairs during the Ukraine crisis.

Sherman, McKeon, Nuland, Jenkins and Zeya will require Senate confirmation to their posts while the others will not.

Short link:


Albany, N.Y.  The federal government advised opening Covid vaccine eligibility to millions more people in the last week, but didnt follow up with a boost in supply, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today.

The result? Headaches, frustration, tension and anxiety for New Yorkers, Cuomo said during a press conference in Albany.

All of this volume and it has to go through the point of a needle, literally and figuratively, he said. Thats the situation that the federal government created.

Our constraint is the federal supply. That is creating a scheduling backlog and its creating pressure on what was supposed to be the prioritization process.

Federal officials recommended opening eligibility to people age 65 and up earlier this week and New York agreed. People 75 and up, along with teachers, firefighters, police and others also became eligible or shots Monday.

The universe of people allowed to get vaccinated ballooned from 2.1 million to over 7 million in a day. New York expected more shots would arrive to deal with the increase, Cuomo said.

But there was no federal push to approve new vaccines from other companies and no increase in the amount New York has been getting, he said. In fact, the states weekly allocation dropped from 300,000 doses to 250,000.

New York state doesnt get what it needs, Cuomo said. We have to understand the situation were dealing with, with the supply versus the need. The math just doesnt work.

Appointments at state-run mass vaccination sites like the one at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse are fully booked until April.

Pharmacies involved in the vaccination effort, including Kinney Drugs, also announced their available appointments were snapped up quickly.

New Yorkers eligible for shots have been left checking websites and making phone calls for hours, hoping to secure an appointment. Most have been unsuccessful.

Cuomo pointed out that about 15 million people total in New York will eventually be allowed to get the current vaccines since theyre not yet approved for use in children. Nearly half that number is already eligible.

Cuomo said he tried to negotiate directly with vaccine companies for more doses, but it didnt work. The federal government controls the supply and until it increases, the system in the state will remain stressed, he said.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

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Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598

Dont fall for rumours on COVID-19 vaccine: PM Modi advises Indians

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Jan 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned citizens against rumours about the COVID-19 vaccine.

The PM earlier had kickstarted the vaccine drive. The PM said that the the Indian vaccines are cheaper in comparison to the ones manufactured abroad.

This is the world's largest vaccination program covering the entire length and breadth of the country. A total of 3006 session sites across all States and UTs were virtually connected during the launch.

PM Modi launches vaccination drive, more than 20 crore people to be covered by second phase

The Prime Minister started his speech by paying compliments to the scientists who were associated with the development of the vaccines. He said, usually it takes years to prepare a vaccine but here, in such a short time, not one but two made-in-India vaccine were launched. The Prime Minister cautioned the people to be careful about not missing taking two doses. He said that there will be a gap of one month between the doses. He asked people to keep their guards up even after taking the vaccine as only two weeks after taking the second dose, human body will develop necessary immunity against Corona.

The Prime Minister put the unprecedented scale of the vaccination drive in perspective by informing that, in the first round itself, 3 crore people, which is more than population of at least 100 countries of the world, are being vaccinated. He said that this needs to be taken up to 30 crores in the second round when elderly and people with serious co-morbidities will be vaccinated. He said that there are only three countries- India, USA and China, who have the population of more than 30 crore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

The Prime Minister asked people not to give heed to rumours and conspiracy theories as Indian vaccine scientists, medical system, Indian process and institutional mechanism in this regard is trusted globally and this trust is earned with a consistent track record.

The Prime Minister congratulated the country for a united and brave fight against corona. He termed the Indian response to corona as one of self-confidence and self-reliance. He noted a determination of not to let the confidence weaken in every Indian. He dwelled at length on the contribution of doctors, nurses, para medical staff, ambulance drivers, ASHA workers, sanitation workers, police and other frontline workers who endangered their lives to save other. Some of them didn't even return to their homes as they lost their lives in the fight against the virus, noted a solemn Prime Minister. The frontline warriors brought hope in an environment of despondency and fear, today, by vaccinating them first, country is acknowledging their contribution with gratitude, Shri Modi said.

When PM Modi got emotional while kicking off the historic vaccine drive

Recalling the initial days of the crisis, the Prime Minister noted that India showed alertness and took right decisions at the right moments. Two weeks before the first case, which was detected on 30th January 2020, India had formed High-Level Committee. India had started proper surveillance exactly one year ago from today. On 17th January 2020, India issued its first advisory and India was among the first nations to start screening of passengers at the airports.

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Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 12:46 [IST]
A spicy combination View(s):

Three students capitalise on the yearning for home-food when far from home

In 2017, good friends, far from home, relished a food item prepared by the family of one of them. It was a tasty badhuma, prepared according to a Matara recipe passed down through the generations. Miles from home, despite the varied cuisine of the country they were studying in, the craving for home food was assuaged by this comforting food in a little jar.

When we were students at Monash University in Malaysia, we used to love this preparation our friend always brought with him, says Rushil Pasqual. It was a home-made food with absolutely no preservatives, that could keep for 6-8 months with no refrigeration. We shared this with other friends and family and it became clear that it was a real crowd-pleaser. Understanding the demand, the three friends decided to produce the badhuma commercially and set up operations in Matara.

They started with the classic badhuma  onions, karapincha and various spices; and then branched into other variations, including a vegetarian version. We now produce the Classic badhuma, Sprats badhuma, Cashew badhuma, and a Maldive Fish Sambal.

One would imagine that the pandemic which started in early 2020 would have dealt a blow to a start-up; but on the contrary, Sri Lankans confined to home developed a new-found appreciation for all things home-made. During the pandemic, a lot of home-grown businesses came up. That really helped us, says Rushil. People also took to online shopping more, which worked-out well for the tri who did not have a retail space.

Rushil, together with his collaborators Sachindra Kalansooriya and Satheendra Wickremasurendra are now expanding their business. Production is still mainly based in Matara, but they hope to start producing in Colombo too. We hope to set-up a shop possibly around Kirulapone; we currently operate through partners and deliveries,Rushil explained that in addition to personal vehicles they use Pick-Me and courier services for this.

Customers are largely those who find outabout their products through word-of-mouth, as their reputation precedes them, especially in the Sri Lankans abroad circles.

Showcasing their product at a BMICH exhibition also helped a lot. Now they have established a web page (https://badhuma.com/) in addition to an Instagram(instagram.com/badhuma_sl/) and Facebook (facebook.com/Badhuma.sl/) page through which customers can browse and order jars of the home-made goodness. If you prefer the brick-and-mortar shopping experience you can check out Badhuma products at Home Bargains, Malay Restaurant or Park Street Gourmet.

The young entrepreneurs are now focused on obtaining SLS certification for their products. Theres a lot of demand from Lankans living abroad, especially in Melbourne, and particularly in student circles. We do produce vacuum packs for those travelling abroad who would love to take our products with them, but to export directly we require quality certifications, which we are working on. They are also working on several new products, which they hope to introduce in the coming months.

(NA)
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The frosty relationship between U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop is plunging to sub-zero temperatures.

As Menendezs son, Rob Menendez Jr., considers challenging Fulop in the Jersey City mayor race later this year, the powerful U.S. senator blasted Fulop in a scathing statement Thursday, cautioning Jersey City voters that the mayor would abandon them once they no longer serve his own political ambition.

A spokesman for the mayor responded Friday, accusing Menendez of being hell bent on forcing his son down the throats of Jersey City voters to expand his own political power.

The dueling, remarkably personal statements mark another significant turn in the politicians relationship, which has deteriorated in recent years.

Despite supporting Mayor Fulop in his failed 2017 gubernatorial effort, he chose to undercut my campaign in 2018 when I was running to stand up for New Jersey against President Trump and his allies in the Senate, Menendez said in a statement after The Jersey Journal asked him about the November mayoral election.

This was the same year he again showed his true colors when he attempted to oust (Hudson County Executive) Tom DeGise  a man he previously supported and who supported him  in another failed attempt to enhance the mayors own political standing, Menendez added.

Any Hudson County Democrat who chooses to forget history and Mayor Fulops record of broken promises shouldnt be surprised when he abandons them once they no longer serve his own political ambition.

In response, a Fulop spokesman took direct aim at the senator.

In a way Mayor Fulop feels sorry for Senator Menendez  hes fixated on local politics in Jersey City when he should be focused on critical issues in Washington D.C., Phil Swibinski, a Fulop spokesman, said in an emailed statement. The fact that Rob Menendez Jr. moved to the community only two years ago at his fathers behest and has never been involved in the city before exploring this run for office absolutely reeks of entitlement. This just makes it more clear that local Democrats have made the right decision in supporting Mayor Fulop.

Fulop and Menendez were once close allies. In 2016, the senator backed Fulop when the mayor was considering a bid for governor. But after Fulop unexpectedly withdrew from consideration, his relationship with Menendez reportedly began to splinter.

It deteriorated further a year later, when the senator, under indictment for bribery and corruption charges, got wind that Fulop was considering a bid for his seat if he were convicted and forced to resign. (Fulop denied this.)

After the case ended in a mistrial in 2017, Menendez delivered a now-infamous statement believed to be aimed in part at Fulop: To those who were digging my political grave so they could jump into my seat, I know who you are and I wont forget you.

Then in 2018, Fulop and Union City Mayor and state Sen. Brian Stack made a bid to unseat county executive Tom DeGise. Menendez supported DeGise in his successful re-election campaign, saying he was outraged by the attempt. That same year, Fulop did not attend a Hudson County Democratic Organization fundraiser for the senator, explaining that his absence was an act of protest against the countys contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

But earlier this month, Fulop announced the addition of HCDO President Amy DeGise, the daughter of the county executive, to his slate of City Council candidates. That alliance could be a sign that Rob Menendez Jr. may be hard-pressed to find support within the HCDO if he chooses to run.

Amy DeGise and a spokesman for Tom DeGise could not be reached for comment. In a texted statement, Menendez Jr. said he was Hudson County born and raised and accused Fulop of resorting to false personal attacks.

The one thing I am hell bent on is holding him accountable and working to make this city a better place for all of its residents in whatever way I can, he said.

Previously, both Fulop and Sen. Menendez refrained from publicly calling each other out by name. But this weeks volley served as a stunning escalation between the two.

As Fulop consolidates his political connections across the county, and Menendez set to become chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee next week, both men may feel they have little to lose in taking the gloves off.

A healthcare worker is given the COVID-19 vaccine shot. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is also present at the site.

Vaccinators started inoculating healthcare and frontline workers simultaneously across many states of India, minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the countrys massive COVID-19 vaccination drive.

However, it was not immediately clear as to who was given the first COVID-19 vaccine dose in the country.



#WATCH | Manish Kumar, a sanitation worker, becomes the first person to receive COVID-19 vaccine jab at AIIMS, Delhi in presence of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. pic.twitter.com/6GKqlQM07d

 ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2021

Manish Kumar, a sanitation worker, was the first to get the COVID-19 vaccine shot at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan was also present at the session site. AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria also took the vaccine.

In Karnataka, a healthcare worker was the first to get the vaccine shot. State Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa was present at the event.

In Andhra Pradesh, B Krishna Kumari, a sanitation worker at the Health Department was the first to get the vaccine. In neighbouring Telangana, too, sanitation worker S Krishnamma received the first jab.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show



Gujarat: The Covid-19 vaccination drives begin at Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad in presence of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani & Deputy CM Nitin Patel. pic.twitter.com/rAJMh5HJ1S  ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2021



A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and Union Territories were virtually connected during the event. Authorities had planned vaccinating around 100 beneficiaries at each session site on the inaugural day.

Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the coronavirus pandemic

While launching the vaccination drive, PM Modi said that the unprecedented exercise will help decisively end the coronavirus pandemic. Such a vaccination drive, at such a massive scale, was never conducted in history. There are over 100 countries having less than three crore population and India is administering vaccination to three crore people in first phase itself. In second phase, we have to take this number to 30 crore, the prime minister said.

The prime minister reiterated that those facing the highest risk from the deadly disease will be vaccinated on priority. Our doctors, nurses, medical staff and frontline workers, among others, have a right to be vaccinated first, PM Modi said.

A healthcare worker is given the COVID-19 vaccine shot. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is also present at the site.

PM Modi also said that those getting vaccinated should make sure that they get the second dose  that is to be taken after a gap of around one month.

The prime minister also asked the people to be aware of propaganda and rumours about the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved for public use in India.

Our Indian scientists and experts have guaranteed the safety of the vaccine, so the people of the country must not listen to any kind of propaganda and rumours surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine, PM Modi said.

COVID-19 vaccination drive at Gautam Buddh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh

Priority is being given to healthcare and frontline workers, who had already been registered on the purpose-built CoWIN application. This would be sequentially followed by people with comorbidities, senior citizens and finally, the general public. The Centre is hoping to vaccinate 30 crore people by July, in a bid to stop the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved two vaccines  Covishield and Covaxin  for restricted emergency use. Beneficiaries will not be able to choose between the two jabs.

COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker: All you need to know about manufacturing and pricing

As of January 16, India had reported more than 1.05 crore confirmed COVID-19 cases. The death toll from the outbreak in the country stood at over 1.52 lakh. While more than 1.01 crore patients had recovered, 2.11 lakh cases remained active. Globally, more than 9.32 crore individuals have been infected by the virus and over 20 lakh people have died so far.

A speedy rollout of vaccines is being seen as the best way to curb the spread of COVID-19 and restore normalcy in the pandemic-battered global economy. More than 50 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have already vaccinated a large number of people from high-risk groups.
Goodness and glory, he continued, are not two words that we would use describing our past week when we saw an angry and violent mob seize our United States Capitol and interrupt Congress in its duty of certifying the State Elector votes for President and Vice-President. Such an action has left many of us angry, and hurt. Since then we have entered a typical moment of finger pointing, blame, and holding people responsible for what happened. Such finger pointing is not new. In the very story of creation Adam points his finger at Eve for tempting him with the apple, and Eve points to the snake as the cause for all the trouble. Finger pointing often leads to avoidance of responsibility.
James Murdoch claimed on Friday that U.S. news outlets will be faced with a 'reckoning' after last week's deadly pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the 48-year-old blamed 'media property owners' for unleashing 'insidious and uncontrollable forces' with their support of disinformation about the 2020 election.

James, the youngest son of billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, also claimed that media groups fueled the riot by leading 'a substantial portion' of the public to believe 'a falsehood' about the election.

'The damage is profound,' James said in Friday's interview as he criticized media groups coverage of election fraud.

'The sacking of the Capitol is proof positive that what we thought was dangerous is indeed very, very much so. Those outlets that propagate lies to their audience have unleashed insidious and uncontrollable forces that will be with us for years.'

He did not explicitly mention Fox News, whose board includes his father as chairman and older brother Lachlan as CEO, yet was clearly focused on the right-wing cable network that has been criticized for its coverage of President Trump's election fraud claims.

James Murdoch, pictured left with his father Rupert, was formerly the Deputy Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation but he quit his father's company over the summer

James, the youngest son of billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch , also claimed that media groups fueled the riot by leading 'a substantial portion' of the public to believe 'a falsehood' about the election. Pictured, Trump rioters clash with Capitol police on January 6

The National Guard pictured in D.C. on Saturday amid fears of additional threats to the Capitol. On Friday, James Murdoch placed the blame with the media for fueling the riot

Pictured, members of Pennsylvania 112th Infantry Regiment National Guard in D.C. on Saturday. Murdoch on Friday also accused the media of having unleashed 'insidious and uncontrollable forces' but he did not explicitly mentioned Fox News

James had previously been viewed as heir apparant to Rupert after Lachlan resigned from his executive positions at News Corp. in July 2005. His sister Elisabeth was also regarded as having been in the running. Pictured, James, Elisabeth, Rupert, and Lachlan Murdoch in 2007

Fox executives fear a shake-up as Rupert Murdoch escapes months-long self-quarantine to come to the US Fox executives are said to be fearful a shake-up is on the cards as Rupert Murdoch heads back to the US thanks to the COVID-19 vaccine, courtesy of the UK's NHS. The media mogul, who will turn 90 in March, got the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in recent days, sources told The Daily Beast. The News Corp. boss has reportedly taken a more hands-on role at the right-wing network in recent days alongside his son Lachlan. Top of the priority list is to tackle the decline in ratings seen since Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election in November, insiders said. Multiple insiders told The Daily Beast Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace are both fighting to keep their jobs after taking the lion's share of the blame for the figures. Fox has denied there is any truth to the rumors, issuing a statement that reads: 'Your premise is wrong. It is wishful thinking by our competitors.' Sources said Murdoch and Lachlan are 'disenchanted' with the pair. Murdoch has already made his return known with the announcement of a significant revamp of Fox's daytime scheduling Monday. Changes include Bill Hemmer returning to co-anchoring the network's first two hours of news programming at 9 a.m. and Martha MacCallum moving to the 3 p.m. slot. A new opinion program at 7 p.m. will also replace the news-focused show 'The Story.' Advertisement

James quit his father's media company News Corp. last summer, saying that he was 'increasingly uncomfortable' with News Corp and Fox 'legitimizing disinformation'.

He made the decision to leave after a 24-year career with the company which saw him with work alongside his father to build Newscorp's empire and climb to the role of CEO of 21st Century Fox.

In 2019, he received $2billion in a deal with Walt Disney for 21st Century Fox, ending his time at the helm but he still remained on News Corp.'s board.

James had previously been viewed as heir apparant to Rupert after Lachlan resigned from his executive positions at News Corp. in July 2005.

Yet Lachlan became the golden child once more on his return and was promoted over his younger brother by their father.

His attack Friday came as his father flew back to New York to shake up the network as Fox's rating plummeted in the first two weeks of the year.

Conservatives remained loyal to Fox News throughout Trump's presidency, angered at the coverage on CNN and MSNBC over Trump's first impeachment and the probe into Russian collusion.

Fox's emerging rivals, Newsmax and OAN have continued to falsely claim Trump won the election if it were not for fraud, even as Murdoch's outlets have called on the president to accept defeat.

'I hope that those people who didn't think it was that dangerous now understand, and that they stop,' James added in the Times interview, yet claimed he had not 'seen any evidence of that yet'.

James and his wife, Kathryn Hufschmid, issued a further statement following the interview in which they accused 'media property owners' of chosing to spread 'lies'.

'Spreading disinformation  whether about the election, public health or climate change  has real world consequences,' the statement read.

'Many media property owners have as much responsibility for this as the elected officials who know the truth but choose instead to propagate lies.

'We hope the awful scenes we have all been seeing will finally convince those enablers to repudiate the toxic politics they have promoted once and forever,' it concluded.

Rupert Murdoch with his sons Lachlan Murdoch (left) and James Murdoch (right) in 2016

Rupert and Elisabeth Murdoch who is also in the running to take over as heir

In his resignation letter, James cited 'disagreements over certain editorial content'

James formerly served as the chief executive of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019.

He is known as the more liberal Murdoch brother, while older brother Lachlan's views seem to be more aligned with those of his conservative father.

James Murdoch quit his father's media empire because it was 'legitimizing disinformation' In July 2020, James Murdoch handed in his resignation letter for his final board position within News Corp. James' letter 'disagreements over certain editorial content published by the company's news outlets'. The 48-year-old told the New York Times that he 'pulled the rip cord' because he was 'increasingly uncomfortable' with News Corp and Fox 'legitimizing disinformation' and denying climate change. Murdoch told the Times it was 'not that hard a decision' to stand down from News Corp because of major disagreements with his father and brother Lachlan over the running of the business. He had voiced criticism about Fox the previous year. Yet prior to this, James had been in line to take over his father's empire, battling it out with brother Lachlan He was leapfrogged for promotion by Lachlan despite staying loyal to his father Advertisement

James split from the company in a dramatic exit in July 2020 when he left the News Corps. board completely, citing in a letter 'disagreements over certain editorial content'.

A spokesperson for him and his wife also told the Daily Beast in January 2020 - before his split from the empire - that the couple disagreed 'with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage' on climate change.

The comments were made as wildfires ripped through Murdoch's native Australia.

'Kathryn and James's views on climate are well established and their frustration with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage of the topic is also well known.

'They are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary,' their statement read.

The 'denials' were in reference to allegations arsonists and not climate change were to blame for the destructive wildfires.

At the time, his comments were perceived as 'unprecedented' and sparked speculation of a feud within the family since he rarely spoke publicly about his role in the business.

He also told the New Yorker in 2019: 'There are views I really disagree with on Fox.'

Despite his family's conservative-leaning media outlets, James and his wife have recently made significant donations to Democrats, including former presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg and President-elect Joe Biden.

He, along with Rupert Murdochs five other children, received up to $2billion in 2019 from the break-up of the familys media empire and the sale of its entertainment businesses to Walt Disney.

Yet the merger left him out of work and appeared to cause friction between father and son.

'There are periods of time when we do not,' James told the New Yorker of speaking with his former boss after the deal.

In 2020, James, and his wife Kathryn (pictured together above) spoke out against the family business for promoting climate change 'denials' during the Australian bushfire crisis

James and his wife Kathryn (pictured above) have become more vocal in their criticism

THE MURDOCH FAMILY MEDIA EMPIRE RUPERT MURDOCH, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF NEWS CORP The Australian-born mogul began building his media empire in Australia by acquiring numerous publications in the 1950s, before entering the British newspaper market in 1969, and expanding to the US in 1974. He founded News Corporation in 1980, which quickly evolved into one of the largest media groups in the world owning assets in print, news, and television. In 2013, News Corporation split into two sister companies, News Corp and 21st Century Fox. The latter was later rebranded as Fox Corporation after the majority of its assets were sold to The Walt Disney Company in 2019. Murdoch currently serves as the executive chairman of News Corp and the chairman of Fox Corporation. He is estimated to be worth $17billion. LACHLAN MURDOCH, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF FOX CORPORATION, CO-CHAIR OF NEWS CORP Lachlan Murdoch, 49, the eldest of the Murdoch sons, is the heir apparent to News Corp Executive Chairman Rupert and is co-chairman of News Corp. He was named executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corp in 2019, after 21st Century Fox was sold to Disney. Before the sale, younger brother James had been the CEO of the company and Lachlan was executive chairman. Lachlan is also chairman of Australian entertainment company NOVA Entertainment, which operates a number of radio stations across the country. JAMES MURDOCH, FORMER BOARD MEMBER OF NEWS CORP The younger son of Rupert Murdoch, James, 48, had been on the board of News Corp since 2013. He and brother Lachlan had shared power at 21st Century Fox, but the sale of much of the Fox entertainment business to Disney in 2019 saw James depart as CEO. Since then, he has worked at the helm of investment fund Lupa Systems. James is considered more liberal than his older brother who is CEO of Fox Corp, home to conservative news network Fox News, the Fox broadcast and sports networks and local TV stations. James has been critical of News Corp's editorial decisions and has said he disagreed with Fox News coverage. He resigned from the board on July 31, 2020. PRUDENCE MURDOCH, NON-EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER OF NEWS CORP Prudence Murdoch, 63, is the eldest child of Rupert Murdoch through his first marriage with Patricia Booker. She formerly worked as journalist for now-defunct British tabloid, News of the World, which was owned by her father. Prudence was once described in the media as the 'only one of [Murdoch's] children not directly competing for his business affections.' ELISABETH MURDOCH, MEDIA EXECUTIVE AND FORMER CHAIRPERSON OF SHINE GROUP Elisabeth is Rupert Murdoch's daughter from his second marriage with Anna Maria Torv. Born in Sydney, she moved to London in 1990s where she worked on the operations side of BSkyB, run by her father. She founded UK-based TV programming company Shine Limited in 2001, which was sold to News Corp ten years later. She currently serves as executive chairman of production company Sister. GRACE AND CHLOE MURDOCH The sisters, aged 20 and 18, are Rupert's daughters from his third marriage to Wendi Deng. Advertisement

In 2019, James was reportedly looking to set up a $1billion new project including a liberal news outlet, in stark contrast to his father's Fox News.

In March 2020, it was further suggested he pumped money into start-ups looking to combat fake news.

His firm Lupa Systems was said to have teamed up with Betaworks to create a 'more sustainable news ecosystem'.

Rupert designed his companies to benefit his family, making certain that he and his children always had control, meaning that his children and generations to follow would be taken care of financially.

One thing Murdoch has not left his children with however is a plan for the future of his media empire, refusing to officially name an heir despite making no secret of his preferred child.

It is not his oldest child Prudence or the next in line Elisabeth, who has found incredible success outside the family business in emerging media markets.

It is not James, the son who has stood by his side for decades and weathered the fallout from the 2011 hacking scandal at News of the World and the 2016 sexual assault scandal at Fox News.

It is Lachlan, Murdoch's older son, who is the 'golden child' according to multiple sources.

The family company and its future were the focus of a New York Times piece in 2019 that provided an in depth look at the mogul's two sons while completely ignoring the lives and accomplishments of his four daughters.

By some accounts, Murdoch's heirs are now battling behind the scenes for control of the empire, with the two top contenders at the time appearing to be his sons James and Lachlan before James' split.

The brothers have had a tumultuous relationship over the years which had become more frayed than ever of recent after Lachlan was promoted over his younger brother by their father, despite James' loyalty to the family company.

The media mogul is the father of six children, who range in age from 63 to 19. The oldest is Prudence, who is Murdoch's only child with his first wife, Australian model Patricia Booker.

She has held various positions in her father's companies but now lives in Australia where she is largely focused on raising her three children.

Prue, as she is called by her family, has made it clear she is not interested in taking the reins and did not even attend college after graduating from Dalton in New York.

That does not mean she would oppose seeing her second husband, Alasdair MacLeod, move up the ranks at News Corp - despite her protests about him working with her father, or her offspring - who are Murdoch's three oldest grandchildren - landing nice roles at the company.

The battle to take over their father's media empire was originally set between Elisabeth, 52, Lachlan, 49, and James, all three of whom worth in the media.

Lachlan has since emerged as the frontrunner when James removed himself.

The relationship between Lachlan and his father has run hot and cold over the years, but that all changed back in 2014 when Murdoch's older son returned to New York to work for News Corp. Now, he is the Chairman and CEO of the Fox Corporation.

James, the youngest of the three, was the most loyal, staying by his father's side and joining News Corp shortly after he dropped out of Harvard.

That devotion was tested however when Murdoch elected to promote Lachlan over James after he return to work in the US following an extended stint in Australia.

The brothers already strained relationship only got worse when Lachlan informed James of this decision over lunch.

James even briefly quit the company, but then ultimately decided to return before then exiting for good.

Murdoch's youngest children are Grace, 20, and Chloe, 18, the New York-based daughters born to Murdoch's third wife Wendi Deng.

The ambitions of the two teenagers are unknown, but their fiercely intelligent mother has no doubt seen to it that the two get not one bit less than their older half-siblings.

James' comments on Friday come as Fox executives are said to be fearful a shake-up is on the cards as Rupert Murdoch heads back to the US thanks to the COVID-19 vaccine.

The media mogul, who will turn 90 in March, got the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in recent days from the UK's NHS, sources told The Daily Beast, allowing him to travel back to the country.

Murdoch is a US citizen and was born in Australia but has been isolated with his fourth wife Jerry Hall at his home in England since the summer.

He received the first dose at a local clinic in Henley on December 16 where he sang the praises of NHS staff and scientists and said he 'strongly encouraged' others to get the shot.

Sources said he was waiting for the second dose before heading back across the pond, where rumors are circling that positions of some top executives are on the line after ratings have slumped in recent months.

The News Corp. boss has reportedly taken a more hands-on role at the right-wing network in recent days alongside his son Lachlan.

Top of the priority list is to tackle the decline in ratings seen since Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election in November, insiders said.

Multiple insiders told The Daily Beast Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace are both fighting to keep their jobs after taking the lion's share of the blame for the figures.

Multiple insiders told The Daily Beast Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott (pictured left) and President Jay Wallace (pictured right) are both fighting to keep their jobs after taking the lion's share of the blame for the ratings as Rupert Murdoch returns to the U.S.

Fox has denied there is any truth to the rumors, issuing a statement that reads: 'Your premise is wrong. It is wishful thinking by our competitors.'

Sources said Murdoch and Lachlan are 'disenchanted' with the pair.

'Fox News has been absent a leader with the exception of [Fox Corporation's Chief Legal and Policy Officer] Viet Dinh running the operation between the network and the White House,' one insider said.

James Murdoch's criticism of Fox on climate change James Murdoch and his wife Kathryn Hufschmid have distanced themselves from the rest of the family in their advocacy of climate change. In January 2020, months before he resigned from the company, James announced that he disagreed 'with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage' on the issue. He noted his 'frustration' at the company's coverage on the topic. At the time, the family's news outlets were claiming arsonists and not climate change were to blame for the destructive wildfires raging through Australia 'They are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary,' James said in a statement. The statement is said to have blindside other members of the family as James had never previously made any criticism public. Just 18 months prior to this, James was at least nominally responsible for Fox News output as boss of its parent company. He was also still a director of News Corp, which owns the Murdoch's newspaper interests, at the time James had previously joined the board of Tesla, which aims to promote clean energy Advertisement

'Rupert re-taking the reins is a sign of the gross mismanagement to date.'

Murdoch has already made his return known with the announcement of a significant revamp of Fox's daytime scheduling Monday.

'I mean Rupert got involved with the shuffling of the lineup so that's never a good sign for someone in charge,' a current Fox staffer told The Daily Beast.

'What is the point of having a manager running your business if you have to run the business yourself?'

Sources said Wallace's job is also rumored to be on the line after the network was first to call Arizona for Joe Biden on election night.

The state was won by the Democrat but the call was deemed premature by many and sparked outrage from Trump who allegedly personally called Murdoch in a fit of rage.

Sources said the move damaged ratings with Trump supporters switching to the right-wing, pro-Trump Newsmax.

A press release from December reported that, in 2020, Fox News Channel made history by becoming the first network to surpass 3.5 million viewers in primetime for an entire year.

But latest figures from Nielsen show that, since December 28, Fox News' total viewership is down 15 percent compared to the same time last year.

By contrast, CNN viewership is up 150 percent and MSNBC 89 percent.

While James' comments did not explicitly call out Fox News, which his father helped found in 1996, others have been more forthright in their criticism after several hosts continued to back Trump with his unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud.

In December 2020, Fox was forced to air a news package that debunked election fraud claims made by three of its own hosts after an electronic voting company threatened legal action against the network.

The package featured voting technology expert Eddie Perez, who said that he had 'not seen any evidence' that Smartmatic software was used to 'delete, change, alter anything related to vote tabulation'.

The news package was shared just after Smartmatic was targeted by allies of Trump who claimed that the company helped flip the 2020 election for Joe Biden. Smartmatic responded with the threat of legal action.

News Corp. is currently run by CEO Robert Thomson and owns U.S outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, and The New York Post.

It is one of the two major media conglomerates owned by the Murdoch family, the other being Fox Corporation, which was established after The Walt Disney Company acquired the majority of 21st Century Fox last year.
Clarksburg Volunteer Firefighters stand with Leveque after the delivery.

Anheuser-Busch, Girardi Distributors Donate Water to Clarksburg Firefighters



Anheuser-Busch and Girardi Distributors deliver 2,500 cans of water to the Clarksburg fire station. CLARKSBURG, Mass.  Anheuser-Busch and Girardi Distributors delivered canned emergency drinking water to the Clarksburg Volunteer Fire Department.

To a passerby Monday morning, it would appear as though Girardi Distributors was delivering cases of beer to the Cross Road fire station. The unknowing passerby would certainly become a concerned passerby.

But a closer look at the cans would tell a different story.

"This is great," Lt. Matthew Boillat said. "This water will be used and is much appreciated."

Girardi was not delivering 2,500 cans of Budweiser to the volunteer firefighters but 2,500 cans of emergency water.

Anheuser-Busch has a long-standing partnership with the American Red Cross, dating back to 1906. The Anheuser-Busch brewery in Merrimack, N.H., will periodically halt beer production to can drinking water, specifically to donate to communities for when natural disasters and other crises arise.

Since 1988, Anheuser-Busch and its wholesaler partners have provided nearly 83 million cans of water to the communities throughout the country in need.

More recently, they developed a partnership with the National Volunteer Fire Council. To date, they have donated 2.6 million cans of water to fire departments.

"I think giving back is something we have always done at Anheuser-Busch and at the distributor level," Girardi Distributors General Manager Tom Leveque said. "Giving back to the community and trying to be a community partner. The Girardi family has been in business for over 75 years and we are the only beer distributor in Berkshire County."

Leveque said they have delivered water in Dalton, Williamstown, and North Adams.

Boillat said he has seen the emergency water cans out in their field before, to his surprise at a structure fire.

"I had to do a double-take," he laughed. "Are we cracking a beer at 4 in the morning? It was water; it was kind of funny."

He said he saw the initiative on Facebook and filled out an application for the Clarksburg Volunteer Fire Department.

"We applied and here it is," he said.

Boillat said the water will be used in trainings as well as on calls. He said they can hand it out on their own calls as well as mutual aid calls.

"That is what is great about our community, we stick together," he said. "It is great that Anheuser-Busch and Girardi and can help us, especially in a time like this."

Leveque thanked the volunteers for doing what they do.

"They are going to do something really nice too, and they are going to share it with other people," he said.

Axios

While Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) was out of state at a conference, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R) issued an executive order Thursday banning mask mandates in school and public buildings, AP reports.Why it matters: Little never issued a statewide mask mandate, but there have been some in counties, cities and schools. McGeachin announced last week she was running for governor, challenging Little who has only served one term, and her order could appeal to far-right voters in the state.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Little's office told AP that McGeachin did not tell the governor about the order in advance. Throughout the pandemic, Gov. Little has been committed to protecting the health and safety of the people of Idaho and has emphasized the importance of Idahoans choosing to protect our neighbors and loved ones and keeping our economy and schools open, Little spokesperson Marissa Morrison saidBackground: In March, McGeachin participated in an anti-mask protest, the Washington Post reported, and she suggested last year that the pandemic may or may not be occurring."According to AP, Idaho has recorded more than 190,000 cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic and roughly 2,000 deaths.What she's saying: Ive been listening to people all across the state with the concern about, especially, why are little kids being forced to wear masks in school, McGeachin told AP.My oath to the Constitution is to protect those rights and freedoms of the individual, and Ive never supported any type of a mandate on the individual, especially when it comes to health care choices.McGeachin said she had contracted the virus in 2019 and now has a "natural immunity," per AP.Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order banning mask mandates, not face masks. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free
US market clearance provides a pathway for OCC to continue driving the development of CelGro collagen medical device in the key peripheral nerve repair application, and it will pursue negotiations with multi-national dental companies for marketing rights.

The US dental market has been estimated to be value at US$500 million per annum.

( ) has received Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) 510(k) clearance to market and supply its CelGro collagen medical device for dental bone and tissue regeneration procedures in the US.

The company has registered Striate+ as the new global brand for the CelGro dental bone and tissue regeneration product and the company will market the procedure in the US under this brand.

Shares surge

Investors have responded positively with shares as much as 40% higher to 64.5 cents this morning, a new 12-month high.

This 510(k) clearance follows the companys application submitted to the FDA in May 2020.

The FDA determined that Orthocell's Striate+ is substantially equivalent to a predicate device and that it can, therefore, market Striate+ in the US.

Significant inflection point

Orthocell managing director Paul Anderson said: The US approval has come sooner than expected and is a significant inflection point for our company.

I am excited by this strategic milestone and the positive step it represents on our pathway to partnering Striate+ in dental GBR indications.

I look forward to working with our leading dental surgeons to introduce the new global brand, Striate+, previously branded as CelGro Dental, and to make a meaningful impact in the US market.

Validates technology

Striate+ has been approved for supply in dental bone and tissue regeneration procedures such as dental bone defect repair, augmentation around dental implants in immediate and delayed extraction sockets and guided tissue regeneration procedures in intrabony periodontal defects.

US market clearance of Striate+ validates the SMRT manufacturing technology and provides a pathway for Orthocell to continue driving the development of CelGro collagen medical device in the key peripheral nerve repair application.

The global peripheral nerve repair market is estimated to be worth more than US$7.5 billion per annum, with around 3 million procedures that could use the nerve repair product each year.

Next steps

The company will now pursue negotiations with multi-national dental companies for US marketing and distribution rights, with Orthocell to retain manufacturing of the finished product.

With the US, EU and Australian market approval achieved and key opinion leaders (KOLs) actively engaging with the program, Orthocell is well-positioned to secure a distribution partner and establish Striate+ as the best-in-class dental resorbable collagen membrane.
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China-U.S. economic and trade relations are mutually beneficial in nature, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Friday.

Zhao made the remarks at a daily news briefing in response to an economic report released by the U.S.-China Business Council.

The report shows that the United States has long benefited from trade with China. Exports to China supported 1.2 million jobs in the United States in 2019, and the trade war has resulted in a peak loss of 245,000 jobs.

The report also calls for policymakers to scale back tariffs to benefit the U.S. economy and create jobs.

Zhao said the content of the report has fully demonstrated that the essence of China-U.S. economic and trade relations is mutually beneficial, and the trade war against China will not solve the United States' own problems, but only harm others and itself.

"We hope the U.S. side will listen carefully to rational voices within the country and work with China to create a favorable atmosphere for the healthy development of bilateral economic and trade cooperation so as to better enhance the common well-being of the people on both sides," Zhao said.
OREGON -- Today Senator Ron Wyden held a virtual town hall for Curry County, where he addressed Oregon's COVID-19 vaccine supply shortage.

Wyden says its a disgrace that Oregonians were previously led to believe the state would get extra doses of the vaccine.

He says senior citizens should have the option to get vaccinated.

Wyden says he thinks President-elect Joe Biden is committed to expanding access to the vaccine.

Wyden also credits the work thats being done locally in Coos and Curry counties.

I do want to do a kind of virtual tip of the hat to all the people in the health field and health departments, Coos and Curry, because I think they're really stepping up. I know they've got various programs that they're pursuing at the local level. I really appreciate them, Wyden said.

Wyden will make his next town hall appearance on Sunday in Washington County.
Many of the provinces co-visitation shelters at personal care homes began operating this week, while some still await permits.

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Many of the provinces co-visitation shelters at personal care homes began operating this week, while some still await permits.

Most, however, have permits in place, Shared Health chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa said Thursday.

Of the 125 care homes in the province, 43 are in the Prairie Mountain Health region. Some, such as those in Hamiota, Dauphin and Souris, have been outfitted with internal visitation shelters. Others, such as those in Deloraine, Neepawa and Brandon, have been outfitted with external visitation shelters.

"The (personal care home) numbers continue to improve, so they want to encourage visitation as much as possible," Siragusa said.

The external, all-season shelters have been carefully developed and constructed with every COVID-19 precaution to allow residents to safely and comfortably participate in social visits with family members and loved ones, a provincial spokesperson stated by email.

External and internal shelters have dedicated ventilation systems designed to ensure the required level of air changes, filtration and directional airflow to support the safety of both residents and families, the spokesperson added. Interior surfaces were selected to complement and facilitate ongoing cleaning and disinfection occurring between visits.

As well, the shelters are designed so that visitors enter from outside of the building and are not required to travel through the care home, limiting exposure to residents and staff. The designated interior spaces were developed with similar precautions in place.

While the province continues under critical level red restrictions, the shelters can accommodate a maximum of one general visitor at a time visiting with one personal care home resident. Visitor screening for symptoms of, or exposure to, COVID-19 remains in place, and masks must be worn by visitors and residents. Physical distancing must also be maintained for the duration of the visit.

Visits are by appointment only, with more details available from individual personal care homes in the coming days, according to the spokesperson.

Exact information on how many shelters are in operation will be available next week.

A video about the shelters can be viewed online at http://bit.ly/2XGPK49, while the rules regarding visitation can be found at https://bit.ly/35GOja8.

 mletourneau@brandonsun.com

 Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism.
Conor McGregors potential trilogy superfight is getting closer as Nate Diaz suggests a drop in weight.

With just over a week to go to his highly-anticipated return to the octagon Conor McGregors hopes of a UFC superfight with Nate Diaz look like they are one step closer.

While he may be focused on next Saturdays rematch with Dustin Poirier at UFC257 in Abu Dhabi, most fans are already looking ahead to the Dubliners potential trilogy bout against the Stockton Slugger.

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And with the news that Dana White has discussed the potential history-making fight with the American and conceded that Diaz would be willing to move down a weight division, fans are now preparing for what could be the biggest fight in UFC history.

McGregor said: I hear Dana talking on The Mac Life interview that Nate Diaz was coming back down to lightweight.

I love that. Id love to compete against Diaz. We will compete again.

If that happens at lightweight, you know, for a title that would be something special also.

So, theres many great options that are in the works and lets see what happens. I am ready.

It is widely bvelipeved that even if a deal cannot be agreed to fight at lightweight, McGregor would be willing to complete the trilogy under the same circumstances as before.

He continued: If its going to be 155 we could possibly do that for the belt. If not, Id probably just fight Nate at 170 pounds again.

The reason being we fought at 170 twice. Why mix it up for the trilogy?

But, if theres belts and titles and loftier things on the line, Im certain a 155-pound challenge with Nate would be something.

McGregor, now 32, has only had two Lightweight fights in the UFC defeating Eddie Alvarez for the belt before vacating it. He then got schooled by one of the greatest fighters the UFC has ever produced in Khabib Nurmagomedov back in 2018.

Since then Conor has only competed once inside the octagon which turned out to be no more than a training session for him as he defeated Donald Cerrone last January after just 40 seconds.

Of course, McGregor still has to get through The Diamond Dustin Poirier next Saturday in a well-deserved rematch.

The last time the pair fought the former plumber came out on top after just 106 seconds and it was also the last time the Dubliner fought on a card that he didnt headline.

Six and a half years have passed though and in that time the American has won ten impressive fights including wins against huge names like Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje and most recently Max Holloway.
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 Close Trump says impeachment moves causing anger, but 'I want no violence'

President Donald Trumps approval rating has plummeted to an all-time low as the US leader prepares to exit the White House.

In the wake of the deadly Capitol riots on 6 January, the president has seen his approval rating dive, with the change in perception being largely among Republicans.

The worst polling came from Pew Research Center, which found Mr Trumps disapproval rating to be at 68 per cent, with his approval rating falling to 29 per cent, the lowest yet, in a poll of 5,360 adults conducted between 8-12 January.

The findings come as states across the US brace for the possibility of inauguration week violence as President-Elect Joe Biden prepares to take office on Wednesday. Small armed groups appeared at statehouses on Sunday, but the size of the gatherings appeared dwarfed by the security presence.

On Sunday, former FBI director James Comey warned of the very serious risk of violence breaking out around the inauguration following deadly riots at the US Capitol last week.
Washington, D.C., was locked down and US law enforcement officials geared up for pro-Trump marches in all 50 state capitals this weekend, erecting barriers and deploying thousands of National Guard troops to try to prevent the kind of violent attack that rattled the nation on Jan. 6.

The FBI warned police agencies of possible armed protests outside all 50 state capitol buildings starting Saturday through President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20, fueled by supporters of President Donald Trump who believe his false claims of electoral fraud.

Michigan, Virginia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Washington were among states that activated their National Guards to strengthen security. Texas closed its Capitol through Inauguration Day.

Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said in a statement late Friday that intelligence indicated "violent extremists" may seek to exploit planned armed protests in Austin to "conduct criminal acts."

The scramble followed the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington by a mix of extremists and Trump supporters, some of whom planned to kidnap members of Congress and called for the death of Vice President Mike Pence as he presided over the certification of Biden's victory in November's election.

Law enforcement officials have trained much of their focus on Sunday, when the anti-government "boogaloo" movement flagged plans to hold rallies in all 50 states.

In Michigan a fence was erected around the Capitol in Lansing and troopers were mobilized from across the state to bolster security. The legislature canceled meetings next week, citing concern over credible threats.

"We are prepared for the worst but we remain hopeful that those who choose to demonstrate at our Capitol do so peacefully," Michigan State Police Director Joe Gasper told a news conference on Friday.

Domestic Extremists

The perception that the Jan. 6 insurrection was a success could embolden domestic extremists motivated by anti-government, racial and partisan grievances, spurring them to further violence, according to a government intelligence bulletin dated Wednesday that was first reported by Yahoo News.

The Joint Intelligence Bulletin, produced by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Counterterrorism Center, further warned that "false narratives" about electoral fraud would serve as an ongoing catalyst for extremist groups.

Thousands of armed National Guard troops were in the streets in Washington in an unprecedented show of force after the assault on the US Capitol. Bridges into the city were to be closed, along with dozens of roadways. The National Mall and other iconic US landmarks were blocked off into next week.

Experts say that the capitals of battleground states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona are among those at most risk of violence. But even states not seen as likely flashpoints are taking precautions.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said on Friday that while his state had not received any specific threats he was beefing up security around the Capitol in Springfield, including adding about 250 state National Guard troops.

The alarm extended beyond legislatures. The United Church of Christ, a Protestant denomination of more than 4,900 churches, warned its 800,000 members there were reports "liberal" churches could be attacked in the coming week.

Suzanne Spaulding, a former undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said authorities disclosing enhanced security measures can be an effective deterrent.

"One of the ways you can potentially de-escalate a problem is with a strong security posture," said Spaulding, now a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "You try to deter people from trying anything."

Following the Jan. 6 violence in Washington, some militia members said they would not attend a long-planned pro-gun demonstration on the holiday Monday in Virginia, where authorities were worried about the risk of violence as multiple groups converged on the state capital, Richmond.

Others told the Washington Post they wanted the protest organized in response to new state gun rules to be peaceful. Some militias in other parts of the country have told followers to stay home this weekend, citing the increased security or the risk that the planned events were law enforcement traps.

Even so, Michael Hayden of the Southern Poverty Law Center said he has not been this worried about the potential for violence in a long time. Among other factors, he said the perceived censorship of conservative voices by technology companies such as Twitter has served to meld right-wing extremists and run-of-the-mill Republicans into a common cause.

"It has provided a kind of unifying grievance between groups that had no connection with one another before," Hayden said.





This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

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In or around 1990, the matron of St Columbas Hospital asked a groundsman to incinerate institutional records. The facility in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, is now a nursing home but it has had a number of previous incarnations.

It was built as a workhouse in 1854 and in 1923 it was designated by local government minister Ernest Blythe as a county home for aged and infirm persons, chronic invalids, children, expectant unmarried mothers, harmless lunatics and idiots.

Unwed pregnant women from Kilkenny and parts of Waterford had little option but to go to Thomastown as the board of health excluded them from the county hospital in Kilkenny city.

The groundsman told the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation the incinerated records included the burial registers for the county home.

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Some 177 illegitimate children died in infancy or early childhood there between 1922 and 1960. Infant mortality rates were described as alarmingly high in the 1920s.

The Commission said it was likely these children were buried in an institutional graveyard onsite. The absence of burial records meant it could not be more definitive about their final resting place.

Not only did the burial records go up in smoke, but soon after they were destroyed the graveyard itself was covered over. Several loads of topsoil were put down on the graves and the site was levelled and grassed. A single cross, with the inscription Remembering those who died, provides the only clue that people are buried there.

We do not know why the matron asked for the records to be destroyed. The Commission did not speculate as to her motivation in its final report, published this week.

But their destruction is just one of the reasons the Commissions five-year inquiry has not been able to officially verify the final resting place of thousands of Irish children.

Around 9,000 illegitimate children died between 1922 and 1998 in the 18 institutions investigated. The mortality rate was shocking. One child out of every seven died.

Yet a reading of the Commissions report indicates burial records were found for less than 4,000 of these children.

While likely burial plots were identified in many instances, the absence of records and other obstacles hindered the work of the Commission.

Although great care was taken by institutions to record the arrival and departure of residents, or inmates as they were often called, many did not do this for burials.

It was symptomatic of the appalling treatment of unmarried mothers and their children that they were not afforded dignity in death.

In one area, illegitimate children were buried in coffins containing amputated limbs or a deceased adult.

Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork, where 923 children died, and the Bon Secours home in Tuam, Co Galway, where 978 children died, were stand-out examples of institutions who kept no burial records.

The Commission said it was very hard to believe claims by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary that it was unable to identify where children from Bessborough were buried.

Similarly, it said there must be people in Tuam who know more about the burials there.

Historian Catherine Corless, whose tireless work helped reveal potentially hundreds of children were buried in a septic tank at Tuam, said geophysical surveys and test excavations should take place at suspected burial grounds to verify the numbers buried there. They will have to do something about that. Otherwise you are discarding 5,000 Irish citizens, said Ms Corless.

In her view, archaeologists should be brought in to investigate Bessborough thoroughly. It can be done with the ground penetration survey and it can be done by excavations. There is no-one talking about digging up the whole place, she said.

Similar work could be done in places like Thomastown to determine the extent of burials there, Ms Corless said.

Most of the children for whom burial records could be found died at Pelletstown, later known as St Patricks, and the Bethany Home, both in Dublin.

Some 3,615 children died at Pelletstown. The commission established the burial place of 3,102 of these. Nearly all were buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

A total of 262 children linked with the Bethany Home died. Burial records for 235 were located. Most were laid to rest at Mount Jerome Cemetery.

Other homes where large numbers of children died did not maintain a register of burials. These included Sean Ross Abbey at Roscrea, Co Tipperary, where 1,090 infants died.

Targeted test excavations, conducted for the Commission, of a small part of a designated burial ground there, identified 42 sets of remains.

The objective was to establish if remains were present and, if so, had these been disturbed by the later insertion of utilities or drainage works. The tests determined the remains were not disturbed by those works.

Castlepollard mother and baby home in Co Westmeath, where 247 children died, was another institution where no burial register was maintained, although there was a designated burial ground.

A resident gave evidence of seeing 10 babies being sent for burial there in what appeared to be shoe boxes.

According to Ms Corless, survivors of Tuam who have family buried in the tank are horrified. They cant let it go. They cant live with the thought of a little brother or sister discarded in a tank. They want them taken up, she said.

Progress towards ensuring exhumations and dignified reburials has been slow.

The presence of significant quantities of human remains in sewage or waste water structures there was confirmed in March 2017, yet legislation to support exhumation, identification and reburial is still some way off being passed.

Ms Corless has questioned whether such legislation is necessary to comply with the wishes of Tuam relatives.

The situation there is particularly sensitive because of where the children were buried. But the provisions of the legislation will be able to be applied to other sites as well.

Whether reburials will also take place elsewhere remains to be seen.

Teresa Collins, who was born at the Sean Ross mother and baby home, is in favour of further archaeological investigation to determine where the remaining 1,000-plus children were buried, but she believes it would be pointless digging up bones now.

Tuam is different, she said.

I would be a firm believer in letting the children at Sean Ross sleep and putting up a memorial to them there.

The situation with Bessborough is complicated by the fact residential developments are proposed at the site, while sizeable parts of the once 200-acre estate have been sold off over the years. Possible locations for childrens graves have been identified by groups and locals, both in the remaining 60 acres of the estate and in the areas which were sold.

The Commission said it was highly likely burials took place in the grounds, but the only way this could be established was by an excavation of the entire property, including those areas now built on.

Bessborough campaigner Catherine Coffey OBrien, who ran away from the home while pregnant in 1989, insisted survivors know where women and children were buried.

We want it turned over to Cork City Council. We want it registered as a burial ground, a graveyard. And we want absolutely no development above there, said Ms Coffey OBrien.

We want a meadow, flowers, a couple of benches and somewhere to light a candle. Nothing more, nothing less. No exhumations in Bessborough.

The mothers have said: They have been sleeping together for decades. Why disturb them now? Leave them alone. Let them be acknowledged in death because they werent acknowledged in life.
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
The tagline for the Lackawanna County Visitors Bureaus latest attraction says it all: Its the cheesiest tour youll take.

To showcase the variety of pizza deliciousness available locally, the tourism agency has created the Lackawanna County Pizza Trail, complete with an online map to let visitors plan a self-guided tour of the areas finest pizzerias.

The 63 restaurants that made the final cut, so to speak, were whittled down from a list of more than 160 locally owned pizzerias after voting over recent months by local people in their respective sections of the county, said Alexa Peregrim, sales manager for the visitors bureau.

It had a twofold purpose, she said.

The voting brought some recognition to the restaurants as many struggled last year with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and her organization can use the pizza trail as a marketing tool going forward, she said.

The visitors bureau hopes it will be an incentive for tourists to try two or three pizzerias during a visit to the county and then return to sample more, Peregrim said.

Its the same thing for the locals, she said. Its an enticement try other places that they may never have heard of before or may never realized are right next door to them.

Some of the pizzerias on the tour are long-established landmarks; others are lesser known. Although Old Forge is well-represented, the tour spans the entire county.

That sounds about right, said Pat Revello, owner of Revellos Pizza, 502 S. Main St., Old Forge.

I love Old Forge pizza, but I do visit many pizza places in the county, Revello said. We are fortunate in this area to have so many good pizza places to choose from.

Co-owner Katie Yerke acknowledged Steve & Irenes Hoagies is best known for its hoagies  its right in the name after all  but shes happy the restaurant at 1110 Route 6 in Mayfield is a stop on the trail.

We live in a great area with a lot of awesome pizza places, so for us to be on it, were just thrilled, she said.

While Steve & Irenes may be synonymous with hoagies, its pizza has been growing a loyal following over the years, Yerke said.

Its kind of a hidden gem, she said.

Darryl Bartlett, owner of A Little Pizza Heaven, 2015 Boulevard Ave., Scranton, said he encountered some skepticism when he opened his restaurant 14 years ago, given that there were already so many storied pizzerias around. Hes pleased to be part of the pizza trail with them now.

Northeast Pennsylvania is a really diverse area, from its people to its pizza and cuisine, Bartlett said. Ive been here 22 years, and thats why I love living here  because its so diverse.
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The global death toll from COVID-19 has crossed two million on Friday, which poses a huge problem to vaccine rollout.

Johns Hopkins University recorded the two millionth death just over a year after the COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, China, according to an Associated Press report.

The number of deaths is about equal to the population of Brussels, Mecca, Vienna, or Minsk. It is also almost equivalent to the entire state of Nebraska or the Cleveland metropolitan area.

Dr. Ashish Jha, a pandemic expert and dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, said there had been a terrible amount of death, despite the extraordinary work done by the scientific community.

In the United States, millions of citizens have already been given at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, immunization drive in some areas has barely taken flight, with many experts predicting another year of loss and hardship in places like Mexico and Brazil, among others.

Countries like Iran, India, Brazil, and Mexico account together for about a quarter of the world's death toll. Israel Gomez, a Mexico City paramedic, lamented that people "have not understood that this is not a game, that this really exists."

Mexico COVID-19 Vaccine Program

Mexico became the first Latin American country on Thursday to launch a COVID-19 vaccination effort, which gives the nation hope after it has lost more than 120,000 people to the pandemic, Voice of America News reported.

Maria Irene Ramirez was among the first to receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Ramirez said it was the best gift that she received in 2020.

Other Latin American countries such as Chile will also start the vaccination programs of health care workers.

According to officials, Chile already received the first 10,000 doses of a 10 million-dose order of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in December last year.

Costa Rica has already started vaccinating residents against the disease last month. Health workers and the elderly were the first to receive jabs. Argentina, on the other hand, recently received about 300,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccine from Russia.

Related story: COVID-19 Pandemic Death Toll Actually Higher Than What's Reported, New Research Says





U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts

President-elect Joe Biden has called for a vast expansion of federal aid to vaccinate 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in the office. Among his goals is to get more people vaccinated for free.

According to a The Guardian report, Biden also said that he intends to create more places to get people vaccinated and use more medical teams to inject the shots in people's arms.

He noted that increasing supply and getting it delivered as soon as possible is one of the most challenging operational efforts ever undertaken by the U.S.

Meanwhile, Biden called the Trump administration's COVID-19 vaccine rollout a dismal failure. Biden said that things would get worse before things get better in the U.S.

Currently, the U.S. has a total of 23.4 million COVID-19 cases, with about 389,000 deaths.

Related story: INCONSISTENT DEATH TOLL: Some People Believe COVID-19 Death Toll Tally is Overcounted
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Minnesota's public safety commissioner says Authorities now believe there is no credible, immediate threat from extremists to Minnesota in the runup to President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration.

But Commissioner John Harrington says law enforcement agencies wont be taking any chances. The FBI this week warned of potential attacks at state capitols following the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump.

That followed a bulletin from the FBI Minneapolis field office last month about potential threats from the right-wing Boogaloo movement to the Minnesota capitol this Sunday. But Harrington says circumstances have changed and that information is outdated.

Weather Alert

...FROST ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 8 AM EDT FRIDAY... * WHAT...Temperatures in the lower to mid 30s will result in frost formation. * WHERE...All of northern New York, and much of central and northern Vermont away from Lake Champlain. * WHEN...From 1 AM to 8 AM EDT Friday. * IMPACTS...Frost could kill sensitive outdoor vegetation if left uncovered. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. &&
A World Health Organization team has arrived in Wuhan to investigate the origins of the virus. /  AFP

In UP villagers get cocktail vaccine dose: Covishield first, Covaxin next

ICMR to study effectiveness of Covishield, Covaxin in preventing progression of COVID into severe form

Celebi Aviation operationally ready to handle COVID-19 vaccines

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Mumbai, Jan 16: Turkish aviation firm Celebi Aviation on Friday said it is operationally ready to handle COVID-19 vaccines and is working closely with existing airline operators and freight forwarders to understand their specific requirements.

The company has the infrastructure and capabilities to handle as many charters as required, at its facility and ensure a quick ''turnaround time'', it said in a release.

Besides warehousing, the company offers ground handling services to these freight operators, Celebi Aviation said.

Stating that it is "operationally ready" to handle the COVID-19 vaccines, the Turkish firm said the distribution of the vaccine will take place through its state-of-the-art pharma logistics center situated at Delhi Airport, which has the capacity of 72,000 MT annually.

Odisha all set for vaccine drive

"Celebi is able to play a leading role in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine in India and globally. We understand the need for a strong emphasis on pursuing the highest standards in pharmaceutical cargo handling. These vaccines require rigorous temperature control throughout the entire supply chain, therefore, Celebi is operationally ready to handle the COVID-19 vaccines," said Murali Ramachandran, CEO India, Celebi Aviation.

The company has also set up a special 24x7 duty managers desk to oversee these movements, he said.

The Center is equipped with the facility of temperature-controlled chambers for storage of consignments ranging between minus 25 to plus 25 degrees centigrade with humidity control to prevent moisture damage, according to Celebi Aviation.

In preparation for a domestic and global distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management is working on preparing proficient handling scenarios for the import and export of various types of vaccines in a safe and efficient way, the company said.

Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management is the joint venture between Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which operates and manages Delhi Airport, and Celebi Ground Handling.

Handling of trucks carrying vaccines, dedicated truck dock bays at Export Pharma Logistics Center, dedicated delivery gate for import of vaccine and quick turnaround time of all trucks are some the measures the company has put in place as part of the preparations, it said.

Other facilities include cool dolly and "Tyvec" cover availability, along with dry ice, batteries, thermal blankets, among others, at pharma mini shop, it said, adding there is also provision for unitizing in temperature-controlled zones and data tracking and monitoring.

Celebi at present carries out ground handling activities at seven airports -- Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin, Ahmedabad and Kannur -- in the country.

Maharashtra: Vaccine drives at 285 centres today

The company claims it to be the first handler in India to deploy "Cool Dollies" to extend the cool chain (-20 to +25 Celsius) till the aircraft bays on the airside.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

These are refrigerated containers on wheels, which ferry one complete aircraft pallet/two baggage containers to/from aircraft at a pre-defined temperature and adjustable to suit the requirements of the temperature-sensitive products, according to the company.


Dr Ranj Singh has given an alarming insight into the state of the NHS hospital he works in as he revealed the staff are at 'breaking point' amid the rising number of Covid-19 cases.

When he's not on TV as This Morning's resident paediatrician, Ranj works in a children's intensive care unit for children at a London hospital, with part of the department having been converted to an adult ward for coronavirus patients.

And speaking on the Times Radio on Saturday, Ranj, 41, expressed the gravity of the situation as he told of the shortage of beds and staff pushed to the brink, as he warned 'Trust me the situation is critical.'

'Breaking point': Dr Ranj Singh has given an alarming insight into the state of the NHS hospital he works in as he revealed the staff are at 'breaking point' amid the rising number of Covid-19 cases

It was revealed on Friday that there were almost 35,000 Covid patients on hospital wards by January 9, according to figures from the Department of Health, almost twice the level during the darkest days of the first wave.

But Coronavirus patient numbers may have already peaked in almost a seventh of hospitals in England, official figures suggest, while an ICU doctor recently warned care may have to be rationed if admissions continue to surge.

Meanwhile, hospitals in the UK recorded 904 coronavirus deaths on Saturday as the number of fatalities rose 15 per cent on last Saturday - bringing the total to 90,147.

Discussing the impact that the new variant of the virus has had on his own hospital, Ranj told how the intensive care unit is so busy that staff are struggling to provide 'proper care' to those who are 'extremely sick'.

Tough times: Speaking on the Times Radio on Saturday, Ranj, 41, expressed the gravity of the situation as he told of the shortage of beds and staff pushed to the brink, as he warned 'Trust me the situation is critical'

He went on to explain how this has had a 'knock on effect' into other parts of the hospital, with overworked and 'exhausted' staff unable to provide services as normal.

He explained: 'Our intensive care unit is the busiest it's ever been. And what we need to remember is that we expanded our extensive care unit capacity by over 200% and despite doing that we are still filling up.'

Ranj added to host Hugo Rifkind: 'What does that mean? It means that firstly we are unable to provide intensive care to those extremely sick people that are coming in with coronavirus that need it but secondly it has a knock on effect on all the other services that we are able to provide.

Work: When he's not on TV as This Morning's resident paediatrician, Ranj works in a children's intensive care unit for children at a London hospital

'So we are able to provide less and less normal, usual care for all the other things that happen to us.'

The former Strictly Come Dancing star went on to share how much the latest surge in cases has impacted his colleague.

He said: 'People are already exhausted from the first wave and all the pressure that we had during the course of 2020 and now this second wave is so much worse. They are really at breaking point.'

Ranj then pleaded with the public on behalf of the NHS workers to stick to the rules and follow the government guidelines to protect not only 'ourselves' but the 'NHS' too.

Busy: Discussing the impact that the new variant of the virus has had on his own hospital, Ranj told how the intensive care unit is so busy that staff are struggling to provide 'proper care' to those who are 'extremely sick'

He went on: 'I work in a children's intensive care unit and a section of that unit has been converted into an adult intensive care unit to help out our adult colleagues and trust me the situation is critical.

'I don't mean to sound alarmist, I know people will have heard this time and time again but it really, really is bad.'

Ranj's words comes after he revealed he's had his first COVID-19 vaccine last week as he urged viewers to get the jab.

The medic was filmed heading to a London hub for the injection as he said it was 'extra important' for him to be protected against coronavirus as he continues working on the NHS frontline during the pandemic.

Warning: 'I don't mean to sound alarmist, I know people will have heard this time and time again but it really, really is bad'

Speaking to Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary, Dr Ranj urged viewers to 'listen to the experts' and get the vaccine as he insisted he felt 'absolutely fine' apart from a few minor side effects.

Ranj was filmed heading to a vaccination hub set up on London's Southbank for frontline workers, as he prepared to have the Oxford vaccine, which began its nationwide roll out earlier this month.

He explained: 'I've already registered and filled out various forms the other day so hopefully this process is going to be quite quick.

Important: Ranj's words comes after he revealed he's had his first COVID-19 vaccine last week as he urged viewers to get the jab

Get the jab! Speaking to Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary, Dr Ranj urged viewers to 'listen to the experts' and get the vaccine

'It's extra important for me to have it because I am from a minority ethnic background and that puts me at slightly higher risk and I'm a frontline worker so it's really really important that I protect myself, my patients and my colleagues.'

Footage showed Ranj having the injection in his arm, before he said: 'I've had my jab my 15 minutes are over, and I feel absolutely fine. It was so quick and easy and slick.'

Later Ranj filmed himself minutes before going to bed and he once again reassured viewers he hadn't suffered any major side effects.

He added: 'I am going to bed feeling reassured that in a few weeks time I'm going to be so much better protected.'

Protected: Ranj was filmed heading to a vaccination hub set up on London's Southbank for frontline workers

All done! Footage showed Ranj having the injection in his arm, before he said: 'I've had my jab my 15 minutes are over, and I feel absolutely fine. It was so quick and easy and slick'

Ranj then chatted to Alison and Dermot about how he'd felt after getting the vaccine, explaining: 'I'm good. Other than a little bit of a sore arm, a bit of a headache, and just feeling - you know when you feel like you're coming down with something?

'I've just got that, nothing else, and that's totally expected. You get loads of information when you go for your jab about what to expect afterwards and these are common side effects.

'It's a sign that your immune system is working, that your immune system is recognising the vaccine and making antibodies and t-cells - this is how you should feel, and it's temporary.'

The show's resident paediatrician then addressed viewers' concerns about the vaccine about whether it could make them ill in the aftermath, explaining he spoke to an expert who put his own doubts at ease.

I felt fine! Ranj explained he didn't suffer from any significant side effects, apart from a 'sore arm and a headache'

He continued: 'Both vaccines [that are approved in the UK] train your immune system to do the same thing, to fight Coronavirus if you encounter it.

'The priority is to get as many people protected as soon as possible We have already immunised 1.5 million people in this country - that's a huge amount of people - and we haven't seen a huge number of people with significant side effects from it, we get minor side effects.

'I trust this programme, it is the best line of defence we have and I would encourage everyone to get it if you're eligible.'

He continued: 'I listened to the experts. There is no conspiracy there is no fake news, all medical treatments have potential side effects.'
EMILY ST. LAWRENCE, Chariho girls lacrosse, senior: St. Lawrence tied a school record for goals in a game with nine in a win over Smithfield. St. Lawrence scored 17 goals for the week and has 32 for the season.

CARLY CONSTANTINE, Stonington softball, sophomore: Constantine singled home Shea OConnor with the winning run to hand Waterford, the states No. 2 ranked team at the time, its first loss of the season. For the week, Constantine was 5 for 15.

GREG GORMAN, Westerly baseball, junior: Gorman, a junior, hit a massive home run in a win against Barrington. The homer went over the fence in center field and landed in a nearby road. Gorman was 3 for 3 with four RBIs in the game. He is hitting .571 with 10 RBIs for the season.

BRADIN ANDERSON, Wheeler baseball, freshman: Anderson, a freshman, pitched a complete-game shutout to beat Grasso Tech. Anderson struck out three to earn the first win of his varsity career.

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On Saturday, Congress leader Rashid Alvi cast aspersions on the efficacy of COVAXIN amid the commencement of the pan-India COVID-19 vaccination drive in the country. He mentioned that questions have been raised about the green signal to COVAXIN owing to the fact that its phase 3 efficacy data is not available. At this juncture, Alvi questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi on why he was shying away from being administered the vaccine.

To buttress his point, he highlighted that the leaders of many other countries had taken the vaccine at the outset to bolster the people's confidence in the inoculation process. During his meeting with the Chief Ministers of all States on Monday, Modi stressed that the public representatives do not fall in the category of frontline workers and advised them to take the vaccine only when their turn comes. Moreover, Alvi contended that people should have the right to choose between COVISHIELD and COVAXIN.

Read: COVID Vaccine: BJP Leaders Take Dig At Rahul For No Word Of Appreciation For Scientists

COVID-19 vaccination begins in India

On January 3, the Drugs Controller General of India accepted the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, paving way for the approval of COVISHIELD and COVAXIN. Manufactured by the Serum Institute of India with technology transfer from Oxford University-AstraZeneca, COVISHIELD is a Recombinant Chimpanzee Adenovirus vector vaccine with its overall efficacy of 70.42 per cent. On the other hand, COVAXIN is a Whole Virion Inactivated Corona Virus Vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR and NIV.

It has been approved in "public interest" in the clinical trial mode so that there can be more options for vaccination in case of infection by mutant strains. Countering the charge that COVAXIN was approved hastily, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has made it clear that all the recipients of this vaccine will be tracked and monitored as if they are in clinical trial mode. Earlier in the day, PM Modi launched the pan-India rollout of the novel coronavirus vaccination drive via video conferencing.

Congratulating the citizens for their resilient fight against the pandemic, he requested them to shun conspiracy theories about the vaccines. In a total of 3351 sessions held across India on Saturday, 1,91,181 beneficiaries were inoculated. Manish Kumar, a machine operator at AIIMS sanitation department, became the first person in the country to be administered the vaccine. BJP MP Dr. Mahesh Sharma, AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria and SII CEO Adar Poonawalla were among the prominent personalities to get inoculated.

Read: Punjab CM Amarinder Singh Lauds COVID-19 Vaccination Drive, Says 'no Fear Of The Vaccine'
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Indian High Commissioner voices concern to Premier Rajapaksa

Mondays hartal paralyses Jaffna peninsula

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to visit Sri Lanka

SJB invites disappointed UNP group to join it

Ranil to remain as UNP leader

The Indian High Commission (IHC) in Colombo made desperate efforts last Saturday (January 9) to reach Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. He was away in Kurunegala, his electorate, meeting constituents.

As he returned to Colombo on Sunday afternoon, High Commissioner Gopal Baglay rushed to his residence at Wijerama Mawatha. He voiced serious concerns over the demolition of Mullaivaikal memorial located within the precincts of the Jaffna University. He is learnt to have told Premier Rajapaksa that coming as it does just after the visit of Foreign Minister, Dr Subramaniam Jaisahankar, it could lead to protests erupting in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Mullaivaikal, in the northern Mullaitivu district, saw the final phases of the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). There were large concentrations of civilians in the area, declared a no fire zone. Tamil groups allege that a large number were killed here, a claim strongly denied by security forces and the police. The memorial, with the approval of a previous Vice Chancellor, was commissioned in February 2019. Earlier, a directive from the University Grants Commission (UGC) to halt the construction, which began in April 2018, had not been carried out. The reason was the clout the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) enjoyed in the former yahapalana government. Parts of the memorial had been pre-cast outside, brought into the campus and assembled.

Premier Rajapaksa went into action promptly. UGC Chairman Prof. Sampath Ameratunga and Jaffna University Vice Chancellor Prof. Sivakolunthu Srisatkunarajah were in touch with each other to defuse the situation till the wee hours of last Monday. The result  protesting student groups were allowed to erect another Mullaivaikal memorial. On Monday morning, a symbolic foundation stone was laid using stones from the demolished memorial. On Friday, they dug holes to lay concrete to begin erection of a new monument. Work is now under way.

The Presidential Secretariat was unaware of the event. So much so, on Saturday, the Sunday Times learnt, officials hurriedly telephoned Vice Chanceller Srisatkunarajah to ask who gave instructions for the demolition that triggered many other events. I explained the situation in detail to an official of the Presidents office, Prof. Srisatkunarajah told the Sunday Times.

It took some time for the details behind the 60 hours (from demolition to laying of a new foundation stone) to unfold.

By then, considerable damage had been done both to the Government and the country. That highlighted grave weaknesses in national security. Foremost is the absence of a centralised mechanism, security or political, to take control. Added to that was a colossal intelligence failure. None of the agencies was able to report to government leaders that such a move was afoot and warn of the consequences to follow. It seemed like such key issues were on auto pilot. A parallel would be the ongoing campaign against COVID-19 where different arms of the Government act independently in contradiction of one another. However, the faux pas in Jaffna was far more serious.

It led last Monday to a hartal  closure of all shops, offices, and other establishments in Jaffna and in many key towns in the east. A new feature  participating in the events were both Tamils and Muslims. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) General Secretary Nizam Kariappar issued a statement extending support. So did Rishad Bathiudeem, leader of the All-Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC). That paralysed activity in the northern peninsula and parts of the east. Embarrassed government officials tried to deflect the issue in the east by saying it was due to Covid-19 but the diversion did not work.

In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami said he was shocked to hear about the demolition of a memorial that was dedicated to the war dead. He termed it an obstruction to unity of the North and South. Viduthalai Chiruthai Pulikal (VCP) party leader Thol Thirumavalan declared in Chennai he would join Vaiko Gopalsamys Marumalartchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to protest outside the Sri Lanka Deputy High Commissioners office in Chennai. We demand that the Sri Lankan government reconstruct the memorial inside the campus, he said. There were also other groups planning protests in Tamil Nadu.

Speaking in the UK House of Commons, Siobhan McDonaugh, Labour MP for Mitcham, and Morden, called for the British government to move a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the memorial demolition saying it was a denial of religious freedom. She is known for espousing the cause of Tamils who form a sizeable number in her constituency. In Canada, Tamil expatriates ran a motorcade carrying LTTE flags and tooting their horns to draw attention. Among the vehicles shown in video clips were new models of Mercedes Benz, BMWs, Audis, and brand-new Double Cabs. They have stuck it rich and wield considerable influence among politicians there. The Jaffna Municipal Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution condemning the removal of the memorial. It called for the re-construction of it in the same place.

The Sunday Times learnt that the cause for the demolition of the Mullaivaikal memorial was a secret report the Deputy Inspector General of Police (Jaffna) sent Vice Chancellor Srisatkunarajah in October last year. It had encompassed reports from intelligence agencies, some of which had also gone to the Defence Ministry earlier. One in particular from the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) spoke about links between pro LTTE students and activities related to the memorial. Since the Ministry has no direct purview over the Vice Chancellor, it had been channelled through the Police. The existence of the memorial, they have claimed, posed a threat since there were students who were not in favour of its existence. It was also becoming the centre for different ceremonies linked to the LTTE during anniversaries and other events, they have contended. They had therefore wanted the memorial demolished.

Added to that, the Sunday Times learnt, was another factor. Whenever, Srisatkunarajah interacted with military or Police seniors during conferences, the first issue to be raised, a source said, was the Mullaivaikal memorial. There were questions on when it would be demolished. One intelligence source admitted, he was under heavy pressure to act on the documented request. They were mounting and reached a new high a week ago. He had been told that no construction could take place in a university without the express permission of the UGC  a position which Education Minister G.L. Peiris took up during a news conference after the incident. The minister took up the same position at Mondays weekly ministerial meeting. Minister Wimal Weerawansa condemned the Vice Chancellor for allowing the laying of a foundation stone for a new memorial.

The right hand does not seem to know what the left is doing, remarked an irate minister who was agitated that the events could not have come at a worse time as this. He was alluding to the visit of Indian Foreign Minister, Jaishankar and his departure only the day before, proposed changes to 13th Amendment to the Constitution, postponement of Provincial Council elections and rejection of demands that Muslims dying of Covid-19 be buried.

Vice Chancellor Srisatkunarajah had, after confidential consultations with engineers and other connected stakeholders, decided that the demolition should take place after 10 p.m. on Friday January 8. Students were asked to leave the premises that night. VC Srisatkunarajah and his Registrar Viswanathan Kandeepan were in the premises. When a backhoe fixed with spotlights on the roof, hired from a private party in Tellipalai, began to demolish the memorial, residents at nearby Ramanathan Road and Parameshwara junction heard what they suspected was unusual activity within the campus. Soon the people, including students, turned up at the entrance and watched what was going on. The backhoe was loading the destroyed debris of the memorial and was later unloading it in a corner area. By Saturday morning crowds had swelled. That included V. Mannivannan, a lawyer and Mayor of Jaffna. He hurriedly appeared for two persons taken into custody and obtained bail.

Students staged a sit-down protest fearing two more similar memorials within the campus would also be destroyed. The Pongu Thamil monument memorial is located in the Arts Faculty and a memorial in memory of Rasiah Partheepan, better known by his LTTE nom de guerre Thileepan, a medical student, in the science faculty. He died in a fast unto death in a dais from outside the Nallur Kandasamy Kovil in 1987. This was when the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was present in Sri Lanka.

As the night grew on Saturday, there were hectic activity. Nine university students launched a hunger strike. By 1 a.m. VC Srisatkunarajah had taken a tough stance. He told a group of students that the Mullaivaikal memorial had been built without obtaining approval. Tamil newspapers ran banner headlines in black about the incident and there were more crowds turning up. Local television stations gave wide coverage and an entire peninsula was aroused. It was around 3 a.m. when the Vice Chancellor changed his stance. He turned up before the students on fast with a bowl of rice porridge and declared let us lay a new foundation stone in the morning for a new memorial. He accompanied the students to the demolished site where they laid flowers. The Vice Chancellor then recited a stanza from Tiruvasagam, a song for Lord Shiva.

Outside the campus, by Saturday morning, strength from Jaffna, Kopay, Manipay, and Atchuveli Police stations had been deployed around the campus. So were Army troops from the 521 Brigade in Kondavil and Special Task Force (STF) personnel of the Police. They were also assigned strategic points. They dispersed the crowds but more began coming in. VC Srisatkunarajah on Monday morning told Parliamentarian S. Sritharan that he would apologise to the students and added that they would be allowed to re-erect the memorial. He noted that the turnout of the Army and the Police prevented damage being caused. At one point, ambulances from the Jaffna Hospital had arrived to take the students who were on a death fast to hospital.

The presence of senior Army and Police officers prompted VC Srisatkunarajah to seek the help of a police officer to translate what he said into Sinhala. The words he used tell the story of how situations can escalate without the knowledge of government leaders and, in this instance, when their security arms are unaware of what was going on. Despite the saturation of intelligence personnel in the North, they were blissfully unaware that trouble was about to erupt placing the Government and the country in a most embarrassing position. The words of Srisatkunarajah explain:

I have received orders from the Government to resolve this issue amicably. I wrote to the UGC and this caused some issues in Tamil Nadu as well. We are going to put some stones as a symbolic ceremony to calm down my students. The construction of the monument will commence with proper approvals. Work has now begun on a new memorial. Here again, placing stones to resemble a foundation, also raises an issue. It could be argued that such an act, to diffuse a situation, has been carried out without any formal approval. Why did not the relevant authorities, including the Vice Chancellor, look into these aspects before boldly deciding to demolish the memorial?

Srisatkunarajahs words raise some key issues. If VC Srisatkunarajah is right, the Jaffna University would have to be mindful of issues in Tamil Nadu in the conduct of his official duties. That begs answer to an important question  why he could not tell the UGC or the security authorities of this factor. Instead, he has waited for more than three months on a secret report and took decisions immediately thereafter under pressure from different quarters. The unfolding events have shown that such quarters do not appear to have informed government leaders nor obtained their covering approval for the demolition raising an overly critical question  who is in control? The adverse impact has been on the government, national security, intelligence failure and even foreign relations setbacks.

If the matters were not resolved last Monday, one is not wrong in saying that it would have caused greater misconceptions in New Delhi. The argument would have been that the memorial had been removed less than 24 hours after the departure from Colombo of Indias External Affairs Minister Jaishankar. It could have been construed as a rebuff for his urging government leaders to adhere to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and conduct Provincial Council elections. Like it happens in most cases, the fiasco will be forgotten until the next one occurs.

More details of Jaishankars visit have now emerged. On January 5, after his arrival in Colombo, he met Minister G.L. Peiris and Basil Rajapaksa, the founder and key strategist of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). The next day, Wednesday, he had a two-hour meeting with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. That evening he took part in a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Taking part was Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay. Jaishankar also had meetings with Minister Douglas Devananda, Samagi Jana Balawegaya and Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, State Minister Sathasivam Viyalendran, and Ceylon Workers Congress leader state minister Jeevan Thondaman. Jaishankar also met United National Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at his residence at Fifth Lane. He had known the former Prime Minister during his days at the Indian High Commission in Colombo and expressed his wish to meet him.

The Jaishankar visit has also led to India agreeing to set up a Kandyan Dancing School in the hill capital. At New Delhis urging, Sri Lanka has agreed to send the first flight to the newly built international airport at Kushinagar in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site where Gautama Buddha achieved Parinirvarna after his death. The External Affairs Minister also discussed matters relating to the LNG terminal and refurbishing of oil tanks, both in Trincomalee.

Hard on the heels of the visit of Indias External Affairs Minister, Pakistans Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to lead a high-level delegation to Sri Lanka. A top Foreign Ministry source said the visit was timed in the coming days but added it has now been pushed back by a few weeks. Arrangements for the visit, however, are under way, he said.

UNP working committee meeting

A noteworthy political development this week is a meeting of the UNP Working Committee, the partys main policy making body, which decided that Ranil Wickremesinghe would remain as leader. He had earlier declared he would step down from the leadership and not take the bonus seat in Parliament. Palitha Range Bandara, a former retired Police Sub Inspector, was appointed General Secretary. Under the previous yahapalana government he received a backdated promotion to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP). The UNP as a party has decided to create a future work plan. During the next week or in near future the responsibilities of newly appointed official posts would be divided among them, he told the Sunday Times. He said, We would re structure the party and would change the organisers and take the party forward.

His predecessor Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has been made an Assistant Leader thus replacing Ravi Karunanayake who held the post. Asked for his comments, he said, We can talk about the UNP next week. I am currently unable to speak about the matter. Please let us talk about this matter next week. Ruwan Wijewardene will continue to be the Deputy Leader. Sagala Ratnayake and Anoma Gamage have been made Deputy Chairpersons. The new Chairman will be Vajira Abeywardena though, earlier, Arjuna Ranatunga was billed to take the post.

Ahead of the Working Committee meeting, four UNP members  Ravi Karunanayake, Navin Dissanayake, Arjuna Ranatunga and Lakshman Wijemanne, all former MPs, had a meeting with Wickremesinghe at Siri kotha, the party headquarters. The discussion centred on the selection of office bearers for the party when the Working Committee met that day. Karunanayake expressed his wish to be made the Deputy Leader, a request which was turned down by Wickremesinghe. By this time, the foursome had an indication of those who are to be given positions. They walked out of the meeting and did not even take part at the Working Committee session.

Navin Dissanayake, who was re-appointed National Organiser of the UNP, is not sure whether to accept the position. He told the Sunday Times I have to consider whether to accept the post and all those responsibilities or not. The party leader has decided on a team. I do not need to comment more. If I obtain positions, I have to involve myself with work I have to think whether I can do that. Ravi Karunanayake was removed from that team. I should decide. The SJB too invited me to join the party. I have not taken a decision.

Ahead of the meeting with Wickremesinghe, the foursome together with Mervyn Silva, were on a pilgrimage to Kataragama early this week. The likelihood of their joining the SJB is not ruled out. In fact, SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara told the Sunday Times, We will welcome them with open arms The change of positions in the UNP is usual activity. Ranil Wickremesinghe wants to remain leader. That is his strategy. The people have rejected the UNP. The SJB will also be appointing persons to new positions soon.

Armys agriculture activities

There was an error in these columns last week. The Army agriculture activities are carried out by the General Services Corps and not Works Services Corps as erroneously stated. That, however, was a small agricultural unit and expanded during the command of General Jagath Jayasuriya. After the military defeat of Tiger guerrillas, the Army managed their farms and thereafter created a Directorate of Agriculture and Livestock. With the new Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Corps, activities are to be further expanded.

References in these columns last week to a three-page despatch to the Foreign Ministry on January 2, from Ravinath Ariyasinha, Sri Lankas Ambassador to United States, have triggered a reaction from the Foreign Ministry Secretary Admiral (retd) Jayanath Colombage. In a message to Sri Lankas overseas missions, he has warned that severe action would be taken against those leaking despatches.

UNHRC sessions

Another development this week is a joint letter eleven Tamil political parties and civil society organisations wrote to 47 member-countries of the UN Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka-related issues coming up at the 46th sessions in February and March this year. Urging that member states come to this categorical conclusion (i.e. Resolution 40/1 evaluating Sri Lankas commitments) by way of a final resolution, made recommendations that go beyond the UNHRC, they have requested that:

Member States urge in the new resolution that other organs of the United Nations including the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly take up the matter and take suitable action by reference to the International Criminal Court and any other appropriate and effective international accountability mechanisms to inquire into the crime of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The President of the UNHRC refers matters on accountability in Sri Lanka back to the UN Secretary General for action as stated above.

Member States to mandate the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to continue to monitor Sri Lanka for ongoing violations and have an OHCHR field presence in the country.

Without detracting from that which has been stated in point 1 above, take steps to establish an evidence gathering mechanism similar to the International Independent Investigatory Mechanism (IIIM) in relation to Syria established as a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly with a strict time frame of twelve months duration.

The signatories to the letter dated January 15, 2021 are: R. Sampanthan, Leader, Tamil National Alliance (TNA), G.G. Ponnambalam, Leader, Tamil National Peoples Front, Justice C.V. Wigneswaran, Leader, Tamil Makkal Tesiya Kootani, Rev. Fr. Leo Armstrong, Tamil Heritage Forum, Mullaitivu, Sabharathinam Sivayhoyanathan, Eastern Province Civil Society Forum, Rasalingam Vikneswaran, Amparai Civil Society Forum, Amarasingham Gajenthiran, Tamil Civil Society Forum, Yogarasa Kanagaranjini, Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances North and East, Subramaniam Sivaharan, Tamil Thesiya Vaalvurimai Iyakkam, Velan Swamikal, Sivaguru Aatheenam and Rt. Rev. Dr C. Noel Emmanuel, Bishop of Trincomalee.

The letter from the Tamil groups came as the Foreign Ministry and UN officials on Friday discussed contents of the draft text of the report UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michele Bachelot will present at the upcoming UNHRC sessions. A copy of what the Sunday Times learnt was a strongly worded report had been made available for observations. That is the usual practice. The virtual dialogue took place on a secure internet link with UNHRC officials. Sri Lanka has been given a further week to respond to queries raised by the UN so issues raised by it could be considered for inclusion or omission from the draft report.

The memorial fiasco in Jaffna delivers a strong message to the Government  the need to closely monitor all developments and thus avoid colossal damage. The fact that it came amidst the mounting number of COVID-19 cases which has sapped most of the governments attention is one thing. However, issues related to national security and the conduct of foreign policy cannot be ignored. Not even in the absence of a vibrant opposition in the country. It can be too costly. So will be the newer issues surfacing at the UNHRC in Geneva.
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Mumbai, Jan 16 : Bigg Boss talent manager Pista Dhakad has died in a road accident. Several past contestant of the show took to social media on Saturday to express grief.

Pista, 24, who was an employee of the reality show's production company Endemol Shine India, had left the set of the ongoing season 14 on Friday after the wrap on an Activa scooter with one of the assistants and their vehicle was hit by a vanity van. She died on the spot.

Reality TV stars and real-life couple Yuvika Chaudhary and Prince Narula, who were housemates on Bigg Boss 9 in 2015, were among the first to pay condolences.

Yuvika posted a video of Pista and captioned it as: "Why you left us so early. Still in a shock. Can't believe I am writing this. Rip bro." Prince posted a picture of Pista and wrote: "Tu wo insan thi jisko koi kabhi bhool nahi payega bro. Tu hum sab k dil mein aise hai jaise pata nahi bachpan se saath ho. Tere jaisa positive insaan nahe dekha jo sabka acha aur humesha khush rehte tha. Pata nahi tha abhe jab main Tu aur yuvi goa gaye the wo humara last trip hoga or tere kami koi puri nahe kar payega. Humari industry mein bhe aur aur humare zindagi main bhe (You are a person one can never forget, bro. You remain etched in our hearts as if we knew each other since childhood. Never seen a positive person like you, who wished well to all and was always happy. Didn't know your Goa trip with Yuvi and me would be the last one. No one can fill your void, in the industry as well as our lives). Love u always. Last night she met with na accident." Actor Kishwer Merchantt, also a contestant on season 9, commented on Prince's post: "I heard. So, unfortunate. Oh God. Can't imagine what her parents must be going through. Rip." Season 13 housemate Shehnaaz Gill tweeted: "Such a joyful, vibrant and happy soul. You will be missed by everyone who's life you touched. #RIP Pista. " Actor Kamya Punjabi, who was on season 7, posted: "Thats Pista, 23-year-old, a part of bigg boss team since last few years and a very very bright girl. Passed away last night. Rest in peace sweetheart. #pistadhakad."
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After President Donald Trump was removed from social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, the callers started ringing into Sean Sullivans Midday Mobile show on FM Talk1065.

They were telling me they were removing themselves (from the same social media sites), said Sullivan. If people choose to freely remove from a place, I think that might be good. There were some people (calling in to tell me) they were doing it so they could tell everyone else they were doing it. Maybe it was a bit of a virtue signaling.

He added, But the de-platforming of conservative voices and the calls Im getting from listeners is based on this comparison about taking the President of the United States off Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and, at the same time, you are leaving people like the ayatollah of Iran on Twitter. Where are the priorities? What Jack Dorsey of Twitter would consider is a threat is a lot different from my listeners who seem to think its an unbalanced way of (administering) this.

In the days since so-called Big Techs Trump ban and the sweeping exodus of conservatives from the social media sites, Republicans in Alabama and beyond are howling about a double standard with the content moderated online. Trump was ousted from Twitter, his preferred communication platform, on January 8, or two days after the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol that was fueled, in part, by the presidents misinformation that the election was stolen from him.

The sweeping actions online, which included Amazons removal of the popular conservative site Parler, has stirred a widespread debate over censorship, free speech and expression and antitrust issues involving companies that have grown so big they are almost ubiquitous to everyday life.

The situation at the Capitol was a tipping point, said Robbyn Taylor, a lecturer of journalism and community at Troy University. It was a wakeup call for social media companies on what they wanted their companies to represent.

First Amendment, censorship

A screenshot of Donald Trump's Twitter account.

At the heart of the debate is whether the social media giants are curtailing free speech. Critics have taken their disgust out at Big Tech, which includes the most dominate information technology companies in the world: Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Google, and Microsoft. It also includes Twitter and even smaller sites, such as Shopify, which removed all Trump merchandise from its platform.

The companies are reacting to Trumps involvement in fueling misinformation over the election results and led to the January 6 violence at the Capitol. Five people, including a Capitol Hill police officer and an Alabama man, died.

Some of the companies, such as Twitter, removed Trump out of concern over public safety. Google and Amazon removed Parler over worries about the sites inability to moderate extremist and threatening messages.

The moves have left irate conservatives and Trump supporters scurrying for a place to go.

As a 42-year volunteer in the Republican Party, I can easily say it is deeply disturbing that a certain segment of Americas voices are trying to be constrained because of their political views, said Terry Lathan, chairwoman of the Alabama Republican Party. I have never witnessed such a gag order type of action on the First Amendment in my lifetime. People are outraged at these Big Tech moves. These Big Tech one size fits all moves are infuriating Americans.

In the past week, most media relations experts have been quick pointing out that the moves by Big Tech and others is not a violation of First Amendment rights. The First Amendment applies to government censorship of free speech and expression, not with what private businesses can do.

I have noticed that there is a lot of confusion apparently between the First Amendment protections and what it doesnt do with respect to private companies versus government entities, said Dennis Bailey, an attorney based in Montgomery and a longtime practitioner in media law. Private companies arent covered by the First Amendment. That doesnt mean what they have done is right or fair, it just means it should not be couched in terms of First Amendment issues.

But it seems like a First Amendment violation, according to GOP pollster and strategist Brent Buchanan of Montgomery.

If Big Tech can cancel the President of the United States, they can cancel any American they disagree with or dont like, Buchanan said. While they have grounds as private platforms to limit access to users, social media has become so ubiquitous with culture that their reaction actions feel like a limitation of free speech.

Republicans are naturally distrustful of big institution, Buchanan said. The moves by Big Tech has given them reason to be leery of social media now.

Trump wasnt the only purge this week. Republican presidential candidate Ron Pauls Facebook page was suspended, and Twitter purged more than 70,000 accounts affiliated with QAnon, citing a growing concern between online speech and real-world harm.

Ron Paul  hes out there for me, but I dont consider him anywhere near a threat to democracy, said Brandon Shoupe, chairman of the Houston County Republican Party.

Related content: How to improve media literacy in the age of misinformation

Shoupe, like others, is concerned about the double standard. He said one particular infuriating Tweet to him within the past week came from Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who said during an Instagram speech Tuesday that the nation can only heal once oppressed states in the South are liberated.

Can you imagine if President Trump said, lets liberate California? People would be up in arms, said Shoupe. (Concerns about inflammatory speech) are on both sides but it seems they are putting the hammer down on the conservative side.

Democrats say that people need to stop comparing the removal from social media to censorship. They, as well as some media observers, believe the public needs to be more aware of the user agreements social media sites have for participation on their platforms.

Fueling the concerns from Democrats and others are growing criticism directed at the social media sites for hosting the spread of disinformation and threats. Of late, authorities are warning about armed rallies hosted by pro-Trump radicals at all 50 state Capitols in the weeks ahead.

I would take issue with the premise that being kicked off a platform like Twitter or Facebook for violating the rules one agreed to when signing up is censorship. Its not, said Wade Perry, executive director with the Alabama Democratic Party. Rules apply to everyone. Even conservatives. Further, freedom of speech does not exempt one from the consequences of what one says. Especially when it is seditionist speech that incites violence.

Taylor, at Troy University, said she hopes users begin to take the community standards posted to the social media sites more seriously.

When my iPhone says, do you accept terms and conditions, I just accept it, but I havent really read the community standards, she said. When we do that, we are to abide by the rules and polices placed by these companies. Hopefully people will do that and educate themselves on what they can or cannot post.

Regulatory future

The swift moves by social media has fueled the debate over what kind of antitrust regulations should be applied to Big Tech. Facebook and Google face antitrust lawsuits which have been signed on by almost every state. Alabama is not one of them, and Attorney General Steve Marshalls office has declined to say why they are staying out of the fray.

Republicans in states like North Dakota and Florida are rolling out legislation that would allow users to sue social media sites if their speech is censored. Alabama is not one of them. Texas lawmakers debated a similar approach in 2019, though critics rightly pointed out that federal law supersedes the states authority.

Legislation that aims to punish social media companies for moderation efforts are likely futile, said Kendra Albert, an instructor at the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard University. At the state level, such bills are preempted by Section 230 of the Communications Act. And even if Congress amends 230, social media companies have First Amendment rights to select the types of content they wish to host. It would be difficult to craft a bill that makes platforms civilly liable for deleting content that passes constitutional muster.

Indeed, pressure could be placed on Congress to move for bipartisan reform of Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. That federal law shields Big Tech from civil liability of the content its users are posting.

Increasing regulation on the private companies stirs varying viewpoints.

Sullivan, at FM106, said the pursuit of antitrust action against Big Tech equates to pursuing the Internet as a utility, such as electricity and water, where regulatory boards oversee utility management.

When you look at it, are you making a decision based on the emotion of the moment that needs a broader view before people start reacting? Sullivan said.

A.J. Bauer, an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media at the University of Alabama and author of the book, News on the Right, said that removal of Section 230 would exacerbate the problems and would prompt Facebook, Twitter and others to take swifter action in removing content.

The platforms would feel the threat of litigation and probably would only do what they are doing now, but only earlier, he said.

Taylor said she believes social media platforms will mirror the same strategy as comic book publishers did in the 1950s, when they voluntarily created a Comic Code Authority to self-regulate their industry as an alternative to government interaction.

We may see that come through with social media and other mediums where the industry itself says, we would like to avoid a government regulation, so lets come up with a set of standards and abide, said Taylor. I thought for some time that social media should have already done that by creating things proactively, so they dont end up in more congressional hearings and talking about regulations that the government might impose, she added.

Lathan, with the Alabama GOP, is hoping for congressional action. She said she hopes Congress will look at possible violations of antitrust laws over the latest activity.

Social media companies have been increasing self-policing in recent years with disclosures about fake or misleading content. For weeks, Twitter and Facebook added disclaimers that the presidents claims about a stolen election might be misleading.

Justin Blankenship, assistant professor of journalism at Auburn University, said the flagged tweets and suspensions are the only social media moderation the public sees. He said there is content moderation all the time behind the scenes you dont see as part of Big Techs business model determined by algorithms.

The most popular content  or those that generate the most clicks or likes  are often on conservative media brands, Blankenship said.

From a business standpoint, Big Tech took a hit from its Trump ban: Twitter and Facebook have seen a combined $51 billion of market value erased in the past week, according to Business Insider.

The popular sentiment right now is that Big Tech is anti-conservative, said Blankenship. But there are accessible metrics on Facebook engagement. There are sources where you can see the top stories from publishers with the most interactions and likes and shares. If you look at that, maybe eight out of 10 of those are from conservative people. Its your Ben Shapiros and Franklin Grahams. The Fox News and conservative radio hosts.

He added, When I say conservative, Im not saying its something from the National Review. Its from people who tend to be more provocative. The algorithm is designed to keep people engaged on the site. And I think weve determined that the things most engaging are not necessarily the most healthy for a democracy or for civil conversations or discussions.

Lathan said a combination of social media platforms will be used by Republicans going forward. She said that people wont be willing to just stand down and walk away.

At least one Republican leader believes its impossible to have a healthy public policy discussion online.

The coarsening of discourse in society, not only in the United States but around the world, in the way people speak to each other and the comments on (news) stories and on the Internet, is outrageous, said Michael Hoyt, chairman of the Baldwin County GOP. People talk to each other in such nasty tones. Its something you would never say to anyones face. Its not a net positive contributor to our political discourse.

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) has issued a guideline urging courts to improve judicial services to help speed up the development of the Hainan free trade port.

The guideline, posted online Friday, makes institutional arrangements for improving the free trade port's judicial organizational system, optimizing the case jurisdiction system, and improving the system for foreign-related civil and commercial case trial and the alternative dispute resolution mechanism for commercial cases.

It demands stepping up the construction of the intellectual property court of the Hainan free trade port and the foreign-related civil and commercial tribunal of Hainan.

The guideline also calls for strengthening the construction of tourism tribunals, innovating the trial mode and establishing a centralized and express trial mechanism for foreign-related tourism disputes.
The Associated Press checks out some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. This one is bogus, even though it was shared widely on social media. Here are the facts:

CLAIM: In an August letter, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi encouraged Portland, Oregon, Mayor Ted Wheeler to adhere to the Democratic playbook and blame President Donald Trump in response to riots and protests taking place in the city following the death of George Floyd.

THE FACTS: The letter was fabricated. After rioters were photographed in Pelosis office during the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, a letter attributed to Pelosi about the protests in Portland months earlier began circulating on social media.

The good guys (the Alliance) now have Pelosis laptop. So now we can read Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosis letter to Portland, Oregon mayor Ted Wheeler (Democrat). In this letter, demon Pelosi admits to both 1) fraud and 2) media complicity to fraud, one Facebook post said.

The made-up letter claims that Pelosi told Wheeler that she had seen his response to the riots in August and that he should stick to the proven Democratic Play book.

The letter, which uses informal language and features poor grammar, also includes a fake signature. Pelosis office confirmed with The Associated Press that the letter was fabricated. The letter says: Go on Television and Condemn TRUMP and refuse any assistance! We CANNOT give TRUMP any victory before the election!!!!!

Tim Becker, a spokesperson for Wheelers office, also told the AP in an email that the letter was not real.
The City of Brandons administrations initial proposal for its 2021 budget includes a 3.15 per cent residential property tax increase, according to documents released Friday.

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The City of Brandons administrations initial proposal for its 2021 budget includes a 3.15 per cent residential property tax increase, according to documents released Friday.

Thats higher than the 2.97 per cent increase initially proposed at the beginning of last years budget preparations, though the citys elected officials reduced to a 0.469 per cent increase by the time they were done with it.

The City of Brandons administrations initial proposal for its 2021 budget includes a 3.15 per cent residential property tax increase, according to documents released Friday. (The Canadian Press)

If accepted, this years 3.15 per cent increase would add $60 to the annual tax bill for the owner of a home appraised at $270,000.

For the past several years, the citys elected officials have ended deliberations with tax increases lower than those initially proposed by administration, but the city also hasnt had to deal with a major international crisis in recent history.

COVID-19 has presented the city with financial challenges, but Mayor Rick Chrest told the Sun on Friday that his goal is still to limit any tax increases as much as possible. Municipalities in Manitoba are prohibited by law from running deficits, so the city will have to balance the budgets by the end of the process.

"Many businesses have had struggles," Chrest said. "Many, as we speak, are closed or partially open. Many individuals have been laid off periodically through this pandemic. We definitely know that there are many businesses and organizations that have been enduring some difficulties through COVID and therefore, now is not a time to be looking at significant tax increases."

He added that city administration keeps the budget as tight as it can without making decisions that intrude into politics before handing it off to mayor and council. Chrest expects that it will likely be a more difficult process figuring out this years budget because of COVID.

Documents show that the city department receiving the biggest proposed funding increase in 2021 is the Brandon Police Service, which would see its 2020 funding level of $17,198,271 increase to $18,073,375  a raise of approximately $875,000.

Brandon Fire and Emergency Services, which employs much fewer staff than their law enforcement counterparts, is proposed to receive a much smaller budgetary increase of $191,194.

Another department proposed to get a shot in the arm in the budget is engineering, which would get $412,602 more than it did in 2020.

The biggest proposed budgetary reduction comes from the Brandon Municipal Airport, which would receive $308,718 less than in 2021 compared to 2020. However, operating costs for the airport have likely decreased with service reductions from WestJet due to COVID-19.

The citys finance department has received $1 million in federal COVID funding and is expected to produce a surplus of $796,646.

Overall, the proposed budget would represent a $1,736,787 spending increase over 2020, or two per cent.

Documents show that the city currently has $39,853,400.28 in outstanding debts. The proposed budget would see the city make $5,258,692.11 in debt payments  $3,640,876.91 going toward the principal and 1,617,815.20 paying off interest.

Depending on how budget deliberations and consultations with the public go, these figures could change when the final budget is approved later this year.

The process kicks off in earnest on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m., when heads of the citys various departments will present their respective budgets to council. The next day, council will hold a day of deliberations.

Because of COVID-19, it wont be possible for members of the public to attend budget deliberations in person this year. Instead, citizens are asked to visit the citys website and fill out a form to provide feedback.

The feedback form as well as several budgetary documents and an explanatory video can be found at brandon.ca/budget/2021-budget.

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
Lucknow:

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday announced dissolving the Shia and Sunni waqf boards in the state in the wake of corruption charges against them.



CM Adityanath has assented to the dissolution of the boards, Minister of State for Waqf Mohsin Raza said. The dissolution process has been started after taking into account all legal aspects, the minister said.



There have been serious allegations of corruption against the Shia and Sunni waqf boards related to their properties. An inquiry conducted by the Waqf Council of India had also found many irregularities in this regard.



The role of the chairman of the Shia Waqf Board, Wasim Rizvi, as well as the minister for waqf in the previous Samajwadi Party government, Azam Khan, had come under scanner after the inquiry by the Waqf Council of India.



Barely a fortnight after the SP suffered a humiliating defeat in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, a report by the fact-finding committee of the Central Waqf Council (CWC) indicted Khanone of the controversial ministers in the erstwhile Akhilesh Yadav governmentof corruption, mismanagement and misuse of office.



The fact-finding committee, constituted after the CWC received several complaints from UP, was headed by Syed Ejaz Abbas Naqvi, who is also the in-charge of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand waqf boards.

ALSO READ | Inherited 1.21 lakh kms of potholed highways, will roll out new projects, says Yogi Adityanath



Raza had recently handed over separate reports of the Waqf Council with regard to the two boards to the Chief Minister. The committee in its report elaborated on how Khan as minister allegedly misused his position to grab properties under the boards.



It said Khan made a trustMaulana Johar Ali Education Trustand diverted funds from waqf properties to it. The report pointed out discrepancies in maintaining rent collection records on Waqf properties.



It recommended that the Uttar Pradesh Waqf Board be dissolved immediately and all accused officials be barred from entering waqf offices pending investigation.

ALSO READ | UP CM Yogi Adityanath's plan to make state roads pothole free gets extended

Khan has, however, maintained that he was absolutely clean and the allegations against him were baseless.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.

West Palm Beach, FL, Jan. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sterling Organization, a vertically integrated private equity real estate investment firm headquartered in West Palm Beach, FL, is pleased to welcome Joe Dykstra to its leadership team as President of newly formed subsidiary Sterling Logistics Properties. Mr. Dykstra will be responsible for the execution of both the investment strategy and the day-to-day operational performance of the firms consumer focused logistics properties division. The platform will invest in properties that will be utilized for the LAST HOUR fulfillment and distribution of e-commerce consumer goods in an effort to solve the delivery dilemma within the current retail ecosystem.

We are pleased to welcome someone of Joes caliber to Sterling, said Brian Kosoy, Managing Principal, President and CEO of Sterling Organization. Joe is a highly regarded senior executive in the world of real estate, well known to us and we could not be more excited about Joe joining our team. I personally look forward to working closely with Joe as our team seeks to execute on this new strategy. My partners and I believe Joe is the ideal person to spearhead this new platform as we seek to capitalize on rapidly evolving retail distribution trends and related real estate opportunity sets.

Prior to joining Sterling, Mr. Dykstra most recently served Westwood Financial LLC in various leadership roles for almost 30 years. Mr. Dykstra was named Co-CEO in 2016 after the company reorganized to consolidate its management company and more than 256 property partnerships to form a single ownership platform operating as a self-managed REIT with 76 properties and $1.7 billion under management. As Co-CEO of the reorganized company, Mr. Dykstra spearheaded the institutionalization of the operating platform and was responsible for all aspects of executing the companys investment strategies as well as the optimization of its property portfolio. Prior to his role as Co-CEO, Mr. Dykstra had been responsible for over $5 billion in capital markets activities and the companys expansion from a purely West Coast focus to a national platform. Mr. Dykstra sat on the firms Executive Committee and chaired the company's Investment Committee.

I am excited to help launch the newly formed Sterling Logistics Properties platform and to join the leadership team of a firm like Sterling. I have always respected Sterlings thoughtful, disciplined and creative approach to real estate investing. I am confident that with both Sterlings and my own personal commitment to this new platform, our investment partners should be rewarded as we seek to opportunistically take advantage of the emerging secular trend in LAST HOUR consumer focused distribution and micro-fulfillment, said Joe Dykstra, President of Sterling Logistics Properties.

Mr. Dykstra graduated from Western Illinois with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and Management and has re-located from Los Angeles to work out of the companys headquarters in West Palm Beach, FL.

##

Sterling Organization is a vertically integrated private equity real estate investment firm whose national platform is focused on investing in consumer-centric real estate assets that serve the LAST HOUR function within the retail supply chain. Sterling Organizations LAST HOUR is a combination of services which includes the investment in, planning for, development of, and/or operation of real estate assets and physical networks that include shopping centers, other traditional brick and mortar retail properties, micro-fulfillment centers, logistics facilities and urban distribution centers that focus on and enable the efficient and rapid inventorying and distribution of consumer products to the ultimate customer resulting from their location or proximity to the population base they serve. Sterling Organization is headquartered in West Palm Beach, FL.

Attachments
Its especially tough for low-income, low-resource communities where the needs are extensive, he said. It will just keep getting harder and harder for them. By the time they get to third grade, its going to be a disaster. When the schools closed, the panic button was hit.
As President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration unfolds in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, supporters in his hometown of Scranton have a lot planned to mark the occasion.

The public is invited to a series of online events leading up to the historic, momentous day, according to Sam Maloney, a city resident involved with the Scranton Inaugural Celebration.

How often is a president born in Scranton? Maloney said.

Marywood University students designed and built a replica of the inaugural podium. Thats on display through Thursday at the Lackawanna County Childrens Library in Scranton.

Scranton Public Library CEO Scott Thomas said the podium is accessible daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Sunday and Monday, and kids have been taking photos with it.

We are proud to be able to participate, Thomas said. Politics dont enter into this at all. It couldve been a Republican president from the city of Scranton. Its something for us as a community to take pride in.

Visitors stopping by the library can also leave donations of nonperishable food, hats and gloves for Friends of the Poor.

Both Scranton and Oakland, California  the birthplace of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris  will raise a flag on Tuesday that was created through a collaboration with artists in both cities.

Local artist Ryan Hnat teamed up with Favianna Rodriguez in Oakland for the project. The flag depicts two hands  one black and the other white  coming together for a handshake with the United States in the background. The left side says Oakland; the right says Scranton.

They wanted the flag to represent this period in time where theres a lot of division and hopefully reunite people across the country, reminding them that were all together in this, Hnat said.

At 2 p.m., on Tuesday, a pre-recorded panel from Marywood University, From Scranton to the White House: Scranton Inaugurates Joe Biden, will feature Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Gisele Fetterman, Sen. Bob and Terese Casey, Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, Democratic National Committee Deputy National Finance Chair Virginia Doherty McGregor, Scranton Human Resources Director Amber Viola with Pennsylvania Vets for Biden, and Marywood Student Government Association President Alexis Palys.

Then at 5:30 p.m., city landmarks will be illuminated as church bells ring to remember the lives lost from COVID-19. Residents are encouraged to participate at home.

Also on Tuesday, Cathaoirleach Seamus Weir of Scrantons sister city, Ballina, Ireland, will virtually attend a Scranton City Council meeting. On Wednesday, Cognetti will virtually join Ballinas municipal council meeting.

Biden and Harris supporters can livestream the inauguration at bideninaugural.org and post on social media using #ScrantonInaugural Celebration and #Inaugura tion2021.

The Scranton Inaugural Celebration Facebook page will have its own content on Inauguration Day. Check the page for updates and more information.
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Russias top oil producer, state-controlled oil firm Rosneft, is in talks with some of the worlds largest oil trading houses, offering them to become investors in a major oil project in Russias Far North in exchange for oil supply contracts, sources close to the talks told Reuters.

Russia looks to develop the Vostok Oil mega project in Siberia, which includes the Vankor and Payakha clusters and which has resources estimated at 44 billion barrels. The Vostok Oil project in Russias Far North includes the Vankor cluster, the Zapadno-Irkinsky block, the Payakhskaya group of fields, and the East Taimyr cluster. All those clusters are close to the Northern Sea Route that Rosneft wants to use to ship oil to Europe and Asia.

Commodity trader Trafigura said in December it had bought 10 percent in Vostok Oil, which would give Trafigura access to high-quality crude oil resources from a major new onshore oil-producing region in Siberias Taymyr province. The deal also provides Trafigura with access to long-term offtake supply of crude oil, including from Vostok Oil.

Now, according to Reuters sources, Rosneft is in talks with other major oil tradersincluding Vitol, Gunvor, and Glencoreto potentially attract them to invest in the Vostok Oil project by also offering future oil supply. Rosneft is offering the traders stakes in Vostok Oil in exchange for immediate contracts to supply crude and oil products, Reuters sources say.

Rosneft was previously looking to get financing for the project from investors in Japan, India, and China, but after the oil price collapse in early 2020, talks had stalled, sources familiar with the issue told Reuters.

Still, some of the traders may not be inclined to buy a stake in the multi-billion project because of Western sanctions on Russian shale and Arctic oil developments and the pullback by many banks from funding development in the Arctic, trading sources told Reuters.

Rosneft aims to deliver Vostok oil to the Northern Sea Route by 2024, chief executive Igor Sechin told Russian President Vladimir Putin in November at a meeting to discuss the project.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez plans to be in Washington, D.C., next week for the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Nothing will keep the judge in County Court-at-Law No. 13 from going.

Not a raging pandemic. Not last weeks violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building, where far-right forces sought to overturn an election President Donald Trump lost.

She may not get close enough to see or hear anything, but that wont deter her. When I asked again, late Thursday night, if she was still planning to be there, her text contained one word.

Determined.

The judge may be as tough as they come. Shes an avid motorcyclist and knows how to handle a weapon. A longtime friend calls her fierce.

The judge will have a little backup. Along with her wife, Stacy Speedlin Gonzalez, the judge will bring along her college roommate and her husband, a law enforcement officer and detective.

Hell have his service weapon with him, the judge said.

Theyll travel by car from her friends Maryland home, park as close as they can get and walk the rest of the way. Her cellphone will remain charged to capture as much as possible and to call emergency services if necessary.

This trip has been long in the making.

Josie Norris, San Antonio Express-News / Staff Photographer

The Speedlin Gonzalezes were supporters of Harris presidential run and were pleased Biden selected the senator from California as a running mate.

Harris will become the first woman to serve as vice president, a century after white women won voting rights later extended to women of color. Shes the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants.

All that made Speedlin Gonzalez tear up, her voice cracking, I still get emotional about what we have accomplished.

That her wife bought airline tickets before prices skyrocketed made the decision possible.

Since last weeks violent rioting by Trump supporters, security in the capitol has been heightened. National Guard troops have been garrisoned in the Capitol Building. In all, 20,000 troops will be in the District of Columbia.

The National Mall has been closed, and tickets that were once the currency of Congress at previous inaugurals are scarce.

According to several reports, each member of Congress will get a plus-one to the ceremony. The customary parade from the Capitol to the White House has been replaced by a virtual one.

But the mere fact that Biden will be sworn in at the customary West Front of the U.S. Capitol has become a symbol of the nations resilience, a show of strength and defiance against a mob that intended to do far more harm than it was able to do.

The trip will mark the first time the San Antonio couple, avowed travel junkies, will get on a plane in more than a year. Theyll double-up on masks on the flight and while in Washington.

The judge got a lot of different responses about making the trip.

Saul Gonzalez, no relation, and a mutual friend were scheduled to join the judge. She and the retired Austin attorney are longtime friends and were early organizers in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

We decided not to go before the insurrection, he said, citing the rising cases of COVID-19. The insurrection was the final blow.

The judges wife admits shes worried, too, but is excited about a new administration.

She said it will come with new hope, a new agenda and without the corrosiveness of the last administration.

I have friends and family in other countries, and Im embarrassed, she said of the Trump era. I know some people dont care about that, but it does matter what they say about us.

The judge has been most guided by a desire to defy the insurrectionists. They want us to be afraid of them, she said.

The Speedlin Gonzalezes will be most armed with their wits and vow to remain cognizant of their surroundings.

The judge joked shell have her cellphone ready for airport insurgents having meltdowns when they realize theyre on a no-fly list.

While almost half of voters supported Trump, the judge believes the extremists who attacked the capitol are a minority.

It will be the safest metro city in the country that day, she said.

Like those of us watching the inaugural on television, the swearing-in will put special emphasis on the words Biden and Harris will repeat when they swear to faithfully execute their offices and preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

This time those words wont ring hollow.

eayala@express-news.net
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16)  China will donate half a million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines, its State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced in a bilateral meeting with his Filipino counterpart, Secretary Teodoro Teddy Boy Locsin, Jr. on Saturday.

Wang informed Locsin of the Chinese governments intention to donate the vaccines, the Department of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement after the closed-door meeting. No brand was mentioned.

The DFA added that the donation is "in keeping with" the earlier commitment made by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who said the Philippines will be prioritized once a vaccine developed by China becomes available.

In the opening remarks covered by the media, Wang stressed the need for the two countries to plan how they can work together throughout the year.

[I]n our discussion today, we will also share with you my old friend, Chinas stocks and announcements of Chinas decision regarding vaccine cooperation, Wang said in Mandarin, according to the transcript provided by the DFA.

China also reportedly pledged a million doses to Cambodia and 300,000 to Myanmar as part of Wangs Southeast Asia tour.

Locsin, for his part, called the start of vaccinations as a turning point in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus, believed to have originated from Wuhan, China a year ago, has infected more than 93.9 million people worldwide.

The government is looking at procuring 25 million doses of Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovacs CoronaVac vaccine, eyeing a February rollout for the first 50,000 doses. Amid concerns on the efficacy and price of the vaccine, officials said the country can still opt out of the deal with Sinovac if it fails to secure regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

READ: COVID-19 vaccines: Where is PH in the procurement, clinical trials?

Meanwhile, the two foreign ministers on Saturday reiterated that their countries should continue to set aside differences to pursue areas of cooperation. President Rodrigo Duterte has agreed to shelve the countrys arbitration win in its dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea, opting instead for friendlier relations with China.

The Asian giant insists on owning the global waterway, rejecting the arbitral ruling that recognizes Manilas sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.

With our two nations abiding interest in regional stability and the security of our maritime commons, it behooves us to show our ability to rise to the challenge of managing differences peacefully and in accordance with law, while making headway towards trust-building and practical concrete mutually beneficial cooperation, Locsin said in his speech.

Barn destroyed by Wednesday morning fire

Fire destroyed a barn about five miles southeast of Watertown Wednesday, according to a report from Watertown Fire Rescue.
India today launched the world's biggest covid jab effort to inoculate 300 million of its 1.3 billion people by July - a target which dwarfs the British population by more than four times.

An army of 150,000 specially trained staff have been deployed to dole out the vaccines across 700 districts after several dry runs to improve their tactics.

On day one around 300,000 people, including medics, over-50s and those deemed high-risk, were given their first of two doses.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi proudly announced V-Day on his YouTube channel as India began the monumental task compounded by poverty, shaky infrastructure and public scepticism.

Vidya Thakur, dean of Rajawadi Hospital takes the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine shot, manufactured by Serum Institute of India, inside Vaccination Centre at Rajawadi Hospital in Mumbai, India, 16 January 2021

Patients waiting at a hospital shield their faces as a worker fumigates the covid vaccine centre to kill off any disease-carrying mosquitoes in Mumbai on Saturday

A civic authority worker fumigates a Covid-19 coronavirus vaccination centre in the Rajawadi Hospital as a preventive measure against diseases-carrying mosquitoes in Mumbai

'Normally, it takes many years to make a vaccine but in such a short span of time, not one, but two 'Made in India' vaccines are ready,' Modi said.

'The world has immense faith in India's scientists and capacity of vaccine production.'

Authorities are drawing on their experience with elections and child immunisation programmes for polio and tuberculosis in rolling out the vaccine.

About 150,000 staff in 700 districts have been specially trained, and India has held several national dry runs involving mock transportation of vaccines.

But in an enormous, impoverished nation with often shoddy transport networks and one of the world's worst-funded healthcare systems, it is still a daunting undertaking.

Regular child inoculations are a 'much smaller game' and vaccinating against Covid-19 will be 'deeply challenging', said Satyajit Rath from the National Institute of Immunology.

Both vaccines approved so far need to be kept refrigerated at all times, and others being developed will need to be stored at ultra-low temperatures too.

To account for this, India has readied tens of thousands of refrigeration tools - including 45,000 ice-lined refrigerators, 41,000 deep freezers and 300 solar refrigerators.

They will be sorely needed when India's scorching summer rolls around.

But in one recent exercise in rural Uttar Pradesh a health worker was pictured transporting boxes of dummy vials on his bicycle.

There are also concerns about plans to manage the entire process digitally via India's own app, CoWIN - of which there are already several fake versions.

During one recent practice in IT hub Bangalore, workers at one health centre had to use a cellphone hotspot to go online because their network was down.

Authorities also need to make sure that vaccine doses do not 'go missing' and end up being sold on India's large black market for medicines.

More than 150,000 Indians have died from Covid-19 and the economy is one of the worst-hit worldwide, with millions losing their livelihoods.

New infection rates have fallen sharply in recent months but experts are concerned a new wave might hit, fuelled by a string of recent mass religious festivals.

Madhura Patil, a health worker, gestures as she receives COVID-19 vaccine in the presence of Uddhav Thackeray, standing in white dress, Chief Minister of Maharashtra State in Mumbai

Health officials and a volunteer take part in dry run or a mock drill for the Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine delivery at Siliguri district hospital in Siliguri on January 8

A patient gets the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine shot, manufactured by Serum Institute of India, inside Vaccination Centre at Rajawadi Hospital in Mumbai

A man receives his first of two jabs on Saturday

Indian medical staff pose on V-Day at the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bhopal

And as in other countries, there is scepticism about the vaccine, fuelled by a torrent of hoaxes and baseless rumours online about the virus.

For example, multiple Facebook and Twitter posts shared hundreds of times - debunked by AFP Fact Check - claimed no vegetarian had died from Covid.

Others accused India's Muslim minority of deliberately spreading the virus with hashtags like '#CoronaJihad', or denounced the pandemic as a cover for a plan to implant trackable microchips.

A recent survey of 18,000 people across India found that 69 percent were in no rush to get a Covid-19 jab.

'I would rather wait and watch and see how it goes with the frontline workers who are being vaccinated first,' banker Sushma Ali, 54, told AFP.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that approval of Indian giant Bharat Biotech's vaccine Covaxin without data from Phase 3 human trials - as well as the death of a trial participant - has further eroded trust in the inoculation drive.

A health worker, left, receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a private Hospital in New Delhi, India

A patient gets the first dose at Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital in Bhopal, Saturday

A beneficiary gets the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine shot, manufactured by Serum Institute of India, inside Vaccination Centre at calling Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital in Bhopal, India

A beneficiary gets a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine shot, manufactured by Serum Institute of India in Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical Collage Tanda Himachal Pradesh, India

With Covaxin still in 'trial mode', Indians being given the vaccine on Saturday were being asked to sign consent forms.

The other jab to be given approval is Covishield, a version of AstraZeneca and Oxford University's shot made by India's Serum Institute, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer.

'I think it is all very fishy,' said housewife Prerna Srivastava, 41. 'Let the politicians get the vaccine first.'

'The problem is that no one trusts this government,' echoed father-of-five Liaquat Ali, 51, in Mumbai.

'I have no idea when I or my family will get the vaccine, it will take at least a year, since this is a huge country. Eventually everyone will get it but the rich will get it first.'
The New-Age CEO is expected to be more connected and social media-savvy, a survey has revealed. And thats not all, the leaders reputation and level of engagement with the public on social media also matter a lot for employees.

These findings, from the Connected Leadership 2021 report released by advisory firm Brunswick Group , come at a time when social media is itself caught in something of a storm -- be it over the suspension of US President Donald Trumps accounts from various platforms or concern s about the security implications of WhatsApps latest terms of service.

An overwhelming 99 percent of Indian employees surveyed said they expect business leaders to use social media to communicate with the public about their company. This is higher compared to 97 percent of respondents in Brazil and 87 percent in Singapore, among the top three.

Likewise, almost all Indian financial readers (99 percent) feel that CEOs should actively engage or communicate on social media about their organisation. Interestingly, all the participants (100 percent) from China and the United Arab Emirates were unanimous on this.

The study surveyed 6,500 employees (of for-profit organisations with over 1,000 employees) and 5,200 financial readers (that regularly read at least two financial publications) across 13 countries and markets. The data for employees was gathered between September 28 and November 29, 2020, and for financial readers from September 28 to November 24 last year.

There has been a paradigm shift in the expectations of modern leadership," according to Craig Mullaney, Partner, Brunswick Group. "With teams and stakeholders globally dispersed, business leaders must adapt to be more accessible, transparent, and connected.

The study was conducted amid the global pandemic and findings pertaining to change in work environment were reflected too. About 68 percent of employees reported working in a different location than before the pandemic and 20 percent expect to work from home in the post-pandemic era. India also topped the list (95 percent) of employees who said the pandemic led them to do most of their work in a different location from the pre-pandemic period, followed by Singapore (81 percent) and Brazil (80 percent).

90 percent Indian employees surveyed say they have a connected leader

A vast majority of Indian employees (90 percent) also said they have a connected leader -- using social media to reach them and co-workers -- as against the (51 percent) average of all the countries surveyed. The percentage is lower among leading economies like Germany, France and the United States.

Likewise, 95 percent of Indian employees aspire to work for a CEO who uses digital and social media as part of their work more than the one who does not. A similar percentage of Indian employees said they would trust a digital or social media-savvy CEO who uses it as part of their work to communicate.

The study shows that 60 percent of employees -- surveyed overall -- considering joining a company will research a CEOs social media accounts. This is 83 percent in the case of Indian employees, and 36 percent for Germany. Leaders using social media have a competitive advantage in attracting and keeping talent, the report says.

CEO reputation was crucial for 80 percent of those surveyed, the study found. Among Indian staffers, 95 percent thought it was a key retention factor, followed by Brazil (92 percent), Singapore (89 percent) and Italy (80 percent). Also, younger employees have high expectations from leaders of having a digital or social media presence.

74 percent financial readers view leaders connected via digital/social media more trustworthy

Financial readers (74 percent) across markets say they would trust a connected leader more than the one who does not use social media as part of their work. This is as high as 97 percent among readers surveyed in the UAE, followed by India (92 percent) and Saudi Arabia (91 percent).

Overall, 78 percent of financial readers check out at least one of a CEOs social media accounts to learn more about them, the findings reveal.

Also, 86 percent of employees and 93 percent of financial readers feel it is important to actively communicate on social media about their company during a crisis. Respondents believe its important for corporate leaders to communicate with them on social media about Covid-19, political and social issues in the media, and broader Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) initiatives, the report points out.

In the age of fake news or unverified messages floating across digital platforms, 92 percent of financial readers and 87 percent of employees agree that correcting misinformation about the company is an important responsibility for a corporate leader on social media.
Centre should admit mistake on farm laws: Chidambaram

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Jan 16: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram hit out at the Centre over the impasse on the farm laws, alleging that "no one" was consulted for the legislations, and asserted that the only way out for the government was to agree to start on a "clean slate".

His remarks came a day after the Centre asked protesting farmers to form an informal group to prepare a concrete proposal about their objections and suggestions on the farm laws for further discussion at their next meeting on January 19 to end the long-running protest at various Delhi borders.

The protesting farmer unions, however, stuck to their main demand of a complete repeal of the three legislations.

In a series of tweets, Chidambaram said that as expected, another round of talks between the farmers and government has failed. The fault lies with the government because it will not agree to get rid of the disputed laws, the former Union minister said.

"RTI responses have exposed as a lie the government's claim that there were extensive consultations before the Farm Laws Ordinances were promulgated. The truth is that no one was consulted. In particular, state governments were not consulted," he alleged.

The only way out of the impasse is for the government to admit its mistake and agree to start on a clean slate, Chidambaram said.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Haryana and Punjab, have been protesting at several border points of Delhi since November 28 last year, demanding a repeal of the three laws and a legal guarantee to the minimum support price (MSP) system for their crops.

Enacted in September last year, the three laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

However, the protesting farmers have expressed their apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of the MSP and do away with the "mandi" (wholesale market) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

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Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 18:26 [IST]
Telangana CS directs officials to complete paddy procurement within next 6-days 27 May 2021 | 9:33 PM Hyderabad, May 27 (NI) : Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar on Thursday directed the District collectors to expeditiously complete the paddy procurement exercise within next 6-days in view of the expected early arrival monsoon. see more..

Loans sanctioning to be expedited under YSR zero interest loans scheme: EG Collector 27 May 2021 | 9:11 PM Kakinada, May 27(UNI): East Godavari Collector D .Muralidhara Reddy has asked the bankers to expedite the sanctioning of YSR zero interest loans before the onset of khariff season to benefit the maximum number of farmers. see more..

Rs 40 lakhs penalty levied for mask violations in East Godavari 27 May 2021 | 9:08 PM Kakinada, May 27 (UNI): The district police in addition to creating awareness among the people on usage of masks while moving in public places , simultaneously levying penalties on those who violate the rules and moving without masks. see more..
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - January 15, 2021) - January 15, 2021. Guardian Exploration Inc. (TSXV: GX) (the "Corporation") is pleased to provide an additional update on its proposed acquisition of mining assets located in the Mayo Mining District in the Yukon known as the Mount Cameron Property (the "Acquisition").

The Corporation continues to pursue the completion of the Acquisition. The definitive agreement with respect to the Acquisition allows for the termination of the agreement in the event that the Acquisition does not close by February 28, 2021, unless extended by mutual agreement of the parties. The previous termination date was extended by the parties to February 28, 2021 on January 15, 2021.

In connection with the Acquisition, the Corporation will complete a private placement (the "Private Placement") of a minimum of $300,000 and a maximum of $500,000, of which up to $300,000 may be raised through the issuance of units ("Flow-Through Units") and the remainder to be issued through the sale of non-flow through units ("Ordinary Units").

Flow-Through Units will be offered at a price of $0.10 per unit and will consist of one Common Share issued on a tax flow-through basis and one warrant issued on a tax flow-through basis ("Flow Through Warrant"). Each Flow-Through Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one non-flow-through Common Share ("Ordinary Share") at a price of $0.15 for a period of three years from the date of issuance. In the event that the Common Shares of the Corporation trade at a closing price on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") of greater than $0.15 per share for a period of 30 consecutive trading days at any time after the closing date, the Corporation may accelerate the expiry date of the Flow-Through Warrants by giving notice to the holders thereof and in such case such warrants will expire on the 30th day after the date on which such notice is given by the Corporation.

Ordinary Units issued under the Private Placement will be offered at a price of $0.05 per unit and will consist of one Ordinary Share and one non-flow-through warrant ("Ordinary Warrant"). Each Ordinary Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional Ordinary Share at a price of $0.25 for a period of three years from the date of issuance.

The Corporation intends to use the proceeds from the Private Placement in order to fund the proposed work program for the Assets. The gross proceeds from the sale of the Flow-Through Units will be used for expenditures which qualify as "Canadian exploration expenses" ("CEE") and "flow-through mining expenditures" both within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada). The Corporation will renounce such CEE in accordance with the rules and regulations of the I (Canada).

There will be a hold period of four months and one day on all securities issued under the Private Placement.

The Corporation may pay finders fees to persons who assist the Corporation in filling the Private Placement.

Completion of the Acquisition is subject to the concurrent completion of the Private Placement as well as Exchange approval for the Acquisition and Private Placement and addition to conditions usual to transactions of this nature.

The Corporation has received conditional approval for the Acquisition from the TSXV and has made application to the TSXV for approval for the Private Placement.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Graydon Kowal

President and CEO

(403) 730-6333

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management's expectations regarding the completion of the Acquisition and Private Placement, the addressing of comments of deficiencies noted by the TSXV and future applications for approval or extensions of approvals proposed to be made by the Corporation.

Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Corporation. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Although such information is considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, it may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Corporation does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by securities law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72206
Its fundamentally different than academia because of the political overtones, he said.

Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said her agency had been unaware of the new policy.

We were completely blindsided by this when agencies were focused on the pandemic response, and the staff has worked tirelessly, she said. I think our career staff deserve better than an unvetted policy.

Brian Harrison, the H.H.S. chief of staff, oversaw the rule himself, in place of the departments secretary, Alex M. Azar II. The move was the product of a small deregulatory group at H.H.S. that Mr. Harrison led this year, he said in an interview. Top health officials have grumbled about what they view as Mr. Harrisons efforts to draw attention to his role in pursuing new rules, including using the departments public affairs Twitter account to regularly feature graphics with his name on them commenting on new policies.

No one will lose employment as a result of the rule, he said in a conference call with reporters on Friday. Employees who might lose their roles at the top of centers, bureaus and divisions would be appointed somewhere else within their agency. Others could be renewed for additional five-year terms.

All Americans are very familiar with having to check in with their boss, Mr. Harrison said. This simply institutionalizes leaders within H.H.S., whose boss is the secretary right now, to check in with their boss two times a decade.

Many top health officials are hired as political appointees, meaning they frequently exit the agencies when there is a change in presidential leadership. But the new rule would affect the professional career staff, who often work in the government for decades.

Mr. Harrison said the change would help diversify the leadership ranks by making way for new employees to ascend to leadership roles. But critics of the policy say it could instead be a convenient way for political leaders to sideline senior career staff members with opposing views and could repel talented scientists considering entering government service.
Two strong organizations are now being led by Toby Geiger of Data Business Equipment. I know Toby will oversee both existing leadership teams to even higher levels of customer service and continue to provide world class solutions.

Jeff Martin, President/Owner, Welch Systems, Inc., recently announced the merger of his company with Data Business Equipment, headquartered in Des Moines, IA. In doing so, Martin stated that this will not affect Welchs leadership, employees, offerings, or identity.

As I announce my retirement, I can confidently say that the customers and employees of Welch Systems, Inc. and therefore its continued success, is in the best possible hands, stated Martin. Two strong organizations are now being led by Toby Geiger of Data Business Equipment. I know Toby will oversee both existing leadership teams to even higher levels of customer service and continue to provide world class solutions.

This merger came about due to the planned retirement of Martin. In looking for a suitable partner to carry his succession plan forward, Martin believed Data Business Equipment was an ideal fit due to their shared vision and culture that made the family-run Welch Systems into the success it has been for almost 50 years.

Growing is important to future opportunities and stability as a company. Bigger and stronger, while not losing focus on customer service is our goal moving forward, stated Toby Geiger, President/Owner, Data Business Equipment. The strong leadership teams of DBE and Welch Systems merging and bringing the best practices, resources and expertise together will position us well in the Midwest for years to come. We are very excited for the opportunities this creates and look forward to a successful future for all our employees and valued customers.

About Welch Systems

Founded in 1973, Welch Systems is a privately-owned corporation based in Peoria, Illinois. Using both innovative technology and personalized attention, they provide custom designed cash handling solutions to community financial institutions. Their sales and technical resources are local to the areas that are served throughout Illinois and Eastern Missouri.

About Data Business Equipment

Data Business Equipment has been helping integrate technology into financial institutions throughout the Midwest since 1968. By helping them control costs, accelerate processing and increase customer service, they have become an essential part of their profitability and success. Part of their strength is the long-term relationships they have built and maintain with the top manufacturers of banking technology, enabling the company to provide practical solutions for any sized bank, credit union or other financial institution.
With just 1 day left for the finale, the makers of Bigg Boss Tamil 4 are leaving no stone unturned to entertain the audience. In the previous few episodes, ex-contestants were seen entering the house to celebrate the harvest festival Pongal and cheer the 6 finalists of the house.

Notably, one among the finalists, Gabriella Charlton decided to leave the show after accepting Bigg Boss' cash prize offer of Rs 5 lakh. Now, the five finalists of the show are Aari Arjuna, Balaji Murugadoss, Rio Raj, Ramya Pandian and Som Shekar.

Though the finalists have already appealed to the audience for votes justifying their eligibility to become the winner, fans and followers of the contestants are doing everything they can to support their favourites through votes. Notably, the 5 contestants will be exiting the house after a long stay of 106 days inside.

Date And Time The grand finale of Bigg Boss Tamil 4 will be aired on January 17, 2021(Sunday), from 6 pm in the evening. Where To Watch? The highly anticipated finale hosted by the Ulaganayagan will be telecast on popular Tamil channel Vijay Television and it'll also be available on video streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar. Special Guests For Bigg Boss Tamil 4 As per reports, the family members and friends of the finalists will witness the finale of Bigg Boss Tamil 4 along with the ex-contestants of the show. Though there is no clarity about chief guests, rumours are rife that a few actors and ex Bigg Boss Tamil contestants might enter the house to escort the runners-up. Kamal Haasan will be bringing the top 2 finalists to the finale stage to announce the undisputed winner of Bigg Boss Tamil 4.

Also Read: Bigg Boss Tamil 4: Here's How Much Balaji Murugadoss Is Charging For The Show!

Also Read: Bigg Boss Tamil 4: Gabriella Charlton To Walk Out Of The Show?
Naidu alleged that it is YSRC activists who are actually responsible for attacks on temples to divert attention from cases that they are facing.  DC Image

VIJAYAWADA: Telugu Desam chief N. Chandrababu Naidu has accused APs Director General of Police of acting under Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddys direction, as per script provided by government advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy.

Naidu said the coming Tirupati by-election will be a golden opportunity for people of the state to put an end to non-stop atrocities unleashed on people by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government.

Addressing a meeting of partys Tirupati parliament segment leaders, the former chief minister accused AP DGP Goutam Sawang of not acting as per rule book, abiding by laws of the land.

Naidu claimed that on Bhogi day, DGP had said mad men have been responsible for temple attacks but changed his statement on Kanuma day, attributing the attacks to opposition parties. The Leader of Opposition charged that the state government remained complacent till 150 temples or idols were vandalised.

He alleged that it is YSRC activists who are actually responsible for attacks on temples to divert attention from cases that they are facing. He maintained that no cases had been filed against those who vandalised temples or damaged idols. Instead, the state government has filed cases against TD leaders for visiting Ramatheertham, while no such thing was done when Rajya Sabha MP Vijaysai Reddy and YSRC leaders did the same and even went on to provoke crowds that had gathered there.

Naidu wanted people to treat Tirupati by-election as a referendum and give a verdict against YSRCs misrule. He said people have already started revolting against the Jagan Mohan Reddy government and protests organised by TDP against the ruling partys misrule are getting a good response, including from the younger generation.

The TDP chief asserted that protests at Ramatheertham visit and Bhogi bonfires against YSRCs misrule are clear indications of the rising anti-establishment sentiments.
The March for Life, which brings many thousands of people to Washington each year to protest the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, will go virtual this year, the organization announced Friday, citing the pandemic and security concerns.

The Jan. 29 march, which has been held each January since 1974 on the Mall, will be streamed online, except for a small group of antiabortion leaders who will march to the Supreme Court that day, the group said in a statement. The marchers "will represent pro-life Americans everywhere who, each in their own unique ways, work to make abortion unthinkable and build a culture where every human life is valued and protected."

The antiabortion movement is at a key moment. Major groups such as the March for Life have been strong supporters of President Donald Trump and believe his selection of three conservative Supreme Court justices - as well as hundreds of conservative lower court judges - will lead to significant legal limits on abortion. Last year, Trump was the first U.S. president to speak in-personat the march. However the president's low popularity and association with coronavirus deaths and the reinstatement of the federal death penalty make him a problematic figure to champion and be tied to.

American views on whether abortion should be legal have been relatively stable for decades, according to Gallup.

Since 1976, the percent of respondents who said the procedure should be legal under some circumstances has gone from 54 to 50% today, with a high during that period of 61% and a low of 48%.

The percent saying it should be legal under all circumstances has gone from 22 to 29%, with a high of 34% and a low of 21%. Those saying it should be totally illegal has gone from a high of 21% in 1976 to 20% today; in the mid-90s that number dipped to 15%.

Meanwhile,people's affiliation with the terms "pro-choice" or "pro-life" have been more fluid, with 56% of Americans saying they considered themselves "pro-choice" in 1996, according to Gallup, compared with 48% today. Americans who say they're "pro-life" went from 33% to 46% of the population, Gallup says.

In Friday'sannouncementabout the virtual march, organizers said their decision was made to protect the participants as well as law enforcement, who monitor it each year.

"In light of the fact that we are in the midst of a pandemic which may be peaking, and in view of the heightened pressures that law enforcement officers and others are currently facing in and around the Capitol, this year's March for Life will look different," organizers said.
In my career as a journalist I have had the good fortune of attending hundreds of large and small events held in communities across the state.

I have been in attendance for some of the most rigidly planned events as schedules fell apart. I have sat on the sidelines for an hour or more after events were scheduled to begin, left waiting with attendees for the action to start.

The event that I attended on Jan. 14 absolutely blew my mind. As I left the event, all I could think was that it ran like a "well-oiled machine."

The historical event that I attended was by far the most well organized and orchestrated that I have ever seen, and the residents of Huron County were the direct beneficiaries.

I was absolutely honored to have the opportunity to photograph and document the county's first large scale COVID-19 vaccination clinic.

The event was a perfect example of outstanding community partnerships. Huron County Health Department Public Health Officer Ann Hepfer and the entire staff, along with staff from McLaren Thumb Region and Scheurer Health, and Central Huron Ambulance Service, with the facility support of Bad Axe Public Schools were able to administer nearly 1,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in one day with zero vaccine waste.

As I arrived at the high school shortly before 9 a.m. I saw workers screening attendees to ensure they had appointments, directing them to park and where to go. A dozen people were lined up outside the doors, and despite the chilly damp weather, and although everyone was wearing masks, there were many ear-to-ear smiles evident as they waited for the opportunity to combat the pandemic that has crippled our communities, state, nation and world.

Stepping inside the gymnasium, I saw hundreds of people working flawlessly toward a common goal. Standing on the sidelines of the gym I leaned back to take a minute and soak it all in.

On one side of the gymnasium were 20 stations manned by health workers from the health department and the hospitals. Each person appeared to be focused on their individual role. One by one people entered the gym and were directed to a station where they would receive the vaccine.

Although there were hundreds of people in the gym, the traffic flowed flawlessly and everyone went where they needed to with very little communication or confusion.

After receiving their first of the two-part vaccine that would hopefully bring an end to the pandemic, patients went to the other side of the gymnasium where they were monitored for 15 minutes to make sure there weren't any problems.

Eventually I transitioned near the exit of the gymnasium and again was greeted by smiles that were evident under the masks as people happily left the gym. One gentleman stopped to express his gratitude for the organization of the clinic, stating he had family in other counties that had a much different experience.

Now there have been mass vaccinations across the country that have undoubtedly flowed equally as well, but there have been plenty of reports to the contrary as well.

This pandemic has caused a divide across the nation, but when you look deeper there are still plenty of moments like this, when everyone sets aside differences to work toward the common goal.

On behalf of the residents of Huron County, I want to thank the folks behind this effort from the bottom of my heart. Despite the numerous challenges you have faced in the last year, you continue to devote yourself to bringing an end to this pandemic and restoring our daily lives.

 Scott Nunn is the assistant editor of the Huron Daily Tribune. He can be reached at scott.nunn@hearstnp.com.
Seeing his skin wounds caused by immersion in black water while removing trash from a canal, many people think the 69-year-old man is crazy. But he turns a deaf ear to their comments.

Hurrying to put on his boots, Ho Chi Cuong from Binh Chanh commune in Binh Chanh district in HCM City drives his old motorbike to Ong Do Canal every day, where he and his grandchild clean up and clear the water flow.

Cuong said Ong Do Canal became seriously polluted in 2018. Domestic waste, together with thick hyacinth, blocked the flow. As the water got stuck, the waste decomposed, creating thick layers floating on the water surface and giving a bad odor.

The Binh Chanh commune authorities then encouraged institutions and individuals to help upgrade the canal. Cuong asked volunteers to take part in collecting garbage and cleaning the canal.

But the canal had been cleaned for only a short time when people again started throwing waste into it. The flow was once again blocked and the water turned black again.

I saw the canal becoming seriously polluted and I decided that my grandchild and I will collect trash on a voluntary basis, he said.

The two of them go to the canal every morning, where they steep themselves in water to pick up garbage.

At first, I did not have any tool to pick up garbage. I just put myself in water and picked up every plastic bag and plastic box. After each cleaning, I had to give up by clothes, because they could not be cleaned. My skin became ulcerated because of the dirty water, he recalled.

However, as he wants to set an example for those who drop litter, he vows not to give up the unpaid job. Every morning, he goes to the canal with his grandchild and uses a fishing net to collect garbage from the canal.

Many people say I am paid for the waste collection, because no one would be foolish enough to do this for free. Others say I have too much free time, so I do something that will never bring results, he said.

However, he doesnt care about the comments, because he is doing good work for society.

Feeling pity for the man, the local authorities gave him a junk made from an old boat. Thanks to the boat, he doesnt have to give up clothes every time after working and can collect waste more effectively.

I row the junk, while my grandchild picks up waste. If we see too much waste in the same place, we use a racquet to collect it and put into a bag, he said.

Nguyen Son

Environmental polluter becomes protector While the whole world continues to battle rising environmental pollution, one group of Vietnamese students has found a radical solution to bring to the fight.
A decade later Jones, in a somewhat droll mood, laughed as he reflected on his moment on stage, telling his listeners of the performance: "It was a splendid success ... They called for encores!" Last year Jones took out the Coldest 100's top spot for singing - or more accurately "talk-singing" - his way through Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Changes Everything in 2010. The video shows the veteran broadcaster wearing a jaunty striped blazer on stage and delivering the tune with all the melodic elegance of an alley cat on heat. Jones beat other major contenders including Dean Martin doing a version of Waltzing Matilda and Elvis Costello singing Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport on an episode of Frasier. Sholl says he has unearthed another rich seam of contenders for 2021's Coldest 100. He had to cull another 100 other "potentials" to keep it to a century.

"I've reached the point where people are now sending me tips on what to consider throughout the year, but I still spend endless hours on my own voyage of discovery ... it really is amazing what's out there," he says. Journalist turned consultant and creator of the Coldest 100, Andrew Sholl. "The pandemic has also helped create a theme for the 2021 list and there is an homage to Australia's very own Bee Gees and their hit Stayin' Alive, which has been covered by so many completely unexpected artists that I had to include a few of them ... like the Osmond brothers, minus Donny, who show some truly impressive choreography in their clip. I've even found The Muppets doing a version." Our unofficial national anthem Waltzing Matilda again gets a good going over. There's a smutty version by the late American artist Dickie Goodman that by today's standards is positively prehistoric in its political incorrectness. However, Elton John and Michael Parkinson save the day with a rendition of the song on Parky's chat show.

Samantha Armytage features with her 2013 breakfast television performance of Dusty Springfield's I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself, a potent reminder of why she should never be allowed to sing on live TV ever again. Bill Murray does a version of "our" Olivia Newton-John's hit Physical in 1982 on the Dave Letterman Show, though thankfully not in a leotard. There's also a Cantonese version of Kylie Minogue's I've Got To Be Certain. Loading Another fan favourite is Liza Minnelli singing the great Slim Dusty's Pub With No Beer on a television special she made in Australia back in 1967, around the same time she started dating Peter Allen. However, time has not been kind to other potential contenders. Sholl opted to leave out a clip of Dame Shirley Bassey singing Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport because it also featured the song's creator, the disgraced former national icon and convicted sex offender Rolf Harris.

There is widespread shock, disbelief and sorrow being felt throughout Enniscorthy this week as people come to terms with the sudden and unexpected passing on Saturday of Joe Doyle, from Doyle's Pub in the Duffry.

Joe, who was a son of John and Anne Doyle, was one of the town's most popular, respected and much loved characters.

One of the most active members of the community across the town, at various times he was involved in numerous organisations, including the Red Cross, St John's Ambulance service and a very significant aspect to all of his roles was that it was in a voluntary capacity.

Joe cared about people and was immensely proud of being from County Wexford and Enniscorthy.

An avid follower of the Rapparees-Starlights GAA club, he loved nothing more than welcoming members of the club through the doors of the pub - especially when celebrating a victory.

He was also very proud of Wexford county players with links to the town and they were always treated like VIP guests of honour in the pub.

Despite having cystic fibrosis, Joe himself was a keen sportsperson in his youth and took great pride in relaying exploits of his feats on the pitch to people, albeit with that mischievous glint in his eye.

He was a passionate Liverpool FC fan and enjoyed many trips over to see his favourite team play at Anfield.

Joe's caring and charitable nature was exemplified by the amount of fundraising he did for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, all of which was voluntary.

Speaking about his fundraising efforts a close relative of Joe's said: 'He worked tirelessly for cystic fibrosis and it was something very important to him on a personal level.'

Joe was also very much involved in the drama scene in Enniscorthy and was a member of Enniscorthy Drama Society.

The organisation paid tribute to their friend and colleague and described him as 'a wonderful man'.

'We, as a drama group, were privileged to have Joe on our side and to say he worked hard and gave it his all is an understatement,' said a spokesperson for the group.

Joe was actually one of the founder members of the group and, during his time with the organisation, he devoted his time to different roles, on and off stage, including stage management and props master.

The drama group spokesperson said his onstage roles included playing the priest in 'The Tinker's Wedding', and 'Dr McSharry' in 'The Cripple of Inishmaan', while his most recent role was that of Nigel in 'Well, Anythin quare?'.

One of Joe's proudest moments was playing the part of Nigel in John B Keane's pub in Listowel.

'Joe was a true friend to all in Enniscorthy Drama Group and he showed it by the lengths he went to for each play and each performance,' said the spokesperson. 'We will miss you terribly Joe, rest in peace, a true gentleman.'

Joe broke his ankle in the run-up to Christmas and it meant his mobility was severely restricted, necessitating some time in hospital.

However, he got to return home to the Duffry on Christmas Eve and remained at home thereafter.

Unfortunately, he contracted Covid-19 and a combination of that and the fact he had CF resulted in his unexpected passing on Saturday.

At the time of going to press the details of Joe's funeral were not known, however, his family and relatives are very anxious that nobody attends the funeral in adherance with current Covid-19 health and safety guidelines and on the avice of the gardai. However, nothing would have made Joe more proud than for people to make a donation to Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, if they so wish, because it meant so much to him.

A memorial in Joe's honour will take place at a later date when it's safe to do so and when restrictions are lifted.

Joe Doyle's legacy is that of a very caring man who always thought of others and always had time for people.

'We have to do what we can to keep the rest of the family safe,' said one of Joe's close relatives.

'We want everyone to be safe and we don't want anyone else contracting Covid,' she added.

His family also want to ensure that none of Joe's friends and neighbours becomes ill as a result of attending his funeral because that would be the last thing Joe himself would want.

Joe Doyle was a gentleman, a great son, friend and proud Enniscorthy man and he will be very much missed.

Joe is survived by his parents, John and Ann, by his aunt, Mary Doyle, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandnieces and nephews, and very large circle of friends.

In accordance with the order of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, an interstate statement on the violation of the rights and freedoms of the country's citizens who suffered as a result of Armenia's military aggression against Azerbaijan was prepared and submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Leading lawyers of Azerbaijan participated in the preparation of the document.

Thus, the document refers to the facts of violation of the right to life, respect for private and family life and freedom of religion, cruel treatment, property and free movement as a result of the 30-year occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan by Armenia. In addition, the evidence is presented that 3890 citizens of the republic were missing, and subsequently, the Armenian side did not take any action to investigate the fate of these persons.

In addition, the facts of violation of the rights of citizens of Azerbaijan, protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, as a result of the military provocation of the Armenian army in the Tovuz direction in July last year are cited.

This is followed by the substantiation of the violation of the European Convention on Human Rights with the provision of evidence of the inhuman actions of the Armenian army against the civilian population of Azerbaijan in the course of the 44-day war, which ended with the victory of the Azerbaijani army, including the death of 93 people, among who 12 children and 28 women, injures of 423 people, of which 51 were children and 104 women, the complete destruction of 264 houses in the city of Ganja and damage to other property and infrastructure located far from the combat zone, the use of cluster and phosphorus munitions and long-range ballistic missiles.

In addition, the statement reads that the citizens of Azerbaijan were deprived of the right to return to their homes after the placement by Armenia of a large number of mines in the occupied territories, the destruction of cities and villages, as well as the dispatch of representatives of illegal armed groups to the territories liberated from occupation after the act of surrender signed on November 10, 2020.

The statement contains a demand for Armenia to take the necessary measures to restore the violated rights of Azerbaijani citizens.
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(Newser)  A retired Air Force officer who was part of the mob that stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6 and was photographed holding zip-tie handcuffs on the Senate floor planned to capture lawmakers, a federal prosecutor said. He means to take hostages. He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the US government, Assistant US Attorney Jay Weimer said in a Texas court Thursday as he argued that retired Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr. should be kept in custody, the AP reports. Weimer offered no specifics on allegations that Brock, who was arrested on Jan. 10, intended to take hostages but said that Brocks military experience and training make him all the more dangerous. Despite Weimers request that Brock be detained, Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton released the 53-year-old veteran on home confinement, per NBC-DFW.

story continues below

I need to put you on a very short rope," the judge said to Brock. These are strange times for our country and the concerns raised by the government do not fall on deaf ears. Brock, who was wearing military-style gear during the Capitol invasion, had previously told the New Yorker that he had found the zip-tie handcuffs on the ground and picked them up: My thought process there was I would pick them up and give them to an officer when I see one. Brock has so-far been charged with misdemeanors, but Weimer said more charges are likely. Of the allegations made against his client, Brocks attorney said, Its all talk. Its all speculation and conjecture. Many online comments and social media posts by Brock, however, include references to civil war, per WFAA, and he was fired from a job in 2017 because of threatening and discriminatory speech. (Read more insurrection stories.)
Her son dead after a horrifying home invasion, Imelda Adao offered his convicted killers a message of forgiveness and sympathy Friday.

Her son dead after a horrifying home invasion, Imelda Adao offered his convicted killers a message of forgiveness and sympathy Friday.

"I believe in God," Adao said, her voice choked with tears, her husband Jaime by her side. "God is love and you have to forgive. How can God forgive me my sin if I am not able to forgive also?"

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Imelda Adao, mother of Jamie Adao Jr. with her husband by her side, sheds tears as she speaks with the media about the killers of her son who both entered guilty pleas for their roles in the teen's murder during a home invasion on March 3, 2019.

Seventeen-year-old Jaime Adao Jr. was stabbed to death on March 3, 2019, after Ronald Bruce Chubb and Geordie Delmar James, both high on meth, broke into his familys McGee Street home looking for property to steal.

Adaos death sent shock waves throughout Winnipegs tight-knit Filipino community, where his parents were well-known as the owners of Jimels Bakery.

FACEBOOK Jaime Adao Jr.

Chubb, who wielded the knife, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced Friday to life in prison with no chance of parole for 12 years. James pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to five years.

"We got justice and our sons life is not in vain," Imelda said outside court. "This is one of the hardest days of our lives We have to face now the reality that he is no longer with us."

Court was told that Jaime, a student at Tec Voc High School, and his 76-year-old grandmother were on the second floor of the home when the two men broke in through a back door around 9 p.m. and started rummaging through the main floor and basement for items to steal.

Jamie was on the phone to 911 when Chubb, armed with a kitchen knife, found him hiding in his room. The sounds of the their struggle were caught on the 911 call.

"Jamie was just a child trapped in his bedroom," Crown attorney Vanessa Gama told Queens Bench Justice Glenn Joyal. "Its the stuff horror movies are made of. The fear in this boys voice had a profound impact on the 911 operator who took the call."

Chubb had already stabbed the teen fatally in the back when police arrived and demanded he drop the knife. When he refused, police shot Chubb in the chest and arm.

James, who was downstairs when police interrupted Chubbs attack, fled out the back door. He was arrested three weeks later.

Chubb and James, both originally from Gods Lake First Nation, had troubled upbringings marked by violence and substance abuse.

Chubb, 31, witnessed his brother being slain in front of him when he was 13. His mother died of alcohol poisoning and he has been diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and "mild mental retardation," Gama said.

James, 36, has a lengthy record of violent offences, frequently tied to his substance abuse.

Both men admitted responsibility for the killing as part of a plea bargain with the Crown. Had the case gone to trial, Chubb could have argued he was guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter due to his intoxication, Gama said.

"The significance of not putting (Jaimes parents) through a trial in this matter is something the Crown took into consideration," she said. When told that the men would be pleading guilty to the killing, "they broke down in tears and thanked God that they would never have to hear that 911 call again."

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Family and friends gather outside the Adao family home at 745 McGee Street at a vigil for Jamie Adao in 2019. Adao was killed in a home invasion March 3, 2019.

James pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds he and Chubb entered the home with a "common intention" knowing there was a risk of bodily harm, Gama said.

"In the circumstances of this particular case, Mr. James never went upstairs (where the killing took place) never laid a hand on the victim," she said.

Jaimes parents immigrated to Canada in 2005, "determined to succeed," believing it was safer than their home country, Imelda told court in a victim impact statement.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Imelda Adao, mother of Jamie Adao Jr.: This place did not prove enough protection from bad people.

"This place did not prove enough protection from bad people," she said.

Jaimes parents described him as a caring, considerate young man who hoped to one day take over the family bakery and own a hotel so he could provide jobs for people.

Jaime might still be alive, had his killers experienced the same love and support he did while growing up, Imelda said.

"When I heard their story, I felt so sorry for them also because if they felt love since their childhood, they are not going to do such things like that in their lives," she said.

"I keep praying that no more families will experience the kind of pain that we have, because it is haunting us. It will be forever, no cure for this. We waited for 15 years to have our son and in a flash, they took it away."

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca


Local Ireland, the representative association for 46 weekly paid for newspapers including the People Newspapers, Wexford, and the largest publishing representative body in Ireland, has announced the appointment of Bob Hughes as executive director of the association with effect from January 1, 2021.

Mr Hughes succeeds Johnny O'Hanlon who has been director since 2009 and retired on December 31, 2020.

Bob Hughes began his career in local and regional newspapers before moving to Fleet Street to become a sub-editor at the Press Association.

He joined ITN where he was a producer on Channel 4 News before moving to Reuters/Sky as a programme editor, reporter and producer.

Mr Hughes then joined Radio Ireland/Today FM before becoming deputy director of News at TV3 from its launch until 2014.

He has since worked nationally and internationally as a multi-platform consultant with portfolios as diverse as Virgin Media Television, the Thomson Foundation for Journalism, TVC Communications Nigeria and Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation.

He is a visiting expert trainer in leadership and management at the Al-Jazeera Media Institute in Qatar and has taught broadcast journalism at DCU. Most recently he was a Special Adviser in the Departments of Rural and Community Development and in Communications, Climate Action and the Environment in the last Government.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Hughes said: 'I am delighted and honoured to be appointed executive director of Local Ireland.

'Our local newspapers are the lifeblood of our communities and their vital role in bringing news, information, culture and sport to 1.5 million readers every week has been brought sharply into focus in the current pandemic.

'The industry has faced serious systemic challenges around revenue and circulation and those impacts have been exacerbated by the sharp decline in advertising as a result of Covid-19. Now, more than ever, it is essential that local newspapers are supported in a meaningful way by our Ministers, TDs and councillors to ensure the sustainability and survival of high-quality journalism in our local communities.'

Commenting on the appointment, David Ryan, president, Local Ireland, said that Mr Hughes was joining the association at a critical point in the evolution of newspaper publishing in Ireland and, indeed, globally and wished him every success in his new role.

He also paid tribute to Johnny O'Hanlon for his service to the association during a challenging transitional period in the local publishing market and wished him well in his retirement.

French Baroness Nadine de Rothschild (R) and his son Benjamin visit on June 4, 1991 the Musee du Louvre in Paris. (Photo by Michel Clement/AFP via Getty Images)

Benjamin de Rothschild, Owner of Edmond de Rothschild Group, Dies of Heart Attack

Notable Swiss financier and philanthropist Baron Benjamin de Rothschild died on Friday afternoon of a heart attack at the age of 57, according to the Edmond De Rothschild webpage.

It is with deep regret and great sadness that Edmond de Rothschild Group announces the passing of Benjamin de Rothschild following a heart attack at his home in Pregny (Switzerland) in the afternoon of 15 January 2021, states the groups page. The statement also described some of his achievements and values.

Visionary entrepreneur, passionate about finance, speed, sailing and automobiles, wine enthusiast, Benjamin de Rothschild was also an active philanthropist, namely involved in developing innovation within the Adolphe de Rothschild Foundation Hospital. With his unique character, Benjamin de Rothschild never ceased to transform and modernise his legacy, in line with the familys values, reads the press release.

Sail-World also reported his passing. The Gitana team expressed their condolences and remembered his contribution to sailing.

Thanks to his commitment, Benjamin de Rothschild enabled a whole generation of sailors to express themselves on the finest boats of the time, as is the case right now for the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, currently in the midst of an attempt to secure the round the world sailing record, the Jules Verne Trophy, wrote the Gitana team.

French-Swiss banker, the founder of the Edmond de Rothschild Group, Baron Edmond de Rothschild and his wife, former actress Nadine Tallier in Paris, France, on Oct. 20, 1987. (Patrick Hertzog/AFP via Getty Images)

The Chateau de Pregny, also known as the Rothschild Castle, where the statement says he spent his final moments, is an estate owned by the family since the 19th century. It is located in the proximity of Lake Geneva.

According to Financial Times, he left behind a business worth $194 billion that employs 2,600 people across the world. The business started in 1953.

The former head of Russian energy company Rosneft, Sergei Bogdanchikov, accused Edmond de Rothschild of participating in a kickback scheme in October 2020.

According to Haarets.com, the deceased philanthropists father was a well-known Zionist and donor to Israel, Baron Edmond de Rothschild.

Benjamin is a seventh-generation successor of the Rothschild dynasty founder, Mayer Amschel Rothschild. The French branch of the family was the 22nd richest in 2019 in France and 43rd in Switzerland.

ROCHESTER, Minn.  A plea deal is reached over a $70 drug deal that lead to a mans death.

Robert Bryant Salley Jr., 19 of Rochester, entered a guilty plea Friday to 2nd degree murder and possession of a firearm or ammunition after being convicted of a crime of violence.

Rochester police say Trevor Boysen was shot to death on January 10, 2020, in a parking lot in the 800 block of 21st Avenue SE. Investigators say Salley got into a vehicle with Boysen to buy some marijuana. There was a struggle where the gun went off. Court documents state Salley then shot at the vehicle as he walked away.

Salley is now scheduled to be sentenced on March 8 in Olmsted County District Court.
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That Joe Biden is proud of his Irish roots is without doubt. The US president-elect declared he was in fact Irish during a media scrum in the early days of his campaign as he snubbed a BBC reporter seeking to grab a word.

He seems to delight in causing an international incident before even entering the war room, sparking a battle between Mayo and Louth over his ancestry.

His inauguration ceremony next Wednesday would have enjoyed The Chieftains and violinist Patricia Treacy had Covid not disrupted plans.

Fr Leo ODonovan will keep the tricolour flying, however, as the Washington-based Jesuit, academic and long-time friend of Biden will deliver the opening prayer.

The team Biden has gathered around him for when he formally takes power is peppered with tribes from the old sod too. Walsh, McDonough, OMalley-Dillon, Sullivan, Power, McCarthy, Donilon will all become familiar names over the next four years.

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But the arrival of the 46th president of the USA will be a greening of the White House in more ways than one.

All he had to do to improve on Donald Trumps record on climate change was acknowledge the climate crisis exists.

Bidens ambitions are much higher than that. Amtrak Joe, so called because of his decades-long commitment to a daily commute to work by train for reasons of climate and congestion, has made climate action a priority for his first 100 days, and the four years to follow.

One immediate plan is to rejoin the Paris Agreement, the international accord that commits to keeping global temperature rise below 2C and as close to 1.5C as possible.

Trump pulled out of the agreement and dismissed its aims, but the US will have to do more than just turn up expecting a welcome party.

Biden will have to send his international climate envoy, John Kerry, to the next round of negotiations later this year with real commitments.

He says the US will be carbon-neutral by 2050 but thats a massive task for a country still wedded to oil and gas.

Hes promising a 1.7 trillion investment in a clean energy revolution, creating good-paying jobs to ensure a just transition, while cutting emissions, cleaning the air and water and holding accountable polluters that dont play ball.

Now that he has control, albeit tenuously, of the Senate, pushing those policies through will be easier, but he still has some major challenges ahead in getting the public, workers, bill-payers and job-creators on side.

To help him win them over, he has appointed a national climate adviser, who is as proud of her Irish roots as the boss. Gina McCarthy was head of the US Environmental Protection Agency during Obamas second term but was one of the officials replaced by more malleable operators after Trump took power.

McCarthy grew up in Boston where, as she told Irish America magazine in 2014, she was surrounded by hard-working Irish people.

Her mother had Irish and English roots while her fathers were in Co Clare.

I come from a very much service-oriented family. We have firemen, policemen, post office, school teachers, she told the magazine.

Public service was seen as very much an honourable thing to do. And thats what I grew up wanting to do.

Her CV shows she achieved her ambition. Shes a public servant, scientist and academic with expertise that spans the complex interaction of sociology, public health and climate action.

Working with the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut and with the EPA, she initiated programmes for clean air, water protection, greenhouse gas reduction and chemical controls.

Climate action cant be a single-department issue but Biden is taking care of business in that respect too. Labour secretary Marty Walsh has an unemployment crisis to tackle when he clocks in next week, but he is also a

dedicated climate activist.

The Irish-speaking mayor of Boston and son of a couple who emigrated from Connemara, Walsh already set a target of making the city carbon-neutral by 2050.

He co-chairs Climate Mayors, a movement of city managers who decided to get on with protecting cities and

citizens regardless of Trump.

Hes also a former construction union leader and that experience could prove invaluable in guiding industry and nervous workers through the transformations in practices that climate action requires.

Another key member of the Biden administration is Samantha Power, the former US ambassador to the UN, who emigrated to the US from Ireland at the age of nine.

She takes on the job of leading USAID, the international development and overseas assistance agency. It has huge potential to influence policies in beneficiary countries as well as drive international efforts to tackle the inequalities that not only shame richer countries, but threaten global security too. Covid will take up her time early on but she has also listed climate change as an immediate priority.

After four years of neglect, Bidens personal interest in and political ambitions for climate wont be enough to ensure the scale of action required without strong people around him so continuing to make good appointments and keeping them focused will be crucial.

In that task, hell have the help of yet another Irish-

American, Jen OMalley Dillon, his new deputy chief of staff. OMalley Dillon, whose great-grandparents were from Galway, was Bidens campaign manager and it was down to her to get the messages of the campaign right and deliver them with precision. Reaching young people was crucial, she has said, and one of their key concerns was climate change.
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South Africas health department expects to finalize accords to buy millions of additional coronavirus vaccines within about a month and has agreed on an expedited payment process with the National Treasury to avoid delays in delivery.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said this week that his administration had secured 20 million vaccine doses this year, without giving details of what they would cost.

His announcement came days after the government struck a deal for an initial 1.5 million doses of a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford from The Serum Institute of India Ltd., with first shipments set to arrive this month.

The 20 million doses will include a previously announced allocation from the Covax initiative that will be sufficient to inoculate 6 million people, but excludes those from the Serum Institute, said Anban Pillay, a deputy director-general in the health department.

The nonprofit Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations are heading Covax, alongside the World Health Organization.

The additional vaccines have been procured from an agreement perspective, we have signed off on that, but details cant be revealed at this stage, he said in an interview. I think we will probably close all the deals in the next month or so because companies are now booking their supplies for quarter two to four.

Ramaphosa told Johannesburg-based Talk Radio 702 on Friday that the countrys other suppliers will include Pfizer Inc, Johnson & Johnson and possibly Moderna Inc.

The government has faced criticism from leading scientists, labor unions and opposition parties for being slow off the mark in securing the vaccines.

Forty-nine countries have already collectively administered more than 35 million doses, data collated by Bloomberg shows, with a number of nations pre-paying while the shots were still in development to secure early delivery.

Pillay denied the health department had been remiss and said the country is on track to meet its target of vaccinating two-thirds of the population of 60 million within 12 months  which would enable it to achieve herd immunity.

We were presented with vaccine candidates and we didnt know whether they would work, whether they would be safe and whether they would be delivered in January, he said.

No one could give that guarantee. So how would we have reneged on our responsibility if we didnt want to take a risk around that? It is a different thing if they had said we will deliver this to you on this date and we turned them away.

Pillay also rejected accusations that delays in the payment of a deposit to Covax last year had set back the vaccination program, saying due process had to be followed with the Treasury and the facility had been notified.

No Impact

Covax has not released stock to any country, he said. The delay in the payment had no impact on the distribution.

Almost 1.3 million Covid-19 infections have been detected in South Africa since late March, the most on the African continent, and more than 35,000 people whove been diagnosed with the disease have died.

A new variant of the virus was detected in the country in November last year, and has driven a second wave of cases that threaten to overwhelm hospitals.

Preliminary data suggested that existing vaccines will work against the new strain, according to Pillay. A final report on that issue pertaining to the AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to be finalized within the next two weeks, he said.

Other interview highlights:

While South African legislation required transparency in all drug procurement deals, the government was left with no choice but to comply with vaccine manufacturers demands to sign non-disclosure agreements.

A ministerial advisory panel is considering how to space out vaccine doses.

While four vaccine trials took place in South Africa, the government wasnt involved in them at all and couldnt insist that country receive a share of any successful drug that was produced, Pillay said.

Now read: Reopening of South African schools postponed


For a second time, a surge in COVID-19 cases has pushed Texas hospitals beyond their base capacity, thwarted the states plan to reopen businesses and spurred a wave of deaths that health experts say was avoidable.

Instead of effectively mitigating a virus that already has killed more than 30,000, Texas is enduring one of its darkest chapters of the COVID-19 pandemic as state officials scramble to vaccinate 29 million residents.

Critics of Gov. Greg Abbotts October reopening guidelines say state leaders are repeating many of the same mistakes from last summers crisis by opting against tighter restrictions, fighting local officials efforts to close high-risk businesses and relaying mixed messages to the public.

City and county leaders are sending conflicting signals of their own, urging residents to stay home and avoid crowds while doing little to enforce mask rules or capacity limits, citing a lack of manpower.

And many of their constituents simply have tuned out the partisan bickering and given up on following health guidelines. Fatigued after 10 months, some members of the public largely have resumed their normal lives, gathering unmasked with others, ensuring the virus continues to spread.

Those pushing for more action say Abbott could permit rules that stop short of a full-scale shutdown, such as limiting restaurants to takeout and delivery, that would preserve businesses while still doing more to contain the spread.

I understand theres businesses, and we dont want the economy to be completely devastated, but I think we were aggressive on opening up things early, and we werent aggressive on pulling things back when things were starting to get serious, said Kirstin Matthews, a fellow in science and technology policy at Rice Universitys Baker Institute.

Abbott said his health protocols are based on guidance from medical experts to ensure hospital systems never are overwhelmed. If COVID-19 patients occupy at least 15 percent of beds in a hospital region for seven consecutive days, elective surgeries must be postponed, bars must close and most other businesses must decrease occupancy from three-quarters to half of capacity. The burden for quelling this new surge, Abbott said, falls on local leaders who must ensure Texans follow these rules.

They proved effective in slowing the spread over the summer and containing the virus, and in recent weeks in communities that experienced spikes, Abbotts press secretary, Renae Eze, said in a statement. They can continue to work, but only if enforced.

Dr. Mark McClellan, a former FDA commissioner and one of the governors chief medical advisers, said while the state has made great strides encouraging mask-wearing and making testing available, Abbott should consider more aggressive action to bring the virus under control, including tighter restrictions on restaurants and bars. He predicted the pandemic will continue to worsen here in the coming weeks.

Especially at this stage when so many parts of the state are surging not only beyond the thresholds, but approaching full ICUs and health care crisis levels, I think its time to think about some further restrictions, McClellan said.

Abbott has given no indication that is a possibility. Last month, he said he would not impose any more shutdowns, calling instead for a focus on opening businesses. The governors health commissioner, Dr. John Hellerstedt, told Houston-area county judges Dec. 30 that the government had reached the limits of what it regulates and controls and licenses, according to a recording published by Quorum Report.

Enforcement questioned

Mayors and county judges in the states largest urban areas say they lack the law enforcement resources to parse whether a business is more than 75 percent full and accuse the governor of trying to pass on the blame for his failed strategy. They are frustrated further by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commissions decision to allow more than a third of the states bars to effectively reclassify as restaurants, allowing them to remain open even when hospitals become strained with coronavirus patients.

It may be that some of your readers dont feel comfortable going to a bar, but theyre seeing this and saying, well heck, if the bars are open, surely I can have my extended family over for Sunday dinner, said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

How hard localities actually are trying to enforce Abbotts restrictions, however, remain an open question.

Police in Harris County, the states most populous, have received 10,000 complaints since September for violations of Abbotts orders. The county fire marshal has issued four citations; its city of Houston counterpart did not respond to questions from the Chronicle.

Not every local leader has pushed for tighter restrictions. In December, after Galveston Countys hospital region reached the rollback threshold, Republican County Judge Mark Henry said the sheriff had no resources to enforce bar closures, joining a bipartisan list of local officials who say they lack the manpower to ensure compliance. Instead, Henry called on Abbott to use the TABC to enforce his order.

The state agency has allowed some 3,100 businesses to convert from bars to restaurants in order to continue operating during the pandemic, or 38 percent of the roughly 8,000 bars across Texas. In early November, TABC announced it had suspended the licenses of just eight bars and restaurants after conducting a sweep of more than 1,700 establishments across the state.

East of Houston, Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel has asked the governor for an exemption to capacity rollbacks because he said public health data has not shown businesses to be a vector of transmission for the virus.

I just dont see the justification for it. If I did, Id feel differently, McDaniel said. If I knew people were getting sick sitting down to eat, if I knew people were getting sick in these businesses, I would feel differently.

Whatever the causes, Abbotts second attempt at reopening is in full retreat, with the number of COVID-19 patients in 18 of 22 hospital regions exceeding the threshold for rollbacks. December was the deadliest month of the pandemic in Texas with 6,170 fatalities, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis.

Health experts expect the toll to worsen, as Texans who were infected over Christmas and New Years are only beginning to be admitted to hospitals. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths will increase in Houston and other regions before peaking sometime this month, modeling from the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphias PolicyLab projects.

Im going to die, right?

By the fall, Texas had made significant progress after a brutal summer as one of the hardest-hit states in the country. Abbotts decision in late June to close bars and mandate mask-wearing appeared to work. Virus hospitalizations in the Houston region plummeted 82 percent from their peak in July and the statewide daily death toll fell by half, to less than 100.

However, the positivity rate never dropped below 6 percent, indicating the virus still was spreading. The governor said conditions were safe to reopen further and on Oct. 7 issued his latest reopening plan.

Soon there were signs of trouble. The El Paso region triggered the rollbacks on Oct. 19, and Abbott dispatched nearly 500 medical personnel to assist; 10 days later, COVID-19 patients filled more than half of available hospital beds. County Judge Ricardo Samaniego tried to close non-essential businesses, as Abbott had done statewide in April, but Attorney General Ken Paxton successfully sued to block the plan.

As case counts began falling, Abbott in a Nov. 11 television interview attributed the dip to local officials finally stepping up to enforce his rules. By then, the city morgue was so overwhelmed with COVID-19 deaths that staff hired inmates from the county jail to help move bodies.

Meanwhile, other hospital regions began to trigger rollbacks. Amarillo and Lubbock in late October. Waco and Laredo in November. Abilene, Dallas, Longview, Lufkin, San Antonio, Galveston and Victoria in December. And by Jan. 11, Paris, Killeen, Houston, Austin and the Rio Grande Valley.

Abbott in September described the rollback trigger as a course correction for regions where COVID-19 admissions were straining capacity. However, only once since the fall has a hospital region been able to get back under 15 percent for seven consecutive days, the benchmark to resume reopening. In some cases, hospitalizations continued to tick up.

Coronavirus patients filled 46 percent of hospital beds in the Laredo region on Monday, the highest rate in the state.

Dr. Victor Trevino, the city of Laredo health authority, attributed much of the current surge to residents gathering unmasked over the holidays. He said a regions infection rate would be a better trigger for rollbacks, since hospitalizations are a lagging indicator of an outbreak. By the time a region hits the 15 percent threshold, health experts say, it is difficult to reverse course.

Laredos situation now has reached the crisis point of last summer, Trevino said, recalling how he felt helpless when visiting intubated COVID patients.

I would look at them, and the expression on their face was, Im going to die, right? Trevino said. I dont know if they read my mind, but I said, Yes, youre going to die. I wasnt speaking but they understood that.

From the Rio Grande to the Red River, deaths are rising. And just as before, they disproportionately claim Texans of color, especially Latinos. At the Ortiz Mortuary on San Antonios West Side, the virus has caused business in January to double like it did in July. Caskets are back-ordered.

Charlie Ortiz said one of the most difficult parts is discouraging families of COVID victims from having open-casket services, for fear of spreading the virus in close quarters.

They can open it for a couple minutes and see them for one last time, he said. They had no closure. They couldnt be at the hospital... They had to see their loved one die in front of them on a TV screen.

Conflicting messages

Public health experts have said a successful pandemic response requires the public to voluntarily change its behavior. State and local leaders success in persuading residents to do so has been limited at times by conflicting advice and actions.

Abbott permitted Bexar and El Paso Counties to issue curfews for in-person dining for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Yet, he blasted Austin and Travis Countys plan for a nearly identical New Years curfew, arguing his reopening rules prevented cities from arbitrarily shutting down businesses. Paxton sued, and the state Supreme Court struck down the measure.

The spat with a familiar foil  the governor a week earlier had expressed support for a state takeover of the Austin Police Department  discouraged other local officials from tightening restrictions.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who unsuccessfully lobbied Abbott during the summer surge for another stay-home order, said while a curfew is the final arrow in my quiver, she wants to avoid a public dispute with the governor.

If were saying one thing and the state is saying a different thing, it completely loses its impact, Hidalgo said. Thats what we saw in Austin.

Abbotts insistence that restaurants and bars stay open for dining also came as local leaders urged residents to avoid gatherings of any kind. By Christmas, the Democratic mayors of Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas were urging residents to cancel gatherings with anyone outside their households, as were the CEOs of the Texas Medical Center. Even Republican Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, who contracted the virus, urged residents to consider limiting their holiday contacts.

The governor made no similar request.

A consistent message from government leaders is critical during a public health crisis, said Caitlin Rivers, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Simply telling people to make safe choices, she added, may not be enough.

If its not safe to have an activity or to open a setting, then it shouldnt be open, Rivers said.

On Tuesday, when state lawmakers returned to Austin for the opening day of the Texas Legislature, members were required to wear masks on the House floor but not in the Senate. At least half the lawmakers in the upper chamber declined to wear masks while seated at their desks.

zach.despart@chron.com

Taylor Goldenstein, Julia Wallace and Kaitlin Bain contributed reporting.
Jurgen Klopp has dismissed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's notion that this is the perfect time for Manchester United to play Liverpool, saying his champions are primed for the challenge.

The Liverpool boss welcomes United to Anfield for a top-of-the-table clash on Sunday and said: 'I know Ole said that this is the best moment to play Liverpool. Yeah? Let's see.'

Klopp revealed his squad had held a clear-the-air summit to address a dip in standards. The champions relinquished control of the title race when they lost at Southampton almost a fortnight ago.

Jurgen Klopp has dismissed claims that now is the perfect time to face his Liverpool side

The Reds welcome Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Man United in a top-of-the-table clash on Sunday

Liverpool's players were angry with their performance at St Mary's and expressed their frustrations in a meeting at the club's Kirkby training ground.

'We lost against Southampton, which was absolutely not what we wanted,' said Klopp. 'But the next day we spoke and the boys had their say as well, all that kind of stuff. We are now in a place where we want to be. We know what we have to do.

'We know what went wrong. We want to change. Now, we have to put it in place on the pitch. That is the situation. I'm really looking forward to this game, to be honest.'

Klopp (right) is not sure Solskjaer (left) is correct when he suggested Liverpool are vulnerable

Solskjaer said it was a good time to take on Klopp's out of sorts Premier League champions

United have not lost on their travels since Liverpool beat them 2-0 on January 19 last year and Solskjaer feels an empty stadium this time around will give his side an edge.

'It's just a pitch of green grass and white lines,' said Solskjaer.

'Compared to the times when you go to Anfield with a crowd there, it's a bit of an advantage this time compared to normal.'
A group of Taliban militants has killed 12 members of the local security forces in the countrys western Herat Province, in what provincial police on January 16 described as an insider attack.

Herat police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walizada said the attack was carried out by at least two Taliban infiltrators late on January 15.

He said the attackers fled with the slain militiamen's weapons and ammunition, adding that Afghan government forces had regained control of the area.

Meanwhile, two police officers were killed and one wounded in the capital Kabul on January 16 when a magnetic bomb attached to their vehicle went off, Kabul police said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The Taliban has continued its violent insurgency against the central government despite the hope of lasting peace through the Qatar process. The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in the capital in recent months.

Representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban are currently in the Qatari capital of Doha to discuss the agenda items of the talks.

The violence came hours after the United States announced it has reduced troops levels in Afghanistan to 2,500, which is the lowest number in nearly two decades.

Under a U.S.-Taliban deal reached last February, all foreign forces are scheduled to leave Afghanistan by May 2021 in exchange for security guarantees from the militant group, including severing ties with Al-Qaeda.

Based on reporting by dpa, AP, and TOLOnews
In a letter to the States/Union Territories, the health ministry has shared the competitive factsheet for both the vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin). They contain information on vaccine platform, physical specifications,dosage, cold storage requirements, contraindications and minor AEFIs.The health ministry has directed the States/UTs to disseminate information to program managers across all levels and through them to call chain handlers and vaccinators for ready reference.Mentioning precautions and contraindications for COVID-19 vaccination, the letter noted: "Under the emergency use authorisation, COVID-19 vaccination is indicated only for 18 years and above. Interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccine is not permitted. The second dose should also be of the same COVID-19 vaccine which was administered as the first dose."In case of co-administration of vaccines: if required, COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines should be separated by an interval of at least 14 days, the ministry said.Explaining contraindication, the letter said, "A person with a history of an anaphylactic or allergic reaction to a previous dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Immediate or delayed onset anaphylaxis or allergic reaction to vaccine or injection able therapies, pharmaceutical products, food items etc.""Pregnancy and lactation: pregnant and lactating women have not been part of any COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial so far. Therefore, women who are pregnant or not sure of the pregnancy, and lactating women should not receive COVID-19 vaccine at this time," the government said.Provisional and temporary contraindications: in these conditions, COVID-19 vaccination is to be deferred for 4 to 8 weeks after recovery."Persons having active symptoms of SARS-CoV2 to infection. SARS-CoV2 patients who have been given anti-SARS-CoV2 monoclonal antibodies on convalescent plasma. Acutely unwell and hospitalized patients (with or without intensive care) patients due to any illness.Special precautions: vaccine should be administered with caution in persons with a history of any bleeding or coagulation disorder, for example, clotting factor deficiency, coagulopathy or platelet disorder.Following conditions are not contraindicated for COVID-19 vaccines: a person with a past history of SARS-CoV2 infection or and or RTPCR positive illness. History of chronic diseases and comorbidities (cardiac, neurological, pulmonary, metabolic, renal, malignancies).Immuno-deficiency, HIV, patients on immunosuppression due to any condition (response to the Covid vaccine may be less in these individuals. Other important issues to consider are that vaccine-specific contraindications may apply as the new information becomes available.India has got two Covid-19 vaccines--Covishield and Covaxin Emergency Use Authorisation after meeting going through established safety and immunogenicity through a well prescribed regulatory process.This vaccine may cost in the range of Rs 200 to 295 in India. Earlier in the day, the health ministry said that full initial procurement amount of 1.65 crore doses of COVISHIELD and COVAXIN vaccines have been allocated to all states and Union Territories in the proportion of Health Care Workers database. (ANI)
To use the words like any perceived racism  were in 2021 now, said Greg Robinson II, an organizer and former candidate for Tulsa mayor who is among those who have called for Mr. Lankford and other Republicans to step down. There has been generations upon generations of systemic racism that has been protected by the sort of white moderate rhetoric that we hear out of white politicians, especially white conservative Republicans.

Mr. Lankford, a former Southern Baptist minister who directed the largest Christian youth camp before an inaugural run for office landed him in the House in 2011, has served in the Senate since 2014. Having burnished his credentials as a conservative Republican and deficit hawk, he muscled through a primary to win a special election and finish the term of former Senator Tom Coburn before a second victory in 2016.

In the Senate, Mr. Lankford has been a supporter of Mr. Trump, largely backing his policy initiatives and nominees even as he offered the occasional condemnation of the presidents vulgarity and personal attacks.

I think most of us have a hard time with Donald Trumps personality, but dont have a problem with most of his policies, said Frank Keating, a two-term governor of Oklahoma and veteran of multiple Republican administrations. You cant be much more conservative than James Lankford.

But Mr. Lankford has also worked to build relationships with the Black community in Tulsa, speaking about the Tulsa massacre on the Senate floor and advocating the creation of a school curriculum to ensure that the 1921 massacre would be taught. When Mr. Trump announced plans to hold a campaign rally in Tulsa on Juneteenth, an annual holiday celebrated on June 19 that honors the end of slavery in the United States, Mr. Lankford was among the officials who successfully convinced the president it would be more respectful to hold the rally on a different day.

How do we fight disinformation? Join Times tech reporters as they untangle the roots of disinformation and how to combat it. Plus we speak to special guest comedian Sarah Silverman. R.S.V.P. to this subscriber-exclusive event.

All five Oklahoman representatives and Mr. Lankford were among the more than 100 Republicans in both chambers seeking to invalidate the votes of tens of millions of voters in several states  many of them Black citizens living in Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee and Atlanta  even as courts threw out baseless challenges by Mr. Trump and his allies about election malfeasance.

His involvement came as a shock to many on Capitol Hill and in Oklahoma, in part because he is regarded by Democrats as a rare, cooperative partner on voting rights. Some speculated privately that it had more to do with the fact that Mr. Lankford must face voters in two years than any actual concern he harbored about the integrity of the election.
Andy Shlon, the eponymous owner and face behind the register at Five Points 42-year-old Andys Deli, died on Thursday, his nephew and former city council member Moe Baddourah confirmed on Friday. He was 79.

Shlon was known for greeting almost every customer with a hearty, Hello my friend, upon their entrance into the restaurant. For his true regulars, the Lebanese immigrant often had their orders memorized.

Shlon died of natural causes, Baddourah said in a text message.

Just over 40 years ago, at the age of 16, I left my home country of Lebanon to move here to Columbia to be with my uncle, Andy Shlon, in this City that he so dearly loved. Today, just as many of you feel the impact of losing him, my family and I are heartbroken," Baddourah said in a statement. "Andy loved Columbia. He was a friend to everyone that came into Andys Deli ... What Andy loved more than anything was his family."

Perhaps no other restaurant in Columbia is so tightly associated with its owner than Andys, which Shlon opened in 1978. The owner was known for working long days and taking only spare days off from his business. His family attested to this dedication in a locally made 2014 documentary, fittingly titled Hello My Friend.

The deli featured an almost never-changing menu and an equally static staff between Shlon and his two sons. With its long tenure and iconic owner, Andys weaved into the fabric of the neighborhood, said Steve Cook, owner of the across-the-street fine dining restaurant Saludas and president of the Five Points Association.

He certainly epitomizes everything of what youd want out of an old school neighborhood merchant, he said. If there was a Mount Rushmore in Five Points I think hed certainly be in it.

Shlon was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and described it to The State newspaper in 2013 as paradise of the Middle East, with beaches and mountains a half hour apart. According to that article, he moved to Columbia in the 1960s and worked at Grouchos Deli while he attended college in the area. He worked there for over a decade.

He opened Andys Deli in a former Lums restaurant space in Five Points, where little changed on the menu, outside of the prices, he once quipped. Featuring the Andys Special  which, like Grouchos Dipper sandwiches, features sliced meat, swiss, bacon bits and a side of special sauce to dunk it  he helped stoke a Columbia food debate that lasts to this day, and helped solidify the dipper sandwich as a perennial local staple.

These are the simple but highly effective ingredients that have been curing collegiate hangovers for decades, Free Times contributor Tug Baker wrote in 2011, when he endeavored to try 10 different local variants of the dipper. It all started with Grouchos and Andys, he emphasized. Both sandwiches have ingrained themselves so deeply into Columbias culinary consciousness that imitators have popped up in restaurants all over town.

In 2014, the City of Columbia proclaimed Dec. 16, 2014, as Andy Shlon Day, in recognition of the delis stature in the city and Shlons contributions to the community.

News of his death spread quickly on social media, with many sharing stories of the warm greetings and the sense of community that had grown around the deli.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted about Shlon's death on Friday.

"Very sad to hear of the passing of Andy Shlon, the founder and owner of Andys Deli, an iconic restaurant in Columbia. My prayers are with his family and many friends," he wrote.

Bourbon co-owner Kristian Niemi said he knew Shlon since he moved to Columbia in the early '90s and visited the restaurant. After Niemi opened his former restaurant Mr. Friendlys up the street from Andy's in 1995, he became close to a regular, swinging by for lunch as he grew tired of his own kitchens food.

The trips were a salve on hard days, Niemi said. The two would talk about how things were going and talk business. Shlon would tell Niemi he was crazy for opening more restaurants, he said.

It wasnt like they served gourmet food, it was just good solid sandwiches. It was him being there that made it special., Niemi said. When youre having a s#!tty day, and youre going to go out for a lunch, that was a surefire cure for shaking you out of your mood.

Bobby Williams, chairman of the South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association and owner of Lizards Thicket, called the restaurant part of the fabric of Five Points and mentioned it alongside Grouchos and the now closed Yesterdays as fixtures in the community.

My favorite thing Im known with is, My dear, my friend, or, My friend my dear, it doesnt really matter which one it is, Shlon said of his signature greeting in the 2014 documentary. My customers are not really my customers, they are my dears and my friends.
Israel will now be included in the geographic area of responsibility of the US Central Command for the first time, the Pentagon announced Friday, amid the outgoing Trump administrations bid to shore up regional cooperation to deter Iran.

The change, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, follows a last-minute push by the Trump presidency to convince Arab leaders to establish formal ties with Israel as the United States looks to focus on countering China in the coming years.

Until now, Israel has fallen under the area of responsibility of the US European Command (EUCOM) out of diplomatic deference to the political sensitivities of Arab leaders, many of whom have long refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Jewish state until a political solution is reached for the status of Palestine.

The easing of tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors subsequent to the Abraham Accords has provided a strategic opportunity for the United States to align key partners against shared threats in the Middle East, the Pentagon said in a statement Friday.

Israel is a leading strategic partner for the United States, and this will open up additional opportunities for cooperation with our US Central Command partners while maintaining strong cooperation between Israel and our European allies, the statement read.

So far, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have signed formal agreements recognizing Israel, while Sudan and Morocco have signaled openness to doing so. The Trump administration has offered significant incentives for the agreements, including debt relief for Sudan and advanced weapons sales to the UAE and Morocco. Egypt and Jordan, which both fall within CENTCOMs assigned region, already have relations with Israel.

But the move to include Israel in CENTCOM's region was not a last-minute idea, and has been increasingly discussed in the Pentagon in recent years, a former senior defense official told Al-Monitor.

"There have been discussions on this for some time," said Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East. "Israel's biggest threat comes from within the Middle East: Iran. CENTCOM has a better understanding of what that threat entails," Mulroy said.

Israels inclusion is likely to be one of the final strokes of a Trump administration push to convince Arab leaders to put aside differences and begin work on regional security cooperation. One major obstacle to that goal has been the bitter political rift between Qatar and its neighbors, which eased last week after Gulf leaders and Egypt signed an agreement with Doha following US mediation.

A key objective of the Abraham Accords is to enable Middle Eastern militaries to become interoperable with the United States as well as with each other, R. Clarke Cooper, the State Departments top official for foreign military transfers, told reporters last month.

CENTCOM has already begun to put that vision to the test. The Pentagon has orchestrated a military show of force in the region over the past several weeks, ostensibly to deter Iran and its proxies from carrying out threats to avenge the US assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in January 2020.

Saudi F-15s and at least one Israeli submarine contributed to the deterrence effort, the latter reportedly with Egypts consent. The Pentagon has also upped its joint F-35 training with Israel this year as the Israeli air force seeks a third squadron of the Joint Strike Fighters.

President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office next week, has pledged to continue the Abraham Accords as his administration seeks to return to negotiations with Iran to limit its nuclear capabilities. Al-Monitor has reached out to Bidens transition team for comment.

CENTCOM was founded under the Carter administration in 1983 out of the expeditionary Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force, which was formed after the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979. Its original focus was to ensure US influence over global oil supplies, a priority that has waned significantly in recent decades as international terrorism took center stage.

CENTCOMs founding was welcomed by the Saudis, but Israeli leaders initially bristled at the prospect of Washington expanding defense relations with Arab neighbors. Some Reagan administration officials supported including Israel in CENTCOM from the outset, but the Joint Chiefs pushed against the idea at the time, citing Arab leaders political sensitivities.

Iran has again become a central focus for CENTCOM in recent years as Tehran moved to prop up regional militias in conflicts in Syria, Iraq and to some extent Yemen, while expanding its ballistic missile program and, the United States alleges, transferring weapons and weapons technology abroad.

Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes in Syria against apparent Iran-linked targets to prevent such weapons from approaching its borders, and has occasionally struck targets in Iraq and Lebanon. The US began quietly aiding Israels air campaign in following a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018.
Dr. Neil Hecht and his wife Mindy Cross are seen being treated on January 03, 2021, they will recover at home after after battling Covid-19 for twelve days at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center, in Tarzana, California. (APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images)

Orange County Reports 82 More COVID-19 Deaths, 3,158 Cases

SANTA ANA (CNS)Orange County Jan. 15 reported 82 more COVID-19 fatalities, a record for a daily batch, and 3,158 new cases as hospitalizations continued a trend downward.

Since Jan. 10, the county has reported 236 deaths. Last week, the county logged 140 deaths.

The death reports are staggered and sometimes take weeks to be logged,

but December was the deadliest month for the county since the pandemic

began, with 538 fatalities recorded so far. That tops the summer peak, when 379 died in July and 367 in August, according to Orange County Health Care Agency statistics.

Of the fatalities reported Jan. 15bringing the death toll to 2,27712 were skilled nursing facility residents and five lived in assisted living facilities. Since the start of the pandemic, the virus has killed 721 skilled nursing facility residents and 248 assisted living facility residents.

The number of patients hospitalized with coronavirus dropped from 2,169 on Jan. 14 to 2,101 on Jan. 15. The number of intensive care unit patients declined from 544, just short of Jan. 10s record of 547, to 534.

The countys state-adjusted ICU bed availability remains at zero, and the unadjusted figure decreased from 7.4 percent Jan. 14 to 7.2 percent Friday. The state created the adjusted metric to reflect the difference in beds available for COVID-19 patients and non-coronavirus patients.

The Southern California region remains at zero ICU availability.

According to the HCA, the county has 36 percent of its ventilators available. Sheriffs officials reported a decline in the number of Orange County Jail inmates infected with coronavirus from 254 Jan. 14 to 181 Jan. 15.

Authorities are awaiting results from 428 tests, and three inmates are hospitalized, down from five on Jan. 12.

Outbreaksdefined as two more cases in the past two weekshave been plaguing skilled nursing and elderly assisted living facilities. As of Jan. 15, 38 skilled nursing facilities and 49 assisted living facilities are dealing with outbreaks.

The average time to drop off patients from ambulances stands at 49 minutes and 59 seconds 90 percent of the time.

Fairview Developmental Center is housing a 13 Orange County coronavirus patients and a dozen from Los Angeles County.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-15 17:24:06|Editor: huaxia

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Justice Simon Byabakama (C, Front), chairperson of the Electoral Commission, signs forms after communicating provisional results of presidential polls at the national tally center in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 15, 2021. Uganda's incumbent President Yoweri Museveni on Friday maintained the lead in the Thursday's polls, pitting him prominent pop star, according the provisional results released by Electoral Commission (EC) here. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua)

KAMPALA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Incumbent President Yoweri Museveni is taking a lead in provisional results of Uganda's presidential election, the country's electoral body said on Friday.

Out of the 23.96 percent of votes that have been tallied, Museveni secured 65.02 percent, followed by his main challenger, pop star Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, with 27.39 percent, according to Justice Simon Byabakama, chairperson of the Electoral Commission.

Patrick Oboi Amuriat of the Forum for Democratic Change gathered 3.60 percent of the counted votes while Nancy Kalembe, the only female presidential candidate, got 0.51 percent.

The commission is expected to announce the final results in the east African country by Saturday.

Presidential election results should be declared within 48 hours after polling closes, according to the country's constitution. Enditem

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Indian budget carrier SpiceJet has extended its operations to Ras Al Khaimah International Airport (RAK Airport) adding more destinations such as Mumbai, Cochin, Amritsar, Lucknow and Jaipur.

The increased number of services from Indira Gandhi International Airport comes just two months after the airline established its debut service to Delhi from RAK Airport.

With this move, UAE residents and tourists seeking greater choice for their journeys to India now have more options to select this year, said the statement from Spicejet.

It builds on the new era of connectivity between India and Ras Al Khaimah, which was established with the commencement of SpiceJets passenger operations from the emirate in November last year.

"We are delighted to announce that we have added Mumbai, Cochin, Amritsar, Lucknow and Jaipur to our India-Ras Al Khaimah schedule, as well as increased our number of flights to and from Delhi. This shows just how in demand our services are and that we are successfully able to counter the overall decrease in aviation activity," remarked its CMD Ajay Singh.

"We put this down to the incredible value and choice that we offer our passengers," he added.

SpiceJet has flown with the highest occupancy of over 90% in India for a record five years now, which is a testament to our continued popularity.

"The addition of our new flights to Ras Al Khaimah will both meet existing requirements for flights to and from the UAE and India as well as help fuel new demand," he added.

The partnership between SpiceJet and RAK Airport has resulted in the cheapest return flight ticket and the ticket price including free road transportation (passenger pick-up and drop-off) from the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.

The two companies say that they expect to announce further cheapest available flights with the introduction of more new services from SpiceJet through RAK Airport in the coming months.

On the new additions, RAK Airport CEO Sanjay Khanna said SpiceJet has been a vital partner for us since we signed an MoU with them in 2019.

"They are now playing a major role in our expansion plans, which are to deliver more services to a greater number of destinations across the Indian sub-continent as well as to the rest of the world," remarked Khanna.

"This new tranche of services from SpiceJet will further enhance our role as a vital transport hub for the UAE. We are an important factor in Ras Al Khaimahs drive to attract 2.9 million visitors per year by 2025 and in its economic diversification strategy, of which tourism is a central element, " he stated.

"We are working hard to attract more airlines to our facility and expect our operations to grow significantly this year for the anticipated post-Covid-19 economic bounce and Expo 2020 in October," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
PM CARES Fund: Defence Minister Is Ex-Officio Member, the Ministry Portal Seeks Donation, Yet Says No Information Available!

The mystery of Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) and the attempts by everyone in the Union government to keep all information about it secret makes mockery of transparency in public life. Take, for example, the fact that PM CARES Fund is listed as a public charitable trust, although the prime minister (PM) in his official capacity is the ex-officio chief of the board of trustees, which includes Union ministers of defence, home affairs and finance, who are ex-officio trustees of the fund. The defence ministry website seeks donations for this Fund and, yet, says it does not have any information about the Fund.

Pune-based Right to Information (RTI) activist Sanjay Shirodkar had filed the application seeking information available on records about the PM CARES Fund from the ministry of defence and if the ministry has laid any paper before the Rajya Sabha.

In response, Pawan Kumar, under secretary and coordinator for RTI in the defence ministry told Mr Shirodkar on 14 December 2020 "...information sought by you vide your RTI application regarding PM CARES Fund is not available in the ministry."

Responding to another RTI application on 24 December 2020, Arvind Kumar, under secretary and central public information officer (CPIO) says, "...no paper has been laid on the table of the House (Rajya Sabha) relating to regarding PM CARES Fund by the ministry of defence till date."

As Moneylife had reported, social media, several organisations and media continue to raise questions about the structure, accountability and transparency of the PM CARES Fund which behaves like a private entity.

This private entity, with the PM as chairman and other Union ministers as ex-officio members was given the .gov.in domain that is reserved for government authorities.

Responding to an appeal filed by Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd) under the RTI Act, the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which manages the .gov.in domains, says, "...the domain pmcares.gov.in was allotted to PMO (apex body) complying with the 'guidelines for allocation of registration at the third level under .gov.in domain zone dated 23 October 2019', issued by the internet governance division, ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY)."

Not only the gov.in domain name, almost every website of the Union government and its departments has banners seeking donations for the PM CARES Fund as if this is the equivalent of the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF). For the record, the PMNRF is managed by the PM himself and a joint secretary in the PM's Office (PMO) administers the Fund with help from a director level officer, on an honorary basis.

Copyright for both the websites of PM CARES Fund and PMNRF rests with the PMO.

The resources of the PMNRF are utilised primarily to render immediate relief to families of those killed in natural calamities like floods, cyclones and earthquakes and to the victims of the major accidents and riots. Assistance from PMNRF is also rendered to partially defray the expenses for medical treatment like heart surgeries, kidney transplantation, cancer treatment and acid attack. The Fund consists entirely of public contributions and does not get any Budgetary support.

PM CARES Fund, on the other hand, is set up with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected.

The PMNRF only accepts voluntary contributions by individuals and institutions. Contributions flowing out of Budgetary sources or from the balance sheets of the public sector undertakings are not accepted by the PMNRF.

PM CARES Fund, however, has no such limitations. It accepts funds from anyone and everyone, including, but not limited to, from corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure of companies and foreigners.

If as per its registered deed, the PM CARES Fund is, indeed, a private trust, but uses the official emblem as well as the gov.in domain of the Indian government. ( Read: PM CARES Fund: Private Trust but Gov.in Domain

Further, the deed protects identity of those who have contributed towards PM CARES Fund.

It says, "...the Trust shall fully respect and will not allow any invasion of the privacy of the contributor/s by divulging their names, addresses and/or other details and the details regarding their contributions to anyone except to the tax authorities, while making the full and true disclosures, which will be made to the tax authorities as and when required by such authorities or required under the relevant taxing statute." ( Read: PM CARES Fund: Public or Private Trust? While Fully Protecting Trustees

Essentially, PM CARES, which uses everything government, including domain, official address, is a private fund to escape the severe restrictions imposed on public charitable trusts which, in the past few months, stepped forward to offer COVID relief, until the government machinery could get going.

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Though the couple has lived there for a year and a half, city officials recently came out to inspect and make sure the property was livable, Jones said. A Jan. 13 hearing for the conditional use permit has been postponed to February so the couple can replace a few bathroom electrical outlets, add smoke detectors and remove some old wiring in the basement, Ramona Jones said.
The family-owned company that has operated the gun shows at the Del Mar Fairgrounds for nearly 30 years failed to overcome growing public concern about gun violence nationwide and questions about its owners legal troubles.

The board that oversees activities at the state-owned venue voted 8-1 Tuesday to suspend the shows after Dec. 31 until a policy is developed that could include a complete ban on the possession of any firearms or ammunition.

It may be the first agency in the state to take such action, a remarkable turnaround for a hugely popular event that for decades drew little scrutiny from the board. The directors routinely approved its contracts allowing the exhibition and sale of the latest in high-tech weaponry, accessories, clothing and gear.

Yet, increasingly, they have become a target for gun-safety advocates who have attended board meetings and stood outside the events with signs demanding an end to the shows.

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Members of the board said they hoped the decision would serve as a model for other communities struggling with whether to continue the shows and possibly herald a sea change in the publics appetite for gun shows, especially at state-owned fairgrounds.

We are not doing our kids any service if we continue this, said Director Lisa Barkett, before voting for the suspension. If we come together as a community, maybe we can set the standard for California.

After Dec. 31, only education events would be allowed.

Essentially, its a ban of the gun show, said Wendy Hauffen, executive administrator of the San Diego County Gun Owners, after the decision. You cant have a gun show with no guns.

Several of the directors cited concerns about wagon loads of ammunition that they saw being sold at the fairgrounds, do-it-yourself kits available to make illegal automatic weapons, and recent revelations about the past felony convictions of family members involved with the event.

Director Russ Penniman, a retired Navy officer, cast the only vote against the suspension, saying that while we do have some issues, he thought those points could be addressed while continuing the show.

Crossroads of the West stages the two-day gun show at the Del Mar fairgrounds five times annually.

Well fight it, Crossroads Vice President Tracy Olcott said.

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None of the companys shows at other venues have been cancelled, she said, and theres legal precedent for holding the shows on state property.

We are not going to just walk away, she said. We have invested a lot of years there, and we have a lot of support.

Board President Steven Shewmaker and Vice President Richard Valdez served on the contracts oversight committee that recommended the boards action.

No other issue has required more consideration since hes been on the board, said Valdez, who was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2014. People throughout the county have strong opinions about the gun show, Valdez said, and the committee struggled for months to reach a compromise.

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Shewmaker, first appointed to the board by Brown in 2012, said that initially he was ambivalent about the gun shows, and the board routinely renewed the contracts without question.

I drank the Kool-Aid, he said. Then I went to a gun show  and what I found was very different from the Kool-Aid.

In addition to the automatic weapons kits and crates of ammunition being sold, he saw hollow-point and armor-piercing bullets for sale.

I dont know if thats illegal, but its wrong, he said. Hollow-point bullets are designed to expand rapidly when they hit flesh, causing more serious wounds, and armor-piercing rounds will penetrate a police officers vest.

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Nearly 100 people submitted requests to speak on the issue at the 22nd District Agricultural Associations meeting Tuesday, which was moved to the Surfside Race Place off-track betting facility to accommodate the crowd. Some who submitted requests left before their turn came to speak as the meeting lasted nearly four hours, split by a 90-minute lunch break.

A larger crowd attended the boards meeting in April, where the issue first surfaced after the mass shooting that killed 17 high school students and faculty members in Parkland, Fla., early this year.

A large percentage of the speakers in April said they support the show, and many of them were members of the county gun owners group.

An internet poll of 500 adults across San Diego County by SurveyUSA taken over the weekend for the Union-Tribune and 10News showed that a majority of the respondents supported new limits on the gun show.

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Members of the Del Mar-based group NeverAgainCa, led by resident Rose Ann Sharp, have consistently pushed for a ban on the gun show since April, demonstrating outside each of the gun shows. and speaking during public comment sessions at each of the monthly fair board meetings.

Sharp said Tuesday she was pleased with the boards decision.

We think the board has taken a very wise approach, she said.

The recommendation approved Tuesday allows the two shows scheduled for Sept. 29 and 30 and Dec. 8 and 9 to continue as planned.

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After that, no new gun-show contracts will be approved until the board decides whether to adopt a proposed new policy that allows the events only for only education and training safety purposes and bans the possession of guns and ammunition on state property.

Also to be included in the policy are an alignment with recent changes in state and federal law, an enhanced security plan, a new safety plan, consideration of age appropriateness, and an audit to ensure compliance with state law.

This is a direction to our staff to look at a policy based on these parameters, said Director David Watson. So far, there is no ban on guns or ammunition.

The fair board staff has until the directors meet in December 2019 to develop the policy and present it to the board.

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Crossroads also operates the gun shows at numerous other large venues in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.

Crossroads owner Bob Templeton and his son, Jeff Templeton, both have past felony convictions for federal firearms violations that prevent them from operating the shows. To avoid that, Bob Templeton has ceded control of the show to his daughter, Tracy Olcott, who has no record.

Earlier this year, the Orange County Fair Board delayed approval of its Crossroads contract to look into questions raised by opponents about the show, then agreed in June to proceed with three events as planned through the end of this year.

State lawmakers approved a bill in August that, if signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, would bar the sales of guns and ammunition at the Cow Palace near San Francisco, which also holds a Crossroads Show five times annually.

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Three previous attempts by lawmakers failed to end the Cow Palace shows, most recently in 2013.

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philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @phildiehl
Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong held phone talks with the newly-elected General Secretary of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee Thongloun Sisoulith on January 16.

Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong (Photo: VNA)

During the talks, Trong congratulated the LPRP on the successful organization of the 11th National Congress and Sisoulith on his election to the Party General Secretary post.

He expressed his hope that under the leadership of the LPRP and General Secretary Sisoulith, Lao people will gain greater achievements in the national building and defence and renewal cause.

Sisoulith, in turn, thanked Vietnamese leaders for sending congratulatory messages to the LPRP and him, and briefed Trong on the outcomes of the just-ended 11th National Party Congress of Laos.

He also showed his belief that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the country will reap more fruits and successfully organize the upcoming 13th National Party Congress.

The Vietnamese leader spoke highly of the outcomes of Laos 11th Congress, stressing that this is an important milestone in the countrys development process and a great encouragement for Vietnam during its preparation and organization of the 13th National Party Congress.

Top leader holds phone talks with new Secretary General of Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party hinh anh 2

He affirmed Vietnams strong and comprehensive support for Laos national building and safeguarding and renewal cause.

Both leaders showed their delight at the constant development of the Vietnam-Laos special solidarity, which has benefited the two countries people.

Continuously consolidating and developing the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries is a strategic mission crucial to the protection of national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and socialism building in each country, thus contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world, they emphasized.

They also vowed to do their utmost to protect and foster the special relations in any circumstances.

Both leaders invited each other to visit their respective countries at an appropriate time.



Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also extended congratulations to the new General Secretary of the Lao party./.VNA
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The CIRA claim to have fired shots at a PSNI helicopter.

Police have said there have been no reports of shots being fired at one of their helicopters after claims by a dissident republican group.

The Continuity IRA claimed that they fired shots at police during a security alert in Co Fermanagh on Thursday.

The group claimed to have fired nine shots from a high powered rifle at a police helicopter during the alert in the Wattlebridge Road area of Newtownbutler.

Despite the claims Fermanagh and Omagh District Commander Superintendent Alywin Barton confirmed "no police aircraft, deployed in the area, was required to take evasive action and that, to date, we have received no reports of shots being heard or fired in the area".

"I can also confirm that no police aircraft sustained any damage," he said.

The dissident republican group told the Irish News they had planted a hoax device in the Wattlebridge Road area to lure police into the area before launching a gun attack.

They said they opened fire on a low-flying police helicopter which was trying to inspect the device.

Superintendent Barton said if there were any truth to the CIRA's claims "then the criminals behind it have shown nothing but a reckless disregard for the community in Fermanagh".

"I unequivocally condemn the actions of those who attempt to damage our communities with their criminal actions and claims and seek to disrupt policing and the daily lives of law abiding citizens."

Superintendent Barton said police enquiries into the incident were ongoing.

We have been working closely with the local community during our investigation and our enquiries will continue," he said.

I continue to appeal to members of the public living in, or travelling through the area to be vigilant, do not touch any suspicious objects and report any suspicious activity or object to us immediately on 999.

The incident is not the first time police have been lured to area after a hoax device was planted by dissident republicans.

Police and army technical officers narrowly escaped injury after responding to a security alert in the Wattlebridge Road area in August 2019.

After responding to initial reports that a device had been left in the area, a hoax device was inspected before a bomb then exploded on the main A3 Cavan Road.

Speaking at the time, then-Deputy Chief Constable Stephen Martin said it was lucky nobody was seriously injured or killed.

"I am of the firm belief it was a deliberate attempt to lure police and army bomb disposal colleagues into the area to murder them," he said.

Nairobi: Ugandan security forces Friday surrounded and then breached the compound of Bobi Wine, the country's leading opposition candidate, a day after a contentious general election that he said was marred by widespread "fraud and violence."

The breach, reported by Wine and confirmed by several people involved in his campaign, took place as the country's electoral commission released partial results of the general election that showed the incumbent president, Yoweri Museveni, in the lead. Wine's lawyer said the siege effectively constituted house arrest.

Ugandan security forces are seen outside Bobi Wine's property Credit:Getty Images

Wine, 38, was the most potent challenger to Museveni, a 76-year-old who has ruled the country for 35 years. The tense election campaign was marked by a crackdown on opposition figures like Wine and others, which sparked nationwide protests that were put down by police and resulted in the killing of more than 50 people. An internet shutdown that started just before Election Day is still in place.

With ballots from almost half of the country's polling stations counted, preliminary results show Museveni with more than 62 per cent of the vote and Wine with 29 per cent, according to the country's electoral commission.
A constant cough, high temperature, thumping headache and a sudden loss of smell or taste are all common symptoms of Covid-19. But what is now clear is that the virus can actually affect the body from head to toe.

Many people complain of confusion and an inability to concentrate, while chilblain-like lesions, dubbed Covid toe, are a frequent manifestation, according to medical reports.

And some cases are truly bizarre. Take, for example, a 33-year-old woman from the French city of Strasbourg who was rushed to hospital last year after being found naked in the basement of a building, complaining of hearing voices when there was nobody with her.

She had no history of mental illness and her vital signs  such as heart rate and blood pressure  were fine. But her speech was incoherent and she was convinced the hospital was a castle.

Hiccups, tinnitus and stammering are bizarre signs of Covid too, say doctors. What is now clear is that the virus can actually affect the body from head to toe (file photo)

With no signs of cough, fever, breathlessness or tummy upset, she ticked none of the boxes for Covid. Yet she tested positive.

In a report on the case, doctors said the virus had invaded her central nervous system and caused multiple neurological and psychiatric consequences. She was stabilised with anti-psychotic medicine and later discharged.

Tales of rare but serious psychiatric effects have led the UK to set up CoroNerve  a national surveillance programme for neurological complications from Covid-19. Already it has hundreds of examples of UK virus victims who have suffered psychological reactions to infection thought to be due to inflammation in the brain. And several are reported to include psychotic episodes like the case in France.

Surprisingly, speech appears to be one of the first things that can be affected by the virus  albeit rarely. Doctors at a medical centre in Philadelphia were puzzled when a 53-year-old woman turned up at A&E with obvious Covid signs  cough, breathlessness and fever  but also one less obvious symptom.

Overnight, she had developed a severe stammer that meant she struggled to get out any words. The condition lasted more than a week after she tested positive.

Again, doctors suspect the virus managed to cross into the central nervous system, where it attacked the brain cells responsible for controlling speech.

Even hiccups could be a sign that the virus has got into your body, according to a report last July in the American Journal Of Emergency Medicine by doctors from Cook County Hospital in Chicago. They treated a 62-year-old man who had been hiccupping for four days but showed no other signs of illness.

When they took an X-ray and CT scan of his chest, they found the characteristic signs of Covid-19  tiny white patches, that look just like ground glass, scattered around the lungs.

The man was kept in for three days, treated with drugs and then sent home  and it was only when the infection started to clear that his hiccups finally stopped. It is now recognised that Covid attacks the diaphragm, the wall of muscle that controls breathing and which goes into spasm, and the result is hiccups.

Other scientific reports talk of sudden hair loss, ringing in the ears, double vision and even trouble passing urine as possible first signs of Covid infection.

Other scientific reports talk of sudden hair loss, ringing in the ears, double vision and even trouble passing urine as possible first signs of Covid infection (file photo)

But why would a virus whose main route of entry is through the mouth, nose and eyes trigger such bizarre symptoms elsewhere in the body?

Scientists think it may be because the ACE2 receptor  the target which the virus aims for when it is trying to break into healthy cells so it can use them to reproduce  is found everywhere from the brain, stomach and lungs to the skin, bone marrow and kidneys.

Theres still a great deal we do not understand about this virus, says Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist at Leeds University School of Medicine. But one thing we do know is that the ACE2 receptor is found on lots of different tissues around the body. And post-mortems have shown the virus can reach all sorts of places.

Professor John Oxford, a virologist at Queen Mary University, London, says many viruses would probably have the same variety of effects seen with Covid. The difference now is simply the scale of infection.

We are probably seeing these more unusual symptoms mainly because of the sheer numbers of people being infected, he says.

Symptoms that might be overlooked during an epidemic within one country or region tend to be much more noticeable during a pandemic across continents.
BUSINESS owners in Henley say the grants being offered by the Government will not be enough to offset the damage of the latest lockdown.

People in retail, hospitality and leisure can apply for between 4,000 and 9,000 per property depending on its rateable value.

This is part of a 4.6 billion package announced by the Treasury, while the employee furlough scheme has been extended to April.

The national lockdown has forced all non-essential businesses to close for the third time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, meaning they still have bills to pay while receiving no income.

Julie Giamattei, a director of the hairdressing chain Marc Antoni, which has salons in Henley and Caversham, said the grant money was not enough.

It will just be swallowed up straight away, she said. We are struggling with rents and rates.

Even before the lockdown, we were 35 per cent down on footfall compared with the same time last year. We wouldnt have been able to survive without the furlough scheme  I dont think any business would have.

Her husband Simon, 55, also a company director, said: I dont even want to think about how much money Ive had to spend on PPE.

In the months weve been closed, we are down nearly 900,000 as a business.

I am sure we will bounce back but we have a mountain of debts to pay off. Theyre not charging interest but the banks will want their money back.

We just dont want it to beat us because weve been in business since 1966. It puts a lot of stress on the family and it is our livelihood.

We are at a point of our lives when we should be thinking about taking it easy but this has probably added another five years to our work.

The directors of the business are not eligible for the furlough scheme, so each receives only about 750 per month as a dividend.

They are pinning their hopes on an insurance claim after they took out a 250,000 bank loan last year to help cover wages and rent.

The claim was rejected but that decision was then overturned when the case was taken to the High Court by Financial Conduct Authority, the industry regulator, only for their insurer Hiscox to appeal. If the appeal is rejected, Marc Antoni would receive 100,000 for each of its five salons.

Jamie Belcher, who runs Bell Street Barbers, is to apply for a 4,000 grant.

Every little bit of money helps, he said. If this only went on for another month, it would be a great amount but thats highly unlikely.

He stopped trading just before Henley was put into tier 4 shortly before the lockdown.

It wasnt much of a shock when they announced the lockdown but it is still frustrating, he said.

It is tough because we have no idea how long this is going to go on for. I dont think I am going to be able to open again until March or April, so it is worrying.

Mr Belcher, who lives in Sonning Common, added: I was really busy before Christmas. I managed to break even, which was great.

Normally January is very quiet and I would hope to make enough money in December to help see me through the first few months of the new year.

I would imagine that when I get the grant it will all just go straight back to the taxman, which is not ideal because I dont quite think that is what it is designed for. All these grants are taxable and I dont understand why they dont just give you less to start with.

David Rodger-Sharp, who runs a jewellers of the same name in Duke Street, is to apply for a 6,000 grant.

He said: It is nothing in comparison to the original grant of 25,000 that we got in March but there isnt an endless pot of money.

I expected nothing, so if I get something it makes a difference. To make 6,000 profit, you would have to sell 18,000 worth of stock, so it is not quite a months worth of takings.

He has furloughed his nine staff while the shop is closed,

Mr Rodger-Sharp said: The Government are trying their hardest and they know if they dont do something they will end up with a whole load of people being unemployed.

This gives us a little bit of peace of mind but there are lots of costs to cover like rent, utilities and tax.

Fundamentally, the safety of people is far more important than a few shiny objects.

Christian Jonkers, owner of Jonkers Rare Books in Hart Street, said the 6,000 grant he is eligible for would barely scratch the surface.

He said: Something is better than nothing and I wouldnt want to appear ungrateful but it is not significant. We are unlikely to be able to open again until March at the earliest and I might even go as far as to say until Easter.

Every little helps, but it doesnt make up for what we will lose in terms of not being able to keep the shop open.

He owns the freehold of his building, so doesnt have to pay rent.

Mr Jonkers added: We are fortunate to be fairly well resourced and therefore we can weather these storms without too much difficulty.

Antony Reineke, who runs Studio 35 jewellers in Duke Street, is to apply for a 6,000 grant.

He said: It is certainly helpful. If the shop is closed and you cant make any money then any help you get from the Government is good.

Whether it will be enough we dont know, but we understand what they are going through.

Running a jewellers is quite an expensive operation, so it probably wont cover a full months costs, but it is as close as possible to taking care of January.

It is not like we need the shop to be able to function because we can still use our workshop. We can operate through our website and phone calls.

If the lockdown extends beyond one or two months, that is when it starts to get more difficult for us.

Laurence Morris, of Laurence Menswear in Duke Street, said: I dont think the lockdown came as a surprise to anybody.

I was hoping that it wouldnt go on longer than the end of January but it looks like its going to. We had a good December so that has covered the fact we werent open in November. The grant will help us with not being open in January.

The downside is we are left with supplies of autumn stock that would have usually been sold in the sale, which will be carried over to next autumn.

There are a lot of questions regarding how long this is going to go on for. Until we see the evidence in the figures, its impossible to set a finite date. I think mid-February will be achievable and that the Government will do everything it can to get these vaccines out.

Gyms will particularly feel the effect of the lockdown as they would typically experience an influx of new customers in January.

Joanne John, who runs Fitness Space Henley at Centenary Business Park, said: Like everyone, we worry about the longevity of this situation and how long it will go on for.

She will be applying for a 6,000 grant. Ms John said: It will be great to have it and it takes away some of the pressure and the worries I face as a small business owner. Equally, it is only a drop in terms of our regular outgoing payments and overheads. Our rent is 4,500 per month,

What do we do in February and March and even in the next quarter because the effects of this will be felt for a very long time?

January is normally the month where we feel quite buoyant and we had lots of plans to try to catapult the business based on the challenges we faced in 2020.

A lot of time was spent on marketing to try to get back old members but that has all been wasted now.

Miss John, a former member of the British bobsleigh team, said she was grateful to still have the furlough scheme but was frustrated by the Governments apparent lack of planning.

The longer it goes on, the harder it is for us, she said. One month is okay and we can knuckle under but by the third month it starts to become more challenging.

Chris Preston, who runs Expert Fitness Studio in Bell Street, is eligible for a 4,000 grant.

He said: It doesnt even cover wages, let alone the cost of the business, but it will help us to tick over.

The grants have allowed us to get through this because we work as self-employed trainers, so they are a lifeline. We are hanging on in there and hopefully people will want to come back when we re-open.

We are doing a collection of digital classes online but we dont make any money from those. We need to get back to doing one-to-one sessions because that is where we make our money.

I know it is the right thing for us to do to close down and I know it is very important to stop the virus.
First female UN Chief: Still a political fantasy? By Thalif Deen View(s): View(s):

UNITED NATIONS (IPS)  The United Nations has been one of the most vociferous advocates of gender empowerment and a persistent critic of gender discrimination worldwide.

But still, it has continued to fall far short of its own lofty ideals.

The UN has never had a female secretary-general (SG) in its 75-year history while only four women have been elected  amid 71 men  as Presidents of the General Assembly, the organisations highest policy making body.

On January 11, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a former Prime Minister of Portugal, announced he will be available for a second term  perhaps upending the longstanding campaign for a female UN chief.

But that final decision, however, will depend not only on the 193 member states, but also, most importantly, on the UN Security Councils five veto-wielding permanent members who will have the last word on who should, or who shouldnt, be the next secretary-general, come January 2022.

Historically, Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt (1992-1996) was denied a second term by a single veto by the US even though he garnered the votes of the remaining 14 members of the Security Council.

In 1981, Kurt Waldheim of Austria was denied an unprecedented third term when he was vetoed 16 times, apparently by China, paving the way for the election of Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru as Secretary-General. (1982-1991).

Guterres has taken a key role in enhancing gender empowerment in the UN system with scores of women appointed to high-ranking positions.

He told delegates last year: We achieved gender parity  90 women and 90 men  in the ranks of our full-time senior leadership, two years ahead of the target that I set at the start of my tenure, and we have a roadmap for parity at all levels in the coming years.

The cynics, however, argue the unusually high gender representation may also be a subtle attempt  or a hidden agenda  to stall any campaign for a female Secretary-General since he has an outstanding track record in the field.

Purnima Mane, a former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) told IPS the call for a woman SG at the UN had been made repeatedly but in the 75-year history of the UN, this call had not met with success.

In the 1975 International Womens Year, there were special efforts made by feminist groups to get women to be nominated for this position.

Since then, she pointed out, the call has only grown, with multiple groups, including groups of Member States, banding together to advocate for a woman to lead the prestigious organization.

At the end of his tenure, former Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon of South Korea was quoted as saying it was high time for a woman leader of the UN.

But it was only in 2016, for the first time, there seemed to be some signs of change on the horizon. At one stage, 50% of the proposed candidates were women, Mane noted.

However, member states eventually endorsed Mr. Guterres unanimously, said Mane, a former President and Chief Executive Officer of Pathfinder International, a global leader in sexual and reproductive health.

Prisca Chaoui, Executive Secretary of the 3,500-strong Staff Coordinating Council of the UN Office in Geneva (UNOG), told IPS that in the past, despite the existence of competent women in the UN, it has largely been the reality that when women do achieve career progression, it tends to be mostly women belonging to certain geographical groups or regions.

There are concerns that implementation of the UNs Gender Parity Strategy may follow a similar pattern. It is crucial that this important initiative ensures a diverse gender parity that includes women from the global South, women of colour, and women from developing and underrepresented countries, she noted.

Outlining some of the steps he plans to take in the future, Guterres said last year: I have reminded the entire senior leadership team about the special measures we have in place to advance parity throughout the system.

If a male candidate is hired in an office or department that has not yet achieved gender parity, and where an equally competent female candidate had been identified, an explanation must be sent to my office detailing the reasoning for the decision prior to final selection being made, he declared.

Antonia Kirkland, Global Lead on Legal Equality & Access to Justice at Equality Now, told IPS since the United Nations was founded in 1945, there had been nine male Secretaries-General but not one woman.

This is unacceptable and needs to change. Unfortunately, the campaign to select a woman as the next leader of the United Nations ended in disappointment in 2016, despite there being numerous highly qualified and eminent women candidates with impressive resumes in the running.

Kul Gautam, a former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the UN childrens agency UNICEF told IPS: I believe Antonio Guterres deserves a second term as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

He was unduly hampered from doing much during his first term, which sadly coincided with that of Donald Trump as President of the US. As the whole world knows now, Trump did not care much for international organisations and was an anti-UN unilateralist.

In the absence of a more supportive US president, Guterres needed to be able to count on the strong support of at least two or three other Permanent Members of the Security Council and some of the more influential emerging powers and the G-77.

Nevertheless, said Gautam, Guterres has been generally highly principled, consistent, eloquent and passionate in advocating for a bold agenda on climate change, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and gender equality. He has been highly successful in bringing more women in senior positions at the UN.

But still, said Gautam, Guterres has been a bit too soft-spoken on human rights, and in more forcefully confronting the likes of Saudi Arabia, Hungary, the Philippines, Egypt and China on human rights issues.

But on balance, he has proven to be thoughtful, measured, wise, mature and diplomatically very deft. It will be hard to find another person who combines his qualities and commands the unanimous support of the P-5 in 2021, he added. The chances of getting someone worse are far higher than getting someone better, unless the whole election/selection system for the UNs top leadership positions is completely overhauled, which is highly unlikely at present.

After Guterres second term, in 2026, he said, lets hope we will have a revamped election/selection system and several shining female candidates.

Already, we should seek a commitment from the UNSC, as well as the UNGA, that they will make every effort to proactively search for a highly qualified female leader as the next UNSG.

The world has waited long enough and it is overdue for the UN to exemplify what it preaches about gender equality and womens empowerment by appointing an outstanding female leader as the worlds top diplomat in 2026, said Gautam.

Samir Sanbar, a former UN Assistant Secretary-General told IPS, in terms of geographical rotation, it will be the turn of Eastern Europe to field a candidate for Secretary-General.

He singled out Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, the former Director-General of UNESCO and Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), also from Bulgaria, as potential women candidates.

A prominent female candidate with a proven record would present a credible challenge to Guterres, he added.
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Harrison Ford has not one but two of the most iconic roles in cinematic history. After wowing audiences with his portrayal as Han Solo, the world-renowned A-lister showed that he was not a one-trick pony when he reteamed with George Lucas., alongside director Steven Spielberg, for Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Four decades on, Han Solo and Indiana Jones remain his most significant roles. However, this doesnt mean that Ford cares about them as much as fans might.

An icon is born

Harrison Ford | Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images

Ford was a long-working actor when he took up Han Solo. He already worked with Lucas on American Graffiti and had several smaller roles under his belt. However, while Star Wars was a movie about intergalactic battles, supernatural spirit powers, and a seemingly-infinite cast of aliens, creatures, and interconnected planets, the mortal Han Solo helped steal the show.

Ford effortlessly conveyed the free-spirited curmudgeon from his first time on the screen. When Star Wars became a massive hit, however, it elevated Ford to the A-List. Not content to have one iconic role. However, Ford reunited with Lucas for Raiders of the Lost Ark. Despite some inhibitions about being typecast as the sardonic antihero, Ford made Indiana Jones one of the most popular characters ever.

Despite the latter debuting 40 years ago, Fords connection with both these roles remains his magnum opus. Yes, hes had several memorable roles in comedies, action movies, dramas, and period pieces, but Solo and Jones remain his crown achievements. Always an entertaining interview. However, Ford doesnt hold back when speaking about these roles.

His comments about Han Solo show that while he is grateful for its impact on his career, he might not have the same attachment to the character that Star Wars fans across the world have.

Harrison Ford returns to Star Wars

RELATED: Why Carrie Fisher Thought Harrison Ford Would Never Be Satisfied With Their Affair

When Disney brought back Star Wars, Fords triumphant return to the role that made him famous was a major deal. However, while Ford gladly accepted his return to the galaxy in The Force Awakens, his one-scene cameo in The Rise of Skywalker was a welcome final hurrah to a character who was last seen plummeting to his death.

Solo returned as a spirit to his son, Ben Skywalker, in the films finale. He helped his son see the light, although it made some fans question the logic. Before Solos return, only Jedis had reappeared. While fans can argue the logic of this, however, dont expect Ford to give his input on the matter. When asked about his cameo and whether he was a force ghost, the actor kept it short and straightforward.

I have no f*cking idea what a Force Ghost is, and I dont care, he told a USA Today reporter that asked about his surprising return. This left several Star Wars fans dismayed. It could be viewed as a dismissal of what many see to be his best character. However, with Ford poised to return to Indiana Jones, it has many fans wondering if he bears a similar resentment to the thrill-seeking archaeologist.

Does Harrison Ford like Indiana Jones?

Despite pushing eighty years of age, Ford is poised to return to Indiana Jones in an upcoming sequel film directed by James Mangold. However, while he holds a certain resentment toward Star Wars, or at least its fans, Indiana Jones has a more personal place in his heart. He spoke about his willingness to push himself to play the famed adventurer even as he approaches 80.

Weve seen the character develop and grow over a period of time and its perfectly appropriate and OK for him to come back again with a great movie around him, he told The Huffington Post about his favorite character. To me, what was interesting about the character was that he prevailed, that he had courage, that he had wit, that he had intelligence, that he was frightened and that he still managed to survive. That I can do.

Fans will have to wait until 2022 when Ford dons the bullwhip for the fifth time. While Han Solo is a part of an ensemble, Jones is where Ford gets the spotlight. This might explain his softer spot for the character. Regardless of what happens, however, dont expect him to answer any questions about force ghosts.
A mass vaccination drive for GPs and practice nurses has begun in Ireland (Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland/PA)

Doctors and other healthcare workers have expressed relief after receiving Covid-19 jabs at three mass vaccination centres in Ireland.

The facilities opened in Dublin, Galway and Portlaoise on Saturday and will operate over the weekend.

Each is delivering hundreds of the Moderna jabs to GPs, practice nurses and other frontline staff.

Dublin-based GP Muhammad Ghaffar was among those who received a vaccine at the centre in the citys Phoenix Park.

Expand Close Dr Ray Walley administering the Moderna vaccine to GP Kathleen McClory, Malahide Family Practice, at a vaccination centre in Dublin (Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Dr Ray Walley administering the Moderna vaccine to GP Kathleen McClory, Malahide Family Practice, at a vaccination centre in Dublin (Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland/PA)

He said it was a straightforward process.

A time was allocated so I went there and registered myself, they checked my verification and I went in, within the next five minutes I got the vaccination and then I was in the observation for 15 minutes, he told the PA news agency.

It was friendly and I was happy with it.

The doctor said he was relieved to have had the jab.

Hopefully it will work, he said. The reason and rationale for getting it is because we get exposed to a lot of patients so we dont know who has the Covid and who doesnt, so its a relief now.

He added: Once all the general public get it, it will be more relief, because then well be able to freely move around and get in contact with people again.

Expand Close Dublin-based GP Muhammad Ghaffar at the vaccination centre in Phoenix Park (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Dublin-based GP Muhammad Ghaffar at the vaccination centre in Phoenix Park (Brian Lawless/PA)

Shannon Fagan, a social care worker in residential services, also got vaccinated at the Phoenix Park facility. She found out on Friday evening that she had a slot for a jab on Saturday afternoon.

It was quick and easy  a nice process, she told PA.

Ms Fagan said the vaccination offered the prospect of more freedom and light at the end of the tunnel.

It means freedom I suppose, not having an anxiety about seeing family and friends, feeling that little bit more protected, she said.

Its just peace of mind really.

She said working through the pandemic had been tough, adding: Were just grateful now that were coming to the end and theres a light at the end of the tunnel.

Expand Close Social care worker in Residential Services Shannon Fagan after receiving her vaccine (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Social care worker in Residential Services Shannon Fagan after receiving her vaccine (Brian Lawless/PA)

The mass centre initiative was been rolled out as the authorities in Ireland adjust wider vaccination plans to reflect the temporary reduction in supply of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines.

The slow down in supply to European countries is due to Pfizer upgrading its production facilities in Belgium.

Ireland hopes to have vaccinated four million people by the end of September.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said supply was the only factor that would limit the speed of the programme rollout.

He said the anticipated European approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab at the end of January would be significant.

The truth is the only constraint at the moment is supply, he said.

We can speed it up but not until the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine is approved.

Were hoping thats going to happen on January 29 and that will allow us then to scale up and speed up the programme and well get that vaccine out to GP surgeries, pharmacies, mass-vaccination centres, and that will really allow us to increase the numbers being vaccinated every week quite considerably.

Vaccines are safe and are tested to the highest standards. Two #Covid19 vaccines have been approved in the EU with more to come in the near future.



Below I answer some of the top questions Iave received about vaccines.



Please share so that other people can get the facts too pic.twitter.com/lexq6ZgVDv  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) January 16, 2021

Another 60 Covid-19 deaths were confirmed in Ireland on Saturday, along with 3,231 new cases of the virus.

On Saturday, bolstered travel restrictions also came into effect requiring passengers arriving into Irelands port and airports to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test.

Travellers need to show evidence of their test result prior to boarding any plane or ferry bound for Ireland and also produce it to immigration officials upon arrival.

The PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test for coronavirus must have been taken within 72 hours of departure.

Failure to produce evidence of a negative test result on arrival in Ireland in a criminal offence attracting a fine of up to 2,500 euro or a prison sentence of up to six months.

Expand Close Jacob Weger, who flew from London on Saturday, in an almost empty arrivals hall in Terminal 2 of Dublin airport (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Jacob Weger, who flew from London on Saturday, in an almost empty arrivals hall in Terminal 2 of Dublin airport (Brian Lawless/PA)

The new rules do not apply to anyone travelling from Northern Ireland.

Some international travellers are exempt from the new requirements, including international transport workers in the aviation, maritime and road haulage sectors.

Children aged six and under are also exempt.

Transit passengers who stop off in Ireland en route to another destination and do not leave the airport also do not need to produce a negative test result.

Extra restrictions apply to travellers arriving from Great Britain, South Africa and Brazil.

The measures, introduced in response to the emergence of new Covid-19 variants in those places, require passengers to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in Ireland.
President Donald Trump looks on as he speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One to depart Washington on travel to visit the U.S.-Mexico border Wall in Texas, at Joint Base Andrews in Md., on Jan. 12, 2021. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Trump Directs Government to Review Ways to Minimize Purchases of Chinese Goods, Services

President Donald Trump on Jan. 15 directed federal agencies to look at ways to reduce purchases of goods and services from China, in a bid to guard against espionage risks posed by the regime.

Trump instructed departments and agencies to conduct a review and propose regulatory and policy changes, including potential executive actions to minimize the procurement of Chinese goods and services, national security adviser Robert OBrien said in a statement.

The move is the latest in a flurry of actions in the final days of the Trump administration to focus on a range of threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

U.S. officials have long sounded the alarm that Chinese technology, both software and hardware, may be used by Beijing for spying, citing security laws that mandate companies to cooperate with Chinese intelligence when asked; all firms are ultimately beholden to the CCP. Security concerns have been raised over a bevy of technologies, from Chinese-made drones to telecom equipment giant Huawei to social media apps such as TikTok.

Federal agencies are already barred from buying goods or services from five Chinese firms including Huawei and surveillance equipment makers Hikvision and Dahua.

OBrien referred to Chinas 2017 National Intelligence Law that obligates individuals, organizations, and institutions to assist the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] security and intelligence services in carrying out a wide variety of intelligence work, and requires them not to disclose their cooperation.

The Chinese regime remains free to coerce and coopt PRC manufacturers and services providers to target the United States Government for espionage and information advantage, he said.

The adviser added that some of this activity could further the regimes military goals under its military-civil fusion strategy, which seeks to harness private industry to spur Chinas military modernization.

Citing the Chinese regimes efforts to steal U.S. government personnel data and military plans, OBrien said the United States needs to take corresponding actions to protect American interests. In 2014, Chinese hackers breached the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which resulted in the theft of roughly 23 million records of federal employees.

We must adjust our regulations and policies and take other necessary actions to reduce the risk of PRC technical and human espionage activities directed at the Federal Government, he said.
Dustin John Higgs, 48, was executed by lethal injection on Friday but new reports claim it was rushed through by a mystery execution team who carry out three in a week

The federal execution of convicted murderer Dustin John Higgs had been fast-tracked due to a discount deal with a mystery killing squad, according to new reports.

Higgs, 48, was pronounced dead at 1.23am on Saturday after receiving a lethal injection of pentobarbital in the federal death chamber at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The prison had allegedly rushed to carry out the execution Saturday after receiving a cost-saving offer from the unidentified killing team to carry out three in a week, according to The Sun.

It marked the third federal execution at Terre Haute in four days, after womb raider Lisa Montgomery was put to death on Wednesday and convicted drug trafficker Corey Johnson on Thursday.

Higgs was found guilty of conspiring with two other men to kidnap and murder three young women in Washington DC on one night in January 1996.

His defense team won a temporary stay on his execution this week after he and Johnson tested positive for COVID-10 last month.

Defense attorneys claimed the infections put them at greater risk of unnecessary suffering during the lethal injections but higher courts overruled those decisions, allowing the executions to go forward.

Executed this week (left to right): Lisa Marie Montgomery and Corey Johnson. According to Higgs' attorney, they were all executed this week as part of a cost-saving deal

The U.S. Penitentiary at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana on Friday

Shawn Nolan, one of Higgs' attorneys, told The Sun that it was no coincidence the three executions were all rushed together in one week, claiming that it was a result of the deal offered by outside contractors.

Yet Nolan also revealed that the defense team was not allowed any further information on the killing team.

'In several cases they have executed two or three prisoners in the same week and they do this because they use outside contractors who come in to do the executions,' he said.

They [federal prison authorities] say they schedule two to three a week because they pay them for a week.

They wont tell us who they are. We dont know who they are... They are an execution team.'

Nolan also claimed that it was the mystery execution squad who had been responsible for the outbreak of COVID-19 in the prison in the first place, after positive cases were identified after they carried out earlier sentences.

'We have argued that these executions are super spreader events because they bring in outside people,' he said.

Higgs' execution marked the final death sentence to be completed by the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump.

It was also the 13th execution during Trump's term after he resumed executions in July despite the pandemic, making him the most prolific president in carrying out death sentences since Grover Cleveland in the 1800s.

The recent spree of executions is also the first time since Cleveland's term that a federal execution was carried out during the lame-duck period of a presidency.

Higgs is seen in 2015 at the Federal Prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Higgs is the last federal inmate facing execution before President Donald Trump leaves office

Executed in July were (left to right): Daniel Lewis Lee, Wesley Ira Purkey, and Dustin Lee Honken. Lee's execution was the first federal execution in 17 years

Alfred Bourgeois was executed on December 11. The 56-year-old had been on death row since his 2004 conviction for killing 2-year-old daughter despite protesting his innoncence

Trump resumed federal executions in July after a 17-year hiatus, although they had still been carried out at the state level.

President-elect Joe Biden is an opponent of the death penalty and is expected to suspend federal executions when he takes office next week.

Nolan had previouslt said he sees a clear political agenda in the unprecedented string of federal executions at the end of Trump's presidency, with Higgs heading to the death chamber just five days before Biden's inauguration.

Higgs' lawyers had argued it is 'arbitrary and inequitable' to execute Higgs while Willis Haynes, the man who pulled the trigger in the murders, was spared a death sentence.

In his final words, Higgs protested that he was innocent of masterminding the murders.

'I'd like to say I am an innocent man,' he said, strapped to the gurney in the execution chamber. 'I did not order the murders.'

The interior of the execution chamber in the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute is seen above. Higgs was strapped to the gurney and injected with pentobarbital, a powerful barbiturate

Trump has overseen 13 executions after he resumed executions in July despite the pandemic, making him the most prolific president in carrying out death sentences since Grover Cleveland

As the injection was administered, loud sobs of a woman crying inconsolably echoed for several minutes from a room reserved for Higgs' family, as his eyes rolled back in his head, showing the whites of his eyes before he stopped moving entirely.

Yet, the federal judge who presided over Higgs' trial two decades ago says he 'merits little compassion.'

'He received a fair trial and was convicted and sentenced to death by a unanimous jury for a despicable crime,' U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte wrote in a December 29 ruling.

'In the midst of the pandemic and everything thats going on right now in the country, it seems just insane to move forward with these executions,' Nolan said recently. 'And particularly for Dustin, who didn't shoot anybody. He didn't kill anybody.'

Higgs' December 19 petition for clemency says he has been a model prisoner and dedicated father to a son born shortly after his arrest. Higgs had a traumatic childhood and lost his mother to cancer when he was 10, the petition says.

'Mr. Higgs' difficult upbringing was not meaningfully presented to the jury at trial,' his attorneys wrote.

His death sentence was the first imposed in the modern era of the federal system in Maryland, which abolished the death penalty in 2013.

An activist in opposition to the death penalty protests during a snowstorm outside of the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana on Thursday ahead of Johnson's death

Higgs' shocking crimes: How he conspired to kidnap and kill three women after an argument during a triple-date

In October 2000, a federal jury in Maryland convicted Higgs of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the killings of Tamika Black, 19; Mishann Chinn, 23; and Tanji Jackson, 21.

Higgs was 23 on the evening of January 26, 1996, when he, Willis Haynes and a third man, Victor Gloria, picked up the three women in Washington, DC, and drove them to Higgs' apartment in Laurel, Maryland, to drink alcohol and listen to music.

The men smoked pot late into the night, and before dawn the next morning an argument between Higgs and Tanji prompted her to grab a knife in the kitchen before Haynes persuaded her to drop it.

'I am going to get you all f***ed up or robbed!' Tanji shouted, according to Gloria's testimony. In response, Higgs remarked to the other men that Tamika 'do know a lot of n*****s.'

As Tamika left the apartment with the other women, she appeared to write down the license plate number of Higgs' van, angering him, and the three women stormed off on foot.

The three men chased after the women in Higgs' van, a blue Mazda MPV. Haynes persuaded them to get into the vehicle.

Instead of taking them home, Higgs drove them to a secluded spot in the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge, federal land in Laurel.

Higgs drove the three women to a secluded spot in the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge (seen in a file photo) and handed his friend Willis Haynes a gun to kill them

'Aware at that point that something was amiss, one of the women asked if they were going to have to `walk from here and Higgs responded 'something like that,'' said an appeals court ruling upholding Higgs' death sentence.

Higgs handed his pistol to Haynes, who shot all three women outside the van before the men left, Gloria testified.

'Gloria turned to ask Higgs what he was doing, but saw Higgs holding the steering wheel and watching the shootings from the rearview mirror,' said the 2013 ruling by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Investigators found Jackson's day planner at the scene of the killings. It contained Higgs' nickname, 'Bones,' his telephone number, his address number and the tag number for his van.

The jurors who convicted Haynes failed to reach a unanimous verdict on whether to impose a death sentence. A different jury convicted Higgs and returned a death sentence after a separate trial. Gloria pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to the murders and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Higgs has argued that his death sentence must be thrown out because jurors failed to consider it as a 'mitigating factor' that Haynes was convicted of identical charges but sentenced to life in prison.

The appeals court concluded that rational jurors could find that Higgs had the dominant role in the murders even though Haynes indisputably was the triggerman.

An activist in opposition to the death penalty protests during a snowstorm outside of the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana on Thursday ahead of Higgs' execution

In their clemency petition, Higgs lawyers said Gloria received a 'substantial deal' in exchange for his cooperation

'Moreover,' they wrote, 'significant questions remain as to whether Mr. Gloria received the additional undisclosed benefit of having an unrelated state murder investigation against him dropped at the urging of federal officers to protect his credibility as the star witness. A federal death verdict should not rest on such a flimsy basis.'

Mishann worked with the children's choir at a church, Tanji worked in the office at a high school and Tamika was a teacher's aide at National Presbyterian School in Washington, according to the Washington Post.

On the day in 2001 when the judge formally sentenced Higgs to death, Tamika's mother, Joyce Gaston, said it brought her little solace, the Post reported.

'It's not going to ever be right in my mind,' Gaston said, 'That was my daughter. I don't know how I'm going to deal with it.'

How Trump used his final days to put to death the most federal prisoners since the 1880s

The number of federal death sentences carried out under Trump since 2020 is more than in the previous 56 years combined, reducing the number of prisoners on federal death row by nearly a quarter.

It's likely none of the around 50 remaining men will be executed anytime soon, with Biden signaling he'll end federal executions.

The only woman on death row, Lisa Montgomery, was executed Wednesday for killing a pregnant woman, then cutting the baby out of her womb and claiming it as her own. She was the first woman executed in nearly 70 years.

Federal executions began as the coronavirus pandemic raged through prisons nationwide. Among those prisoners who got COVID-19 last month were Higgs and former drug trafficker Corey Johnson, who was executed Thursday.

Executed (L to R): Lezmond Charles Mitchell, Keith Dwayne Nelson, William Emmett LeCroy, Jr

Some members of the execution teams have also previously tested positive for the virus.

Not since the waning days of Grover Cleveland's presidency in the late 1800s has the U.S. government executed federal inmates during a presidential transition, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Clevelands was also the last presidency during which the number of civilians executed federally was in the double digits in one year, 1896, during Clevelands second term.

The Trump administration has paid private executioners in cash and bought drugs from a secret pharmacy as part of a rush to execute federal prisoners, court documents obtained by ProPublica reveal.

The court records, were reported in December, shed light on how the Trump administration is hurrying to use its final days to execute the federal inmates.

Among the details included in court records are that private executioners have been paid in cash, drugs have been purchased from a pharmacy that failed quality tests and that executions have moved ahead in the middle of the night.

It is not clear why private contractors were hired to carry out the executions. A Bureau of Prisons lawyer was quoted in a deposition saying: 'If we didn't pay them in cash they probably wouldn't participate'.

Executed (left to right): Christopher Andre Vialva, Orlando Cordia Hall, Brandon Bernard

One execution has gone ahead while an appeal was still pending.

Authorities also left Daniel Lewis Lee, who was the first federal inmate executed in July, strapped to a gurney while lawyers tried to remove a Supreme Court order, the court documents show.

He was executed as soon as the government lawyers wiped out the legal obstacle.

'Today, Lee finally faced the justice he deserved,' Barr said in a statement at the time.

The White House has not commented on ProPublica's report regarding the rush to execute the inmates.

In a statement, the Justice Department said: 'Seeking the death penalty and carrying out capital sentences is not a political issue, nor have political considerations influenced the department's decisions.

'The death penalty is a law enforcement and public safety issue, and the department is obligated to carry forward these sentences regardless of who is the president or the attorney general.'
Rochester, N.Y. -- A 43-year-old Rochester man has been arrested and federally charged for his role in the riots at the U.S. Capitol Building.

Dominic Pezzola, 43, has been identified as the man shown in a video breaking windows at the building with a see-through riot shield, according to federal prosecutors. Pezzola is also accused of being part of a group of people at the Capitol who said they would kill Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi if they could find the two, a witness told FBI agents according to a criminal complaint.

Pezzola has been charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, destruction of government property and restricted buildings or grounds. He was arrested Friday and appeared in federal court in the Western District of New York at 2 p.m.

The Rochester native had previously been identified by Vice News as a member of the Proud Boys and had been spotted in the groups attire at a rally held in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 12. The Proud Boys have been identified as an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and held rallies supporting President Donald Trump in the Pacific Northwest earlier this year.

According to Vice News reporting, Pezzola is a former Marine who went to The Aquinas Institute of Rochester, a private high school.

Videos and pictures time stamped at 2:39 p.m. appear to show Pezzola breaking a window at the U.S. Capitol with the plastic riot shield, FBI agent Melissa Ammons wrote in the criminal complaint. Another video, taken by Pezzola, shows him in the Capitol smoking a cigar, Ammons wrote.

Victory smoke in the Capitol, boys, Pezzola said during the video, according to the complaint. This is f------ awesome. I knew we could take this m----------- over [if we] just tried hard enough.

Trump supporters break into the U.S. Capitol Building after storming the police line here in Washington #DC #Trump #DCRally #BreakingNews pic.twitter.com/Q8jdQjqNla  Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) January 6, 2021

A witness told agents Pezzola later bragged about breaking the windows and entering the building, the complaint said. The same witness also told agents people in the group Pezzola was with after the storming of the Capitol said that anyone they got their hands on they would have killed, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence, according to the complaint.

The group said they had access to guns and planned to return on Jan. 20, the day of President-elect Joe Bidens Inauguration, the complaint said.

On Jan. 9, FBI agents were able to find Pezzolas publicly available Telegram account. Telegram is an encrypted messaging an calling app, according to the complaint.

His account username was @KINGbehavior with a display name of Spazzo 2nd and his bio read Marine vet / boxer / patriot / Proud Boy 2nd, the complaint said.

Pictures appear to show Pezzola near Doug Jensen, Jake Angeli and Albert Ciarpelli, all of whom have been arrested and charged for their roles in the riot.

Ciarpelli lives in Syracuse and was released after being arraigned in federal court earlier this week.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati via the Signal app for encrypted messaging at 585-290-0718, by phone at the same number, by email or on Twitter.

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Alicia Keyes, New Mexicos cabinet secretary for economic development, in a Journal op-ed published Jan. 8 wrote about the need to focus on rebuilding industry and jobs in the wake of the COVID pandemic  in a state she points out had only barely recovered from the Great Recession of 2008 in terms of employment.

She is correct of course, and many of the things the administration wants to do make sense. Pushing economic development projects through the state Local Economic Development Act (LEDA), funding the JTIP worker training program at aggressive levels and expediting aid to businesses hammered by COVID shutdowns and other restrictions lead that list.

Others want to grow STEM jobs and try to get remote workers from other states to relocate here. Nothing wrong with that.

But the challenges are daunting  a point hammered home this week by a WalletHub report listing New Mexico as the worst state in the nation for families based on metrics like education, crime, poverty and family stability.

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Those rankings are caused by or exacerbated by the lack of prosperity and opportunity in New Mexico. So the Lujan Grisham administration and New Mexico lawmakers need to think hard about how to grow an economy the way our neighbors Arizona, Colorado and Texas have. And its not going to happen if the formula is based on higher taxes and more social services.

To change the dynamic, we also need to designate certain key areas such as water, infrastructure, tax policy, Public Private Partnerships to build things (35 states have them now) and education (provided we insist that results accompany investment.) And we need to encourage entrepreneurship that fuels economic development.

Don Debelak is a business startup and marketing expert who retired in Albuquerque four years ago to be near his grandchildren. He was Entrepreneur Magazines Bright Idea columnist for seven years and has authored 15 books on invention and marketing.

In an op-ed published in the Journal on Jan. 4, Debelak weighed in on the anchor that tax pyramiding is on economic development in New Mexico, arguing that it stifles growth in manufacturing new products (we have a lot of smart R&D people here, but when a product is ready to move to market, that tends to happen elsewhere) because gross receipts taxes are levied at every level.

This drives up the cost and makes us less competitive.

Rep. Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho and one of the Legislatures tax gurus, says New Mexico has made good progress on pyramiding in construction and some in manufacturing. But the current system, he says, is brutal on small business that has to contract out services such as accounting, payroll, HR and legal  meaning you pay GRT on all those professional services.

We are not serious about improving our economy until we tackle GRT tax pyramiding, Harper said. It can raise the effective tax rate to 17% and we wonder why that product is so much cheaper in Texas. Its because of the hidden taxation.

Weve talked it to death. Legislators on both sides of the aisle know its a problem. Until we address it, I dont think we can move in the right direction.

Harper puts the cost of fixing the problem at about $100 million in a state budget of $7 billion-plus.

Debelaks arguments about tax pyramiding aside, his op-ed included some other eye-popping numbers. He said Arizona has 33 public companies with market capitalization of $50 million or more. The Bloomberg Colorado Index lists 60 major stocks, and Utah has 17 listed companies.

New Mexico, he wrote, has one publicly traded company based here: PNM. And its not a manufacturer.

Its one more page in a tale of New Mexico lagging its neighbors, reinforcing a Duquesne University professors comparison between Arizona and New Mexico using 1963 as a baseline.

At that time, Arizonas economy was 1.45 times larger than New Mexicos. By 2008 it was 3.11 times the size of ours. Arizonas economy grew at a 5.3% annual rate from 1963 to 2008. We grew at 3.5% a year.

Neither economy had a natural advantage to grow over the other, researcher Matt E. Ryan wrote. In 1963, Arizona was the nations 33rd largest economy at $24.7 billion (in 2008) dollars while we were 36th at $17 billion. By 2008, Arizona had moved up to 20th with a GSP of $216.5 billion while we had slipped to 37th at $66 billion.

And that was before the Great Recession of 2008, which Secretary Keyes correctly points out took an exceptionally heavy toll on New Mexico. The gap continues with Arizonas GSP more than three times the size of New Mexicos.

Asked why he thought New Mexico and Arizona had diverged so wildly, Ryan basically concluded Arizona relied on private markets to generate wealth and New Mexico relied on public spending.

Entrepreneurship  is simply the creativity to make yourself better off, he told the Journal for a story published in 2016. That translates into new products, new businesses, doing things better and what we call productive entrepreneurship since the economy as a whole grows with this activity.

By contrast, he said public sector activity requires unproductive entrepreneurship and causes an economy to shrink.

Its easier said than done, but if New Mexico is to create prosperity and opportunity for its people, the state must create the right atmosphere and get out of the way to the extent possible. Programs for health, education and welfare are important, but they wont drive the economy.

Its worth noting that even our touted success with the film industry is fueled by tax credits  which means oil and gas has in effect been picking up the tab.

Democrats control the House, Senate and Governors Office. Social programs are near and dear to their hearts. But if they are serious about creating jobs and improving lives, they also will look at how thats been done elsewhere  and ask seriously about why it hasnt happened in New Mexico.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
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Troops of Operation Tura Takaibango in conjunction with Air Task Force Operation Lafiya Dole have killed scores of Boko Haram terrorists and destroyed seven of their gun trucks in Matte, Borno.

The acting Director, Defence Media Operations, Benard Onyeuko, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.

Mr Onyeuko said an unconfirmed number of the terrorists were killed when they attempted to attack troops location at the outskirts of Marte in Marte Local Government Area on Saturday.

He said the troops, acting on reliable information about the attack, had positioned themselves in an ambush site where they tactically ambushed the terrorists and opened fire.

According to him, this led to fierce battle that resulted in the successes against the terrorists.

The troops are still engaged in pursuit of the fleeing terrorists for further exploitation.

Further details of interest to members of the public will be communicated later, he said. (NAN)
After Ferrari announced that Sebastian Vettel would no longer drive for the team, it soon became clear that the empty seat would go to Carlos Sainz. According to the Spaniard, McLaren made sure there was not too much media attention.

Driving for Ferrari is a dream come true for most drivers and that certainly applies to Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard just didn't initially expect to actually drive for the team, even after interest was shown from Maranello. "You think they are talking to all the drivers. So I tried to be as relaxed about it as possible. I tried to keep my focus on the present," Sainz told Motorsport.com.

While contract negotiations can also normally take a long time, that was not the case for Sainz's switch to Ferrari. "At one point everything happened very quickly. But when you sign for Ferrari, you also know what's coming, all the media attention. It was in the middle of the lockdown and I knew there would be a lot of questions asked in Austria. I also don't think many people expected Carlos Sainz to become part of Ferrari one or two years ago. So it was big news very quickly," continued the Spaniard.

Read more Mercedes engine again the most reliable, but only in the Mercedes itself

Focus on the current season

With a new and compact season ahead of you, you just don't want to be distracted by too many peripheral issues, especially if you are still driving for another team. According to Sainz, McLaren made sure he could get his mental rest quickly. "Together we made sure there were not too many stories, just focus on the present. I think it worked well."

"The relationship with McLaren has always been very open and relaxed. So I never really felt much pressure, that takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders," Sainz concludes. The latter will no doubt be different at the big Ferrari.

New Delhi, Jan 16 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma has remained intact in most of the states across the country with 44.55 per cent of the people backing him, with Odisha, Goa and Telangana leading the chart, as per the IANS C-Voter State of the Nation 2021 survey.

The survey was carried out among over 30,000 respondents from across the country, covering all the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies.

The survey claimed that Modi's charisma is still intact in several states with people of Odisha backing him the most, followed by Goa and Telangana.

It said that 78.05 per cent of people in Odisha are very much satisfied with Modi's work, while 14.03 per cent people are satisfied to some extent with the Prime Minister's performance, and 7.73 per cent people are not satisfied at all. Modi has a nett acceptance of 84.35 per cent in the state.

Similarly, Modi's charm in Goa and Telangana also remains intact with a nett approval of 80.35 per cent and 72.03 per cent, respectively. In Uttarakhand, Modi's nett approval is 45.77 per cent.

However, in Punjab, the people are least satisfied with the work of the Prime Minister. The survey said that 20.75 per cent of people in Punjab are very much satisfied with Modi while 14.7 are satisfied to some extent and 63.28 per cent are not satisfied at all. The net approval of Modi in Punjab is minus 27.83 per cent.

In Tamil Nadu, Modi's nett approval is just 3.1 per cent with only 12.59 per cent of the people saying they are satisfied with the Prime Minister's performance.

In the Union Territories, the Prime Minister has a net approval of 31.99 per cent.

In BJP ruled Uttar Pradesh, Modi has a nett approval of 23.48 per cent with 45.56 per cent of people saying they are very satisfied with him, while 15.89 are satisfied to some extent and 37.97 per cent are not satisfied at all.

In Kerala, Modi's nett approval is 21.84 per cent, with 33.2 per cent saying they are very satisfied with the PM's performance and 27.72 per cent saying they are satisfied to some extent. As many as 39.05 per cent of the respondents in Kerala said they are not satisfied with the works carried out by the Prime Minister.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

Vote

View Results

Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-15 09:16:31|Editor: huaxia

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People queue up to buy oxygen at an oxygen factory in Manaus of Amazonas, Brazil, Jan. 15, 2021. Brazil's northern state of Amazonas moved to send 235 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 to other states as its healthcare system was stretched to the limit, Governor Wilson Lima said Thursday. Hospitals in state capital Manaus are crowded and lack the oxygen needed to treat infected patients, he said. (Photo by Sandro Pereira/Xinhua)

BRASILIA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's northern state of Amazonas moved to send 235 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 to other states as its healthcare system was stretched to the limit, Governor Wilson Lima said Thursday.

Hospitals in state capital Manaus are crowded and lack the oxygen needed to treat infected patients, he said.

According to the Brazilian Health Ministry, Manaus had accounted for 91,461 of the 219,544 cases and 3,856 of the 5,879 deaths in Amazonas as of Wednesday.

Overwhelmed hospitals led to four consecutive days of record-high fatalities from COVID-19, with 144, 150, 166 and 198 burials per day from Sunday to Wednesday, respectively, according to official data.

Colonel Franco Duarte, a representative of the Health Ministry, said patients considered to be moderately ill would be transferred out of state.

Brazil has reported 8,324,294 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 207,095 deaths as of Thursday.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 17:30:14|Editor: huaxia

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Germany's governing party Christian Democratic Union began its digital party conference with a key agenda to elect a new party leader, which is widely seen as the first step towards selecting Chancellor Angela Merkel's successor. #GLOBALink Produced by Xinhua Global Service 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-15 22:10:46|Editor: huaxia

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Doctors present bouquets to the first batch of recovered and discharged COVID-19 patients at the Hebei Chest Hospital in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Jin Haoyuan)

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- More than 1.6 billion yuan (247.5 million U.S. dollars) worth of medical expenses for COVID-19 patients was covered by China's medical insurance funds last year, according to official data.

By adding medical supplies and medicines used in COVID-19 treatment to the medical insurance coverage catalog, prices for nucleic acid test and antibody test reagents have been reduced by more than 70 percent and 40 percent, respectively, said Hu Jinglin, head of the National Healthcare Security Administration.

Having launched the COVID-19 vaccination program on Dec. 15 last year, the country's health authorities have promised free vaccines for all, with the costs covered by medical insurance funds and government fiscal.

As of 2020, 1.36 billion people in China had signed up for basic medical insurance, statistics showed. 

Two bungling criminals have been dubbed bird brains after all they got from a well-planned cash-in-transit robbery was a bag of bird seed.

The bizarre incident unfolded in Annacotty, Co Limerick, yesterday afternoon when one of the masked thugs brutally assaulted a security employee with an implement, threatened him and grabbed a large bag from the worker.

The raiders escaped in a car which was later found burnt out.

However it can now be revealed that the bag contained no cash and was full of bird seed.

The security employee had bought the bag of bird seed in a local discount store just before this raid happened, a senior source said.

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There can be no doubt that the raiders must have thought it was a bag of cash but there was no money in it at all.

All the indications are that this was a very well planned robbery and that the raiders had the cash van under surveillance and a detailed plan to burn out the car after the robbery but their efforts have come to nothing, the source added.

No arrests have been made in the case which is being investigated by officers from Henry Street Garda Station.

Last night gardai made an appeal for information on the bizarre case.

Gardai in Henry Street are appealing for information following an attempted robbery that took place at a retail premises at Annacotty in County Limerick today, Friday 15th January 2021.

The incident occurred shortly after 1.50pm when a car pulled up beside a cash-in-transit van. A masked man exited the passengers seat of this car and came towards the van, a garda spokesman said.

This man proceeded to assault the cash-in-transit employee with an implement. The driver of the car, who was also a masked male, is alleged to have made threats to the employee during the assault.

The two men then fled the location soon after in their vehicle.

No cash was taken during this incident and no serious injuries were reported.

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Gardai are appealing for any witnesses to come forward and also to any road users with camera footage (including dash-cam) who were in the locale of Annacotty to make it available to investigators.

In particular, Gardai are seeking information from anyone who may have seen a blue BMW in the Annacotty, Killonan and Tipperary Road areas between 1.40pm and 2.30pm.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Henry Street Garda Station 061 212 400 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111, a garda spokesman said.
North Korea has unveiled what it says is a new submarine-launched ballistic missile, the latest apparent development in its fast-advancing weapons program. Several of the SLBMs rolled through Pyongyang's central Kim Il-sung Square during a nighttime military parade, state media said Friday.

Using typically flowery language, the state-run Korean Central News Agency called the missile the "world's most powerful weapon." North Korea also showed off a new short-range missile during the parade.

Wearing a shiny black leather jacket and fur hat, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the Thursday event, which marked the end of a major multiday meeting of the ruling Workers' Party. It is North Korea's second military parade in about three months. At an October parade, North Korea showed off its largest intercontinental ballistic missile, which appears designed to overwhelm U.S. missile defenses.

The parades are a reminder that Pyongyang continues to develop new nuclear weapons and ballistic missile capabilities despite economic hardships brought on by the coronavirus and international sanctions. Submarine-launched missiles would add an unpredictable component to North Korea's arsenal. They are mobile, potentially increasing the range of North Korea's ballistic missile arsenal. They are also easier to hide.

Analysts say the new SLBM, labeled Pukguksong-5, appears bigger but looks similar to the Pukguksong-4, which was unveiled at the October parade. But some caution the latest missile may still be under development. "The appearances (of the two missiles) have few differences, so it is highly likely a mock-up -- not the real missile," said Kim Dong-yub, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, in a Facebook post.

The rapid development of SLBM technology is puzzling to some defense experts, who point out North Korea does not currently have a functional submarine capable of shooting ballistic missiles while submerged. "The only thing that makes sense to me is that these developments are setting the stage for a solid fuel ICBM. To me that has to be the end game here," tweeted Vipin Narang, a nuclear specialist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15)  US drugmaker Pfizer is aiming to provide developing countries like the Philippines doses of its COVID-19 vaccine at an affordable price.

"I'm also very happy to announce that it is Pfizer's intention to make available its COVID-19 vaccine to low-income countries like the Philippines at a not-for-profit price during the pandemic," said Andreas Quercia, Pfizer country manager during the Senate Committee on the Whole's hearing on the national COVID-19 vaccination plan Friday.

Pfizer also said it is in "advance discussions" with the Philippine government on a supply agreement for its COVID-19 vaccine, adding it plans to make doses available to the country as soon as possible. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., meanwhile, said there might already be a term sheet and supply agreement with the pharmaceutical firm within next week.

The official also said Pfizer vaccine doses may reach the Philippines as early as the first quarter of 2021 through the help of the COVAX facility, of which the country is part of. The facility purchases vaccines to be distributed for free to developing countries, covering a maximum of 20% of their respective populations.

Pfizer is the first to secure Emergency Use Authorization in the Philippines for a coronavirus vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration granted the approval Thursday, citing the vaccine's high efficacy rate.

Pfizer earlier bagged EUAs across the globe, including from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Agreements with Sinovac, other firms not a 'done deal'

When asked whether agreements the country has entered into in advance for vaccine supply with firms like China-based Sinovac are already a "done deal," Galvez said that is not the case.

"Ang sa atin pa lang po ngayon [For now,] we are [just] dealing with the term sheet. Posible rin [It could also be possible] we have to lock (the supply), so that they can already make production. So sa ngayon po, wala pa pong government funds tayong naibibigay," clarified the official.

[Translation: As of now, we haven't given out government funds yet.]

National policy against COVID-19 deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon also reiterated the country's vaccine expert panel has recommended seven vaccine brands for possible purchase, which includes Sinovac. However, none of this is final yet, as the government awaits the panel's final recommendation, along with an EUA from the FDA.

Sinovac has also applied for emergency use authorization, the regulatory agency revealed earlier this week.
Optimistic about a favourable outcome in the 2021 assembly polls in West Bengal scheduled to be held in April-May, state Bharatiya Janata Party president Dilip Ghosh has already started chalking out plans to oust the ruling Trinamool Congress in more than 100 civic bodies.

Ghosh, who was re-elected the Bengal BJP president on January 16, 2020, has asked party workers to increase mass contact with people in all 107 municipalities across the state.

The party is focusing on all the 144 wards in Kolkata Municipal Corporation with a clear narrative that the BJP can run the KMC more effectively than the Trinamool Congress.

The BJP has also started working on report cards of TMC councillors to highlight their failures. The party will underscore the dengue menace in the city besides alleged poor infrastructure of municipality-run schools and healthcare centres, and sanitation work.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the saffron party stumped the TMC by winning an impressive 18 of the 42 seats on offer in Bengal.

With significant gains in the state ahead of the assembly elections and with high hopes of winning, the BJP is now also eyeing the civic polls which it feels will determine its actual strength in the state.

Political strategists say that the assembly and civic polls will perhaps be chief minister Mamata Banerjees toughest challenge to retain her citadel.

In the past five years, the BJP has made visible inroads in Bengal and the party under the leadership of Dilip Ghosh has not only managed to wrest 18 Lok Sabha seats (compared to a mere two seats in 2014) from the ruling TMC, it has also done well in nearly 51 out of 144 wards under the KMC.

During the 2019 parliamentary polls, when political experts were busy analysing the performances of various political parties, especially the BJP and TMC, in Bengal, researchers in the saffron camp had reason to cheer as voting patterns suggested that in South and North Kolkata, the BJP took the lead in nearly 26 wards. Significantly, this included ward number 82 in Chetla which belongs to mayor Firhad Hakim of the Trinamool.

In January 2019, Hakim won a by-election from Chetla by securing nearly 76.82 per cent votes. In 2010, he won from the same ward with nearly 72 per cent votes. His scale of victory was huge against the BJPs Jiban Sen who could manage only 11.95 per cent votes.

But in the Lok Sabha elections a few months later, Firhads party colleague Mala Roy (Kolkata South candidate) managed to take a lead by around 1,000 votes only from this segment.

The most significant was Mamata Banerjees own ward number 73. In this ward, as per voting patterns during the general elections, the BJP was ahead by nearly 490 votes.

TMC also has cause for worry in ward numbers 58, 85 and 93. While ward number 58 belongs to senior mayor-in-council member Swapan Samaddar, ward numbers 85 and 93 belong to Debasish Kumar and Ratan De respectively. In all the three wards, the party failed to secure a lead.

Also, at least three borough TMC chairpersons  Sandip Bakshi, Ratan Malakar and Susanta Ghosh  also trailed in their respective wards.

Senior TMC leader and party MP Sudip Bandopadhyay also trailed in eight of the 11 wards at Jorasanko in Kolkata North Lok Sabha constituency. In Jadavpur, the ruling TMC trailed in four wards.

Dilip Ghosh has claimed on several occasions that the Trinamool is scared of holding the civic polls because Mamata Banerjee knows that her party will face a humiliating loss.

In 2015, the TMC had won 114 wards out of a total 144 under KMC. The Left parties had won 15, while the BJP and Congress had won 7 and five respectively.

That year, polling was held in 91 municipalities across the state and the TMC managed to win 71.

The State Election Commission (SEC) has drafted a reservation list for the civic polls which indicates that four member mayors-in-council (MMiCs) - Swapan Samaddar (environment and basti development), Ratan Dey (roads), Baiswanor Chatterjee (housing) and Debabrata Majumder (solid waste management) - and two borough chairmen of the KMC will not be able to contest from their own wards.

As per the SECs draft, eight out of the KMCs 144 wards have come under Scheduled Caste (SC) reservation including three for SC women. A total of 45 wards have been reserved for the general women category.

On October 1, 2020, the West Bengal BJP demanded the immediate intervention of the State Election Commission in conducting elections in more than 107 municipalities and corporations.

Alleging that the TMC government is intentionally delaying the poll process, the state BJP has written a letter to the Bengal poll panel, while pointing to the Supreme Courts order (dated September 22, 2020), which sought the state ECs opinion on how soon the pending elections could be conducted.

Earlier, the Calcutta High Court had also observed that the elections should be held as soon as possible.

State BJP vice president Jay Prakash Majumdar in his letter to the poll panel had mentioned, There is a travesty in the West Bengal State Election Commission Act about the responsibility of fixing the date of elections. While the state government is empowered by the Act to finalise the dates of local body elections, the SEC is obliged to conduct the election and to carry out the responsibility of fulfilling the democratic process. But unless the state government initiates the process, the SEC remains a lame duck. Therefore you are duty bound towards the people of West Bengal in superintending direction and conducting elections to all those municipalities and corporations where the tenure of the respective boards has expired. We request you to act strongly to carry out your constitutional obligations of conducting free and fair elections without fear or favour, affection or ill-will."
Area Trump supporters cheered and waved signs in support of the outgoing president Saturday morning in Lafayette, protesting an election they say without firm evidence was stolen, even as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take the oath of office Wednesday.

Around 40 men and women of various ages donned Make America Great Again hats and waved flags printed with President Donald Trumps name and homemade signs at the corner of Ambassador Caffery Parkway and Johnston Street.

The group received an array of responses from passersby during their two-hour rally, from cheers and honks to middle fingers and a woman shouting, Yay, Joe! Yay, Kamala! from her window. The rally was tame, the only excitement Lafayette police officers pressing supporters in two vehicles who idled in the road shoulder to move on and a Lafayette Police Department surveillance drone that crashed after striking a power line.

+3 Facebook, tips, witness led to Lafayette man's arrest in Capitol riot, FBI says Facebook posts, a story in The Advocate and a witness were used by the FBI to identify a Lafayette man who entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 

Holly Sanders, the event organizer, said she believes area businesses unwillingness to allow protesters to park in their lots depressed turnout. The Ambassador Row shopping center explicitly stated non-shoppers would be towed, and others posted similar signs or had security present to deter parking, she said. Sanders said she was proud of those who came out despite the challenges.

I dont like the turnout. I think that the businesses around this area should be ashamed of themselves for being so unpatriotic. Theyre losing our business as we speak, she said.

Sanders said she planned the event before a Jan. 6 Trump rally in Washington D.C. turned into a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol while Congress certified the election results. She said she values Trumps candid, rough around the edges approach and is still holding out hope he can secure a second term. Sanders said she believes political corruption skewed the election and theres still an opportunity for evidence to change the result.

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I planned it as a pre-inauguration party, kind of a kick-off to Trumps inauguration, and after everything went down I continued to hold it because a lot of us still believe in our president.So why cancel it? Theres no reason to cancel it. Hes still in office. Theres still a lot going on behind the scenes and those that are out here supporting him know all that, Sanders said.

The president and his allies have unsuccessfully filed more than 60 lawsuits claiming widespread voter fraud and electron irregularities since November. None have substantiated their claims. President-elect Biden is scheduled to be inaugurated Wednesday.

I do believe that Joe Biden will be sworn in. But we should not be silenced. Its important for us to still be here, said Joel Ferreyros of Broussard.

Jeff Landry declines to sign bipartisan letter condemning violence at U.S. Capitol, pens own letter Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry broke with the chief legal officers of 46 other states who condemned the storming of the U.S. Capitol l

James Magby, a Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam War, said he fought against communism and believes Democratic leadership will root the country in the ideology, leading to the fall of the United States. Magby said he doesnt believe Bidens transition will lead to violence, but hes willing to arm himself against any enemy foreign or domestic if Trump calls for it and die for my country, but didnt further elaborate.

I believe that the elections were stolen and if we dont have freedom in America we dont have America, the Navy veteran said.
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It was a rough year for venues all over the world because of COVID-19 and the Keystone Centre was no exception.

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It was a rough year for venues all over the world because of COVID-19 and the Keystone Centre was no exception.

Financial information presented at the centres annual general meeting late Thursday evening said the centre brought in about $1 million less in revenue than was originally budgeted for.

"The two most heard phrases in 2020 were your mic isnt on and 2020 has been a challenging year," said Bruce Luebke, who elected board chair after serving in an interim role for the past several months. "Indeed the latter applies to the Keystone Centre."

The venue was originally projected to bring in $6,613,379 in net revenue but only ended up bringing in $5,569,641.

That figure would have been worse if not for the $569,328 the Keystone received from the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy.

Expenses were also lower than expected, coming in at $6,308,726 compared to the original projection of $7,254,253. Fewer events meant fewer costs for engineering, maintenance and concessions at the centre.

Events the facility had cancelled last year included PBR Mazergroup Chuteout, High Valley in concert, Baby Shark Live, the Saints & Sinners rock tour and ZZ Top. The Mazergroup event is considered likely to be rescheduled while ZZ Top has postponed rather than cancel outright.

Despite all the problems the venue faced, it still managed to post a $22,881 surplus for the 2019-20 fiscal year.

General manager and CEO Jeff Schumacher said the facility was able to reduce up to 90 per cent of its payroll towards the end of the year.

He quipped during his introduction that he has become a permanent resident and joined Team Canada, which means hes now only 90 per cent as annoying as the average American.

On top of COVID-19 shutting down the facility for much of the year, Schumacher also pointed out that the 2019 Arabian national horse show was smaller than normal due to some equine health concerns.

However, he touted the $2.9 million debt relief grant provided to the facility by the province in March 2019, cost-cutting measures and creative ways of bringing in revenue as providing a foundation that helped the Keystone Centre weather the storm during the pandemic.

He also touted some of the accomplishments the centre was able to achieve despite the circumstances like the installation of automated sliding doors, the addition of new change rooms, payments made on the HD scoreboard in Westoba Place, improvements to the facilitys website, upgrading lights in the facility to LED and the installation of new, safer boards for use in Brandon Wheat Kings games.

For the 2020-21 fiscal year, Schumacher warned that it will likely be more difficult for the venue as large events will likely remain impossible to hold until late in the year. Continuing assistance from the wage subsidy and rent revenue from hosting the provinces COVID-19 vaccination super-site will help offset revenue losses.

"None of us are going to be surprised when next year is really the big hit because its going to be a really slow reopening," Schumacher told the Sun after the meeting had ended. "The total impact is going to be seen for the entire fiscal year were in."

He added that on top of the financial benefits of hosting parts of the provinces COVID-19 response and helping out the province in a time of need, hosting the super-site and the testing site is also keeping staff sharp while they wait for a full reopening.

While speaking during the meeting, Schumacher referred to the venue rebuilding burned bridges over the last couple of years. He clarified during the interview that some entities in the touring industry werent impressed with how the centre handled visiting acts and that he has made it a priority to make visiting Brandon and the Keystone Centre a better experience for them so theyll want to come back.

During the Q&A portion of the meeting, Mayor Rick Chrest thanked the venue and the board of directors for their hard work during the pandemic.

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16)  Minimum wage and overseas Filipino workers should be included in the COVID-19 priority vaccination program, the Labor department said.

Labor Undersecretary Benjo Benavidez said in a statement these workers are essential to economic recovery amid the pandemic.

Our labor force is composed mostly of the minimum wage earners and together with the businessmen, they are the ones who are pumping up our economy, he said.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III proposed the idea to the Inter-Agency Task Force, noting that these workers are ranked 10th and 11th in the priority list.

The government said it will prioritize the vaccination of health care workers, teachers, social workers, other essential workers outside the health and education sectors, overseas workers, and uniformed personnel.
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

Mrs J.A. writes: My husband and I were due to go on holiday to South Africa last March, but that country went into lockdown before our trip.

We had paid 20,000 for hotels on our Amex card, and were refused any refunds, so we tried to claim from Amex under Section 75. However, Amex says there is no time limit within which it has to make a decision.

It is now just sitting on the claim and charging us around 300 a month in interest.

Deal: Card provider Amex first sat on the claim for cancelled South Africa trip

Tony Hetherington replies: Your plane tickets were refunded by BA, and you even managed to recover the cost of flights you had booked within South Africa.

But your travel agent in South Africa, and the hotels booked for you, simply refused to hand back a penny.

So, you lodged a claim with Amex under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act  the very useful bit of legislation that makes a credit card issuer jointly responsible if a deal involving over 100 goes wrong.

But months later, Amex was sitting on its hands while raking in hundreds of pounds in monthly interest charges at an annual 22 per cent, though you have told me that you finally realised how expensive this was and have since managed to pay off the card bill in full.

Meanwhile, you complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service. It was then that you found Amex had you over a barrel. It simply pointed out that the Ombudsman would not investigate until Amex itself had done so first.

In an email, the card company told you: 'Claims under Section 75 do not have a regulated timeframe for our investigation or final decision.'

I asked Amex to comment on all this, but its response was absurd. I received an email worthy of a spy comedy. 'This is a secure, encrypted message,' it announced. I was instructed to open an attachment, create a password, complete an application form, and then wait to be told the key to the code.

I was also given a 'personalised image'  a coffee mug  and told that if this did not appear in future coded messages from Amex, then those messages were fake.

After all this, what did the decoded message say? It thanked me for my enquiry and said that Amex would contact the merchant and look into it. So, nothing secret after all. And if anything was fake, it was Amex's claim that it needed to contact the travel agent. It had told you this had been done nine months ago.

I told Amex to behave sensibly, unless it wanted any future enquiries from me to be in code too. It backed down and replied in plain English, but the comment it offered barely counts as a comment at all.

It talked about this being 'a challenging time' for cardholders, and assured me it reviewed 'all refund claims carefully and fairly'.

But it said absolutely nothing about what you had been through since last March at the hands of Amex, except that it would be in touch with you. I intended to publish this last Sunday, but gave Amex one final week to reconsider.

And what Amex did in the past week was to stitch up a secret deal with you. Last Tuesday, Amex told me it had re-examined your claim and contacted you 'regarding a resolution'. What resolution?

Amex's public relations director Samina Ansari answered the following day: 'As a legal agreement [sic] with the Cardmember I can't disclose that information.' Very, very bad public relations, which will have a longer term impact than just this weekend.

I asked you and your husband what was going on. You refused to say, except to tell me 'we have reached a mutually agreeable settlement to the claim'.

I have no idea how much you settled for, or whether it was you or Amex that imposed a secrecy blackout.

What is clear is that you failed to recover thousands of pounds from hotels and a travel agent; you failed to get Amex to refund your money; you failed to get the Ombudsman to order Amex to repay you; and after all these failures, you got your money thanks to The Mail on Sunday.

You're welcome.

Why has my wife's NS&I account been suspended?

P.C. writes: A few months ago, my wife attempted to log on to her online premium bonds account with National Savings & Investments. A message said that her account had been suspended, and it gave a number she should call.

Despite numerous attempts, it was impossible to get an answer. We have written, but have received only useless replies  for example, log on and change your password, which is the very thing that is impossible.

I even received an email thanking me for advising NS&I of my wife's change of address, something which has not happened.

No answer: NS&I failed to resolve P.C.'s query after his wife's account was suspended

Tony Hetherington replies: Annoyingly, you found that your wife's bonds had won 100 which she had not received.

And it did not help to be told falsely that your wife had changed her address. Its response email suggested the issue was closed, with the warning 'not to reply to this email since it will not be answered'.

I asked staff at NS&I to investigate and they found that the problem goes back to 2017, when your wife registered online.

She was sent a temporary password allowing her to choose a password of her own, but she never followed this through. Then in 2018, when she tried to log on, she failed the security questions. A new temporary password was sent, but again she did not use it and it expired.

NS&I staff have now telephoned and talked to you both. After verifying your identity, they are now sending a new temporary password and they have explained how to use this so your wife can access her account again.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
Boris Johnson is facing intensified pressure to formally announce an independent inquiry into his governments handling of coronavirus after Sir Keir Starmer insisted bereaved families deserve to know when it will start.

It is now six months since the prime minister promised an investigation into the pandemic, but as some NHS hospitals are overrun by patients suffering from Covid-19 and Britons endure their third lockdown, Mr Johnson is still yet to outline a date.

As the governments official death toll from the crisis reached 88,590, the Labour leader told The Independent that ministers had failed to learn lessons from the first phase of the pandemic.

The tragic result is that Britain has suffered more deaths during the second wave than the first, he said. Every life lost to this virus is a family shattered. The prime minister promised an independent inquiry, and those families deserve to know when it will start.

His call came as the Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who secured a commitment from Mr Johnson in July 2020 to hold an independent inquiry into what happened, also insisted that families who had lost loved ones deserved answers.

In a message to the prime minister, Sir Ed demanded: Announce one tomorrow. If youre not, why not? What are you afraid of?

You promised in the House of Commons from the despatch box there would be an independent inquiry. Deliver on your promise. Get the Covid inquiry done.

While Mr Johnson pledged to hold an inquest in July, he argued that it was not the right moment to devote huge amounts of official time while the government was focusing its attention on combating the pandemic, and No 10 declined to provide any further details.

Major questions remain over the format of the independent inquiry, including whether it will be set up on a statutory basis under the 2005 Inquiries Act, which will have the power to compel witnesses to give evidence, or a non-statutory basis similar to the Chilcot inquiry into the 2003 Iraq invasion so that some hearings can be held in private.

Speaking to The Independent Sir Ed said the government can start the preparatory work immediately by outlining the inquirys remit, establishing a time frame and kicking off the process to appoint an independent chair to oversee the proceedings.

I think hes [Mr Johnson] now got to put his mind to it whether he likes it or not, he said. The reality is if hes making this claim the vaccination rollout is going to bring this thing to an end and the end is in sight  then clearly if thats what he believes what is the barrier to making the preparations for the inquiry?

He added: He should announce it now, there shouldnt any delay: terms of reference, who is going to do it, and let them get ready. In anything like this they need some preparatory work to get themselves going and this is going to be a huge, huge inquiry.

By appointing the legal team they can start the preparatory work and then they can agree when you actually press go, so people engaged in the pandemic then have to come and give evidence.

Clearly, Im not suggesting Chris Whitty [chief medical officer], Patrick Vallance [chief scientific adviser] and all of the rest of them, or indeed ministers, should be appearing before the inquiry now. But theres a huge amount of work that can be done.

Recommended Boris Johnson promises independent inquiry into coronavirus pandemic

In the absence of an official inquiry, former Tory cabinet ministers Jeremy Hunt and Greg Clark launched a joint parliamentary inquiry into the pandemic in October, as they warned any public inquest would come too late for the immediate lessons that should be taken onboard by government.

Mr Hunt and Mr Clark, who chair of the Commons health and science committees respectively, are expected to publish a report on their findings in the spring and have so far quizzed officials including Sir Patrick and Professor Whitty and examined issues such as social care and the approval of Covid-19 vaccines.

A separate All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)  chaired by the Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran  also began an inquiry last year and has held numerous evidence sessions, probing the widely-criticised NHS Test and Trace programme, lockdowns and exit strategies, and preparations for a pandemic, including the governments 2016 simulation of a flu outbreak, Exercise Cygnus.

Sir David King, a former chief scientific adviser to government between 2000 and 2007, told The Independent: We should have had an inquiry before now, we might have saved the day, but an inquiry as soon as possible would be good.

However, he warned: I think now its almost inevitable the prime minister is going to hang back until he feels the epidemic is over. One of the issues is if its up to the prime minister  I think he would delay until the next election, or after it, its hardly going to be a good report.

Sir David, who founded the Independent Sage group to mirror the governments official Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, also claimed the country could have experienced 10,000 deaths throughout the pandemic, as he described the current toll as disgraceful and placed blame on astonishingly poor decision-making.

Dismissing Mr Johnsons remarks about an inquest diverting officials attention away from the fight against Covid-19, he added: Of course they would be calling government in to answer, but it certainly wouldnt be a distraction from managing the epidemic.

Jo Goodman, a 32-year-old who lost her father in April, said that families who had lost loved ones have a right to answers. She co-founded the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group and has been repeatedly calling for an independent public inquiry into the governments handling of the pandemic, including a rapid first phase review.

I just felt there had to be some kind of accountability and lessons had to be learnt so that other lives were saved, she told The Independent.

Its been such a traumatic way to lose someone: both through knowing it could have prevented and on top of that all the restrictions that have been in place have really heavily impacted on the grieving process. We have a right to answers.

Ms Goodman added: The best time for the rapid review phase would have been the summer because obviously there would have been a little bit of respite from the volume of cases were seeing. We do believe that a public inquiry should be instigated as soon as possible in order to get going as quickly as possible.

Whether its practical to do it right now when were at the peak is a kind of open question. Obviously the priority right now is saving lives, but there must be an inquiry and it has to happen soon.

The pressure on Mr Johnson comes as polling showed the publics approval of his governments handling of the coronavirus crisis had dropped to its second lowest rating since the pandemic began.

A survey published by Opinium Research on Saturday night found only 30 per cent approve of the governments handling of Covid, compared to 50 per cent who disapprove.

The survey, which also gave Labour a four-point lead over the Tories in voting intention, was conducted on Thursday.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche Takes on Big Tech Dictatorship on China Plus Panel Dialogue

Jan. 15 , 2021 (EIRNS)Helga Zepp-LaRouche stood up today against internet censorship in a panel discussion aired by China Radio Internationals official English website China Plus. On its World Today program, she was joined on the 52-minute episode, entitled Twitter vs Trump: Is Big Tech Too Powerful? by panelists Mario Cavolo, an American author, and Senior Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization; and Chen Weihua, the outspoken EU Bureau Chief of China Daily.

Given the first opportunity to speak in response to the moderators question whether social media had made the right decision in banning Trump, Zepp-LaRouche responded that this terrible decision is very dangerous, comparable to an earthquake. Maria Zakharova called it a nuclear bomb, Mexican President Lopez Obrador compared it to the Holy Inquisition, and French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire denounced it as a digital oligarchy. This is an incredible attack on free speech, and whether or not you share Trumps views on various matters, this attack must be opposed!

Following Cavolos foolish claim that Trump made the country an uncouth and rude white trash nation, Zepp-LaRouche countered strongly: Although a person may disagree with Trump, this censorship is a coup by Big Tech, which is part of the military-industrial complex in the U.S., which is against Russia and China, and have created color revolutions around the world. Theyre creating a precedent of silencing not only the President of the United States. They have power beyond anything in history, and if Big Tech is allowedas part of what is called Deep State or military-industrial complexto censor anyone they disagree with, this is a dictatorshipLe Maires digital oligarchy is an understatement and Lopez Obradors talk of a Holy Inquisition is much more accurate. Whether or not you like Trump is not so relevant. Such censorship should be alarming to the entire world.

The Chinese unfamiliarity with the full concept of free speech came out: Chen insisted that hate speech is not free speech, and that European countries have laws against hate speech. The moderator repeated the simplistic idea that the First Amendment does not apply to private companies. (As though telephone monopolies may decline to provide you phone service based on your beliefs, or as if a private restaurant could speak out for segregation by allowing only white patrons. There are plenty of laws that apply to private companies!)

Zepp-LaRouche brought up the 9/11 attack, which is still being investigated, and which was used as a pretext to establish laws, such as the Patriot Act, in the name of national security. Today, the idea of allowing Big Tech to decide what is permitted to be said is partly uncharted territory, but its very much like the information control of Goebbels; it is Orwellian.

Asked about proposals to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Zepp-LaRouche broadened the discussion to the general protection of civil rights, requiring an absolutely new approachincluding new legislationto defending people, nations, and business.

On the more general issue of regulating technology, the Schiller Institutes founder insisted that the world needs a very fundamental discussion as to how nations govern themselves. The American Federalist Papers discussed such long-term factors of government. They speak to matters within a nation, but also amongst nations. We must address principles for the interests of humanity first before discussing how to regulate new technology. New technology will always happen, but the development of the character and the morality must accompany that.

Are the Big Tech giants too large and in need of being broken up? Zepp-LaRouche replied that they are certainly too big to operate as they are now, but it is not clear how to break them up. Regulations are needed. Looking back to the military research origins of the internet, and of violent video games coming from military training to desensitize soldiers to the act of killing, served to put the topic in the highest context. Starting from that standpoint, a proper investigation and an ability to regulate properly can emerge.

Does social media amplify extremism? The Confederacy is a root of what could today be called right-wing extremism. The slave-owners were allied with British Empire in the Civil War. But the U.S. was founded for the common good, as expressed in the Preamble of the Constitution as applying to the present and also future generations. The American republic is endangered by the takeover of British Empire values, creating a unipolar world with the special relationship of Britain and U.S. What is called extremism arises because institutions and governments are not taking care of their citizens interests. These are the deeper issues of legitimacy of government. As Ben Franklin said, I have given you a republic. It is up to you to keep it.

Zepp-LaRouches comments had a palpable effect on the discussion, with Cavolo in particular becoming organized toward her outlook. He stated that the wealthy and powerful had hijacked American capitalism and that Big Tech is part of that.

Does the search for profits cause social media companies to amplify extremism to drive engagement? Helga Zepp-LaRouche said that the Western world is controlled by three groups: the City of London, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley. While some are involved out of a profit motive, there are others operating at a different levelan oligarchy who believe the world should be run as an empire. Lyndon LaRouche called this nexus a slime-mold. It changes form but is always the samesuch forms of empire as the Persian, Roman, Byzantine, Venice, Dutch-Anglo, and the British takeover of U.S. institutions. This oligarchical outlook is the ultimate source of efforts to contain China and Russia.

And think about how the tools of this slime-moldnot profit-seekingmanipulates social movements through social media, including the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. The FBI had advance evidence of right-wing violence and they even blocked some groups from traveling to Washington. So, where was the security around the Capitol? The U.S. has by far the worlds largest military budget, but it cant protect its own Capitol? The big question is whether this was a setup. Zepp-LaRouche concluded with her conviction that evidence would come to light of how social movements are instrumentalized by the intelligence services.

Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Facebook is continuing its crackdown on potential domestic terrorism at President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration. The social network told BuzzFeed News that it was temporarily banning US ads for gun accessories and military gear, such as holsters and body armor, until at least January 22nd. The restriction came from an abundance of caution in response to BuzzFeed, politicians and Facebook staff, according to spokesperson Liz Bourgeois.

The company already barred ads for guns, ammo and gun enhancements like silencers.

The pause followed warnings of a spike in ads for the accessories in the days following the January 6th Capitol riot. The ads were frequently popping up for people who followed extreme right-wing groups and pages, and often directly addressed the potential violence surrounding Bidens inauguration.

Senators Richard Blumenthal, Sherrod Brown and Tammy Duckworth accused Facebook of profiting from the chaos, while attorneys general for Illinois, Massachussetts, New Jersey and Washington, DC urged Facebook to freeze ads.

The decision comes hours after Facebook blocked events in the DC area, and days after it banned all mentions of the stop the steal slogan used for rallying unsupported claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. The thinking appears to be the same: Facebook doesnt want even the slightest implication of enabling violence during inauguration week, even if its a largely symbolic move when extremists may already have the gear they need.
It was a long week in the fraught relationship between Washington and corporate America. Dozens of companies announced that they will end political donations to the Republicans who challenged the Electoral College count, or pause giving to all politicians.

Today, we reflect on the shifting political positions of the corner office. My colleague David Gelles spent the week canvassing C.E.O.s and trying to make sense of what happens next in a smart piece presented below.

Before we go deeper, to better understand this moment it is worth considering the results of an informal poll of 40 top executives conducted by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of the Yale School of Management. Mr. Sonnenfeld regularly gathers C.E.O.s to gauge their views on the most important issues facing their companies, and he did so virtually this week amid increasing alarm in the business community at what they witnessed in Washington. The results are revealing. Heres a selection:

Did President Trump help incite last weeks violent attack on Congress?

Yes: 100 percent

No: 0 percent

Should President Trump be impeached and removed from office?

Yes: 96 percent

No: 4 percent

Was it right for the social network tech firms to block President Trump from their platforms?

Yes: 85 percent

No: 15 percent

Should business PACs and trade associations cut off donations to legislators who aided sedition?

Yes: 100 percent

No: 0 percent

Should business halt all political donations?

Yes: 42 percent

No: 58 percent

Do you think Washington will be under attack a week from today, January 13, from domestic terrorists?

Yes: 82 percent

No: 18 percent

The result for that final answer is scary. Lets hope it turns out to be wrong.  Andrew Ross Sorkin
My father was a psychiatrist. Some also used to refer to him as a Renaissance man since he taught philosophy and was a trained pianist. He was also a wonderful family man. Today he has advanced Alzheimers, so he hasnt experienced the loneliness of the COVID pandemic, the grief of the racial justice protests, and most recently the horrifying storming of the U.S. Capitol. Nevertheless, over the past year, I have often found myself asking, What would Dad say?

The question came to mind as I considered how we are talking about these deeply troubling events not just among ourselves but also with our children. There is a great deal to feel sad about  the political rancor and coarseness that has now devolved into violence, increased distrust in our institutions, and civil unrest. But there is also much to be contextualized. And I suspect our children, most of all, would benefit from less talk about processing what they are seeing and feeling and more talk about the beauty  and the fragility  of the world around them.

If my father were cognizant today, Im sure he would have spent much of this past year as all of us did: glued to the news. But I imagine he would have balanced his concern and heartbreak for the nation by playing the piano. Thats because, for my father, the piano was a refuge  a connection to love through the great classics of the American Songbook; to our culture and history (he spoke often about jazz being Americas only true art form); and even to math as he worked out sophisticated chord progressions -- as if they were equations -- in his head.

So why, during a dark period such as this, dont we take less time wallowing and more time considering the beauty that exists all around us in art, music, and nature? When I heard that my daughters art and music classes were canceled last week so they could spend time managing their emotions regarding the violence at the Capitol, it struck me as an enormous lost opportunity. Instead, this could have been the perfect moment to engage students in the arts, which not only can be a safe haven during an unsettling period, but also provide an opportunity to consider how the arts help us express a range of feelings, values, contradictions, and politics.

A perfect place to start would have been by introducing young people to the Hudson River School, a group of mid-19th-century American artists who produced breathtaking landscape paintings. Without a long history to reflect on, these masterpieces were a chance to glorify the natural beauty of our young country and promote a sense of national pride. Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Albert Bierstadt, Jasper Francis Cropsey, among others, captured the beauty and foreboding of their surroundings and expressed both the contrast of our desire to explore and discover with our ability to coexist peacefully with nature. Perhaps most of all, these artists understood how the wilderness could serve as a moral lesson for the country  an opportunity to express our fragility while reinforcing ideas of antiquity, virtue, and spirituality during a period of great uncertainty.

Last week left us all feeling that our society might be crumbling  quite literally  as we watched the windows of the Capitol, designed and derived from Greek and Roman ideals, smashed. But this is just the time when reflecting on our nations artistic culture might be most important, especially for our children. The Hudson River School  housed largely at Washington, D.C.s Corcoran Gallery of Art, just a mile from the Capitol  helps us to recognize our tendency toward corruption, to acknowledge the gift of liberty, and our ability to help create a stronger nation.

Of course, the Hudson River School is just one example of how the arts can be both a refuge from confusion and sadness as well as a way to think about order and integrity. Just as those painters juxtaposed lightness with darkness, we might push ourselves  and our children  to think about how disorder and tragedy can coexist with beauty and justice. And how we might do better at balancing the two.

If I could speak with my dad today, I suspect he would share these views. Lets put an end to the constant grieving and refocus instead on the enormous opportunity we have to advance a future of compassion, liberty, and virtue.
Jamie Lynn Spears recently revealed she has tragically run over multiple family pets with her electric car, which is nearly silent as it accelerates and drives around.

After mistakenly backing over and killing her daughter's cat, named Turkey, the 29-year-old actress recorded a plea to Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, about the dangers of creating cars without reverse beeping.

'I know there's bigger things to worry about in the world right now, but someone's got to let Elon Musk know that the Tesla is a secret cat killer. And it's a problem, we've really got to fix,' she stated in a video on her Instagram Story.

Accidents happen: Jamie Lynn Spears recently revealed she has tragically run over multiple family pets with her electric car, which is nearly silent as it accelerates and drives around

She continued: 'We have, now, lost, I don't even want to tell you how many cats because they don't hear the Tesla Crank and unfortunate things happen. And it's really devastating and tragic for everyone involved.'

Then, the actress went on to suggest Musk add a feature to the brand's luxury vehicles, which would prevent animals from getting struck by a reversing car.

'So, since Tesla is so quiet, maybe, he could, like, make one of those noises that bother cat or animal ears when it cranks up, so that way they know something's happening and they aren't caught off guard. And, things don't end in a very tragic way,' the younger sister of Britney Spears proposed.

'I know there's bigger things to worry about in the world right now, but someone's got to let Elon Musk know that the Tesla is a secret cat killer. And it's a problem, we've really got to fix,' she stated in a video on her Instagram Story

Tragic: Addressing the South African-born American entrepreneur directly, she added: 'Elon Musk, let's figure this out. I mean, you owe me a couple cats'

Addressing the South African-born American entrepreneur directly, she added: 'Elon Musk, let's figure this out. I mean, you owe me a couple cats.'

'Yes, I am fully aware that there's some user error involved in this, but I'm just saying, you know, let's collaborate to save some cats' lives,' she concluded.

Further pulling at the company and fans' heart strings, she filmed her two-year-old, Ivey, who she shares with husband Jamie Watson seemingly asking about their deceased feline's whereabouts.

Devastating: Further pulling at the company and fans' heart strings, she filmed her two-year-old, Ivey, who she shares with husband Jamie Watson seemingly asking about their deceased feline's whereabouts

Jamie is also a mom to her 12-year-old daughter Maddie, who she shares with ex Casey Aldridge.

Last year, she told ET her eldest would be the perfect choice to play a younger version of her for a reboot of Nickelodeon's hit show Zoey 101, which ended in 2008.

Jamie Lynn starred on the comedy as Zoey Brooks, a teen who enrolled in a previously all-boys boarding school in California.

Perfect: Maddie, 12, is just a bit younger than her mom was when she starred in the sitcom as boarding school student Zoey Brooks (Maddie pictured holding her baby sister Ivey with step dad Jamie and mom Jamie Lynn)

'Maybe she could play Zoey when she was younger or something,' Spears said of her eldest daughter, confirming that a reboot of her hit 2000s teen comedy was in the works (Maddie pictured right with sister Ivey)

It ran from from 2005 to 2008 and was one of the most popular shows on the network during its heyday.

During the final season of the show, a then 16-year-old Jamie Lynn found out she was pregnant by her boyfriend at the time, Casey Aldridge.

She gave birth to daughter Maddie in 2008 and went on to get engaged to Aldridge that same year. The pair later split in 2010 after an on-again-off-again romance.

A hit! Zoey 101 ran from from 2005 to 2008 on Nickelodeon and was one of the most popular shows on the network during it's heyday

The potential Zoey 101 reboot would presumably see the star reprise her role as the titular character with her daughter Maddie playing her at the same age she was when the show initially filmed.

'I think we are still having the conversations and figuring out how to tell the story in a way that is going to do it justice, because we want it to be good,' Jamie Lynn said.

Adding: 'We want it to relate to the fans. That's why the show worked in the first place, because we connected to our fans and where they were in their life.

'So we want to make sure we find a home and the best story to tell.'
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday stated that collaboration between Indian startups and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) countries would lead to growth and prosperity in the neighbourhood. He asked Indian investors to engage with the BIMSTEC nations with investment, mentoring, and support to build a larger ecosystem for startups in the region.

There is a huge potential in the collaboration because we will see new ideas prospering and young minds working together to come up with new ideas, new innovations, new inventions, Goyal said. Startup to startup collaboration has a huge potential because with this new idea will prosper and young minds will come together to work collectively, he added.

READ | PM Modi Urges Youngsters To Join Startup India International Summit

Goyal was inaugurating the Startup India International Summit, Prarambh, which witnessed the participation of startups from seven BIMSTEC countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India.

As PM @NarendraModi ji writes, "Those who have sky-high dreams can achieve higher goals."



Addressed the inaugural session of 'Prarambh' & spoke about India's Startup success story over last 5 years & called for greater collaboration between Startups.



 https://t.co/uV9ah6IGS2 pic.twitter.com/qyn2BpK42Q  Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) January 15, 2021

The Union minister said that he had been asking New Delhi to encourage and support the Indian startups at an early stage, but now would request Indian investors to look towards the BIMSTEC startups also to mentor and support them.

PM @NarendraModi ji started the Startup India story five years ago.



It has been five glorious years in which India has been able to mushroom over 41,000 Startups, registered with our department.



Our Youth have a tremendous entrepreneurial spirit. pic.twitter.com/RrHrZV6Gun  Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) January 15, 2021

READ | NORKA Pravasi Startup Scheme Supports 4,179 Start-ups In 5 Years

PM Modi to address international summit

The Prarambh: Startup India International Summit is being organized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on January 15-16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with startups and address the global summit on Saturday.

The two-day summit is being organized as a follow-up of the announcement made by the prime minister at the fourth BIMSTEC Summit held in Kathmandu in August 2018 wherein India committed to hosting the BIMSTEC Startup Conclave. The summit marks the fifth anniversary of the Startup India initiative, launched by the prime minister on January 16, 2016.

READ | Working On Startup Policy For Students Wanting To Have Own Business: Kejriwal

With participation from over 25 countries and more than 200 global speakers, the summit will be the largest startup confluence organized by the Government of India since the launch of the Startup India initiative. It will witness 24 sessions with a focus on enhancing multilateral cooperation and engagement with countries from around the globe to collectively develop and strengthen the startup ecosystems, it said.

READ | Odisha To Set Up Startup Hub By March Next Year

(with inputs from agencies)
Fearing potentially violent protests at the state Capitol building over the next several days, officials are closing the area through next Wednesday out of an abundance of caution, the Texas Department of Public Safety announced Friday.

The department is aware of armed protests planned at the Texas State Capitol this week and violent extremists who may seek to exploit constitutionally protected events to conduct criminal acts, DPS Director Steven McCraw said in a release.

As a result, DPS has deployed additional personnel and resources to the Capitol and is working closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Austin Police Department to monitor events and enforce the rule of law.

TEXAS TAKE: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday

Both the Capitol building and the Capitol grounds will be closed from Saturday through Wednesday, when President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated in Washington, D.C., according to the release.

The announcement came hours after the Austin American-Statesman reported that DPS was aware of multiple groups  each comprising 200 to 600 members  that could potentially band together and endanger Capitol security officers over the next several days.

Nationally, the FBI has also received information that armed protests are planned at each of the countrys 50 state Capitol buildings in the days leading up to the inauguration, CNN reported this week. States have ramped up security in anticipation of unrest, with some heavily increasing police presence and others closing Capitols entirely.

Already, Texas had beefed up security in and out of the Capitol, where the Legislature returned this week to begin the 87th legislative session. Law enforcement officials had warned about potential armed demonstrations during Tuesdays opening day ceremonies, but only a few dozen protesters showed up.

The extra precautions follow an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week, when President Donald Trumps supporters stormed the building as Congress was voting to certify the 2020 presidential election results. Five people died.

cayla.harris@express-news.net
More than 150,000 criminal records have been accidentally deleting from the police databases in a Home Office tech error that caused the police department to launch damage control.

Home Office tech blunder

The fingerprints, DNA records and arrest history records were all deleted in the Police National Computer or PNC error last week, according to The Times.

The newspaper wrote that this blunder could allow offenders to go free without any repercussions because the evidence that is needed to arrest them and all those from the crime scene will not be flagged.

The error reportedly happened by accident during a weekly "weeding" session to expunge data, Home Office confirmed the story and said that it was still assessing the overall impact of the unfortunately glitch.

Also Read: AstraZeneca Error: Health Experts Cast Doubts on COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy

Officials insisted that no records of criminals or dangerous people had been deleted in the system because the records that were wiped out were records of the people whom no further action needs to be taken.

However, the deletions could still affect the police's ability to reopen the investigations if more evidence comes to light, especially in certain cases.

Labour demanded an urgent statement from Home Secretary Priti Patel. Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Shadow Home Secretary, said that the Home Secretary must take responsibili8ty for this serious issue and that she must urgently make a statement about what has gone wrong, the severity of the issue and what action is being taken to reassure the public. He also added that there should be answers given.

Thomas-Symonds added that this is an extraordinarily serious security breach that presents massive dangers for public safety. The incompetence of this shambolic Government can't be allowed to put people at risk and to let criminals go free and to deny the victims justice.

The Times added that important intelligence about suspects had been deleted because of the tech blunder. They added that Britain's visa system was thrown into disarray because of that happened. The Times claims that the processing of visa applications having been suspended for two days.

Home Office assures the public

The Home Office statement said that the technical issue with the Police National Computer has been resolved, and that they are currently looking at pace with law enforcement partners to assess its impact, according to The Telegraph.

Home Office added that the issue liked to those arrested and released where no further action had been taken. They assured that no records of criminals or dangerous persons have been deleted. Also, there are no further records that can be deleted.

An official from the Home Office insisted that there had been no risks around the visa processing, and that it is now operating as usual.

Minister for Policing Kit Malthouse said that a standard housekeeping process that runs on the Police National Computer that happened earlier this week deleted numerous records due to the tech error.

Malthouse added that a fast time review has identified the issue and had corrected the process so it can't happen anymore. He said that the Home Office, NPCC and other law enforcement partners are now working quickly to recover the data.

Malthouse also said that while the loss of criminal records is connected to those who were arrested and then released with no further action, he still talked to officials and the police to assure that this hiccup has no threat to public safety.

Related Article: Signal App Security Setting: How to Make Safe Even Safer

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Written by Sieeka Khan

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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A 35-year-old nurse was admitted to the critical care unit (CCU) of a hospital in Kolkata after she lost consciousness within minutes of taking the COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday, officials said. She is one of the 15,707 beneficiaries who were vaccinated across West Bengal during the day.

Thirteen other 'Adverse Event Following Immunisation' (AEFI) cases were also reported from various parts of the state but those were not serious, they said. AEFI is any untoward medical occurrence following immunisation and might not have a relation with the vaccination process, officials said.

Within minutes of taking the vaccine at Dr BC Roy Hospital, the nurse started trembling, complained of uneasiness and fainted in the observation room. She was rushed to nearby Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital and admitted to the CCU.

"That's probably an allergic reaction. As of now, there is nothing to worry about her as this type of allergic reaction is common in many vaccinations," a senior health department official, who is also a doctor, told PTI. "We have learnt that she has a history of being allergic to drugs. She is also a chronic asthma patient. In that way, this is normal though quite rare. We are checking whether this is related to the vaccination or not. Even if it is because of the inoculation then also there is nothing to worry about," he said.

Several medical tests are being conducted on the nurse. "Her blood pressure and oxygen saturation levels are normal. However, she is kept on oxygen support as she is an asthma patient. Specialised doctors are attending to her," he said.

The health department is consulting vaccine expert Dr Shantunu Tripathy who was earlier associated with the School of Tropical Medicine. Out of the 14 AEFI cases, three are from Murshidabad district and two are from Kolkata.

"None of them is serious, except the staff nurse in Kolkata," an official said.

.

WASHINGTON  The owners of Stewarts Shops, big donors to U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, have decided to pause all political contributions for "further review" after pressure from individuals calling and threatening on social media to boycott the chain over their support for the congresswoman.

Stewarts started logging Twitter and Facebook comments denouncing the contributions to Stefanik from Stewarts President Gary Dake and his family on Monday, emails obtained by the Albany Times Union show.

In response to Stewart's Shops' decision, local conservatives encouraged supporters Saturday to call or email the family-owned chain to register their opposition and tell them "not to bow down to cancel culture."

Dake and his family gave $34,800 to Stefanik's campaign and her joint fundraising committee in the 2020 election cycle, Federal Election Commission records show. Dake and individuals affiliated with Stewart's Shops are one of the largest contributors to her committee.

"Individual contributions are given to various political parties, in this case, they were given to the Stefanik campaign due to her immense support of local dairy farmers," a spokeswoman for Stewart's Shops said. "Stewarts Shops was founded as a dairy company and 100 years later, Stewarts remains a dairy company, supporting 20-plus local dairy farms. All political contributions will be paused for the time being for further review."

Stefanik may take another fundraising hit after at least 14 major companies that gave nearly $100,000 to her in 2020 announced this week they will suspend giving to Republicans who objected to certifying the election results.

Stefaniks senior advisor Alex DeGrasse expressed confidence that her campaigns would weather these developments just fine.

Congresswoman Stefanik shattered records as the top Republican fundraiser in New York State and she will continue to do so, he said. Congresswoman Stefanik's strength as a candidate is her strong support from the people in NY-21 across party lines who re-elected her with the most total votes of any Congressional candidate in the history of the North Country, despite facing millions in attack ads.

American Express, AT&T, Dow Inc., Amazon, General Electric, Comcast Corp., Marriott International Inc., Verizon Communications, Airbnb Inc., Nike Inc. and Walmart have all announced in recent days that they will halt contributions to lawmakers who voted against certifying 2020 Electoral College votes. Blue Cross Blue Shield said it would suspend contributions to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy; and State Street Corp. said it will not support lawmakers or candidates who undermine legitimate election outcomes.

In the 2019-2020 election cycle, these companies collectively gave $99,643 to Stefaniks campaign committee or her leadership PAC, which supports Republican women running for Congress, an Albany Times Union analysis found. They contributed to Stefanik through their political action committees or donations from their owners or employees.

Blue Cross Blue Shield was the largest contributor to her campaign and leadership PAC, while Comcast Corp. was the sixth-largest and AT&T was the ninth-largest this cycle, according to the database maintained by Open Secrets.

Stefanik proved to be a prolific fundraiser in 2020. If she can keep it up, shell feel very little impact from these losses. Moreover, many of these companies have not specified how long they will suspend contributions for. Theres almost two years before the next Congressional elections.

In 2020, Stefanik raised over $14.1 million for her campaign, her leadership PAC, called E-PAC, and her joint fundraising committee (which supports her campaign, E-PAC, New York Republicans and the National Republican Congressional Committee), Federal Election Commission records show.

The majority of the campaign's funding comes from small-dollar donors who have donated over $6 million to her campaign, DeGrasse said. Elise for Congress has $2 million in the bank and her re-election campaign has never been in a stronger position politically.

A host of other companies have said they will temporarily suspend political contributions to lawmakers of both parties or will otherwise re-evaluate their giving. Some of these companies, including Boeing, Raytheon Technologies, United Parcel Service and Alphabet Inc (the owner of Google), are also among Stefaniks top contributors. Democrats and Republicans may both feel an impact from the decisions of these companies, however.

Stefanik was one of 147 Republicans who voted to object to certifying the 2020 electoral votes last week, the same day that the U.S. Capitol was invaded by supporters of President Donald J. Trump seeking to keep him in office.

From New York, Republican Reps. Lee Zeldin of Shirley, Nicole Malliotakis of Staten Island and Chris Jacobs of Orchard Park also voted to object. No Democrats objected, and Republican Reps. Tom Reed of Corning, John Katko of Syracuse and Andrew Garbarino of Sayville did not.

Stefanik said she objected because tens of millions of Americans are concerned that the 2020 election featured unconstitutional overreach by unelected state officials and judges ignoring state election laws. We can and we should peacefully discuss these concerns.

After she objected, Harvard Universitys Kennedy School decided to remove Stefanik from the advisory board of it Institute of Politics because its dean determined she has made public assertions about voter fraud in Novembers presidential election that have no basis in evidence, and she has made public statements about court actions related to the election that are incorrect.

Stefanik blasted the decision from Harvard, saying it was caving to the woke left and creating a monoculture of liberal views.
Always moving forward: Chundikuli Jaffna marks 125 years By Kethaki Masilamani View(s): View(s):

As Dr. Evangeline Mutthamma Thillayampalam sat at her desk, pen poised, she was filled with a great sense of hope.

The year was 1946, Sri Lanka was on the brink of independence and Chundikuli Girls College, Jaffna was celebrating its 50-year Jubilee.

Dr. Thillayampalam was the first Ceylonese principal of Chundikuli Girls College, and an old girl of the school.

Writing to her students, she said, May the achievements of Chundikuli in the first 50 years, be a challenge to you to attempt great things and achieve great things.

I hope a new Lanka will rise through you to take her place among the nations of the world. May all the Chundikuli girls hold fast to their high ideals of Christian character and service. May you go from strength to strength until you have fulfilled your mission as builders of a new Lanka.

Let us be worthy of the faith, courage and devotion of those who gave Chundikuli its life and spirit and its promise for the future.

Be worthy of Chundikulis past. Be worthy of the opportunities of the future.

This college of our dreams is based on faith, hope and love.

Let us do our part to make these dreams come true.

Her words have gone on to inspire world leading surgeons, human rights activists, missionaries, Professors, film directors, teachers, architects, engineers, management consultants, accountants, marketeers, scientists, Olympic athletes and home-makers among many other occupations.

Dr. Thillayampalam knew how education could empower women. A decade before, she gained her doctorate in Philosophy at Columbia University.

Chundikuli alumni are more of her kind. They include Dr. Lily Arumugam who became the first woman to gain a distinction and first class at the Ceylon Medical College and Selvagowry Anatharetchakan who represented Great Britain in the 400 metre hurdles at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and won a Silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in 1998. Many others have won national and international acclaim for works in the fields of medicine, sports, arts, science, engineering, commerce and socio-political fields.

125 years later, in 2020, even in a pandemic with global turmoil Chundikuli Girls College could not be deterred from producing more of their kind. Weightlifting champion Arshika Vijayabaskar represents Sri Lanka at the South Asian Games in Nepal and wins a Bronze. The debating team becomes the second runners up at the competition organised by the National Olympic Committee and an all-time high of 39 achieve university entrance.

Current principal, Dushyanthi Thuseetharan says, We can reflect on the amazing journey of courage, faith and devotion of those who gave Chundikuli its life and spirit and its promise.

The seed of promise was planted in 1896 when Alfred Hensman, set out to afford his daughters the same education that his sons received.

His daughters were among Chundikulis first class of nine. It began under the wing of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) with founder Mary Carter at the helm and it remains an Anglican private school for girls to this day.

From its inception, the purpose of the school was to improve the status of women by giving them a new lease of improved life. To give freedom through knowledge. Hence the motto, FORWARD.

The two World Wars the school survived was not to test it as much as the 30-year civil war. The school gave abode and leadership to the community and temporarily became a refugee camp. It fell victim to aerial shelling and was severely damaged. It mourned the death of many in the community including one of its prominent old girls, Dr. Rajani Thiranagama and a student, Krishanthi Kumarasamy.

Through it all, the school has held on to its values of courage and confidence and steadfast faith in its mission.

Today, former head girl, and the youngest principal in the history of the school, Dushy Thuseetharan has led one of the biggest outreach programmes in the schools history, providing scholarships and bursaries to 170 orphans and disadvantaged students.

The school continues to be ahead of its time in educating women to contribute to society. 125 year later, now boasting over 1600 students, it still holds on to that pioneering spirit which forged its inception.

Created to take the girls along the paths of knowledge that leads to freedom, Chundikuli, continues to aim at an education that will widen the horizons and extend the rights and opportunities for girls in all spheres of life, says Principal Thuseetharan.

As it has for 125 years, the school stands steadfast in her values and her motto. Always moving forward.
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As the spring 2021 semester approaches, University of Georgia students are preparing for a fresh start. As the COVID-19 pandemic persists into the new year, students at UGA are both hopeful and conflicted with the first day of classes nearing on Jan. 13.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 11:18:21|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Nov. 12, 2020 shows the night view of the Lujiazui area of Pudong, east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang)

Excluding tourism services, which suffered a heavy blow due to the pandemic, China's services trade rose 2.2 percent year on year in the January-November period, data by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed.

BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- As China's foreign trade in goods has notched a historic high in 2020 despite COVID-19 strains, the services trade sector is also expected to embrace more vitality amid the country's efforts to open its market wider to the rest of the world.

While data on services trade for the whole year has not yet been released, its performance in the first 11 months has demonstrated prospects of growing business opportunities for both domestic and global players.

People visit Qianmen Street in Beijing, capital of China, June 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

RESILIENCE & VITALITY

According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), in contrast to merchandise trade, trade in services refers to the sale and delivery of intangible products such as transportation, tourism, telecommunications, advertising, computing and accounting, among others.

Excluding tourism services, which suffered a heavy blow due to the pandemic, China's services trade rose 2.2 percent year on year in the January-November period, data by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed.

During the period, services trade reached 4.08 trillion yuan (about 631 billion U.S. dollars), with 44.2 percent being generated by trade in knowledge-intensive services, which was up 8 percent year on year.

Exports and imports of knowledge-intensive services climbed 7.6 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively, injecting much-needed impetus into the global trade market which is still in a recession.

Against the backdrop of a slump in traditional services trade like tourism, the faster expansion of trade in knowledge-intensive services took place thanks to various measures China has adopted to boost the opening-up of the sector, said Li Jun, a researcher with the MOC-affiliated Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Moreover, with a shrinking deficit, the structure of services trade was also further optimized. In the reporting period, China's deficit in services trade decreased 51.3 percent from a year ago, the MOC data showed.

Photo taken on Sept. 2, 2020 shows the outdoor exhibition area of the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

OPENING-UP COMMITMENTS

Although restrictions were in place due to virus containment measures, the China International Fair for Trade in Services was held in Beijing in September. As the first major international economic and trade event since the COVID-19 outbreak, it attracted about 22,000 firms and institutions from 148 countries and regions, including 199 Fortune 500 companies.

During the fair, authorities announced that the country will develop open platforms for the pilot program of innovative development of the services sector, further ease market access for the sector, and take greater initiative to increase imports of quality services, among others.

The measures came as China has consistently pushed forward the opening-up of more service fields and improved the business environment.

The foreign investment law took effect on the first day of 2020, a landmark move that ensures foreign investors get equal access to opportunities in China by regulations including a system of pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list.

In June, China yet again shortened the negative list for foreign investment, slashing the number of sectors that are off-limits to foreign investors to 33, down from 40 in the 2019 version.

For the opening-up of the financial sector, for instance, foreign ownership caps on securities firms were scrapped and the business scope of foreign-funded banks was further widened. In the telecommunications sector, more value-added businesses will be open for foreign investors.

"Committed to opening up, China has been the largest contributor to global growth of services imports," said an MOC report issued on the sidelines of the fair, noting that its services imports amounted to 3.4 trillion U.S. dollars since November 2012.

The figure represents an average growth rate of 9.2 percent per year, which translates into more than 18 million jobs for global trading partners, according to Chen Chunjiang, an MOC official.

So far, China has been the largest trading partner of more than 120 countries and regions. As it seeks to forge stronger connectivity between internal and external markets under "dual circulation", the new pattern will enable the country to better share its market potential, experts said.

The MOC report expects China's services imports to reach 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars in the next five years. "This will account for more than 10 percent of the global total," it said.

It will be a general trend for China to promote the opening-up of the services sector in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), said Zhao Ping, a researcher with the Academy of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, citing a WTO report forecasting services trade to account for more than half of the total global trade by 2040. 
Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik accused the Democratic commissioner of the St. Lawrence County Board of Elections of doing illegal political work on the job and called for her resignation.

According to a statement issued Friday by a senior Stefanik advisor, Alex deGrasse, the Democratic elections commissioner sent out a rough draft of a political press release attacking Stefanik to the entire New York State Election Commissioners Association during work hours and from a government computer. While unnamed in the Stefanik press release, the St. Lawrence Democratic elections commissioner is Jennie Bacon.

According to Stefanik, after accidentally sending out the first draft press release, Bacon then sent a second email stating DISREGARD! to the original recipients at the Election Commissioners Association.

"The St Lawrence County Democrat election commissioner must resign immediately for breaking the law and an independent investigation should be launched so voters can have faith that the Democrats on the Board of Elections are following the law that makes clear it is illegal to do county party work using taxpayer-funded county government resources, DeGrasse said in a statement. The highlight of the draft press release is the last line where the St. Lawrence Democrat County Committee waves the political white flag: The residents may choose that the representative may not be a Democrat.'"

An official at the St. Lawrence County Board of Elections told the Times Union that Bacon had taken the day off on Friday, and likely would not be commenting on the matter.

But in a statement, Bacon told WWNY on Friday that the email sent on behalf of the NYS Election Commissioners Association inadvertently had the wrong attachment from an email I had recently received.

The correct document was then sent immediately. Both documents had been emailed to me, in a rush to get the email to the Association I inadvertently attached the wrong document, she told WWNY.

According to the St. Lawrence Democrats website, Bacon is a Democratic state committee member for St. Lawrence County, in addition to being the Democratic elections commissioner.

Currently at the top of the St. Lawrence Democratic Partys website is a copy of a statement, issued Jan. 4, from state Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs, which called on Stefanik herself to resign. The statement came after Stefanik indicated she would support the effort to contest the legitimately certified electors in the 2020 Presidential race for Joe Biden, Jacobs said. Three days later, Stefanik did object to certifying the results, even after the attack by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol hours earlier.

In that instance, Bacon also was involved, sending out Jacobs' statement to North Country media outlets. On Jan. 6, a post on North Country Now clarified that Bacon had provided the statement in her capacity as corresponding secretary for the St. Lawrence Democrats, not as an elections commissioner.
Chandigarh: A 20-year-old sanitation worker received the first shot of the coronavirus vaccine as the inoculation drive commenced in Chandigarh on Saturday.

Arun, who works as a sweeper at the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital at Sector 16, said he was feeling good and had no worry before being administered the jab.

Covid-19 vaccine

After administering the vaccine, the youth was kept for observations for 30 minutes to check any side effects.

"There is no anxiety, rather I am feeling good," said Arun, who was also given a bouquet of flowers.

The vaccination drive was conducted at five sites in Chandigarh. One was at the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital at Sector 16, civil hospital at Sector 45, two sites at Government Medical College and Hospital at Sector 32 and one at advanced paediatric centre at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), officials said.

Covid-19 vaccine

Around 500 healthcare workers will be vaccinated on the first day of the drive, they said.

A doctor working at the PGIMER who also received the shot said he was happy that the vaccine had finally come and would be administered to all healthcare and frontline workers.

The Union territory has received 12,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine and health authorities provided 1,000 doses to the PGIMER.
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Crude oil futures declined to settle at Rs 3,830 per barrel on January 15 as participants trimmed their positions as seen by the open interest. The prices slipped on surging coronavirus cases globally leading to stricter lockdown measures implemented by nations to curb the spread. That apart, concerns over US stimulus, too, weighed on investor sentiment.

It ended the week with a gain of Rs 28 or 0.74 percent to touch an 11-month high on the domestic bourse. Crude prices rose in three out of the five trading sessions on the MCX.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US crude inventories fell for the fifth straight week by 3.24 million barrels to 482.2 million barrels for the week ended January 8 against the previous weeks inventories of 485.5 million barrels.

The CFTC data showed that money managers increased net long positions to five months high by 18489 lots last week.

The number of rigs drilling crude oil in the US increased by 12 to 287 rigs for the week to January 15, highest since May 2020 said Baker Hughes in a weekly report. The rigs count rose for the eighth straight week.

OPEC left its projection for global demand unchanged, saying oil will rise by 5.9 million barrels per day this year to 95.91 million bpd, following a record 9.75 million bpd contraction in 2020 due to coronavirus pandemic.

Crude oil prices fluctuated in the range of $52-$53 per barrel on mixed global cues on lower supply fears and pandemic concerns. Crude oil prices capped upside as a surge in virus cases across the world and lockdown measures in China raised concerns over fuel demand recovery. However, higher imports numbers from China and strong manufacturing data from the US boosted buying in crude oil during the week, said Tapan Patel- Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities.

Sunand Subramaniam, Senior Research Associate at Choice Broking said, For the week ahead, we are expecting Global and MCX Crude prices to witness an upside trend with fall in US crude inventories along with the decline in American stockpiles. Moreover, vaccine optimism could support prices from the major downside movement. Saudi Arabia slashed crude oil supplies to at least nine refiners in Asia and Europe after the kingdom volunteered to cut output by 1 millon barrels a day for February and March that could lend support to the crude prices in coming weeks.

MCX iCOMDEX Crude Oil Index inched dropped 79.16 points, or 1.78 percent, to close at 4,366.87.

In the futures market, crude oil for January delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 3,918 and an intraday low of Rs 3,794 per barrel on MCX. So far in the current series, black gold has touched a low of Rs 3,130 and a high of Rs 3,976.

Crude oil delivery for January fell Rs 69, or 1.77 percent, to end at Rs 3,830 per barrel with a business turnover of 1,657 lots.

Crude oil delivery for February slipped Rs 64, or 1.64 percent, to close at Rs 3,844 per barrel with a business volume of 153 lots.

The value of January and Februarys contracts traded on January 15 was Rs 1,105.19 crore and Rs 14.43 crore, respectively.

Patel expects crude oil prices to trade sideways to down in the coming week with support at $50 per barrel and resistance at $54 per barrel. MCX Crude oil February contract has important support at Rs 3,720 and resistance at Rs 3,940 per barrel.

West Texas Intermediate crude was down 2.82 percent to settle at $52.06 per barrel, while Brent crude, the London-based international benchmark edged lower 2.80 percent to close at $54.84 per barrel.

For all commodities-related news, click here

: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
Pictures of long lines of Florida older adults on scooters, or in wheelchairs, walkers or folding chairs, waiting for hours in the unaccustomed chilly winter air, have surfaced in the national news in recent weeks. And even as more vaccines are available and more vaccination sites open up, getting an appointment is still difficult.

"People don't know where to go for information, says Jeff Johnson, Florida AARP state director. People don't know what the plan is, where to sign up or when they might be able to get this vaccine. Without that clarity, people get angry and frustrated."

The Hunger Games for seniors

Weeks after DeSantis signed an executive order, Florida is still one of a handful of states that allow anyone 65 and up to get the vaccine. Snowbirds are welcome  residency is not required. Anyone in this age group can get vaccinated in any of the state's 67 counties.

But with nearly 4.5 million residents age 65-plus, many older Floridians find themselves constantly trolling websites of nearby counties for vaccine availability. Then they call, often using multiple phones. It sounds like the Hunger Games for seniors.

Rosenberg told a 74-year-old friend, Paul, a Sarasota man who asked to be identified by his middle name only. Paul had been searching five counties when Rosenberg told him about the Vista View Park appointments. Paul got his appointment quickly, though almost canceled it when he wasn't able to get an appointment for his 70-year-old spouse.

"I felt deflated, Paul says about getting himself vaccinated. I wasn't going to go if she couldn't get one, too, but she said I had to.

The two packed a cooler with turkey sandwiches, cheese and crackers before heading out on a 400-mile round trip vaccine vacation, planning to make as few stops as possible and to not spend the night on the road. They didn't take much to drink, he says.

Once they arrived, Paul explained his spouse's problem and the technician had her fill out the paperwork and gave her a shot as well.

The state also gave vaccines to certain hospitals across the state, which emailed patients registration directions, following up when appointments became available. DeSantis announced this week that some churches and some Publix grocery-chain pharmacies would begin offering the vaccines, while more counties have set up vaccination clinics in retirement communities.

Dan Brady, 73, a retired health care executive in Miami, called or visited seven sites constantly: I speed-dialed one 63 times and never got in."

There are more than 450,000 people 65 and older in MiamiDade County. You really have to be fairly motivated if you want to do it, says Brady, who eventually got an appointment. You have to be vigilant and have a good internet connection."

The limited number of doses has fed the chaos.

"It's like playing in a contest where you have to be the 95th caller to get the prize, and this adds to all the anxiety that is appropriate for a global pandemic, Johnson says. But this is like playing the lottery to get a lifesaving shot."

Tour buses to the county health department
One of the most KICK-ASS TKC READERS offers an important comparison that sheds more insight on continued Sunflower State pandemic FAIL.



First, a glimpse that Republican-led health efforts eclipse the attempts of the progressive guv . . .

The Hill: Texas is first state to administer 1 million coronavirus vaccine doses, Gov. Abbott says

And now, here's a glimpse at the granny Guv and Col. Sanders attempting to deny the compare & despair analysis . . .
Most of you probably remember this, while Dodge was sadly slowing down Viper production to a sorrowful and screeching halt, a group of enthusiasts and two Dodge Viper dealers were raising money to beat the Nurburgring lap record for production cars.Seeing that FCA was simply letting an American automotive icon to die without a struggle, a good bunch of Viper aficionados raised over $200,000 through GoFundMe contributions to make the dream of many happen.In the end, it would have taken a bit more stars to align so that the all-time production car lap record at the time was to be beaten, but one of two Vipers GTS ACR-E sent to the Nurburgring did manage to lap the Green Hell faster than any other American car before or after it.The first scheduled attempt at a record was supposed to take place on July 25th, 2017, months before the Viper went out of production, but pouring rain conditions made it impossible to even try. A day later, Dominik Farnbacher managed a staggering 7:03 minute lap on his first try, still a bit shy of the 6:57 minute time of the Porsche 918 Spyder, the Ring King at the time.On their last attempt, which took place about a month later, racing driver Lance Arnold nailed a 7:01.3 minute lap time on his first try, but the crowdfunded team simply ran out of luck afterward.Both cars were plagued by high-speed tire failures, and the record car even suffered an accident because of this, but not before going faster than any other rear-wheel-drive manual transmission car before or after it.After all that, BJ Motors and Viper Exchange, the two dealers to set this whole thing up built five Commemorative Edition GTS-R ACR-Extreme Vipers to celebrate the huge accomplishment that even Chrysler had been afraid to tackle.All five cars feature identical decals, including a list of all the people who were involved in the Nurburgring shenanigans in 2017. So it happens that Serial #001 went under the hammer with no reserve at Barrett-Jackson's Scottsdale event last year.The car is not just ultra-rare and one of the most coveted special edition Vipers ever but it also has just 7 miles on its odometer, all of them being test and delivery miles. Heck, it still has plastic covers on the seats, and we're pretty sure that they will remain there for the duration of the car's life.You can check out most of the story behind the Nurburgring runs in the following video:
On Jan. 13, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time, on the charges of "incitement of insurrection. Trump is the first president to be impeached twice.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Washington, Jan 16 (PTI) US President-elect Joe Biden has announced an ambitious goal of inoculating 100 million Americans with COVID-19 vaccines in the first 100 days of his administration, noting that the vaccine rollout in the country, the worst hit by the pandemic, has been a "dismal failure." By Lalit K Jha

FGN20 BIDEN-SHARMA-APPOINTMENT

Washington: Joe Biden has named Indian-American health policy expert Vidur Sharma as testing advisor in his COVID-19 Response Team, as the US President-elect laid out his ambitious goal to intensify vaccinations across the country to tackle the spread of the deadly pandemic. By Lalit K Jha

FGN18 BIDEN-REPUBLICANS-MASKS

Washington: President-elect Joe Biden has slammed Republican lawmakers who refused to wear masks while huddling in a secure location during the January 6 riot at the US Capitol despite the threat of coronavirus, telling them that "it's time to grow up". By Lalit K Jha

FGN16 UN-DIASPORA-INDIA

United Nations, Jan 16 (PTI) The Indian diaspora, one of the most vibrant and dynamic, is the largest in the world, with 18 million people from the country living outside their homeland in 2020, the UN has said.

By Yoshita Singh

FGN21 LANKA-UNHRC-TAMILS

Colombo: Sri Lanka's minority Tamil political parties and civil society groups have urged the UN Human Rights Council to establish an international independent investigatory mechanism with a strict time frame to ensure accountability from the island nation on the alleged human rights abuses during the nearly three-decades long civil war.

FGN24 PAK-PM-LD AIDE

Islamabad: The Pakistan Cabinet has removed Naeem Bukhari, a close associate of Prime Minister Imran Khan, as chairman of Pakistan Television (PTV), after the Islamabad High Court barred him from working as the head of the state-run channel, according to media reports on Saturday.

FGN13 BIDEN-NEC-LD FAZILI

Washington: US President-elect Joe Biden has appointed Indian-American community and economic development expert Sameera Fazili to a key White House position.By Lalit K Jha

FGN12 US-LET-DESIGNATION

Washington: The United States has reviewed and maintained the terrorist designations of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ), along with ISIL Sinai Peninsula (ISIL-SP) and several other organisations. By Lalit K Jha

FGN11 US-VERMA-RESIGN

Washington, Jan 16 (PTI) Seema Verma, one of the highest-ranking Indian Americans in the outgoing Trump administration, has resigned from her top healthcare position, days ahead of Joe Biden's swearing in as the next president of the United States. By Lalit K Jha

FGN7 UNSC-REFORMS

United Nations: The Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) on US Security Council reform process will resume later this month, President of the General Assembly Volkan Bozkir has said, asserting that UNSC membership as well as its working methods must reflect realities of the 21st century. By Yoshita Singh

FGN6 VIRUS-UN-GUTERRES

United Nations: As the world crossed a "heart-wrenching milestone" of two million deaths from COVID-19, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres lamented that the deadly impact of the pandemic has worsened due to the absence of a global coordinated effort and said that "vaccinationalism" by governments is "self-defeating" that will delay a global recovery. By Yoshita Singh

FGN5 US-PENCE-HARRIS

Washington, Jan 16 (PTI) Outgoing US Vice President Mike Pence has called his soon-to-be successor Kamala Harris to congratulate her and offer his full co-operation in the transition of power, according to multiple media reports said. By Lalit K Jha

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)

The announcement by President Akufo-Addo to reopen schools on 15th of January, 2021 was received with mixed feelings.



A day after the announcement, the writer monitored some social media platforms and realized that some parents were expressing excitement that the children were going back to school after staying home for nine months, some said the children were mingling with other children anyway and it didnt make sense to continue to keep the children at home.



Others raised skepticism, how were children especially those at the creche level going to follow the safety protocols and ensure social distancing among the many questions that filled the thoughts of every concerned parent.



However, for some parents of children with special needs due to disability, the announcement did not make any difference. They have always been home, COVID or not.



In Ghana we have not paid much attention to children with disabilities, sometimes, we behave as if they did not exist and many of our social policies do not directly include children with special needs or disability.



At a time, when it seems that schools are scrambling for pupils and students, children with disabilities are conspicuously left behind. Where should their parents take them to?



Akosua (Not the real name) a mother of a four-year-old with cerebral palsy reached out to this writer when she shared the flyer of an inclusive school advertising for students.



Aunty Hannah is this school real, she asked amidst tears, oooh, I really hope that they can accept my child, I am a professional nurse, now, my in-charge is even getting angry with me. I go to work with my four-year-old strapped at my back, can you imagine?



I wish there were facilities or schools that accept children with disabilities, in fact boarding facilities to enable me work and continue taking care of my son, she said with a lot of desperation in her voice.



Akosuas situation is not unique, a lot of parents of children with disability can totally identify with her story. One should have a lot of money to be able to send a child with disability to school.



Parents are usually charged three times the amount others will pay for a regular child. The schools that are charitable enough to accept a child with special needs, some of them will require that you pay extra, you pay for caregiver services, you pay for other services and you pay for the services of a classroom assistant.



That is even if you are lucky for your child to be accepted. Ordinarily, schools, especially private schools will just flip you off with a simple excuse that we do not have the facilities to cater for this child.



Usually if they are unwilling, no amount of persuasion or help a parent offers are listened to, let alone accepted by a school.



It seems that, at a time when many countries are working towards Inclusive Development, Ghana is leaving behind children with disability or special educational needs.



The Special Mothers Project, an advocacy and awareness creation programme of cerebral palsy issues and issues affecting families raising children with disability is calling on the government to pay attention to Inclusive Development Policies.



One of the suggestions by the Special Mothers Project is that government introduces an employment scheme at the National Service level where students who go to the university to study Rehabilitation and Disability studies are engaged to work with these children.`



Every government school can have an Inclusive unit where with the support of the National Council on Persons with Disability and parents, these students can have practical training on what they have learnt at school.



Caregiving is a professional job, it is not menial, it requires a lot of empathy, kindness and humanity to work as a caregiver, however, many parents of children with disability, given their situation will not be able to employ a Professional caregiver



We cannot continue to act blind to the situation of children with disabilities in Ghana, we have got to get to a point where schools, especially private schools will scramble over children with special educational needs to be admitted into their schools.



It is possible! But, it requires policy, inclusive working policies, that ensures the welfare of children with disability and their families at the Centre of it.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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ast year, when Covid-19 began spreading in the UK, few could have predicted the impact that the virus would eventually have on our daily existence. By May, when the pandemic had already killed thousands, Boris Johnson described the race for a vaccine as the most urgent shared endeavour of our lifetimes, explaining that it was the only way we could emerge from the pandemic.

But a vaccine for a novel virus, such as Covid-19, that was nowhere near fully understood, would not be easy. Then there was the issue of timing. In the history of medicine, vaccines are very rarely developed in under five years. The mumps vaccine, which was developed in 1967, is one of the fastest-produced vaccinations. It took four years to make.

It was safe to say that the pressure for a coronavirus vaccine was on. And so when, in December last year, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was approved for use in the UK, it was testament to the huge scientific and political will for a solution. The vaccine is the fastest to go from concept to reality in history, having done so in 10 months, when it would ordinarily be expected to take 10 years. Two further vaccines have since been approved: the Oxford/AstraZeneca and the Moderna. This fast tracked approach only made possible by extensive funding and collective interest (each was tested in more than 20,000 people before approval). Finally, it seemed like there was light at the end of the tunnel.

But as England settles into its third lockdown and daily death rates reach an all-time high, there are questions about how effective the vaccine will be at reducing the spread of Covid-19. In December, the UKs deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, explained that people must continue to be extremely cautious about transmission even after theyve been vaccinated. The magic phrase is transmission, he said at a Downing Street press conference.

I think we can be confident and we will know quite quickly within a matter of a couple of months the impact of these vaccines on reducing severe illness in the population, and when we know that we'll be able to say - I hope we'll be able to say - when you're fully vaccinated, your chances of severe illness from Covid are very markedly reduced.

Although Mr Van-Tam assured the population the vaccine will work to reduce the severity of illness if contracted, he could not make such assurances about transmission. We don't know if the vaccines will reduce transmission yet, he said. I can't give you the assurance that you won't still pose a hazard to others through transmitting the virus.

Now the vaccine rollout is well underway in the UK, with the government pledging to administer at least two million vaccinations each week, a goal that would see tens of millions of people immunised against the virus by spring and all adults by the autumn.

But what impact will the vaccine have if people who have been vaccinated can still spread the illness to others? And how will this affect the need for nationwide lockdowns and other restrictions? Heres everything you need to know.

Will the coronavirus vaccine reduce transmission?

We know from the clinical trials that the coronavirus vaccines are effective in preventing people from becoming unwell - this is because they cause your body to create a rapid immune response. But while all three vaccines offer more than 90 per cent protection against getting ill from the virus, that doesnt necessarily mean that it stops people from getting infected, or from passing it on. Public Health England literature, given to people after their first dose, says: The vaccine that you have had has been shown to reduce the chance of you suffering from Covid-19 disease... some people may still get Covid despite having a vaccination, but this should be less severe.

Recommended David Attenborough receives coronavirus vaccine

As Mr Van-Tam said in December, its too early to say with any certainty that any of the three coronavirus vaccines will reduce transmission in the population as well as protect against serious illness. PHE says: We do not yet know whether it will stop you from catching and passing on the virus, but we do expect it to reduce this risk. This uncertainty around transmission is due to a number of reasons: one indicator is existing PHE data, which shows how people who have been infected with Covid-19 and are carrying antibodies can still transmit a new infection even if they do not appear to be ill.

It is likely that transmission will be greatly reduced [by the vaccine], but may not be zero, explains Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton. One of the reasons for this is how the body responds to a naturally-acquired Covid-19 infection. We know that people can spread the virus before they develop symptoms, but also completely asymptomatic cases are likely to be responsible for some transmission too. Therefore, this virus is extremely tricky to properly get on top of.

Not all vaccines can stop both symptoms and spread Dr Jenna Macciochi

Immunologist Dr Jenna Macciochi explains this inability to have a dual function (reduce severity of illness and stop transmission) is not rare in vaccines. Not all vaccines can stop both symptoms and spread, she says. Vaccines might either just prevent symptoms but still allow for transmission, she says. In an ideal world we would like to have both [this would result in something known as sterilising immunity, whereby a vaccine prevents you from becoming unwell from the virus because you are immune from catching the infection altogether] but it is quite challenging to develop vaccines that do this.

In fact, the majority of vaccines in routine use today do not stop virus transmission altogether. For example, as Sarah Caddy, immunology and veterinary surgeon at the University of Cambridge, writes in The Conversation, vaccines that combat rotavirus, which causes diarrhoea in infants, are only capable of preventing severe disease. But this has still proven invaluable in controlling the virus, she adds, noting how, in the US, there have been almost 90 per cent fewer cases of rotavirus-associated hospital visits since the vaccine was introduced in 2006. A similar situation occurs with the current poliovirus vaccines, yet there is hope this virus could be eradicated globally, she says.

 Martha Stewart receives Covid vaccine

Additionally, the influenza vaccine does not necessarily provide complete protection against infection, but it can still provide defence against serious illness and potentially dying from the flu or complications attached to it. The Covid-19 vaccine is likely to be more like the influenza vaccine in this regard, says Dr Penny Ward chair of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicines Education and Standards Committee. Because of this, we may need to be revaccinated at intervals (yet to be determined) to maintain protection.

Dr Macciochi adds that in terms of transmission prospects, vaccinated people would most likely produce far fewer virus particles than those who have a symptomatic infection. This means that vaccinated people may be less likely to transmit severe disease.

Why dont we know whether or not the coronavirus vaccines will reduce transmission?

At this time, there is no official data on the effect that the coronavirus vaccine will have on transmission rates. The reason for this is because the vaccines were not designed for this purpose. The focus was on reducing the number of people who become seriously unwell from the virus. This is fairly standard when it comes to vaccine manufacturing, given, as previously mentioned, how difficult it is to produce a vaccine that can stop both symptoms and spread.

The clinical trials were broadly speaking designed to answer the question do these vaccines reduce Covid-19 illness in vaccinated populations?, with particular emphasis on numbers of severe and mild cases, explains Head. They werent set up to specifically consider whether they reduced onward transmission.

Recommended Sir Ian McKellen receives the Pfizer vaccine in hospital

Additionally, the trials were not designed to evaluate whether the vaccine prevented the spread of the disease among the contacts of vaccinated individuals, adds Dr Ward. To do that would require the design of other types of trials to determine the risk of infection (which may be without symptoms) in those that have been vaccinated and the frequency of spread of that infection to contacts of those that have been vaccinated.

As more and more people are vaccinated - and lockdown is eased, with social interactions increasing, evidence on transmission will be easier to collect on a large scale, in the knowledge that if vaccinated people do contract it they are less likely to be seriously unwell.

Do people that have been vaccinated pose a risk to others?

PHE says it does expect a reduction in risk but cannot give certain assurance that people will not continue to pass it on. As a result, it is still important to follow the guidance in your local area to protect those around you, including social distancing, wearing a mask, and washing your hands.

This is still the case even if people are showing no symptoms as we now know one in three people can be asymptomatic. We can expect restrictions of some kind to be in place for months to come until the vaccination roll-out has covered most of the population, adds Head.

This is also why those who have been classed as clinically extremely vulnerable have been advised to continue to shield even after theyve been vaccinated. The government website says that individuals who are clinically extremely vulnerable will have some degree of immunosuppression, or be immunocompromised. Therefore, those who are clinically extremely vulnerable should continue to follow government advice on reducing their risk of infection, it adds.

When will we know more?

In order to know for certain how effective the vaccines are at reducing transmission rate, its simply a case of gathering the necessary data. Vaccinated people will need to be tracked over a period of time to determine the population effectiveness, says Dr Ward. The Department of Health and Social Care has already published their strategy for monitoring how successful the vaccinations are online.

The document states that PHE will be monitoring the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines against several outcomes, including: virologically confirmed symptomatic disease, hospitalisation, mortality, laboratory confirmed infection (symptomatic or asymptomatic), markers of infectiousness and transmissibility, viral load, and onwards person to person transmission.

As more people are vaccinated across the UK, the more data PHE will have to measure the effectiveness of the vaccines and whether or not people who have been vaccinated can still transmit the virus.
Bhadravathi : , Jan 17 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has successfully fought against the coronavirus in the world.

Shah was addressing the gathering after laying the foundation stone for the 97th Battalion of Rapid Action Force (RAF) at Bullapura village here on Saturday.

The Home Minister said that with the beginning of the vaccination drive, the country has taken the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic to a final stage.

He asserted that India's vaccination drive represents the determination of a self-reliant India and is a milestone in the battle against this "invisible enemy".

"The entire world has been fighting against the pandemic for one year and even as many lives were also lost. This is perhaps one of the toughest battles humanity has ever fought. But our country has fought this battle using knowledge, innovations and mutual cooperation," Shah said.

Heaping praise on scientists, as the natiowide vaccination drive kicked off on Saturday, he said that India is one of the few countries which has achieved success to end the biggest crisis facing the humanity.

"The world's largest vaccination drive shows the immense potential of India's scientists and the power of our leadership," the Home Minister said.

Noting that during the initial days of the outbreak, some experts had flagged concern about the ill-equipped heath infrastructure, Shah observed that there was only one lab in the country at that point of time that could undertake testing for the infection but today it has more than 2,000 labs.

"The only difference was that India fought against the virus with unity," he said, adding that India has lesser fatality and higher recovery rates.

Shah said that the "New India" is a country that transforms disasters and challenges into opportunities and achievements.

"The 'Made in India' vaccine represents the determination of the self-reliant India. On this historic day, I bow to all our Corona warriors," he added.

Shah also thanked Chief Minister Yediyurappa for taking the initiative and giving the land for a new battalion campus of RAF that is coming up at a cost of Rs 230 crore.

He also assured the people of Bhadravathi that the central school and the stadiums to come up soon, will have all the facilities accessible to them.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text

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The vaccination drive has been called off in Maharashtra till January 18 (Monday) due to technical glitches in Co-WIN application, public health minister Rajesh Tope announced late on Saturday. The app has been created by the Centre for managing registration for the inoculation. Nationwide inoculation drive for coronavirus began in the morning.

"While implementing the Covid-19 vaccination drive today, technical problems were noticed in the Co-WIN app. Efforts are being made by the central government to address the problem. A digital registration is mandatory when vaccinating the jabs. The government had allowed offline registration today due to a technical problem. However, the government has directed that all further entries be made through the app. In view of this, Covid-19 vaccination has been postponed for two days in Mumbai on Sunday (January 17) and Monday (January 18). Vaccination will resume as soon as the Co-WIN app resumes," Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a statement.

"Not just in Maharashtra, everywhere in the country this app created problems in the execution of vaccination drive. We have decided to suspend the vaccination for the next two days," Tope was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. "On January 8, when dry run was conducted, and again today I specifically pointed out problems with the Co-Win app and Union Minister Harsh Vardhan said he will look into it," the minister said.

On the first day of the drive, of 4,000 healthcare workers scheduled for vaccination at nine centres in the city, only 1,926 were administered the jab, the BMC data showed. The highest 289 healthcare workers were given vaccines at Rajawadi hospital, followed by 266 at Bhabha hospital, and 262 at Cooper hospital which was also part of the nationwide live launch of the drive by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Several doctors were administered Covid-19 vaccine in Mumbai on Saturday, with many of them saying that they wanted to dispel fear about the inoculation by volunteering to take the first doses. While BMC officials initially said that the inoculation drive proceeded smoothly on day one, some beneficiaries complained that they received intimation only hours before the drive began.

At the civic-run Sion hospital and medical college, Dean Mohan Joshi was the first beneficiary, followed by 42 others including heads of department and associate professors. The vaccine is safe, Joshi said, adding that all healthcare workers must take it so that they are protected from the infection as they go about their work.

"It is a historic day in my life," he said. His colleague Dr Nilkanth Awad, from the respiratory medicine department, said vaccination will help end the pandemic, but social distancing and wearing masks will have to continue alongside for optimum results.
With Whatsapp under criticism for promising to share you data with owner Facebook, presumably more secure messaging apps Signal and Telegram are on fire following the social media shakeup in the wake of the deadly riots on Capitol Hill last week.

So far, dozens of individuals have been arrested on federal charges, with some accused of bringing weapons to Capitol Hill. Man are charged with unlawful entry or violent entry.

Yet, it seems that there some who were to be more vigilant about hiding their identity and avoiding eventual legal repercussions.

Evidence of that could potentially be found in the fact that encrypted messaging services Signal and Telegram were the two most downloaded apps in Apples App Store and the Google Play Store that day.

Being banned, or least monitored by social media, pro-Trump fringe groups are now using private messaging services to organize more protests and keep their conversations from the prying eyes of the authorities.

The flip side of this is not good for Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging service, which faces a decline in growth

For the week of January 5th to January 12th, Signal saw 17.8 million app downloads on Apple and Google. Thats a 61-fold increase. Telegram saw double the downloads that same week. Whatsapp, on the contrary, saw a roughly 2 million decline.



Now, U.S. security agencies are warning that more "armed protests" are being planned at all 50 state capitols and the U.S. Capitol in Washington ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20th. And if speculation is correct, theyre being planned on encrypted apps.

Encrypted messaging apps are the only beneficiaries of the recent developments.

Alternative social media such as MeWe, CloutHub and other rivals to mainstream social media are witnessing an increase in new downloads since President Trump and a handful of ultra-conservative groups were banned.

The previously little-known social media app MeWe has been downloaded nearly 200,000 times worldwide (and counting) since last week, with a vast majority of those new downloads coming from the U.S. Since last week, the app has ranked Number 6 in the U.S. App Stores Top Overall free charts.

Using an alternative means of communication has been a key tool for protestors, opposition and dissidents worldwide for a while now.

In the U.S., Occupy Wall Street protestors used social media to spread nationwide. Elsewhere, it was a crucial tool for protesters in Iran, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Russia. And during the social unrest in the Arab Spring, it eventually brought the governments down.

Being aware of that, more oppressive governments tried to prevent the usage of unmonitored communication.

For instance, the government of Zimbabwe shut down the countrys internet in 2019 for a week following violent clashes with the military over fuel price hikes. In 2018, the Iranian government blocked large portions of the internet following weeks-long protests over economic hardship and lack of civil liberties.

For a long time, Americans have watched news from abroad, thinking it cant happen here. Last Wednesday changed that, and there are fears about what January 20th could bring.

In the meantime, Whatsapp remains the most popular messaging platform, but that status is under threat with privacy issues taking front and center.

By Michael Kern for Safehaven.com
THIS couple started last year bringing a new life into the world and ended it by becoming Mr and Mrs.

Jennifer Severn is from Cork, while Sheamus Gee is from Zimbabwe  but moved here when he was 11. The couple met in their late teens on a night out in Cork and instantly connected.

LOOKING TO A BRIGHT FUTURE: Jennifer Severn and Sheamus Gee, who live in West Cork, were wed at Blackrock Castle in December. Pictures: Dermot Sullivan

They were engaged on the beach down in Ringaskiddy in May, 2019. Shortly afterwards Jennifer found out she was pregnant.

We were overjoyed as we had lost a baby In late 2018. We decided to buy our forever home that year and we now live in Dunmanway, West Cork, she said.

FOLLOWING IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS: The happy couple wanted to wed at Blackrock Castle as that is where Jennifers parents had their wedding reception, more than 30 years ago.

In January, 2020, they welcomed their handsome baby boy, Shay, into the world.

They only decided to get married last August and picked December 18 as their date.

Blackrock Castle was the only venue I wanted to get married in as my parents had their wedding reception there more than 30 years ago, said Jennifer.

With three months to organise the wedding, she booked her photographer, Dermot Sullivan immediately, sourced her dress in Memories bridal boutique in Cork city, while the suits were from Simply Suits on the Kinsale Road Roundabout.

RAISING A GLASS: Due to Covid-19 restrictions they could only have 15 guests in the ceremony and 25 at the meal afterwards.

The cake was bought from Healys bakery in Blackpool  three tiers of deliciousness. Flowers were from Floral creations in Dunmanway.

SAYING I DO: Guests clapped and blew bubbles when the happy couple emerged from the civil ceremony.

Majella from NOVA hair in Dunmanway did hair on the day, while Molly, a.k.a mollydollymua, did make up.

Just 15 people were allowed at the wedding ceremony in the castle, and 25 guests at the reception afterwards.

Jennifers sisters Katie and Jessica were bridesmaids and Sheamus had his brother Tyrone and best friend Mark as groomsmen.

Sheamus Gee with his best man and grooms man.

 As we walked out a few friends and all our siblings partners greeted us by cheering and blowing bubbles  it was perfect, said Jennifer.

The 25 guests then sat down in Castle cafe for dinner.

Everyone was in good spirits and it was clear they were all enjoying a couple of hours of the old normal we all took for granted.

We ended our wedding by going outside and playing our first dance song, Loving You, by Paolo Nutini, in the courtyard and we danced there by the Christmas tree. It was the perfect end to our perfect day.

THEIR FIRST DANCE: Jennifer Severn and Sheamus Gee had their first dance on the courtyard, under the Christmas tree at Blackrock Castle.

The couple want to give a special mention to her parents, Malcolm and Ann Severn, who moved to Dunmanway and have been so supportive. Also a special mention to Sheamuss mother, Sue Gee for having the strength and courage to move to Ireland after the death of Sheamuss Father (Robert Gee), with their six children and start a new life  otherwise the couple would never have met.

I will be forever grateful to her for making that decision because without her bravery myself and Sheamus would never have met, said Jennifer.
Axios

While Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) was out of state at a conference, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R) issued an executive order Thursday banning mask mandates in school and public buildings, AP reports.Why it matters: Little never issued a statewide mask mandate, but there have been some in counties, cities and schools. McGeachin announced last week she was running for governor, challenging Little who has only served one term, and her order could appeal to far-right voters in the state.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Little's office told AP that McGeachin did not tell the governor about the order in advance. Throughout the pandemic, Gov. Little has been committed to protecting the health and safety of the people of Idaho and has emphasized the importance of Idahoans choosing to protect our neighbors and loved ones and keeping our economy and schools open, Little spokesperson Marissa Morrison saidBackground: In March, McGeachin participated in an anti-mask protest, the Washington Post reported, and she suggested last year that the pandemic may or may not be occurring."According to AP, Idaho has recorded more than 190,000 cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic and roughly 2,000 deaths.What she's saying: Ive been listening to people all across the state with the concern about, especially, why are little kids being forced to wear masks in school, McGeachin told AP.My oath to the Constitution is to protect those rights and freedoms of the individual, and Ive never supported any type of a mandate on the individual, especially when it comes to health care choices.McGeachin said she had contracted the virus in 2019 and now has a "natural immunity," per AP.Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order banning mask mandates, not face masks. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday he did not see any side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine that he received the previous day.

Speaking to the reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul, Erdogan noted that he is so far feeling good and will take the second dose of the vaccine 28 days later.

After receiving the jab at a hospital in the capital Ankara, Erdogan called on all political party leaders and lawmakers to encourage people to get vaccinated.

On Thursday, Turkey started its mass vaccination program with the COVID-19 vaccines developed by the Chinese company Sinovac.

The vaccination program will move on to adults living in nursing homes, people aged 65 and above, and those working in specific sectors after covering over one million healthcare workers.

According to the Health Ministry's data, the country has so far vaccinated 537,000 people.

Turkey received the first shipment of 3 million doses of vaccines from China at the end of December, as part of a bigger deal, and expects to get more in the upcoming period.
Israel has denied Palestinians access to the vaccine after it rebuffed a World Health Organisation (WHO) vaccine request last week for the Palestinian health workforce as an immediate priority target group, citing shortages at home. Palestinians were deprived of the vaccine as Israel prioritised only Israeli settlers.



While in late December, the Public Security Minister Amir Ohana blatantly instructed prison officials to stop vaccinating Palestinian inmates against Covid-19 until further notice, and to only vaccinate prison staff.



Israel is being hailed at home for breaking the record for the rapid inoculation programme by vaccinating more of its population against Covid-19 than any other country in a very short time, but it only vaccinates Israeli citizens, including Jewish settlers who live in the West Bank, in addition to Palestinians who are residents of East Jerusalem.



Another reason for Israel being the second fastest nation to distribute the vaccine, with inoculation stations open every day, including on the Sabbath, is Prime Minister Netanyahus campaign for reelection on 23 March, which is centred on handling the virus crisis in an attempt to whitewash the economic hardship that occurred during the pandemic and enhance the premiers image that was tarnished by a number of corruption trials.



This explains why the Israeli government has invested in the vaccine deals by purchasing doses at higher price than other countries to provide the vaccine to its population of roughly nine million, as it purchased at $62 instead of $19.50 per dose, according to Israeli officials speaking to the public broadcaster Kan but staying anonymous. Israeli Finance Minister Israel Katz said the higher price was necessary considering Israel was competing with much larger countries.



Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu has already hinted that his political influence and friendship with Pfizers CEO facilitated obtaining a cache of the vaccine before many countries.



Despite other countries, including the US, having administered more doses, none has vaccinated a larger percentage of its population.



On the other side, the West Bank and Gaza depend on aid to survive and have a weak health and logistical infrastructure, as the Palestinian economy was hit hard during the coronavirus lockdown. They have therefore asked others, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and the European Union, for assistance. The Palestinian Authority (PA) is speaking to some vaccine developers directly, but the affordability remains questionable.



One more issue is that Palestine cant manage the logistics of storing the vaccine as the Gaza Strip currently receives about eight hours of electricity per day. In addition, any vaccine provider must have Israels permission before allowing the vaccine in Palestinian territories.



Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly, Aimee Shalan, chief executive officer of Medical Aid for Palestinians believes the Israeli occupation and its effects on Palestines shrinking economy is the reason behind the vaccine crisis today.

The Palestinian healthcare system is facing a severe financial crisis that is a result of Israels more than 50 years of occupation as well as 13 years of illegal blockade in Gaza. It is therefore imperative that Israel should ensure that Palestinians have access to coronavirus vaccines of the same quality it is providing to its own citizens.



Doubting the traditional donors capacity to provide assistance to Palestinians under such a crisis, Yara Asi, a policy analyst at Al-Shabaka, a Palestinian think tank, and a scholar at the Department of Health Management and Informatics University of Central Florida, told the Weekly: The situation for Palestinians is already quite poor. Further, international donors who usually support Palestinian social services are stretched to the limit because so many nations need help at this time. Two more months without vaccines, she warned, will be two more months of strain on Palestinian healthcare, excess death and economic fallout.



Rights and medical groups have decried Israels decision to leave Palestinians out in the cold to face unknown destiny by excluding those living in Gaza and the West Bank and even prison inmates from taking the vaccine, in a clear violation of human rights.



The large gap between the Israelis easy access to vaccines supported by their leadership as it handles the virus crisis and the Palestinians struggle to obtain it, has outraged public opinion with the move described as racist and featuring apartheid.



Only for the sake of the countrys interest, stated Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, would Israel provide a helping hand in this issue.



A group of some 200 rabbis have signed a petition by the Rabbis for Human Rights Organisation urging Israel to hasten the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines to the Palestinian population.



According to international law, Amnesty International called on Israel to provide coronavirus vaccine doses to Palestinians as the current roll-out plan covers only citizens of Israel, including Israeli settlers living inside the West Bank, and Palestinian residents of Jerusalem.



ReliefWeb, the humanitarian information portal under the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), released a joint statement with other international organisations and Israeli right advocacy group urging Israel to live up to its legal obligations.



However, all these condemnations are in vain as according to Ghada Karmi, an NHS specialist in public health based in London, speaking to the Weekly: Condemning Israels behaviour will make no difference because the international community has never punished Israel for any of its crimes against the Palestinians before and wont decide on this soon.



But Shalan believes the international community can make a difference. She told the Weekly, the international community must facilitate essential Covid-19 healthcare supplies, and influential states like the UK also have a duty to ensure Israels commitment to human rights law.



The contrast between the two countries raise questions about the legal obligations of Israel, as an occupation force, towards Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza which are occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.



The Israeli government said it is not aware of any request from the Palestinian Authority either formal or informal on the subject.

According to Asi, whether the PA asked or not, doesnt negate Israels legal obligation. No doubt that Israel is the entity that has full control over Palestinians. The PA does have a functional Ministry of Health, but they cannot fully control what enters their territories. With both this logistical and legal duty, Israel is responsible for providing Palestinians with vaccine supplies, she told the Weekly.



Beyond that, the Palestinian Authority is already working on brokering vaccine deals away from the Israeli intervention, with the medical firms AstraZeneca, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Russia, in addition to the WHO COVAX programme. However, these supplies may take many months to arrive, and are not sufficient to address vaccination needs in the West Bank and Gaza, Shalan added.



Israeli officials claim the Palestinian Authority is in charge of the citizens health care, including procuring vaccines, under the terms of the Oslo Accords.



However, the Fourth Geneva Convention stipulates Israels responsibility to supply vaccines to Palestinians living under its occupation.



Israel is an occupying power and subject to the Geneva Conventions that stipulate its responsibility for the health and welfare of people under occupation, Karmi added.



For Asi says Israel bears the whole responsibility of treating the Palestinians as the Palestinian state has never had autonomous authority. Israel as the recoginsable occupying power in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, is responsible for providing Palestinians with health and other social support under the 4th Geneva Convention. The Oslo Accords were drafted more than 25 years ago as a five-year interim deal that was meant to lead to an autonomous Palestinian state, which did not happen.



About one million Israelis have received Covid-19 vaccination shots. The country aims to vaccinate 25 per cent of the population by the end of January. According to official statements, of the nearly five million Palestinian citizens and medics in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza, not one has received a jab. Over 146,000 Palestinians have been infected with the coronavirus and over 1,550 have died. Nearly 8,000 Palestinian medics have reportedly been infected, according to Gerald Rockenschaub, the head of the WHOs mission to the Palestinians.



Israel is planning to achieve herd immunity by the end of spring or midsummer, according to a statement by the Israeli Health Ministry.



According to health estimates, Tel Aviv has purchased eight million doses from Pfizer, of which about four million have been received so far.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 14 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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by Willy Lam

CCP members and the media must increasingly align themselves with the dictates of the Chinese president. Hi-tech giants are a danger and need to be brought under control. Strategies to prevent US-orchestrated international containment. Everything will depend on the economic results.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - The Chinese Communist Party wants to use the celebrations in July for its centenary and its 20th congress in 2022 to consolidate power. It has increased internal censorship, that of online media and tech groups like Alibaba, the e-commerce giant founded by Jack Ma. Xi Jinping uses large trade deals to prevent the creation of an anti-Beijing front from part of the USA. However, the regime's plans are threatened by high levels of unemployment and a growing national debt. The analysis of the journalist and political scientist Willy Lam. Courtesy of the Jamestown Foundation.

Introduction

Under Xi Jinping, the leadership of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has initiated multi-pronged measures to ensure the success of celebrations marking the centenary of the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in July this year and planning for the 20th CCP Congress, scheduled for the second half of 2022. The accent is on preserving political stability and further consolidating the apparently unassailable authority of President Xi, who is also CCP General Secretary and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC).

Be wary of dangers in the midst of stability was the key theme of a Politburo Standing Committee meeting called on January 7. Xinhua noted that with this year being the centenary of the partys establishment in 1921, cadres and party members must raise their levels of political judgment, political awareness and [the efficacy of] political execution. [We must] in terms of ideology, politics and action maintain a high degree of unison with the party center (, dangzhongyang) with Xi Jinping as the core, Xinhua cited the Politburo communique as saying. It also quoted Xi urging CCP members to use superior results to celebrate the partys centenary particularly in the areas of administering the party with severity, ceaselessly building clean governance and maintaining a good spiritual and work attitude (Peoples Daily, January 8; Xinhua, January 8).

Censorship of Party Members and the Media

In early January, the CCP passed a Regulation on Safeguarding the Rights of Chinese Communist Party Members (, zhongguo gongchandang dangyuan quanli baozhang tiaoli) (hereafter CCP Regulation). The CCP Regulation would supposedly contribute to intra-party democracy by ensuring that the party centerheaded by core leader Xiwould respect the individual rights of party members, including their freedom to critique policies and the working style of the leadership. Yet the CCP Regulation also warns that criticism of the party leadership must be made through designated channels. Members exercising their supervision function should do so through channels of organization [departments] (, ying dang tongguo zuzhi guandao) The CCP Regulation adds that party members are forbidden to openly express views and suggestions that run counter to the theories, lines, objectives and measures of the party or the implementation of major policies of the party center (Xinhua, January 5).

At the same time, The Cyberspace Administration of China published an updated draft version of its Regulation on Internet Information Service ( [], hulianwang xinxi fuwu guanli banfa [xiuding caoan zhenqiu yijian gao]) (hereafter CAC Draft Regulation), which was first published in 2000. The CAC Draft Regulation clearly defines the proper functioning of an array of products such as search engines, instant messaging, websites, online payments, e-commerce and software downloads. New clauses have been added to target rampant forms of fraud on the internet, including identity theft and fake news (CAC.gov.cn, January 8; SCMP, January 8).

The publication of the updated CAC Draft Regulation coincided with the prosecution of several citizen journalists and professionals who exposed the origin of the Wuhan coronavirus in early 2020. The most famous and effective of these reporters, Zhang Zhan (), was recently sentenced to four years in jail for picking quarrels and provoking trouble. The unusually hefty sentence drew criticism from the United States and several other countries (Voachinese.com, January 5; BBC Chinese, December 29, 2020). Combined, these new censorship regulations signal that the regimes control over civil society seems to have been unequivocally strengthened.

Enhanced Anti-Corruption Drive and Crackdown on the Monopolistic Behavior of Giant Private Firms

Compared with his first five-year term (2012-2017), when Xi established his reputation as a killer of tigers among corrupt officials, the recent anti-graft drive has been relatively quiet. Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) member Zhao Leji (), who heads the countrys highest-level anti-corruption agency, the Central Commission on Disciplinary Inspection (CCDI), has assumed a much lower profile than his predecessor, Vice-President Wang Qishan (). From the last quarter of 2020 onwards, however, several officials and state-owned enterprise (SOE) chiefs with the rank of vice minister or above have been nabbed for taking ill-gotten gains from associates and friends seeking favors. They include the vice-mayor of Chongqing Deng Huilin (); vice-governor of Qinghai Wen Guodong (); chairman of the China State Shipbuilding Industry Corp (CSIC) Hu Wenming (), and chief account of China Oil and Foodstuffs Corp (COFCO) Luo Jiamang (). The four were kicked out of the party at the beginning of this year following investigation for economic crimes (China Daily, January 5; Caixin, October 27, 2020). On January 5, the nation was shocked when Lai Xiaomin (), former chairman of the state-controlled financial giant China Huarong Asset Management Corp., was given a death sentence for pocketing bribes totaling 1.8 billion RMB (a little under 8 million). Since the era of Reform and Opening, Lais case represents one of the very few instances of a vice ministerial-level cadre being sentenced to death for corruption (Peoples Daily, January 6; RTHK, January 5).

Moreover, the State Administration for Market Regulation recently launched its potentially largest-ever anti-monopoly campaign against private enterprises, targeting in particular highly successful internet companies such as the Alibaba Group (China Brief, December 6, 2020). Last month, a commentary in Peoples Daily pointed out that monopolization impedes fair competition, distorts the distribution of resources, harms the interests of the market [economy] and consumers, [and] snuffs out technological progress. The party mouthpiece added that China, which is a world leader in the digital economy, has a special need to fight monopoly and ensure the healthy development of the [IT] sector by laying down regulations for the digital field so as to build a solid foundation for its further development (Peoples Daily, December 24, 2020). Yuan Jiajun (), party secretary of Zhejiang Province, which is the home base of Alibaba and a host of private tech companies, revealed that the anti-monopoly drive was a policy made by the party center with Xi Jinping as its core. Zhejiang is relatively more developed in platform economics, online economy and fintech, said Yuan, who is seen as a Xi protege. We must on the one hand demonstrate our innovativeness and vigor in these sectors and at the same time be at the front rank in their supervision and administration (Zhejiang Daily, December 29, 2020; Apple Daily, December 29, 2020).

Intense speculation exists that the Xi leadership favors some form of the integration of SOEs and private enterprises, echoing the kind of public-private co-management (, gongsiheying) that was practiced by Mao Zedong in the 1950s (CGTN.com, October 20, 2020) This is partly driven by the increasing levels of debts accumulated by both SOEs and regional administrations. In the past year, Beijing has boosted the number  and power  of party cells in non-state firms (China Brief, September 28, 2020). Central authorities have also forced a number of profitable private firms to invite SOEs to acquire sizable chunks of their shares at below-market prices or at no cost at all. The best-known example took place late last year, when the famous Kweichow Moutai Co. Ltd. gave 4 percent of its sharesworth some 90 billion RMB (.8 billion)to an SOE in Guizhou Province (The Paper [Shanghai], December 24, 2020; Finance.sina.com, December 23). Apart from securing a bigger share of the profits of private tech giants, such activities also boost the Xi leaderships direct control over key sectors of the economy.

Conclusion: Dubious Efficacy of Beijings Tactics at Home and Abroad to Boost Nationalism and Party Control

Xis insistence on heading off dangers related to instability also includes ways and means to defuse challenges from the U.S., which is purportedly sponsoring an anti-China containment policy. Beijing has taken advantage of the partial power vacuum in American politics created during the transition of power from the Trump to Biden presidency to project both hard and soft power. In view of Bidens widely anticipated strategy of forging a common front among democratic countries and regions such as the EU, Australia and several Asian countries to rein in Chinese expansionism, the CCP administration has quickly consolidated its economic collaboration with a host of nations through multilateral treaties such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) (China Brief: December 10, 2020; December 23, 2020). On December 31, 2020, Beijing and the EU concluded final negotiations for a EUChina Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). The CAI, which has yet to be ratified by European parliamentary authorities, is widely seen as an effort to drive a wedge between the U.S. and the EU, particularly in regards to the formation of a common policy against China (New York Times Chinese Edition, January 7; BBC Chinese Edition, December 31, 2020). The RCEP and CAI are also seen as a fillip to Chinas potentially joining the Comprehensive and Progression Agreement on the Transpacific Partnership (CPTPP) (Ming Pao, January 3; Deutsche Wells Chinese Edition, December 30, 2020). Beijings apparent success in projecting power on the global stage is also geared toward promoting nationalism and pride in the countrys achievement, which is expected to be highlighted during celebrations of the CCP centenary this year as well as the upcoming 2022 Party Congress.

In the final analysis, however, much depends on the trajectory of the domestic economy, which has been hard hit by the pandemic. Even though the projection for GDP growth in 2020 by international organizations (including rating agencies) is between 1.8 percent to 2.5 percent, persistent unemployment issues coupled with high debt by overleveraged SOEs and local administrations remain a threat to continued recovery (Guangming Daily, December 15, 2020; Xinhua, September 18, 2020). Nearly two years ago, Xi warned in an early 2019 speech against black swan events breaking out in the country (China Brief, February 20, 2019). After the COVID-19 pandemic, the propensity for large-scale social unrest remains relatively high. Moreover, Beijings ability to invest in global projects like the Belt and Road Initiative, which is a major means for China to boost its international profile, has been badly hit by the countrys depleted central coffers (Radio French International, December 9, 2020; Ming Pao, December 9, 2020). Whether the CCP administration can use major events such as the partys centenary or the 20th Party Congress to boost its prestige  and the authority of the party centers core  remains a big question mark.

Last month, as the Northeast was bracing for its first big winter storm, and as parents, educators and soup makers the nation over were starting to weigh in on the suddenly urgent new question, the Greenville County School District did something so sensible that its hard to believe it came from a South Carolina school district: It killed snow days.

Snow days of course have long been the stuff of kids' dreams  those magical mornings when they wake up to find the earth blanketed in a coating of frigid fluff and classes cancelled. The problem isn't with snow days so much as with what happens after the snow day passes. Or rather, what doesn't happen.

State law requires S.C. schools to provide students with 180 days of in-class instruction each year; it also requires districts to build three make-up days into their calendars to ensure that students get all 180 days in even if snow or other emergencies force them to close the schools on regular class days. And everyone hates the makeup days.

So like a lot of education officials in the parts of the country where winter precipitation frequently interrupts the school year, officials in Greenville reasoned that since the pandemic forced them to learn to deliver education remotely and the federal government has underwritten efforts to put a Chromebook in every backpack and high-speed internet service in every home, theres no longer any reason to cancel school just because the school buses might not be able to run safely.

That sort of thinking in snowier climes inspired the Campbell Soup Co.s pushback campaign to save snow days  which we wish we were making up and which has actually resulted in some districts backing away from the idea of putting education first.

But as The Post and Couriers Eric Connor reports, Greenville County Schools took advantage of a couple of temporary laws to leave the required make-up days off the 2021-22 school calendars it released recently. In place of those days was a note explaining that the district will automatically operate on Attendance Plan O (eLearning) if school buildings are closed on a regular attendance day.

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Our objection to snow days isnt that students shouldnt be able to frolic in the snow on those rare occasions when our state is blanketed with a fluffy coating of winter precipitation. Its that our state shouldnt be able to cheat them out of a day of education, and thats what happens all too frequently.

After school districts make up those first three snow days, state law allows them to "forgive"  or more accurately, steal  three missed days. And it allows the state Education Department to authorize forgiving three more days after that, and both the districts and the department routinely do that. In the 2018-19 school year, school districts statewide waived 96 missed days, and the Education Department waived another 17. If schools are closed for more than nine days, the Legislature has been known to intervene and forgive more school days.

There will always be cases where schools still need to cancel classes. You cant very well expect students to learn and teachers to teach if there are widespread and lengthy power outages in the district, for instance. And its not realistic to expect remote participation when the snow days are actually hurricane days, necessitated by evacuations that people actually obey.

But as the Greenville schools are set to demonstrate, theres no longer any reason to cancel classes routinely  and thus no longer any excuse for telling students it's just too inconvenient to provide them the class time state law promises.

Its been encouraging to see all the state legislators who are so passionate about not cheating children out of their promised education that they have joined us in arguing that school districts need to allow students to attend classes in person during the pandemic rather than relegating them to online-only classes. We hope this passion for learning will extend to the snow day, and that they will pass a law that allows  or even requires  all districts to offer remote classes when they have to close the buildings for winter weather.

While those online classes are in most cases no substitute for in-person classes, theyre a whole lot better than the nothing that weve been giving too many students when the weathers bad.
Mamuju: Damaged roads and bridges, power blackouts and lack of heavy equipment on Saturday hampered Indonesia's rescuers after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake left at least 45 dead and hundreds injured on Sulawesi island.

Operations were focused on about eight locations in the hardest-hit city of Mamuju, where people are still believed trapped following Friday's nighttime quake, said Saidar Rahmanjaya, who heads the local search and rescue agency.

Cargo planes carrying food, tents, blankets and other supplies from Jakarta landed late Friday for distribution in temporary shelters. Still, thousands spent the night in the open fearing aftershocks and a possible tsunami.

Families grieve as the body of a relative is recovered from the rubble. Credit:AP

Forty-five bodies were sent to a police hospital for identification by relatives, after rescuers retrieved 36 victims in Mamuju and nine others in neighboring Majene district, said West Sulawesi police spokesperson Syamsu Ridwan.
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Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 40F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 40F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.




The politicization of a global pandemic is the biggest misfortune of our time as a US president on the trail of his reelection campaign tried to use a grave health emergency for personal political gain.

Donald Trump's focus remained on putting the blame of COVID-19 on China, slanderously terming the country as the origin of the virus, all the while ignoring reason and scientific advice. With all the focus on finger-pointing rather than mitigating the impact, the US itself became the epicenter of the pandemic.

Some unsighted US partners also joined Trump in labeling China the origin of COVID-19 in an attempt to mask their own failures in halting the contagion. Politics continued to plague the West while people continued to suffer.

In contrast, China focused on containing the outbreak and developing vaccines. The result is that it is now the first major economy to grow after the protracted downturn.

As for the origin of the virus, China is still not scientifically proven to be the case. The first infection in the country surfaced on December 31, 2019, whereas the virus was present in wastewater in Spain in March, in a 4-year-old boy in Italy in November, in the US in mid-December and in France in late December.

All these countries were lucky that the transmission chain did not trigger with these early cases. According to Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the early patients from the Chinese city of Wuhan mainly came from the frozen seafood area of the affected market, raising a possibility that imported seafood could have brought the virus to China.

Of late, the virus has almost been eliminated from China as the daily infection rate is now one of the lowest in the world. Most cases, meanwhile, are from people coming from abroad or from imported food items. Had it been the early days of the pandemic, any of these cases could have triggered the first wave.

But this is not a debate over where the virus first emerged. In the age of globalization, hyper-connectivity and cheaper and faster travel, pinpointing may be next to impossible. Watching global trends, experts had been warning of an impending pandemic sprouting from the corner of any airport, any bus station or any railway platform.

And this pandemic will neither be the last. Unlike in the past, contagious diseases will not remain limited to geographical areas. Directing energies only on finding the origin of viruses will, therefore, not help.

Developing rapid testing is one solution to keep such diseases under check. With the cost of travel reducing and the speed and demand for travel rising, quickly identifying infections in people will stem the spread of future pandemics.

Likewise, the pace of developing vaccines will have to be accelerated. The previous record of developing one was four years, which now has reduced to under a year. The scientific community must further reduce this timeline with the type of technology now available.

Presently, more exigent than finding the origin of COVID-19 are tasks like the production and distribution of vaccines. Research must continue in developing vaccines that are more effective and easily administrable. Similarly, the production capacity of pharmaceutical companies must be expanded to make the vaccine available to masses at the earliest.

Giving the World Health Organization (WHO) a lead role in controlling contagious diseases is also essential. The multilateral body is laudably organizing initiatives like the Coronavirus Vaccines Global Access Facility (COVAX), of which China is also a part, to garner international collaboration.

A WHO team is visiting China on January 14 to conduct joint research with Chinese scientists and learn more about the virus. One of the agendas of the team is also to find out if the virus actually originated in China. Welcoming the WHO for this purpose shows China's goodwill and proves that the country has nothing to hide.

Supporting the WHO is part of China's commitment to upholding multilateral bodies, rather than undermining them like America's termination of its relationship with the organization in the middle of the pandemic. When WHO teams arrived in China in February and July last year for COVID-19's origin tracing, they received maximum facilitation.

A pertinent question to ask here is whether the deluge of Western politicians, think tanks and vitriolic columnists will apologize if the origin of the virus is finally certified to be outside of China? Will they step back and say, "Yes, we were wrong, we regret our accusations and we are sorry for becoming pawns in Trump's reelection bid"?

The answer is obviously understandable. But China's part in helping the world learn more about COVID-19 and its contribution to the research and development of vaccines deserve commendation since it has now gained the longest experience in fighting the disease.

By Iram Khan. The author is a Pakistan-based commentator on international affairs. (Source: CGTN)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16)  China has granted the Philippines 500 million, or around 3.72 billion, to support the implementation of the governments infrastructure projects and other development programs.

In a statement, the Department of Finance said Finance Undersecretary Mark Dennis Joven and Deng Boqing, vice chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, signed the agreement for the funding, adding that it intends to support infrastructure and livelihood programs, as well as feasibility studies to be mutually agreed upon by both parties.

Subject to further discussions between our two governments and depending on the requirements, this may possibly include support for COVID-19 related activities and response measures, Joven said.

The signing was witnessed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Teddy Boy Locsin, Jr. and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was visiting the country as part of his five-day tour in Southeast Asia.

The latest development brings the total number of China grants to the country to seven under the current administration, with a total value of 3.25 billion, or around 23 billion.

Among the projects being funded by the earlier agreements are the Binondo-Intramuros and Estrella-Pantaleon bridges, the reconstruction of Marawi City, and the procurement of container inspection equipment for the Bureau of Customs.

Meanwhile, the Palace said that during Wangs courtesy call in Malacanang, President Rodrigo Duterte stressed the need for stronger cooperation when it comes to public health between the two countries to accelerate economic recovery amid the global health crisis.

The recovery of nationssits on the back of stronger economies. China plays a very key role in reviving our regions economy. Let us do all we can to revive economic activities between the Philippines and China, Duterte was quoted in a statement.

For his part, Wang reaffirmed his commitment to support the Philippines in its fight against COVID-19 and its recovery through enhanced economic cooperation. He earlier announced that China will donate 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the country.

The official also committed that all China-funded infrastructure projects will be completed, noting that the Samal Island-Davao City Connector Project and the Subic-Clark Railway Project agreements will be finalized this week.
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Now what, Republicans?

Our worthless opinions and romanticized delusions about democracy as a Grecian pursuit of Jeffersonian erudition won't save us.

It is Republicans who romanticize democracy, not Democrats. Democrats romanticize outnumbering, overwhelming, and overtaking their opposition; their modus operandi isn't very different from that of Islamic supremacists or the Chinese.

To affirm just how pathetic the now extinct national GOP is, Republicans are placing their hopes and dreams with...Joe Manchin, senator from West Virginia.

We debunk ourselves, oblivious to our own self-irony.

The Problem

Republicans have to work much more to drive voter turnout than do Democrats. This is because too many Republicans live in a world created by George Will, Willard Romney, and William Kristol, where democracy is an endeavor of Arthurian nobility, in which the finest traits of man manifest for all the world to see.

Democrats? Nah, they don't bother with any of that drivel  outnumber, overwhelm, and overtake. Vote blue no matter who, no matter what.

We lost Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin by a combined 43,000 votes. A total of 4.3 million registered voters in these states stayed home on Election Day, and I promise you the majority weren't Democrats. Furthermore, the Libertarian candidate received more votes in each state than was each's margin of victory for Biden. Libertarians are romanticizers of democracy as well.

Had we won the three, Trump and Biden would have each finished with 269 electoral votes, and the U.S. House of Representatives would have soon thereafter, in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment, held a contingent election, with a state delegation vote for president and a U.S. Senate vote for vice president. End result? Keep America Great, and a real-life, real-time civics lesson. How breathtakingly beautiful it would have been.

Instead, we were subjected to a march of futility in Washington, D.C. on January 6 and some inanity about 74 million voters  we now love the popular vote! Though I don't doubt that fraud, irregularities, and Democrat interstate migration hurt us, we were hurt far more by the usual Republican laziness, torpor, and obsession with the romanticization of democracy. In electoral politics, no man is an island.

If we had a Republican Party that had taken the time to actually understand the Democrat opposition, it would have created a culture whose members would have deployed the identical modus operandi to the Democrats'. The most effective means by which to defeat fraud is to outnumber, overtake, and overwhelm the fraudsters. Rather, the GOP has spent years insulting our intelligence, eagerly awaiting cocktail party invitations from the editorial boards of The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Federally, America is now a Westernized monarchy and Godless sharia theocracy hybrid, with Biden simply a Manchurian president, who will sign where he's told to with his China-made pens. To lose, on the same day, the presidency and two Senate seats necessary to prevent a Democrat congressional tyranny of the majority was a most fitting denouement to the tragedy of the national GOP.

PS: About 2.8 million registered Georgia voters didn't vote in the Senate runoffs. Jon Ossoff won by 55,000 votes, Warnock 93,000.

The Solution

We need re-education about democracy, and the de-romanticization process must immediately commence.

Democracy is the benign versus the malignant. It is a terrible model of governance  it is just the least terrible of all the terrible models. It is made less terrible, however, when adult-minded Americans participate in it. This is a point I delve deep into in my upcoming first book, 10 Warning Signs Your Child Is Becoming a Democrat: How to Make America Grown-Up Again.

Yes or no: Did the Framers trust We the People to make future correct decisions? If you answered "yes," your romanticization of democracy as a mellifluous Shakespearean sonnet is showing. Had the Founders believed this, they would have constructed the republic as a simple-majority democracy. They didn't, because simple-majority democracy is terrorism.

John Adams, 1814:

Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.

George Washington, 1791:

The tumultuous populace of large cities are ever to be dreaded. Their indiscriminate violence prostrates for the time all public authority, and its consequences are sometimes extensive and terrible.

The only point Washington was mistaken on was his "sometimes" qualifier; it's almost always. It is not coincidental that he expressed this five months before the ratification of the Bill of Rights.

Democrats have spent the last century infiltrating virtually every public- and private-sector industry in the U.S., including once reliable red states. Democrats have always focused on outcomes and results. Opinions don't pay the bills, win, and influence  outcomes and results do. Too many Republicans, conversely, have spent the last half-century espousing their worthless, useless, irrelevant, insignificant, and romanticized opinions  which have never resulted in a singular win, of any kind, anywhere.

The sad irony is, I don't believe there actually are more Democrats than non-Democrats. The Democrats now own the Legislative and Executive Branches, but there are 23 GOP trifecta state legislatures and governors, compared to 15 for the Democrats. The GOP is also the majority in another eight legislatures that have Democrat governors.

State sovereignty is all we're probably going to have left soon. Congress and D.C. are gone  too adulterated  and eventually the money-printing machine will be irreparable. The macro is failing, or has failed, but the micro could lead us to salvation.

I know, I know: "Rich, we're not a democracy; we're a constitutional republic." As if Democrats actually care. Our Constitution, our framework, and our principles are all abstracts  inanimate objects that endure, or are murdered, by man.

I have designated 2021 as the year of The Sounding of the Alarm. Soundings are what the Founders, Reagan, and Trump did. Trump will be a mere footnote in the GOP's history because the party couldn't romanticize him.

Republicans often cite Benjamin Franklin's 1787 "a republic  if you can keep it" comment. Rarely, however, does one ever say the balance of the quote. In the full exchange, Franklin is asked why the citizens of the young republic wouldn't want to keep the republic. Franklin replied: "Because the people, on tasting the dish, are always disposed to eat more of it than does them good."

Chew on that, Republicans, and get back to me with some solutions to resuscitate America from her attempted suicide. Tick-tock.

Rich Logis is author of the upcoming book 10 Warning Signs Your Child Is Becoming a Democrat: How to Make America Grown-Up Again. He can be reached at Rich@OpinionsAreWorthless.com, on Twitter at @RichLogis, and Parler at @RichLogis.

Image: hansgklein via Pixabay, Pixabay License.
Retired Army General Stanley McChrystal has compared the MAGA riot to the evolution of Al-Qaeda saying in both instances people followed a 'powerful leader' who 'justified their violence', as he warned America is headed for a homegrown insurgency.

McChrystal, the former commander of American troops in Afghanistan, said there are terrifying parallels between the birth of the terrorist group responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks and the violent siege on the US Capitol last week that left five dead and sent shockwaves around the world.

Donald Trump has given his supporters 'legitimacy to become even more radical', he told Yahoo News, with his Stop the Steal rhetoric now a radical rallying cry similar to the Lost Cause adopted by the Southerners in the American Civil War.

McChrystal, who was fired by President Barack Obama after he made disparaging remarks about him and then-Vice President Joe Biden, warned that now 'the fabric of something very dangerous has been woven', the consequences will continue long after Trump leaves office.

His comments come as the nation is still reeling from the January 6 attack on the seat of American democracy and security is being ramped up ahead of President-elect Biden's inauguration.

As more arrests of mob members are made and new details of the siege continue to emerge, it has become increasingly clear that among the rioters were members of several extremist groups including white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Proud Boys.

Retired Army General Stanley McChrystal has compared the MAGA riot to the evolution of Al-Qaeda saying in both instances people followed a 'powerful leader' who 'justified their violence', as he warned America is headed for a homegrown insurgency

McChrystal led the army's fight against the the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

He said the recent events on the US soil are drawing concerning reminders of the rise of the terrorist group.

Back then, people with 'very poor prospects' followed Osama Bin Laden 'who promised to take them back in time to a better place', he said.

For the last four years, Trump has taken on that role with a radical group of American citizens.

On January 6, he riled up the crowds at a DC rally telling them to march to the Capitol and 'to fight', moments before the mob broke into the building to stop the Electoral College votes being counted.

'I did see a similar dynamic in the evolution of al-Qaida in Iraq, where a whole generation of angry Arab youth with very poor prospects followed a powerful leader who promised to take them back in time to a better place, and he led them to embrace an ideology that justified their violence,' McChrystal told Yahoo News.

'This is now happening in America.'

McChrystal also drew comparisons to another dark time in American history.

'President Trump has updated Lost Cause with his 'Stop the Steal' narrative that they lost because of a stolen election, and that is the only thing holding these people down and stopping them from assuming their rightful place in society,' McChrystal said.

The Lost Cause myth came out of the Confederate states at the end of the Civil War as they tried to rewrite the narrative after losing.

Donald Trump has given his supporters 'legitimacy to become even more radical', he told Yahoo News, with his Stop the Steal rhetoric now a radical rallying cry similar to the Lost Cause adopted by the Confederates in the American Civil War. Pictured a rioter carries a Confederate flag through the Capitol

The violent siege on the US Capitol left five dead and sent shockwaves around the world

Trump supporters storming the Capitol on January 6 during the violent siege

Trump supporters storming the Capitol last week in a riot that left five dead

They falsely claimed the war was caused by secession and what they said was a noble pursuit to protect the country - not about slavery, which they still believed was just and moral.

Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly sought to rewrite his legitimate 2020 presidential election loss by pushing unfounded claims of mass voter fraud - claims that his avid fans have latched onto.

'That gives them legitimacy to become even more radical,' McChrystal told Yahoo News.

He warned that the problem is already much deeper than people realize: 'I think we're much further along in this radicalization process, and facing a much deeper problem as a country, than most Americans realize.'

And the radicalization which has already taken deep roots in the US will not simply disappear when Trump does, McChrystal warned.

Federal authorities are still rounding up perpetrators of last week's riot and have vowed to come down heavily on those involved.

When this happens, McChrystal said, extremists tend to go quiet and regroup and will likely become 'more professional'.

'As this extremist movement comes under increasing pressure from law enforcement in the coming days and weeks, its members will likely retreat into tighter and tighter cells for security, and that will make them more professional, and those cells will become echo chambers that incubate even more radical thinking along the lines of armed insurrection,' he said.

Trump told his supporters to 'fight' moments before he stormed the Capitol

Brian Michael Jenkins, a senior adviser to the president of the RAND Corporation, also compared the January 6 mob to the devastation caused by Al-Qaeda. Pictured Osama Bin Laden

'So even if Trump exits the scene, the radical movement he helped create has its own momentum and cohesion now, and they may find they don't need Trump anymore.'

Another 'charismatic leader' will step up and fill the gap left by Trump, McChrystal added.

'They can just wait for another charismatic leader to appear,' he said.

'So the fabric of something very dangerous has been woven, and it's further along than most Americans care to admit.'

McChrystal was the head of Joint Special Operations Command in Iraq during the 2000s and the commander of all US and allied troops fighting the terrorist organization in Afghanistan.

In 2006, he was credited with leading the airstrike that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

But in 2010 he was fired from his role as the commander of multinational forces in Afghanistan by Obama after a Rolling Stone article revealed he made disparaging remarks about the president and senior administration figures.

In the article, McChrystal said it was 'painful' to watch Obama's slow approval of the deployment of thousands more US soldiers to Afghanistan.

An aide to the army boss also said McChrystal had been 'disappointed' after he had a meeting with Obama who 'didn't seem very engaged'.

McChrystal also pretended not to know Biden who was Obama's Vice-President at the time while an aide mocked Biden's use of the phrase 'bite me.'

McChrystal was promptly fired. But despite their speckled past, the retired general said he was endorsing Biden in the lead-up to the 2020 election.

McChrystal was fired by President Barack Obama after he made disparaging remarks about him and then-Vice President Joe Biden. McChrystal and Obama in 2009

McChrystal (right in 2009) warned that now 'the fabric of something very dangerous has been woven', the consequences will continue long after Trump leaves office

'They didn't see everything the way I did. But in every instance, they listened. In every instance, they took in my view,' he said of Biden and Obama in an MCSNBC interview in October.

'In every instance, I felt that they were trying to make the best decision based on all the information they had, and based on a bedrock of values.'

In 2018, McChrystal described Trump's behavior toward the military as 'deeply disturbing' and said 'the size of the defense budget is not a measure of patriotism or connection with those in service'.

'I don't think that President Trump has developed as deep - a real connection of trust - with the military as perhaps he thinks he has,' he said.

McChrystal's warnings of escalating extremism on US soil were echoed by other counterterrorism experts who fear that all the signs of growing violent extremist movements are there to see.

Brian Michael Jenkins, a senior adviser to the president of the RAND Corporation, also compared the January 6 mob to the devastation caused by Al-Qaeda, saying both are the result of extremists mobilizing behind one common view.

McChrystal, the former commander of American troops in Afghanistan, said there are terrifying parallels between the birth of the terrorist group responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks and the violent siege on the US Capitol last week. Pictured Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front fighters

'Osama bin Laden's major contribution to the terrorist pantheon was to create a mythology around the narrative that a band of Arab fighters defeated the Soviet superpower in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and he used that mythology to bring together a lot of disparate terrorist groups from all over the world under the single banner of al-Qaida, giving them cohesion and an organizational structure,' he told Yahoo News.

'Similarly, the people behind January 6, 2021, mobilized right-wing extremists of every stripe - white supremacists, neo-Nazis, QAnon, anti-Semites, antigovernment militias, xenophobes, anti-feminists - and brought them together as a movement in what amounted to a Woodstock festival for extremists.

'And now the 'Battle of Capitol Hill' has become symbolically important and central to right-wing mythology, and it will lead to more organizing and escalating threats from this movement, which we're already seeing.'

Symbols for right-wing fanatic groups the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Three Percenters were spotted among the mob on January 6.

Others rioters spewed the QAnon conspiracy theory - the debunked extreme right wing theory that claims Satan-worshipping pedophiles are plotting against Donald Trump and are running a global child sex trafficking ring - and one rioter was seen wearing a 'Camp Auschwitz' sweater.

Proud Boys making the okay sign, now regarded as a white supremist symbol, and holding Trump 2020 and the Gadsden flags just before the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday

A rioter wears a 'Camp Auschwitz' sweater inside the Capitol building as it was stormed by pro-Trump rioters

Experts told Yahoo extremist terrorist movements start with lots of small similarly-minded groups like this before they join together over time to form a larger group.

As the group gains ground, the leaders often make themselves known to fuel the recruitment of more followers.

It is common for extremist movements to recruit from law enforcement and the military communities - something Islamic State did in recruiting Baathist military officers, reported Yahoo.

Several former military members took part in the violent riot on the state Capitol last week.

Ashli Babbit, the woman who was shot dead while she tried to climb through a window into the congressional chambers served 14 years in the Air Force.

Meanwhile, Larry Rendall Brock Jr., 53, who was seen dressed in combat gear and carrying zip ties in the Senate is a retired lieutenant colonel who was in the Air Force for more than two decades.

The US Army is said to be investigating 25 people including active-duty members thought to have participated in the mob.

As security intensifies in Washington, the Secret Service, who is in charge of all inauguration security, has released its restricted access plan, which includes what the agency is calling a 'Green Zone' in the heart of DC

In extraordinary scenes out of the capital, razor has been installed on anti-climb fences surrounding federal buildings in DC

Experts said extremist groups then often join with similar organizations operating in other countries.

Ali Soufan, a former FBI supervisory special agent and counterterrorism expert, said Thursday that some of the white supremacist groups at the Capitol riot had ties to overseas groups including the Nordic Front, a neo-Nazi group in the Nordics.

The growth of the extremism reached a tipping point last week when the rhetoric turned into violent action, experts said.

Concerns of 'major security threats' at Biden's inauguration have sent Washington DC into lockdown.

A Baghdad-style 'Green Zone' perimeter has been set up and more than 20,000 armed National Guard troops have been mobilized.

The Secret Service released its restricted access plan, which includes what the agency is calling a 'Green Zone' in the heart of DC.

The term 'Green Zone' was the same name given to the heavily-fortified area in Baghdad during the Iraq War.

Most of downtown DC is now off-limits to traffic and has already drawn comparisons to Baghdad's high-security zone.

In extraordinary scenes out of the capital, thousands of armed military members are patrolling the streets and anti-climb steel fences and road blocks continue to be installed in the wake of last week's deadly siege.
If Ms. Cheney is deposed, it could encourage primary challenges against other Republicans who supported impeachment or censure, including more moderate lawmakers like Representatives Peter Meijer and Fred Upton of Michigan and John Katko of New York, whose districts could slip away from Republicans if they nominated hard-line Trump loyalists. But in a sign that Mr. Trump cant expect to fully dictate party affairs, Mr. McCarthy has indicated that he opposes calls to remove her from leadership.

William E. Oberndorf, an influential Republican donor who gave $2.5 million to Mr. McConnells super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, in the 2020 election, said that donors should be closely watching the impeachment votes as they formulate their plans for giving. A longtime critic of Mr. Trump, Mr. Oberndorf said it had been a mistake for the party not to oust Mr. Trump during his first impeachment trial last year.

They now have a chance to address this egregious mistake and make sure Donald Trump will never be able to run for public office again, Mr. Oberndorf said. Republican donors should be paying attention to how our elected officials vote on this matter.

It is not yet clear how widely the party leadership might embrace a no-new-Trumps strategy, and there are strong indications that the Republican base might react with fury to any explicit effort to relegate the former president to the political dustbin. In a vexing complication for Senate leaders, the chairman of their campaign committee, Senator Rick Scott of Florida, has spoken critically of impeachment and opposed certifying Pennsylvanias election results  a vote that could undermine his ability to raise funds from big donors.

A number of state parties are already controlled by Trump allies, some of whom said Republican traditionalists would have to come to terms with their new coalition.

What President Trump has done has realigned the political parties, and either the establishment of the Republican Party recognizes that or we dont  and I believe that we will, said Representative Ken Buck, who is also the Colorado G.O.P. chairman. He suggested that the party should be attentive to Mr. Trumps working-class support and avoid being hyperfocused on the suburban vote.
A doctor has been sentenced to seven years in prison for her role in a scheme to prescribe Adderall to people without a legitimate medical purpose.

Leslie Caraceni, 58, of Uxbridge, was also sentenced Wednesday in federal court to three years of probation, federal prosecutors said in a statement Friday.

Caraceni previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute Adderall and to distributing Adderall.

She was one of three people indicted in November 2018. The other two people, who worked at Caracenis offices in Framingham and Whitinsville, have also pleaded guilty.

The three of them took part in a scheme to prescribe Adderall, an amphetamine used to treat ADHD, to people who had not been medically examined or given a clinical diagnosis to warrant a prescription, prosecutors said.

Office visits lasted just minutes and each visit cost approximately $200, payable in cash or through a credit card or debit card, authorities said.

Through the scheme, more than 110,000 pills were prescribed between November 2015 and July 2018, authorities said.

My wifes hairdresser is retraining to become an interior decorator. I always look forward to Vinnies visits (when hes allowed to cross our threshold, of course) and he speaks sense, especially about priorities in a home.

Shortly before the latest lockdown, I asked him about tiles for the bathroom my wife and I are planning to acquire for our tiny pre-fab house in Wiltshire, which is being made in a factory near Winchester.

People dont give enough attention to tiles, he said. And yet they are crucially important because at any stage you can change the colour of your walls or buy a new sofa, but seldom would you bother to change your tiles. So make sure you get them right in the first place.

Soft palette: A kitchen with Otto Tiles

That struck a chord, not least because weve been spending an inordinate amount of time in our local Topps Tiles and trawling the internet for tiles that wont blow the budget.

Theres a lot of choice out there. Then Vinnie, warming to his theme, suggested we take a look at a company called Otto Tiles (ottotiles.co.uk), based in North London and Istanbul, and even went as far as requesting on our behalf some samples of the companys handmade Bejmat range.

They duly arrived and now were all at sea because they are beautiful, irresistible even. Gorgeous natural colours, thick, rustic, defiantly handmade. And they have an interesting back story, too.

Damla Turgut, 35, trained as a finance lawyer in Turkey and came to do her masters in the UK five years ago, whereupon she fell in love with London. At the time, her father had an export company selling ceramic tiles to African countries and she got involved.

I started helping him, but quickly realised I didnt like what we were selling, says Damla. So I started designing my own tiles and was determined to make them in the traditional Turkish way, building on the countrys heritage, but getting away from the usual black, red and white colours.

It seems to have worked. Damla now employs six people in Istanbul and a further six in London. All her tiles are made in Turkey, using the skills of an Armenian craftsman who builds the moulds by hand and adds other ingredients such as cement and sand before it is pressed together in a vice-like machine.

Otto Tiles's 'Bejmat' tile

They are then placed in natural wood-fired kilns, where the heat circulates unevenly giving different tones of colours.

Ottos Bejmat collection come in small bricks measuring 14cm x 5cm x 2cm and cost 78p per tile or 140 sq metre.

We have the most imperfect tiles in the world, says Damla. Its the imperfectness that give the tiles their beauty. There are absolutely no two tiles alike.

The same cant be said for Topps Tiles (toppstiles.co.uk) or CTD Tiles (ctdtiles.co.uk), both of which have multiple stores across the UK. But what they lack in artisan character is off-set by the huge extent of their ranges and their affordable prices, which start at about 39p for a plain tile.

Whats clever about Topps  whose sales have jumped by nearly 20 per cent in the last quarter  is how the company sells many of the same designs as the likes of Fired Earth, but at a fraction of the cost.

For example, Toppss Minton Hollins Delft Blue & White Flower inset tiles cost 4.69 each, whereas Fired Earths English Delft Peony tile  based on designs from the 16th century when Flemish potters settled in England  costs from 17.56 each.

'Topps sells many of the same designs as the likes of Fired Earth, but at a fraction of the cost'

Tiles are popular again, particularly geometric ones, says John McCall, managing director of John McCall Design (mccalldesign.co.uk). Bold tiled splashbacks in kitchens and bathrooms are making a comeback after years of being a no-no with the design cognescenti, who favoured marble and plain tiles, never patterned.

Toppss distressed Archivo Bakula tiles seem perfectly on trend. They capture the look of hand-painted terracotta tiles by using inkjet technology. The blue Bakula tile is named after a flowering Indian tree and incorporates a floral design with elements of the French fleur-de-lis motif. They are 12.5 cm square and cost 1.40 each or 89.60 per square metre.

Mr McCall also says hand-cut Moroccan tiles have shed their hippy connotations and are used successfully in bathrooms.

It seems that tiles earn their keep in practical ways in kitchens and bathrooms, while at the same time adding flourishes of colour and exotic rich textures to give any home a greater sense of place.

They can look forward to a bright 2021.
Weapons are forbidden in certain state and county government facilities in Pennsylvania, but Eastons mayor wants to extend that to municipal buildings as well.

Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said he has sent a letter to state elected officials asking that guns and other weapons be banned from Easton City Council and other local government meetings and facilities.

Panto said he has made the request before but he felt the need to make it again considering recent violence at the U.S. Capitol. The world, especially our country, is very divided, Panto said at Wednesdays city council meeting.

Other than exceptions like law enforcement officers, weapons are not allowed in Pennsylvania court facilities, and elementary and secondary schools, according to state law. The Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg and the Northampton County government complex in Easton house court facilities and are covered by the law. Both facilities require members of the public to pass through metal detectors as they enter the building.

Panto said it is unfair that city, borough and township officials are not afforded the same protection when they conduct business at municipal facilities.

The fact that you can bring a weapon into city council or a public building is ludicrous to me, Panto said. It lacks common sense to me at all levels.

In Pennsylvania, only the state General Assembly can make laws regarding the possession of weapons. Municipalities are not allowed to make such laws for themselves.

No county, municipality or township may in any manner (can) regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this Commonwealth, according to state law.

Panto noted the tragedy in Monroe County, evidently referring to the 2018 fatal shooting of Paradise Township code enforcement officer Michael Tripus in the townships municipal building, as a reason weapons should be banned from government facilities.

Panto said he sent letters asking for the ban to state Sen. Lisa Boscola, state Rep. Robert Freeman and other Pennsylvania government leaders.

I am asking that our state legislature takes a proactive role and immediately passes a law that forbids weapons in all public buildings, Panto said. It isnt fair to our local officials and employees that we ban weapons in the State Capitol building and our courts but not in our municipal buildings.

Panto said his past requests for a ban on weapons at municipal buildings have fallen on deaf ears.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a subscription.

John Best is a freelance contributor to lehighvalleylive.com.


STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The Staten Island District Attorney is urging Staten Islanders to report discarded needles in an effort to combat the drug crisis in the borough.

On Wednesday, Michael McMahon joined forces with the NYPD, Jamie Longo from Community Health Action Staten Island and Assemblymember Michael Reilly (R-South Shore) to clean up an area of the waterfront on Richmond Terrace by Snug Harbor Road. There, they found numerous used needles.

I want to thank a very good partner in this fight, Assemblymember Michael Reilly for notifying my office to this problem spot on Richmond Terrace and for the NYPD and Community Health Action Staten Island for joining us in this clean-up, McMahon said. Moreover, CHASI will be dispatching peers to this location to try to find those suffering from addiction illness and offer them life-saving interventions.

District Attorney Michael McMahon joined forces with the NYPD and Jamie Longo from Community Health Action Staten Island to conduct a drug paraphernalia clean-up on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. (Courtesy of the District Attorneys Office)

The drug crisis is a war that must be fought on all fronts, and that includes working to help keep our communities clean from dangerous drug paraphernalia littered carelessly in public spaces, McMahon said. Staten Islanders who find excessive amounts of drug debris in their communities should always report it by contacting our anti-litter team, and our partners, and we will do our best to have the area cleaned.

In the first two weeks of 2021, Staten Island recorded 12 overdoses and four overdose fatalities, McMahons office previously said.

As we can see, the drug crisis is still a raging five-alarm fire and has grown more out of control as we continue to feel the effects of COVID-19 on our society, McMahon said. Our multi-pronged approach includes aggressively pursuing those who purvey this poison to our neighbors, and helping the addicted get help. We are here to guide Staten Island through these challenging times.

McMahon said his HOPE team, which includes peer advocates, social workers and attorneys, is always available for help.

The HOPE team can be reached at 917-334-8019, or by emailing Floyd.Miller@rcda.nyc.gov.
Former Bray residents Anne Enright and Neil Jordan have been commissioned by RTE Radio 1 to write two of 12 original short stories on the theme of independence, to mark Ireland's Decade of Centenaries.

The 12 half-hour stories will be included in a radio and podcast series which airs on Sundays at 7 p.m.

Among the writers are Dublin Literary Prize winners, a Booker Prize winner, an IFTA award winner, an Oscar winning writer, authors whose work has been awarded Irish short story of the Year, as well as numerous other international awards and short-listings, along with major national and international publishing contracts.

Their stories originate from a consideration of independence, a hundred years after Ireland's War of Independence and illustrate how an idea or concept can be so variously and entertainingly interpreted while collectively shed light on us and our times.

The commissions are shared across geographies, genders, those whose first language is neither English nor Irish as well as an Irish language writer.

Anne Enright, Roisin O'Donnell, Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhride, Yan Ge, Kevin Barry, Danielle McLaughlin, Wendy Erskine, Sue Rainsford, Mary Costello, Colin Barrett, Mike McCormack and Neil Jordan have written pieces for the series.

The stories will be voiced either by their authors or by actors.

Four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan reads Sue Rainsford's story 'Shorn' which will be broadcast on Sunday, January 31.

The Spoken Stories concept and this series was originated by Cliodhna Ni Anluain, who is also its producer.

She said: 'New fiction is such a dynamic strand of contemporary Irish cultural expression. Spoken Stories is a brand-new concept for short fiction to be commissioned and produced under a common theme or thread, and through which the listener is treated to readings of them by their authors or by invited actors, cast to best serve the stories and audiences.'

As well as airing live on Radio 1, the 12 stories will be available at rte.ie/culture and can be found on all podcast platforms.
Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford will forever be connected thanks to the Indiana Jones franchise. While Ford was already a major movie star thanks to the Star Wars movies at the time, he hadnt had much success as a leading man away from the galaxy far away.

However, after Indiana Jones, he had another hit under his belt with the help of Spielberg. However, the professional relationship between the two almost got bigger when Spielberg was casting Jurassic Park. The pair spoke about this collaboration that wasnt at a recent event.

Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg worked on the Indiana Jones franchise

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones | CBS via Getty Images

Spielberg and Fords professional relationship begins and ends with Indiana Jones. However, seeing as the franchise premiered in 1981 and continues going strong today, the pair have worked with each other four times up until now.

According to Spielberg, he wanted Ford for Jones after visiting him on the set of The Empire Strikes Back. Spielberg gave the idea to Lucas, who wrote all four Indiana Jones movies, but the Star Wars creator wasnt sold.

Lucas worried that audiences could view a man like Ford as unoriginal. However, after seeing his take on Han Solo, a notorious curmudgeon who will go to any length to do whats right, dreams of Tom Selleck and other actors carrying the whip were quickly put aside. Ford appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and a new franchise was born.

RELATED: Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Hilarious Tricks Steven Spielberg Used to Film the Infamous Snake Scene

Now, Ford is synonymous with both Indiana Jones and Han Solo. Looking back, Spielberg has let it be known that he cant see any other actor taking over for him, even as he approaches eighty.

As long as theres more adventures out there, Spielberg told Screen Daily. Ive got a bullwhip, a fedora, a leather jacket and a man on a horse who knows how to get the job done.

Third times a charm?

Save for a cut cameo in ET, Ford and Spielbergs actor/director relationship has stayed with the Indiana Jones franchise. While Spielberg will give James Mangold the directors chair in the upcoming fifth movie, Spielberg will reunite with Ford as executive producer.

At a screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spielberg revealed that Ford was almost cast in his other iconic franchise. After Ford made a joke about how Spielberg only casts him as Indiana Jones, Spielberg interjected with some inside knowledge.

I gotta correct this, Spielberg told the crowd (per The Mary Sue). Do you know who I offered Jurassic Park to? This guy. Alan Grant. I first offered to this guy.

He pointed at Ford. While Sam Neill has become synonymous with Grant, however, Fords involvement may have been another notch in their belts for an already lucrative collaboration.

Harrison Ford almost starred in Jurassic Park

Spielberg had several other actors in mind when he was thinking of Alan Grant. From Kurt Russell to Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, Dennis Quaid, and Dylan McDermott, the director had several names that he could see inside the role. It eventually went to Sam Neill, but one cant help but think about how Ford could have added to his resume with the part.

Alan Grant is portrayed as smart, albeit occasionally pompous throughout the film. Picturing Fords sardonic persona and sarcastic demeanor in the role is not far-fetched.

Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant, next to an electric fence in a scene from the film Jurassic Park, 1993. | Murray Close/Getty Images

Whatever the case may be, the eventual choice of Neill helped pave the way for one of the most successful franchises in history. To Fords credit, hes maintained a place atop Hollywoods A-List to this day. Jurassic Park may have been just as big as it is with Ford inside the khakis.

Regardless, Spielberg and Ford remain close friends to this day, and while Ford is awaiting his return to Indiana Jones, Neill is poised to come back to Jurassic Park in the upcoming Jurassic World sequel.
India is launching one of the worlds largest coronavirus vaccination drives on Saturday, setting in motion a complex deployment plan aimed at stemming the wide spread of infections across a nation of more than 1.3 billion people.

At hospitals and vaccination centers across major Indian cities -- from Mumbai to New Delhi -- tens of thousands of key front-line workers are expected to line up to receive and administer the first vaccines.

The inoculation campaign across the worlds second-most populous country will be a crash course over whether Covid-19 can be swiftly tamed in nations with disjointed health and transportation networks. Officially more than 10.5 million people in India have been infected with the disease that has also killed at least 150,000 in its borders.

Unexpected Glitches

The effort comes as more-developed nations have struggled in trying to rush out inoculations. Though the U.S. and other countries have stockpiled hundreds of millions of doses, the pace of vaccinations has been challenged by unexpected glitches and logistical problems.

Indias rollout is one of the earliest and most ambitious in Asia, where many nations are taking a slower approach in inoculating their populations. Thats partly because those countries are facing less severe virus outbreaks than India, which has the second-highest number of infections in the world.

India has initially granted emergency licenses to the two-dose vaccines manufactured by Bharat Biotech International Ltd. and the Serum Institute of India Ltd. The latter has partnered with AstraZeneca Plc to make at least one billion doses of their shot. New Delhi has already made its first purchase of 11 million Astra shots, as well as 5.5 million vials of Covaxin, the indigenous inoculation produced by Bharat Biotech.

Plans drawn up by Indias health ministry outline steps to vaccinate 300 million people in the first stage through August.

In an initial round, 30 million health-care and front line workers -- such as police and defense force staff -- will receive injections. In the second phase, about 270 million people above the age of 50 and those at particular risk to Covid will be inoculated. The process will draw on existing networks used to vaccinate tens of millions of babies each year against diseases such as polio.

Indias deployment blue print has a level of detail which I havent seen in any other rollout plans," said Prashant Yadav, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington.

Bottleneck Risks

However, those arrangements may face bottlenecks and vaccine wastage when implemented by the countrys four levels of government, particularly once deployment fans out to Indias rural hinterland, he said.

There are going to be clinics in places which dont have as much demand as was originally planned, which requires changing the plan, making supply shift to other locations quickly," Yadav said. Is the decision-making going to be agile?"

Vaccinators may also face a hesitant population after Indias drug regulator caused controversy by giving a green light to Bharat Biotechs Covaxin this month even though it has yet to clear final-stage trials.

The decision on the shot, which was developed in partnership with Indias government, was met with widespread criticism among scientists. Days later, executives from Bharat Biotech and Serum engaged in a public spat over the safety of their respective and rival vaccines.

Massive Effort

Its unclear whether every state, district, every vaccine site will get both," and if Indians will get a choice, Yadav said. People have questions about both, but particularly about one of them -- that is the trickiest part of this rollout."

Government officials have been adamant that both vaccines are safe and have urged the public to get inoculated.

For now, health experts and industry specialists are confident the initial phase in urban centers will be relatively well managed. The real test will come as India widens its vaccination net.

The rollout itself looks like a massive effort," Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said in an interview. But in India weve had several such drives -- in fact, the one to eradicate polio was more complicated as our teams went door-to-door."

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The US government executed two prisoners Thursday night and early Saturday as the Trump administration continued its killing spree in advance of the inauguration of Joe Biden as president on January 20. The US Supreme Court allowed both executions to proceed.

Federal death row inmate Corey Johnson, 52, was executed Thursday night at the federal prison facility in Terre Haute, Indiana. His execution was the second time in less than five weeks that the federal government executed a likely intellectually disabled death row prisoner without giving the inmate a judicial review to determine eligibility for the death penalty.

The federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana on Aug. 28, 2020 [Credit: Michael Conroy/AP Photo]

Johnson was convicted and sentenced to die for killing seven people in 1992 as a part of the drug trade in Virginia. In his final statement, Johnson apologized for his crimes and told the families of the victims that he hoped they would find peace. I would have said I was sorry before, but I didnt know how. I hope you will find peace, he said, according his lawyers. To my family, I have always loved you, and your love has made me real. On the streets, I was looking for shortcuts.  I was blind and stupid. I am not the same man that I was.

Johnson was pronounced dead at 11:34 p.m. by prison authorities after receiving a lethal injection of pentobarbital. His execution was the second of three scheduled in the week before Inauguration Day as Donald Trump seeks to end his presidential term by inflicting the cruel wrath of the state killing machine with unprecedented speed.

In the early morning hours of January 13, Lisa Montgomery, 52, was executed for the 2004 murder of a pregnant woman and the kidnapping of her premature baby. Montgomerys attorney said of her execution, The government stopped at nothing in its zeal to kill this damaged and delusional woman. Both Johnsons and Montgomerys executions proceeded with the sanction of the US Supreme Court despite clear evidence of their intellectual disability.

Federal inmate Dustin Higgs, 48, was executed and pronounced dead at 1:23 a.m. Saturday, just hours after the Supreme Court lifted a stay issued Wednesday by a federal appeals court. The Supreme Court voted, 6-3, to vacate the stay issued by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Higgs was convicted in the 1996 murders of three women in Maryland. In his final statement before his lethal injection, Higgs was defiant. Mentioning the victims by name, he said. Id like to say I am an innocent man. I did not order the murders. Higgs was the 13th federal prisoner executed in six months and the fifth in the transition period between the November presidential election and Inauguration Day, January 20.

Both Higgs and Johnson contracted COVID-19 as part of a widespread outbreak at the Terre Haute facility. Experts testifying on behalf of the two men said that pentobarbital, the barbiturate used in federal executions, could cause flash pulmonary edema, a condition similar to waterboarding, while they are still conscious. The courts, including the nations high court, rejected this as a basis for staying Johnsons execution, and it is likely the same fate awaits Higgs.

In an order issued at 10 p.m. Thursday, four hours after Johnson was scheduled to be executed, the Supreme Court denied Johnsons emergency application for a stay to permit him to present evidence of his intellectual disability. Only Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor dissented. The Supreme Court ruled in Atkins v. Virginia in 2002 that the execution of the mentally retarded violates the Eighth Amendments prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Earlier Thursday evening, the judges of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit declined to reconsider a three-judge panels ruling refusing to grant Johnson an evidentiary hearing on his claim of intellectual disability. Dissenting, Judge James A. Wynn wrote that newly available evidence convincingly demonstratesthat he is intellectually disabled under current diagnostic standards. But no court has ever considered such evidence.

In December, Johnson filed a petition in federal district court in Richmond, Virginia, seeking a review of evidence of his intellectual disability that his trial lawyer had failed to address.

His new lawyers presented records and witness affidavits showing that Johnson had remained in the second grade for three years, and also repeated third and fourth grades. When asked his birthday at age eight, while in second grade, he thought it was in March, though he was actually born in November.

They said, When he was 13 years old, he could barely write his own name. And while he knew there were 12 months in the year, he could recite them only up to August. Corey was not able to tell time or perform arithmetic beyond a third-grade level. When he was last tested at age 45, Mr. Johnson was still at an elementary school level. .

Johnsons lawyer at trial relied on the testimony of Dr. Dewey Cornell, a psychologist with no expertise in intellectual disability, who administered an outdated test that scored Johnsons IQ at 77, placing him above the range typically defined as indicating intellectual disability. His trial lawyer ignored the opinion of Richard Benedict, who had taught Johnson, who called him a poster child for intellectual disability.

Johnsons defense counsel told the jury, Now, Im not intending to suggest at this juncture or any other juncture that Corey Johnson is mentally retarded. The condemned man was sent to his death with no court having heard evidence that his execution would be unconstitutional.

Another federal prisoner, Alfred Bourgeois, was executed on December 11 despite evidence that may have proved him ineligible for the death penalty due to his intellectual disability. A federal court in Texas denied Bourgeoiss claim of intellectual disability, relying on a series of lay stereotypes with no clinical validity. Despite the finding of another federal district court that Bourgeois had made a strong showing of intellectual disability, the ruling was reversed by a federal appeals court. The Supreme Court allowed his execution to go forward.

In July 2019, thenUS Attorney General William Barr directed the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to reinstate the death penalty for federal inmates, setting the stage for the execution of inmates on federal death row for the first time in 16 years, reversing what had been an essential moratorium on the federal death penalty and setting the stage for an assembly line of federal executions over the next year and a half.

Previous to Barrs directive, three federal death-row prisoners had been executed since the reinstatement of the federal death penalty in 1988: Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, on June 11, 2001; Juan Raul Garza, on June 19, 2001, for the murder of three drug dealers; and Louis Jones, a Gulf War veteran, on March 18, 2003, for the kidnapping and murder of a female solder.

Since then, in addition to the three executions carries out in 2021, the following federal prisoners have been sent to their deaths:
Presented, hosted, and sponsored by Foley & Lardner LLP, the firm made significant changes to the production of the events in order to follow current health and safety guidelines. The events were conducted using a live-virtual hybrid approach to help ensure past event continuity and safety for everyone involved.

The fourth and fifth-graders presented original speeches about "how MLK Jr.'s teachings can help us today."

Winners of each of the competitions are Dominic Patermo, fifth-grader from Harry C. Withers Elementary in Dallas; Vivianna Serna, fourth-grader from Crespo Elementary in Houston; and Jesudemilade Adediji, fifth-grader from Avalon Park Elementary in Chicago.

Dallas student lists four lessons that would help the world unite

Dominic Patermo , the first-place winner in Dallas, discussed four key lessons from Dr. King that would help unite the world. He talked about living with intention and purpose and knowing your cause. He discussed that change is constant, and it's your reaction that matters. He declared to enlist your allies, even if they are not your best friends. And most importantly, persevere.

"We need to pursue the truth within ourselves! We need to continue to fight for what is right and have compassion and faith for one another," exclaimed Patermo. He ended the speech by proclaiming, "Our 'Americanness' is not enough. We must be united. Believe. Be real. Be you."

"It was a pleasure watching the students deliver such inspiring messages with the same passion and grace that MLK Jr. himself displayed," said Michael Newman , managing partner of Foley's Dallas office. "I'm incredibly proud of the students, the teams at the Dallas Independent School District, the staff at Foley, and everybody involved in helping make this event come together during these tumultuous times."

Zoe Frazier, a fourth-grade student from J.P. Starks Math, Science and Technology Vanguard, placed second in the Dallas competition, while fifth-grader Dinastee McKinney of Clara Oliver Elementary took home third place.

Houston fourth-grader reflects on current events and shares words of wisdom

Houston's first-place winner, Vivianna Serna , started her speech with a colorful and vivid memory of when she first experienced racism at six years old, being judged by the color of her brown skin. The student then expressed her concerns with the current social unrest and our worldwide health pandemic, reminding us that Dr. King would want us not to stumble but press on.

While reflecting on the world's current trials and tribulations, Vivianna stated, "We must meet forces of hate with the power of love. Dr. King always preached on the power of love." She ended with her strongest belief and a quote from Dr. King himself, "The time is always right to do what is right."

"This year's MLK Jr. oratory competition was a momentous occasion. It was the 25th anniversary of this event in Houston. We're operating in unprecedented times, and the world needs to hear these students' voices now more than ever," said Claude Treece , Foley's chief administrative partner and longtime event chair of the Houston competition. "I'm honored to have witnessed the intelligence and poise from these students. They always inspire me, and I hope they brought optimism to everybody who watched."

Pahy'tton Williams, a fourth-grade student from Foster Elementary, placed second in the Houston competition, while Jakiyah Bickham, a fourth-grade student from Pleasantville Elementary, took home third place.

Chicago fifth-grader urges to "keep fighting for Dr. King's dream to stay alive."

Chicago's first-place winner Jesudemilade Adediji addressed the audience by reciting Dr. King's famous "I have a dream" speech. His voice booming over the speakers like Dr. King's speech in 1963, Adediji said, "I have a dream today. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that people be created equal."

Throughout his speech, Adediji empowered people to continue the great work Dr. King started years ago, ending his speech by noting, "Let's continue to keep the King's dream alive. Let's continue to fight the fight for equality for all. Yes we can, yes we can, yes we can!"

"Despite the challenges of the school year, we're thrilled to have tripled the amount of participating schools in the Chicago competition," said Frank Pasquesi , managing partner of Foley's Chicago office. "The growth of the competition this year is a real testament to the significance of Dr. King's teachings and the enthusiasm and resiliency of these wonderful students who participated. We saw some future leaders, and I'm certain the world is in good hands with voices like theirs."

Zuri Young, a fifth-grade student from Caldwell Elementary, placed second in the Chicago competition, while fifth-grader Aniyah Hunt of Frank L. Gillespie Elementary took home third place.

Each of the competitions began with in-school qualifying rounds, which were conducted via video submission, followed by semifinals in Dallas and Houston, and the final round of competition in each city on Jan. 15. At all levels of the competition, students were evaluated based on delivery, stage presence and decorum, content interpretation and memorization. During the finals, panels of locally renowned community and business leaders judged the students on their performances.

The oratory competition is held in conjunction with Martin Luther King Jr. Day to encourage people to remember and pay tribute to the late civil rights leader's legacy. Foley established the event to encourage students to learn more about Dr. King and to help cultivate the writing and speaking skills of elementary school students.

The competition was created in Dallas in 1993. The event's success led to the establishment of the Houston competition in 1997 and the Chicago competition in 2020.

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Failing to respect the system threatens our democracy. Since the presidential election on Nov. 3, there have been three events that have demonstrated a lack of respect for our system:

The storming of the Capitol by protesters on Jan. 6 was an anarchic and lawless act that resulted from a failure to respect the system. The president and the protesters decided that objections to the Electoral College vote should be sustained and the vote of the Electoral College should not be certified because they believed that allegations of fraudulent and unlawful voting practices were true. Ignoring the system created by the Electoral Count Act of 1887 that authorizes Congress to make that decision, the protesters attempted to disrupt the process and usurp the function vested by law in Congress.

Preceding that event, the news media condemned U.S. senators for availing themselves of the process prescribed by the Electoral Count Act of 1887 for filing objections to certification of the Electoral College vote. That condemnation was based on the medias determination that the objections based on voter fraud and electoral irregularities were baseless and should be rejected. Irrespective of the ultimate affirmation by Congress of that position, the media displayed a lack of respect for the system by acting pre-emptively. Waiting until Congress had rejected the objections to condemn the senators who filed them would have shown respect for the system.

The Express-News Editorial Board criticized U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz by asserting that his objection to the Electoral College vote was an abandonment of democracy. That assertion displayed a lack of respect for the system by ignoring that the Electoral Count Act of 1887 is the product of our democratic government, and consistent with the essence of democracy authorizes the peoples elected representatives to participate in the process of determining whether the Electoral College vote should be certified.

Top hits: Get San Antonio Express-News stories sent directly to your inbox

The first event following the election that displayed a lack of respect for the system was the medias condemnation of those who filed lawsuits that alleged widespread voter fraud and illegalities. That condemnation was based on the medias decision that such unlawful voting had not occurred.

Regardless of the ultimate affirmation of its decision by the courts, the media ignored that the judicial system exists for the purpose of permitting parties to submit their claims to courts for resolution. Instead of showing respect for the system, displaying confidence in the courts and awaiting the courts decisions, the media determined the cases were without merit and condemned the parties for filing them.

Even though parties are entitled by law to file lawsuits contesting elections and members of Congress are entitled by law to file objections to the Electoral College vote, it is arguable that it was not right in this instance for them to take those actions, and, therefore, the actions were abuses of the system. To have predictable, fair, orderly and effective processes, what is right must be determined according to objective standards of a system governed by law rather than by each individuals personal assessment. To have a stable and enduring government, there must be respect for that system.

Having respect for the system does not require believing that the system is perfect. No system of government, whether democratic or authoritarian, is perfect for the reason that it is created and administered by imperfect people. Respect for the system does require, however, that its defects be corrected by means prescribed by the system.

Respecting the system is essential to saving our democracy.

Robert R. Barton is a retired Texas district judge in Kerrville.
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The COVID-19 vaccination drive is underway in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday with a government hospital doctor receiving the first shot, a senior health official said here. Chief Minister Pema Khandu inaugurated the state-wide launch of the COVID-19 inoculation exercise at the K D S District Hospital in Tawang earlier in the day.

Dr Deka, an associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) in Naharlagun near here was the first person in the state to receive the vaccine, State Surveillance Officer Dr Lobsang Jampa said. When the vaccination began, Home Minister Bamang Felix was present at TRIHMS.

READ | Covid Vaccination Drive Begins in Assam, Sub-divisional Medical Officer in Golaghat First to Receive Jab

On the first day, the vaccine will be administered to a total of 900 people, 100 each at nine session sites, Jampa said. "The vaccination drive will continue in the rest of the districts and blocks from Sunday as per the session planning in the CoWin portal," Jampa said.

A list of 23,505 healthcare professionals, including 3,867 vaccinators and 483 health workers from Indo-Tibetan Border Police, has been uploaded on CoWin, a digital platform for monitoring the inoculation exercise, he said. Around 28,000 frontline workers also registered their names at the portal.

ALSO READ | Covid-19 Vaccination Commences in Bihar, 30,000 to Be Inoculated Daily

The state received a total 32,000 doses of Covishield vaccine from the Centre till now, he said adding that the vaccines have been allocated to all districts. The state has 195 cold chain points for storage of COVID-19 vaccines, the official said.
New Delhi, Jan 16 : As many as 59.22 per cent of people across India prefer Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister as compared to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, whose approval rating is merely 25.62 per cent, as per the IANS C-Voter State of the Nation 2021 survey.

According to the survey, in a two-horse race, Modi is most preferred for being the Prime Minister, way ahead of Rahul Gandhi. More than 80 per cent of the people in Orissa and Himachal Pradesh prefer Modi as the Prime Minister. Surprisingly, a high percentage of people in the northeastern states -- 75.68 per cent -- echo similar sentiment.

On the other hand, the approval rating for Rahul Gandhi as the PM is extremely low with only 7.36 per cent preferring him in Odisha and a mere 10.20 per cent and 10.96 per cent backing him in Himachal Pradesh and northeastern states, respectively.

However, the former Congress chief enjoys a high approval rating of 54.28 per cent in Kerala, from where he has been elected to the Lok Sabha, followed by Tamil Nadu at 48.26 per cent.

In West Bengal, 62.19 per cent respondents prefer Modi as the PM, while 28.38 per cent back Rahul Gandhi. Modi is also popular in Jammu and Kashmir, where 46.74 per cent of people prefer him as the PM, while 34.15 per cent back Rahul Gandhi.

In 10 states -- Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Maharasthra, Jharkhand and Bihar -- nearly 65 per cent of the people prefer Modi as the PM over Rahul Gandhi.

In Delhi, 61.75 per cent of people back Modi as the PM while only 22.98 per cent prefer to see Rahul Gandhi in that post.

In Telangana, 60.32 per cent of people prefer Modi as the PM.

In Uttar Pradesh, 56.21 per cent of people prefer Modi as the PM, while 29.48 per cent back Rahul Gandhi.

Surprisingly, in Punjab, the support for Modi and Rahul Gandhi is evenly split at 29.5 per cent.

Barring Kerala and Tamil Nadu, no other state or Union Territory has preferred Rahul Gandhi as the PM candidate in the two-horse race. Rahul Gandhi's approval rating in 15 states is below 25 per cent, while in four states it is below 20 per cent.

The survey was carried out among over 30,000 respondents across the country, covering all the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Colorado Politics senior political reporter

Joey Bunch is the senior correspondent and deputy managing editor of Colorado Politics. His 32-year career includes the last 16 in Colorado. He was part of the Denver Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013 and he is a two-time finalist.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - The League of Women Voters Minnesota says it's time for "truth and consequences" for state lawmakers who have cast doubt over the validity of the 2020 election.

In a letter to leaders of the Minnesota House and Senate, the league callings on officials to require all state legislators "tell the truth about the settled 2020 elections." They also ask state leaders to "require certain legislators who have incited lies and violence to issue a public message immediately disavowing the falsehoods about a 'stolen election,'" and "seek consequences and accountability of those legislators who have continued to violate their oath of office by spreading lies about the election."

Nick Harper of the League of Women Voters Minnesota says claims of election fraud from legislators are tearing at the fabric of our democracy.

"This is not just a fib or a white lie about a policy idea," Harper said. "These are active disinformation that are causing the destruction of the very heart of our country, and our political process."

When asked for his response to those who might see the organization's letter as an attempt to censor free speech, Harper said freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences, and elected leaders should be held accountable.

You can read the full LWVMN letter to legislative leaders by following this link.
Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Eric Lis factory making glass lampshades for companies including Home Depot Inc. is being stretched to its limits with sales doubling their pre-pandemic level.But like many Chinese manufacturers, he doesnt plan to expand operations -- a reticence that could slow the pace of Chinas economic growth this year and prolong a shortage of goods being felt around the world as demand picks up.Surging prices of raw materials means margins are compressed, explains Li, owner of Huizhou Baizhan Glass Co. Ltd., in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, which makes about $30 million in annual revenue. With the global economic recovery still uneven, the future is very unclear, so there is not much push to expand capacity, he adds.The combination of higher input prices, uncertainty about export prospects and a weak recovery in domestic consumer demand meant Chinese manufacturing investment from January to April was 0.4% below the same period in 2019, according to official statistics (comparing to 2019 strips out the distortion of last years pandemic data).Due to the vast size of Chinas manufacturing sector, that poses a risk both to the nations growth -- which is currently predicted to reach 8.5% in 2021, according to a Bloomberg tally of economists estimates -- and to a global economy thats grappling with supply shortages and rising prices.Falling ProfitsWeaker-than-expected investment could have a sizable impact on GDP growth this year, said Citigroup Inc.s China economist, Li-gang Liu. Lower investment may dent imports of capital goods and equipment from developed economies like Japan and Germany, which in turn could drag their economic recovery and rebound as well, he added.AnHui HERO Electronic Sci & Tec Co. Ltd. is one of those companies feeling the squeeze. Based in the eastern province of Anhui, the company manufactures capacitors used to make electronic circuits, with sales mainly in the domestic market. Jing Yuan, the founder, says orders are up as much as 30% year-on-year, but profits are down 50% due to increasing materials costs that are not easily passed onto clients.The company is under huge cash pressure as it needs to pay half a month in advance of delivery in order to secure copper and other metals, which they previously paid for months after receiving, he said. The commodity issue has to be addressed by the government, he added.What Bloomberg Economics Says...Chinese industry is absorbing significant cost pressures from rising commodity prices -- damping the inflationary impact for the rest of the world. Will it last? Our analysis of gross margins suggests it could for a while longer: downstream industries -- where the cost crunch is most severe -- still have a small cushion.David Qu, China economistFor the full report, click here.Input shortages mean some manufacturers arent able to make use of their existing facilities, so expansion would be of little use. Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio Inc. suspended production at one of its factories last month, due to a shortage of microchips.Modern Casting Ltd., which makes iron and steel products in Guangdong, issued a note to clients this month saying it would not be able to meet its current orders due to high raw material costs. A member of staff who answered the phone at the companys office confirmed the note, but declined to give further details.Growth TransitionOn top of the higher input costs, Chinese companies face a bumpy transition toward domestic consumer spending to sustain its post-pandemic recovery.Exports, Chinas strong-suit last year, may begin to slow as vaccine roll-outs cause consumers in wealthy countries to shift spending back to services. Meanwhile, the growth rate of Chinese consumer spending has yet to fully recover.Investment sentiment among Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises is below levels seen even in 2018-9 when uncertainties from the U.S.-China trade war were a brake on expansion plans, according to a regular survey of more than 500 Chinese companies by Standard Chartered Plc.Demand is still mainly underpinned by exports, so domestic companies are aware that this is not sustainable, said Standard Chartereds China economist, Lan Shen.While some export-oriented sectors have been pushed to their limits, large amounts of slack remain for manufacturers targeting Chinese consumers due to subdued domestic demand.Retail sales growth was 4.3% in April on a two-year average basis, which strips out base effects from the pandemic, less than half pre-pandemic growth rates. Overall capacity use at Chinas manufacturers fell to 77.6% in the first quarter from 78.4% in the previous three months, with the automotive sector hit hardest by overcapacity following three years of declining sales volumes.Even for electric vehicles whose sales are surging, most companies have already built their capacity and will now focus on incremental upgrades. The majority of the investment has been done, said Jochen Siebert of JSC Automotive Consulting.China ordered state-owned companies to expand last year, with their investment growth of 5.3% in 2020 from the prior year easily outstripping the 1% increase in private investment. But for a sustainable pick-up in investment, the market, not the state, needs to feel confident.Carsten Holz, an expert on Chinese investment statistics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, estimates that privately-owned companies have accounted for 87% of manufacturing investment in 2015, the most recent year of available data. They are more sensitive to input costs.There is a pandemic plus insecurity about future trade given a new U.S. administration, neither of which is conducive to investment that relies on long-term growth prospects, Holz said.Mixed PoliciesTransport bottlenecks are also a challenge for export-oriented manufacturers. Gordon Gao, who exports gardening products from China, said that he has had to reject 80% of orders this year due to port delays. In one case, an order placed before mid-February could only be shipped three months later when a client finally secured a container.Beijing has tried to improve conditions for private companies by ordering a crackdown on speculation to curb commodity prices and easing access to bank loans.Yet the government continues to gradually withdraw fiscal and monetary stimulus measures introduced amid the pandemic last year. It set a relatively unambitious target of above 6% growth for this year, and the Communist Partys Politburo signaled last month it would prioritize reforms to control house prices and debt growth.The policy stance has definitely shifted away from supporting growth and back toward de-risking the financial sector, said Adam Wolfe, an economist at London-based Absolute Strategy Research. The risks for economic growth seem tilted to the downside, especially for capital-intensive, construction-linked sectors.For manufacturers such as Li, a longer period of domestic growth and control over input prices will be needed before capacity expansion is on the cards. While his company of 200 workers took on new permanent staff before the pandemic, for now hed rather pass the risks of investment on to others.I wouldnt do that now, I would rather hire some temporary workers and outsource the rest, he said.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P.

New Delhi:

Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday said that home ministry is constantly monitoring the heavy flood situations in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and other states for necessary help.

The home ministry is constantly monitoring the heavy flood situations in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and other states for necessary help, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters here.

The minister said the home ministry control room is monitoring the severe landslides and floods in the north-eastern states round the clock.

Eight people were killed and six went missing in floods triggered by heavy rainfall in Mizoram.

Flash floods wrecked havoc at Tlabung in Mizorams Lunglei district, while the National Highway 54, which links the state with Assam, was cut off at different places due to landslides.

Guwahati witnessed massive water-logging due to incessant rains, while landslides occurred at three places in the state capital.

Also read: Sri Lanka floods: Indian Navy teams join rescue ops, toll reaches 193

Also read: Sri Lanka floods: Death toll rises to 146, 112 still missing; rescue operations on

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In a report, Lebanon's MTV local TV channel said that the plane from the Aleppo International Airport landed at 2 a.m. in Beirut on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Beirut, Jan 16 (IANS) Syrian Air conducted its first flight in 10 years between the northern city of Aleppo and Lebanon's capital Beirut, resuming a round-trip route that had been suspended since the Syrian conflict began in 2011.

The report added that it was an Airbus 320 and was carrying 26 passengers.

Later in the day, the plane took off with 43 passengers aboard to Aleppo.

The airlines was quoted as saying that it will conduct weekly flights, every Friday, between Aleppo and Beirut.

Aleppo, Syria's largest city, had its airport closed for years because of the fighting.

The decision to reopen the round-trip route was taken by the Syrian government last December, Arab News reported.

Commercial flights between Beirut and Damascus have continued during the conflict, with Syrian Air currently conducting three flights a week on the route.

--IANS

ksk/
Perry Jackson, of the Austin neighborhood, was charged with one count of first-degree murder after 21-year-old Dariontae Adams was found shot multiple times the morning of May 24, 2020, in the 1000 block of North Drake Avenue, Chicago police said.
On 9 January 2021, we demonstrated in solidarity with the protesting farmers and farm workers in India. We therefore want to express our solidarity with the affected farmers together with comrades from different social movements worldwide.

Against neoliberalism and fascism everywhere!

Berlin For India
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by Melani Manel Perera

On the day of the feast of the first Sri Lankan saint, Msgr. Vianney Fernando recalls his "unparalleled holiness" and "burning missionary zeal". An invitation to the Church of the country not to be "a static church, which only cares about bureaucracy, but a true missionary Church".

Tewatta (AsiaNews) - Without the "unparalleled holiness" and the "burning missionary zeal" of St Joseph Vaz, "many Asians would not be Christians," affirms Msgr. Vianney Fernando, bishop of Kandy.

He was speaking to faithful today during the Mass celebrated in memory of the feast of the missionary and martyr of Sri Lanka, beatified in 1995 by John Paul II and canonized by Pope Francis in 2015.

The mass was celebrated in Sinhalese, Tamil and English in the chapel of the Risen Christ in Tewatta, in the headquarters of Verbum TV and broadcast live on television.

Joseph Vaz is the first canonized saint of Sri Lanka. Born in India in 1651 to a Portuguese family, he arrived on the island of Ceylon in 1687 to evangelize and support Catholics during the persecution by the Dutch Calvinists. He died in 1711. John Paul II called him the greatest missionary in Asia; Pope Francis spoke of him as "an exemplary priest", a model of "disciple-missionary" for the whole Church.

Bishop Vianney Fernando recalled "what Joseph Vaz accomplished 300 years ago, in exceptional circumstances, while a bitter persecution spread": "he saved the Catholic faith in Sri Lanka ... He arrived on the island at the risk of his life, when there was not even one priest in the country. He was the only priest "to serve Catholics for almost 10 years. And for 24 years, he [he worked] with a handful of priests until the end of his life."

He "formed the first Asian religious institute", in a period in which vocations were not found among the native peoples, founding the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Goa, which allowed the Catholics of Sri Lanka to have missionaries from India for 150 years, until 1806, when the British arrived and guaranteed freedom of religion for this country.

Bishop Vianney also underlined "the great respect" that Saint Joseph Vaz had for non-Christians; his cultural commitment in producing "a large number of volumes of Christian literature and sacred music to serve our people"; the impetus he gave towards the mission of the laity.

Thanks to Joseph Vaz, today the Church of Sri Lanka is endowed with "a conference of bishops, a large number of priests, good lay leaders". The bishop asked the faithful to imitate St. Vaz.

"We must find inspiration from his great missionary life to make our Church in Sri Lanka not a static church, which only cares about bureaucracy, but a true missionary Church, faithful to the original mandate of the risen Savior Jesus Christ".

During the mass he prayed for all those who contributed to the evangelization of Sri Lanka. A special prayer was also offered for the victims of the Easter 2019 terrorist attack and for the dead from the coronavirus pandemic.

MYRTLE BEACH  Over the course of eight years in Congress, U.S. Rep. Tom Rice developed a reputation as a reliable Republican team player known by friends and colleagues as relatively quiet in a congressional delegation filled with outsized personalities.

He rarely sought the spotlight or broke party ranks, voicing consistent support for President Donald Trump and traditional conservative policies. He put his head down, won a seat on an influential House committee and advocated funding for local projects back home.

"He's the hardest working member of Congress I think I've ever known," U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said, praising Rice as "incredibly bright" and "an effective voice" for his district.

Then, in a dramatic twist Wednesday, Rice became one of just 10 House Republicans to vote in favor of Trump's impeachment, a move so surprising that many of his allies spent the next few minutes wondering whether he had inadvertently pressed the wrong button.

Eventually it became clear: the vote was no mistake.

In a statement explaining his decision, Rice nodded to his track record, noting he had "backed this president through thick and thin for four years."

Even so, Trump's "inexcusable" role in provoking and failing to quell a riot at the U.S. Capitol proved too much for even him to stomach.

"Ive been loyal to him, but he certainly didnt feel loyal to us," Rice said, recalling the scenes of Trump supporters storming through lines of police officers and sacking the Capitol in angry pursuit of lawmakers.

Plus, he noted, Trump had multiple opportunities in the aftermath to express contrition and healing but didn't.

Rice's vote immediately upended the political order back home, eliciting swift backlash from many members of his own party who turned their attention to pushing him out of office.

Now, Rice is poised to face a reckoning at the ballot box next year in what is almost certain to become his first seriously competitive GOP primary since he took office.

The contest is likely to provide revealing insight into the endurance of Trump's influence over GOP politics after he leaves the White House, and it will test the question of whether an extensive history of Republican fidelity can be wiped out by a single vote.

Potential challengers emerge

A former Horry County Council chairman and tax lawyer by trade, Rice bested eight Republican opponents to win the party's nomination for the newly drawn 7th Congressional District in 2012.

The district stretches from Georgetown County up through much of the northeast Pee Dee region to the North Carolina border. Yet the center of its political activity and the majority of its voters are anchored around Horry County, a ruby red outpost where there is no shortage of ambitious Republican prospects.

Not only is the district solidly Republican, it's also home to arguably the most pro-Trump Republican base in a pro-Trump state. In South Carolina's 2016 GOP presidential primary, Trump won Rice's district by a greater margin than any other, beating runner-up Ted Cruz by almost 23 percentage points.

Rice comfortably won the seat in the 2012 general election and has faced no threatening opposition, from either Republicans or Democrats, since.

Many Republican activists in the district now expect that to change.

Already, at least one potentially formidable primary challenger has emerged: Ken Richardson, the chairman of the Horry County School Board and a well-known former Mercedes-Benz car dealer in the area.

Richardson said he was absolutely shocked to see Rice, whom he considers a personal friend, vote to impeach the president. The decision, Richardson argued, ran counter to the will of Rice's Trump-loving constituents whom he said have reached out by the hundreds this week asking him to launch a campaign in 2022.

"I know one thing for sure," Richardson said. "He will be primaried."

Former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride has not decided on challenging Rice, but is hoping it won't take another two years to hold an election. He's circulating a petition calling on Rice to step down right away.

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Horry County GOP Chairwoman Dreama Perdue said most of the calls she's received have been from constituents outraged by the vote and people looking to begin the process of finding new candidates.

Leading into Wednesdays vote, Perdue believed Rice was doing an admirable job representing the district. But the vote was a "gut punch," she said, and something that will hurt the party moving forward.

"I am severely disappointed and frustrated he would do this," Perdue said. "Im hearing from people across the entire medium saying, 'Im not going to help the Horry County GOP anymore,' to 'what can I do to help?, to we need to primary him out.' "

While Rice said he is confident he did the right thing, he acknowledged it may hurt his re-election chances in 2022.

"Im going to keep trying to do my job well," Rice told The Post and Courier. "Its been the honor of my life to do it. Hopefully, they'll re-elect me. But if they don't, it's OK. Im at peace with it."

Rice maintains influential relationships

Incumbency poses powerful advantages in South Carolina politics, but it's far from infallible. Over the past decade, two Republican congressmen in South Carolina lost their seats over accusations that they were insufficiently towing the party line.

In the Tea Party wave of 2010, Trey Gowdy ousted then-incumbent Bob Inglis, a comparatively moderate Republican from the conservative Upstate who had urged his party to take more active measures against climate change.

Then in 2018, little-known state lawmaker Katie Arrington stunned then-U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford of Charleston in an upset few observers saw coming after she argued that he had been excessively critical of Trump  an early indicator of Trump's vice-like grip over the GOP base.

Still, some Republican strategists say Rice holds some valuable assets that may help him avoid a similar fate.

A few years after he was first elected, Rice scored a coveted spot on the powerful Ways and Means committee, offering him  and his constituents  a seat at the table for high-stakes debates over the country's tax code and health care laws.

He worked closely with Trump on one of his crowning achievements, the 2017 tax overhaul, was one of the earliest Republicans to back Trump's protectionist trade policies and has been the leading advocate for a popular local priority: the construction of Interstate 73 to connect the Grand Strand to the rest of the state's highway system.

Through strong fundraising and little need to spend much money en route to easy reelections, he has built up an intimidating campaign war chest of more than $1 million, one of the largest accounts in the entire South Carolina congressional delegation. And he maintains close relationships with an array of influential elected officials in the district and around the state, evidenced by their reluctance to openly criticize Rice in the wake of his impeachment vote.

From his own personal interactions, Rice said he has heard a mostly favorable response. But social media and local conservative blogs erupted with vitriolic opposition, and the state Republican Party also made it known they were not pleased.

"We completely disagree with this sham (second Trump impeachment) and to say I'm severely disappointed in Congressman Tom Rice would be an understatement," party Chairman Drew McKissick said immediately after the vote.

Graham, a longtime Trump ally who vehemently opposes impeachment, said he nevertheless maintains "complete respect" for Rice and has no doubt about his sincerity.

"I know a lot of people are upset with him, but I've done things in the past that people were upset with because I thought they were right," Graham said.

Local Republican state lawmakers long viewed as potential heirs to Rice once he retires, like state Rep. Russell Fry of Surfside Beach or state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch of Murrells Inlet, said they remain focused on their legislative responsibilities for now and refrained from commenting on his vote.

Former Myrtle Beach City Councilman Randal Wallace, who was one of the Republicans who lost to Rice in the 2012 primary, said he admired his one-time opponent for showing conviction, even though he did not personally support impeachment so close to the end of Trump's term.

This was a conscience vote," Wallace said. "I felt he did what he had to do, and I certainly dont criticize him for that."
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A Mariners Harbor man is facing several charges  including murder  after being arraigned on Staten Island Friday.

Authorities allege that Jahel Ashley, 31, gunned down 29-year-old Sean Dallas in front of his young children in Mariners Harbor in September after a suspected incident of road rage.

Ashley, who was arrested Thursday morning, allegedly shot Dallas on Sept. 15 at about 8:45 a.m. near the corner of Grandview Avenue and Arlington Place, according to an NYPD statement.

When officers arrived, they found Dallas lying on the ground with gunshot wounds to his chest and right arm. EMS responded and Dallas was taken to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton, where doctors declared him dead.

A road-rage dispute is thought to have led to the fatal encounter between Ashley and Dallas, sources with knowledge of the investigation said.

At the time of the slaying, one source told the Advance/SILive.com that Dallas was alone in his car when, a short time before the shooting, he had a brief verbal dispute behind the wheel with another driver in or near Mariners Harbor.

Dallas then continued driving and picked up his two children.

He drove about a half block to the corner of Grandview Avenue and Arlington Place where he stepped out of his car and was shot, according to the source.

After his first appearance in court, Ashley pleaded not guilty. He is being held without bail, charged with murder and two weapons charges, according to online court records.

Ashleys attorney, Manuel Ortega, said that his client denies the allegations against him, and looks forward to his day in court. Ashleys next scheduled appearance is Jan. 22.


Anyone who loves to read loves a library. The sight of thousands of books organized on shelves; the smell of old books mixed with new ones; the sound of a librarian silencing a noisy visitor  are all part of a book-lovers dream.

But libraries are much more than that.

In this digital age, libraries and the experts who run them help bridge the digital divide between those with technology and those without. Librarians help people find important information in a huge sea of material. They support literacy and a love of reading.

This is true in normal times. But libraries and librarians are even more valuable since the 2020 coronavirus, which forced most students into online education.

The American Library Association (ALA) started the I Love My Librarian award in 2008. Each year 10 are chosen for the award. ALA President Julius C. Jefferson Jr. noted the extreme difficulty caused by the pandemic in his praise for the 2021 award winners.

Librarians have risen to the occasion, he said, providing much-needed resources to their communities from a safe distance.

Library users nominate their favorite librarian for the award. They are chosen for their expert knowledge about books, their support for learning and reading, and for their contributions to the community.

Each winning librarian receives $5000, and a $750 donation to their library from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

The Associated Press reported on the winners for 2021. And now the envelope please!

Jayanti Addleman is the library director at the Haywood Public Library in Haywood, California. The website I Love Libraries.org explained her work during the COVID-19 crisis. She made sure everyone, but especially people in need, could easily get a library card online and devices to help bridge the digital divide.

At Washburn University, in Topeka, Kansas, librarian Sean Bird made sure that all students taking classes online because of the coronavirus received laptops. One student wrote about Bird: That dude changed my life. He is the reason I graduated.

Jessica Bell of Bostons MGH Institute of Health Professions won for making the library a world-class resource for teaching and learning. She also led online events to keep students calm and connected.

Naomi Bishop at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, in Phoenix, won for being a voice and leader for social justice. Her nominators said the local medical community turned to Bishop for up-to-date research about public health and safety best practices.

Jesse Braun of Beverly Vista Middle School Library, in Beverly Hills, California, won for leadership in providing online and physical resources during the pandemic. His nomination states that he grew the library into a beloved, student-centered environment, where every child, every teacher, and every family could feel at home.

Adilene Estrada-Huerta of the Sacramento Public Library in California won for outstanding outreach services to Spanish-speaking families and Russian as well. This tech-savvy librarian also adapted the library programming to a virtual format.

Librarian Jianye He at the University of California, Berkeley, won for building community and helping Chinese teachers. Her nominees describe her as a home away from home.

Jane E. Martellino at the International School at Dundee, in Greenwich, Connecticut won for creating an exciting culture of literacy. She has helped countless children discover the joy of reading through her programs. During the pandemic, she created a tablet-based online product for students to access digital books, stories, and learning resources.

Jennifer L. Newcome at Northeastern High School in Manchester, Pennsylvania is a research partner and source of support for both teachers and students. One nomination letter said that Newcome noticed a student who seemed hungry sitting alone in the library at lunch. So, she began bringing food for him every day and checking in with his teacher. The boy, who had been struggling in his studies, became an honor roll student.

Elizabeth Moreau Nicolai from the Anchorage Public Library in Alaska won for promoting literacy and other services for Alaskas young people. Her nomination said: Her passion for equitable programming and collections have helped shape the librarys goals of inclusion and service to the entire community.

Im Bryan Lynn.

And Im Anna Matteo.

Hillel Italie reported this story for the Associated Press. Anna Matteo adapted this story and added information from ILoveLibraries.org website for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

literacy  n. the ability to read and write

occasion  n. somewhat formal : a particular time when something happens : somewhat formal : a chance or opportunity : a situation that allows something to happen

contribution  n. something that is given to help a person, a cause, etc.

dude  n. chiefly US slang : a man

best practices  n. a procedure that has been shown by research and experience to produce optimal results and that is established or proposed as a standard suitable for widespread adoption

virtual  adj. being on or simulated on a computer or computer network

honor roll  n. especially : a list of students who have received good grades in school

passion  n. a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something

inclusion  n. an act of taking in as part of a whole : the state of being taken in as part of a whole
To the Editor,

In the early hours of Wednesday and in the final hours of the 101st Illinois General Assembly, HB 3653 was passed by the Democratic controlled House and Senate to the great disappointment of law enforcement and victims advocacy groups throughout the state.

This purported criminal justice reform bill is disastrous for Illinois as it favors criminals over victims and those who pursue justice on their behalf. States Attorney Haine, Sheriff Lakin, and all police chiefs in Madison County joined this morning in condemning this legislation.

These law enforcement leaders also issued a public call for assistance from concerned citizens to oppose the bill. The Madison County Republican Party will answer this call, and urges the governor to veto this reckless bill and rethink these issues.

Now I call on the local Democratic Party to also show support for our local law enforcement when it matters most, disavow this disastrous bill, and publicly call on the governor to veto it. It is astounding  and a sign of how far-left the Democratic Party has shifted  that the Illinois Democratic Party could support a bill that 100 of 102 states attorneys and both sheriff and chief associations opposed.

Fortunately, both of our local Democratic legislators voted against it. Lets see if Randy Harris and the Madison County Democratic Party can take the time to publicly support local law enforcement and victims advocacy groups.

Ray Wesley

Madison County Republican Chairman
In April 1970, Alan Canfora, a junior at Kent State University in Ohio, was outraged when a friend was killed in the Vietnam War. He was infuriated all the more when President Richard M. Nixon announced an expansion of the war into Cambodia.

Nixons action set off a wave of antiwar demonstrations across the country, including at Kent State, where the Ohio National Guard was called in to respond to destruction and to be a presence at a major demonstration planned for May 4.

The day began with brief skirmishing; students threw rocks at the Guard and the Guard fired tear gas at the students, whose numbers would swell from the hundreds to the thousands.

At one point, some soldiers knelt and aimed their weapons at the students, in an apparent bluff that they were going to fire. Mr. Canfora then walked out toward the soldiers by himself, waving a black flag.
May the games begin. After an atypical summer, the Victorian parliamentary year resumes February 2.

The Premier returns only partially refreshed, having interrupted his leave at his wifes insistence. Spending his holiday on the phone was never going to work. Dan Andrews went into command and control mode early in 2020. Since his fate lay in how the pandemic was handled he decided to micromanage rather than delegate.

Premier Daniel Andrews. Credit:Jason South

Confident predictions that Andrews would resign by Christmas were wishful thinking by ill-informed fantasists, some on his own side, some from the opposition. The Premier enormously enjoys his arm wrestle with the baying Murdoch hunting pack and it will continue. Strategic briefings against Andrews to pet journalists have left unreliable sources with red faces and zero credibility.

Andrews grip on his own party is fortified, as is his ascendancy over a weakened opposition. The ministerial shuffle and deferred state budget passed with little remark. All issues come a distant second to total fixation on the pandemic which helps the government retrieve the sense of urgency which was a hallmark of the first term.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-17 06:01:09|Editor: huaxia

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GENEVA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- A senior UN official announced here Saturday that the Libyan delegations reached an agreement on a recommended selection mechanism for a new temporary executive authority.

Stephanie Turco Williams, Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), told a press conference that the selection mechanism will be provided for voting next Monday.

The 18 members of the newly established Libyan Political Dialogue Forum's Advisory Committee met here at UN's Geneva headquarters from Jan. 13-16, in an effort to overcome the deadlock on the mechanism for the selection mechanism for the country's temporary executive authority.

"I believe this decision reached today is the best possible compromise, as this proposal respects the regional dimension, and it indeed encourages people to work across the divide and across regions, in order to strengthen understanding and to build unity in the country," Williams said at Saturday's press conference.

She told reporters that on Jan. 18, UNSMIL will call upon the Libyan Political Dialogue members to vote on the proposed mechanism. The vote will be conducted over a 24-hour period, and the result will be announced on Jan. 19.

The UN official also stressed that after the forming of the temporary executive authority, general elections will be held in the country on Dec. 24 this year, and the executive authority will be replaced by a permanent, democratically elected government.

Libya's eastern-based army and its UN-backed government fought for more than a year in and around the capital Tripoli before the conflicts ended last June. On Oct. 23, 2020, Libyan delegations in Geneva signed a UN-sponsored permanent ceasefire agreement.

At a meeting held last November in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, 75 representatives of the social and political spectrum of the Libyan society agreed to hold general elections in the country on Dec. 24, 2021. Enditem
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Rep. Gwen Moore to Vote by Proxy After Voting in Person Following Positive COVID-19 Test

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) will vote by proxy, she said Thursday, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I am unable to physically attend proceedings in the House chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency, Moore said in a letter to House clerk Cheryl Johnson, designating Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) as her proxy.

House rules enable representatives to vote without being present in the chamber provided they notify the clerk and designate a representative who will be present to announce how they want to vote.

Moore traveled to Washington Jan. 3 to vote for the House speaker position, just six days after testing positive for COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people quarantine at minimum for seven days after testing positive.

Unless people get a negative test, they should quarantine for at least 10 days, the health agency recommends.

Moore said in a tweet that she was medically cleared to travel. She told reporters she didnt get a negative test.

Moore was in Washington on Jan. 13, voting in person to impeach President Donald Trump.

Moores office hasnt responded to requests for comment.

Dozens of representatives have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, since early 2020. Four members tested positive after the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress, where lawmakers were in close proximity for hours after protesters stormed the Capitol building.
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell caused controversy again on Friday when a picture of his notes brought to a White House meeting with Donald Trump suggested implementing martial law if necessary.

The notes, captured by a photographer as Mr Lindell entered the Oval Office, came after the businessman deleted tweets calling for the president to impose martial law in seven battleground states won by president-elect Joe Biden in the November election.

Mr Trump has repeatedly falsely claimed that widespread voter fraud took place in the election in favour of the Democrats, and Mr Lindell has publicly supported him in his efforts to overturn the results.

This week, Mr Trump became the first ever US president to be impeached twice for his role in inciting the Capitol riots. Five people died and many more were injured.

President Trump incited the breach by urging his supporters at a nearby rally to walk down to the Capitol, adding: You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.

Mr Lindell, 59, has been one of Mr Trumps most public supporters over the last four years and has often parroted conspiracy theories spread by the president and his followers.

Mr Lindell, who is referred to as the MyPillow guy, has been embroiled in controversy over the past year after touting a fake coronavirus cure and working more closely with the president.

But who is Mr Lindell and what is his relationship with Mr Trump?

Who is Mike Lindell?

Mr Lindell was born in Mankato, Minnesota, in 1961 and launched several unsuccessful businesses after dropping out of university, before he came up with the idea for MyPillow in 2004.

His previous businesses included a carpet cleaning company, lunch wagons, and a hog farm, as well as a short stint counting cards in Las Vegas when he was 22.

Mr Lindell struggled with addiction to alcohol, cocaine and crack cocaine during the 1980s and 1990s, and lost his house to foreclosure before he was divorced by his first wife.

He started selling pillows in 2004, but continued struggling with addiction, before achieving sobriety in 2009 after praying: God, I want to wake up in the morning and never have the desire again.

Mr Lindell, who is an evangelical Christian, claims that when he woke up the next morning his desire for any form of cocaine was just gone.

In 2017 he told CNBC that the idea for MyPillow, a foam pillow that holds its shape, came in a dream in 2004, saying: I got up in the middle of the night  it was about two in the morning  and I had My Pillow written everywhere in the kitchen and all over the house.

Mr Lindell first started selling the pillows at mall kiosks and state fairs later that year, before the business took off in 2011 following a 30-minute infomercial that cost Mr Lindell around $500,000 (367,958) to produce.

The companys popularity rapidly grew in the years following the infomercial, but MyPillow has also faced criticisms and complaints about alleged false claims in its advertising of the health benefits of the pillows.

MyPillow settled a $1million (737,956) lawsuit brought in by several California counties in 2011, that claimed the company had been falsely advertising its product by saying it could treat symptoms of sleep apnea and cerebral palsy.

Despite the criticisms, MyPillow has grown into a large company, having sold more than 30 million pillows worldwide, giving Mr Lindell a net worth of around $300m (220m).

Mr Lindell has been married and divorced twice, most recently in 2013, and received an honorary Doctor of Business from Liberty University in 2019. He has four children.

What is Mike Lindells relationship with Donald Trump

Mr Lindell met Mr Trump in August 2016, while the former was the Republican presidential candidate, and quickly became a public supporter and major donor to his campaign.

He attended the final presidential debate in October 2016, before speaking at a campaign rally for Mr Trump and watching election night coverage at the official Donald Watch Party on 8 November.

At a rally for Mr Trump following his 2016 presidential election victory, Mr Lindell praised him, saying he will be the most amazing president this country has ever seen in history.

After attending Mr Trumps inauguration as a guest on 20 January 2017, the president gave Mr Lindell an inauguration lapel pin as a personal gift, according to the Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal.

Mr Lindell was pictured sitting next to Mr Trump at an industry roundtable event at the White House later that year, and has continued to support the president at rallies in the years since.

At the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference, Mr Lindell called Mr Trump the greatest president in history and claimed he was chosen by God.

However Mr Lindell and Mr Trump caused controversy in 2020, when the MyPillow CEO promoted a fake coronavirus cure in several meetings and public appearances with the president.

He promoted the plant extract, oleandrin, as a Covid-19 cure, adding: This thing works  it's the miracle of all time, in an interview with CNN. Mr Trump said he would look at the plant extract.

The 59-year-old has a financial stake in Phoenix Biotechnology, the company that produces the plant extract, and sits on its board. His claims that oleandrin is a Covid-19 cure have not been substantiated.

Mr Lindell also appeared at numerous public events with Mr Trump in 2020, and announced at a White House press briefing last March that he was converting MyPillow production to produce up to 50,000 face masks for health workers on the front lines of the pandemic.

Following the announcement, Donald Sherman, deputy director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the practice confirms cronyism is at the root of practically every decision President Trump makes.

Mr Lindell served as campaign chair for Trump's reelection campaign in Minnesota. In the wake of Mr Bidens victory, he called for voters in Georgia, a state won by the president-elect, to be jailed.

In now-deleted Twitter posts from December, Mr Lindell called for Mr Trump to impose martial law - before he was pictured with notes at the White House this week suggesting the same idea.

Mr Lindell has repeated conspiracy theories forwarded by Mr Trump and his supporters, most recently falsely claiming that members of Antifa were behind the Capitol riots, dressed as Trump people.

Politico reported last March that Mr Trump had urged Mr Lindell to run for Minnesota governor in 2022, with the CEO saying later that year that he is 99% sure about campaigning for the role.
Janata Dal-United (JDU) leader KC Tyagi on Saturday said it is very unfortunate that the 9th round of talks between farm unions and the Central Government remained inconclusive, adding that efforts should be made to legalise mandatory the (MSP) for crops.

"The farmers, as well as the Centre, should have come up with some solution regarding this issue. The Centre should continuously engage with the farmers so that their issues get resolved soon", the Chief General Secretary and Spokesperson of the Janata Dal (United) said.

He further said, "Supreme Court has banned the implementation of farm laws but we want that should be made legally mandatory".

The Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of farm laws and appointed a committee to resolve the issue, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said Centre welcomes apex court's ruling and will present its views before the court-mandated committee when summoned by it.

The ninth round of talks between the Centre and representatives of farmers' ended with yet another deadlock. The next meeting between the two sides will be held on January 19.

The farmers have been protesting on different borders of Delhi since November 26 on newly enacted farm laws- The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
T he heartbroken family of two-week-old baby girl Felicity-May have spoken of the huge void left in their hearts after she died in hospital - as a man was bailed on suspicion of her murder.

She had been taken to hospital three days earlier after paramedics were called to a house on Stirling Place in Heywood, Greater Manchester.

Police were later called out by the medics who had concern for a baby" just before 6.30pm on Friday.

Despite the best efforts of medical staff, the baby, who has since been formally identified as Felicity-May Harvey, sadly passed away on Monday 11 January.

Police said a 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and has since been released on bail pending further enquiries.

Paying tribute to Felicity-May, the Harvey family said: "Our hearts are broken after losing our precious baby girl, Felicity-May. She was a gorgeous baby and always so alert, looking around with her big blue eyes.

"She was absolutely beautiful and incredibly brave and she melted the hearts of everyone who met her. What made her extra special was her cleft lip and palate, and despite the challenges of this she was the most happy and content little girl.

"She was and always will be loved by her mum, sisters and family and there is a huge void in all our hearts and lives now that she has been taken from us.

"She was our special star, and it is not fair that she shone brightly for only a short time. When we look up at the sky, we will look through the clouds and know that the brightest star shining is our Felicity-May.

"Rest in peace baby girl. Sleep tight. Until we meet again, our precious angel."

Earlier this week a pink banner with the words 'baby girl' was fixed to the front door of a house on Stirling Place where paramedics called police after having concerns about the baby.

Floral tributes had also been left at the scene.

Detective Chief Inspector Carl Jones, of GMP's Major Incident Team, said: "This is a desperately sad incident where a baby girl has lost her life and we are doing what we can to support her loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.

"Our investigation is ongoing; as always, we are keeping an open mind and have specialist officers working at the scene and on the investigation to establish the full facts of this case.

"This is a heart-breaking time and we ask the public to refrain from speculation and respect the family's privacy at this time.

Anyone with information should do the right thing and contact us with information so we can continue to try and ascertain the circumstances behind this tragedy.

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The British government banned travel from South America and Portugal to ensure a new variant of Covid-19 found in Brazil doesn't derail the UK's vaccination program.

Reuters

UK transport secretary Grant Shapps said the entry ban, which took effect on Friday morning, was extended to passengers arriving from Portugal because many people who come to Europe from South America travel through Portugal.

Blow To Global Vaccine Drive As Pfizer Delays Deliveries

Pfizer said it would delay shipments of the jabs in the next three to four weeks due to works at its key plant in Belgium.

Reuters

Pfizer said the modifications at the Puurs factory were necessary in order to ramp up its production capacity from mid-February of the vaccine developed with Germany's BioNTech.

India Starts Vaccine Roll Out, Starting With Healthcare Workers

India will roll out the worlds biggest vaccination programme on Saturday by inoculating over three lakh healthcare workers against Covid-19, which brought the entire country, and the world, to a halt for much of last year.

AFP

A total of 3,006 vaccination centres across all states and union territories will be virtually connected as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the drive at 10.30 am, with 100 beneficiaries getting the shots at each site on the first day.

UN Head Warns Of 'Vaccinationalism' As Global Coronavirus Deaths Top 2 Million

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday deplored the "heart-wrenching milestone" of the global death toll from Covid-19 topping two million, and lamented the fact that "solidarity is failing" in the world's response to the virus.

AFP

"Today we are seeing a vaccine vacuum," the UN head said. "Vaccines are reaching high income countries quickly, while the world's poorest have none at all."

Minor Gang-Raped In Delhi After Forced Sex Change

In a shocking incident, a 13-year-old boy was forced to undergo a sex change operation and then gang-raped for months in Delhi's Geeta Colony area, officials said on Friday. Two persons have since been arrested in the case.

AFP

Police said that the teenager was also forced into begging. The teenager's ordeal began when he met the accused three years ago at a dance event in Laxmi Nagar.

Dr Reddys Gets DCGI Nod For Covid-19 Vaccine Sputnik V Phase III Trials

Dr Reddys Laboratories has received the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to conduct Phase III trials of Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V in India, the company informed the bourses on Friday.

Reuters

The Phase III study of Sputnik V will be conducted on 1500 subjects as part of the randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled study in India, Dr Reddys said is a late night regulatory filing.
If truth be told View(s):

My dear Ranjan,

I am writing to you because you are the man of the moment these days, although for all the wrong reasons. You have been sent to prison for four years for contempt of court, for saying that most members of a certain profession are corrupt  and it is difficult to know whether to laugh or to cry.

You are, of course, not new to controversy. You have been outspoken at all times, and always called a spade a bloody shovel. That has also been your problem. Just like the proverbial fish, we knew you would perish one day because of your mouth  or what came out of it. Now, that has happened.

Just last year there was that scandal about the audio tapes. It shed some light on how politicians in Paradise operate. It gave us an insight on how deals are done and favours are returned. It taught us that in Paradise, what matters is not what is right, but who you know and who you can call for help.

Still, what you did was illegal because you didnt get others consent to tape their conversations. It got many people into a lot of trouble  and that included police officers and even judges. Some of them are languishing in prison because of that. Yet, you always said you were only trying to expose the truth.

Charges related to those tape recordings are still pending in courts against you, but that must be of the least concern to you now. You have committed the cardinal sin of saying that those who are in a noble profession are corrupt. We can all be the judge of that, so how dare you insult them, Ranjan?

You are not the first person to say that, though. Your friend SB got into trouble for talking about balu theendu. He was sent to prison for two years for that, but then, he had friends in high places and Mahinda maama pardoned him after just over a year  but he was never the same firebrand ever again.

Then there was Gnanasara in his saffron robes. He was sent to prison for making insulting remarks in court. He too had friends in high places. Cheerio Sirisena pardoned him just before he said cheerio  one of the many acts that fellow did which did not benefit him, anyone else or the people of Paradise.

Ranjan, you must know by now that in Paradise, Justice, like God, works in mysterious ways. At times, the wheels of justice turn very slowly for certain people but they run at lightning speed for others. Soon after an election, which is where we are now, they start turning in the opposite direction.

Consider recent events. Mahinda maamas secretary Lalith and his sidekick who were convicted by a court of law for stealing sil redi and sent to prison were acquitted and released, also by a duly appointed court of law. So, how dare you say that those who preside there are corrupt, Ranjan?

Charges were laid against Johnny from Kurunegala for failing to declare his assets and the case was proceeding in a court. A couple of months after a big election, all those charges were dropped and he was acquitted and discharged. So, how dare you say that those who preside there are corrupt, Ranjan?

Then there is Janaka from Matale who was charged with murder and the case was proceeding. Just a few days after the same big election, it was ruled that the indictment against him was unjust and it was dismissed. So, how dare you say that those who make those wise decisions are corrupt, Ranjan?

Then there was the case where Keheliya was charged with having his mobile phone bill paid by the state. A few months after that same election, a higher court ordered a lower court to dismiss the case. He too was discharged. So, how dare you say that those who decide so wisely are corrupt, Ranjan?

This week, Pillayan, who was charged with murdering a parliamentarian was discharged. He will enter Parliament where he can compare notes with Choka malli who has been convicted of murder. Yet, they have all followed the law, so how dare you say those who judged them are corrupt, Ranjan?

There are other cases pending against Prasanna from Gampaha, Rohitha from Kalutara and Wimal and Gammanpila. Now, even if you are a betting man, you should not bet on the outcome of these cases because we all know very well that they will be decided purely on merit, wont they, Ranjan?

It is interesting that your sentence is for four years unless you ask for a pardon  which you said you wont do. So, you will be behind bars for the rest of the term of office of this government. I hope you dont think that is carefully calculated because that must surely be a co-incidence, right?

In this game, what matters is not what you do but how you do it. You too should have followed the Harin method  of saying what you wanted in the House by the Diyawanna Oya. Then, all you would have got was barrage in return from you-know-who. Then, you could have complained about that!

Some are already suggesting that your political career is effectively over, Ranjan, because you wont be able to run for office for seven years after your release. I hope you are not disheartened by that because this is, after all, Paradise, where anything is possible and stranger things have happened!

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: In prison, you may run into Duminda. You might want to cultivate his friendship. You may ask why? We elected Nandasena to replace Sirisena as we thought he will do better. So, if Sirisena can pardon Jayamaha surely Nandasena can do better and pardon Duminda? Next, it could be your turn!
T ravel to the UK from all of South America as well as Portugal will be banned from 4am on Friday because of concerns over the Brazilian variant of coronavirus, the Government has said.

Panama and Cape Verde will also be included in the ban decided by ministers on the Government's Covid-O committee on Thursday after Boris Johnson said he was "concerned" about the new strain.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced the "urgent decision" to halt flights from the nations in an attempt to reduce the potential spread of the variant, with experts uncertain how effective existing vaccines will be against it.

He said travel from Portugal was being suspended because of its "strong travel links with Brazil", but there will be an exemption for hauliers travelling from Portugal to allow the transport of essential goods.

Mr Shapps also said there is an exemption for British and Irish nationals with residence rights, but that they must self-isolate for 10 days along with their households.

Mr Shapps announced the move on Twitter.

The move came 24 hours after Mr Johnson admitted he was concerned about the Brazilian variant.

After pressure from Labours Yvette Cooper at a liaison committee, the PM said: We are taking steps to ensure that we do not see the import of this new variant from Brazil.

The Governments top scientist said the Brazilian variant contains a change of the genetic code, at position 484, and that changes a part of the protein, it changes a bit of a shape of the protein.

Sir Patrick Vallance told ITVs Peston programme that there is no evidence new variants are more deadly.

He explained: Theres no evidence at all with any of these variants that it makes the disease itself more severe.

So the changes that were seeing with the variants are largely around increased transmission, it makes it easier to get it from one person to another, it makes it easier therefore to catch.

The Government banned direct flights from South Africa when a new and concerning variant emerged there.

Labour's shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds welcomed the South America travel ban but accused the Government of incompetence with another "rushed announcement".

"It is a necessary step that arrivals from Brazil, neighbouring countries and Portugal will be banned," he said.

"However, this is yet another example of Government incompetence, lurching from one crisis and rushed announcement to another.
On January 6, 2021in an event for which there is no precedent in the history of the United Statesseveral thousand right-wing extremists, mobilized by various white supremacist, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant neo-Nazi and fascist organizationsstormed the Capitol in Washington DC. They intended to murder and take as hostages those whom they perceived to be enemies of Donald Trump, including Democratic congressmen and even Vice President Mike Pence. Timed to coincide with the congressional certification of the results of the Electoral College vote, the purpose of the attack was to stop the official recognition of the election of Joseph Biden as president of the United States.

Had the tactical objectives of the operation been achieved, the political outcome would have been not only the delay of the constitutionally mandated certification of the Electoral College balloting. Having murdered congressmen and congresswomen, and taken hostages, the fascist leaders would then have demanded that the outcome of the balloting in states Trump falsely claimed to have wonsuch as Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvaniabe overturned. The demands of the hostage-takers would have received overwhelming support from the Republican Party, not to mention Trump himself. Inspired by the power exercised by the fascist leaders in Washington DC, there would have been, in all likelihood, similar operations carried out in various state capitals all across the United States.

People are seen in the House gallery as rioters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington [Credit: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik]

As the hostage drama played out, with the official date of the inauguration approaching and countless lives at stake, Biden and the Democratic Party would have come under tremendous pressure to accede to at least some of the hostage-takers demands in the interest of stopping a bloodbath and reopening the government.

The scenario described above did not unfold, because the fascist insurrection failed to achieve its tactical objectives. The leaders lost control of their mob, which, once it had penetrated the Capitol building, wasted precious time taking selfies and looting. The congressmen escaped before they could be either murdered or taken hostage.

But regardless of the outcome, the event itself was an attempted coup detat. To deny this obvious fact is an evasion and distortion of reality, which serves to cover up the immense political dangers that persist, and will grow more intense, in the months ahead.

In the immediate aftermath of the attempted coup, well-known independent journalists such as John Pilger, Glenn Greenwald, Chris Hedges and Joe Lauria (of Consortium News) are advancing a dangerously misguided view of the events of January 6, which claims that what occurred in Washington was nothing more than a constitutionally protected exercise of free speech that simply got out of hand. The event should not be described as a coup or insurrection. Moreover, Trump himself is being falsely accused and victimized. The principal threat to the democratic rights of the American people on January 6 came not from the storming of Congress, but, rather, from the deprivation of Trumps access to his Twitter account. In this disoriented narrative, Donald Trump is far more sinned against than sinning.

Joe Laurias January 13 article in Consortium News, Trump Impeached Amid Efforts to Cancel Him, sums up these arguments. Belittling the significance of the January 6 coup, Lauria presents a lawyers brief for Trump and his co-conspirators. He attempts to prove, through a close reading of the text of Trumps harangue before thousands of his supporters, that his words fall short of what is required for conviction by the Senate, in the impending impeachment trial, under Article I, Section 3 of the US Constitution.

Lauria claims that Trumps speech might be read as just the fighting words of a politician, which were not intended to provoke violence, let alone to provoke a coup:

When [Trump] said the Democrats were ruthless and its time that somebody did something about it, he was referring to Pence and the Republicans sending the electoral college vote back to key states. That is the entire context of his more than one hour speech. When he said you have to get your people to fight, he meant Republican representatives who would have to be primaried. With no proof so far that Trump had prior knowledge of the plan to take over the Capitol, or evidence of direct instructions from him to do so, it would seem difficult to convict him in a court of law, but maybe not in a political trial in the Senate.

The last sentence implies that Trumps conviction would be a political abuse of justice.

Not only Trump, Lauria insists, but also his son, Donald Trump, Jr., had only peaceful goals in mind. Donald Jr., he writes, was only appealing to Republicans in Congress to vote against certifying election results from key swing states when he told the crowd that it was necessary to prove if you are a hero or a zero. As for Trumps fascist personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, Lauria says that his call for trial by combat" referred only to continuing to challenge the computer results of the election in the courts.

There is, he concludes, no proof so far that Trump had prior knowledge of the plan to take over the Capitol. It is astonishing that Lauria can reconcile such a naive conclusion with decades of experience as an investigative journalist.

Lauria goes on to insist that the events cannot be described as a coup detat because this refers to the overthrow of an existing government and its replacement with new rulers. This, however, is precisely what the plotters sought to do: to change the results of the election and prevent the inauguration of Biden. Lauria, however, claims, The small number of protestors who may have dreamed of a coup had only the presidential palace on their side and nothing else. [Italics added]

Only the presidential palace?!

In an even more absurd effort to deny the gravity of the events of January 6, Lauria proclaims, It was an attempt to take control of the Capitol, not the country. The insurrectionists attempted only to seize Washington DC! This news will certainly come as a relief to citizens living in Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Detroit, Boston and New York.

Lauria proceeds to justify the efforts of the Republicans to overturn the results of the Electoral College balloting, the very maneuver which provided the political pretext for the assault on the Capitol, asserting that those Republicans were completely in their rights to challenge the results and spur debate and a vote in both chambers. To suggest that that Constitutional right constituted incitement or support for the riot is extraordinary overreach. It does not seem to trouble Lauria that the Republican challenge was based on outright lies of a stolen election (i.e., Trumps version of Hitlers stab in the back explanation of Germanys defeat in World War I).

Laurias defense of Trump ignores the broader political timeline and context of Trumps actions. He has forgotten that on June 1, Trump used the military police against protesters in Washington and threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy the military throughout the country. He makes no reference to the plot to kidnap and assassinate the governors of Michigan and Virginia, exposed in October, which were egged on by Trumps call to Liberate Michigan! He also does not note that top Trump allies repeatedly called on Trump to declare martial law in order to seize power if he lost the election.

The denial that January 6 was an attempted political coup is combined with the claim that Twitters shutdown of Trumps account was the most serious threat to democratic rights, more dangerous than anything done by his supporters.

In a January 11 interview on Democracy Now! journalist Chris Hedges resorts to the same sort of verbal formalism to acquit Trump of attempting to stage a coup. I think that, clearly, if we kind of coldly read what Trump said to his supporters, he didnt call for people to break into the Capitol and take people hostage.

In any event, the action taken by Twitter against Trump must be opposed: But to respond by, in essence, empowering these private corporations to function as censors over billions of people will come back to haunt us. And we see that, because its not just Trump they target. Its always, in the end, the left that pays for this kind of censorship.

It is true that the principal target of state and corporate censorship is the socialist left and the working class. The Socialist Equality Party does not advance the demand for the illegalization or banning of right-wing parties by the capitalist state. However, the socialist left and those who are concerned with the defense of democratic rights do not see it as their duty to safeguard the free speech of a fascist president who is directing an armed mob that is seeking to bring about the nullification of an election.

Justifying their defense of Trumps right to uninhibited free speecheven if that means in practice allowing him to mobilize and direct his followers all over the country in the midst of a fascist insurrectionLauria, Hedges and others remind their readers of all the terrible crimes committed by American imperialism, supported by the Democratic Party. John Pilger, for example, calls attention to the crimes being committed by the United States against the Houthis in Yemen. This is nothing more than petty-bourgeois demagogy. Pilger fails to explain how the establishment of a neo-fascist regime in the United States will improve the conduct of American foreign policy in Yemen or anywhere else.

A class-conscious analysis, informed by Marxism and the historical experience of the international socialist movement, would explain that Twitters action took place within the context of an acute crisis within the bourgeois state, in which its highly compromised semi-constitutional faction, threatened with violent overthrow, sought to block Trump from mobilizing his fascist followers. Why should left-wing opponents of the attempted coup oppose the disruption of Trumps communications? In fact, had Twitter not taken this action, socialists would quite correctly interpret its neutrality as open complicity with the conspirators.

Moreover, as part of their own independent efforts to mobilize working class opposition to Trumps conspiracy, socialists would urge Twitter workers and others employed in the technology industry to cut off his access to social media and to disrupt the communication networks of his armed followers. There were, in fact, many demands from Twitter workers for precisely such action, which was a significant factor in Twitters decision to shut down Trumps account. An article in Vanity Fair earlier this week notes that Twitter may have had its own insurrection if it did not dump Trump. Does Hedges consider such demands from workers an impermissible violation of free speech?

The World Socialist Web Site is not indifferent to the consequences of a successful fascistic overthrow of the US government. The danger posed by Big Tech and the Democratic Party will not be solved by passively accepting, under the cover of the unconditional defense of free speech, the establishment of an authoritarian regime led by Trump, backed by fascist organizations. Our slogan in the midst of a fascist assault on Congress is not: Hands off Hitler! Free Speech for Trump!"

In answering the false and politically disoriented arguments of Lauria, Hedges and others, it is not our intention to deny or discredit their journalistic contributions to the exposure of the crimes of American capitalism. However, their response to this major and unprecedented crisis is profoundly wrong and must be opposed.

This type of minimization serves not only to provide a political cover for Trump, it sows complacency in the strength of American democracy. Even with the tactical failure, the consequences of the insurrection will be long-lasting. The outcome of the coup, aided by the Democrats efforts to cover up the conspiracy, will be to integrate the extreme right into the structure of American politics.

That is why the critical question is the political activation of the working class. It cannot leave the working out of this crisis to the Democrats, the Republicans, or, for that matter, Big Tech.

The significance of the events of January 6 must be understood. The political lessons must be drawn. Only on this basis will it be possible to educate working people and youth, build a genuine socialist mass movement, and defend the democratic and social rights of the overwhelming majority of the people.
As everyone goes slightly around the bend from Lockdown 2.0 and we head into Lockdown 3.0, dark at 4pm, an unexpected voice reaches us from Sydney, Australia, urging us to remain optimistic, that "life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful - it is up to you". That voice is from a 100-year-old man who has recently published his first memoir.

Eddie Jaku - born Abraham 'Adi' Jakubowiez in 1920 in the German city of Leipzig - wrote The Happiest Man On Earth about what he calls his own "beautiful life", in which he celebrates friendship, family, and the importance of hope, resilience, and his determination to be kind in the face of adversity. This may sound like just another schmaltzy self-help cash-in, the book's USP being its author's advanced age. Except it's not.

Eddie Jaku is a Holocaust survivor whose parents and wider family were murdered in the camps, and who for decades never spoke about his experiences, or even told his two adult sons Michael and Andre what he had been through. It was just too hard, he said. Settled in Sydney since 1950, it wasn't until 2019 that he gave an incredibly moving TEDx talk - https://bit.ly/398BA2p - his German accent still guttural, which to date has been viewed by 499,814 people and translated into 13 languages. The idea of such a global audience blew his mind, he says, given how he comes from the era of telegrams and carrier pigeons.

"I never intended writing a book and never thought I would," he says. He was motivated by a realisation that sharing his attitude to life was as important as sharing what had happened to him all those decades ago. It's an astonishing story of horror, savagery, survival, hope and happiness. "I was at the bottom of the pit," he tells his TEDx audience. "So if I can make one miserable person smile, I'm happy."

His book is dedicated to future generations; he does not want history to forget about what happened and how easily any supposedly civilised society - in his case, one that gave the world Beethoven, Bach, Brecht, Goethe - can quickly transform into something monstrous. It can happen anywhere, he says. All it requires is fear, resentment and weakness curdling to hate. His story, as well as being a triumph of the human spirit, is a cautionary tale.

"We considered ourselves Germans first, then Jewish," he writes of his warm, loving, educated family. He describes himself as a proud young German: "Our religion did not seem as important to us as being good citizens of our Leipzig." He adored his city of music, books, and opera, where the world's first daily newspaper began publication in 1650.

"I truly believed I was part of the most enlightened, most cultured, most sophisticated, most educated society in the whole world. How wrong I was."

In 1933, Eddie was kicked out of school for being Jewish. He was sent by his family to study in another city nine hours away, aged 13, under a false name, where he spent five lonely years pretending to be an orphan, frightened the other boys would spot he was circumcised and report him. He finished top of his class, as a precision engineer.

Returning to Leipzig to surprise his parents on their wedding anniversary on November 9, 1938, it turned out to be "the biggest mistake of my young life"; the house was empty, his family in hiding. That night - Kristallnacht - Nazis kicked in the door, violently assaulted him, bayoneted his beloved dachshund Lulu, and burnt his family home down. "Our friends and neighbours joined in the violence," he remembers. Nobody intervened or shouted stop. "They were scared. They were weak. And their weakness allowed them to be manipulated into hatred."

Eddie - still 18-year-old Adi Jakubowiez - was transported to Buchenwald with 11,000 other Jewish men. Conditions were hideous, degrading and vicious. Ironically, at that time "we were a nation that prized the rule of law above all else," he writes. "You could get fined 200 marks for throwing a cigarette butt out your car window."

Eddie somehow got out of Buchenwald and was reunited with his father, who paid a smuggler to get them into Belgium. There he was arrested not as a Jew, but as a German, and interned. After the Nazi invasion of Belgium in 1940, he walked from Brussels to Dunkirk to Lyon - around 900km - being surreptitiously fed by ordinary French people along the way. In Lyon his luck ran out, and he was arrested and put on a train north to somewhere called Auschwitz.

Again he escaped, found his family, and went into hiding in Brussels, his parents taking in three young orphans whose own parents had been killed for being Jewish. Like Anne Frank's family, they hid in an attic, cramped and uncomfortable, but together. They were eventually found by the Belgian police and handed over to the Gestapo - although the three orphans stayed hidden, survived the war, and were reunited with Eddie years later. He and his family were sent to Auschwitz in the freezing winter of 1944, where his parents were immediately gassed. Eddie says he misses his mother "every day of my life".

They slept naked on bare boards without covers, in temperatures of minus eight. Every night up to 20 people froze to death. During the day they were used as slave labour for local industries. At the camp they were beaten, tortured, starved. Many "went to the wire" - ended their suffering by hurling themselves at the electrified fences; the average survival time for an Auschwitz prisoner was seven months.

As a precision engineer, he was categorised an 'economically indispensable Jew', and three times pulled back from the gas chamber. His education saved his life. A tiny spark of hope ignited when Eddie found his best friend Kurt at the camp. "Thanks to my friend, I survived," he writes. "A friend is someone who reminds you to feel alive."

On the final death march, as the Allies approached, Eddie feared they would be shot by their guards, and escaped into a drainage pipe. He was barefoot, starving, hiding in a cave for months, surviving by eating slugs and snails. Finally, he was so sick that he crawled to the highway, longing to be shot by approaching soldiers. He had reached the end.

The soldiers, however, were American. They took Eddie, who weighed 28kg and had cholera and typhoid, to hospital. His chances of survival were 35%. "In that moment I made a promise that if I lived I would become an entirely new person," he remembers. "I have a belief that if you can hang on to hope your body can do miraculous things and, my friend, I lived."

Incredibly, he found his friend Kurt in a refugee centre in Brussels: "I wasn't alone in the world anymore." His sister also survived. But Europe was poisoned for him, anti-Semitism still rife. One day, he saw a stranger wearing his own very distinctive suit, which he'd had tailor-made in Leipzig before the war, stolen from him along with everything else - it left him outraged.

For many of Eddie's Jewish peers, liberation meant suicide. He read how two young Jewish women had tried to jump off a bridge, survived and were sent to a grim psych ward; Eddie and Kurt visited and then took them in as sisters. "All they needed was a little kindness," he writes. "With a simple act of kindness you can save another person from despair." They are still in touch. When he met his wife of 75 years, Eddie says he was "a very difficult person" then, having "lived in fear of my life for so long that I could not stop thinking like a survivor". He was "a miserable ghost".

His wife had spent the war in Paris pretending to be Christian under an assumed name and had no concept of the horror he had been through.

Everything changed for him when his first son was born. "I realised I was the luckiest man on Earth," he recalls. He made himself another promise: "Until the end of my life, I would be happy, polite, helpful and kind. I would smile. Life is wonderful if you are happy. Love saved me."

Each year, he and his wife Flore celebrate their wedding anniversary on April 20 - Hitler's birthday. "I do not hate," he says. Hate "may kill your enemy, but it will destroy you in the process too." So he does not hate Hitler, but nor does he forgive him, as he says such forgiveness would make him a traitor to the six million killed.

In Australia, after a successful life running businesses with Flore, Eddie reached his 100th year surrounded by family - "my greatest achievement" - and reminds us how lucky we all are to be alive. He has finally shared his story and the personal philosophy which grew from it. "Remember to take time to appreciate every moment of your life, the good, the bad. Make yourself a friend to the world. Do this for your new friend Eddie."

The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor by Eddie Jaku, Pan Macmillan, 14.99

BLUEPRINT FOR HAPPINESS

There are many things more precious than money

Beware how weakness can be turned into hatred

Tomorrow will come if you survive today, one step at a time

You can find kindness everywhere, even from strangers

Hug your mother

One good friend is the whole world

Education is a lifesaver

If you lose your morals, you lose yourself

The human body is the best machine ever made

Where there is life, there is hope

There are always miracles in the world, even when it seems dark

Love is the best medicine

We are all part of a larger society, our work is our contribution to a free and safe life for all

Shared sorrow is half sorrow, shared pleasure is double pleasure

Share your hope, not your pain
Centrist Armin Laschet positioned himself on Saturday as the man to heal divisions among Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats after they chose him to lead the party, putting him in pole position to succeed her as Germany's chancellor.

Laschet, premier of the country's most populous state and the self-styled Merkel continuity candidate, beat arch-conservative Friedrich Merz in a ballot of CDU party delegates.

Merkel, Europe's predominant politician and a consistent winner with German voters since taking office in 2005, has said she will not run for chancellor again in September's federal election.

Since she stepped down as CDU leader in Dec. 2018, the party has struggled to find a suitable successor.

In choosing Laschet, premier of the Netherlands-sized state of North Rhine-Westphalia, delegates opted for a candidate more palatable to the left-leaning Greens party, second behind the conservatives in opinion polls and seen as a potential coalition partner come September.

But the narrow 521-466 margin of his runoff victory over Merz highlights the challenge that Laschet faces in uniting a conservative bloc that, despite her four successive federal election victories, has never been entirely comfortable with Merkel's centrist course.

In his victory speech, Laschet urged democratic forces to rally against a tide of extremism that had swept through Western nations along with the coronavirus pandemic.

"Especially in these days that we are experiencing in the world, the phrase 'unity, justice and freedom' is more topical than ever," he said, quoting the first line of the German national anthem. "Let us fight together for these principles against all those who want to endanger them."

Factions within the CDU accuse Merkel her of having left a vacuum on the party's right for the far-right Alternative for Germany - and latterly conspiracy theorists questioning the reality of the coronavirus pandemic - to step into, undermining Germany's democratic order.

NO GUARANTEES

Merkel said last year that Laschet, 59, had "the tools" to run for chancellor, the closest she has come to endorsing anyone.

But even as leader - binding results of Saturday's voting are expected on Jan. 22 - Laschet is not guaranteed a run at the chancellorship, as the party could yet nominate someone else.

Possible alternative candidates include Health Minister Jens Spahn, credited with a successful response to the coronavirus crisis, and Markus Soeder, the popular premier of Bavaria and the leader of the CSU, the CDU's sister party in the region.

In his candidacy speech, Laschet said the next CDU leader's task would be to earn trust for both himself and for the party and emphasised his ability to integrate all of its wings.

"I keep hearing that you also have to be able to polarise. I say: no, you don't have to," he told an empty conventional hall, from which the congress was livestreamed to delegates.

"You have to master the tools of centrist politics, the ability to unite."

Soeder said he was looking forward to working with Laschet. "Together we will continue the Union's success story," he wrote on Twitter.

The Bavarian has called for the CDU/CSU to decide on its chancellor candidate only after state elections in mid-March, leaving open the possibility he could run if Laschet stumbles.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz wished Laschet luck. "This year will be a challenge for all of us," tweeted Scholz, who is chancellor candidate for the Social Democrats (SPD), junior partner in Merkels ruling coalition.

Green Party leaders Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck said Laschet must redefine the CDU and set a course to modernise the economy in an environmentally sustainable way.

Opinion polls give Merkel's conservative bloc around 36% of votes, followed by the Greens on around 20% and the SPD on 16%.

Merz, who narrowly lost a 2018 bid for the CDU leadership, told Reuters he had offered Laschet the possibility of joining the current government as economy minister. A spokesman for Merkel said no government reshuffle was planned.

Merkel was succeeded in 2018 as party leader by her protegee Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who struggled in the role and said last year she would step down.





This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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Porterville, CA (93257)

Today

Clear skies. Low around 55F. NNW winds shifting to SSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low around 55F. NNW winds shifting to SSW at 10 to 15 mph.

On the occasion of the 176th anniversary of the first arrival of Indian immigrant labourers to these shores, I intend to comment briefly, through a couple of letters to the press, on the current status of Indo-Trinidadians after their presence here for over a century and a half. They may be regarded as ethnic-focused, divisive and contentious, or may be deemed irrelevant and inconsequential in these times.

The NRP Group, a developer in Ohio, has agreed to buy 4 acres of the land the Moorestown Mall sits on as the South Jersey mall has struggled to make money, especially during the pandemic, the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust said Thursday.

The Moorestown Mall will undergo significant changes, with developers creating a hotel and as many as 1,605 apartments.

PREIT had said earlier this week that it would sell land to multifamily developers but did not indicate who those developers were. NRP is expected to pay $8 million for the four acres, said Heather Crowell, a spokesperson for PREIT. The company did not indicate who the other multifamily developers would be.

The densification program, as PREIT called it, is expected to garner more than $150 million, which would help lower the amount of debt the organization has accumulated and be a source for liquidity.

PREIT, the most dominant mall owner in Philadelphia and its collar counties, said in November that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a preliminary step to restructuring, with one of its goals to add $150 million in additional borrowing.

The state of the long-struggling company declined further in October when its shares had dropped to below $1 apiece on average for 30 days, violating its agreement with the New York Stock Exchange. The violation left PREIT at risk of losing its NYSE listing, but the company retained its spot after its share price stabilized as it emerged from bankruptcy with new leeway from its creditors.

 READ MORE: PREIT dodges delisting after stock price stabilizes on emergence from bankruptcy

In its attempt to bolster its finances, PREIT also has sought a deal to sell off part of the former Strawbridge & Clothier building in Center City.

PREIT said the first stage of its new project at the Moorestown Mall is expected to be the construction of 375 apartments and a hotel.

PREIT said it also then is anticipated to finish building 350 housing units at Exton Square in Chester County. The completion at Exton Square will allow PREIT to begin building for a second stage of development at the Moorestown Mall.

 READ MORE: PREIT in deal to sell Center City space, possibly for new Giant supermarket

PREIT saw a $16.5 million dip in revenue in its third quarter due to bankruptcies, store closings, and rent abatements for tenants who struggled to pay rent as the number of customers dropped off rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the companys third-quarter earnings report released Nov. 6.

Funds from operation from July to Sept. 30 last year clocked in at 12 cents per diluted share and partnership units, a decrease from 63 cents at the same time in 2019.
The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) is engaged in a dangerous and destabilizing game as it works to at least double the size of its nuclear arsenal this decade. In a recent op-ed, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote, Beijing refuses to disclose how many nuclear weapons it has, how many it plans to develop, or what it plans to do with them. It is the least transparent of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

Despite the Chinese Communist Partys secrecy, the world does know that Beijing is pursuing a nuclear triad on land, in the air and at sea and that it is rapidly expanding and modernizing its capabilities, while simultaneously refusing to even engage the United States in a meaningful dialogue on these developments.

Satellite imagery shows the Peoples Liberation Armys advances toward building a world-class military by 2049. A recent PLA military parade showcased the Dongfeng-41 missile, which could strike Americas shores in 30 minutes. The PLA, said Secretary Pompeo, will deploy this missile in silos and on mobile platforms in the near future and we expect that, if current trends hold, China will at least double its total nuclear arsenal in the next decade.

In addition to its expanding strategic nuclear forces, the PLA has fielded more than a thousand ballistic missiles near its coast. Many of these weapons can be armed with nuclear as well as conventional warheads. Secretary Pompeo has warned that they are intended to target U.S. forces in East Asia, and to intimidate U.S. allies, and support the PRCs coercive foreign policies.

Beijings nuclear posture is becoming more aggressive, threatening its non-nuclear neighbors and calling into question its ambiguous No First Use policy. By contrast, the United States and other democracies uphold transparency and respect for international nuclear weapons norms and are working to develop and advance credible arms control proposals to prevent a nuclear arms race. We participate in robust and reliable crisis communication networks with other nuclear powers, and weve encouraged Beijing to do the same, said Secretary Pompeo.

Secretary Pompeo urged the PRCs leaders to join with the United States and Russia in crafting a new arms control agreement covering all categories of nuclear weapons.

Secretary Pompeo urged Americas friends to speak out.Too many countries, including champions of arms control who depend on Americas nuclear deterrence capabilities, remain publicly silent about Beijings buildup.

History is clear: Great powers, including the PRC, must behave responsibly with the worlds most dangerous weapons. Countries that appease irresponsible governments or acquiesce in their actions inevitably suffer the consequences.

Anncr: That was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government.
Los Angeles, Jan 16 : Bollywood actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra on Saturday lauded India's Covid vaccination drive, and also expressed gratitude to the nation's frontline warriors.

"Bravo India! Congratulations to Indian authorities, medical & health teams for starting off the massive Covid vaccination drive. Forever grateful to our frontline heroes who have been risking their lives this past year to save others," Priyanka tweeted from her verified account.

Her tweet came in response to a tweet by the official account of UNICEF India, which reads: "A big moment for India as it starts the #LargestVaccineDrive today! Health workers are the first to receive the #COVID19 vaccine across India. #TogetherAgainstCOVID19." Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday that the 'Made in India' vaccines are proof of the determination of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'. Congratulating all the scientists following the launch of the world's largest vaccination drive in India, Shah said the nation is witnessing a historic moment in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Hong Kongs government expressed its utmost anger" toward a US decision to sanction six officials from the city and China, calling the move insane, shameless and despicable."

The US is attempting to intervene" in the internal affairs of China and Hong Kong, and obstruct" their efforts to safeguard national security, the citys government said in a statement on Saturday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Friday that the U.S. would sanction the officials as part of President Donald Trumps executive order on Hong Kong normalization.

The move is the latest among a raft of measures the White House has taken to punish China after Beijing imposed national security laws in Hong Kong last year. The law has cast doubt on whether the former colony can still have the high degree of autonomy" promised before the British handed it back to China in 1997. The U.S. has begun revoking the special status" the city had enjoyed, and also sanctioned officials including Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

The U.S. acts are displaying double standards and hypocrisy, let alone blatantly breaching international laws and basic norms governing international relations," the Hong Kong government said in the statement. The excuse that the U.S. uses to sanction the officials was lame" and could hardly stand up to challenge," it added.

A spokesperson for Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong condemned the sanctions in a statement on Saturday, saying some Western politicians are presenting a false picture" and beautifying those who are suspected of violating the National Security Law as pro-democracy politicians and activists."





This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

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When you brought out your book Old Ireland in Colour, did you think it would be one of the biggest selling books of 2020?

No, not at all. I didnt expect anything huge, but the response has been amazing. At the start, we were planning a print run of 5,000, and we even thought that was optimistic. It has sold 50,000 copies and it was the only Irish book in 2020 to have sales of over 1m.

In your other life, you are a professor of electronic engineering. How did this book of old photos come about?

I was doing some genealogical work and I came across old photos of my family, and decided to colourise them. Then I started colourising old photos of Galway and putting them out on social media and there was a good response. I broadened it to the whole of Ireland and I set up accounts for Old Ireland in Colour on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and that led to the book. I put it together with the historian Sarah-Anne Buckley.

How did you colourise the photos?

We used DeOldify, an artificial intelligence system for colourising images. It does the initial images, but then you can add your own detail from historical records. For example, we can make sure we get the right colour for the uniforms of Irish Citizen Army or the British army. With some people there are records of the eye or hair colour. One of the photos features a boy in Temple Bar, Colm Irwin, and I was in touch with him. He told us that he has blue eyes and was probably wearing a mustard-coloured top and beige pants, with red-brown sandals in the photo.

What is noticeable about the people in the photographs?

I suppose it is the contrast between the well-to-do and those who are poor, particularly in the early 20th century. The photo on the cover from 1946 still has children in bare feet. It shows how Ireland has changed so much in a relatively short space of time.

Is it true that you set up the internet forum boards.ie earlier in your career?

Yes, that was in my student days. I set up a discussion forum around a particular computer game. People wanted to talk about other things as well, and we set it up as a company 20 years ago. That was the social media of that time.
Mitochondria are vital for the human body as cellular powerhouses: They possess more than 1,000 different proteins, required for many central metabolic pathways. Disfunction of these lead to severe diseases, especially of the nervous system and the heart. In order to transport proteins and metabolites, mitochondria contain a special group of so-called beta-barrel membrane proteins, which form transport pores in the outer mitochondrial membrane. So far, scientists have not been able to explain the operating mode of the sorting and assembly machinery (SAM) for the biogenesis of these beta-barrel proteins.

A team led by Prof. Dr. Toshiya Endo from Kyoto University/Japan, Prof. Dr. Nils Wiedemann and Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Pfanner from the University of Freiburg and Prof. Dr. Thomas Becker from the University of Bonn has now solved the structure and function of the SAM complex. The researchers have published their results in the journal Nature.

The SAM complex consists typically of two beta-barrel subunits named Sam50, which are capped on their outside by the two additional subunits Sam35 and Sam37. The researchers found that while the SAM complex forms a new beta-barrel protein, it contains only one Sam50. The second beta-barrel subunit functions as a flexible placeholder: it temporarily leaves the SAM complex, freeing the space for the new beta-barrel protein to form. This dynamic mechanism suggests how a new beta-barrel protein can mature to full size in the SAM complex and only be released as a completely folded protein.

This enabled us to identify a new principle for the formation of membrane proteins that perform vital functions in our cells." Prof. Dr. Nils Wiedemann, University of Freiburg

Nils Wiedemann and Nikolaus Pfanner are group leaders at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and project leaders in the clusters of excellence in biological signaling BIOSS and CIBSS as well as the Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine at the University of Freiburg.
Bhubaneswar, Jan 16 : The Covid-19 vaccination drive began at 161 sites spread across 30 districts of the state on Saturday.

Biranchi Nayak, 51, a sweeper in Capital Hospital of Bhubaneswar became the first person to get the Covid vaccine Covaxin on Saturday.

"I am happy and excited that I received the much-awaited vaccine. I am feeling well," said Biranchi Nayak, the sanitary worker.

After taking the first Covid-19 vaccine jab, Director of Capital Hospital Laxmidhar Sahu appealed to people to get vaccinated without fear and apprehension.

"I have taken the Covid-19 vaccine. As you can see I am completely fine and healthy after the observation period. So I urge all not to believe in rumours and fake news and come forward for vaccination," said Sahu.

Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra informed that a total of 16,100 healthcare workers would receive the Covid-19 vaccine on the first day.

"A Class IV staff of Capital Hospital took the 1st jab followed by the director of the facility and another doctor. This is a big day for us in the fight against Covid-19," said Mohapatra.

He said 1.92 lakh healthcare workers would receive vaccine within a week using the available vials in the first phase.

The state has received 4.08 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine and 20,000 doses of Covaxin vaccine in the first phase.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik interacted with beneficiaries at a particular site in each district.

In the first phase, 9,000 health workers will be administered vaccine under the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) area.

After getting the first dose, Umakant Satpathy, additional director of Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET), appealed all to take the vaccine so that precious lives can be saved. A Union Minister Dharmedra Pradhan said this is a historic day for the citizens of India.

Roll-out of Covid-19 vaccination drive by Prime Minister Narendra Modi across the country, including in 160 centres in Odisha, is a significant moment in our fight against the pandemic. Everyone has a crucial role in the immunisation drive, said Pradhan.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
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Chinese agents raid homeschool run by persecuted megachurch

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A large group of police officers and other government officials raided a house where children from a heavily persecuted megachurch were being homeschooled in Chengdu, China, the church said on social media, pleading for Christians worldwide to pray for them.

Police officers, education bureau officials, national security officers and urban management officers on Thursday morning raided a home where homeschooled children of Early Rain Covenant Church were playing together, the 5,000-member church said in a Facebook post.

The police are now raiding the home. There are a large number of police officers outside and inside of brother Liang Huali and Sister Shu Qiongs home, and they are currently removing brother Liangs personal belongings. Please pray! the church wrote.

In December 2018, police shuttered the church, broke down the doors of church members and leaders homes and arrested more than 100 people. Police have continued to harass ERCC members since then, according to a report from China Aid.

ERCCs Pastor Wang Yi was later sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of subversion of power and illegal business operations.

China has more than 60 million Christians, at least half of whom worship in unregistered or illegal underground churches. The country is ranked as one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to the persecution of Christians, according to Open Doors USAs World Watch List.

On Dec. 30, dozens of officials in Taiyuan city, the capital of Shanxi province, raided Xuncheng Church, which was planted by ERCC and meets at the home of preacher An Yankui, confiscated Christian books, and detained the preacher and five members during a Bible study, according to the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern.

The officials cordoned off the church members who were studying the Bible, confiscated their choir robes and books, and apprehended the preacher and five women, ICC said.

Officials released the five female detainees around midnight on New Years Eve, but An was held in administrative detention for 15 days.

Xuncheng, which was targeted possibly due to its association with the ERCC, was earlier raided on Nov. 15 and received a disbandment notice from the police.

Last April, several members of the church were arrested by the Public Security Bureau for participating in an online Easter worship service on Zoom and ordered to cease all religious activity.

A supporter of ERCC shared on Twitter at the time: Since 8:30 a.m., some security officials have entered these Christian families homes and pretended to be chatting with them casually. At 9:30 a.m., the worship began, and they were also invited to participate. Once they realized that the sermon was from ERCCs imprisoned pastor Wang Yi, they immediately shut it down.

A November 2020 report from the Pew Research Center showed that restrictions on religion in China had risen to a record level. Researchers found that China continued to have the highest score on the Government Restrictions Index out of all 198 countries and territories in the study.

In addition to ERCC, the Chinese Communist Party has forced a number of well-known churches to shut down, including Rongguili Church in Guangzhou and Xunsiding Church in Xiamen.

China has also been labeled by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for continuing to engage in particularly severe violations of religious freedom.


With more than half of New York restaurants hanging on a thread and depending on federal dollars to stay afloat, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on January 5 signed new legislation that effectively ends at-will employment for fast-food restaurants in New York City. The move, which goes into effect on July 4, 2021, prevents employers from discharging employees or reducing their hours past a certain threshold unless the employer has "just cause," which is described as unsatisfactorily performing their duty, among other things.

The effort makes New York City the first jurisdiction in the country to pass job protections for employees within a particular industry, according to Ogletree Deakins, a labor and employment law firm.

While an obvious win for employees, for small fast-food franchises the change could make an already difficult business environment even more so. Business owners say they need the flexibility of at-will employment--particularly in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Many employers have needed to layoff, furlough, or reduce employee hours in this uncertain climate in particular.

It's "absolutely terrifying for small business" and "simply wrong," Jessica Walker, CEO of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce told a reporter at Restaurant Business last February, after the proposal was first announced.

Here's how the new laws will affect these businesses.

What is at-will employment?

In theory, at-will employment means that both employee and employer are under no obligation to continue the working relationship, and both can end it at any moment. An at-will employee can walk out the door right now, with absolutely no prior notice, and there's nothing legally the employer can do. The employer can refuse to rehire and give a bad reference, but that's the end of it.

Employers in at-will relationships can also end an employment relationship without notice, but they can't do it for illegal reasons. In theory, you could walk and say to an employee, "I always fire someone on the third Monday in January, and this year it's you. Pack your stuff and get out." If you picked this employee because of race, gender, religion, or other protected category, that becomes an illegal termination.

How this New York City Law affects fast-food employment at will.

After a maximum of a 30-day probationary period, fast-food restaurants can terminate employees only for "just cause," defined as "the fast-food employee's failure to satisfactorily perform job duties or misconduct that is demonstrably and materially harmful to the fast food employer's legitimate business interests."

Reductions in hours are also covered, so you can't just not schedule a problem employee anymore.

Unless the employee's bad behavior is "egregious," managers have to go through a progressive discipline process before terminating an employee.

Layoffs for economic reasons are still allowed, but they have to be last-in-first-out. In other words, if you have a long-term employee who is a poor performer but hasn't reached the level of "just cause" yet and you have newer employees who are star performers, you still have to pick the newer employees for termination if layoffs are in order.

Impact on your business.

Right now, there's no direct impact on your business if you do anything other than fast food in New York City, but it's a step in the door. While progressive discipline is the gold standard of handling employee problems, having to justify every termination may result in people slowing their hiring or increased use of temps.

This is something you'll want to keep your eye on. While it offers protection to the employees, it also restricts employers--especially when the government controls who can be terminated in a layoff situation. The best plan for layoffs is to keep your top performers and let the others go. This may well hamper your ability to survive economic downturns--something almost every restaurant owner in the world faced in the past year.
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A High Court in Rivers State has moved to sequester the assets of the countrys premier lender FirstBank of Nigeria Limited in an effort to recover the damages oil major Royal Dutch Shell owed the Ejama Ebubu community of Rivers State in a legal contest spanning many decades, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Police operatives and court officials arrived the banks main branch in Port Harcourt on Tuesday to execute an order to seize the lenders asset.

The bank said the incident leading to the confiscation of its properties was unjustified, illegal and a reckless misuse of the machinery of justice, FirstBank said in a statement quoted by Bloomberg.

It said the confiscation disregarded an interim court ruling Shell secured in December, forbidding the lender from paying out any money in settling the judgement debt and restraining the Ejama Ebubu community from moving to force FirstBank to do so.

A representative of First Bank told PREMIUM TIMES the bank has filed a motion to nullify the verdict authorising the seizure of its property.

Decades-long battle

Lagos-headquartered FirstBank resolved to guarantee the damages awarded against Shell by a Rivers State high court judge a decade ago.

According to the estimation of a court last year, the damages and the accrued interest came to $479 million (N183 billion).

Shell has been embroiled in an enduring lawsuit with Rivers State community, which in 2010 sought several millions of dollars in damages against the firm for environmental pollution.

Ejama Ebubu has won many appeals instituted by Shell including a November 30 verdict rendered by the Supreme Court, upholding the 2010 ruling.

The knotty legal wrangle is a product of an oil spill incident, half a century old, reaching back to 1970, when a mishap at a Shell oil extraction facility caused thousands of barrels of crude to spill into the sea.

That accident brought a major disaster to ocean life with fishes dying in their numbers and severely disrupting fishing, a popular for locals.

ALSO READ: First Bank donates N1 billion to fight Coronavirus

The November ruling implies the coast is clear for enforcement of the judgment of 2010, said Lucius Nwosu, one of the communitys lawyers.

First Bank will not honour their guarantee because they, at their own peril, failed to get a cash backing from Shell before they issued the guarantee, he added.

Mr Nwosu said neither Shells interim court ruling nor First Banks pending motion could override the decision of the apex court.

Shell has not taken responsibility for the incident, which it blamed on third parties during the Nigerian civil war that ran from 1967 to 1970, adding that a clean-up had been implemented in the polluted area.

It is unfortunate that the judicial proceedings in this case have for so long focused on procedural issues and not on the merits of the case.

Any attempt to claim payment should not be allowed because of other similar ongoing proceedings () We have always maintained that we are ready to defend this case on the basis of the facts available, the oil major said in November.
(Newser)  At age 22, poet Amanda Gorman, chosen to read at the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, already has a history of writing for official occasions. "I have kind of stumbled upon this genre. It's been something I find a lot of emotional reward in, writing something I can make people feel touched by, even if it's just for a night," Gorman said. The Los Angeles resident has written for events such as a July 4 celebration featuring the Boston Pops Orchestra and the inauguration of a new president at Harvard University, her alma mater. When she reads Wednesday, the AP reports, she will be continuing a traditionfor Democratic presidentsthat includes such celebrated poets as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou. The latter's "On the Pulse of Morning," written for the 1993 inauguration of President Bill Clinton, went on to sell more than 1 million copies when published in book form.

story continues below

Gorman is the youngest inaugural poet in memory. She hasn't met the Bidens, but they've apparently have been aware of her; Gorman said inaugural officials told her she had been recommended by Jill Biden. She is calling her inaugural poem, "The Hill We Climb," while otherwise declining to preview any lines. Gorman said she was not given specific instructions on what to write but was encouraged to emphasize unity and hope over "denigrating anyone" or declaring "ding, dong, the witch is dead" over the departure of President Trump. The siege last week of the US Capitol was a challenge for keeping a positive tone, but also an inspiration. "That day gave me a second wave of energy to finish the poem," said Gorman, adding that she will not refer directly to the attack but will "touch" upon it. She said last week's events did not upend the poem she had been working on because they didn't surprise her. "The poem isn't blind," she said. "It isn't turning your back to the evidence of discord and division."

(Read more inauguration stories.)
Amid concerns on how the health related data of the masses will be handled by it, Google has now completed its acquisition of wearable device maker Fitbit Inc.

Despite the completion of the deal, it is still being probed by the U.S. and Australian competition regulators.

Reuters

The Alphabet Inc company confirmed the $2.1 billion acquisition on Thursday. With the takeover, Google is expected to retain Fitbits 1,800 employees.

The deal raised concerns when it was first announced in 2019, simply due to the amount of data that Google stood to gain from the takeover. The search engine giant already has a considerable amount of data collected from its various services.

Fitbit through its fitness trackers and other health monitoring devices, is able to record the users steps, calories burned, heart rate, and even sleep patterns. Fitbits acquisition would hence mean that Google gets its hands on such public health data too.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

Google thus had to win the antitrust approval from several authorities before the acquisition could take place. It did so from the European Union in December after Google agreed to specific restrictions on the ways to use customers health data.



This deal has always been about devices, not data, and weve been clear since the beginning that we will protect Fitbit users privacy, Google assured in a blog post on Thursday.

The company will thus meet concerns of data privacy by not using the data for targeted advertising, meaning no sharing of the health data with third parties. It will, however, propel itself to the forefront of the wearables market with the already associated user base with Fitbit.

(With inputs from Reuters)
IRISH designer Simone Rocha has been criticised after it emerged her anticipated range of clothes for H&M will not be size-inclusive.

It was announced this week that the 34-year-old Irish-born designer's luxury brand would be releasing a limited range with the high street store on March 11.

However, H&M has since said the range will not be available beyond a size 14 in its European stores.

In the United States, the range will be available up to an "extra large".

Rocha is set to become the first Irish designer to take part in H&M's collaborations.

The announcement on social media prompted widespread excitement, particularly for Irish shoppers who believed they would have the chance to own one of her designs at a more affordable price point.

In a promotional video, Rocha claimed the range would be available for "all sizes".

However, in a post on Instagram yesterday, H&M said the range would only be available up to a European size 42, which is around a size 14.

Louise McSharry, the 2fm presenter who is also plus size, said she was deeply disappointed to find out the range would not be inclusive.

"It's incredibly disappointing to see that despite the PR materials around this collaboration and Simone Rocha herself referring to catering to 'all sizes', instead the range will only include clothes up to a size 14," McSharry said.

"Plus size women are constantly excluded from fashion, and it's deeply frustrating to see designers and brands use buzz words around inclusivity in statements and on websites when the collections themselves are exclusive by definition."

The range will feature Rocha designing menswear, children's clothes and beauty products for the first time.

The clothing campaign is set to be modelled by Normal People star Daisy Edgar-Jones and actor Michael Ward.

It is understood that Rocha began negotiations with the Swedish high street brand in 2018.

In an interview with Vogue, she said that when H&M approached her, she said: "If I'm going to do it, I want to do it for everybody, not only women, but for men and children - and to make sure they get the quality."

A spokeswoman for H&M said: "It was important to Simone Rocha and H&M to design a collection that can be styled in many different ways, with all items in the collection designed to be special, cherished pieces.

"H&M's overall product offering is continuously reviewed depending on the collection, season and customer demand.

"For this collection we have decided to offer our customers sizes up to 42, but we offer other collections up to size 54."

According to H&M's website, a 42 is a UK size 14.

Rocha is the latest high- profile designer to announce a collaboration with the high street store.

Since 2004, H&M has announced at least one collaboration with a premium brand each year.

The limited ranges usually sell out rapidly and can often be found being re- sold for much higher prices later.

Rocha's team were approached for comment.
US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens

Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire

ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning

European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

Armenia acting MOD leaves for Moscow

Armenia President, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces discuss current situation on border

Armenia acting PM to residents of borderline village: If we cede our border, Azerbaijanis will get more excited

Armenia MOD not confirming reports about Azerbaijan firing shots at Tavush Province

Ex-President Kocharyan meets with Yerevan residents, "Armenia" bloc members (PHOTOS)

Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

Serj Tankian makes statement on Azerbaijans displayed horrific racism

Man detained in US for intending to commit attempt on Biden

Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD continues disseminating disinformation

Erdogan to visit Baku and Shushi

Two Armenia legislature committees to hold closed joint meeting regarding tense situation on Azerbaijan border

Holy Etchmiadzin on capture of Armenia soldiers: Such behavior of Azerbaijan authorities is strongly condemnable

Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

Armenia opposition MP: Shots are heard Gegharkunik Province

Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan leadership bears responsibility for consequences of actions by its armed forces

Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

140 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

Armenia MOD announces names of 6 Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

Armenia parliament manages to have quorum in 2nd attempt

World oil prices falling

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan popularity rating consistently drops over the past week

Newspaper: Russia peacekeepers commander does not return from Azerbaijan with encouraging news for Armenia

MOD: 6 Armenia soldiers are surrounded, captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

William Shakespeare, 1st man in world to get approved coronavirus vaccine, dies aged 81

Spain Congress of Deputies committee accepts pro-Armenian motion

Ex-PM comments on double-digit growth in Armenia economy

Facebook calls Russia, Iran leading purveyors of disinformation

Erdogan says meeting with Biden will mark 'start of new era' in relations with Washington

Armenia acting Deputy PM on creation of third high-voltage electric communication line with Iran

Vladimir Zaynetdinov: CSTO has taken note of application submitted by Armenia acting PM

Armenia's Pashinyan says addressing UN Security Council not ruled out

Armenia acting FM: International pressure on Azerbaijan is growing

Netanyahu tells Blinken that Israel is against reopening US consulate for Palestinians

23 political parties and 4 alliances apply to Armenia Central Electoral Commission ahead of snap parliamentary elections

Instagram launches ability to hide likes

Iran FM on solutions to problems in the region, territorial integrity

Bloomberg: Support for Erdogan's ruling party hits record low

Inter-agency commission sums up reports on implementation of roadmap for EU-Armenia CEPA

Armenian acting PM on CSTO and Russia and their duties as Armenia's allies

Slovakia allows use of Russian vaccine Sputnik V

Armenia acting PM on situation in Syunik Province: CSTO still hasn't clearly expressed its position

Armenia's Pashinyan: It's very rarely that Baku made provocations in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces on its own

Armenia acting PM: There will be no demarcation of borders until Azerbaijani troops are pulled out of territory

Record-setting number of political parties register to run in snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Blinken describes Egypt as a "real and effective partner"

Armenia's Pashinyan slams opposition again

Yerevan court ends trial over Armenia 3rd President's nephew Hayk Sargsyan

Armenia President expresses condolences on passing away of Catholicos-Patriarch Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan
Little-known fintech company Jaja Finance has apologised to credit card customers who were mistakenly hit with 12 late payment fees over the Christmas period.

The London-based company, which last year took over the credit card business of Bank of Ireland in a 530million deal, says that a 'small minority' of customers were affected by the computer glitch.

This meant  somewhat bizarrely  that some customers were hit with a penalty charge before their regular direct debit payment was taken in December.

Glitch: Last year, Jaja took over the credit card business of Bank of Ireland in a 530million deal

On Friday, Jaja, which was set up five years ago by Norwegian entrepreneurs, told The Mail on Sunday: 'We are very sorry that some customers were incorrectly charged.

'All affected customers have been identified, and charges applied incorrectly have been refunded. There is no impact to customers' credit scores.'

In addition, credit card holders have been sent emails telling them that minimum payments were due which had already been paid, and that new direct debits had been set up when they hadn't been.

Some customers have also had 'teething issues' downloading the Jaja app that allows them to manage their cards online.

Under the Bank of Ireland deal, Jaja took control of Post Office and AA-branded cards.
They say, "What's life without a little mystery?" But some mysteries are just too mind-boggling that it borders on confusion. For Latin America, it's been the case for its many unsolved crimes.

These unsolved crimes don't just baffle residents of Latin America but also people from other parts of the world. Unsolved crimes aren't new to Latin America, as it is in other parts of the world. It just so happened that some have been more popular than others.

Do you have time to put on a thinking cap and bust open these cases? Who knows, you might be the one to solve these long-standing mysteries.

Read on to learn more about some of Latin America's top strangest unsolved crimes, as listed by We Are Mitu.

Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre

On February 10, 1990, two men shot seven people inside the Las Cruces bowling alley in New Mexico. Their victims, including four children, were all killed in execution-style. Both killers escaped from the damages before the authorities arrived.

This coming February marks its 31st year, with only surviving victims as of February 2020. Four people died during the bowling alley execution, while one more died a year later, Las Cruces Sun News noted.

Read also: 12,500-Year-Old 'Sistine Chapel of the Ancients' Rock Art Found in Amazon Jungle

On a March 2020 report from ABC 7 KVIA, it said that many tips came to investigators after a $30,000 reward was offered for any information leading to the arrest of the suspects.

"We're going to do this as if this is the first time we've received this (information)," said Det. Amador Martinez said at the time.

Since no suspects are conclusively connected to the crime, he didn't have much information to offer. Even though some suspects have already been investigated in the past, investigators decided to do it all again.

Cerro Maravilla Murders

Deep in the night of July 25, 1978, Carlos Soto Arrivi, 18, and Arnaldo Dario Rosado, 24, were accompanied by an undercover police officer named Alejandro Gonzalez Malave.

Malave posed as a member of the Armed Revolutionary Movement, which the two were also part of. He then took a taxi driver hostage and told him to drive to the top of the mountain Cerro Maravilla.

The three planned to sabotage communication towers on the mountaintop in protest of some Puerto Rican freedom fighters' imprisonment, reported Liberation News.

Malave alerted the police that confronted the two youth and killed them. It was one of the most controversial cases in Puerto Rico's history. Many stories started contradicting each other, many accusing the police of a cover-up.

Statements from the taxi driver and other witnesses poked holes in the police's claim that they acted in self-defense.

U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation performed special investigations in 1978 and 1980, but the case was closed due to "lack of evidence."

However, Puerto Ricans did not want to let the case go. After the second wave of investigations, it was proven that the cops did not act in self-defense.

The Assassination of Senor oscar Romero

On the morning of March 24, 1980, El Salvador's archbishop, Oscar Arnulfo Romero, was shot as he was saying mass. The murder became one of the most notorious unsolved crimes of the cold war in Latin America. However, the motive was clear.

Related story: Are You Brave Enough to Buy These Creepy Murder Houses Linked to Chris Watts and Charles Manson?

Romero was very vocal about the death squad slaughter in the U.S. backyard, said The Guardian. He served as the "voice of those without voice," telling soldiers not to kill.

The U.S. promised there would be justice, but all came to nothing. There was no hitman, gun, or witnesses to shine any light on the case.

Since then, Romero became known as Saint oscar Romero, reported The New Yorker. He was named a saint after a Salvadoran man prayed to him for his wife, who slipped into a coma after giving birth. His wife survived.
Nora Murphy, Boherbue and John Gilhooley Mohill, Co. Leitrim, pictured on their wedding day on Dec. 22nd in St. Marys Cathedral, Killarney, with Noras parents Bertie Joe and Eileen Murphy and Johns parents Ollie and Geraldine Gilhooley. Photos courtesy of Black Diamond Photography

Planning a wedding over the past 11 months has been akin to a military operation, with the goalposts ever changing due to the evolving pandemic restrictions. However, it was a case of 'mission accomplished' for Boherbue woman Nora Murphy and her Co. Leitrim husband John Gilhooley, who tied the knot at St. Mary's Cathedral, Killarney, on December 22nd.

With couples throughout the world having had their plans thrown into disarray during the past year, The Corkman chatted to Nora and John to find out how they coped with the challenges of rescheduling and the disappointment of having to cancel their original plans.

Suffice to say, both Nora and John took the changes in their stride and were delighted to get to say 'I do' on Christmas week.

"Our original plan of 300 guests would have been fantastic but we have to say we truly enjoyed our small, intimate wedding and could only wish to do it all again," Nora said.

"With regards to the preparations for the wedding, our original date was November 21st and we were lucky to have had most elements of the wedding organised before the pandemic fully hit last February.

"We had booked most of our wedding suppliers; the venue, band, photographer and videographer, we had bought all the dresses and this meant it was just a matter of waiting to see how everything would unfold in the lead up to the wedding," Nora explained.

"Not knowing if the situation would improve or deteriorate was difficult, it was a rollercoaster of a build-up, exciting but with some confusion due to the uncertainty of the situation," John said.

As the wedding date drew near, the couple said that they were wondering if they should postpone due to the unexpected lockdown changes. "We were so lucky to be able to rearrange for December 22nd," Nora said, adding that the day exceeded all of their expectations.

"With restrictions recommending only 25 guests, we just had family and close friends. As John is from Co. Leitrim, we were delighted that inter-county travel was allowed over the Christmas period so that his family could be with us on the big day," she said.

Needless to say, the Murphy home in Lisrobin was a hive of activity on the morning of the 22nd. "Getting ready at my house was so relaxed and fun with make-up artist Orla O'Connor and hairdresser Fiona O'Keeffe on hand to do our make up and hair," Nora said.

Boherbue PP Fr. Jim Kennelly celebrated the nuptial Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral, Killarney, and the couple held their reception at the Great Southern Hotel.

"The day was made so special by the family and friends we were surrounded by. It gave great consolation also that everyone could enjoy their day in a safe environment. The staff at the hotel were second to none and we were put at such ease by our photographer Black Diamond and videographer Brendan Reidy."

In the lead up to the nuptials all the Leitrim guests were really looking forward to the wedding weekend in Killarney but, unfortunately, all plans subsequently changed. John's parents, Ollie and Geraldine Gilhooley, along with his sister and her husband and the best man travelled from Leitrim to be with the couple. "It was disappointing initially and we were thinking of postponing but as time went on and the uncertainty of time-lines became more apparent, we decided to go with the numbers that would be allowed at the time. At least now there is a vaccine so hopefully this might give some reassurance to couples planning their wedding at the moment," John said.

As they were unable to honeymoon abroad, John and Nora booked a 'mini-moon' in Castlemartyr but, unfortunately once more, as restrictions became tighter that arrangement also fell by the wayside. However, they are making plans to travel when it allowed and safe to do so.

The couple met in Dublin when they were both working in the capital in 2013 but now live in Killarney. "It has been a hectic year as we also bought a house in Killarney in November so Kerry is home for the foreseeable," Nora said with a smile.
CONTACT: Pamela D. Wilson 303-810-1816

Email: Inquiry_For_Pamela@pameladwilson.com

Golden, Colorado  January 16, 2021

The Caring Generation- Being A Caregiver Is Not Easy

Golden CO - Caregiving expert Pamela D. Wilson hosts The Caring Generation family talk radio program for caregivers and aging adults this coming Wednesday, January 20, 2021. The program airs live at 9 p.m. EST. The Caring Generation aired initially from 2009 to 2011 on 630 KHOW-AM in Denver, Colorado.

Being A Caregiver Is Not Easy

On this program for caregivers and aging adults, Pamela D Wilson shares tips and solutions for caregivers who struggle with the day to day challenges related to being a caregiver for an aging parent. Caregivers are thrown into unexpected situations and can feel pressured to make decisions and hard choices about the care for parents.

Caregivers express fear about having to do things for which they have no experience. This fear often results in feelings of embarrassment, frustration, or discomfort.

Wilson shares tips for caregivers about how to maintain a positive outlook and commit to self-care routines. She discusses the idea of time relative to the time that caregivers trade for caregiving activities, the time-sensitivity of identifying medical conditions early, and the time caregivers should commit to their own care.

While seen as a time luxury, maintaining friendships, and social connections is essential for caregivers to feel that some balance exists between personal lives, work, and caring for aging parents. The warning signs that caregivers may be doing too much are also discussed on this program.

Guest Dr. Christopher A. Lowry, University of Colorado Boulder

Dr. Christopher Lowry joins Wilson to talk about the connection between stress, the immune system, and the gut. The emotional aspects and stress of caregiving often result in stomach upset and related gastrointestinal issues. Lowry discusses his research about how stress affects the stomach and what caregivers can do to strengthen the gut and the immune system.

Christopher A. Lowry, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Physiology, Center for Neuroscience, and Center for Microbial Exploration at the University of Colorado Boulder. From 1995 to 2007, he was a Research Fellow at the University Research Centre for Neuroendocrinology at the University of Bristol in Bristol, England.

Dr. Lowry's research program focuses on understanding: 1) stress-related physiology and behavior with an emphasis on the microbiome-gut-brain axis, including the role of serotonin, a chemical signaling molecule in the body and the brain; and 2) neural mechanisms underlying anxiety disorders, affective disorders, and trauma- and stressor-related disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and development of novel strategies for both the prevention and treatment of these disorders and their medical comorbidity, including allergy, asthma, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Join Pamela on The Caring Generation for conversations about aging, caregiving, and relationships. Podcast replays of the weekly programs are available on Wilson's website and all major podcast sites. More about Wilson's commitment to online caregiver education, caregiver support, and keynotes is on her website at www.pameladwilson.com. Pamela may also be contacted at 303-810-1816 or through the Contact Me page on her website.

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The United States has told India it is unlikely to get a waiver on its planned acquisition of Russian S-400 air defence systems, raising the risk of sanctions similar to those imposed on Turkey for buying that equipment, people aware of the matter said.

The Trump administration has been telling the Indians to drop the $5.5 billion deal for five missile systems and avoid a diplomatic crisis, saying New Delhi did not have a wide waiver from a 2017 U.S. law aimed at deterring countries from buying Russian military hardware.

That position is unlikely to change under the Biden administration that takes over next week and that has promised an even tougher U.S. approach towards Russia, the people aware of the discussions told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

India says it needs the long-range surface-to-air missiles to counter the threat from China. India and China have been locked in a face-off on the disputed Himalayan border since April, the most serious in decades.

New Delhi has also affirmed its right to choose its defence supplies, potentially setting up an early point of friction with the new U.S. administration.

"India and the U.S. have a comprehensive global strategic partnership. India has a special and privileged strategic partnership with Russia," foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said about the proposed S-400 purchase.

"India has always pursued an independent foreign policy. This also applies to our defence acquisitions and supplies which are guided by our national security interests."

The United States imposed sanctions on Turkey last month for its acquisition of the Russian air defence systems under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)

A U.S. embassy spokesperson in Delhi said the United States was aware of reports of India's planned purchase of the S-400s, but noted there had been no deliveries yet.

"We urge all of our allies and partners to forgo transactions with Russia that risk triggering sanctions under the CAATSA. CAATSA does not have any blanket or country-specific waiver provision."

"We have not made any waiver determinations with respect to Indian transactions with Russia," the spokesperson told Reuters.

There was no immediate comment from Russian officials. Moscow has previously said that the sanctions imposed on Turkey were illegitimate and showed arrogance toward international law.

INITIAL PAYMENT IN 2019

India made an initial payment of $800 million in 2019 toward the Russian deal and the first set of missile batteries are expected towards the end of this year.

Russia has traditionally been India's main weapons supplier but in recent decades the Indian government has turned to the United States and Israel for new planes and drones.

U.S. officials believe there is still time for Delhi to reconsider, and that the punitive measures would only kick in if the deal with the Russians was "consummated."

Washington has told New Delhi that if India acquires the S-400 it would affect how its systems interact with U.S. military equipment that India now has and would jeopardise future arms transfers such as high-end fighter planes and armed drones, according to the people aware of the matter.

"There is a narrow chance India can avoid sanctions, presuming the S-400 purchase is completed. At the moment, it's a good bet that sanctions will be applied against India," Richard Rossow, a specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said.

But the outcome could depend on how India-U.S. defence cooperation progresses, he said, adding that India had been working with Washington on security in Asia more than ever before and this could be a mitigating factor.

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Getting to know children is a privilege By Anoushka Jayasuriya Speech therapist Samantha Van Eycks passion to help children with special needs gave birth to the Jellybean Foundation that reaches out in many ways View(s): View(s):

When you look at a pack of jelly beans collectively you see the different colours and flavours and that makes you really happy. Children inspire the same feeling as theyre all different, unique and have their own abilities  Collectively they all bring joy.

For Samantha Van Eyck, her career as a Speech and Language Therapist has brought her a wealth of eye-opening experiences and many cherished memories while working with children. However, part of her responsibility as a professional is also being vigilant about the plight of the families of children with special needs and the hurdles in their path to receive treatment for their children.

While working at the Ragama Hospital she noticed that a major obstacle for these families was the cost of transportation to bring their children for consultations, a service provided for free. Realizing the magnitude of issues like these, Samantha undertook several projects to acquire resources and funds for the children to bridge these gaps. Ultimately, these projects blossomed into the Jellybean Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization.

Now in its fifth year of operation, the Foundation functions to support children with special needs and centres which dont have access to resources or therapy services. Every child should have access to the support that they need, says Samantha.

Recalling the first official project of the Foundation, Samantha noticed that the Ragama University clinic was filled only with larger, adult sized furniture and no materials for children. She explains that the environment alone in which these children are consulted can advance their progress and comfort greatly. To remedy this, the Foundation was able to acquire child friendly, secondhand furniture and raised enough funds to have extra furniture made. Toys were also donated to the clinic to make the space more welcoming to children.

The Foundations reach has since extended across the country as they have travelled to areas such as Trincomalee, Kantale, Batticaloa and more to work with families who wouldnt otherwise be able to access a therapist. Setting up in local Ministry of Health clinics, the Jellybean Foundation does more than just donating toys and crucial resources. By carrying out therapy programmes with other professionals theyre able to spend time with the children and give the families feedback, guidance and support. Samantha underscores the importance of sharing knowledge by explaining that the Foundation also conducts workshops for local teachers, midwives and caregivers so as to fully equip them for this distinct responsibility.

The best thing Ive been privileged to see is how different and unique children are, says Samantha, or Aunty Sam as shes fondly referred to. With 14 years of experience in this field shes seen countless children progress in fascinating ways. She shared one such account of two boys under her care who were diagnosed with autism. They wouldnt speak and would only hum tunes in place of words. It wasnt long until Samantha realized they were humming tunes from the radio. Using their interest as a stepping stone, they learned to request which songs theyd like to listen to and this gave way for further development. That initial uniqueness of children and their likes and what motivates them to communicate.  I think its an absolute privilege on my part to be privy to see how their brains work.

Familiar faces are always around Samantha at the Jellybean Foundation as she reveals that the staff are made up of family members, friends, fellow professionals and well-wishers. On her team, she says, the essentials are kindness, a desire to share and be there for others and respect for the Foundation, children and families they work with.

If youve had the chance of working with the Foundation, chances are youve heard the common phrase among the team, sharing smiles. Samantha says this is what naturally occurs during the Foundations work and various events which include swimming events and song and dance competitions. Creating an opportunity for everyone to be together, children, adults, parents and families get to experience something special. I think a common attitude in Sri Lanka is that we need to help others but its a two-way process. The immense joy I felt in understanding and knowing about kids, I could see that also happening with everyone who was a part of projects that we do. Its the sharing of smiles- it makes everyone who participates happy.

Although quieter in the wake of COVID-19, many of the Jellybean Foundations physical projects have been postponed in line with restrictions. Despite this, Samanthas been working online by supporting families who dont have access to services in Sri Lanka and even some in England. My whole practice went online during the initial lockdown, she revealed. The shift required her to learn how to work through different platforms with schools as well as with her private sessions. Tele-therapy is a standard practice in certain countries overseas but she made it part of her work for the first time just last year. Ive been able to access families who I couldnt access before and they, me.

She says she wont be stepping away from the screen anytime soon as she remarks how effective it has been in terms of creating a new dynamic between herself and her clients. A typical session would see the involvement of herself and the child alone, whereas through tele-therapy shes happy to add that the whole family is eager to participate in sessions to help their child or sibling. Be it physically or virtually, its likely Samantha will continue to find ways to reach the people who need her.

Follow the Jellybean Foundation on Instagram: @the.jellybean.foundation

Or on Facebook :www.facebook.com/JellybeanFoundation/

For those interested in contributing, reach out to Samantha through Instagram.
By Sofia Menchu and Gustavo Palencia

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemalan authorities on Saturday escalated efforts to stop thousands of Hondurans, many of them families with children, traveling in a migrant caravan bound for the United States just as a new administration is about to enter the White House.

Between 7,000 and 8,000 migrants have entered Guatemala since Friday, according to Guatemala's immigration authority, fleeing poverty and violence in a region battered by the pandemic and back-to-back hurricanes in November.

Videos seen by Reuters showed Guatemalan security forces clashing with a group of hundreds of migrants who managed to break through a police blockade at the village of Vado Hondo, near Chiquimula in eastern Guatemala.

"A small group got through and the rest were detained. The people who got past have been located," said Alejandra Mena, a spokeswoman for Guatemala's immigration agency.

Between Friday and Saturday, Guatemala had sent back almost 1,000 migrants entering from Honduras, the government said, as the caravan moved towards Mexico.

The caravan is likely to come under more pressure in Mexico. Mexico's migration accord with the United States still holds, so the caravan would be dispersed, a Mexican official said.

On Saturday evening, the Mexican foreign ministry pressed local authorities to halt the caravan's progress, pointing to the need to contain the spread of COVID-19.

In a statement, the ministry praised the Guatemalan government for acting in a "firm and responsible" manner toward migrants that had "violated (Guatemala's) sovereignty" and urged Honduras to prevent further movements of people.

Mexico, it said, was committed to orderly and regulated migration and would oppose any form of unauthorized entry.

The first migrant caravan of the year comes less than a week before U.S. President-elect Joe Biden takes office promising a more humane approach to migration, in contrast to outgoing President Donald Trump's hardline policies.

Story continues

Mexican and Central American authorities have coordinated security and public health measures in a bid to deter mass movements of people across the region, deploying thousands of security forces.

The caravan nevertheless grew considerably into Saturday, with members citing a spiraling crisis of hunger and homelessness in Honduras as reasons for joining.

"We have nothing to feed to our children, and thousands of us were left sleeping on the streets," said Maria Jesus Paz, a mother of four children who said she lost her home in the hurricanes. "This is why we make this decision, even though we know that the journey could cost us our lives," she added.

Coronavirus-related lockdowns shattered Honduras' economy, which last year suffered its worst contraction on record.

"First I lost my job because of the pandemic, and then I lost my home in the hurricanes," said Melvin Paredes, who joined the caravan with his brother. "The only thing I have left is to fight for my family's survival."

(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa, Sofia Menchu in Guatemala City, additional reporting by Laura Gottesdiener in Monterrey and Dave Graham and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Writing by Laura Gottesdiener; Editing by Anthony Esposito, Alistair Bell, Sonya Hepinstall and Himani Sarkar)
Trent Ashby is the state representative for District 57 that includes Angelina, Houston, Leon, Madison, San Augustine and Trinity counties. His email address is trent.ashby@house.state.tx.us.


Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering and Sri Lankan premier Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday congratulated their Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for the landmark launch of the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination drive, hoping it would mitigate the sufferings endured by the people due to the pandemic.

Modi on Saturday launched the world's largest vaccination drive with healthcare workers at the frontline of Indias COVID-19 battle getting their first jabs, showing the light at the end of a 10-month tunnel that upended millions of lives and livelihoods.

Shots of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines were administered at medical centres across the country.

"I would like to congratulate PM @narendramodi and the people of India for the landmark launch of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive today. We hope it comes as an answer to pacify all the sufferings we have endured this pandemic," Tshering tweeted.

In a similar post on his Facebook account, Tshering said that, "in this pursuit of securing and distributing the vaccine of an impressive magnitude, Your Excellency has displayed profound and compassionate leadership."

"We send prayers for the good health and well being of Your Excellency and the people of India," Tshering added.

In his reply, Modi thanked Tshering for the good wishes.

"Thank you @PMBhutan! A vaccine, which was earlier believed to be impossible in such a short time period has become a reality thanks to efforts of our scientists, doctors and innovators," he tweeted.

India is ready to do everything possible for a healthy planet, Modi said.

Rajapaksa took to Twitter to congratulate Prime Minister Modi and the Indian government on the launch of the vaccination drive.

Congratulations PM @narendramodi and the Government of India on taking this very important step with this massive #COVID19Vaccination drive. We are starting to see the beginning of the end to this devastating pandemic," the Sri Lankan prime minister said in the tweet.

Rajapaksas tweet came in response to the Indian High Commissions post on Twitter acknowledging the vaccination drive.

A human-centric approach to further global good," the Indian missions tweet said.

Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, during his three-day visit to the country from December 5 to 7, told Sri Lankas President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that India has agreed to give priority to Sri Lanka when supplying its COVID-19 vaccine to other countries.

The president told the Indian minister that Sri Lanka wishes to obtain the Indian vaccine.

Earlier, launching the drive, Modi reminded people that two doses of the vaccine are very important and asked them to continue with masks and social distancing even after receiving the jabs.

Reassuring people that emergency use authorisation was given to the two 'made in India' vaccines only after scientists were convinced of their safety and effectiveness, he said the vaccines will ensure a decisive victory for the country over the coronavirus pandemic.

Dawaai bhi, kadaai bhi," Modi said, asking people to guard against complacency and follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.

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State-run Services Ltd (EESL) has inked a pact with Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) for implementation of Energy Efficient PNG Cook Stove (EEPS) programme, across India.

The EESL, a joint venture of PSUs under the Ministry of Power, Government of India, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PCRA, Ministry of Petroleum & for implementation of the EEPS programme on a pan-India basis, a statement said.

The MoU was exchanged in the presence of Tarun Kapoor, Secretary (Petroleum an Natural Gas) and Chairman, PCRA, during the inauguration of SAKSHAM (Sanrakshan Kshmata Mahotsav) Campaign 2021, a month long annual event by PCRA.

Under this MoU, the will execute and implement the EEPS programme across India and will collaborate with the PCRA to promote the programme and distribute energy efficient PNG (piped natural gas) based cook stoves to prospective consumers.

The EEPS programme, in its first phase, will witness the distribution of 10 lakh energy efficient PNG based cooking stoves in select cities of the country.

The programme will be available to all PNG consumers in the relevant areas.

The consumers can opt for two kinds of payment models for availing the programme - Upfront or EMIs.

The will implement this programme by mobilising the requisite investment and will do procurement, distribution, annual maintenance, and warranty obligations.

Commenting on the partnership, Niranjan Kumar Singh,Executive Director, PCRA, said, " is a clean source of energy. This programme will not only be a boon for the consumers through the proliferation of economical, convenient and safe PNG stoves, but will also lead to energy savings and emission reduction."



Rajat Sud, Managing Director, EESL, said, "The PNG stove developed in consultation of Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun by the PCRA is more efficient and safe. The PNG stove has been designed specifically for the use of piped gas consumers. This will help in considerable fuel conservation and savings up to 25 per cent of gas consumption.

For this programme, using economies of scale, expect a 15-20per cent reduction in price for the stoves as compared to the usual market price, which will greatly benefit the consumers.

The EESL will also develop an online web portal and mobile app to receive the orders from consumers, along with creating a real time dashboard to monitor the orders received and delivered.

The EESL under the administration of Ministry of Power, Government of India, is working towards mainstreaming and is implementing the world's largest portfolio in the country.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
COVID vaccine: BJP MP Mahesh Sharma becomes first public representative to get vaccinated

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

New Delhi, Jan 16: Gautam Buddha Nagar BJP MP and former Union minister Mahesh Sharma on Saturday became the first public representative to get the COVID vaccine shot as a medical practitioner in Noida at Kailash Hospital.

According to reports, Sharma was also the first person among several health workers to take the COVID vaccine at the hospital on Saturday morning.

Ahead of the vaccination drive, preparations were in place at Kailash Hospital, where 100 people will get the COVID vaccines, including Sharma, who is also the owner of the Kailash group of hospitals.

Tamil Nadu rolls out COVID-19 vaccination, govt doctor gets first vaccine shot

"I'm not getting the Covid vaccine as an MP or public representative but as a doctor," said Sharma.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

"I'm in this profession for the last 35 years and we should hail the work of our scientists who prepared the two vaccines," Sharma said, adding, "We should also salute the leadership of our Prime Minister and the COVID warriors of our country in last 352 days who have worked to combat the COVID pandemic."

Showing the list of people who would be getting the vaccine shot at the hospital, Sharma said "my number is on the top which has come from the government."

After taking the vaccine, Sharma was sent to the observation room for 30 minutes. After vaccination, he said, "I am feeling good and I have not witnessed any side effects."

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Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 14:31 [IST]
PEABODY ENERGY INVESTIGATION INITIATED by Former Louisiana Attorney General: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Investigates the Officers and Directors of Peabody Energy Corp. - BTU

Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF"), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU).

On September 28, 2018, a fire erupted at the Company's North Goonyella mine, resulting in operations being suspended indefinitely. Following a series of negative disclosures relating to delays in resuming operations at the mine, on October 29, 2019, the Company disclosed that regulators were placing severe restrictions on restarting operations resulting in drastic adjustments to its reentry plan, ultimately announcing a minimum three year delay.

Thereafter, the Company and certain of its executives were sued in a securities class action lawsuit, charging them with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws, which remains ongoing.

KSF's investigation is focusing on whether Peabody's officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to Peabody's shareholders or otherise violated state or federal laws.







If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of Peabody shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-btu/ to learn more.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking to recover investment losses due to corporate fraud and malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210115005592/en/

More Americans are routinely wearing masks than ever - about 80 percent - but it still may be too little, too late, a new survey finds.

And people have by-and-large adhered to social distancing, according to the latest edition of the survey, run by Harvard, Northwestern and Rutgers universities.

But people are still spending too much time maskless, indoors, with small groups to significantly throttle the spread of coronavirus.

More than 200,000 Americans are still being newly diagnosed with COVID-19 each day, and with the vaccine rollout effort moving slowly and more infectious variants emerging, behaviors to prevent coronavirus transmission are more critical than ever.

'The good news is we've improved a lot in terms of mask-wearing and social distancing. The bad news is, to bend the curve they really need to be much better,' report co-author Dr David Lazer of Northeastern University told NPR.

More Americans are routinely wearing masks (yellow) than ever - about 80 percent - but it still may be too little, too late, a new survey finds

Americans are better than ever about wearing masks in public, which is critical while the slow vaccine rollout is ongoing. Fewer than 12 million people in the US have had their first shot (file)

The COVID-19 Consortium for Understanding the Publics Policy Preferences Across States has been surveying about 20,000 people across the US about once a month about their behaviors to slow the spread of the virus.

Fewer than 20 percent of people have been going out to see people in most forms throughout the pandemic.

That includes going to restaurants and using mass transit, as well as going to a doctor - the latter of which may have its own collateral damage. Public health officials encourage going to the doctor, despite the pandemic.

The exceptions: About 40 percent of Americans are still seeing friends of relatives who don't live under their same roof and over 30 percent are going to work.

Those rates are up from around a quarter in the spring, but down from 45 and 40 percent, respectively, in October.

Gatherings are staying small, but still happening.

Nine percent of respondents said they've been in a room with five to 10 other people in the past 24 hours.

More than 2.5 percent had shared an enclosed space with 11 to 50 others in the past day.

Nine percent of respondents said they've been in a room with five to 10 other people in the past 24 hours (yellow)

Only a little over half of Americans are avoiding contact with other people (52 percent) and people seem fed up with isolation.

In April, 75 percent of respondents said they were avoiding public or crowded places, compared to fewer than 60 percent by January 11.

Hand-washing has fallen off too, with 72 percent of people soaping up frequently, compared to 80 percent in April.

The most impressive win has been for masking.

It seems to have finally caught on with about 80 percent of people covering their faces when they leave home, compared to just 54 percent in April.

That 80 percent is excellent, considering the anti-mask protests and frequent refusal of President Trump to cover his face that marked the past 10 months.

In October, researchers at the highly-regarded Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projected that half a million Americans would die by February - but universal mask wearing could save the lives of 130,000 of those people.

Eighty percent is still far shy of the 100 percent required to reach 'universal' masking, and, with a little less month to go, nearly 400,000 Americans have died of COVID-19.

Plus, people are still gathering far too often, and far too closely, despite health officials warnings that small gatherings at homes are now driving the pandemic, especially leading into the holidays.

'The overall decline in proximity noted here raises the question of how much Christmas and New Years celebrations will drive a surge of cases in January,' the authors of the report wrote.

'The good news is that, according to this crucial metric of social distancing, there has been substantial improvement since late October.

'The bad news is that, for all group sizes considered, reports of indoor proximity are still roughly double what they were in late April.'
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The spread of COVID-19 in Brazil overwhelmed the health systems in all the country's regions, particularly in areas where they were already fragile, according to a collaborative effort involving the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by the 'la Caixa' Foundation, the University of Sao Paulo, the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, the D'Or Institute of Research and Education and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. The findings, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, reveal that a large percentage of COVID-19 patients that were hospitalized in Brazil required intensive care and respiratory support, and many did not survive.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put an enormous strain on healthcare systems across the world by increasing the demand for healthcare professionals and the need for beds in intensive care units and respiratory support such as ventilators. However, the mortality rate among confirmed cases has greatly varied between countries and this is in great part due to differences in the capacity and preparedness of their health systems.

"To date, there is very limited data on the mortality of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or on how the health systems have coped with the pandemic in low- and middle-income countries," explains Otavio Ranzani, ISGlobal researcher and first author of the study. Brazil, for example, is an upper middle-income country with a unified health system for its 210 million inhabitants. However, the country's unique health system has been undermined by recent economic and political crises and there is great heterogeneity across different regions of the country.

Ranzani and his colleagues used data from a nationwide surveillance system to evaluate the characteristics of the first 250,000 patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 in Brazil, whether they required intensive care or respiratory support, and how many of them died. They also analyzed the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare resources and in-hospital mortality across the country's five big regions.

The analysis shows that almost half (47%) of the 254,288 patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 were under 60 years-old. The in-hospital mortality rate was high (38%) and rose to 60% among those admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and to 80% for those who were mechanically ventilated. Although COVID-19 overwhelmed the health system in all five regions, hospital admissions and mortality were considerably higher in the North and Northeast regions at the beginning of the pandemic (for example, 31% of patients aged under 60 died in hospitals in the Northeast versus 15% in the South).

"These regional differences in mortality reflect differences in access to better health care that already existed before the pandemic," explains Fernando Bozza, study coordinator and researcher at the National Institute of Infectious Disease. "This means that COVID-19 not only disproportionately affects the most vulnerable patients but also the most fragile health systems," he adds. "Brazil's health system is one of the largest across the globe to provide care to everyone free of charge and has a solid tradition in the surveillance of infectious diseases. However, COVID-19 overwhelmed the system's capacity," says Ranzani.

The authors conclude that the high mortality observed in hospitals underlines the need for improving the structure and the organization of the health system, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This implies increasing available resourcesfrom equipment and consumables, to ICU beds and trained healthcare staff.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

More information: Ranzani OT, Bastos LSL, Gelli JGM et al. Characterisation of the first 250000 hospital admissions for COVID-19 in Brazil: a retrospective analysis of nationwide data. Lancet Resp Med. Jan 2021, Journal information: Lancet Respiratory Medicine Ranzani OT, Bastos LSL, Gelli JGM et al. Characterisation of the first 250000 hospital admissions for COVID-19 in Brazil: a retrospective analysis of nationwide data.. Jan 2021, DOI: 10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30560-9
Battle: Princess Camilla Crociani de Bourbon des Deux Siciles

Giant French bank BNP Paribas has been locked in a hugely complex inheritance dispute with an Italian business dynasty for over a decade.

Now Princess Camilla Crociani de Bourbon des Deux Siciles  the daughter of industrialist Camillo Crociani  hopes to end the dispute over a 250million (222million) trust fund with a new round of legal showdowns in the UK and Jersey.

She claims BNP Paribas mismanaged the family's Jersey-based trust fund and is pursuing lawsuits to make the bank restore 135million to the trust and claim at least 60million in damages.

In the latest twist in the ten-year battle, Princess Camilla will on Tuesday launch an appeal in the Royal Court in Jersey to overturn a ruling that she concealed her mother's assets, including a painting by Paul Gauguin valued at 50million.

And, separately, her two daughters, Chiara, 16, and Carolina, 17, are set to pursue legal action in the Privy Council in London to reconstitute the trust  and recover the 135million they claim it is owed.

It is now expected that the hearing, originally due to take place last year, will be held in the second half of 2021. Meanwhile, a criminal case brought against BNP by Princess Camilla and her mother is under way in Monaco, seeking a minimum of 60million damages.

Speaking from her home in the South of France, Princess Camilla  who is married to Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro  told The Mail on Sunday: 'This has all started from the breach of trust done by a professional trustee and unfortunately this has led to more than a decade of litigation.

'This year we are determined to see through the litigation and see the original trust restored. We want BNP to accept they are guilty and to pay damages.'

The trust fund at the centre of the dispute, called the Grand Trust, was set up in 1987 by Princess Camilla's mother Edoarda Crociani, an Italian actress who performed under the stage name Edy Vessel.

The funds were intended to benefit Camilla and her younger sister Cristiana  and, eventually, their descendants  following the death in 1980 of their father Camillo, who built up an engineering group called Vitrociset SpA as well as a multi-million pound collection of fine art.

The family appointed BNP Paribas' wealth management arm in Jersey as a trustee to manage the funds, held in Switzerland. In 2010, the Grand Trust was dissolved and the funds moved to a new trust.

Following the restructuring, in 2013 Princess Camilla's sister Cristiana Delrieu sued the fund's three trustees, led by BNP Paribas Jersey Trust Corporation, because she did not approve of the transfer of the funds.

Cristiana won the case in 2017 after a court in Jersey found that BNP had mismanaged the trust and restructured it unlawfully. Court documents from a three-month trial show that Miles Le Cornu, who ran BNP's wealth management business in Jersey, admitted he proposed the idea of moving the assets out of the Grand Trust into another trust.

Family affair: Princess Camilla with her husband Carlo and daughters Chiara, left, and Carolina

Under the ruling, the trustees were ordered to reconstitute the whole of the Grand Trust, which was originally worth around 250million, including cash, shares and paintings such as Gauguin's Hina Maruru. They were also ordered to compensate Cristiana, who has been paid $115million by BNP for her share of the trust.

BNP then sued Princess Camilla's mother Edoarda, who was liable as a trustee for recouping the outstanding funds.

As part of the case, in 2018 they asked Princess Camilla to disclose details of her mother's wealth. She signed seven affidavits disclosing all the details of her mother's assets to her knowledge.

But the Royal Court in Jersey found those affidavits were not true and ruled in 2019 she was in contempt of court on the basis that she knew where her mother's assets were located.

Portrait of a dispute: The 50million painting by Gauguin

In a judgment handed down last month, the Jersey court said Princess Camilla was involved in the transfer of her mother's paintings from Singapore to Switzerland, and eventually to a storage vault in Miami. The court found that the paintings were owned by a new trust called Apollo, which appeared to benefit Princess Camilla and her daughters. Last month's judgment upheld the earlier contempt of court and handed Princess Camilla a 2million fine.

Princess Camilla's lawyer said she was appealing because she was unable to answer questions about her mother's assets as she did not know their location. The fine will be suspended if her appeal this week is successful.

Princess Camilla has previously been denied permission to appeal in the Privy Council to recover her share of the trust fund. She said her daughters had been 'disinherited' by the wrangling over the trust, adding: 'How could beneficiaries who counted on the trust and an organisation find themselves suddenly completely disinherited from what was a plan for their succession from their grandmother?'

A statement from a spokesman said: 'Princess Camilla... denounces all the misleading and destabilising actions brought by the BNP Paribas group, which has been found guilty of having betrayed the trust of the Crociani family.'

It added: 'The BNP group is...multiplying all kinds of legal actions in order to damage the image of its former clients and her family.'

BNP Paribas declined to respond to a request for comment.
After New Orleans violent crime hit startlingly close to their business this week, the owners of the 7th Ward restaurant Rays on the Avenue are teaming up with their neighborhood association to give away meals Monday.

Ray and Tammy Holmes are also pleading with city officials to continue their work in trying to reduce the number of shootings, killings carjackings and vehicle burglaries, among other crimes.

Its horrible right now. Its depressing, Tammy Holmes said Friday. We need help - not just in this neighborhood but in this whole city - getting a grip on crime.

The couple's  remarks came after a 44-year-old man sitting at the corner of North Broad and Bruxelles streets was shot in the cheek Wednesday at about 2:40 p.m. He ran into Rays on the Avenue, which was serving lunch.

Ray Holmes, who was working at the restaurant at the time, said the man lives in the neighborhood and appeared to be targeted. The restaurant staff called police and paramedics, who took him to a hospital.

+3 Shooting wounds man on edge of 7th Ward, NOPD says A 44-year-old man was shot on the edge of the 7th Ward on Wednesday afternoon, according to New Orleans officials.

While no customers or employees were wounded, Ray Holmes said it was a sobering reminder that in New Orleans one must expect anything can happen anywhere, especially with crime levels high.

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Theres no part of the city thats neutral from this, he said.

He and Tammy Holmes said they hope New Orleans works to reduce crime, especially after the city registered 195 killings in 2020, a significant jump from the 121 reported in 2019. Non-fatal shootings, carjackings and vehicle burglaries have also been persistently high.

Boy, 15, arrested in killing of woman delivering groceries to in-laws, NOPD says The father of a 15-year-old boy turned his son in to New Orleans police Thursday after learning that the teen is accused of killing a woman de

Tammy Holmes said the numbers are distressing to small business owners such as her and her husband, especially with the coronavirus pandemic also causing strains.

For their part, they have teamed up with the Fairgrounds Triangle Neighborhood Association to host a socially distanced meal giveaway Monday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Association President Morgan Clevenger said people may drive through, pick up a meal and listen to speakers urge neighborhood residents to live up to the ideals espoused by King.

We hope this isnt a one-off but that its the beginning of a new sense of unity, Clevenger said. Everybody has a role to play as we find solutions.
Disability and Family Carer groups have described the ongoing uncertainty around the reopening of special schools as "cruel and disrespectful".

AsIAm, Down Syndrome Ireland, Family Carers Ireland and Inclusion Ireland have said the lack of clarity around the scheduled return of school for families and children with additional needs is a cause of great concern.

The four leading advocacy groups said they have received calls and emails from many deeply upset families.

The mixed messages from stakeholders and the Department of Education is only adding to the distress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, a spokesman for the groups said.

"At a time when families are struggling to cope with supporting their children on a 24/7 basis, often whilst juggling work and other care commitments, it is totally unacceptable for stakeholders to get their hopes up or to give mixed messages.

"Our children should be a central stakeholder in the return to school as they are the thousands of children with additional needs who will benefit from a re-opening," he said.

In a joint statement, the four groups called on the Education Department and stakeholders to come to an agreement over the weekend so that schools may reopen on Thursday.

No agreement reached

Ahead of a limited return of special schools on Thursday, a union said agreement have still not been reached on a number of enhanced safety measures for its members.

Under official guidelines issued to school principals yesterday, children in special schools are set to attend school on alternate days from next Thursday.

Schools have also been advised to arrange in-person learning every day for children in special classes in mainstream schools.

Children with "significant additional needs" in mainstream classes in primary schools should also have access to in-school learning. The School Transport Scheme will "fully operate" from Thursday, the Department of Education document also noted.

However, Forsa, which represents special needs assistants (SNAs) said agreement had yet to be reached "on enhanced safety measures" for SNAs that would allow the union "to advise SNAs that it was safe to co-operate with the phased resumption of in-school services to children with special educational needs".

The union said talks with the Department of Education were not finished and some issues still needed to be resolved.

Forsa said these issues include the safety of SNAs at high risk of Covid-19 infection, and the absence of childcare arrangements for workers during Level 5 restrictions.

In a statement the union said: "It was working hard to speed the resumption of services to students with special educational needs, and to build confidence in the safety of classrooms among staff, students and parents. But it said agreement had not yet been reached."

Speaking this morning on Newstalk, Andy Pike, a spokesperson for Forsa said: "We've still got issues to resolve. We very much hope we can find solutions by continuing to work with the Department of Education to resolve these problems.

"But we will be taking a final view on Tuesday evening."

Directed returns

All special education teachers (SET) and teachers wh5o do not teach mainstream classes, as necessary, and all SNAs had been directed to return on January 21, other than those on approved leave.

As the students returning to in-school learning will not be able to attend their mainstream classes during the day as classes continue remotely, schools had been directed to group the students temporarily.

SETs are not expected to cover the full curricular programme and should provide additional teaching support "in the same manner in which they would if the school were open for all pupils to attend".

Schools "will be aware of the pupils in mainstream classes who have the most significant needs and can be identified as a priority group for in-school teaching during this period".

This includes students on School Support Plus. Where it is not possible to provide in-school teaching and learning for all students, schools are directed to follow the guidelines for remote learning and SEN.

Where a school has the capacity to do so after providing in-person learning for students with additional educational needs, 'vulnerable children' can also attend for in-person learning. According to the document, schools should consider things like family life, or educational disadvantage. A further FAQ will be issued to schools next week.

Public health experts and deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn will host a webinar for special education staff next week, according to John Boyle, general secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation.

"This will provide reassurance to our members that all necessary steps are being taken to ensure the safety of all involved in this interim support programme for children with complex special educational needs," said Mr Boyle.

"High-level meetings regarding the prioritisation of special education staff for the vaccination programme are also taking place."
Year-end book sales across Europe were slammed by December lockdowns after Covid-19 cases surged across the continent. Still, preliminary results in three major markets show declines for the full year were modest.

In Germany, Europes single largest book market, sales were up 25% in the first two weeks of December over 2019, but they plummeted when a new lockdown was imposed on December 16. Overall sales for the year were down 2.3% compared with 2019, according to BUCH, a monthly report from the Borsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, a German book publishing trade group. Bookstores saw sales drop 8.7% for the year, but gains by online booksellers and platforms offset that decline.

It is true that books played an important role for people during the crisis, said Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, head of the BDB, in a press release. There was great enthusiasm for reading and demand for books was high for much of the year. But the shutdown in December thwarted the industrys plans. The renewed store closings in the middle of the Christmas business stopped the race to catch up from lost sales due to the shutdown in spring.

The bestselling novel in Germany in 2020 was Sebastian Fitzeks thriller The Way Home, followed by Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Barack Obamas A Promised Land topped the nonfiction list. Among categories, only childrens books saw growth, with sales up 4.7%; travel books had the steepest decline, falling 26.1%. Schmidt-Friderichs said that ongoing lockdowns make the sales outlook for the first few months of 2021 uncertain.

That sentiment was echoed by Vincent Montagne, president of the Syndicat national de ledition, a French book publishing trade group. When discussing whats in store for the industry as part of an address organized by French publishing trade magazine Livres Hebdo, Montagne said, Who knows? In his talk, he revealed that French book sales were likely only down 2% for the year, and that some categories had increases, including comics, which saw sales grow 6%, and childrens education books, where sales rose 4%. Sales of travel books, on the other hand, were down 40%.

Montagne emphasized the solidarity the French publishing industry has shown in the face of the pandemic. He praised the community for supporting bookstores in their effort to remain open amid lockdowns and emphasized the need to innovate in order to face ongoing challenges.

Italy had strong holiday sales. Sales at Christmas went well, and this allows us to hope that 2020 will close on the same levels as 2019, confirming the recovery of the book market after the lockdown in March and April, said Ricardo Franco Levi, president of the Associazione Italiana Editor, an Italian book publishing trade group, in an announcement. Levi praised the Italian government for backing the bookselling and publishing industry through the pandemic, in particular with grant support and the continuation of the government-sponsored 18app initiative, which gives every Italian citizen 500 to be spent on cultural experiencesincluding bookswhen they turn 18.

Levi acknowledged that the situation remains complex. The boom in online sales and the good performance of neighborhood bookstores is accompanied by struggles for bookstores in city centers and shopping malls, and for chain stores, he said. Some sectors, such as art publishing and travel books, have suffered huge losses. All publishers are facing very difficult challenges.
The developing Nexton master-planned community on the edge of Summerville continues to add new housing options, with the latest being one- and two-story detached rental cottages.

The mixed-use, 5,000-acre development in Berkeley County will feature 282 homes ranging from 650 to 1,350 square feet that can be leased on 27 acres off Grand Boulevard just north of the 55-plus Del Webb community.

The site sits south of a 20-acre park that is being developed next to the Medical University of South Carolina's proposed 128-bed hospital at Nexton Parkway and Grand Boulevard.

The first homes in the project, being developed by Birmingham, Ala.-based Capstone Communities, are scheduled to be ready later this year with full buildout expected by the summer of 2022. The company purchased the 25.3-acre site for nearly $4.3 million in mid-December, according to Berkeley County land records.

"The Capstone development offers single-family rental homes in a suburban environment with amenities and services typically found in more urban settings, all of which are highly desirable right now," said Brent Gibadlo, Nexton's vice president of operations.

The new community of one- to three-bedroom cottages will offer young professionals, empty nesters and people moving to the Charleston area the option to rent instead of buy.

Capstone, with a similar 275-unit project under development in Huntsville, Ala., will manage and maintain the rental units.

Capstone executive John Acken said the concept has proven successful in several student housing communities, and he believes it will be an attractive housing option for residents who aren't looking to own.

The development will include open green spaces for events, courtyards with pavilions and barbecue stations, a clubhouse, resort-style pool, fitness center, dog park and electric car-charging stations.

Homes will offer nine- to 12-foot ceilings, quartz countertops, wood-grain flooring, washers and dryers, smart technology and around-the-clock, on-call maintenance. An enclosed parking garage is also optional. Pre-leasing will begin this summer.

Changing hands

Another property on the upper Charleston peninsula is now under new ownership.

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The Barrie Newman Building at 747 Meeting St. in the rapidly changing NoMo area was recently sold to AD Meeting LLC for $2.25 million, according to the commercial real estate firm NAI Charleston.

The new owner hopes to redevelop and repurpose the site with possible uses such as a restaurant, office space or retail shop.

The 6,700-square-foot building with high ceilings backs up to the future Lowcountry Lowline and includes an on-site lot for ample off-street parking.

"This is a unique and rare find that takes advantage of the growth in the NoMo district and future Lowline linear park," said Jack Owens of NAI, who represented the buyer. Chip Shealy of CBRE represented the seller, 747 Meeting Street LLP.

Event space

A new event center is coming to Moncks Corner.

Candace and Patrina Aku will snip the ribbon at 3 p.m. Jan. 22 at 401-02 Corner Square Plaza in Moncks Corner on the Aku Venue Event Center. A grand opening will follow at 4 p.m. Jan. 23.

The two decided to open the facility for special events and meetings after discovering a shortage of spaces for such events in the Berkeley County town.

They have renovated the space to create a laid-back but upscale atmosphere to cater to an array of interests.

To attend the events, participants must register in advance at akuvenue.eventbrite.com because of the pandemic and COVID-19 restrictions.

New firm

Three commercial real estate industry veterans have formed their own firm. John Orr, Elyse Welch and Lindsey Halter recently launched Carolina Retail Experts at 474 King St. in downtown Charleston. Previously, they were with the local office of Lee & Associates.
An opportunity to harvest Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna sustainably By Steve Creech Overfished and subject to overfishing: View(s): View(s):

On the last day of 2020, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) published a circular that sets out annual catch limits for Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna (kelavalla/Thunnus albacares) in the seas beyond national jurisdictions. Accordingly, Sri Lankas annual yellowfin tuna catch limit in the seas beyond the countrys exclusive economic zone (EEZ) has been reduced from 7,762 metric tonnes (MT) in 2016 to 5,302MT in 2021. The 2,460MT reduction is a consequence of IOTC Resolution 19/01  on an interim plan to rebuild the status of Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna stocks.

The interim plan was adopted by IOTC members in 2016. The resolution was formulated in response to advice from international fishery experts who called for a 20 percent reduction in the catch of Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna (about 80,000MT) to rebuild the status of the stocks to a sustainable level by 2024. The IOTCs assessment of Indian Ocean yellowfin stocks in 2015 suggested that stocks were overfished (not enough mature fish in the sea) and subject to overfishing (too many fish being caught).

The conservation management measure introduced by the IOTC in 2016 (i.e. catch reductions) has been poorly administered over the intervening three years. Many Indian Ocean coastal states, including Sri Lanka, and distant water fishing nations reported catches above the IOTCs annual limits in 2017, 2018 and 2019. One reason is that the IOTC has no legal hold on IOTC members, which are sovereign states. The IOTCs mandate is to promote cooperation among member states to ensure the conservation and appropriate utilization of fish stocks while encouraging the sustainable development of fisheries. Enforcement  when it happens  is usually through the backdoor; by third parties using non-compliance as the basis to leverage trade sanctions against countries that fail to comply with IOTC Resolutions. International non-governmental organisations also play an enforcement role by urging consumers, retailers and wholesalers in Europe and North America not to buy yellowfin tuna products from countries with poor compliance records.

In March this year, IOTC fisheries experts will meet to discuss their approach to the upcoming stock assessment. In September, the results of the assessment will be announced. The IOTCs Scientific Committee will debate the results in November. Resolution 20/01 is to be formulated and is almost certain to contain new, more stringent conservation management measures to rebuild the Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna stocks.

For Sri Lankas yellowfin tuna fisheries, 2021 will be a critical year. Yellowfin tuna exports were worth US$ 160 million (Rs 23 billion) in 2019; more than 20,000 fishermen are directly engaged in multiday boat fishing; more than 10,000 women are employed in the seafood processing industry. How Sri Lanka responds to the challenges that are to come this year will have wide ranging impacts on employment, household incomes and export earnings for the rest of the decade.

The IOTCs response to the 2015 stock assessment (i.e. catch reductions) might, if applied effectively, eventually lead to a sustainable fishery. If the catch is reduced enough, the stock will cease to be subject to overfishing. There will be enough mature fish in the sea and the fishery will be sustainable. The yield will of course be 10%, 20% or even 30% less than the maximum sustainable yield (about 400,000 MT). However, as we have seen over the last three years, effective implementation of catch reduction hasnt happened.

Last year my colleague Eranga Gunasekera and I used length, weight and catch data collected by the IOTC between 1955 and 2015 to look at the impact of different fisheries  pole and line, handline & trolling, longline, gillnets and purse seine  on the yellowfin stock. The results were surprising. About 50% of the yellowfin tuna caught by Indian Ocean fisheries in 2015 were immature (<82cm). The average weight of a fish was around 5 kg. Yellowfin tuna are big fish that grow up to 200 cm and can weigh more than 180 kg. Recently we updated our analysis using length, weight and catch data collected by the IOTC in 2019. The new analysis suggested that more than 80% of the catch was made up of baby yellowfin tuna (see Figure 1).

Theoretically a fishery can be sustainable even with 80% immature fish in the catch. But, the total yield will be much less than maximum that is sustainable and the value of the catch will be much less than the maximum economic yield. Our recent analysis suggests that if 80% of the yellowfin tuna caught were mature (about 35 kg) then the fishery would be worth US$ 600,000 million more than the fishery is now, because the current fishery is focused on harvesting immature fish.

A challenge can sometimes be reframed as an opportunity. The opportunity inherent in the current  overfished and subject to overfishing  status of the Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna is to refocus fishing effort away from harvesting large quantities of low value baby yellowfin tuna, towards fisheries that harvest lower quantities of high value adult fish. In the short term IOTCs Circular (2020-55) and Resolution 19/01 mandate an immediate reduction in Sri Lankas beyond EEZ yellowfin tuna catch. Failure to comply will raise the specter of seafood sanctions and iNGO disapprobation, while compliance will reduce the quantity of fish caught, livelihood opportunities and the value of seafood exports: heads you lose / tails you lose too.

Resolution 20/01 is an opportunity to move beyond the misguided mantra of catch reduction; to introduce new conservation management measures that will reduce overfishing of baby yellowfin tuna. If less immature fish are caught, more will mature. Pretty quickly there will be enough mature fish in the sea to harvest the maximum sustainable yield, indefinitely.

(Steve Creech is a freelance fisheries consultant and the director of pelagikos private limited. steve@pelagikos.lk)
COLUMBIA  Jaime Harrison will be the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee after falling short in his campaign against U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham last year, with President-elect Joe Biden picking him to lead the party.

The long-expected development could prove to be a boon for South Carolina Democrats, who have sought to get more national attention and resources for years and will now have one of their own helming the party apparatus.

In a statement announcing his pick of Harrison as well as several other party posts, Biden said they "represent the very best of the Democratic Party."

"We need to elect Democrats across our country and up and down the ballot," Biden said. "To do that is going to take tireless leadership, committed to strengthening Democratic infrastructure across our states. These leaders are battle-tested and ready for this immense task. I know they will get the job done."

In a series of tweets, Harrison said he was "humbled and excited" that Biden had chosen him.

"Together, well organize everywhere, invest in state parties, expand the map, and elect Democrats who will be champions for the working people of this country," Harrison said. "

A former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman, Harrison shattered fundraising records and garnered national attention for his race against Graham, R-S.C., though the incumbent ended up defeating him by 10 percentage points.

Harrison was the immediate frontrunner for the DNC job, aided by his experience as a state party chairman, prolific fundraising ability and close relationship with House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia, who holds substantial influence with Biden after helping lift him to his Democratic primary victory last year.

Clyburn praised the selection Thursday.

"I've known Jaime Harrison for years  I know his heart, his passion for our party, his unmatched work ethic  and I commend President-elect Biden on an excellent choice," Clyburn said.

Graham also took notice of the pick, issuing words of congratulations.

"This is a big honor and Im confident he will do a good job representing the Democratic cause," Graham said. "Jaime will be a formidable opponent."

Graham said he always likes it "when South Carolinians are recognized for their talents and accept leadership positions."

"Good luck," Graham said to Harrison, "but not too much luck!"

In the months since his failed bid, Harrison launched a new political fundraising group called the "Dirt Road PAC" to support Democratic candidates in other races around the South. The group achieved its first success earlier this month with Democratic victories in two U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia, which gave Democrats the Senate majority.

He made no secret of his interest in the job, pointing to his diversity of experiences in Democratic politics  working for Clyburn on Capitol Hill, leading a state party and running as a statewide candidate  that have allowed him to build an expansive network within the party.

Current S.C. Democratic Party chairman Trav Robertson said his predecessor's rise in the national party would be "exciting for South Carolina."

"Jaime brings a breath of fresh air because he understands what state parties go through, especially state parties in a state that might not be as purple or blue as other states, and that's welcome news across the country," Robertson said.

Before running for Senate, Harrison ran for the DNC job once before in 2017 but dropped out before committee members began voting and endorsed the eventual winner, Tom Perez. He went on to become an associate chairman under Perez for the past four years.

The news of Harrison's upcoming ascension to DNC chair was first reported Thursday by the New York Times, and also reported by Politico and The Washington Post.

Over almost two decades of work in South Carolina politics, Harrison has been at the forefront of efforts to expand the political battleground to include more southern states, including his own.

During his Senate campaign, Harrison often touted his humble upbringing in Orangeburg. He rose from poverty there to attend Yale and Georgetown Law School before going on to work in state and national politics.

Harrison would be the first South Carolinian to lead the DNC since the late Don Fowler, another former S.C. Democratic Party chairman who took the reins of the national party for two years in the 1990s during former President Bill Clinton's administration.

Robertson lamented that Fowler would not be there to see his longtime friend follow in his footsteps.

"It's bittersweet," Robertson said. "His wisdom and counsel is something that would have been greatly valued."
Mohali: In a bid to promote livelihood, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday virtually kicked off a state-wide pro-poor scheme for Allotment of 7,219 Fair Price Shops (FPS) under his governments flagship Ghar Ghar Rozgar te Karobaar Mission.

As a token gesture, the Chief Minister handed over allotment letters to five beneficiaries - Jatinder Pal Singh, Poonam, Jaswinder Singh, Vivek Sharma and Sukhdev Singh, all from Roopnagar. The event was marked by simultaneous distribution of 370 allotment letters to the beneficiaries in 64 Municipal Committees by various Ministers, MLAs and other dignitaries across the state, in the first phase of the scheme.

Captain Amarinder Singh

The Chief Minister said the initiative would be instrumental in improving the economic condition of people, besides further strengthening the public distribution system to ensure seamless, fair and timely distribution. He asked the allotees to ensure that the ration meant for the poor reaches the genuine beneficiaries without illegal diversion of food grains. He further said that nearly 30,000 beneficiaries (average family of four) would be benefitted through the scheme.

The Chief Minister asked the Food Department to look into ways and means to supplement the income of FPS owners by facilitating these outlets as points of sale for additional consumer items.

He complemented the Ration Depot Holders for their contribution to the State Governments relentless battle against Covid-19 by operating their shops during lockdown thus ensuring hassle-free supply of free food grains to the people in the State. During the lockdown period, 17 lakh free food kits were distributed to the poor.

Ghar Ghar Rozgar te Karobaar Mission

He also lauded the endeavour of the Food and Civil Supplies Department to plug leakages in Public Distribution System with the introduction of ePOS machines using biometrics, to ensure that ration only goes to the rightful beneficiaries.

Captain Amarinder said that as part of the Ghar Ghar Rozgaar te Karobar Mission, the State Government had so far facilitated more than 15 lakh placements/self-employment. Of the total 15.08 lakh jobs provided to the youth, 58,000 have been given government jobs (including contractual) and 5.69 lakh placed in the private sector, while 8.80 lakh youth had been facilitated to take up self-employment ventures till date, from April 1, 2017 when the Mission was launched.

Speaking on the occasion, PPCC president Sunil Jakhar said that the Captain Amarinder led government in the state had ensured timely lifting, procurement and payment of farmers' produce. Besides E-pos machines, smart ration cards were among the other landmark initiatives undertaken by the State Government. He further said that Cooperative societies must also be given benefits of the ration depots scheme.

Punjab Government

In his virtual address from Ludhiana, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu thanked the Chief Minister for the increase in the margin money paid to FPS owners for distribution of food grains from Rs 25 to Rs 50 per quintal retrospectively, from April 1, 2016, thereby fulfilling the long pending demand of FPS owners.

Punjab Youth Congress president Barinder Singh Dhillon said that this landmark initiative under the Ghar Ghar Rozgar te Karobaar Mission would provide ample job avenues to the youth. Notably, the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Punjab, had invited applications for granting 7,219 Fair Price Shop (FPS) Licenses in the State with 987 urban and 6232 rural vacancies. The department has followed a very transparent mechanism in granting these licenses.

Prominent amongst those who attended the function were Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, Principal Secretary Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs KAP Sinha, Director Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Ravi Bhagat and Additional Secretary Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Jaspreet Singh.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA  North Korea displayed new submarine-launched ballistic missiles under development and other military hardware in a parade that underlined leader Kim Jong Un's defiant calls to expand the country's nuclear weapons program.

State media said Kim took center stage in Thursday night's parade celebrating a major ruling party meeting in which he vowed maximum efforts to bolster the nuclear and missile program that threatens Asian rivals and the American homeland to counter what he described as U.S. hostility.

During an eight-day Workers' Party congress that ended Tuesday, Kim also revealed plans to salvage the nation's economy, hit by U.S.-led sanctions over his nuclear ambitions, pandemic-related border closures and natural disasters that wiped out crops.

The economic setbacks have left Kim with nothing to show for his ambitious diplomacy with President Donald Trump, which derailed over disagreements about sanctions relief in exchange for North Korean denuclearization steps, and pushed Kim to what is clearly the toughest moment of his nine-year rule.

Kim's comments are likely intended to pressure the incoming U.S. government of Joe Biden, who has previously called the North Korean leader a "thug" and accused Trump of chasing spectacle rather than meaningful curbs on the North's nuclear capabilities. Kim has not ruled out talks, but said the fate of bilateral relations depends on whether Washington abandons its hostile policy toward North Korea.

North Korean state TV on Friday aired edited footage of the parade which showed thousands of civilians and troops roaring and fireworks exploding overhead as Kim stepped out of a building and took his spot at a podium in Kim Il Sung Square, named after his grandfather and the country's founder.

Kim, wearing a black fur hat and leather trench coat, waved and smiled widely as his troops chanted "Let's defend Kim Jong Un with our lives!" and "Protect with our lives the Workers' Party of Korea's Central Committee led by Great Comrade Kim Jong Un!"

Reports and video from state media suggested that Kim did not make a speech during the parade.

His defense minister, Kim Jong Gwan, said in a speech that North Korea's military would "preemptively marshal our greatest might to thoroughly punish hostiles forces" if they threaten the North's safety.

Military aircraft flew in formation across the dark sky, using what appeared to be flares to form the symbol of the Workers' Party  a hammer, brush and sickle.

Flag-waving spectators, unmasked despite a fervent domestic campaign to fend off the coronavirus, cheered as troops rolled out some of the country's most advanced weapons, including submarine-launched ballistic missiles described by the official Korean Central News Agency as the "world's most powerful weapon."

The new type of submarine-launched missiles was larger than the ones North Korea previously tested.

The North also displayed a variety of solid-fuel weapons designed to be fired from mobile land launchers, which potentially expand its capability to strike targets in South Korea and Japan, including U.S. military bases there.

KCNA said the parade featured other missiles capable of "thoroughly annihilating enemies in a pre-emptive way outside (our) territory." But it wasn't immediately clear whether the description referred to intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Photos and video released by state media didn't appear to include weapons that could be definitely identified as ICBMs.

During a previous military parade in October, North Korea unveiled what appeared to be its biggest-yet ICBM. Its previous long-range missiles demonstrated a potential ability to reach deep inside the U.S. mainland during flight tests in 2017.

North Korea has been developing submarine-launched ballistic missile systems for years. Acquiring an operational system would alarm its rivals and neighbors because missiles fired from under water are harder to detect in advance.

Still, Kim Dong-yub, an analyst at Seoul's Institute for Far Eastern Studies and a former military official who participated in inter-Korean military talks, said the North's presumably new submarine-launched missiles could possibly be engineering mockups that require further development before they are ready to be tested and deployed.

While Kim Jong Un vowed during the congress to develop nuclear-powered submarines capable of firing nuclear-armed ballistic missiles, it would take "considerable time" for North Korea to overcome financial and technological difficulties and produce such systems, the analyst said.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said the way North Korea featured the submarine-launched missiles in the parade suggests that a test related to them could be North Korea's first provocation for the Biden administration.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it is studying the weapons displayed by North Korea but didn't immediately release a detailed assessment.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Tokyo is monitoring North Korean missile developments with "great concern."

Nuclear-powered submarines were just one of many advanced military assets on Kim's wish list during the congress, which also included longer-range ICBMs that could potentially target the U.S. mainland more reliably, new tactical nuclear weapons and warheads, spy satellites and hypersonic weapons.

It's unclear whether North Korea is fully capable of developing such systems. While the country is believed to have accumulated at least dozens of nuclear weapons, outside estimates of the exact status of its nuclear and missile program vary widely.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Cybersecurity

Biden floats $9B boost to tech modernization fund

NOTE: This story first appeared on FCW.com.

President-elect Joe Biden today released his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that includes $9 billion for a fund used to improve the federal government's IT and cybersecurity.

Most of the massive surge in funding is to accelerate the nationwide vaccine campaign and to provide aid to Americans who have been economically harmed during the pandemic, with expanded cash grants, food and child care aid, housing assistance and more.

On the technology front, the proposed funding for the Technology Modernization Fund would "help the U.S. launch major new IT and cybersecurity shared services at the Cyber Security and Information Security Agency (CISA) and the General Services Administration and complete modernization projects at federal agencies," according to a summary of the proposal released by the Biden transition team.

The investment would be a massive boost for TMF, which was appropriated $25 million in the fiscal year 2021 spending bills. TMF was established under the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act of 2017, and was initially funded with $100 million, and has received annual updates in the $25 million range since then, but has been held in check by some appropriators who are concerned about the payback provisions and accountability mechanisms.

Biden's plan would also provide $200 million for the federal CIO office at the Office of Management and Budget to support "rapid hiring" in the information security officer and the U.S. Digital Service operations.

The plan provides $300 million for the Technology Transformation Services at GSA to spearhead IT projects for agencies "without the need of reimbursement," according to the summary.

CISA would receive $690 million to boost cybersecurity across federal networks and pilot "new shared security and cloud computing services," the summary says.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a co-sponsor of the MGT Act, greeted the tech spending boost.

"I am delighted the incoming Biden administration recognizes the Technology Modernization Fund can be a tool to drive IT modernization in the federal government, and I am eager to work with them to ensure the TMF is successful," Connolly said in an emailed statement.


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Big Tech company Facebook is now blocking out events that will be held near the nation's Capitol and the White House in the run up to inauguration day.

In a statement titled "Our Preparations Ahead of Inauguration Day," the Zuckerberg-led company announced that it is blocking users from creating events that will be held near key points of interest before and during inauguration day, One America News Network reported. These points of interest include the U.S. Capitol, the White House, as well as other state capitols.

The social media company, which is currently in hot water for the censorship issues it is currently facing in line with the banning of accounts belonging to U.S. President Donald Trump and his supporters, also announced that it is conducting a secondary review of all posts related to the inauguration in the attempt to remove anything that violates its "policies."

In addition to this, "as we did in the lead up to and following the US presidential election, we are continuing to block event creation in the US by non-US based accounts and Pages," Facebook said.

The latest update to the announcement, dated Jan. 16, adds information related to the company's plans to prevent ads or posts that would promote or entice consumers to acquire for themselves certain items. To quote,

"We are banning ads that promote weapon accessories and protective equipment in the US at least through January 22, out of an abundance of caution. We already prohibit ads for weapons, ammunition and weapon enhancements like silencers. But we will now also prohibit ads for accessories such as gun safes, vests and gun holsters in the US."

It's important to note that in the statement, Facebook said it will also emphasize posts that promote what it called "accurate information about the election" and will downplay and even remove posts that "may be less accurate, delegitimizes the election or portrays the rioters as victims."

That last line, which Facebook added to the statement via an update on Jan. 15, is very important.

Why is that?

Previous reports indicated that Facebook's recent actions reveals its obvious bias against President Trump and conservatives in general.

First, it's worth noting that Facebook's so-called "independent" fact-checkers aren't independent at all. They have been linked to, of all groups and people, Communist China, left-wing billionaire George Soros, and the Clintons.

One such fact-checker, Lead Stories, earns money from China-owned TikTok. Another fact-checker, the International Fact Checking Network, is founded by TikTok-funded Poynter Institute and is largely funded by Soros. Another person linked to Facebook's fact-checkers is a woman named Margot Susca - a fan of Hillary Clinton.

Second, Facebook has meddled in the elections several times. Recently, it censored Republican ads meant to urge Georgia's voters to vote for Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. Earlier reports also revealed that it used a "secret internal ranking" that led to suppressing the news from right-wing news media after the election, resulting in massive disinformation.

The reports would've likely included details regarding the massive election cheating that happened across the country - particularly in the key battleground states.

Third, Facebook, along with other Big Tech companies, have banned accounts belonging to President Donald Trump and other outspoken Trump supporters and conservatives. In so doing, these companies censored the voices of the U.S. President as well as the American people - something that is actually protected by the First Amendment.

The action simply meant to indicate that regardless of the facts supporting President Trump and his team's assertions that voter fraud really happened, and also regardless of the President's calls for peace, Facebook and other like companies will not let them speak.

This falls in line with socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's plan to create a commission that will "rein in" media supportive of Trump. This commission "seems to be more investigatory in style rather than in truth and reconciliation," she said.

Fourth, Facebook recently said it will ban posts showing the chaos that happened in the U.S. Capitol. While Democrats blamed the chaos on Trump, evidence proves that not all who were at the Capitol protests were genuine Trump supporters. The President's supporters were infiltrated.

Some of those who infiltrated them were from violent leftist groups like Antifa, Black Lives Matter, Insurgence USA, and the like. Antifa member and Insurgence USA head John Sullivan was one of the people involved in the chaotic riots that happened in the Capitol.

Fifth, Facebook said it will be careful to remove posts that "portrays the rioters as victims." One particular "rioters" present in the Capitol protest was a veteran named Ashli Babbitt. She died after being shot by a still-unnamed man in uniform. She is a victim.

Another person who died there, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, was portrayed by the left as a "martyr" for their cause, but in reality he isn't. He was an outspoken Trump supporter who died from injuries sustained while bravely doing his job.

Facebook's recent statement falls in line with what the Biden campaign is doing in preparation for inauguration day on Jan. 20.
Closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High 'impacts our entire town'

The Washington County Board of Education held a public hearing on the closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High School; the crowd pleaded against it.

Batavia, NY (14020)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 44F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 44F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.
Wipro on Friday announced that it has been chosen as a strategic technology services partner by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) to establish its first Global Digital Hub in Hyderabad, India.

The digital hub called FCA ICT India, will support Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA)'s Information and Communication Technology operations to focus on delivering premium mobility services and help FCA achieve its goal to enhance customer centricity through digital transformation.

As part of this engagement, Wipro said it will source and build a talent pool of more than 1000 skilled consultants and technologists for FCA ICT India who will help develop capabilities around futuristic technologies. Wipro further added that the hub will showcase world-class high-performance engineering skills and digital best practices. Wipro's global expertise in the automobile sector will enable FCA to acquire the best talent and achieve digital transformation at scale.

Commenting on this partnership, Ashish Saxena, Head of Manufacturing, Wipro Limited said, The automotive industry needs a robust digital infrastructure that will accelerate the pace of innovation and change it is currently experiencing. We are thrilled to partner with FCA and bring a collaborative operating model that will allow them to build customized digital solutions for their customers. We will help catalyze FCA's transformation and innovation by leveraging our global technology partnerships, in-house IPs and accelerators in the automobile sector. Furthermore, this alliance will create new career opportunities in Hyderabad.

Wipro is a global information technology, consulting and business process services company. The IT major reported 20.37% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,968 crore on a 3.68% increase in revenue to Rs 15,670 crore in Q3 December 2020 (Q3 FY21) over Q2 September 2020 (Q2 FY21).

Shares of Wipro fell 3.53% to Rs 438.40 on Friday (15 January 2021).

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)


A convicted rapist was one of five men trying to exploit a Brexit loophole to avoid extradition yesterday.

If their legal bid is successful it could see many more suspected criminals released on to British streets.

The High Court heard that there was no power to extradite any individual to an EU country if they were arrested under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) before Brexit.

The High Court, pictured, heard that there was no power to extradite any individual to an EU country if they were arrested under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) before Brexit

One of the men, Tomas Ovsianikovas, was convicted of rape in 2014 but has now reached the automatic release point for that sentence.

However, the 35-year-old is being held at HMP Wandsworth on an EAW issued by Lithuania for allegedly robbing someone.

The five men claim being held in custody on an EAW became unlawful from January 1.

The court is likely to give its ruling next week.
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His irresistable handsome looks and tall frame works like a charm on the ladies, but the actor is quite an introvert in real life! We are talking about Sidharth Malhotra.

Like many aspiring actors, Sidharth, in his early twenties, arrived in Mumbai to become an actor. When his first film failed to take flight, the actor who was also dabbling with modelling, landed up a job as an assistant director on the sets of Karan Johar's My Name Is Khan. "It's not enough to be good looking. It can get in the way of your work as an actor. To have applied for a production job seemed like a really random thing, but Sid knew he needed to learn the craft in order to succeed. I thought that was clever," Johar had said when asked about why he cast Sidharth in Student Of The Year in an interview with GQ magazine.

Post debuting with Student Of The Year, Sidharth went on to star in films like Ek Villain, Hasee Toh Phasee, Kapoor & Sons among others. While the lad had his share of criticism too with respect to his acting chops, he took the brickbats in his stride. " Life is only 10 per cent of what really happens to you and 90 per cent is how you react to it. Whether it's a hit film or a film not doing well, an article in the media, a producer or an actor it's my reaction that decides my future," Sidharth had said in an interview.

Despite the bumpy ride, Sidharth Malhotra has managed to carve his own niche in the film industry and has his work diary full with some exciting projects. As the handsome hunk turns 36 today (January 16, 2021), we bring you a list of his upcoming films which we can't wait to watch on the big screen.

Shershaah Sidharth Malhotra is an ideal candidate to play the role of Kargil war hero, late Captain Vikram Batra in his biopic. Touted to be one of the most awaited films, Sid's brave attempt at taking up a real-life story has got us all excited! Thadam Remake Arun Vijay's action thriller Thadam was well-received by the audience and the critics. After Ram Pothineni's Telugu remake of the film (Red), Sidharth Malhotra is gearing up to keep us hooked with the 'twists' and 'turns' with the Bollywood remake. We don't mind a double dose of Sid, do we? Mission Majnu What happens when Bollywood's charming man teams up with Tollywood star and 'National crush' Rashmika Mandanna to tell the untold story of India's greatest covert operation? Well, the audience can't wait to see the result in 2022! Thank God We have watched Sidharth Malhotra leave the ladies drooling over his lover boy act. He has even defeated the on screen baddies with his stylish action sequences in films. Now, it's time to watch the 'Delhi ka munda' tickle our funny bone with Indra Kumar's slice-of-life comedy with a message. This time, the boy even has Ajay Devgn and Rakul Preet Singh for company.

Filmibeat wishes Sidharth Malhotra a very Happy Birthday!

ALSO READ: Kiara Advani Gives A Surprising Reply When Asked What She Would Write In Sidharth Malhotra's Tinder Bio!

ALSO READ: Sidharth Malhotra Never Thought It Was Possible To Become A Bollywood Actor With No Connections



CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP)  A story and a handwoven coverlet are all that bear witness to the life of an unnamed woman who lived as a slave on a Montgomery County plantation sometime around 1850.

Her meticulous work will represent the lives of African Americans before emancipation in an exhibit set to open Feb. 2 at the Montgomery Museum of Art and History. Titled Montgomery County in 45 Objects, the exhibit will feature a range of artifacts from the countys 245-year history.

But the pre-Civil War coverlet could have implications far beyond the county.

Appalachian textiles historian Kathleen Curtis Wilson has examined detailed photographs of the piece from her home in California. Because of the pandemic, she has been unable to evaluate it in person, but she said shes found nothing that would disqualify it as being made by an enslaved weaver for a white family.

I really think it has all the earmarks, Wilson said. Not only is it the right colors and the right kind of thing for the time and place, it also has great oral history with it. It stayed in the family of origin, which is so unusual.

Although enslaved people worked in every aspect of the textile industry in antebellum America, individual pieces made by them rarely are verified and very few exist in museum collections today.

It might be, really the only one Ive ever seen, Wilson said. And certainly, the only one Ive ever seen in Virginia.

Its not the first time a textile artifact presumed to have been made on the farm by the slaves has been brought to Wilson in her 35-year career, she said. But theyre often easily debunked.

Usually, it doesnt look like its hand spun. It looks commercially dyed, or its a style of weaving that wasnt done on a hand loom, Wilson said. Ive never seen one that fit all the pieces.

The coverlet came to the museum in 2018, a donation by the descendants of Catherine Montague Trigg and her husband, Thomas, who owned a large plantation near what today is downtown Christiansburg.

Although much of the family has moved away, the descendants have passed the story down for generations and have preserved the artifact for more than 160 years.

Its a powerful connection to the past, Montgomery Museum curator Sherry Wyatt said.

With only one female slave narrative from the county known to exist, gaining insight into this group of women becomes even more important, Wyatt said.

Woven from hand-spun cotton and hand-dyed wool in a variation of the Pine Cone Bloom pattern, the bedspread probably was made on whats known as a barn loom by a woman owned by Catherine Montague Trigg sometime between 1850 and the end of the Civil War.

It was, according to family oral history, made for Montague Triggs stepdaughter, Catherine Trigg Mosby.

The piece shows some wear and an ink stain from the 20th century, Wyatt said. It has a decorative fringe border that was added in the 1930s.

Despite its detailed history, one piece of crucial information is missing: the name of its maker.

Wyatt has combed records looking for clues. She found four female slaves sold by the Triggs between 1852 and 1853, named Amy, Maria, Jane and Margaret. Another slave, a 50-year-old woman, continued to be owned by Catherine Montague Trigg in 1860, but records do not list her name, Wyatt said. Any of them could have been the weaver or been involved in the spinning and dying process.

Wyatt continues to search records of freed people compiled after emancipation, hoping to pick up the weavers trail.

Theres still hope that we will find her name, Wyatt said. Once you figure out how to start looking in the right place, you can find some of this African American history. Its still frustrating how much has been lost, but there are tidbits.

Descendants often have information of which theyre not aware, Wilson said.

There are bits and pieces people keep, and they just dont think anybody but the family cares, Wilson said. But researchers like me care a great deal.

In this case, it could be a photo taken on the Trigg plantation that has weaving or spinning going on in the background. It could be a tool left over from a loom, like a shuttle or a hook that sits on a bookshelf. Or it could be some detail in an old letter or ledger stuck in a drawer or trunk.

To maintain the important history of Virginia, to bring African American history to life, we need more evidence, Wilson said. We need more knowledge about the African Americans that were there then and are there now, and their history and their contribution.

Anyone with information related to the Trigg plantation in Montgomery County or the enslaved people who lived and worked there is asked to contact the museum through its website, montgomerymuseum.org.
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WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump will leave Washington next Wednesday morning just before President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration to begin his post-presidential life in Florida.

Refusing to abide by tradition and participate in the ceremonial transfer of power, Trump will instead hold his own departure ceremony at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before his final flight aboard Air Force One.

Officials are considering an elaborate send-off event reminiscent of the receptions hes received during state visits abroad, complete with a red carpet, color guard, military band and even a 21-gun salute, according to a person familiar with the planning who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement.

Trump will become only the fourth president in history to boycott his successors inauguration. And while he has said he is now committed to a peaceful transition of power  after months of trying to delegitimize Bidens victory with baseless allegations of mass voter fraud and spurring on his supporters who stormed the Capitol  he has made clear he has no interest in making a show of it.

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He has not invited the Bidens to the White House for the traditional bread-breaking, nor has he spoken with Biden by phone. Vice President Mike Pence has spoken with his successor, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, calling her on Thursday to congratulate her and offer assistance, according to two people familiar with the call. Pence will be attending Bidens inauguration, a move Biden has welcomed.

While Trump spends the final days of his presidency ensconced in the White House, more isolated than ever as he confronts the fallout from the Capitol riot, staffers are already heading out the door. Many have already departed, including those who resigned after the attack, while others have been busy packing up their offices and moving out personal belongings  souvenirs and taxidermy included.

On Thursday, chief of staff Mark Meadows wife was caught on camera leaving with a dead, stuffed bird. And trade adviser Peter Navarro, who defended the presidents effort to overturn the election, was photographed carrying out a giant photo of a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Staff are allowed to purchase the photographs, said White House spokesman Judd Deere.) Also spotted departing the West Wing: a bust of Abraham Lincoln.

Stewart D. McLaurin, the president of the White House Historical Association, said he had reached out to the White House chief usher, who manages the buildings artifacts with the White House curator, because of questions raised by the images.

Be reminded that staff have items of their own that they brought to the White House and can take those items home as they wish. Some items are on loan to staff and offices from other collections and will be returned to those collections, he said in a statement.

Earlier this week, reporters covering the presidents departure from the South Lawn spotted staff taking boxes into the residence for packing up the first familys belongings.

And on Friday the packing continued, with moving crates and boxes dotting the floor of the office suite where senior press aides work steps from the Oval Office in the West Wing. Walls in the hallways outside that once featured a rotating gallery of enlarged photographs of the president and first lady framed in gold suddenly were bare, with only the hooks that held the picture frames left hanging.

Moving trucks pulled in and out of the driveway outside.

While some people have been asked to stick around by the incoming administration, the White House has been reduced to a skeleton crew, with more scheduled to depart on Friday. That includes White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Come Monday, the press staff will be down to two.

Trump will leave Washington with his future deeply uncertain, two weeks after his supporters sent lawmakers and congressional staffers scrambling for safety as they tried to halt the peaceful transition of power. While Trump was once expected to leave office as the most powerful voice in the Republican Party and the leading contender for its 2024 nomination, he has been shunned by much of the party over his response to the violence, which left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer.

Trump is expected to be joined in Florida by a handful of aides as he mulls his future.

___

Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
A proposal to extract silica sand by fracking east of Winnipeg has area residents and advocates for the environment calling for an independent third-party review of the controversial sand mine in the R.M. of Springfield.

A proposal to extract silica sand by fracking east of Winnipeg has area residents and advocates for the environment calling for an independent third-party review of the controversial sand mine in the R.M. of Springfield.

They fear the groundwater  the source of drinking water for tens of thousands of Manitobans  could be contaminated, and that money will talk louder than public health and the environment when decisions about the proposal are made. Through the advocacy group What The Frack Manitoba, theyve launched an online petition that had close to 1,600 signatures Friday.

The petition urges Conservation Minister Sarah Guillemard to order an independent public review of Alberta-based CanWhite Sands Environment Act proposal to mine 1.3 million tonnes of silica sand from the area annually for the next 24 years.

"The unconventional extraction method employed by (the company), by sucking the silica sand up from far beneath the ground may contaminate, with deleterious substances, the aquifer that supplies potable water for all of southeastern Manitoba, potentially rendering this important source of potable water unusable for drinking," the petition on change.org says.

SUPPLIED A rendering of the proposed Vivian Sand Facility project in the RM of Springfield, south of Vivian, Manitoba.

The company says the Vivian sand facility project is on land designated for aggregate and industrial activities, and the location was selected because its close to the CN rail line. The companys website says the facility would receive trains weekly to transport the sand, which is used to make things like cellphone screens, electronics and fibre optics, to market. "Therefore, no sand haul trucks will be needed."

Once construction is complete, the facility would employ 40 to 50 people year-round, the company says.

Before the sand mine can become fully operational, the company must submit an Environment Act proposal for the mine to the province. It has already submitted one for the silica sand processing plant in which it explains how it will extract the sand, and how it intends to close the mine, which is legally required.

When asked if the conservation minister would order an independent review of the project, her spokesperson responded with the same statement her office issued in September. Guillemard had been asked whether she had any comment or concern regarding Alberta Securities Commission issues involving the CEO of CanWhiteSands.

"The province is continuing to carry out its due diligence in reviewing the companys application under the Environment Act for the proposed sand processing facility," the emailed statement said. "The application has not been approved. The environmental assessment and licensing process will be followed, and the proposed project will be thoroughly reviewed in accordance with the act. The period for public feedback on the proposal closed on Aug. 25," the email said.

"Its important to note that the Mines and Minerals Act (complements) the Environment Act, and that a mine closure plan would be required before any mining operation could proceed," the statement from the minister said. "As a condition of the Environment Act licence, the province also requires financial security that addresses any environmental liabilities."

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
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NEW HAVEN  A 27-year-old man was shot in the head while sitting in his parked car on Winthrop Avenue Thursday night, according to New Haven police.

The incident occurred around 8:23 p.m. on Winthrop Avenue between the streets intersections with Parmelee and Judson avenues, Capt. Anthony Duff said in an email. Officers responded to 911 calls reporting gunfire, finding evidence of shots in the roadway.
Berlin, Jan 16 : Construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea in German territorial waters can resume immediately, the country's Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) said in a statement issued here.

The laying of pipelines by an anchor-positioned vessel on the remaining 30 km stretch in Germany's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has now been approved, the BSH said in the statement on Friday.

The previous permit did not allow work to resume until the end of May, reports Xinhua news agency.

Construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline was suspended last year after the US imposed sanctions, a decision that was criticised by Germany as well as the European Union.

Danish authorities had already given the go-ahead for construction to continue from January 15.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has reiterated his desire to speak about the controversial pipeline project with the next US administration of President-elect Joe Biden.

"As soon as the new administration is in office, we also want to talk about this issue with our colleagues in Washington," Maas told the German news agency (dpa) on Friday.

He described the US agreement to consult at government level before new sanctions were imposed as a "positive decision".

To protect sea birds, construction work was limited to a maximum of 30 days per construction phase, and a break of at least 14 days before the next construction phase started was also ordered, according to the BSH.

In total, around 150 km of the pipeline are still not completed, of which around 30 km lie in German territorial waters.

"We have permission from the Danish Energy Agency to start work on Friday. However, this does not mean that we will also resume laying pipes on Friday," a spokesperson of Nord Stream 2 AG told the German business newspaper Handelsblatt.

The company would rather "first check the technical equipment".

The pipeline is designed to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea.

The 1,230 km pipeline can deliver 55 billion cubic metres of gas per year.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
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Millions of people celebrate the birth of poet Robert Burns on Jan. 25 with suppers featuring haggis and Scotch whisky. Im here with a modest proposal: Burns Night should be celebrated with wine. Scots everywhere, hear me out before hitting send on that email.

Burns spent his younger Ayrshire years living near a wine importer with deep cellars. I have a hard time imagining Burns resisting the temptation. The business current owners also think it likely that Burns was a regular visitor to their cellars in his day job as a local tax collector.

Burns poems describe enjoying wine, one of which he describes as sparkling and rosy, in the company of women named Mary, Anna and Clarinda. When Burns sent his paramours gifts, did he send them glassware for wee drams? No, he sent wine glasses.

Admittedly, Burns lauds whisky over wine in Scotch Drink. Yet romance was Burns raison detre and when it was on the table, so was wine. Advantage, wine, Id say.

I asked Gabriella Bennett, an editor for The Times Scotland, to create a menu for a wine-fueled Burns Night. Bennett is also the author of The Art of Coorie: How to Live Happy the Scottish Way. Then I invited five Oregon winemakers with Scottish ancestry to provide wine pairings.

Scallops drizzled with lemon juice and served on watercress start the meal. Bennett calls the dish a bit of green before the onslaught of beige. Jay McDonald of EIEIO & Company in Carlton thinks his 2016 Yates Conwill Vineyard Chardonnay ($75) is a perfect match.

The main reason is that the aromas are confounding as it initially shows fresh anise bulb and lemon curd. With more time, the smell of the salty stones at Ebeys Landing on Whidbey Island show up, McDonald said.

Next up: smoked haddock chowder with loads of cream. Maybe a bit of sweetcorn if I was feeling healthy, Bennett said. Sheila Nicholas recommends her 2014 Anam Cara Cellars Nicholas Estate Riesling ($19), citing the way its notes of apple pips, brandied pears and quince would complement the sweetness of the flakey smoked haddock.

This wine also carries weight and stoniness to balance the cream base, Nicholas said.

The main course features haggis, a sausage of sheep organs, oatmeal, suet, meat trimmings and spices packed into a sheeps stomach and boiled. I keep my haggis pretty traditional, except I cut it into rounds and fry it instead of boiling it in the bag. What can I say  Im a sucker for the crunchy bits, Bennett said.

Bennett serves the haggis with roasted carrots, parsnips, and a mash that features salt, pepper and as much cream as potatoes. I should also mention that in the Bennett household, the haggis is meat-less.

We head south to the Applegate Valley for haggis pairings, where the late Dick Troon, a son of Clan Hannay, founded his eponymous vineyard in 1972. Craig Camp, Troon Vineyards general manager, recommends pairing their 2018 Tannat ($45) with a traditional haggis.

The firm tannins, racy acidity and rich fruit flavors more than stand up to the offal richness of this dish, Camp said.

Camp pairs the 2019 Kubli Bench Amber ($30) with the vegetarian version. The Amber is a blend of white wine grape varieties that draws its orange color from extended skin contact during fermentation. Camp said it has the tannic backbone to stand up to this modern take on haggis and its bright fruit flavors and zesty acidity take on this dish like a caber toss.

Bennett describes the sweet course as an Eton Mess type of affair with raspberries, meringue and cream. She tones down its sweetness by swapping oats for granola and dropping the honey.

Adam Campbell at Elk Cove Vineyards pairs Bennetts dessert with his 2018 Ultima late-harvest dessert wine ($36). The Ultima is a blend of white wine grape varieties Campbell freezes to concentrate sweetness, acidity and flavor. I always caution folks to pair dessert wines with dishes that arent too sweet. Leaving out the honey helps make it a great match for the Ultima, Campbell said.

The meal ends with a cheese board accompanied by a dollop of chutney. Citing Burns keen interest in folklore and superstition, winemaker John Paul proposes his most spirited Cameron Winery offering: the late-harvest 2018 Supernatural Rouge de Gris ($35).

Pauls reasoning comes in the form of a poem: While ye sit bousing at the nappy and getting fou and unco happy, this light red speerit will quench the thirst of your drouthy neibors and be a magical match for the caise!

-- Michael Alberty writes about wine for The Oregonian/OregonLive. He can be reached at malberty0@gmail.com. To read more of his coverage, go to oregonlive.com/wine.

India started inoculating health workers Saturday in what is likely the worlds largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign, joining the ranks of wealthier nations where the effort is already well underway.

India is home to the worlds largest vaccine makers and has one of the biggest immunization programs. But there is no playbook for the enormity of the current challenge.

Indian authorities hope to give shots to 300 million people, roughly the population of the U.S and several times more than its existing program that targets 26 million infants. The recipients include 30 million doctors, nurses and other front-line workers, to be followed by 270 million people who are either over 50 years old or have illnesses that make them vulnerable to COVID-19.

For workers who have pulled Indias battered healthcare system through the pandemic, the shots offered confidence that life can start returning to normal. Many burst with pride.

I am excited that I am among the first to get the vaccine, Gita Devi, a nurse, said as she lifted her left sleeve to receive the shot.

I am happy to get an India-made vaccine and that we do not have to depend on others for it, said Devi, who has treated patients throughout the pandemic in a hospital in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state in Indias heartland.

The first dose was administered to a sanitation worker at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in the capital. New Delhi, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi kickstarted the campaign with a nationally televised speech.

We are launching the worlds biggest vaccination drive and it shows the world our capability, Modi said. He implored citizens to keep their guard up and not to believe any rumors about the safety of the vaccines.

It was not clear whether Modi, 70, had taken the vaccine himself like other world leaders as an example of the shots safety. His government has said politicians will not be considered priority groups in the first phase of the rollout.

Health officials havent specified what percentage of Indias nearly 1.4 billion people will be targeted by the campaign. But experts say it will almost certainly be the largest such drive globally.

The sheer scale has its obstacles. For instance, India plans to rely heavily on a digital platform to track the shipment and delivery of vaccines. But public health experts point out that the internet remains patchy in large parts of the country, with some remote villages entirely unconnected.

Around 100 people were to be vaccinated in each of the 3,006 centers across the country on the first day, the Health Ministry said.

News cameras captured the injections across hundreds of hospitals, underscoring the pent-up hopes that vaccination was the first step in getting past the pandemic that has devastated the lives of so many Indians and bruised the countrys economy.

India on Jan. 4 approved emergency use of two vaccines, one developed by Oxford University and U.K.-based drugmaker AstraZeneca, and another by Indian company Bharat Biotech. Cargo planes flew 16.5 million shots to different Indian cities last week.

But doubts over the effectiveness of the homegrown vaccine is creating hurdles for the ambitious plan.

Health experts worry that the regulatory shortcut taken to approve the Bharat Biotech vaccine without waiting for concrete data that would show its efficacy in preventing illness from the coronavirus could amplify vaccine hesitancy. At least one state health minister has opposed its use.

In New Delhi, doctors at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, one of the largest in the city, demanded they be administered the AstraZeneca vaccine instead of the one developed by Bharat Biotech. A doctors union at the hospital said many of its members were a bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial for the homegrown vaccine.

Right now, we dont have the option to chose between the vaccines, said Dr. Nirmalaya Mohapatra, vice president of the hospitals Resident Doctors Association.

Indias Health Ministry has bristled at the criticism and says the vaccines are safe, but maintains that health workers will have no choice in deciding which vaccine they will get themselves.

According to Dr. S.P. Kalantri, the director of a rural hospital in Maharashtra, Indias worst-hit state, such an approach was worrying because he said the regulatory approval was hasty and not backed by science.

In a hurry to be populist, the government (is) taking decisions that might not be in the best interest of the common man, Kalantri said.

Against the backdrop of the rising global COVID-19 death toll  it topped 2 million on Friday  the clock is ticking to vaccinate as many people as possible. But the campaign has been uneven.

In wealthy countries including the United States, Britain, Israel, Canada and Germany, millions of citizens have already been given some measure of protection with at least one dose of vaccines developed with revolutionary speed and quickly authorized for use.

But elsewhere, immunization drives have barely gotten off the ground. Many experts are predicting another year of loss and hardship in places like Iran, India, Mexico and Brazil, which together account for about a quarter of the worlds COVID-19 deaths.

India is second to the U.S. with 10.5 million confirmed cases, and ranks third in the number of deaths, behind the U.S. and Brazil, with 152,000.

Over 35 million doses of various COVID-19 vaccines have been administered around the world, according to the University of Oxford.

While the majority of the COVID-19 vaccine doses have already been snapped up by wealthy countries, COVAX, a U.N.-backed project to supply shots to developing parts of the world, has found itself short of vaccines, money and logistical help.

As a result, the World Health Organizations chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, warned this week that it is highly unlikely that herd immunity  which would require at least 70% of the globe to be vaccinated  will be achieved this year.

Even if it happens in a couple of pockets, in a few countries, its not going to protect people across the world, she said.

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Looking out at a single-track country lane over unspoilt downland, I'm struggling to see any signs of human habitation. And yet I am barely 20 miles south of Oxford, home to 150,000 people.

In a memorable scene in Jude The Obscure, the title character of Thomas Hardy's novel has his first sight of the dreaming spires of 'Christminster' (Oxford) from a spot close to where I am parked. Hardy's grandmother lived in the nearby village of Fawley, and the stonemason who dreams of being a scholar is given the surname Fawley in the book.

Jude couldn't wait to leave his village and head to his nearest university town, but I go in the opposite direction as often as I can.

Hardy country: Sunset over the North Wessex Downs in Wiltshire. It is officially designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

The North Wessex Downs, officially designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, begin almost as soon as one leaves Wantage, or 'Alfredston', as Hardy called it. He named it after Alfred the Great, the most celebrated King of Wessex, who was born there and whose statue adorns the town's pretty market square.

A sharp right-turn off the A338 leads down to the Letcombes: Regis and Bassett. In Letcombe Regis, we stop for coffee at The Greyhound Inn, a wooden-floored 18th-century free house. The village is delightful, with a number of attractive thatched cottages.

Its neighbour, Letcombe Bassett, is famous, like much of the surrounding area, for its racehorses. Between 1972 and 1985, trainer Captain Tim Forster sent out three Grand National winners from the Old Manor stables opposite the church.

The Captain didn't suffer fools, gladly or otherwise. 'There are 60 million people in this country and 20 million of them are idiots. And every single one of them has worked for me,' he once remarked.

Back on the A338 there's a wonderful stopping point just after the Fawley turning, marked by a stone cross memorial to World War I hero Major Philip Wroughton, the son of the local squire. Wroughton was killed in Gaza at the age of 29. He saved the life of his batman, who told his children never to miss the annual anniversary parade at the memorial  and they obeyed.

Heading down past Whatcombe, another historic racing stable, we turn right at Great Shefford towards Lambourn, Valley of the Racehorse. After Upper Lambourn the landscape becomes even more dramatic, with steeper hillsides and flocks of sheep.

Grand: Ashdown House, a Dutch-style 17th-century hunting lodge built by the 1st Earl of Craven, in Ashbury

Past the turning for Ashdown House, a Dutch-style 17th-century hunting lodge built by the 1st Earl of Craven, the B4000 is dissected by the Ridgeway, Britain's oldest road, which runs 87 miles from Wiltshire to Buckinghamshire.

'This ancient track ran east and west for many miles, and down almost to within living memory had been used for driving flocks and herds to fairs and markets. But it was now neglected and overgrown,' is how Hardy described it. Now it is a well-maintained walking trail.

Taking the B4507 westwards at Ashbury brings sight of another horse, but one with a difference. The 360ft-long, 130ft-high White Horse carved into the hillside near Uffington is the oldest white-horse figure in Britain, thought to date back to the Iron Age. Local legend has it that if you really want something to happen, you must stand in the eye of the horse and wish it.

I recall going on Easter Monday a few years ago, then coming home to watch the Irish Grand National run in atrocious conditions at Fairyhouse. The horse I'd backed, General Principle, scarcely got a mention until he sprouted wings in a remarkable five-way finish to win at 33-1. Perhaps it was just coincidence, but I like to put it down to the magic of the Downs.
India is set to begin the world's largest Covid-19 vaccination drive, inoculating 3 crore people on priority. On Saturday - the first day of the drive - over 3 lakh healthcare workers will be administered the vaccine against Covid-19, the deadly respiratory disease which has now killed and infected people across the world, upended economies and lives.

A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and union territories will be virtually connected during the launch at 10.30 am by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site. As India begins its journey into what the Health Ministry has called 'the beginning of the end', here are all your doubts addressed about the mammoth exercise:

What are the vaccines approved by India, and their prices? |

The vaccines Covishield, developed by the Serum Institute of India, and Covaxin from Bharat Biotech have been approved by the Indian government. These have already been delivered to all states and union territories. A dose of Covishield and CoVaxin may cost in the range of 200 to 295 in India. Serum Institute chief Adar Poonawalla has also said that the jab may cost Rs 1,000 in the private market.

READ: India Grants Approval to Two Vaccines Against Covid, Sets Stage for Mass Rollout

Are there any side-effects to the vaccines? |

The Health Ministry has cautioned about mild side effects following vaccination for both the vaccines. In case of Covishied, some mild adverse effects may occur like injection site tenderness, injection site pain, headache, fatigue, myalgia, malaise, pyrexia, chills and arthralgia and nausea. Some mild adverse effects in case of Covaxin include injection site pain, headache, fatigue, fever, body ache, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, dizziness-giddiness, tremor, sweating, cold, cough and injection site swelling. Paracetamol may be used to provide symptomatic relief from post vaccination adverse reactions, the letter added.

READ: Covid Vaccination Drive Begins Today: Centre Lists Dos and Don'ts, Possible Side Effects

There should be no mixing of doses: Health Ministry |

In a letter to all states and Union territories, the Health Ministry underlined that the coronavirus vaccination is indicated only for 18 years and above under the emergency use authorisation. Besides, interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines is not permitted, the ministry said. Second dose should also be of the same COVID-19 vaccine which was administered as the first dose," the letter written by Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary, Health Ministry said.

READ: Compensation if Covaxin Causes Serious Adverse Effect, Reads Consent Form as India Starts Inoculation

Who is in the priority group?

What about the CoWIN application?

Healthcare workers will receive the jab first because they are at high risk of contracting the infection. Next, come the frontline workers, the vaccination of whom will help in reducing the societal and economic impact by reducing COVID-19 mortalities. And lastly, persons over 50 years of age and persons under 50 years with comorbid conditions will be inoculated, due to there being high mortality in the category.Co-WIN is an online platform designed by the Centre for monitoring COVID-19 vaccine delivery. The health ministry has said it will form the foundation for the anti-coronavirus inoculation drive. The app is also designed to enable citizens to self-register for the vaccination process. However, that will take some time as the vaccination drive will start for frontline workers and other vulnerable citizens. The government had explained that the Co-WIN app comes with five modules, namely - Administrator module, Registration module, Vaccination module, Beneficiary Acknowledgement module, and Report module - to ensure smooth tracking and registration for COVID-19 vaccine in the country. The mobile app is also an upgraded version of the eVIN (Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network) and it will be available to download for free via the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, though its availability details remain unclear. The app may also launch on Jio phones that run on KaiOS.

Explained: Co-WIN App Will Let You Register for COVID-19 Vaccine in India, Here's How it Works
Joe Biden has named Indian-American health policy expert Vidur Sharma as testing advisor in his COVID-19 Response Team, as the US President-elect laid out his ambitious goal to intensify vaccinations across the country to tackle the spread of the deadly pandemic.

The announcement of Sharma's appointment as Policy Advisor for Testing was made by Biden on Friday along with additional members of the White House COVID-19 Response Team.

During the Obama administration, Sharma served as a health policy advisor on the Domestic Policy Council.

Sharma supported the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, aligned Federal Department and Agencies, and collaborated with community stakeholders to further the administrations health policy agenda.

He also served as Deputy Research Director with Protect Our Care, a coalition of advocacy organisations dedicated to preventing the repeal of the ACA. Since then, Sharma has advised health sector organisations on value-based care arrangements at PwC Strategy.

Born in Wisconsin and raised in Minnesota, and the son of Indian immigrants, Sharma is a graduate of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Saint Louis University.

Among other appointments announced Friday were Amy Chang, Policy Advisor; Abbe Gluck, Special Counsel; David Kessler, Chief Science Officer of COVID Response; Rosa Po, COVID Response Team Deputy Chief of Staff; Andy Slavitt, Senior Advisor to the COVID Response Coordinator; Ben Wakana, Deputy Director of Strategic Communications & Engagement; and B. Cameron Webb, Senior Policy Advisor for COVID-19 Equity.

The Transition said that the appointees will play integral roles in implementing and executing Bidens strategy to effectively and equitably vaccinate as many people as possible, while also increasing testing and taking other important steps that will be key to changing the course of the pandemic.

We are in a race against time, and we need a comprehensive strategy to quickly contain this virus. The individuals announced today will bolster the White Houses COVID-19 Response Team and play important roles in carrying out our rescue plan and vaccination programme. At a time when American families are facing numerous challenges, I know these public servants will do all that is needed to build our nation back better," said Biden.

Biden on Friday announced an ambitious goal of inoculating 100 million Americans with COVID-19 vaccines in the first 100 days of his administration.

During his election campaign, Biden, who will take over as the 46th President of the US, made tackling COVID-19 and the economic hardships it had put on Americans a core pitch to voters.

The US is the worst-affected country in the world with more than 23,523,000 COVID-19 infections and 391,955 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus tracker.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said, containing the coronavirus pandemic is one of the defining challenges of our time. This outstanding team will help us defeat this challenge by helping get this virus under control, responsibly reopen our economy, and safely reopen our schools. I look forward to working closely with these dedicated public servants not only to address this urgent crisis, but also to build better preparedness for future pandemics and other public health threats."

There is hard work ahead to contain COVID-19. These appointees are immensely qualified to join our White House efforts to contain the coronavirus and build our nation back better. The president and vice president-elect have put together a bold rescue package and national vaccination plan and these individuals will work tirelessly by marshalling every part of our government, working directly with communities, and trusting science to make it a reality," said incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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This years general election ballot presents the voter with a dilemma. We have wrestled with this years choices, as we imagine many voters have. Up and down the ticket we are faced with choices in political ideologies, personalities, backgrounds and governing styles.
The Joint Forces fired back.

The Command of Ukraine's Armed Forces has reported one wounded in action (WIA) amid five violations of the latest ceasefire agreement committed by Russia-controlled armed groups in the Donbas warzone on Friday, January 15.

"In the past day, January 15, as many as five ceasefire violations were recorded in the area the Joint Forces Operation (JFO)," the press center of the Ukrainian JFO Command said on Facebook in an update as of 07:00 Kyiv time on January 16, 2021.

Read alsoRussia must be held accountable for crimes against Ukraine  Commander-in-ChiefIn particular, the Russian Federation's armed formations opened fire from grenade launcher of various systems and heavy machine guns near the villages of Hnutove and Talakivka.

Also, the enemy fired small arms near the occupied village of Trudivske towards the Ukrainian positions. One Ukrainian defender was wounded amid the shooting. The soldier was promptly taken to a hospital where he received medical assistance.

The invaders also employed an under-barrel grenade launcher, a heavy machine gun, and small arms near the village of Pivdenne.

Ukrainian soldiers returned fire to the enemy shelling.

OSCE monitors were informed about the ceasefire violations through the Ukrainian side to the Joint Ceasefire Control and Coordination Center.

Since day-start on Saturday, January 16, no ceasefire breaches have been recorded along the entire contact line.

Donbas ceasefire: Background

Participants in the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE) on the peace settlement in Donbas on July 22 agreed on a full and comprehensive ceasefire along the contact line from 00:01 on Monday, July 27.

On the very first day of the newly-agreed truce, Russia's hybrid military forces mounted three attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.

Other related news reports

Reporting by UNIAN
A shooting near Oaklands Lake Merritt left one man dead and another in critical condition Friday afternoon, authorities said.

Oakland police sensors detected shots fired at 4:06 p.m at a Chevron gas station on the 300 block of Grand Avenue near the Adams Point area of Lake Merritt, police said. Responding officers found two male victims suffering from gunshot wounds.
WASHINGTON - While President Donald Trump and many of his top aides seem to have left the nation's business behind, largely disappearing from view in the days since Joe Biden's election was formalized and Trump-inspired violence erupted, one corner of the administration has moved into overdrive.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has made near-daily announcements of major foreign policy actions, many of which appear designed to cement Trump priorities and create roadblocks to new directions already charted by the incoming Biden team.

Among the barriers put in place are the relisting of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, the designation of Yemen's Houthi rebels as terrorists, the removal of long-standing restrictions on contacts between senior U.S. officials and their Taiwanese counterparts, the recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the long-contested Western Sahara, the fast-track approval of controversial arms sales and a slew of new sanctions against Iran.

All of those changes can be undone. But each complicates the challenges Biden will face in putting his own stamp on policy.

Biden officials express little doubt that most, if not all, of them are motivated by domestic politics. But they have not spoken out against them, in part because of the "one president at a time" tradition regarding U.S. national security interests overseas.

"We've taken note of these last-minute maneuvers," said a senior Biden transition official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity before the inauguration. Each is being reviewed, the official said, "and the incoming administration will render a verdict based exclusively on one criterion: the national interest."

A White House official cited differing rationales for several of the recent moves, saying that some of them had been under consideration for some time. "It's not like one size fits all," the official said.

Trump adviser Jared Kushner pushed for recent decisions on matters such as Morocco and arms sales to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as part of the payoff for Arab countries that agreed to normalize relations with Israel. Much of the rest, including actions on Cuba and Taiwan, "Pompeo just kind of did on his own," the official said.

"I wouldn't dispute that there were a lot of domestic political incentives for Pompeo to give a final push on Cuba, Iran and Taiwan," said another person with direct knowledge of the policy process. Officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

While Biden has remained silent, lawmakers have spoken out against some of the actions. Both Republicans and Democrats have criticized the Houthi designation - announced Jan. 10, to take effect the day before Biden's inauguration - as have numerous humanitarian organizations working to keep millions of Yemenis from starving.

U.S. involvement in the Yemen war has long been controversial. Saudi Arabia is accused of causing thousands of civilian deaths in its fight against the Iranian-backed Houthis who control much of the country.

Bipartisan majorities, with no sympathy for Iran or the Houthis, have cited human rights concerns in repeated efforts to block Yemen-used military assistance to the Saudis, and their partner in the war, the United Arab Emirates, with measures that Trump has vetoed or otherwise circumvented.

Objections to the terrorist designation center primarily on what Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch, R-Idaho, and House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking Republican Michael McCaul of Texas said would be "devastating humanitarian impacts."

Yemen, with more than 24 million people who rely on outside assistance for survival, imports about 90 percent of its food. Under the designation, aid organizations helping starving Yemenis in Houthi areas could be charged with criminal acts. "Good intentions must not be eclipsed by significant unintended consequences," Risch and McCaul said in a statement Monday following Pompeo's announcement.

Treasury officials, including Secretary Steven Mnuchin, opposed the designation, arguing that the action was so rushed that sanctions waivers to ensure the steady flow of food and other supplies to civilians were not ready to be implemented.

Others objected internally based on concerns that it would undermine ongoing diplomatic efforts to resolve the war and accomplish little. "The reason there was dissent . . . was the question: What do we get from this? What leverage does it give us" in pushing a diplomatic solution, the person familiar with the process said. "The feeling from a lot of us was that it doesn't give us much."

Biden has said that he intends to cut back on arms sales to the Saudis and push for more diplomacy and humanitarian assistance for Yemen. But reversing the Houthi designation cannot be done with the stroke of a pen. Under statute, it requires an act of Congress, or an administration review, after which the secretary of state finds that changed circumstances on the ground of U.S. national security warrant a reversal.

Pompeo's main motivation appeared to be another opportunity to cast Iran as the primary generator of problems in the Middle East and to place additional obstacles in Biden's path. The administration emphatically opposes his plans to reenter the international nuclear deal with Tehran that Trump exited in 2018.

Both Biden and the Iranians have said they are willing to trade "compliance for compliance," with each side reversing the steps they have taken outside the parameters of the agreement since the U.S. withdrawal. For Iran, that means reversing the activation of additional uranium-enriching centrifuges, and a return to sharp limits on the quantity and quality of enriched material.

For the United States, it means lifting of all nuclear-related sanctions, as agreed in the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). But most U.S. sanctions - charging terrorism support, ballistic missile development and other types of activity - remain, and Pompeo has piled on even more measures in recent days.

Iran is expected to demand that those sanctions - which have been secondarily applied to other nations doing business in Iran, including in Europe - also be eased. But any effort by Biden to negotiate over them will probably be time-consuming and run into congressional objections. In an additional land mine laid this past week, Pompeo declared, in a Wednesday announcement that puzzled intelligence and counterterrorism experts who saw no substantive evidence, that Iran is the now the "new home base" and "operational headquarters" for al-Qaida.

Biden's argument is that once the nuclear issue is back on track - with Iran's breakout time for production of enough fissile material to build a weapon put back from two or three months to at least one year, where it was when Trump quit the deal - he will build international and domestic support and push for additional agreements.

But time is short to unravel and analyze the tangle of new measures that the current administration has put in place, and tempers are high all around. In Iran, where the economy is foundering, parliament has decreed that sanctions must be lifted by early February or Iran itself will leave the JCPOA. Iran is also about to enter into a heated political season, with presidential elections scheduled for early summer.

Pompeo has spent much of the past year berating China and arguing that the Trump administration's hard-line policies are one of the many areas in which the president "flipped the script" on traditional appeasement. Biden has said he shares concerns about Chinese territorial and trade aggression, but he wants to review the situation and join with like-minded democracies, particularly in Europe, in confronting Beijing.

China experts see the most volatile part of the relationship as Taiwan, where the administration has softened restrictions on arms sales and diplomatic relations that were enshrined decades ago in laws governing U.S.-China relations.

Most recently, Pompeo announced Jan. 9 that he was removing all "self-imposed restrictions" on interactions between high-level U.S. officials, including in the military, with their Taiwanese counterparts. The United States, he said, would no longer "appease the Communist regime in Beijing."

The State Department scheduled a visit to Taipei this past week by Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, following precedent-shattering trips there last summer by senior American delegations. The trip did not take place, however, after Pompeo abruptly canceled all scheduled diplomatic travel - including his own - on Tuesday, citing the need to assist in the change of administrations here.

Like many of the other last-minute administration actions, Biden could simply reverse the new Taiwan policies if he chooses. But Pompeo has put him in a difficult position, requiring an overt act that could be seen as pro-China at a time when he is still developing and implementing his own strategic posture toward Beijing.

"Why are they doing these things?" asked a former senior U.S. diplomat, speculating as to Pompeo's additional motivation. "The fact is that a substantial number of extreme right-wing representatives [in Congress] have never bought the idea of normalization with China. And the embers of 'two Chinas' never fully died out.

"I'm inclined to believe this is heavily Pompeo-driven, as opposed to Trump thinking things up. I believe Pompeo is laying down these markers as a campaign platform for 2024," the former diplomat said.

Biden has also said he intends to return to the diplomatic normalization with Cuba established under the Obama administration, a task made more difficult this past week by Pompeo's re-designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.

The move was widely seen as a gift to what future Republican presidential candidates see as an important domestic constituency - Cuban American voters in southern Florida - with little credible policy basis. Reversing it will be important to Biden's plans, but it will be time-consuming.

U.S. law outlines two paths to reverse the designation. In the first, the president must certify to Congress that there has been "a fundamental change in the leadership and policies of the government of the country concerned," that "government is not supporting acts of international terrorism" and that it will not in the future.

For the second, the president must notify Congress, 45 days before a recission takes place, that the government in question has not provided support for acts of international terrorism over the previous six months, and that it promises it will not.

- - -

The Washington Post's John Hudson contributed to this report.
A new district attorney in New Orleans has helped free Dan Bright  for a second time.

In one of Jason Williams first decisions as the citys top prosecutor, he agreed on Thursday to reduce an attempted murder charge for Bright, who served a stretch on death row following a 1996 murder conviction that was overturned eight years later.

Bright landed back behind bars in March 2019, booked and soon charged for allegedly stabbing a man during a fight in the 1200 block of Delery Street in the Lower 9th Ward  though the victim signed an affidavit soon after the arrest saying Bright didn't do it.

This week, Bright, 52, pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of simple battery, a misdemeanor, and left Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusmans jail about 10 p.m. Thursday after almost 22 months behind bars awaiting trial, said his attorney, Christopher Murell.

+2 Dan Bright, New Orleans man freed from death row, arrested on new attempted murder count Dan Bright, a former inmate on Louisiana's death row whose murder conviction was overturned by the state Supreme Court 15 years ago after a lo

District Judge Benedict Willard handed him a six-month sentence  time hed long-since served  over the stabbing that took place outside a bar.

Sworn in Monday, Williams has pledged to shed the foot-to-the-floor prosecutorial zeal that District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro carried forward over his 12 years in office. Brights latest run-in with the criminal justice system, along with his ultimate release, offers an early indication of how the reformist agenda that helped shepherd Williams into office could play out at the bench.

According to Murell, an attorney who also had a role on Williams' transition team, Cannizzaro wanted a felony conviction and a substantial prison term for Bright over his latest arrest.

Officers at the time said the man suffered stab wounds to his back, chest, left shoulder and left arm. Cannizzaros office charged Bright with attempted murder.

Murell, who said he's represented Bright pro bono since his arrest, pointed to a case rife with problems. Most notably, the stabbing victim, a Chalmette man, declared in a March 2019 affidavit that police got the wrong man.

"The man who stabbed me was not Dan Bright. The man who stabbed me is taller and heavier than Dan and has dreadlocks," reads his affidavit.

Murell said in a statement that Bright's arrest was "due to lazy, biased, and incompetent police work." He said Cannizzaro wouldn't budge off a 3-year plea deal despite the wobbly case. Bright was set to go to trial last March before the coronavirus pandemic shut down trials.

"Everyone who reviewed this case immediately recognized its flaws and weaknesses. Nevertheless, out of petty spite and vindictiveness, Cannizzaro personally offered an unjust plea deal that would have kept Dan in jail three years," Murell said.

Cannizzaro did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Murell said he brought the case to the DA's office on Monday, Williams' first day in office, and worked out the plea.

+10 New Orleans DA Jason Williams names top deputies; fate of office's current staff still unclear Newly installed Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams announced two key hires at a news conference Thursday, his first major moves t

"With no juries available for the foreseeable future, Dan took the misdemeanor plea to time served," Murell said, praising Williams' office.

Murell works for the Unglesby law firm, which for a time partnered with Williams' private law firm. He said the firm is declining retainers to represent Orleans Parish defendants because of the law firms' prior ties.

Bright won his freedom for the first time in 2004 with the help of Innocence Project New Orleans, an advocacy group with close ties to the new DA's office. Williams for years has sat on the advocacy groups board. The new civil rights czar that he appointed Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Emily Maw, was until recent years IPNOs director.

In a prepared statement, the DA's Chief Administrative Officer, Tyronne Walker, said Williams is proud of his record providing pro bono services for the Innocence Project and that Williams  who according to court records represented Bright in a 2012 battery case  didn't represent Bright during the more recent attempted murder case.

" The case in question began prior to this administration where the victim provided a statement and affidavit that Mr. Bright did not commit the crime in question," Walker said. "The decision on this case was the right decision based on the facts and evidence."

Bright was half his current age and a cocaine dealer in the Florida housing projects when authorities drew a bead on him for the Jan. 30, 1995 murder of Murray Barnes, whod just won $1,000 from a Super Bowl bet.

A jury convicted him on a capital murder charge, and Bright was sent to death row. He spent nearly four years there until his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment, before being tossed.

Evidence of his innocence emerged in suppressed FBI records. It included agents being told that someone else killed Barnes and information hidden by prosecutors that could be used to discredit the states lone eyewitness.

The Louisiana Supreme Court vacated his murder conviction, stating it had no confidence in the verdict.

State taxpayers ultimately paid Bright a little over $170,000 out of its Innocence Compensation Fund for his nine-plus years behind bars, after then-District Attorney Eddie Jordan dropped the case.

The fund is reserved for a subset of the wrongly convicted who can show factual innocence. The Attorney Generals Office consented to Bright's payout.

Before his more recent arrest, Bright performed work for nonprofit groups that assist formerly incarcerated people. He also participated in the exoneree theater production Voices of Innocence.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Two EMS workers suffered minor injuries after three boys robbed them at gunpoint at one of their own work stations, police say.

The robbery happened about 7 a.m. at the station on Stickney Avenue near Pearl Road, Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said. Police say the suspects are between 13 to 14 years old.

Investigators learned the EMS workers had just gotten off and started their cars to warm them up. When they walked up to their cars, the saw three boys in one of the cars trying to steal it, Ciaccia said.

The EMS workers got into a confrontation with the boys when one of them pulled out a gun. A struggle ensued and one of the juveniles pulled out a gun.

The boy with the gun ran and the other two were arrested at the scene.

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International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is scheduled to take place in Goa from 16 to 24 January

The 51st edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is scheduled to take place in Goa from 16 to 24 January.

According to a report in The Indian Express, IFFI, which takes place from 20 to 28 November every year, was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The festival aims at providing a platform for filmmakers from across the world to showcase their work.

IFFI, which is jointly hosted by the Government of Goa and the Directorate of Film Festivals, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the venue had gotten permanently shifted to the state of Goa in 2004. This time around the festival has adopted a dual hybrid mode, with both virtual and physical experience due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Check out the news here

#IFFI51 Opening Ceremony Tomorrow For the 1st time, #IFFI is being held in a hybrid mode Italian cinematographer Mr. Vittorio Storaro to be honoured with Lifetime Achievement award Bangladesh is the Country of Focus 15 films compete for Golden Peacockhttps://t.co/vqc6kN3M7K pic.twitter.com/LFcwfXQGvW  PIB in Goa (@PIB_Panaji) January 15, 2021



Satyajit Ray tribute

The 51st IFFI will pay tribute to the celebrated filmmaker Satyajit Ray marking his birth centenary. Some of the classic films of the filmmaker that will be screened at the festival are Charulata, Ghare Baire, Pather Panchali, Shatranj Ke Khilari and Sonar Kella.

The country in focus

During the 51st IFFI, the Country in Focus is Bangladesh. Four films from Bangladesh have been included in the section. These include Jibondhuli by TanvirMokammel, Meghmallar by Zahidur Rahim Anjan, Under Construction by Rubaiyat Hossain and Sincerely Yours, Dhaka by Nuhash Humanyun, Syed Ahmed Shawki, and 9 other individual directors.

Lifetime Achievement Award

The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Italian cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, at the opening ceremony. The event will have celebrated film directors Pablo Cesar (Argentina), Prasanna Vithanage (Sri Lanka), Abu Bakr Shawky (Austria), Priyadarshan (India) and Rubaiyat Hossain (Bangladesh) in attendance. They will also be the Jury members of the festival.

Indian Panorama

A selection of 23 feature and 20 non-feature films will be showcased in the Indian Panorama section of the 51st IFFI. Goan movies will be screened under a special Goan section. This apart, 15 acclaimed films will compete for the Golden Peacock award at IFFI's International Competition section.
Madison Cawthorn after speaking at Trumps rally and before the insurrection. Photo: Gabriella Demczuk for New York Magazine/Gabriella Demczuk

Madison Cawthorn has a vision of a January 6 that did not happen. One in which he does the noble thing for career and country. He uses his MAGA celebrity for good. He transforms from shitposter to statesman. And he emerges from the U.S. Capitol as Americas savior.

Ten days into the 25-year-olds first term as the youngest member of the House of Representatives, and three hours after voting against the second impeachment of Donald Trump, the North Carolina Republican was in his quarters at the Cannon House Office Building talking about what-ifs and reliving an already historic sequence of events  in which he gave a speech to some people and then those people stormed the Capitol to overturn the results of the election, kill a police officer, and call for the execution of the vice-president.

Literally, Cawthorn said, I  I  I 

From behind his desk, as gleaming and bare as Trumps Resolute, he looked to the side of the room, where his buddy turned campaign manager turned senior aide Blake Harp sat folded on the black leather couch upon which Cawthorn has been sleeping since arriving in Washington. Harp was focused on his phone. Cawthorn kept staring in his direction, as if searching for the right words. Harp continued to type.

In hindsight, Cawthorn went on, you know, I wish I couldve  uhh  if I could, you know  I probably wouldve  obviously  knowing what happened later in the day  I wish I wouldve been like, Just so you know, we are peaceful protesters. 

He lowered his mask to drink from a can of peach-flavored Red Bull. The motion revealed the cartoonishly telegenic face  much more cherubic in person  that has been everywhere since Cawthorn vaulted into the conservative-media hype machine this summer.

After winning a competitive primary and the November election, he avidly promoted the presidents false claims of voter fraud. In a December speech to Turning Point USA, the right-wing youth organization, he said, Call your congressman, and feel free  you can lightly threaten them and say, You know what? If you dont start supporting election integrity, Im coming after you, Madison Cawthorn is coming after you, everybodys coming after you.  With digital charisma and total fealty to the Trump election lie, Cawthorn snagged a prime speaking spot at the presidents January 6 Save America rally alongside lifers like Rudy Giuliani and Trumps own son. Facing the MAGA masses, his leather-gloved fist raised in the air, Cawthorn said, Wow, this crowd has some fight in it!

The language of war is standard in politics  to go by bad newspaper copy, lawmakers are always firing salvos in battleground states  and fight is a word that, in American elections, has not often been interpreted literally. (In 2016, Hillary Clintons official campaign anthem was Fight Song, and it seemed to only inspire self-harm among the press corps.) Cawthorn says he left Trumps rally with no clue of what was about to happen and was back on the Hill before the president spoke. I think telling the people to march down to the Capitol was probably  I mean  that  that just seemed unwise, he told me. (Asked to respond, Judd Deere, a White House deputy press secretary who is friendly with Cawthorn, said, Off the record  no comment.)

In the House chamber on the 6th, Cawthorn sensed something was off. I started to become very aware of Capitol Police, he said. They seemed to be anxious and nervous and moving around a lot. Soon, he said, a security official came up and said, Hey, just wanna give you guys all a reminder: Everythings under control, but if anything bad should happen, theres bulletproof backing on all these chairs. And at that point, the Democratic side lost their minds. They just started yelling, This is because of you! 

Still, Cawthorn said, despite the yelling and scattering about and ten or so members who seemed very vividly, visibly afraid, he didnt grasp what was happening  that the Capitol was, at that moment, being overrun like a fire-ant hill by the same people he had recently exhorted to chant with me so loud that the cowards in Washington, D.C., that I serve with can hear you. The Republican members were unruffled, he said, until the sergeant at arms informed them that the perimeter had been breached and the building was going into lockdown. Im like, Wow, thats crazy. A couple people mustve ran by, down the stairs,  he said.  Well, thats gonna end poorly for them! Theyre about to be Tased! 

Cawthorn, who was paralyzed in a 2014 car accident, recalled navigating the escape route with an abundance of calm alongside Ted Budd and Richard Hudson, fellow representatives from North Carolina. They really played a huge role in helping me get over barricades and down some staircases, he said. The evacuation route was not very accessible. Im pretty physically vulnerable, just being in a wheelchair.

Cawthorn  now armed with a handgun, he said  took shelter in the office of a colleague. It was a great bonding experience, he said. But it literally felt like a scene from The Lord of the Rings. You kind of see the orcs  Helms Deep, or taking over Minas Tirith, whatever  it just looks like the enemy is on something that theyre not supposed to be on  And the worst part was theyre all waving these American flags and these MAGA flags, and you want to say, You dont represent me at all. Thats not my movement. Youre not part of my party one bit if youre taking this kind of extreme action. One can say, You can only push somebody so much, and they watched the Black Lives Matter people do this all summer, blah blah blah  but at the end of the day, theres no excuse for it.

And yet for Cawthorn it was also, on a personal level, a missed opportunity: I genuinely believe, had we realized what was going on and sent myself, or maybe Lauren Boebert  he was referring to the freshman representative from Colorado infamous for her gun fetish  some of these people who are just very recognizable to, kind of, the MAGA crowd; in the wheelchair, I probably wouldve been better, because its very easily recognizable. I mightve just gone to the front steps. And there, facing the rioters, he said, I think we couldve stopped them.

Cawthorn on January 6. Photo: Gabriella Demczuk for New York Magazine/Gabriella Demczuk. Cawthorn on January 6. Photo: Gabriella Demczuk for New York Magazine/Gabriella Demczuk.

An extremely online Evangelical ex-linebacker son of a financial adviser, Cawthorn so embodied the right-wing ethos of the Trump era  I dont want to raise a family in a country run by left-wing socialists, etc.  that it didnt even matter to voters when Trump himself endorsed someone else in his primary. That was done on the advice of the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who held the seat from 2013 to 2020. Meadows knew Cawthorn personally: A few years before, he had been his intern and then a low-level staffer.

A Meadows aide at the time described Cawthorn as a typical overachiever College Republican type with a good sense of branding. (He dropped out of Patrick Henry College after one semester.) As an intern, Cawthorn was tasked with assembling each days clips, the collection of news items relating to the boss. What I took away from it is its almost a scattergraph of where different news outlets and media organizations are, Cawthorn told me, referring to partisanship. He said the Associated Press is very, very fair, and the Washington Examiner does a good job. Or actually, he wasnt sure. I think its them, he said. One of the Washingtons does a good job. You realize Politico leans this way; the Drudge Report leans this way.

Cawthorn won his runoff by 30 points.* Madison had decent name ID because he became a local hero after his accident, and people love a hero overcoming adversity, the Meadows aide said with casual cynicism. By the time Cawthorn won the general election, he looked, to liberals, almost like a mini-Trump, adept at owning the libs and racking up liabilities that would have ended most political careers. He visited the U.S.-Mexico border and appealed to QAnon with a claim that children were being kidnapped and sold into sex slavery across the Rio Grande; he was accused of sexual misconduct (Cawthorn maintains he did nothing wrong) and of spreading a lie that, if not for his car crash, he would have attended the Naval Academy (he was rejected prior to the accident). His campaign launched a racist attack against a member of the press; he posted a photo at Hitlers vacation home with a caption about how seeing where the Fuhrer (umlaut and everything) went to decompress had been on his bucket list. And on and on.

Cawthorns ideology is an almost convincing patchwork of conservative slogans and concepts, expressed with a child actors poised delivery  designed to charm elders and scare off peers. But it is shallow and contradictory. In one breath, he proposes a retreat from identity politics. In the next, he cites Trumps appointing an openly gay Cabinet official as proof that he is one of the greatest presidents ever. He describes his version of America First foreign policy as humanitarian dovishness: We should be leading with wells, not warheads. Then he says he wants to cut foreign aid, the less than one percent of the budget that theoretically goes toward well digging.

We advised him, Keep your head down for the first year,  says one former aide.  Dont try to be a celebrity. It rarely works out.

During an interview with the columnist John Solomon (famous for spreading Ukrainian-themed conspiracy theories ahead of the first Trump impeachment), Cawthorn described his new station in magical terms. You think of a Harry Potter or a Gandalf in one of these great works of fiction, he said. Theyre handed a wand. And you as the viewer, you dont exactly know what they can do with that wand, but you know it holds incredible power. Thats a lot what its like coming into Congress, because theres really no limitations onto what you can and cannot do in Congress. Aside from what the Supreme Court will allow you to do.

You almost cant help, with him, doing some armchair psychoanalysis, said Tom Fiedler, the Miami Herald journalist who derailed Gary Harts 1988 presidential campaign and three decades later retired to Asheville and found himself covering the rise of Cawthorn for a local nonprofit. After Fiedler reported critically on aspects of Cawthorns biography, the campaign created a racist website to highlight that the journalist, who is white, quit his academia job in Boston to work for non-white males, like Cory Booker. Fiedler said, He has a very Trump-like quality: He sees himself as charismatic and able to persuade everyone to come to his side. He feels he is the anointed one.

In Washington, Cawthorns ambition is to replicate on the right what Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has achieved on the left. (When we spoke in his office, Cawthorn said he considers her a genius.) As he understood things, that meant being famous, even if it required disregarding the wisdom of his elders. We advised him, Keep your head down for the first year,  the former Meadows aide said.  Dont try to be a celebrity. It rarely works out. 

Now, with Cawthorns fame tied up in accusations that he helped incite a violent insurrection and with opponents calling for him to be expelled from the House after just days on the job, basic survival instincts are kicking in. I asked him about a tweet sent just after his election  Cry more, lib  that had helped make him a right-wing star. Thats the thing I regret most, he said. Wait a minute  isnt this the party of Dont retreat, reload? Of never admitting any wrongdoing so that you never have to be accountable? Cawthorn said many Republicans have encouraged him to hold the line. I get so many texts from a lot of people who feel like theyre great advisers, saying, Never apologize! We never back down! We never do this!  he said, raising his voice.

But thats not going to work for him anymore, not in the environment he feels forming in the void left by Trump. I think thats bad for the country, he said. I really think that us just saying whatever the fuck we want to say and then  please dont quote the fuck  just saying whatever we want to say and then never apologizing for it, never saying, Oh, you know what? That was wrong. This is actually wrong because this is actually not factual; here, let me fix that. I think that hurts our party, and it hurts us as humans and Americans because it makes people just so angry and aggressive toward one another. I dont think it makes you weaker to apologize.

To be clear, Cawthorn is talking about contrition in theory; he is not saying he is sorry for his participation in Trumps rally. In fact, he thinks his speech to the mob may have saved his colleagues lives. Maybe my remarks that day led to a thousand less people, or ten less people, who didnt storm the Capitol, he told me. Maybe that number wouldve been enough to breach the House floor, and congressmen could have died or more police officers could have died. I think my comments there led to less violence.

Here, Cawthorn is almost certainly in uncharted waters, which is his analogy, not mine. I feel a lot like Magellan, he said. You know  the great explorer during the Age of Exploration.

*This article appears in the January 18, 2021, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now!

*This article has been corrected to show that Cawthorn won a runoff, not a primary, by 30 points.
The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine received approval from European regulators this week and a Wicklow-based pharmaceutical plant has played a key role in its development.

Pharmaceutical company Merck's facility in Arklow is a vital supplier for the US company Moderna. The Vale Road plant makes key chemicals which are supplied to international drugs companies. It's understood that a key component of the Moderna vaccine was made at the plant in Arklow.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced on Wednesday that it was recommending the approval of conditional marketing authorisation for the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. This means the European Commission can now fasttrack emergency authorisation for the vaccine, which would allow it to be used in vaccination programmes across the EU.

The announcement was welcomed by Wicklow TD and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly. In a video posted to Twitter, the Minister said Ireland had pre-ordered 875,000 of Moderna vaccine and 3.3 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

He said: 'Hopefully we will get more good news about the Astraveneca vaccine soon and there are others in the pipeline.

'Between now and the end of February, we are due to receive around 40,000 Pfizer vaccines per week. Delivery and logistics for Moderna are now being finalised. When we have a clear delivery schedule, that will allow us to scale up and increase the number of vaccines we are administering every week.'

'This vaccine provides us with another tool to overcome the current emergency,' said Emer Cooke, Executive Director of EMA.

'It is a testament to the efforts and commitment of all involved that we have this second positive vaccine recommendation just short of a year since the pandemic was declared by WHO.

'As for all medicines, we will closely monitor data on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine to ensure ongoing protection of the EU public. Our work will always be guided by the scientific evidence and our commitment to safeguard the health of EU citizens.'

The European regulator said it had assessed data on the safety, efficacy and quality of the vaccine before making its decision. A large clinical trial involving around 30,000 people found that Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine was effective at preventing Covid-19 in people from 18 years of age.

Half of the trial's participants received the vaccine and half were given dummy injections.

The trial data showed a 94.1 per cent reduction in the number of symptomatic Covid-19 cases in the people who received the vaccine with 11 out of 14,134 vaccinated people getting Covid-19 with symptoms compared with those who received dummy injections, of whom 185 out of 14,073 got Covid-19 with symptoms. The EMA also noted that the trial data showed the vaccine was also highly effective for participiants considered to be at risk of severe Covid-19, including those with chronic lung disease, heart disease, obesity, liver disease, diabetes or HIV infection. The regulator said the high efficacy of the vaccine was also maintained across genders, racial and ethnic groups.

Moderna's vaccine uses synthetic Ribonucleic acid (RNA) messengers that use genetic code from the coronavirus to prompt human cells to generate a so-called 'spike' protein found on the outside of the virus.

The process sets off an immune response from the body, which eventually blocks the actual coronavirus from latching onto cells.

Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine is given as two injections into the arm, 28 days apart. The EMA said it will continue to closely monitor the vaccine rollout across the EU. Moderna must also provide the results of its main trial, which is ongoing, to the EMA for a period of two years.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 10:24:54|Editor: huaxia

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NEW YORK, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The New York City government on Friday unveiled a major local police discipline reform, a much-anticipated move to punish those cops who are found guilty of misconduct.

The reform is expected to establish clear and consistent presumptive penalties for specific offenses and eliminate the perception of favoritism or bias that can undermine the discipline process as well as the local police department's legitimacy, according to an official release.

"For years, we have achieved major police department reforms and today's announcement is just the start for the progress we will make together as a city in 2021," Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

"With this new cutting-edge reform, the Police Department now has clear, fair and just discipline guidelines. This is about accountability, building trust and ensuring community engagement is centered in our approach," he said.

The reform, known as the New York City Police Department (NYPD) Discipline Matrix, outlines penalties for officer misconduct, including the use of excessive deadly force, racial profiling, or intentionally making a false official statement.

The reform "reflects my commitment that every member of the service is held accountable for his or her conduct based upon reasonable standards. The matrix is meant to be a living document, open to further improvements as the needs of the police and the public naturally evolve," said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea.

On Aug. 30, 2020, the NYPD released a draft disciplinary matrix for public comment. It was part of de Blasio's plan to fulfill the Obama Foundation Reimagining Policing Pledge. Enditem

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As several teachers have quit their profession due to lack of income during the lockdown, schools have to either request them to come back or recruit other teachers for various for running classes. Representational image

HYDERABAD: Lack of funds to sanitise premises, no receipt of fees due to closure of schools since March last year, and no teachers to take physical classes are some of many issues that budget schools in Telangana are facing.

Managements of these schools are a worried lot after the state government announced reopening of schools from February 1.

In its executive committee meeting held on Saturday, Telangana Recognised School Managements Association (TRSMA), the apex body looking after interests of private schools in the state, has decided to raise its concerns as well as demands with the education minister Sabitha Indra Reddy.

TRSMA has demanded that the government, in addition to its own schools, also sanitise budget schools, or allow them to charge money from parents in form of one-time fees. "We are already on the verge of closing down due to lack of funds. Hardly 1% of parents have paid even the basic tuition fees in the past year. Most school correspondents have taken loans to sustain themselves during the lockdown and do not have any money. Spending money for sanitising their schools will not be possible for them," said TRSMA general secretary Sadulla Madhusudhan.

He pointed out that as several teachers have quit their profession due to lack of income during the lockdown. Schools have to either request them to come back or recruit other teachers for various for running classes. "We will have to ensure full salaries for them, or they won't return. In such a case, holding classes will be a major task for budget schools in the state," Madhusudhan observed.

Other demands of budget schools include government allowing students of classes 18 to come to school for clearing their doubts and submitting assignments given to them. TRSMA general secretary said since teachers will anyway be at school, allowing students from lower classes to come to school with their parents' consent and clearing their doubts will help them earn extra money.

The association will meet the education minister on January 19 and put before her their demands and concerns. They warned said if these demands are not met, they will not hold classes even for Classes 9 and 10, as ordered by the government.
Ariel Pink is facing the music after attending a pro-Trump rally which turned into a deadly riot on the Capitol earlier this month in Washington DC.

The mid-tier indie rocker claimed he'll be 'destitute and on the street' as he whined about his label dropping him during an appearance on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight.

The LA-raised lo-fi musician shared his side of the story during Thursday's show, telling Tucker he's been 'stripped of his livelihood' while blaming 'cancel culture' for losing his record deal.

Facing consequences: Ariel Pink is facing the music after attending a pro-Trump rally which turned into a riot on the Capitol earlier this month

After Carlson called the 42-year-old 'a recording artist who can't record' Pink - whose full name is Ariel Marcus Rosenberg - added, 'I can't tour either at this point.

'So it pretty much leaves me destitute and on the street. I'm sort of overwhelmed right now and I don't know exactly what to do.'

The Ku Klux Glam artist's appearance on the conservative firebrand's show comes after his former label Mexican Summer cited 'recent events' in dropping Pink from their roster after three years, although they'd reportedly been pressured to do so for years amid issues of homophobia and other issues with his behavior.

When asked why he was 'taking a huge risk' with appearing on Carlson's show, he said, 'I don't have any other recourse. What am I gonna do? Am I gonna be able to get my statement out in magazines?

'Right now the narrative is being pushed, and there's not very many people that are gonna let a counter-narrative enter into the fold. I mean there's no nuance I don't know, man. I don't know what Im gonna do. I had no choice. There's nothing else for me to do. I can't even afford my lawyer right now.'

Cancelled: The LA-raised lo-fi musician shared his side of the story during Thursday's show, telling Tucker he's been 'stripped of his livelihood' while blaming 'cancel culture' for losing his record deal

On the street: After Carlson called the 42-year-old 'a recording artist who can't record' Pink - whose full name is Ariel Marcus Rosenberg - added: 'I can't tour either at this point'

Destroyed career: 'When did you find out that your career had been destroyed?' Carlson asked, to which Pink responded 'Two days later'

No apologies: The Ku Klux Glam artist explained 'I didn't make any apologies. I felt like I hadn't done anything. But these articles obviously placed me at the siege, which I was not at'

'When did you find out that your career had been destroyed?' Carlson asked, prodding Pink to say, 'Two days later.'

'My label had written to inform me that they were getting a lot of heat and a lot of backlash for supporting me, and they reassured me that they were not gonna drop me,' he told Tucker.

The Haunted Graffiti singer explained, 'I didn't make any apologies. I felt like I hadn't done anything. But these articles obviously placed me at the siege, which I was not at. And of course I don't advocate for violence at all I was there for a peaceful rally. That's all it was to me.

'But there was no fact checking or anything like that (as) 130 articles went out in the course of 24 hours. And the backlash was just they succumbed to cancel culture. 24 hours later they wrote back; they texted me telling me that they were going to go public and drop me at that point.'

Although the January 6th rally and subsequent riot were sparked in attempt to delegitimize President-Elect Joe Biden's win, Pink played devil's advocate.

You're fired: It comes after his former label Mexican Summer cited 'recent events' in dropping Pink from their roster after three years, although they'd reportedly been pressured to do so for years, amid issues of homophobia and other issues with his behavior (pictured in February, 2019)

Devil's advocate: Although the January 6 rally and subsequent riot were sparked in attempt to delegitimize President-Elect Joe Biden's win, Pink played devil's advocate: 'He lost, and I think he lost fairly. I'm not disputing anything' (pictured in June, 2015)

Blame China: It contradicts what he said last month on the podcast Wrong Opinion, claiming Democrats 'did cheat,' adding 'They've been on the path toward acquiring these Dominion systems in some sort of collaboration with China' (pictured in June, 2018)

He stated: 'I think there's been a very big effort to unseat the president, or at least not let him have four more years  which I think is fair. He lost, and I think he lost fairly. I'm not disputing anything.

'Biden is perfectly fine with me as president. But I think that they're still scared of something like that. It seems like they're sore winners at this point. And people seem to want to kick me down as well, much like they have Trump. Kick us down when we're down.'

It contradicts what he said last month on the podcast Wrong Opinion where he claimed Democrats 'did cheat.'

'They've been on the path toward acquiring these Dominion systems in some sort of collaboration with China,' he said, parroting unfounded conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

'I'm so gay for Trump, I would let him f*** me in the butt,' he added crassly.

Pink has previously been accused of homophobia, comparing gay marriage to pedophilia and necrophilia in the past, per Variety.

The end of his record deal also comes amid a legal battle with ex-girlfriend Charlotte Ercoli Coe, in which they've accused each other of harassment.

According to Pitchfork, Coe acknowledged in court documents that she complained about Pink to Mexican Summer last year, after learning the label 'was adopting a zero tolerance policy toward abuse and harassment.'
WhatsApp has delayed the introduction of a new privacy policy announced earlier this month after confusion and user backlash forced the messaging service to better explain what data it collects and how it shares that information with parent company, Facebook Inc.

Weve heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update, the company wrote Friday in a blog post. Theres been a lot of misinformation causing concern and we want to help everyone understand our principles and the facts.

WhatsApp had asked users to agree to the new policy by Feb. 8, but has pushed that deadline to May 15 while it further explains the changes.

WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted, meaning only a messages sender and recipient can read it, and those messages are not stored on Facebook servers.

But WhatsApp is also pushing aggressively into messaging for businesses. The updated privacy policy was intended to alert users that some businesses would soon be using Facebook-owned servers to store messages with consumers.

Facebook has said that it will not access those messages for any type of ad targeting, but language in the updated terms of service concerned many users who worried that Facebook would suddenly see their private messages.

WhatsApp said that isnt true, and that all private messages between friends and family members will remain end-to-end encrypted.

While not everyone shops with a business on WhatsApp today, we think that more people will choose to do so in the future and its important people are aware of these services, the company wrote. This update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook.

The miscommunication has highlighted Facebooks challenge in convincing users that the company takes their privacy seriously.

Much of the language in the new updated policy is similar to rules rolled out in 2016, but Facebook has dealt with multiple privacy issues since then, including a $5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has made private messaging a top priority moving forward, but that has also meant bringing WhatsApp further under Facebooks control, both operationally and from a brand and marketing perspective.

The miscommunication around WhatsApps new policies has helped lead to a spike in user growth for competing apps, such as Signal and Telegram.
People making legal entries into Vietnam by road will not have to pay for quarantine service at military-run facilities, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control said at a meeting on Friday afternoon.

The meeting was presided by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the committee.

The committee ordered subordinate levels to strictly control borderlines in order to absolutely prevent illegal entry as the 13th National Party Congress and the Lunar New Year are drawing near.

Those who enter Vietnam by land must be subject to mandatory quarantine at concentrated camps managed by the army for at least 14 days and shall not be required to pay quarantine accommodation fees.

Anyone who detects suspicious people or those likely to have returned from foreign countries need to report to local authorities.

It is the responsibility of the entire community to prevent the pandemic. A neglectful individual will accidentally facilitate the illegal entry and can spread the virus in the community, Dam said.

The committee will stick to the governments order of restricting inbound flights while leaving plans to resume commercial flights on the table amid fear of new COVID-19 variants.

Vietnam has suspended all inbound international commercial flights since late March, but the government has been operating repatriation flights to bring home Vietnamese citizens stuck abroad amid the pandemic.

Some special flights carrying foreign experts and investors have been allowed to fly into Vietnam. All people entering the country have to spend 14 days in quarantine.

At Fridays meeting, the steering committee said that the management system of COVID-19 pandemic and immigration information has been completed, kicking-start the implementation of a closed medical surveillance process.

According to the process, all Vietnamese citizens, who registered with Vietnamese diplomatic missions abroad and airlines for their return to Vietnam, have to clearly state where they will spend quarantine time in Vietnam in their mandatory medical declaration before their arrivals.

Based on the declaration, the domestic pandemic prevention and control force will proactively prepare plans for picking up and transporting the returnees to the concentrated quarantine facilities.

After the quarantine is completed, there must be a detailed handover between the medical authority of the quarantine facilities and the localities where the returnees will stay.

Vietnam had registered a total of 1,536 coronavirus infections, with 1,380 recoveries and 35 deaths as of Saturday morning, according to the Ministry of Health.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Todays archive page is from Feb. 24, 1983.

Kindergarten and preschool classes are making a comeback at Staten Island Catholic schools, to meet a growing demand for early childhood education.

At least a dozen Catholic schools now offer half-day kindergarten classes, and several are working on establishing preschool programs, according to Sister Kathleen Sullivan, district superintendent of the Islands Catholic elementary schools.

Many of the boroughs Catholic schools had kindergarten and preschool classes many years ago, but due to a decline in registration, they were eliminated.

If you have trouble viewing the page below, click here to enlarge it.
Long-range missiles from Iran splashed roughly 100miles from the Nimitz aircraft carrier, hitting close to a commercial ship in the Indian Ocean.

At least one missile landed 20 miles from the commercial vessel, according to anonymous U.S. officials who would not provide further info about the ship.

Iran does typically test missiles and one source did share with Fox News that the projectile did not cause alarm and was a fairly standard routine exercise.

Another source said that the close proximity to the commercial vessel was concerning but not seen as a threat.

American spy satellites did track the missile launch from the Islamic Republic, but it is unclear if the Nimitz aircraft carrier (pictured) tracked the launch

At least two Iranian ballistic missiles exploded on impact as they hit the ocean, causing debris to fly in all directions.

'We were expecting the missile launch,' one official said.

The concern stems from last May, when the Iranian Navy said that more than a dozen people died during training when one of their warships got hit by a missile.

American spy satellites did track the missile launch from the Islamic Republic, but it is unclear if the Nimitz aircraft carrier tracked the launch.

Nimitz has been positioned in the northern Arabian Sea on President Trump's order through the inauguration. The Nimitz was ordered not to return home by the Pentagon this month, instead told to remain in the area.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that its' long-range ballistic missiles fired off Saturday morning and flew more than 1,000 miles into the northern portion of the Indian Ocean

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that its' long-range ballistic missiles fired off Saturday morning and flew more than 1,000 miles into the northern portion of the Indian Ocean.

In recent days, Iranian forces have been conducting a series of military exercises. Those have included firing cruise missiles from Southeast Iran into the sea.

Earlier this week, an American guided-missile submarine submarine armed with more than 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles stalked near the Iranian naval exercises near the Strait of Hormuz as a show of force.

An Iranian helicopter filmed the USS Georgia, which had the submarine creeping beside it at periscope depth. When it was released in Iran, the video appeared to make the submarine look like a man-made Great White shark.

There was some concern that Iran would retaliate on the one year anniversary of the killing of Qassem Soleimani

The missile launches by Iran come days after the one-year anniversary of Iran firing ballistic missiles at a base in Iraq that was housing American troops. While none were killed, 100 did suffer head injuries.

The attack from Iran came five days after the death of the country's top general, Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by U.S. forces in Baghdad while leaving the airport.

Iran has released recent videos about the killing of Soleimani and the drone strike that was ordered by President Trump.

More than 20 rockets were fired at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in December - the largest attack on the compound in a decade, according to officials.

There was some concern that Iran would retaliate on the one year anniversary of the killing of Soleimani.
On January 13, 2021, PM Modi-led Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) gave the green signal for procurement of 83 Light Combat Aircraft, LCA Tejas MK IA for a deal whose cumulative value would be around Rs 48,000 crore. And though it is certainly not the first major domestic defense deal for domestic companies, given a large array of missiles are already made in India, it is certainly the biggest, wherein Indias state-owned aircraft manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) would play the role of lead systems integrator and synchronize the work of around 500-odd Indian companies, along with foreign vendors, who would work simultaneously to develop different components that would eventually be integrated in HAL facilities to bring out a potent combat aircraft and would herald the first step of India towards self-sufficiency in combat craft development.

Ending the Paradox: Can Launch Mission to Mars but Struggles to Build a Combat Craft

For long, India has been a paradoxical enigma to the world, for being a country with one of the most efficient, innovative and nimble footed space agencies of the world, namely ISRO, and which has to its credit the launch of hundreds of satellites, mission to moon and mars, and yet the country had for decades struggled to develop a combat craft that can match the globally competitive ones.

The deal for 83 LCA Tejas MK1A would perhaps change all of that and is a reflection of the faith that IAF now has on this platform, which originally, though was aimed at replacing the ageing fleet of IAFs MiG-21s, but in terms of capabilities is far more competent than the ubiquitous MiG-21, and has the capacity to emerge, through its derivatives, as a key backbone of IAF in decades to come. The signing of the deal that would most probably happen at the Aero India show next month, would also boost the developmental work for LCA Tejas MK II being undertaken by ADA, HAL and DRDO.

How Tejas MK IA fares better than Tejas MK I

Incidentally, this proposal for acquisition of 83 LCA is the third tranche of order for HAL. Previously HAL had already got orders for production of 40 LCA Tejas MK I in two tranches that it is now executing, albeit with considerable time overrun. The Tejas MK IA comes with major improvements over the baseline Tejas MK I version.

Among the key features of the 43 improvements that LCA MK IA would have, include an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) fire control radar, which would substitute the manually scanned radar, and an Electronic Warfare (EW) suite, both of which has been ordered from IAI/Elta Systems of Israel. The deal for ELM-2052 fire control radars and ELL-8222WB (wide band) self-protection jamming pods, with IAI/Elta Systems were signed in 2018. This apart, the MK IA versions would come with air-refueling capabilities, ability to fire Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missiles and above all, a far better maintainability architecture with an improved turnaround time that was sorely lacking in the baseline MK I versions.

IAFs Modernisation Over the Last Half a Decade

Amidst a major stand-off with China that has been going on for more than six months now, apart from Indian Army, IAF too has been playing a key role in not just providing the logistical support through massive airlifting capability of its strategic and tactical air transport planes such as C-17, IL-76, C-130 Chinooks and AN-32, but also in the realm of surveillance and air patrolling by its fighter aircrafts, it has played a stellar role in keeping Chinese ambitions at bay.

A glance at IAFs force multiplying fleet augmentation program over the last few years would reveal that after a decade-long neglect that inflicted it with depleting squadron strengths and rising obsolescence, the turnaround for IAF started happening since around 2015 when PM Modi-led NDA government signed deals with Boeing of US for 22 Apache AH-64 combat helicopters and 15 Chinook CH-47 tactical transport helicopters for around $3 billion.

This was followed by signing of the Rs 59,000 crore deal with Dassault of France, in 2016, for delivery of 36 Dassault Rafale Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) directly from France. The Rafale platforms come with a potent package of missiles and bombs that includes air-launched cruise missiles namely Scalp with a range of more than 300 km, Meteor Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missiles with a range beyond 100 km and Hammer precision guided munitions.

Designed to operate even from high altitude bases because of its cold start capability, and ability to take off with more than nine tons of weapons payload, Rafales give a major booster to IAFs combat prowess. The Rafale deal was followed by India signing the deal with Russia for five S-400 Triumf air defense systems for a whopping $5.4 billion.

To be operated by IAF, S-400 Triumf packs a punch to IAFs air defense capabilities. Also, in 2019, Indian Government approved seven more Akash Surface to Air Missile (SAM) squadrons for IAF.

Post Balakot air strike, Government of India also ordered $700 million worth R-73 and R-77 missiles from Russia and as per reports, another deal of Rs 300 crore for 100 more Spice 2000 Bombs, with Mark 84 warheads, from Rafael of Israel. The Defence Acquisition Council has cleared proposal for six more AWACS for IAF.

By end of 2021, Russia will start delivery of S-400 units and by middle of 2022, Dassault would complete the delivery of remaining Rafales, eight of which have already arrived in India while another seven are being used in France by IAf for pilot training. The focus then would shift on Indias proposed acquisition of 114 medium combat jets for which the RFI has already been issued. The focus would also be on Indias acquisition of 21 MiG-29s from Russia and additional production of 12 Su-30MKI in India.

However, it would be interesting to see as to whether India opts for acquisition of more Rafales, once the delivery is completed of the present order. As per reports, the follow-on orders for more Rafales in same configuration would cost India much less since India has already paid for India-specific enhancements.

With French Government offering to shift at least 70% of the Rafale assembly line to India, the possibility of India opting for more Rafales to be made in India in future cannot be ruled out. That would be a major booster not just for IAF but also for the Make in India policy.

What Next after Tejas Deal is signed?

The CCS clearance for 83 LCA Tejas MK IA is expected to be followed by another major deal clearance in the months to come. As per reports, Indian Government is also set to clear the acquisition of 56 C-295 transport aircraft for IAF. This deal has been hanging in balance for quite some time, and when cleared, 16 of the crafts would be made in Spain while the rest would be made in India by the Tatas, which would be another major boost for Make in India program of PM Modi. However, the focus right now would be on the signing of the deal for 83 LCA Tejas MK IA. The possibility of clearance of another supplementary deal for 15 Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) also remains high.

HAL Now Would Have to Deliver: No Ifs and Buts

The onus now therefore is on HAL to deliver. It can no longer take excuses of not having sufficient orders in its order book. It will have to deliver the Tejas MK IA, and deliver on time without the associated irritations of time overrun, cost overrun and deficiency in quality. For India, the problem has not as much been with the prototypes developed by DRDO or other agencies, but with consistency of quality when that product is put into series production by state-owned enterprises. Time and cost overrun coupled with questions on quality have been a norm than an exception. But with the private sector breathing down its neck, Indias state-owned enterprises do no longer have any choice but to deliver cutting edge products or else be left behind in the race.

Developing a Resilient Aerospace Supply Chain

A key aspect of PM Modis Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan has been to develop a resilient supply chain within the country for both components and sub-components. The LCA program would be a huge boost for development of that supply chain in the aerospace sector. Already, for the executing offset obligations for Rafale deal, Dassault and its tier-1 vendors like Safran, Thales and MBDA have been collaborating with around 100 odd Indian companies for development of components and spare parts. Many of them may also be part of the Tejas MK IA production project.

ISRO has for long set the template and created a seamless collaborative approach with several Indian private sector companies for its space programs. Given Indias industrial proficiency, it should not have been a major problem for India to develop a vibrant domestic aerospace and defense industry. If there were policy lacunae that inhibited their progress in the past, then most of them have now been addressed.

Major Big-Ticket Programs Awaiting under 'Make in India' Policy

In the coming months and years, some more big-ticket defense deals would see the light of the day, including the deal for Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems (ATAGS) in which DRDO is partnering Bharat Forge and Tata Power SED, Project 75I submarines, AK-103 rifles, Naval Utility Helicopters and armed drones.

In most of these cases, Indian private sectors would be playing a key role. With India opting for ban on import of 101 defense items, the Tejas MK IA would invariably be a test case for Indias domestic production resilience.

Politics Must Stay Away from India's Aerospace Development & Military Preparedness Program

In the run up to the general elections in 2019, a vicious campaign was started by Indias leading opposition party on India opting for direct acquisition of 36 Rafale jets from France. Rahul Gandhi had stated, The strategy of the government is to weaken HAL, do not give it money and destroy Indias strategic capability and give a gift to Anil Ambani.

Eventually the fake allegations on Anil Ambani getting contracts to make Rafale were nullified as India was directly buying from France and not a single one was being made here by anyone. Also, Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Defence got a mere three per cent of Rs 30,000 crore offset contracts of Rafale deal. Yet political disinformation campaigns continued but did not help Congress win 2019 elections. It got routed.

Now with HAL getting the largest aerospace contract from Government of India, what would Rahul Gandhi say? Would he retract his statement that Government of India is weakening HAL? Had for decades, successive India Governments not kept Indian private sector at bay and allowed PSUs to imbibe themselves in complacency, India would not have ended up with seventy per cent dependence on imports for defence requirements. Now PM Modi-led NDA government is changing all of that and Indian private sector must be encouraged. The Defence PSUs know that they would now have to perform, or just perish.
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The use of oxygen by COVID-19 patients in isolation centres across Lagos is on the increase this January, Akin Abayomi, the Commissioner for Health, has said.

Mr Abayomi, a Professor of Medicine, disclosed this via his official Twitter handle Friday while urging residents to comply with COVID-19 safety protocols.

Oxygen usage is on the increase. By 1st week of January 2021 daily rationed usage of oxygen was 200 cylinders. Realistic projection without rationing is about 750 cylinders per day.

There is an increasing number of patients who require oxygen therapy at IDH, Yaba.

The initial projections for oxygen usage in IDH was 70 cylinders per day. Over 71% increases in oxygen usage in IDH. Given the increases in cases, oxygen usage is expected to be high, he said.

Mr Abayomi urged residents to keep safe from the COVID-19 infection as the new strain ravaging the state and country at large is deadlier than the previous variant.

Oxygen usage is on the increase. By 1st week of January 2021 daily rationed usage of oxygen was 200 cylinders. Realistic projection without rationing is about 750 cylinders per day. pic.twitter.com/D3IE01rdwY  Prof. Akin Abayomi (@ProfAkinAbayomi) January 15, 2021

Speaking on the occupancy of isolation centres in the state, the Commissioner said isolation centres are 60 per cent filled up.

Starting from the month of December, there was a rapid increase in the bed occupancy at the COVID-19 isolation and treatment centres.

Mr Abayomi said out of the 498 total bed capacity in the state, only 177 spaces are vacant as of January 13.

The Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) is 95 per cent filled up, while the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) isolation centre is 75 per cent filled up.

The Commissioner added that other private facilities accredited for COVID-19 treatment are filling up rapidly.

On Friday, Lagos had 713 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection out of the 1,867 recorded across the country. The state remains the epicentre of coronavirus in Nigeria, with nearly 40,000 confirmed cases and more than 200 deaths.
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The federal government will arrange for a further 20 international repatriation flights to bring stranded Australians home, following a decision by Emirates to suspend all flights to and from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The announcement follows the national cabinet's decision to significantly reduce the cap on international arrivals via commercial flights by 50 per cent until mid-February, following concerns that the hotel quarantine system will be challenged by the more virulent British strain of the coronavirus.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said 446,000 Australians had been able to return home since March 2020 and the federal government had organised 90 flights to assist.

Senator Birmingham acknowledged the border restrictions put in place early last year had made it difficult for many people and said the additional 20 flights over the next couple of months would help.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right party has elected a new leader to take over ahead of the national elections in September.

Armin Laschet, the pragmatic governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, was announced the winner at a virtual conference hosted by the Christian Democratic Union party on Saturday in Berlin.

The 59-year-old is a fervent Merkel loyalist and is seen as the continuity candidate ahead of the election which will see Germans deciding on their first new chancellor in 15 years.

Merkel, 66, the longest serving head of government in the EU, was first elected chancellor in 2005 and announced two years ago that she would be stepping down at the end of her term.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a cabinet meeting last week (left) and the newly elected Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Armin Laschet today after his victory (right)

Paul Ziemiak (R), secrtaray general of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU listens to the speech of German Chancellor Angela Merkel during CDU party virtual party congress in Berlin, Germany, 15 January 2021

Candidates for the new CDU party chairman (R-L) Friedrich Merz, Armin Laschet and Norbert Roettgen attend a CDU virtual party congress in Berlin on Saturday

She was attending today's conference via video call as Laschet defeated Friedrich Merz, a conservative and one-time Merkel rival, by 521 votes to 466.

The decision ends an 11-month leadership limbo in Germany's strongest party after outgoing leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who had failed to impose her authority on the party, announced her resignation.

Kramp-Karrenbauer took over as leader of the party two years ago while Merkel remained as chancellor.

Laschet has been handed the difficult prospect of trying to unite the party under his leadership, something which Kramp-Karrenbauer struggled to achieve.

A soft-spoken political moderate with a reputation for pragmatism, Laschet famously stuck by Merkel during the migrant crisis in 2015.

If anything, he is seen as even more pro-migration than Merkel, celebrating diversity as an economic and social boon to his state.

During his campaign to head the CDU, he positioned himself as the Merkel's natural successor, telling Stern magazine that 'a break with Angela Merkel would send exactly the wrong signal'.

On Saturday, he spoke to his fellow delegates on the value of moderation.

'We must speak clearly but not polarise,' he said. 'We must be able to integrate, hold society together.'

He said that 'we will only win if we remain strong in the middle of society.'

Laschet said that 'there are many people who find Angela Merkel good and only after that the CDU. He added that 'we need this trust now as a party' and that 'we must work for this trust.'

Laschet emerged as an early favourite when the race to head the party was thrown open last year after the surprise resignation of Kramp-Karrenbauer.

The new elected Christian Democratic Union, CDU, party chairman Armin Laschet, centre, greets by outgoing chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, left, after the voting at a digital party convention in Berlin

Laschet, left, fist bumps his rival candidate Friedrich Merz during the final vote count today

Laschet shows off a lucky coin offered to him by his father as he delivers his speech on Saturday

Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer gets a final touch of make-up before going out to speak to the party conference in Berlin

A Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party member watches German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivering a speech on a screen

But his path to the top was anything but smooth, with critics accusing him of flip-flopping and poor leadership over his handling of the pandemic in North Rhine-Westphalia.

In the spring, Laschet pushed aggressively for the loosening of restrictions to curb the spread of the virus - only to backtrack after a huge outbreak at a slaughterhouse.

He also sparked a row when he appeared to blame eastern Europeans for importing new coronavirus cases to Germany.

While he has been praised for his ability to unify, he is also seen as 'indecisive, sometimes acting impulsively', according to the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

But Laschet was boosted by a strong performance for the CDU in local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in September, hailing the result as an endorsement of the party's 'moderate course'.

In a recent interview with the Bild daily, he highlighted his experience as a state premier as a reason for CDU delegates to vote for him.

'It also doesn't hurt to have won an election before. And it is important to be able to bring people together,' he said.

CDU members may also have been swayed by Laschet's alliance with Health Minister Jens Spahn, whose efforts to steer Germany through the pandemic have made him a favourite with the public.

The pair wrote a joint article for Der Spiegel weekly promising to make the CDU 'one of the most modern parties in Europe' and stressing that leadership 'does not mean a one-man show'.

In what appeared to be an endorsement for Laschet, Merkel on the eve of the vote called for a moderate leader for the party and said she wished for a 'team' to be elected.

The new elected Christian Democratic Union, CDU, party chairman Armin Laschet speaks after the voting at a digital party convention in Berlin

Outgoing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer attends the CDU virtual party congress in Berlin

Laschet was born in Aachen, the spa city in western Germany near the border with Belgium and the Netherlands.

He is a great fan of Charlemagne, the king of the Franks credited with uniting Europe whose empire was based in Aachen. His family has even claimed they are direct descendants.

But playing up his everyday man image, Laschet underlined in a speech before the vote that his father worked in a mine and taught him that 'when you're down in the mine, it doesn't matter where your colleague comes from, what his religion is or what he looks like. What is important is, can you rely on him.'

His wife is of French-speaking Wallonian origin and he speaks fluent French. The pair have three children.

Laschet studied law and political science in Munich and Bonn before working as a journalist for Bavarian radio stations and television, and as the editor of a Catholic newspaper.

The self-described 'passionate European' was elected to the Bundestag in 1994 and to the European Parliament in 1999.

He became head of the CDU in the state in 2012 and has been state premier since 2017.
Indias paradoxes are not just economic and cosmetic. They also manifest themselves in our attitudes towards some matters. This is evident in the current debate over privacy.

Indian culture used to be about talking. In other words, sharing data, often without filter. We discussed career plans, politics and health solutions with strangers on commutes. On epic inter-state journeys we almost set up home with co-passengers. Some of us were stunned to discover that some trains abroad, such as the subway in New York, had quiet cars, where speaking was frowned upon. We felt that was like a Vipassana centre with a speaking zone.

We talked with friends and colleagues. Neighbours were on par with relatives, although this was owing to physical proximity and support structure needs.

In all this, privacy was not a priority, unlike in the west, where people even grieved in private. In India, during death or misfortune, doors opened wider. You could tell the seriousness of a situation from the amount of footwear outside a door. It is equally true, though, that there were not that many privacy concerns then because there were no smartphones and data theft.

In fact, privacy came up in discussions in India on happy occasions those days. Newly married couples needed privacy, for example. That much was understood and happily granted, at least in non-dysfunctional homes. Of course, there was an underlying demand in the knowing smiles of the elders. Make us a couple of grandkids.

Even today, it is not unthinkable for a mere acquaintance to bring up something personal. A 45-plus male colleague once casually explained the changed, family friendly sleeping arrangements at his home as he and his wife no longer needed privacy.

A westerner or contemporary Indian may have labelled this as oversharing. I thought it was human, free from the often self-imposed, ultimately self-defeating rules of modern society.

The paradox is that not only is talking in our culture, it is also recommended by health professionals. The first thing people say or post when someone falls prey to harassment or health issues is We need to talk about this. We need to reach out.

But we dont always do. Yes, sensitive subjects were not openly discussed in the simpler times either. In fact, it was the opposite. But there was no reservation in talking per se. Now, we are caught between our emotions and changing social norms, or worry our data will be stolen. Sometimes it is out of ego too.

It is true that the debate over privacy has other important dimensions to it, such as national security and that of our financial, relationship and health information. And we must call out the perpetrators when that information is disrespected and used by a Silicon Valley tycoon to buy his next hoodie.

Worrying about the rest of the stuff  such as pictures you yourself shared on social media, the people you looked up, the smut you consumed, the shopping you did  is either unnecessary or hypocritical. Besides, its too late. We have been online for about three decades. If even Jeff Bezos colourful texts are out there, we are all in the same cesspool.
Rescuers scrambled to find buried survivors Saturday after a powerful earthquake on Indonesia's Sulawesi island killed dozens, injured hundreds and left more feared trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.

At least 45 people died after the 6.2-magnitude quake struck in the early hours of Friday, triggering panic among residents of the island, which was hit by a 2018 quake-tsunami disaster that killed thousands.

Dozens of bodies have been hauled from beneath crumpled buildings in Mamuju, a city of about 110,000 in West Sulawesi province, while others were killed south of the area after the quake struck.

"The latest data we have is 45" dead, said Arianto from the rescue agency in Mamuju, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

The toll was up from 42 on Friday evening.

Authorities have not given a figure for the number of residents who could be trapped under levelled buildings, including a hospital that collapsed with more than a dozen patients and staff inside.

At least one hotel had partially collapsed, while the regional governor's office also suffered extensive damage.

About 15,000 residents have fled to temporary shelters and nearly 190 people were being treated for serious injuries, local authorities said.

- 'Heartfelt solidarity' -

The Pope said he was "saddened" to learn of the quake.

"His Holiness Pope Francis expresses his heartfelt solidarity with all those affected by this natural disaster," the Vatican said in a statement.

"He prays for the repose of the deceased, the healing of the injured and the consolation of all who grieve."

Images from the scene Friday showed residents trying to flee Mamuju in cars and motorbikes as they drove past corrugated metal roofs and other building debris scattered on the roadside.

But landslides triggered by heavy rains and the quake blocked the main access road out of the seaside city.

The meteorological agency warned residents that the area could be hit by strong aftershocks and to avoid the beachfront in case of a tsunami.

Story continues

The city's airport had also been damaged, authorities said.

The Indonesian Red Cross said it was rushing medical and relief supplies to the scene, with its teams working to help find trapped residents.

Save the Children warned that the young were among the most at risk.

"While the extent of the earthquake damage is still unclear, we know children are often the most vulnerable following disaster," it said.

"It will be essential that children are prioritised in any response, as they may have witnessed the death of loved ones or become separated from their parents."

The quake's epicentre was 36 kilometres (22 miles) south of Mamuju and it had a relatively shallow depth of 18 kilometres.

Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide.

In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi left more than 4,300 people dead or missing.

On December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia.

bur-pb/axn
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Centre may intimate qualified bidders for Air India by Jan 30

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The Centre is likely to intimate the qualified bidders for national carrier Air India by the end of the month, as the evaluation of the expressions of interest (EoI) is still underway, official sources said.

The government was to intimate the bidders by January 5.

People in the know of the developments said that the transaction advisors are in touch with the interested bidders regarding several queries and the qualified bidders will be intimated only after the government is satisfied with the responses from the bidders.

The second phase of the strategic disinvestment of Air India was scheduled to start on January 5 with the announcement of the names of the qualified bidders.

Tata Sons and the New York-based Interups Inc backed by strategic NRI investors from the US and Europe are said to be the interested bidders for the national carrier.

DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey had earlier said that the government has received multiple expressions of interest for the strategic disinvestment of Air India.

The process has been divided into two stages. In stage I, expressions of interest have been submitted by the interested bidders and they will be shortlisted based on the eligibility criteria and other terms mentioned in the Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM).

In stage II, the shortlisted interested bidders will be provided with a request for proposal (RFP) and thereafter there will be a transparent bidding process.

In view of the prevailing situation arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic, the last date for submission of EOIs was extended up to December 14, 2020.

The privatisation of the flag-bearer has already faced several hurdles with initial lack of interest for the airline.

Last month, the Ministry of Civil Aviation had said that in view of the post-Covid situation and the severe impact on the aviation sector, the government has considered various options related to disinvestment, including bidding parameters in the PIM, while meetings have been held regularly of the inter-ministerial group and the core group of secretaries on disinvestment to review the disinvestment process.

The interested bidders were asked to indicate their interest on the enterprise value of Air India.

The PIM for inviting EoI issued on January 27, 2020 had offered 100 per cent sale of equity share capital of Air India Ltd (AIL), sale of AIL's 100 per cent shareholding in the Air India Express Ltd (AIXL) and sale of 50 per cent shareholding in Air India Airport Services Private Ltd (AISATS).

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
The world's most expensive aircraft carrier finally sets sail! However, the ship's assessment revealed that the $13.2 billion war vessel could not even carry fighter jets, which is the main reason it was designed in the first place.

These are shots of the US Navys newest #supercarrier undergoing sea trials. The USS Ford is over 1,100 feet long, and cost $13 billion (!) to build: the most expensive #ship, and weapon, in history. So behold $13 billion making high speed turns at over 30 knots. #warship pic.twitter.com/5DyTaL0FZ6  Simon Jones (@Simon_JonesCTV) November 2, 2019

This is currently a serious matter since aircraft carriers are specifically developed to be the sea base of major fighter jets that protects a country's borders from sudden foreign attacks.

According to Popular Mechanics' latest report, many new features of the new aircraft vessel are still facing reliability issues ever since the United States Navy commissioned its way back in 2017.

Pentagon is the one that carried out the USS Gerard R. Ford's assessment, revealing that the ship still has unreliable takeoff and landing system technologies.

USS Ford's difference from other carriers

The Daily Mail UK stated that the new war vessel is very different from the current generation of aircraft carriers. The ship launches planes off its deck and catches them during the landing stage using the advanced Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS).

These are shots of the US Navys newest #supercarrier undergoing sea trials. The USS Ford is over 1,100 feet long, and cost $13 billion (!) to build: the most expensive #ship, and weapon, in history. So behold $13 billion making high speed turns at over 30 knots. #warship pic.twitter.com/5DyTaL0FZ6  Simon Jones (@Simon_JonesCTV) November 2, 2019

Also Read: China's New Soramjet Engine Is 16x Faster Than Speed of Sound! Would It Be Used to Carry Military Weapons?

It also features an Advanced Arresting Gear system or AGG. Unlike the new ship, older versions only use a steal-driven catapult for propulsion and hydraulic-engine arresting gear.

The director of testing Robert Behler also said that the unknown or poor reliability of new technology systems, which are essential for the ship's flight operations, could greatly affect the USS Ford's capability to perform military practices.

These include AGG and EMALS. Pentagon's assessment was based on 3,975 landing launching operations on the aircraft carrier during 11 post-delivery trials. The tests were performed at sea from November 2019 until September 2020.

The US expects it to perform thousands of launches

The United States expected that the ship's EMALS system could perform 4,166 launches. However, the ship's performance was quite disappointing because of operational mission failures.

Instead of conducting thousands of launches, the USS Ford was only able to produce 181 cycles between failures. Behler also stated that the result was below the requirement.

Pentagon didn't release the specific details of the problems experienced by the carrier's EMALS technology. However, the defense department confirmed that the fault came from the power handling system, which was discovered during a manual reset of the system.

For more news updates about new defense technologies, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: The Future of Combat: Bionic Soldiers That Will Feel No Pain Gets Green Light From French Minister

This article is owned by TechTimes.

Written by: Giuliano de Leon.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Steven J. Rubin, a resident of Tyringham, is professor emeritus and former dean at Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y. He can be reached at sjr@adelphi.edu.

Simon Sparshatt, 47, has been jailed for 13 years. (Police)

A man has been jailed for 13 years after beating a woman with a chair leg and leaving her with serious head injuries when she refused to have sex with him.

Simon Sparshatt, 47, attacked the victim at his home in Waller Road, Lewisham, south-east London, on 20 November last year.

Police were called to his address by a concerned member of the public after they had heard a woman calling for help.

On arrival, officers had to force entry to the property  inside they found a 40-year-old woman with serious head injuries.

Read more: Car seized after three friends break COVID rules speeding to get takeaway

Sparshatt was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court in London (PA)

Read more: Female prison officer who sent sex pictures to teenage inmates is jailed

The victim alleged Sparshatt had held her against her will and then repeatedly hit her with a wooden chair leg when she had refused to have sex with him.

He was arrested and once in police custody he initially admitted attacking the victim and suggested he intended to cause her more harm.

He was subsequently charged and remanded in custody.

The victim was taken to hospital for treatment and was later discharged.

Sparshatt was sentenced to a total of 13 years in prison at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to GBH, false imprisonment and threats to kill at the same hearing.

Read more: Burglar caught under the bed jailed for over three years

DC Cora Keogh of the South East BCU said: This was a violent and sustained attack on a defenceless woman; if it hadnt been for the prompt call to police by a concerned member of the public and the actions of the officers when they arrived then this could have had far more serious consequences.

Sparshatt is a violent man and I am pleased that the court has handed him a significant jail sentence which truly reflects the seriousness of his crime.
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday described the launch of the vaccination drive as "historic and a memorable day." Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, he said that India becomes Aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) in the fight against COVID-19.

READ | COVID-19 vaccines 'Sanjivani' in fight against pandemic: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

He also lauded the inspiring leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which made it happen. "India becomes 'aatmanirbhar' (self-reliant) in the fight against COVID-19. Vaccines made in India being rolled out. Greatly appreciate the inspiring leadership of PM Narendra Modi which made it happen. Vande Mataram," he wrote on Twitter.

PM Narendra Modi gets emotional as he launches world's largest COVID-19 vaccination drive - WATCH

"A proud moment as PM Narendra Modi launched the worlds largest vaccine drive against COVID-19. 1st phase to start with healthcare workers, both in govt & private sectors including ICDS workers. Adequate doses of both COVISHIELD & COVAXIN will protect citizens from this pandemic," he further tweeted.

Historic & memorable day!

India becomes Aatmanirbhar in the fight against COVID-19. Vaccines made in India being rolled out. Greatly appreciate the inspiring leadership of PM @narendramodi, which made it happen.

Vande Mataram!! #LargestVaccineDrive  Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) January 16, 2021

A proud moment as PM @narendramodi launched the worlds #LargestVaccineDrive against COVID-19. 1st phase to start with healthcare workers, both in govt & private sectors including ICDS workers. Adequate doses of both COVISHIELD & COVAXIN will protect citizens from this pandemic. pic.twitter.com/R4qMCDa4yo  Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) January 16, 2021

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu also described the launch of the anti-coronavirus immunisation drive as a "red-letter day" for the people of India and lauded scientists for developing the vaccines in a record time. Union ministers, including Amit Shah, extolled the rollout of the inoculation programme. The home minister said the made-in-India vaccines represent the determination of a "self-reliant India."

READ | Sanitation worker first to get COVID-19 vaccine shot in India at Delhi's AIIMS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India's COVID-19 immunisation drive and asserted that the made-in-India vaccines being rolled out will ensure a "decisive victory" for the country over the coronavirus pandemic.

In a Facebook post, Naidu said India has scripted history by touching a new milestone in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic with Prime Minister Modi launching the world's largest vaccination drive. "This is a proud moment for every Indian and I would like to convey my deepest appreciation to all the scientists for the remarkable speed with which the vaccines were developed in a record time," he wrote.

It is pertinent to point out that generally, it takes several years before a vaccine reaches people at large after successful completion of all trials at all stages, the vice president said.

Home Minister Amit Shah took to Twitter to say this 'New India' led by PM Modi is a nation which transforms crisis into opportunities and challenges into achievements. "This 'Made in India' vaccine represents the determination of this self-reliant India. On this historic day, I bow to all our corona warriors," he said.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the entire country is proud of the stellar leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which has been instrumental in India's famed battle against COVID-19. "Congratulations India on the launch of world's largest vaccine drive," he wrote on the microblogging site.
Google recently completed its acquisition of wearables company FitBit yesterday. The acquisition comes amid investigations against the deal in Australia and the US over concerns of Google making a monopoly in the Android wearables space. Google had earlier won an EU antitrust approval for its Fitbit bid after agreeing to restrictions on how it will use customers health-related data. Right after Google completed its $2.1 billion acquisition of FitBit, the wearable company's CEO James Park has sent out an open letter saying that their data will be protected by Google.

In his letter, Park said that the Google acquisition will help FitBit "innovate faster, provide more choices, and make even better products." He also reiterated FitBit's promise on privacy and said that the devices will continue to work with both Android and iOS smartphones. "Im writing today to let you know that Fitbit is now officially part of Google. Its an incredibly exciting moment for us as a company and for our Fitbit community of users around the globe," the letter said.

Wow. A 14 year journey enters a new chapter. So many emotions but thank you to my co-founder Eric, everyone at @fitbit, and all of our users who were on the journey with us https://t.co/xvPdxph4Ol James Park (@parkjames) January 14, 2021

In his letter, Park also went into the history of FitBit, on how far the company has come in the past 13 years. He said that the company was founded with one simple goal in mind - to make everyone in the world healthier. Park said that since shipping the original Fitbit tracker in 2009, the company has sold more than 120 million devices in over 100 countries.

"In some cases, we heard from our users that we even helped save lives. Together, weve taken 275 trillion steps and logged over 15 billion hours of sleep," Park said.

Further, he expressed excitement for the brand's time ahead. "This is just the beginning because becoming part of the Google family means we can do even more to inspire and motivate you on your journey to better health. Well be able to innovate faster, provide more choices, and make even better products to support your health and wellness needs."

"I have no doubt that this acquisition will create so many opportunities. But I also want you to know that many of the things you know and love about Fitbit will remain the same. Well stay committed to doing whats right, to putting your health and wellness at the center of everything we do and to offering a no-one-size-fits-all approach with choices that work across both Android and iOS," Park said in his letter.

Further, the FitBit co-founder thanked users for "letting the company be a part of their lives and their healthy journey."
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 05:14:52|Editor: huaxia

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NEW YORK, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- New York City is on pace to run out of COVID-19 vaccine supply next week and asks the federal government to send additional doses, said Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday.

"We will run out of vaccine next week in New York City," he said. "The supply should go to where there is an infrastructure to get it into people's arms. We know there is supply in this country not being used."

As of Friday, the city has under 186,000 first doses remaining. Two of the city's largest hospital systems of New York University and Mt. Sinai are no longer booking appointments for the time being and all systems are expected to run out by the end of next week without resupply, according to an official release.

The city reported 33,847 doses on Thursday and has already administered more than 337,500 doses to New Yorkers, including over 42,000 second doses. The city has administered 71.3 percent of the 175,000 vaccines it aimed to distribute by the end of this weekend, it added.

On Thursday, the city government announced that it would open vaccination clinics in NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority) developments, providing on-site vaccinations for residents 65 or older.

Clinics will open at the Van Dyke I & II Houses in Brooklyn, Cassidy Lafayette Houses in Staten Island, and Polo Grounds Towers in Manhattan this coming weekend, with plans to move to different sites across the city in the coming weeks, it said.

"Equity is the driving force of our vaccine plan, and doses must go directly to those who need them most. That's why we're meeting our most vulnerable where they are, providing vaccines to our NYCHA seniors right in their own communities," the mayor was quoted as saying.

As of Thursday afternoon, the coronavirus deaths in NYC added up to 25,834; the confirmed cases topped 500,000 to reach 500,632 in NYC, according to The City, a project that tracks the spread of confirmed COVID-19 infections and fatalities in New York City, based on information provided by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the governor's office, The COVID Tracking Project and the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Enditem
LAVAL, QC and MASSY, France, Jan. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Preliminary discussions around a transaction, mindful of all stakeholders, had been initiated between Carrefour SA ( Carrefour ) (Paris : CA) and Alimentation CoucheTard Inc. ( CoucheTard ) (TSX: ATD.A) (TSX: ATD.B) following a friendly approach from the latter. In light of recent events, these are no longer continuing.

Carrefour and Couche-Tard, however, have decided to extend their discussions to examine opportunities for operational partnerships. Among the preliminary areas of cooperation to be explored are sharing best practices on fuel, pooling purchasing volumes, partnering on private labels, improving the customer journey through innovation, and evaluating ways of optimizing product distribution in the overlapping networks.

Alexandre Bompard, Chairman and CEO, Carrefour: "Building innovative partnerships is a key part of Carrefour's transformation strategy. The promising partnerships anticipated with North American leader Couche-Tard is fully aligned with this strategy, which has enabled us to return to a profitable growth path."

Brian Hannasch, President and CEO, Couche-Tard: "The opportunity for operational partnerships with Carrefour will further our journey towards becoming a leading global retailer. The discussed areas for cooperation align with our five-year strategic plan, as well as our commitment to strengthening our core convenience and fuel business and pursuing opportunities in multiple, related growth platforms."

About Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.

Couche-Tard is the leader in the Canadian convenience store industry, with a market cap of approximately C$46 billion as at January 12, 2021. In the United States, it is the largest independent convenience store operator in terms of the number of company-operated stores. In Europe, CoucheTard is a leader in convenience store and road transportation fuel retail in the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark), in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), as well as in Ireland, and has an important presence in Poland.

As of October 11, 2020, Couche-Tard's network comprised 9,261 convenience stores throughout North America, including 8,085 stores with road transportation fuel dispensing. Its North American network consists of 18 business units, including 14 in the United States covering 47 states and 4 in Canada covering all 10 provinces. Approximately 109,000 people are employed throughout its network and at its service offices in North America.

In Europe, Couche-Tard operates a broad retail network across Scandinavia, Ireland, Poland, the Baltics and Russia through 10 business units. As of October 11, 2020, Couche-Tard's network comprised 2,722 stores, the majority of which offer road transportation fuel and convenience products while the others are unmanned automated fuel stations which only offer road transportation fuel. Couche-Tard also offers other products, including aviation fuel and energy for stationary engines. Including employees at branded franchise stores, approximately 22,000 people work in its retail network, terminals and service offices across Europe.

In addition, under licensing agreements, more than 2,220 stores were operated under the Circle K banner in 15 other countries and territories (Cambodia, Egypt, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jamaica, Macau, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam), which brings the worldwide total network to more than 14,200 stores.

For more information on Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. or to consult its quarterly Consolidated Financial Statements and Management Discussion and Analysis, please visit: https://corpo.couchetard.com/.

About Carrefour Group

With a multi-format network of some 12,300 stores in more than 30 countries, the Carrefour Group is one of the world's leading food retailers. Carrefour recorded gross sales of 80.7 billion in 2019. It has more than 320,000 employees who help to make Carrefour the world leader in the food transition for everyone, providing everybody with access to high-quality, affordable food every day, in all locations.

For more information, visit www.carrefour.com , or find us on Twitter (@GroupeCarrefour) and LinkedIn (Carrefour).

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements set forth in this press release, which describes Couche-Tard's objectives, projections, estimates, expectations or forecasts, may constitute forward looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation. Positive or negative verbs such as "believe", "can", "shall", "intend", "expect", "estimate", "assume" and other related expressions are used to identify such statements. Couche-Tard would like to point out that, by their very nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties such that its results, or the measures it adopts, could differ materially from those indicated in or underlying these statements, or could have an impact on the degree of realization of a particular projection. Major factors that may lead to a material difference between Couche Tard's actual results and the projections or expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements include the effects of the integration of acquired businesses and the ability to achieve projected synergies, uncertainty related to the duration and severity of the current COVID-19 pandemic, fluctuations in margins on motor fuel sales, competition in the convenience store and retail motor fuel industries, exchange rate variations, and such other risks as described in detail from time to time in the reports filed by Couche-Tard with securities regulatory authorities in Canada. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Couche-Tard disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking information in this release is based on information available as of the date of the release.

SOURCE Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.

Related Links

http://corpo.couche-tard.com


The Pennsylvania Wine Society (PWS), based in Harrisburg, has since 2003 started its year with Wine Excellence, a competition that only wineries in the state can enter.

Largely a contest of the best dry wines made from vinifera grapes, the PWS has expanded the contests criteria to include wines made from several hybrid grapes and ice wines. One made by Mazza Vineyards won Wine Excellence XVIII, announced in late January at Hilton Harrisburg. It was the first time an ice wine ever won the award.

What also made that day memorable was the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter and entourage in a California helicopter crash.

Will there be a Wine Excellence XIX? Well, it wont happen in January, since the judging that normally takes place in November never occurred.

PWS President Marty Cook said that because of COVID-19 concerns and the desire for caution, the group was unable to attract enough judges. Should the number of cases trend down enough over the next few months because of the vaccine, they could hold the competition this summer. The PWS is certainly interested in conducting the PA Wine Excellence competition, just as soon as it is practicable, he said.

That doesnt mean the organization, which will celebrate its 34th anniversary on Sept. 17, is inactive.

Cook noted that the wine society has worked to remain relevant despite the pandemic, replacing in-person events with virtual wine tastings that feature a large component of wine education embedded in them. Nine took place on Zoom in 2020, beginning on the second weekend of August and continuing every other weekend thereafter. They also held three in-person events last year, including a trip to nationally acclaimed Black Ankle Vineyards in central Maryland in mid-October.

The first virtual tasting of 2021 took place last Sunday, and others are scheduled on Jan. 24, Feb. 7 and 21 and March 7 and 21. All of these events will start at 3:30.

We had 45 separate sites linked into our Zoom event, easily representing over 60 viewers, Cook said. Our next event will be hosted by Joe Via, CSW, FSW, and will discuss red wines of Piemonte, Italy. The February and March schedule is filled with events that will feature several PA wineries as well as at least one more event with Joe Via.

Plans for other events also are in the discussion stages.

In light of the setbacks suffered by our non-profit organization during 2020, I would characterize the PWS as being somewhere between a start-up and a turn-around scenario, said Cook, a retail wine specialist for the Pa. Liquor Control Board (PLCB). All manner of new ideas for operating in a post-pandemic world must necessarily be on the table for consideration, to the extent that I have been given to thinking of our group as the new PWS.

Stony Run Winery's Larry Shrawder accepts the award for the Wine Excellence XVII runner-up wine, a Cabernet Franc Reserve, from Averill Shepps.

The virtual events, he said, figure to remain even after the pandemic recedes, and theyll assess the value of using a platform such as YouTube to offer a series of prerecorded Wine 101 classes. Said Cook, This could be a great supplement to what we offer our members, even after our eventual resumption of in-person wine-related events.

Opportunity, he said, arises from every catastrophe, noting that last year taught the organization much about different ways to get its message out to its members.

My message to our current membership base and to oenophiles throughout the region is to stay tuned, join us, and grow with us the new PWS, Cook said.

ALSO READ: Lucie Morton: Enthusiasm and an Eye for Deep Insights with Viticultural Impact

These states are likely to play a critical role in presidential elections for some time to come. Mr. Blows proposal, if it actually came to pass, would almost certainly have the effect of aiding future Republican presidential candidates.

Alan Abramowitz

Atlanta

The writer is a professor of political science at Emory University.

To the Editor:

I am an older white woman and as such have little credibility on Black issues. But I did read Charles Blows piece about reverse migration with interest. One of my questions is, Why should Black people not stay in New York and use the lessons learned in Georgia to increase their influence in politics and society?

I worry that if reverse migration is successful, what will happen to places like Chicago, Oakland and New York? The African-American communities in those places will be left without support.

Angela Johns

Livermore, Calif.

To the Editor:

Charles Blows piece launched me into a hopeful fantasy about taking back the South, building political power and then using that power to courageously bend the arc not back to equity but for the first time in our countrys history to the experience of equity for Black people  and yes, as he writes, have a yard, too.

My older white legs probably cant make that trek anymore, but Id like to prepare brown-bag lunches and cool drinks and offer a shaded tree for anyone passing by on the way home to reclaim the South. Ill continue to pray for the corrections that are centuries overdue, and I salute Mr. Blow for his courage and inspiration.

Carla Melvin

Rothbury, Mich.

To the Editor:

My most vivid memory of the 2020 and 2021 elections will always be the lines of Black Americans defying the coronavirus and other threats to vote to protect the rights and freedoms for all of us. Those voters reminded me of the Black Americans from my youth who lined up to vote, gain admission to our countrys universities or simply insist that they, too, had the right to eat at restaurants with whites only signs above the front door.

During our recent elections, their descendants stood in similar lines, only this time to vote to protect the rights and freedoms that were often denied their ancestors. These Black Americans, who inherited a troubled history of being systematically disenfranchised and even killed for demanding the right to vote, helped save democracy for all of us.
The two vaccines that are currently being rolled out in India - Covishield and Covaxin - are safe.

In March 2020, the world was hit by the coronavirus. A year later, after the COVID-19 pandemic has taken the lives of nearly 1.5 lakh Indians, India is finally going to kick-start its vaccination drive.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16 at 10.30 am will inaugurate this nationwide drive via video conferencing. On the first day of the vaccination drive, over three lakh healthcare officials are set to be vaccinated. In Delhi alone, 8,000 workers will be vaccinated each day.

Two vaccines have been granted emergency use approval in India - Covishield, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and produced by Serum Institute of India, and COVAXIN, developed and produced in India by Bharath Biotech.

Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the coronavirus pandemic

The Union health ministry has put out an advisory regarding all the do's & dont's of the vaccination drive. Here's everything you need to know:

-The vaccine will be administered to people only above 18 years of age in two doses.

-The vaccines are not interchangeable. Both the vaccine doses have to be administered from the same manufacturer.

-If any other vaccine is needed there should be a gap of at least 14 days.

Who will not be given the vaccine?

Certain contraindications, or conditions, and factors have been kept in mind. People who exhibit these conditions will not be administered the vaccine:

-Pregnant and lactating women have not been a part of any COVID-19 vaccine trail, so they along with women who are unsure about their pregnancy have been asked not to take the vaccine shot.

-People who have any history of allergic reactions to previous doses of COVID-19 will not be given the shot.

-Along with that those of have an immediate or delayed allergic reaction to vaccines or injectable therapies, pharmaceutical products, and food items will also not be given the vaccine.

Also Read: Mumbai preparing to vaccinate 50,000 people against COVID-19 daily: Report

Provisional contraindications:

In the following conditions, the COVID-19 vaccine will be deferred by 4-8 weeks after recovery:

-Persons having active symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

-SARS-CoV-2 patients who have been given SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma.

-Acutely unwell and hospitalized (with or without intensive care) patients due to any illness.

COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker: All you need to know about manufacturing and pricing

Conditions not contraindicated for vaccine:

-Persons with past history of SARS-CoV-2 infection (sero-positivity) and or RT-PCR positive illness.

-History of chronic diseases and morbidities (cardiac, neurological, pulmonary, metabolic, renal, malignancies).

-Immuno-deficiency, HIV, patients on immune-suppression due to any condition. However, the response to the Covid-19 vaccine may be less in these individuals.

What special precautions are to be taken?

Those people that have a history of bleeding or coagulation disorder like lotting factor deficiency, coagulopathy, or platelet disorder must be administered the vaccine with extra precautions.

Also Read: COVID-19 vaccination in Delhi | Over 8,000 health workers to be vaccinated every day; all you need to know

What are the side-effects?

A list of side effects or adverse effect following immunization(AEFI) for both Covaxin and Covishield were also released by the government:

For Covaxin, the AEFIs are:

-Antibody response may be impaired due to the use of chloroquine and corticosteroids.

-Other than that some mild symptoms are: injection site pain, headache, fatigue, fever, body ache, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, giddiness-dizziness, tremor, sweating, cold, cough, and injection site sweating.

For Covishield, the AEFIs are:

-Headache, fatigue, myalgia (pain in muscle), injection site tenderness, malaise (weakness), pyrexia, chills, arthralgia, and nausea.

-As relief for these mild effects, paracetamol can be given.

Also Read: No choice between vaccines will be given to priority group: Head of epidemiology, ICMR

Administrative guidelines:

In the ministry's directive, it is clearly mentioned that all programme managers have to ensure that every precaution and contraindication is communicated well across all levels so that cold-chain handlers and vaccinators have a ready reference.

The directive also mentioned the government's vaccination app, CO-WIN, which the backbone of this massive inoculation drive. While currently, the app is only accessible to healthcare workers, in a month's time it will available for the general public as well to self-register for the vaccination drive.
In a worrying development, 23 elderly people died within a short time of receiving their first coronavirus vaccine shots in Norway. However, there is no confirmation yet if there is direct correlation between the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 jab and these deaths.

Although a direct correlation between the Pfizer jab and these deaths is yet to be established, experts have said that 13 out of 23 people who died showed common side effects of mRNA vaccines such as diarrhea, nausea and fever.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has cautioned against vaccinating elderly people above 80 years of age saying those with a short life span may not benefit much from the jab. The Norwegian regulator further told Bloomberg, "For those with the most severe frailty, even relatively mild vaccine side effects can have serious consequences."

Pfizer and BioNTech are working with the Norwegian authorities to investigate the deaths in Norway. According to Pfizer, the regulator discovered "the number of incidents so far is not alarming and in line with expectations".

Experts are of the strong opinion that doctors need to exercise strong caution in vaccinating people in the wake of deaths of 23 elderly people. The Norwegian Medicines Agency said in a recent report that 21 women and 8 men reported side effects. Apart from the 23 deaths, nine people have reported serious side effects without fatal outcomes such as allergic reactions, strong discomfort and severe fever. Seven people reported less serious side effects such as severe pain at the injection site.

Meanwhile, Norway had administered at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna coronavirus vaccines to approximately 33,000 people by end of December.

Also read: Pfizer must conduct local study for vaccine approval: VK Paul

Also read: Cyber attacks can plunge India's COVID vaccination drive into pandemonium: experts
Experts estimate the output of saline-alkali tolerant rice at a demonstration base in Hanting District of Weifang City, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 16, 2020.(Xinhua/Guo Xulei)

SANYA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The team of renowned agronomist Yuan Longping on Friday said they planned to plant saline-alkali soil rice to transform 6.7 million hectares of saline-alkali land in China over the next eight to 10 years.

The team led by Yuan, dubbed China's "father of hybrid rice," said they had already signed contracts to reclaim 400,000 hectares of saline-alkali land in China and will strive to plant saline-alkali soil rice on one-sixth of the land this year.

The announcement was made at a forum on saline-alkali soil rice held in the city of Sanya, south China's Hainan Province.

"In 2020, we made great strides in the breeding, cultivation techniques and soil improvement of saline-alkali tolerant rice. With joint efforts, we will no doubt achieve the goal of turning 100 million mu (6.7 million hectares) of saline-alkali soil into fertile land," the 90-year-old agronomist said in a video message at the forum.

Yuan's team successfully developed varieties of saline-alkali tolerant rice in 2017, with the highest average yield of over 800 kg per mu, or 12 tonnes per hectare, recorded in Jiangsu Province last year.

Last year, the Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center led by Yuan expanded the ambitious program by planting about 6,667 hectares of saline-alkali soil rice in ten bases across the country.

Zhu Ming, an academician with the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, said China's promotion of saline-alkali soil rice planting is of great significance to safeguarding food security as the country has large swathes of uncultivated saline-alkali land.

China has about 100 million hectares of saline-alkali soil, of which about one-fifth could be ameliorated to arable soil.

Despite years of bumper harvests, China is still in need of more arable land, said Mi Tiezhu, vice director of the Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center. China now feeds around 20 percent of the world's population with less than 9 percent of the world's arable land.

Mi said on average, the output of saline-alkali tolerant rice across all planting areas stood at more than six tonnes per hectare, which is economically viable for farmers.

"If the (saline-alkali) land can be used to grow rice and produce grain, it means that some acreage can be set aside for producing other cash crops," said Mi, also a member of Yuan's team. The ambitious program could thus help China reduce its reliance on imports for corn and soybean, Mi said.

These efforts to increase food production will also benefit the global food supply and contribute to achieving the UN zero hunger goal, he said.

Global grain production and agriculture must make considerable changes in a bid to help eradicate hunger for 925 million people in the world and feed the newly-added population of 2 billion by 2050, said Yang Lin, a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Coalition of Think Tank Networks for the UN's South-South Cooperation.

China's saline-alkali soil rice is transforming agricultural production and the large-scale planting across China and around the world has a direct bearing on global sustainable development, Yang said.

It is of practical significance and great urgency to promote the planting of saline-alkali soil rice when the food issue is becoming more prominent amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic, said Wang Nan, a researcher with China-Africa Institute.

China can strengthen cooperation with Africa as food security there still faces severe challenges, Wang added.
By Halima Athumani

KAMPALA, UGANDA - Ugandas electoral commission on Saturday declared President Yoweri Museveni the winner of the 2021 general elections. Meanwhile, Ugandan military and police surrounded the home of opposition leader and presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine.

Opposition leaders rejected the election results, saying they would not live like serfs and that the results were fabricated. On polling day, more than 30 election observers were arrested.

More than 10 truckloads of military and police personnel passed journalists who had camped a few meters from Kyagulanyi Sentamu, Wines house. Other military personnel carried out foot patrols nearby.

Wine's home was cordoned off by authorities and access in and out was blocked to the public, including journalists.

Legislator Francis Zaake, a Wine supporter who in the past has been arrested and allegedly tortured by security forces, was given access, only to be stopped at the roadblock. He was then pulled from his car and beaten before being thrown into a police van.

Reporters were kept at a distance, and as the police van went past, Zaake could be heard screaming inside.

Newly elected National Unity Platform legislator Joyce Bagala told journalists what she saw.

I followed them to know where they were taking him, because ... he was screaming and you would actually hear the screams," Bagala said. "So I followed them to Kasangati police station. Thats where they dropped him. They pulled him out of the car, but I think he was badly beaten.

Electoral Commission head Simon Byabakama announced just after 4 p.m. Saturday local time that Museveni had won the election, securing a sixth five-year term as president.

Candidate Yoweri Museveni Tibuhaburwa Kaguta, having obtained the highest number of votes in the election and votes cast in his favor being more than 50 percent of the valid votes cast at the election, the electoral commission declares Yoweri Museveni Tibuhaburwa Kaguta elected president of the republic of Uganda, Byabakama said.

Officials said Museveni won 58.64 percent to Wines 34.83 percent of the total votes cast in Thursday's balloting.

Byabakama called on Ugandans, especially those supporting the losers, to stay calm.

After the announcement, an eerie silence, empty streets and a heavy security presence prevailed. Voter Dennis Kimbugwe said he did not trust the results issued by the Electoral Commission.

He said he preferred to follow the voting from his location to confirm whether the person he voted for had won or lost. But he didnt want to be told that he should go listen to the radio, adding that authorities had deployed the military.

Hes not alone. Kalibala John Bosco said it was time for the government to get rid of elections.

Bosco said Museveni should just bar elections if he feels he still wants to be president, because the current practice was frustrating for Ugandans. He said the government doesnt count peoples votes and just does what it wants.

Efforts to get a comment from the ruling party failed, and party officials did not answer media phone calls.

The U.S. Embassy in Uganda declined to observe the election after authorities denied more than 75 percent of its accreditation requests.
Prison chaplain ousted for warning against Islamic extremism in British prisons to get court hearing

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The case of a pastor banned from prison chaplaincy for 10 years will not proceed to judicial review but will be heard at a county court instead, the high court decided on Tuesday.

Pastor Paul Song, 51, a former detective, was banned from the chaplaincy after a 2018 whistleblowing interview with the Mail on Sunday in which he alleged that Islamic extremists had hijacked his chapel and Bible classes at HMP Brixton.

In the interview, he said inmates had taken over the prison's Christian chapel and praised the killers of murdered soldier Lee Rigby.

He described fearing for his safety after being assaulted and racially abused by Islamic inmates.

"Some openly spoke in the chapel in support of Islamic State [terrorist group]," he said.

Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Song brought a high court claim for judicial review against the secretary of state for justice over the decision to exclude him.

Judge Julian Goose said, however, that his case should be heard at county court where crucial and contested witness evidence can be heard.

Responding to the judgment, Song said he was determined to continue his fight for justice and reveal the truth about Islamic extremism in British prisons.

"I am looking forward to bringing it to the county court where the full extent of Islamic extremism at Brixton prison and the actions of the authorities which led to my removal will be exposed," he said.

"I was deeply shocked and hurt when I received the letter telling me that I would be banned for 10 years from doing what I have been called to do through my Christian faith.

"After 20 years of service supporting vulnerable inmates at HMP Brixton, I have been severely punished for exposing the truth.

"What has happened to me has set a dangerous precedent for anyone else who dares to tell the public about the growing domination of Islamic extremism in our prisons. I am determined to fight for justice."

Originally published at Christian Today
Russia has informed the United Nations that it plans to withdraw 300 military instructors sent to the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) in the run-up to presidential and legislative elections.

Russia told the United Nations about its plans this week in a letter to the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against the C.A.R., news agency reports said on January 15.

"The Russians have informed the UN that they will withdraw the troops and helicopters," a diplomat quoted by AFP said on condition of anonymity.

Russia informed the UN of the withdrawal before attacks that took place on January 13 on the outskirts of the capital, Bangui, raising questions about whether Moscow will confirm the departure in light of those latest events.

The Security Council has scheduled a meeting to discuss the situation on January 21.

Prior to the elections Russia denied the assertion of C.A.R. officials that Russia had sent regular forces. But last month it acknowledged the deployment of at least 300 "military instructors."

Russias Foreign Ministry said the instructors were sent at the request of the C.A.R.s government. The objective was to "help" the C.A.R. "strengthen its defensive capacities" in the run-up to the elections, Russian authorities said at the time.

Violence continues unabated in C.A.R., and in the past few weeks tens of thousands have fled to Cameroon, Congo, and other neighboring countries, the United Nations refugee agency said.

After the announcement on January 4 that President Faustin-Archange Touadera had won reelection, the rebel coalition threatened to take the capital. The rebels had taken towns in other parts of the country before the elections.

In the most recent violence, rebels on February 15 killed a UN peacekeeper and injured two others near the town of Grimari, northeast of Bangui.

Based on reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters
US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens

Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire

ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning

European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

Armenia acting MOD leaves for Moscow

Armenia President, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces discuss current situation on border

Armenia acting PM to residents of borderline village: If we cede our border, Azerbaijanis will get more excited

Armenia MOD not confirming reports about Azerbaijan firing shots at Tavush Province

Ex-President Kocharyan meets with Yerevan residents, "Armenia" bloc members (PHOTOS)

Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

Serj Tankian makes statement on Azerbaijans displayed horrific racism

Man detained in US for intending to commit attempt on Biden

Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD continues disseminating disinformation

Erdogan to visit Baku and Shushi

Two Armenia legislature committees to hold closed joint meeting regarding tense situation on Azerbaijan border

Holy Etchmiadzin on capture of Armenia soldiers: Such behavior of Azerbaijan authorities is strongly condemnable

Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

Armenia opposition MP: Shots are heard Gegharkunik Province

Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan leadership bears responsibility for consequences of actions by its armed forces

Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

140 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

Armenia MOD announces names of 6 Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

Armenia parliament manages to have quorum in 2nd attempt

World oil prices falling

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan popularity rating consistently drops over the past week

Newspaper: Russia peacekeepers commander does not return from Azerbaijan with encouraging news for Armenia

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William Shakespeare, 1st man in world to get approved coronavirus vaccine, dies aged 81

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Armenia acting Deputy PM on creation of third high-voltage electric communication line with Iran

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Armenia's Pashinyan says addressing UN Security Council not ruled out

Armenia acting FM: International pressure on Azerbaijan is growing

Netanyahu tells Blinken that Israel is against reopening US consulate for Palestinians

23 political parties and 4 alliances apply to Armenia Central Electoral Commission ahead of snap parliamentary elections

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Iran FM on solutions to problems in the region, territorial integrity

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Record-setting number of political parties register to run in snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

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POTTSVILLE  Schuylkill County Prison Warden David J. Wapinsky said Wednesday he thinks his facility has turned the corner in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are heading in the right direction, he said during the county prison board meeting, adding that there have been no new cases in the jail in four days.

Wapinsky said the prison would start testing all incoming prisoners on Wednesday. The new tests should simplify the assignment of the new inmates, he said.

If you test positive, you will end up in a cell by yourself for the 14-day quarantine period, Wapinsky said.

It will be easier for the inmates who test negative, he said.

If they test negative, it will almost be like it was before the virus, with only the traditional 72-hour lockdown period before being released into the general population, according to Wapinsky. It will put our staff at ease.

He said the rapid test that will be given to all incoming prisoners is more than 90% accurate.

This one is as accurate as you can get for a rapid test, Wapinsky said.

Wapinsky also said the prison will consider administering a nasal swab test for the virus after three days confinement, a measure suggested by President Judge William E. Baldwin, who also chairs the board.

There are other prisons that are doing it, Wapinsky said.

There are 14 active COVID-19 cases in the prison, but 13 of those inmates will be released from quarantine on Jan. 20, while the 14th will be released from it on Jan. 24, according to Wapinsky.

However, that is not the only adverse effect the virus has had in the prison, he said.

Overcrowding, which had been eased before the pandemic, has become a problem again, he said. As of Wednesday, there were 259 inmates in the prison, 216 men and 43 women, Wapinsky said.

We are actively triple-celling, meaning three inmates are occupying the same cell in a number of cases, Wapinsky said. We have not been able to send state inmates to (State Correctional Institution/Camp Hill), where all such prisoners are sent for evaluation to determine their final commitment location.

Furthermore, according to Wapinsky, 23 inmates still are housed at other county prisons, a practice known as outsourcing. They include 12 at Centre, nine at Northumberland and two at Columbia, he said.

The completion on Dec. 28, 2020, of the renovation of the heating/ventilation/air conditioning system should improve conditions in the prison, according to Wapinsky.
Ive done some silly things with Bentleys over the years, but this tops them all. This is the GT we arranged and helped prepare for The Grand Tour special in Madagascar. Have a look on Prime - the abuse this car soaks up is incredible. It survived, and is now back in Crewe... pic.twitter.com/BeCt1Xp63E  Mike Sayer (@Mike_Sayer) December 19, 2020

Had some requests for a photo of the MFB on display at #Bentley HQ. A pleasure to oblige! pic.twitter.com/0XfVXajj7w  Mike Sayer (@Mike_Sayer) December 21, 2020

On the latest The Grand Tour special, the three hosts, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, travel to Madagascar for a little treasure hunt, with an automotive twist. They start off arriving in Reunion in their own cars, a 2014 Bentley Continental GT for Clarkson, a Ford Focus RS for Hammond, and a Caterham Seven for May.In order to complete the quest, they have these cars customized for off-road , with Clarkson getting the MFB Continental, with the B standing for Beast and MF for... well, you can imagine what that stands for. Following reports that, once production was over, this off-road beast was taken to the scrapyard and very unceremoniously crushed, YouTuber Alex from Grand Tour Nation did some digging to find out the truth. Surprisingly, its been saved.Bentley Motors Head of Product Communications Mike Sayer actually updated fans about the MFB Continental one month ago, but his tweets are just now getting the media attention they deserve. In chats with friends and followers, he confirmed that Bentley was involved in the production, even though producers themselves handled the conversion.Bentley was brought in right at the end, to ensure that everything was running smoothly. It also provided the original car, a 2014 GT that had been previously used as a press car.Once shooting was over, Sayer revealed, Clarkson decided to keep the car because he liked it so much. He had it shipped back to the UK, where it arrived after a long time, but he was in for a major disappointment. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) informed him that, since the car had been developed as a test mule, the law said it had to be destroyed once it was no longer used for the purpose it had been created for.Clarkson kept it for a few more weeks at his farm, but then sent it back to Bentley. And Bentley surprisingly decided to keep it: it is currently in a glass case at the Bentley factory in Crewe, Cheshire, England. Access to it is restricted, but passers-by can see it from outside on Pyms Lane road.
Mumbai:

Controversial preacher Zakir Naiks Islamic International School (IIS) in south Mumbai is operating without authorisation, the Mumbai civic bodys education department has said.



Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations south Mumbai region education inspector B B Chavan, in a letter issued yesterday, stated that no school can run without the NOC (no objection certificate) of the local governing body, as defined under provisions of the Right to Education Act, 2009.



It was also mentioned in the letter that parents should not enrol their children in IIS. However, it was not specified in it if the school has obtained the NOC.



Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi, who recently took over the school, alleged that there was a conspiracy to harass the institutions management.



The school, which has around 135 students and conducts classes from nursery to class X, was taken over by Azmis Niyaz Minority Education and Welfare Trust.



The school is being run on the same lines (as earlier) with only some changes, including in its name and management. I have taken the premises on rent and have done nothing to invite the fury of the education department, said Azmi, who is the legislator from Mumbais Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Assembly constituency.



However, he also said that the school management would get in touch with the education department and find out if any more permissions are required to run it.



I would not want any controversy. Neither me nor the education department would want to jeopardise the future of the students. Therefore, I have asked our team to get in touch with the education officers and obtain all the required permissions, Azmi said.Notably, the Maharashtra government had in December last year informed the parents of the students of IIS that it would either be shut or brought under a new management.

ALSO READ | Controversial Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik gets citizenship of Saudi Arabia: Reports

Azmi had last year requested the Maharashtra government not to close down the IRF-run school saying doing so will jeopardise the future of students enrolled there. He had made the request to state Education Minister Vinod Tawde.



In November last year, the Union Home Ministry had banned the IRF for five years under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for its alleged involvement in terror acts.

ALSO READ | NIA court issues non-bailable warrant against Zakir Naik for alleged role in terror case



Besides the IRF, Naik is also the founding trustee of the IRF Educational Trust and the Islamic Dimensions Trust.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.

The violent attack on the US Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump has led to a surge of interest from wealthy Americans wanting to purchase property and move to the safety of Australia.

Christies International Real Estate agent Ken Jacobs said he received more than eight inquiries in the immediate aftermath of the riots that killed at least five people.

The Americans cited not only concerns about the riot, but also the direction of the US government, the high numbers of disenfranchised Americans and the prevalence of guns.

The violent attack on the US Capitol building has led to a surge of interest in Americans buying property in Sydney. Credit:AP

Normally we get inquiries from all around the world on specific properties, this time there have been inquiries of people actually saying [they're] considering a move to Australia, Jacobs says.
Axios

While Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) was out of state at a conference, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R) issued an executive order Thursday banning mask mandates in school and public buildings, AP reports.Why it matters: Little never issued a statewide mask mandate, but there have been some in counties, cities and schools. McGeachin announced last week she was running for governor, challenging Little who has only served one term, and her order could appeal to far-right voters in the state.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Little's office told AP that McGeachin did not tell the governor about the order in advance. Throughout the pandemic, Gov. Little has been committed to protecting the health and safety of the people of Idaho and has emphasized the importance of Idahoans choosing to protect our neighbors and loved ones and keeping our economy and schools open, Little spokesperson Marissa Morrison saidBackground: In March, McGeachin participated in an anti-mask protest, the Washington Post reported, and she suggested last year that the pandemic may or may not be occurring."According to AP, Idaho has recorded more than 190,000 cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic and roughly 2,000 deaths.What she's saying: Ive been listening to people all across the state with the concern about, especially, why are little kids being forced to wear masks in school, McGeachin told AP.My oath to the Constitution is to protect those rights and freedoms of the individual, and Ive never supported any type of a mandate on the individual, especially when it comes to health care choices.McGeachin said she had contracted the virus in 2019 and now has a "natural immunity," per AP.Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order banning mask mandates, not face masks. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free


U.S. says they could reopen prosecution against Cienfuegos if Mexico fails to do so

Mexico City, Mexico  On Friday, the United States said they could reopen its prosecution of Mexicos former defense minister after Mexico said they found no cause for charges.

In a Friday statement, the Department of Justice spokeswoman, Nicole Navas Oxman said the United States reserves the right to recommence its prosecution of Cienfuegos if the Government of Mexico fails to do so.

The statement from the U.S. was made one day after Mexico announced it had found no cause to charge General Salvador Cienfuegos for any drug or money laundering crimes. Crimes that the United States had arrested Cienfuegos for at a Los Angeles airport in October of 2020.

The 72-year-old military man, who returned to Mexico in mid-November after being accused by the United States of ties to the Beltran Leyva Cartel, was not found to have any ties to the cartel.

In a statement, the the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic of Mexico said based on the reasoning and evidence in the corresponding folder, the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, through the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime Investigation, has determined the non-exercise of criminal action in favor of General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda.

During his Friday morning press conference, Mexicos president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that the file that the United States gave them on the Cienfuegos case will be released.
Dublin Fire Brigade has warned of the dangers of house fires after two people were hospitalised following a blaze which left a house badly damaged.

While urging people to stay at home over the weekend, the brigade has also warned of an increased risk of fire.

They posted a picture on Twitter this afternoon of the aftermath of a house fire in north Dublin.

They added: "This morning, firefighters extinguished a house fire in Finglas.

Staying at home slightly increases the risk of fire, but nothing that isnat easily avoidable.



Take particular care around:



aiElectrics, especially chargers



Cooking



Candles



Remember to test your smoke alarms regularly. pic.twitter.com/hwQyBYzDUj  Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) January 16, 2021

Read More

"Breathing apparatus teams using high-pressure hose reels fought the fire which started under the stairs and spread upstairs.

"The occupants had self-evacuated before our arrival. Two to hospital for observation."

In an earlier tweet the brigade said that, "Staying at home slightly increases the risk of fire, but nothing that isnt easily avoidable.

"Take particular care around: electrics, especially chargers, cooking, candles. The advice adds: Remember to test your smoke alarms regularly.

"Staying at home this weekend is the best thing you can do to keep you, your loved ones and everyone else safe", another tweet adds.

In an earlier tweet the fire brigade also pointed out that house fires can happen during the day as well as night time.

Alongside a picture of a house in daylight with smoke pouring from an open window, a spokesperson added: "Never delay calling 999/112 if you see smoke or suspect a fire. Your call might be the first one. "Get out, stay out, get the fire brigade out."
The Yendi Municipal Divisional Crime Officer, DSP Mr Joseph Guaino, has urged the public to endeavour to provide information on activities of suspicious persons in their respective communities to help in investigations.



He said the police were always prepared to ensure the security and safety of the public against activities of criminals who visited terror on businesses, including mobile money vendors and other financial institutions.



Mr Guaino warned that criminals would be made to face the full rigours of the law when apprehended and gave the assurance that the identity of informants would be protected.



He was speaking at a stakeholders meeting of financial institutions in the Yendi Municipality in the Northern Region.



It was organised by TA-HA Entreprise, a financial institution operating in the region.



Advice



The Chief Executive Officer of TA-HA Entreprise, Mr Ziblim Iddrisu Baba, advised the people to patronise electronic banking instead of keeping physical cash in the market or home.



He said apart from guarding them against robberies, electronic banking also protected their money from the rising incidents of fire outbreaks.



The CEO added that with the prevailing cases of highway robberies it was not also safe for travellers to carry money on them.



He said his company began operations in 2015 after he the CEO witnessed an incident in a public transport where another passenger was travelling a distance of over 83km from Karaga to Tamale to withdraw money.



We decided to establish the company in order to be closer to the people to prevent them from travelling such long distances to save or cash money. It will also protect them against activities of criminals and accidents, Mr Baba explained.



At the moment, the company has eight branches in Tamale, Yendi, Gushegu, Karaga and Saboba all in the Northern Region.



He said the branches rendered services such as Momo,E-Zwich and other electronic transactions to clients.



Appeal



Chief Gumpal Lana Sumani Shei Sadik, in Yendi, appealed to the police to step-up their operations, especially within the Eastern corridor where he said there was increase in the activities of criminals who were attacking passengers and mobile money vendors.



He, however, advised the money vendors to be closing their services to the public by 5p.m. since most of the robbery incidents occurred at night.



For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Ampa Farms in Yendi, Mr Mohammed Kpermsin, who chaired the event, expressed appreciation to TA-HA entreprise for organising the meeting.



He cautioned customers of financial institutions to be careful of how they divulged information about their transactions to friends and relatives.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
India is all set to begin its mass inoculation drive against coronavirus on January 16. With just two days left for Phase 1 to begin, health authorities across the country have already practised dry runs and set up vaccination centres. Amidst all this, netizens have come up with their unique suggestions to vaccine the maximum number of people in the shortest possible time.

While the government aims to safeguard at least 30 crore residents against coronavirus with injection shots, netizens have now devised a way to inoculate cities at once. The whole Twitter conversation started after a user touted that put the vaccine in a staple food item and everyone would get it super fast. Soon #PutTheVaccineIn started trending prompting netizens to dish out hilarious suggestions.

One user wrote that put the vaccine in Rajma Chawal and whole north India would be vaccinated, highlighting the regions love for one of the most popular the dishes. Meanwhile, another joked, Put the vaccine in Paan and whole Kanpur would be vaccinated and streets would be disinfected too". Yet another took a jibe and wrote put the vaccine on relatives and everybody would get the vaccine.

Read: 49 Top Doctors Issue Statement Slamming COVID 'vaccine Politics' Ahead Of Nationwide Drive

Read: Congress UP Chief Ajay Kumar Lallu Wants CM Yogi To Take First Shot Of COVID Vaccine

Vaccine Pav

Put the vaccine in undhiyu and chikki and the entire Gujarat will get vaccinated before 16th Jan   Khushi  (@Bhaadmejaiye) January 14, 2021

Put the #vaccine in Litti Chokha ( ) and the whole #Bihar will get vaccinated overnight.......



  AB (@abtweet19) January 13, 2021

Put the vaccine in a pav and the whole of Mumbai will get vaccinated before noon  N (@n_i_g_a_m) January 12, 2021

Put vaccine in "Rajma - Chawal" and the whole North India get vaccinated within a week.      (@oggyyyy_17) January 13, 2021

Put the vaccine in Momos and see entire Delhi vaccinated.  Dwight Snoot (@Nitish_P_) January 13, 2021

put the vaccine in tarri poha and all of nagpur will get vaccinated in a day  big PP (@uwuxeshaan) January 14, 2021

Put the vaccine in girl's dm, more than 90% of boys will be vaccinated till night   Araaa (@_dopemahila) January 14, 2021

Put the vaccine in Chennapoda and whole Odisha will get vaccinated overnight. pic.twitter.com/I7yZsopFnx  Samar of 69 (@samar_of_69) January 13, 2021

Put the vaccine in chai and BOOM, whole India is now vaccinated https://t.co/0FkSo2y7cl  D E V A N S H (@KoiLoadNi) January 13, 2021

Put the vaccine in acting and starkids won't be vaccinated.  gulabjamun (@why_so_logical) January 13, 2021

Read: Covid Vaccine Reaches All 24 Districts Of Jharkhand

Doctors, Paramilitary prioritised

According to various paramilitary top officials, paramedic staff and doctors will be vaccinated in the first phase followed by all paramilitary staff, which is close to about 10 lakh people. Around 25,000 total of all paramilitary paramedics and doctors will be vaccinated in the first phase. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) sources claimed that 3,300 para-medics and doctors will get vaccinated in the first phase, while registration is currently on for the next phase. So far, a total of 1,92,000 CRPF jawans have been registered. CPRF is in the process of getting 1,55,000 more jawans registered for the second phase.

Read: Defence And Paramilitary Forces All Set For COVID-19 Vaccination Drive

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.
Ellen Haygood Phillips, 73, born Greenville, AL, went home to be with her Lord and Savior on January 15, 2021, due to COVID-19.

She received a BS degree from Troy (AL) University, a Masters degree from Auburn University, and a Post-Masters degree from the University of Virginia. After teaching a decade in AL, Ellen then taught English, speech and theatre arts and, subsequently, retired from Fairfax County, VA. Ellen was honored with a number of awards, including Fairfax County Outstanding Educator; finalist, VA Speech Teacher of the Year, Who's Who in American Education, Who's Who of America, and the esteemed Marquis Who's Who Publications Board's Commendation.

A consumer advocate/expert who advised individuals, organizations, and businesses across the country, Phillips authored two consumer books and was featured on national television, radio, and in national newspapers and magazines.



Following retirement, Phillips and husband Bruce moved to Ooltewah, TN where she also by-lined the "Consumer Watch," column that originated with the Chattanooga Times Free Press. She was active in the Ringgold United Methodist Church, several bridge groups, the Scenic City Chorale, and held various offices within the Chattanooga Newcomers Club. Phillips' activities and hobbies included bridge, writing, reading, and making happy memories with family and friends.



Ellen's contagious sense of humor, joy in living, and love of family and friends will long remain in everyone's memory.



Ellen was predeceased by parents, Lucy and Eddie Haygood; brother, Joe Haygood; and beloved grandson, Tyler Jeffries.



She is survived by her best friend and beloved husband of 39 years, Bruce Harrison Phillips; daughter, Katherine Elizabeth (Stewart) Cook; grandchildren, Ellen Elizabeth (Ellie) Jeffries, Cody and Tallon Runkles, twins Kai and Jaydon Cook; Sister and second "bestie", Nan Haygood; and sister-in-law, Jean Haygood.



In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be offered to The Autism Society, or to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.



Memorial services will be held at the Ringgold (GA) United Methodist Church at a date to be announced, with the Rev. Chris Bryant and Gary Knowles officiating.



Please visit www.heritagechattanooga.com to share words of comfort to the family.



Arrangements are by Heritage Funeral Home, 7454 E. Brainerd Road.


Regarded as perhaps one of the most formative and vital periods in Irish History, we are currently in the midst of marking the centenary of the events of the War of Independence (1919 - 1921).

Local archaeologist Barry Lacey from Ferns has been looking at some of the key events in Co Wexford, looking at ambushes, raids, the burning of police barracks and other activities.

On this occasion, he looks at the shooting of RIC constable William Jones in Bunclody, then known as Newtownbarry, on June 22, 1920.

Background

Shortly before 8p.m. Constable Jones made his way towards the RIC barracks in Bunclody from the 'Laundry House', where his wife and child lived. The latter was located a short distance from the barracks on the opposite side of the river Slaney. Bunclody RIC barracks, where Jones was stationed, was a two storey building located on the eastern side of the market square and the last building passed before crossing the bridge over the Slaney.

Shortly after 8p.m. Constable Jones and another officer left the barracks and made their way to the licensed premises of Maurice Kelly's, located a short distance away on the street corner. A third officer, whom remained in the barracks, was feeling unwell and the others had gone to get their sick comrade a 'stimulant'. Unusually, considering the times, Jones and the other officer both left the barracks unarmed, perhaps because they felt safe in the town of Bunclody.

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While walking between the barracks and Kelly's pub the officers spotted three men passing O'Neill's corner, on the opposite end of the street from Kelly's, heading in the direction of Enniscorthy. Being somewhat suspicious of the men Jones made a remark to the other officer, but they both continued unfazed towards Kelly's. When they got inside they ordered a whiskey, to take home to their sick friend back at the barracks, and two drinks for themselves. The two officers and a barmaid were the only people in the pub at the time. They made their way to an inner room with a fire for comfort.

While they were sitting comfortably at the fire, the three men the officers had spotted earlier entered the pub. Being unfamiliar and suspicious of the three, Jones decided to enquire as to who they were. He approached the men and spoke to them, when suddenly one raised his arm and fired a shot at his chest. The three men then quickly fled the pub. A Sergeant Torsney, upon hearing the shots from the barracks, arrived hastily on the scene, armed. But it was too late, as the strangers had made their escape. He found Jones lying in a pool of his own blood and the parish priest, Rev. A, Forrestal, was called and administered the last rites.

A doctor arrived 15 minutes later, but by this time it was too late. The medical evidence showed Jones had been shot near the heart, rupturing a large blood vessel and would have died 60 seconds after being shot, which occurred at about 8:20p.m.

Constable Jones

William Jones was a native of Castleconnell county Limerick and 35 years of age. He left behind a wife and three children, the youngest of which was 10 months. Newspaper reports refer to how he was known and got on well with the local community. He joined the RIC on May 1 1907 and had been stationed in Enniscorthy before being transferred to Bunclody in 1918. Following the funeral he was interred in his native Castleconnell.

Circumstances surrounding the shooting

Thomas Dwyer, in his witness statement to the bureau of military history, recalls how on the night of the incident the north Wexford brigade flying column was in Bunclody. They had no definitive plans, but were looking for a patrol of RIC within the town. After finding none they heard that Jones was drinking in Kelly's pub. Two IRA men, Ned Murphy and Maurice Spillane, both armed, then went inside the premises. Jones, upon seeing the men enter the building, approached them when they opened fire and shot him dead.

This suggests the shooting was somewhat opportunistic in nature. They were looking for potential targets and Jones was in the wrong place at the wrong time. James O'Toole in his witness statement states that the IRA had information that Jones had been providing intelligence to the RIC in Ballindaggin. This shows he was known to the IRA , and provides a possible motive for the killing.

The witness statement of Thomas Francis Meagher conflicts with that of Dwyer's. He recalls how in preparation for an attack on Bunclody RIC barracks a party of men (including himself, Phil Lennon, Ned Murphy, Paddy Dwyer and Maurice Spillane) scouted the area, after which:

'Having completed our reconnaissance, Ned Murphy went to Kelly's public house, to see the local Intelligence Officer, who worked there, and to get information regarding the strength of the garrison, or any other information which might be of use to us. Constable Jones, R.I.C., was on the premises when Murphy entered. Jones approached Murphy, saying, "We are looking for you this long time". Murphy fired at him and shot him dead. Phil and I heard the shooting and we ran towards the pub to see what was wrong. We met Ned coming out of the pub. He told us briefly what had happened. We made our way back to Cromogue and, with the rest of the Column, went to Tom Coady's, Carrigeen.'

The question posed from this discussion is whether the nature of Jones' murder was opportunistic or instead spontaneous? The Enniscorthy Guardian in the opening few lines on the incident stated 'The circumstances surrounding it are few and meagre. Judging by them the attack on the policeman's life was not planned, but the act of a moments consideration.'

Conflicting accounts exist surrounding the exact details of that night and there is insufficient reliable evidence to ascertain the true nature of the incident. Some elements though hint that the shooting was spontaneous; the fact the shooter (or shooters) did not wear masks; that Jones was not shot until he approached them (or him); If they intended to kill Jones why not do so as he exited or approached the premises? The exact nature of the shooting of constable Jones in Bunclody 1920 may still remain unknown 100 years on from the event.

The site today

The RIC barracks in Bunclody is today a private residence but remains much the same as it did before. Maurice Kelly's former premises is now a clothes shop and the building retains much of its original exterior appearance. No marker or memorial exists to commemorate the event.
Since the invention of television streaming, the word Netflix has become synonymous with high-end, blue-chip content thanks to medium and genre re-defining shows such as House of Cards, The Crown and Making a Murderer.

But the view from the armchair has slowly, and sometimes not-so-subtly been changing. For every series like Sex Education and Unbelievable that has been rolled out, has come a Fuller House, The Ranch, Emily in Paris and the circus-within-a-circus Tiger King.

Art or commerce? Netflix's Emily in Paris. Credit:Neflix

At first blush they have been interpreted as signs that the wheels are falling off the quality TV monster that Netflix has long cast itself as. After all, how could the platform that gave you House of Cards also serve up Emily in Paris and keep a straight face?

In truth, however, something very different is happening. And far from being a sign of decline, the boom in trashy, shallow streaming TV is a measure of even greater ambition.
Council harbourmasters are teaming up with Maritime New Zealand to promote water safety as part of the No Excuses campaign.

On Thursday crews were checking boaties compliance with the boating safety code and local bylaws including wearing lifejackets and safe speed.

They were giving jellybeans to those who were following the rules and breach notices to those who werent.

Maritime Officer Nicole says ultimately promoting boating safety saves lives.

The more people we can educate the more lives we can ultimately save.

The No Excuses compliance campaign happens on five random days in each region from 10th of October 2020 until March 31.

Last year, the campaign interacted with more than 4000 boaties, with 338 vessels in the Bay of Plenty.

Maritime Officer Greg Baillie says one of the keys to staying safe on the water is letting people know where you are going, and making sure you have at least two forms of communication.

He says preparation is key.

Those who were breaching bylaws were given breach notices.

Make sure youve prepared your boat, youve got all your gear, and then you must know what the rules and your responsibilities are. And if something goes wrong know what to do. Prep, check and know.

According to Maritime New Zealand, in 59 per cent of fatal incidents, inadequate communication was a contributing factor.

Recreational boating fatalities average about 20 each year, with 15 fatalities in 2020 (provisional figure as of December last year).

On the morning SunLive attended the campaign, a boat had capsized just offshore from Pilot Bay - demonstrating just how quickly things can go wrong.

The change of tide bottlenecks through, thats why you get all the turbulence. Its amazing how calm the water is but you go into the channel and its bottlenecking through, says Greg.

The team were also checking to see that people were wearing lifejackets.

Estimates from Maritime NZ are that about two thirds of boating deaths could have been prevented if people were wearing lifejackets.

In the Bay of Plenty, only 77 per cent of boaties surveyed say they wear lifejackets the entire time, while only 67 per cent of people ensured they had at least two ways to call for help.

However, this is still better than the national average of just 58 per cent of boaties carrying two ways to call for help.

Greg says the aim of the campaign was to encourage voluntary compliance.

Another big thing the team were looking for were to make sure boats were named and jet skis were registered.

If we see a jet ski and it has no registration number then we will breach them, and if we see a boat thats not named we will breach them as well.

However, if owners remedied in 14 days they wouldnt receive an infringement.

Maritime NZ Deputy Director and Chair of the Safer Boating Forum says there is no excuse for not doing what is right to keep everyone safe on the water.

While we applaud the high numbers of people who follow safe boating behaviours there is no room for complacency.

We are continually looking at what we can do to improve safe behaviour through awareness and education, to avoid the need for infringements.

However, there will be consequences for people breaching maritime rules and local bylaws.
US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens

Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire

ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning

European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

Armenia acting MOD leaves for Moscow

Armenia President, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces discuss current situation on border

Armenia acting PM to residents of borderline village: If we cede our border, Azerbaijanis will get more excited

Armenia MOD not confirming reports about Azerbaijan firing shots at Tavush Province

Ex-President Kocharyan meets with Yerevan residents, "Armenia" bloc members (PHOTOS)

Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

Serj Tankian makes statement on Azerbaijans displayed horrific racism

Man detained in US for intending to commit attempt on Biden

Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD continues disseminating disinformation

Erdogan to visit Baku and Shushi

Two Armenia legislature committees to hold closed joint meeting regarding tense situation on Azerbaijan border

Holy Etchmiadzin on capture of Armenia soldiers: Such behavior of Azerbaijan authorities is strongly condemnable

Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

Armenia opposition MP: Shots are heard Gegharkunik Province

Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan leadership bears responsibility for consequences of actions by its armed forces

Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

140 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

Armenia MOD announces names of 6 Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

Armenia parliament manages to have quorum in 2nd attempt

World oil prices falling

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan popularity rating consistently drops over the past week

Newspaper: Russia peacekeepers commander does not return from Azerbaijan with encouraging news for Armenia

MOD: 6 Armenia soldiers are surrounded, captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

William Shakespeare, 1st man in world to get approved coronavirus vaccine, dies aged 81

Spain Congress of Deputies committee accepts pro-Armenian motion

Ex-PM comments on double-digit growth in Armenia economy

Facebook calls Russia, Iran leading purveyors of disinformation

Erdogan says meeting with Biden will mark 'start of new era' in relations with Washington

Armenia acting Deputy PM on creation of third high-voltage electric communication line with Iran

Vladimir Zaynetdinov: CSTO has taken note of application submitted by Armenia acting PM

Armenia's Pashinyan says addressing UN Security Council not ruled out

Armenia acting FM: International pressure on Azerbaijan is growing

Netanyahu tells Blinken that Israel is against reopening US consulate for Palestinians

23 political parties and 4 alliances apply to Armenia Central Electoral Commission ahead of snap parliamentary elections

Instagram launches ability to hide likes

Iran FM on solutions to problems in the region, territorial integrity

Bloomberg: Support for Erdogan's ruling party hits record low

Inter-agency commission sums up reports on implementation of roadmap for EU-Armenia CEPA

Armenian acting PM on CSTO and Russia and their duties as Armenia's allies

Slovakia allows use of Russian vaccine Sputnik V

Armenia acting PM on situation in Syunik Province: CSTO still hasn't clearly expressed its position

Armenia's Pashinyan: It's very rarely that Baku made provocations in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces on its own

Armenia acting PM: There will be no demarcation of borders until Azerbaijani troops are pulled out of territory

Record-setting number of political parties register to run in snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Blinken describes Egypt as a "real and effective partner"

Armenia's Pashinyan slams opposition again

Yerevan court ends trial over Armenia 3rd President's nephew Hayk Sargsyan

Armenia President expresses condolences on passing away of Catholicos-Patriarch Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 16th Jan, 2021) His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and King Abdullah II of Jordan, have reviewed several regional and international developments and prospects of further consolidating the fraternal relations between the two nations.

During the meeting held today at Al Shati Palace, Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and the Jordanian monarch discussed bilateral relations and ways to enhance them in the best interest of the two peoples.

They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of concern.

At the onset, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed conveyed the greetings of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to King Abdullah II and the emphasised the longstanding and historic relations between the UAE and Jordan.

He also expressed the UAE's keenness on boosting ties and opening up new horizons in various fields to support the joint aspirations of development, progress and prosperity.

They also tackled the latest developments in the region and the results of the Gulf Cooperation Summit held recently in the city of Al-Ula in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

The two sides stressed the importance of continuous cooperation and consultation on these developments, and support for efforts and initiatives aimed at achieving stability and peace in the middle East region and settling conflicts and crises in it through dialogue and political ways, for the benefit and development of their peoples.

They also discussed ways to enhance security and stability in the region, work for peace and finding a just settlement for the Palestinian issue to achieve the common interest of the countries of the region and the development of their peoples.

The King of Jordan welcomed the outcomes of the 41st GCC Summit which contributed to strengthening solidarity and stability in the Arab Gulf region.

During the meeting, they reviewed the latest COVID-19 developments worldwide and in the two countries as well as the existing cooperation to limit its impact.

Earlier, H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed received King Abdullah II at Al Bateen Executive Airport.
The United States designated three Iranian entities over conventional arms proliferation, doubling down its maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a statement on Friday announced sanctions against Iran's Marine Industries Organization (MIO), Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO), and the Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO), Xinhua news agency reported.

The statement alleged these entities manufactured military equipment for Iran's military "to perpetrate its global terror campaign".

The outgoing Trump administration stepped up its pressure against Iran over the past week. It announced plans to designate Yemen's Houthi group as "Foreign Terrorist Organization," accused Iran of ties to terrorist group al-Qaeda, and blacklisted multiple Iranian entities and individuals.

"The damage Trump regime has done to humankind is not enough for its extremists. In its last disgraceful days, designating Houthis to worsen humanitarian nightmare & warmongering lies against Iran by Pompeo show utter contempt for peace," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted in the same day.

Analysts believed that the Trump administration in its waning days sought to complicate President-elect Joe Biden's diplomatic effort with Tehran. Biden and his foreign policy team had said that they would rejoin the nuclear deal with Iran if Tehran returns to strict compliance.

The relations between Washington and Tehran have deteriorated since May 2018 when President pulled his country out of the Iranian nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and reimposed harsh sanctions against Iran. In response, Tehran has gradually dropped some of its JCPOA commitments since May 2019.

--IANS

int/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Barn destroyed by Wednesday morning fire

Fire destroyed a barn about five miles southeast of Watertown Wednesday, according to a report from Watertown Fire Rescue.
On January 16, 2021, the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov held an Informational briefing in Ashgabat

Ashgabat (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Jan, 2020) On January 16, 2021, the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov held an Informational briefing in Ashgabat, dedicated to the commissioning of three infrastructure facilities - a power line in the direction of Kerki (Turkmenistan) - Sheberghan (Afghanistan), a 30-kilometer railway section between stations "Aqina-Andkhoy" and the International fiber-optic communication system and transit flows along the route Ymamnazar (Turkmenistan) - Aqina (Afghanistan) and Serhetabat (Turkmenistan) - Torghundi (Afghanistan).

The event was attended by the ministers, heads and representatives of diplomatic missions and representative offices of international organizations working in Turkmenistan, rectors of the country's universities, chief editors of print media, representatives of national media and journalists of foreign mass media accredited in Turkmenistan. The Ambassadors of Turkmenistan in foreign countries, as well as more than 30 representatives of foreign mass media from 15 countries of the world took part in the event through videoconferencing.

The head of the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan described these projects as real steps aimed at the consistent involvement of Afghanistan to regional and international economic processes, the integration of this country into the system of continental transport and logistics ties. The importance of their successful implementation was noted in the context of present and prospective bilateral, regional and international cooperation, including the positive impact on the general geo-economic and political situation in the region.

During his speech, R.Meredov emphasized that the construction of infrastructure facilities in Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, in terms of its geo-economic and geopolitical significance, transcend its regional boundaries, and in fact means the formation of a new belt of transport and communications and the energy supplies of the continental level on the Turkmen and Afghan territories, connecting the Central Asia and South Asia with Europe and the Middle East. This, in turn, is the practical embodiment of Turkmenistans international initiatives in the field of sustainable development in transport and energy sector, which the country proposes within UN. As examples, the construction of the TAPI gas pipeline, the construction of cross-border railways, bridges, power lines and fiber-optic communications with the participation of neighboring countries and other countries, work on the launching of the Lapis-Lazuli transport corridor along the Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey route were presented.

In this context, during the briefing, the importance of cooperation with international organizations, including the United Nations, its specialized agencies, and the European Union, was noted. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan announced the conjugation of multilateral interests, the strive of partners to diversify transport and energy flows, which creates preconditions for joining the mentioned projects of a number of integration associations, such as the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In this regard, R.Meredov stressed that the bilateral Turkmen-Afghan infrastructure projects should be considered as part of more comprehensive plans on the establishment of geo-economic space uniting the states of the region, neighboring countries, other states, and aimed at forming an integrated system of continental cooperation in Eurasia.

The head of the Foreign Ministry confirmed the firm adherence of Turkmenistan to providing comprehensive political, diplomatic and economic support to Afghanistan, which constitutes a single long-term state strategy for Turkmenistan's cooperation with this country. R.Meredov stressed that the basis of such cooperation is the reliance on the historical traditions of friendship and good-neighborliness of the two fraternal peoples, the awareness of the fact that Afghanistan is the most important and integral link of regional and continental stability and security, and the assuredness in the ability of the Afghan people and their leadership to overcome the existing difficulties and achieve peace and harmony in the country, attain its economic prosperity.

The Minister of Energy of Turkmenistan Charymyrat Purchekov, the Counselor of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Turkmenistan Ahmad Tariq Noorzadeh, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Central Asia, Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Natalya Gherman, Head of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat Natalya Drozd, Director of the Resident Office of the Asian Development Bank in Turkmenistan Chang Ching Yu also gave speeches at the briefing.

Speakers noted that these initiatives of President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, which were implemented, contribute to an increase in the volume and expansion of the geography of electricity exports, and an increase in the transport and transit potential of the entire region. It was also noted that the commissioning of these projects contributes to the implementation of the transit and transport potential of the two states, their interaction in the energy and communication sectors, integration into the system of modern international economic relations.

At the end of the briefing, Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan answered the questions of the representatives of the news agencies, in particular the News Central Asia (Pakistan), TRT (Turkey)  Agence France Press (France), the faculty members of the Institute of International Relations of the MFA of Turkmenistan, the International University for the Humanities and Development and local press.
Mattu Pongal The milk of the cows kindness View(s):

All over the world, Tamil Hindus celebrated Thai Pongal or the harvest festival. The next day, they celebrate what is known as Mattu Pongal to honour the cattle for their service to farmers and humanity. At the Sivan Temple in Kochchikade on Friday, Hindus are seen feeding and patting a cow. Pic by M.A. Pushpakumara
Students in the Holyland area of south Belfast on St Patricks Day

There can be few corners of the globe where a glass isn't raised in honour of St Patrick on March 17. The official parades in New York, Dublin and Belfast are legendary; more Mardi Gras than feast day.

This year, coronavirus has forced the cancellation of the Belfast event in line with the Executive's advice on large gatherings.

The loyal orders sensibly called off their demonstrations last summer for the same reasons.

Which makes it all the more shocking, as we report today, that illicit St Patrick's Day parties are being organised in Belfast two months ahead of the date.

One, entitled 'St Patrick's Party Nite', is being held in a well-known pub in the city centre and has attracted interest from numerous would-be revellers online.

Dr Alan Stout, Northern Ireland chair of the British Medical Association's GP committee, has condemned the planned gatherings as highly dangerous.

You do have to ask yourself where the organisers of these events have been for the past year.

Even small gatherings in private homes are restricted as a key plank in the Executive's Covid-19 strategy - never mind the tanked-up free-for-alls being touted on social media.

The fact is, there is a direct line linking illegal parties with hospital intensive care units where Covid sufferers fight for every breath.

Yes, the all-important 'R' rate has been brought under control and now sits at between 0.7 and 0.9.

And yes, in 97% of care homes, residents have received their first dose of the vaccine, while in 72%, a second dose has been administered.

But police are still issuing almost 300 fixed-penalty notices a week for Covid-19 breaches.

The rise in the number of infections was blamed on the relatively modest relaxation of the regulations over Christmas.

Health Minister Robin Swann admitted in an interview with this newspaper that that was a mistake.

The last thing we need is a surge in cases in early April.

The organisers of these St Patrick's Day parties need to take a long, hard look at themselves.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16)  Most of the contact tracers hired by the government to augment the countrys COVID-19 response in 2020 have to go for now, as only a third of them can be employed this year due to budget limitations.

In a statement on Saturday, the Department of the Interior and Local Government said it will rehire 15,000 of the 50,000 personnel, whose contracts were terminated on Dec. 31. It said this is to sustain contact tracing efforts in the country in light of the entry of the new COVID-19 variant first discovered in the United Kingdom.

The mutated coronavirus, which has been found to be more contagious, was detected in a Quezon City resident who returned from a trip to the United Arab Emirates.

"Much as we would like to continue the services of all the 50,000 CTs hired in 2020, we need to have a more rational number of CTs and work within the available budget allotted to the Department, DILG Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said.

Hence, only 15,000 CTs will be rehired under a six-month contract in the meantime while we wait for the release of additional funds," he added.

The Budget Department approved a 1.9 billion budget for the hiring of contact tracers in 2021, 500 million of which will come from the 2021 national budget while the bulk will be from the unreleased balance under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act. The law, which allots a 165.5 billion budget for pandemic response and recovery, expired last year but another measure extended the availability of funds.

According to DILG guidelines, contact tracers are considered as contractual workers, earning a minimum of 18,784 per month.

The DILG has directed field offices and LGUs to select the contact tracers to be rehired based on performance.

LGUs with the highest active COVID-19 cases will have the most contact tracers. These are from Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and Central Visayas. The rehiring will start as soon as a Special Allotment Release Order or Notice of Cash Allocation is released, the DILG said.

The total number of contact tracers in the country now is unclear, but Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, the contact tracing czar, earlier said having 135,000 is enough to track the people who had interaction with COVID-19 patients.
The Hawk's Well Theatre is delighted to announce the recipients of its' annual Time at the Well residency scheme. Time at the Well is the Sligo theatre's performing artists support scheme. This year's residents are; musician Cathy Jordan, instrumentalist John Carty and actor and playwright Niamh McGrath.

Time at the Well offers a workspace and resources to creative practitioners with a new project that needs floor time for development. Past recipients have included writer Rafeef Ziada, and theatre artist / writer Sorcha Fox.

Cathy Jordan, who should be no stranger to fans of music due to her award-winning work with Dervish, will use her residency to "collect Sligo Songs" with a view to a performance of the finished body of work in the Hawk's Well at some point in the future.

Says Cathy: "I am delighted to receive this short Time At The Well residency at the Hawk's Well Theatre to write a new body of work based on people and places of Sligo. Having spent such an intense and extended length of time in the area due to lockdown, I have been inspired to work on material which will hopefully bring to life through song, some of the breath taking beauty of the area and the characters who dwell, or have dwelled in this amazing gateway county."

Roscommon native John Carty inherited his family's gift for Irish traditional music, and grew up in what he describes as "a golden era for the music" in 1970s London.

Says John; "I am thrilled to have received this residency. I have long had ambitions to explore the combination of the banjo with uilleann pipes, and this will afford me time and space to explore this partnership with accomplished piper, Mike McGoldrick; researching, reflecting and composing. I will give the project the care, time and attention and envisage it will take on a life of its own and present a whole new avenue of performance opportunities and promote traditional music in an innovative way".

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Enniscrone actor Niamh McGrath, meanwhile, has been influenced by what has transpired during the pandemic, and the unique turn of events that affected her "bubble of one".

'Bubble' is a one woman show written and performed by Niamh; an experimental collaboration of multi-media, movement, theatre, and comedy that will leave you wondering who is in charge when the world falls apart. The show is built around a day in the life of a woman adapting to life alone during the covid pandemic.

Summing up the piece, which will doubtless be relatable to so many, Niamh says; "Niamh is in a Covid bubble of one. The house is spotless, she has an unused virtual yoga subscription, and she has alphabetised the spice rack again. But Zoom, sour-dough and 5K strolls take their toll on her isolation brain, and on day thirty-four, while contemplating re-grouting the kitchen tiles, her brain answers back".

It all makes for an exciting, and varied programme from these vibrant artists.

Time at the Well 2021 is proud to support the local arts scene, during what has been a particularly difficult time for the arts sector.
WASHSINGTON - When a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Leslie hoped that this would be her Trump-supporting parents' wake-up call. She hoped they were watching, maybe feeling ashamed.

Then, a friend called. "Do you know already?" the friend said, and Leslie wondered briefly if someone had died.

The politically liberal 35-year-old cried about the screenshots from her mother's Facebook page, posts defending the pro-Trump crowds and suggesting that Leslie's mom made it at least to the Capitol's steps. Then she reported her mom to the FBI - because "actions," she said, "should have consequences."

"I think before I realized she was this far gone . . . there was a sense that perhaps there was some way to reconcile," said Leslie. "It felt like a death, honestly."

Leslie shared screenshots of text messages in which she shared her FBI tip "submission complete" page, and another friend recounted hearing that Leslie had reported her mother.

Leslie and many others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition that their full name not be revealed, citing concerns about retaliation or further heightening tensions in their families.

In relationships already strained or severed, last week's violent spectacle of democracy under siege has pushed some people to take a drastic new step: warning law enforcement. Anguished Americans are turning in friends and family for their alleged involvement in the Capitol riots, contributing to more than 100,000 tips submitted to the FBI and playing a role in at least one high-profile arrest.

For months - sometimes years - the informants say they have watched helplessly as loved ones embraced far-right ideology and latched onto conspiracy theories, from QAnon to viral-video claims of a coronavirus "Plandemic." Extremism has thrived in the Trump era and under pandemic lockdowns, experts say, with more people isolated at home and misinformation rampant online.

"Far-right extremism is not a small-fringe worldview, it's not an insular cult that only reaches a few dozen or a few hundred people - it's a wide-ranging worldview embedded in American society," said Peter Simi, an associate professor of sociology at Chapman University who has studied far-right extremist groups and violence for more than 20 years.

Increasingly estranged friends and relatives told The Washington Post they were driven to law enforcement by their own politics, a sense of moral obligation and a fear of what their loved ones could do next.

"They left me no choice because they are on such a destructive path and I do worry about other people's safety as well as theirs," said a Texas woman who recounted learning through social media that family members were on the Capitol lawn, apparently beyond the barriers that rioters toppled. Her husband said he can corroborate that she informed the FBI.

Authorities say they have just started making arrests in the wake of the four-hour insurrection attempt at the Capitol, which sent lawmakers into hiding, halted certification of the presidential vote and left five people dead, including a police officer. Hundreds could eventually face charges,and people around the country are volunteering information.

Reddit forums and Twitter threads urge users to turn in even those closest to them - and comfort those who say they did. Some of these online spaces have become safe havens where people share their struggles with the radicalization of a loved one.

"Maybe being held accountable will do them some good," one Reddit user writes in a thread about reporting Capitol rioters, making sure to include the FBI's Web form for tips. Elsewhere, someone notes that Ted Kaczynski, the serial terrorist known as the "Unabomber," was turned in by his brother.

The FBI did not respond to questions about the sources of its Capitol riot tips. But one of their agents described a witness in the case of Larry Rendell Brock, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, who called in identifying herself as Brock's ex-wife. According to the FBI, Brock was photographed last week in the well of the Senate chamber with zip-tie handcuffs - and a military patch recognized by the FBI's tipster, who explained that she was married to Brock for 18 years.

The Post was unable to reach Brock, his relatives or his public defender.

Some family members have stuck by those arrested, defending them to the media. And for others, contacting the FBI feels drastic.

Waking up from a nap last Wednesday to see the Capitol breach on TV, Robyn Sweet said, she had a feeling that her father, Douglas Sweet, was there. She knew he went to the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, she said, and she has listened to him spout QAnon conspiracy theories, speaking of child pedophile rings and a chemical compound supposedly extracted from young captives' blood.

By the time family located him, Robyn said, her father was already arrested. She says she would not have contacted law enforcement anyway, since she does not believe her father harmed anyone. But she says she has heard from a large community of people who are also mourning their own relatives' descent into conspiracy - and who say that if they were in her shoes, they would report.

"I have had a lot of people around the world reaching out to me and saying they feel like they've lost their parents to this radical Trumpism," she said. "They feel like they don't have a family anymore."

The Post could not reach her father, and it is not clear if he has a lawyer. Posting on Facebook after his arrest, Douglas Sweet dismissed his unlawful-entry charge as the equivalent of a "ticket."

Simi argued that while right-wing extremism has been building - and ignored - for decades, it has gained greater force during the Trump administration, fomented not only by the president, but other federal officials as well.

This has brought political extremism in America to unprecedented levels, Simi said, adding, "We really are in unchartered territory."

The coronavirus pandemic has proved a "terrible recipe for extremism," Simi said. Then came the Capitol riots: "What we saw on the 6th is the culmination of something that has been burning and building for quite some time, and in that sense what happened was quite predictable," he said.

The Texas woman who says two of her relatives were on the Capitol lawn also described radicalization long in the making.

"They have closed themselves off from the rest of society, everybody else is the enemy," she said of her relatives. One family member has argued for a "white ethnic state" and the separation of races, she said.

"It's almost like a cult," she said. "They all sit around and share conspiracy theories, that the media is lying to them, they don't want to believe any kind of fact outside of their circle."

Stunned after learning they were at the Capitol last week, she slept on the issue and then tried to discuss it with other family members. The woman says they brushed her off, echoing claims of widespread voting fraud.

"They said I was being ridiculous and overreacting," she said. That response helped push her to report to the FBI.

"I felt I had to do something because it seemed like no one else in their immediate circle was going to talk to them," she said.

Another woman said she informed the FBI about a former friend - estranged because of her increasingly radical politics - who appears in video close to the overrun Capitol, shouting toward police: "Traitor! Traitor Traitor!" The ex-friend, a California attorney named Leigh Dundas, also posted video of herself telling a crowd the day before the Capitol chaos that "we would be well within our rights" to take traitorous Americans "out back and shoot 'em or hang 'em."

The woman shared screenshots of a group chat where she said she reported Dundas to the FBI, and her daughter also corroborated that her mother notified law enforcement.

Dundas did not respond Friday to calls and emails. She wrote on Facebook last week that "the police were the aggressors" on Jan. 6 and blamed "antifa thugs" inside the building. The FBI has said it does not believe antifa was responsible for the day's violence.

Dundas's former friend said she initially felt some hesitation about contacting the FBI. But Dundas's words erased "all of the great things we did together and the wonderful things she did for me," she said.

"What she said about killing people . . . she was talking about me."

- - -

The Washington Post's Alice Crites and Jenn Abelson contributed to this report.
Professor Brown led a study for the Australian Institute of Criminology examining almost 240 incidents of filicide involving the deaths of 284 children between 2001 and 2012. Researchers found that filicide was a regular occurrence in Australia, not a rare one, with almost one child a fortnight killed by a parent or step-parent. Theres a sense of taboo around it," she said. "That its too hard and too confronting to deal with." Professor Brown said the difficultly was that very few outreach services were prepared for such patients. Loading

"Most perpetrators are found to have spoken to either health services or to family members or friends beforehand, but people don't really understand what they're saying, because they just don't expect an event like this to happen," she said. "The problem that you've got is that people don't think that this could happen so they don't look below the surface, they retain an optimism that nothing's going to happen. But that's just not well-founded." Professor Brown's research has identified an intersection of four stress factors including parental separation, mental illness, family violence and substance abuse, which heighten the risk of filicide. "It's really the existence of several stresses at once. It's not just one," she said. "We don't know at this point, which of those factors were present in this case, but she was obviously in great distress and despair." There are higher rates of filicide in outer suburban areas, where parents don't have the same outreach support as inner-city areas, and such crimes are often fuelled by social isolation, Professor Brown said.

"The best prevention is access to support services and being able to get to them nearby and secure appointments quickly," she said. "They also need special care and professionals who have expertise and can recognise what is happening and engage with them because sometimes these people are difficult to engage with and there seems to be difficulty over the years for services to really understand what those people are saying to them. They need a service that is willing to carry them and support them for quite a long time." Flowers and cards in front of the Tullamarine house where 42-year-old Katie Perinovic, and her three children - Claire, 7, Anna,5, and Matthew, 3, were found dead. Credit:Luis Ascui Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, who runs The Alfred hospital women's mental health clinic, said the service had been flooded with cases of women seeking support. Anxiety, depression and eating disorders had all soared during the pandemic, she said.

The clinic was also treating a growing number of patients with self-harm injuries and an increasing cohort of women who had not experienced mental health issues before the COVID-19 pandemic. "For this particular case [in Tullamarine] it's important to remember that we don't know what happened yet," she said. "But what we are seeing is that the residual aspect of the pandemic... the residual fear of another isolation or lockdown is really prompting mental health concerns in the community." The psychological consequences of social isolation, the stress of home schooling on top of other duties such as caring for elderly relatives, and the economic stress of the pandemic were all contributing factors, Professor Kulkarni said. The professor of psychiatry at Monash University said it was not uncommon for people to begin displaying symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after a crisis has settled.

Tomislav Perinovic, 48, and his wife Katie, 42. Ms Perinovic and their three children aged 3, 5, and 7 were found dead in their Tullamarine home. Credit:Facebook Father and husband Tomislav Perinovic, who found his children and wife deceased inside the family home, was released without charge on Thursday night. Police stressed there had been no history of family violence reported. "Homicide squad investigators have formed the preliminary view that the 42-year-old woman is responsible for all four deaths and on completion of their investigation, a report will be provided for consideration of the coroner," police said in a statement on Friday. This has been an incredibly heart-wrenching experience for all concerned," Acting Deputy Commissioner Robert Hill said. Professor Kulkarni said whenever there was loss of life, particularly children, "there's a terrible residual emotional response".
Washington: America's powerful gun advocacy group the National Rifle Association on Friday (Saturday AEDT) filed petitions with a US bankruptcy court seeking protection from creditors by restructuring.

The NRA filed the Chapter 11 petitions, which allow a business to stay alive while reorganising, in Bankruptcy Court in Dallas, the association said in a news release.

The NRA said it would restructure as a Texas nonprofit to exit what it said was a "a corrupt political and regulatory environment in New York" state, where it is currently registered.

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre intends to incorporate the organisation to Texas. Credit:AP

The influential group said in a statement there would be no immediate changes to its operations or workforce, and that it "will continue with the forward advancement of the enterprise  confronting anti-Second Amendment activities, promoting firearm safety and training, and advancing public programs across the United States".
Hundreds of motorists flouted the 5k travel restrictions to drive to areas in the Wicklow Uplands over the weekend, in scenes similar to last March before the county went into its first lockdown.

On Saturday and Sunday, Gardai mounted a major checkpoint operation warning about illegally parked vehicles which would have prevented emergency services accessing several areas.

Vehicles had to be told to turn back to their place of origin for breaking travel restrictions, while vehicles parked in an obstructive manner prevented other traffic from passing.

Superintendent Declan McCarthy said: 'The scenes were very bad over the weekend and the behaviour of a lot of people was very poor in relation to the 5k travel restrictions.

'Motorists who had flouted the restrictions were turned back in their hundreds. They were form all over Ireland. We had some Wicklow motorists who had travelled beyond the 5k limit, and there were also a number of Dublin motorists told to turn back.'

Areas like Glendalough, Crone Woods and Luggala were particularly badly impacted.

17 on the spot fines were issued to vehicles parked illegally in an obstructive manner on the Saturday, wile a tow wagon called into action by the Gardai wasn't able to reach areas where the parking was at its worst, because of other badly parked vehicles along the route.

'People just dumped their cars where ever they parked them without any consideration for other road users.

'We called a two provider but they couldn't get to the worst scenes because of other badly and illegally parked vehicles.

'Mountain Rescue were involved in a callout which would normally take them 15 minutes to reach. Instead, it took them over 45 minutes because of all the bad parking.

'The problem didn't just involve bad parking and snow tourists. There were also areas where it would have been impossible to practise social distancing because of the huge numbers of people in those locations,' added Superintendent McCarthy.

On Sunday checkpoints were put in place further away at Annacarter Crossroads and the Rocky Valley in Kilmacanaogue to try and prevent the same large numbers of vehicles making it to the uplands.

While Gardai understand the need for the public to get out and exercise, they warn that people must be mindful of not breaking the 5k travel limit, especially now that Ireland's Covid infection rate is among the worst in the world.

'We are conscious that people have to exercise, from a mental health standpoint as well as for physical well-being, but there are plenty of areas within people's own 5k for them not to have to travel elsewhere.

'The number of Covid cases here are rising dramatically and on Monday lunchtime we were the worst country in the world regarding Covid cases.

'Hospital staff must be under sever pressure. We all have to keep that in mind over the coming weeks and months,' said Superintendent McCarthy.

Gardai have also confirmed that members can now prosecute breaches of travel restrictions under Covid-19 Regulations by means of Fixed Charge Notice.

The regulations state that 'an applicable person shall not leave his or her place of residence without reasonable excuse'. This is a Penal Regulation and is enforceable.

'Anyone found outside their 5k travel limit can and will be given a fixed charge penalty,' confirmed Superintendent McCarthy.
LOS ANGELESAfter the Federal Communications Commission tossed out federal net neutrality rules in June of 2018, California passed its own law to enforce open internet regulations. Less than 24 hours after the bill became law in September of that year, the United States Justice Department slapped California with a federal lawsuit to stop it.

Now, a group of California Democratic lawmakers have called on Merrick Garland  President-elect Joe Bidens nominee to become U.S. Attorney General  to drop the lawsuit immediately after Bidens inauguration on January 20.

Net neutrality rules ensure that all data traffic online is treated equally by internet service providers, no matter what the source of that data happens to be. The rules are especially important for the online adult industry, because adult sites could be subjected to traffic slowdowns or even blocking by ISPs without net neutrality rules in place.

The federal lawsuit remains ongoing  even after a federal appeals court ruled in October of 2019 that states had the right to impose their own net neutrality rules, even if the federal rules were repealed. In September of last year, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a brief in federal court to counter the lawsuit, and allow California to move ahead with its net neutrality regulations.

A group of 13 Democratic members of the states congressional delegation signed a letter to Garland dated January 12. The group was led by 18th District Rep Anna Eshoo, who represents the Silicon Valley cities of Redwood City, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and parts of San Jose.

We urge the new Department of Justice to withdraw from the U.S. federal governments lawsuit against the State of California over its net neutrality law as one of the first actions after inauguration, the letter to Garland reads. A free and open internet is critical for innovation, free expression, and our economy, and net neutrality rules are exceedingly popular.

The letter notes that a hearing on the case is scheduled for January 26 in the Eastern District of California federal court, which, the lawmakers say, is why they are urging Garland to drop the lawsuit as soon after the inauguration as possible.

At that hearing, if it proceeds, the federal government will ask the court to hit California with an injunction against enforcing its net neutrality law.

While it appears unlikely that Garland will have been confirmed by the Senate before January 26, Biden is expected to ask him to step in as acting attorney general prior to the confirmation process.

Photo By The White House / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain
By John Solomon

January 16, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - WASHINGTON, D.C. According to Fox Business News Lou Dobbs who today interviewed John Solomon, who was formerly an executive and editor-in-chief at The Washington Times, the remaining FBI documents on Russian collusion have been declassified and could be released as soon as Monday.

Solomon, an award-winning investigative journalist, said that the entire narrative of Trump Collusion was created and leaked to the news media to neutralize Hillary Clinton's concern that her email scandal had not gone away.

Solomon also said while confirming to Dobbs, that indeed "he can confirm" that the President has delivered, "in a big way" on one of his last remaining promises; to authorize the release of what he said is more than a "foot high stack of documents" - those which are the ones he said the FBI has tried to keep from the public for four years.

Bombshell revelations as Trump declassifies all FBI documents in Russia probe

Delivering in his final days on one of his last unfulfilled promises, President Trump is declassifying a massive trove of FBI documents showing the Russia collusion story was leaked in the final weeks of the 2016 election in an effort to counteract Hillary Clinton's email scandal.

The memos to be released as early as Friday include FBI interviews and human source evaluation reports for two of the main informants in the Russia case, former MI6 agent Christopher Steele and academic Stefan Halper.

The president authorized the release of a foot-high stack of internal FBI and DOJ documents that detail significant flaws in the investigation and provide a detailed timeline of when the FBI first realized the Steele dossier was problematic, multiple government officials told Just the News.

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Among the bombshell revelations is an admission by Steele that he violated his confidential human source agreement with the FBI and leaked information from his dossier to the news media in the final weeks of the election because he wanted to counteract new revelations in the Hillary Clinton email scandal that were hurting her election efforts. The former foreign intelligence officer made the confession in a fall 2017 interview with agents.

Steele, who was hired by Clinton's campaign law firm to compile anti-Trump dossiers attempting to link Trump to Russian influence, told agents he had two clients at the time  Clinton and the FBI  and chose the interests of the Democratic candidate over the bureau in leaking.

Steele told the bureau that then-FBI Director James Comey's decision to reopen the Clinton email probe in fall 2016 triggered him to leak his dossier details in what he described as a taking-the-gloves-off moment.

The FBI interview summary makes clear that Steele, a British citizen, was allegiant to Clinton, did not like Trump and believed a Trump presidency would be negative for his homeland and thus made a decision to meddle in the U.S. election by leaking information to the news media.

The leaks, which led to Steele's termination as an FBI informant, have been known for more than a year, but his motivation for leaking was hidden in the classified documents.

His admission that the Russia collusion narrative, later debunked by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, was injected into the public as a means of counteracting Clinton's email scandal corroborates other information obtained by the CIA.

Late last year, the Trump administration declassified evidence showing the CIA warned President Obama and the FBI that it had intercepted intelligence indicating Hillary Clinton had personally ordered up an operation to "vilify" Trump with a false story of collusion as a means of distracting from the negative publicity of her email scandal.

Multiple investigations have concluded that much of Steele's dossier was debunked or never corroborated by the FBI and likely contained Russian disinformation planted with his sources.

The probes found the FBI wrongly continued to rely on the allegations of Russia collusion to target Trump campaign figures for investigation and failed to disclose major flaws in their investigations to the courts that had authorized surveillance warrants.

The investigation also found that Steele's primary source of Russian intel later disowned or distanced himself from the claims attributed to him in the Steele dossier and that U.S. intelligence had concerns the source was tied to Russian intelligence.

The soon-to-be-released records also expose a tantalizing connection between Steele, his primary source and one of the Democrats' key impeachment witnesses in the Ukraine scandal, former Trump National Security Council Russia expert Fiona Hill.

Steele divulged to the FBI that he was introduced by Hill to his primary sub-source of information for his anti-Trump dossier and that he later told Hill that the source had provided information for his now infamous memos.

The documents also will settle a long-debated question in Washington about whether the FBI's tactics amounted to spying on the Trump campaign.

Tasking instructions the FBI gave to Halper, an academic who long worked as an FBI informant, make clear he was instructed to infiltrate the Trump campaign by posing as someone who wanted to work for the GOP nominee and then targeting campaign advisers to find out what they knew about Trump or his campaign's ties to Russia.

Halper was specifically instructed by the FBI to focus on campaign advisers Sam Clovis, George Papadopoulos and Carter Page, in some cases recording some of their conversations, the records are expected to show.

In her impeachment testimony in 2019, Hill acknowledged she knew Steele since 2006 when he worked for MI6 and she worked for the Bush administration.

She, however, did not make any mention of introducing Steeles primary subsource and in fact expressed her own doubts about the Steele dossier, suggesting it could very well have been Russian disinformation.

She said she held misgivings and concern that he could have been played by the Russians because they would have an ax to grind against him given the job that he had previously.

I dont believe its appropriate for him to have been hired to do this, she testified about Steele. I almost fell over when I discovered that he was doing this report.

- " Source " - - " Source " -

Updated January 16, 2021

Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 16:05:20|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Beijing has required inbound travelers to undergo health monitoring for seven additional days following 21 days of medical observation, authorities said Saturday.

The latest requirement was announced following the meeting of the city's COVID-19 prevention and control leadership group held on Friday.

The anti-epidemic management at the centralized quarantine venues will be further strengthened and nucleic acid tests targeting related personnel and surroundings will be conducted more frequently, according to the meeting.

Recently, there have been cases in Beijing and other cities across the country in which inbound travelers were confirmed as COVID-19 patients after 14 days of isolated observation, which led to a rebound in indigenous cases.

In response to the problem, Beijing earlier this month extended the COVID-19 observation period for inbound travelers to 21 days following sporadic locally transmitted cases. Enditem


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Brittany Ferries has confirmed that a new crossing between France and Ireland will begin two months early due to Brexit.

The sailing connecting Cherbourg and Rosslare will commence Monday 18 January.

Brittany Ferries said that it has moved quickly to support the freight sector and to meet the needs of an industry battling Brexit.

The service will depart from Rosslare on Monday at 8pm before arriving in Cherbourg the following day at 1.30pm.

Irish and French hauliers have traditionally relied on the UK-land bridge when transporting goods to and from mainland Europe, the company said in a statement.

However, since the beginning of the year, more companies have sought an alternative to the additional administration, new formalities, greater costs and potential delays that come from carrying goods through the UK.

Brittany Ferries therefore confirms today that Cap Finistere will cover the twice-weekly sailing connecting Rosslare and Bilbao, taking over from Connemara until 10 February.

"As a consequence of this ships flexibility, Brittany Ferries will also add a weekly rotation connecting Rosslare with Cherbourg to the schedule, opening this Ireland-France route two months earlier than originally planned.

Christophe Mathieu, Brittany Ferries CEO, said: Cap Finistere is our fastest Ro-Ro vessel and she is therefore well suited to opening this new Brexit by-pass, making an additional sailing each week connecting France and Ireland.

Glenn Carr, General Manager, Rosslare Europort added that all at Rosslare Europort welcome Brittany Ferries swift response to the needs of Irish industry in commencing this years Rosslare to Cherbourg services two months earlier than planned.

We have worked closely with Brittany Ferries in ensuring that arrangements for the service were quickly put in place, further cementing Rosslare Euroports position as Irelands Gateway to Europe.




CLEVELAND, Ohio  Former Cleveland City Council President Martin Sweeney has won the County Council District 3 seat vacated by Dan Brady, who retired at the end of 2020.

Sweeney won by a vote of 35. He needed 33 to win the majority vote. Sixty-five votes were cast with one abstained.

Because Brady is a Democrat, the Cuyahoga County Democratic Partys central committee members got together virtually to vote Saturday morning to determine who would replace Brady in Council District 3.

After the first round of voting didnt bring anyone to a majority vote, a second vote was called and Sweeney was deemed the winner.

Young Democrats President Brendan Heil received 27 votes during the second round of voting while lifelong Cleveland resident Ryan Ross received one vote.

Sweeney thanked all those who have supported him and voted for him.

This vote was quite stressful but its over and Im looking forward to serving District 3, he said. I have the time, energy experience and passion for this position. I will make you one promise: I will be responsive when you call.

Sweeney will serve the remaining two years for Brady, who had served as council president. Sweeney will have to run for the seat in an election in 2022 if he wishes to continue serving the district.

The county charter says each of the 11 council members must live in the district they represent for at least 30 days before the appointment.

Read more stories on cleveland.com:

Three vying for Dan Bradys Cuyahoga County Council seat, including Martin Sweeney

Cuyahoga County Board of Health reports sharp increase in COVID-19 deaths in the county

Office property connected to Agora Theatre in Cleveland sold, new owners plan to add apartments

Judge orders Toledo pharmacy to stop dispensing controlled substances amid opioid investigation

Founding head of Downtown Cleveland Alliance will retire in April
PROPERTY stolen from the former home of an elderly nursing home resident was recovered when gardai searched a car which had broken down.

Marcin Wilczewski, 27, who has an address at Templegreen, Newcastle West has pleaded guilty to handling the stolen property near his home on October 18, last.

Inspector Gary Thompson told the local court that after gardai were alerted to the car, which had stalled, they opened the boot and located the property inside.

He said it was subsequently established that it had been stolen from a house in the Ballynoe/Castletown area which was vacant as the former occupant is now living in a nursing home.

Mr Wilczewski did not own the car and he did not have insurance or a driving licence. The vehicle was seized by gardai on the day.

Mr Wilczewski has also pleaded guilty to several other charges relating to separate offences which occurred last year.

Judge Mary Larkin was told he broke into St Molua's Church, Ardagh in the early hours of March 29 where he broke a candelabra and stole around 30 in coinage.

A gym membership card found at the scene was forensically linked to him, said Insp Thompson.

The most serious of the offences occurred at Rathnaneane, Newcastle West on two separate dates in early March when the defendant damaged a number of public washing machines in an attempt to steal coinage.

Inspector Thompson said the machines, which are located outdoors in a public area, were extensively damaged and that around 1,500 worth of damage was caused.

Mr Wilczewski, he told the court, was identified as a culprit after an elastoplast found at the scene was linked forensically to him.

Solicitor Michael ODonnell said his client, who has 24 previous convictions, has a drug problem and that his motivation was to get money to buy drugs.

He has a multitude of problems, he said adding that the defendant had left school at an early age and that he travelled from Poland to Ireland for work a number of years ago.

He said the father-of-four was not involved in the burglary at the pensioners home and that he got the stolen property from a man from Limerick at a car boot sale.

He said the car he was driving had conked out on the day he encountered gardai and that when questioned about the stolen property he gave as much information as he could.

Judge Larkin was told the defendant has been in custody since last November as he has been unable to take up bail.

Imposing sentence, she commented that Mr Wilczewski is not very professional at his job.

She said the amount of damage caused to the washing machines was an aggravating factor, she noted that no compensation has been paid.

She imposed a five month prison sentence in relation to that offence, back-dating it to November.

A consecutive one month prison sentence was imposed in relation to the burglary at St Molua's Church.

Considering the penalty for the handling charge, Judge Larking commented that the number of burglaries would reduce if you didnt have people who were willing to receive the goods.

She imposed a two month prison sentence which she suspended for two years on condition Mr Wilczewski engages with the Probation Service. A 500 fine and a four year disqualification were imposed in relation to the driving offences.
Health authorities in NSW have urged residents to get tested for COVID-19 due to concerns the virus is still circulating in the community undetected, as the state recorded one new local case on Saturday linked to a western Sydney cluster.

The new case was picked up in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday, bringing to an end NSW's brief run of no new cases of community transmission. A further 11 cases were detected in returned travellers in hotel quarantine.

The one locally acquired case is a man from western Sydney, who is believed to be linked to the Berala BWS cluster in the city's west.

"Investigations into the source of the infection are under way," NSW Health said on Saturday morning.
The remains of the late Liam Reilly being carried from St. Josephs Redemptorist Church following his funeral mass on Thursday morning (7th). Picture: Aidan Dullaghan/Newspics

A light dusting of snow lay on the ground as Liam Reilly, the Dundalk musician who penned 'Summer in Dublin', made his final journey last Thursday morning (7th).

Friends, and neighbours braved the winter cold to bade farewell to the Bagatelle frontman, lining the streets as his remains were removed from his family home on the Avenue Road to St Joseph's Redemptorist Church, giving him a final round of applause as the coffin was removed from the hearse.

They stood in silence outside the church, as Fr Noel Kehoe welcomed Liam's mother Teresa, sisters Evelyn, Barbara, Darina and Paula, brothers in-law Pat and Eamon, nephews and nieces, who were the only ones able to attend the funeral due to lockdown restrictions,

Speaking from the alter which was still resplendent with red poinsettas and Christmas foliage, Fr Kehoe addressed his words not just to the mourners in Dundalk but those watching the funeral in their homes around the world.

Symbols of Liam's life, sheet music, a piano accordion, his characteristic black hat, and a copy of National Geographic magazine were brought to the altar at the start of the ceremony.

Fr Kehoe said that 'for many Liam was an icon, he was decent, he was good, he was kind, he was witty and he was remarkably talented.'

His sudden death on New Year's Day had stunned many, especially his family, as he was 'a much loved son, brother, uncle and a friend to many'.

Recalling Liam's passion for music, Fr Kehoe noted that he came from a musical family and he had given a mouth organ as a child and 'the rest became history.'

He was 'stepped in the world of Irish music' and travelled the competition circuit, arriving home with trophies after trophies, medals both for his piano accordion playing and indeed he was a nifty Irish dancer.'

While he had a 'few interesting preludes' before his musical career, as he studied for a time to be a teacher and then went to study international trade in Rathmines, working for a time in a shipping company.

However , 'his heart was in music and that meant having the courage to step out.'

With his friends John, Christy, Kevin and Jim, he formed the band Changes, named after the David Bowie song, and began playing the acoustic guitar.

It was with Bagatelle that most people knew him and Fr Kehoe offered his sympathy to Liam's colleagues in music. He had made the decision to give up a commercial career and risk it for something greater, and every time he sat at the piano, this was when he was most confident and satisfied.

Fr Kehoe said he was 'not just a great musician and wonderful storyteller' but gave voice to people.

'I too belong to the generation that grew up with the music of Bagatelle, 'Summer in Dublin' and 'Second Violin.' They spoke of friends, emigration and needing a safe space.'

'His songs touched people and resonated with them and they lifted them. His genius really captured the experience of emigration.'

He recalled how Liam had lived in the United States and was very aware of the plight of the emmigrants and had also seen the other side of it, as young people left Ireland. He had predicted that the Irish songs and daughters would return home to a more prosperous Ireland, His songs told the story of that generation.

Fr Kehoe said that he had been contacted by the Vice-President of the NYPD Emerald Society, Glenn Lynch, in recent days. He had told him how 'Streets of New York' had become as close to an official anthem for the force and was loved by all police officers, and not just those of Irish descent.

Liam was an intelligent man, who loved reading, loved travelling and learning about places he had visited, and loved doing the Crosaire crossword in the Irish Times. 'He has a thirst for knowledge.'

He was very fond of his parents and four sisters and had been heartbroken when his Dad passed away. Away from the spotlight, he was a son and a brother who was fully of gentleness, a funny person who enjoyed telling stories and having a bit of laugh.

He regularly did charity gigs for so many voluntary organisations without asking for a penny. The Irish diaspora were dear to his heart and he did what he could for them.

His sister Evelyn described Liam as her 'little brother and little skitter'.

'He was a very caring brother,' she said, describing how he would call in to check on their mother and was 'always his own man'.

She recalled sneaking into The Cellars to see him in Changes and how she had 'watched him grow to become a successful songwriter and musician who travelled and performed all over the world.'

They were very proud of him when he excelled himself representing Ireland in he Eurovision Song Contest.'

'Our lives have been diminished by the loss of our brother.' They were heartbroken by his passing but they would remember the good times.

Barbara said Liam was 'her big brother' and described how he had treated the younger ones 'with such tenderness from the very beginning.'

'Liam had great strength and resilliance,' she continued. 'He had survived many setbacks but was a delicate soul, very sensitive, which is why he was such a good songwriter.'

He'd had his demons which he had fought to the end, never giving up, always dealing with them with humour and strength.;

As the Mass ended, Fr Kehoe thanked all those who had taken the time of share their memories of Liam and had offered their condolences, noting this meant so much to Liam's family. 'He will be missed by all of us, especially his mother.'

'We are heartbroken but his music will live on.'

Bagatelle's song 'Johnny set 'em up' was played at the end of the Mass.

Burial took place afterwards at St Patrick's Cemetery Dundalk.
WASHINGTON - There are many parts of the legacy President Donald Trump will leave behind when his term ends on Wednesday. One of them is a broken Republican Party.

In four years, Trump ideologically twisted a party that once had a coherent conservative governing philosophy, which he does not. He put a vice grip on the party's grass roots and persuaded many of them to believe that truth does not matter. He opened up the party's coalition to an emboldened white supremacist movement.

The party's deterioration has been an ongoing story of the Trump presidency, but the damage done and the challenge of restoration have been underlined in the weeks since President-elect Joe Biden won the election with a comfortable electoral college majority and a decisive margin in the popular vote, amid no evidence of widespread fraud.

It was widely noted this past week when 10 Republicans joined House Democrats to support impeaching the president for a second time. Foremost among those dissenters from the party line was Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third-ranking Republican in the House and the daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney. Her denunciation of the president's role in inciting a mob attack on the Capitol was as devastating as it was succinct. Her words and vote were a marker put down for the future.

More significant for the party's future than the 10 who voted to impeach was the fact that - in the face of an insurrection at the Capitol that resulted in the death of a police officer and four rioters, that threatened lives of lawmakers and their staffs and that came after Trump had whipped up a rally with rhetoric inveighing against weakness in trying to overturn the election - there were still 197 Republicans who voted not to impeach. However uncomfortable they were with Trump's role in the mob action, as some expressed, they nonetheless marched in lockstep as they have for four years.

If that vote were not evidence enough of Trump's hold on the party, what about the day the Capitol was ransacked? After the building had been secured and lawmakers had gone back to work on the night of Jan. 6, 147 Republicans in the House and Senate, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, still supported one or both of the objections to the electoral college counts in Arizona and Pennsylvania.

And if all that weren't evidence enough of the party's incapacity to break with Trump, what about the 126 Republicans who in December joined the Texas lawsuit that sought to overturn the results of the election in four states after repeated efforts, legal and otherwise, to claim fraud had evaporated under scrutiny.

Did all those Republicans who opposed impeachment, supported the objections to the electoral college count and asked the Supreme Court to overturn the election believe in what Trump said about a stolen election or believe that he not been responsible for inciting those who stormed the Capitol?

Some may have, but probably far from all. More likely is that for many this was one more example of how the bullying that has been part of Trump's playbook has affected the behavior of elected officials. Trump has intimidated them, making examples of any who openly challenged or criticized him by threatening them with primary challenges or worse.

Republicans say they got something out of this bargain with the leader most never wanted as their nominee in 2016 - more conservative judges, big tax cuts, regulatory rollbacks. But the costs have been sizable: the loss of the House, the Senate and the White House, all of which can be laid at Trump's feet. The path of least resistance that many Republicans have trod proved to have serious consequences. Party leaders, both through silence but often through verbal assent, allowed things to spiral downward.

Republicans are now two parties, the party of Trump and the party of Never Trump, and the lines are more clearly defined than ever. Republicans are conflicted, many recognizing the damage they know Trump has done while saying to themselves that they still managed to pick up seats in the House in November and could take it back in 2022. To say Republicans face a time of testing and introspection understates the period ahead.

First is the question of Trump's future as the leader of the party. A conviction in the upcoming Senate trial could remove him as a potential candidate in 2024. Such a verdict remains doubtful unless Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky votes to convict and brings many senators with him. Were it to happen, that alone would be a relief to many Republicans, who would like Trump sidelined as a candidate as a step toward restoring regular order.

But elected officials can read the polls. In the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, 85% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they oppose Trump's removal from office. Sixty-six percent say there is solid evidence to support his claims of widespread fraud in the election. Forty-eight percent say GOP leaders did not go far enough in supporting Trump's efforts to overturn the election; only 17% say those leaders went too far.

Next is what Republicans stand for. They abandoned any pretense of being anything other than a subsidiary of Trump Inc. when they chose not to adopt a platform at this year's national convention. People scoff at party platforms as empty exercises that are forgotten as soon as they are adopted. Perhaps. Yet the platform process requires members of a party to debate and agree on the principles they share and on broad policies consistent with those principles. The GOP said last summer it would go wherever Trump wanted to go.

Who knows today what Republicans really stand for beyond lower taxes and less regulation? Where are they on health care after failed efforts to agree on a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, or on debt and deficits after a presidency that added record levels to the national debt? Where is the party on immigration or climate change? Where are Republicans on confronting income and wealth inequality or racial injustice? Where are they on the U.S. role in the world, on the use of force, on human rights, on trade with other nations?

Trump has been a smothering presence. His departure, absent disqualification from holding higher office, will not mean the elimination of his voice within the party. Even disqualification might not quiet his influence. But there are opportunities. In The Post-ABC poll, 57 percent say they want Republican leaders to follow his lead rather than move in a different direction. While still a majority of the party, that is smaller than the 76 percent who said so three years ago.

Cheney's decision to support impeachment showed her cards, looking to a Republican future with Trump as a greatly diminished force. Cheney's conservative credentials are as solid as anyone in her party, and the resolve she demonstrated in stepping forward suggests that she is prepared to fight for a Republican Party that returns to many of its first principles. But her vote did not prove to be a tipping point, and she could face ouster as chair of the Republican Conference.

Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who voted for one article of impeachment against Trump and spoke eloquently against those objecting to the electoral vote count, has been a powerful voice within the conservative movement for an adherence to the party's principles while opposing the worst of what Trump has represented. But by bringing clarity and resolve to the damage of the Trump presidency, he has become a pariah to some in the party.

Republicans will need leadership to move them beyond Trump - and a willingness to face up to the damage Trump has done. Romney told his GOP colleagues that one necessary step must be to tell the truth to all those who believed the president's lies. Reckoning with the white supremacist sentiment that Trump has allowed to spread across the country is also part of expunging the toxicity of what Trump brought to politics.

The restoration of the Republican Party could begin at noon Wednesday. The question is whether it will happen at all.
PFAS investigation in Pellston completes second round of samples

Officials discovered polyfluoroalkyls in Pellston residential water sources in late 2019. The airport is believed to be the source of the substances.
Sultan Haitham Bin Tarek Al-Said of Oman issued two royal decrees on Monday setting up a new legislative council for the country and establishing mechanisms to appoint a crown-prince and guarantee the stability and transfer of power.



Last year, Sultan Haitham was chosen to replace late sultan Qaboos Bin Said in a smooth transfer of power despite the fact that there had been no appointed heir. Today, the new sultan is planning political and economic reforms in the Sultanate after many years of stalemate.



One of the royal decrees issued on Monday sets up mechanisms for determining the countrys crown-prince and defining his powers, while highlighting the principle of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary as a basis of governance in the country.



The decree emphasises the states role in the rights and freedoms of citizens, most notably equality between men and women and the welfare of children, disabled people and youth. It also stresses compulsory basic education, encourages the establishment of universities, promotes scientific research and emphasises the need to attract and retain talented and creative people. It outlines a new system of a local administration.



The other decree on the Council of Oman is meant to emphasise the valuable contributions this makes to development in the country. It is responsible for endorsing or amending laws referred to it by the government, discussing development plans, and debating the states general budget.



It is a sort of parliament adding to the State Financial Supervision and Administration Authority to support its role in effective governance. A section of the decree deals with following up and monitoring government performance by establishing a committee reporting directly to Sultan Haitham. The committee will evaluate the performance of ministers, deputy ministers and others in positions of authority.



One Omani source said that the decrees were not the last of those likely to be introduced. The new sultan came with a new vision for the country, and he is gradually introducing it, he said. The changes have been focused on internal issues so far, while foreign policy is staying on the same course as that set out by the late sultan Qaboos.



Sultan Tarek has kept to Omans longstanding tradition of skipping Gulf summits, and he sent his deputy prime minister to lead the Omani delegation at the summit last week in Saudi Arabia that ended the boycott of Qatar by its neighbours.



Though Oman, like the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, welcomed the reconciliation with Qatar, it did not celebrate it in the way that Kuwait did, as the latter was involved in last-minute mediation even though it is understood that American pressure was the main factor in ending the Qatar crisis.



Oman kept up its ties with Qatar during the boycott and tried to mediate at the beginning of the crisis in 2017. When it felt that its efforts were going nowhere, it quickly retired. Some analysts at the time floated the idea that Oman could lose its role as the so-called Switzerland of the Middle East, renowned for keeping good relations with all and using discreet diplomacy to mediate conflicts.



Though relations between Muscat and Riyadh have not always been warm, they have always been at least cordial. Oman has not always been pleased with GCC accords pushed through by Saudi Arabia or the UAE, but it has never taken a sharply oppositional position. Oman opposed Gulf monetary union, for example, which in the end did not take place.



When it was agreed to introduce a value-added tax (VAT) in the GCC countries, Oman did not advance as quickly as the UAE and other countries. But this week it announced the introduction of the VAT from next April. Kuwait is still to announce when it will apply the VAT. Muscat took the step in line with its domestic requirements.



Unlike the rest of the GCC countries, Oman has kept up good relations with Iran, and the secret negotiations that led to the Iran nuclear deal with the West in 2015 were conducted through Muscat.



Kuwait also keeps up close-to-normal relations with Iran, but that is mainly because of internal Kuwaiti calculations rather than of its being at odds with the Saudis. Though Qatar has moved closer to Iran over the last few years, and is keeping up relations with Iran and Turkey after the end of the crisis with the other GCC members, this has largely been out of necessity.



By contrast, Omani-Iranian relations are deep-rooted. Last week, the Iranian English-language newspaper the Tehran Times wrote that despite the US re-imposition of sanctions against Iran, Oman is getting closer to the Islamic Republic both politically and economically. There is also the same approach adopted by Iran, as Iranian companies now prefer to conduct trade with Oman rather than the UAE, given that the UAE is complying with the sanctions. Iran is replacing some of its previous strategic trading partners such as the UAE with Oman, considering the Sultanate as an economic and trading hub.



As a new US administration takes office next week, there is a strong possibility of resuming American-Iranian contacts. Incoming US President Joe Biden has nominated William Burns to head the CIA. Burns led the American team negotiating with Iran via Muscat.



It is thought that 2021 could also be the year for a settlement of the conflict in Yemen, with the Biden administration pressuring Riyadh to stop the war. Oman has interests in Yemen, including with regard to its national security. The Al-Mahra region is on the border of Oman and Saudi Arabia, and there were implicit accusations from Riyadh and Abu Dhabi a couple of years ago to the effect that Oman was acting as a route for Iranian assistance to the Houthi rebels in Yemen.



The new administration in Washington will want to see an inclusive settlement in Yemen that includes the Houthis and takes into account Omani and Gulf concerns as well as those of Saudi Arabia.



Omans new sultan might be changing the country internally in a measured and gradual way, but externally Oman is trying to keep up its peculiar position in the Gulf, the region and beyond.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 14 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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" " The process of creating sparkling wine is intricate, scientific and has been refined over centuries. DNY59/Getty Images

Over the tantalizing clink of crystal Champagne flutes, a voice rises and a dinner party begins to hush. Forks lay silent and conversations pause mid-thought as a raised glass and a heartfelt toast interrupt the evening, if only for a congratulatory moment.

While a glass of the bubbly usually signals celebration, hosts Anney Reese and Lauren Vogelbaum discover in this FoodStuff podcast episode that Champagne has caused plenty of conflict throughout its tasty  and surprisingly hard-won  history.

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Not All That Sparkles ...

Don't let the effervescence fool you. Not all sparkling wine is Champagne. Authentic Champagne is named for the French region in which the sparkling wine is produced using a special fermentation method that creates seemingly endless carbonation. European law sets this specialized wine-growing region apart; only wines from the viticulturally rich area about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Paris bear the word "Champagne" on their labels.

There are seven types of grapes used, in varying quantities, to produce Champagne. These major and minor varieties are categorized as such according to the quantity in which they are used, and each different type of grape imparts a different flavor on the wine:

 Chardonnay (major): This grape adds acidity and a light flavor profile to a Champagne blend

 Pinot noir (major): A complex-flavored grape that pulls in the mineral quality of the soil

 Pinot Meunier (major): Aromatic and fruity, adding a stable and full-bodied flavor  Pinot blanc (major): Known for its honeyed and floral aroma, this is a large and full grape  Petit Meslier (minor): A small grape with a relatively high acidity, used to balance the ripeness that overcomes other varieties during hot years  Fromenteau (minor): Known for its body, richness and mature flavors  Arbanne (minor): The vines producing this fruit have low yields, but add a rustic profile Twice-Bubbled, Once Sipped

" " This circa-1900 picture shows giant casks used to house young Champagne in subterranean storage facilities. Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis/Getty Images

For a bottle of sparkling wine to be labeled Champagne, it takes more than specific grapes grown in a specific region of France. It also requires a particular method of fermentation, known as the methode champenoise, that also must be completed in the Champagne region. Try it anywhere else, and the process is relegated to methode classical.

Both methods begin with making a base blend of wine, then adding sugar and yeast. After fermentation occurs, the concoction is then bottled for a second round of fermentation. After this second round of fermentation, the "lees," or residual yeast, is removed from the bottle and sugar is added. How much sugar varies according to whether the end product will be classified as "brut," with less than 0.4 ounces (12 grams) of sugar per liter, or "doux" with more than 1.76 ounces (50 grams) of sugar per liter. The bottle is then corked and regular rounds of "riddling" take place, during which the bottle is placed upside down to collect sediment that is emptied before the lot is sold.

" " In today's mechanized production environment, machines handle the riddling process of inverting bottles to allow sediment to collect. VitalyTimkiv/TASS/Getty Images

By this time, the bottles of wine are fully carbonated, full of those iconic sparkly bubbles. As the yeast eats the sugar during the fermentation process, it releases carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide stays cooped up in the bottle, pressurizing the container and carbonating the wine. An average wine bottle contains about three-quarters of a liter and 0.26 ounces (7.5 grams) of carbon dioxide. When the cork is removed  with a pop!  about 1.3 gallons (5 liters) of carbon dioxide gas comes out, too. It's enough to inflate about 62 bicycle tires.

What to do with that Champagne once the top's popped and the bottle's open? Check out this BrainStuff video for more on that:

Now That's Interesting Article 275 of the Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919 at the end of World War I, mandated that only sparkling wine from Champagne, France, could be labeled "Champagne." But though the United States signed the treaty, the U.S. Senate never ratified it, and the U.S. wine industry continued to use the term. It wasn't until 2006 that the U.S. and EU agreed that American winemakers couldn't label their wines "Champagne"  unless they'd been doing so prior to March 10, 2006, in which case they'd have to specify a state of origin: California Champagne, for instance.

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Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla today wished the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi great success as the country began one of the world's largest vaccination drive.

Adar Poonawalla took to Twitter and shared a video on his account of taking the Covishield vaccine himself which has been manufactured by his company.

"I wish India & Sri @narendramodi ji great success in launching the worlds largest COVID vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that #COVISHIELD is part of this historic effort & to endorse its safety & efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine myself,"Adar Poonawala wrote on Twitter.

I wish India & Sri @narendramodi ji great success in launching the worlds largest COVID vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that #COVISHIELD is part of this historic effort & to endorse its safety & efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine myself. pic.twitter.com/X7sNxjQBN6  Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 16, 2021

The government has already bought 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covishield shot, produced by the Serum Institute of India and there are plans to provide 5 to 6 crore more doses by February, SII said.

Earlier,Adar Poonawalla said the SII is not only providing the vaccine in India, "but it is also committed to provide it to other countries who are looking at India at this point".

Around 100 people will be vaccinated in each of the 3,006 centers across the country on the first day, the Health Ministry said.

COVISHIELD Co-developed by the University of Oxford and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca and known as Covishield in India, the vaccine was the first on which a scientific study was published based on Phase 3 clinical trials.

It has so far been given emergency use authorization in the UK, Argentina, Mexico and India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched India's COVID-19 vaccination drive and asserted that the made-in-India vaccines being rolled out will ensure a "decisive victory" for the country over the coronavirus pandemic.

Billed as the world's largest vaccination program, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first inoculate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase.

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Elmore James  Crossroads (1996)

1 Dust My Broom 2:54 2 Look On Yonder Wall 2:28 3 Mean Mistreatin' Mama 2:38 4 Fine Little Mama 2:31 5 Got To Move 2:42 6 Rollin' And Tumblin' 2:28 7 Coming Home 2:24 8 It Hurts Me Too 3:17 9 Standing At The Crossroads 2:53 10 Every Day I Have The Blues 3:16 11 I Done Somebody Wrong 2:17 12 Pickin' The Blues 2:39 13 Anna Lee 2:50 14 Sunnyland Train 2:14 15 One Way Out 2:21 16 The Sky Is Crying 2:45

Elmore James is known as the King of the Slide Guitar. He was inspired by the local performances of Robert Johnson to take up the guitar. It was, in fact, a number by Johnson ("Dust My Broom") that became James signature song and laid the foundation for his recording career. First cut by James in August 1951, Dust My Broom contains the strongest example of his stylistic signature: a swooping, full-octave opening figure on slide guitar. His influence went beyond that one riff, however, as hes been virtually credited with inventing blues rock by virtue of energizing primal riffs with a raw, driving intensity.

Elmore James was born on a farm in Richland, Mississippi, on January 27, 1918. By the time he was 12, he was playing a one-string, wall-mounted guitar that was common to the region. The music of Robert Johnson and Kokomo Arnold had drawn him to music. He eventually moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he ran a radio repair shop and played guitar at night and on weekends. One account has him playing with a band that included drums as early as 1939. If correct, that would place him several years ahead of Muddy Waters in blending Delta Blues with electrical amplification and percussion.

James went into the Navy in 1943. After his discharge, he teamed up with Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller), the harmonica player he had performed with on and off since the Thirties. They performed all over the South, but eventually split up in New Orleans. James returned to Mississippi, where he was briefly hospitalized with heart problems. On August 5, 1951, James backed Williamson on eight tracks recorded for Trumpet Records. At the end of the session, James came forward and sang Dust My Broom. Trumpet released the song, credited to Elmo James, in late 1951, and it was moving into the R&B Top 10 as 1952 arrived.

The following year, James moved to Chicago, where he was able to participate in the birth and flowering of electric blues. He ended up cutting several different versions of Dust My Broom under different titles. His most successful was I Believe (My Time Aint Long), which reached Number Nine in 1953. He also had several other hits that featured his impassioned singing and playing, including Look On Yonder Wall, Shake Your Money Maker, Talk to Me Baby (I Cant Hold On), It Hurts Me Too and The Sky Is Crying.

Throughout the rest of the Fifties, James bounced back and forth between Chicago and Mississippi. Unfortunately, heavy drinking and chronic asthma complicated his heart trouble. He made a detour to New York City in 1959 to record for the Fire label  sessions that yielded some of his finest recorded work. In 1961, the musicians union blacklisted him for non-payment of dues. He returned to Mississippi and played local gigs until May 1963, when he went back to Chicago for a recording session with deejay Big Bill Hill. But on May 24, the night before the session, James died of a heart attack. He was 45 years old.

James left behind a raft of classic blues songs that include Shake Your Money Maker, Talk to Me Baby, It Hurts Me Too and The Sky Is Crying. James distinctive style has influenced a legion of Chicago slide players, and his songs have been cut by the admiring likes of the Allman Brothers Band, Canned Heat, Fleetwood Mac and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. You can hear his signature riff at least once a night from every slide guitarist working, music historian Tony Glover has written, but no one has ever quite matched that vocal intensity, which transformed the lonesome moan of the Delta into a Chicago scream. ---rockhall.com

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India expressing its gratitude to frontline workers: PM Modi says vaccine roll-out

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Jan 16: Prime Minister, Narendra Modi praised the selfless strong spirit of the country which has been on full display during the fight against Corona. Speaking after launching the pan-India rollout of COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conferencing today, Shri Modi said, in the year gone by, Indians learnt and endured a great deal as individuals, family and as a nation.

Quoting the great Telugu poet, Gurajada Venkata Apparao, Shri Modi said we should always work selflessly for others. A nation is not just soil, water and stones, but a nation stands for 'We the People.' Corona has been fought with this spirit in India, said the Prime Minister.

Unprecedented says PM Modi on vaccine roll out

The Prime Minister recalled with sensitivity and empathy the initial feeling of helpless confusion among the people of the country when people could not attend to their near ones when they got infected.

This disease rendered the infected isolated and alone, when sick children were separated from their mothers and old parents were forced to battle the disease all alone in the hospitals. Even the departed relatives who lost the fight, could not be given proper send off. Such a memory saddens us even today, said a visibly emotional Prime Minister.

Even in those dark days, some people were bringing hope and succour, recalled the Prime Minister. He dwelled at length on the contribution of doctors, nurses, para medical staff, ambulance drivers, ASHA workers, sanitation workers, police and other frontline workers who endangered their lives to save other.

Stay away from rumours, PM Modi says during vaccine roll-out

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

They gave precedence to their duty for humanity over their personal interest. Some of them didn't even return to their homes as they lost their lives in the fight against the virus, noted a solemn Prime Minister. The frontline warriors brought hope in an environment of despondency and fear, today, by vaccinating them first, country is acknowledging their contribution with gratitude, Shri Modi said.

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Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 15:15 [IST]
New Delhi, Jan 16 : Launching the world's largest Covid-19 vaccination programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday warned people to avoid rumours and gave a fresh message of "Ab dawai bhi, kadai bhi" (now medicine as well as rigour).

On the occasion, the Prime Minister said that India's medical system and vaccine scientists have a lot of credibility throughout the world and people should avoid rumours being spread against the two Indian manufactured vaccines cleared for emergency use.

Noting that India has gained this trust from its track record, Modi said, "Do not believe in rumours being spread against the two 'Made-in-India' vaccines." As the vaccine against Covid-19 is launched, the Prime Minister gave a new slogan to keep people safe from the deadly disease, saying "Ab dawai bhi, kadai bhi" (now medicine as well as rigour).

'Covishield' and 'Covaxin' vaccines will be administered to an estimated three lakh healthcare workers across the country with the first dose on Saturday as India makes history by touching a new milestone in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Prime Minister began the world's largest Covid-19 vaccination programme on Saturday while virtually launching the two vaccines in India aimed at ending the pandemic which so far has killed 1,52,093 people in the country and ravaged the economy.

Addressing the country digitally, the Prime Minister said that India managed to make two 'Made-in-India' vaccines in a very short period which usually takes years.

Lauding the efforts of scientists who are involved in vaccine research, Modi said they deserve special praise for making these vaccines and that "the vaccines will provide us a decisive victory against the deadly pandemic".

The Drug Controller General of India earlier this month approved 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin' vaccines for emergency use. The Oxford University and AstraZeneca have developed 'Covishield', which has been manufactured in India by Serum Institute of India in Pune while Bharat Biotech has developed 'Covaxin'.

The Prime Minister said the "whole world is accepting the way India has dealt with this epidemic." Modi said that India has set an example with united steps being taken by the Centre and state governments, local bodies, every government institution and social institutions.

The Prime Minister further reminded people to get two doses of the vaccine, explaining that "there should be a gap of almost one month between the first and second doses".

"Only two weeks after the second dose, your body will develop the necessary strength against coronavirus," the Prime Minister said.

Noting that this kind of vaccination campaign on such a large scale has never been done in history, Modi said "India is vaccinating three crore people in its first phase of vaccination starting today and the government will bear the cost of the vaccination to be administered to healthcare workers".

In the second phase, the Prime Minister said "we have to take it to 30 crore".

"Those who are elderly, who are suffering from serious illness, will get vaccinated at this stage. You can imagine, there are only three countries in the world with a population above 300 million - India, China and the US." The Prime Minister got emotional while describing the sacrifice of corona warriors during the Covid crisis.

"At the time of Covid crisis and in the atmosphere of despair, someone was transmitting hope by putting his or her life in danger to save us. It was our doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, ambulance drivers, ASHA workers, sweepers, police and other frontline workers." The Prime Minister launched the vaccination drive at a time when India registered 1,05,42,841 Covid infections till Saturday with 15,158 new cases in the last 24 hours, as it continued with its streak of low single-day cases. A total of 1,01,79,715 people have recovered from the disease and currently there are 2,11,033 active cases. The recovery rate stands at 96.56 per cent, while the fatality rate is 1.44 per cent.

After the Prime Minister virtually launched the vaccination programme in India, almost three lakh beneficiaries, belonging to the priority groups, will be administered the silver bullet at over 3,006 vaccination sites across the country. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site.

Till now, the central government has procured 1.1 crore 'Covishield' and 55 lakh 'Covaxin' vaccines at a cost of Rs 200 and Rs 206 per dose, respectively.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Saturday, January 16, 2021

The Michigan Attorney Discipline Board has imposed an interim suspension of a former FBI attorney for his guilty plea to a federal false statement offense.

Politico reported

Prosecutors are asking for a prison sentence for a former FBI lawyer who admitted altering an email sent to a colleague working on the investigation into alleged Russian influence on Trump campaign affiliates.

Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty to a felony false-statement charge in August, soon after he became the only person charged in connection with the investigation Attorney General William Barr ordered last year into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. Barr earlier this week appointed the veteran prosecutor leading that review, Connecticut U.S. attorney John Durham, as a special counsel, empowering him to continue the investigation into President-elect Joe Bidens term.

In his plea, Clinesmith admitted adding words to an email used to bolster the case for a surveillance warrant on Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser. The alteration was one of a series of errors, omissions and inaccuracies identified by the Justice Department inspector general that sharply undercut the FBIs treatment of Page, who was monitored from October 2016 until late 2017 under orders from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Clinesmith faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison, but is likely to be sentenced in accordance with federal guidelines that call for a term of zero to six months in custody in his case His attorneys are asking that he be spared any prison time. They say he has suffered enough, with his career in shambles and his reputation ruined. Prosecutors, on the other hand, are seeking a jail term of at least three to six months for Clinesmith, contending that his offense was so serious that he deserves incarceration. (Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2021/01/the-michigan-attorney-discipline-board-has-imposed-an-interim-sus-pension-of-a-former-fbi-attorney-for-his-guilty-plea-to-a-f.html
Community Call is coordinating community activity and direct community assistance to where it is needed.

Joe O'Brien, Minister of State for Community Development and Charities and T.D for Fingal, is urging older and more vulnerable members in our communities in Fingal to avail of supports made available through the Community Call.

At the beginning of the pandemic Fingal County Council established a dedicated Forum and one aspect of this was the creation of the helpline to assist at risk members of the public in accessing non-emergency and non-medical supports and advice during the current public health emergency. The Forum includes over a dozen agencies and organisations and is ensuring that within Fingal there is co-ordination around the operation to ensuring that vulnerable members of the community or those living alone can access deliveries of groceries, medicine and fuels.

The Community Call initiative, part funded by Minister O'Brien's Department received over 5,000 calls from members of the public in the first week of its existence.

Urging people to use the service Minister O'Brien said, 'Many of us had hoped that 2021 would see not only the beginning of a new year but the end of COVID. Unfortunately, although there is positive news in relation to the roll out of the vaccine we need to surpress the virus as much as we can to protect our communities. Hospital admissions and ICU numbers are worrying and as such, it has been deemed necessary to implement this stricter restrictions to try and ensure our health service and our health workers are not overwhelmed.'

'I understand people are understandably feeling frustrated and fed up with the ongoing restrictions but ultimately this will ensure we beat this virus. Although it is difficult, more than ever we need to let those that are vulnerable or in need of a bit of help need to know that they are not alone.'

The Fingal Community Helpline is 01 890 5000 or email covidsupport@fingal.ie.




MEDFORD, Ore.  Earlier this week, Providence began an effort to administer coronavirus vaccines for members of local organizations who work with particularly vulnerable groups, the healthcare provider says.

Providence Health & Services said it will be vaccinating 2,000 employees and volunteers from community partners who provide essential services, including food, housing, and health care throughout the state. In the Medford area, those organizations were offered free vaccines during a special clinic that began on Wednesday.

Getting and distributing vaccines is challenging, as weve learned with our own caregivers and providers. And now because we have the experience and processes in place, it makes sense to invite our partners into our vaccine clinics, said Dr. Tom Lorish, chief executive

of the Providence southern Oregon service area. We are pleased to vaccinate their caregivers whose work is so important in our communities.

These clinics were invitation-only, held in cooperation with select organizations who fall under the Oregon Health Authority's "priority guidance." Locally, this included Habitat for Humanity, Maslow Project, Medford Gospel Mission, Rogue Retreat, SO Health-E, St. Vincent de Paul, Teresa McCormick Center, UNETE, and United Way of Jackson County.

Together with these partners in our communities, we are able to provide services to many people every year, supporting needs that include housing, food insecurity, and social services, said Dee Anne Everson, CEO/Executive Director for United Way of Jackson County.

To know our employees have received the vaccine and are protected against COVID so they can continue their good work makes a huge difference, especially as we all deal with this pandemic.

Providence says that it continues to work closely with both the state and local public health agencies to help vaccinate people in the local community.
She's just hours away from taking to the rink for her Dancing On Ice debut.

And Myleene Klass battled the chilly weather with an oversized padded coat as she headed to work at Smooth Radio on Saturday.

The presenter, 42, pulled on the cosy cover-up as she strolled into Global Studios in London to host her afternoon show.

Cosy: Myleene Klass, 42, battled the chilly weather with an oversized padded coat as she headed to work at Smooth Radio on Saturday

Myleene cut a relaxed figure in a laid-back cream jumper, before wrapping up with her long black coat.

Given the earlier downpour, it was no surprise the star kept her hood up, beaming as she strolled into the studio.



The radio host's appearance comes after she admitted she is hoping to walk away from Dancing On Ice with a 'bum like J-Lo's'.

Nice and warm: The presenter pulled on the cosy cover-up as she strolled into Global Studios in London to host her afternoon show

Jennifer, 51, left fans around the world aghast, as she showed off her incredibly age-defying figure in all its glory during a recent vacation to Turks and Caicos.

Talking ahead of the show start on Sunday, Myleene said: 'When else would I get this chance? I'm a mum of three, a step-mum of two, there's seven of us in our blended family.

'When else would a mum like me get the chance to learn a new skill. And I spent all of lockdown teaching children and teaching my music classes that went viral and now it's time for me to learn a new skill.'

Myleene hilarious added: 'And to be able to walk away with a bum like J-Lo's... that's the real reason I'm here, I am going to work so hard!'

Beaming: Myleene cut a relaxed figure in a laid-back cream jumper, before wrapping up with her long black coat

Taking to the ice! It comes as Myleene prepares to make her debut on Dancing On Ice on Sunday after months of training

Despite her plans for a peachy posterior, the musician also admitted that she is 'terrified' of getting her piano fingers 'rolled over.'

She said: 'Oh, I'm terrified of all of it! I'm terrified of my piano fingers getting rolled over. I don't know why that's a recurring fear but it just is.

'I think any time I've done a concert I've had to sign an indemnity insurance clause and I've had to sign all of these things that look after my fingers and now I'm actually in the line of fire I feel like I'm really going to have to look after my fingers.

'By the nature of what it is I feel quite protective over my fingers. As a pianist I have to look after my fingers but I also have to life my life and I love the fact that I'm going to walk away with a new skill, new butt and fabulous wardrobe!'
People throughout Enniscorthy are in mourning this week following the tragic death of one of the town's most respected residents.

The body of Joan McDonald, was recovered from the river Slaney near the Promenade, at around midday on Saturday and her passing has saddened the entire community.

Mrs McDonald, from Nolan's Lawn and formerly, Drumgoold, was very well known and respected throughout the town and her death has shocked everyone who knew her.

A garda spokesperson said a report was received at around 11.30 a.m. on Saturday and emergency services immediately attended the scene including members of Slaney Search & Rescue and the fire service.

Mrs McDonald's remains were removed by ambulance to Wexford General Hospital.

A private family funeral will take place today, Tuesday, in St Aidan's Cathedral, which will be available to view on the webcam at www.staidanscathedral.ie

Mrs McDonald is survived by her husband, John, children John, Bridget, Maria, and William, and was a beloved sister of Mary, Sean and the late Breda and Nanny.

She is sadly missed by her heartbroken family, grandchildren Sean, Cathal, Aine, Liam and Connie, daughters-in-law Angela, Jesamine and Jenny, Maria's partner Paul, nephews, nieces, extended family, relatives, neighbours and friends.
In UP villagers get cocktail vaccine dose: Covishield first, Covaxin next

ICMR to study effectiveness of Covishield, Covaxin in preventing progression of COVID into severe form

'Will prefer Covishield over Covaxin': Resident doctors at RML hospital

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Jan 16: On a day India began world's biggest vaccination drive against the coronavirus pandemic, resident doctors at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital raised concern over administration of Bharat Biotech vaccine Covaxin and said they would prefer the Covishield vaccine of Serum Institute of India.

"We would like to bring to your notice that the residents are a bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial Covaxin and might not participate in huge numbers thus defeating the purpose of vaccination," said the doctors of RML Hospital.

"We request you to vaccinate us with Covishield which has completed all stages of the trial before its roll out," they added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched India's vaccination drive against the novel coronavirus. A record 3 lakh healthcare workers across the country are scheduled to get vaccinated on the first day across 3,006 vaccination sites.

Meet Manish Kumar, Indias first Covid vaccine recipient

The vaccination programme will use Co-WIN, an online digital platform developed by Union Health Ministry, which will facilitate real-time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and individualised tracking of beneficiaries for COVID-19 vaccine.

Covishield

Covishield vaccine has been developed by the University of Oxford and British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer, Serum Institute of India (SII) -- which is British-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca's manufacturing partner - said that the vaccine would be 90 to 95 per cent effective if the two shots are parted by around 2-3 months.

The overall efficacy of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine was found to be 70.42 per cent - well below vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, but above the 50 per cent threshold set by many regulators.

Covaxin

Covaxin has been developed by Indian biotechnology company Bharat Biotech and clinical research body Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

It is being said, Covaxin an inactivated vaccine which follows one of the oldest methods for vaccinating people.

The vaccine is yet to complete late-stage human clinical trials in India and no efficacy rate has yet been made public.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 17:11 [IST]
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There may be a glimmer of hope in America's ongoing battle against the coronavirus pandemic with the 7-day averages declining in all four regions.

Cases have dropped most significantly in the Midwest, with the region reporting the lowest number of infections in proportion to their population.

Data obtained by The COVID-19 Tracking Project shows that the west of the country is still reporting the highest number of cases, with an outsize number of those coming from California and, in particular, Los Angeles County.

Meanwhile, it appears coronavirus hospitalizations are also slowly declining overall, although several areas are still overwhelmed by incoming patients.

In Los Angeles, intensive care units are still at capacity and some hospitals have started erecting emergency tents in their parking lots in order to treat those seeking care.

Despite the decline in cases, 243,996 new infections were reported in the US on Friday.

A staggering 127, 235 Americans are still in the hospital fighting the virus.

There may be a glimmer of hope in America's ongoing battle against the coronavirus pandemic with the 7-day averages declining in all four regions.

According to The COVID-19 Tracking Project, the 7-day averages for cases are declining in all four regions

It appears coronavirus hospitalizations are also slowly declining overall, although several areas are still overwhelmed by incoming patients

The United States also reported 3,679 new deaths in the 24 hours to Friday evening, taking the total number of fatalities to 391,955.

According to modelling done by the University of Washington, an additional 170,000 Americans are likely to die from the coronavirus by the end of April.

This would take the total above 565,000 deaths, according to CNN.

There are also fears for that the highly-contagious UK strain of the coronavirus, dubbed 'Super COVID' is spreading rapidly through America.

While Super COVID is not thought to be more deadly that other variants of the virus, the first American citizen succumbed to the strain in Houston over the weekend.

And on Friday, health officials in Utah revealed that their first case of strain has been confirmed in a man who had not traveled out of the state.

Super COVID has been detected in New York, California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia and Texas.

Now, a total of 96 Americans have tested positive to the strain.

On Friday, the CDC reported that just 12 million doses have been administered to Americans across the country. However, cities such as Los Angeles are now opening large scale vaccination sites. Pictured: motorists lining up to receive their shot at Dodger Stadium

That makes the need to distribute the vaccines all the more pressing - but the roll-out continues to lag,

On Friday, the CDC reported that just 12 million doses have been administered to Americans across the country.

This is despite the fact that 31 million doses of vaccine have been shipped out to states.

President-elect Biden has pledged to accelerate the vaccine roll-out by setting up better communication between state and federal governments.

'Under President-elect Biden's plan, the federal government will provide regular projections of the allocations states and localities will receive,' a statement from Biden's transition team, obtained by CNN, read.

'The federal government will build on the operational plans in place to ensure the effective distribution, storage, and transit of vaccines to states, including support for maintaining or augmenting the vaccine-specific required cold chain.'

Meanwhile, Rick Bright, a member of Biden's COVID-19 advisory board, told the news network: 'We want to open the floodgates on vaccination and make sure everyone who wants to get vaccinated can do so as quickly as possible.

'It's going to take a lot of effort, a lot of hard work, and we're going to do as much as we can as fast as we can.'
Oregon legislative leaders are heading into the five-month session that begins next week with logistical challenges unimaginable a year ago and a more nebulous agenda than in recent years.

Rather, as was the case in the three special sessions of 2020, the focus will be on helping Oregonians get through the pandemic and recover from deadly wildfires and initiating steps to bring about racial justice.

This session is about responding to crisis and helping people, House Speaker Tina Kotek said during a press briefing organized by the Associated Press on Friday.

The state is at a critical point, given the continuing spread of COVID-19, homelessness and environmental destruction wrought by epic wildfires and community demands for racial justice and equity.

I believe this is a moment of transformation, said Kotek, a Portland Democrat serving a record fifth term as leader of the House. We have to be intentional about building for the future  My focus will be on an equitable recovery.

Kotek and other Democrats, who hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature, did not identify specific bills on Friday as central to addressing the trifecta of COVID-19, wildfires and systemic racism.

In contrast to recent years, there is no single policy priority looming over the session.

In 2017, a landmark transportation package and an ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful run at raising corporate taxes dominated the agenda.

Two years ago, lawmakers knew going into the session they would focus on Democrats plan to raise business taxes to boost education spending. A greenhouse gas cap-and-trade plan also dominated the 2019 session and after it died due to a Republican walkout, it was the overarching proposal in the 2020 short session. Both policy priorities had backing from big political donors: public employee unions and key businesses in the case of the tax, and environmental groups for the pollution bill.

It remains to be seen the degree to which protests against racial injustice and the logistical impacts of legislating during a pandemic might shift power dynamics at the Capitol.

Democratic leaders said proposals by lawmakers in the Black, Indigenous and People of Color Caucus, composed of 12 Democrats, would play a central role in the session. One Republican lawmaker of color, Rep. Raquel Moore-Green of Salem, is of Puerto Rican heritage but currently is not a member of the caucus. Kotek noted on Friday that House lawmakers are split 30-30 this session between men and women, the highest share of women in history to her knowledge, and she said House Republicans contributed by recruiting more women.

House Republican Leader Christine Drazan of Canby said she expects her caucus will focus on issues of urgency to Oregonians, such as the states problems tracking COVID-19 vaccines so they can be used effectively.

Our focus has got to be to address the problems and challenges Oregonians face in real time, to have a mindset of urgency of responsiveness, of transparency, Drazan said.

Another top priority for House Republicans will be to get Oregon students back to in-person classes. We have got to do everything we can to prioritize students, Drazan said.

Drazan said the Legislature should act to keep minimum-security prisons in the small towns of North Bend and Lakeview open, even though Gov. Kate Brown said Friday she has already instructed the Department of Corrections to close the two facilities along with Mill Creek Correctional Facility in Salem, starting with Mill Creek in July.

Senate Republican Leader Fred Girod of Lyons agreed with Drazan that lawmakers should do whatever they can to get students back to in-person instruction. He also pledged to fight any tax increases, including those that would trim tax breaks that largely benefit Oregons wealthiest residents such as eliminating the mortgage interest deduction for second homes, as Gov. Kate Brown and Black community leaders have proposed, and rolling back new tax breaks for businesses and the states top 1% of income earners.

I have a very poor district, I have a district that was ravaged by fires, said Girod, whose home was destroyed by the 2020 wildfires. Girod said his priority is to protect and create jobs and raising taxes could hinder that.

Senate Majority Leader Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, said priorities in his caucus this session include drives to mandate that gun owners safely store their weapons, increase fairness in our tax code, expand affordable housing and pass campaign contribution limits after voters approved a state constitutional amendment to allow them in November.

Kotek said her priorities include finding ways to boost early childhood education and childcare programs hard-hit during the pandemic recession. She noted the Legislature expects to tackle redistricting, the once-a-decade process of redrawing legislative and congressional districts based on new Census data. If lawmakers fail to complete that task, it will fall to the secretary of state.

Legislative leaders and the governor all acknowledged Friday that the challenging logistics of lawmaking during a pandemic, and amid heightened concerns about possible violence at the Capitol, are taking up significant bandwidth.

Drazan and Girod reiterated their concerns on Friday that keeping the Capitol closed to the public makes it more difficult for lawmakers to get crucial input, even if Oregonians can watch all proceedings online and testify over the phone. Girod said he misses meeting in person with lobbyists, even those with whom he disagrees.

Brown said conversations shes had with legislative leaders largely focus on how to keep the Legislature operating. That is radically different than the outset of any other legislative session I can remember, Brown said.

-- Hillary Borrud; hborrud@oregonian.com; @hborrud

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The day President D0nald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol, Jeremy Michael Brown, a retired Special Forces soldier with multiple combat tours, was in Washington, D.C., dressed for battle in body armor, boots and a kevlar helmet.

Brown who had spent months warning the United States was on the verge of tyranny and "total war," said in a brief interview that he had gone to the nation's capital to "provide security" at the rally.

There's no evidence to suggest that Brown, 46, a former master sergeant, entered the Capitol building with rioters, and he has not been charged with any crime. But the killing of a fellow Air Force veteran by police inside the Capitol left Brown enraged at the very government he had over the course of a long military career sworn an oath to defend and serve.

"Wanna shoot an UNARMED VETERAN attempting to UPHOLD her Oath? The SAME oath you F---ING COWARDS seem to forget YOU took YOURSELF!" he wrote in a post on Parler, a social media site increasingly under scrutiny for an abundance of threatening messages. He challenged the Capitol Police to a "duel" and posted a video of the moment Ashli Babbitt was killed.

"WHAT ELSE DO YOU F---ING NEED!" he exhorted his followers on Parler. "WATCH!!! THEN CHOOSE! JOIN or DIE!"

A Washington Post analysis of individuals who breached the Capitol or were in the vicinity of the riots identified 21 people with some prior military service background. Of the 72 arrested or charged by state and federal authorities through Thursday morning, 11 have military backgrounds.

The military personnel and veterans involved in the demonstrations and riot at the Capitol range in age from 33 to 62. A handful of the veterans served in combat or with front-line infantry units in the Army and Marine Corps and spoke regularly of a coming revolution or the need for violent action to purge their country of unspecified enemies. Other veterans at the Capitol on Jan. 6 served for only short stints in the military or were focused more on clerical tasks than preparing for combat. Like many at the riots, they were swept up in conspiracy theories that have taken hold among some of Trump's most fervent supporters and felt called to action by the president's repeated insistence without evidence that the election had been stolen.

The Pentagon hasn't said how many active-duty troops or reservists are under investigation for any role in the protest or the riots, but homegrown militants and white supremacist groups have long targeted veterans for recruitment.

And some analysts who track extremist groups warn that the military has been slow to recognize the problem.

"They are behind in having the capacity to investigate these issues," said Michael Edison Hayden, a spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. "They don't have the proper tools to identify symbols and tattoos and that kind of thing, so it has allowed it to fester for a really long time."

In an extraordinary sign of concern, the Pentagon's top generals emphasized this week in a letter to the force that "the U.S. military will obey lawful orders from civilian leadership" and cautioned that "the rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection."

National security analysts warned that veterans could be particularly susceptible to recruitment by right-wing extremist groups, especially when their messages seem to be in sync with those of the president, who has railed against alleged deep-state actors seeking to rob him of his authority and rig the 2020 election.

"The president has created a permission structure [for troops and veterans]," said Katrina Mulligan, the managing director for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress. "They believe that they are doing what he wants them to do. . . . He's the commander in chief; the person they've been taught more than any other person is the ultimate authority."

Extremist groups also play on veterans' desire to serve a larger cause and leverage the disappointment many feel in a society that constantly tells them that they are special and unique but doesn't always treat them that way.

"There's this need among veterans to be recognized and be part of a solution to something big," said Jason Dempsey, an Afghanistan war veteran and adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. "They want to be seen as patriots and are searching for immediate gratification."

The desire to be seen as superpatriots defending the country from internal threats is a recurrent theme in the statements and social media posts of veterans arrested in the riots.

Jacob Fracker, 29, and Sgt. Thomas "T.J." Robertson, 47, served in the Army and Marine Corps, fought overseas and came home to jobs as police officers in Rocky Mount, Va. The two men posed for a selfie inside the Capitol in front of a statue of John Stark, a Revolutionary War hero.

In one comment included as evidence in the criminal complaint against him, Robertson wrote that he was "PROUD" of the photo. "If you are too much of a coward to risk arrest, being fired, and actual gunfire to secure your rights, you have no words to speak [that] I value," he wrote, according to the complaint.

After his arrest he defended his actions as consistent with his military oath. "I am a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan where I was wounded severely," he added in a statement that he shared with a Roanoke television station. "I fought and bled for the rights of all Americans."

Larry R. Brock, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, who was photographed carrying zip-tie handcuffs on the Senate floor, similarly described himself online as a patriot and savior. Brock, a former A-10 pilot who said he deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, was fired two years ago from his job with an aviation training company for threatening to shoot "members of a particular religion and/or race," according to a 2018 letter of termination submitted by authorities in his case.

A week before he stormed the Capitol, he wrote on Facebook that he saw no distinction among the Democrats, the Biden administration and "an invading force of Chinese communists."

He signed off on the post: "Against all enemies foreign and domestic," a reference to the oath he took as a military officer. He also included hashtags singling out the Oath Keepers and Three Percenters, far-right groups that are known to recruit veterans and police.

Other veterans caught up in the rioting in the Capitol seemed to have fallen prey to the same delusional conspiracy theories that have gripped their civilian counterparts. Jacob Anthony Chansley, who served two years in the Navy as a low-ranking sailor, paraded through the Capitol wearing a fur headdress with horns and a spear. Chansley, who calls himself Q-Shaman, is a fervent believer in QAnon, the conspiracy theory that alleges Trump is fighting to save the United States from a cabal of pedophiles.

Still other veterans arrested in the Capitol riots seemed most interested in garnering attention. Nick Ochs, a former Marine, member of the Proud Boys right-wing group and aspiring right-wing troll, posted a photo of himself smoking a cigarette inside the Capitol during the riots. After the melee, he joked in a video that he was "being sarcastic" when he said he had come to Washington to stop the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's election and expressed delight that his antics, and the violence that left five dead, had caused Congress to pause its work.

Among the chilling questions from last week's riot is how many veterans with combat training are committed to using their skills in defense of their delusional beliefs. Even before the Capitol riots, Brown, who Army officials said deployed twice each to Iraq and Afghanistan, sought to recruit his fellow Green Berets on Twitter to join a group he was trying to form in Texas.

"We CANNOT rely on Politicians and to Tyrants. That is like asking a child to stop the Ice Cream from selling Ice Cream," he wrote in May on Twitter. "There's but one weapon against Tyranny & that is the PATRIOT!!! Start mobilizing your neighborhoods. America is under attack!"

- - -

The Washington Post's Paul Sonne and Jennifer Jenkins contribued to this report.
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Firefighters at the scene of the blaze

Charity workers in Belfast are paying to replace food parcels out of their own pockets after a fire destroyed their premises in what police are treating as a hate crime.

There was widespread condemnation after the two-storey Belfast Multi-Cultural Association building on Donegall Pass was gutted in a blaze on Thursday.

The organisation said it believed the fire was started deliberately and that it had been subject to hostility and Islamaphobia for years.

No one was inside the premises at the time, but it took 50 firefighters using jets and high reach appliances to bring the blaze under control.

Charity trustee Muhammad Atif said it was heartbreaking, but it was determined to carry on its work helping the local community.

The building was completely gutted and food parcels inside for the needy lost.

Its stressful and very difficult, we still cant believe it, Mr Atif said.

Were working from home because we dont want to let the people down that we help.

We have volunteers working from home providing that food out of their own pockets, because all of the food that was packed up last night was still in the centre.

Its not a great position to be in. But well survive, well get through it.

He added: It seems like there will be nothing left in the building because the fire was actually in the roof, but the amount of water they had to use to put the fire out was very destructive.

Its not safe to be in the building anymore. The ceiling in the ground floor may also collapse.

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Addressing those responsible, he said: I still hate to believe that someone has done it deliberately.

But if someone was out of their mind and did it, I would just tell them we are doing this for the local community.

We are open for anybody who is Catholic, Protestant or Muslim... any religion.

What we work for is humanity. Im happy to sit down with anyone that wants to see what we are doing. All we can say is: We are one of you, please treat us as one of you.

If you want to ask something, please come forward and ask, because were happy to help.

First Minister Arlene Foster and deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill branded it a despicable attack.

They said: First and foremost our thoughts are with all those across the community who use the centre. The Belfast Multi-Cultural Association is a vital hub for minority communities in the city, and this mindless destruction will have a huge impact on many peoples lives.

This was a despicable attack. It not only caused significant damage to what is a well-used community facility, but it also endangered the lives of the firefighters who had to battle to extinguish the blaze.

Police are investigating along with their Fire Service colleagues and have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
MINSK -- Belarusian authorities say the countrys new nuclear power plant has been taken offline during testing procedures after the generator protection system was triggered.

At 7:02 p.m., Unit 1 at the Astravets plant was disconnected from the network after the generator protection system was activated, the Energy Ministry said in a statement on January 16.

This occurred during the pilot industrial operation of Power Unit 1, as part of which the systems and equipment are being tested," the ministry said, adding that radiation levels in the area were normal.

In November 2020, just three days after it was inaugurated near the western city of Astravets, Belarus's only nuclear plant halted electricity production after voltage transformers were said to have exploded.

The plant resumed operations several days later.

Upon its planned completion in 2022, the plant, built by Russian state-owned firm Rosatom and financed by Moscow with a $10 billion loan, is to have two reactor units.

The facility's construction has been divisive among Belarusians, who suffered greatly as a result of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Belarus saw a quarter of its territory contaminated in the world's worst civilian nuclear accident.

Lithuania, whose capital, Vilnius, is just 50 kilometers away, also opposed the project.
WhatsApp on Friday postponed a data-sharing change as users concerned about privacy fled the Facebook-owned messaging service and flocked to rivals Telegram and Signal.

The smartphone app, a huge hit across the world, canceled its February 8 deadline for accepting an update to its terms concerning sharing data with Facebook, saying it would use the pause to clear up misinformation around privacy and security.

"We've heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update," WhatsApp said in a blog post.

"This update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook."

It said it would instead "go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15."

The update concerns how merchants using WhatsApp to chat with customers can share data with Facebook, which could use the information for targeted ads, according to the social network.

"We can't see your private messages or hear your calls, and neither can Facebook," WhatsApp said in an earlier blog post.

"We don't keep logs of who everyone is messaging or calling. We can't see your shared location and neither can Facebook."

Location data along with message contents is encrypted end-to-end, according to WhatsApp.

"We're giving businesses the option to use secure hosting services from Facebook to manage WhatsApp chats with their customers, answer questions, and send helpful information like purchase receipts," WhatsApp said in a post.

"Whether you communicate with a business by phone, email, or WhatsApp, it can see what you're saying and may use that information for its own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook."

Technology experts note that WhatsApp's new requirement of its users makes legally binding a policy that has been widely in use since 2016.

Facebook aims to monetize WhatsApp by allowing businesses to contact clients via the platform, making it natural for the internet giant to centralize some data on its servers.

Countries concerned

The Turkish Competition Authority said it is opening an investigation and requiring WhatsApp to suspend the data sharing obligation on its users.

Several Turkish state organizations -- including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's media office -- switched to Turkcell telecom's new messaging service BiP in response.

The terms of service tweak also put WhatsApp in the crosshairs in Italy and India, where a petition has been filed in a Delhi court.

WhatsApp's notice to users lacked clarity and its privacy implications need to be carefully evaluated, Italian data protection agency GPDP said in a post at its website.

GPDP said it has shared its concerns with the European Data Protection Board and reserved the right to intervene in the matter.

Facebook has come under increasing pressure from regulators as it tries to integrate its services.

The EU fined the US social media giant 110 million euros (then $120 million) for providing incorrect and misleading information about its 2014 takeover of WhatsApp concerning the ability to link accounts between the services.

Federal and state regulators in US have accused Facebook of using its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram to squelch competition and filed antitrust lawsuits last month that aim to force the company to divest them.

Privacy paramount

User privacy fears have been mounting, with Uber careful to stress that a change in app terms taking effect on January 18 has nothing to do with sharing data.

Encrypted messaging app Telegram has seen user ranks surge on the heels of the WhatsApp service terms announcement, said its Russia-born founder Pavel Durov.

"People no longer want to exchange their privacy for free services," Durov said without directly referring to the rival app.

Encrypted messaging app Signal has also seen a huge surge in demand, helped by a tweeted recommendation by billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.

WhatsApp has sought to reassure worried users, even running full-page newspaper adverts in India, proclaiming that "respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA".

Liam Rossiter is one of approximately 90,000 people living with the condition in Ireland

The Irish Heart Foundation is urging the estimated 2,700 people living with heart failure in Louth to engage with new supports it has established during Covid-19 restrictions.

With almost 300 new cases every year in Louth, the Foundation's new support service will help thousands of people nationwide to live normal, full and active lives with their condition.

It has launched a range of supports, including online groups and a podcast presented by retired RTE presenter Michael Lyster, who has experienced heart failure.

'Patients with heart failure and other cardiac conditions have real fears and a sense of isolation during the current climate of escalating Covid cases,' said Lucinda McNerney, Heart Failure Programme Manager.

'The supports, which include our new podcast series, Nurse Support Line, new heart failure web page, Heart Support Network, online meetings, daily exercise on Facebook and peer to peer support, will help patients and their families to keep well at home both physically and mentally.'

Liam Rossiter, 54, who is one of approximately 90,000 people living with the condition in Ireland. He fell ill in 2017 and put his symptoms down to a lack of exercise and travelling long distances to visit his hospitalised father.

But when his breathing deteriorated and he began to turn blue, he needed hospital care himself and had to have fluid drained from his heart. 'I was brought to a CATH lab and during that procedure (draining of fluid) it stopped, although with a shot of adrenaline they got me going again,' said the avid cyclist. 'Ultimately, it turned out I had developed a virus sometime in 2017, a bit like a flu and it got to my heart and damaged the left ventricle, which is the pumping side of the heart.'

Now Liam is encouraging people in a similar situation to engage with the new supports being set up by the Irish Heart Foundation, which offers him vital reassurance and advice after the 'scary diagnosis.'

A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
The Shoals community is mourning after a nurse has died of coronavirus while her firefighter husband continues to battle the virus.

Rebecca Haddock died at a hospital in Tennessee Friday after being transported Thursday night. She was a beloved nurse at the North Alabama Medical Center.



This photo of Rebecca and Brandon Haddock was posted to a GoFundMe page for Rebecca Haddock created by Gabi Howard This photo of Rebecca and Brandon Haddock was posted to a GoFundMe page for Rebecca Haddock created by Gabi Howard

Haddock's husband, Brandon, is also at NAMC fighting the virus but he's doing better, according to his co-workers at the Florence Fire Department.

The family have two little boys ages 8 and 4.

Haddock's friends described her as a mom who went above and beyond for her boys. A loving wife to her husband, too, and a nurse's nurse where she worked.

Her friend, Cindy Mitchell, said Haddock was their leader, someone they all looked up to.

"Very much a hands-on mama and so involved in her little boys' lives, and I just hope everybody knows that and sees that we're all vulnerable to this disease," said Mitchell.

Mitchell worked with Rebecca Haddock in Florence since 2013, until she left over the summer to take a job with another hospital. Mitchell said she and Rebecca still talked regularly. She said they were more than coworkers. They were friends.

"We spend more time with each other at work than we do with our families. We spend 12 plus hours a day with each other dealing with things that unless your a nurse you can't imagine," said Mitchell.

That bond and sisterhood of being a nurse is something Mitchell said can't be broken, but losing her friend to a virus she and others have been fighting, a virus Rebecca fought, still causes an unimaginable pain.

"We're all human as nurses and we are on the frontlines and we are called heroes, but we don't look at ourselves like heroes. We are very much not heroes. If we were heroes, we wouldn't be sick," said Mitchell.

Thursday night, Mitchell and other nurses gathered in the parking lot of NAMC to pray for Rebecca as she was being transported to Tennessee. Mitchell said they wanted to show love for Rebecca and her family.

"We needed to be together, Brandon needed to know he's not alone in this fight, her mom needed to know she's not alone in this fight, and that we were all here for Rebecca and we love her," said Mitchell.

Many people praying for the Haddock family. Rebecca's husband relayed a message through one of his supervisors asking that people lift all frontline workers up in prayer.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family. You can find more information on that HERE
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

A widely scattered shower or thunderstorm is possible this evening. Then cloudy skies overnight. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

A widely scattered shower or thunderstorm is possible this evening. Then cloudy skies overnight. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Liz Truss will jump on a plane to the US as soon as she can to lobby President Biden to drop punitive tariffs on Scotch whisky, sources said last night.

The International Trade Secretary had hoped to strike a last-minute deal with President Trumps outgoing administration to remove the billions of pounds levied by Washington in 2019 on British products such as whisky, salmon and cashmere in a row with the EU.

For the Scotch whisky industry alone, it has led to export losses approaching 450 million. But it is understood that only half of the terms of a post-Brexit trade deal with the US have been finalised, leaving the rest to be negotiated by Ms Truss with Katherine Tai, the new trade supremo appointed by Mr Biden.

Liz Truss (pictured) will jump on a plane to the US as soon as she can to lobby President Biden to drop punitive tariffs on Scotch whisky, sources said last night

For the Scotch whisky industry alone, it has led to export losses approaching 450 million

In a long-running dispute, the US imposed the tariffs on the EU in retaliation for support given to Airbus, the European aerospace corporation. The EU responded with tariffs on 3 billion of US goods over subsidies given to American-based plane-maker Boeing. The UK suspended the tariffs from January 1.

The Scotch Whisky Association says that exports to the US have fallen by more than 30 per cent in the past year, hitting brands such as Bells.

A source close to Ms Truss said last night: No one has fought harder on the Scotch whisky issue than Liz and she is going to continue to push it with the Biden administration. She absolutely understands the pain of whisky producers and is determined to get these tariffs lifted to support jobs.

We are determined to be proactive  deal-makers rather than deal-takers. This whole issue shows why were better off as an independent trading nation.

The EU did very little to end this 16-year dispute and has failed to stand up for UK interests and Scottish interests in particular. Liz will be pressing hard on this with Ms Tai and will jump on a plane to the US as soon as she can.

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Teddy Johnson has a very clear fantasy for what hes going to do the day the pandemic is over  whatever that day might look like, and whenever it may be.

Hes banking on the day being sunny, perhaps the temperature of early summer. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) by Whitney Houston will be playing everywhere  on the streets of New York City, where he lives; on the subway; and definitely in the club where Mr. Johnson will gather with all his friends. He will wear a cropped white tank top with speckles of paint all over it with his favorite pair of tight bell-bottoms and stunner sunglasses.

I cant wait to dance with my friends, said Mr. Johnson, 28, over the phone from his apartment in Manhattan. It wont erase the pain of last year, which was compounded for Mr. Johnson by the loss of his job, but the dance floor fantasy is soothing  something to look forward to. Dancing is as important to me as water, he said. Thinking about getting on a dance floor with the people I love is getting me through this stay-at-home life.

Mr. Johnsons fantasy may seem premature  most of us wont be rushing back to a crowded dance floor, no matter how much we miss it  but experts say that fantasizing, forward thinking and using ones imagination are powerful tools for getting people through difficult times.
The embattled Congress party is likely to face more challenges in the upcoming Assam assembly polls that are a couple of months away. Infighting, lack of credible leaders and the absence of three-time chief minister and senior party leader Tarun Gogoi could make the contest against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a David-vs-Goliath fight.

Gogoi, who was credited with reining in the culture of violence in Assam and ushering in an era of development, passed away on November 30.

Nevertheless, the Congress has set the ball rolling for the elections by announcing a slew of schemes for the farming community and economically weaker section, who have been hit hard by the COVID-triggered nation-wide lockdown last year. Coming at a time when a protracted farmers agitation has put the Narendra Modi government in a fix, the grand old party would not miss any opportunity to highlight the purported failures of the ruling BJP in agriculture, economy and other sectors.

In Assam, the Congress has promised farm loan waver, implementation of minimum income guarantee scheme NYAY, free electricity up to 120 units for the poor and middle class and ensure at least one job for each family, among others. It is the same NYAY that failed to make the cut in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The party is more or less following the same model as the one set by the Congress-ruled states such as Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh. It has highlighted how farmers of Assam, like the rest of the country, had to resort to distress sale in the absence of the minimum support price (MSP). Notably, the agitating farmers have been demanding the scrapping of the three controversial farms and making MSP applicable to all crops.

Related stories Reconsider giving 12 Assam oilfields to pvt cos:Cong to Centre

At present, only a handful of crops, including wheat and paddy are procured at MSP, leaving the rest at the mercy of private players.

Congress dilemma in Assam

While the ruling BJP has almost firmed up its alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad and the United Peoples Party Liberal (UPPL), the Congress is still undecided over poll pacts. The UPPL together with the saffron party clinched the recently concluded Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) polls in Assam.

The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) led by perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal is keen to join hands with the Congress, but a section within the Assam Congress seems to be reluctant in forming an alliance primarily because the former is seen as a party sympathetic to the suspected illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

Assam has long fought over the issue of illegal immigrants, irrespective of religion. Starting from the six-year anti-foreigner agitation in the 1980s until the recent National Citizens Register (NRC) for Assam and the protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the states indigenous people have been demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants.

Against this backdrop, a direct alliance with AIUDF would sound the death knell for the Congress, which is anyway gasping for breath. Interestingly, the Congress and the AIUDF jointly fought the Bodo council elections with the former winning just one seat out of total 40.

The minority-dominated AIUDF failed to open its account, indicating that even the Muslims, who account for 19.21 percent of the total 31 lakh population in Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), did not vote for Ajmals party.

An embarrassed Congress is now trying to distance itself from the AIUDF, as Congress general secretary in-charge of Assam Jitendra Singh said last week, I said it a thousand times before and I will say it again. The Congress hasnt yet finalised the issue of alliance. Any decision on alliance with AIUDF, Left parties or any other party will be made following consultations with our party workers.

It is clear that the Congress high command has not yet given the green signal despite Ajmal reiterating that two parties would contest the polls together.

Congress - a divided house

The Congress ruled the state for three consecutive terms from 2002 to 2016. In the last elections, the party managed to win just 26 seats out of 126 seats, down from 79 it had won in the 2011 polls. Organisationally, the party is weak and it has lost touch with the people. There has been no young blood in the Congress ever since the youth brigade led by master strategist Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the BJP in 2015.

The current president, Ripun Bora, does not seem to enjoy support of all senior party leaders. In fact, there were murmurs about the high command effecting a leadership change, but that did not materialise and now there is no time for making any changes given the party has sounded the poll bugle.

If that were not enough, the party last month received a jolt when two MLAs -- Ajanta Neog, who used to be a minister in the Tarun Gogoi cabinet and Rajdeep Gowala -- joined the saffron party over what they called ideological differences and lack of discipline in the party. The exit of the two legislators has robbed the Congress of its Leader of Opposition post as the partys current strength in the assembly has been reduced to 20.

Time is ticking and the Congress cannot undo what it has already done in terms choosing an effective leader from among the likes of Debrabrata Saikia and Pradyut Bordoloi, who talk sense and seem to have a better grasp over local issues than those calling the shots in the party.

Ankara, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine has drawn a positive response in Turkey, as the country begins a mass vaccination campaign.

Turkey launched Thursday the mass vaccination program against COVID-19 with the vaccines developed by China's Sinovac company.

According to the Turkish Health Ministry, the first doses will be given to over 1 million health workers across the country, followed by adults living in nursing homes.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday received his first dose of the vaccine.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Wednesday received the Chinese COVID-19 Sinovac vaccine along with Turkey's advisory science council members, one day before the nationwide vaccination began.

Turkey received the first shipment of 3 million doses of vaccines from China at the end of December, as part of a deal for a total of 50 million, and expects to get the rest in the upcoming period.

As I write this, it is an unusual day in my world.

We are told these are dark times. And maybe they areI dont know. I tend to think we are a country ran by two sides of the same coin. And right now the two sides seem to both consist of people who were not raised to check their impulses.

This too will change. Everything changes. And as unsettled as it all seems, very little will come of any of what we see happening in Washington D.C. today. There should be no pride in Congress  neither inside or out. They no longer govern as much as they try and one up one another. It is a style of leadership that will only lead to division.

There has been a part of the country attracted to progressivism for about a hundred years now in the United States, and another portion of the population is terrified of even the smallest move toward more progressivism leading into full blown socialism. They fear they will wake up one day and have the equivalent of a Venezuelan zip code.

This has been a fear a long time. If you ever catch old Archie Bunker reruns  from before my generation was even bornand I am just shy of 50  they were worried about the same issues argued about now. It would have been around the same time frame when Joe Biden entered politics. There was the energy crisis and concerns about socialism and the Russians and wellseems like we havent moved the ball too far down the proverbial field.

Dwight Eisenhower  who prior to serving as president during the 1950s was a five-star Army General and served as Supreme Commander of Allied Expeditions during World War II  warned against fast fixes. He also warned about how a powerful network of government-funded, technological elite could try and take power away from citizenry. He warned about how unchecked power can lead to national ruin.

I like to think that we as a country are capable of balance. I mean, we are more apt than ever to take to the streets hollering and burning stuff, and at the moment there are more National Guard troops stationed at the United States Capitol than are currently serving in the Middle East, but as an advanced society of peopleI hope calmer heads will soon prevail.

Because as I mentioned, today is an unusual day in my world. It is a good day. Today  or if not today within a couple  my middle daughter is set to deliver not one, but two new citizens into these United States  Walker Benjamin Elliott and William Bowen Elliott. Walker and Willis as we already call them.

We have been waiting for their arrival. She has been preparing for them. Her husband has been preparing himself for them. I just hope the world is ready for them.

These two will be my fifth and sixth grandchildren, with the seventh  Meredith Pearl  set to arrive around the Fourth of July.

These are the things for which I am most proud. They are all any of us will leave behind. We build houses like we will be here forever, but we wont. We are only passing through this world, preparing it, so to speak, for those yet to come

I hope we have leaders with enough character to achieve that, and who realize they were elected to be good stewards of what has been built, not creators of some new vision. We deserve to continue to have a country into which we can confidently welcome children and grandchildren.

Amanda Walker is a contributor with AL.com, The Selma Times Journal, Thomasville Times, West Alabama Watchman, and Alabama Gazette. Contact her at Walkerworld77@msn.com or at https://www.facebook.com/AmandaWalker.Columnist.
Amid the largest mass deaths on the European continent since the end of the Second World War, the first meeting in the new year of the Network of Action Committees for Safe Education took place January 11.

In introducing the online meeting, which included several dozen pupils, teachers, parents and students, Gregor Link of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) referred to the now almost 400,000 confirmed COVID deaths in the European Union and noted that the coronavirus mutation B.1.1.7 was already spreading rapidly through open schools in many countries. In Germany alone, 6,000 people died last weekcomparable to the crash of thirteen to fourteen jumbo jets.

Classroom in Dortmund, Germany, August 13, 2020 (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

These people did not simply fall victim to a natural disaster. Their deaths are the result of a deliberate policy pursued by the ruling class throughout Europe. They have deliberately allowed the virus to spread and have refused to carry out the necessary closures of schools, day-care centres, offices and businesses that, together with comprehensive testing and quarantine measures, would allow the pandemic to be contained and eradicated.

Instead, according to Link, all measures were aimed at keeping profits bubbling away at all costs and protecting the fortunes of the capitalist oligarchs, many of whom have profited from the pandemic.

All over the world, he said, caregivers, teachers, educators and parents faced the same life-and-death issues. In the US, workers confronted a state-directed conspiracy that culminated in a violent storming of the capitol building in Washington on January 6. The fascist coup attempt, which enjoyed the support of significant sections of the Republican Party, the state apparatus and the military, showed how the ruling class around the world was relying on authoritarian methods, Link said.

The international guest at the meeting was Thomas Scripps from the UK, who heads the work of the IYSSE. Scripps explained that the devastating situation there was also the result of deliberate political decisions by the entire ruling class.

The situation in Britain should be taken as a real warning to the rest of the world, he explained. More and more hospitals are warning that they are on the verge of collapse. For London, the certainty is that in a fortnight, there will be no beds left. The government has tried to shift the responsibility for this appalling situation onto the new, mutated strain of the virus. But it created the conditions for the mutation to develop in the first place with its murderous policy of herd immunity.

As in Germany, Scripps commented, the British elite had imposed a supposed lockdown in recent weeks, designed primarily to protect corporate profits.

The government, he continued, even threatened to take several local councillors to court before the Christmas holidays for attempting to close schools three days early. In face of massive opposition from staff, schools have now supposedly been closed. But in reality, in many places, they still have 50 percent attendance because everyone has to continue to go to work.

Scripps pointed out that Prime Minister Boris Johnsons policy of herd immunity and opening schools was supported by both the Labour Party and the trade unions. While the unions categorically rejected any strike action against the COVID-19 threat, Labour leader Keir Starmer had thrown his full weight behind the governments course in the name of national unity. Scripps concluded:

The rank-and-file action committees are there to organise workers and young people independently of the fraudulent unions and to save lives. The real allies of students, educators and bus drivers are their colleagues in other industries and around the world. Every aspect of this pandemic proves that there are no national solutions to the great crisis facing humanity. The virus must be brought under control at the international level and the big companies pushing the policy of herd immunity must be fought at the international level.

As the discussion continued, pupils, parents and students spoke about the growing opposition in their communities and the political conclusions that were being drawn. A medical student from Berlin recalled the desperate situation in intensive care units and the tireless work of the nurses. Two single mothers condemned the propaganda campaign in parts of the media and the immense pressure that government policies put on working-class families.

High school student Meret from Bremen recounted how she and her classmates had managed to halve the size of school classes on their own in December with the support of teaching staff and against the will of the education authority.

In December, given the death toll, we realised that it could not go on like this. One night, we started spreading a statement via WhatsApp and various social mediawithin a couple of hours, it spread widely. So, from one day to the next, we managed to reduce the number of students to half in some cases.

In the new year, however, Meret says the situation had worsened to such an extent that face-to-face teaching was no longer an option.

I work at weekends as a nursing assistant and I strongly oppose the idea that students should return to face-to-face classes from next week. If our demand to close schools is not implemented, we will organise a strike again. Because of the situation, we have realised that we are the only ones who can help. No one else will close the schools unless we explicitly demand it. Just a few people can be enough to kick things off.

Joshua, a student from Nuremberg, also stressed the importance of organising resistance to the pervasiveness policy independently of the bourgeois parties and trade unions.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in spring, all the establishment parties have resorted to brazen lies, cover-ups and propaganda to keep businesses open, force pupils to attend classes and children and educators into day-care centres. In Hamburg, a study by the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf was suppressed for months, which proved that there had been several large outbreaks of infections in schools. Although the study was known, all state governments claimed that schools were infection-proof.

The death of Kreuzberg (Berlin) teacher Soydan A. exemplified the effects of this criminal policy, he said.

Other speakers pointed out that the courageous initiative of the Bremen students was part of a mass movement in the making. Since November, there have been school strikes and protests in Bochum, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Essen, Bremen and Worms, among other places, reported Florian, a student from Baden-Wurttemberg, for example. They were organised by pupils who organised themselves independently. He said that the protests by students, nurses and other workers in France, Poland and Greece in recent months showed that resistancejust like the pandemicwas developing on an international scale.

Clemens, who works in a day-care centre in Bavaria, linked the coronavirus crisis to unprecedented social inequality and pointed to the soaring stock markets that parallel the number of deaths.

The DAX [German stock market] is feasting upon mass deaths, ending the year at an all-time high. Meanwhile, the pandemic is exacerbating social inequality. Many large companies like Lufthansa are using the pandemic to push through mass layoffs. The total wealth of the 2,000 dollar billionaires has increased by 8.7 trillion this year.

Christoph Vandreier, Vice-Chair of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) took up these points and noted:

It is obvious that there can be no individual answer to this pandemic. In face of policies in the interests of the super-rich that keep giving free rein to the virus, we must formulate a programme that places the protection of the population at the centre. This includes the defence of all jobs and incomes. The very real issue of educational inequality must not be played off against the fight against the pandemic under any circumstances! Instead, schools, day-care centres and all non-essential factories and offices must be closed.

Workers must be fully compensated. The billions and trillions must be reclaimed from the banks and corporations and used to guarantee all families a reasonable standard of living and the necessary technical equipment. To do this, it is now necessary to build a socialist international movement against capitalist barbarism. In waging this struggle, we are confronted with a ruling elite that is prepared to walk over corpsesits real policies are no different from those of the Trump administration.
This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices.
Unruly foreigners in Bali are laughing in the faces of authorities trying to enforce COVID-19 rules.

The behaviour is now testing the patience of those tasked to ensure everyone is wearing face masks and obeying coronavirus regulations.

There are even plans to increase the fines for foreigners failing to wear a mask to make sure the penalty hits the hip-pocket.

Foreigners are causing havoc in Bali as they disobey Covid rules and laugh in the faces of authorities doing their job (tourist speaking to police above)

Authorities are considering increasing fines for foreigners who fail to meet Covid regulations to 500,000 Rupiah as a result

And restaurants are being urged to refuse service to anyone failing to don a mask.

The head of the public order police in the Badung administration, Suryanegara, told AAP his troops felt like their dignity was being harassed by ignorant foreigners, who act like COVID-19 is not real.

In Bali, Covid numbers are rapidly increasing with 579 deaths and more than 20,255 confirmed cases.

As a result, Bali has declared Denpasar, Badung, Jembrana, Tabanan, and Gianyar as red zones.

The fine for failing to wear a mask is 100,000 Rupiah or about $10 and Suryanegara said they were now considering increasing it to up to 500,000 Rupiah or about $50.

For those who claim not to have cash on them to pay the fine, authorities have been making them drop to the ground and do push ups. But most foreigners consider this a joke.

'How could I not be annoyed? Sometimes we feel that we have been abused in our country,' Suryanegara said of the attitude of some foreigners who had remained in Bali throughout the pandemic.

'They usually laugh when we tell them to do push ups. They do it, but they are laughing. There is no regret shown on their faces. It doesn't work,' he said.

He said many shouted and yelled at his officers, asking things like 'What do you know about the pandemic', 'Do you think the virus is walking around the beach' and 'Do you think we can be infected by the virus when we are riding motorbikes.'

'They often shout at us. Unfortunately we can't scold them. It's a test of our patience. It seems that most foreigners in Bali don't believe that COVID is real.'

Those who don't pay the fine are made to drop and do push ups, but foreigners think it's all a joke as they shout and yell at officers. Pictured: Vaccination drill in Bali

He said when his officers were standing at roadside checkpoints, foreigners would deliberately speed up their motorbikes and some even pretended they wanted to run them down.

'Not only do they not wear masks, many foreigners also don't wear helmets, speed up their motorbikes carelessly. It is very unsettling.'

Suryanegara said foreigners causing most of the trouble are from eastern Europe, often Russia. He said 80 per cent of those fined for refusing to wear face masks were foreigners.

He said there was also an emerging problem that some foreigners who had remained in Bali throughout the pandemic were now running out of money, had not paid their rent and were becoming homeless.
Denver, COOne of the most endearing and unique aspects of Kevin Schewe's Bad Love Gang sci-fi book series are the numerous songs which pop up to highlight a scene, a mood or a moment in time to never forget. One of the main characters continually engages what he calls his musical brain to enhance the engaging narrative. In a startling coincidence, President Barack Obama has embraced this same mode of communication by creating a Spotify playlist tied to his new book, A Promised Land.

Now fans of the Bad Love Gang books are creating playlist from the books, on Spotify, which follow the exact order in which the songs are presented. The songs range in origin from the 1950s to the late 1970s and are filled with classics from The Beatles, Elvis, Led Zeppelin, Frank Sinatra and many others, both famous and not-so-famous. Because of alien world time-travel elements within each story, the songs are also employed as a form of universal communication device to foster better relations.

Access playlists for books in order, Bad Love Strikes, Bad Love Tigers and Bad Love Beyond

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1AwFhhNMTfEFUlkqKUezuT?si=rvgy3dWJSdu0bjVkBkiH0g 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0asaAVGjxsn8QjoI1X4Bb1 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ODX1oC3N4Yq8YPLVPUggj 

In Bad Love Strikes, the Bad Love Gang discovers The White Hole project, a "backup plan" time-travel machine created by President Franklin Roosevelt in case America lost the race to create the first atomic bomb.

In the exciting sequel Bad Love Tigers, the Bad Love Gang uses the White Hole project to travel back to 1945 to thwart Russian spies and protect the secrets of Area 51, before heading to China to volunteer with the AVG Flying Tigers under General Claire Chennault. Now, in Bad Love Beyond, the gang must travel not just through time, but through space as well to learn the reason behind Blue Nova One's mysterious visit to earth.

One of the most compelling aspects of the series is how the author carefully researched and portrays the real historical figures, such as President Roosevelt or a young and older President Gerald Ford, or accurately describes the effort to build the first nuclear weapon or the combat capabilities of a World War II fighter aircraft. A history buff since childhood, Kevin Schewe, a renowned MD and entrepreneur, then inserts a group of friends, like the chums from his youth, and sends them on important missions throughout time and space. Along the way various popular songs of the day pop up to highlight a mood or a moment in time to never forget.

Schewe, who has a background in physics, has always loved stories about time travel. "These stories just come to life in such an organic way," Schewe says. "They combine my childhood memories with my love of history and time travel

Be sure to watch the exciting book trailers for Bad Love series: https://bit.ly/BadLoveStrikes-Trailer and https://bit.ly/BadLoveTigers_Trailer and https://bit.ly/BadLoveBeyondTrailer.

"The Bad Love Gang is back at it with an ample supply of action, adventure, espionage, intrigue and suspense. Bad Love Beyond is like flying through the Museum of Natural History, the National Air and Space Museum, Jurassic Park and Captain Kirk's starship with a wonderful tour guide." David A. Holladay, M.D.

"Bad Love Beyond is the newest volume of the Bad Love series and once again the author mixes history with fantasy so successfully that the book both entertains and informs. Skillful writing, a zesty sense of humor, an appreciation for pop culture, and the ability to create memorably entertaining characters combine to make this an immensely impressive novel." Grady Harp, Top 50 Amazon Hall of Fame Reviewer, 5-Stars

Whether you're a history buff, a time-travel buff, a sci-fi lover, or are just in need of a fun book to cheer you up, Bad Love Beyond is the adventure you've been waiting for. Grab your copy today!

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Kevin L. Schewe, MD, FACRO is a board-certified cancer specialist who has been in the private practice of radiation oncology for over 33 years. He is an entrepreneur, having founded Elite Therapeutics and Bad Love Cosmetics Company, LLC. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of a small, publicly-traded, renewable, green energy and animal feed company called VIASPACE, Inc. Bad Love Beyond is the sequel to the bestselling Bad Love Tigers which was the sequel to his bestselling debut novel Bad Love Strikes. You can connect with Schewe through his website KevinSchewe.com or Instagram: @realkevinschewe.

Bad Love Beyond, ASIN: B08P5VSMNZ, Broken Crow Ridge Publishing, 2020, ebook: $2.99, 258 pages, available on Amazon and www.jancarolpublishing.com.

Media Contact: For a review copy of Bad Love Beyond, or previous books in the series, or to arrange an interview with Dr. Kevin Schewe, contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications Book Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.comor by phone at 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @abookpublicist.
Los Angeles: Actor Freida Pinto will be essaying the role of Britains World War II spy Noor Inayat Khan in an upcoming limited series. Based on Shrabani Basus Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan", the project hails from writer Olivia Hetreedand Red Room Films, reported Deadline.

Khan was born in Moscow in 1914 to Indian father Hazrat Inayat Khan and American mother Ora Ray Baker. She was sent to Nazi-occupied France in 1943 as an undercover radio operator for Britains Special Operations Executive (SOE). But Khan was betrayed, arrested and killed in Dachau Concentration Camp at the age of 30.

She was a fierce and amazing woman, the most unlikely heroine of World War 2. Sending women to the front line is controversial even now. Then it was unthinkable. Sending a Sufi mystic, who wont use a gun, daughter of a long-haired Indian Guru who preaches love and peace ridiculous! But Noor thrives, not in spite of her differences, but because of them," Pinto, who will also serve as an executive producer on the series, said. The 36-year-old actor asserted that she aims to explore Khans inner struggle and complex sense of duty with her portrayal. Pinto is known for movies such as Slumdog Millionaire", Immortals" and Rise of the Planet of the Apes".

The series will be directed by Anand Tucker, who previously helmed films like Hilary and Jackie", Shopgirl" and Leap Year". The life story of Khan was most recently depicted in a film from filmmaker Sarah Megan Thomas.

Actor Radhika Apte portrayed Khan in the movie, which was recently released on Amazon Prime Video.

Washington  The New York National Guard will deploy 250 soldiers to Washington from an infantry brigade headquartered in Syracuse to provide extra security ahead of Joe Bidens presidential inauguration.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday he received a request for the additional troops from the secretary of the Army and National Guard officials in Washington.

Cuomo already sent 1,000 members of the New York National Guard to Washington last week after a violent mob incited by President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. Most of those soldiers have been deployed in and around the Capitol.

The 250 soldiers in the latest deployment are part of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team headquartered at Hancock Field, said Eric Durr, a spokesman for the National Guard unit.

Most of the soldiers to be deployed report to the brigades 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry unit in Utica, Durr said.

All told, 7,200 National Guard soldiers from 14 states and the District of Columbia have now been deployed to the nations capital ahead of Bidens inauguration, Durr said, part of a buildup to 25,000 soldiers expected by the inauguration on Wednesday.

The violence at the Capitol has led to unprecedented security for the inauguration, with most streets and subway stations locked down and closed for blocks around the Capitol, White House and National Mall.

The FBI warned Wednesday of potential violence ahead of the inauguration. A bulletin alerted law enforcement nationwide about potential attacks on state capitols, federal buildings, and the homes of members of Congress.

READ MORE

Rep. John Katko asks for a national commission to investigate US Capitol attack

Trump to leave Washington on morning of Bidens inauguration

Lawyer: QAnon Shaman was following Trumps instructions when he stormed Capitol

John Katko among 10 House Republicans who vote to impeach Trump

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
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Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer

Health insurer Humana has committed more than $2.5 million to COVID-19 relief efforts across Texas, with about 20 percent going to organizations that benefit San Antonio area residents.

Communities In Schools of Texas received $250,000 for a crisis fund for students in the largest school districts in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. The fund provides assistance for rent, utilities, food, clothing and personal hygiene items during the COVID-19 pandemic.
How do we want our democracy to work? Three government branches--legislative, judicial and executive--of equal power? Or the judicial beholden to the legislative? House Bill 38 promises disruption of the balance.

Judicial elections for appellate court positions would be by districts instead of statewide. District lines would be drawn by the leadership of the General Assembly. If the leadership didnt agree with a judges decision, or to swing the balance on a court, they could gerrymander district boundaries. Instead of an independent judiciary, Pennsylvanias Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth Court judges would be accountable to legislative leaders.

Further problems presented by HB 38 are multiple.

Emphasizes location over qualifications.

Fails to identify transition for current judges.

Encourages dark money contributions, given the new role for high court judges of representing a constituency.

Creates new bureaucracy and expense: Supreme Court - 7 districts; Superior Court - 15 districts; Commonwealth Court - 9 districts.

Reinforces power of legislative leadership to act in secrecy.

The rush job on HB 38--no advance notice, no public hearings, no expert testimony, action by mid-February, expansion of gerrymandering--could place the issue on the May 2021 Primary ballot. If passed in two successive legislative sessions and approved by public vote, the Pennsylvania Constitution would be amended. The public usually assumes that ballot issues are proposed to solve a problem, but his one doesnt. It creates more problems.

Contact your legislator now to object to fast-track and passage of HB 38.

Cordell Affeldt, Harrisburg Pa.
Australia's tertiary education industry faces a devastating economic hit this year as international students from key markets switch their applications to countries with more open borders including Canada and COVID-ravaged Britain.

University vice-chancellors and international education agents have reported students in India, Nepal and China, who were originally bound for Australia, this month have started making other arrangements because they want to study on a real campus instead of online.

Education agents have reported an increasing number of international students are considering studying in Canada and the UK instead of Australia. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Western Sydney University vice-chancellor Barney Glover said his agent networks told him some students who had been offered a place at his university had eventually declined the offer to take a place at a UK university.

"The information we are getting from our agent network is that students are deciding to take UK offers because the UK borders are open," he said. "Although the students and families are concerned about COVID, they are prioritising being able to enter the country and to begin studies in the UK over the risks of COVID."
Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday alleged that attempts are being made to threaten farmer leaders through notices by agencies like the NIA. He also accused the Centre of being insincere in talks over the farm laws and said the government is only "trying to tire out farmers".

Simultaneously, it (Centre) is intimidating farmers by issuing notices to them through various agencies like the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Farmers are not anti-nationals. We condemn this, said Badal. Senior Akali leader and former state minister Bikram Singh Majithia also accused the Union government of defaming farmers by calling them naxalites and Khalistanis. He said the SAD had always stood with farmers and quit the National Democratic Alliance when the government refused to listen to them. Badal also slammed Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, alleging that he has failed to fulfil any of his promises made to people.

Badal asked the chief minister to tell one thing he had done for the people of the state in the past four years of his rule. In direct contrast, former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal was responsible for making Punjab power surplus besides bringing in irrigation projects, providing free power for tube wells, creating the 'mandi' infrastructure and even ushering in the minimum support price system by taking up the issue with the Centre, he said. All this can be verified, he said, adding that his party's government in the state ensured peace and communal harmony.

Meanwhile, former senior Congress leader Manjit Singh Ghaseetpura on Saturday joined the SAD at Ghaseetpura village.
The PBS lawyer caught in a secret video inciting violence against Trump supporters got fired, a report says.

The Gateway Pundit reported that the earlier report of the PBS lawyer resigning was actually false. Instead, PBS Principal Counsel Michael Beller got fired for inciting violence against supporters of Trump and their children.

In a recorded video, Beller was caught telling the Project Veritas reporter that if Biden will not win the 2020 election against Trump, he would "go to the White House and throw Molotov cocktails."

Even worse, Beller vowed revenge on conservatives if Biden wins the election by taking their children away and putting them into re-education camps.

"Even if Biden wins, we go for all the Republican voters, Homeland Security will take their children away... Americans are f****** dumb."

The video was recorded before the 2020 election and showed Beller getting "worried" over what the kids who only know Trump will end up like when they grow up.

"These kids who are growing up knowing nothing but Trump ... for four years," and "you've gotta wonder what they're gonna be like ... they'll be raising a generation of intolerant, horrible people - horrible kids," Beller said in the Project Veritas video.

It was then that Beller made the comment of taking conservatives' children into "re-education camps" with which he also called as "enlightenment camps." In an ironic manner, Beller described such camps as "nice" and that "they have Sesame Street characters in the classroom, and they watch PBS all day."

BREAKING: @PBS Principal Counsel Michael Beller Incites Political Violence In Radical Left-Wing Agenda



Go to the White House & throw Molotov cocktails...



Even if Biden wins, we go for all the Republican voters, Homeland Security will take their children away#ExposePBS pic.twitter.com/OzBLeCP8YH  James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) January 12, 2021

Earlier, it was reported that Beller "resigned" his position as an associate attorney at PBS. Instead, the organization confirmed that they fired the lawyer for inciting such violence against those who support Trump and worse, their children to go into camps.

It would seem that Beller's remarks backfired on him after he actually got fired after the Project Veritas video was discovered.

After firing Beller, PBS released an official statement saying that he no longer works for the company and that he is in no way speaking on behalf of the organization.

"This employee no longer works for PBS. As a mid-level staff attorney, he did not speak on behalf of our organization, nor did he make any editorial decisions," PBS stated.

The statement continued that they do not condone violence or even hateful speech. What they do is bring people together and strengthen communities.

"There is no place for hateful rhetoric at PBS, and this individual's views in no way reflect our values or opinions. We strongly condemn violence and will continue to do what we have done for 50 years - use our national platform and local presence to strengthen communities and bring people together."

Before Beller made the comment of going to the White House to throw explosives, he made mention that "Trump is close to Hitler."

He even called out several mainstream media outlets with no real news anymore and ones that make him throw up because "it's all made up" and "ridiculous."

While he called Americans to be "dumb," Beller reserved his comments of "educated and know stuff" for the elite who live in Washington, D.C.
With reports of protests planned in the state of Nebraska and across the country, the UNO Department of Public Safety would like to remind our campus community of relevant UNO and NU System safety policies.

Please know that our team of officers is closely monitoring this situation and is dedicated to keeping our campus safe and supporting the free exchange of ideas in the pursuit of growth and knowledge. A comprehensive list of services offered to the UNO campus by the Department of Public Safety can be found on our website.

If you choose to make your voice heard in the coming days and weeks, please take the time to read each of the following policies in full to promote not only your own safety and wellbeing, but the university communitys as well.

Need to report? Call 402.554.2648 or, in the event of an emergency, 402.554.2911.

Sincerely,

Charlotte Evans

Chief of Police and Assistant Vice Chancellor

UNO-UNMC Department of Public Safety



Free Speech and Expression

The NU System Commitment to Free Expression Policy (6.4.10) underscores the Systems commitment freedom of expression and the Universitys mission of teaching, research and public service.

The policy states that freedom of speech and freedom of expression refer to ones Constitutional right to articulate and express ideas and opinions, through any means, i.e. speaking, writing, or artistic expression, without fear of government retaliation, censorship, or other sanction. The University of Nebraska is a public institution of higher education, which holds dear this right, a right that is indispensable to its ability to transmit knowledge and fundamental to the University communitys pursuit to discover, explore, interpret, and question knowledge and opinions.

Campus Demonstrations

The NU Systems Campus Disorders and Administrative Response policy (2.1.2) states that members of the academic community, including the guests of the University, have the right to extensive latitude in making their opinions known. It is understood, however, that in exercising this right the rights of others must not be jeopardized. The public exploration and resolution of differing views can be successful only when groups and individuals discuss the issues in forums where the right to disagree, speak freely, and be heard is preserved. Within this context, the University community recognizes peaceful demonstrations as a legitimate means of expressing ones opinion.

Facilities Usage and Designated Public Forum Areas

UNOs Regulations on the Use of University Facilities and Grounds policy states that while UNO property is not open to unrestricted public access, many spaces are available for use by faculty and staff, students, student groups, and members of the public, with appropriate approval and when scheduled in advance. It is the policy of UNO that spaces in its facilities offer a positive, safe environment for faculty, staff, students, and visitors. The primary purpose of these facilities is to conduct the business of UNOs education, research and public service missions.

All individuals or groups, including UNO students, faculty, staff, and University Groups, wishing to use University facilities classified as a Designated Public Forum Area or Facility (see Definitions in the full policy) will submit a completed Application for Facility Use form to the appropriate scheduling authority sufficiently in advance.

Concealed Weapons and Firearms

The NU Systems Possession of Concealed Weapons and Firearms Policy (6.4.8) states that the possession of concealed weapons on property controlled by the University of Nebraska is prohibited. This ban applies to University of Nebraska vehicles, and events sponsored by the University. This policy applies to all members of the general public, students, and University employees, except University employees who are specifically authorized to carry concealed weapons as part of their job responsibilities.

See Something. Say Something.

All UNO students, faculty, and staff can utilize UNOs Bias and Hate Incidents website when they witness or experience racist, bigoted, biased, and prejudiced activity on our campus.
Pennsylvania K-12 school districts and charter schools are poised to receive a combined $2.2 billion in federal stimulus funds to support food programs, technology and other education services.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced the funding on Friday. It is tied to the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Acts Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund passed by Congress last month.

All schools have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and I commend school communities for rising to the challenge to combat the toll it has taken, the governor said in a statement. This extra funding is critical to help schools meet the unique needs of educating students at this time while keeping school buildings safe when students return to the classroom.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education is administering 100% of the funding using a formula that considers the number of low-income students served by school districts and charter schools.

Acting Education Secretary Noe Ortega said in a statement that the state is grateful for the support but will be advocating for additional action from Congress to address the crises of the past year in Pennsylvanias public schools.

The department on Friday published a list on its website that breaks down the amount of funding each entity in the state is receiving. Below is a look at what each school district in the Lehigh Valley has been allocated.

Allentown School District: $43,569,948

Bangor Area School District: $1,875,851

Bethlehem Area School District: $16,156,572

Catasauqua Area School District: $2,089,957

East Penn School District: $2,783,509

Easton Area School District: $8,568,214

Nazareth Area School District: $1,456,375

Northampton Area School District: $3,227,353

Northern Lehigh School District: $1,463,002

Northwestern Lehigh School District: $659,845

Parkland School District: $5,543,418

Pen Argyl Area School District: $975,631

Salisbury Township School District: $1,724,581

Southern Lehigh School District: $958,535

Saucon Valley School District: $975,631

Whitehall-Coplay School District: $3,600,178

Wilson Area School District: $2,188,683

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a subscription.

Nick Falsone can be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com.
Boris Johnson is in danger of proving himself a buffoon if he continues to underestimate the scale of the problems implementing his Brexit trade deal, an MP from Northern Ireland has warned.

Ian Paisley Jr, a leading figure in the DUP, attacked the prime minister for claiming current disruption to trade amounted to only teething problems which would soon be fixed.

The prime minister is in real danger of proving to people that he is actually a buffoon, Mr Paisley told BBC Newsnight on Mr Johnsons attitude to the difficulties being caused by customs red tape.

If he doesnt recognise that [his] comments about there being just teething problems going on here  then he really isnt in touch. He doesnt have his finger on the pulse of whats happening.

The MP added: I like the guy, Ive worked with the guy  but I want him to help Northern Ireland enjoy every single benefit [of Brexit] its entitled to. Weve given our blood for the union in terms of our soldiers. And what do we get back? A slap on the face with a wet kipper.

Recommended Government rejects claim workers rights to be torn up after Brexit

It comes as supermarkets in Northern Ireland struggle with empty shelves, as some lorries face long delays getting through new customs checks. Some online retailers, meanwhile, have refused service to customers Northern Ireland because of new red tape and uncertainty over border disruption.

The DUPs Edwin Poots  agriculture minister at Stormont  warned Northern Ireland could soon face a major crisis in food supply without action by the Westminster government.

A grace period that limits the level of administration required to move certain food products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland runs out at the end of March. Mr Poots said it could mean drastic supply difficulties from the beginning of April.

It was made very clear to us by the suppliers to both hospitals and schools that if the current arrangement for supermarkets isnt extended in a few months  they will not be able to supply our hospitals and schools with food, Mr Poots said on Thursday.

However, other parties in Northern Ireland have accused the DUP over overstating the obstacles. Alliance Party MP Stephen Farry said Mr Poots was scaremongering on steroids  theres no prospect that were going to see a complete collapse of the food supply in Northern Ireland.

Some commentators have suggested the DUP could claim little credibility on current supply problems  having supported Brexit and having rejected compromises Theresa Mays government attempted to forge to ensure there was no Irish Sea border.
Nepal Foreign Minister Gyawali met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. During the meeting, Singh said that the relationship between India and Nepal offers limitless potential and it is driven by the people of both the countries.

In a tweet, the Defence minister called the meeting wonderful and added, "Had a wonderful meeting with the Foreign Minister of Nepal, Shri @PradeepgyawaliK today." He wrote further, "India's relations with Nepal are not limited to governments in both the countries but it is driven by the people of both the nations. India-Nepal relations offer limitless potential."

The Nepal Foreign Minister's meeting with the Union Defence Minister came after he met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday. Both the countries discussed many areas of cooperation including political and security issues and border management and exchanged views on cross-border rail connectivity projects. Both sides also exchanged views on international, regional and sub-regional cooperation.

Also Read:

Mexico registers record 21,366 new corona cases

South Korea registers 580 fresh COVID-19 cases

CM Gehlot orders to install CCTV cameras in every police station in Rajasthan
Russia announces it will abandon the Open Skies treaty when the U.S. left the Nuclear agreement earlier. Without a nuclear deal, both will not put a cap on their nuclear arsenal, with China free to increase its number of warheads.

Nuclear deals are vital to control the number of nuclear warheads possessed by the superpowers. It essentially determines the proliferation of deadly arms. During the cold war, it kept a status quo between the former Soviet Union and the United States.

On Friday, Russian declared that it would back out from a treaty allowing either nation to do overflights to surveil military bases. Last year the U.S. exited from it. No agreement was reached in the final days of the Trump administration, reported The Epoch Times.

The incoming administration will have to face Vladimir Putin, who took time to acknowledge the announced electoral winner of U.S. presidential polls.

Russia's Foreign Ministry released a statement with the U.S. exiting because it did not agree to the sanctioned and legal overflights as part of the nuclear agreement. Saying the action upset the signatories' interests and Moscow's attempt to keep the nuclear deal going was not received. They even got cold-shoulder and ignored American allies.

According to the Foreign Ministry of Russia, they would start withdrawal procedures from the nuclear pact, which is not progressing well. To be finalized, the atomic accord approved in 2001 will get a final vote by the Russian parliament to abandon it.

The Open Skies treaty is supposed to create trust between the Western powers and Russia by allowing overflights to check military activity and military strength. Members of the pact must agree to it.

Also read: Nuclear Disarmament With Russia and US Will Begin, But China Refuses to Join

To date, about 1500 overflights on territories have been done. Allowing these flight means no nation is trying to hide anything of significant military worth and everything for arms control.

U.S. President Donald Trump opted out of the overflight agreement because Russian committed violations that make the U.S. exit from it. November last year, the U.S. withdrew from it 100% percent.

Moscow denied the allegations of violating the pact established in 2002. Diplomacy by the European Union asked the U.S. to return to the deal. Russia is requested to reconsider flight restrictions over the westernmost Kaliningrad region. It lies in the middle of NATO allies Lithuania and Poland.

Russia mentioned the limitations of overflights on Kaliningrad, with a significant base that is negotiable but pointed out the U.S. has an extensive restriction on rules and how to overflight Alaskan territories.

The Kremlin asked one condition to stay in the open skies pact but was not convinced that NATO would keep data collected from overflights to themselves. Russia wants the intel to remain with U.S. allies only.

According to Leonid Slutsky, head of the foreign affairs committee (lower house) of the Russian parliament said that options are open for Russia on Friday. He added if the U.S. agrees to the pact is not assured.

Moscow said the abandonment of the U.S. is dangerous; a situation of uncertainty is present and tenuous.

The end of the Open Skies Treaty with the U.S. and Russia leaving in 2019 affects the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. When the next U.S. administration starts negotiating New START, treat is needed.

Related article: Pentagon Gauging How Fast Nukes Can Be Armed If New START is Not Renewed

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Heres a look at the top criminal-justice-related headlines across the borough this week.

ARREST IN SUSPECTED ROAD-RAGE SLAYING

Sean Dallas was fatally shot near the corner of Grandview and Arlington Place after getting into an altercation with another driver.

A 31-year-old man has been arrested in the fatal shooting of Sean Dallas on the street in Mariners Harbor in a suspected road-rage incident four months ago.

The suspect, Jahel Ashley, lives on Grandview Avenue, a short distance from where Dallas, 29, was fatally shot on Sept. 15 at about 8:45 a.m. near the corner of Grandview and Arlington Place, according to an NYPD statement.

Click here for more details.

MAN ROBBED IN ELEVATOR

A man reportedly was threatened with a gun in an elevator and then robbed inside the West Brighton Houses on Wednesday night, according to police.

A man reportedly was threatened with a gun in an elevator and then robbed inside the West Brighton Houses on Wednesday night, according to police.

A 36-year-old man told police that, as he entered the elevator in the lobby of 1075 Castleton Ave. at about 9:45 p.m., an unknown male brandished a firearm, according to an NYPD spokesman

Click here for more details.

MURDER SUSPECT TRACKED TO NEW SPRINGVILLE

The U.S. Marshals on Monday arrested a 22-year-old man charged in an alleged fatal stabbing at a home in New Springville. (Google Maps)

U.S. Marshals raided a home in New Springville this week where a 22-year-old man sought in connection with a fatal stabbing in Connecticut was taken into custody.

Jahleel Bailey is accused of stabbing his sisters husband after a Dec. 13 dispute at the familys home in Bridgeport, Conn., authorities said Thursday.

Click here for more details.

HE PLEADS GUILTY TO SEEKING SEX WITH TEEN

A 43-year-old Willowbrook man pleaded guilty Monday to trying to arrange a sexual encounter with someone he met online and believed was a 14-year-old girl.

John Emilio, a Woolley Avenue resident, plead guilty to attempted endangering the welfare of children (impairing or debauching the morals of a child, third-degree), according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina.

Click here for more details.

NYPD: SANIT WORKER HURT IN HIT-RUN

A Sanitation worker was injured while outside a garbage truck in the vicinity of 200 Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville early on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)

A Sanitation worker was on duty outside his garbage truck when he was struck and injured by an SUV driver who allegedly fled from the scene early on Thursday morning in Tompkinsville, according to police.

A 56-year-old male Sanitation worker suffered injuries suffered to his head, neck, back, and ankle in the crash, which occurred around 12:40 a.m. in the vicinity of 200 Victory Boulevard, according to an NYPD spokesman.

Click here for more details.

A CRASH. A BUST. 4 DEFENDANTS CHARGED.

Four borough residents were arrested on Friday after cops raided a Stapleton home and found an assault rifle, another rifle and a handgun, along with ammunition, prosecutors allege.Staff-Shot

Four borough residents were arrested last Friday after cops raided a Stapleton home and found an assault rifle, another rifle, and a handgun, along with ammunition, prosecutors allege.

Mamadou Ndiaye, 20, of Sherman Avenue, New Brighton, was driving a black 2017 BMW coupe when cops approached it around 9:15 p.m. on the Grasmere-Clifton border and told him to exit, said a criminal complaint.

Also inside the car were co-defendants, Christian Asare, 22, of the 1300 block of Richmond Avenue, Graniteville; his brother, Kevin Asare, 26, of the 200 block of Osgood Avenue, Stapleton, and Justin Mitchell, 20, of the 100 block of Cedar Avenue, South Beach, the complaint said.

Instead of getting out of the car, Ndiaye zoomed off, topping 70 mph and swerving into oncoming traffic, the complaint said.

Click here for more details.

KNIFEPOINT ROBBERY IN GRASMERE

Police responded to a robbery at knife point in Grasmere on Friday, Jan 8, 2020. (Staten Island Advance/Irene Spezzamonte)

Police responded to a robbery at knifepoint in Grasmere last Friday afternoon.

At around 12:20 p.m. police responded to a call at a deli located at 1150 Hylan Blvd., an NYPD spokesman said.

Police said a 29-year-old man was working inside the deli when a man and a woman displayed a knife and removed $1,800 from the cash register.

Click here for more details.
Cebu City (CNN Philippines, January 16)  The military was tapped to help enforce curfew hours in Cebu City on Friday night amid rising COVID-19 cases.

The curfew begins at 11 p.m.

Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera, deputy chief implementer at the local Emergency Operations Center, said armored personnel carriers (APC) from the Central Command were sent to barangay Pasil, Sawang-Calero, Suba, and Ermita.

Officials beefed up security to enforce health protocols amid the conduct of fiestas in honor of the Holy Child Jesus or Santo Nino, apart from the celebration at the Basilica Minore del Santo Nino where public activities were canceled.

APCs were last deployed in June and July when the number of cases were almost at par with those in Metro Manila.

Garganera said the city recorded a steady increase in COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the year. The Department of Health in Central Visayas recorded 61 new cases in Cebu City on Friday, the highest number of new infections in past months.

As of January 15, the city listed 552 active cases from 81 on December 28.

Cebu City recorded 11,333 cases since the pandemic, including 699 deaths.

Garganera said that from the more than 500 active cases, at least 100 households were under lockdown, some since January 1.

"Even if the positive patients are being extracted and isolated, the close contacts in that household will remain lockdown for 14 days, he said.

CNN Philippines' Cebu correspondent Dale Israel contributed to this report.
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Closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High 'impacts our entire town'

The Washington County Board of Education held a public hearing on the closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High School; the crowd pleaded against it.

Saper said at the hearing that she is pursuing a subpoena of Visa to confirm the owner of the credit card that was used to create the codynason.com website. Other subpoenas in the case are also outstanding, she said, including of Yelp, where negative reviews were left for Nasons then-employer, the fine-dining restaurant Yugen, in the name of Nasons deceased brother.
The Hamilton County Health Department, in partnership with the Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management, will begin making appointments for second dose COVID-19 vaccinations beginning today (Friday) at 2 p.m. when the registration site went live.

Those who received their first dose from the Health Department are encouraged to register for their second dose online, as that will be the fastest process. Click https://vaccine.hamiltontn. gov/ and complete the information. Dates and locations are noted below.

For people who do not have access to the internet, Emergency Managements call center is set up to help people make their appointment. The phone number is 423-209-5399. Due to high call volume, callers may experience a busy signal and need to continue to call back. Once appointments have been filled, the caller will hear a recording, The call center is closed and appointments have been filled.

By using this appointment system, Hamilton County will be able to more efficiently plan and administer second dose COVID-19 vaccines, officials said.

There are vaccine supplies and appointments for everyone who received their first dose from the Health Department, said Health Department Administrator Becky Barnes. If you got your first dose from us, be assured that we have the second dose allocated for you.

When patients received their first dose with the Health Department, they received a Vaccination Record Card with the following important information:

 The vaccine manufacturer (either Moderna or Pfizer)

 The date the first dose of vaccine was given

 The date the second vaccine dose is due

According to the CDC, second doses should be administered as follows: Moderna 28 days after first dose or later and Pfizer 21 days after first dose or later. When scheduling your appointment, please make sure that if your first dose was Moderna, your second dose must be Moderna. If your first dose was Pfizer, your second dose must be Pfizer.

Steps to Schedule Your Second Dose Appointment

 The online appointment system is available 24/7 starting Friday, Jan. 15, at 2 p.m. and will be open until all available appointments are filled.

 Call center appointments are intended for those who do not have internet access or need special assistance.

 If you have lost your Vaccination Record Card, you will have to make your appointment through the registration call center: 423-209-5399.

 The call center will be open Friday from 2-4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. or until all available appointments are filled.

 To make an appointment you will need information from the Vaccination Record Card that you received at the time of your first dose.

 On the front of your Vaccination Record Card, find the vaccine manufacturer listed, Moderna or Pfizer. On the back of your vaccination record card, find your return for second dose date.

 When scheduling your appointment, make sure you choose a day that matches your vaccine brand and a date that is either on or after the return date given on the card.

We expect phone lines will be busy due to the high volume and demand for vaccine. We request your patience as well as perseverance as we start this process.

Important Things to Know Prior to Appointment

 Bring your Vaccination Record Card and ID with you to your second dose appointment.

 Do not arrive more than 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment.

 Wear appropriate clothing to get a shot in the upper arm.

 Bring proof of Hamilton County residency (if applicable).

 Bring proof of Hamilton County employment (if applicable).

 Bring proof of age (if applicable).

 Bring Vaccination Record Card.

 Be prepared to wait 20 minutes after shot.

 Be prepared for the entire process to take an hour or more.

Below is a schedule of second dose vaccination PODs. Note the vaccine manufacturer when scheduling your appointment. Clinics operate by appointment only starting at 9AM.

 January 20  Moderna

 January 22  Moderna

 January 24  Moderna

 January 26  Moderna

 January 28  Moderna

 January 29  Moderna

 January 21  Pfizer

 January 23  Pfizer

These PODs are located at one of two locations, which will be noted in the registration process.

 Riverpark Hubert Fry Center - 4301 Amnicola Hwy, Chattanooga, TN 37406

 CARTA Bus Barn - 1617 Wilcox Blvd, Chattanooga, TN 37406

First-Dose Vaccination PODs

The Health Department will offer additional first dose vaccination PODs to people in the current phases. When these dates are scheduled, the Health Department will inform the public that the appointment system is open to schedule your appointment.

Additional Resources

 The Health Department will announce COVID vaccination POD information on their COVID-19 webpage: http://health.hamiltontn.org/ AllServices/Coronavirus(COVID- 19)/Vaccine.aspx .
Australia's health watchdog is investigating a series of complaints about the accuracy of infrared thermometers as the coronavirus screening devices become an increasingly common sight at airports, schools and shops.

In the past 10 months, the Therapeutic Goods Administration has received 44 complaints about the devices, with health experts also raising concerns about their effectiveness.

In the past 10 months, the Therapeutic Goods Administration has received 44 complaints about the thermometers, which often greet people at the entrance of shops, businesses, schools and childcare centres. Credit:Getty

A spokeswoman said the bulk of these grievances related to the devices accuracy and eight complaints were currently being investigated.

University of Melbourne principal research fellow professor Fiona Russell said the devices did not reliably detect fever because they measured skin temperature.
MEDFORD, Ore.  When the Almeda Fire tore through Talent and Phoenix, it had an outsized impact on the mobile home communities along the I-5 corridor. Many of them were entirely leveled  leaving families with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

One of those communities was Coleman Creek Estates. Just days after the fire, CPM Real Estate Services started a GoFundMe page for the displaced residents, putting in an initial contribution of $10,000. Since then, they say that the fund has grown to more than $25,000.

"In identifying where best to send assistance, Coleman Creek Mobile Home Park stood out with a high concentration of older mobile homes built in the 1970s," CPM said in a statement. "These were likely difficult to insure, occupied by seasonal workers and long time residents who have had little insurance relief during the aftermath of the wildfire."

Each family will be given a $200 Visa gift card that they can use immediately on whatever they need, the real estate firm said.

We care about our community and wanted to help those most in need. At Coleman Creek, a park we manage, we felt that this community was likely hit hardest with the least amount of support. At CPM we want to help in any small way we can, and thank those who donated to help these families, said David Wright, President at CPM Real Estate Services.

Many of the families at Coleman Creek were members of the local Hispanic community, CPM said, and few were insured. Aside from an immediate refund of their deposit, they've received little direct financial support. Additionally, since many displaced families have new addresses or contact information, the real estate company has had difficulty reaching them.

"We feel that even a small show of support to these families can help as we try to rebuild and support this community," CPM continued.

The cards are available for pickup at CPM's mobile home park office at 2594 E Barnett Road, Suite D in Medford. The office is open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Residents will need to have a mask, and must verify information about their space at Coleman Creek.
BEIJING  They are businessmen, born in mainland China, who serve on top advisory committees to Beijing and profess patriotism for the motherland. One recently traveled to an obscure village in southeastern China to study Xi Jinpings doctrine for guiding the country to greatness.

Now, they are seeking to bring that ardor to Hong Kong, as the founders of the citys newest political party. They are calling for social stability to unify a deeply fractured society and mend a damaged economy.

You cannot have a protest every day, said Li Shan, the founder and chairman of the party.

The arrival of the Bauhinia Party has fueled furious speculation about the future of Hong Kongs once-vibrant, at times unruly, political scene. The party, led by business executives who moved to Hong Kong from the mainland, is entering the fray amid forceful moves by the Chinese government to quash dissent, after huge pro-democracy protests in 2019 challenged its rule.

Already, the authorities have ejected opposition lawmakers from the Hong Kong legislature and disqualified and arrested would-be candidates. Many in the pro-democracy camp see the new party as yet another sign that Hong Kong  a former British colony that was promised 50 years of semi-autonomy when it returned to China in 1997  is becoming just another mainland city.
Posted Friday, January 15, 2021 4:29 pm

Centralia College is committed to student success, academic excellence and supporting our community in an inclusive and equitable learning environment. By that mission, Centralia College affirms its commitment to an environment that welcomes the free expression of all voices and all opinions, and the participation of all Lewis County and south Thurston County residents.

For some careers, understanding and compassion toward diverse populations is critical for success. As a trained substance use disorder counselor, for example, one has to work with a variety of different people, all of whom have different world views. In order to provide effective support to their patients, counselors must understand the experiences and perspectives of others. That is why the diversity class is a requirement in the Substance Use Disorder Professional Program.

There are always differences of opinion, especially in courses that teach different cultural practices, interaction across cultures and world views. The college welcomes all students opinions about their classes and the curriculum. Students are invited to connect with the Instruction Office at any time at instructionoffice@centralia.edu to provide feedback on college courses or instructors.

Bob Mohrbacher, EdD

President, Centralia College

[January 16, 2021] Prince Albert of Monaco to deliver keynote address at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Summit

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- H.S.H Prince Albert II of Monaco, Head of State, Principality of Monaco will deliver a keynote address at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), the global platform for accelerating sustainable development, hosted by Masdar, which runs from 18-21 January 2021 as a reimagined virtual event this year. His speech on national resilience in the face of COVID-19 at the ADSW Summit on 19 January, will follow the keynote by His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Special Envoy for Climate Change and Chairman of Masdar, and is expected to help set the agenda for a green recovery in a post-pandemic world. ADSW Summit will feature more than 70 high-level speakers from around the world and broadcast online across different time zones to engage audiences across various geographies and markets. The agenda runs over three two-hour sessions that focus on the pillars of "Live & Move," "Care & Engage," and "Work & Invest," with each pillar exploring social, economic and technological opportunities to set and support a sustainable recovery. The speakers at the one-day virtual ADSW Summit will also include: H.E. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Managing Director and Group CEO Mubadala Investment Company; H.R.H Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, Founder and CEO, KBW Ventures; H.E. Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment of the Republic of Singapore; H.E. Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Founder & CEO, Kalimat Publishing Group; H.E. Eng. Awaidha Murshed Al Marar, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Energy; Francesco La Camera, Director eneral, IRENA; Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director UN-Habitat; Noel Quinn, Group Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Holdings; Laurence Fink, Chairman and CEO BlackRock; and Dr. Lucas Joppa, Chief Environmental Officer, Microsoft, in addition to many other high-level speakers.



ADSW 2021, which is supported by Abu Dhabi's Department of Energy as a Principal Partner, will feature a series of high-level virtual events, including the ADSW Summit, IRENA Assembly, Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum, Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum, Youth 4 Sustainability Virtual Forums and the World Future Energy Summit Webinars. Through initiatives and events, ADSW is committed to the sharing of knowledge, implementation of strategies and the delivery of real-world solutions to address the challenges related to sustainability and climate change. As the first global event in the UAE's Golden Jubilee year, ADSW 2021 will help galvanize further collaboration among government, business and community stakeholders to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals

For over a decade, Abu Dhabi has provided a sustainable platform for the global community that has grown through its initiatives and events to emerge as a thought leader and catalyst that accelerates sustainable development around the world. The 2020 edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week hosted around 45,000 attendees from 170 countries, with more than 500 high-level speakers from around the world. To ensure the safety of all participants, ADSW 2021 and all related high-level events will take place virtually. The physical program of ADSW will return in 2022. Register now for the ADSW Summit at www.adsw.ae About Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) is a global platform for accelerating the world's sustainable development. The week brings together a unique fusion of policy makers, industry specialists, technology pioneers and the next generation of sustainability leaders. Through its initiatives and events, ADSW is a catalyst for sharing knowledge, implementing strategies and delivering solutions to drive human progress. ADSW is committed to furthering our understanding of the major social, economic and environmental trends shaping the world's sustainable development. About Masdar Abu Dhabi's renewable energy company Masdar is advancing the commercialization and deployment of renewable energy, sustainable urban development and clean technologies to address global sustainability challenges. Wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company, the strategic investment company of the Government of Abu Dhabi, our mandate is to help maintain the UAE's leadership in the global energy sector, while supporting the diversification of both its economy and energy sources for the benefit of future generations. Today, Masdar is active in more than 30 countries, including the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Egypt, Morocco, the UK, the US, Australia, Spain, Serbia, India, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and many more. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/prince-albert-of-monaco-to-deliver-keynote-address-at-abu-dhabi-sustainability-week-summit-301209663.html SOURCE Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week

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ROCHESTER, Minn. - Ready to take an icy dip for a good cause? The Polar Plunge will be back this year to raise money for Special Olympics Minnesota.

Usually, the Polar Plunge would be happening next month, but because of the pandemic it has been pushed off until March 20th.

KIMT News 3 spoke with Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson this afternoon. He says the Polar Plunge events across the North Star State are a windfall for Special Olympics, raising anywhere from $3-$4 million.

While the pandemic has kept the athletes off the track, the Sheriff says they've been holding lots of virtual events to keep everyone connected.

He says this year's Polar Plunge will be different than in years past because of the coronavirus.

"We're hoping for a safe event, a COVID friendly event. Probably no spectators, but there's always video and we'll do the best we can there," said Torgerson.

He also commented they are going to limit the number of people in the tents, but they may go all day to make sure they can get all the jumpers in.

A few members of the KIMT News 3 team will be taking part. If you'd like to donate to our fundraising effort, click here.
Advertisement

It's proven to be a worldwide hit since debuting on Christmas Day.

And now stunning snaps taken by a director's assistant working on Bridgerton have revealed a candid look at the cast as they filmed the period drama.

Stars of the show are seen working on memorable moments including Daphne's (Phoebe Dynevor) wedding and the dramatic duel, as well as taking well-earned breaks inbetween shoots.

Candid: Stunning snaps taken behind-the-scenes of Bridgerton have revealed the cast as they filmed the hit Netflix series (pictured Philippa and Prudence Featherington who are played by Harriet Cains and Bessie Carter)

In one image leading lady Phoebe appears to have forgotten her etiquette training as she put on a very animated display in candid behind-the-scenes snaps from filming.

The actress, 25, looked sensational in full Regency costume as she enjoyed a quiet moment inbetween scenes to check her phone and playfully stick out her tongue.

Phoebe appeared to be in great spirits as she posed in a floor-length blue gown paired with her cheeky expression.

The star had her long locks tied back into Daphne's signature-do and donned a selection of simple accessories, including a gold necklace and stud earrings.

Cheeky! Phoebe Dynevor, who plays Daphne Bridgerton, was also seen putting on a very animated display as she stuck out her tongue

In keeping with Regency standards, Phoebe wore a pair of white gloves however slipped one off to better type on her iPhone while waiting to be needed on set.

Her co-star Rege-Jean Page, who plays Daphne's love interest Simon, the Duke of Hastings, was also seen smouldering for the camera in other shots candid shots.

Rege-Jean maintained his character's intense stare as he enjoyed a moment of quiet in a study, while another snap showed him donning a not-so-1813-approved accessory of an AirPod.

Other members of the Bridgerton family are also seen in their impressive costume, with Eloise (Claudia Jessie) winking while in a pale pink gown and also looking serene in a profile black-and-white image.

Quick break: The actress, 25, also slipped off one of her lacy white gloves to have a look at her phone inbetween shoots

Smouldering: Rege-Jean Page, who plays Simon, the Duke of Hastings, channeled his hunky character as he posed up a storm for the director's assistant's camera

Having fun: The second Bridgerton sister Eloise (Claudia Jessie) also seemed to be in good spirits as she winked while in her pale pink gown

Francesca (Ruby Stokes), who is away in Bath for most of the show, is seen in a couple of images after returning to the shoot for the dramatic conclusion of series one.

The Bridgerton boys - Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Colin (Luke Newton) - also appear to be having a fantastic time working together as they laugh and joke with their co-stars.

One image of the trio shows them standing with a bright light behind them, all while wearing their 1813-appropriate costume.

As well as the Bridgerton family, the actors who play the Featherington clan make an appearance in the candid shots.

Pivotal scene: The eldest Bridgerton boys, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and Benedict (Luke Thompson), were seen chatting to crew ahead of shooting the very dramatic moment

Well they're not from 1813! Rege-Jean popped in his earphones and donned a striking red patterned jacket as he waited to shoot a scene

Sisters Philippa (Harriet Cains) and Prudence (Bessie Carter) are seen taking a break as they chat in one of the set's impressive bedrooms.

Fan favourite Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) is also seen looking radiant as she sits in the window-seat of her family's home while clutching a book.

The snaps were taken by director's assistant Barnaby Boulton, who has been working in the film and TV industry for four years.

He said: 'I was a director's assistant to three of the four directors on Netflix's Bridgerton.

'I spent nine months amongst the cast and crew through every stage of production, and during that time I had my film camera with me every day.

All hands on deck: Several people could be seen helping out in the room, with Phoebe having a chat to one of the crew, before the camera started rolling

Cheeky! Phoebe showed off her range of facial expressions as she scrunched up her mouth to contrast her ladylike costume

She's watching: Phoebe certainly worked all her angles for the camera as she looked over her shoulder during one shoot

Moody: Two other images showed Phoebe waiting in her ballgown, with her beloved maid Rose (right) just visible in the corner of one snap

Takes a team: The images reveal just how many people were involved in getting everything just right for the Netflix hit

Glowing: Another snap showed Marina Thompson's (Ruby Barker) incredible hairstyle and intricate pink dress up close

'For a period drama like Bridgerton, I think the fact that I shoot on film brings a fun and fitting sense of antiquity to the photos. With the hair, makeup and costumes on the show being so beautiful and impressive, it was a real treat to photograph the cast.

'I tried to keep my photos mostly candid, as when you have the actors dressed to the nines in period get-up, keeping modern elements like phones, cameras and headphones in frame results in some truly anachronistic shots.'

Bridgerton has proven to be a massive hit for Netflix, however some of the cast have revealed they've had to watch the show's more racy scenes with their parents.

Rege-Jean revealed how his family have been handing all the nudity in the show - cheekily joking that the peach emoji is sometimes used when he appears on screen - during an interview with Drew Barrymore on Friday.

Radiant: Fan favourite Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) looked sensational as she sat in the window seat of her family home with a book in hand

Outside: Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) looked relaxed as he kept his costume pristine ahead of a scene

Handsome: Actor Jonathan embraced some serious period-style sideburns for his role, with a close-up black-and-white snap showing them off in all their glory

Head of the household: Anthony leads the Bridgerton family after the death of their father, although he still sometimes clashes with the brood's beloved mother Violet

A matter of honour: Second-born son Benedict (Luke Thompson) accompanies his older brother to the duel during one of the show's most tense moments

Getting to work: Phoebe flashed a smile as she walked down the opulent stairs in her dress with her recently-styled hair protected

He said: 'My family are pretty well drilled at this point, weve got a family WhatsApp group and its got a little red flashing light emojis particularly around episode five the occasional peach emoji.

'But also the Brits are very well drilled for this in general, I have a cousin who missed those messages and made a bunch of tactical cups of tea.. you leave the room and put the kettle on.

'Youre not disturbed you just have to make a very long cup of tea right now, but the problem with this show is she came back and was like, you guys were still going! How many cups of tea do I have to make?'

Finishing touches: Several crew helped fix Phoebe's hair and makeup before shooting a scene from her wedding

Natural beauty: Throughout the show, Phoebe wears a selection of stunning gowns and sparkling jewels to portray her wealthy character

Hello back there! Phoebe appeared to be in good spirits as she rested on the Bridgerton's staircase and flashed a smile while wearing a sparkling silver tiara

So cool: The Bridgerton brothers commanded attention as they stood in front of a bright light for another striking snap

Beauty: Both Daphne (played by Phoebe, left) and Marina (played by Ruby, right) are looking for a husband, but for very different reasons

In charge: Anthony looked every inch the eldest brother and head of the family as he exuded confidence in his black suit

Casual: Actress Ruby looked radiant in another snap of her donning a dressing gown and holding her own camera during shooting for the Netflix his series

It comes after Phoebe also revealed she had to skip watching some of the sex scenes during a family viewing.

The actress, 25, said she had the remote control firmly clasped ready to fast-forward the intimate moments while watching the series with her mum, Sally, 57.

Phoebe told The Daily Star: 'She is very proud and excited. I watched the show with the whole family, even the grandparents managed to watch it.

'I had to sit there and fast forward on high alert with the remote control. We managed it just about.'

Phoebe's mum Sally is best known for her role as Sally Webster on Coronation Street, which she has played since 1986.

She also revealed she took the same approach when watching Bridgerton with her grandparents while chatting to Drew, saying it was a 'very PG' version of the show.

Stunning: Other black-and-white snaps showed Claudia's character Eloise, who doesn't want to enter the marriage market like her sister, once she swapped into 'ladylike' dresses

Joking around: Luke, who plays Benedict, laughed as he had headphones to listen into filming and others worked around him

Quick snap: Anthony perched on a step in his Regency-era costume before he was called to the cameras

She's back! Francesca (Ruby Stokes) reappears for the final few episodes after having gone to Bath and is seen working on her embroidery in one scene

Bridgerton debuted on Christmas Day and has remained in the top spot on Netflix's most-watched list for the last two weeks, proving to be a mammoth success.

And the show could likely go from overnight sensation to an eight-season run, according to the creator of the Netflix hit.

Chris Van Dusen, the showrunner, said: 'This being a family of eight children and there being eight books, I would love to be able to focus and really tell stories and love stories for all the Bridgerton siblings. For each character, for sure. I would love that.'

The show is based on Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels - the second one called The Viscount Who Loved Me.

Book two follows Daphne Bridgerton's elder brother Anthony, who is on the hunt for a wife. Julia Quinn refers to her sequel books as 'second epilogues'.

Bridgerton is set to rack up over 63 million views by the end of January. Netflix have not confirmed further instalments but an announcement seems inevitable.
This is not a time for shopping. We are staying at home as part of the Covid-19 precautions, Cairo resident Maha told her 17-year-old daughter when the latter said this was the best time of the year to buy new clothes because the sales were on.

The end of the year and Christmas season is often a time when the shops in Egypt are bustling with people preparing for the festivities and buying new clothes as is the tradition during the holidays, whether these are for Muslims or Coptic Christians.

But this year although the discount season started earlier than usual and is offering attractive prices, sales have been slow.

The market is very bad these days despite the discounts, one Syrian shop-owner in downtown Cairo said three days before Coptic Christmas.

Sales during 2020 had been the worst on record, said Mohamed Abdel-Nabi, assistant manager of a store in the Cairo district of Mohandessin.

Customer purchasing habits have been totally different since the coronavirus, Abdel-Nabi, who has been working in sales since 2013, said. Although the discounts range from 30 to 40 per cent on many items, many customers seem uninterested, he concluded.

Away from downtown Cairo in one of the malls on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, the situation has been no different. Shops carry signs saying buy two, get one free. Buy three, get two free. Discounts of up to 70 per cent... All items for LE250 and so on.

The situation is not good this season, said Mohamed Mustafa, a shop manager who has been working in retail for 20 years for different brands.

This years sales are exceptional because ordinarily they would take place at the end of October for the summer sales and the end of February for the winter ones.

According to Mustafa, the current sales are intended to get rid of inventory and find a way to bring in cash to pay rents and the salaries of employees.

The best month for sales after the quarantine was in July, when people were allowed out after months of restricted movement. They were eager to go shopping, he said.

Next to Mustafas shop, a sales assistant in a cosmetics shop said that customers had asked if there were discounts. If there werent, they left, she said.

The lack of demand during the discount season could be owing to a lack of trust among some customers. Eman Said, a working mother, said she usually only goes to the shops if she is sure she will find good discounts and reasonable prices, not flashy but unreal markdowns.

Said, whose husband works in the tourism sector which has suffered tremendously because of the coronavirus restrictions, said that we as a family only buy our basic needs. The sales are no longer an opportunity in todays financial situation.

Another factor that may have affected demand has been the closure of shops, said Abdel-Nabi. This year, the government has made it mandatory for shops to close at 10pm, whereas previously there were no limits on when shops could close at night.

Most customers return from work between five and six in the evening, which leaves them with little time to go shopping, he lamented.

The slowdown in sales has also been affecting apparel suppliers and manufacturers, commented Youssef Al-Salamoni, owner of a cloth factory, though online shopping has been doing better.

The newer Egyptian brands are selling online in order to avoid having to pay overheads like rent, electricity, and wages for store employees, he added.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 14 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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PETALING JAYA, Malaysia, Jan. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Toga Limited (OTC: TOGL), unveiled Yippi X, the new version of its revolutionary flagship app Yippi, on January 5, 2021, at the inaugural ASEAN New Tech Conference (ANTC). The ANTC was held online this year and carried the theme Together We Change the World.



Yippi X was developed by our team of experts to be the most powerful version of the Yippi app to date. It provides a more comprehensive user experience, as compared to Yippis 5th Generation, Yippi 5, released back in July 2019, said Toga Limiteds Chief Executive Officer and founder, Mr. Michael Toh.

Yippi X is a total upgrade in terms of its technical capabilities and is more refined compared to Yippi 5. What's interesting is that we have redefined Yippi in line with its tagline, Let the World Know You, focusing on users first, and bringing them closer in the virtual world through its newly enhanced social and messaging features, said Toh.

Toh acknowledges that 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone. However, due to the diligence and perseverance of Togas employees and its executives, as well as the continuous support and commitment from its shareholders, Toga managed to weather the storm and emerge stronger than ever in its response to the pandemic crisis.

Toga has helped more than 30,000 content creators in 10 countries across the globe to grow and diversify their income streams. It is good to note that Toga is one of the few technology companies that has achieved rapid growth in business development during these trying times, said Toh.

Other new and updated mobile applications were also unveiled at the ANTC, including:

TogaGo 2.0, which is focused on becoming a one-stop travel solution. It offers an improved user-friendly design and an expanded range of useful functionalities. One of its key features GO Cash allows users to enjoy a host of privileges when they purchase products and services on the platform. Users can redeem GO Cash points against future purchases and get discounts and exclusive deals.





E.Booster 2.0, which is aimed at creating a healthier lifestyle for its users. E-Booster 2.0 uses the unique energy resonance technology called Toga Resonance Technology (T-RT), to maintain good health and a positive attitude towards life. It has more than 40 products which can be found under five basic categories of use, namely for Focus, Stress Relief, Protection, Meditation and Energize, covering the most comprehensive health care.





Red Box Karaokes Booking and Social Singing apps, which was developed through a partnership between Red Box and Toga. Red Box was looking into digitalization innovations to attain its vision of becoming South East Asias leader in the karaoke industry, and Toga came forward to provide them with IT infrastructure solutions, ranging from research and development to technology selection.



Article published: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/content/advertise/toga-looks-towards-the-future-with-new-apps-and-partnerships

Contact:

Alexander D. Henderson

TOGA LIMITED, 515 S. Flower Street, 18th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071

(949) 333-1603

info@togalimited.com

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact (including, but not limited to, statements to the effect that Toga Limited or its management (the Company) "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "expects," or "believes," or the negative of these terms and other similar expressions) should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's guidance, outlook, growth, opportunities and long-term strategy. These statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations as of the date of this release. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks associated with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the Company's ability to execute on its long-term strategy; the Company's ability to successfully compete in its intensely competitive industry; the Company's ability to manage its growth; the Company's ability to maintain or improve its operating margins; the Company's ability to identify and react to trends in consumer preferences; product supply disruptions; general economic conditions; accounting standard changes; and other factors as set forth from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including, without limitation, the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The Company intends these forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time of this Press Release and does not undertake to update or revise them as more information becomes available, except as required by law.
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WASHINGTON  A ranking House Republican is formally asking the Justice Department to broaden its investigation to include President Trumps conduct during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol when members of Congress and others were reportedly pleading for him to deploy the National Guard and take other steps to quell the riot.

I would go beyond the article filed by the Democrats and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas said on the Yahoo News Skullduggery podcast. Im interested in what actions were taken after the Capitol was breached. Once the president knew that the Capitol was under siege and really being invaded by domestic terrorists, what actions did the president specifically take to remedy what happened?

If it was al-Qaida attacking the Capitol, my God, I would think the president would pull out all the stops to ensure the National Guard was fully deployed and would stop this breach and this invasion of the Capitol.

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McCaul is a former federal prosecutor who previously served as chair of the House Homeland Security Committee and is now the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He said he will send a letter to the Justice Department as early as Monday requesting that the ongoing investigation into the events of Jan. 6 be widened to specifically include the actions and responses of the president and other senior officials. A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Michael McCaul at a press conference in Washington, D.C., in 2018. (Brian Stukes/Getty Images)

So far, there have been conflicting and incomplete reports about the delay in deploying National Guard troops that day. The Washington Post has reported that then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who has since resigned, made at least five urgent pleas for National Guard troops that afternoon but was first denied by a top aide to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller later verbally authorized the deployment, according to the paper, although the first National Guard troops didnt arrive at the Capitol until 5:40 p.m., after the worst of the violence was over. President Trump in a video that day claimed he immediately deployed the National Guard troops that afternoon. But the New York Times has reported that Trump initially rebuffed the request, and it was Vice President Mike Pence who authorized the deployment.

Story continues

Download or subscribe on iTunes: Skullduggery from Yahoo News

McCaul, in the interview, added potentially new details. There are some material fact witnesses in the White House, but also in Congress, he said. We had members of Congress on the phone with the president telling him, Please tell these people to stop and please deploy the National Guard as soon as possible.

President Trump in Alamo, Texas, on Tuesday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

McCaul, who represents a Texas district that stretches from the Austin to Houston suburbs, has walked a political tightrope on the issues surrounding Trump and the election. Although a Trump supporter, he forcefully denounced the effort by many of his fellow Republicans to reject the certification of the Electoral College vote, insisting  as he repeated during the Skullduggery interview  that Congress had no constitutional authority to do so. Yet, after deliberating until nearly the last minute, he voted against impeaching the president, saying he was uncomfortable with what he viewed as a rush to judgment with no hearings or testimony before the House.

Yet McCaul says the stakes are so high that he still wants a full investigation of everything that happened that day, both by the Justice Department and Congress. And, he says, hes open to the idea that he may have been wrong in his vote. My greatest fear is evidence will come out that will shed light on what happened and may change my thinking on impeachment, he said.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
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Posted Friday, January 15, 2021 4:47 pm

Formerly incarcerated people would automatically regain their right to vote if a proposed bill in the Washington state Legislature is approved.

Rep. Tarra Simmons, D-Bremerton, the first formerly incarcerated person to serve in the Legislature, testified in favor of House Bill 1078 Jan. 14 and said earning her right to vote helped her engage with and serve her community.

This is really about reentry. It's not about the punishment. The punishment has been taken into consideration during the prosecution, she said.

Simmons was sentenced to 20 months in prison for possessing and selling drugs and unlawful possession of a firearm. A former nurse, she said she stole drugs and sold them to support her habit. Once out of prison, she returned to school, earning a law degree from Seattle University. At first, the Washington State Bar Association barred her from practicing as an attorney, but she challenged that decision in the Washington Supreme Court and won.

Simmons push for voting rights has support from across the aisle. Republican Rep. Jesse Young from Gig Harbor co-sponsored the bill and testified about his experience with people who needed a second chance.

I see this specifically as, what do we do to make sure that people are focused positively about reengaging in life? Young said.

No member of the public testified against the bill, but two committee members, Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, and Rep. Jenny Graham, R-Spokane, wondered aloud whether there could be negative impacts.

Walsh said the public risk impact of voter restoration for convicted felons was nondirect, but also nonzero, and Graham said victims of violent crimes and their families deserve restitution from people who committed crimes to cause deliberate harm.

Currently, people coming out of jail and prison automatically regain voting rights after they are released from state supervision, but people still under community custody, a system similar to parole, often lack adequate resources to know about their options in regaining voting rights, said Jaime Hawk, the legal strategy director at the American Civil Liberties Unions Washington chapter.

We need a simple and clear rule that will be easy to administer, that everyone understands and will facilitate the successful reintegration of thousands of community members around the state, Hawk said.

Sahar Fathi, policy director at the Washington State Office of the Attorney General, expressed support for the bill by saying the policy would work for historically marginalized groups.

Not addressing the felony disenfranchisement will continue to exacerbate the real systemic consequences that already exist for African-Americans and other communities of color by disproportionately limiting their right to vote, Fathi said.

Patricia Whitefoot, a member of the Yakama Nation, echoed this sentiment.

Sadly, this legislation is only one step toward addressing systemic racism and the disproportionate rate of convictions on people of color and tribal citizens, she said.

Kurtis Robinson, executive director at I Did the Time, a political advocacy group for people convicted of crimes, said this bill would address double standards that exist in the sentencing process.

We cannot ignore the racialized and dehumanizing patterns of our criminal justice system, and the disproportionate barriers to reentry that represent itself in America and in our system today, Robinson said.

Testimony on this bill, HB 1078, was held before the House State Government and Tribal Relations Committee Jan. 14. The bill is scheduled for an executive session on Jan. 21.
Oxford vaccine used as we get it in Wales  Pfizer supply to last until end of January

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Jan 16th, 2021

The First Minister has explained how Wales has been supplied with 174,000 vaccine doses that have not yet been used.

Yesterday we asked the First Minister for clarity on the vaccination figures, with a figure of 300,000 doses reportedly supplied to Wales. The latest figures from Public Health Wales say 126,375 doses have been given out. We asked if the 300k figure was correct, and if so where the bottleneck lay between getting them off the proverbial shelf and into people. We asked if it was a throughput issue with vaccination centres, or if there was throttling of supply taking place so Wales does not run out before future resupply.

The First Minister said, The figure is broadly correct. Its made up of around, in very broad terms 50,000 of the Oxford vaccine, and 250,000 of the Pfizer vaccine.

We will have been using all the Oxford vaccine that we get, as we get it, the Pfizer vaccine has to last us into the first week of February so we have to provide it on a week by week basis.





What you cant do is to try and stand up a system which uses all the vaccine youve got in week one and it has nothing to offer for the next four weeks. So we wont get another delivery of the Pfizer vaccine until the very end of January or maybe the beginning of February. So that 250,000 doses is going last for six weeks and thats why you havent seen it all used in week one because we have got to space it out over the weeks that its got to cover.

We are expecting a significant upswing in the Oxford vaccine coming to Wales next week and we will use all of that, because it is a much easier vaccine to use and can be used in GP practices and so on. We will continue to use the Pfizer vaccine in a way that will mean we will use it all before we get the next delivery.

On Thursday we also spoke to the First Minister, again asking about vaccines, with Mr Drakeford explaining: What weve already said is in the very early days because of the rural nature of quite a lot of Wales, we faced some additional challenges with a Pfizer vaccine because of the way its got to be stored and the way that it can be delivered.

As somebody who knows an awful lot more about this than me said to me yesterday, youve got to remember with the Pfizer vaccine if you walked upstairs too quickly with it from the ground floor to the first floor, it could be unusable by the time you get to the first floor.

That vaccine is and has to be stored and used incredibly carefully.

This week we reported the splits and tables between Pfizer and Oxford vaccines in the draft plan for vaccination for North Wales  you can read that here.

Top pic: Pfizer vaccines in Wrexham
On Friday, the second edition of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia came to an end. In a thrilling fight between the Mini of Stephane Peterhansel and the Toyota of Nasser Al-Attiyah, Peterhansel was the winner in the end. A result that does not surprise Al-Attiyah at all.

According to the Qatari, the regulations are in favour of the Mini, which is a completely different car than the Toyota. The Mini is a buggy and the Toyota a 4x4, for which completely different regulations apply. Although the buggies do not have four-wheel drive, they are allowed to drive with wider tyres and larger suspension, which is a huge advantage in the desert.

Read more New Red Bull talent inspired by Hamilton and Verstappen

The Mini is therefore not only generally faster, but its smaller wheels mean that the Toyota is more likely to suffer punctures on rocky terrain. "We fight with a 4x4, we have a lot of punctures and the buggy is.... a buggy, it's not a car from any manufacturer," Al-Attiyah told Autosport.com.

Mini doesn't even look like a car

That last statement is true. Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz's buggy may have Mini written all over it, but it's not for sale anywhere and it doesn't even resemble any of the brand's models that are in the showroom. Al-Attiyah doesn't want to drive the Mini away, but he does want to compete with equal means. To start with, similar tyres, so that the Toyota suffers less from punctures.

"It's not a question of where the buggy is better and where the 4x4 is better. The rules are not fair, that's all. Not just because of the wheels, there are many things. I hope the organisers will change it, otherwise, we have no interest in coming back," said Al-Attiyah.

Former Dakar star Yutta Kleinschmidt now works for the FIA and acknowledges the problem. "There is a will to change the regulations, at least to start with the possibility to have new tyres. The discussion between ASO and FIA should start soon."
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is forming an interagency team to prepare a strategy for engaging the Biden administration on the Iran nuclear file, officials in the Prime Ministers office tell me.

He's also considering appointing a special envoy for talks with Biden over the Iran nuclear deal.

Flashback: Last week, I disclosed a letter in which Netanyahu had demanded full control of Israel's Iran policy ahead of Bidens inauguration, leading Defense Minister Benny Gantz to reply that the matter was not simply Netanyahu's "personal business."

Last week, I disclosed a letter in which Netanyahu had demanded full control of Israel's Iran policy ahead of Bidens inauguration, leading Defense Minister Benny Gantz to reply that the matter was not simply Netanyahu's "personal business." The state of play: Netanyahu appears to be settling on a hybrid approach: forming an interagency team, but also potentially appointing an envoy to negotiate on his behalf.

One name that's been raised for the envoy role is Mossad director Yossi Cohen. Cohen is in Washington this week but hasnt requested meetings with Bidens team, Israeli official say.

Another possibility is the outgoing ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, who has a frosty relationship with Bidens team but is Netanyahu's closest adviser.

Other options could include Yaakov Amidror or Yaakov Nagel, both former national security advisors to Netanayhu.

The big picture: The Biden and Netanyahu administrations could be on course for an early clash over the Iran nuclear deal.

Biden intends to return to the deal if Iran returns to compliance, and then seek to negotiate a broader deal. Netanyahu contends that would be a big mistake."

Netanyahus aides have been grumbling that Biden will be surrounded by "Obama people"  including the deal's architects and some of its fiercest advocates.

What they're saying: If we just go back to the JCPOA, what will happen and may already be happening is that many other countries in the Middle East will rush to arm themselves with nuclear weapons. That is a nightmare and that is folly. It should not happen," Netanyahu said last Thursday when he met Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Jerusalem.


The city of New Orleans will offer $1.5 million in mortgage assistance to small landlords who have struggled to collect rent and can't cover their mortgages due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Landlords who own eight or fewer units are eligible for the aid, city officials said Thursday. They must show proof that they are unable to make their mortgage payments.

+4 New Orleans gets 'F' on affordable housing, group says. Here's how far behind it is for 2020. Amid a pandemic that has deepened economic hardships for thousands of New Orleanians, city leaders have come up short in their goals to build 

The Small Landlord Emergency Grant program is expected to help at least 100 landlords. Property owners who receive the money must agree not to evict current tenants through Jan. 31 of next year.

Landlords also can't pursue past-due rent from tenants during the time they are receiving mortgage help from the city.

Mayor Cantrell asking for donations to stop evictions, because of course Mayor LaToya Cantrell Thursday sent out a fundraising request asking New Orleanians to pay landlords to stop evicting their neighbors.

At the start of the pandemic, we quickly recognized the impact that loss of revenue and income would have on renters facing eviction, and we worked to provide as much support as possible," Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a statement. "But theres another side to this crisis, which is why we stand ready to support those small landlords who are as imperiled by this crisis as their tenants."

Landlords can apply to receive up to $15,000 from the program, city government spokesperson LaTonya Norton added. Those grants are expected to stabilize housing for between 500 and 700 households.

Thanks to wages that have failed in recent years to keep pace with rising home values, New Orleans was already facing an affordable housing shortage before the pandemic battered its economy. Some critics have also blamed a lag in state and federal investments in low-cost homes in the city after Hurricane Katrina.

Since the coronavirus forced thousands of people to lose their jobs, however, the problem has worsened dramatically. Affordable-housing advocates estimated in a recent report that the pandemic has created a need for 15,000 additional affordable housing opportunities.

Those opportunities might be subsidized homes made available to residents at prices they can afford, utility assistance, or other help, advocacy group HousingNOLA has said.

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That groups executive director, Andreanecia Morris, said Thursday that she was cautiously optimistic about the citys announcement. After earning an F, there is nowhere for New Orleans to go but up with affordable housing, Morris said, referencing the failing grade her group recently gave the citys efforts to foster cheaper housing over the past year.

New Orleans Landlords Association President Donald Vallee took a slightly more critical approach. "I think it's a pretty good little program," he said. "But it's just not enough money."

+7 $60M project will build affordable housing in Central City for New Orleans Medicaid users A New Orleans-based non-profit housing developer is teaming up with an insurance company for a $60 million project to convert a former Brown's

Vallee referenced a recent National Council of State Housing Agencies report that found that across the U.S., renters will owe up to $34 billion in past-due rent by January. The report found that a minimum 150,000 households in Louisiana could owe at least $281 million.

Landlords who own property with New Orleans addresses are eligible for the city's program. Those properties cannot be short-term rentals.

Once landlords receive the grants, they must agree not to evict their tenants through the end of January, which is a month after a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ban on evictions nationwide expires.

Should the unit become vacant, landlords must rent it within a month to someone who earns up to 80% of area median income, or $39,450 for a one-person household.

The maximum amount the program is offering is similar to the cash being doled out to small business owners under the state's Main Street Recovery Grant program. Mayor LaToya Cantrell has pressed the state to open up that program for more residential landlords.

Norton would not specify a funding source for the city's program this week. Other jurisdictions across the country have been tapping federal CARES Act funds to provide mortgage and rent relief to their residents.

Landlords interested in signing up for the program can call 504-658-4200.

Staff writer Zoe Trask contributed to this story.
Representations of virtual currency bitcoin are seen in this picture illustration taken on March 13, 2020. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Welsh Man Would Give Council Over 50 Million If He Recovers Lost Bitcoin From Landfill

A Welsh man on Friday repeated his previous request to the local council for permission to search a landfill site for a lost hard drive, which he claims contains bitcoin now worth around 210 million ($287 million).

The 35-year-old said that hes willing to donate 25 percent of the value of the lost treasure to local residents.

James Howells, an IT professional from the Welsh city of Newport, told local news outlets that he had been mining bitcoin since February 2009, when it was much cheaper to do.

But in 2013, he said, he accidentally threw out a hard drive that contains 7,500 bitcoins.

I had two identical hard drives and I threw out the wrong one, Howells said. I know Im not the only person who has ever thrown out the wrong thing, but it usually doesnt cost people over 200 million.

He said that he has to laugh about it now because theres nothing else he can do.

Howells contacted Newport City Council several times for permission to excavate the landfill site, but his requests were rejected.

In 2017 the value of my hard drive was approximately 125 million [$170 million], at which point I made them another offer of 10 percent and unfortunately that offer was refused, Howells told BBC Radio 5 Live.

There is going to be a point when the files on that machine are worth more than a billion pounds, he said. The attitude of the council does not compute, it just does not make sense.

Howells said that he doesnt think its too difficult to dig the landfill, as he only needs to search one specific area after a check against the records for where the waste was buried in 2013.

A landfill site in Milton near Cambridgeshire in England on March 8, 2017. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

He said that hes now willing to give up a quarter of the treasure if its recovered.

I want to give it to people. Basically, anyone who is struggling right now, they could make an application to a relief fund and get money sent to them straight away, he said.

Howells said that he has the backing of a hedge fund to provide up to 3.5 million to cover the cost of the digging. His plan would adhere to all environmental and safety regulations.

A spokesperson for Newport City Council said that it has been contacted a number of times since 2013.

The first time was several months after Mr. Howells first realised the hardware was missing, the spokesperson said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times.

The council has told Mr. Howells on a number of occasions that excavation is not possible under our licencing permit and excavation itself would have a huge environmental impact on the surrounding area, the statement reads.

The cost of digging up the landfill, storing, and treating the waste could run into millions of poundswithout any guarantee of either finding it or it still being in working order.
The annual BT Young Scientist exhibition 2021 was an altogether different experience for students taking part this year, who presented their projects virtually.

Nine projects from four schools across Louth qualified for the finals, with an array of fascinating projects.

St. Vincent's students Alannah Voigt and Sarah Carey celebrated after they were placed third in the Category Award, Intermediate Group in Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences.

Their project focused on an investigation 'into the effects of combined air currents of different temperature on the flight dynamics of a badminton shuttlecock.'

The overall winner of the 2021 exhibition was Gregory Tarr, aged 17, a 6th year student from Bandon Grammar School Co. Cork for his project 'Detecting state-of-the-art deepfakes.'

Shay Walsh, MD of BT Ireland paid tribute to all the students who presented their projects.

'You have been remarkable, and I am immensely proud of what we have all made possible this week. We did not cancel in 2021, because we didn't want to put your talent on hold, ideas that we know will go on to positively impact the world around us over time. Together, by participating and supporting, you have provided a ray of hope and optimism in these dark days. You've spotlighted the talent that exists in communities across the island of Ireland, and at a time when we must stay at home, you have helped showcase that talent to people across the world.'
RICHMOND, Va. - Glenn Youngkin had not yet officially entered this year's race for Virginia governor when a fellow Republican on Friday rolled out a blistering online ad meant to stop the Great Falls businessman from snagging the nomination.

"Youngkin puts profits over people," an ominous-sounding narrator declares about the enormously wealthy former Carlyle Group executive in the ad, paid for by an anti-Youngkin political action committee.

The ad, along with a flurry of anonymous anti-Youngkin text messages recently blasted to Republicans, signals that the GOP nomination battle has shifted into high gear. At the same time, the Republican Party of Virginia remains stalled over the contest's most elemental question: How will Republicans pick their nominee?

The party's governing body voted in early December to hold a nominating convention instead of a statewide primary, touted at the time as way to sideline the most Trumpian contender, state Sen. Amanda Chase of Chesterfield. But the State Central Committee could take the rare step of reversing that decision - something the party hasn't done since 2012 - when it meets again Saturday.

The committee is ostensibly taking the matter up again because of the novel coronavirus, given that large, in-person gatherings such as a convention could still be prohibited later this year. But the do-over is also an exercise in political calculation as the party navigates the lingering effects of Trumpism.

"The real question for the Republican Party is how toxic has the Trump era been for the party and is there a hangover?" said Bob Holsworth, a veteran Richmond political analyst.

Republicans are on shaky ground in this increasingly blue state, where the outgoing president is deeply unpopular but still has a grip on the GOP base. And the terrain has shifted unpredictably just in the past six weeks, since the committee narrowly decided a convention was the way to go, with fears about Chase's candidacy seeming to tip the balance.

Chase, who had threatened to run as an independent rather than compete in a "rigged" convention, stayed in the race. And Youngkin - who had been widely expected to run only in a primary because those typically favor more moderate and well-financed candidates like himself - signaled Monday he would get in either way.

People on both sides of the convention-primary debate say they're exasperated that the party, which hasn't won statewide since 2009, is tied up in knots over its nomination method and not focused instead on how to reverse its long losing streak.

"Every discussion this year is not about, 'What's going to help us win?' It's, 'How can we stop Amanda Chase from being the Republican nominee?' " said Cole Trower, a committee member who does not support Chase and thinks a primary is the only workable option during a pandemic.

John Fredericks, a Trump-aligned radio host who in the past has been critical of conventions, thinks it would be "completely insane" for the party to reverse itself.

"You can't keep manipulating the nominating process at the 11th hour to deter or dissuade certain candidates," he said. "It is an insane way to run a party."

Virginia has no shortage of Republicans with their eyes on the Executive Mansion, although only two have formally declared: Chase and Del. Kirk Cox of Colonial Heights, a former speaker of the House of Delegates.

Youngkin filed paperwork to establish his campaign Monday, and his campaign manager confirmed he plans to run, with a formal announcement "in the coming days."

A political action committee formed to oppose Youngkin decided not to wait for him to officially join the race. Republican strategist Chris Jankowski said Friday that he has founded Virginia Cornerstone PAC, which he said is unaffiliated with any candidate. He declined to identify the source of its funding, saying that will be disclosed when campaign finance reports are due.

The PAC unveiled an online ad that paints Youngkin as an out-of-touch investor who would welcome tax hikes. It also says that Youngkin's company outsourced American jobs and compromised care at a nursing home chain it acquired in 2007, with the latter based on a 2018 report in The Washington Post. The report did not mention Youngkin, who became co-chief executive of Carlyle in 2018.

"Sounds like somebody is scared of a conservative outsider with a proven track record of success," a spokesman for Youngkin said in response.

At least one other Republican is expected to join the race: Pete Snyder, a wealthy social media pioneer who lives in Charlottesville. State Sen. Emmett Hanger Jr. of Augusta said this week he's still thinking about a bid.

An even larger field of Democrats is running to succeed Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who is prohibited by the state constitution from serving back-to-back terms. Besides McAuliffe, the contenders are Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, state Sen. Jennifer McClellan of Richmond, former delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy of Prince William and Del. Lee Carter of Manassas. Democrats will choose their nominee in a primary.

Princess Blanding, whose brother, Marcus-David Peters, was killed by Richmond police during a mental health crisis in 2018, is running under the newly formed Liberation Party.

Republicans are often split over their nomination method, but the usual political calculus has been turned upside down this time. Conventions, typically day-long events open only to delegates nominated by their local GOP committee, tend to favor far-right candidates because only the most hardcore party activists participate.

But Chase, who might be expected to fare well in that setting, has opposed a convention, saying party leaders would rig it to undermine her. She has long been at odds with party leaders, who fear her flamboyant style would sink Republicans' chances up and down the ticket.

At the same time, some Republicans who typically favor primaries but oppose Chase backed a convention in December, when she was threatening her independent bid. Even if she ran in the convention, they doubted she could garner the required majority vote - 50% plus one. In a crowded primary, she could win with a plurality.

That theory carried the day when the committee narrowly voted for a convention, but there was one catch: the pandemic. Given the health restrictions in place, committee members acknowledged that they probably could not hold a traditional convention - with thousands of people gathered under one roof.

They expressed hope for an "unassembled" convention, with multiple locations around the state and ranked-choice voting. The latter would allow voters to simply drop off a ballot rather than stick around for hours for multiple rounds of voting.

But the GOP cannot scrap its traditional convention process without a change to the party's bylaws, known as the "party plan." That sort of change requires the approval of 75 percent of committee members. That vote was put off until Saturday. If a supermajority doesn't back the plan change, the committee will reconsider its original vote for a convention.

In between the two meetings, the competing camps have been pushing to stay the course or change it. Committee members have been subjected to "ceaseless" phone calls intended to "berate, bully, and badger" by an unknown group that supported a primary, GOP Chairman Rich Anderson wrote in a letter obtained by The Washington Post.

He lamented that the effort "creates suspicion and division among our [State Central Committee] family at a time when my goal is to unite our state party."
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: I recently checked the NYS WCB eCase about Case# G2029240, and I saw my 12/

: 29/2020 complaint about the medical "diagnoses" and "treatments" from?New

: ...................







--

WangLimin People's Voice

http://blog.mitbbs.com/WangLimin

http://www.mitbbs.com/pc/index/WangLimin

 :WWW  mitbbs.com [FROM: 2603:7000:101:8]





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WangLimin   board=Chinese&u=WangLimin [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [ 4 ] : WangLimin (), : Chinese

 : Re: 

: BBS  (Sat Jan 16 16:31:56 2021, )







youtubeyoutube

2019118Robert S April

  WangLimin () : 

: 

: 

: 2021115

: [The following is a follow-up email to my 12/29/2020 correspondence,

titled

: The Pursuit of Justice --- PLEASE No COVID-19 Shroud Over Serious Injuries

,

: to the related sides about my injuries and sufferings.]

: Jan. 15, 2021

: Hi, Any Party Responsive Possibly,

: I recently checked the NYS WCB eCase about Case# G2029240, and I saw my 12/

: 29/2020 complaint about the medical "diagnoses" and "treatments" from?New

: ...................







--

WangLimin People's Voice

http://blog.mitbbs.com/WangLimin

http://www.mitbbs.com/pc/index/WangLimin

 :WWW  mitbbs.com [FROM: 2603:7000:101:8]

[:1 ]  0  [] [ ] []    








It was revealed this week that the Liberal-National Coalition government cited national security concerns to reject a $300 million takeover of building contractor Probuild by one of Chinas largest construction companies, the state-owned China State Construction Engineering.

The Australian Financial Review reported that the Probuild decision was just the tip of the iceberg. The government has been privately rejecting other Chinese engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors from local infrastructure and energy projects, it declared.

Josh Frydenberg, Treasurer of Australia [Credit: Wikimedia Commons]

In effect, Chinese investment is now being banned across most of the economy. In the words of one unnamed investment banker, quoted by the newspaper, most of the economy is now not available to the Chinese.

The bankers statement reflects concern in sections of the Australian capitalist class about the impact on their lucrative exports to China. But the government is committed to ramping up the deepening conflict with Beijing, regardless of the fallout. Its previous bans on Chinese investment and other anti-Chinese measures have already triggered apparent Chinese measures to curb Australian exports, now including coal.

Both the timing of the announcement and the extension of national security assertions to the civilian construction industry are highly significant. The timing dovetails with escalating economic sanctions imposed on China by the Trump administration, and points to expectations in Canberra that a Biden administration will intensify the confrontation.

The invocation of national security by Prime Minister Scott Morrisons government, to cover basic construction activity, is another indication of preparations being made for US military conflict with China. Australia would be on the frontline of such measures, because of its integration into US war plans throughout the Indo-Pacific region.

Probuild is a large South African-owned building company operating in Australia. According to corporate media reports, Probuilds construction of sensitive buildings, including the Victorian Police headquarters and the Melbourne offices of biotech company CSL, were key factors in Treasurer Josh Frydenberg rejecting its takeover.

This is the latest such decision, each effectively accusing Chinese companies of operating as espionage or sabotage fronts for Beijing. Chinese firms are being barred from any industry that would need to be mobilised for the war effort in the event of conflict.

Another recent ban involved a large Chinese power-generating firm, bidding for the construction of EnergyAustralias planned 400-megawatt gas plant at Tallawarra near Wollongong, south of Sydney. The government told the parties it did not intend to approve the deal, leaving other bidders to compete for the tender.

As of January 1, the guidelines applied by the governments Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) have been drastically widened, responding to US complaints about some previous failures to block Chinese investments, including the 2015 purchase of a lease over the civilian port in the strategic northern city of Darwin.

All foreign investments, no matter how small, are now subject to FIRB review, and the industries covered extend across much of the economy. Assets defined as a sensitive national security business include banking and finance, communications, commercial construction contractors and commercial real estate.

Also on the list are critical minerals, critical service providers, critical technologies, defence providers, energy, electricity, gas, liquid fuels, energy market operators, health, higher education facilities, information technology, data and the cloud, nuclear, space, transport and water and sewerage.

The FIRB is now chaired by Australias former top intelligence chiefand ex-ambassador to ChinaDavid Irvine, who has close connections to the US military-intelligence apparatus. In addition, the new head of Treasurys FIRB-linked foreign investment division, Tom Hamilton, has a military background.

The FIRBs new rules specifically insist that there are national security risks in the construction sector, including firms holding contracts with government agencies and infrastructure providers, with access to information such as building blueprints and supply chains.

Such information may be of value to foreign intelligence services, the FIRBs website states. Foreign intelligence services may also pre-position for future intelligence activities such as by building surveillance equipment into the premises during construction, in order to gather information on intended sensitive tenants.

The Probuild ban is a measure of the deepening anti-China shift since 2015, when US President Barack Obama personally rebuked then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for not consulting Washington about the Darwin port lease.

In 2015, by contrast to the Probuild decision, Turnbulls government approved the China Communications Construction Companys $1 billion purchase of a major construction company, John Holland, which is building the Victorian state governments $11 billion Melbourne Metro rail tunnel and other large infrastructure projects.

John Holland was previously one of the Australian Defence Departments key providers of construction services and worked on military bases. Since being acquired by the Chinese company, it has been forced to withdraw from military projects.

Among recent Chinese investment bans are the refusal in April last year of China Mengniu Dairy Cos proposed $600 million acquisition of Lion Dairy & Drinks, and Hong Kong-based CK Groups $13 billion bid for Australias east coast gas pipeline owner, APA Group, in 2018.

The most prominent and provocative measure was to bar Chinas Huawei, one of the worlds largest telco equipment suppliers, from any involvement in Australias proposed 5G network. That ban, imposed in 2018, was demanded by Washington and mirrored by other US allies.

All the moves against China have been backed by the Labor Party opposition, which is equally committed to participating in the US drive to prevent China from challenging the economic and military supremacy that Washington secured in World War II. The last Labor governmentof 2007-13also blocked certain Chinese takeover bids, including Chinalcos proposed merger with Rio Tinto, a major mining company.

Just last month, Labor helped the Morrison government rush unprecedented legislation through parliament to give the government sweeping powers to prohibit any agreement, or cancel any existing agreement, signed by a state, territory or local government, or a public university, with China.

As anticipated, the Probuild prohibition further antagonised Chinas government, which said Canberra had weaponised the concept of national security. Beijings Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it was the latest example of how the Australian government has been politicising trade and investment issues, violating market principles and the spirit of the China-Australia free trade agreement, and imposing discriminatory measures on Chinese companies.

Last year, China issued a public 14-point complaint against Australia, which included the Huawei and other investment bans. While the Australian media has falsely presented China as the aggressor in this conflict, denouncing Chinese moves against Australian exports, the US-backed Australian offensive has had a crippling impact on Chinese investment in Australia.

By the latest official statistics, Chinese investment fell 36.3 percent, or $8.2 billion, in 2018, reducing it to around 2 percent of foreign investment in Australia.

This confrontation with China, which is being accompanied by barrages of anti-Chinese propaganda, can be understood only in the context of Washingtons preparations for war against its perceived economic rival. Even in its apparent final days, the Trump administration this week intensified the economic and diplomatic offensive against China. It announced new sanctions on the China National Offshore Oil Corporation and further restrictions on Chinese tech firms, including the widely-used social media platform TikTok.

Another close US ally, the Canadian government, last month took similar action to that of Australia, citing national security to block the takeover of gold miner TMAC Resources Inc. by Chinas state-owned Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd.

These governments know full well that any incoming Biden administration will only take the confrontation with China to a new level. Last month, Bidens nominated officials protested and sought to halt a European Union-China agreement on an investment treaty. That deal threatens to cut across Bidens stated aim of constructing a global anti-China front.
The chief executive of the HSE has lambasted Dublins Beacon private hospital for not offering beds, despite extremely tightened up capacity across the country during the biggest health crisis in the history of the state.

However, the hospital has said it is already "doing all that it can to support the public system".

It comes as the INMO has warned that healthcare workers and long-term care residents must remain to be the absolute first priority groups for vaccination.

Paul Reid, who was speaking to Katie Hannon on RTE Radio One, blasted management of the Beacon for failing to sign up to a deal to allow the HSE to use beds in private hospitals in order to tackle the current Covid-19 crisis.

I do have to express my extreme frustration that the Beacon hasnt signed up to that agreement. We have our public health system facing the biggest crisis, probably, in the history of the state for our health services.

We have a fantastic team of people across all our hospitals, including private, working relentlessly. But we are racing to save peoples lives here. It is beyond frustration for me, and it is beyond belief and comprehension, and I would be urging the board to sign up to the Safety Net agreement.

Beacon management said in response that a vaccination centre was offered to HSE healthcare workers free of charge as a goodwill gesture.

"While engagement is ongoing with the HSE regarding a new centralised arrangement, the Beacon Hospital is of the view that it can treat more public and private patients through its existing arrangements, rather than through an additional new agreement."

Mr Reid said Irelands health system has formally gone into surge capacity, with intensive care beds dwindling.

It is extremely tightened up. In terms of available beds...we have surged that up to around 313...we have 28 beds available for adults and 12 paediatrics at the moment. It is getting extremely tight.

There are about 480 general beds available across the system, he added.

Intensive supports

In terms of intensive care patients, there are around another 250 that were borderline or in the so-called amber zone, he said.

There are still around 250 people not in ICU, but who would be receiving that kind of intensive supports, particularly in terms of oxygen and sometime high-flow oxygen supports, Mr Reid said.

In terms of mass vaccinations, he said he was not happy whatsoever with Pfizers initial announcement of a temporary stoppage in deliveries, but added that once the situation became clearer, it would mean a delay of around a week to the schedule.

Thankfully...it wont have the impact initially projected. We are looking at one week with a shorter supply, but then getting back to committed supply, and the middle of February, getting extra supplies.

A quarter of nursing homes across the country have had outbreaks, which made vaccination key, he said.

About 8,000 residents and staff received their first dose so far, with two weeks until 100% is completed.

However, our programme now for nursing homes is accelerated between this week and throughout next week. By the middle of February, they will have had their second vaccination. So it is a priority.

Our plan primarily for next week was nursing homes, that was the primary focus, and it was the following week that we would revert back to primary healthcare workers in acute and community settings. The plan continues as projected next week.

Obviously we will have to recalibrate based on one week less supply...but in essence, we will have done the private nursing homes and that will be completed with no impact, it will just mean a lesser volume for healthcare workers for that week. But we are in a better place than we thought yesterday afternoon.

Response

The Beacon Hospital has said in a statement that it has not signed an additional centralised agreement because it is not willing to give Clinical Governance to the HSE.

The last HSE Agreement, which Beacon Hospital signed up to, in April to June last year, allowing the HSE take clinical control, led to the hospital being 70% empty for three months, the statement read.

As Beacon Hospital is at full capacity now, treating both private and public patients, we cannot take the risk of allowing HSE direct clinical governance lead to under-utilisation.

The hospital added that it is already wearing the green jersey, saying that it is currently treating more public patients than the HSE agreement envisages or asks for and has been doing this for over four months.

The statement adds: Beacon Hospital is treating more public patients than any of the 17 other private hospitals.

Public patients currently occupy over 55% of our Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and approximately 15%-20% of all surgery for the last four months has been done on behalf of public hospitals such as the Mater Public, St James Hospital, Tallaght, Childrens Health Ireland (Crumlin), Tullamore and University Hospital Limerick under existing arrangements.

It concluded: Beacon Hospital remains committed to doing all that it can to support the public system and the country during this time of crisis and is preparing to take more public patients during the days and weeks ahead.

It has also made a vaccination centre available to the HSE this week and has vaccinated more than 1,000 HSE frontline workers to date.

The INMO has also warned that healthcare workers and long-term care residents must continue to be the absolute first priority groups for vaccination.

The warning comes as the union stated that in the last two weeks for which data is available, 5,019 healthcare workers tested positive for the virus with 23% of those among nurses and midwives.

Let me be crystal clear, stated General Secretary, Phil Ni Sheaghdha. INMO members have cooperated with redeployment and worked dutifully under increased risks, all in the interest of patient safety. To continue this approach healthcare workers must receive the vaccine as a priority.

There is a vaccination plan. It is agreed, it is clear, and the government should stick to it.

Tens of thousands of healthcare workers have caught this virus. They did so because  even in the times of most extreme pressure  they have turned up to work and provided care. This includes students and interns, who have taken great risks on no or low pay.

It would be frankly obscene if other groups were being vaccinated while healthcare workers and the most vulnerable elderly go without. The only thing delaying vaccines for healthcare workers and the elderly should be supply.

Rumours that other groups will be placed ahead of healthcare workers for vaccination are deeply unhelpful to frontline staff. The government should make clear that it is holding firm and sticking to the plan.
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TERAMO, Italy - The virus hunter saw the apparent pattern come into view over several hours in late December, as he studied genetic sequences from positive coronavirus tests in his region. He found four cases involving the new, highly infectious British variant, in the same hilltop town.

"A cluster," said Alessio Lorusso, the virologist.

His findings were a rare, initial insight into the mutated forms of the virus reaching new parts of the world. Most countries, including the United States and across Europe, do not perform enough genomic surveillance to adequately track the virus's changes - to the alarm of disease control agencies, which warn that governments could be blind to dangerous mutations.

But the scenario in Italy's mountainous center shows how even when a worrisome variant is detected early, governments can miss the narrow window to mount a rapid response and limit the spread. Containment measures come too late, in the wait for more substantial evidence. And the virus races ahead.

Lorusso's director quickly notified the affected region of the four cases. But it took more than two weeks for any official confirmation to reach the town of Guardiagrele and its population of 9,000. During that time, overall coronavirus cases there tripled, from 35 on Dec. 28 to more than 100 by mid-January. Of those, 29 have been confirmed to involve the British variant, compared with the 76 cases identified in the entire United States, where surveillance is highly lacking.

No targeted restrictions have been imposed on Guardiagrele or the surrounding region of Abruzzo, though there is a plan to soon perform widespread testing.

In Britain, the variant - known officially as B.1.1.7 - has forced a national lockdown, after the mutation defied regional measures that had curbed less transmissible strains. Though the variant appears responsive to vaccines and is not thought to be more deadly, it has spread so widely, and so overwhelmed hospitals, that it is causing the death toll to skyrocket, as well. In recent days, Britain has seen more per capita deaths than any other populous country, including the United States.

3 1 of 3 Federica Valabrega/For the Washington Post Show More Show Less 2 of 3 photo for The Washington Post by Federica Valabrega. Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Scientists worry a similar escalation could follow elsewhere. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned the variant could become dominant in the United States by March. The timeline could be even shorter for some countries in Europe.

"If you don't act now, in two months, in all of Europe, we'll have the British variant taking the place of the current ones," said Walter Ricciardi, a World Health Organization adviser to Italy's Health Ministry.

He said that if a highly transmissible variant is detected in a particular place, it is important to act quickly, with widespread testing and restrictions on movement.

"You have to immediately lock down the area," Ricciardi said.

- - -

To the extent that Italy has an early warning system, it depends on scientists such as Lorusso, 39, a bearded man who could pass for a retired wrestler outside the confines of his white-walled lab. He says he "likes viruses." He has spent much of the past year working 14-hour days, squinting at genomic code, watching SARS-CoV-2 evolve. The lab where he works, the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Teramo, has now identified more than 50 instances of the British variant in the Abruzzo region. But the British variant is far from the dominant strain in the area.

"The variant with the greatest fitness will replace the others," he said. "It's just a fact."

For Lorusso and his lab, the British variant is fairly easy to hunt down. That's because it leaves a telltale: One of the most commonly used coronavirus testing machines, produced by the company Thermo Fisher, checks for the presence of three genes. In the British variant, one of those genes is missing. For somebody with the B.1.1.7 strain, the test result looks puzzling: positive-negative-positive.

Such a readout is hardly a definitive indication of B.1.1.7; some less concerning variants can yield a similar result. But it provides a starting point, and Lorusso's lab can then select swabs for deeper analysis.

Walking through the lab this past week, Lorusso stopped at the area where the swabs were being processed - 96 at a time, several thousand per day. In the room with the Thermo Fisher machine, he took a look at some recent test results - each corresponding to a person, who had been awaiting news of the outcome. In one batch of 96, nobody had the positive-negative-positive pattern. But in the next batch, 12 did.

Lorusso sat down at a computer, logging on to a system that tracks the personal information of everyone swabbed.

He checked for the home address of the one person who'd tested positive-negative-positive.

Guardiagrele.

He checked another.

Guardiagrele.

"Same neighborhood," he said.

He'd still have to sequence the code to know if it was B.1.1.7. But already, there was a growing number of newly arrived swabs revealing that same pattern.

- - -

Italy reported its first detected case involving the British variant on Dec. 20, in a traveler who had arrived from Britain. The government in Rome stopped flights from the United Kingdom the same day.

But even by then, the variant was apparently already circulating in Italy.

Lorusso spotted the initial four cases from Guardiagrele - three within one family - on Dec. 26, and by Dec. 30, according to a document, the lab had informed regional government officials.

Regional officials, in turn, said they needed national government confirmation of the lab results. Into mid-January, the region was insisting there was still no "definitive proof" of a variant that might be spreading differently.

"The region never said to me, 'Dear mayor, there is a cluster in your town of the most infectious variant, so you'd better put a stop to everything,' " said Guardiagrele's mayor, Donatello Di Prinzio. "Had that been the case, I would have taken all the required actions."

Instead, after the end of a national holiday lockdown, all of Abruzzo - including his town - landed back in the lightest tier of Italian restrictions, with shops and hair salons open, and restaurants allowed to offered dine-in service until 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, coronavirus infections in the town were rising rapidly, reaching a point far exceeding anything from earlier waves. A local media report pointed to the variant, and there was speculation about it on Facebook. But without official word, the mayor said he didn't want to be alarmist.

"I only talk when there is data on my hand and official information," he said.

While he waited, Di Prinzio asked the region to send civil protection officers, who could supplement a depleted local police unit and help enforce basic distancing measures.

Then, on Tuesday, he was invited to a video conference with a provincial official and mayors from seven other towns that were seeing significant case increases. The authorities agreed to launch a mass-testing campaign in those towns, starting in Guardiagrele. It would kick off Jan. 23 - more than three weeks after Lorusso's initial findings.

One of the provincial officials involved with the health response, Giuseppe Torzi, said "measures need to be stricter" in places with the variant, but the crux of the response would be the same: try to isolate the positive cases and reduce contacts.

"I could list situations where there's no English variant and yet there's been a monstrous increase," Torzi said. "So it's not as if the other virus is some joke."

- - -

On Friday, Guardiagrele received definitive word of the variant's arrival, but not because of a national confirmation. Instead, Lorusso's lab notified the region, as well as a provincial health director, of updated, more extensive findings. Torzi called the mayor, feeling this time no further research was needed.

The province of Chieti, one portion of Abruzzo, had 51 cases of the variant.

Twenty-nine of those were in Guardiagrele.

That news coincided with a national government order that a large part of the country, including the Abruzzo region, would on the basis of infection rates be classified in the middle tier of coronavirus restrictions, which includes the closure of restaurants for in-person dining. Nonessential travel between regions will be banned through mid-February. But there has been no indication that Guardiagrele would be sealed off, as has happened in numerous hot spot Italian towns throughout the past year.

Speaking to The Washington Post by phone on Friday, Di Prinzio said he would redouble his request for residents to wear masks and keep their distance. He'd already closed a market. Nothing else would change. Even if he wanted to impose a lockdown, he said there was little point; other towns might well have the same problem, and it would have to be a coordinated effort.

Another lab doing genomic sequencing, at the University of Chieti, said it had traced a case in one town, San Giovanni Teatino, back to Guardiagrele, carried by a woman who works there.

"For such reason," the university wrote to the region, "it is possible to hypothesize that in these cases we are witnessing a progressive expansion of such a variant across the territory."

Lorusso, who said he had not been monitoring the policy response in the wake of his findings, said he realized people around the world were suddenly scrambling to understand the implications of this variant and others. He emphasized that even the most infectious strain could be curbed with rigorous distancing, mask-wearing and a reduction in social contact. Over the course of a day at the lab, he mentioned it so many times that he came to seem almost protective of the virus. The changes in SARS-CoV-2 were logical, not alarming, he said. The spread of the British variant, and any other highly infectious strains, depended on the behavior and decisions of humans.

"Viruses search for a host," he said. "It's human habits that make the pandemic."

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(Alliance News) - The UK is to close all travel corridors from Monday to "protect against the risk of as yet unidentified new strains" of coronavirus, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said, as the global death toll from Covid-19 passed two million.

The prime minister told a Downing Street press conference that anyone flying into the country from overseas will have to show proof of a negative Covid test before setting off.

"It's precisely because we have the hope of that vaccine and the risk of new strains coming from overseas that we must take additional steps now to stop those strains from entering the country," he said.

"Yesterday we announced that we're banning flights from South America and Portugal, and to protect us against the risk from as-yet-unidentified strains we will also temporarily close all travel corridors from 0400 on Monday."

People arriving in the UK from a destination with a travel corridor are currently exempt from the 10-day quarantine requirement.

The new policy means arrivals from every destination will need to self-isolate for 10 days, or receive a negative result from a coronavirus test taken at least five days after they enter the UK.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of trade body Airlines UK, said travel corridors were a "lifeline" for the travel industry when they were introduced in summer 2020 but acknowledged that "things change".

The opposition party, Labour, accused the government of "closing the door after the horse has bolted", saying the announcement was too late to have stopped the arrival of the "worrying" Brazilian and South African strains of the virus.

During the press conference, Johnson said that once 15 million of the most vulnerable people in the UK have been vaccinated by mid-February "we will think about what steps we could take to lift the restrictions", but it will depend on what is happening with the virus.

He continued: "What we can't have is any false sense of security so that we, as it were, lift the restrictions altogether and then the disease really runs riot in the younger generations."

The prime minister said around one third of covid patients admitted to hospital are under 65, while a quarter are under 55.

He added: "So it can affect and does affect huge numbers of younger people as well, often very badly, and the risk is that those numbers would be greatly inflated if we let go too soon in circumstances where the disease was really rampant.

"That is not to say that I don't want to try to get to relaxations as soon as we reasonably can a but there are a lot of things that have to go right."

The prime minister sought to remind people to wash their hands thoroughly, saying the virus was not just caught in a supermarket queue but on surfaces.

And he warned that the NHS is facing "extraordinary pressures" and urged "this is not the time for the slightest relaxation of our national resolve".

He said: "On Tuesday we saw 4,134 new admissions to hospital on a single day a the highest at any point in this pandemic.

"There are now more than 37,000 covid patients in hospitals across the UK and in spite of all the efforts of our doctors and nurses and our medical staff we're now seeing cancer treatments sadly postponed, ambulances queuing, and intensive care units spilling over into adjacent wards."

Also at the briefing, England's chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, said it was "very likely" the outlook for the UK will improve greatly by the spring a suggesting at some point after Easter.

"What no-one thinks is that suddenly in spring it is all over and that is the whole thing done," he said.

"What we expect is things to be substantially better than they are at the moment.

"The hope is that is a kind of reasonable timeframe to be thinking about. But if we try to put a hard stop on this we will be caught out by events.

"But I think that broad timeframe still feels to me a reasonable one, provided what we are not expecting is completely back to two springs ago."

On hospital admissions, Whitty said the peak for them was expected to be in the next week to 10 days for most regions.

He said it was hoped the peak had already "happened in some parts of the country particularly the South East, east of England and London" but would be later elsewhere.

He added: "The peak of deaths I fear is in the future, the peak of hospitalisations in some parts of the country may be around about now and beginning to come off the very, very top."

New official figures show 3.23 million people have received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in the UK - up by 316,694 from Thursday's figures and around double the number last week.

The government's chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, told the Downing Street briefing the current lockdown had led to a "suppressed peak" that would "boil over for sure" if controls are eased.

"This is not the natural peak that's going to come down on its own, it's coming down because of the measures that are in place," he said.

"Take the lid off now and it's going to boil over for sure and we're going to end up with a big problem.

"And that's a lesson about making sure it's all cooled down enough before you get to that position."

Vallance also said he expects vaccines will reduce transmission but that "we shouldn't go mad" as jabs are rolled out.

He said it would still be the case that people may pass the virus to others.

Asked whether he thought the Brazilian variant causing concern was now in the UK, he said it had "not yet been detected" as far as he was aware.

But he said the situation was being monitored as the variant "could of course come from any place around the world."

Public Health England said a total of 35 genomically confirmed and 12 genomically probable cases of the Covid-19 variant which originated in South Africa have been identified in the UK as of January 14.

Two variants of interest have also been identified in Brazil; the first has a small number of mutations and eight genomically confirmed cases of this variant have been identified in the UK, while the second, which has been detected in Manaus and travellers arriving in Japan, has not been detected in the UK.

By Jane Kirby and Neil Lancefield, PA

source: PA

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 10:57:25|Editor: huaxia

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HARARE, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Zimbabwean government has approved a hike of fares for state-operating intra-city public transport to prepare for reducing business amid a new COVID-19 lockdown.

The fares will see a nearly-90-percent increase for various distance ranges for both conventional buses and commuter omnibuses.

In a memo on Wednesday, Secretary for Finance and Economic Development George Guvamatanga said the new fares will take effect from Jan. 18 to boost revenues for the state-owned Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) during the new lockdown lasting till Jan. 31.

"Treasury notes the proposed fares for both buses and commuter omnibuses, which are necessitated by the reduced carrying capacities due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting constraint on revenues which negatively impacts on operations," Guvamatanga said.

Zimbabwe re-introduced a nationwide lockdown beginning on Jan. 5 to contain an unprecedented spike of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the country.

Under the current lockdown, the government bans all business activities except essential services such as those in hospitals, supermarkets, banks and pharmacies.

A curfew has been imposed while inter-city travel has also been suspended, with the country's land borders closed.

ZUPCO buses are the only means of public transport in cities after the government last year banned privately-owned commuter omnibuses and instead invited owners of such vehicles to operate under the ZUPCO franchise. Enditem
Aoife Kelly is one of many Leaving Cert students across Co Wexford who was not going to return to school on the first day back this week in protest at the three-day in class plan.

The Our Lady of Lourdes student said her family's health was being put at risk by having to attend school three days a week at a time when Covid numbers are skyrocketing.

She welcomed the u-turn announced by Education Minister Norma Foley on Thursday, saying: 'I'm happy that we're all safe now for a while at home but it would be ridiculous to still think we have a Leaving Cert exam. Even the mocks are next month and we need answers from the government whether they're going ahead or not. We also need more information on the orals for language subjects and practicals like Home EC and Art.'

She said: 'There is no adequate reason for anyone to risk their life, wellbeing and mental health, not only for themselves but for their families, for an exam. I strongly think it is not worth it and it doesn't make sense,' Aoife, from Clongeen said.

'It's so stressful. I think it's a disgrace the way the government is carrying on. We came back at the end of August. We were following the regulations, sanitising regularly. It was just so panicky as we realised we had missed so much of fifth year. We thought we're screwed.

'It's all panic; the teachers are saying we'll get through it but we don't even have the course done and it's January. We are telling the teachers all the time about how stressed we are.'

Aoife said fifth year was OK 'but a lot of us struggled doing online learning. It took me a month and a half to get used to it.'

She said she put a lot of effort into her class tests in the autumn and early winter as she believed the Leaving Cert would go ahead.

'In case of predictive grades, I put my best into the class tests. Covid wasn't as high as it is now so I was saying to myself we will have a Leaving Cert.'

She said teachers varied in their reactions; with some marking tests as normal, while others marked papers very hard 'just in case we did have predictive grades'.

The thought of returning to school three days a week made no sense to Aoife.

'I think it was a ludicrous decision because they are saying the schools are safe when they are 100 per cent not safe. The numbers are so much higher so we are all at risk. I think it should be either five days a week or nothing. They say we won't have Covid but everyone knows schools who had to send students back because of close contacts or because a student had Covid. Ramsgrange was riddled with it.'

'I think compared to the way they did it last year with the option of predictive grades or sitting the Leaving Cert - I don't see why we can't get that for our year because we've missed out on more school and class time. England, Scotland and Wales have cancelled all their exams. I can't understand why the Republic of Ireland isn't doing the same for us.'

Aoife watches the news with her parents and says she was scared by the figures of cases being reported last week.

'I am actually scared for my health and for my family's health. My Mam is high risk.'

Aoife is one of thousands of students who have signed a petition for predicted grades and to make them optional for the class of 2021.

'I believe this is completely fair because we are the first year in the history of the Leaving Cert to have two major disruptions in both of our Leaving Cert years. We lost out on a huge amount of classroom time in fifth year and again we are being affected in sixth year.'

Among the reasons she gives for why Leaving Cert 2021 should be cancelled are: mental health, family contacts and poor or non-existent broadband services for some students in rural areas.

She had planned to attend a peaceful protest for the first day students were due back at school if the government persisted with its plans for a three-day week in school for Leaving Cert students.

'I'll be staying at home and I have classmates who have the same mindset. It's to show the government that we are going to stand up for ourselves. We are not going to go to school when we are all high risk. We are the first Leaving Cert year that has to sit their course during a global pandemic, this has had untold strain on our mental wellbeing and our performances in the exams. From what they have said today they are not really thinking about us and our wellbeing at all, it seems to me that their prioritising an exam over our health and wellbeing, which is not on.'

She objected to the fact that: 'while the other years stay at home safe and do remote learning, Leaving Cert students were expected to come into school for three days a week and have classes with 55 other students, not to mention all the staff and teachers.

'That is a lot of people and movement. Not to forget there are 55,000 Leaving Cert students so that will be 55,000 families, those students will go to class and bring whatever they caught in school back home to their families. This is not worth the risk!'

She criticised Education Minister Norma Foley's stance that 'schools are controlled environments and that they are safe'.

'They are not. Why not send home all years for the month of January and give us all remote learning? It worked in April and May of 2020. Hopefully, if this is done, we will stop the big rise and we can go back to school as normal and resume our studies.'
The country kickstarted it's mega inoculation drive against novel coronavirus on Saturday, riding on the back of two home-grown vaccines  Covaxin and Covishield .

Although the approval for their emergency use was only given by India's drug controller on 3 January, the production had started when the pandemic began to unfold in the country.

In early May last year, Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine maker, received a tiny 1-millilitre vial from Oxford, England, containing the cellular material for the vaccine, which kicked off the work on mass production of the vaccine.

As the pandemic began to unfold, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla gambled to strike deals to secure coronavirus vaccine licenses.

SII overhauled assembly lines to crank out 5,000 doses of vaccine per minute, even before the clinical trials ended.

It had already produced around 40 million doses before the phase-III results of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, named Covishield, were known.

A little later, Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech started work on a 'desi' or 'Made-in-India' vaccine - Covaxin.

Mass production

With a reputation as the 'pharmacy of the world', all eyes were on India's vaccine manufacturers for large-scale production and supply of coronavirus vaccines when the pandemic started to ravage the country and the world.

In April, SII had announced its partnership with Oxford University for Covid-19 vaccine.

"We have partnered with the Oxford University vaccine project as one of the seven global institutions manufacturing the vaccine," Poonawalla had said in a statement.

He said SII had undertaken the decision to initiate manufacturing of vaccine at its own risk.

The decision was solely taken to have a jump-start on manufacturing, to have enough doses available, if the clinical trials proved successful.

The company also started clinical trials of the vaccine in India and in August said that the phase-III trials for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine were underway.

However, the trials hit a roadblock in September, with the company receiving a show-cause notice from the central drug regulator for not informing it about AstraZeneca pausing clinical trials of the Oxford vaccine candidate for Covid-19 in other countries.

The company was, however, given permission to resume clinical trials in September itself.

In November, AstraZeneca announced that its Covid-19 vaccine candidate was 70% effective on average.

During the month, SII also said that it was in the process of applying for an emergency use licensure for AstraZeneca-Oxford's Covid-19 vaccine candidate in India in the next two weeks.

Challenges came in the shape of a participant in the clinical trials, who alleged serious side effects due to the vaccine, a charge that was firmly rejected by the company.

The other vaccine maker, Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has developed Covaxin indigenously in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The company had received permission from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for conducting the phase-I and II clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine.

In October last year, it applied to the DCGI for conducting phase-III randomised double-blind placebo-controlled multicentre trial of its Covid-19 vaccine.

The company was in the spotlight in December, when Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij tested positive for coronavirus, days after participating in the trial of Covaxin. He had participated in a trial on 20 November 2020.

At that time, Bharat Biotech had said its vaccine was safe and efficacious and had pointed out that Covaxin was based on a two-dose schedule and its efficacy was to be determined 14 days post the second dosage.

Similarly, the company had also said that the death of a volunteer in Bhopal, who took a shot of Covaxin as part of the phase-III clinical trials, was not related to the medication.

Bharat Biotech has also inked a pact with Precisa Medicamentos, a Brazilian company, to supply the Covid-19 vaccine candidate to the Latin American country.

The long wait for regulatory approval finally came to an end for both vaccine manufacturers on 3 January, with India's drug regulator approving Covishield and Covaxin for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive innoculation drive.

More than 1 crore cases and around 1.5 lakh fatalities later, India took its first steps out of the pandemic with shots of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines being administered at medical centres across the country.

With inputs from agencies.

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The United States has re-designated Pakistani terrorist groups including Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as foreign terrorist organisations just weeks before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting in February. In a statement, the US Department of State on January 14 announced the designation of the Pakistani terror groups before FATF will meet to discuss the status of Islamabads position in the grey list.

"The Department of State has amended the terrorist designations of Lashkar- i- Jhangvi (LJ) and ISIL Sinai Peninsula (ISIL-SP) to include additional aliases. These aliases have been added to LJ and ISIL-SP's designations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT)," the department of State said in a release.

"The State Department "has reviewed and maintained the FTO designations of LJ, ISIL-SP, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Jaysh Rijal al-Tariq al Naqshabandi, Jama'atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis-Sudan (Ansaru), al-Nusrah Front, Continuity Irish Republican Army and the National Liberation Army, pursuant to Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)," it added.

FTO and SDGT designations seek to reject the said terrorist organisations the resources to plan and even carry out the terrorist attacks. The statement further added, Designations of terrorist individuals and groups expose and isolate them and deny them access to the US financial system. Designations can assist the law enforcement actions of other US agencies and governments. Meanwhile, Pakistan is on the FATFs grey list since June 2018 and is also facing challenges in clearing its name.

Read - MEA Lambasts Pakistan's Farcical Action Against Masood Azhar & Lakhvi, Cites FATF Motive

Read - Gen VK Singh Thanks Pakistan For Vindicating India On Pulwama; Charts Global Roadmap

Pakistan to remain in 'grey list' until February

Earlier in October 2020, the officials had said that Pakistan will remain in the 'grey list' till February 2021 as it remained unsuccessful in fulfilling the six key obligations of the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog that include failure to take action against two of India's most wanted terrorists Maulana Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed. After the last FATF meeting, FATF president Marcus Pleyer said at a virtual press conference from Paris, "Pakistan remains in the increased monitoring list or the grey list."

Read - Imran Khan-led Government Slammed By Opposition For Failing To Exit From FATF's Grey List

Read - Pakistan To Remain In 'grey' List Of FATF Till February 2021
RICHMOND, Va. - The pro-gun signs and flags had all been snapped up from the racks inside Green Top Hunting & Fishing on Friday afternoon. Around Virginia, buses were being plastered with banners and ham radio operators were gearing up to coordinate a potentially massive gun-rights caravan to the state Capitol on Monday.

With the FBI warning of the potential for right-wing attacks in capitals around the country this weekend following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, officials are watching anxiously as armed demonstrators prepare to converge on Richmond.

"There is a lot of [online] chatter about Saturday and Sunday, but we're primarily focused on Monday," Virginia public safety secretary Brian Moran said Friday evening after briefing staffers from the General Assembly. "In terms of credible threats - we're monitoring it."

Fallout from the mob attack in Washington has prompted some of the state's self-proclaimed militia groups to say they will stay away from Monday's pro-gun demonstration. That day's Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is also known in Richmond as Lobby Day for the tradition of citizens coming to petition legislators at the start of the General Assembly session.

"This year Halifax County Militia will protest the continuing disrespect and invasion of our rights, by our absence from Richmond," Mitzi Thompson, who identifies herself as the leader of the Halifax militia group, said in a paid proclamation in a county newspaper.

Her statement went on to question the validity of the presidential election but condemned "the violent actions that have taken place this year across America and any attacks on law enforcement. We support our men in blue and the Rule of Law."

Thompson said in an interview that militia groups in seven other counties, worried about being blamed for any violence that might break out in Richmond, had sent similar statements to local news and government organizations. Only one other could be reached: Daniel Abbott, who leads a militia group in Campbell County, confirmed that his members will stay away from Richmond on Monday.

Abbott couldn't have gone anyway - he's in the Virginia National Guard and is deployed to help secure Washington D.C.

"We don't support, obviously, stuff like what took place here on the 6th," he said from his posting in D.C. "And we consider there to be far too great a risk of something like that transpiring in Richmond and we don't want to be involved in anything like that. So we decided to keep our distance."

The leader of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, the grass roots gun-rights organization that planned Monday's event, said he has no idea how many people might show up.

"I wish I did," said Philip Van Cleave.

He said he is working closely with law enforcement officials to ensure things run smoothly. "We have a hotline with key people in state police, Richmond police and Capitol police," Van Cleave said. "If we get anything we think could be a problem, we'll let them know."

The pro-gun rally he organized around the state Capitol a year ago drew an estimated 20,000 people, including organized, militarylike squads and anti-government agitators from around the country. Despite reports of online threats and intimidation against Virginia Democrats, who were advancing landmark gun control legislation, there were no violent incidents.

This year the group was beaten out for an event permit by gun control advocates, though state officials canceled those permits this week over the broader security concerns. With the onset of restrictions on public gatherings because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Citizens Defense League planned a vehicle caravan instead.

Convoys plan to assemble at all four compass points of the state - each led by a bus bearing shrink-wrapped banners - and then converge on Richmond, picking up additional supporters along the way. To avoid an epic traffic jam on city streets, Van Cleave said, the four caravans are expected to arrive at one-hour intervals, starting at noon.

There has been an internal dust-up over one of the buses, which was initially designed to bear the slogan: "Free men own guns. Slaves do not."

Some of the group's members recoiled at the mention of slavery after a year of Black Lives Matter protests. "It's hilarious the way different people can take the same thing different ways," Van Cleave said. "But, ah, you know, such is life nowadays. Everything is complicated."

The slogan was changed to "#Rolling4The2A Guns SAVE Lives."

The Citizens Defense League will operate a control center from a downtown Richmond hotel, and has sought ham radio operators to help monitor the flow of vehicles around the state. Group members will live-stream the event, along with prerecorded videos from high-profile gun-rights activists. Awards will go out to the vehicles with the showiest displays. One prize: ammunition. Another: a free subscription to a service that provides insurance and legal counseling "if you ever did have to get involved in a self-defense incident," Van Cleave said.

Though Van Cleave promises the event will be "a lot of fun," city and state officials are taking it seriously.

National Guardsmen are on standby. Plywood covers the windows of the State Capitol. Tall metal barricades surround Capitol Square, with police vehicles idling on pathways just inside locked pedestrian gates. Downtown streets will be closed; signs warning against carrying guns have gone up around the city.

"The violent, lawless insurrection and assault on democracy and its institutions that unfolded last week in Washington D.C. will not be tolerated in the city of Richmond," Mayor Levar Stoney warned on Thursday.

Speaking at a news briefing with Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, Stoney pointed out that the city has both declared a state of emergency and passed ordinances that ban carrying firearms in public spaces during permitted events - or any organized event "that should be permitted."

Van Cleave has encouraged his members to stay in their cars, but said that nothing prohibits them from getting out and stretching their legs around Richmond. If they're carrying firearms, he said, so be it.

A slate of gun-control groups is using the prospect of armed demonstrators milling around town to tout a new proposal to ban the open carrying of firearms in Virginia. One of the groups, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, will push the idea in a virtual event on Monday that Northam is scheduled to attend.

"We've seen armed intimidation at the Capitol for years," Lori Haas, the coalition's Virginia director, said Friday in an interview. "After the violent insurrection that happened last week - which would have been more deadly without D.C.'s strong gun laws, including a ban on open carry - it's time that Virginia . . . ban open carry in public."

Van Cleave dismissed any notion that his members pose a threat. For 25 years, he said, the Citizens Defense League has held rallies on Lobby Day in Richmond without any acts of violence.

There are unknowns this year, he conceded. There's unrest around the nation. "Now, could somebody try to sneak in and cause trouble? Of course, that could happen any time," he said. "But at the end of the day we can't back down. We can't stop every time somebody makes a threat . . . We're living in a crazy time, but life has to go on."
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WESTERNVILLE, N.Y. -- Its the talk of the Delta Lake ice fishing crowd  and most likely beyond.

Ice fisherman Casey Weissmuller, of Holland Patent, posted photos on the Delta Lake Diehards Facebook page this week of a northern pike that he said measured around 50 inches. Weissmuller said he landed the fish on this Oneida County waterway using a tip up and live shiner as bait.

He released the fish after he and his fishing buddy, Collin Litz, of Floyd, took turns posing for pictures holding it.

Collin Litz, of Floyd, holds up his fishing buddy Casey Weissmuller's huge northern pike caught on Delta Lake.

Weissmuller, 24, said a tape measure or scale were not readily available. He ended up using Litzs size 12 LaCrosse boots to determine the fishs size.

The fish measured a little more than four of Collins boot lengths, Weissmuller said, adding he measured his friends boots afterward and the boots were each slightly longer than 12 inches.

Weissmuller said he has fished Delta Lake all his life and that his grandfather use to own the Weissmuller Bait and Tackle shop off Route 46 near the lake. He said a lot of big northerns have been caught in Delta Lake over the years.

We have quite a few pictures over at my grandmothers house, of fish more than 50 inches long, Weissmuller said. He said his biggest northern to date is one that measured 54 inches. He said he caught that lunker several summers ago.

I havent caught another 50 incher since  until this one, he said.

The New York State record for a northern pike is held by Peter Dubuc who caught a 46-pound, 2 ounce lunker in 1940 in the Great Sacandaga Reservoir. Its length was not reported.

Weissmuller said he caught the big pike just after 10 a.m. Tuesday morning. He said the ice was about 7 inches thick where he and Litz were fishing. He said he pulled in the line with the pike on by hand.

We got kind of lucky with it, he said. Im going to make an assumption on this, but I think the fish may have been feeding and was all tired out. I set the hook and he started running. He didnt run all that far. He turned once and I started pulling and he came right toward us. By the time he got to the hole, he seemed to be pretty tired out.

Once the fish was underneath the hole, Litz reached in the water and pulled it out. The hole in the ice was 8 inches in diameter.

Weissmuller said he has since wondered if he should have posted the photos on Facebook so quickly. All this week hes noticed the impact while out on the ice.

Weve been getting crowded pretty good by other ice anglers, he said.

MORE UPSTATE NY OUTDOORS

Meet Ada Ladd, who fell through the ice and kept fishing, and shot himself in the foot and kept hunting

Ice fishing 101 in Upstate NY: The basics for having a safe good time and catching fish

Getting outdoors: Upstate NY outdoors writer finally ventures out on ice, catches a few small ones

Angler alert: The DECs new categorization of streams and how theyll be stocked

What you need to know about the DECs proposed statewide, catch and release trout fishing season

Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 17:27:09|Editor: huaxia

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KAMPALA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's incumbent President Yoweri Museveni has led in Thursday's presidential election, according to partial poll results released by the country's electoral commission on Saturday.

With ballots from 86.8 percent of polling stations counted, Museveni has won 5.3 million votes, or 58.8 percent, followed by his main challenger Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, a musician-turned-politician who had won 34.6 percent, according to Justice Simon Byabakama, chairperson of the commission.

Patrick Oboi Amuriat, a candidate from the opposition Forum for Democratic Change, comes third with nearly 3.3 percent of the votes, while each of the other eight candidates has garnered less than 1 percent of the ballots.

Byabakama is expected to announce the final results at 16:00 local time (1300 GMT) on Saturday. Enditem
Tribhanga

Cast: Kajol, Tanvi Azmi, Mithila Palkar

Direction: Renuka Shahane

Rating: * * and 1/2 (two and a half stars)

BY VINAYAK CHAKRAVORTY

The great thing about Kajol is she can light up a scene as few stars do, with her zeal to enthral. The flip side is she can burn down a scene, too, if the zeal goes overboard. It is a rarity, but we have seen it happen.

In Tribhanga, Kajol reveals both the tendencies and, since the drama is largely defined by her screen presence, the film ends up a peculiar mix of the brilliant and the banal.

Renuka Shahane's first Hindi film as director starts off riding the Kajol factor, besides the fact that it makes a couple of pertinent points about mother-daughter relationships that were, on script at least, powerful enough provoke reflection.

Shahane pens a story of three generations of women who stand out for the very specific choices they make in life, and the dysfunctional relationship they share. Tanvi Azmi plays acclaimed novelist Nayantara Apte, who shares an uncomfortable bond with daughter Anuradha (Kajol), a filmstar and Odissi dancer. Anuradha's daughter Masha (Mithila Palkar) has opted for a more conventional lifestyle compared to her celebrity parent and grandparent.

The drama unfolds primarily through the gaze of Milan (Kunaal Roy Kapur), who starts out as Nayantara's aide in an autobiography project of the author. The story kickstarts with Nayantara hospitalised in a comatose stage. Anuradha, it emerges, resents her mother. She blames her mother for knowingly being apathetic through a dark chapter in her teenage.

The film derives its title from the Tribhanga pose in Odissi dance. It is an imperfect posture, nonetheless beautiful. The dance pose as well as its name seem to define the lives of the three women.

Much of the film's appeal lies in Shahane's straightforward storytelling while focusing warts that lie hidden at the heart of each relationship. By turns shocking, sentimental and painful, the memories that Anuradha harbours about her mother become the backbone of the narrative. Shahane's executes these flashback moments with an unflinching.

To her credit, the filmmaker uses the generation gap between Nayantara and Anuradha effectively, to show the changing character of gender politics in society. Yet, If Anuradha would seem to be more empowered as a young woman compared to what her mother was, the former has her own demons to battle, too.

The film's intention is undoubtedly noble, but the execution is not without flaws. The overall style is far too melodramatic to allow any sort of nuanced exploration of relationships. The narrative is marked by intermittent loud treatment (suitably matched by an otherwise brilliant Kajol's screechy outbursts in such scenes).

The fact is the film tries to talk of too many things within 90-odd minutes becomes a problem, too. Perhaps Shahane ought to have accorded herself a longer runtime. This is, after all, a screenplay that tries accommodating everything from domestic violence to child abuse to the orthodox mother-in-law who would rather have her bahu focus on kitchen duties than hone her gift at writing. The film triggers an interesting conversation when a mother insists that she has the right to give her children her surname, because she has singlehandedly raised them.

Riding the advantage of a cast in good form, Shahane could have given her story a runtime of a couple of hours at least, to realise the full potential of her effort.

-- Syndicated from IANS
Local Ireland, the representative association for 46 weekly paid-for newspapers and the largest publishing representative body in Ireland, has announced the appointment of Bob Hughes as executive director of the association.

Mr Hughes succeeds Johnny OHanlon who has been director since 2009 and retired on December 31 2020.

Bob Hughes began his career in local and regional newspapers before moving to Fleet Street to become a sub-editor at the Press Association.

He joined ITN where he was a producer on Channel 4 News before moving to Reuters/Sky as a programme editor, reporter and producer. He then joined Radio Ireland/Today FM before becoming Deputy Director of News at TV3 from its launch until 2014.

He has since worked nationally and internationally as a multi-platform consultant with portfolios as diverse as Virgin Media Television, the Thomson Foundation for Journalism, TVC Communications Nigeria and Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation. He is a visiting expert trainer in Leadership and Management at the Al-Jazeera Media Institute in Qatar and has taught Broadcast Journalism at DCU.

Most recently he was a Special Adviser in the Departments of Rural and Community Development and in Communications, Climate Action and the Environment in the last Government.

Commenting on his appointment Mr Hughes said: "I am delighted and honoured to be appointed Executive Director of Local Ireland.

Our local newspapers are the lifeblood of our communities and their vital role in bringing news, information, culture and sport to 1.5 million readers every week has been brought sharply into focus in the current pandemic.

"The industry has faced serious systemic challenges around revenue and circulation and those impacts have been exacerbated by the sharp decline in advertising as a result of Covid-19. Now, more than ever, it is essential that local newspapers are supported in a meaningful way by our Ministers, TDs and councillors to ensure the sustainability and survival of high quality journalism in our local communities."

Commenting on the appointment David Ryan, president of Local Ireland, said that Mr Hughes was joining the association at a critical point in the evolution of newspaper publishing in Ireland and, indeed, globally and wished him every success in his new role.

He also paid tribute to Johnny OHanlon for his service to the association during a challenging transitional period in the local publishing market and wished him well in his retirement.

*The Kilkenny People is a member of Local Ireland.
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HOUSTON  A federal judge on Friday asked officials to review how more than 1,900 inmates in Texas largest county jail could be released to relieve overcrowding at a facility where officials worry about a potential COVID-19 outbreak.

Earlier this week, attorneys for Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez raised concerns about the county jail, which has a population thats ballooned to more than 9,000 inmates, leaving little room to quarantine individuals who test positive for the virus or to separate new inmates when they first arrive to ensure they are not sick.

Gonzalez asked for the help of U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal, who is presiding over a lawsuit thaT accuses the countys felony bail system of discriminating against poor defendants. Rosenthal has already ruled the system unconstitutional in some misdemeanor cases.

During a virtual court hearing, Rosenthal worried that conditions at the jail, which is one of the largest in the U.S., could risk the health of inmates who are awaiting trial, along with jail employees and their families.

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................................................................

Nobody wants to turn the jail into a killing field, Rosenthal said.

As of Thursday, the county jail had 9,087 inmates, including nearly 7,900 awaiting trial or other resolutions to their cases. Most of them were facing felony charges.

Harris County Sheriffs Office Major Patrick Dougherty told Rosenthal there were only 68 available beds at the jail on Friday. He blamed the jails growing population in part on a court system thats become backlogged because the pandemic shut down trials for months.

In court documents, the sheriffs office said the coronavirus persists in the jail and that the facility is seeing an increase in staff absences due to the virus. Six inmates and two jail staff members have died due to COVID-19.

During the court hearing, Rosenthal and other officials, including law enforcement, prosecutors and public defenders, focused on whether a group of 1,151 inmates facing low level, non-violent felony charges and who were being held on bonds of $10,000 or less could be eligible for bond reductions.

Elizabeth Rossi, an attorney with Civil Rights Corps, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that is among the groups that sued the county over bonds in felony cases, suggested state court judges could release these inmates on personal or no-cost bonds.

But Rosenthal said any action they take could not violate an executive order Gov. Greg Abbott issued at the start of the pandemic last year that prevented state and county judges from releasing people accused or previously convicted of violent crimes on no-cost bonds.

Abbott issued his order after elected officials in several counties, including Harris, considered releasing inmates to contain the spread of the virus.

Rosenthal asked Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, along with the public defenders office, other defense attorneys, the sheriffs office and judges to work together to determine how they could reduce the bonds of many of those 1,151 inmates to ease their release.

Rosenthal also asked Oggs office to review another group of about 360 inmates facing non-violent charges who could be released. She asked officials to review the possible release of a group of about 420 inmates who were only in custody because they couldnt be transferred to a halfway house or other similar facility because of the pandemic.

The judge asked all the parties involved to report their progress during a Jan. 26 hearing.

I hope it results in some positive changes within the jail and I use the word positive with caution. All we are doing is trying to make it less awful and less dire, Rosenthal said.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
What's Happening?

What are the big themes for investors this year? Obviously, the pandemic and all its tentacle-like implications and effects has to be the biggest consideration.

The next most important issue has to be the environment, but this is a huge area and one which is very poorly defined.

That means there are opportunities for charlatans and snake oil salesmen to take our money on investment opportunities that have all the fashionable abbreviations.

Daunting: ESG  environmental, sustainable and governance  is the acronym du jour and the field is bursting with tiresome technical terms in an area few of us will fully understand

ESG  environmental, sustainable and governance  is the acronym du jour and the field is bursting with tiresome technical terms in an area few of us will fully understand.

Sounds daunting, but this is such an important area, you mustn't let it put you off.

Why Does It Matter?

ESG scrutiny is going to be applied to all companies if they wish to attract and keep investors.

Even the oil producers and other obvious sinners will be wearing corporate sackcloth and ashes to persuade us of their new found creed. This means that share prices will be impacted, and that will affect us all.

What Should I Do?

Interesting new ideas and technologies are often found in the micro world of small start-up companies. Problem is, these can be hard to research properly and more important, very difficult to invest in directly.

For those that do finally make their way on to a stock market, much of the early value may have already been taken by backers who got in from the start.

Which is all a long way of saying it is not very practical for small investors to grab a slice of this action.

Better, then, to look for a fund that may have the expertise to identify those future successes.

In the UK we have the benefit of Investment Trusts, which are funds that trade like stocks, so it is easy to buy and to sell.

A couple of key areas I will look at in more detail in future columns are the management and storage of energy and the development of hydrogen power.

Any Suggestions?

The Gore Street Energy Storage Fund has a good spread of storage businesses in the UK and Europe.

This you should have as a longer-term investment as its price trades at a discount to the value of its assets (currently around 12 per cent) though that is not uncommon with such trusts.

It aims to provide a remarkably high dividend yield of around 7 per cent.

This is not a start-up industry but a well established lithium-ion battery technology and provides multiple income streams.

So is it risky? Yes but with already operational units and in an area of growing demand, this green is not only good but financially gratifying.

Then there is US Solar Fund, which, although priced in US dollars, is tradable in the UK. It is still in this sector, but gives some good spread of companies.

Justin Urquhart Stewart co-founded fund manager 7IM and is chairman of investment platform Regionally.

This is going to be one heck of an interesting case. There are already so many glaring issues (or should I say "targets"?): venue, good faith filing, disclosures, the automatic stay the trustee question, fiduciary duties to pursue claims against insiders, executory employment contracts, the fate of Wayne LaPierre, and the generally overlooked governance provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. I'll take quick aim at these all below.

The National Rifle Association filed for bankruptcy in the Northern District of Texas (Dallas). The NRA's press release says that the purpose of the bankruptcy is to enable the NRA to change from being a New York corporation to a Texas corporation. This is critical to the NRA because the NY Attorney General, who regulates NY non-profits, is seeking to have the NRA dissolved for financial malfeasance. Notably, the NRA states that it "will propose a plan that provides for payment in full of all valid creditors claims. The Association expects to uphold commitments to employees, vendors, members, and other community stakeholders." In other words, the NRA's petition is not driven by financial exigencies, but to avoid the reach of the New York Attorney General. As the press release boasts, the NRA is "dumping New York."

Right off the bat, there's a question of what the heck the NRA is doing filing in Dallas. The answer is that the NRA is engaged in one of the most blatant forum shopping maneuvers I've seen. The NRA is a New York non-profit corporation with its headquarters in Virginia. The NRA is claiming Dallas venue on the basis of an affiliate's previous filing in the district. In other words, venue is only proper for the NRA if the venue is proper for the affiliate.Therefore, the propriety of the affiliate's venue is what matters.

The affiliate is a sole-member Texas LLC called Sea Girt LLC that was only created 52 days ago, on November 24, 2020. Sea Girt's bankruptcy petition indicates that it has less than 49 employees, under $50,000 in assets and between $50,000 and $100,000 in liabilities. Note that the petition form does not have an option of listing "zero" employees. Sea Girt's petition does not include a completed Form 204, which would list is largest non-insider unsecured creditors. But I'm going dollars to donuts that Sea Girt does not have any outside creditors other than perhaps its law firm, and that it does not actually carry on any business.

Now the bankruptcy venue statute prescribes the appropriate venue as being the district in which the "domicile...of the entity that is the subject of such case [has] been located for one hundred and eighty days immediately preceding such commencement, or for a longer portion of such one-hundred-and-eighty-day period than the domicile ... of such person were located in any other district." So even though Sea Girt LLC has not been in existence for 180 days, the statute still provides for a Texas venue. But the venue here is so obviously contrived and the NRA has no particular connect to Texas, so I expect there to be an attempt to have the case transferred to SDNY.

Good faith filing. A second immediate issue seems to be whether the NRA (and Sea Girt) filed in good faith. Every circuit including the 5th) has a good faith filing doctrine. The doctrine in a nutshell is that if a bankruptcy case does not have a "valid reorganizational purpose," it should be dismissed "for cause." Attempting to evade liability in litigation is not a "valid reorganizational purpose," and the NRA's press release seemed to me a version of the press release in SGL Carbon, the leading 3rd Circuit good faith filing doctrine case. In SGL Carbon, the debtor foolishly said that it was filing for bankruptcy just to stiff a competitor that had an antitrust suit against it and assured its other creditors that they would be paid in full. That sounds an awful lot like "dumping New York" while saying that all valid claims will be paid in full. (My students might recall me cautioning them that a debtor's attorneys should insist that they get to sign off on all press releases and communications related to the bankruptcy for just this reason...) Now, the NRA isn't looking to avoid paying NY. Instead, it is looking to escape NY's jurisdiction. But that seems a distinction without a difference. It isn't hoping to use bankruptcy to reorganize its finances, but to get out of the lion cage.

Notice, that's just about the NRA. What about I've never seen any case law looking at good faith filing on an entity-by-entity basis, but there's no reason that the doctrine shouldn't apply that way, and there's no obvious reason whatsoever for Sea Girt to have filed (or exist) other than to create a Texas venue for the NRA. But we don't actually know, which brings me to the next point, disclosure.

Disclosure. Filing for bankruptcy is a bit like entering a fishbowl. Everything is on display. First, creditors are entitled to conduct an "examination of the debtor" under oath at the initial meeting of the creditors (the "341 meeting.") Additionally, an individual creditor may under Bankruptcy Rule 2004 undertake an examination of the debtor. (And that includes creditors who are creditors by virtue of by claims--that could include gun-control groups among others.) There's certainly room there for questions that get to the reasons for filing, namely whether there was any financial reason for filing.

Automatic Stay? Another issue is whether the bankruptcy filing will in any way stop the NY AG's action to dissolve the NRA. At the very least, the automatic stay should not. There is an exception in section 362(b)(4) from the stay for regulatory actions that are not seeking money from the debtor, and the NYAG suit seems squarely in that exception. It's possible that the NRA will seek a supplementary injunction from the bankruptcy court, however.

Trustee or Conversion. While I would expect a venue motion or a motion to dismiss the case, I would also expect a motion for appointment of a trustee or conversion to chapter 7 (which would trigger a trustee). The NRA seems like a classic case for thisthere are credible allegations of serious financial impropriety involving the current management (namely executive VP Wayne LaPierre). That both fits into the "fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, or gross mismanagement" route for a trustee's appointment, or into the "best interests of the creditors" route. Two key things if a trustee is appointed. First, the trustee will hold the NRA's attorney-client privilege, not Mr. LaPierre. Mr. LaPierre will not be able to claim privilege for any conversations he had with the NRA's attorneys. Second, a trustee has every incentive to pursue all of the NRA bankruptcy estate's claims, including against Mr. LaPierre. That brings us to the next topic, the debtor in possession's fiduciary duties.

Fiduciary duties. The NRA as debtor in possession is a fiduciary for all of its creditors. That means, among other things, that if the NRA has potential claims against Mr. LaPierre or others, including fraudulent transfer claims, it must pursue them. Mr. LaPierre as EVP cannot decide whether to litigate against himself. If he's too conflicted, that will mean that the court will either have to appoint a trustee or let a creditors' committee pursue the claims.

Executory contracts. The NRA will have to decide whether to assume or reject any on-going ("executory") contracts, and court approval is required either way. That means, among other things, submitting those contracts to the court. Among those executory contracts is Mr. LaPierre's employment contract, which the NY AG alleges includes a "a secret poison pill contract, his employment even after removal and ensuring NRA income for life". It's hard to see how the court can approve assumption of such a contract. If it's rejected, remember that the Bankruptcy Code caps employment termination claims at one year of salary and there's still a duty of mitigation.

The fate of Wayne LaPierre. Putting aside Mr. LaPierre's employment contract, he's got another problem. The NY AG suit isn't just against the NRA. It's also against Mr. LaPierre and some of his lieutenants. LaPierre and his lieutenants have not filed for bankruptcy, and even if the NRA is able to convert to a Texas corporation, the NYAG's suit against Mr. LaPierre can still proceed. The NYAG is seeking restitution from LaPierre as well as a bar from his ever soliciting funds for a nonprofit in NY (not just for a NY nonprofit). Moreover, if NY is successful, it might well create problems for LaPierre serving as an officer of a nonprofit in another state. All of which is to say that the NRA fleeing to Texas doesn't address Mr. LaPierre's problems.

Can the NRA actually reorganize? It seems that the NRA's strategy is that it will propose a bankruptcy plan under which it will change from being a NY chartered non-profit corporation to a Texas one. The Bankruptcy Code requires a plan to provide for adequate means for its implementation including "amendment of the debtors charter," and it also authorizes inclusion in a plan of "any other appropriate provision" that is not inconsistent with bankruptcy law. And an order confirming a bankruptcy plan is a matter of federal law, which overrides state law. But that doesn't mean that states have no say in the matter. Texas would still have to charter the NRA, and it's not clear if Texas will do that for a non-profit if NY does not sign off. That's beyond my ken, but I do know this. The Bankruptcy Code has some often overlooked governance provisions. Most relevant is section 1129(a)(5), which provides that a plan must disclose the identity and compensation of anyone who is proposed to serve as an director or officer of the debtor and "the appointment to, or continuance in, such office of such individual, [must be] consistent with the interests of creditors and equity security holders and with public policy." That could be a problem for Mr. LaPierre in particular, but potentially for all of the NRA's current board. One possible outcome could be a Texas-based NRA, but with entirely new management. I don't think that's what the NRA has in mind, but for all of these reasons (and many others that I don't yet see), bankruptcy is unlikely to be a cakewalk for the organization.
The union that represents Irelands special needs assistants (SNAs) is seeking clarification on a number of matters ahead of the partial re-opening of primary schools for pupils with special needs from next Thursday.

Forsa said that issues that remained to be resolved included the safety of SNAs at high risk of Covid infection, and childcare arrangements for workers.

Forsa Head of Education Andy Pike told indepeddent.ie that problems were not insurmountable and he hoped resolution would be found by Tuesday evening.

The Department of Education issued guidance to schools last night on arrangements for the partial re-open from Thursday, after signing off with the education unions.

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Mr Pike said they had told the Department certain matters still needed to be ironed out, but that to be fair to the department, the guidance that went to principals contains provisions for these matters to be addressed and for the situation to change and mentions further communications and FAQs.

The guidance refers to a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document which is being finalised and which, it states, wi9ll continue to be updated.

Special education staff will have an opportunity to ask public health experts questions at a webinar being hosted on Monday and it is believed that thousands have already registered.

The seminar will be attended by Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Colette Bonner, HSE Assistant National Director, Public Health, Dr Kevin Kelleher and public health consultant Dr Abigail Collins.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15)  The Department of Social Welfare and Development said Saturday it was investigating an apparent breach on its official Facebook page.

We apologize for the apparent breach on the DSWD FB page, the agency said in a reply to a tweet of a media outfit that reported about the incident.

While we are investigating how our page has been compromised, we assure the public that initial actions have already been undertaken to avert similar instances from happening," the DSWD added, but it did not elaborate on what measures were taken.

In a subsequent tweet, the DSWD also thanked the public who called their attention to the apparent breach, adding they appreciate the public's understanding as we resolve this issue.

One of the recent posts from the DSWDs Facebook page read: Why are you doing business together, you idiot? The post has now been deleted.

In 2012, the DSWD announced that hacktivist group Anonymous Philippines hacked the agency's official Twitter account @dswdserve. Hacktivists are those who gain unauthorized access to computer files or networks for political reasons.




Bangladeshi Ambassador to Korea Abida Islam, left, joins an online celebration of the Jan. 10 homecoming of her country's founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the diplomatic mission in Seoul. / Courtesy of Embassy of Bangladesh in Korea
Dustin John Higgs, 48, is due to be executed by lethal injection on Friday

The federal execution of convicted murderer Dustin John Higgs has been carried out, marking the final death sentence to be completed by the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump.

Higgs, 48, was pronounced dead at 1.23am on Saturday after receiving a lethal injection of pentobarbital in the federal death chamber at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Higgs conspired with two other men to kidnap and murder three young women in Washington DC on one night in January 1996.

His lawyers have argued it is 'arbitrary and inequitable' to execute Higgs while Willis Haynes, the man who pulled the trigger in the murders, was spared a death sentence. In his final words, Higgs protested that he was innocent of masterminding the murders.

'I'd like to say I am an innocent man,' he said, strapped to the gurney in the execution chamber. 'I did not order the murders.'

As the injection was administered, loud sobs of a woman crying inconsolably echoed for several minutes from a room reserved for Higgs' family, as his eyes rolled back in his head, showing the whites of his eyes before he stopped moving entirely.

It marked the third federal execution at Terre Haute in four days, and the 13th during Trump's term after he resumed executions in July despite the pandemic, making him the most prolific president in carrying out death sentences since Grover Cleveland in the 1800s.

Higgs and an inmate executed on Thursday, Corey Johnson, both had COVID-19 last month.

Higgs is seen in 2015 at the Federal Prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Higgs is the last federal inmate facing execution before President Donald Trump leaves office

The United States Penitentiary at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana is seen on Friday

The recent spree of executions is also the first time since Celveland's term that a federal execution was carried out during the lame-duck period of a presidency.

Trump resumed federal executions in July after a 17-year hiatus, although they had still been carried out at the state level.

President-elect Joe Biden is an opponent of the death penalty and is expected to suspend federal executions when he takes office next week.

The federal judge who presided over Higgs' trial two decades ago says he 'merits little compassion.'

Executed (left to right): Alfred Bourgeois, Lisa Marie Montgomery, Corey Johnson

Executed in July were (left to right): Daniel Lewis Lee, Wesley Ira Purkey, and Dustin Lee Honken. Lee's execution was the first federal execution in 17 years

'He received a fair trial and was convicted and sentenced to death by a unanimous jury for a despicable crime,' U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte wrote in a December 29 ruling.

Defense attorneys won temporary stays of execution this week for Higgs and Johnson after arguing that their recent COVID-19 infections put them at greater risk of unnecessary suffering during the lethal injections.

But higher courts overruled those decisions, allowing the executions to go forward, and Johnson was executed Thursday night.

Shawn Nolan, one of Higgs' attorneys, sees a clear political agenda in the unprecedented string of federal executions at the end of Trump's presidency, with Higgs heading to the death chamber just five days before Biden's inauguration.

An activist in opposition to the death penalty protests during a snowstorm outside of the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana on Thursday

Trump has overseen 13 executions after he resumed executions in July despite the pandemic, making him the most prolific president in carrying out death sentences since Grover Cleveland

'In the midst of the pandemic and everything thats going on right now in the country, it seems just insane to move forward with these executions,' Nolan said recently. 'And particularly for Dustin, who didn't shoot anybody. He didn't kill anybody.'

Higgs' December 19 petition for clemency says he has been a model prisoner and dedicated father to a son born shortly after his arrest. Higgs had a traumatic childhood and lost his mother to cancer when he was 10, the petition says.

'Mr. Higgs' difficult upbringing was not meaningfully presented to the jury at trial,' his attorneys wrote.

His death sentence was the first imposed in the modern era of the federal system in Maryland, which abolished the death penalty in 2013.

The interior of the execution chamber in the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute is seen above. Higgs was strapped to the gurney and injected with pentobarbital, a powerful barbiturate

Higgs' shocking crimes: How he conspired to kidnap and kill three women after an argument during a triple-date

In October 2000, a federal jury in Maryland convicted Higgs of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the killings of Tamika Black, 19; Mishann Chinn, 23; and Tanji Jackson, 21.

Higgs was 23 on the evening of January 26, 1996, when he, Willis Haynes and a third man, Victor Gloria, picked up the three women in Washington, DC, and drove them to Higgs' apartment in Laurel, Maryland, to drink alcohol and listen to music.

The men smoked pot late into the night, and before dawn the next morning an argument between Higgs and Tanji prompted her to grab a knife in the kitchen before Haynes persuaded her to drop it.

'I am going to get you all f***ed up or robbed!' Tanji shouted, according to Gloria's testimony. In response, Higgs remarked to the other men that Tamika 'do know a lot of n*****s.'

As Tamika left the apartment with the other women, she appeared to write down the license plate number of Higgs' van, angering him, and the three women stormed off on foot.

The three men chased after the women in Higgs' van, a blue Mazda MPV. Haynes persuaded them to get into the vehicle.

Instead of taking them home, Higgs drove them to a secluded spot in the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge, federal land in Laurel.

Higgs drove the three women to a secluded spot in the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge (seen in a file photo) and handed his friend Willis Haynes a gun to kill them

'Aware at that point that something was amiss, one of the women asked if they were going to have to `walk from here and Higgs responded 'something like that,'' said an appeals court ruling upholding Higgs' death sentence.

Higgs handed his pistol to Haynes, who shot all three women outside the van before the men left, Gloria testified.

'Gloria turned to ask Higgs what he was doing, but saw Higgs holding the steering wheel and watching the shootings from the rearview mirror,' said the 2013 ruling by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Investigators found Jackson's day planner at the scene of the killings. It contained Higgs' nickname, 'Bones,' his telephone number, his address number and the tag number for his van.

The jurors who convicted Haynes failed to reach a unanimous verdict on whether to impose a death sentence. A different jury convicted Higgs and returned a death sentence after a separate trial. Gloria pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to the murders and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Higgs has argued that his death sentence must be thrown out because jurors failed to consider it as a 'mitigating factor' that Haynes was convicted of identical charges but sentenced to life in prison.

The appeals court concluded that rational jurors could find that Higgs had the dominant role in the murders even though Haynes indisputably was the triggerman.

An activist in opposition to the death penalty protests during a snowstorm outside of the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana on Thursday ahead of Higgs' execution

In their clemency petition, Higgs lawyers said Gloria received a 'substantial deal' in exchange for his cooperation

'Moreover,' they wrote, 'significant questions remain as to whether Mr. Gloria received the additional undisclosed benefit of having an unrelated state murder investigation against him dropped at the urging of federal officers to protect his credibility as the star witness. A federal death verdict should not rest on such a flimsy basis.'

Mishann worked with the children's choir at a church, Tanji worked in the office at a high school and Tamika was a teacher's aide at National Presbyterian School in Washington, according to the Washington Post.

On the day in 2001 when the judge formally sentenced Higgs to death, Tamika's mother, Joyce Gaston, said it brought her little solace, the Post reported.

'It's not going to ever be right in my mind,' Gaston said, 'That was my daughter. I don't know how I'm going to deal with it.'

How Trump used his final days to put to death the most federal prisoners since the 1880s

The number of federal death sentences carried out under Trump since 2020 is more than in the previous 56 years combined, reducing the number of prisoners on federal death row by nearly a quarter.

It's likely none of the around 50 remaining men will be executed anytime soon, with Biden signaling he'll end federal executions.

The only woman on death row, Lisa Montgomery, was executed Wednesday for killing a pregnant woman, then cutting the baby out of her womb and claiming it as her own. She was the first woman executed in nearly 70 years.

Federal executions began as the coronavirus pandemic raged through prisons nationwide. Among those prisoners who got COVID-19 last month were Higgs and former drug trafficker Corey Johnson, who was executed Thursday.

Executed (L to R): Lezmond Charles Mitchell, Keith Dwayne Nelson, William Emmett LeCroy, Jr

Some members of the execution teams have also previously tested positive for the virus.

Not since the waning days of Grover Cleveland's presidency in the late 1800s has the U.S. government executed federal inmates during a presidential transition, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Clevelands was also the last presidency during which the number of civilians executed federally was in the double digits in one year, 1896, during Clevelands second term.

The Trump administration has paid private executioners in cash and bought drugs from a secret pharmacy as part of a rush to execute federal prisoners, court documents obtained by ProPublica reveal.

The court records, were reported in December, shed light on how the Trump administration is hurrying to use its final days to execute the federal inmates.

Among the details included in court records are that private executioners have been paid in cash, drugs have been purchased from a pharmacy that failed quality tests and that executions have moved ahead in the middle of the night.

It is not clear why private contractors were hired to carry out the executions. A Bureau of Prisons lawyer was quoted in a deposition saying: 'If we didn't pay them in cash they probably wouldn't participate'.

Executed (left to right): Christopher Andre Vialva, Orlando Cordia Hall, Brandon Bernard

One execution has gone ahead while an appeal was still pending.

Authorities also left Daniel Lewis Lee, who was the first federal inmate executed in July, strapped to a gurney while lawyers tried to remove a Supreme Court order, the court documents show.

He was executed as soon as the government lawyers wiped out the legal obstacle.

'Today, Lee finally faced the justice he deserved,' Barr said in a statement at the time.

The White House has not commented on ProPublica's report regarding the rush to execute the inmates.

In a statement, the Justice Department said: 'Seeking the death penalty and carrying out capital sentences is not a political issue, nor have political considerations influenced the department's decisions.

'The death penalty is a law enforcement and public safety issue, and the department is obligated to carry forward these sentences regardless of who is the president or the attorney general.'

Samsung Gulf Electronics has announced that pre-orders for devices part of the next-generation Galaxy S21 Series 5G are now available for brand enthusiasts across the UAE.

Comprising the brand new Galaxy S21 5G, Galaxy S21+ 5G, and Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, the ultimate flagships empower users to share their world, connect with the things and people that matter most, and express themselves like never before in the modern, digital world.

With new, bold, and iconic design, pro-grade camera and video capabilities, and premium viewing and powerful connectivity experiences, the Galaxy S21 Series 5G promises to change everything and make everyday epic, said a top official.

"The pre-order phase of the Galaxy S21 Series 5G is our first milestone of 2021 and we are looking forward to delivering amazing technologies and capabilities to our customers," remarked Osman Albora, the head of Mobile Division, Samsung Gulf Electronics.

"As we all know, the past 12 months have witnessed unprecedented change - and technology kept us connected during this period. As such, with more of us working remotely and staying entertained at home, we accelerated our transition to a mobile-first world," stated Albora.

"Innovative next-generation devices are a necessity  and we are delighted that the official launch of our latest flagships is almost upon us. The flagships that came before the Galaxy S21 Series 5G have set demand levels higher than ever before, and we look forward to meeting and exceeding expectations over the coming period, he added.

Designed to effortlessly complement your lifestyle and future needs, the Galaxy S21 5G and Galaxy S21+ 5G provide the latest flagship experiences. Both models are equipped with a triple-lens, pro-grade camera system to capture amazing shots and content.

"No matter the approach, you can capture, edit, and share stunning videos and photos from every perspective and in any lighting conditions with unbelievable ease," explained Albora.

From touching moments to fast-paced action, the things that matter most can be recorded from any distance and angle in stunning 8K video, captured in 33MP high resolution, and each device features an intelligent, edge-to-edge, Dynamic Amoled 2X adaptive 120Hz display, he noted.

Equipped with powerful AI and Samsungs most advanced pro-grade camera system, brightest screen, and an adaptive display that supports a refresh rate from 10Hz to 120Hz at Quad HD+ quality, the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G raises the bar of what premium smartphones can do, he added.

On the Samsung e-store, exclusive colours for the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G are also available   Phantom Brown, Phantom Navy, and Phantom Titanium.

Galaxy lovers across the UAE can now make their pre-orders for the Galaxy S21 Series 5G up until Thursday, February 4th in Samsung stores and authorized online channels.

The Galaxy S21 5G is priced at AED3,199 (128GB) and AED3,399 (256GB), respectively. The Galaxy S21+ 5G is available at AED3,799 (128GB) and AED3,999 (256GB), while the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G can be pre-ordered for AED4,899 (256GB) and AED5,399 (512GB), said the statement.

Furthermore, those who pre-order the Galaxy S21 5G and Galaxy S21+ 5G will receive Buds Live, Smart Tag, and 1 year Samsung Care+, while customers who purchase the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G in advance will receive the Buds Pro, Smart Tag, and 1 year Samsung Care+, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
New Delhi: Bhutan's PM Lotay Tshering has congratulated PM Narendra Modi for the corona vaccination campaign in India on Saturday. Bhutan's PM has tweeted from his official Twitter handle wishing the public good health. In a tweet, he said, "I congratulate PM Modi and India's accommodation for the launch of today's countrywide corona vaccination campaign."

He further wrote in a tweet that it is expected that we will be relieved of the sufferings of the epidemic. "India launched the world's largest Covid-19 vaccination programme on Saturday". PM Modi launched a campaign aimed at ending the epidemic, which has so far infected 1, 05, 42841 people in the country and 1, 52093 people have died. Addressing the country through digital media, PM Modi said India was able to create two 'made-in-India ' vaccines in a very short time, which usually takes years.

The Drug Controller General of India had earlier this month approved two vaccines ' Covishield ' and 'Covaxin' for emergency use. Oxford University and AstraZeneca have created the 'Covishield' vaccine, which has been manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) in India, while Bharat Biotech has developed 'Covaxin'.

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The communications director for newly elected Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, a gun-rights activist who has supported the QAnon conspiracy theory, has resigned after less than two weeks in office.

In a statement to Axios, Ben Goldey said: "Following the events of January 6th, Ive decided to part ways with the office. I wish her and the people of Colorados Third District the best."

The Colorado congresswoman had pledged to object to electoral college results certifying president-elect Joe Biden as a mob stormed the halls of Congress following Donald Trumps false claims that the election was stolen from his supporters.

Until earlier this year Mr Goldey was press secretary at the Department of Interior, and had spent time working for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

This week, the freshman Colorado Republican denied that she had led rioters on a tour of the US Capitol ahead of the insurrection on 6 January.

Representative Boebert, who said she would carry her firearm to Congress, is also facing calls for her resignation after posting House Speaker Nancy Pelosis movements during the attack on the US Capitol that left five dead.

She first shared that the lawmakers had been moved to the House chambers. Then, she tweeted out the "Speaker has been removed from the chambers."

Congresswoman Boebert was among several 2020 congressional candidates who had previously expressed support for QAnon, after she said that she hopes the baseless conspiracy theory  alleging a global paedophile ring that includes the majority of Democratic politicians and features secret executions, clones and an apocalyptic reckoning called "The Storm"  is real.

She has said she is not a QAnon follower but said she was glad that the US Attorney Generals office was investigating "deep state" activities.

Her communication directors departure underscores reports of division within congressional GOP offices, including 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the president and speculation that several Republican senators will vote to convict him.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A woman of true perseverance, 100-year-old Tina Pignataro was discharged from Staten Island University Hospitals (SIUH) emergency field hospital along with her younger sister last week after both won their battles with COVID-19.

Pignataro was discharged Jan. 11 along with her sister, Marie Heavey, 82. Doctors and nurses lined the halls, applauding and cheering, as they were transported out of the hospital. Both women are from Dongan Hills.

Pignataro was admitted to the SIUH emergency field hospital on December 2, 2020, with coronavirus. She experienced shortness of breath and fatigue, but she quickly responded to treatment.

On Dec. 6, Pignataro celebrated her 100th birthday with the doctors and nurses at the hospital.

Tina Pignataro gives a thumbs up while surrounded by decorations celebrating her 100th birthday. She ws recovering in Staten Island University Hospital from COVID-19. (Courtesy of Northwell Health)

Dr. Srikant Polepalli, medical director of SIUH East, described Pignataro as an inspiration.

Tinas a remarkable patient with a remarkable story, he said. She was born at the end of the Spanish flu and now shes here living through the COVID-19 pandemic. Shes very soft-spoken, but shes a very strong fighter.

Pignataro and her family immigrated to the United States from Southern Italy when she was just three-years-old. The eldest of four daughters, Pignataro took on the role of raising her sisters when their mother passed away shortly after Marie, her youngest sister, was born.

Tina Pignataro and her sister, Marie, are transported out of Staten Island University Hospital's emergency field hospital after both beat COVID-19. (Courtesy of Northwell Health)
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Catherine Coffey OBrien has called for a proper examination of the site at Bessborough. Photo: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision

Mother and baby home campaigners have demanded a commitment to locate and properly mark the graves of hundreds of infants who died in the notorious facilities over a span of more than 60 years.

It came as President Michael D. Higgins insisted that meeting the needs and concerns of survivors must now be at the heart of the State response to the traumatic legacy of mother and baby homes.

As President of Ireland, I welcome the publication of the Commissions report and the apologies offered, he said.

My thoughts must be, as they have been so often before, of the mothers and of the infants who died; of those children who survived and who continue to carry the trauma of their early lives, and beyond that the burden of being deprived of information about their birth parents.

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Of all of those women, alive and dead, who have borne the scars of their experiences, the shame and secrecy imposed upon them, and the life-long burden for so many arising from trauma, bereavement or separation from their children.

[The report] took five years to complete and there is now a responsibility to move, without delay, to the next phase of this process and to respond adequately and generously to the needs and rightful concerns of the survivors and other victims.

Campaigners have insisted that the State must support its words of apology with firm action to right the wrongs involved, including locating all unmarked baby graves.

Mothers want urgent action on the excavation of the Tuam site in Co Galway, as well as a commitment to examine the site of the Bessborough estate in Cork, where it is feared hundreds of infant graves still remain unidentified.

Bessborough in Blackrock, Co Cork  at one time Irelands largest mother and baby home  was infamous for a high infant mortality rate.

Of the more-than 900 babies who died at Bessborough or in Cork hospitals having been transferred from the mother and baby home over seven decades, less than 70 have known individual burial sites.

Campaigners want all proposed development at the Bessborough estate paused until a full investigation of possible burial sites is conducted and a proper memorial erected for those who died.

Mothers have insisted that, if necessary, ground-mapping radar should be used to identify possible mass burial sites. A recently discovered historic estate map indicated a previously unknown burial area.

Catherine Coffey OBrien, whose mother Christina passed away last week, said a proper investigation of the site is now warranted.

We want an independent body to come in and carefully assess the site, she said. We then want the ground handed over to Cork City Council, to protect the site and to preserve it as a graveyard.

Ms Coffey OBrien said survivors do not want exhumations.

Campaigner Ann OGorman said Ireland had a duty to those who suffered at Bessborough and other homes to locate and properly mark any burial plots. Ms OGorman had a baby girl, Evelyn, at Bessborough but was told that she had died.

I want to see this investigated properly. We need closure  it would make me so happy to see that (investigation) done, said Ms OGorman. I am in an awful state over what happened here. The whole lot of me has gone into [finding] my daughter.
US President-elect Joe Biden leaves after speaking at an event at The Queen theater, on January 15, 2021, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Image: AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

President-elect Joe Bidens plan to scrap President Donald Trumps vision of America First in favor of diplomacy first will depend on whether he's able to regain the trust of allies and convince them that Trumpism is just a blip in the annals of U.S. foreign policy.

It could be a hard sell. From Europe to the Middle East and Asia, Trumps brand of transactional diplomacy has alienated friends and foes alike, leaving Biden with a particularly contentious set of national security issues.

Biden, who said last month that America's back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from it, might strive to be the antithesis of Trump on the world stage and reverse some, if not many, of his predecessors actions. But Trumps imprint on Americas place in the world  viewed as good or bad  will not be easily erased.

U.S. allies arent blind to the large constituency of American voters who continue to support Trumps nationalist tendencies and his belief that the United States should stay out of world conflicts. If Bidens goal is to restore Americas place in the world, hell not only need to gain the trust of foreign allies but also convince voters at home that international diplomacy works better than unilateral tough talk.

Trump has insisted that he's not against multilateralism, only global institutions that are ineffective. He has pulled out of more than half a dozen international agreements, withdrawn from multiple U.N. groups and trash talked allies and partners.

Biden, on the other hand, says global alliances need to be rebuilt to combat climate change, address the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future epidemics and confront the growing threat posed by China. The national security and foreign policy staff that he has named so far are champions of multilateralism.

His choices for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and foreign aid chief Samantha Power  all veterans of the Obama administration  underscore his intent to return to a foreign policy space that they believe was abandoned by Trump.

Right now, theres an enormous vacuum," Biden said. Were going to have to regain the trust and confidence of a world that has begun to find ways to work around us or without us.

Biden intends to rejoin the Paris climate agreement and cooperate again with the World Health Organization. He plans to smooth relations with Europeans and other friends and refrain from blasting fellow members of NATO, and he may return the United States to the Iran nuclear agreement. Still, many Americans will continue to espouse Trump's America First agenda, especially with the U.S. economy struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, civil strife in American streets over racism and the absence of civil political discourse.

Whether people liked it or not, Trump was elected by Americans in 2016, said Fiona Hill, who worked in the Trump White Houses National Security Council and now is at the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution.

Trumps election in 2016 and the tens of millions of votes he garnered in 2020 reflect a very divided nation, she says.

We have to accept that the electoral outcome in 2016 was not a fluke," Hill said.

Steven Blockmans, research director at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Belgium, said Europeans should not kid themselves into believing transatlantic relations will return to the way they were before Trump.

In all but name, the rallying cry of America First is here to stay, he said. Biden has vowed to prioritize investment in U.S. green energy, child care, education and infrastructure over any new trade deals. He has also called for expanded 'Buy American' provisions in federal procurement, which has long been an irritant in trade relations with the European Union.

Each part of the world holds a different challenge for Biden.

CHINA

Fear of Chinas quest for world dominance started to mount before Trump came to office. Early on, Trump sidled up to Chinas authoritarian president, Xi Jinping. But after efforts to get more than a first-phase trade deal failed, the president turned up the heat on China and repeatedly blamed Beijing for the coronavirus pandemic.

He sanctioned the Chinese, and in speech after speech, top Trump officials warned about China stealing American technology, conducting cyberattacks, taking aggressive actions in the South China Sea, cracking down on democracy in Hong Kong and abusing the Muslim Uighurs in western China.

Increasingly, Republicans and Democrats alike are worried about a rising economic and geopolitical threat from China, and that concern won't end when Trump leaves office.

NORTH KOREA

Resetting U.S. relations with Asia allies is instrumental in confronting not only China but also North Korea.

Trump broke new ground on the nuclear standoff with North Korea with his three face-to-face meetings with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. But Trump's efforts yielded no deal to persuade Kim to give up his nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief and security assurances. In fact, North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear capabilities.

Biden might be forced to deal with North Korea sooner than later as experts say Pyongyang has a history of conducting tests and firing missiles to garner Washingtons attention around U.S. presidential elections.

AFGHANISTAN

Nearly 20 years after a U.S.-led international coalition toppled the Taliban government that supported al-Qaida, Afghan civilians are still being killed by the thousands. Afghan security forces, in the lead on the battlefield, continue to tally high casualties. Taliban attacks are up outside the cities, and the Islamic State group has orchestrated bombings in the capital, Kabul, including one in November at Kabul University that killed more than 20 people, mostly students.

The U.S. and the Taliban sat down at the negotiation table in 2018. Those talks, led by Trump envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, eventually led to the U.S.-Taliban deal that was signed in February 2020, providing for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan.

Set on making good on his campaign promise to withdraw U.S. troops from endless wars, Trump cut troops from 8,600 to 4,500, then ordered troop levels to fall to 2,500 by Inauguration Day. The United States has pledged to pull all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by May 1, just months after Biden takes office, but it's unclear if he will.

MIDDLE EAST

Trump opted to think outside the box when it came to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and relations with Arab nations.

The Palestinians rejected the Trump administration's Mideast peace plan, but then Trump coaxed two Arab nations  the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain  to recognize Israel. This was historic because Arab nations had for decades said they wouldn't recognize Israel until the Palestinians' struggle for an independent state was resolved.

Warming ties between Israel and Arab states that share opposition to Iran helped seal the deal. Morocco and Sudan also later recognized Israel.

IRAN

In 2018, Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, in which world powers agreed to lift sanctions on Tehran if it curbed its nuclear program.

Trump said the deal was one-sided, didn't prevent Iran from eventually getting a nuclear weapon and allowed it to receive billions of dollars in frozen assets that it has been accused of using to bankroll terror proxies destabilizing the Mideast.

Biden says exiting the deal was reckless and complains that Iran now has stockpiled more enriched uranium than is allowed under the deal, which is still in force between Iran and Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany.

Eddie Jordan is convinced that Red Bull did an excellent job during the winter period. They said goodbye to Alexander Albon and at the same time signed Sergio Perez for one year. The Max Verstappen-Perez duo could prove to be a very dangerous one, Jordan believes.

"With Perez, Red Bull gets a top driver," Jordan stated in conversation with F1 Insider this weekend. According to the former team boss, the Mexican driver could be a winner. "Nobody thinks he is as fast as Max Verstappen. But nobody is, right? Perez is a great driver who meets Red Bull's expectations, especially in the race."

Read more New Red Bull talent inspired by Hamilton and Verstappen

Putting pressure on with two Red Bulls

In 2020, Red Bull could not make things difficult for Mercedes in the race, as Albon was always too far behind or too slow to attack the German cars. "The aim is to be close enough to Max to be able to put pressure on Mercedes with two cars," says Jordan.

The flamboyant Irishman is looking forward to 2021 and how things stand at the front of the field. Whether Mercedes will start with Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain is still unclear, although Jordan did have a clear vision for the saga.

The pandemic has changed just about everything we know and loveeven the most star-studded night in Hollywood.

The Academy of Motion Pictures already announced last year that it would push the awards ceremony back two months until April 25, with the hopes that theaters would reopen by the spring.

And yesterday, news from The Hollywood Reporter broke that the selection process for one of the shows most talked-about categories in 2020 would change too due to concerns aboutwait for itits voting process.

According to The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg, the selection committee for Best Foreign Film was concerned that they would be at risk of hacks or leaks now that deliberations for the coveted Oscar would have to be held virtually.

The selection process for Best Foreign Filmwhich if you recall, introduced average movie watchers last year to Parasite, which then went on to historically win in the Best Picture category, toois a little complicated.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a preliminary committee picks seven international films for a short list. Then an executive committee discretely adds three more films to the list in order to give lesser-known films from around the world a shot at a nomination. Its these highly secretive bonus selections known as saves that the committee was most concerned about.

This year all Academy members will be on the same playing field and the organization is doing out with saves. Too, theyve decided to add an extra five international films to the shortlist, bringing it from 10 to 15 movies for Academy members to view (from home) and ultimately vote on.

Its a little murky, Ill admit. But if the process introduces the world to another wildly entertaining film like Parasite, Im all for it.
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In UP villagers get cocktail vaccine dose: Covishield first, Covaxin next

ICMR to study effectiveness of Covishield, Covaxin in preventing progression of COVID into severe form

So blinded Dr. Harsh Vardhan takes on Congress on COVID-19 vaccine

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Jan 16: Union Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan took on the Congress which has been asking why no government functionary had come forward to take the vaccine against COVID19.

"Sh @ManishTewari & @INCIndia are only passionate about spreading distrust & rumours. Open your eyes,sharing photos of eminent Doctors & Govt functionaries getting inoculated," Vardhan said in a tweet.

"If the vaccine is so safe and reliable and efficacy of the vaccine is beyond question then how is it that not a single functionary of the government has stepped forward to get themselves vaccinated as it has happened in other countries around the world?" Tewari asked again on Saturday, ANI reported.

So blinded are we by our passions that we suffer more to be damned than to be saved

-Charles Caleb Colton



Sh @ManishTewari & @INCIndia are only passionate about spreading distrust & rumours



Open your eyes,sharing photos of eminent Doctors & Govt functionaries getting inoculated https://t.co/kYzOtRXZcq pic.twitter.com/9Y1Bvm65ug  Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) January 16, 2021

Union Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan was administered the COVID-19 vaccine at the AIIMS Delhi, minutes after Prime Minister, Narendra Modi launched the historic vaccine drive earlier today.

India expressing its gratitude to frontline workers: PM Modi says vaccine roll-out

Today, a total of 3 lakh healthcare workers will be vaccinated using the Covaxin and Covishield which received emergency authorisation. The vaccination drive will cover all states and union territories between 9 am and 5 pm, except on those days earmarked for routine immunisation programmes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

The first vaccine shot administered at AIIMS, Delhi was in the presence of Dr. Vardhan. AIIMS director, Randeep Guleria was also administered the dose of the vaccine.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 15:33 [IST]
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This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-01-15, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
It is an opportunistic deal that bolsters the portfolio of projects on Alaska's North Slope

( ) ( ) revealed it has struck a deal to acquire the Umiat oil field, which is located on Alaskas North Slope.

Umiat is located immediately adjacent to the southern boundary of the companys Project Peregrine acreage. It is a historic oil discovery, dating back to 1945, in shallow Brookian (Nanushuk) sandstones.

A well, Umiat-23H, was tested by a prior operator back in 2014. It achieved a sustained rate of 200 barrels per day with a maximum rate of 800 barrels measured. The asset had 123.7mln barrels of gross proved and probable (2P) reserves, according to a 2015 assessment.

To acquire the asset, 88 Energy is issuing a 4% overriding royalty interest and assuming obligations for the abandonment of two historic well on-site, at an estimated cost of US$1mln.

"Our operational activity at Project Peregrine has provided 88E with a unique position from which to acquire the Umiat Oil Field at an opportunistic price point, said Dave Wall, 88 Energy managing director in a statement.

The asset has potential to add significant value for shareholders, possibly as a standalone development but certainly in the event that there is a material discovery in the imminent Project Peregrine drilling program."

It is the latest expansion deal for 88 Energy, with the company also set to pick up the Tract 29 area via the 2021 Coastal Plain Lease Sale.

The company was named as the high bidder for Tract 29 last week. This area is positioned as a 23,446 acre area adjacent to the companys Yukon leases.
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London, Jan 16 : UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the country will close all travel corridors from Monday onwards in a bid to keep out new coronavirus variants.

The UK "will temporarily close all travel corridors from 4 a.m. on Monday", the Prime Minister during a virtual press conference at Downing Street on Friday.

The new measure means that travellers entering the country must have proof of a negative Covid-19 test in the previous 72 hours, reports Xinhua news agency.

Anyone arriving in the UK must quarantine for 10 days or they have the choice of doing an extra test on day five to shorten the isolation, Johnson said.

"What we don't want to see is all that hard work undone by the arrival of a new variant that is vaccine busting," he said.

The Prime Minister made the remarks after the UK on Thursday banned arrivals from South America, Portugal and some other countries over fears about a strain of the virus detected in Brazil.

The new rules will be in place until at least February 15, he said.

Meanwhile, Johnson said 3.2 million people have so far received Covid-19 vaccines.

The pressures on the National Health Service (NHS) are "extraordinary" and it would be "fatal" to show complacency now, he said.

"This is not the time for the slightest relaxation of our national resolve," Johnson said, urging the public to stay at home.

England is currently under the third national lockdown since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country.

Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Another 55,761 people have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 3,325,642, according to official figures.

Another 1,280 have died within 28 days of a positive test, which increased the overall fatality toll to 87,448.
AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria became one of the first Indians to get vaccinated against Covid-19 on Saturday morning in a move aimed at inspiring confidence among the public about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines being rollout out in the country.

Dr Guleria received his shot on live television soon after sanitation worker Manish Kumar became the first to be administered the vaccine in the country at AIIMS in Delhi, in the presence of health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

#WATCH | AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria receives COVID-19 vaccine shot at AIIMS, Delhi. pic.twitter.com/GFvZ2lgfj3 ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2021

Vinod K Paul, who heads a government panel on vaccine strategy, was also administered the vaccine on live television after Dr Guleria, as they joined the first wave of senior professionals in the medical field to be vaccinated in a campaign to assure people that it is safe, and boost the morale of frontline workers who will be the first to get the jabs.

I am fine, right before you. I feel relieved. We will scale up vaccination sites, there will be many more vaccines. Yes there were problems with CO-WIN (registration app) but it is the largest IT platform and now data of millions will go into it, Paul told News18.

ALSO READ | Covishield vs Covaxin: What We Know About Efficacy of the Two Coronavirus Vaccines in India

They took the vaccines soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Indians in a televised address that Indian should not worry about the two approved vaccines in India as approvals were given after experts were satisfied with data. So stay away from rumours, he said.

India has approved two vaccines for emergency use  Covishield, the Oxford-AstranZeneca vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute, and Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech and ICMR, which lacks large-scale safety and efficacy data since its phase three clinical trials are incomplete. Beneficiaries will not be able to choose between the two vaccines.

ALSO READ | CoWin App Registration, When & How to Download and Why You'll Have to Wait for Access to it

On the first day, around 100 people will be voluntarily vaccinated in each of the 3,006 centres in the country, the government said, calling it the start of the biggest such campaign in the world.

First to get the vaccine will be 3 crore health and other frontline workers, such as those in sanitation and security, followed by about 27 crore people older than 50 or deemed high-risk because of pre-existing medical conditions. PM Modi has said politicians will not be considered frontline workers.
The capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, is in 100th in the HUGSI 2020 ranking of the world's greenest cities, according to the company's website.

According to the ranking, Kyiv is between the U.S. city of Philadelphia (99th) and the South African city of Cape Town (101st). Urban green space in Kyiv makes up 44% of the total area, including 40% covered by trees and 4%  by grass. Urban green space per capita is 82.3 square meters.

Charlotte, the city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, tops the ranking, while Lima, the capital of Peru, ranks last.

The ranking compiles data for 155 cities from 60 countries worldwide. The project analyzes satellite data using artificial intelligence to assess the environment and the level of urban green space.

HUGSI stands for Husqvarna Urban Green Space Index is a digital innovation initiative developed by Husqvarna in collaboration with Overstory.

As reported, Kyiv ranks 63rd in a European Green Capitals list between Italys Rome and Latvias Riga.

ish
A man who is suspected of joining the riot at the U.S. Capitol last week told authorities a Capitol Police officer shook his hand as he entered the building and said: 'It's your house now.'

Robert Bauer admitted to the FBI that he, along with his cousin, Edward Hemenway of Virginia, went to the pro-Trump rally outside the White House on January 6 before heading to the riot at the Capitol.

Once inside the building, the police officer grabbed Bauer's hand, he said.

Robert Bauer and his cousin, Edward Hemenway, were accused of participating in the Capitol riot on January 6

The FBI is said to have used photos posted to Facebook to identify them

Police try to hold back protesters pushing into a doorway at the Capitol last Wednesday

Hemenway claims he then said 'sorry' to the police officer to which the officer repeated 'It's your house now' and proceeded to give Hemenway a 'half-hug.'

Bauer claims that he believes the officer was acting out of fear.

He has also told FBI investigators that he entered the Capitol to 'occupy space' and has said he was not aware Congress was in session at the time according to Fox News.

Both Bauer and Hemenway have been charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct and knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds.

The FBI is said to have used photos Bauer posted to Facebook to identify them both.

Smoke from a pepper-spray ball exploded as it was used against pro-Trump protesters during the storming of the Capitol building

Pro-Trump protesters confront the police during a rally at the Capitol building. 50 police officers were wounded during the melee

In a statement, the Capitol Police have said they are 'actively reviewing video and other open source materials of some USCP officers and officials that appear to be in violation of Department regulations and policies.

'Our Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating these behaviors for disciplinary action, up to, and including, termination,' Communications Director Eva Malecki said.

'Several USCP officers have already been suspended pending the outcome of their investigations.'

A Capitol Police officer who posed for a selfie with a rioter (above) has been suspended

Earlier this week, two officers with the Capitol Police were been suspended and a third member of law-enforcement was arrested for alleged misconduct as it emerged a total of 17 Capitol Police officers are being investigated.

One was suspended for taking a selfie with a rioter. Another was suspended for putting on a MAGA hat and acting as a 'guide' for rioters around the Capitol.

However, one officer in particular has been praised for his quick thinking.

Eugene Goodman managed to draw a group of rioters away from the Senate chamber from which they were just moments from breaking into.

House members are looking to honor him with the Congressional Gold Medal.
Abe Bonowitz, co-director of Death Penalty Action, talks about the efforts to stop the death penalty during the protest of the execution of Corey Johnson, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, near the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Ind. (Joseph C. Garza/The Tribune-Star via AP)

US Executes Virginia Gang Killer

TERRE HAUTE, Ind.The U.S. government executed a drug trafficker Thursday for slaying seven people in a burst of violence in Virginias capital in 1992, with some witnesses in the death-chamber building applauding as the 52-year-old was pronounced dead.

Corey Johnsons execution went ahead after his lawyers scrambled to stop it on grounds that the lethal injection of pentobarbital would cause him excruciating pain due to lung damage from his coronavirus infection last month.

He was the 12th inmate executed at the prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, since the Trump administration restarted federal executions following a 17-year hiatus. The last during the Trump administration was set for Friday.

Johnson, who his lawyers said was severely mentally disabled, was pronounced dead at 11:34 p.m.

When asked if he had any last words, Johnson appeared distracted, focusing on a room to his left designated for members of his family. Still glancing around, he responded, No. Im OK.

Seconds later, he said softly while gazing intently at same room, Love you.

After the execution, his lawyers released Johnsons last statement. In it, he said the pizza and strawberry shake he ate and drank before the execution were wonderful but he didnt get the jelly-filled doughnuts he wanted. He added, This should be fixed.

And he apologized.

I want to say that I am sorry for my crimes, he said. I wanted to say that to the families who were victimized by my actions. He also said he wanted his victims names to be remembered.

As the lethal drug began flowing through IVs into his arms strapped to a cross-shaped gurney, Johnson lifted his his wrist and waved to someone in the room for his family. A low murmur emanated from the room in which someone seemed to be praying and offering words of reassurance to Johnson.

For two minutes, Johnson continued to try to speak. But suddenly, his eyelids drew down hard and his mouth fell agape. He moved only slightly after that. It took a little more than 20 minutes for him to die.

Reporters could not see into the witness rooms reserved for his family and for relatives of his victims. But it was clear the clapping came from the latter as an official pronounced Johnson dead. Someone also could be heard whistling.

Johnsons execution and Fridays scheduled execution of Dustin Higgs are the last before next weeks inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who opposes the federal death penalty and has signaled hell end its use. Both inmates contracted COVID-19 and won temporary stays of execution this week for that reason, only for higher courts to vacate those stays.

Lawyers have previously argued the pentobarbital injections cause flash pulmonary edema, where fluid rapidly fills the lungs, sparking sensations akin to drowning. The new claim was that fluid would rush into the inmates COVID-damaged lungs immediately while they were still conscious.

But during Thursdays execution, there werent outward signs Johnson ever experienced painthough some medical experts say pentobarbital can have a paralyzing effect that masks pain inmates might be feeling as they die. Government experts dispute that.

Johnson was implicated with playing a role in one of the worst bursts of gang violence Richmond had ever seen, with 11 people killed in a 45-day period. He and two other members of the Newtowne gang were sentenced to death under a federal law that targets large-scale drug traffickers.

Johnsons lawyers described a traumatic childhood in which he was physically abused by his drug-addicted mother and her boyfriends, abandoned at age 13, then shuffled between residential and institutional facilities until he aged out of the foster care system. They cited numerous childhood IQ tests discovered after he was sentenced that place him in the mentally disabled category. They say he could only read and write at an elementary school level.

In a statement, Johnsons lawyers, Donald Salzman and Ronald Tabak, said the government executed a person with an intellectual disability, in stark violation of the Constitution and federal law and vehemently denied he had the mental capacity to be a so-called drug kingpin.

We wish also to say that the fact Corey Johnson should never have been executed cannot diminish the pain and loss experienced by the families of the victims in this case, the statement said. We wish them peace and healing.

Government filings spelled Johnsons name Cory, but his lawyers say he spells it Corey.

Richard Benedict, who was Johnsons special education teacher at a New York school for emotionally troubled kids, said Johnson was hyperactive, anxious, and reading and writing at a second- or third-grade level when he was 16 and 17.

Prosecutors, however, said Johnson had not shown that he was mentally disabled.

While rejecting that he has intellectual disabilities that preclude his death sentences, courts have repeatedly and correctly concluded that Johnsons seven murders were planned to advance his drug trafficking and were not impulsive acts by someone incapable of making calculated judgments, and are therefore eligible for the death penalty, prosecutors argued in court documents.

C.T. Woody Jr., the lead homicide detective on the case, said that during his interrogations of Johnson, he denied any involvement in the killings and said police were trying to frame him because of lies people were telling about him.

It did not seem to me that he had any kind of mental problems at all except his viciousness and no respect for human lifenone whatsoever, Woody said.

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard Vick Jr., one of the prosecutors in the case, said the violence committed by Johnson and his fellow gang members was unmatched at the time. One of the gangs victims was stabbed 85 times and another was shot 16 times. Johnson was convicted of being the shooter in a triple slaying, and participating in four other capital murders, including shooting a rival drug dealer 15 times.

By Michael Tarm and Denise Lavoie
A cutting-edge vaccine production factory will be capable of inoculating the entire UK population against any future coronavirus variants within months, its chief executive claimed tonight.

The Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VMIC) will add significant firepower to Britain's immunisation infrastructure when it launches later this year.

Dr Matthew Duchars, who will oversee the Oxfordshire hub, told The Telegraph: 'We'll be able to make 70million doses within a four to five month period, enough for everyone in the country'.

The Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VMIC) will add significant firepower to Britain's immunisation infrastructure when it launches later this year

John Meech receives a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at a Superdrug pharmacy in Guildford

In other coronavirus news:

The UK recorded another 1,295 coronavirus deaths and 41,346 new cases on Saturday - as fatalities continue to rise by more than 1,000 for the fifth day in a row;

GPs are throwing away leftover vaccines rather than give patients second doses or use them on staff because of local NHS leaders' strict instructions;

Laurence Fox sparked a row after posting a photo of himself on social media wearing a coronavirus mask 'exemption badge' that he ordered from Amazon;

Britons in their 70s could start getting Covid jabs as early as next week as the vaccination programme continued at pace amid fears both Brazilian variants of the virus are 'likely' already in the UK;

Police fined three people from different households for breaking coronavirus lockdown after their VW Golf was spotted travelling at 90mph in the snow on the M62;

Rishi Sunak has rejected a proposal for an emergency wealth tax to recover the staggering 280billion the Government has spent so far on the coronavirus pandemic.

Britain is pressing ahead with the biggest jab roll-out in its history, and experts behind the Pfizer and Oxford shots are confident their doses will be effective against the more transmissible strains that have been detected.

Dr Matthew Duchars, who will oversee the Oxfordshire hub

But the VMIC could prove crucial to inoculating against possible dangerous mutations of the virus.

It comes amid concerns of changing Covid variants after several new strains were identified around the globe.

Different variants have been found in South Africa and more recently in Brazil, South America.

Dr Duchars said: 'New Covid variants are absolutely part of the thinking... You never know what's coming next.'

Construction of the 158million project was fast-tracked by the Government when Covid-19 hit British shores early last year.

The 7,400 sqm site at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus will allow the UK to be self-sufficient in vaccine production and not have to rely on overseas supplies.

The Pfizer and Oxford doses are being shipped from Belgium and the Netherlands, meaning they are at risk to supply chain breakdown.

The Prime Minister visited the construction site of the VMIC in September

Dr Duchars told the Telegraph the VMIC would give Britain 'a sovereign capability' to develop and manufacture vaccines.

SAGE expert warns lifting lockdown restrictions in February would be a 'disaster' Removing coronavirus restrictions at the end of next month would be a 'disaster' and put 'enormous pressure' on the NHS, a leading epidemiologist has warned. Professor John Edmunds, who works on the Government's coronavirus response as part of the scientific advisory group for emergencies (Sage), told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there would be significant consequences to lifting current rules, even despite the success of the Covid vaccine programme so far. A mass rollout for Britons in their 70s could begin as early as next week, after some 3.5 million jabs have already been administered across the country. However, Professor Edmunds remains concerned, and said: 'I think it would be a disaster if we removed restrictions in, say, the end of February when we have gone through this first wave of the vaccination. 'First of all vaccines aren't ever 100% protective, and so even those that have been vaccinated would be still at some risk. 'Secondly, it is only a small fraction of the population who would have been vaccinated and if you look at the hospitalisations at the moment, about half of them are in the under 70s, and they are not in the first wave to be vaccinated. 'If we relaxed our restrictions we would immediately put the NHS under enormous pressure again.' Advertisement

He added the factory would also be able to adapt its production to other potential viruses, shoring up Britain's long-term pandemic defences.

More than 3.5million people have been vaccinated so far in the UK, with the over-80s, care home residents, the extremely vulnerable and frontline health staff the first in line.

The Government has set a target of giving the first dose of the vaccine to the 14million most at-risk people by mid-February.

Boris Johnson has urged the public to stick to tough lockdown rules while the vaccination rollout ploughs forward, paving a path through the pandemic.

The Prime Minister visited the construction site of the VMIC in September.

Stating its mission objective, the VMIC says on its website: 'VMIC will bridge the gap between research and expertise in development and manufacturing so that new vaccine products can enter clinical development, which is a value driver in terms of attracting funding for further development, partnering with the pharmaceutical industry for development to launch and contract manufacturing.

VMIC will also enhance UK preparedness and response capabilities for producing vaccines against emerging infectious diseases by allowing the UK government to use the facility and staff during an outbreak identified as a public health emergency of international concern.'

The UK recorded another 1,295 coronavirus deaths and 41,346 new cases on Saturday - as fatalities continued to rise by more than 1,000 for the fifth day in a row.

It's a 25 percent increase on last Saturday's deaths and takes Britain's grim toll to 88,590.

But in a sign that the harsh lockdown measures are taking effect, cases declined by nearly a third on last week's figure - as the total climbed to more than 3.3 million infections recorded since the pandemic began.

Meanwhile a senior SAGE scientist has claimed that the actual number of Britons catching the disease is closer to 150,000, arguing that the size of the second wave is now significantly worse than the first.

More than 3.5 million covid jabs have now been doled out in England, a rise of 324,000 on figures from the previous day, as Britain's vaccine blitz continues in town halls and GP's surgeries across the land.
At least 20 healthcare personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) posted in Ladakh were among the first recipients of the coronavirus vaccine on Saturday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nation-wide drive to combat the pandemic. A total of 20 ITBP personnel have been given the jab at the sector hospital in Leh and this includes two women officers, chief medical officer Katyayni Sharma Pande and medical officer Dr Skalzang Angmo, force spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said in Delhi.

The border guarding force has a large presence in the Ladakh region by virtue of its deployment to guard the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. Its north-west frontier, headed by an Inspector General of Police rank officer, is based in Leh and its troops are currently deployed at the front along with the Army as part of the ongoing military standoff with the Chinese PLA troops.

The spokesperson said similar vaccine shots were given to its medical wing personnel in other parts of the country too. Prime Minister Modi launched Indias COVID-19 vaccination drive in multiple states and UTs through an online medium in the morning and asserted that the made-in-India vaccines being rolled out will ensure a decisive victory for the country over the coronavirus pandemic. As per the government scheme, vaccine shots will be administered first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers, and around two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated co-morbidities.
Washington: President-elect Joe Biden has slammed Republican lawmakers who refused to wear masks while huddling in a secure location during the January 6 riot at the US Capitol despite the threat of coronavirus, telling them that "it's time to grow up".

At least four members of US Congress -- including Democratic leaders Pramila Jayapal, Brad Schneider and Bonnie Watson Coleman -- have tested positive for COVID-19 since the Capitol attack by Trump's supporters which left five people dead.

"Quite frankly, it was shocking to see members of the Congress while the Capitol was under siege by a deadly mob of thugs refusing to wear a mask while they were in secure locations," Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday.

"I'm so proud of my congresswoman, right here in the state of Delaware, Lisa Blunt Rochester, trying to hand out masks while people are lying on the floor huddled up, and her Republican colleagues were refusing to put them on. What the hell is the matter with you? It's time to grow up," he said.

"The result? At least four members of Congress today, including a cancer survivor, now have COVID-19 who were in those rooms," Biden said. Congresswoman Coleman, who recently tested COVID-19 positive, is a 75-year-old cancer survivor.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has imposed fines this week on members who refuse to wear masks on the House floor, with a USD 500 penalty for a first offence and USD 2,500 for a second offence.

Biden said wearing a mask is not a political, but a lifesaving issue. "For God's sake, wear a mask if not for yourself, for your loved ones, for your country. These are real matters of life and death. We need you to stick with the handwashing, social distancing, and avoid indoor gatherings with people outside your own household," he said.

"I hope we now know this is not a political issue. This is about saving lives. I know it's become a partisan issue, but what a stupid, stupid thing for it to happen. This is a patriotic act. We are asking you, we're in a war with this virus, and experts saying--have shown that wearing a mask from now until April will save as many as 50,000 lives," the Democratic leader said.

US is the worst-hit nation in the world with over 23,530,460 coronavirus cases and more than 392,100 deaths due to the disease.

Biden reiterated his plans to call on all Americans to wear masks for his first 100 days in office.

"The day we're inaugurated, we're going to ask you to mask up for the next 100 days. This is not a political issue. And I will issue an executive order to require a mask where I have the authority to do that, in federal worker--for federal workers on federal property, on interstate travel by train and planes," he said.

"We'll also be working with mayors and governors in red states and blue states and require mask--and ask them to require masking up in their cities and their states," he said.

The coronavirus pandemic, Biden said, can't solve US' problems as a divided nation. "The only way we come through this is if we come through together as Americans, fellow Americans, as the United States of America. Vice President-elect Harris and I ran on that vision. And starting at noon on Wednesday, that's exactly how we're going to govern and ask for your help," he said.
The Covid-19 death toll has crossed 400 with the deaths of 18 more people yesterday.

The death toll now stands at 408, with 96 of those occurring in the last seven days alone.

The Ministry of Health reported the deaths in its daily update yesterday evening.
With Chinese manganese production expected to slow, Australian companies could be well-placed to benefit from recent price hikes.

The prices of manganese flake have risen 30% in the past month

After a rocky ride throughout 2020 there are encouraging signs for manganese at the start of a new year.

According to Argus Media, the range for 99.7% grade manganese flake was assessed at 13,800-14,000 Yuan/tonne ex-works on Monday, up by 600 Yuan/tonne from December 31 after key producers unveiled suspension plans for the coming two months.

Prices have risen by 30% in the past month, supported by higher production costs and a stockpiling drive by Chinas largest manganese smelter Ningxia Tianyuan.

Manganese price rise

Tianyuans tender prices have been rising by 500 Yuan/tonne on a daily basis since December 10 and, according to Argus Media, China's largest manganese consumer Baosteel also lifted its tender procurement price for January delivery in response to a rapid rise in spot prices.

Baosteels tender price for manganese flake rose to 15,000 yuan/t ($2,320/tonne), up by 3,800 Yuan/tonne from the beginning of December.

To put this in perspective, Baosteel's tender price is equivalent to a spot price of 14,000 Yuan/tonne after deducting transportation and banking fees.

Chinese production slows

Chinas manganese prices are expected to rise in the near term with production cuts caused by power shortages in many regions of the country.

Most of the countrys producers will suspend production for at least two weeks in February for maintenance during the lunar new year holiday, with some set to also halt output in January after Ningxia Tianyuan called on other producers to better control output and to support prices.

Overall operating rates in China's manganese market are as high as around 70%, with an output of 100,000-120,000 tonnes per month  with Tianyuan's output cuts potentially removing between 45,000-50,000 tonnes of supply from the spot market in January and February.

Timely production for Butcherbird

This spot price boost is likely to benefit Element 25 Ltd (ASX:E25) (FRA:QFP) with the company securing key final approvals for its Butcherbird Manganese Project in Western Australia in December, paving the way for stage-1 construction and mining operations to begin.

The company expects first production to occur during the current quarter, with the first stage of the project potentially providing early cash flow to strengthen its balance sheet and assist in funding of a larger high purity manganese production hub.

E25 has experienced strong upward share price moves in recent months and its market cap is now sitting at around $204.3 million.

From 79 cents on November 2, the price climbed to an all-time record of $1.72 on December 10 and today has been up to $1.58.

Conservative pricing assumptions

Butcherbird is a world-class manganese resource with current JORC resources in excess of 263 million tonnes of manganese ore.

A recent PFS update indicated that the base case involves the annual production and sale of 364,000 tonnes (year 1- 5 range 300,000-390,000) of lump manganese ore grading 30-35% manganese.

The base case net present value (NPV) of A$583 million highlights that the project is robust and offers returns even at conservative pricing assumptions.

The project is expected to break even at a manganese price of US$2.38/dmtu (dry metric tonne unit) 33% CIF (cost, insurance, and freight) China for the life of the project.

Butcherbird financial summary  years 1 to 5.

Offtake pricing obligations

Key commercial terms have and continue to be agreed under a non-binding term sheet to sell 100% of the manganese ore produced - up to 365,000 tonnes per annum - from the first stage of the project to OM Holdings Ltd's (ASX:OMH) subsidiary OM Materials Pte Ltd under a take-or-pay offtake arrangement.

E25 has also agreed key commercial terms to sell 50% of the manganese ore produced from the second stage of the Butcherbird Project development to Singapore-based Semeru Energy Ltd.

The non-binding term sheet provides for a minimum annual allocation of 175,000 tonnes and a maximum allocation of 200,000 tonnes.

A key component of the offtake terms include obligations on Semeru to achieve the highest price for E25s manganese concentrate and for E25 to direct that concentrate be placed with certain clients to achieve the optimal pricing.

Semeru will have the right to purchase ore from E25 at a price such that it can book a net margin of 2.4% of the cost and freight (CFR) price achieved.

Euro Manganese project

Euro Manganese Inc (ASX:EMN) (CVE:EMN) (OTCMKTS:EROMF) (FRA:E06) is also well-positioned to benefit from the strong manganese market outlook, with the company on track to complete a demonstration plant for its Chvaletice Manganese Project in the Czech Republic by mid-2021.

This plant will produce around 32 kilograms daily of high-purity electrolytic manganese metal (HPEMM), that can be converted into approximately 100 kilograms of dry crystalline high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM).

The company is also on track to complete the Chvaletice feasibility study by the end of 2021 and today shares have been as much as 5% higher to 50 cents.

From 17.5 cents on October 2, shares have traded up to 61 cents on November 25, a new record high, and the company's market cap is approximately $92.6 million.

Strategically positioned

Demand for high-purity manganese products is growing rapidly, fuelled largely by the lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle markets, particularly in Europe where 100% of high-purity manganese products are imported.

EMN aims to be Europes only primary producer of ultra-high-purity electrolytic manganese metal, targeting production of ultra-high-purity electrolytic manganese metal (HPEMM) with specifications exceeding 99.9% manganese and ultra-high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) with a minimum manganese content of 32.34%, both of which exceed typical industry standards.

The company believes that its projects location in the heart of Europes fast-growing EV production hub makes it a European and globally strategic asset.
The construction worker who plunged into the Mississippi River after a hit-and-run driver knocked him over the side of the Hale Boggs Memorial Bridge in St. Charles Parish was still missing as of Friday afternoon, State Police said.

Authorities were also still working to identify the motorist who ran from the scene of the deadly crash early Thursday morning, leaving a truck behind on the bridge.

Hit-and-run driver knocks construction worker over side of Hale Boggs Bridge; Worker still missing Authorities were searching for a construction worker believed to have fallen into the Mississippi River after he was knocked over the side of 

State Police have not named the missing construction worker who was part of a crew handling an overnight job on the Interstate 310 bridge, said Trooper Monroe Dillon, a State Police spokesman.

About 1 a.m., a man driving southbound on the bridge in a 2014 Ford F-150 pickup truck crashed through the construction zone and hit the worker. Investigators suspect the truck was traveling at about 60 mph when the accident occurred, according to Dillon.

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The worker was thrown over the side of the bridge and disappeared. No one else was injured.

The U.S. Coast Guard spent Thursday searching the river by boat and helicopter, officials said. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office also used a helicopter to help look for the missing construction worker. The Coast Guard suspended the search at sunset Thursday, the agency said.

State Police troopers, meanwhile, searched the abandoned pickup truck and are trying to identify the male driver who fled, Dillon said.

Anyone with information about the identity of the Ford F-150 pickup truck driver involved in the hit-and-run crash is asked to call Louisiana State Police Troop B at 504-471-2775. The public can also call Crimestoppers at at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-7867.
Steve Wright realized his mistake only after the pretty girl gave him the look that pretty girls give to jerks who try extraordinarily stupid lines.

It was 1968, and in their class at the University of Michigan, their very German professor still called students Mr. or Miss. Without thinking, Wright had followed suit.

Hello, the pretty girl thought hed said. Im Mr. Right.

He scrambled to clarify. Wright, he said. With a W. Like the Wright brothers.

Her name was Jan Kovar. A computer science major, shed grown up blue-collar, in Dearborn, Mich., and itched to travel, to see more of life had to offer. On their second date, Steve took her to the airport where hed learned to fly. In the noisy little plane, looking down from the co-pilots seat, the world unrolled itself beneath them.

He was, it turned out, Mr. Right after all.

Nine floors

On their honeymoon, Steve flew them around the continental U.S. After her graduation, Jan worked as a systems analyst, and later for banks. Steve became a patent lawyer for Dow Chemical  first in Michigan, then in the Houston area because Jan wanted to live somewhere warm. He bought a single-engine Cessna 210. On their trips, Jan co-piloted.

The kids came  Alec, then Cathy, then Brad. Steve left Dow for corporate law. On family vacations, hed land the Cessna at remote little airports near national parks, like the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Or in Arkansas. Or the Gulf Coast.

The kids were in their teens when Jans health problems began.

MORE FROM LISA GRAY: World-renowned expert Ben Neuman shares which COVID vaccine he'd take, given the choice

In May 2001, after a series of close calls, she received a liver transplant at Memorial Hermann Hospital. But after a respiratory complication, she slipped into a coma.

She was still in that coma June 9, when Tropical Storm Allison flooded the Texas Medical Center. Memorial Hermann lost power just before sunrise. Nurses respirated Jan by hand.

Steve rushed to the hospital, and in the dark, fumbled his way up to the ninth-floor ICU. The nurses gave him a crash course in manual respiration, and he began helping patients on Jans floor.

Still without power, the hospital began to evacuate. It was risky to move Jan, but by mid-morning it seemed even riskier to leave her. Steve helped the hospital staff carry her bed down the nine flights of stairs. One nurse kept up Jans mechanical breathing; another carried the IV pole. At last they made it to the loading dock. From there a Coast Guard helicopter carried Jan to a hospital in Katy.

Doctors told Steve that Jan had a 50 percent chance of surviving.

Bucket list

She not only survived, she woke up. Though her health problems never cleared up  in 2008, she was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a bone marrow cancer  she and Steve continued to travel.

He had already traded in the little Cessna for a bigger Piper Malibu Mirage. But Jan, fragile, couldnt withstand long trips with no bathroom stops. To extend their range, he upgraded the Piper. With turbo engines, it could fly higher, faster.

They checked off items on their bucket list. They visited all seven continents, all 50 states, all the friends on their Christmas card list. To celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary, in 2011, they traveled around the world. In Antarctica, they saw penguins.

In the Piper they loved chasing sunsets, flying west as late afternoon turned to dusk, making the sunset last and last before the world turned dark.

In 2015, Jan died.

My purpose

I think Ive found my purpose, Steve told his daughter, Cathy Flores, sometime in one of those long empty months after Jans death. His best friend, Glenn Korfhage, had introduced him to Angel Flight, a nonprofit that organizes volunteer pilots to fly people, for free, to and from medical treatment.

It felt like a calling. Cancer patients needed what Steve could give: his skills, the use of his fast plane. Often the patients were traveling to or from MD Anderson, the hospital that had treated Jan.

Shireen Pitassi, Angel Flights mission director, works with more than 1,200 volunteers. Steve, she says, was one of my favorites. Shed call when she suddenly needed, say, someone to fly a Friday mission. Almost always, hed clear his calendar.

He flew 47 missions. If the patients ride home wasnt waiting at the airport, he would sometimes borrow a car. Once, when bad weather grounded the Piper, Steve bought the patient a ticket home on a big commercial flight. He was special, says Pitassi.

MORE FROM LISA GRAY: Shed had COVID-19. She didnt think she could get it again.

Sometimes Cathy flew with her dad, sitting in back with the patient and the patients helper. Cathy and Steve told the patients the things theyd learned from their time with Jan: Not to give up, that amazing comebacks are possible, as long as youre still in this beautiful world.

The last mission

Steve was 72 last spring, when COVID-19 began shutting down the U. S. He was in great shape, still able to pass the rigorous annual flight physical. He used to tell Cathy that he figured he had 15 years left to live, and maybe five more before some medical issue slowed him down.

At first he chafed when she urged him to stay home, to take coronavirus precautions. He didnt want to lose any of the time he had left. But naturally, when hospitals stopped accepting non-emergency patients, Angel Flights missions stopped too. Steves last one, Pitassis records say, was on March 8, 2020.

In the months that followed, Steve kept his skills sharp, kept flying the Piper, kept renewing his certifications. He took COVID-19 precautions, wearing his mask, keeping his distance. When he could resume Angel Flights missions, he wanted to be ready.

But somehow, he caught COVID-19. He was sick for only a couple of weeks. He told Cathy on Dec. 23 that he needed an ambulance to take him to the hospital: His pulse oximeter, the one he wore to track his blood oxygen at high altitudes, showed that he was in the danger zone.

He died January 4.

This year, Cathy said Thursday, after her dads funeral, would have been her parents 50th anniversary. She liked thinking of them together now, in heaven. In a place high above the clouds. Where sunsets never give way to the dark.

lisa.gray@chron.com, twitter.com/LisaGray_HouTX
Amar Bahadur, a junior assistant at the King Georges Medical University (KGMU), which is among the largest medical varsities in Asia, felt a sense of pride at being the first recipient of the Covid-19 vaccine at the KGMU Centre this morning.

KGMU is among the 12 vaccination centres set up in Lucknow to inoculate 1,200 health workers, including doctors, on Saturday, Day One of the mega drive.

I felt no fear or nervousness about the vaccine. The vaccination will drive away the fear of Covid-19 among the peopleit will definitely subdue the pandemic, Bahadur said after coming out of the post-vaccination observation chamber at the KGMU. He also flaunted the Covid-19 vaccination card that mentioned the second dose would be administered to him on February 15, 2021.

Despite the cold climate, Lucknow, which is referred to as the City of Nawabs, exhibited remarkable enthusiasm to participate in the Covid-19 vaccination drive that rolled out across India after the address to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Meanwhile, to instill confidence among the fellow health workers, the heads/directors of the 12 medical institutions and hospitals in the city were among the first persons to be administered the jab.

The 12 centres set up for the Covid-19 vaccination in Lucknow comprised, KGMU, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS), Balrampur Hospital, Veerangana Avantibai Hospital, Eras Medical College, Sahara Hospital, Medanta Hospital and TS Mishra Medical College, apart from two community health Centres on the city outskirts.

Meanwhile, chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited the Balrampur Hospital for the first hand information about the ongoing vaccination drive. He noted the country would continue to march forward with a positive approach under his leadership.

On Friday, the vials of Covid-19 vaccines were transported from the designated store house in Aishbagh area to the cold chain points in the vicinity of the 12 vaccination centres. The health workers and doctors were also mandated to report to their assigned centre before 0900 hrs for the vaccination duty.

The vaccination drive will continue till 1700 hrs to ensure that all the persons scheduled for the jab are administered the first dose. The second dose of the vaccine would be given after 28 days.

The authorities have estimated to vaccinate 18,000 people on a daily basis in Lucknow in the coming days when all the nearly 60 vaccination centres become operational in due course.

Besides, reports of successful vaccination drive have also emerged from other major cities in Uttar Pradesh.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif), who not too long ago was entangled with a Chinese alleged honeytrap spy, somehow got to retain his congressional committee seats, on intelligence and homeland security, despite Republican outcry.

Now, he's demonstrating for us why he doesn't belong on them.

According to the Daily Caller:

Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell announced Friday he was rejoining the House Committee on Homeland Security just weeks after he was allegedly linked to a Chinese spy. Im honored and excited to rejoin active service on @HomelandDems, where I plan to focus on highlighting and finding solutions to the scourge of white nationalist extremism, Swalwell tweeted. My committee memberships  along with my experience as a prosecutor and as the son and brother of law enforcement officers  will give me a unique opportunity to delve into one of Americas most serious national security threats.

Where do we start to unpack this?

First, Swalwell was the big dumb lunk, the mark, led around by his privates by a Chinese alleged honeytrap spy, going from California district attorney to Congress, and with that, an amazing string of sensitive congressional committee positions, notably on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, but also on the House homeland security committee.

After revelations of his involvement with the comely Fang Fang, who specialized in bedding U.S. politicians, Swalwell somehow retained his committee chairmanships, claiming that after the FBI sat him down in 2015 and gave him a 'defensive briefing' he cut all ties to her, which is kind of a stretch, given that Swalwell's family members reportedly still have (or maybe now had) Fang Fang as a friend on their Facebook pages. For Swalwell, Fang Fang had been very important: She raised money for him in 2014, and was trusted enough by Swalwell to place an intern in his office. Swalwell won't say if she was his easy nookie, but his refusal to answer that question suggests she was.

So with that China stench all over him, who does Swalwell say the big threat to America is? Not China. Not Iran. Not North Korea. Not Cuba. Swalwell advises us it's white nationalist supremacists. Those are the ones we have to watch out for. He'll get 'em, he says, and with that, presumably save America, which leaves a bad taste in the mouth. White nationalist supremacists are a tiny miserable bunch, easily scooped up and put away if authorities wanted to, but for Swalwell, they're politically useful for advancing a narrative that suggests that all of America's ills are the work of white nationalist supremacists.

It's ridiculous. Anyone with a brain would know that China is far more dangerous as a threat, But Swalwell sees to divert attention from China by trying to convince us that white supremacists are what's really worthy of focus.

And strangely, he cites his experience as a cop's brother-in-law as proof that he brings something to the table. Is he trying to tell us that all cops are white supremacists based on his experience with his father a brother in law? Or what does he mean by that?

Swalwell means to say he aims to protect us from a phantom enemy when the reality is, places like China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba, plus the terrorists of the Middle East, really make the top threats. to homeland security. Going after this phantom threat takes heat off from China.

It's hard not to image that as Swalwell waxes about this big national security threat that somehow, Fang Fang is smiling.

Image credit: Fox Business video screen shot, via shareable YouTube
Amanda Burke covers Pittsfield City Hall for The Berkshire Eagle. An Ithaca, New York native, she previously worked at The Herald News of Fall River and the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise. Find her on Twitter at @amandaburkec.
MOSCOW -- A Russian court has ordered a member of opposition politician Aleksei Navalnys Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) accused of inciting extremism on the Internet to be kept in pretrial detention until February 28, according to a top human rights lawyer.

Pavel Chikov, head of the legal-aid nongovernmental organization Agora, said on Telegram that the Presnensky District Court issued the ruling against Pavel Zelensky on January 16.

The decision comes a day before Navalny is set to fly back to Russia for the first time after spending six months in Germany where he was treated for a near-fatal poisoning, despite the risk of being jailed upon his return.

Zelensky, a camera operator for FBK, was detained on January 15 and charged over a tweet he sent last year following the self-immolation of journalist Irina Slavina in the city of Nizhny Novgorod.

In his tweet on October 2, 2020, Zelensky condemned the Russian authorities, saying they were responsible for the journalist's death.

Slavina died after setting herself on fire in front of Nizhny Novgorod's city police department on October 2 following a police raid on her apartment in an apparent search for evidence linking her to an opposition group.

Before setting herself on fire, Slavina posted a statement on Facebook saying, "Blame the Russian Federation for my death."

Slavina's self-immolation caused a public outcry, with many people demanding justice for the journalist.
Drew Angerer/Getty

In the final week of his presidency, Donald Trump met in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon with Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and a personal friend of the presidents who presented Trump with six pages of documents, loaded with unproven conspiracy theories, that he told him proved that China and other countries helped steal the 2020 election for Joe Biden.

Lindell says that after a five-to-ten minute meeting in the Oval, Trump asked someone to take the MyPillow inventor to a different room to show his documents to the lawyers, and then asked for staff to bring Lindell back afterwards. Following a roughly two-hour wait, according to Lindell, he finally met with White House attorneys who dismissed his claims but said they would look into it. He was then not allowed to see the president again on Friday.

The Daily Beast could not confirm with other sources if the people Lindell met with were attorneys or other White House staff.

Maybe [Trump] got busy, I dont know, Lindell said in an interview on Friday evening.

During the meeting, Lindell says that he informed President Trumpwho after inspiring a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol last week still hasnt accepted that his Democratic opponent beat him in the 2020 presidential electionthat materials alleging China and other nations involvement in a supposed anti-Trump election-hacking operation were all over the internet, but were being suppressed by Big Tech.

In the brief meeting, Lindell, a staunch Trump ally (who has also been a major financial backer of several legal efforts and rallies to try to nullify the 2020 election outcome) told the president, Mr. President, this is real, you really won by at least 10 million votes.

Lindell said Trump replied by saying, Well, yeah, we all know there was fraud, Mike.

Then, Lindell added, He was upset to hear that this was happening to all the people who backed him for all these four years. He said, Can you believe how theyre treating us out there?

Story continues

Asked about other things the president told him during the meeting, Lindell simply described the rest of the conversation as mostly generic.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

Lindell says he handed Trump a total of six pages, two of which were from a document he says was given to him by an attorney, though he would not name who it was. Lindell is, however, close to and has funded some of the 2020 operations of Trumpist lawyers Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, both of whom have had direct contact with the president in recent weeks and the latter of whom was so extreme that she was ejected from Trumps legal team late last year. That first document was captured in a photo tweeted by Jabin Botsford, a Washington Post photographer who was at the White House on Friday, and it quickly made the rounds on political social media. Those notes that Lindell handed to Trump on Friday appeared to include a suggestion on invoking the Insurrection Act, and martial law if necessary.

The MyPillow honcho told The Daily Beast that he didnt think Trump even read those two pages. The president, in Lindells account, didnt even get through the first four pages before sending Lindell out of the room.

Those four pages detailed the theory that Lindell discussed with Trump for a few minutes on Friday afternoon: that China is possibly the Number 1 perpetrator in robbing the outgoing president of a second term.

Biden, of course, won decisively.

Lindell said he showed Trump an article from The American Report, a conspiracy theory website thats fringe even by the standards of Trumps late presidency, that purports to show that China and a host of other entities hacked the election through an analysis of IP addresses.

But the president seemed just as, if not more, interested in the pictures on the article, rather than the text or the chart. On the second page of the report, a copy of which Lindell sent to The Daily Beast, are two photos of a man and a woman. The president asked who the images were and I said I dont know, Lindell said.

The photos that puzzled Trump are side-by-side pictures of Russian anti-virus magnate Eugene Kaspersky and his ex-wife, Natalya Kaspersky. But while accusations that Eugene Kaspersky is close with the Russian government prompted the Department of Homeland Security to phase out federal use of his software in 2017, not even The American Report article makes clear what either Kaspersky has to do with a supposedly stolen American election.

Its not clear what point The American Report article, which is currently offline but preserved in archive form, wants to make. The banner image attached to the article alleges a wide-ranging election conspiracy that includes the Chinese government, telecom giant Huawei, the Czech Republic, Amazon, and even the German University of Stuttgart. The article claims, for example, that a device with a Huawei IP address "hacked into IP addresses" in a battleground state on Election Day, but fails to offer any proof that any hacking actually occurred.

The American Report article appears to be tied into the conspiracy theory that the site has repeatedly championed after the election: a truly bizarre hoax that the CIA used a nefarious supercomputer called Hammer and a program called Scorecard to steal the election.

That idea came from Dennis Montgomery, a software engineer and purported master hoaxster who claims to have created Hammer. But Montgomery is far from credible  he allegedly ripped off federal agencies for millions of dollars in post-9/11 America with software he claimed, falsely, could detect hidden al Qaeda transmissions.

While its unclear where The American Report got its data proving the hacking, there are suggestions that the claims came from Montgomery. At the end of the article that Lindell showed to Trump, The American Report links to a website called Blxware, the same name as a company Montgomery once founded. That page promotes Montgomery as a heroic election whistleblower, and links to a fundraiser where he has raised more than $60,000 from Trump supporters interested in his election fraud claims.

Lindell promoted the Hammer and Scorecard hoax more explicitly earlier this week, tweeting a link to a Jan. 3 The American Report article that mentioned the conspiracy theory.

This is what we need the president to de-classify! Lindell tweeted on Jan. 11.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

After their brief Oval get-together, Trump, according to Lindell, told him, I gotta give it to them, referring to his White House lawyers, and then Lindell was escorted out for a meeting with the attorneys. Following what he described as an hour and a half or two hour wait, he says he was taken to a different area of the building for a chat with two lawyers who he said he couldnt identify.

This led to an argument during which Lindell accused them of trying to discredit the claims he presented.

They tried to deny it, saying, We dont think its relevant, and I said, Dont try to discredit it. They said they would look into it and get back to you. And I told them I just want them to know the truth How horrible is it that we are about to have an illegitimate president? People on the left and right should want to know the truth.

Following this exchange, Lindell says, White House officials did not permit him to see Trump again on Friday.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Patna, Jan 16 : Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday wrote a letter to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seeking a reply about the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

In a letter to CM Nitish Kumar, Yadav wrote that there had been a huge spike in cases of murder, loot, kidnapping, extortion, rape and theft in the last few days in Bihar. Even records of the Centre indicate higher incidence of crime in Bihar.

"High-profile cases make headlines in Bihar but there are so many cases at the village, Panchayat and block level taking place on a daily basis which go unnoticed. It is unfortunate that Nitish and his government are wasting energy in search of decades-old crime records. If Nitish concentrates even one per cent on strengthening the law and order infrastructure of Bihar, we would get positive results," wrote Tejashwi.

"Instead of making the department accountable, he always tries to blame the history of the state. The people of Bihar are saying that there have been much-better phases than his 15-year tenure." "Criminals protected by your government are rampant in society and bureaucrats have a monopoly in government. They do not listen to anyone, even public representatives. Officers do not even pick up phones of common people," Tejashwi alleged in the letter.

"Tiredness is clearly visible on the face of the CM and even leaders of BJP are attacking him over his work efficiency, accountability and sensitivity. Opposition parties are ready to help the government in a positive manner," he said.
In 2020, DVBD faced both vector-borne disease (VBD) threats and the COVID-19 pandemic. Numerous staff from DVBD volunteered to assist with CDCs response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite much attention being focused on the response, DVBD accomplished many projects and milestones during the year. Heres a look at the top accomplishments for DVBD from 2020:

In February, nearly 400 representatives from across the country, and many DVBD members, attended the first Vector Week in Fort Collins, Colorado. Lyle Petersen, Director of DVBD, presented a collective vision and strategy to battle VBDs nationally. Other CDC senior scientists, experts from state and local public health programs, and the Regional Centers of Excellence for Vector-Borne Disease presented on specific challenges and opportunities for VBD prevention and control.

Rapid detection of yellow fever is critical to preventing large scale outbreaks, yet no validated commercially-produced test previously existed. CDC scientists have been working to fill this surveillance gap by developing a kit to detect yellow fever antibodies. In April, CDC awarded a contract to ATCC, a global biological materials resource and standards organization, to produce CDCs yellow fever virus MAC-HD kit. DVBD will continue to produce some of the raw reagents, and ATCC will format these for use in the kits, assemble them, and perform quality control for evaluation in advance of future distribution. This effort will facilitate deployment of yellow fever laboratory surveillance tools for the Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics Strategy external icon .

A special supplement issue external icon , titled Plague and Bioterrorism Preparedness, published in the May edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. This issue, spearheaded by DVBDs Bacterial Diseases Branch, presents the results of systematic literature reviews on antimicrobial treatment of plague, plague in pregnant women, and safety of antimicrobials used for treatment and prophylaxis of plague in pregnant women. The issue also includes plague surveillance and animal study data, demonstrating efficacy of antimicrobials for plague treatment and prophylaxis. These findings will inform future guidelines on treatment and prophylaxis of plague.

On August 10, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered nootkatone, an active ingredient discovered and developed by DVBD, for use in repellents and insecticides. Nootkatone can be found in small quantities in Alaskan yellow cedar trees and grapefruit skin and is already used extensively as a flavor ingredient. CDCs work with licensed partner Evolva demonstrates that nootkatone effectively repels and kills mosquitoes and ticks at rates similar to products already on the market. The availability of a new and effective insecticide ingredient paves the way for manufacturers to develop nootkatone-based consumer products and adds another tool to combat insecticide-resistance.

A National Public Health Framework for the Prevention and Control of Vector-Borne Diseases in Humans published in September. To address the growing threat to public health, CDC, five federal departments, and the EPA developed this joint National Framework, which details the strategic priorities of the federal government for critical activities.

Staff and contractors from DVBDs Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch provided remote and on-the-ground support for an alternative Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) prevention campaign in one highly impacted tribal community. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 risk, this years campaign used a drive-up method to reduce in-person interactions. During the five-day campaign, 525 dogs were provided tick collars, 37 puppies treated with acaricidal spray, and 282 persons were educated. This team was awarded the CDC Health Equity Award for their work on RMSF prevention campaigns.

DVBD staff in Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Vector Control Unit, and the Communities Organized to Prevent Arboviruses (COPA) project in Ponce, Puerto Rico began studies on whether mosquitoes with Wolbachia reduce the numbers of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which spread dengue, chikungunya, and Zika.

Numerous DVBD staff volunteered to assist CDCs response to COVID-19. Staff assisted state health departments with epidemiologic studies and lent laboratory supplies. DVBD laboratories also used next-generation technology to sequence complete genomes of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and offered arboviral testing for state health departments. DVBD shipped nearly 18,000 pounds of much-needed PPE within CDC and to state public health partners, including 47 pallets that fit onto two tractor trailers. DVBD partners were also responding to COVID-19 around the world, for example, the Emerging Virus Research Unit at the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology was designated as a principal testing site for Jakarta Province, Indonesia.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

A widely scattered shower or thunderstorm is possible this evening. Then cloudy skies overnight. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

A widely scattered shower or thunderstorm is possible this evening. Then cloudy skies overnight. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
A 35-year-old nurse was admitted



to the critical care unit (CCU) of a hospital in after she lost consciousness within minutes of taking the COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday, officials said.

She is one of the 15,707 beneficiaries who were vaccinated across West Bengal during the day.

Thirteen other 'Adverse Event Following Immunisation' (AEFI) cases were also reported from various parts of the state but those were not serious, they said.

AEFI is any untoward medical occurrence following immunisation and might not have a relation with the vaccination process, officials said.

Within minutes of taking the vaccine at Dr BC Roy Hospital, the nurse started trembling, complained of uneasiness and fainted in the observation room.

She was rushed to nearby Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital and admitted to the CCU.

"That's probably an allergic reaction. As of now, there is nothing to worry about her as this type of allergic reaction is common in many vaccinations," a senior health department official, who is also a doctor, told PTI.

"We have learnt that she has a history of being allergic to drugs. She is also a chronic asthma patient. In that way, this is normal though quite rare. We are checking whether this is related to the vaccination or not. Even if it is because of the inoculation then also there is nothing to worry about," he said.

Several medical tests are being conducted on the nurse.

"Her blood pressure and oxygen saturation levels are normal. However, she is kept on oxygen support as she is an asthma patient. Specialised doctors are attending to her," he said.

The health department is consulting vaccine expert Dr Shantunu Tripathy who was earlier associated with the School of Tropical Medicine.

Out of the 14 AEFI cases, three are from Murshidabad district and two are from

"None of them is serious, except the staff nurse in Kolkata," an official said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Video has been released showing a black Capitol Police officer convincing rioters at the Capitol building to allow him to rescue his fellow officers who had become trapped inside.

Lt. Tarik Khalid Johnson, 45, says that wearing the distinctive bright red MAGA hat worn by Trump supporters allowed him to blend in with the crowd and ultimately save his colleagues who were unable to get out of the building safely.

Johnson has explained to his coworkers that he decided to wear the cap worn in order to 'win the trust' of protesters and make it through the crowd.

He has since been suspended after he was photographed wearing the red 'Make America Great Again' cap.

A Capitol Police lieutenant, pictured, was suspended for wearing a MAGA cap during riot

Lt. Tarik Khalid Johnson, left, says he was trying to rescue his colleagues who were trapped inside the Capitol building at the time of the Capitol riot

The officer is seen in a tweet, pictured above. Johnson can be seen with his megaphone

But incredible video footage appears to show him rescuing 16 police officers to from the building while shutting down the entrance and preventing more rioters from storming inside, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The five minute clip shows the entire operation from start to finish with Johnson wearing a MAGA cap throughout. It's not clear where Johnson got hold of the headgear.

He explains his problem to a small group of protesters and while wearing the bright red cap appears to quickly form a bond with them.

'We're getting beat up, but the people who didn't vote for him, they're laughing at us,' he says.

'If you guys could help me distract these people, I'd appreciate it,' Johnson tells an unidentified man. 'I need to get the other officers out They're scared.'

Video footage of the day's events shows the officer using the cap to garner support from protesters in order to make his way through the crowd

The entrance to the Capitol was packed with rioters, but those helping Johnson were able to clear a path up the steps to one of the doors to the building

The officer and the protesters faced a hold up once they reached the door to the Capitol

Johnson can then be heard asking two of the men present if they are able to help get him inside the Capitol. They quickly agree.

Video shows Johnson handing over his megaphone to the protestors who help clear a path up the steps of the Capitol which are swarming with protesters.

The group can be heard yelling 'make a hole!', 'let the cops leave!'

The rioters who had crowded the steps briefly parted ways and let Johnson up into the building.

Video shows a brief struggle at the portico door just outside the Rotunda after some of the mob attempted to prevent the group getting in.

Soon after, the protester leads Johnson out of the Capitol building together with 16 of his fellow officers who were clad in body armor and carrying shields.

As they leave, they are cheered by rioters, some of whom thanked the cops by hugging them.

The protesters used the police officer's megaphone to tell others to 'make a hole'

16 Capitol Police officers wearing body armor and carrying plastic shields were seen leaving

The Capitol police have since come under criticism for failing to adequately prepare for the siege.

Several officers including Johnson have been suspended in connection with the events while more than a dozen more are also under investigation.

The department said it is 'actively reviewing video and other open source materials of some USCP officers and officials that appear to be in violation of Department regulations and policies. Our Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating these behaviors for disciplinary action, up to, and including, termination.'

'Several USCP officers have already been suspended pending the outcome of their investigations,' the statement read.

One Capitol police officer has since come to the defense of Johnson and said he heard him ask for permission to carry out his plan over the radio, but nobody in authority responded.

Five people died as a result of the riot, including one Capitol Police officer.

More than 100 have been arrested so far in connection with the riot.

Some of the protesters even stopped to hug the officers as they left the building
For years, drivers in South Bend., Ind., held in their heads a magic number: Get their car to hit that speed and you could whip through downtown without seeing a red light.

When Pete Buttigieg took office as mayor of the Indiana city in 2012, he changed that. He pitched a $25 million plan to convert downtown's wide, one-way roads into two-way streets with bike lanes and sidewalks. He hoped making it safer to get out on foot would encourage more people to spend time and money in the area.

Buttigieg branded the idea "smart streets." Opponents lampooned it as "dumb streets."

To Greg Matz - who pegged that magic number precisely at 321/2 mph - it looked like a waste of money.

"It seemed like an inconvenience," said Matz, 46. "That was exactly the point, to slow down traffic, which in my initial view was a bad thing."

Buttigieg pressed ahead. He secured the support of the city council to borrow money for the project. He held off primary and general election challengers who campaigned against it during his 2015 reelection bid. Soon after, South Bend's roads were torn up for construction and Buttigieg cut the ribbon in 2017.

Three years later, Matz is a convert.

"Downtown was a ghost town. You wouldn't go there after dark," said Matz, who went on to volunteer for Buttigieg's presidential campaign. "The results speak for themselves. It's more than just the number of businesses, it's the feeling of it not being dead anymore."

In the coming days, the Senate is expected to confirm Buttigieg as secretary of transportation. He will bring experience taking on the car-centric street designs that have dominated the American landscape, but which many urban leaders are striving to undo in the face of rising pedestrian fatalities and a reckoning with transportation policies that bored highways through neighborhoods home to Black residents.

Buttigieg said his experience building support for the program will shape how he approaches his new job in Washington.

"It feeds my perspective on the value of local work around mobility," he said in an interview. "I think a successful department is one that really empowers local leaders to make and drive decisions that work in their communities."

The 15-year-old movement for so-called "complete streets" seeks to balance the needs of pedestrians and cyclists with those of drivers. But wherever political leaders try to make changes, they face entrenched opposition from some drivers who see the projects as needlessly making traffic worse.

Experts say the pushback shouldn't be surprising when generations of drivers expect to have their needs catered to and cities have evolved to become difficult to navigate without a car.

"We have approached local transportation the same way we approach highway transportation, with the goal of moving as many cars as quickly as possible," said Corinne Kisner, director of the National Association of City Transportation Officials. Complete streets "represents a shift in thinking and thinking about design as more contextual and less cookie-cutter."

Urban transportation leaders say they are excited to see someone with Buttigieg's resume at the helm of the Transportation Department, which under the Trump administration had an avowed focus on rural areas.

In Buttigieg, they hope to get a leader willing to work more closely with cities. They want the department to make policy changes and funding decisions that help make urban streets safer and more enjoyable for people outside cars.

As he labored to garner support in South Bend, Buttigieg said he made appeals to history by pointing out that making roads primarily about cars was a brief experiment in the thousands of years humans have lived in cities. He highlighted American cities that implemented similar projects. Nonetheless, opposition was fierce.

"There were people saying it was going to be the end of our city," Buttigieg said. He said he doesn't recall his own magic number in downtown South Bend, but remembered his father having the drive nailed down "just so."

The project involved reconfiguring South Bend's Main and Michigan streets, creating a pair of two-way roads and reducing the number of driving lanes from four to three. The city added bike lanes, extended sidewalks at intersections to make streets easier to cross and installed roundabouts. The $25 million cost was covered using a tax increment financing bond, which involves local governments pledging increases in revenue from infrastructure investments to pay off investors.

Buttigieg said the program was one of his most successful policies as mayor.

"People changed their relationship to their downtown," he said. "That's exactly what we were hoping for."

Buttigieg was succeeded as mayor by James Mueller, a schoolmate and his former chief of staff. Mueller - magic number 33 mph - said he has tried to build on the smart streets program. The city council earlier this month approved a citywide elimination of rules requiring developers to include a minimum number of off-street parking spaces in their projects.

Measuring the success of the program has been tricky. Mueller's office shared a list of economic development projects downtown valued at more than $275 million, but it's hard to know how many of them might have happened without the street redesign. When it comes to traffic, the mayor's office could only say that, anecdotally, the average drive through the area is three minutes longer than before.

Henry Davis Jr., a Democratic member of the city council and the lone "no" on a key vote to advance the smart streets project, remains steadfast in opposition, saying if anything, it has held back the city's economy and snarled traffic. Installing bike lanes in a city with South Bend's harsh winter climate makes little sense, he said.

"Taxpayers are paying a heavy price financially to underwrite the costs for this idea," said Davis, who unsuccessfully challenged Buttigieg in the 2015 mayoral primary. "We will be paying that cost for several years now because a bond was floated."

But downtown business leaders say the benefits have been dramatic.

Restaurateur Mark McDonnell said he had long identified the way drivers would speed through downtown as something holding the area back.

"My livelihood is up or down as downtown is," said McDonnell, who catered Buttigieg's wedding rehearsal dinner. "If downtown is thriving then I'm thriving."

Despite being a conservative Republican, he said he helped campaign for Buttigieg's smart streets project, organizing other restaurant owners to make the case to the city council. He called securing the go-ahead for the work, "a modern miracle in democracy."

In December, the first new downtown office building in decades opened, following renovations and conversions of distressed properties into apartments.

Real estate broker Ed Bradley - magic number 29 mph - said the street redesign arrived as people across the country were taking a renewed interest in downtown areas. He credits the project with helping to revitalize the area.

"Would they have happened without the smart streets? Maybe, some of them," said Bradley, who was involved in renovating an aging office building. "Were the developers in the private sector feeling much better about their investment because of smart streets? Yes."

The major caveat to the progress is the coronavirus pandemic. South Bend, like other cities, has seen people stay away from restaurants while downtown office workers are staying home as the virus spreads.

McDonnell said his business is just holding on, although Bradley said there's no indication there will be a long-lasting retreat from downtown offices.

As the pandemic hit, cities across the country looked to their streets as a resource to tap, turning over parking spots to dining tables and closing roads to vehicle traffic so people could play without crowding parks. Supporters of complete streets were encouraged by leaders' new willingness to experiment.

"Coming out of this, people are really going to crave connection and really crave everything that makes cities great, the ability to be near people and connect with people," Kisner said.

But there were missteps, with Black and Latino communities saying their needs had not been adequately considered. Residents of neighborhoods who had been told for years there was no money for new projects saw government ready to take quick action elsewhere.

When smart streets was under debate in South Bend, Davis - whose council district includes parts of downtown and predominantly Black neighborhoods to its West - questioned why the money was best spent in the center of the city when other areas suffered from crumbling sidewalks and potholes.

Buttigieg, whose struggle to win Black support hobbled his presidential run, said he also invested in neighborhoods. He said pursuing projects equitably will be one of the foundations of his approach at the Transportation Department.

"We should be open to whatever can make sure these resources are equitably creating economic opportunity in the communities where they are actually going to be plowed into the ground," he told a group of Black county leaders in a virtual roundtable shortly after being named to the job.

Tamika Butler, a consultant who seeks to help organizations battle inequity, said planners have to ask people in all kinds of communities what they want. For some, a complete street might be one with a new bike lane, but for others it could be one with a way to safely cross to a corner store.

"Too often folks like to ride in as a white knight," Butler said. "Too often there's not a process of actually listening to people."
MILFORD - When the call came, Christopher Lancia was ready and willing to do the right thing, he said.

I dont want to be governor, a state rep or a mayor, I want to get this party up, said Lancia, a member of the Milford Republican Town Committee who served as campaign manager for Margaret Streickers campaign in the 3rd Congressional District. We have to go back to basics, our core values, and get everyone on same page.

Lancia has announced his candidacy for chairman of the state Republican Party. If successful, he would replace J.R. Romano, who held the seat for the past six years is not seeking re-election.

I was approached to run, and Ill do the right thing, Lancia said.

Raised in Bridgeport and a 1989 graduate of Central High School, Lancia worked in the cable industry for 15 years, then joined the Coast Guard and worked as a Federal police officer at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton.

He said his background could help the Republican Party make inroads with traditional Democratic voters in the cities.

Im an inner-city kid. I remember when there were two parties in Bridgeport, he said. We must come back to that. There must checks and balances.

With a background in management, Lancia said he would be an ideal candidate to reach out to children in schools and talk about topics such as training, hiring and positioning themselves to succeed.

He knows it wont be easy, though. The party is currently split and, in Connecticut at least, unpopular, he said.

It will be hard fought, and we must bring the people back, he said. We must be more reactive to what is going on around us. In the end, we must run our own state, get the grassroots back, get back lower taxes, give people the chance to get their own businesses.

The lessons were reinforced when he walked door-to-door campaigning with Streicker.

The fascinating part was when we went into an old neighborhood in New Haven, he said. We went into a barber shop, and the barber said to me, You must be a city kid? and I said that I was and he said, Ive never met a Republican before in my life.

Lancia said he understands the divide, and can help bridge it.

I understand that they dont know who a Republican is because I came from the same part - New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford it is all the same, he said. Once you are a city kid you will always be a city kid and they understand that. We need to get into those neighborhoods.

The first step, he said, it coordinating better communication among the local party officials, another lesson from the Streicker campaign.

I dealt with 26 different town chairmen and there were disconnects, he said. One town chair didnt know the town chair who was only one town away. We need everyone to pool their resources.

As the party gears up for the 2022 gubernatorial election, the candidate must be a good listener, Lancia said.

We must get someone who hears from our constituents, he said. No one is going to be right all the time. It cant be about ego, even if you think you are right. There should only be one ego, the people of Connecticut and a person that wants to do better for them.

william.bloxsom@hearstmediact.com Twitter: @blox354
Dhaka:

Bangladesh on Wednesday stepped up search and rescue operations as the death toll in one of the worst landslides to hit the country triggered by torrential rains climbed to 146, with most of the causalities reported from a remote hill district close to the Indian border.



The southeastern Rangmathi hill district, which borders Mizoram and Tripura, was the worst hit with at least 20 landslides hitting it. The district alone saw 105 deaths, including four army personnel who were engaged in rescue operations.



Bandarban and Chittagong were the other two affected districts. According to the officials, the death toll will rise further as many are still missing under tonnes of debris in southeastern hills.



Though officials confirmed only 129 deaths but media reports put the toll as high as 146 in nearly three days of torrential rains due to a depression in the Bay of Bengal which have triggered a series of landslides since Monday in the three districts.



At least 105 people were reported dead in Rangamati alone. Several army officers and soldiers are among the victims, Dhaka Tribune reported.



According to an official at the Disaster Management Ministry some 4,000 people were moved to 18 government shelters as the landslides ravaged their homes and were exposed to the danger of getting buried in fresh mudslides.



Officials feared that the death toll could rise as rescuers find it difficult to reach remote areas where telephone and transport links have remained cut.



Local people said a landslide pushed 15 army men down to around 30 feet, killing four instantly while a military spokesman in Dhaka said an army major and a captain were among four of their dead personnel.



The officials said the troops were called out to clear the landslide rubble from a highway linking port city of Chittagong with Rangamati.



A fresh landslide at the scene buried the detachment killing the four while one soldier is still missing. Ten personnel were wounded in the (fresh) landslide, he said.



Many of the victims belonged to the ethnic minority or tribal groups who live in makeshift structures along the hills in Bandarban and Rangamati where power cuts and no road connection have enhanced miseries of the residents, officials said.



At least 33 deaths were reported from the port city of Chittagong which witnessed five landslides while the rest of the casualties were reported from neighbouring Bandarban district where the torrential rains triggered three landslides.



Authorities temporarily halted the rescue campaign at around 10 last night after recovering 129 bodies. Specialised teams of fire servicemen and troops were mobilised to launch afresh the salvage drive.



We need to accomplish a crucial task of resuming Chittagongs road communications with Bandarban and Rangamati and Bandarban alongside salvaging the landslide victims, a Disaster Management official told reporters.



Densely populated Bangladesh is battered by storms, floods and landslides every rainy season but this years rain is the worst since 2007 when landslides killed 127 people in the port city.



The incessant rains caused water-logging in many parts of Chittagong and submerged a number of coastal villages apart from triggering the landslides.



The situation forced us to demolish a protection embankment against tidal surges as it appeared to be obstructing drainage inundating homes and roads, an official of the city corporation said.



Experts and environmentalists attributed the latest spell of landslides to illegal mining in hills which exposed them to quick erosion during rains.

ALSO READ | Landslides in Bangladesh: PM Narendra Modi condoles loss of lives



The three southeastern hill districts of Ragamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari known as Chittagong hill tracts received over 300mm of rainfall in the 24 hours till yesterday.



Meteorologists said the port city of Chittagong alone experienced 222 mm of rainfall during the same period calling the huge quantum of downpour in such a short time to be unusual.



The landslides triggered by the monsoon rains came two weeks after Cyclone Mora hit Bangladesh, leaving eight people dead and damaging hundreds of homes.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday kicked off the COVID-19 vaccination drive in India.

The launch took place via video conferencing and over 3000 sites across all States and Union territories connected during the launch.

AFP

Speaking at the occasion, PM Modi said that "Everyone was asking as to when the vaccine will be available. It is available now. I congratulate all the countrymen on this occasion."

Such a vaccination drive at such a massive scale was never conducted in history, the PM said adding that there are over 100 countries having less than 3 crore population and India is administering vaccination to 3 crore people in the first phase only. In the second phase, we've to take this number to 30 crores.

Such a vaccination drive at such a massive scale was never conducted in history. There are over 100 countries having less than 3 crore population & India is administering vaccination to 3 crore people in first phase only. In second phase, we've to take this number to 30 crores:PM pic.twitter.com/HVKbBcmwCW  ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2021

Paying tribute to the frontline health workers, the PM said "Our corona warriors remained away from homes for days, in the call of duty. Some of them never got to meet their loved ones again."

"By reserving the first vaccines for these people, the society is expressing its gratefulness," he said.

The PM also said that "Normally, it takes many years to make a vaccine but in such a short span of time, not one, but two 'Made in India' vaccines are ready. Meanwhile, the work on other vaccines is progressing at a fast pace."

The world has immense faith in India's scientists and capacity of vaccine production. We have got two vaccines in such a short time, it's a testimony to our scientists' talent and skills, he added.

As the vaccine is getting rolled out, some three lakhs health workers from over 3000 locations across the country getting the first Covid-19 vaccinations on Saturday.

Maharashtra: The staff at a hospital in Aundh district of Pune make rangoli to welcome those participating in Covid-19 vaccine drive



"I am relieved that vaccination is finally out. The paramedical staff is very happy. I will get the shot of Covaxin today," said a hospital staff. pic.twitter.com/CVioca3G5W  ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2021

Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the inaugural day, the union health ministry has said.

In the first phase government and private sector health care workers, including Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) workers, will receive the vaccine.

The drive will be held daily from 9 am to 5 pm, except on the days earmarked for routine immunisation programmes.

AFP

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Friday termed the country's vaccination drive as the "beginning of the end of Covid-19." He also urged people to trust the indigenously manufactured vaccine, saying the government has given emergency use approval after proper scientific scrutiny.

In the next phases of the vaccination drive, people aged over 50, and those who are below 50 years but have serious health conditions or co-morbidities will be vaccinated, according to the health ministry.

Dry-runs at vaccination centres across the country have been held with lakhs of healthcare staff across districts being trained.

The drugs regulatory body of India has currently approved two vaccines. Pune-based Serum Institute of India has developed the Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University while the Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad's Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Medical Council of research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology.

The vaccination programme in the country will use Co-WIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Work), an online digital platform developed by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which will facilitate real-time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries for COVID-19 vaccine. This digital platform will assist programme managers across all levels while conducting vaccination sessions.

A dedicated 24x7 call centre - 1075 - has also been established for addressing the queries related to Covid-19 pandemic, vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN software.

The full initial procurement amount of 1.65 crore doses of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines against Covid-19 have been allocated to all States/UTs in the proportion of Health Care Workers database, Union Health Ministry stated.
Rupert Murdoch's son James has condemned American media outlets for unleashing "profound damage" on the United States and being complicit in the events that led to the pro-Trump insurgency in Washington earlier this month.

The junior Murdoch, who left his father's News Corporation last year citing disagreements over editorial content, said the storming of the Capitol was "proof positive that what we thought was dangerous is indeed very, very much so".

In more united times: Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch in California in 2014. Credit:Invision

"Those outlets that propagate lies to their audience have unleashed insidious and uncontrollable forces that will be with us for years," he told London's Financial Times newspaper. "I hope that those people who didn't think it was that dangerous now understand, and that they stop."

He did not directly mention News Corporation or Fox News, the company's vociferous cable news channel now run by brother Lachlan Murdoch as chief executive and executive chairman.
Washington: Frustrated by the loss of his Twitter account and forced to accept that he soon must leave office, President Donald Trump has effectively stopped doing his job, delegating daily responsibilities to Vice-President Mike Pence while hunkering down with a shrinking group of acquiescent aides and contemplating additional presidential pardons.

Trump had considered leaving the White House before his final day in office, even as early as this weekend, but he has opted to depart on the morning of President-elect Joe Bidens Inauguration Day, according to two people familiar with discussions who cautioned that, with Trump, plans are always subject to change.

President Donald Trump has asked for an elaborate send-off on the morning of Inauguration Day. Credit:Bloomberg

The President has requested a major send-off on the morning of inauguration. It would begin with a throng of cheering, flag-waving staffers and supporters to see him off on the White Houses South Lawn, according to a person familiar with the planning, and continue to a more formal ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, featuring a red carpet, military band, colour guard and 21-gun salute. Hell make his final Air Force One flight to Florida, to take up residence at Mar-a-Lago, his West Palm Beach, Florida, estate.

While Trump is still unwilling to formally concede to Biden directly, or to participate in the traditional show of the peaceful transfer of power by attending his successors swearing-in, Pence called Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and congratulated her and offered assistance ahead of inauguration, according to a person familiar with the call.
Beneficiaries who receive Bharat Biotechs Covaxin will be paid compensation if they suffer adverse event due to the vaccine. The compensation was among the points highlighted on top of the consent form shared with the vaccination centre on Friday.

Vaccination sites at the six Mumbai central government hospitals will give Covaxin. The consent form stated that the beneficiaries will be provided care in government-designated and authorized hospitals in case of any serious side effects due to the vaccine, a Times of India report said.

Also read: Coronavirus Vaccine Drive Gathers Pace; Covishield, Covaxin Doses Reach far Corners of India

The issue of liability has been a point of contestation between the vaccine makers and the government, with the vaccine makers demanding indemnity against any mishap. However, the governments purchase order said that the company has to be liable for any adversities.

Maharashtra officials said that the turnout today will tell whether the three-page consent form will raise concerns. Maharashtra is among the 11 states to accept Covaxin, which is under Phase 3 trials and no large efficacy data.

Also read: Coronavirus Vaccine: Bharat Biotech Signs Pact With Brazil for Supply of Covaxin

Beneficiaries of Covaxin have to sign a consent form unlike those getting the Covishield as it has been approved for restricted use in emergency situations.

According to reports, the recipient of the vaccine will also be handed fact sheet and an adverse effect reporting form where they would have to note down symptoms suffered within the first seven days. The consent form state that the vaccine has demonstrated the ability to produce antibody against coronavirus in phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials. However, the clinical efficacy of Covaxin is yet to be established and it is being studies in phase 3 clinical trial, the report said.

Earlier, Bharat Biotech chairman Dr Krishna Ella speaking to News18 said India can expect interim efficacy data on its vaccine once the trials are completed. "The data is on its way. Phase III trials are going on. This sort of trial  26,000 volunteers involved is a huge number. This has never happened. But there is not one word of appreciation for that. It is not easy to capture the efficacy now. It is easy to capture efficacy when there is a high disease burden," Dr Ella said.

"It is easy to target Indian scientists. I had to tell this because some other company has branded my product as safe like water. Some local company in press yesterday said that safety is like water of other companies. Only three companies have done efficacy, and other vaccine is like water. I want to deny that. It hurts us as scientists; we work 24 hours and dont deserve this type of bashing from people," he responded to the question on the effectiveness of the vaccine.
Netflix puts a lot of content our way, and we are able to categorise most of it by genre: sitcoms, romance, drama, stand-up comedy, tragedies, documentary. But Surviving Death, which looks at life after death in normal and paranormal ways, is a new style of series altogether and hard to be labelled. There is grief and ghosts, reincarnation and reconnections, mediums and messages from beyond. You gasp, but you also get it.

Post-COVID, no one is on sure ground anymore. The week this series dropped, a flight crashed in Indonesia. There is an impending sense of doom in the air. Certainties have turned fatal, someone or the other we know has succumbed to complications from this virus. Mankind is pushed to the brink, not just about ways to process the terrible terminal truth of the moment, but to put in perspective religious and personal beliefs.

As expected, there is a lot of mention about science in the series, as if to ward off criticism of being just another goose-bumpy viewing. The person who technically died for half an hour and speaks about her near-death experience is a doctor, for instance. But as viewers we come with our own baggage in this department. When the bereaved mention seeing butterflies or birds as signs from the departed, we want it to be true for their sake. The stark grief on their faces demands a consoling.

The spooky element has been kept to the minimum  there are haunted houses, but the ghouls are friendly  and psychics are routinely checked for fraud. Mediums take us through the paces even as doubting Thomases confide in us their foolproof methods of investigations.

While putting together Boo, a collection of scary tales for Penguin, most of the contributors depicted the dead returning as petulant, wise, confused or quirky beings. Very rarely were the ghosts murderous or violent. The afterlife, pretty much like life in the here and now, is peopled with moody, capricious folks it would seem. This normalisation of the supernatural goes a long way in calming us when we have to walk past graveyards at night.

Surviving Death, based on a book by Leslie Kean, addresses some vital misconceptions; there is no stigma to how a death occurs. Suicide, drug overdose, illness or accident It doesnt matter how a human life is snuffed out, the survivors have to cope with the sudden absence of a whole person. An interest in what happens after death is not just pedestrian curiosity but a quilt on a cold night. The bereaved need a sign to cling to. Sometimes they get it, sometimes they dont.

It is only natural to miss and look for those who leave us without a word. Unsaid goodbyes ache forever. Where do they go, these people we loved madly? What do we do with all those memories, all that love? Surviving Death explores myriad venues and ends up handing out hope. Any playing to the gallery is survived by the visceral message of continuum. One goes in fearful and comes away hopeful. Oh, to go on forever.
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US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens

Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire

ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning

European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

Armenia acting MOD leaves for Moscow

Armenia President, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces discuss current situation on border

Armenia acting PM to residents of borderline village: If we cede our border, Azerbaijanis will get more excited

Armenia MOD not confirming reports about Azerbaijan firing shots at Tavush Province

Ex-President Kocharyan meets with Yerevan residents, "Armenia" bloc members (PHOTOS)

Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

Serj Tankian makes statement on Azerbaijans displayed horrific racism

Man detained in US for intending to commit attempt on Biden

Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD continues disseminating disinformation

Erdogan to visit Baku and Shushi

Two Armenia legislature committees to hold closed joint meeting regarding tense situation on Azerbaijan border

Holy Etchmiadzin on capture of Armenia soldiers: Such behavior of Azerbaijan authorities is strongly condemnable

Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

Armenia opposition MP: Shots are heard Gegharkunik Province

Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan leadership bears responsibility for consequences of actions by its armed forces

Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

140 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

Armenia MOD announces names of 6 Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

Armenia parliament manages to have quorum in 2nd attempt

World oil prices falling

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan popularity rating consistently drops over the past week

Newspaper: Russia peacekeepers commander does not return from Azerbaijan with encouraging news for Armenia

MOD: 6 Armenia soldiers are surrounded, captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

William Shakespeare, 1st man in world to get approved coronavirus vaccine, dies aged 81

Spain Congress of Deputies committee accepts pro-Armenian motion

Ex-PM comments on double-digit growth in Armenia economy

Facebook calls Russia, Iran leading purveyors of disinformation

Erdogan says meeting with Biden will mark 'start of new era' in relations with Washington

Armenia acting Deputy PM on creation of third high-voltage electric communication line with Iran

Vladimir Zaynetdinov: CSTO has taken note of application submitted by Armenia acting PM

Armenia's Pashinyan says addressing UN Security Council not ruled out

Armenia acting FM: International pressure on Azerbaijan is growing

Netanyahu tells Blinken that Israel is against reopening US consulate for Palestinians

23 political parties and 4 alliances apply to Armenia Central Electoral Commission ahead of snap parliamentary elections

Instagram launches ability to hide likes

Iran FM on solutions to problems in the region, territorial integrity

Bloomberg: Support for Erdogan's ruling party hits record low

Inter-agency commission sums up reports on implementation of roadmap for EU-Armenia CEPA

Armenian acting PM on CSTO and Russia and their duties as Armenia's allies

Slovakia allows use of Russian vaccine Sputnik V

Armenia acting PM on situation in Syunik Province: CSTO still hasn't clearly expressed its position

Armenia's Pashinyan: It's very rarely that Baku made provocations in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces on its own

Armenia acting PM: There will be no demarcation of borders until Azerbaijani troops are pulled out of territory

Record-setting number of political parties register to run in snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Blinken describes Egypt as a "real and effective partner"

Armenia's Pashinyan slams opposition again

Yerevan court ends trial over Armenia 3rd President's nephew Hayk Sargsyan

Armenia President expresses condolences on passing away of Catholicos-Patriarch Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan
New Delhi: The total number of persons infected with the UK strain of COVID-19 has reached 116 in the country, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday (January 16).

The total number of persons found infected with the new UK variant genome is 116," the Health Ministry was quoted as saying by PTI.

Two new cases have been found positive with the COVID-19 UK strain in the last 24 hours, thus taking the total number of cases to 116 on Saturday. As per the Ministry data, on Friday, the tally had risen to 114, with five new positive cases.

The government had earlier informed that all the COVID-19 positive cases with the new UK strain are recovering in single-room isolation in designated healthcare facilities. Their close contacts have also been quarantined, while contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts, etc., the health ministry said.

Meanwhile, India kicked off the largest COVID-19 immunization drive on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first phase of the pan-India vaccination drive via video conferencing. The government plans to vaccinate 1 crore healthcare workers and 2 crore frontline workers during this phase. Around 1.5 lakh workers in 700 districts have been trained to administer the COVID-19 vaccine shot and maintain records.

Indias total coronavirus cases crossed 1.05 crore cases today with 15,158 new infections, while over 1.5 lakh people have lost their lives so far.

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Fewer pastors now willing to preach sermons on race, study shows

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Despite massive protests in 2020 against police brutality and racial injustice following the death of George Floyd, fewer pastors, particularly white congregation leaders, say they are willing to preach sermons on race compared to 2020, a new report from LifeWay Research has found.

The study, which was based on a survey of 1,007 Protestant pastors conducted Sept. 2  Oct. 1, 2020, showed that only 74% of pastors agree that their congregation would welcome a sermon on racial reconciliation. Of that number, only 32% strongly agreed.

In 2016, however, some 90% of pastors said their church would welcome a sermon on racial reconciliation, with 57% strongly agreeing.

A small minority of pastors, 5%, who said they were criticized for a sermon on racial reconciliation, have also seen their numbers more than double to a sizable 12%. The number of pastors who said they had not preached on racial reconciliation in the last two years increased, too, from 10% to 16% over the same period.

The typical pastor is addressing racial reconciliation from the pulpit and without pushback from their congregation, Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research, said in a statement Tuesday. However, the noticeable increase in pastors avoiding the topic and receiving criticism could signal there are new dynamics emerging.

While the concept of racial reconciliation is expressed in different ways in specific communities in the U.S., the website Racial Equity Tools explains that it includes public acknowledgement of racist events and crimes such as apartheid or violence against groups of color.

The process "may also examine and make public the current impact of such events, as well as their historical occurrence," Racial Equality Tools states. Individual victims can also be allowed to "tell their stories for the record as one part of a healing process" while "individual perpetrators might also acknowledge their complicity. Formal and serious apologies are also often part of this work where victims can choose to accept or reject that apology."

While most pastors teaching is not limited to things their congregation wants to hear, it is helpful to know the reaction pastors anticipate from their congregation, McConnell said. Instead of a majority strongly agreeing, now only a third of pastors have no hesitation that their congregation would welcome a sermon on racial reconciliation.

African American pastors, 93%, and pastors of other ethnicities, 74%, were more likely than white pastors to say their congregations would be open to a sermon on racial reconciliation.

Churches with 250 or more members were also more open to addressing the issue at the pulpit while denominationally, Methodists, 83%; Presbyterian/Reformed, 79%; Pentecostals, 78%; and Baptists, 74%, were found to be more likely than pastors of Lutheran churches, 59%, to believe their congregation would like to hear a sermon on the subject.

A Barna report released in September 2020 found that white, self-identified Christians in the United States have become less motivated to address racial injustice and are less likely to believe that the country has a race problem compared to 2019.

It found that just 33% of white self-identified Christians believe that the U.S. definitely has a race problem, down from 40% last year.

Some 81% of black self-identified Christians agreed, however, that the nation definitely has a race problem, up from 75% in 2019. Hispanic self-identified Christians stayed about the same, with 54% responding definitely in 2019, and 55% responding the same in 2020.

The number of white self-identified Christians who felt very motivated to address racial injustice also dropped from 14% to 10% over the period.
Monday 05 September, 2016 Reliable information reaching Biafra writers desk has it that the life of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indi...

Alan Dershowitz, an attorney for President Donald Trump, answers a question during the impeachment trial against Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 29, 2020. (Senate Television via AP)

House Committed Six Violations of the Constitution During Impeachment: Alan Dershowitz

Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said that the House violated six independent points of the Constitution when impeaching President Donald Trump.

In an interview with Newsmax, Dershowitz said: They violated the free speech provision. They violated the impeachment criteria. They violated the bill of attainder. They violated due process, on and on and on.

How can you impeach a president for a speech that is constitutionally protected? he said.

Alan Dershowitz attends Hulu Presents Triumphs Election Special produced by Funny Or Die at NEP Studios in New York City on Feb. 3, 2016. (John Lamparski/Getty Images for Hulu)

The law expert said that Congress is not above the law, but that ironically, they have protection from culpability for what they do on the Senate floor.

But the only sanction is to vote them out of office and to bring them to trial in the court of public opinion, Dershowitz told host Carl Higbie. Senators and congressmen are immune from lawsuits for what they do or say on the floor of the Senate, so there cant be any personal lawsuits.

The Constitution is very clear, the purpose of impeachment is removal, he said. The Senate cannot try an ordinary citizen.

On a single article of impeachment, the House voted 232197 to impeach President Trump, on Wednesday for incitement of insurrection. Democrats and 10 Republicans contended Trump incited the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Trump is the third president to be impeached and the first to be impeached twice. No president has ever been impeached and convicted, and no president has ever been placed on trial after leaving office.

A single seven-hour impeachment hearing session constituted the fastest impeachment in U.S. history.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appointed Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), who recently came to the spotlight for his alleged intimate relationship with a purported Chinese spy, as impeachment manager.

Some legal experts argue holding an impeachment trial after Trump leaves office violates the Constitution.

Once Trumps term ends on Jan. 20, Congress loses its constitutional authority to continue impeachment proceedings against himeven if the House has already approved articles of impeachment, J. Michael Luttig, a retired federal judge, wrote in an op-ed.

Others say a trial could commence.

Of course, you can impeach, convict, and disqualify a former officeholder, Gregg Nunziata, a former Senate Judiciary Committee lawyer, said in a tweet. This view is supported by English custom, Constitutional text and structure, original understanding, and continuous Senate precedent.

Under the U.S. Constitution, the Senate conducts an impeachment trial when the House impeaches a president. The upper congressional chamber can acquit a president or convict him. A two-thirds vote is required to convict. When the House impeached Trump on a separate matter in 2019, the Senate voted to acquit him 21 days after the trial started.

Zachary Steiber contributed to this report.
Jakarta, Jan 16 : A massive 6.2 earthquake that jolted Indonesia's West Sulawesi province has so far left 42 people dead, over 800 others injured and some 15,000 displaced, while it also destroyed houses and infrastructures, a disaster official said here on Saturday.

Those with serious injuries have been treated in hospitals and field hospitals set up after the shallow under-land quake struck Mamuju city and Majene district on Friday, National Disaster Management Agency's spokesman Raditya Jati told Xinhua news agency.

As many as 189 people suffered serious injuries in Mamuju and 639 received minor wounds in Majene, the spokesman revealed.

"Now, the patients who were treated in the impacted-hospitals have been removed to the field hospitals," he told Xinhua.

The quake have destroyed the Mitra Manakarra Hospital in Mamuju, according to Syarifuddin. S., an official of the provincial social office.

The spokesman said that the displaced persons have taken shelters in 10 evacuation centres, and emergency relief aids have been sent to the affected people.

The risk assessment and evacuation of the victims are currently underway.

In the last 30 days, Indonesia was shaken by 3 quakes of magnitude 6.0 or above, 22 quakes between 5.0 and 6.0, 143 quakes between 4.0 and 5.0, 367 quakes between 3.0 and 4.0, and 247 quakes between 2.0 and 3.0, according to authorities.

There were also 13 quakes below magnitude 2.0 which people do not normally feel.

On September 26, 2019, at least 41 people were killed, 1,578 others injured, while more than 150,000 were evacuated when an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale struck the Seram Island in Maluku.

There were at least 1,105 aftershocks in Maluku after the temblor.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
After administering over 4 million coronavirus tests and inoculating thousands of essential staff, health care groups in the Palmetto State are starting to push the vaccinations out to the general public.

But in the midst of the vaccine expansion, officials on Friday confirmed another snag in the process.

With South Carolina officials rushing to get the state's most vulnerable residents vaccinated against the coronavirus, authorities reported new hurdles in the supply chain on Friday.

Authorities reported that the state would receive its usual allocation of 63,000 to 64,000 weekly doses, but some hospitals had requested "four to five times more doses than they had in previous weeks," according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

"However, the state cant fulfill the providers request for increased vaccine allocations because there is not enough vaccine available from the federal government," DHEC said.

S.C. Hospital Association President and CEO Thornton Kirby, said he worried hospitals would be forced to cancel vaccine appointments for patients scheduled to receive their first dose.

Officials with Beaufort Memorial Hospital confirmed that "more than 6,000 scheduled appointments through March 30 will be canceled and an additional 6,000 appointment requests will remain unscheduled until vaccine supplies are available and on hand."

As South Carolinians 70 and older join Phase 1A of the vaccine distribution, some residents have had trouble finding an appointment to get their first shot.

Since March, more than 341,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in South Carolina, causing at least 5,513 deaths. Coronavirus will likely rank as the third leading cause of death in South Carolina in 2020, behind cancer and heart disease.

Meanwhile, daily case counts across the state have recently hit all-time highs and the percentage of positive tests administered currently exceeds 25 percent. The World Health Organization recommends localities achieve a rate of 5 percent or less for at least two weeks before lifting stay-at-home restrictions.

The vast majority of states also currently exceed this recommended level. There are currently no stay-at-home restrictions or curfews in place in South Carolina.

If you're looking for more information about the vaccine or trying to schedule an appointment, here's what you need to know:

Who can get the vaccine?

South Carolinians 70 and older became eligible for the vaccine on Wednesday, regardless of employment or preexisting conditions. Health care workers, hospital patients 65 and older who don't have COVID-19 and long-term care facility residents are also eligible as part of Phase 1A.

DHEC expects to begin the next phase of vaccinations, Phase 1B, for front-line essential workers, in late winter.

Where can I get the vaccine?

DHEC has compiled a list of locations taking appointments for Phase 1A vaccines at scdhec.gov/vaxlocator. Those with green dots on the map still have appointments available.

You can call DHEC for more information about the vaccination process, but the line has had long wait times after a busy week.

For Lowcountry residents, Roper St. Francis Healthcare has set up a centralized vaccination site at the North Charleston Coliseum, which will open Wednesday. Anyone 70 or older can make an appointment by calling their regular doctor, if theyre partnered with Roper St. Francis, or by calling 843-727-3627.

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People will schedule two appointments, three weeks apart, to get each dose of the Pfizer vaccine on schedule. After registering, theyll drive to the coliseum grounds and stay in the car while workers take their information, give the vaccine, then monitor them for any side effects for 15 minutes.

Only those whove made an appointment will be able to get the shot.

Dr. Robert Oliverio, Roper St. Francis vice president and chief medical officer of ambulatory care and population health, said people should wear short sleeves and double-check their appointment times before arriving.

Vaccinations will be available after Monday in several areas across the state, including Prismas sites in Columbia and Greenville, and Tidelands Health sites in Horry County.

Should I be worried about reactions?

While some people have experienced side effects after getting the vaccine, experts have emphasized that its safe to receive. Anyone with questions can call DHECs care line at 1-855-472-3432, and Roper St. Francis will livestream a public information session on Tuesday.

Medical distrust is still very real, and still very valid, said Kim Butler Willis, Roper St. Francis director of community health. Especially for people of color, theres that intersection of a community thats been hit hard, and has very real reasons to ask questions  you can get the answers you need to feel empowered in your decision.

How many people can get the vaccine now?

There are more than 600,000 South Carolinians age 70 and older. Prior to seniors being added to the eligibility list, an estimated 353,000 employees of the health care industry, first responders and long-term care residents were eligible. But supply is limited to a steady trickle of new doses, so leaders expect to continue Phase 1A for several weeks.

At the coliseum site, Dr. Chris McLain, Roper St. Francis chief physician and senior vice president, hopes to vaccinate 1,000 people per day, and then expand that number when the first batch of patients is ready for their second dose after 21 days.

How many vaccines are available?

DHEC gets about 63,000 doses of the vaccine each week, Interim Director of Public Health Dr. Brannon Traxler said, and expects the supply to remain consistent over the next several weeks.

Every dose South Carolina has received since mid-December is either already in someone's arm or will be through existing appointments.

Who is making vaccines available?

While DHEC organized distribution of the vaccine to different areas and health care providers, each hospital system is deciding for itself how to administer the available doses. The vaccine shipments from the federal government come weekly, Oliverio said, so he hopes that areas with more efficiency and higher demand will get enough doses to fully immunize communities.

Staffing is also crucial to keep the operation running, Oliverio said. Roper St. Francis has enough staff, volunteers and county paramedics to keep up for at least a couple of weeks, he said, but the health care system may need more volunteers soon.

The South Carolina National Guard has sent backup across the state since the pandemic began, and is helping hospital systems provide vaccinations in some areas. From medical screenings and mask distribution to offering surge care to overflowing hospitals, it set a record Friday by helping with over 1,000 missions since Gov. McMaster mobilized Guardsmen and women in March.

Gregory Yee contributed to this report.
JERUSALEM  Sixteen years after he was elected for what was meant to be a four-year term, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority announced on Friday that presidential and parliamentary elections would be held in the spring and summer.

The announcement appeared to be part of an effort to get the divided Palestinian house in order and project at least a semblance of unity as the Palestinian Authority prepares to repair ties with Washington and the incoming Biden administration after a disastrous few years of discord and disconnect under President Trump.

The presidential decree stated that the voting for the long-defunct Palestinian Legislative Council would take place on May 22, followed by presidential elections on July 31.

Mr. Abbas, 85, the leader of Fatah, the mainstream Palestinian party, was last elected to office in early 2005 after the death of his predecessor, Yasir Arafat.
Rosanne Boyland, a 34-year-old Trump supporter from Georgia who died during the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, appears to have been killed in a crush of fellow rioters during their attempt to fight through a police line, according to videos reviewed by The Times.

Though the videos have circulated widely, Ms. Boylands presence in them had gone unnoticed until now, and the manner of her death had previously been unclear. The videos show her body on the ground just outside a door on the Capitols west side that was the scene of some of the days worst violence.

Her clothes and backpack strap in the videos match those she was seen wearing in a picture of her taken earlier that day, and two witnesses, one of whom tried to help her, gave similar accounts of her death.
Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City is ringing in the new year with exclusive 0% APR financing offers on select certified pre-owned Mercedes-Benz models available now through Feb. 28.

During this time qualifying customers can enjoy 0% APR financing for up to 36 months on certified pre-owned models like the 2020 GLA, 2020 C-Class and 2020 E-Class.

Buyers looking to save on an older model-year luxury model can also find reason to rejoice. Opportunities for 0% APR financing can also be found on model-year 2017, 2018 and 2019 versions of certified pre-owned classics like the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, C-Class, E-Class and GLA.

Every certified pre-owned Mercedes-Benz is covered by any remaining portion of the Mercedes-Benz four-year, 50,000-mile New Vehicle Limited Warranty, plus a Certified Pre-Owned Limited Warranty that tacks on one additional year of unlimited-mileage warranty coverage.

Other certified pre-owned benefits include 24-hour roadside assistance, support by over 300 authorized dealers nationwide and a seven-day, 500-mile exchange privilege. If a customer finds theyre not satisfied with their vehicle purchase in that time frame, the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City team will help exchange it for another certified pre-owned Mercedes-Benz of their choice.

Eligibility is subject to credit approval by Mercedes-Benz Financial Services. Luxury car shoppers interested in taking advantage of the Certified Pre-Owned Sales Event can find complete offer details online on the Pre-Owned Specials page of the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City website, https://www.mb-kc.com/. Those looking for a more personal interaction can connect with a representative directly by calling 833-353-0155 or by visiting the dealership in person at 13851 Madison Ave. in Kansas City, Mo.
A Royal Gibraltar Police officer swapped his polished boots for climbing shoes to complete a gruelling challenge in December.

Tony Gaul went up the Rock's Med Steps 24 times over two days - climbing over 10,000 metres and 76km in the process.

During the fundraiser, the 47-year-old dad of four raised a total of 7,365, which is set to be split between two good causes.

Tony, who is originally from the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, and has worked as a police officer for five years, told SUR in English: "I felt extremely proud when I finished the challenge.

"The aim of the challenge was to raise a minimum of 5,000 to split between two charities, and we've smashed that.

"It feels great and I'd like to thank everyone that joined me and supported me on the challenge as it really helped me to keep going."

Starting at 7am each morning, each walk took around an hour to complete, with Tony finishing at 7pm each day.

The former soldier, who was awarded an MBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours list in 2012, explained that half of the money will go towards a young police officer (Gibraltar Defence Police) called Wesley Warwick, who had a serious stroke last year and who will now need a variety of equipment to become self-sufficient.

The other half of the money will go to the three-year-old daughter (Grace) of a police officer in the UK who has a rare medical condition (Hope for Grace).

One of only 17 people in the world with the condition, it caused her to have a number of life-changing seizures when she was first born.

Tony, who went into the army at 15 before joining the Royal Gibraltar Police in 2016, was joined on his first and last climb by Wayne, the father of Wesley Warwick.

Donations can still be made by visiting https://cutt.ly/YjbDmet
New Delhi, Jan 16 : A 22-year-old resident doctor became the first person to receive the Covid-19 vaccine shot at the Guru Teg Bhadur (GTB) hospital here on Saturday.

Akanksha Rathor has been working as a resident doctor at the GTB hospital for the past six years and has actively served the patients during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Talking to IANS, Rathor said: "I was not afraid to receive the Covid-19 shot, but a lot of things did crop up in my mind. Also, being a doctor, I had to keep my emotions subdued and proceed as per the schedule. After vaccination, I was sent to the observation area for nearly 40 minutes." Akhilesh Sharma, a nursing staff at the GTB hospital, who also received the vaccine jab in the first batch on Saturday, said that he has been serving in the hospital for the last seven years but the last eight months were highly tensed.

He also thanked the GTB doctors for guiding and running several programmes to boost their confidence.

Sharma further said, "I received a message from the GTB officials two days back that my name was listed for the first batch of vaccination. I was eagerly waiting for this moment and today I got relief to some extent. I have not encountered any problem after the vaccination." Anand Kumar (35), another nursing staff at the GTB hpospital to get inoculated in the first phase, said, "As per the procedure, ahead of the drive, a team of doctors had conducted a health check-up. Following the jab, I was sent to the observation area in the presence of several doctors." The GTB hospital administration kicked off the vaccination drive soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide immunisation drive virtually at 10.30 am on Saturday.

The hospital officials choose to invite its staff for the vaccination shot alphabetically, on the basis of the first letter of their names.

RK Rautela, a doctor at the hospital, told IANS: "We have successfully vaccinated 10 people in the first one hour and released them all after 30-40 minutes as per the procedure. So far we have not received any complaint from any vaccine receiver. So we are hopeful that this vaccination drive will bring some relief. We would be able to make any further analysis only after today's vaccination is done."
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A new package of tax incentives to encourage people to work from home will be rolled out in the next Budget, the Tanaiste has confirmed.

Leo Varadkar promised improvements in the current regime that allows workers claim tax reliefs worth an average of around 30 to 100 per year.

Employers can pay a 3.20-per-day allowance, but most do not.

Mr Varadkar outlined details of a new Government strategy on remote working that will include a legal right for employees to ask to work from home permanently.

It also promises better protections for workers to enable them to disconnect from work after hours.

"At the moment, you can receive a tax-free payment of 3.20 a day from your employer for home working, or you can have some of your expenses - utilities, for example - reimbursed," Mr Varadkar said.

"But it's intended that as part of the Budget package in October, there will be a new package of tax incentives and expenses to encourage people to work from home.

"So you will see an improvement there in what's currently in place."

The Tanaiste said the Government also needs to examine ways it can help out employers.

He said in the medium to long-term, remote working could reduce business costs.

However, a lot of employers had told him they are "kind of stuck with both" costs of renting office space and supporting employees working from home.

"At the moment, they have the cost of the rent and utilities on the office, and they're also covering some of the costs of people working at home," he said.

Meanwhile, workers who refuse to check emails and take calls out of hours are promised better legal protection in the new Government plan.

A new national research project to study the effects of emerging mutations in SARS-CoV-2 will be launched with 2.5 million of funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The 'G2P-UK' National Virology Consortium will study how mutations in the virus affect key outcomes such as how transmissible it is, the severity of COVID-19 it causes, and the effectiveness of vaccines and treatments.

The Consortium will bring together leading virologists from 10 research institutions. They will work alongside the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium, which plays a world-leading role in virus genome sequencing, and Public Health England to boost the UK's capacity to study newly identified virus variants and rapidly inform government policy.

The consortium is led by Professor Wendy Barclay, from Imperial College London, who said: "The UK has been fantastic in sequencing viral genomes and identifying new variants - now we have to better understand which mutations affect the virus in a way that might affect our control strategies. We are already working to determine the effects of the recent virus variants identified in the UK and South Africa and what that means for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and vaccine effectiveness.

"Now the virus has circulated in humans for more than one year and is prevalent all around the world, we're in a phase where the virus is constantly throwing up new variants and we need to gear up to assess the risk they pose, and to understand the mechanisms by which they act."

The UK has a world class genomics capability, and it is thanks to the work of our leading medical scientists and researchers that our scientists have been able to identify new variants of coronavirus at speed. This crucial new research project will help us to understand not only the extent to which these new variants spread and their risks, but also how resistant they are to vaccines and treatments, so that we can tailor our response to help defeat this virus once and for all." Amanda Solloway, Science Minister

Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, Chief Executive, UK Research and Innovation, which funded the study, said: "One of the real strengths of the UK's scientific response to the pandemic has been the way that researchers from all over the country have pooled their expertise to deliver big results, fast. This new national consortium will study the effects of emerging variants on transmission, disease severity, and vaccine effectiveness - building on the work of the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium, which has been so effective in identifying new variants.

"This is critical research which will feed into government decision-making on a daily basis."

Mutations in the virus's genome occur naturally and some of these will be inconsequential, while others will change how it functions.

As new virus variants arise, the consortium will flag the riskiest variants, such as those associated with fast spreading virus clusters, to study. They will also create standardised versions of the virus with and without each mutation, so they can study the effects of each change individually.

Other teams in the consortium will then study how these new variants alter the virus proteins, particularly the key spike protein on the surface. This is important because changes to the spike protein can affect transmissibility and could potentially alter the effectiveness of vaccines and antibodies that target the protein.

The researchers will then use cell cultures and animal models to study if the virus mutations alter the immune response, virus transmissibility, the severity of the disease it causes, or the effectiveness of vaccines and treatments.

The researchers will study how readily the virus variants transmit by direct contact or airborne routes in animal models. They will also study the impact on disease severity, such as lung damage and breathing impairment, which correlate with symptoms typical of human COVID-19.

Additionally, they will determine whether mutations in the spike protein enable the virus to escape the immune response generated by either the vaccine or immune memory from earlier infection.

Professor Bryan Charleston, co-lead from BBSRC-sponsored The Pirbright Institute, said: "We need to understand quickly whether new variants spread faster, cause more severe disease, escape immunity or infect other animals more readily."

Professor Massimo Palmarini, co-lead from the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, said: "Understanding the unique properties of a single SARS-CoV-2 variant requires experiments that can last several weeks. Hence, it is absolutely essential to carry out studies on SARS-CoV-2 variants as a coordinated effort at the UK level."

Professor Michael Malim, co-lead from King's College London, said: "It's really important for the strengths and breadth of UK virology to come together and develop an evidence-base to explain the biological impacts of viral variants, such as possible resistance to vaccine induced immunity, and inform how we should respond and plan for the future."

By setting up a streamlined, coordinated and openly communicated programme, that operates across the UK to study the latest virus mutations simultaneously in several labs with complimentary experimental methods, the researchers aim to produce faster, reliable results to feed into public health policy and clinical practice.
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Xiaomi denies any ties to the Chinese military in response to being blacklisted by the US

Yesterday the US government designated Xiaomi a "Communist Chinese military company", putting it on a blacklist that means US companies and investors are going to be prohibited from investing in Xiaomi (and those who already have are to divest by November of this year).

This, mind you, is not the same 'blacklisting' that destroyed Huawei's smartphone market share worldwide, that's a much more complex ban on any US companies, or even companies using US technology, doing business with Huawei.

Today Xiaomi has issued the following statement on the matter:

The company has been in compliance with law and operating in compliance with the relevant laws and regulations of jurisdictions where it conducts its businesses. The company reiterates that it provides products and services for civilian and commercial use. The company confirms that it is not owned, controlled, or affiliated with the Chinese military, and is not a Communist Chinese Military Company defined under the NDAA. The company will take appropriate course of actions to protect the interests of the company and its shareholders. The company is reviewing the potential consequences of this to develop a fuller understanding of its impact on the Group. The company will make further announcements as and when appropriate.

Not that we would have expected anything else, of course. It remains to be seen what the new Biden administration will do about the Trump administration's various bans aimed at Chinese companies. For the good of competition in the smartphone space across the world, let's hope they will be overturned. No announcements to that effect have been made so far, however.

Source


By Tomoyuki Tachikawa, KYODO NEWS - Jan 9, 2021 - 22:06 | World, All

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's latest harsh rhetoric toward the United States underscores his judgment that it will be difficult to gain concessions from the new administration of President-elect Joe Biden any time soon, diplomatic sources said.

While placing priority on bolstering the country's nuclear capacity, Pyongyang is likely to prepare for a long battle against Washington in a bid to attain Kim's cherished goal of ensuring U.S. security guarantees to his rule, the sources said.

At the first congress of the ruling Workers' Party in nearly five years, Kim clearly showed a confrontational attitude toward the United States, describing Washington as Pyongyang's "biggest enemy," state-run media reported Saturday.

For the past few years, North Korea has avoided excessive provocations, such as test-firing an intercontinental ballistic missile that could target the U.S. mainland, as Kim has tried to build a better rapport with Republican President Donald Trump.

But fears are growing that after Biden, who is expected to assume a tougher stance against North Korea, takes office on Jan. 20, U.S.-North Korea negotiations on denuclearization may remain stalled and eventually end up back at square one.

In the worst-case scenario, Pyongyang might resume nuclear tests and launches of ICBMs, which would make the security environment in East Asia more uncertain and even fragile, the sources said.

Biden will "not make an easy deal with Kim Jong Un," given that the president-elect favors bottom-up policymaking, unlike Trump, who pursues a top-down approach that would help set the mood for his "political show," one of the sources said.

"The Biden administration may take a long time to map out its policy toward North Korea. In the interval, Kim would attempt to strengthen the nation's military capacities to survive a prolonged battle with the United States," the source said.

Related coverage:

N. Korea's Kim calls U.S. "biggest enemy" before Biden's inauguration

N. Korea's Kim vows to boost defense capabilities at party congress

North Korea's ruling party holds 1st congress in 5 years

"It is very dangerous to give North Korea time to develop new weapons," he added.

The United States and North Korea are still technically in a state of war as the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a cease-fire rather than a peace treaty.

During the war, U.S.-led U.N. forces fought alongside South Korea against the North, backed by China and the Soviet Union. Since then, the United States and North Korea have not had diplomatic ties.

Under the administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama, in which Biden served as vice president for eight years from 2009, Washington adopted a "strategic patience" policy, designed to put more pressure on Pyongyang while waiting for it to return to talks.

In November 2017, North Korea fired what it said was its "most powerful" ICBM capable of delivering a nuclear warhead anywhere in the continental United States. Afterward, Kim declared the completion of "the state nuclear force."

Since 2018, Kim suddenly extended an olive branch to Trump, who became U.S. President in 2017. The two leaders have held direct meetings three times, with North Korea refraining from carrying out nuclear and ICBM tests.

At their first-ever summit in June 2018 in Singapore, Trump and Kim agreed Washington would provide security guarantees to Pyongyang in exchange for "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The following year, they fell short of bridging the gap between demands by the United States and North Korea's calls for sanctions relief at their second summit in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.

After Trump and Kim surprisingly met in July 2019 at the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas, Washington and Pyongyang held a working-level meeting in Stockholm in October that year, but it ended without progress.

Kim, however, has strived to maintain personal relations with Trump by exchanging letters to promote negotiations with the U.S. president over security guarantees and sanctions relief.

So far, Biden has criticized the consequences of the Trump diplomacy for allowing North Korea to have "much more capable missiles, able to reach U.S. territory much more easily than they ever did before," and calling Kim a "thug."

Another diplomatic source in Beijing said, "Such remarks might have prodded Kim to take a hardline stance against Biden."

At the ruling party congress, meanwhile, Kim said that the United States would have to abandon its "hostile" policy toward North Korea to establish a "new relationship" between the two countries.

He also said, "Strong defense capabilities of the state never preclude diplomacy but serve as a great means that propels toward the correct orientation and guarantees its success."

The source in Beijing said, "North Korea still has intentions to continue talks with the United States, so Biden should leave room for dialogue with Kim for peace and stability in East Asia."

At home, North Korea's economy has languished after cutting off traffic to and from its neighbors, China and Russia, since early last year to prevent the novel coronavirus, first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, from entering the nation.

Kim has acknowledged that North Korea failed to achieve the economic development goals set in its strategy through 2020 in almost all sectors.

"North Korea may be keen to talk about economic sanctions relief with the United States. In order to stop Kim from increasing security threats in the region, Biden should craft his policy toward North Korea as soon as possible," the source said.

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Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 35F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
The Hague: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his entire Cabinet resigned Friday to take political responsibility for a scandal involving investigations into child welfare payments that wrongly labelled thousands of parents as fraudsters.

In a nationally televised speech, Rutte said he had informed King Willem-Alexander of his decision and pledged that his government would continue work to compensate affected parents as quickly as possible and to battle the coronavirus.

We are of one mind that if the whole system has failed, we all must take responsibility, and that has led to the conclusion that I have just offered the king, the resignation of the entire Cabinet, Rutte said.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte leaves the Royal Palace after resigning. Credit:Reuters

Not long after delivering his statement, Rutte got on his bicycle and rode to the king's palace in a forest in The Hague to formally inform the king. Dutch television showed him parking his bike at the bottom of steps leading into the palace and walking inside.
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Last year I solicited prayers for President Trump in one of my articles that suggested that the entire world needs a man who will uphold religious freedom in every part of the world to be the president of America. President Trump needs our prayer now more than ever. We should continue to pray for him in office or out of office. The president-elect also needs our prayer for him to succeed and America as a nation needs the prayer of global Christians to triumph in this moment of crisis.

This is not time to place blame, settle scores, but to broker peace and seek the face of God concerning the affairs of the United States of America. If anything goes wrong with America, the entire world will collapse. The reason why some us are still enjoying some fundamental human rights in our countries is because the governments of our nations are watching how America would react if they trampled completely on the rights of their citizens. Nothing must go wrong with America if our rights are to survive.

We should pray for peace for the nation of America. We should pray for President Trump to have the fortitude to bear what he is going through now. We should pray for him for sound mind and let the spirit of error and mistake depart far away from him. We should also lift him up in prayer that the wishes of his enemies concerning his life shall not come to pass. Intercession must be made so that he forgives all who have offended him and that those that he has offended shall also forgive him. Prayers should also be made for the administration of Joe Biden, who will be inaugurated Jan. 20.

If we desire a strong foundation for the incoming government, the foundation must be birthed in prayers. An intensive prayer for President-elect Joe Biden will help him and his teams to make the right decisions. Christians in America and the entire world must start praying for this incoming government. Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, we all have a common enemy and the enemy is the devil who wants to destroy America because he knows that he has a short period to operate here on earth before God's kingdom comes. We should all forget partisan politics and cut off the hand of the devil from the government of Joe Biden through intensive spiritual warfare and intercessory prayer.

What is happening in the United States has a spiritual undertone and we should not be ignorant of the devices of the devil. Christians are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. The enemy has orchestrated agendas to paint the light, black and make the salt, bitter. If we do not thread with caution and restore Christian love, forgiveness and kindness, we stand the chance of losing plentiful harvests that the Lord has packaged in this end time. No nation has evangelized the world like America; no people has given to support missionary work around the globe like Americans; and no nation has promoted religious freedom all over the world like America. Do we think that the Devil is happy with American Christians? This is a case of striking the shepherd and the sheep will scatter. We must as matter of urgency pray for America without ceasing.

American evangelicals should forget about what happened with the election and embrace President-elect Joe Biden. There is a time to disagree and divide and there is a time to love and embrace for the sake of Christ. America is a nation under one God and no matter who is president, Jesus remains the Lord over America. I personally believe that God will use Joe Biden as an instrument unto His glory. I do not know what is God's plan for America but one thing that gives me confidence is that I know that all things work together for the good of those who love God.

We should also pray for God to heal the land of America and that American Christians will be willing to cooperate with God when He stretches His hand to heal. When God wants to heal a land, He doesn't require the cooperation of the government but the Church.

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land"  2 Chronicles 7:14

The American Church is capable of bringing the needed changes in America if believers are willing and obedient. Either with Trump or with Biden, the purpose of God must surely be established in America.
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Before Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones married Prince Edward in 1999, it was revealed that she made one special request from her mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II.

According to reports, Sophie didn't want to be just a Countess but wanted a more elevated title.

Katie Nicholl revealed in a Vanity Fair article that Sophie wanted to have a "Princess" title upon entering the British royal family.

The royal commentator wrote, "The Countess of Wessex had wanted to be known as Princess Sophie, but the Queen would not allow it."

According to Katie, it seemed like Her Majesty rejected the idea because it wouldn't be the proper usage of the royal title.

As per the royal rules, only royal women born into the royal family may be called Princesses in their own right. This includes the Queen's daughter, Princess Anne, Prince William and Kate Middleton's daughter, Princess Charlotte, Prince Andrew's daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

However, she could use the title Princess Edward of Wessex but wouldn't use her first name because it would suggest that she was born into the royal family.

A few years later, it has also been revealed that Wessex's Countess is Queen Elizabeth II's favorite royal and is the royal family's secret weapon.

Taking up the cause of women's empowerment as part of her royal work, Sophie Wessex promised to do all she can to help survivors of sexual violence in conflict and champion the international Women, Peace, and Security agenda on International Women's Day 2019 in Buckingham Palace.

Most of the mum-of-two's work doesn't receive the kind of media attention that Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Prince William, and Kate Middleton command, but the 56-year-old has become an essential member of The Firm.

Sophie Wessex helped fill the gap left by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's departure.

In December, Sophie and Prince Edward were pictured alongside other senior royals such as Prince Charles and Camilla and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in the castle quadrangle to thank volunteers and critical workers for their efforts in coronavirus pandemic.

The Wessex's, who share kids Lady Louise Windsor, 12, and James, Viscount Severn, 12, are the second-youngest working royal couple just after Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Prince Andrew is also considered Queen Elizabeth II's favorite because he's the only child of her and Prince Phillip's kids who is not divorced.

READ MORE: Prince Charles In Hot Water For Allegedly Copying Prince Harry, Meghan Markle

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
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We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.


Days after a new report showing that fatal overdoses have skyrocketed to record highs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal Department of Health and Human Services has relaxed a regulation around prescribing addiction medication in an effort to combat the rising death toll.

Buprenorphine, a popular opioid addiction treatment drug, has long had its prescribing restricted by the federal government. Physicians must undergo special training to obtain whats known as an x-waiver from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in order to prescribe the drug, which is itself an opioid.

Only a fraction of doctors in the country had x-waivers, and about half of waivered physicians didnt prescribe buprenorphine to clients anyway.

Advocates had long called for the elimination of the x-waiver, saying it kept addiction medication from being more widely distributed, and pointing out the irony that doctors dont need to undergo special training to prescribe the painkillers widely blamed for sparking the first wave of the opioid crisis.

On Thursday, HHS officials did just that: Physicians are no longer required to have a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine  just a DEA registration that nearly every doctor in the country already needs to prescribe drugs.

The medical evidence is clear: access to medication-assisted treatment, including buprenorphine that can be prescribed in office-based settings, is the gold standard for treating individuals suffering from opioid use disorder, Adm. Brett P. Giroir, assistant secretary for health, said in a news release.

Removing some of the certification requirements for an X-waiver for physicians is a step toward providing more people struggling with this chronic disease access to medication assisted treatment.

Some restrictions remain around prescribing buprenorphine. Physicians without x-waivers can only treat patients in their own state, and the new directives are limited to doctors; nurse practitioners and physicians assistants still need an x-waiver to prescribe the drug.

Doctors without the waiver can treat up to 30 patients; doctors with the waiver can eventually treat up to 275.

In Philadelphia, physicians who have long advocated for people with addiction welcomed the new directive. Jeanmarie Perrone, the director of the University of Pennsylvanias Division of Medical Toxicology and Addiction Medicine Initiatives, who spearheaded efforts to get more doctors waivered across her hospital system, said the decision had taken away a major, major hurdle.

It really allows a lot more clinicians to be part of the solution, she said. She added that she hoped restrictions around buprenorphine prescribing from nurse practitioners and physicians assistants would also be relaxed.

Priya Mammen, an emergency physician and public health advocate, said making physicians undergo special training to prescribe buprenorphine contributed to the stigma that paints addiction as different than any other physical illness.

Thats an old-school belief, not based in evidence and not based in the research of the last several years, she said. Keeping addiction on the mental/behavioral health side, with all of these regulations and hoops to jump through made it easier for doctors to shut their minds to it.

Mammen said relaxing regulations around buprenorphine prescribing gave her hope that the federal government is realizing that some policies around addiction are outmoded and harmful to patients, and that the concerns of advocates are being heard.

Eliminating the x-waiver is only the latest change in how the federal government regulates addiction treatment.

In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, federal authorities began allowing buprenorphine providers to begin prescribing through telehealth, and methadone clinics  which dispense the most heavily regulated opioid addiction medication  were permitted to allow clients to take home more medication than they normally would in an effort to promote social distancing.

COVID has given us so much heartache and so many barriers, Mammen said. But it has also shown us that these preconceived notions [around addiction medication] are only preconceived notions, they are not reality. This is the first step of taking those barriers away.
The cabinet of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has resigned to take political responsibility for a scandal involving child benefit investigations. Photo: AP Photo/Peter Dejong

The Dutch government collapsed yesterday over a scandal that left thousands of families driven to financial ruin after being wrongly accused of child benefit fraud.

Today the question was about political responsibility, said Mark Rutte, the prime minister. If the whole system has failed we must take collective responsibility. We have offered the king the resignation of the whole cabinet.

The move was seen as largely symbolic. Mr Ruttes government will stay in office in a caretaker mode to manage the coronavirus response until a new coalition is formed after March elections.

Mr Ruttes VVD party is expected to win that election.

That would put the prime minister first in line to begin talks to form the next ruling coalition. However, other parties could well capitalise on the scandal to gain voters.

The resignation of Mr Ruttes cabinet had been expected after criticism over the childcare subsidies scandal.

For years, the Dutch tax office has been demanding all benefits be paid back, even if people made small errors such as missing a signature or misreporting 100.

Its approach hardened in 2013, after some gangs from Bulgaria were involved in organised benefits fraud in the Netherlands.

But a parliamentary inquiry last month found that instead of a clampdown on genuine crime, thousands of innocent families had been unjustly labelled fraudsters and told to pay back every cent of child benefit they had ever received  sometimes almost 100,000.

Mr Rutte said that the caretaker government would ensure a 500m compensation package  in which 10,000 families will receive 30,000 each  will be disbursed by May 1.

Read More

He added that he had not considered resigning as leader of his party. I think it is up to the elector, he said.

Of course, I am responsible at the end of the day for what doesnt go well in the cabinet, and I feel ashamed of what has happened. But I wasnt directly responsible for this dossier, so I believe I can carry on.

In one case highlighted, Roger Derikx, a 49-year-old chef from Hoofddorp, was made to pay back 60,000 in benefits after being incorrectly labelled a fraudster.

Mr Derikx said: He has taken responsibility for the cabinet, not for his actions. Now it is up to people to vote on March 17 against him.

The chef is among 20 families who have filed charges for criminal negligence against five leading politicians, including Wopke Hoekstra, the finance minister, and Eric Wiebes, the economy minister, for their role in the affair. If convicted, they could face up to six months in prison.

Renske Leijten, a Socialist Party MP who has also been campaigning for justice for broken families, said: It is right that the government should step down. It is terrible that this is necessary and this injustice should have been made right a long time ago. ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]

GREENWICH  We have barely dodged a bullet this past week. That was the message that political scholar Norm Ornstein delivered to a Greenwich audience, saying that he had been fearful about the state of Americas democracy for some time.

The nation stood horrified after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol last week to disrupt the electoral college certification of President-elect Joe Bidens victory. And as federal officials began arresting suspects in the attack, the U.S. House of Representatives made Donald Trump the first president ever to be impeached twice, blaming his comments for inciting the violence.

There is little doubt that the kind of attack, not from foreign terrorists but from within, breached this building that should be secure at a time when all the members of Congress were there debating and the vice president was in the chair, said Ornstein, a 50-year resident of Washington, D.C.

Congress could have been blown up. The building could have been destroyed. We could have had no Congress and no ability to affect legitimate transfer of power, he said. And we know even after all of this, the divisions that we have continue.

Ornstein spoke Wednesday night as part of a Zoom event organized by the Greenwich League of Women Voters and Greenwich Library to discuss recommendations from the Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship.

A resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Ornstein is the author of The Broken Branch, which he said was about how Congress is failing America by moving away from its focus on the common good, and Its Even Worse Than It Looks, and the revised edition retitled Its Even Worse Than It Was.

All the books are about the dangers of polarization in politics and tribalization that has spread from Washington to the states.

If youre tribalized, you no longer look at those with different points of view as worthy Americans who may be misguided but you can find ways to work together, Ornstein said. Instead, you view them as the enemy trying to destroy our way of life. As I saw that I was becoming more alarmed about where the country was going.

The commission made 31 recommendations with a goal of reinventing American democracy for the 21st century.

There are real structural anomalies (in the government) and theyre growing, said Ornstein, a commission member. The framers model was set during a very different time in the country and as a world.

The problems are cultural, not just structural, but you have to start somewhere, he said. He pressed the urgency for action because, If you dont deal with structural anomalies, over time youre going to have an increasing sense of illegitimacy that grows across many areas of the society.

The report and recommendations were released last June, and the Zoom event was put together long before the events of the past week. But they took on extra significance as Ornstein and Stephen Heintz, the commissions co-chair, spoke to the Greenwich audience.

We also concluded that our democracy has grown anachronistic, that it is in many ways unable to manage the kinds of 21st century challenges like the COVID pandemic or climate change that were facing, Heintz said. We decided it wasnt sufficient to reform our democracy. It is essential that we reinvent it for the requirements of this century.

Heintz outlined the recommendations, which cut across political institutions, civil society and civic culture. They include ending gerrymandering, curbing the influence of money in politics, making it easier to vote, investing in civic infrastructure to allow people to gather and work together locally, and reinvesting in civic education for Americans of all ages.

We also want to create a culture of national service in our society and provide opportunities for more Americans to leave their social, economic and political bubbles and work side by side with fellow citizens who are different from them, Heintz said.

The commissions full report is online at www.amacad.org.

Heintz also pointed out his local connections. He is the son in law of Greenwich resident Louisa Stone, a former chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission and current member of the League of Women Voters and the Representative Town Meeting. Additionally, Heintz is a former member of Connecticuts legislature.

Connecticut is a place that is really deep in my heart, he said.

Looking ahead, the commission is keeping its report alive by taking part in events across the country like the one in Greenwich, Heintz said. On Thursday, they were scheduled to meet with the Biden transition team for a briefing.

We have been building a coalition of champion organizations to advance the individual recommendations and they are working in states and at the national level, Heintz said.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
Tonight, in a sign of how stretched the health service has become, the Department of Health announced that placements for over 2.000 student nurses and midwives were being temporarily suspended.

The move is aimed at facilitating the return of qualified nurses and midwives who had supervising the students to the frontline.

The Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has authorised the ending of the current placement arrangements for student nurses and midwives across the country for at least two weeks.

The situation is expected to be reviewed again towards the beginning of February.

The Department of Health said on Saturday night that the HSE had sought that experienced and qualified staff who currently supported undergraduate training for students in Years 1-3 of their courses be released for redeployment as part of the Covid-19 response.

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In light of this development, all clinical placements for student nurses and midwives in Years 1-3 will be suspended for a period of least two weeks from January 18th, 2021, as there will be no educational and support infrastructure for them while in the clinical learning environment.

They added: This is an evolving situation and is under constant review in the context of the current COVID-19 demand trajectory.

The Department said fourth years on placement would not be impacted.

Minister Donnelly thanked the student nurses and midwives for their commitment, saying: "This is an uncertain time for them and I know many will be disappointed by this news. I would like to reassure them that all options will be considered in re-starting these placements as soon as it is possible.

Phil Ni Sheaghdha, Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation General Secretary, has said: This is a last-minute decision and further clarity is needed. Students have been put in incredibly risky situations with no pay and weakened protections.

Those interns who are being asked to continue working need to be valued properly. Earlier in the pandemic, their pay was increased to take account of the risks and workload they faced. The Minister should do the right thing and reinstate that policy.

In an affidavit, it also sought dismissal of a plea file by the Centre seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor march 'which seeks to disrupt the gathering and celebrations of Republic Day on 26 January'

A farmer union requested the Supreme Court on Saturday to remove the remaining three members of the committee it had set up to resolve the impasse over the three contentious farm laws, and select people who can do the job "on the basis of mutual harmony".

The Bhartiya Kisan Union Lokshakti said the principle of natural justice is going to be violated as those appointed to the four-member committee "have already supported these laws".

Disband committee, start afresh, says Farmer Union tells SC

The Bhartiya Kisan Union Lokshakti, in its reply filed through lawyer AP Singh, urged the top court "to remove all these three members from the committee and appoint those persons who make the report on the basis of mutual harmony...."

"It is important to mention here with great regret that the principle of natural justice is going to be violated by making these persons as members of the committee.... how they will hear all farmers on equal parameters when they have already supported these laws," it said.

In an affidavit, it also sought dismissal of a plea of the central government, filed though the Delhi Police, seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor march or any other kind of protest by farmers which seeks to disrupt the gathering and celebrations of Republic Day on 26 January.

A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde had agreed to hear on 18 January the Centre's application against the proposed tractor march.

The Bhartiya Kisan Union Lokshakti is one of the 40-odd farmer unions spearheading the agitation on various border points of Delhi for about 50 days now, demanding repeal of the farm laws.

On the issue of the Delhi Police seeking injunction against the tractor rally, it said prohibitory orders under CrPC Section 144 were already in place in the New Delhi area.

Farmer leader decries 'step-motherly treatment' by govt

President of Rashtriya Kisan Manch Shekhar Dixit on Saturday expressed resentment over the government's "indifferent attitude" towards the farmers' agitation against three new farm laws.

"Step-motherly treatment being given to farmers may become counterproductive as the farmers know how to withdraw support to the BJP-led government," he said while talking to reporters here.

Dixit said due to the "indifferent attitude" of the government, farmers are being forced to protest in the chilly weather.

He said the government is using "lingering tactics" to break the morale of the farmers.

In an "extraordinary" interim order, the top court had stayed the implementation of the new farm laws till further orders and had constituted the four-member committee to listen to the grievances and make recommendations to resolve the impasse.

The committee comprised Bhupinder Singh Mann, national president of Bhartiya Kisan Union; Dr Parmod Kumar Joshi, Director for South Asia, International Food Policy Research Institute; Ashok Gulati, agricultural economist and former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices; and Anil Ghanwat, president of Shetkari Sanghatana.

However, on 14 January, Mann recused himself from the committee.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at various border points of Delhi for over a month now against the three laws  the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act.

Enacted in September 2020, the government has presented these laws as major farm reforms aimed at increasing farmers' income, but the protesting farmers have raised concerns that these legislations would weaken the minimum support price (MSP) and "mandi" (wholesale market) systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporations.

The government has maintained that these apprehensions are misplaced and has ruled out a repeal of the laws.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 03:20:22|Editor: huaxia

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BRUSSELS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China continues to consolidate itself as the European Union's (EU) main trading partner and is the only country that has seen an increase in imports into the bloc during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Eurostat figures released on Friday.

The EU's statistical agency said that imports from China into the EU between January and November 2020 grew by 4.3 percent when compared with the same period the preceding year.

The value of imports from China grew to 350 billion euros (423 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eleven months of 2020, up from 335.6 billion euros in 2019.

Other trading partners such as the United States, Britain, Russia, Turkey, Japan, South Korea and India all experienced declined imports of goods into the EU.

For the exports, China, Turkey and South Korea experienced growth in exports from the EU. The value of exports to China saw modest growth of 1.1 percent, amounting to 182.7 billion euros.

EU exports to Turkey grew by 2.1 percent and by 3.5 percent to South Korea. All other trading partners showed in the Eurostat graphics registered declines in exports from the EU.

Trade with the United States recorded a significant drop in both imports (186.5 billion euros) and exports (322.3 billion euros), down by 13 percent and 9.3 percent respectively.

The statistics showed a somewhat strong recovery of the trading activities within the EU, as internal trade in the bloc in November 2020 saw an increase of 0.6 percent when compared with November 2019.

However, trade with the rest of the world remained gloomy in November. Imports into the EU stood at 151.3 billion euros, down by 6.2 percent compared with November 2019, and exports from the EU were worth 176.6 billion euros, a year-on-year drop of 1.5 percent. (1 euro = 1.21 U.S. dollars) Enditem


The population hopes that restrictions for gyms, karaoke and schools will soon ease. But authorities will maintain limit of 4 people per gathering. Special quarantine rules for the Lunar New Year. Out of a population of 51 million, the country had 71,241 cases and 1217 deaths, with a mortality rate of 1.71%.

Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - For the fourth consecutive day, South Korea recorded around 500 new cases of Covid-19. For experts it is a sign that the third wave of the pandemic is shrinking and soon it will also be possible to reduce emergency measures.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency yesterday reported 513 cases; the previous day they were 524; throughout the past week, there was an average of 555 cases.

The country recorded a peak of infections last December 25 with 1241 cases; in the following days, over 1000 new cases were added every day.

To prepare for this new wave, since 8 December the authorities have imposed level 2 (out of five) of the emergency measures, which require masks, social distancing and gatherings of less than five people.

Today the government will decide whether to continue level 2 or scale down the measures. The population hopes that restrictions on gyms, karaoke and schools will ease. But the authorities will probably maintain the limit of 4 people per gathering, also in preparation for the upcoming Lunar New Year, in which millions of people travel in the country and abroad. Authorities are preparing special quarantine measures for those who travel during the holiday.

South Korea is among the most virtuous nations in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic. With a population of 51 million (almost half concentrated in Seoul), it had 71,241 cases and 1217 deaths, with a mortality rate of 1.71%.
Growing nuts or going nuts View(s):

What in the names of all the deities is going on? And in this resplendent isle too! It is bad enough that envious eyes are cast in our direction hoping to grab a few chunks of what was once our sacred land to plant a port here and coal plant there.

Of course there is no need to mention a few bakshees here, more yuan there and slippery rupees somewhere else that make the wheels of financial machinery turn as smoothly as Shanghai silk to the touch.

Such traditional practices have been put to the test for decades and improved over the years. In the good old days dirty linen was sent to the laundry man for a good wash and a hammering and scrubbing on the closest flat rock by the stream.

Today it is sent to the nearby laundromart by the helper at home. Unlike in the good old days the dhoby  as they say in parts of India  comes home to collect the linen. Now they call it money laundering only because it is an expensive past time and there is so much to clean before taking it to a bank or two for safe keeping.

Many of our countrymen thought that once the colonial Union Jack was hijacked by our worthy political warriors and lowered to the ground and our sword-carrying lion displayed as a symbol of our fearsome fighter class which is more likely to rely on technology than hands and feet, those with avaricious intentions would stay even farther away than the boundary dictated by the Law of the Sea.

If our forefathers thought that someday they could tuck up their sarongs, stretch out on the ancestral Hansi Putuwa and order the natives to do the chokka work  as it was called  like they did when the White man ruled the roost and the plantations.

Actually how many could say what goes on in the bowels of Mother Lanka. Some say not even those who rule us, which is a strange thing to say. Only the other day when hell broke loose over those loosely controlled Ukrainian tourists of sorts, one of those who considered himself to be in the vanguard of the pilot project instead of remaining in the guards van, described himself pompously as the Godfather of Russian tourists. There was a time when the Russian overlords did not believe in God and ordered the citizenry to do the same.

Maybe the Russian ambassador should dash off a twitter at dawn to Comradeoops sorryPresident Putin for contempt of Russia. That should prompt the Russian leader to send off a couple of MIG 27s  free of charge naturally  to overfly our beloved Motherland in case there are other upstarts who think they can play a Marlon Brando of sorts and spread fake news.

Earlier this week, a somewhat confused former citizen of Sri Lanka telephoned to ask what was going on in the country he was once proud of. I said I know as much as those Ukrainians flown into Mattala by the plane-load inquiring from the God Father and other sundry pilot-projecteers whether they have been sent to the Russian frontier, shivering somewhat.

They did not mind where as long as they could take their virus and get the hell out of Ukraine. Some incoming tourists have claimed that Ukraine authorities had promised to pay for the round-trip even if it cost as much as an exploratory visit to Mars and two free mega-sized bottles of Dammika Pani.

There has been no news  fake or otherwise  what would happen to the free bottles of this magic potion once the tour party returns to Kiev. But the God Father News, a Russian- language tabloid published in Colombo and titled Corona Keliya reportedly claimed that any returnee surrendering an additional bottle of the pani to Immigration/Customs authorities would be presented with a gold medal signifying Ukraines highest honour and an extra week in quarantine at a Class 1 State prison without charge for returning to the corona-stricken country.

Ukrainian leaders consider the return of their nationals to their country as a singular honour unlike in Sri Lanka where returnees have complained that they have been kicking their heels in their country of employment without a way out and on arrival some have been quarantined in hotels they could not afford, costing them the little savings they were left with, if any at all.

There were media reports following Indian External Affairs Minister Subramanyam Jaishankars visit to Colombo that Indian manufactured anti-coronavirus vaccine would be imported by Sri Lanka.

Strange as it may seem the 18- carat nationalists nor the great nationalists awaiting to be awarded or rewarded as a national hero have whispered a word against the use of the Indian vaccine or the western ones produced by western scientific minds when Sri Lanka has produced its own.

No, we are not talking of the potted-potion that was deposited in the waters of nearby rivers by some ministers and other political or other dignitaries in attendance. What happened to the pots or its contents has not been disclosed unless they had been washed away to the Indian Ocean.

Whether Minister Jaishankars hurried visit to Colombo had anything to do with spreading fears that Sri Lanka had developed a secret weapon to control a part of the Indian Ocean.

Indian intelligence agents are said to be investigating stories circulating in Colombo trading circles that the President Rajapaksa government has decided to import coconuts from India.

Indian security suspects that Sri Lankas scientific minds while working on a coronavirus had accidentally hit upon a potential military weapon launched on water. It works on a natural principle that brought the coconut from the Pacific to the Indian subcontinent and farther on to East Africa.

Famous criminal lawyer, politician and historian Dr CR de Silva wrote in the opening lines of his two-volume book Ceylon under British rule that it were the vagaries of wind and wave  that first brought the Portuguese to Ceylon. The same natural forces brought us the coconuts.

Indian security in Colombo had picked up a rumour that Sri Lanka tri-forces were planning to raise some new divisions or whatever and in the process promote some existing high-ranking officers. The news was flashed to the Indian Defence Ministry which instantly asked for more information from its defence attacheI in Colombo and an Indian spy passing off as a fast-food cafe owner who confirmed the story. As proof he sent a newspaper clipping that said the Sri Lanka cabinet has approved buying several thousands of kernels  coconuts that is.

(Neville de Silva is a veteran Sri Lankan journalist who was Assistant Editor, Diplomatic Editor and Political Columnist of the Hong Kong Standard before moving to London where he worked for Gemini News Service. Later he was Deputy Chief-of-Mission in Bangkok and Deputy High Commissioner in London.)
Brisbane, Jan 16 : Rohit Sharma, who was criticised by Sunil Gavaskar for throwing his wicket away with an 'irresponsible shot' on the second day of the fourth and final Test, said he will continue playing that type of shot as it has got him plenty of runs.

Rohit had got off to a flying start, racing to 44 off 74 deliveries in India's first innings, but then holed out to long on just before tea.

The dismissal prompted former India opener Sunil Gavaskar to say, "That's an unbelievable and irresponsible shot from Rohit Sharma." However, Sharma said that the shot is his bread and butter stroke and often helps put pressure back on the opposition bowlers.

"It is the shot that I played very well in the past. It is something that I really back myself to do all the time. That is the kind of role that I play in this team. Yes, when it looks like that, it looks bad but that is something I don't really think too much about. My focus has always been that once I am in, I obviously want to make it count, make it big," said Rohit after the end of the day's play.

He added that he was disappointed with his dismissal but added that he will keep playing them.

"There is a process which is to make sure that once I am in I should keep the pressure on the bowling unit of the opposition. Sometimes you get out, sometimes you hit it over the ropes. Yeah, it was unfortunate and a very sad dismissal at the end. Again as I said those are my shots and I will keep playing them," added Rohit.

"They don't bowl anything that is easy. It was something I was thinking about while batting while I was not playing. It really worked in the first half of the batting when they were bowling with the new ball. Getting closer to new ball, making sure I leave anything outside off-stump and then once I am in I play some shots. Because that is what you want. You want to score runs at the end of the day and try and see how they react. It worked until I got out."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text

Carlisle police officers are asking the public to help them locate Jean Daniel Dumorin, who is believed to be in particular danger of harm to himself.

His father reported him missing and endangered Friday. Dumorins father doesnt know what time his son left.

Dumorin is a black man, about 5-foot-10, and weighs 160 pounds. He has black hair.

Anyone who has contact with Dumorin is asked to call the Carlisle Police Dept at 717-243-5252 immediately.

Read more from PennLive

Middletown Police search for missing 88-year-old
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) walks beside his Philippine counterpart, Teodoro Locsin Jr., before the opening of bilateral talks at Shangri-La hotel in suburban Taguig city, Jan. 16, 2021.

Updated at 5:30 p.m. ET on 2021-01-16

Chinas foreign minister wrapped up a Southeast Asian tour in Manila on Saturday, promising to donate half a million vaccine doses to a country that has none yet, and finalizing a deal to build a cargo railway linking two former U.S. military bases.

Wang Yi arrived in the Philippines on Friday after earlier in the week visiting Indonesia, a neighboring nation that has also clashed with China over overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea but is now scrambling to procure vaccines and heal a pandemic-ravaged economy.

The recovery of nations  sits on the back of stronger economies. China plays a very key role in reviving our regions economy, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said during Wangs courtesy call to the presidential palace in Manila.

Wang for his part announced that Beijing would donate 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines, and spoke of Chinas determination to complete pending infrastructure projects, according to a statement issued by Dutertes office.

This, as [Wang] announced the finalization of the Samal Island-Davao City Connector Project and the Subic-Clark Railway Project agreements this week, it said.

The commercial contract for the 71-kilometer (44-mile) cargo railway is valued at U.S. $940 million, the highest funded G2G project between the two countries, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said in a statement announcing its signing.

The railway will connect Subic Bay Freeport Zone and Clark International Airport, former U.S. naval and air bases that have since been converted to civilian use and commercially developed.

Managing differences

The two sides also this week announced a $402 million deal to build a 3.98-kilometer (2.5-mile), China-financed bridge connecting Dutertes home town of Davao with the adjacent island of Samal, according to Chinas Embassy and the Philippine Information Agency.

As you said, COVID response and economic recovery will be the top two priorities for both of our countries, Wang earlier told Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. through an interpreter, citing a sustained and new momentum to our relationship.

The two diplomats oversaw the signing of a technical cooperation agreement worth 3.72 billion pesos (77 million dollars) that would go to livelihood projects, infrastructure facilities and other items to be agreed upon by both parties in the future, according to Manilas foreign department.

China has now made seven such grants to the Philippines since Duterte assumed office in 2016, and their total value is 24.16 billion pesos ($503 million).

We are elated that despite the challenges of the pandemic, our high- level engagements have stayed on track, Locsin said, adding that Wangs trip  his third here  demonstrated strong and manifold ties that bind the Philippines and China.

But Locsin did touch on tensions over territorial competition in the South China Sea, while not mentioning the strategic waterway by name.

With our two nations abiding interest in regional stability and the security of our maritime commons, it behooves us to show our ability to rise to the challenge of managing differences peacefully and in accordance with law, while making headway towards trust-building, he said.

A driving force

Chinese vaccine developer Sinovac has committed to be among the first companies to ship vaccine to the Philippines, though the local food and drugs administration has yet to greenlight its application.

The Philippine FDA has however cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, developed by American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, for emergency use. But officials did not say when mass inoculations in the Philippines would start, how many doses of vaccine would be delivered, or when.

Nearly half a million people in the Philippines have been infected with the coronavirus and almost 10,000 have died of it since the pandemic began. The country has the second highest number of cases and deaths from COVID-19 in East Asia, next to neighboring Indonesia, according to data from Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

Indonesia is approaching a total caseload of 900,000 infections and has surpassed 25,700 deaths.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo met with Wang Yi on the same day the country launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign, with the Indonesian leader getting the first jab.

Indonesia, which is far ahead of the Philippines in procuring vaccines for its population, hosted Phase 3 clinical trials of Sinovacs vaccine, and has approved it for emergency use after finding it 65 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.

As in the Philippines, in his talks with Indonesian officials, Wang focused on battling the pandemic and economic recovery, claiming that the nations had turned the crisis into a driving force for East Asian cooperation, according to statements issued by Chinas Foreign Ministry.

The Chinese diplomat arrived in Indonesia on Jan. 12 and visited North Sumatra province, where he discussed investment plans in the tourism and technology sectors with chief investment minister Luhut Pandjaitan, who hails from that region.

Maritime issues

He and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi pledged to push for progress in devising regional rules that are effective, substantive and consistent with international law, and jointly maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said.

Retno, for her part, urged China to address the plight of Indonesian sailors working on Chinese fishing boats, after allegations that they were subjected to slave-like conditions, and to help them get home after their contracts conclude.

At least 16 Indonesians have died while working on Chinese boats since late 2019, with labor activists and officials saying some of them were treated harshly.

I convey my appreciation to the Chinese government for the cooperation extended regarding Indonesian seafarer cases, Retno said at a joint press conference in Jakarta.

I also highlighted several pending issues for their attention, among others repatriation of stranded Indonesian seafarers, settlement of workers rights, ensuring safe and conducive working conditions and law enforcement through mutual legal assistance, she said.

Wangs four-nation tour began in Myanmar, where he voiced support for peace talks with ethnic armed groups, and called for faster progress on major Chinese-led infrastructure projects, including those which once completed will link Chinas Yunnan province to the Indian Ocean.

Wang was the first foreign minister to visit Myanmar since Nov. 8 elections returned Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) to office for a second five-year term.

He also visited Brunei, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2021, as China and the regional bloc mark the 30th anniversary of relations.

Ronna Nirmala in Jakarta and Jojo Rinoza in Dagupan, northern Philippines contributed to this report.


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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) has cautioned Nigerians over fake coronavirus vaccines in the country, explaining that no vaccines have been approved by the agency.

The Director-General of the agency, Mojisola Adeyeye, made this known in a statement on Friday, stressing that Nigerians should not use any vaccines not approved by it.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has not received any application from Covid Vaccine manufacturers yet and therefore no vaccines have been approved by NAFDAC.

COVID-19 vaccines are new, and the side effects or adverse events must be well monitored, therefore, if NAFDAC does not approve, the public should not use, Mrs Adeyeye said.

The agency cautioned Nigerians and other residents to beware of the vaccines, explaining that it can cause coronavirus-like illness and other serious disease that could kill

There are reports of fake vaccines in Nigeria. NAFDAC is pleading with the public to beware. No Covid Vaccines have been approved by NAFDAC. Fake vaccines can cause Covid-like illnesses or other serious diseases that could kill.

The agency warned companies and corporations not to order for the vaccines, stressing that if the manufacturers are genuine companies, they ought to know that they have to submit their application to the agency.

Vaccines should not be ordered by any company or corporation. The companies that manufacture the vaccines if they are genuine companies know they have to submit their application to NAFDAC.

Mrs Adeyeye declared that no government establishment or agency should order for the vaccines without confirming from the agency if the vaccine has been approved.

READ ALSO: NAFDAC blacklists Indian company over fake ciprofloxacin

However, NAFDAC is discussing with manufacturers of candidate COVID-19 vaccines concerning potential Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), registration or licensing of their product as the case may be.

The Agency assures applicants that if Phase 3 clinical data are very convincing and robust with regards to safety and efficacy, and the vaccine has been submitted for WHO for Emergency Use Listing, NAFDAC will welcome the application for Emergency Use Authorisation in Nigeria.

Nigeria is set to receive about 100,000 free COVID-19 vaccines this month based on a COVAX arrangement put in place by the World Health Organisation and its partners. Mrs Adeyeyes statement thus implies that even that WHO approved vaccine must be approved by NAFDAC for it to be used in Nigeria.

Nigeria has recorded over 100,000 COVID-19 cases with over 80,000 people recovering after treatment. The country is currently experiencing the second wave of the virus with more infections being recorded in the past month than at any other time.
Investors from mainland China have spent billions of dollars buying beaten-down shares in Hong Kong-listed companies subject to a U.S. government blacklist.

Buyers using a trading link known as Stock Connect have bought the equivalent of a net $15.8 billion in Hong Kong shares in the first nine trading days of this year, according to Wind, with a heavy concentration on stocks targeted by the U.S.

More than a quarter of the funds went to China Mobile Ltd., the countrys largest telecommunications carrier, while investments in oil major Cnooc Ltd. accounted for nearly one-tenth of total inflows in the period to Jan. 14.

The overall net southbound buying through Stock Connect is likely to hit a record for January, since it is already nearly 90% of the record hit in March.

Justin Tang, the head of Asian research at United First Partners, said the U.S. sanctions offered a good buying opportunity for non-American investors. All these investors who can hold on to these Chinese stocks are snapping up bargains," he said.

Its a very smart move by Chinese mainland investors because all these stocks are largely domestically focused," Mr. Tang added. Nothing has changed about their fundamentals. Its just that U.S. investors cant buy."

On Thursday, some of the targeted companies jumped. Shares in Chinas top train maker, CRRC Corp.; Cnooc; and the countrys biggest chip maker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., rose 4.8% to 7.4%, while the broad Hang Seng Index edged up 0.9%. China Mobile added 2.6%, , extending a recent rebound, though its stock remains below where it was in November, when investors first began to worry about its blacklisting.

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. rose 5% and 5.6% respectively, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. government was expected to let Americans continue investing in the duo after considering whether to add them to its prohibited list.

An executive order signed by President Trump in November bans Americans from investing in companies the U.S. government says aid Chinas military, intelligence and security services. U.S. investors are banned from buying securities in blacklisted companies starting Jan. 11, and have until Nov. 11 to shed their holdings.

Strength in Chinas currency, which is known as both the yuan and the renminbi, has also whetted Chinese investors appetite for Hong Kong-listed stocks, said Paul Sandhu, head of multiasset quant solutions for Asia-Pacific at BNP Paribas Asset Management.

This is an opportune time for them to take the cash out of the renminbi to invest in other markets. And Hong Kong is the nearest market that they know," he said.

Separately on Wednesday, the citys $13.5 billion Tracker Fund reversed its earlier decision to stop making new investments in blacklisted securities such as China Mobile and said it would keep closely tracking Hong Kongs benchmark Hang Seng Index.

The funds manager, a unit of State Street Corp., said it had decided that it wasnt a U.S. entity in regard to the management of the fund and neither was the fund itself. It said the fund wasnt an appropriate investment for U.S. buyers.

The initial move by State Street Global Advisors Asia Ltd. had been criticized by Joseph Yam, a cabinet member of the Hong Kong government and former head of the citys monetary authority. He said that if the fund couldnt closely track the Hang Seng, the fund manager wasnt suitable for the job.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

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In the 1930s, when Catholic rule in Ireland was in its pomp, the Archbishop of Tuam issued instructions for single mothers to be denounced from the pulpit.

Whenever an illegitimate birth occurs in a parish, and is publicly known, the scandal ought to be denounced without mentioning names, with a view to calling the guilty to repentance and as a deterrent to others. The denunciation ought to be in sorrow more than in anger and the preacher ought to point to the scandal as:

A grave sin against the sacrament of matrimony and against the sixth commandment

A degradation to the family

As a disgrace to the family

As a sin against the good name of the locality.

It is this kind of denunciation, outlined in the Mother and Baby Homes report published this week, that helped to bring about the cruel treatment of young mothers and their babies, which affects so many lives right down to the present day.

The report notes that there was a peculiarly Irish quality to this way of treating single mothers. Of course, they had been stigmatised elsewhere, but priests, nuns and lay people in England noticed how harsh the treatment was in Ireland.

A 1936 article by Gertrude Gaffney on Irish single mothers, quoted in the report, described the unchristian and inhuman attitude in Ireland towards the unmarried mother.

The article suggests that Catholic families in England did not have the same attitude at the time, often welcoming back the young woman and the child after a so-called illegitimate birth: If the girls goes back to work they will bring up the child and give it the same normal existence as any other child.

What the report makes clear is that the heyday of the mother and baby homes is not buried in the dim and distant past. The report reaches right up to 1998, and even in the supposedly swinging 60s and 70s, the numbers were still hitting their peak.

Long before that, the historian and archivist Catriona Crowe believes, we had a hypersexualised clergy: celibate men, women, bishops, male and female congregations who were obsessively interested in sexual matters.

Sex was the big sin, and it was considered worse than violence, says Crowe, former head of special projects at the National Archive. Of course, that was always going to bear down on women, because they offered the physical evidence of it when they became pregnant.

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As the report outlines, this mood of sexual repression extended to evil literature, immodesty in female dress, the dangers of dancing and condemnation of company-keeping.

The torturing with shame of mothers has had such a profound effect that women whose children were adopted decades ago often still cannot come to terms with forming a relationship with them if they try to get in touch. They can still struggle to bring their parallel lives together.

We may live in a supposedly liberal, tolerant republic, but adoption is still covered in a veil of secrecy.

Caitriona Palmer, a Washington-based Irish writer born in Dublin in 1972, first tracked down her birth mother more than two decades ago. She had spent the first six weeks of her life in the Temple Hill baby home in Dublin.

The past does not remain in the past, she says. It becomes the present. The legacy of shame continues to ruin peoples lives.

Although Palmer and her mother were able to form some kind of bond, she likened the relationship to conducting an affair. In her book, An Affair with My Mother, she told how she had to communicate and meet in secret. There were secret phone calls and furtive rendezvous.

I always think of my natural birth mother and how for nearly 50 years, she has been forced to lead a bifurcated existence, she says.

On the one hand, she is a mother of her own children, and then on the other she is a secret mother to me. This exacts a personal toll on her and also on me.

Like many of the survivors of institutions, Palmer says she finds the reports conclusion that there were no forced adoptions during the era of mother and baby homes extremely insulting.

She points to the figures showing that in the 1960s, up to 97pc of the children of single mothers were adopted.

That was only possible through state-wide coercion. Force can be down to societal, cultural or religious pressures. My mother said to me she had no choice.

Pressure could be exerted through denunciation or visits from priests, acting like community commissars. A single mother having her first baby was frequently known as a first offender.

How much choice was there for Mary Fitzgerald and her family back in 1977, when she was raped and became pregnant at 13. She told Liveline this week how her parents desperately pleaded for her to be able to stay at home and give birth in the local hospital. But the priest insisted that she go to Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork.

No access to birth records

Like thousands of adoptees, Palmer feels aggrieved that the State does not give her access to her own birth records, and many details of the early days of her life remain hidden.

In Germany, you can walk in off the street and access Stasi records from East Germany  they are completely open. And yet I cant get my birth files and those of the six weeks I spent in a baby home.

Palmer believes that protecting Catholic respectability is still given precedence over the right of adoptees to their identity.

People are shut out of the facts of their own life, because of so-called respectability even in this shiny, new secular Ireland, she says.

She managed to retrace some of her baby steps, from her birth in the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street, where she spent two days with her mother, who was a teacher from a small country town, before they were parted.

She was taken to the Temple Hill baby home in Blackrock. At some point, the car in which she was being carried stopped off at the Pro-Cathedral, so that she could be baptised. All that she has received from her time in Temple Hill are her feeding records, and some of the details are blacked out.

Having been reunited with her mother in 1999, the pair met up regularly over a 15-year period. They phoned each other and exchanged text messages.

But then suddenly after Christmas in 2014, before Palmer had written and published her book, her mother cut off contact.

Her last message was: Happy Christmas to u all. Hope ur enjoying ur Christmas dinner and that Santa brought lots of toys. Lots of love, Sarah xxxxx.

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Palmer says she has driven herself crazy wondering why her mother has not kept in touch since. I am one of the thousands of people, who have complicated reunions and that is a legacy of how the State handled the issue.

I think it boils down to the intolerable pressures placed on birth mothers trying to navigate relationships in a society that still sees us as taboo  something to be hidden, and to be ashamed of.

Talking to adoptees, one is struck by how understanding they are of the situation of their birth mothers, even if there is no contact between them.

Paul Redmond, who was born in the Castlepollard Mother and Baby Home, Co Westmeath in 1964 and spent 13 days there, told Review it took him 33 years to find his mother. They talked on the phone for 40 minutes, but the result was not a happy reunion.

She doesnt want to know me, he says. She was traumatised by her time in Castlepollard and wants to forget that the whole thing ever happened.

Dormitories of 10 or 15

Paul is chairman of the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors and delved deeply into the history of the institutions for his 2018 book The Adoption Machine.

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Whatsapp Contact: Paul Redmond says his birth mother was traumatised by her time in a mother and baby home. Photo by Damien Eagers

He describes how girls as young as 13, who had frequently never spent a night away from home, were banished to an unknown future in giant, grey institutions. In many cases, they never saw their families again.

They tended to live in dormitories of 10 or 15 women, and if they were in the same institution as their babies, they were mostly separated from them.

Typically they would see them for 20 minutes in the morning or 20 minutes in the evening, he says.

The practice of housing single mothers, their babies, orphans and others who might have fallen on hard times in vast institutions started in Victorian Ireland during the time of British rule.

There was a magical belief that problems could be solved in institutions but in Britain they realised that people were brutalised by them, Redmond says. In Ireland, with the church gaining more power, they took over the institutions and they were kept open for a lot longer here.

Rather than closing the vast austere complexes, the church and State authorities took over the institutions like workhouses and industrial schools. They also opened new institutions, filling them with people.

Redmond describes the culture that created the harsh environment of mother and baby homes as a toxic mix of authoritarian Catholicism and Victorian sexual morality.
Egypts Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said on Thursday that EGP 1 billion have been allocated to the health ministry in order to acquire coronavirus vaccines.

The financial allocations to the health ministry are an open budget and EGP 1 billion have been transferred already to the ministry to deal with the coronavirus and buy medical supplies, Maait told Extra News TV channel.

We are waiting for the final bill in order to buy vaccines for 100 million Egyptians, he added.

Egypt is expected to receive a shipment of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine within two to three weeks from the Global Vaccine Alliance and Immunisations (GAVI).

According to the Ministry of Health, GAVI would provide Egypt with 20 percent of its needs according to an agreement reached in November.

Egypt's Drug Authority has already approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine on 2 January, almost three weeks after receiving the first batch. The inoculations have not started yet, despite allocating 34 centres nationwide for vaccination.

Aside from open budget allocations, the Ministry of Health signed a cooperation protocol on Tuesday with Tahya Misr fund and Talaat Mostafa Development Group from the private sector to provide COVID-19 vaccines for 2 million people.

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Ten months after students were last inside the school building, Windover High School Principal Marcella Mosqueda is excited to be able to welcome them back next week.

She and the school are also grateful for the outpouring of help from the community over that time.

Due to both the COVID-19 pandemic and last May's mid-Michigan dam failures and resulting extensive flood damage, the alternative school's students have been learning remotely since last March.

Mosqueda had originally intended to have the school building reopen to students on Nov. 30, to allow enough time for the needed repairs to be done and damaged inventory to be replaced. But all high schools in Michigan were ordered to hold instruction virtually from Nov. 18 through Dec. 20.

Now, it's finally time to bring the students back to the school building.

"We have (repairs) about 75% completed," Mosqueda said. "The main thing that needs to be completed is the gym floor and a bit more cabinetry in the office area."

She had hoped to replace the ruined wooden gym floor that buckled when several inches of floodwater got into the building.

But the estimate for that replacement turned out to be a prohibitive $80,000. So, for now, a layer of epoxy will be put down on the gym's cement floor instead.

Mosqueda said many of her students have been anxious to get back to in-person learning. The total enrollment is about 135 students, of which a portion are choosing to still learn remotely even after the building reopens. The school is in its second trimester, which runs through March.

"Many of them have been consistently calling to say, 'Can we please come back?'" she said. "We're just excited because we now are able to provide that opportunity for them, and hopefully decrease the learning gap for many of them. Many of them have been missing the face-to-face learning."

Meanwhile, churches, libraries, service clubs and individuals have been generous in helping the school replace items that were lost in the flooding.

Grace A. Dow Memorial Library, even while in the midst of flood-related renovations itself, has collected replacement books for the Windover library, and Grace A. Dow staff members are volunteering their time on Fridays to come over and label and organize the books.

Blessed Sacrament School, which closed last summer, donated bookshelves for the Windover library, as well as teacher desks and computer carts.

"It was really nice for them to be able to do that," Mosqueda said.

Many people have donated food and clothing to replenish Windover's food pantry and clothing pantry, upon which the students rely a good deal, Mosqueda said.

"So it's slowly starting to come together," she said. "The students really depend on our clothing pantry and on our food pantry. We really need to get that back into action for our students."

United Way of Midland County donated a washer and a dryer to Windover after the previous ones were ruined by the flooding.

"Our students utilize our school not just for academics," Mosqueda noted. "We are providing a safe haven for them, and that's what we're trying to get back to. Hopefully, we can get back to 100% soon, and that's our goal."

Kiwassee Kiwanis, the First United Methodist women's group and the Contemporary Review Club are other groups that have recently stepped up to help the school.

"It's been amazing how the community has been coming together, even with their time that they're able to give," Mosqueda said. "Every little bit helps. We appreciate it, and our students and our parents and the community surrounding us appreciate it."
An Bord Pleanala is considering a strategic infrastructure application for a major 450 million electricity interconnector between Ireland and the UK with 190 km of high voltage cables stretching underground and beneath the sea from Great Island in Campile to Pembrokeshire in Wales.

The application which was lodged by Greenlink Interconnector Ltd along with a planning fee of 100,000, will see the building of electricity converter stations at Great Island and the laying of cables through a wide area of south Wexford including Kilmannock, Dunbrody, Saltmills, Grange, Kilhile, Rosetown, Coleman, Ramsgrange, Kilbride, Ballinruan, Aldridge, Booley, Broomhill, Lewistown, Kilcloggan, Templetown, Graigue Little, Graigue Great, Lambstown and Ramstown.

The interconnector will link electricity grids in Ireland and the UK, with a nominal capacity of 500 megawatts, equivalent to powering 380,000 homes.

It will create an electricity connection between Ireland and Wales, allowing power to flow in either direction depending on supply and demand, with onward connections to Europe.

Approximately 250 jobs will be created during the construction period and pending planning approval, Greenlink's intention is to start work later this year and have the project built by the end of 2023, according to Greenlink CEO Nigel Beresford.

The Greenlink Interconnector on which work has been ongoing for about five years, is designated as a European Union Project of Common Interest under the Trans-European Network for Energy (TEN-E) Regulation.

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It is the first privately funded interconnector in Europe and will connect EirGrid's Great Island 220kV substation and the UK National Grid's Pembroke transmission substation, with separate applications required on both sides of the Irish sea.

Planning permission has been sought from An Bord Pleanala for a new converter station, tail station and MV substation at Great Island, 23km of high voltage direct current (HVDC) electricity cables, 420m of high voltage alternating current (HVAC) cables, 23.42km of fibre optic cable, 54 car parking spaces on the access road to Baginbun Beach and the provision of footpaths and street lighting in Ramsgrange village as community benefit projects along with various temporary construction, cable and drilling compounds, on an overall proposed development site of more than 200 acres.

The proposed development will include a temporary landfall compound at Baginbun in the townland of Ramstown, where the high voltage cable will be installed underground, from below the beach and cliff at Baginbun to the converter station at Great Island, approximately 23 kilometres in length.

The converter station at Great Island will have a double perimter fence consisting of a 2.4 m security fence and a 3.4 m high electrified security fence.

A 220kV tail station of 11 metres in height with a 2.6 m high perimeter fence, will be located beside the converter station and there will also be an MV substation building outside these fences but within the overall site..

The UK Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has been notified of the application and of the possibility that the proposed development is likely to have significant effects on the environment of Wales.

The Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) which accompanies the An Bord Pleanala application includes a Joint Environmental Report in respect of the entire area affected by the Greenlink Interconnector.

All the information including a Natural Impact Statement is available to view on the dedicated website www.greenlinkplanning.ie.

Submissions or observations on the proposed development may be made in writing to An Bord Pleanala at 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1 up to 5.30 p.m. on February 12, 2021.

Any enquiries relating to the application process should be directed to the Strategic Infrastructure Section of An Bord Pleanala, telephone 01 8588100 or sids@pleanala.ie.

An Environmental Report submitted with the application concludes that static magnetic fields generated by the cables will be well below standard health limits and will not interfere with potentially susceptible devices such as cardiac pacemakers, implanted defibrillators, cochlear implants and similar devices. The burial depth of the cables will be mostly one metre with the shallowest at 0.9 metres.

The report also states that the converter station and surrounding equipment is designed to ensure that negligible electromagnetic fields would be produced outside the boundary fence.

It points out that the Ireland to Wales East West Interconnector (EWIC) was a similar development to Greenlink with an oral hearing taking place in March 2009.

An Bord Pleanala approved that development and in making its decision noted that it would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity or be prejudicial to public health or safety.

Greenlink Interconnector Limited with an address at Barrow Street, Dublin is owned jointly by Element Power Holdings, part of Hudson Sustainable Investment and Partners Group on behalf of its clients.

Hudson Sustainable Investment is a New York-based independent investment management firm with expertise in investing in sustainable energy infrastructure projects in Ireland, the UK and internationally.

Partners Group, based in Switzerland, is a global investment management firm with 73 billion in investment programmes under management in private equity, private real estate, private infrastructure and private debt.

The listed directors of Greenlink are Padraig McManus, Robert Warshauer, Simon Merriweather, Thomas Murley and Shreya Malik with Michael Daly of Ove Arup and partners in Cork acting as agent.

The sites for the converter station and tail station will be permanently acquired for the purposes of the proposed development and various landowners have given their consent to the lodging of the planning application.

Wayleave agreements over land have been made with the relevant landowners, allowing the proposed development to be constructed.

There will be no permanent loss of agricultural land and any land disturbed during the project will be fully restored.

Greenlink can exercise statutory powers under the Electricity (Supply) Act of 1927 to lay cables across or under any land, including a road. Much of the cable will be installed along the local road network.

Greenlink began pre-application consultations with An Bord Pleanala in November of 2016 and during a series of five meetings, it was stressed that consideration should be given to protected views from any archaeological sites, the mitigation of any disruption to local amenity areas, works in proximity to protected structures and possible community gain arising from the development.

Wexford County Council officials are required to issue a report to An Bord Pleanala within 10 weeks of the application being made and elected members of Wexford County Council may add recommendations to the officials' report.

It is open to Bord Pleanala to hold an oral hearing and it may hold a meeting with Greenlink or any other relevant person and may request further information from Greenlink, including a revised EIAR.

An Bord Pleanala must make its determination of the application 'as expeditiously as is consistent with proper planning and sustainable development'. It has an objective, but not an obligation, to make a determination within 18 weeks of the latest date for the receipt of submissions from the public.

Projects of Common Interest (PCI) are cross border infrastructure developments that link the energy systems of European Union (EU) Member Statesx and are intended to help the EU achieve its energy policy and climate objectives - affordable, secure and sustainable energy for all citizens, and the long-term decarbonisation of the economy in accordance with the Paris Agreement.

Public consultation on the proposed development began in the summer 2018 with exhibitions taking place at Fethard on Sea and Duncannon and the project team seeking imput from the community to improve the design and delivery of the interconnector.

Further public consultation took place in 2019 in Fethard on Sea, Duncannon and Ramsgrange with a third round of updates in December of that year.

Various heritage, wildlife, fisheries and environmental agencies were consulted in relation to the the choice of route and landfall site.
Meanwhile, the family moved from Sydney's Manly to Balmain to be closer to specialist healthcare and because Brown believed the inner west would offer Olivia a better sense of belonging. Olivia also began an at-times frustrating journey through the medical system, which has been the subject of significant debate over what treatments should be made available to children and teens and when. Olivia with her dog Serena. Credit:Louie Douvis Community support The Australian community overwhelmingly supports transgender people, according to a national survey of more than 1000 people commissioned by Equality Australia and conducted by YouGov.

Loading Only 3 per cent of survey respondents identified as transgender and fewer than one in 10 said they knew a transgender person well. Yet 78 per cent of Australians - including 75 per cent of religious people - agree that transgender people deserved the same rights and protections as other Australians, the survey found. Among those who know someone who is transgender, support rises to 93 per cent. Equality Australia chief executive Anna Brown (no relation to Lyndsay) says this does not surprise her. "Another lesson from the marriage equality campaign was that you don't vote or support a cause because of a 'what' - usually, it's because of a 'who'," Anna Brown says. "It's very much about your emotional connection with people you know and people you at least can relate to." Ryan Phillips, 41, a trans man and Equality Australia board member, says community attitudes have changed "a heck of a lot" since his childhood in regional Western Australia and since he transitioned in Melbourne in his late 20s.

Phillips says he has built new, more positive relationships with his family now but at the time, some of them found it very difficult. "There was no awareness of it, and being trans was considered to be very shameful," he says. "I know that there is now support available for families with trans young people and children - this should make it an easier path for families to tread." Health care hurdles While Olivia enjoyed her family's support, she faced struggles with health care and schooling. An anonymous mother recently wrote a controversial opinion column for The Sun-Herald about her struggle to accept her child as a trans boy and her belief that some teenagers were expressing interest in transitioning because it had become "fashionable".

Olivia finds that idea ludicrous, arguing there are no advantages to being trans and that health care treatment for trans children and teenagers was heavily dependent on their age. If anything she believes health professionals are too cautious because of their fear of being sued. "There should be more of an openness to actually believe people," she says. Olivia had to see a psychiatrist, psychologist and an endocrinologist (a specialist in hormones). With her parents' permission, she was able to access puberty blockers at 13, delaying the onset of puberty and the development of male secondary sex characteristics. The family had to fight to get Olivia access to hormone replacement therapy but about two years later she was put on oestrogen, and is really happy with its effects. Gender reassignment surgery is not available for minors but she plans to have it when she turns 18. Olivia has enjoyed the full support of her family, but obtaining medical treatment was sometimes difficult. Credit:Louie Douvis Equality Australia found three out of four Australians believe that health services that treat and support transgender patients should be available for everyone who needs them. But only about half believe the cost should be covered by Medicare.

NSW Health said there were two public specialist services for transgender and gender diverse patients in NSW; one for children and adolescents at the Children's Hospital Westmead and one at John Hunter Children's Hospital in Newcastle, which also treats adults. Non-government organisations including ACON and The Gender Centre also provide information, resources and support for trans and gender diverse people. Disrupted schooling Meanwhile, Olivia was also facing problems at school. She moved schools four times during year 7 and 8 and she still has nightmares about changing schools. Her first high school was a selective boys' school - she knew she did not belong but was yet to come out. Next came a co-ed private Anglican school but once she came out as trans, the school made it clear they wanted her to leave, telling the family they did not have the "right" toilets and would feel obliged to write to all families and inform them a trans student was at the school, which could cause bullying. Olivia says she has found a new normal in her life. Credit: Louie Douvis

Olivia started year 8 at a co-ed public high school in the inner west where the staff were supportive but unable to stop awful bullying by boys. Later that year she finally landed at her current school, a co-ed secular private school with supportive teachers, where she has made good friends. Olivia said it made a big difference that the school explicitly taught students about LGBTIQ+ issues and she would like to see that become more widespread. Equality Australia found two out of three Australians believe that religious schools should not be able to fire a staff member or expel a student for being transgender. Women are more likely to believe this than men, at 71 per cent versus 60 per cent. Even among those who identify as very or somewhat religious, 60 per cent believe religious schools should not be able to fire someone or expel a student for being transgender. For those who are not at all religious, this rose to 74 per cent.

Feminist debates Some feminists - who call themselves "gender critical" and are labelled by others as "trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs)" - argue women and girls are discriminated against because of their biological sex rather than their gender identity and therefore need rights, protections and services - such as women's refuges and group therapy for rape survivors - on this basis. Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling sparked a furore last year when she argued along these lines. They argue gender itself is not real but merely a "social construct" and criticise the trans movement for reinforcing gender conformity by supposedly promoting the idea that a boy who likes feminine things is really a girl, and vice versa. Lyndsay Brown, Olivia's mother, rejects these arguments as discriminatory and also overblown, given transgender people represent just 1-3 per cent of the population.

"I used to believe gender was a social construct but as I've grown older and especially with a trans daughter, I've come to see that it's just really not that simple," she says. Loading Olivia's view is that gender stereotypes come from wider society rather than transgender people and points out gender identity is not the same thing as gender expression. For example, her interests in carpentry and video games are stereotypically masculine and most of her friends are male. "Ultimately, that doesn't matter because that's not what gender really is," Olivia says. "I don't have to do stereotypical feminine things to be a woman and the same goes for cis women as well." ("Cis" describes the opposite of being trans, where your gender identity matches your biological sex or the gender assigned at birth). Nor does she think surgery should be the deciding factor, such as the stance of McIver Ladies Baths in Coogee that only transgender women who have undergone surgery are allowed in. Olivia finds this "a sexist idea because it boils men and women down to their genitals".

Lyndsay Brown says parents are sometimes worried that offering support or affirmation for a trans or gender-questioning child could reinforce a false belief. She believes the opposite is true - that giving a child a safe space to explore their gender identity will help them figure out the truth, as well as boost the child's mental health and wellbeing. Olivia says her family has been supportive in her journey. Credit:Louie Douvis She also wants parents to know that there is a "new normal" waiting for them. "When your child initially comes out, it feels so intense and so challenging but over time that passes and life becomes normal again in a different kind of way," Lyndsay Brown says. For Olivia, coming out was "removing the first barricade to helping myself become happier and get to a better place".
Malaysia reported 4,029 new Covid-19 infections in the highest daily spike since the outbreak, bringing the national total to 155,095, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that eight of the new cases are imported and 4,021 are local transmissions.

Another eight deaths have been reported, pushing the total deaths to 594.

Some 2,148 more patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total cured and discharged to 117,375, or 75.7 per cent of all cases.

Of the remaining 37,126 active cases, 205 are being held in intensive care and 79 of those are in need of assisted breathing.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

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Major social platforms have been cracking down on the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories in the leadup to the presidential election, and expanded their efforts in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. But Apple and Google, among others, have left open a major loophole for this material: Podcasts.

This combination of photos shows various podcasts, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. Major social platforms have been cracking down on the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. But Apple and Google, among others, have left open a major loophole: Podcasts. (AP Photo/David Hamilton)

Major social platforms have been cracking down on the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories in the leadup to the presidential election, and expanded their efforts in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. But Apple and Google, among others, have left open a major loophole for this material: Podcasts.

Podcasts made available by the two Big Tech companies let you tune into the world of the QAnon conspiracy theory, wallow in President Donald Trump's false claims of a stolen election and bask in other extremism. Accounts that have been banned on social media for election misinformation, threatening or bullying, and breaking other rules also still live on as podcasts available on the tech giants platforms.

Conspiracy theorists have peddled stolen-election fantasies, coronavirus conspiracies and violent rhetoric. One podcaster, RedPill78, called the Capitol siege a staged event in a Jan. 11 episode of Red Pill News. The day before the Capitol riot, a more popular podcast, X22 Report, spoke confidently about a Trump second term, explained that Trump would need to remove many members of Congress to further his plans, and said We the people, we are the storm, and were coming to DC.

Both are available on Apple and Google podcast platforms.

Podcasting plays a particularly outsized role in propagating white supremacy, said a 2018 report from the Anti-Defamation League. Many white supremacists, like QAnon adherents, support Trump. Podcastings an intimate, humanizing mode of communication that lets extremists expound on their ideas for hours at a time, said Oren Segal of ADLs Center on Extremism.

Elsewhere on social media, Twitter,Facebook and YouTube have been cracking down on accounts amplifying unfounded QAnon claims that Trump is fighting deep state enemies and cannibals operating a child-sex trafficking ring. A major talk radio company, Cumulus, told its hosts to tone down rhetoric about stolen elections and violent uprisings or risk termination, although it's not clear what impact that dictate has had.

Google-owned YouTube axed Bannon's War Room, a channel run by Trump loyalist Steve Bannon on Jan. 8 after he spread false election claims and called for the beheading of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious-disease expert. But podcast versions of Bannon's show live on at Apple and Google. Spotify took it down in November, according to one of its hosts.

Podcasts filled with hatred and incitement to violence should not be treated any differently than any other content," Segal said. "If youre going to take a strong stance against hate and extremism in the platform in any way, it should be all-inclusive.

Apple, Spotify and Google curate lists of top podcasts and recommend them to users. Apple and Spotify are the dominant players in the U.S., with other players far behind, said Dave Zohrob, CEO of the podcast analytics firm Chartable. Despite its name recognition, Google remains a tiny presence.

Spotify said it takes down podcasts that violate its policies against hate speech, copyright violations or break any laws, using algorithmic and human detection measures to identify violations. Apples guidelines prohibit content that is illegal or promotes violence, graphic sex or drugs or is otherwise considered obscene, objectionable, or in poor taste. Apple did not reply to repeated questions about its content guidelines or moderation.

Google declined to explain the discrepancy between whats available on YouTube and whats on Google Podcasts, saying only that its podcast service indexes audio available on the web much the way its search engine indexes web pages. The company said it removes podcasts from its platform in very rare circumstances, largely guided by local law.

X22 Report and Bannons War Room were No. 20 and No. 32 on Apple's list of top podcasts on Friday. (Experts say that list measures a podcast's momentum rather than total listeners.) X22 Report said in October that it was suspended by YouTube and Spotify and last week by Twitter. It's no longer available on Facebook, either. It is supported by ads for products such as survivalist food, unlicensed food supplements and gold coins, which run before and during the podcasts.

The website for Red Pill News said YouTube banned its videos in October and that a Twitter suspension followed. The podcast is available on Apple and Google, but not Spotify.

Several QAnon proponents affected by the crackdown sued YouTube in October, calling its actions a massive de-platforming. Among the plaintiffs are X22 Report, RedPill78 and David Hayes, who runs another conspiracy podcast called Praying Medic that's available on Apple and Google, but not Spotify.

Melody Torres, who podcasts at SoulWarrior Uncensored, self-identifies as a longtime QAnon follower and said in a recent episode that her podcast is just my way of not being censored." She said she was kicked off Twitter in January and booted from Instagram four times last year. She currently has Instagram, Facebook and YouTube accounts; her podcast is available on Apple and Google. Spotify removed the podcast Friday after The Associated Press inquired about it.

X22 Report, RedPill78 and Hayes did not respond to requests for comment sent via their websites. Torres did not reply to a Facebook message.

Podcasts suffer from the same misinformation problem as other platforms, said Shane Creevy, head of editorial for Kinzen, a startup created by former Facebook and Twitter executives that offers a disinformation tracker to companies, including some that host or curate podcasts.

Creevy points out that it's harder to analyze misinformation from video and audio than from text. Podcasts can also run for hours, making them difficult to monitor. And podcasting has additional challenges in that there are no reliable statistics on their audience, unlike a YouTube stream, which shows views, or a tweet or Facebook post, which shows likes and shares, Creevy said.

But some argue that tech-company moderation is opaque and inconsistent, creating a new set of problems. Censorship goes with the tide against whats popular in any given moment," said Jillian York, an expert at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital-rights group. Right now, she said, that tide is against the speech of right-wing extremists ... but tomorrow the tide might be against opposition activists.

AP Technology Editor David Hamilton contributed to this article.

This story was first published on Jan. 15, 2021. It was updated on Jan. 16, 2021, to correct the name of the head of editorial for Kinzen, a startup that offers a disinformation tracker to companies. He is Shane Creevy, not Shane Creevey.
The Ashanti Regional Health Directorate has issued guidelines on COVID-19 for parents, schools and health workers in the Region ahead of the reopening of schools next week.



The initiative forms part of efforts by the Directorate to prevent the spread of the virus in schools as students prepare to return to school amid a second wave of the pandemic.



The interim guidelines issued and signed by the Regional Director of Health Service, Dr Emmanuel Tinkorang recommended the strengthening of rapid response teams at all levels.



It directed health staff to regularly embark on school health and continue to educate schools on prevention of COVID-19 while engaging the School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Coordinators to step up their game on COVID-19 education.



There must be a quick response to rumours reported by schools on any unusual event and all health facilities and schools should also have COVID-19 case definition, according to the guideline.



The guideline also insists on every school being assigned to nearby health facilities and that all schools must have veronica buckets with soap for proper hand washing under running water.





Schools with infirmary should contact their District Health Directors for discussions as to how to manage the infirmary in respect to health delivery services, especially on COVID-19, part of the guideline read.



The adherence to the COVID-19 safety protocols in schools must be insisted by SHEP Coordinators and school authorities at all times.



School authorities must ensure proper disposal of face masks into dust bins and avoid overcrowding activities.



Unless school authorities deem it necessary, no visitors should be allowed to visit their wards while school is in session.



The guideline also encouraged parents to provide nose masks and hand sanitisers for their wards and also ensure they properly put on the masks when leaving home.







Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Covid-19 death toll now stands at 440, with the deaths of 15 more people yesterday.

The Ministry of Health reported the deaths in its daily update yesterday evening.

One of the new deaths occurred in Tobago. The Tobago Division of Health, Wellness and Family Development disclosed that the patient was a 38-year-old male with co-morbidities.
The incident happened on the M50 in Dublin

A disqualified driver who drove down the wrong side of the M50 to escape gardai before ploughing into the car of an elderly couple has been jailed for seven and a half years.

Brian Reilly (24) ruined the lives of John and Ellen Armstrong after he crashed into their car when they were stopped at a red light in Finglas last January, Judge Melanie Greally told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.

Ellen Armstrong suffered significant injuries and had to have the tip of her thumb amputated, which has left her dependent on others, the court heard.

Reilly, a disqualified driver with 126 previous convictions, was trying to escape gardai after he was stopped and asked for his driving licence.

He had been released from jail six weeks before the incident after serving a sentence for offences including endangerment, the court heard.

Reilly, of Tailteann Drive, Navan, Co Meath, pleaded guilty to two counts of endangerment, one count of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm, one count of refusing to provide a blood or urine sample and one count of driving without insurance on January 29, 2020.

Judge Greally said Reilly "exposed four separate drivers to risk of death or serious harm" on the day in question.

"In the case of Ms Armstrong, he inflicted a life-long episode of pain and loss of independence and loss of the pursuits she enjoyed so much," she said.

She imposed a sentence of seven and a half years and suspended the final 18 months on a number of conditions, including that Reilly engage with drug addiction services.

She disqualified him from driving for life.

Garda Kieran Moloney previously told the court that a garda approached Reilly's car at a garage on the North Road in Finglas.

When asked for his licence, Reilly took off at speed, going the wrong way around a roundabout before driving the wrong way down the M50 and the N2.

The incident came to an end when Reilly crashed into a van at Kilshane Cross.

This collision sent his car crashing into the Armstrongs. Their car then crashed into a tree.

Suffered

Reilly refused to provide a blood or urine sample to find out if he was under the influence of an intoxicant, the court heard.

Ms Armstrong suffered multiple rib fractures and other injuries in the crash, the court heard.

Her husband John Armstrong still suffers pain on a daily basis.

He suffered a head wound and had a seizure in the wake of the crash.

The defence said his client had "panicked" when he was pulled over by gardai.

The court heard Reilly has spent much of his life in and out of prison.

Almost half of Reilly's convictions are for road traffic offences, including six for dangerous driving, nine for driving without a licence and eight for driving without insurance.

"He has directly caused adversity and harm to two individuals who were expecting a comfortable retirement," the defence said, adding Reilly was extremely remorseful.

Richard Barnett will remain in custody

A federal judge in Washington on Friday night halted a plan to release and put on house arrest the Arkansas man photographed sitting at a desk in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Richard Barnett will instead be brought to Washington, D.C., immediately for proceedings in his case, Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ordered Friday night, staying a decision by another judge to confine Barnett to his home in Gravette, Arkansas, until his trial.

Howell's ruling came hours after U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin Wiedemann in Arkansas set a $5,000 bond for Barnett and ordered that a GPS monitor track his location. Wiedemann also prohibited Barnett from using the internet or having contact with anyone else who participated in the January 6 violence.

Barnett, 60, who has proudly referred to himself as a white nationalist on social media, was among supporters of President Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol as lawmakers assembled to certify President-elect Joe Bidens victory over Trump.

Barnett was photographed during the Capitol riot inside Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office with his feet on her desk. He smiled and laughed as he lounged in her chair and he allegedly left a threatening note on her desk

Barnett, 60, was among supporters of President Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol as lawmakers assembled to certify President-elect Joe Bidens victory over Trump

Five people died during the violent insurrection, including a Capitol police officer. During a nearly five-hour hearing Friday via video conference, federal prosecutors had argued that Barnett should remain in custody.

'If (Barnett) will travel across the country and engage in this level of criminal behavior because he believes that he is right and it is the Electoral College that is wrong, what would deter him?' Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Harris said.

Barnett is charged with unlawfully entering a restricted area with a lethal weapon - a stun gun.

Barnett is also charged with disorderly conduct and theft of public property. He faces up to 11 1/2 months in prison if convicted.

Five people died during the violent insurrection, including a Capitol police officer

'I think your honor can shape a release order that provides a sufficient array of conditions that will allow my client to be released, that will allow my client to effectively defend himself and... will allow him to build enough of a `fence' around him that if he stumbles, it will be brought to your honor's attention almost immediately,' Anthony Siano, Barnett's attorney, told the judge during the hearing.

He surrendered voluntarily January 8 to FBI agents at the Benton County Sheriffs Office in Bentonville, Arkansas, and has remained in the Washington County jail since then.

During Friday's hearing, prosecutors showed pictures of Barnett sitting at a desk in Pelosi's office and Capitol security video of him inside the building.

They also showed footage of him bragging on a bullhorn to a crowd outside the Capitol about taking an envelope from the speaker's office.

Prosecutors also cited concerns that Barnett had not turned over the stun gun or the cell phone he took with him to Washington.
The Gulf War or the First Gulf War, codenamed Operation Desert Storm, as a result of the crisis that began with the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq on August 2, 1990, was led by the USA, including the United Kingdom, France, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Egypt. It is the military action organized by the coalition force of the country against Iraq. It continued between 17 January 1991 and 28 February 1991. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, its southeast neighbor on August 2, 1990, caused international reactions, and as a result of the reactions, a series of economic sanctions against Iraq were imposed by the members of the United Nations Security Council. US President George H. W. Bush sent his country's troops to Saudi Arabia and called on other countries to send military forces to the region. As a result, II. After World War II, the largest military coalition force emerged. While the USA constituted the main weight of the coalition power, the United Kingdom, France, Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia were the other dominant powers. Saudi Arabia alone covered 36 billion of the war's cost of 60 billion USD. The operation began on January 17, 1991, with an air bombardment to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. The ground operation followed on 24 February. At the end of the operation, the coalition forces that drove Iraq out of Kuwait achieved an absolute victory. With the liberation of Kuwait, a ceasefire was declared 100 hours after the ground operation began. In response to the ongoing air and ground operations of Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia on the Iraqi border, it responded with Scud missiles against coalition targets in Saudi Arabia and Israel. The ceasefire clauses were declared by the United Nations Security Council's resolution 687 adopted in April 1991. The practices regarding the implementation of the decision no. 687 and the decisions that followed this decision led to another war that will begin 12 years later. The Gulf War; It is the second war in the world that has been watched live on TV and it has almost revolutionized the media.
ATMORE, Ala., Jan. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- UB Community Development, LLC (UBCD), a community development partner of United Bank, announced today the placement of $10 million of their New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation into Coastal Growers. UBCD, jointly with Baker Tilly, assisted in sourcing an additional $50 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocations from partner Community Development Entities including MuniStrategies, allocating $5 million, Rural Development Partners $15 million, Waveland $15 million and National Impact Fund $15 million. Additionally, United Bank applied for and received a $40 million Business and Industry Loan Guarantee from USDA Rural Development to support the project financing.

Alex Jones, President of UB Community Development, stated "It is not often that you get to support a project that will have such extensive impact. UBCD and United Bank are honored that Coastal Growers and over 100 farm families trusted us to guide them through the process of sourcing and structuring a project of this scope. This was a team effort at the City, State and Federal levels to pull such a complex project together."

The new 475,000-square-foot facility will source peanuts within a 200 mile radius from farms in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. The project will create 130 permanent jobs with training and career advancement opportunities in addition to 95 construction jobs. The project anticipates shelling 140,000 tons of peanut annually, which will be sold domestically and internationally.

Coastal Growers currently works with 100 regional farms with over 200 employees and $4.8 million in total wages. Upon completion they anticipate working with 130 regional farms supporting almost $8 million of wages.

"Without the continuing support of Alex Jones and the team at UB Community Development, Coastal Growers would still merely be a dream," said Brad Smith, President of Coastal Growers. "Their dedication to the project during times of uncertainty with COVID-19 and political upheaval show their commitment to customers and the community. Simply put, without UBCD, Coastal Growers would not exist nor would the jobs it has created and the ones it will create in the near future."

Several significant environmental benefits are recognized through the vision of this project including decreased transportation emissions due to the proximity of the project to the growers and buying points. This results in 250,000 fewer gallons of fuel burned annually and sustainable farming practices used by growers results in a reduction of water use by 90,000 gallons annually.

A number of partnerships made this project possible. The City of Atmore, through its Industrial Development Board, has extended an abatement of non-educational ad-valorem taxes for 10 years, as well as an initial abatement on construction-related non-educational sales and use taxes on construction materials and equipment. The city also offered to purchase 15 acres of property and construct a rail spur to service the facility as well as other projects in the area for a total cost of $2.5 million. Finally, the city will also donate 60 acres of land for construction of the facility which saves the project $240,000.

Additional support includes a new rail transload facility which will service several nearby businesses in addition to Coastal Growers, and the potential future expansion of a blancher at the project site. The project received a $2,000,000 loan from the Alabama Farmers Association (ALFA) as well as $937,000 of contributed value for workforce training from the AIDT (Alabama's Workforce Training Program). Coastal Growers also received $8.2 million in Alabama Investment Tax Credits over a 10-year period.

For more information about UB Community Development, or for help planning your next funding project, contact Alex Jones, President, UB Community Development at 251.446.6017 or email [email protected]. For more information about United Bank, please contact Tonya Lambert, SVP, Chief Marketing and Public Relations Officer, at (251) 446-6004 or email [email protected]

About United Bank

United Bank is an $890,000,000 financial institution that has enjoyed 117 years of continuous service to Atmore, Alabama and surrounding communities. United Bank has offices in Atmore, Brewton, East Brewton, Flomaton, Monroeville, Frisco City, Bay Minette, Foley, Lillian, Loxley, Magnolia Springs, Silverhill, Spanish Fort, Daphne, Summerdale and Semmes in Alabama. United Bank serves Santa Rosa County, Florida in Jay, Milton, and Pace. For more information about United Bank, please visit our website at www.UnitedBank.com. Member FDIC.

About UB Community Development

UB Community Development's strong history and experience in New Markets Tax Credit transactions, coupled with our passion for improving the communities around us, make UBCD Alabama's premier financial partner for economic and community development. Through our NMTC projects, Community Facilities Lending Program and Community Housing Capital Fund, UBCD is working with community development partners in the fields of healthcare, education, manufacturing, public works, affordable housing and more. For more information about UB Community Development, visit our website at www.UBCommunityDevelopment.com.

SOURCE UB Community Development
Axios

While Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) was out of state at a conference, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R) issued an executive order Thursday banning mask mandates in school and public buildings, AP reports.Why it matters: Little never issued a statewide mask mandate, but there have been some in counties, cities and schools. McGeachin announced last week she was running for governor, challenging Little who has only served one term, and her order could appeal to far-right voters in the state.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Little's office told AP that McGeachin did not tell the governor about the order in advance. Throughout the pandemic, Gov. Little has been committed to protecting the health and safety of the people of Idaho and has emphasized the importance of Idahoans choosing to protect our neighbors and loved ones and keeping our economy and schools open, Little spokesperson Marissa Morrison saidBackground: In March, McGeachin participated in an anti-mask protest, the Washington Post reported, and she suggested last year that the pandemic may or may not be occurring."According to AP, Idaho has recorded more than 190,000 cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic and roughly 2,000 deaths.What she's saying: Ive been listening to people all across the state with the concern about, especially, why are little kids being forced to wear masks in school, McGeachin told AP.My oath to the Constitution is to protect those rights and freedoms of the individual, and Ive never supported any type of a mandate on the individual, especially when it comes to health care choices.McGeachin said she had contracted the virus in 2019 and now has a "natural immunity," per AP.Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order banning mask mandates, not face masks. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free
NCP MLA Anna Bansodes son among four arrested for attempted murder by Pimpri police 27 May 2021 | 9:37 PM Pune may 27 ( UNI): Pimpri-Chinchwad police today took the custody of legislator Anna Bansodes 21-year-old son after his arrest from Ratnagiri maharashtra one of the two cases of attempted murder in which he was on the run for the past two weeks. see more..

Maha:Over 34k COVID cured patients were discharged in Mah 27 May 2021 | 9:33 PM Mumbai, May 27 (UNI) A total of 34,370 COVID patients were discharged after recovering from the virus in the past 24 hours, according to the state health bulletin issued on Thursday. see more..

Covid-19: 1,947 new cases detected in Kolhapur 27 May 2021 | 8:47 PM Kolhapur, May 27 (UNI) As many as 1,947 fresh Covid-19 patients and 46 deaths were reported in a single day today, taking the district's tally of such cases to 1,05,241 and the toll to 3,539, respectively. see more..

It was Nehrus policy to retain and protect Goa's separate identity after India's independence: Congress 27 May 2021 | 8:42 PM Panaji, May 27 (UNI) Goa Pradesh Congress Committee paid tributes to the first Prime Minister of Independent India Pt Jawaharlal Nehru at Congress Office in the city on Thursday at an event to mark his 57th death anniversary. see more..
As a schoolchild raised in Delhi, Devika Mittal always wondered why neighbours India and Pakistan continued to be enemies. Her grade-12 history textbook and its chapter on Partition made her aware of the human cost of the conflict, and how much people from both sides suffered immensely.

While doing her higher studies at Lady Shri Ram College and then South Asian University, she took up the cause of Indo-Pak peace and joined youth-led peace organisation Aaghaz-e-Dosti as its India convener.

Ahead of eShes Indo-Pak Peace Summit Led by Women where she is a panelist, we spoke to the 30-year-old assistant professor at University of Delhi about the initiative and what drives her to stand up for peace.

As a student, what memory stands out for you about Pakistan and the people of that country, and why did you decide to take up peace-building?

While in college, I attended the retreat ceremony at Wagah Border. I looked at the flag waving on the other side and my school textbook chapter on Partition came back to me. I wondered if the people sitting across the gate would wave back if I waved at them?

Later, I chose to pursue my post-graduation in sociology from South Asian University. The idea of studying with students of other South Asian countries, particularly Pakistan, had really fascinated me and the experience was great. I got valuable insight into South Asian politics.

Moreover, the discipline of sociology  which I had continued to pursue through an M.Phil degree and then PhD from Delhi School of Economics  helped me engage with issues, including the India-Pakistan conflict, with an objective and critical lens. What motivated me to enter this field of conflict resolution and peace-building was a sense of curiosity about the other that combined with the critical training that I was able to receive.

Did your approach towards our nuclear-armed neighbour change later? What were the triggers?

In contrast to what the jingoists like to accuse peace activists of, I was never fascinated with Pakistan and never glorified it. From the beginning, we, as a group of peace-builders, have always tried to undo the effect of the politicised and biased media on both sides.

We have tried to shatter popular misconceptions about the other side and highlighted how we need to look at the people across the border as a complex and heterogeneous group, just like we are. In both countries, the other is used as a reference point when it comes to justifying or glossing over rising religious extremism and hyper-nationalism.

In India, we are constantly told about how Pakistani Hindus are subjected to atrocities and the same happens in Pakistan for the case of Indian Muslims. Both countries refuse to acknowledge the discrimination and systematic violence that their own fellow patriots are subjected to.

What was the first thing about the people of Pakistan that you met that struck you?

The first time I met Pakistanis was during my post-graduation. They were the ones with whom I could talk in Hindi or Urdu while I was conversing with everyone else in English. It was surprising how smooth the conversation was; we just had so much to talk about. It felt like catching up with someone after a long time.

On both sides, we have always been told that we are different and opposite, so the discovery that we have similarities comes off as very surprising. Back then and even now, whenever I meet any Pakistani, the conversation is like, Oh! You people also say/do this?

How deep do you think are our cultural and social values and affinities, and can these be used for peace-building?

The two countries have linguistic and cultural similarities; spoken Hindi and spoken Urdu are similar. In Lahore and Islamabad, I was assumed to be a Karachi-ite because I apparently spoke Urdu. Punjabi is also a great connect. The popularity of Punjabi songs and movies knows no borders. Sindhi language and culture and, to a lesser degree, Gujarati are also important connectors.

Linguistic and cultural connections work as an ice-breaker and they also shatter the stereotype of a different and opposing other. In one of the peace education activities by Aaghaz-e-Dosti, in which Indian and Pakistani students interact with each other virtually, the session is usually conducted in Hindi or Urdu and we often have students expressing their absolute amazement on discovering this connect and cherishing this. In one video-conferencing session, the Indian and Pakistani coordinators both spoke in Gujarati.

We also have similarities in our popular culture. Both Indians and Pakistanis share a love for Bollywood movies and both would also confess watching never-ending Indian television dramas. I have many Pakistani friends who have a sound command over Sanskritised Hindi. This emanates from the popularity of Indian television serials and cartoons across the border.

As for what draws the Indian side, music definitely tops the chart. It is said that the one place where Indians and Pakistanis do not fight is in the comments section of YouTube videos of Coke Studio Pakistan.

Are there any people in Pakistan that you look up to as cultural icons?

I find the powerful words of revolutionary poets Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Habib Jalib, Fahmida Riaz and Khalid Javed Jan inspiring.

Peace is a prerequisite for development. This arms race and war industry has been a major impediment to development in our respective countries. Both India and Pakistan rank much lower in Human Development Index yet both are in top ranks on the list of importers of weapons. The priority needs to be changed.

Just a year ago or so, India and Pakistan had engaged in a new battle: that of mounting a taller flag on the Wagah border. The amount of money that is spent on such jingoistic stunts would be better spent on providing the masses with basic amenities.

The conflict is also being used to divert attention from significant issues. Unemployment is a persisting issue in both countries but media reports focus on how the situation is grimmer across the border. The Indian media is more concerned about Pakistans GDP and vice versa.

What do you think are the primary steps that the leaders of both countries need to take to evolve a mechanism to establish peace?

India and Pakistan need to resolve their conflicts and, for this, bilateral talks are important. Bilateral talks and meetings on different issues need to be organised more frequently. Both India and Pakistan dispel talks by reducing it to talk around terrorism and Kashmir, respectively. While these issues need to be addressed, they are just being used as excuses to not engage in any constructive peace talks on a range of issues. A culture of dialogue needs to be established. There has to be more interaction between the two countries, both at the level of state and the people.

Pakistan as well as India accuses each other of having a deep state in each others countries. Although the political leadership is much weaker in Pakistan compared with its military establishment, how do you see changes happening?

With Imran Khan coming to power, people believe that democracy is becoming stronger. But this is a myth. The problems in Pakistan remain what they were. The deep state in Pakistan is as strong as it was. The enforced disappearances of activists have not stopped.

While Khan has taken some good steps, the forced abduction and conversion of minorities has not stopped. Khan does not pose any danger to the deep state in Pakistan and this is also why he is projected as a good leader.

In both India and Pakistan, people are living in an illusion that their political leader is good and progressive, and that all the problems are emanating from the other side. People of both countries need to be critical of their political leadership and hold them accountable.

Do you think secular schooling is a concept that can easily be implemented in Pakistan?

Pakistan is a theocratic state and their approach to public life and culture is informed by an ideology that is religious and also majoritarian. The Pakistani school textbooks are known to harbour stereotypical and biased notions about religious minorities.

There are, however, many private schooling systems in Pakistan as well that are trying to imbibe progressive values. But a school does not stand in isolation from society at large, so there will always be limits to what a school can do.

What role do you think business houses in both countries can play to foster goodwill?

The commerce and trade activities between the two countries are limited and much restricted. Corporations need to lobby for changes in the current policy that may help them reach out to an audience across the border. Given the similarities in our culture and lifestyle, it will not just help their business but also open newer ways of interaction and peace-building.

For Westerners, whether you are Indian or Pakistani, you look almost the same. Was that a revelation of sorts for you?

Its true. I have come across several stories of Indians and Pakistanis being best friends or starting or owning a business together in a third country. Outside the subcontinent, there are many Indo-Pak restaurants. When we are in a third country, we are not seen as Indians or Pakistanis but as South Asians. We also accept and bond over this identity.

What led you to join Aaghaz-e-Dosti? How has this experience changed you? What are the initiatives you have undertaken and what has been the outcome?

Aaghaz-e-Dosti, which literally means beginning of friendship, was started in 2012 and I have been one of the founding members. We started it to dispel stereotypes and initiate dialogue among the people of both countries. We work through peace education activities in schools and colleges.

We have been organising art-based programs in the form of an annual Indo-Pak peace calendar, which is made of paintings of Indian and Pakistani school students, peace-building workshops, greeting card and letter exchange programmes, virtual interactive sessions, film screenings and discussions in educational institutions and public spaces in different cities across India and Pakistan. We have also organised peace programmes in other countries.

In terms of the outcome, I would say that the objective of these activities has been to disturb the idea that the knowledge we have is complete and unbiased. The Indian students have actively used the interactive sessions to critically engage with their views about Pakistanis and also about religious minorities within the country.

The initiatives have given them a space to connect with their peers across the border without reducing them to their political and social identity. In one virtual session, students bonded over concerns like. Does your teacher give you a lot of homework too? and Do you like maths? In a letter-exchange program, some students pondered over the human cost of conflict.

Hear Dr Devika Mittal speak at eShes Indo-Pak Peace Summit Led by Women on January 16. Schedule and registration here.

First published in eShes January 2021 issue
Derek Fowlds, also known to TV viewers as private secretary Bernard Woolley in Yes, Minister and then Yes, Prime Minister, died aged 82 in hospital last January after battling pneumonia and sepsis

The actor who found fame as the sidekick to Basil Brush left an estate worth more than 3million.

Derek Fowlds, also known to TV viewers as private secretary Bernard Woolley in Yes, Minister and then Yes, Prime Minister, died aged 82 in hospital last January after battling pneumonia and sepsis.

Fowlds, pictured with Basil, appeared as Mr Derek on the BBCs Basil Brush Show from 1969 to 1973.

He died without leaving a will, meaning that his estate is due to be inherited by his sons Jamie, a cameraman, and Jeremy, an actor, from his first marriage.

Probate records reveal that Fowlds, of Corsham, Wiltshire, left UK assets of 3,369,691 reduced after liabilities to 3,053,812 before inheritance tax.
She's expecting her third child with fiance Scott Sinclair in March.

And Helen Flanagan put her blossoming baby bump on display in a slew of snaps she shared via Instagram on Friday.

The former Coronation Street star, 30, doted on her unborn child as she gently cradled her bump while posing at her home.

Bumping along nicely! Pregnant Helen Flanagan cradled her blossoming baby bump in a white midi dress and black combat boots as she posed for sweet snaps she shared on Friday

Helen looked stylish as she posed in a long-sleeved white midi dress that had silver button-up detailing across the front of the ensemble.

She added a punk chic flair to the ensemble by wearing a pair of black combat boots as she struck a number of poses while sat on the floor.

The actress wore her golden locks into a half-up ponytail, and she wore a light palette of make-up to accentuate her pretty features.

Sweet: The former Coronation Street star, 30, doted on her unborn child as she gently cradled her bump while posing at her home

Fashionista: Helen added a punk chic flair to the ensemble by wearing a pair of black combat boots as she struck a number of poses while sat on the floor

Chic: The actress wore her golden locks into a half-up ponytail, and she wore a light palette of make-up to accentuate her pretty features

On Sunday, Helen took to Instagram to speak about embracing her 'cellulite' as she uploaded a throwback image of herself in a polka dot swimsuit.

Declaring 'imperfection is beauty', the soap star also credited her two daughters Matilda, five, and Delilah, two, for helping her self-acceptance journey after vowing to stop editing her images on social media last year.

The media personality wrote: 'Imperfection is beauty. found this picture on my camera roll where you can see my cellulite x Ive always had a bit of cellulite.

'Imperfection is beauty': On Sunday, Helen took to Instagram to speak about embracing her 'cellulite' as she uploaded a throwback image of herself in a polka dot swimsuit

'I think with pictures it can be a lot of the right lighting and knowing your angles. Since turning 30 Ive definitely been inspired to be more comfortable in my own skin and always by my two beautiful girlies.' (sic)

Helen recently revealed her third child will 'definitely be [her] last baby' as she opened up on the imminent birth during an appearance on ITV's Lorraine.

The thespian explained she wants the gender of her child to be a 'surprise', before adding that the tot will be her last pregnancy.

The perfect five: The TV star recently revealed her third child will 'definitely be [her] last baby' as she opened up on the imminent birth during an appearance on ITV's Lorraine

She said: 'I just really wanted a surprise to be honest with you, I could see myself with three girls though, I could definitely see myself with three girls. This is definitely my last baby, I tell you.'

When asked how her pregnancy is going, the Rosie Webster star replied: 'Im really good, Im in my third trimester now Im 28 weeks. My first trimester was awful but now Im in my third trimester I feel good.'

Touching on her illness, in which she suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, she added: 'it wasnt nice but I feel really lucky to be expecting my third.'

The influencer also detailed her time on Coronation Street and admitted she wouldn't rule out a return to the cobbles.

'I honestly miss Corrie so much, I miss everything about it, I miss the excitement of filming, I miss Sally [Dynevor, who played her on-screen mum], I miss everything about it and I really want to go back when the time is right.

'Especially after having a baby if you can you want to spend time at home with the baby, but I want to go back so bad.'
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Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Hollywood actor Jamie Dornan has been tipped to join the cast of Derry Girls.

Nicola Coughlan, who stars in the popular show, revealed: Hes definitely chatted to the writer, Lisa McGee, about joining Derry Girls. That would be the dream, and I would welcome him fully with open arms.

She added: Although my character is a lesbian and I think he is a little old for the girls, he could play a cool uncle or something.

I would not object to Jamie Dornan [joining], and I dont think anyone in their right mind would object to him.

I know Lisa gets emails every day from actors, because a lot of people would love to fit into the next series if they could.

Ms Coughlans career has gone from strength to strength after she became an instant hit with viewers as mouthy Clare Devlin.

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In addition to her theatre work in Londons West End, she went on to land the highly coveted role of Penelope Featherington in Netflixs period drama, Bridgerton.

The 34-year-old said the Derry accent is much more difficult to mimic than an upper-class English one.

Im originally from Galway, so it took me a while to get into the Derry accent, she said. Its funny, because in Bridgerton Ive to do a really posh English one, and thats so much easier because Im used to hearing them on TV from when I was growing up, but the Derry accent was very intimidating.

Acquiring her accent meant drawing inspiration from Girls Aloud star Nadine Coyle.

Her accent was fantastic to learn from because its so distinct.
First Responders Speak About the Pandemics Psychological Toll

BUENA PARK, Calif.As the ongoing pandemic continues to hit Southern California hard, Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) paramedics are sharing the struggles theyre facing on the frontline.

Climbing COVID-19 numbers coupled with a limited intensive care unit (ICU) capacity at area hospitals, has taken a mental and physical toll on emergency medical (EMS) workers, said Captain Joe Enterline.

The psychological stress comes, partly, from the fear of contracting the virus on the job and bringing it home, the paramedic said.

Over the past year theres been a lot of mental stress related to the EMS side of the pandemic, Enterline told The Epoch Times. Youre running on this increased load of COVID patients and now youre taking that home to your families, and are unknown of your exposure level.

Orange County Fire Authority Captain Joe Enterline of Station 61 in Buena Park, Calif., on Jan. 15, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

He said hes been quarantined twice, due to what they consider to be a high-risk impact.

And thats the great unknown. I have two young children and a wife, so what am I taking home as I go daily on calls? Enterline said. We take the precautions necessary, but theres still that heightened risk or that possibility. So the greater unknown is how will it affect me and how it will affect my family.

Enterline, based at the OCFAs Station 61 in Buena Park, said he struggles with the guilt he would feel if he inadvertently exposed others to the virus.

My wife is a schoolteacher, so theres a possibility that now were affecting at a greater level, he said. I also have an elderly grandma in her 90s. If I get exposed, and I dont know that I have [COVID], even though Im wearing a mask around her and taking the most precautions, that would be catastrophic for me to know that I gave it to someone else or someone in the public.

Taking Precautions

The OCFA is taken extensive precautions to keep its crews safe. Chief Brian Fennessy previously told The Epoch Times that the agencys quick response to the pandemic last March allowed it to secure the personal protective equipment first responders would need.

It also adopted new precautions to keep its firefighters safe. During their 48-hour shifts, firefighters are expected to maintain six feet of distance from colleagues and wear masks both at the station and while riding in firetrucks.

While there has been a surplus of equipment to help keep them safe, thanks to OCFA, Enterline said theres been a big decrease in manpower.

[As far as] manpower, we are on a severe drawdown.  We have had to have people off constantly, with some who are COVID-positive, some with high-risk exposures, he said. So, our drawdown over the past really three to four months has increased drastically.

To limit exposure while on the job, firefighters and EMS workers wear N95 masks, safety goggles that are 100 percent sealed, as well as a plastic gown provided by the OCFA. They also automatically place masks on patients and find out as much information as possible about COVID exposure from the patient as possible in an attempt to determine the patients risk.

After concluding a call, crews completely sanitize and decontaminate all equipment with a spray and wipe down, and return to the fire station to decontaminate their equipment, personnel, boots, and the station itself.

Added Pressure

Enterline said that COVID also added to the stress of fighting multiple wildfires in the past few months.

When were not on the front line of the wildfire, base camp was changed 100 percent, Enterline said.

Social distancing, temperatures taken every day, maintaining your distance, cleaning and monitoring your equipment, sanitizing your equipment, making sure your laundry was done every day. Those were steps that normally you dont need to take within base camp when youre under an already stressful situation and youre already fatigued [due to the wildfires].

Orange County Fire Authority Engine Number 61 in Buena Park, Calif., on Jan. 15, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

He noted that despite the mental health issues and fatigue that results from being a firefighter during the pandemic, the OCFA has done an excellent job of educating personnel and taking care of everyone on a personal level.

Firefighters are also trained for highly stressful events; before embarking on their first shift, they participate in 16-week training sessions.

An Unforgettable Experience

Throughout the past year, there are some memories that have stuck with Enterline.

One of the biggest memories is when you go into a house and everybody is sick or a care facility where everybody has [COVID], and the staff is so overwhelmed they dont know what to do, he said. Thats our job to calm them, to help them get their situation under control, whether we need to get county EMS involved or another unit out there to help mitigate the situation.

Enterline said that its important for the public to educate themselves as much as possible, and to use precautions outlined by the CDC to help break the cycle of the virus.

He added that residents should try to seek help from personal physicians prior to calling 911 if its a non-emergency issue because a doctor can do a lot more for them before emergency services are used.

But if they feel that 911 needs to be utilized, thats why were here, thats what we do, he said. Well come out and give those people the utmost respect, treat them like theyre one of our own, and make sure that they get the proper care.
Atlantis by director Valentyn Vasyanovych, submitted by the national committee for the Oscars best international feature 2021, was longlisted in 12 BAFTA award categories.

BAFTA's annual film awards ceremony is held by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The award winners will be announced on April 11, 2021. Atlantis will compete for nominations and main prizes in the categories: Best Film, Best Film Not in the English Language, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Casting, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Production Design, Leading Actresses (Liudmyla Bileka), Leading Actor (Andriy Rymaruk), Supporting Actors (Vasyl Antoniak), the Ukrainian State Film Agency informs.

Atlantis describes the events taking place in 2025  after Ukraine's future victory in the war against Russia. The occupied Donbas was returned to Ukraine, but its territories were declared uninhabitable. However, new love is born against the background of devastation.

All the roles were performed by non-professional actors  former intelligence officer, volunteer of the Come Back Alive charity fund Andriy Rymaruk, paramedic Liudmyla Bileka and volunteer Vasyl Antonyak. The film was shot in Mariupol and Kyiv.

The film's world premiere took place at the Horizons Competition of the 76th Venice International Film Festival where the film won the Orizzonti Award for Best Film.

In Ukraine, Atlantis was released on November 5, 2020.

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For what its worth, today we mostly remember the incredible machines and pilots the Axis and Western Allies forces threw at each other. Ask anyone, and theyll know a thing or two about Spitfires, Mustangs, Zeroes or Messerschmitts . But how many of us remember Yakovlev?Due to circumstances, Russia ended up fighting on the side of the Allies during the war, those circumstances being the massive German invasion of 1941 that crippled the nation almost instantly. But somehow, being the resourceful lot they are, the Russians rebounded and kicked the Germans all the way back to Berlin.One of the tools that helped them do that was the Yakovlev YAK 3. The fighter aircraft, a lighter, smaller version of the YAK-9, had its first flight in 1943, at a time when the Russians were getting in full offensive mode after their stunning victory at Stalingrad, and quickly joined the fight against the Germans, scoring a number of impressive wins.YAK-3s could achieve a maximum speed of 646 kph (401 mph) and a maximum altitude of 10,400 m (34,100 ft). They were armed with cannons and machine guns.During the war close to 5,000 units of them were made, but its unclear how many of them survive to this day, The one you see here somehow made its way to American shores, and it now resides in sunny California. The plane is wrapped in the two-tone grey colors of the French Escadron de Chasse 2/30 Normandie-Niemen, whose members trained and eventually flew Yakovlevs into combat.The operational history of this plane, of the 3M variety, is not known, but even so it is currently selling , and the asking price is $450,000.

Islamabad: A Pakistani International Airlines (PIA) plane was held back in Malaysia on Friday due to a legal dispute between the airline and another party.

Taking to Twitter, PIA wrote, "A PIA aircraft has been held back by a local court in Malaysia taking one sided decision pertaining to a legal dispute between PIA and another party pending in a UK court. The passengers are being looked after and alternate arrangements for their travel have been finalized."

The Airlines further added that it was an 'unacceptable' situation and PIA has engaged support from the Pakistani government in this case. It said, "It is an unacceptable situation and PIA has engaged the support from Government of Pakistan to take up this matter using diplomatic channels." The airline's spokesperson told Dawn that it was a payment dispute between the airlines and the party Perigreen, which was filed in the UK courts about six months ago.

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Banks have been warned against watering down fraud protections for consumers amid fears they want to stop refunding those who fall victim to common online shopping scams.

The watchdog which oversees an industry code stating fraud victims should be refunded if they are scammed told This is Money removing 'any of the protection measures around authorised push payment scams could expose customers to significant financial risk, in addition to the emotional distress that so often comes with victims' personal experiences of fraud'.

The Lending Standards Board added how much money victims lost in a scam 'should not be a metric when determining whether customers are reimbursed', amid reported concerns among banks that paying back victims of online shopping fraud was not what the anti-fraud code, introduced in May 2019 and signed by nine banks, was designed for.

Blameless victims defrauded while online shopping are currently supposed to be reimbursed

The remarks come as the LSB prepares to release a review into how the code is operating.

A previous report released in December found banks were still providing customers with generic fraud warnings when they went to transfer money.

Purchase scams, which see victims scammed when online shopping, made up more than half of all reports of authorised push payment fraud in the first half of last year, with 37,156 cases reported to the trade body UK Finance.

APP scams occur when victims send money directly to a fraudster.

Shoppers were scammed when trying to purchase pets, PPE and home coronavirus testing kits, as well as cars and games consoles among other items, UK Finance found.

Meanwhile, This is Money has previously reported that there was a rise in purchase scams involving caravans and hot tubs last year.

Victims lost 27.1million with the average loss 729. However, despite UK Finance finding 'a steady rise' in these scams, with cases up 6 per cent year-on-year as criminals cashed in on the coronavirus pandemic, banks reportedly wish to reduce the protections offered to victims.

Currently, those deemed blameless are supposed to be reimbursed from a central pot funded by Britain's biggest banks.

But minutes from a meeting of the UK's biggest banks in November arranged by UK Finance and reported by The Sunday Times stated the banking industry 'do not think purchase scams should be within the scope of the code and believe that they weaken its purpose by distracting focus away from the life-changing events of other scam types.'

Starling chief executive Anne Boden said refunding online shopping scam victims was 'not what the authorised push payment scam code was intended for'

The founder and chief executive of Starling Bank, Anne Boden, echoed this view in a blog post last week.

She wrote: 'Banks seem to have become the underwriter of all kinds of fraud that are not really financial fraud at all.

'If a consumer buys a pair of trainers online from a site advertised on a social media platform that takes their money and runs, this is not financial fraud, it's purchase fraud. Yet the banks are the ones asked to repay the customer for the non-existent trainers.

'We fully support the code that we signed up to last year to help customers hit by scams. But this kind of scam is not what the code was intended for.'

Banks including Starling believe social media companies should bear more responsibility for fraudulent adverts posted on their platforms, while they also feel purchase scams involving smaller sums of money than other types of push payment fraud like impersonation and romance scams should not be covered by the code.

Boden pointed to UK Finance figures which found 45 per cent of cases of purchase fraud involved sums of less than 300, while another high street bank has received claims for as little as 1p.

But the LSB hit back against this. In comments made to This is Money, a spokesperson said purchase scams 'pose a significant threat to customers and are becoming more sophisticated by the day.

'The level of money lost per scam should not be a metric when determining whether customers are reimbursed. After all, what is a life changing sum of money to one person is not necessarily to another.

'What's important is that each customer case should be reviewed on its own merit, and they should receive the level of protection needed to help prevent them becoming a victim of the scam, regardless of the amount of money in question.'

The LSB has been working with banks on their fraud warnings, as well as on a wider review of the push payment scams code which will be published later in January.

This is Money asked UK Finance whether it agreed with the LSB's view or Anne Boden's, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
On Friday, India and Japan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen ties in the field of Information and Communications. Telecom security, submarine optical fibre cable and smart cities are such technologies which work on 5G. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for communications & IT, and Japan's Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Takeda Ryota signed the MoU via video conferencing.

Signed MoU for cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technologies with Government of Japan in presence of Mr. Takeda Ryota, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, Govt. Japan. pic.twitter.com/SJGAvZZplV  Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) January 15, 2021

With this MoU, India and Japan have agreed to enhance cooperation in 5G standardisation, telecom security, submarine cable system, smart cities etc. pic.twitter.com/gxnwcnOTui  Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) January 15, 2021

READ | Japan To Use Over $7 Billion To Boost Subsidies For Restaurants Amid COVID-19 Emergency

Telecom security, submarine optical fibre cable system to islands of India and other countries to enhance the cooperation in spectrum management, smart cities, high altitude platform for broadband in unconnected areas, disaster management and public safety come under this agreement, apart from 5G technologies.

Apart from Ministry-level cooperation, Government of India organisations such as C-DOT and ITI limited with industry partners from Japan will also be part of this cooperation, it has been agreed. The timely execution of connecting Andaman & Nicobar Islands with submarine optical fibre cable is a great example of cooperation between India and Japan.

READ | DMK MP TR Baalu Writes To Ravi Shankar Prasad Over No Tamil Option For Postal Exams

During COVID-19 pandemic India rapidly adopted Digital technologies, such as Aarogya Setu app, use of Aadhar Enabled Payment System for doorstep distribution of cash and extensive growth of digital payments, said the Union Minister.

Ravi Shankar Prasad urged the Japanese electronics industry to invest in India by highlighting the great potential that it holds in 5G based services for them and avail the benefits of new opportunities. Japanese Minister Takeda Ryota expressed his happiness on signing the MoU with India and assured commitment of the Japanese government towards mutual cooperation and investment.

READ | COVID-19: Japan Mulls Harsher Punishment For People Violating Restrictions

Japan Extends 3,550 Cr Loan To India

On January 9, India and Japan signed an agreement for a loan of up to 50 billion yen (about 3,550 crore) to back the implementation of health and medical policy for New Delhis economic support programmes concerning the poor and vulnerable affected by the Covid-19 crisis.

READ | Japan Extends 3,550 Cr Loan To India To Help Destitute Populations Affected By Covid-19

Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 06:51:22|Editor: huaxia

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ROME, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Italy's privacy regulator on Friday formally opened up a probe into the policies of digital messaging app WhatsApp, a day after the entity called on the European Commission to look into WhatsApp's new terms and conditions initially set to enter into force next month.

WhatsApp, a subsidiary of the social media giant Facebook, is the world's largest digital messaging platform, with more than 2 billion monthly users as of October 2020, according to the data firm Statista.

The company announced this month that a new set of terms and conditions would enter into force starting Feb. 8. On Friday, the company announced it would delay the planned update until at least May 15.

Assuming the update does go into effect, users will be required to agree to the terms in order to continue using the service after that date.

The new terms and conditions are designed to make it easier for parent company Facebook to use WhatsApp and other subsidiaries including photo posting site Instagram as payment services, according to analysts quoted in Italian media stories.

In the European Union (EU), which passed a data protection law in 2018, the changes to terms and conditions will be minimal: WhatsApp will have greater access to email addresses and limited information on the phone where the app is installed, but it will not be able to use that information for targeted advertising, according to privacy attorney Ernesto Belisario, who was quoted in Corriere della Sera, one of Italy's most circulated newspapers. But outside the EU, that information can be used for marketing purposes.

There are no jurisdictions where Facebook or WhatsApp have access to the content of private messages or phone calls, according to the Frequently Asked Questions section on the companies' websites.

On Thursday, Italy's privacy regulator informed the European Commission of its concerns about the new terms and conditions, and it said it retained the right to take unilateral action in connection with the company's new rules. On Friday, the regulator opened a probe into the company's policies. Once completed, the privacy investigation could require WhatsApp to edit its terms and conditions for users in Italy.

The latest developments sparked widespread news coverage in Italy, with Corriere della Sera running a major story explaining what will change once the new terms enter into force. The financial daily said Italians were "lucky" to be protected by strong privacy laws but said they needed to be updated as technology developed. The technology site Open, meanwhile, explained the pros and cons of various other messaging applications.

Several media reports said the new rules could help boost the popularity of alternative messaging services.

Corriere della Sera reported that Signal, one such service, was downloaded 1.3 million times in one day this week worldwide, while Telegram, another rival, saw 25 million downloads in a three-day span. International media reports said worries that WhatsApp could see its user base erode were the main factor behind the company's decision to delay the change in its terms and conditions.

According to the data from Statista, Facebook Messenger, another Facebook product, is the world's second-leading messaging platform, with 1.3 billion monthly users as of three months ago. China's WeChat is the third, with more than 1.2 billion monthly users, followed by Tencent QQ, another Chinese company, with nearly 650 million users. Social media site Snapchat was next, with more than 430 million monthly users, just ahead of Telegram, with 400 million monthly users. There were six more companies with between 100 million and 250 million monthly users. Enditem
India has approved two made in India vaccines  Oxford-AstraZenecas Covishield and Bharat Biotechs Covaxin for emergency use authorisation. Over the next six to eight months, nearly three crore high-risk people, including healthcare and frontline workers, will be inoculated during the initial phase of COVID-19 vaccination drive that begins on Saturday.

The government signed purchase pacts on Monday with SII for 1.1 crore doses and for 55 lakh doses from Bharat Biotech. With the vaccination drive set to begin on January 16, here is everything you need to know about the two vaccines.

The sites will offer either Covishield or Covaxin in order to avoid providing recipients the option to choose one vaccine over the other. The COVID-19 vaccination is not compulsory for anyone and people people can choose not to get vaccinated. Heres what we know about the efficiency of these vaccines so far:

Covishield

This vaccine has been developed by the University of Oxford and British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer, Serum Institute of India (SII) -- which is British-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca's manufacturing partner  said that the vaccine would be 90 to 95 per cent effective if the two shots are parted by around 2-3 months. "You'll be hearing some good news from the UK very soon... It would be a 90-95% effective vaccine if you just keep a two-to-three months' gap between dose 1 and dose 2. They will make that public with documentation."

Covishield, Poonawalla added, is highly effective vaccine against novel coronavirus. The vaccine is being touted as one of the most promising vaccines for India where cost and logistics play a big roll.

According to a report in NDTV, unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which use a newer approach called mRNA making them more complex, fragile and require ultracold temperatures, Covishield is a vector vaccine which are slower but cheaper and importantly, can be kept stable for six months at standard refrigerator temperatures.

Covaxin

Covaxin has been developed by Indian biotechnology company Bharat Biotech and clinical research body Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The NDTV report calls Covaxin an inactivated vaccine -- one of the oldest methods for vaccinating people  which means that whole, inactivated viruses are injected in the body to trigger an immune response. These whole batches of coronavirus must be grown, "killed" using a chemical or heat and then made into a vaccine, making it a longer process, the report says.

Vaccination sites at the six Mumbai central government hospitals will give Covaxin. The consent form stated that the beneficiaries will be provided care in government-designated and authorized hospitals in case of any serious side effects due to the vaccine, a Times of India report said.

Beneficiaries who receive Covaxin will be paid compensation if they suffer adverse event due to the vaccine. The compensation was among the points highlighted on top of the consent form shared with the vaccination centre on Friday.

According to reports, the recipient of the vaccine will also be handed fact sheet and an adverse effect reporting form where they would have to note down symptoms suffered within the first seven days. The consent form state that the vaccine has demonstrated the ability to produce antibody against coronavirus in phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials. However, the clinical efficacy of Covaxin is yet to be established and it is being studies in phase 3 clinical trial, the report said.

Earlier, Bharat Biotech chairman Dr Krishna Ella speaking to News18 said India can expect interim efficacy data on its vaccine once the trials are completed. "The data is on its way. Phase III trials are going on. This sort of trial  26,000 volunteers involved is a huge number. This has never happened. But there is not one word of appreciation for that. It is not easy to capture the efficacy now. It is easy to capture efficacy when there is a high disease burden," Dr Ella said.

"It is easy to target Indian scientists. I had to tell this because some other company has branded my product as safe like water. Some local company in press yesterday said that safety is like water of other companies. Only three companies have done efficacy, and other vaccine is like water. I want to deny that. It hurts us as scientists; we work 24 hours and dont deserve this type of bashing from people," he responded to the question on the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Netflix has snapped up the worldwide rights to a spy thriller that could affect subscribers buying decision. The streaming giant has won the auction for Hearts of Stone, a Gal Gadot spy thriller developed by Skydance Media and to be directed by Tom Harper (The Aeronauts). According to Deadline, the people behind the film are hoping that it would lead to a massive female-centric spy franchise in the same vein as Mission: Impossible and 007.

Skydance also sold Chris Patt-starrer The Tomorrow War to Amazon earlier this week. Unlike that film, which is already completed, Hearts of Stone is still in its early stages and hasnt been shot yet  we may have to wait a while to get a glimpse of it. Gadot will co-produce the movie, which is written by Greg Rucka (The Old Guard) and Allison Schroeder (Hidden Figures). Skydance and Netflix had previously worked together in several projects, including Charlize Therons The Old Guard and Ryan Reynolds 6 Underground.

Film studios and production companies turned to streaming services after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered theatres. Just a few days ago, Netflix revealed that it has a bunch of high-profile movies among the 71 films its releasing this year. The list includes heist film Red Notice, which also stars Gal Gadot, along with Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds
There is growing anger over the vaccination of staff in private hospitals and clinics ahead of frontline public healthcare workers.

Private healthcare nurses and doctors have been vaccinated in the last week under the HSE's National Vaccination Programme.

Meanwhile, public healthcare workers have been forced to beg the Government for vaccines as Covid ravages hospital wards.

Refusing

Public hospitals have been treating the vast majority of the record number of new coronavirus cases.

Under a recent Government deal, private hospitals said they would allow just 30pc of their wards to be used to treat non-Covid patients.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is refusing to address the controversy despite the public healthcare service facing its biggest crisis since the start of the pandemic.

Yesterday, Labour Party leader Alan Kelly said it is "scandalous and completely wrong" that private healthcare staff are being vaccinated ahead of public nurses and doctors who are dealing with rocketing numbers of Covid cases every day.

And in an extraordinary development nurses in Nenagh Hospital in Tipperary published a video online in which they pleaded with the Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Minister Donnelly to tell them why they had not yet been vaccinated.

In the video, Nenagh clinical nurse manager Louise Morgan Walsh said: "We are so angry, we are scared, we are afraid, we can see our co-workers going down with Covid and becoming very ill."

It comes as it emerged nurses and doctors in the exclusive Hermitage Medical Clinic in Dublin have been vaccinated.

The Hermitage said 200 staff were vaccinated in line with the HSE's plan to prioritise those who are working in acute settings caring for patients.

It has been reported staff in the Bon Secours private hospital group have also been vaccinated.

Staff working in the Beacon Hospital in Dublin were also given vaccines as the hospital is being used as vaccination centre for healthcare workers.

Surge

The Beacon said it is not charging the HSE for use of its "state-of-the-art" vaccination centre and said staff volunteered to administer the vaccine.

However, HSE chief executive Paul Reid said he is concerned that the Denis O'Brien-owned Beacon was chosen as a vaccine centre after the hospital refused to sign a deal which would see some of their bed capacity taken over by the State to deal with the record surge in Covid cases.

Mr Reid is understood to be furious that he was blind-sided by news that the Beacon was to be used after the HSE announced it.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar suggested the deal could be reviewed if there was a review clause in the contract.

However, there is no review clause.

Mr Varadkar said designating the Beacon as a vaccination centre is "at odds" with the hospital's refusal to sign a deal that would give the HSE extra capacity.

Fine Gael Seanad leader Regina Doherty said it is "disrespectful" that Mr Donnelly is refusing to publicly address the issue and said the Beacon deal should be reversed.

A HSE spokesperson said: "The programme of vaccinating frontline healthcare workers against Covid-19 makes no distinction between them, whether they work in the community or in hospitals or in private or public healthcare."

Leaving the EU didnt soften Russias hawkish stance towards the UK.

When President Putin recently signed a decree extending until the end of 2021 Russias ban on import of agricultural products from countries that applied economic sanctions against Russia, the UK was separately added to the ban list, to reflect its Brexit separation from the EU.

Since 2014, Russia has banned many agricultural products from the USA, the EU, Canada, Australia, Norway, Ukraine, Albania, Montenegro, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, in retaliation for these countries applying economic sanctions after Russian military forces entered and occupied the Crimea territory of Ukraine.

Moscows alleged involvement in military conflict in eastern Ukraine was also cited by western countries which targeted Russias finance, energy and defence sectors with sanctions which hurt the Russian economy, restricting Russian access to global financial markets and cutting Russian imports of key technologies.

As a result of the ban, EU annual dairy exports of 30,000 tonnes of butter, 257,000 tonnes of cheese, 21,000 tonnes of skim milk powder, and 26,000 tonnes of whey powder, with total value of 1.4bn, were halted.

Finland, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland, and Germany were the member states worst affected.

With meats, fruit, and vegetables from the EU also banned, there was a fall from around 11.8 billion in 2013 to around 6 billion in 2017 in EU agri-food exports to Russia.

As part of the ban, Russian authorities have destroyed up to 7,600 tonnes of food per year, such as fruits and vegetables, cheeses and livestock products, all banned food products from western countries.
The El Paso County Sheriffs Office is looking for a vehicle in connection with a drive-by shooting that took place in Security-Widefield Jan.

Activist John Sullivan Released Conditionally Without Bail After Arrest Over Capitol Building Breach

John Sullivan, an activist who supports Black Lives Matter and opposes President Donald Trump, was released conditionally without bail on Friday after he was arrested and charged for his alleged activities at the U.S. Capitol amid the breach of the building on Jan. 6.

The Department of Justice on Jan. 14 announced that Sullivan, 27, was arrested on the same day in Utah and charged with being on restricted grounds without authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct, and interfering with law enforcement.

Sullivan made his first appearance in court via a virtual hearing in Salt Lake City on Jan. 15. Magistrate Judge Daphne A. Oberg of the United States District Court for the District of Utah said that the DOJ did not meet the legal threshold to get a detention hearing, reported Inner City Press, noting that the DOJ did not file a detention memo.

We seek detention, but we want 3 days, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Reeves at the hearing, according to the outlet.

First you have to meet the threshold for a detention hearing, Oberg said.

The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sullivan was released under the condition that he surrenders his passport, wears a GPS monitor, undergoes a mental health check, and remains home unless for court-approved activitiesincluding work, religious services, and medical treatment.

Sullivan is also prohibited from possessing firearms. He also has to maintain or seek full-time employment and stop working for Insurgence USA, an activist group he founded, although he doesnt have to surrender control of the group. The group calls itself anti-fascist and opposes police brutality.

Defense attorney Mary Corporon said that he will obtain more traditional employment working for a third party.

He will not dissolve it [Insurgents USA]. But no employment there. No Internet is a problem. The only job he could get is on a farm, like another client. Hell need a smartphone to get a job. That is not an appropriate restriction, Corporon told the judge. She also added, Not all of his First Amendment rights should be taken from him.

Oberg ordered that Sullivan remain off social media before his pretrial and be put under strict internet monitoring. She also said that any violation of the bail conditions would not be taken lightly, reported Deseret News.

Reeves had argued that Sullivan should remain in custody until the legal case resolves, alleging that Sullivan thrives at inciting chaos, the outlet reported. Reeves also noted reports of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitols and in Washington ahead of Jan. 20 as among reasons to keep Sullivan behind bars.

Read More Activist Who Supports BLM and Stormed Capitol on Jan. 6 Charged

Sullivan was charged by complaint. Prosecutors allege that he entered the U.S. Capitol through a window, pushed past Capitol police once inside, and admitted to filming and being depicted in video footage that shows him present, outside of the Speakers Lobby within the U.S. Capitol, at the shooting of a woman by a U.S. Capitol Police officer. The woman was identified as Ashley Babbitt (also spelt Ashli), an Air Force veteran.

Four more deaths, which took place outside of the building, were linked to the chaos on Jan. 6 on Capitol grounds. Three of them were due to medical reasons, with one man dying of a heart attack and another of a stroke, and one woman was crushed by the crowd, several media reported. A Capitol police officer, Brian Sicknick, died the following day because he was injured while physically engaging with protesters, Capitol Police said.

Sullivan, who uses the moniker Jayden X online, previously said on Twitter that he was only there to report the events and tried to blend in, although a video that he published online shows him encouraging intruders and convincing police officers to let them through during several impasses.

He said in an interview with the Rolling Stone published on Jan. 13 that he was trying to build trust among the people he was filming. I had to relate to these people, and build trust in the short amount of time I had there to get where I need to go, he told the magazine.

A separate video clip he filmed showed he was near a female videographer, who at one point turned to Sullivan and said: Let me give you a hug now. We did it. You were right. We did it.

Dude, I was trying to tell you. I couldnt say much, he replies.

The woman also says, You arent recording, right?

Ill delete that [expletive] up, he replies. But I didnt record you, I mean.

He told The Epoch Times that he was referring to plans for storming the Capitol he saw on underground chats and things like that. He posted information about the plans on his social media, but didnt inform law enforcement. Im not a snitch, he said in a phone call.

Petr Svab contributed to this report.
Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the launch of the world's largest vaccination drive against COVID-19, top BJP leaders and union ministers on Saturday said it is a historic moment for the country and reflects the resolve to make India self-reliant.

Prime Minister Modi on Saturday kicked off the drive while reassuring the country that emergency use authorisation was given to two made in India vaccines only after scientists were convinced of their safety and effectiveness, and urged people to beware of propaganda and rumours.

Describing it as a momentous day in India's history, BJP president JP Nadda said Prime Minister Modi is leading the country from the front in the battle against the COVID-19 by ensuring health services to all when they need it the most.

We salute our doctors, nurses, healthcare workers for making great efforts at this time. They are the real heroes of the largest vaccine drive. Vaccine will save us from the COVID virus but we should support it by use of masks, frequent handwashing and maintaining physical distance, Nadda said.

Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah said the vaccination drive shows the immense potential of India's scientists and the power of its leadership, as he again hailed the corona warriors.

The 'new India' led by Modi ji transforms disasters into opportunities and challenges into achievements. This 'Made in India' vaccine represents the determination of this self-reliant India. On this historic day, I bow to all our Corona warriors, Shah said in a series of tweets.

Echoing similar sentiments, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the Modi government has taken a decisive step to win the battle against the corona pandemic.

Our country's doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, policemen and other frontline workers who waged war against corona are now going to get a protective shield in the form of a vaccine. In the next phase, the vaccination campaign will reach 300 million people. It will certainly be a huge achievement, Singh said in a tweet.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the vaccination drive is the result of the prime minister's commitment to a 'healthy India'.

He appealed to people to wait patiently for their turn and ensure the success of this major exercise.

"At this point of time when the country is moving ahead in this battle against the pandemic, we have to also remain alert of the people who are spreading rumours, the chief minister told reporters.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had earlier this month approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive.

This will be the world's largest vaccination programme covering the entire length and breadth of the country.

According to the government, the shots will be offered first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers, and around two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities.

Gautam Buddh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma, who is also a trained MBBS doctor, got vaccinated for coronavirus as a 'healthcare worker'. He is among the first parliamentarians in India to get inoculated for the infection.

The beginning of the end for COVID-19 has started today with Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching the world's largest vaccination campaign. As a doctor, I have also got vaccinated for coronavirus. I am feeling absolutely fine. The vaccine is completely safe and all of you should get vaccinated, the 61-year-old former union minister tweeted in Hindi.

The cost of vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers will be borne by the central government.

Addressing the nation ahead of the launch of the drive, Modi said these vaccines will ensure a 'decisive victory' for India over the coronavirus pandemic, but asked countrymen to continue wearing masks and maintain social distancing even after receiving the jabs.
The latest figures from the Ministry of Health show that 135 new cases of coronavirus were discovered yesterday.

Three further deaths from COVID-19 were also reported, bringing the total death toll in the Grand Duchy to 552.

8,074 tests were carried out in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate was 1.67%.

There are 66 patients in standard hospital care (-2), and the number in intensive care has fallen by three to 18.

As a reminder, on weekends the government only release data on the number of tests, cases, deaths and hospitalisations.

As of Friday, there were 2,427 active infections in Luxembourg, while 45,654 patients had recovered from the virus.

The R rate stood at 0.86.

In total, 3,233 people had been vaccinated in Luxembourg by Friday.

For the latest updates on the coronavirus both in Luxembourg and abroad, see our live ticker.

The great revolution in the history of man, past, present and future, is the revolution of those determined to be free. - John F. Kennedy (35th President of the United States)

Those in the know, describe the noun freedom, as: the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

There are numerous definitions of freedom out there, but for the purpose of this article, the theme will to the best of my two-cents, worth of opinion - be to briefly discuss one of the most, if not the most, controversial, types of freedom: namely, political freedom.

Political freedom, which is separated by a very thin line from human rights, is best described, according to www.povertycure.org, as:

The ability of a nations citizens to participate freely in the political process. It involves both the freedom of the majority to influence and guide policy (rather than merely entrenched insiders doing so) and the freedom of political minorities to publicly advocate for their positions. In the words of Lord Acton, the most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities. Practically, this absence of coercion is expressed in such rights as freedom of the press, freedom of worship and freedom of assembly....

Almost ever since the dawn of creation, mankind has yearned, and fought for some type of political freedom - the right to think, act, speak, etcetera, without impediment or constraint, especially from governing authorities, who muzzle all these rights. Sadly, since the introduction of the secular governance concept many centuries ago, rarely, if ever, has mankind attained total political freedom.

Come to think of it, even the greatest authority over human affairs - the Word of God - through the writings of King Solomon, attests to that, I have observed all this, and carefully considered everything that is undertaken on earth, especially the time when someone dominates another to his detriment.... - Ecclesiastes 8:9 (ISV)

governments

Few, if any, global governments, had - ever since the introduction of a system whereby a group of elected (or imposed?) men constituting what is termed as government - had perfectly practiced the concept of total, political freedom (democracy) to the people under their rule. History is bloated with numerous accounts of governments who exercised (and some still do) a system of governance where the rights of their people were incessantly trampled upon. Dissenting voices ominously risk incarceration, with some ending up being assassinated.

The secular world leaders are corrupt and greedy; they hoard their countries wealth and resources to themselves, for their family members and cronies. In their greed, they neglect putting the interests of the people first, instead, look after their own interests. Gluttony and corruption are the hallmarks of their rule. Some consider themselves as being closer to God, demanding worship, expecting glory to be given to them - a glory which should be exclusively reserved for Jehovah, the Supreme Ruler of the universe.

Over the centuries, many global, undemocratic governments had oppressed their people, (and some continue to do so) such that this led to resentment and rebellion, resulting in insurgency, civil wars or revolutions. Led by fearless, gallant, freedom-fighters, some of whom were jailed or killed, the people of such countries eventually gained independence and political freedom from autocratic leaders and colonial rule.

Here are some of the greatest and most celebrated African leaders, who fought for their countries independence, freedom and democracy. Africa has come a long way with regards to fighting for independence and democracy. Misrule and dictatorial tendencies, had been (and still continues in some countries) the hallmark of some African governments.

Sourced from www.africa.business.com:

1. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana - Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, formerly Gold Coast. He led the fight for Ghanas independence in 1957. From prison, he led the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) to win an election in February 1951. As a result, he was released to form a government in 1951 and pushed for the countrys total independence in 1957. He was a firm believer in African liberation and pursued a radical pan-African policy. This ideal led to the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) (now the African Union) in 1963. His legacy and dream of a United States of African still remains a goal among many...

2. Patrice Lumumba, DR Congo - Patrice Emery Lumumba was the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo from June to September 1960. Lumumba was the leader of Movement National Congolais (MNC) party and played an instrumental role in the struggle for independence. He also continued to fight the influence of Belgium and other Western nations in the new country. This pitched him against the Western powers as he was unrelenting in his quest for the extermination of all signs of imperialism. He was assassinated at age 35 years old in 1961.

revolutionary

3. Nelson Mandela, South Africa - He was the first black President of South Africa and the most celebrated African leader of modern history. Mandela led the anti-apartheid movement for over 50 years and was successful in ending the decades of racial discrimination against the black natives by the white minority. During his presidency, Mandela focused on reconciliation and ensured all was done to avoid a repeat of apartheid, i.e the blacks maltreating the whites, and unification of the country. Mandela died in 2013 aged 95...

4. Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, Egypt - Gamal Abdel Nasser is fondly referred as the father of modern Egypt. His ideas and influence still hold sway in the North African country. At present, there is a movement known as Nasserism in Eygpt and many Arab countries. Nasser led the obliteration of monarchical rule in Egypt in 1952 and introduced many reforms.

wholeheartedly

All the mentioned great men believed wholeheartedly in a vision - the emancipation of their people from unjust colonial rule, racial discrimination and autocratic rule. That said, it was with a sense of shock and sadness when I received news of the passing away of Mr. Mario Masuku, former President of the proscribed, popular, progressive movement, Insika ye maSwati, (PUDEMO).The sad news spread like wildfire in the country, last week. His death followed closely in the footsteps of the sad demise of another freedom fighter stalwart, Jan Sithole.The late Sithole also fought tirelessly and with all his might for a democratic Eswatini.

Both men sacrificed their freedoms, comforts of life in their quest of bringing change in a country riddled with corruption, inequality and a whole lot of other injustices.

Mr. Masuku spent a larger part of his progressive life, in and out of prison. Sickly though he was in the later stages of his life, he never gave up fighting for his dream of a free Eswatini. It is with a heart-wrenching pain that I join the thousands, who mourn his untimely passing away, after having not realised his life-long ambition of eventually seeing a better Eswatini.

Rest in peace, Nhlane. Your legacy shall live on...You have earned your decorated space in the annals of history, joining other great men in the calibre of those aforementioned. Shalom!






HONG KONG and LOS ANGELES, Jan. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) today announced that the provisional total number of visitor arrivals in 2020 was 3.57 million, a 93.6% drop from 2019. Arrivals in January 2020 alone accounted for the majority of the annual total. As COVID-19 started to spread around the world in February, Hong Kong limited entry to overseas visitors and introduced stringent quarantine measures from mid-March onwards. Most people arriving in Hong Kong thereafter were visiting family members or traveling for other essential reasons, reducing the number of tourists to almost zero.

HKTB Chairman Dr. YK Pang said, "The tourism industry has been through an extremely tough year. The Hong Kong Tourism Board has renewed its strategies and approach in response to the immense challenges of the pandemic. As visitors could not come to Hong Kong in person, we took the initiative to concentrate on improving the city's atmosphere and ambience while maintaining its international exposure, to attract visitors back to Hong Kong as soon as the COVID-19 situation eases. Looking ahead to 2021, the HKTB is well prepared for the resumption of travel. We will further strengthen our cooperation with the travel trade to jointly develop new products and itineraries and enhance Hong Kong's service quality to ensure we are ready to welcome visitors back with warm hospitality when the pandemic situation is stabilized."

Key initiatives of the HKTB in 2020

Promoting Local Atmosphere

With visitors and Hong Kong people both unable to travel, the HKTB launched a first-of-its-kind promotion to encourage Hong Kong people to be tourists in their own city as a way to boost domestic consumption, deliver a positive message about Hong Kong to source markets, and generate confidence among visitors considering coming to the city in future.

A "Holiday @ Home" promotional platform launched in June. The one-stop platform provided over 15,000 offers in dining and retail outlets and attractions. The campaign was well received by both the industry and the public, with more than 3.7 million visits to the campaign website by the end of the year.

A second phase of "Holiday @ Home" launched in late October with a Free Tour program. Members of the public could redeem a quota for a free local tour upon spending HK$800 in physical retail or dining outlets, generating consumption chain and boosting the domestic tourism simultaneously. The program received an overwhelming response with the 10,000-place quota for tours filled within around a week of its launch. By the end of the year, 7,500 people had taken the tours. Because of the evolving pandemic situation, the Free Tour program was suspended in December. The remaining tours, numbering around 100, will take place when the COVID-19 situation improves.

in physical retail or dining outlets, generating consumption chain and boosting the domestic tourism simultaneously. The program received an overwhelming response with the 10,000-place quota for tours filled within around a week of its launch. By the end of the year, 7,500 people had taken the tours. Because of the evolving pandemic situation, the Free Tour program was suspended in December. The remaining tours, numbering around 100, will take place when the COVID-19 situation improves. After the positive response to the Free Tour program, the HKTB is discussing with trade partners to explore the possibility of a similar campaign.

Maintaining Hong Kong's International Exposure

Competition for visitors around the region is expected to be fiercer than ever in the post-pandemic era. The HKTB has therefore taken a number of steps over the past year to maintain Hong Kong's international exposure with a view to bringing visitors back as soon as possible when the outbreak subsides.

Innovative Promotions

The HKTB launched a #MissYouToo community promotional campaign in April to spread the message that Hong Kong misses its visitors from around the world. The campaign invited representatives from the tourism industry and Hong Kong celebrities to engage with an international audience on social media platforms, using their networks to express a sincere wish to see visitors return to the city. The campaign reached 35 million viewers.

misses its visitors from around the world. The campaign invited representatives from the tourism industry and celebrities to engage with an international audience on social media platforms, using their networks to express a sincere wish to see visitors return to the city. The campaign reached 35 million viewers. A number of source markets responded to the promotion. HKTB offices around southeast Asia launched a "100 Reasons to Miss Hong Kong" campaign in July, inviting influencers in those markets to describe why they miss Hong Kong on their social media platforms. The South Korean office also published a "Hello Hong Kong!" coloring book in September. The book featured illustrations of Hong Kong landmarks and icons by popular illustrators and was distributed to celebrities and influencers. The celebrities and influencers then colored the illustrations and shared their work with their online audiences.

launched a "100 Reasons to Miss Hong Kong" campaign in July, inviting influencers in those markets to describe why they miss on their social media platforms. The South Korean office also published a "Hello Hong Kong!" coloring book in September. The book featured illustrations of landmarks and icons by popular illustrators and was distributed to celebrities and influencers. The celebrities and influencers then colored the illustrations and shared their work with their online audiences. The HKTB launched a "360 Hong Kong Moments" campaign in October with the aim of producing around 20 videos on a variety of themes by the end of March 2021 . Applying the latest 360-degree Virtual Reality panoramic technology or other innovative filming techniques, the videos allow audiences grounded by the pandemic to enjoy immersive journeys through Hong Kong's diverse travel experiences from their homes.

. Applying the latest 360-degree Virtual Reality panoramic technology or other innovative filming techniques, the videos allow audiences grounded by the pandemic to enjoy immersive journeys through diverse travel experiences from their homes. The HKTB worked closely with international broadcasting networks while media outside Hong Kong were unable to visit the city. TV programs filmed earlier in Hong Kong were broadcast at different times in 2020, including Expedition Asia on The Discovery Channel, Chasing the Sun on Nat Geo People , Maximum Foodie (Hong Kong Episode) on the Asian Food Network, and many others, continuing to bring the city's rich diversity of travel experiences to a global audience.

Mega Events in New Formats

The HKTB organized mega events in new formats to comply with social distancing rules, providing a business platform for the industry and promoting the appeal of Hong Kong's mega events. The hugely popular Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival, for instance, adopted a new "Online+Offline" format, while the Hong Kong Winterfest and the Hong Kong New Year Countdown Celebrations were held online for the first time.

A video of the Hong Kong New Year Countdown Celebrations attracted more than 5 million views on the HKTB's social media platforms. A total of 110 media organizations in Hong Kong, on the Mainland and overseas also reported on the event, including the China News Service, the Xinhua News Agency, Phoenix TV, CNN, and the BBC. Some of the media organizations broadcast the event live or rebroadcast it.

Communicating and Working Closely with Trade Partners

The HKTB maintained cooperation and communication with members of the tourism industry around the world through webinars, forums, business matching platforms, and organized virtual tours.

More than 100 webinars have been organized by the HKTB since March 2020 , and more than 15,000 trade representatives from the Mainland and overseas have participated.

, and more than 15,000 trade representatives from the Mainland and overseas have participated. A major webinar was held in April to maintain communication with global trade partners and analyze the pandemic's impact on tourism. It was attended by 1,500 trade representatives from Hong Kong . In June, the HKTB held its first global online forum, titled "Beyond COVID-19: Global Tourism's New Normal" in June at which internationally-respected industry leaders shared their insights. The forum attracted over 4,000 registrants, including tourism industry members, journalists, and academics.

. In June, the HKTB held its first global online forum, titled "Beyond COVID-19: Global Tourism's New Normal" in June at which internationally-respected industry leaders shared their insights. The forum attracted over 4,000 registrants, including tourism industry members, journalists, and academics. The HKTB launched its first online matching platform to connect companies interested in organizing MICE events in Hong Kong with operators, venue providers, attractions, and hotels. The platform successfully matched over 500 Hong Kong businesses and Mainland enterprises, and set up more than 1,300 meetings.

with operators, venue providers, attractions, and hotels. The platform successfully matched over 500 Hong Kong businesses and Mainland enterprises, and set up more than 1,300 meetings. From September, the HKTB worked with a Japanese travel agency to host virtual tours to Hong Kong . More than 10 tours were organized and the cooperating agency said the tours were the most popular virtual tours they had arranged.

. More than 10 tours were organized and the cooperating agency said the tours were the most popular virtual tours they had arranged. In October, the HKTB introduced a set of standardized hygiene protocols for tourism related sectors to help establish Hong Kong's reputation as a safe and healthy destination for future travel, sponsoring application fees in full for its trade partners. By mid-January 2021 , more than 1,500 outlets were certified under the scheme.

Provisional Total Visitor Arrivals of 2020

Market December (year-on-year change) January to December ('000) (year-on-year change) Mainland 2,425 (-99.9%) 2,706 (-93.8%) Non-Mainland* 2,442 (-99.7%) 862 (-92.9%) Short-haul 1,159 (-99.7%) 360 (-94.3%) Long-haul 861 (-99.7%) 330 (-91.6%) New markets 331 (-99.2%) 54 (-91.5%) Total 4,867 (-99.8%) 3,569 (-93.6%)

Note: Because of rounding up, the total may differ from the sum of the individual figures. *Includes figures from long-haul, short-haul, and new markets, as well as the Macao SAR. (Full details of December visitor arrivals and arrivals from individual markets in 2020 will be released on January 29, 2021.)

SOURCE Hong Kong Tourism Board

Related Links

http://www.hktb.com


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www.NAELA.org NAELA members advocate for the needs of older adults and people with disabilities, and the passage of this relief package will benefit these populations tremendously.

The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) praises the U.S. Senate for passage of the latest COVID-19 relief package. The relief package will aid in three of NAELAs top public policy priorities for 2021:

Made permanent the lower medical expense deduction threshold. This tax deduction helps individuals offset the cost of high out-of-pocket health expenses, including long-term care. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 temporarily lowered the threshold for the deduction from 10 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI) to 7.5 percent of AGI. Congress had previously extended the measure, and it was set to expire at the end of the year.

Extends Medicaids spousal impoverishment protections to home and community-based service waivers until September 2023. This policy ensures that individuals can access Medicaid long-term care at home while allowing their spouse to retain a modest amount of resources for living. The Affordable Care Act temporarily mandated that Medicaids assets and income protections for the spouse of a beneficiary apply not just to institutional settings (nursing homes) but also to home and community-based service waivers starting in 2014. Since its initial expiration at the end of 2018, Congress had continually used short-term extensions to keep the protections going through December 2020.

Funding for Money Follows the Person through 2023. First created in 2005, the Medicaid Money Follows the Person Demonstration Project (MFP) provides grants to states in order to 1) support Medicaid enrollees who want to transition from nursing facilities back to community-based settings; and 2) develop infrastructure to promote and enhance access to HCBS. Thanks to MFP, over 100,000 individuals have transitioned out of nursing homes and back to the community.

NAELA members advocate for the needs of older adults and people with disabilities, and the passage of this relief package will benefit these populations tremendously, said NAELA President Wendy Cappelletto, Esq., CAP.

Learn more about NAELA members and read Questions and Answers When Looking for an Elder and Special Needs Law Attorney.

Find an elder and special needs law attorney in your area using NAELAs Member Directory.

About NAELA

Members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) are attorneys who are experienced and trained in working with the legal problems of aging Americans and individuals of all ages with disabilities. Upon joining, NAELA member attorneys agree to adhere to the NAELA Aspirational Standards. Established in 1987, NAELA is a non-profit association that assists lawyers, bar organizations, and others. The mission of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys is to educate, inspire, serve, and provide community to attorneys with practices in elder and special needs law. NAELA currently has members across the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit NAELA.org, or to locate a NAELA member attorney in your area, visit NAELA.org/FindLawyer.
MOSCOW -- Germany has sent to Russia the transcripts of interviews its authorities conducted with Aleksei Navalny, and demanded that Moscow carry out a full investigation into the poisoning of the Russian opposition politician.

The move on January 16 came a day ahead of Navalnys planned return to Moscow following several months in Germany, where he was sent for treatment following his August 2020 near-fatal poisoning that he has blamed on Russian authorities.

The Kremlin critic has said that he will return to Russia despite having received a notice that the country's Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) would seek his arrest, setting the stage for a potentially dramatic new showdown between the Kremlin and Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken foes.

Late last month, FSIN demanded Navalny return immediately from Germany or face jail in Russia for violating the terms of a suspended prison sentence relating to a 2014 fraud conviction and for evading criminal inspectors.

According to court documents, he could face a jail sentence of as much as 3 1/2 years.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in October 2017 that the Russian courts violated Navalny's right to a fair trial in the case.

Navalny has faced numerous arrests and jail terms as he has challenged Putin's rule over the past several years, mainly by organizing and leading protest events.

The Kremlin critic in August fell seriously ill during a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to the Russian capital. He was initially treated at a hospital in Omsk before being taken by air to Berlin.

Several laboratories in Western countries, including Germany, have determined that Navalny was poisoned by Novichok, a military substance developed in Soviet-era Russia.

Moscow denies any involvement and, in September 2020, said it needed more information, including clinical samples, to carry out an investigation into the poisoning.

The German Justice Ministry said that with the handing over of information requested by Moscow -- including blood and tissue samples -- the Russian government now has all the information it needs to carry out a criminal investigation.

A ministry spokesman said Berlin expects that "the Russian government will now immediately take all necessary steps to clarify the crime against Mr. Navalny."

"This crime must be solved in Russia. This requires investigations commensurate with the seriousness of this crime," the spokesman added.

With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and AFP
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In 2020, fifty servicepersons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed as a result of the armed hostilities in Donbas.

"Fifty servicepersons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed in the armed hostilities in the Joint Forces Operation area since the beginning of 2020. In addition, 339 servicepersons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were wounded in the armed hostilities in the Joint Forces Operation area since the beginning of 2020," the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said in response to an inquiry from the Radio Liberty, Ukrinform reports.

It is noted that 79 non-battle deaths were recorded during the Joint Forces Operation in 2020.

In total, according to the Ministry of Defense, 2,665 servicepersons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been killed and 10,152 servicepersons have been wounded in the Anti-Terrorist Operation and the Joint Forces Operation against the enemy forces in Donbas since 2014.

Over this period, the Ukrainian troops suffered 1,168 non-battle casualties.

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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) addresses the virtual 2020 Republican National Convention on Aug. 25, 2020. (The Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 RNC via Getty Images)

Many Will Leave Party If GOP Senators Go Along With Convicting Trump: Sen. Rand Paul

Republicans who joined Democrats in voting to impeach President Donald Trump this week faced harsh criticism from Republican parties in their states.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said during an interview with Fox News Laura Ingraham on Friday he believes if GOP leadership is complicit in voting with Democrats for impeachment, they will destroy the GOP party if it leads to Trumps conviction, adding that he thinks one-third of the party will leave.

The senator said he thinks the Democrats second article of impeachmentalleging the president incited an insurrection that resulted in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.is purely a partisan thing.

I have opposed President Trump when I thought he was wrong, Ive been for him when he was right, we did a lot of good things throughout the Trump presidency, Paul said.

Impeachment is purely a partisan thing, its for these moraloh Im so much better than you and youre a bad person because Im so moral, he continued.

President Donald Trump looks on as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) speaks at a campaign rally at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., on Nov. 4, 2019. (Bryan Woolston/Getty Images)

The senator noted that he didnt agree with the incidents that happened at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. and also voted against overturning the election following claims of election fraud, but he added that he thinks filing impeachment is just a wrongheaded, partisan notion.

If Republicans go along with it, it will destroy the party, Paul said. A third of the Republicans will leave the party.

The impeachment, accomplished in a single seven-hour session, was the fastest in U.S. history. It is also the first time in the nations history that a president has been impeached twice.

Republicans criticized the rush, arguing that it offered no due process to the president and no confidence in the proceedings to the American people. Democrats justified the truncated process by alleging that Trump poses a danger to the nation every day he is in office.

We know that the president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion, against our common country, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) alleged. He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) displays a signed article of impeachment against President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 13, 2021. (Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images)

Every Democrat voted in favor of impeachment. While zero Republicans voted to impeach Trump last year, 10 crossed the aisle in the Jan. 13 vote.

Republicans who voted to impeach the president were Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), John Katko (R-N.Y.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), Tom Rice (R-S.C.), David Valadao (R-Calif.), and Peter Meijer (R-Mich.)

Some Republicans argued that moving forward with impeachment would further divide the nation.

Instead of moving forward as a unifying force, the majority in the House is choosing to divide us further, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said. I can think of no action the House could take thats more likely to further divide the American people than the action we are contemplating today.

Some of the Republicans who opposed impeachment didnt explicitly defend the president. Others opposed the charge and argued that the presidents actions didnt amount to incitement.

Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.
Fort Polk, LA (71446)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Image: Unsplash/Alvin Engler

Good fences make good neighbors.

Published in 1914, Robert Frosts famous Mending Wall is a classic American poem. Every year, middle school students are tasked with memorizing it and high school students with explaining it. In it, Frost tells the story of two neighbors rebuilding a wall between their two farms. Reflecting on the fact that each year they have to rebuild the same fence as nature persistently tears it down, one of the farmers says Something there is that doesnt love a wall, that wants it down. Yet each time, the other neighbor merely responds that Good fences make good neighbors.

Few people will confuse me with a poet, but this poem has stuck with me. So many people have bought into this thinking, believing that the optimal neighborhood is one where people stay on their side of the fence. We chose safety and stability of carving out our spot instead of the unknown and difficulty task of developing relationship. Fences are meant to free us from actually engaging our neighbor, thats what makes them good.

A common realization of COVID-19 that many have had is that this view is antithetical to our gospel mission. Stuck close to home, weve been awakened to these people who live on our street or in our apartment building. Suddenly, those we previously had tried desperately to ignore became a lifeline for human connection. Underneath this realization is a central truth: engaging your community begins with engaging those around you.

God has placed you in your neighborhood or your apartment complex for a reason. He has given you a mission field to build his kingdom by showing and sharing the love of Jesus with those around you. In response, I want to offer three practices Christians should consider in tearing down these fences and engaging their communities with the gospel of Jesus.

1. Submit your Friendships

When I was young in ministry I received one of the most important pieces of advice I ever received: Submit your friendships to the kingdom.

Most people can only have a certain number of friendships in life at any given time. If you want to truly reach your neighbors you need to be willing to make those people your friends. Instead, Christian too often want to engage their neighbors but only to a certain point. They want to reserve their friend slots for church or work. Their neighbors are merely acquaintances, people they just happen to live close to. Yet if you want to engage our community effectively and see lasting fruit you need to be willing to give your time, energy, and affection to your neighbors.

Within this season of COVID-19, this requires intentionality. While Im thankful for digital technology, our dependence on it this season has the unintended consequence is that many people have allowed opportunities to make connections to slip through the cracks. My point is simple: if you want to grow in this area, now more than ever, this requires purposefully focusing on maintaining connections in your community.

2. Map the Neighborhood

In Christians in the Age of Outrage, I recount a story of when my wife, Donna, and I became convicted over how we were failing to reach our neighbors. We had moved to the neighborhood with grand plans to show and share the love of Christ to those around us but for a host of reasons we hadnt made much headway.

In talking through what we should do, I remember getting out a piece of paper and drawing a map of our neighborhood:

We drew a diagram of the streets and cross streets, and began to fill it in with everything we knew about each neighbor. Our intention was to be mindful of all the people in the immediate proximity of our house. We wrote down the names of eight of our nearest neighbors who didnt know Christ. We started to find excuses for our kids to play together. We hosted cookouts and Super Bowl parties, and then we started a Bible study. With every trial, success, and crisis came the opportunity to preach the gospel. Avoiding the Christianese that can obscure the gospel, we would emphasize that only in Jesus can we find fulfillment for those most common desires of the human heartto be known, loved, and valued. Several people attended, and over a year, we saw a key couple in the neighborhood trust Christ, be baptized, and start leading a Bible study in their home.

Drawing a map of the neighborhood was a way of crystalizing our community as a mission field. Reaching our neighborhood can be very abstract until you begin to understand who lives where and what is going on in their lives.

Mapping our neighborhood helped us to visually understand that these people were our neighbors. They werent just people who lived near us, they were real people with real lives that we were called to show and share the love of Jesus to while we lived among them. It made us speak and act in concrete terms rather than in the abstract.

In essence, mapping out our neighborhood challenged us truly know the scope of our community.

3. Lead with the Table

Christians cant expect to make inroads in their neighborhoods and in their broader community if they believe evangelism and mission only takes place at the front door. One of my close friends and fellow pastor once told me, You cant say someones a friend until theyve sat at your dinner table.

In exploring the importance of hospitality in Scripture, Joshua Jipp offers this important definition:

Hospitality is the act or process whereby the identity of the stranger is transformed into that of guest. While hospitality often uses the basic necessities of life such as the protection of ones home and the offer of food, drink, conversation, and clothing, the primary impulse of hospitality is to create a safe and welcoming place where a stranger can be converted into a friend.

This is a powerful definition for Christians seeking to engage their communities. Hospitality is a primary way we convert strangers into friends. The vulnerability and intimacy of welcoming others into space that society is increasingly telling us to guard, tells them that we value both them as human beings and the opportunity to be in relationship with them.

Obviously, creating any sort of social connection can be challenging in our pandemic world. Yet, if you just look outside your door, God may open your eyes to the work He has already been doing in the houses or apartments you pass by every day. The burden will be upon you to think creatively about how to bring them into your socially distanced space. You could have a bonfire, offer to buy groceries or other necessities, or even just go on a walk.

God is already at work in the hearts and minds of those around you, and He invites all of us to join in with Him. In this season, let yourself be surprised by how the small act of opening your home, and offering your time, can open peoples hearts to hear the gospel of Jesus.
Vietnam Electricity will conduct price marketization to encourage investment in electricity industry and follow the State-regulated market mechanism.

Vietnam will officially run the competitive retail electricity market in 2023 as part of efforts to make the power sector more transparent and effective in comparison with the regional peers.

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung at the meeting on January 12. Photo: VGP

Vietnam Electricity (EVN), the countrys sole power distributor, needs to facilitate the investment in infrastructure of the power industry to better connect power plants with the national grid, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said at a meeting on January 12.

EVN needs to prioritize energy efficiency together with reasonable import and export of power in national programs, Mr. Dung said, adding that the group should be active in recommending plans for electricity generation and transmission to ensure sufficient energy for socio-economic development, defense and security.

The solutions will aim to keep electricity prices stable. High power prices will make Vietnamese goods uncompetitive, the deputy PM said.

Competitive retail electricity market

Vietnams 2004 Electricity Law has provided the framework to develop a competitive power market, helping promote private investment, and establish a regulatory authority, according to the World Bank.

Under which, the private sector is encouraged to participate in each distribution company.

Whereas the power market is partially competitive, improved operational efficiency and financial performance of generators in this market has contributed to keeping generation costs relatively low.

Plans are broadly on track for further extensive reforms, including a clean energy transition, Alan David Lee and Franz Gerner said in Learning from Power Sector Reform Experiences policy research working paper published in March 2020.

Vietnam has seen significant changes to its market structure, gradually moving from a vertically integrated structure to a more competitive power market, the paper showed.

In less than two decades, the countrys power sector evolved from fragmented companies with high technical and financial losses to an integrated power system, and then to an unbundled group of stated-owned corporations with sizeable participation of domestic and international private sector actors in power generation.

Vietnam expects to run competitive retail electricity market by 2023. Photo: monre.gov.vn

2021 targets

Representatives of EVN said at the meeting that one of the groups tasks for 2021 is to conduct price marketization to encourage investment in electricity industry and follow the State-regulated market mechanism.

Duong Quang Thanh, chairman of the Board of Directors at EVN, said the group will prioritize sufficient power supply in a stable manner in 2021 for the socio-economic targets.

EVN targets to increase output by 5.16% on-year to more than 228 billion kWh in 2021, System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) of less than 349 minutes, electricity loss rate less that 6.35%.

The group will boost the development of renewable energy to reduce imported materials and ensure stable supply.

In addition, it requires efforts to complete regulatory framework for the electricity industry, especially regulations on credit guarantee schemes as the sector needs huge amount of money for power generation and transmission.

Requirements on environmental protection become strict, demanding investors to develop clean energy sources.

Accordingly, applying advanced technology and using updated equipment will be a must in upcoming power projects.

"The last but not least is digital transformation that should be applied for the groups operations and customer services to save cost," EVNs Deputy General Director Nguyen Tai Anh said at the meeting.

Currently, the group is running 16 software programs including ERP, CMIS 3.0, IMIS, PMIS, HRMS, E-OFFICE and EVNHES, for all its members.

2020 performance

EVN said one of its achievements in 2020 is lowering electricity loss rate to 6.42%, the third in ASEAN.

In 2020, the group offered electricity price reduction worth VND12.3 trillion (US$525 million) to customers as part of efforts to support them in the Covid-19 pandemic.

EVNs members have so far operated a network of 29,638 megawatts (MW), accounting for roughly 43% of the national installed capacity.

In the year, the consumed power volume reached 216.95 billion kWh, up 3.42% on-year. Hanoitimes

Linh Pham

Vietnams electricity output forecast to rise to 950 billion kWh by 2045 Vietnams electricity output is forecast to rise to 950 billion kWh by 2045 to meet the growing demand for economic expansion.
Axios

While Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) was out of state at a conference, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R) issued an executive order Thursday banning mask mandates in school and public buildings, AP reports.Why it matters: Little never issued a statewide mask mandate, but there have been some in counties, cities and schools. McGeachin announced last week she was running for governor, challenging Little who has only served one term, and her order could appeal to far-right voters in the state.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Little's office told AP that McGeachin did not tell the governor about the order in advance. Throughout the pandemic, Gov. Little has been committed to protecting the health and safety of the people of Idaho and has emphasized the importance of Idahoans choosing to protect our neighbors and loved ones and keeping our economy and schools open, Little spokesperson Marissa Morrison saidBackground: In March, McGeachin participated in an anti-mask protest, the Washington Post reported, and she suggested last year that the pandemic may or may not be occurring."According to AP, Idaho has recorded more than 190,000 cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic and roughly 2,000 deaths.What she's saying: Ive been listening to people all across the state with the concern about, especially, why are little kids being forced to wear masks in school, McGeachin told AP.My oath to the Constitution is to protect those rights and freedoms of the individual, and Ive never supported any type of a mandate on the individual, especially when it comes to health care choices.McGeachin said she had contracted the virus in 2019 and now has a "natural immunity," per AP.Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order banning mask mandates, not face masks. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

Kampala: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has scored a decisive election victory to win a sixth term, the country's election commission said on Saturday, but his main rival Bobi Wine denounced the results as fraudulent and urged citizens to reject them.

The 76-year-old Museveni, in power since 1986 and one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, dismissed the allegations of fraud in an evening address to the nation, saying Thursday's election may turn out to be the "most cheating free" in Uganda's history.

Supporters of Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni celebrate in Kampala. Credit:

The Electoral Commission said final counts showed Museveni won 5.85 million votes, or 58.6 per cent, while Wine had 3.48 million votes (34.8 per cent).

The campaign was marked by a deadly crackdown by security forces on Wine, other opposition candidates and their supporters. In the run-up to the vote local civil society groups and foreign governments questioned its credibility and transparency, after scores of requests for accreditation to monitor the election were denied.
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India kicked off one of the world's largest coronavirus vaccination drives Saturday as the pandemic spread at a record pace and global COVID-19 deaths surged past two million.

The World Health Organization has called for accelerating vaccine rollouts worldwide as well as ramping up efforts to study the sequencing of the virus, which has infected more than 93 million people globally since it was first detected in China in late 2019.

India, home to 1.3 billion people, has the world's second-largest caseload.

The government has given approvals to two vaccinesthough one is yet to complete clinical trialsaiming to inoculate around 300 million people by July.

One of the first to receive a jab in the eastern city of Kolkata was 35-year-old health worker Santa Roy, who told AFP he now saw a "ray of hope" after witnessing people die of the coronavirus.

Authorities say they are drawing on their experience with elections and child immunisation programmes for the drive, which is a daunting task in an enormous, impoverished nation with often shoddy transport infrastructure and one of the world's worst-funded healthcare systems.

Regular child inoculations are a "much smaller game" and vaccinating against COVID-19 will be "deeply challenging", said Satyajit Rath from India's National Institute of Immunology.

The government has readied tens of thousands of refrigeration tools and about 150,000 specially trained staff to try and overcome some of those challenges.

The vaccines will also have high security, so that doses do not end up being sold on India's large black market for medicines.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday said he wanted "to see vaccination under way in every country in the next 100 days so that health workers and those at high risk are protected first".

His call came as infections snowballed, with 724,000 new cases recorded on average per day globally over the past week, according to AFP's tallya record 10 percent increase on a week earlier.

'Unacceptable' vaccine delays

The worrying spikes in deaths and infections come as concerns and criticism grow over vaccine logistics and supply issues in many parts of the world.

US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said shipments of its vaccines would slow for a period in late January.

In hard-hit Europe, there are concerns that the Pfizer delays could further slow a vaccine rollout that has already faced heavy criticism.

Pfizer, which jointly developed its vaccine with German company BioNTech, said EU countries could expect delayed deliveries in the coming weeks due to work being done at its plant in Belgium.

It promised that there would be "a significant increase" in shipments in March, and the European Commission said all vaccines ordered by the bloc for the first quarter would be delivered on time.

But ministers from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden said in a joint letter that the situation was "unacceptable" and "decreases the credibility of the vaccination process".

As cases mount, nations have doubled down on restrictions.

Portugal entered a fresh lockdown Friday, and new curbs on populations were announced from Italy to Brazil.

Beijing extended its isolation period for overseas arrivals, requiring travellers to spend an extra week at home after the 21 days in hotel quarantine already in place, state media reported on Saturday.

Fears are also growing that a new strain of the virus found in Brazil could be more contagious, just like the variants recently found in Britain and South Africa.

Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm has claimed that ongoing tests showed its vaccine to be effective against the variant first detected in Britain, according to state media.

'Out of control'

In the United Statesthe hardest-hit nation in the worldPresident-elect Joe Biden vowed Friday to harness the full strength of the government in a vaccine blitz: creating thousands of immunisation sites, deploying mobile clinics and expanding the public health workforce.

Known US infections have surpassed 23 million with more than 390,000 deaths, and the American economythe world's largesthas been battered.

The virus has slammed California in recent weeks, and there have been so many deaths in some parts of the state that funeral homes are running out of capacity.

Boyd Funeral Home in Los Angeles has begun turning away customers for the first time in its history.

At its reception desk, the phones keep ringing, mostly going unanswered as overwhelmed staff have abandoned setting appointments and now tell customers to just show up and get in line.

"It's sad. But that's pretty much how it is now," said owner Candy Boyd.

"Things are getting more and more out of control."

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
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Big news yesterday from ICAN: At the Informed Consent Action Network, you are the authority over your health choices and those of your children. In a medical world manipulated by advertising and financial interests, true information is hard to find and often harder to understand. Our goal is to put the power of scientifically researched health information in your hands and to be bold and transparent in doing so, thereby enabling your medical decisions to come from tangible understanding, not medical coercion.

As of today, January 15, 2021, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has withdrawn the mandate for all students to receive an influenza vaccine. An ICAN-funded lawsuit brought about this amazing development for all in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Last week, we reported to you about a lawsuit funded by ICAN, brought against the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), to challenge the legality of a flu shot vaccine mandate for all children in childcare and all students in school, ages 6 months through 29 years old. Episode 197s Legal Update segment explained the legal bases for the lawsuit.

NO STUDENT will be MANDATED to receive the flu vaccine in order to attend school! Today we bring you even better news: on the same day that the DPH was to file its response to the lawsuit with the Court -- including responding to a request for a preliminary injunction striking the flu shot mandate -- the DPH capitulated and withdrew the mandate in its entirety! This means thatwill beto receive the flu vaccine in order to attend school!

The DPHs updated list of required vaccines does not contain influenza vaccine. This is an enormous and significant victory and a huge relief for thousands of individuals and families across Massachusetts who had been backed into a corner by the DPHs fiat.

The DPH first showed signs of weakness when, within days of being sued and the Court ordering an expedited hearing, it pushed back the original December 31, 2020 deadline for receipt of the vaccine to February 28, 2021.

ICAN is beyond proud that its funding and its legal work continues to make real life changes for real people every day. Victories like this will continue to motivate us to never rest and to always stand up for informed consent and peoples right to choose!

Congratulations, Massachusetts!


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~ Nets C$11.75 million ~



THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NuLegacy Gold Corporation is pleased to report the closing of the 100,000,000 units (the Units) private placement at a price of C$0.125 per Unit to raise gross proceeds to the Company of C$12.5 million (the Offering) announced January 9, 2021.

Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a Common Share) and one transferable Common Share purchase warrant (a Warrant). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one Common Share of the Company at an exercise price of C$0.20 for a period of 36 months from today.

NuLegacys CEO Albert Matter comments that We are all very grateful for the support from our existing shareholders and the financial community, particularly Canaccord-Genuity (Financial Advisor) and Crescat Capital (Lead order) and their representatives, as well as several new brokerage supporters including Echelon Partners; also am recognizing our corporate staffs extraordinary efforts in closing this PP in five business days.

Completing this financing at this time was supported by our Chairman Alex Davidson, Advisor Quinton Hennigh and myself underwriting in the aggregate up to the 25% maximum amount permitted by related parties under MI 61-101 exemptions. Completing the financing was critical as it allows NuLegacy to start contracting for the much bigger and more expensive deep drilling rigs and the superior drillers needed that will soon be in short supply as the contracting season for Nevadas 2021 drilling season is underwayand thats not like texting for an Uber. This financing will enable us to accelerate the expanded Spring/Summer 2021 drilling program, and I thank everyone involved for putting NuLegacy in that position, thank you.

The issue has been closed with 100% of it subscribed for and documented, 82% funded as at this date, and the balance of the funding pending with delivery of funds undertaken for Monday, Jan 18th. The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to carry out an expanded exploration program on the Rift Anticline beyond the 12 core holes currently planned for the Spring-Summer 2021 drilling program, as well as for general corporate and working capital purposes.

Certain directors and officers of the Company have participated in the Offering for an aggregate amount of 7,850,000 Units to date for a total C$981,250. Such portion of the Offering with insiders constituted a related party transaction for the purposes of Multilateral Instrument 61-101, Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (MI 61-101) and NuLegacy relied upon exemptions from the requirement to obtain a formal valuation and seek minority shareholder approval for the Offering on the basis that the fair market value of the participation by such insiders is less than 25% of NuLegacys current market capitalization. The material change report filed in connection with the participation of insiders in the Offering was filed less than 21 days in advance of the closing of the Offering, which the Company deemed reasonable within the context of current market conditions and its accelerated drilling and exploration program.

All securities issued in connection with the Offering are subject to a four month hold period which, for todays securities, expires May 16, 2021. The Company has also paid finders fees in cash, shares and/or warrants to certain finders and/or advisors in connection with the sale of Units in accordance with the policies of the TSXV.

On trend: NuLegacy Gold is focused on confirming high-grade Carlin-style gold deposits within the ~ 6 sq. km Rift Anticline target in the northwest corner of its flagship 108 sq. km (42 sq. mile) district scale Red Hill Property in the Cortez gold trend of Nevada. The Rift Anticline target is located on trend and adjacentI to the three, multi-million ounce Carlin-type gold deposits (the Pipeline, Cortez Hills and Goldrush deposits) which are ranked amongst the worlds thirty largest, lowest cost and politically safest gold mines and are three of Nevada Gold Mines most profitable mines. II

I The similarity and proximity of these deposits in the Cortez Trend including Goldrush are not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization in NuLegacys Red Hill Property.

II As extracted from Barricks Q4-2013 and Q1-2014 reports. As reported by Barrick, the Goldrush resource contains 8,557,000 indicated ounces of gold within 25.78 million tonnes grading ~10.57 g/t and 1,650,000 inferred ounces within 5.6 million tonnes grading ~9.0 g/t.

Dr. Roger Steininger, a Director of NuLegacy, is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG 7417) and the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, responsible for approving the scientific and technical information contained in this news release.

On Behalf of the Board Of NuLegacy Gold Corporation

Albert Matter

Chief Executive Officer & Director

Tel: +1 (604) 639 - 3640

Email: albert@nuggold.com

For more information about NuLegacy visit: www.nulegacygold.com or www.sedar.com.

This new release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to or for the account or benefit of a U.S. person (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains forward-looking information and statements under applicable securities laws, which information and/or statements relate to future events or future performance (including, but not limited to, the final size and date of closing of the Offering and the proposed use of proceeds; the prospective nature of the Rift Anticline target and proposed exploration and drilling programs thereon and the timing and costs thereof) and reflect managements current expectations and beliefs based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking information and statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected including, but not limited to, actual results of exploration activities, unanticipated geological, stratigraphic and structural formations, environmental risks, operating risks, accidents, labor issues, delays in obtaining governmental approvals and permits, the availability of financing, market conditions, future prices for gold, changes in personnel and other risks in the mining industry. There are no known resources or reserves in the Red Hill Property, any proposed exploration programs are exploratory searches for commercial bodies of ore and the presence of gold resources on properties adjacent or near the Red Hill Property including Goldrush is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization on the Red Hill Property. There is also uncertainty about the spread of COVID-19 and the impact it will have on the Companys operations, personnel, supply chains, ability to access properties or procure exploration equipment, contractors and other personnel on a timely basis or at all and economic activity in general. All the forward-looking information and statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . The forward-looking information and statements in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required by applicable law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

A new year brings hopes of a new start, but rest assured, whatever may change, our politicians will never and they will continue to make absurd, illogical, and stupid comments.

So, 2021 has got to a good start, and here are some of the gems we heard from our leaders so far.

"A 15-Year-Old Girl Can Reproduce, Why Increase Marriage Age"

Former minister and Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma recently courted controversy after he asked why should the age of marriage be increased when girls can reproduce at the age of 15.

ANI

His remarks come in the backdrop of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan's proposal to increase the marriageable age for women from 18 to 21.

Verma said, "Doctors say that even a 15-years-old girl can reproduce, then what is the need to increase the marriage age of girls to 21 years? Has Shivraj become a bigger doctor".

"Can't Trust BJP's Vaccine"

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav courted controversy with his statement that he wont accept a vaccine against COVID-19 as he doesnt trust the vaccine that will be given out by the BJP government.

BCCL

"I am not going to get vaccinated for now. How can I trust BJP's vaccine, when our government will be formed everyone will get a free vaccine. We cannot take BJP's vaccine," news agency ANI quoted, the Samajwadi Party chief as saying.

"Lord Ram was Lucky That Sita Was Abducted By Ravana And Not By His Devotees"

Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, who represents the latter party in the Lok Sabha, while addressing a public meeting at Howrah district said Sita was lucky to be abducted by Ravana.

Kalyan Banerjee/ Facebook

Sita told Ram that had she been taken by his (Rams) chele (disciples), she would have faced a similar fate as the rape victim of Hathras did, Banerjee said, referring to the alleged gang rape and murder of a Dalit woman last year in Uttar Pradesh.

"If She Had Not Gone Out Alone At Odd Hours She Would Not Have Been Raped"

A member of the National Commission for Women had courted controversy after she blamed the 50-year-old gang rape victim from Badaun for going to the temple alone at odd hours for the rape.

Screengrab

NCW member Chandramukhi Devi who was visiting the kin of the victim said, "Women should not come under influence of someone and roam around in the odd hours. I also believe that if she wouldnt have gone to temple in the evening, or was accompanies by some family member she would not have been raped.

"Muslims Who Do Not Trust Indian Scientists Can Go To Pakistan"

BJP leader Sangeet Som is synonymous with controversies. In 2021 too he is not in a mood to change. In provocative remarks over opposition to COVID-19 vaccine, BJP MLA Sangeet Som said some Muslims did not trust the countrys scientists.

BCCL

Unfortunately some Muslims do not have faith in the countrys scientists and police. They do not have faith in the prime minister also. They have faith in Pakistan and can go there, but doubt the scientists, Som said.

Gandhi Killer Nathuram Godse Is A "Patriot"

Another name that is synonymous with controversies is BJP MP Pragya Thakur. The MP from Bhopal once again claimed that Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse was a "patriot".

PTI

The Congress has always abused patriots...termed them as 'saffron terrorists'. Nothing is more vile than this," the Malegaon blast accused said while responding to Congress leader Digvijaya Singh who termed Godse as the "first terrorist".
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping on Friday sent a message to Thongloun Sisoulith, congratulating him on election as the general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee.

Xi said he is glad to hear that Thongloun was elected as the general secretary of the LPRP Central Committee, and would like to extend warm congratulations to Thongloun and through him to the new LPRP central leadership on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and in his own name.

Xi noted that since the 10th LPRP Congress, Laos, under the strong leadership of the LPRP Central Committee headed by Bounnhang Vorachith, has made important progress in the cause of socialist construction and enjoyed political and social stability, sustained economic development and continuous improvement of people's well-being.

Under the new circumstances, the successful convention of the 11th LPRP Congress, which has made a series of arrangements for the development of the causes of the party and the country, bears great significance, Xi added.

He expressed his confidence that under the leadership of the new LPRP Central Committee headed by Thongloun, the party will surely lead the Lao people to unite as one and strive for greater achievements in Laos' socialist cause.

China and Laos are friendly socialist neighbors connected by mountains and rivers, Xi said, adding that bilateral relations have continuously deepened and developed thanks to the careful cultivation and strong promotion of successive generations of leaders of the two parties and countries, continuously creating benefits for both countries and their people.

Pointing out that the world has entered a period of turbulence and transformation, Xi said he is ready to work with Thongloun to strengthen the political guidance of the relations both between the two parties and between the two countries.

He also suggested that the two sides make concerted efforts to carry forward their traditional friendship, deepen exchanges and cooperation, promote their socialist causes, and push forward the building of the China-Laos community with a shared future, so as to make positive contributions to safeguarding regional peace, stability, prosperity and development.

Xi wished Thongloun greater achievements in the new leadership post.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 21:43:54|Editor: huaxia

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MUSCAT, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The target groups in Oman will receive the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine starting Sunday, official Oman News Agency (ONA) reported Saturday.

"In line with the schedule for the implementation of the national campaign for immunization against COVID-19, the second dose of the vaccine for the same target groups that received the first dose a few weeks ago was scheduled to begin on Sunday," ONA quoted a Health Ministry statement as saying.

A total of 24,204 people in Oman have received the first dose of the vaccine by Jan. 15, according to the ministry statement.

Oman has so far reported 131,264 COVID-19 cases, including 123,593 recoveries and 1,509 deaths. Enditem
After a week in which Leaving Cert students were told they wouldn't have to attend class at all this month, informed they would have to come in for three days, and then finally advised to ignore the previous instruction, one parent has explained how the pandemic has turned her daughter from one of her class's better performers into someone who doesn't even want to apply for college.

Zoe Thorpe Larkin is the mother of Ella Larkin, a Sixth Year student at Creagh College in Gorey, and she said that since the first lockdown her daughter's grades have gradually begun to falter.

'She's gone from being a very competent student to being someone who's failing her classes, gone from someone who would have got 70-80 per cent in her exams to 40-50 per cent or failing,' says Zoe.

'She's a completely different student, and she's losing faith in herself now. She doesn't think she'll get enough points to get in anywhere but I keep telling her there's always a way.'

Zoe attributes Ella's troubles to the stress of attending school and the fear of bringing the virus home.

'My dad is terminally ill so that's a big concern for Ella. She doesn't go out, she's afraid to, she's been living like a hermit for the past year,' Zoe says. 'She turned 16 last February and didn't do anything for it.

'It's the fear of bringing the virus back, that's a huge burden to hold at any age, to have that on your shoulders.'

That fear reached breaking point before Christmas when Ella began suffering panic attacks. And her mother says the pressure of performing well in her Leaving Cert while dealing with the worry and concerns of Covid-19 are taking their toll.

'She's in an awful state at the moment; started to suffer from panic attacks before Christmas,' Zoe says. 'She's already lost so much of this year and fifth year was very disrupted as well.

'She doesn't even know what she wants anymore, she's so upset, she thinks if there's predicted grades she'll do badly, but that if there's exams she'll fail them.

'Before all this kicked off she was going to send off her CAO, but then she said she didn't want to, that was when we found out she was failing.

'She actually felt she shouldn't fill them out because she wouldn't get into any courses. But she's now looking at doing a media and communications course.'

In the wake of Minister for Education Norma Foley's decision to send Leaving Cert students to class three days a week, Zoe categorically stated that her daughter would not be attending school, saying she was 'terrified'.

That decision has now been taken out of her hands and Zoe says she is thankful the Government opted to renege on their plan.

'I'm happy with the decision, now we can all stay at home with equal online learning till it's safe,' she says. 'I don't think the Government know what to do and they cannot and will not ever please everyone.

'We all need to make choices for our own circumstances/families and beliefs at this stage; there is never a one size fits all in life. It would have been worse if they hadn't made a u-turn, and at least this shows they have listened to the people.'

Remaining hopeful that this lockdown will work better than the last, Zoe says her daughter is more content now, happy in the knowledge that all students will remain at home.

'No child should have to bear the responsibility of bringing this virus home. Ella's happy to be equal to every other student but scared of the unknown future,' Zoe says.

'I'm sad for the students who are not in a place to learn online and this decision will affect them badly. The schools so far have done an amazing job adapting and I have faith this lockdown will be smoother for the students then the last.'

While some students have welcomed the closure of the schools and the return to remote learning, others would have preferred to see Minister Foley's plan of a three-day week come to fruition.

Oisin Kavanagh, who's a Sixth Year at Bridgetown College, is one such student. His mother, Alice, expressed the frustration and annoyance being felt by her son and many of his classmates.

'I have four children, two in primary schooland two in secondary school. Oisin (17) is doing his Leaving Cert this year, and I have another doing their Junior Cert,' Alice says.

'I have been discussing the recent developments with them and they are quite indignant. They can't quite understand why pressure seems to be such a bad word. It's the last minute chopping and changing which frustrates them.'

Taoiseach Micheal Martin has stated his commitment to holding the state exams this year, but Alice remains doubtful and points to a discrepancy between the 2021 exams and the 2020 iterations.

'They called off the Leaving Cert when the cases were high last year, but they're far higher this year and they have said they're going ahead. It's the inconsistency which is annoying, it's all very reactive and there's no planning involved.'

To counter this, she believes a new system could be implemented, one which would offer students as many options as possible.

'My children have asked why they couldn't be given predictive grades in May and then, if they wanted, they could sit the exams later on in the summer?

'But my heart goes out to all the Leaving Cert students, they're sick of this situation, there's an overwhelming sense of frustration.'

Opposing the closure of schools, Alice says her children are 'flexible' and capable of adhering to guidelines with regards the spread of the virus.

'When the stakes are raised we should have more confidence in our children to be able to navigate through the odds,' she says. 'I'm personally baffled as to why we always seem to opt for the stress-free route.

'It has worrying implications for future. Can we not opt to empower them, rather than usher them away from all obstacles?'

'At 17 or 18 years of age, Leaving Cert students should have the self-motivation and ability to rise to the occasion, and cross the line.

'While I respect the opinions of all and admit unreservedly that every family and individual student is different, I personally do not support the cancellation of state exams.'

For now both Leaving Cert and Junior Cert are scheduled to go ahead later on in the year, but Alice fears this may not come to pass and says remote learning is a poor substitute for face-to-face with teachers and classmates.

'Once the Department committed to delivering classes online they had to ensure it was done properly and that everyone's circumstances were taken into consideration,' she says.

'But it hasn't been looked into properly and there's been no level of planning. The commitment to holding the exams is great so long as it comes to pass.'
Hours after the Health Ministry announced on January 16 that India has reported no case of post-vaccination hospitalisation yet, 51 persons complained of minor adverse events in Delhi. Another person developed severe adverse event following immunization and had to be referred to the AEFI centre.

Out of a total of 4,319 healthcare and frontline workers who were vaccinated on Jnauary 16 in the National Capital, two healthcare workers at NDMCs Charak Palika Hospital reported mild adverse event post-vaccination including mild tightness in the chest. They were kept under observation by AEFI team and discharged 30 minutes later after they felt at ease. The two other cases were reported from Northern Railway Central Hospital, of which one was referred to the AEFI centre, the Delhi government has informed.

As many as 1,91,181 people were vaccinated on day one of Indias first phase of the coronavirus vaccination drive.

Beneficiaries from 11 states and union territories across India received Covishield or Covaxin shots on the first day of the vaccination drive, namely, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh.

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In a major cybercrime bust, the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police arrested 12 people including two Chinese women and a Tibetan for defrauding thousands in the pretext of online marketing campaigns.

According to the police, the gang was cheating unsuspecting people with offers of lucrative returns on an online multi-level marketing campaign.

DCP Cyber Crime

The users were sent a URL on WhatsApp to download an app named NewWorld.

The victims were offered a daily commission of up to Rs 3,000 for spending 30 minutes on the app for allegedly promoting internet celebrities on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

Upon registering on this app, users would receive social media videos to like and accounts to follow. They would be paid Rs 6 for each such action. The number of tasks and amount paid for each action would rise substantially if the users opted for a VIP membership, by paying between Rs.1,000 and Rs.50,000.

Reuters

However, once the user downloaded the app it also installed malware, which the gang used it to take control of their social media accounts.

The malicious App was being pushed through Whatsapp messages under the garb of digital marketing scheme where users can earn money by liking videos on Facebook, YouTube, etc. Though such methods, the App was taking control over the device used as well as content seen by the user. pic.twitter.com/wOw9apAam8  DCP Cybercrime (@DCP_CCC_Delhi) January 15, 2021

The malicious App was being pushed through Whatsapp messages under the garb of digital marketing scheme where users can earn money by liking videos on Facebook, YouTube, etc. Though such methods, the App was taking control over the device used as well as content seen by the user, the police said.

The malicious app was also making millions of Indian users follow thousands of social media accounts of unknown origin and ownership, with huge potential of future misuse of this following by a foreign entity, DCP, Crime Crime, Anyesh Roy said.

The App was connecting to Chinese Servers and installing Apps such as QQ Browser. Several Apps of QQ family of Apps were blocked by the Govt. in June, 2020 for being being detrimental to national security.  DCP Cybercrime (@DCP_CCC_Delhi) January 15, 2021

Around 40,000 confirmed victims have been identified who have been cheated of crores in 2 months. An amount of Rs 4.75 crore of cheated money has been blocked in various accounts and more than Rs 25 lakh recovered in cash from arrested Chinese nationals.

Reuters

The arrested Indian accused have disclosed that two Chinese nationals  Yangqing Zhang and Bao Peng  are the main kingpins of this huge criminal conspiracy to cheat and defraud Indian citizens and hack into their devices through malicious mobile apps.




Ernest Luning: "Jeff Toborg, the 50-year-old mayor of the fast-growing town of Parker, Colorado, wants everyone to know he made a mistake."
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 19:48:09|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health on Saturday reported 46 new COVID-19 positive cases, totaling the number of patients infected with the disease to 53,981 in the country.

A total of 1,341 tests were conducted over the past 24 hours and 46 were positive in 15 out of the country's 34 provinces, the public health ministry said in a statement released here.

Three patients died over the period, taking the death toll to 2,339 since the outbreak of the virus in February in Afghanistan, the statement added.

A total of 31 patients recovered over the past 24 hours, the statement further said, without mentioning the number of recovered ones since February. Enditem
Oil prices fell on Friday as concerns about Chinese cities in lockdown due to coronavirus outbreaks tempered a rally driven by strong import data from the world's biggest crude importer and US plans for a large stimulus package.

Brent was down 83 cents, or 1.5%, at $55.59 by 1316 GMT, after gaining 0.6% on Thursday. US West Texas Intermediate crude was down 57 cents, or 1.1%, at $53 a barrel, having risen more than 1% the previous session.

Brent and US crude are heading for their first weekly declines in three weeks.

While producers are facing unparalleled challenges balancing supply and demand equations with calculus involving vaccine rollouts versus lockdowns, financial contracts have been boosted by strong equities and a weaker dollar, which makes oil cheaper, along with strong Chinese demand.

"The recent resurgence in coronavirus infections, appearance of new variants, delayed vaccine rollouts and renewed lockdown measures in most major OECD economies has clouded the economic and demand recovery," said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.

"Simply put, near-term demand expectations aren't too promising."

A nearly $2 trillion COVID-19 relief package in the United States unveiled by President-elect Joe Biden may increase oil demand from the world's biggest crude consumer, but worse than expected jobs data cast a shadow over the plans.

Crude imports into China were up 7.3% in 2020, with record arrivals in two out of four quarters as refineries increased runs and low prices prompted stockpiling, customs data showed on Thursday.

But China reported the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases in more than 10 months on Friday, capping a week that has resulted in more than 28 million people under lockdown as it suffered its first coronavirus death on the mainland since May.

"The COVID-19 pandemic's spread is taking centre stage again and traders are getting increasingly worried about the long duration of European lockdown and about the new restrictions (in) China," Bjornar Tonnage from Rystad Energy said.

"The market is structurally bullish, but it may be getting too ahead of forward-looking fundamentals."

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

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TMC MLAs, leaders get COVID vaccine on day 1, sparks controversy

India

oi-Deepika S

Alipurduar, Jan 16: Several Trinamool Congress leaders, including two MLAs, were among the people who received the COVID-19 vaccine in West Bengal''s Purba Bardhaman district on Saturday, while many healthcare workers alleged that they could not get the jab though they were asked to come for it.

District health officials said that these leaders are all associated with different hospitals as members of the Patients'' Welfare Committees, making them eligible for the vaccination programme in the first round.

The vaccination drive at the Bhatar State General Hospital began with local TMC MLA Subhash Mondal getting the first shot. Later, former TMC MLA Banamali Hazra, Zilla Parisha Karmadakshya Jahar Bagdi and Bhatar Panchayat Samity Public Health in-charge Mahendra Hazra also received the vaccine.

At Katwa Sub-divisional Hospital, local MLA Rabindranath Chatterjee of TMC was among the 34 people who received the vaccine on the first day.

The Centre is targetting to vaccinate three crore healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase. At a meeting with the chief ministers on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested that public representatives, a reference to politicians, should not be part of this initial exercise.

"This is my personal suggestion and no one should take it otherwise. We public representatives are not part of it," he had said.

Even as the TMC leaders received the vaccine on the first day, several healthcare workers alleged that though they were asked to come for the jab, they could not get it.

A nurse at the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital said that she was asked to report for the vaccination by 9 am and though she appeared for it on time, she did not get the shot.

Some other nurses at the hospital also levelled similar allegations.

The district''s Chief Medical Officer of Health Pranab Roy said that the public representatives who received the vaccines are part of the Patients'' Welfare Committees at different hospitals.

"Since they are associated with the hospitals to ensure good services, they are also eligible for the vaccine. There is nothing irregular in it," he said.

BJP''s district general secretary Ramakrishna Chakraborty said that in the first phase the frontline workers should get the vaccines.

"But the manner in which the TMC leaders queued to get the vaccine, it has gone beyond all bounds of shame. On the other side, the frontline workers had to return home without getting the shot," he alleged.

Trinamool Congress district spokesperson Prosenjit Das said that there was no wrong with the leaders of his party getting the vaccine because they have all survived COVID-19.

"Officially, those who have survived COVID-19 will be the first to receive the vaccine. So there is no issue of political benefit in it. The BJP does not know the rules. It is their job to complain without knowing the rules," Das claimed.

In the Alipurduar district, TMC MLA Saurabh Chakrbarty''s name was on the top of the list for Covid vaccination. However, he claimed that he was unaware of it.

"I am not taking any vaccine now and I have informed the health department. First, the common people of Alipurduar should get the vaccine and then I will take my shot. I am not aware as I had not applied for any vaccination," Chakraborty said.

with PTI inputs

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Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 21:43 [IST]


( ) ( ) plans to pursue its new growth strategy this year and is confident it will continue its trajectory of delivering strong commercial results.

Late last year, the company announced it would be the recipient of a 3.1 million Euro (~A$5 million) cash grant to set up a fully functional GMP certified facility in Malta to produce a COVID-19 anti-inflammatory product ArtemiC in liquid dose form.

The grant from will enable the company to renovate and extend its existing Clinical Research Organisation (CRO) facility in Malta.

This will create a European manufacturing hub for ArtemiC with the ability to scale production to meet expected growing demand following positive clinical trial results.

The European Union GMP-compliant facility will be able to produce 10,000 units of liquid dose medicines per day.

European manufacturing hub

The company has received strong support from the Maltese government through Malta Enterprise to establish the world-class GMP facility to respond to the growing pharma and cannabis industries on the island.

Construction of the extension to the MXC Malta facility has commenced and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2021.

Upon completion of the facility, MGC Pharma will be in a strong position to streamline global distribution via Maltas convenient shipping access to the entire globe.

Initial target markets for the distribution of ArtemiC will be Israel, Russia, the CIS countries and countries in the Balkan region as determined by a distribution agreement signed with KS Kim International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SK-Pharma group.

ArtemiC strong clinical trial results

In December, the companys Phase II double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial for ArtemiC on those diagnosed with COVID-19 met all the Phase II primary and secondary endpoints and was demonstrated to improve the clinical recovery of the patients.

This Phase II trial involved 50 infected patients across three independent hospital sites in Israel and India, with 33 in the treatment group and 17 in the placebo group.

The full results have demonstrated to improve the health status of COVID-19 patients with none of the patients in the treatment group required additional oxygen, mechanical ventilation or admission to intensive care where all of these events were reported in the placebo group.

MGC Pharma is now in a strong position to respond to a significant potential increase in the demand for ArtemiC in the immediate future as a supplement, and in the future as part of a Phase III study.

Phase III clinical study planned in H1

Further development for ArtemiC will include immediate evaluation of a Phase III clinical study on COVID-19 and flu patients, and production in the companys EU GMP facilities, as IMP under a new brand name.

Different indications related to inflammation and cytokine storm will be considered as future development goals and include a wide range of diseases related to cytokine storm such as autoimmune diseases, inflammatory GI diseases, flu and chemotherapy patients.

Regulatory approvals to commence the Phase III Clinical Trial will be progressed with the Brazilian medical authority (Anvisa), the EU Novel Food Authority and submissions are expected to be made in the first quarter of 2021.

The company plans to develop and commence a Phase III Clinical Trial in the first half of 2021.

Upon completion of a successful Phase III clinical trial, the company will seek registration of ArtemiC and commence production and sale as a supplement, through its existing production facilities and distribution networks.

Successful results of Phase III will lead for a pre-IND meeting with Food and Drug Administration (FDA, to initiate the registration process for ArtemiC as an IMP.

Supply agreements and production

On trial completion and the release of positive results, the production of ArtemiC will move to MGC Pharmas GMP-certified production facility in Slovenia.

It expects to rapidly advance discussions on a commercial scale for ArtemiC supply agreements on publication of the positive data.

Additionally, MGC Pharma is exploring the wider uses of ArtemiC to encompass other conditions that cause cytokines storm.

UN reclassification implications

Notably, MGC Pharmaceuticals is well-positioned to benefit from the UNs decision late last year to remove cannabis and its derivatives from schedule IV following recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Cannabis and its derivatives will now be contained under Schedule I of the 1961 UN Single

This removal, alongside other recent legislative changes, further demonstrates the rapidly changing political perspectives on cannabis and the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes which will make operating in the sector less challenging, more efficient and more profitable.

The company believes this effectively validates the global medicinal phytocannabinoid market where MGC Pharma has been established and operating for a number of years.

This gives the company first-mover advantage and the company's flagship phytomedicines will have far fewer obstacles to overcome as they work towards market authorisation, registration and patient access.
She rang in her 63rd birthday over the summer.

And Melanie Griffith looked as youthful as ever as she went on a maskless stroll around in Los Angeles on Friday.

The Hollywood actress highlighted her svelte physique in a black vest top and form-fitting black leggings as she enjoyed a spot of fresh air.

Looking good: Melanie Griffith looked as youthful as ever as she went on a maskless stroll around her neighbourhood in Los Angeles on Friday

Melanie's skimpy top allowed her show off her toned arms and plenty of decolletage, with the star teaming her gym wear with a pair of black trainers.

The Lolita star showcased her natural beauty by going make-up free for the outing, while leaving her blonde tresses loose. She had a black scrunchie on her arm should she have needed to tie her hair up.

Melanie looked relaxed and happy as she enjoyed the peace and quiet of the walk.

Although the actress is best known for her on-screen roles, she recently tried something new with a guest appearance on the fictional podcast Dirty Diana, which stars Demi Moore.

Fine form: The Hollywood actress, 63, highlighted her svelte physique in a black vest top and form-fitting black leggings as she enjoyed a spot of fresh air.

Demi produces and stars in the series as a corporate executive who begins recording women talking about their sexual fantasies as an escape from her mundane domestic life with her husband, whom she hasn't slept with in a year.

Melanie guest starred on the third episode as one of the women revealing her darkest secrets.

Melanie began her Hollywood career in the 1970s with acclaimed roles in Arthur Penn's neo-noir mystery Night Moves and the Paul Newmanstarring mystery The Drowning Pool, both from 1975.

Hollywood dynasty: Melanie first made a name for herself on screen in the 1970s, following on the success of her mother Tippi Hedren, who starred in The Birds for director Alfred Hitchcock

The 1980s saw her receiving renewed acclaim for Brian De Palma's thriller Body Double (1984), Jonathan Demme's Something Wilde (1986) and Mike Nichols' Working Girl (1988), among other films.

The actress followed in the footsteps of her mother Tippi Hedren, who famously starred in Alfred Hitchcock's classics The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964).

Her daughter Dakota Johnson, 31, whom she shares with her ex-husband Don Johnson, has gone on to have similar success as an actress.

Following a small but pivotal role in David Fincher's The Social Network (2010), she landed the lead role in the Fifty Shades Of Gray Trilogy and Luca Guadagnino's epic horror remake Suspiria (2018).
Reporter

Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das.

Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das on January 16 said banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) need to strengthen the governance structure to ensure larger financial stability in the system.

A good governance structure will have to supported by effective risk management, compliance and assurance mechanism, the RBI governor said while delivering the 39th Palkhivala Memorial Lecture.

The RBI was focused on strengthening supervision of financial entities, he said, adding the thrust of supervision was identifying the root causes of stress rather than addressing symptoms.

This (ensuring god governance structure) constitutes the first line of defence on financial stability. An effective early warning system is necessary. Risk management in banks and NBFCs should evolve with changing technology and international best practices, Das said.

Das also stressed the need for proper internal audit in banks, calling it an important component in ensuring the financial stability of these institutions and the larger financial system. Regulated entities needed to strengthen their internal defences, the RBI chief said.

The RBI would soon come out with guidelines for NBFCs. The central bank was quick to address the stress in the financial system, including the resolution process of two commercial banks, he said.

The RBI played a critical role in the reconstruction scheme of Yes Bank in March 2020 by putting together a bailout plan headed by State Bank of India. The RBI also intervened in the issue of Lakshmi Vilas Bank by announcing a scheme to merge with DBS bank.

Economic recovery visible

Das said a recovery in the economy was visible and banks would have to play a role in ensuring support to the recovery. Timely capitalisation of banks was important to prepare these institutions to support the economic recovery.

The GDP was expected to contract by 7.5 percent in the current financial year. At this juncture, we need to support economic revival and growth, Das said.

He said post-COVID, banks would have to prepare for asset-quality issues, which would require capital requirement and noted that banks were raising capital already. It was important to fast track the capital-raising process to prepare for the post-COVID impact on balance sheets, Das said.

The RBI has announced several measures to help the banking system. It announced liquidity measures worth Rs12.81 lakh crore and temporary measures such as loan moratorium and one-time loan restructuring to avert an immediate NPA-shock.

The devastated mother of a Philadelphia man shot dead while walking his dog has paid tribute to her beloved son.

Milan Loncar, 25, a recent graduate of Temple University, was walking his dachshund-chihuahua mix dog named Roo on Wednesday at about 7pm when he was shot dead.

His mother, Amy Lounsberry, told the Philadelphia Inquirer 'everything was coming together' for 'a beloved sweet boy just starting his life'.

He had graduated from Temple University in 2019 after majoring in engineering and had been working for a construction management company for about a year.

Surveillance video from the incident shows two suspects walking down the sidewalk - Milan was about a block from his home - then splitting up to corral Milan as they approach him, stopping him in his tracks.

One of the suspects can be seen pulling out what appears to be a gun and holding it at chest level to stop Milan. The suspect then seems to reach for Milan's pockets.

Police said that a shot was then fired and that the suspects ran from the scene.

There is a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction, and a GoFundMe set up to increase the reward has already raised more than $30,000.

Amy Lounsberry shared this picture of herself with her son Milan and her daughter Jelena Loncar

Milan's mother shared that she would be holding a memorial on Friday, writing: 'I want to stand tonight where my son fell and Im hoping some of you will stand with me in remembrance'

Milan Loncar, 25, was walking his dachshund-Chihuahua mix dog on Wednesday at about 7pm when he was shot dead

Lounsberry has shared a series of heartbreaking posts and spoken about his life in interviews with local news outlets.

'He is so missed and we are trying to pull together and get everybody through,' she told 6 ABC. 'He was going to move in with his girlfriend in March, he had graduated and had his first job and was just starting out.

'I don't know why they did it, I can't understand. They didn't get any money, did they need it so badly, were they trying to show off?

'I was so proud of him and everybody that he worked with, everybody he knew, they all said how he was doing so well. Everybody loved him.'

Lounsberry wrote on Facebook on Friday: 'I want to stand tonight where my son fell and Im hoping some of you will stand with me in remembrance. I will be at 31st and Jefferson between 6:56, the time of the shots fired radio call, to 730 when he was declared dead.'

She then thanked people for attending, writing: 'Thank you all for coming tonight, it was so nice to have all of your support. I know were all shocked and hurting but we were together tonight.'

Surveillance video caught the moment when Milan Locar, 25, was stopped by two men who rifled through his pockets and then shot him in the chest

Police released surveillance images of the suspects as they ran from the shooting scene

The shooting suspects are seen here as they walk down the street together (left), before separating briefly to surround Milan (right) as he walks his dog

Police are seeking help in identifying the suspects, seen here as they run away from the scene

Police said that Milan used his cell phone to call for help after he was shot and was found in the street injured, while still holding the dog's leash, CBS Philadelphia reported.

Milan was declared dead at the hospital at about 7.30pm.

Police believe that Milan was killed in the midst of an attempted robbery.

Family members told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Milan's house keys and cell phone were found at the scene. He didn't have his wallet on him - he'd left it at home.

Milan's sister Jelena Loncar, 27, lives near her brother. She said she first learned about the shooting through an alert on the Citizen App as she was driving home from dinner with her mother.

At the time, she wasn't aware of who had been shot.

Lounsberry has shared a series of heartbreaking posts and spoken about his life in interviews with local news outlets

Milan's sister, Jelena Loncar (pictured), said that he was the 'kindest person in the entire world'

Jelena (left with Milan) said that she heard about a shooting through a neighborhood app and called her brother, but he didn't answer, leaving her to fear the worst

She said that she called Milan, who didn't answer his phone, leading her to fear the worst, she told CBS Philadelphia.

Jelena's roommate, Arshiya Luthra, 26, then went to the scene, described Milan and then realized he had been the person who had been shot when police brought her Milan's dog, Luthra told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Jelena described her brother as being 'the kindest person in the entire world' and that he was 'selfless, constantly smiling.'

His uncle, Nikola Loncar, 66, told the newspaper that Milan 'was very polite. I dont think he would ever fight anybody.'

Milan (pictured) was walking his dog at about 7pm that night, about a block from his home. His family said that he did not have his wallet with him at the time he was stopped

The shooting took place near this Philadelphia intersection, about a block from Milan's home

Police released surveillance footage showing multiple angles of the suspects approaching and stopping Milan. Surveillance footage also showed the suspects as they ran away.

Police are asking for the public's help in providing details about the incident, which they are calling an apparent robbery.

Anyone with details about the shooting is asked to contact the homicide unit at 215-686-3334 or the police tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477) or email tips@phillypolice.com.
Students from St Gerard's in Bray won third place in the technology intermediate category of this year's BT Young Scientist Exhibition.

Aoibh Merrigan, Anna Reynolds and Alannagh Whitelaw's project was on 'Using NFC technology on medical/ID bracelets'.

Groups of students from across the area exhibited projects in this year's BT Young Scientist Exhibition, which was held remotely last week.

St Peter's Primary School in Bray were among the younger entrants, with their project 'Taking the Sting Out of Nettles'.

They examined nettles from an environmental, medical and scientific point of view, and looked into what causes the sting to be sore and how the pain could be eased.

Secondary schools submitted video exhibits to demonstrate the work they have been carrying out since the start of the school year.

SEK International School, located in Windgates, had two projects in the exhibition.

Smaran Pandey's project was 'Safe Haven - a technology solution for social distancing measures in public places'.

The students prepared an animation using Lego to demonstrate the measures they would take to make a supermarket safe.

Their goal was to test the mock-up of a public place equipped with various technologies needed to make it compliant to measures like social distancing and temperature screening.

Also at SEK, Adam Pandey's project title was 'Compare the Inhibition Potency of Various Plant Based Anti-Microbial Agents'.

Adam investigated efficacy of different plant based anti-microbial agents. These agents are biodegradable thereby reducing water and land pollution.

At Presentation College in Bray, Billy Corrigan and John Fox developed a GPS tracker for sheep and cows to help prevent farm theft for the benefit of rural dwellers' livelihoods.

At Woodbrook College in Bray, Michelle Dolores, Abhirami Santhosh Kumar and Ruby Roche, examined mixed versus single sex PE lessons.

Welcoming the launch as the exhibition opened last Wednesday, Minister for Science Simon Harris said that he was pleased the event would go ahead despite the current challenging circumstances.

'Now more than ever, we need our young people to be innovative, creative and to be great thinkers. This pandemic has taught us the value and importance of science and technology and how essential it is to our daily lives,' he said.

'We have a once in a generation opportunity to invest in science and technology, to realise the importance of science and to cherish and support its output.'

President Michael D Higgins opened the event last Wednesday, and Minister Harris participated in the Connecting Women in Technology (CWIT) Tech Starter event.

'The new and emerging technologies of the 21st century have developed at unprecedented pace and have transformed the way that we all live and work,' said Minister Harris. 'Digitalisation is here to stay and will be a key influence on our economy and our society. That is why we need young people like the students at this event to develop the skills for a more digitised future and to reach for the great possibility it presents.

'We need lots of different role models to be visible and to show the next generation that they can also follow their dreams in science. We have to deal with the gender gap that persists in the sector.

'Currently just over a third of STEM academic staff members in Irish universities are women. I am determined we need to do better here, and believe strongly in the maxim - if you can't see it, you can't be it.'

The Trump administration continued its mischief-making as the president slinks out the back door by blacklisting China's Xiaomi, a global competitor to Apple, known for its sleek mobile phones and smart home devices, CGTN writes in the article Trump loses trade war, wants Biden to pay for it. Xiaomi surpassed Apple in global mobile phone sales in the third quarter, making it a tempting target for trade vandalism. The blacklisting of Xiaomi and eight other companies, ostensibly due to their ties with China's military, is another effort to force the incoming Biden administration into decoupling the Chinese and American economies.

The Xiaomi blacklisting aims to provoke Chinese retaliation against tech giants like Apple and Telsa that are heavily reliant on China for both its manufacturing capacity and its huge market. This would force the Biden administration into a vicious cycle, destroying trade ties.

Trump's goal all along has been to decouple the two economies  leaving the U.S. unfettered to use military force or other harsh measures in its stated mission to stop China's rise. Decoupling would come at a tremendous cost.

The U.S.-China Business Council this month released a report concluding, "The trade war with China hurt the US economy and failed to achieve major policy goals outlined by the Trump administration." The council estimated that 245,000 jobs have already been lost, and if decoupling continues, there would be 732,000 fewer jobs in 2022.

The council also predicts that if decoupling continues, by the end of 2025, "U.S. households will have lost an estimated 6,400 U.S. dollars in real income. Decoupling clearly costs Americans jobs and money. But would this sacrifice help stop China's rise?

From the start, Trump has conducted his trade war like a chess player who only looks one move ahead.

China is not a sickly weakling that can be bullied by U.S. tariffs and policy moves, but a fully capable adversary that can counter any punch.

The stated purpose of blacklisting Chinese tech companies is to prevent U.S. technology from being transferred to the Chinese military.

But China has counterpunched. A Bloomberg report this week noted, "The impact of U.S. actions has been to accelerate Beijing's drive for technological self-sufficiency." U.S. technology bans may slow China's development in the short term, but will accelerate it overall.

Decoupling also aims to hurt China's economy. Trade with the U.S. only accounts for a small fraction of China's economy. Less than a fifth of China's GDP comes from exports, and less than a fifth of its exports go to the U.S.

Even so, in response to trade tensions, China has introduced a new policy that focuses on economic development on domestic consumption, which will make it even less vulnerable to trade shocks.

China neutralizes every U.S. move blow for blow. Decoupling will make U.S. firms less competitive globally. It will raise prices for U.S. consumers. It will cost Americans jobs. And despite these great costs, it will not stop China from modernizing.

Trump famously tweeted that trade wars are "good and easy to win," but according to the Bloomberg report, the president was wrong on both counts and the policy has been a failure. Trump wrote the book The Art of the Deal and claims he is a great negotiator. But he would have been better off reading The Art of War, which notes, "There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare."

Hopefully, incoming President Joe Biden will have learned from Trump's bad moves and try a new strategy  one that lets both sides come out as winners.



With the nations great vaccine ramp-up evidently encountering some speed humps and demand continuing to well exceed available supplies, officials reported Friday that a Philadelphia-area woman had tested positive for a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus first identified in the United Kingdom.

Health officials said that a woman in her 50s, who they did not name and identified only as a resident of both Philadelphia and Bucks Counties, was briefly hospitalized after experiencing symptoms late last month. The strain, which they said isnt more virulent or vaccine-resistant, also was detected in a Dauphin County woman last month.

Meanwhile, fresh concerns about the progress of Operation Warp Speed emerged Friday as the Washington Post reported that the reserves that a federal official said this week would be available actually dont exist  that the shipping of those backup supplies had begun in early December.

Thats a pile of doses that all states were counting on to have a ramp-up, said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy at his daily briefing. The state had set a goal of having 70% of the eligible population vaccinated by April or May. It is becoming increasingly apparent that we are ready, they [federal officials] are not.

 READ MORE: Vaccine reserve Trump administration vowed to release doesnt exist, dashing hopes of expanded access

As Burlington County opened its first mass COVID-19 vaccination center on Friday in the vast, shiny, mirrored space of a recently defunct Lord & Taylor at the Moorestown Mall, it quickly went through its allotted doses, leaving officials to plead for more to meet the huge demand.

We urge everyone to be patient. We understand that people are anxious, New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said.

The state added 5,490 new cases, numbers comparable to the epidemic peaks, and 67 deaths. Hospitalizations have remained stable for weeks. Pennsylvanias most recent seven-day average of positive tests, 6,150, represented a 2% decline from the previous seven-day figure.

Sometime this weekend, it is a near certainty that the City of Camden will reach an unwanted milestone: With just 40 more cases, the presence of the virus will have been confirmed in 10% of the population.

Herb Conaway, a doctor who is also director of Burlington Countys health department and a state assemblyman, encouraged people to get vaccinated, but asked for patience. The Moorestown facility, operated jointly by the county and Virtua Health, along with help from the National Guard, has the capacity to vaccinate 2,400 daily.

The county expects to receive 3,000 doses next week. However, it had only 400 available on Friday, even after Murphy opened up vaccinations to anyone over 65 or anyone with qualifying medical conditions. Previously, vaccines were mostly reserved for health-care workers, or those who work or live in long-term care facilities.

More than 160 sites in New Jersey are giving vaccines, and thousands of residents have been able to make appointments, but others have reported long delays to get through to the website and appointments that book up immediately.

State officials said a hotline with information about vaccines would be announced next week.

Murphy defended the pace of the states vaccine rollout on Friday, saying that New Jersey was struggling with the same challenges as other states.

Theres no evidence that anywhere else is easier to get a vaccine than New Jersey right now, Murphy said.

But Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware all have distributed a higher number of vaccines per 100,000 people than has New Jersey, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And Philadelphia has been a notable exception to the virus snafu, successfully injecting up to 55% of the doses it has received in nearly a month. That rate gives it the best performance among many large cities in the country, an Inquirer analysis showed, attributable to the Health Department taking a particularly active role in getting doses to the places theyre needed, officials said.

Rather than having it sit in refrigerators, said Caroline Johnson, Philadelphias deputy health commissioner, we accept it, we subdivide it, and move it around the city.

About 40% of all the vaccine the city receives each week, about 5,000 doses, goes directly to the department, which then opens the boxes and repacks vials of vaccine for delivery to those smaller hospitals and health centers, Johnson said.

 READ MORE: U.K. coronavirus variant found in Philadelphia area

All available evidence shows that the vaccine would be effective against the newly surfaced B.1.1.7 variant, said David Damsker, the Bucks County health director, adding, So long as that continues to be the case, we will treat this variant the same as our other cases.

It does appear to be more contagious than its evil relative, COVID-19, according to a Penn Medicine news release, but has not yet been verified, said Philadelphia Health Commissioner Thomas Farley. Nonetheless, we are concerned that it is present in Philadelphia, he said. Everyone in the area should take this information as a reminder to be even more consistent in wearing masks and keeping distance from others.

With U.S. virus-related deaths approaching 400,000, the venerable St. Peters Episcopal Church at Third and Pine Streets, will ring its largest bell 400 times at 3 p.m. Sunday.

The churchyard will be open if anyone wishes to stop by for reflection, prayer, or just to listen to the bells.

Staff writers Frank Kummer, Jason Laughlin, and Peter Dobrin contributed to this article.
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Muriel Bowser Says Washington Security Will See New Normal After Biden Inauguration

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said Friday that even after the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 the city will maintain heightened security in light of last weeks Capitol riots.

Bowser made the remarks during a briefing to discuss the citys and federal agencies security plans ahead of and on Inauguration Day, saying that the level of preparation and execution for the event is unprecedented.

The nations capital on Friday continued to boost security by shutting down access to iconic landmarks and erecting vehicle checkpoints at a security perimeter surrounding central Washington. Officials have said they expect the number of National Guard troops to rise to 25,000 in the city, a number that could still increase even further.

The heightened security posture follows the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol.

We cannot allow a recurrence of the chaos and illegal activity that the United States and the world witnessed last week, Matthew Miller, the head of the Secret Services Washington field office, told reporters.

Asked if the extensive security measures around Washington would be reversed after the inauguration, Bowser said, We are going to go back to a new normal.

We certainly have to think about a new posture in the city, she said, adding, So while we are focused on January the 20th, we are also focused on January the 21st and every day thereafter in the nations capital.

I think our entire country is going to have to deal with how our intelligence apparatus, security apparatus at every level deal with a very real and present threat to our nation, she said.

Bowsers announcement comes one day after the release of a joint security bulletin from the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and eight other agencies, noting an elevated security risk following the Capitol riot.

The bulletin, which was obtained and reported on by several news outlets (pdf), indicates that domestic violent extremists pose the most likely threat to the presidential inauguration, especially by those who believe the incoming administration is illegitimate.

In light of the storming of the U.S. Capitol on 6 January, planned events in Washington, D.C., in the lead up to and day of Inauguration Day offer continued opportunities for violence targeting public officials, government buildings, and federal and local law enforcement, the assessment reads.

On Thursday, FBI Director Chris Wray said during a security briefing that the bureau was monitoring an extensive amount of concerning online chatter related to potential threats leading up to the presidential inauguration.

When we talk about potential threats, we are seeing an extensive amount of concerning online chatterthats the best way I can describe itabout a number of events surrounding the inauguration and, together with our partners, we evaluate those threats and what kind of resources to employ against them. Right now, were tracking calls for potential armed protests and activity leading up to the inauguration, Wray told Vice President Mike Pence during a briefing on security for the inauguration.

Were concerned about the potential for violence at multiple protests and rallies planned here in D.C. and in state capitols around the country in the days that come that could bring armed individuals within close proximity to government facilities and officials, Wray added.

Responding to warnings of potentially violent demonstrations, governors across the nation are calling out National Guard troops, declaring states of emergency, and closing their capitols to the public ahead of the inauguration.
NATIONAL

An article on Friday about a lawsuit against the New York Police Department for its handling of protests last summer described incorrectly the political views of Commissioner Dermot Shea and Chief of Department Terence A. Monahan. They are registered Republicans, but have not said publicly whether they supported President Trump.

An article on Friday about the state of the Capitol Police in the wake of the storming of the Capitol last week referred incompletely to an episode involving the response by police officers to a woman who made a U-turn at a White House checkpoint in 2013. While she was ordered to stop and instead turned around and led officers on a chase toward the Capitol, the firing of 26 shots by the officers on public streets later came under criticism.

BUSINESS

A picture caption with an article on Thursday about Thomas Girardi, one of the countrys premier toxic tort lawyers who is accused of misappropriating money from clients, misspelled the surname of his wife who filed for divorce in November. She is Erika Jayne, not James.

ARTS & LEISURE

Because of an editing error, an article on Page 5 about rape-revenge films misspells the given name of the actress who plays the protagonist in Promising Young Woman. She is Carey Mulligan, not Carrie.
Saturday, January 16, 2021

Thomas Beckham claimed he was friends with Lee Harvey Oswald in New Orleans. This post examines what he told the New Orleans grand jury in 1968, what he told the HSCA in 1978 and what he published in his book, Remnants of Truth, in 2008.

When I read Beckham's testimony - well, I just can't believe he knew Oswald. But, as we will see, conspiracy author Joan Mellen believed him.

Let's start with Beckham's testimony before the New Orleans grand jury in 1968. He was asked three times if he knew Oswald and he said no all three times:

Page 56.

Page 87.

page 151.

Now, let's have a look at his testimony before the HSCA on May 24, 1978.

Beckham tells the HSCA that he was a "close personal friend" with Oswald and that they were "good buddies." But, he can't say when they became friends. He thinks it might have been the last part of 1962 - but this can't be since Oswald only returned to New Orleans in April 1963. Beckham doesn't know where Oswald lived, who he lived with, or where he worked. Oswald argued with Sergio Arcacha Smith - but Smith moved out of New Orleans in October of 1962. Lastly, Beckham seems to think that Oswald was anti-Castro and that the leaflets he was handing out were to "Free Cuba."

Right at the end of his HSCA deposition, he was asked one more time about Oswald:

They weren't interested in knowing more - they had heard enough.

Now, let's move on to Beckham's book. Here is what he says about Oswald, starting on page 57:

Beckham claims he hung out at the Havana Bar with Clay Shaw, Lee Harvey Oswald, and others. Must have been a fun time!

Some problems with the above. Oswald did go to high school in New Orleans (eighth and ninth grade). He left in grade 10. A year later, he registered for grade 10 in Ft. Worth, but left for the Marines. Back in 1963, Thomas Beckham was not Jewish (nor is he now - he belongs to what he calls "The Union of Yehudite Hebrews." Funny, I couldn't find them on the internet.

Later in the book, Beckham writes:

Yup, "he was that type of a person."

Joan Mellen interviewed Thomas Beckham several times for her book, A Farewell To Justice, and she loved his stories. His name is mentioned 241 times in her book, and she believed just about everything he told her.

On page 354, Mellen repeats some of what Beckham told the HSCA:

She concludes her book on page 386 with this:

Did Beckham happen to operate on Joan Mellen?


Yves here. It cant be said often enough that the apparent success of the Capitol seizure came about because the occupiers pushed on an open door. The mob looked to be 5,000 tops, a number that should have been trivial to keep away or at worst, overwhelm. Well have a better idea soon of much muscle these Trump opponents have, although the 24/7 media panic has given them a big boost. However, if no more than 50,000 show up at the Inauguration, they are paper tigers, and it would take over 150,000 to get me concerned.

However, the authors equate Trump radicals with the working class, which strikes me as simplistic. Despite having a lower proportion of college graduates than Clinton/Biden voters, Trump voters have markedly higher incomes, in 2016, over $10,000 per household, a significant increment, particularly if you factor in that they are less well represented in high wage cities like New York. San Francisco, Boston, and Los Angeles. Recall, for instance, that Zip Tie Guy was sporting pricey camo pants and accessories.

Its not hard to imagine that a decent proportion of the rioters were small business owners, like the woman who was fatally shot, Ashli Babbitt, who operated a pool service company with her husband. Small businesspeople have been the loudest opponents of lockdowns and other restrictions on Covid and some are even of the Covid is a hoax school. Yes, they favored Trump for economic reasons: they benefitted from his tax reforms and were keen about his refusal to support aggressive Covid containment measures.

By Albena Azmanova, an associate professor of politics at the University of Kents Brussels School of International Studies and author of Capitalism on Edge: How Fighting Precarity Can Achieve Radical Change Without Crisis or Utopia (2020) and Marshall Auerback, a researcher at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, a fellow of Economists for Peace and Security, and a regular contributor to Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute

While the majority of Americans deplored the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, it was troubling to see a YouGov poll indicating that 1 in 5 voters approved of the assault. Their attitudes were buttressed by a significant number of House and Senate Republicans who have egged on the matter by continuing to call into question the legitimacy of last Novembers election result. This is a sign that the rot in the American political system goes deep.

Upgrading the physical security around the countrys political institutions is of little long-term value, especially if the activities that occur within them continue to manifest ongoing dysfunction worthy of a banana republic.

Let this be our wake-up call, Americas Beirut blast. The bomb explosion that devastated large parts of Beirut last summer was not an isolated, unfortunate occurrence, but the profound manifestation of decades of incompetence, complacency, and corruption in the Lebanese governmentan outcome of the ruling classes criminal neglect of essential public needs.

By the same token, the events of January 6th should be viewed as the point U.S. political dysfunction reached its breaking point. While the country still appears to remain economically powerful, it has become politically weak and socially fragile in ways characteristic of a society in decline. The focus on the relatively small group that broke into the Capitol as a result of lax security is akin to focusing on the Beirut blast wreckage to the exclusion of all else. Far more significant are the surveys of representative samples of Americans that reveal deepening mistrust of the core institutions and a growing commitment to sectarian interests which have, in many parts of the nation, superseded commitment to the republic itself.

This sheds a different light on the events. While the spark that ignited the violent pro-Trump upheaval was the incumbents allegations that the November Presidential election was fraudulent, for many the assault on the Capitol was also an insurgency against the entire political class. All these politicians work for us. We pay their salaries, we pay our taxes. And what do we get? Nothing. All of them inside are traitorsas a member of the mob stated.

On this particular point, the grievances of the violent mob and the findings of scholars align: America is an oligarchy, not a functioning democracy, as the detailed study by Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page argued in 2014. Thus, much as this was an assault on American democracy, the storming of the Capitol was also a sign that American democracy had already failed. Surely, these clumsy revolutionaries did not storm the Capitol because they are living the American Dreamand they are blaming, unsurprisingly, the whole political class for their malaise.

Whenever economic explanations of this radicalization are attempted, inequality is singled out as the root of working-class discontent. Commentators from Joseph Stiglitz to Thomas Piketty or Emmaunuel Saez relentlessly hammer on one theme above all others: an economic inequality that has deep roots in the political system. A cross-party consensus is now emerging on fighting inequality through redistributionfrom raising the minimum wage to increasing unemployment benefits.

One reason why inequality has attracted so much attention is that it is easily measurable. Indeed, reports of the top 1% of Americans taking $50 trillion from the bottom 90% easily appeal to our sense of injustice. However, there are studies of the white working class which reveal that despite the outrage about inequality, many in this demographic still admire the rich. Additionally, the singular focus on economic inequality obscures another phenomenonthe massive economic insecurity which is affecting broader swathes of the population beyond the precariat (those in poorly paid and insecure jobs). While insecurity is not easy to measure and report, it is in fact at the root of the social malaise of Western societies.

Seeing economic precarity as a root cause also helps to better explain why so much of the working-class radicalization has taken a turn to the right. Right-wing populists specifically evoke language that triggers conservative instinctsthe evocation of family, a desire for stability, for clinging strongly to what is familiar (Make America Great Again), as opposed to plunging into political experimentation with something newwith the foreign, to the American mind, European-style social democracy (especially when combined with woke issues that tend to alienate). On the other hand, many on the libertarian right champion free market fundamentalism, which fosters competitive, rather than solidaristic attitudesespecially when public goods are converted into private rents via privatization, which in turn limits access to resources that mitigate the effects of that intense competition instead of enhancing social solidarity.

Even under recent Democratic Administrations, economic recovery from the 2008 financial meltdown happened through a growth in insecure employment. The services jobs that fueled U.S. economic growth for the past 40 yearsuntil the pandemic began to destroy themwere numerous, but of low quality. The rise of neoliberalism at the expense of the conservative-liberal divide that preceded it has enabled employers to tilt the terms of our capitalist economies heavily toward capital and away from labor, via the evisceration of unions, the deconstruction of the welfare state, and the privatization of public services. Most importantly, funding for public services and social programs has been persistently slashed. It is this impoverishment of the public commons that has increased the importance of personal wealth in securing essential goods such as healthcare and education. Thus, economic inequality matters enormously, but as a grave symptom of a broader problemthat of massive, and growing, fragility of society as a whole. The erosion of the public sector precludes access to many of the social supports that have historically buttressed economic security.

As a result, the American economy has begun to resemble a new, modern feudalism with a small technocracy dominated by Silicon Valley tech overlords and Wall Street billionaires at the top, and a large, uneducated, rapidly growing serf class at the bottom with no social safety net to protect it. . Even if the wealth gap were to be considerably reduced by transfer from rich to poor, precarity would persist because it is rooted not in inequality, but in a depleted public sector, in a public authority that has abandoned the public and increasingly become a vehicle for predatory capitalism.

The pandemic exacerbated both the inequality and the precarity. Wall Street and the stock market have boomed over the past several months, generating affluence imbued with unprecedented levels of risk. At the same time, job growth has collapsed, and unemployment remains stubbornly high. Millions of Americans have withdrawn from the labor force, their jobs likely destroyed for good as the long-term impact of the economic shutdown wreaks havoc in many industries.

That has become a literal life consequence for working people in a system that continues to introduce restrictions to curb the pandemic. It is a particularly acute paradox in the United States, where healthcare remains largely predicated to employment via employer-funded healthcare systems. So we have the makings of a vicious cycle: restrictions are introduced to slow the pandemic, which in turn creates further job losses, which in turn can mean loss of employment and, hence, loss of access to healthcare provision. The very policies designed to safeguard health, then, ultimately exacerbate the problem. Add all of these factors together, align it with a demagogue working to undermine an election result, and you get the ingredients for a very poisonous outbreak of the kind we witnessed on January 6th.

The forces that led to the evisceration of working-class security is now extending to those ensconced in historically well-paid jobs, from lawyers to IT engineers. Even in the midst of a severe recession and a rapidly accelerating pandemic, policy makers remain remarkably indifferent to these trends and the ongoing precarity. They persist in believing that what has happened is merely a disruption to a solid structure, a deviation from normality, all of which can be rectified by the right mix of policy stimulus. A growing political consensus in the United States to tackle inequality appears to be emerging (especially in the wake of the recent Georgia run-off election, which put the Senate back under the control of the Democratic Party). But no matter how equal society becomes in terms of wealth distribution, without a dramatic government investment in public services, notably education, healthcare provision, and job security, trust and disillusionment in American institutions will persist, and with that also the rise of militancy by a radicalized underclass.


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Two bungling criminals were left with no money after all they got from a well-planned cash-in-transit robbery was a bag of bird seed.

The bizarre incident unfolded in Annacotty, Co Limerick, yesterday afternoon when one of the masked thugs brutally assaulted a security employee with an implement, threatened him and grabbed a large bag from the worker.

The raiders escaped in a car which was later found burnt out.

However it can now be revealed that the bag contained no cash and was full of bird seed.

The security employee had bought the bag of bird seed in a local discount store just before this raid happened, a senior source said.

There can be no doubt that the raiders must have thought it was a bag of cash but there was no money in it at all.

All the indications are that this was a very well planned robbery and that the raiders had the cash van under surveillance and a detailed plan to burn out the car after the robbery but their efforts have come to nothing, the source added.

No arrests have been made in the case which is being investigated by officers from Henry Street Garda Station.

Last night gardai made an appeal for information on the bizarre case.

Gardai in Henry Street are appealing for information following an attempted robbery that took place at a retail premises at Annacotty in County Limerick on Friday 15th January 2021.

The incident occurred shortly after 1.50pm when a car pulled up beside a cash-in-transit van. A masked man exited the passengers seat of this car and came towards the van, a garda spokesman said.

This man proceeded to assault the cash-in-transit employee with an implement. The driver of the car, who was also a masked male, is alleged to have made threats to the employee during the assault.

The two men then fled the location soon after in their vehicle.

No cash was taken during this incident and no serious injuries were reported.

Gardai are appealing for any witnesses to come forward and also to any road users with camera footage (including dash-cam) who were in the locale of Annacotty to make it available to investigators.

In particular, Gardai are seeking information from anyone who may have seen a blue BMW in the Annacotty, Killonan and Tipperary Road areas between 1.40pm and 2.30pm.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Henry Street Garda Station 061 212 400 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111, a garda spokesman said.


Sadeqa Johnson wasnt expecting to find an idea for her next book when she and her family took out-of-town guests to visit the Richmond (Va.) Slave Trail in 2016. But there they encountered the story of Mary Lumpkin, an enslaved woman who had been the wife, and eventually the heir, of the citys biggest trader in enslaved Black people.

I like to say that the story really chose me, said Johnson of her fourth novel, Yellow Wife, published Tuesday. When I went out on that slave trail, the story was waiting for me and I just said yes to it.

Named one of the most anticipated historical novels of 2021 by O, the Oprah Magazine, Yellow Wife features a mix of historical and fictional characters in the story of the fictional Pheby Delores Brown, an enslaved woman whos chosen by a Richmond trader notorious for his cruelty, to function as his wife. Forced to assist him in the sale of human beings in exchange for her own and her familys safety, she dreams of helping others to the freedom shed once been promised herself.

Johnson was born in South Philadelphia and grew up in Logan, graduating from George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science. She now lives in Virginia, just outside Richmond. The book publicist turned award-winning author also works with students in the creative writing MFA program at Drexel. She spoke with The Inquirer about having to self-publish her first book, getting to work with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, and why she considers writing about enslaved people a privilege, not a burden.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Beyond your extensive research, is there something very different about writing about Pheby and her family, or do you see similarities between your first historical novel and your previous books?

I love to write about love. So for all my main characters, theres some sort of element of love. I like women who have to struggle because I think thats what life is about. My female protagonists, they always have to overcome something, and its usually a pretty big thing.

Did you always want to be a writer?

As a girl, I used to pass the library on my way to school every day, and most days I stopped at the library afterwards. I had a really tight relationship with my librarian at the Logan branch. She knew me very well, and she would help me pick out books. And so I was always a very, very strong reader. I remember being in seventh grade [at Holy Child on Broad Street], and I would stick my book behind my textbook. I have no idea what seventh grade math is because I read through all of it.

But in high school, I wanted to be an actress. So I went to Freedom Theatre on Broad Street for acting classes. When I moved to New York for college, I thought I was only going to be there for two or three weeks, I would get my big break, and next thing you know, Ill be on The Cosby Show. It didnt work out that way. I graduated [from Marymount Manhattan College]. And it was while I was in college and taking theater classes that I started to kind of fool around with my writing. I started [writing] poetry. And then I was writing plays. And then from there, I started my first novel, right after college.

So you wrote your first novel just as you were starting in publishing?

When I got my first job, at Scholastic, I started to fool around with a novel that never saw the light of day. But then the next novel I started, also when I was at Scholastic, that was Love in a Carry-On Bag.

>> Inquirer Live hosts Sadeqa Johnson at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 22, in conversation with Ellen Gray. Click here to register.

And in those days you were doing publicity for other authors.

Because I love to read, I was looking for a job that had something to do with what I liked. And so I ended up in publishing. I had two interviews at Scholastic, one in marketing and one in publicity. I only picked the job of publicity because it paid $2,000 more a year than the marketing job. After Scholastic, I went to G.P. Putnams, and I worked there for a few years.

I loved it. It was really cool to be behind the scenes and figure out how to promote other authors. I worked with J.K. Rowling on the first three Harry Potter books, which was a joy. I have my first three [of Rowlings books] autographed, and they have a special place in my bookshelf, nobody can touch them. My kids cant read them. Theyre up really, really high.

I worked with Ruby Bridges and Walter Dean Myers and Virginia Hamilton and other authors at Scholastic. It was a really good experience.

And yet you ended up self-publishing your own first novel.

All the time Im writing Love in a Carry-On Bag, Im building connections. Im thinking that once I have this book done, its going to be 1, 2, 3. I had my first son and decided that I was going to stay home, and I was going to be an author now. And so I got an agent, a really prominent agent. And one by one, every single editor turned me down. It got to the point where I was distraught.

It wasnt all me. It was around the time when Borders crashed, and editors were leaving publishing, self-publishing was on the rise. The industry was changing, and at that point there was just no room for me, I guess. And so my husband and I decided to start a publishing company called 12th Street Press, because I grew up on 12th Street, 12th and Somerville.

We ordered 3,500 copies and literally went up and down the East Coast, every book festival we could find, in the hot sun selling books in 98 degrees on street corners. But it worked, because I won the Phillis Wheatley Award for Love in a Carry-On Bag, and from there I was able to get a two-book deal from St. Martins Press for Second House from the Corner and Then There Was Me.

Books that deal honestly with slavery are important. But they can also be harrowing. What was it like for you to be writing about enslaved Black people? Was it harder, psychologically, than your other books?

It felt to me like I was connecting to my ancestors, like I was giving them a voice, that I was paying homage to them, that I was showing my appreciation for all of the things that theyd been through so that I could be right here.

That is the way I approached writing Yellow Wife. This was a gift that I was given, that they chose me, but also that I can give back to them by bringing their voices to the world.

Sadeqa Johnson will be the guest on Inquirer Live at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 22, in conversation with Ellen Gray. To register for this virtual event, go to inquirer.com/SadeqaEvent.

CHARLES CITY, Iowa  Two men are arrested after some rural burglaries Friday morning.

Robert Patrick Frazer, 25 of Charles City, and Dylan Michael Jones, 23 of New Hampton, are charged with two counts of 3rd degree burglary and one counts of 4th degree criminal mischief. Authorities say the men illegally entered a closed farm building in the 2200 block of Walnut Avenue, southeast of Charles City, around 6 am.

Frazer and Jones are then accused of breaking into a locked barn in the 2200 block of Villa Lane while trying to escape from law enforcement. Court document state a barn door sustained about $300 in damage.
As police worked furiously to identify the two men who killed a Kenner gas station clerk during a Nov. 30 armed robbery, detectives received an anonymous call from a tipster who said he had information about the gunman.

The caller identified the shooter as Lamonte Loggins and told police where Loggins was hiding out in Memphis. Loggins was, indeed, already a suspect in the case, according to authorities.

But it wasnt until he was confronted directly by a detective that the caller revealed his own identity: Eric Rodgers, Loggins' brother and his suspected accomplice in the deadly robbery.

I informed him to turn himself in, Kenner Police Detective Aaron Savoie said this week as he testified during a probable cause hearing held for Eric Rodgers in Jefferson Parish Magistrate Court.

Rodgers  whose tip led to his brothers Dec. 8 arrest in Memphis  was taken into custody in the same city a day later. The 29-year-old waived extradition and is back in Jefferson Parish where he was booked with second-degree murder and armed robbery.

Loggins, 28, was still being held Friday at the Shelby County Jail in Memphis on a $2 million bond as he awaited extradition proceedings, according to court records. Loggins faces charges including first-degree murder, armed robbery, illegal carrying of a weapon and illegal use of a weapon, Kenner police said.

+5 Two brothers arrested in slaying of clerk during armed robbery at Kenner convenience store Kenner police have arrested two brothers accused in the chilling slaying of a convenience store clerk who was executed while on his knees duri

Savoies testimony on Thursday recounted the shocking killing of store clerk Abd El Ghader Sylla, 30, who was gunned down as he knelt with his hands up inside a Shell service station at 3501 Williams Blvd., authorities have said. But the detective also revealed a few new details about the case.

The DNA evidence police used to identify Loggins as a suspect came from a latex glove he allegedly dropped during the holdup, Savoie told the court. The glove can be seen on business surveillance video falling from one of the robbers pockets when he pulled out the gun, the detective said.

Surveillance video figured heavily in the investigation. The entire crime was captured on the stores cameras. The robbers escape was also recorded by a series of home surveillance camera systems that allowed detectives to track the suspects getaway vehicle to a Loire Drive apartment, about 2.5 miles from the gas station.

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Rodgers was the first of the robbers to enter the store, clad in a blue jacket with the hood pulled over his head and a face mask, Savoie said. Moments later, Loggins entered wearing a white beanie-style hat and a face mask. Loggins pulled out a gun and demanded money from Sylla, according to the detective.

+5 'Everyone who met him loved him': Kenner store clerk's widow grieving after cold-blooded slaying DeVona Tibbet wept Monday afternoon as she tried to understand the violence that had claimed her husband and shattered her world.

As the cashier is kneeling on the ground Eric (Rodgers) goes around the counter and gets two packs of Newport 100s and walks back around, Savoie testified.

Rodgers then walked towards the door and exited the store. Loggins made his way behind the front counter and pistol-whipped Sylla, according to Savoie.

Loggins was about to walk away, but he turned and fired one shot that hit Sylla in the right side of his torso and exited out his back, Savoie said. The pair ran to their getaway vehicle, a gray Hyundai Sonata that belonged to Rodgers girlfriend, authorities said.

Though fatally wounded, Sylla managed to dial 911 and report the holdup, Savoie said.

Rodgers told investigators he had no idea his brother planned to rob the store but admitted to stealing the cigarettes, Savoie said. Detectives, however, believe Rodgers was in on the scheme based on witness interviews. Rodgers allegedly told one witness the robbery took place but the murder was not supposed to go down, Savoie testified.

It was eating him alive, the detective said of Rodgers.

Criminal Commissioner Patricia Joyce ruled there was probable cause to continue holding Rodgers on the murder and robbery charges. She also denied a motion to reduce his $700,000 bond.

Loggins returns to court in Tennessee on Feb. 4, court records said.
Pfizer on January 15 said that it will temporarily reduce deliveries of COVID-19 vaccine across Europe, as well as the UK from next week onwards, according to a statement by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). US pharmaceutical company informed that there will be an unforeseen, temporary reduction in the supply of the jabs to Europe due to logistical problems, and also, meanwhile, Pfizer needed to upgrade its vaccine production to nearly 2 billion doses per year. The delay in shipments of new batches is speculated to have been caused due to the problem related to the storage temperature of the vials. This has caused a stir across European nations.

Spains health ministry told Euronews that basis the message Spanish health authorities got from Pfizer's manufacturing plant in Puurs, Belgium, it remains clear, that the deliveries of Pfizer vaccines were held back due to a problem in the loading and shipping process related to temperature control. Meanwhile, health authorities in Germany reported temperature issues with the Pfizer vaccines which were detected during transit that led to the delay in administering the jabs to the population, overall delaying the vaccination program. German health ministry called the issue regrettable and shocking. Meanwhile, the EU Commission chief said she had immediately called Pfizers CEO regarding the delays in shipments, but it turns out that the issue extends beyond Europe as Canadas deliveries of Pfizer vaccines have also been rolled back.

Pfizer CEO assured me that all guaranteed doses of the first quarter will be delivered in the first quarter. He is personally on the case on reducing the delay period and to make sure that they will catch up as soon as possible,European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in an AP report.

Read: EXPLAINER: Why Expansion Of Vaccine To Smokers Caused A Stir

Read: Vaccine Shipments To Canada Will Be Reduced By Half

Storage temperature stability issues

In an official statement to Euronews, Pfizer admitted to the logistical problem, as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine needed ultra-low minus 70 degrees Celsius to store, the firm had to reschedule the deliveries due to storage temperature stability issues. Pfizer needed 2 Celsius to 8 Celsius to remain effective during shipment. The company said that there were no manufacturing glitches as such that was reported. However, according to the BBC, EU countries were now expressing anger and were calling the situation unacceptable.

Several EU countries warned that the logistical issues and delay in the shipment of vials will cause a decline in the credibility of vaccines. Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia among the impacted nations urged the EU to pressurize Pfizer to normalize the shipment. Meanwhile, calling the impact short-term, Pfizer said in a statement, "Although this will temporarily impact shipments in late January to early February, it will provide a significant increase in doses available for patients in late February and March.

[Credit: AP]

Read: US Governors Angered By Miscues On Vaccine Supply

Read: US: Anger In States Over Pace Of COVID-19 Vaccine Allotments
Photo: (Photo : Facebook/Boston Center for Independent Living)

A man helps pass a law to save others after not being able to save his wife. His wife died in front of the hospital after suffering an asthma attack.

Peter DeMarco told Boston radio station WBUR that his wife, Laura Beth Levis, had suffered an asthma attack in 2016 right outside of a Massachusetts hospital. He explained that she was just steps away from the emergency room entrance but could not find the right door.

Asthma attack a few steps from the ER door

DeMarco said that his wife found the wrong door, and it was locked and was then overcome before she could locate the right door. Since that day, he has been doing his best to pass a piece of legislation that requires easy access in every ER entrance in Massachusetts.

DeMarco aptly named the bill "Laura's Law," which is to prevent the tragedy that happened to his wife. The law is the first-ever with standards for lighting, signage, and security monitoring of doors.

READ NEXT: 17-Year-Old Opens College Acceptance Letter at Mother's Grave

Flooded the State House

Weeks after DeMarco and his family support the law by making hundreds of phone calls and sending emails to the officials, on January 6, the bill has finally passed. The bittersweet victory DeMarco has fought so hard has relieved him even though his wife is already gone.

DeMarco wrote a WBUR essay sharing the rollercoaster ride that he had gone through. In 2018, he wrote a touching tribute, "Losing Laura" for "The Boston Globe." It was his first advocate for his late wife.

READ MORE: TikTok Releases New Privacy Setting to Safeguard Teen Users

Hospital staff claimed that Levis collapse in a parking lot or on a nearby street and never made it to the ER. However, he later learned that his late wife was on the ER doorstep when she called 911 before she had collapsed.

DeMarco wrote that his wife was just a few feet from help, but it never came. He pleaded for a healthcare change to prevent the same mistakes from reoccurring. He was determined to share his wife's' story, so others would not suffer as she did.

CHECK THIS OUT: Plumber Helps More than 10,000 Families for Free

Slow legislative process

On January 5, De Marco learned that his bill had a 50 percent chance not to pass. He was frustrated with the slow legislative process, even without a pandemic, so he thought smaller bills like Laura's Law have very little chance.

State Rep. Christine Barber and Sen. Pat Jehlen of Somerville, DeMarco's bill sponsors, advised him to flood the State House with emails, letters, and calls for his law to pass. The "fierce force" from many supporters have helped to make Laura's Law pass.

DeMarco could not help but thank the power of his "army" so that Levis' death would not go in vain. He noted how it took democracy to create something positive out of a tragedy.
She carried on an onoff relationship with her ex-boyfriend Ryan Seacrest over the course of seven years.

But Shayna Taylor was living her best single life on Friday as she soaked up the sun and relaxed on a pristine beach during her vacation to Tulum, Mexico.

The 28-year-old chef covered up her outstanding figure in a beige kimono that she left barely buttoned to reveal her bikini underneath.

Beach day: Shayna Taylor, 28, covered up her fit physique in a beige beach dress as she strolled through the sand in Tulum, Mexico, on Friday

Shayna's outfit featured a thick brown zig-zagging stripe running across the body, and the cover-up featured baggy sleeves and tassels hanging down from the hem.

She was ready for some fun in the surf with a pale pink two-piece swim suit with ruched edges.

The blonde beauty let her voluminous locks cascade down the front of her shoulders, and she accessorized with layered necklaces and simple bead bracelets.

Covered up: Under her coverup, Shayna wore a pale pink two-piece suit with ruched edges. She let her voluminous blonde tresses cascade down her shoulders

Shayna's more modest look was a far cry from her show-stopping two-piece bathing suit display on Thursday, when she cooled down in the sea.

She looked fierce in a burnt orange and black string bikini covered in a tiger stripe pattern.

The rectangular top highlighted her cleavage and the suit showcased her taut tummy.

The celebrity chef opted to keep her long hair tied up in a top knot as she giddily ran through the surf with friends.

Fierce: She rocked a burnt orange and black tiger-stripe bikini on Thursday, when she ran through the surf with friends

Taking it easy: On Instagram, she lounged in a hammock while wearing a white tank top with a pink and blue skirt and a wide-brimmed hat

Over on Instagram, Shayna shared a photo of herself lounging in a tasseled hammock by her bungalow.

She had changed into a white tank top with a pink and blue skirt, and she added a wide-brimmed straw hat to keep the sun out of her face and add some extra flair.

'You must repeat on trip. Same place, same people, same experiences. Where are you going?' she quizzed her followers.

Shayna's Mexican vacation comes seven months after she was reported to have broken up with her boyfriend Ryan Seacrest for the third time, seven years after they first met.

'Ryan and Shayna decided to end their romantic relationship amicably some time ago,' a spokesman told DailyMail.com in June 2020. 'They remain good friends, each other's biggest supporters and will always cherish their time together as a couple.'

At the same time that their breakup was reported, the 46-year-old Live With Kelly And Ryan host was seen vacationing in Cabo San Lucas with a mystery blonde.

Moving on: In June, she was reported to have broken up with Ryan Seacrest after a seven-year on-and-off relationship; seen together in November 2019 in NYC

Back and forth: The two first met at an LA restaurant in 2013 but separated in 2014. They reconciled in 2017 and split again in February 2019, before reuniting on an Italian yacht later that year

Back in March of last year, he wished the lifestyle influencer a happy birthday on Instagram with a throwback photo of the then-couple.

The two first met at a Los Angeles restaurant in 2013 before a briefly separating the following year.

Ryan and Shayna reconciled in 2017 and moved in together, but they split once again in February 2019.

They couldn't seem to quit each other though, and they were again spotted together vacationing on a yacht in Italy over summer 2019, though they didn't make it official that they were back together until September of that year.

Dated: Before getting together with Shayna, Ryan enjoyed a two-year romance with Julianne Hough from 2010 to 2013; seen together in 2012 in Hollywood

The American Idol hosts previous romances include a relationship with Julianne Hough from 20102013.

Before that, he dated the former Playboy Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood in 2009.

In 2006, he was briefly linked to Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher, though she later claimed on the Oprah Winfrey Show that they only ever went on three dates.

A man has been arrested in connection with the murder of a Philadelphia man shot dead while walking his dog.

Milan Loncar, 25, a recent graduate of Temple University, was walking his dachshund-chihuahua mix dog named Roo on Wednesday at about 7pm when he was shot dead just one block from his home.

Surveillance video showed the moment when two men approached Milan, reached for his pockets and then fatally shot him in the chest in what police believe was a robbery attempt.

On Saturday evening, CBS3 Philadelphia reporter Joe Holden tweeted that two people had been taken into custody.

He then shared an update saying three siblings were brought in for questioning and one of them will be charged with murder, while detectives search for a second murder suspect.

Philadelphia cops told DailyMail.com more information will be provided when there are formal charges.

It comes after his girlfriend called him her 'soulmate' as she broke down in tears during his vigil Friday night.

Olivia Gorski called her slain boyfriend, Milan Loncar, 25, her 'soulmate.' He was fatally shot Wednesday night while walking his dog a block from his home

Gorski (far right) is pictured at Milan's vigil Friday night, alongside his sister, Jelena Loncar, 27 (left) and mother, Amy Lounsberry (center). Jelena is holding Milan's dog, Roo

The vigil was held at the spot where Milan was fatally shot. Friends and family gathered to light up his portrait with their cell phones and sing songs in his memory (pictured)

On Friday night, family and friends gathered at the site where he was killed, illuminating a portrait of him with the light of their cellphones, while also playing music and singing for him.

'He was my soulmate, and I don't think I have a plan anymore without him,' Milan's girlfriend, Olivia Gorski, said at his vigil, fighting tears while being comforted by Milan's mother, Amy Lounsberry.

Gorski had been planning to move in with Milan next month.

While speaking with 6ABC, Lounsberry, said of her son and Gorski, 'We might've had a wedding.'

'There would have been a wedding,' Gorski replied, definitively.

Milan's sister, Jelena Loncar, 27, said of the man who shot her brother, 'You've taken so much from us, you've hurt the neighborhood. It's not just one life.'

'You've ruined hundreds of lives that you don't even know,' Gorski added.

Milan had graduated from Temple in 2019 after majoring in engineering and had been working for a construction management company for about a year.

Amy Lounsberry shared this picture of herself with her son Milan and her daughter Jelena Loncar

Lounsberry told the Philadelphia Inquirer 'everything was coming together' for 'a beloved sweet boy just starting his life'.

Police released the surveillance video from Wednesday night's incident in attempt to help identify the suspects.

The video shows two suspects walking down the sidewalk then splitting up to corral Milan as they approach him, stopping him in his tracks.

One of the suspects can be seen pulling out what appears to be a gun and holding it at chest level to stop Milan. The suspect then seems to reach for Milan's pockets.

Police said that a shot was then fired and that the suspects ran from the scene.

Milan's mother shared that she would be holding a memorial on Friday, writing: 'I want to stand tonight where my son fell and Im hoping some of you will stand with me in remembrance'

Milan Loncar, 25, was walking his dachshund-Chihuahua mix dog on Wednesday at about 7pm when he was shot dead

Lounsberry has shared a series of heartbreaking posts and spoken about his life in interviews with local news outlets.

'He is so missed and we are trying to pull together and get everybody through,' she told 6 ABC. 'He was going to move in with his girlfriend in March, he had graduated and had his first job and was just starting out.

'I don't know why they did it, I can't understand. They didn't get any money, did they need it so badly, were they trying to show off?

'I was so proud of him and everybody that he worked with, everybody he knew, they all said how he was doing so well. Everybody loved him.'

Lounsberry wrote on Facebook on Friday: 'I want to stand tonight where my son fell and Im hoping some of you will stand with me in remembrance. I will be at 31st and Jefferson between 6:56, the time of the shots fired radio call, to 730 when he was declared dead.'

She then thanked people for attending, writing: 'Thank you all for coming tonight, it was so nice to have all of your support. I know were all shocked and hurting but we were together tonight.'

Surveillance video caught the moment when Milan Locar, 25, was stopped by two men who rifled through his pockets and then shot him in the chest

Police released surveillance images of the suspects as they ran from the shooting scene

The shooting suspects are seen here as they walk down the street together (left), before separating briefly to surround Milan (right) as he walks his dog

Police are seeking help in identifying the suspects, seen here as they run away from the scene

Police said that Milan used his cell phone to call for help after he was shot and was found in the street injured, while still holding the dog's leash, CBS Philadelphia reported.

Milan was declared dead at the hospital at about 7.30pm.

Police believe that Milan was killed in the midst of an attempted robbery.

Family members told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Milan's house keys and cell phone were found at the scene. He didn't have his wallet on him - he'd left it at home.

Milan's sister Jelena Loncar, 27, lives near her brother. She said she first learned about the shooting through an alert on the Citizen App as she was driving home from dinner with her mother.

At the time, she wasn't aware of who had been shot.

Lounsberry has shared a series of heartbreaking posts and spoken about his life in interviews with local news outlets

Milan's sister, Jelena Loncar (pictured), said that he was the 'kindest person in the entire world'

Jelena (left with Milan) said that she heard about a shooting through a neighborhood app and called her brother, but he didn't answer, leaving her to fear the worst

She said that she called Milan, who didn't answer his phone, leading her to fear the worst, she told CBS Philadelphia.

Jelena's roommate, Arshiya Luthra, 26, then went to the scene, described Milan and then realized he had been the person who had been shot when police brought her Milan's dog, Luthra told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Jelena described her brother as being 'the kindest person in the entire world' and that he was 'selfless, constantly smiling.'

His uncle, Nikola Loncar, 66, told the newspaper that Milan 'was very polite. I dont think he would ever fight anybody.'

Milan (pictured) was walking his dog at about 7pm that night, about a block from his home. His family said that he did not have his wallet with him at the time he was stopped

The shooting took place near this Philadelphia intersection, about a block from Milan's home

Police released surveillance footage showing multiple angles of the suspects approaching and stopping Milan. Surveillance footage also showed the suspects as they ran away.

Police are asking for the public's help in providing details about the incident, which they are calling an apparent robbery.

Anyone with details about the shooting is asked to contact the homicide unit at 215-686-3334 or the police tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477) or email tips@phillypolice.com.
War in Iran having failed to materialise and, freshly acquitted by the Senate, Donald Trump was in upbeat form in February 2020.

The only blot on his horizon was the emergence of a deadly new respiratory disease in the city of Wuhan, China, but the president had rejected the significance of Covid-19 out of hand, telling the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a day after the first American case had been recorded on 21 January: We have this totally under control.

After the World Health Organisation declared a global emergency on 30 January, Trump moved to shut down air travel from China as a precaution and assumed that would be sufficient to block its arrival on American shores.
A highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus first identified in the United Kingdom has been detected in a woman from the Philadelphia area, officials announced Friday.

The woman, who is in her 50s and a resident of both Philadelphia and Bucks Counties, began experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus in late December, according to a news release from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. She was briefly hospitalized and is now recovering.

This marks the second time the B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus has been found in Pennsylvania. The strain was also detected last week in a Dauphin County resident, who experienced mild symptoms and was exposed to the variant outside of the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the strain has been detected in 10 states.

 READ MORE: Are we at the beginning of the end of COVID-19? The tricky road to herd immunity, explained.

While scientists continue to research the new strain of COVID-19, current data suggests the variant is more easily transmissible between people, according to a release from Penn Medicine. However, researchers say it does not appear to make people sicker, or that it has changed enough that the vaccines will not work.

While it is still not proven that the B.1.1.7 variant is more transmissible than other variants of the COVID-19 coronavirus, we are concerned that it is present in Philadelphia, said Philadelphia Health Commissioner Thomas Farley. Everyone in the area should take this information as a reminder to be even more consistent in wearing masks and keeping distance from others.

 READ MORE: Why the new COVID-19 mutations might not be as scary as you think

David Damsker, director of the Bucks County Health Department, added that it is not unusual for a virus to change and mutate.

We are not overly concerned about this development because all available evidence shows that the existing vaccines are effective against this variant, Damsker said. So long as that continues to be the case, we will treat this variant the same as our other cases.

Evidence of the new strain in the Philadelphia region was detected via genetic sequencing by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, following an investigation by the Philadelphia and Bucks County health departments. The strain is difficult to detect, according to Penn Medicine, because it requires the added step of genetic sequencing testing.

I dont think its surprising to have found the variant here, as it has already been detected elsewhere in Pennsylvania and in many locations across the U.S., said Frederic Bushman, chair of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine. All these detections support the idea that the virus is more infectious, and reinforces that we need to take the precautions we know work  wear masks, social distance, dont go to crowded places, and get a COVID-19 vaccine when it is available to you.

As the world accepts a Twitter without @realdonaldtrump, the big question is: Now what?

Major technology companies have long been accused of giving President Donald Trump special treatment that other users did not receive. Now, tech companies have banned Trump from their platforms after a mob led by his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

Trump was blocked from Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and other social media platforms. In many ways, removing the president was the easy part. But what happens now?

Will tech companies hold other world leaders to the same level of behavior? Will they go further into deciding what is and is not permitted on their platforms, perhaps angering many of their users? Will all this cause additional online divisions that will push people with extreme ideas onto secret platforms?

Although theyve long tried to remain neutral, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms are slowly finding that they can play an active part in shaping the modern world. Their services are used by many angry groups as well as people pushing misinformation about science, politics and medicine.

The companies are moving from defending free-speech absolutism, towards an understanding of speech moderation as a matter of public health, said media professor Ethan Zuckerman of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

None of this can be fixed quickly, and banning a president with only a few more days in office is not the answer.

But there are ways to be more effective.

When the 26-minute video Pl andemic suddenly appeared on the internet, it received millions of views in just a few days. It was filled with untrue information that pointed to a worldwide COVID-19 conspiracy. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube removed it only after the video had received millions of views. But the companies were ready for part two of the video. When it appeared, it was removed immediately and received very little attention.

Sharing disinformation about COVID is a danger because it makes it harder for us to fight the disease, Zuckerman said. He added that sharing disinformation about voting is an attack on our democracy.

It has been easier for tech companies to act on matters of public health than on politics. Corporate reactions to Trump and his supporters have led to angry cries of censorship. Such actions even drew criticism from European leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and she has little love for Trump.

Merkels spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said freedom of opinion is one of our most basic rights. He told reporters that such a right can only be removed or changed by governments, not by a decision by the management of social media platforms.

That may be possible in Europe, but it is much more complex in the U.S., where the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of expression from government rules. However, it does not protect freedom of expression from corporate rules on privately-owned, communication platforms.

Governments, of course, remain free to regulate tech companies. Over the past year, Trump, other Republicans and some Democrats have called for the removal of a 1996 law known as Section 230. The law protects social media platforms from being sued for a lot of money by anyone who feels wronged by something someone else has posted.

Still, few are happy with the often slow reactions of companies like Twitter and Facebook to events like the U.S. Capitol attack, other violent events or live-streamed shootings.

Sarita Schoenebeck is a University of Michigan professor who studies online harassment. She said it might be time for the platforms to reexamine how they react to problematic material.

Until recently, tech companies have looked only at problematic material on its own. They have not thought about the broader social and cultural effect, she said. She added that companies should look at democratic ideals, community governance and platform rules to shape behavior.

Jared Schroeder is an expert on social media and the First Amendment at Southern Methodist University. He thinks the Trump bans will push supporters to more secretive platforms where they can organize and communicate.

The bans have taken away the best tools for organizing people and for Trump to speak to the largest audiences, but these are by no means the only tools, Schroeder said.

Im Susan Shand.

The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

platform - n. something that allows someone to tell a large number of people about an idea, product,

absolutism  n. a philosophy of never making exceptions

conspiracy  n. a secret plan made by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal

censorship  n. a system of examining books, movies, letters, etc., and removes things that are considered to be offensive, immoral, harmful to society

management  n. the control or organization of something

regulate  v. to make rules or laws that control something

sue  v. to use a legal process by which you try to get a court of law to force a person, company, or organization that has treated you unfairly or hurt you in some way to give you something or to do something

live-stream  v. to put on the internet pictures of events as they happen

harassment  n. behavior that annoys or troubles someone

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It's a film so dark and provocative that its star, Carey Mulligan, was fearful of taking the lead role.

When it was premiered at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival last year, members of the audience erupted in anger.

And perhaps that's no wonder, because Promising Young Woman, released in the UK shortly, dares to suggest a very uncomfortable truth  that women are just as violent, ruthless and full of rage as men.

Already hotly tipped for an Oscar, the film has been described as 'Thelma & Louise for the #MeToo generation', after the 1991 road movie which showed two women taking the law into their own hands following a sex attack.

Carey Mulligan in Promising Young Woman, a dark and provocative film, as a 30-year-old medical school dropout on a mission to avenge her best friend's rape and suicide

Carey Mulligan and Christopher Mintz-Plasse in a scene from Promising Young Woman, a film tipped for an Oscar run

Promising Young Woman is written and directed by society beauty Emerald Fennell, who was the talented nurse Patsy Mount in the BBC's Call The Midwife and plays Camilla Parker Bowles in the latest controversial series of Netflix's The Crown.

The film features Cassie, played by Mulligan, a 30-year-old medical school dropout on a mission to avenge her best friend's rape and subsequent suicide.

By day, she has a dead-end job in a cafe but at night, in various bars and clubs, she pretends to be intoxicated to pick up men who see her as an easy target.

They soon learn differently, as Cassie callously dispenses her own rough justice.

'The great thing about this movie is it shows rage and deals with trauma from a woman's point of view,' says one leading producer.

'The reason Thelma & Louise was such a shock to audiences is that it was one of the few times a story like that, of the trauma and anger women feel after a sexual assault, was portrayed on the big screen. It upended the norms and made audiences feel uncomfortable  which is a good thing.'

Both films feature sex assault victims who are discredited because they were drunk.

In Thelma & Louise, two friends head off for a holiday at a borrowed fishing cabin, but it goes spectacularly wrong when the pair stop off at a bar and Louise, played by Susan Sarandon, shoots dead a man who is attempting to rape Geena Davis's character Thelma.

Despairing of the police believing their story, the pair drive on, committing myriad crimes on the way.

They never reach the fishing cabin, but end up driving their 1966 Thunderbird convertible over the Grand Canyon, an ending which has since been voted one of the great classic film moments.

Thelma and Louise, starring Susan Sarandon (right) and Geena Davies empowered a generation of young women

It empowered a generation of young women, although some critics dismissed the film as a misogynist tale about women who, put under pressure, lose what remains of their reason and suffer the ultimate punishment. Thirty years on,

Promising Young Woman  released in the US last month  looks set to create similar controversy, with some critics decrying it as a simplistic, man-hating revenge movie that glorifies violence.

During a public test screening, a fight even started between two audience members.

'One person was very angry about a scene, and the other person was saying 'Well, if you don't like it, you don't have to watch it' or 'If you don't like it, you can leave',' Fennell, who was in the audience, recalled.

'It was quite visceral, and that was quite shocking because obviously I wanted to make a film that was thought-provoking that people talk about, but I wasn't expecting that.'

Some have described the film as a commentary on the 2017 #MeToo movement, which encouraged women to break their silence on sexual harassment and saw legendary Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, following decades of abusing aspiring actresses, jailed for 23 years for rape.

However, Fennell  who insists the screenplay is not based on one woman's personal experience but rather the experience of women everywhere  says she has instead tapped into gender issues that have held sway for decades. 'There's nothing in it that isn't extremely commonplace,' she says.

'Nobody in the film is a bad person. The men and women are all just part of a culture with slightly dodgy attitudes about sex.-

'What's important to me is asking questions about why we hold these attitudes and how we might change them  so this toxic culture doesn't continue to persist.'

Carey Mulligan and Emerald Fennell at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival where members of the audience erupted in anger at its content

Indeed, when it comes to meting out justice, Cassie is settling scores with women and men  meaning anyone who doesn't believe her friend is telling the truth after her attack, or who does nothing to help, is taken to task in often brutal ways.

The point is made by casting actors not known as classic villains, but nice guys who are shown failing to see their actions are wrong. Among them is Christopher Mintz-Plasse, the lovable geek Fogell McLovin from 2007 teen movie Superbad, who admits he doesn't even know Cassie's name after she drops her drunk act when back at his apartment.

It also stars Adam Brody, heart-throb nerd Seth Cohen from TV series The OC, former comedian Sam Richardson and Ray Nicholson, son of acting legend Jack, whose bad-boy reputation was perhaps intended to add another micro-subtle layer to the audience's discomfort over the subject matter.

For her own part, Mulligan, stepping away from some of the more traditional period roles for which she is well known, admits she was initially daunted by Fennell's screenplay. 'On first reading, I was scared of it,' says Mulligan. 'Meeting Emerald [Fennell], I started to understand the nuance to it.'

Her gamble in taking the role has certainly paid off: to date the film has been nominated for nearly 40 US awards and won seven.

In December, Mulligan scooped The Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for best actress, while Fennell won an honour for best screenplay, an honour that for other films has translated into an Oscar nomination.

'The buzz around Carey Mulligan and Emerald Fennell has been growing,' confirms a source at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body that votes on the Oscars.

Either way, the awards so far are yet more feathers in the cap of the highly accomplished Emerald, who at 35 and alongside her acting credits already has successful children's novels and two Emmy Award nominations, the latter for writing the second season of Killing Eve, the BBC drama about a psychopathic female assassin which she took over from friend Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

It's a world away from the comfortable and privileged upbringing Fennell enjoyed alongside her sister Coco, now a successful fashion designer whose clothes were used in Promising Young Woman, courtesy of society parents, the jeweller and author Theo and Louise Fennell, known as one of the best-connected couples in London.

'Their life was like a revolving Rolodex of A-listers from the Noughties,' a family friend told The Mail on Sunday.

'Theo and Louise went to The Ivy most nights with a roll-call of A-list stars, including Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley, Sting and Trudie Styler and the Beckhams. They, Emerald and her sister Coco often holidayed in St Tropez with 'Uncle Elton' John.'

Promising Young Woman is written and directed by society beauty Emerald Fennell, who was the talented nurse Patsy Mount in the BBC's Call The Midwife and plays Camilla Parker Bowles in the latest controversial series of Netflix's The Crown

Emerald attended the 40,000- a-year Marlborough College at the same time as Kate Middleton, who was three years her senior, before reading English at Oxford University. By then she had already embarked on her acting career, and in a neat twist appeared alongside Mulligan in an episode of Lynda La Plante's gritty police drama Trial And Retribution when they were both 18.

In fairness, Fennell is very mindful of her advantages, telling WSJ. Magazine that it spurred her on to work harder.

'I'm very aware that part of my luck was that I had parents who lived in London who were able to support me,' she said. 'So I have to work really hard because that head start that people like me get, you need to prove you deserved it.'

Now, in her first screenplay, she has shown she 'isn't afraid to go into dark corners', as the leading producer puts it.

They added: 'For too long, women haven't been allowed to show their anger on screen. It was perceived as shameful. Men could show rage and go around blowing things up and gunning people down, but women were supposed to suck it up.

'Millions of women were victims of sexual abuse, but they were the ones feeling the shame, not the perpetrators.

'Then along came the #MeToo movement and suddenly it was OK for women to name their rapists, to speak publicly about men like Harvey Weinstein whose behaviour had been known about and tolerated for years. This film is so powerful because it's giving power back to the woman.'

It is likely to be one of many new dramas tackling the subject, with a commissioning producer at Netflix confirming there had been 'very noticeable change' in the type of material being sent to him.

'Suddenly, women realised they did have a voice and they could bring these powerful, seemingly untouchable men down,' he says. 'We've been commissioning a lot of projects from female writers.

'These are subjects which used to be taboo in Hollywood, but times have moved on and now projects like this are being made and finding an audience.'

Fennell's next venture, meanwhile, is a retelling of Cinderella, on which she is working alongside family friend Andrew Lloyd Webber. Scheduled for May, it's safe to expect that this musical may take a more controversial perspective than the one we know and love.
Kathmandu, January 16

Nepal has validated a new coronavirus test kit that is reportedly cheaper and quicker than the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test being practised in the country for the past year.

The National Public Health Laboratory under the Ministry of Health validated the Sherlock CRISPR kit developed as per the technology of the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors that won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020. However, the laboratorys chief Dr Runa Jha clarifies the kit has not been approved yet for actual use, and discussions are underway for the same.

We are happy with the result of the validation, Dr Jha says, But, it is up to the Ministry of Health to decide whether to use it.

The ministrys spokesperson Jageshwor Gautam says the ministry will make a decision in this regard soon.

The NPHL says it had tested 360 samples using the new kit, among which, 98.33 per cent samples showed similar results to that of a PCR test.

The United States Food and Drug Administration has also already approved this technology for emergency use. Two Nepali scholars working in different US institutions, Digbijay Raja Mahat and Bishal Bhandari, led the technologys adoption in Nepal.

Mahat says 8,000 CRISPR kits have been brought to Nepal in the first phase.

He says this is an appropriate tool for mass testing as it is cheaper and quicker than the PCR kit. This technology gives results within 70 minutes of sample collection. Accordingly, over 10,000 people can be tested in a single day.

Mahat hopes this technology can help Nepal combat the pandemic more effectively.

Further, it does not need any VTM kit or RNA extraction kit for the test, making it cheaper than the PCR technology. Further, it can be used with a tube where a lab and a test machine are not available.

On the COVID-19 era campaign trail, Joe Biden rose early at his Delaware home for a workout in a gym that boasted a Peloton bike, weights and a treadmill.

The President-elect might have to make do without his sleek bike at the White House, according to Max Kilger, director of the University of Texas at San Antonios Data Analytics Program. The bike could pose a two-wheeled security risk on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Peloton's stationary bikes, which range from $1,895 to $2,495, offer at-home spin classes through a high-definition touch screen. Kilger would not bring one into the White House unless the manufacturer made some extensive modifications.

"Not without the factory modifying it  yanking out the camera, yanking out the microphone, and yanking out the networking," Kilger said. "But at that point, you pretty much have a $400 bike instead of a $2,000 Peloton."

READ ALSO: San Antonio woman accused of election fraud out on bond

The bikes, like all "Internet of Things" devices, come with a tradeoff, Kilger noted. The Peloton would let Biden watch beautiful scenery and pedal with classmates, but it could also allow a hacker access to one of the nation's most secure buildings.

If someone was able to compromise the Peloton's computer  which has a custom operating system built on top of an Android base  they could compromise other networks inside the White House through a WiFi network or hardwired connection. The bike could serve as a gateway for malware.

Measures like firewalls, anti-viral security software, intrusion detection systems offer good protection, Kilger said, but they are not guaranteed.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The UTSA professor noted that connected devices like Pelotons or smart light bulbs offer the same cost-benefit analysis for non-presidents. Hackers could move malware from such devices to a laptop or desktop computer in a home, adding keyloggers or screen snappers to capture financial credentials.

Of course, the stakes are raised a tad higher when its a world leader weighing the security risks. Asked about the future of Biden's bike, a Peloton spokesperson said the company cannot discuss specific customers.

Two forces at work with "Internet of Things" devices contribute to the security vulnerabilities, according to Kilger.

Every company wants to be first to market with a new product  especially in the competitive consumer electronics space and building and testing security costs money and takes time. Time that could allow a competitor to introduce their version.

Also, engineers love to make devices "talk" to each other. Every time you connect one device to another, you create an opportunity for someone to exploit.

With Peloton bikes, hackers seem to have stuck to breaking in to watch Netflix and YouTube on the screens so far.

"For the most part it's a non-hostile, friendly hacking community that gets a lot of delight out of making it do things that perhaps its original manufacturer hadn't intended it to do," Kilger said of the bikes.

"But anytime you have folks that are hacking things for fun and benefit, you also have folks that perhaps don't have the same good intentions."
The following is an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg:

It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter. Im writing to inform you that on Jan. 20, 2021, I will officially and permanently delete my Facebook account.

When you created this forum of social media, people found it a great way to connect with family and friends, find groups to share common interests with, to learn and interact. Why then am I deleting my account you may ask? Allow me to explain.

I am an American, born and bred; a conservative, Catholic/Christian, pro-life, Republican woman. Unashamedly and unapologetically so. Never in my lifetime did I ever think that hatred would become so commonplace and free speech would be attempted to be taken away. That is what you are doing.

Let me clarify what the term free speech means, shall I? Free speech means we are assured of and have a God-given right to express our thoughts, ideas and opinions freely without condemnation whether you agree with it or not. It does not mean one is allowed to speak their mind freely as long as it agrees with or is in line with what another person or group thinks.

You, Mr. Zuckerberg, have become a dictator. Because you and your company dont agree with conservative viewpoints, you try to shut them down and silence them. You have no respect for our president or the office of the presidency. We now live in a country where companies wont hire a person because they previously worked for a Republican/conservative person. Cell phone carriers are banning apps such as Parler because they are conservative. This is unacceptable, reprehensible and outrageous. Dictators are not silenced. They silence others. Remember that.

The last I checked, we were a free country, founded on Judeo-Christian ethics and morals. Make no mistake, this is not about politics, per se. This is about trying to silence people because they have a different opinion than you and think differently than you. We cannot  must not  allow this to happen in our great country. Our founding fathers would roll over in their graves if they knew what was happening in this country today.

I am outraged that you and your company have not only silenced our President, but have previously tried to silence other conservative people and organizations. I believe in standing up for whats right. While I will miss the connections Ive made during my time on Facebook, its a matter of principle that Im deleting my account. I would encourage anyone who is as outraged and angry as I am to do the same. Everyones voice should be heard and not be silenced. Too many people have fought and died for this country so that we can have the right to freedom of speech, and you, sir, will not take that away from me or anyone else.

(Linda Mahoney is an Elm Park resident.)




By Park Eun-hee







As someone who was born in North Korea, it is so unexpected for me to be speaking about the Giving Tuesday movement that started in the United States.







When I was in North Korea, I never thought I could be someone who could contribute something to other people, even strangers. North Koreans are destined from birth to be political slaves, serving everything spiritually and biologically for our "Dear Leader."







I escaped to South Korea in 2012, doing my best to adjust to life here. Then my life changed in 2015 when I began studying English with volunteer English teachers with Freedom Speakers International (formerly TNKR). I didn't quite understand the true meaning of volunteering and talent donation.







When I was in North Korea, I could have never imagined that I would be helped by other people, especially Americans. I had been taught they were our enemies. But volunteers from the United States, England and other countries were helping me. I didn't quite understand it.







Giving Tuesday refers to the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in America. It is a global generosity movement that unleashes the power of individuals and organizations to transform their communities and the world.







It is a spectacular movement. I am so delighted to be part of the executive team that is spreading this idea to Korea. There are now more than 70 Giving Tuesday chapters around the world, and now we are establishing it here in Korea. I hope that others will join this international movement. It should present more opportunities to help others in need and to share our talent and time with them. Because of people who have helped me, I have learned to understand the power of giving. I realized that giving is more powerful than receiving. A little generosity can change someone's entire life, like it did for me.







After experiencing discrimination, I avoided letting others know that I am a North Korean defector. The worst case was when I worked at a restaurant and got discriminated against by a Chinese Korean lady. After that experience, and others, I decided not to reveal that I was from North Korea.







In contrast, my volunteer teachers taught me that I didn't need to be ashamed that I am from North Korea. For the first time, my background was something unique and worthy to be shared with others. Through that experience, I found my identity and voice.







I became more active and more involved in human rights issues.







FSI was my starting point. Who would have ever believed when I was in North Korea, only honoring the Kim family, that I would one day donate and raise $3,000 for FSI? Because of others giving their time and talent, I was able to become a woman who can contribute her time, talent and money to others. I am so happy that I can share with people in need.







Based on what I saw and experienced, your acts of kindness can change and save the lives of others. I hope you can join the international movement of Giving Tuesday, and for those of you who are in Korea, get involved with Giving Tuesday Korea.







Park Eun-hee is a North Korean refugee living in South Korea. She is the Development Coordinator at Freedom Speakers International and Advocacy Fellow of Giving Tuesday Korea.



Casey Lartigue Jr., is editor of " Voices from the North ." He is co-president of Freedom Speakers International (FSI) along with Eunkoo Lee and is executive director of Giving Tuesday Korea.


Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Hicks: A shooting, three scared children, and a cop who went above and beyond
Closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High 'impacts our entire town'

The Washington County Board of Education held a public hearing on the closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High School; the crowd pleaded against it.
THE MISERY and monotony of a normal January seems like a holiday in Las Vegas in comparison to January of 2021.

One of the events that broke up the month for dairy farmers for decades has been the Limerick and Clare Milk Producers dinner dance in the Dunraven Arms Hotel. But like everything else that too has fallen by the wayside due to Covid-19.

Due to take place this Friday night, Michael OConnor, chairman, said they hope to be back in 2022. Every year he gives a speech to the attendees. Mr OConnor is known for not pulling any punches. Despite no event this year he still kindly furnished Farm Leader with what he would have said.

What a year 2020 turned out to be It was unusual to say the least. When the news first broke back in March of the coronavirus which had invaded our country we were all shocked and confused - scary times.

In many walks of life people lost their jobs and livelihoods and unfortunately months on the virus is still with us. Hopefully with the new vaccines there is light at the end of the tunnel, said Mr OConnor.

Farming is a lonely pursuit by its nature but Covid-19 drove many farmers underground instead of working on top of the ground.

In farming we were fortunate to be able to work away as normal, safe in our own environment. I suppose the biggest drawback to farmers and everyone is the isolation this virus brought upon us.

Gone are all the social gatherings we looked forward to - the mart, family days out at the local agricultural shows and the ploughing, GAA matches, races and, indeed, our local pub. Going forward at least Brexit, with all its uncertainties, seems to be sorted.

As ever in farming there always seems to be something on the horizon, one being the new rules around nitrates but as ever we need to be resilient and will have to work through it.

To finish I suppose our wish is to come through this virus and return to some kind of normality. Take care and stay safe, said Mr OConnor. His address would have been greeted by warm applause in the Dunraven Arms function room.

On behalf of the Limerick and Clare Milk Producers, Mr OConnor thanked one and all who support them every year, including all the spot prize sponsors, and looked forward to a return of the dinner dance in 2022.
Our aim is to ensure sustainable livelihood for women through YSR Cheyutha Scheme introduced by YSRCP Government in Andhra Pradesh. The primary objective of YSR Cheyutha Scheme is to enable economic progress through women by helping them financially. The state government is providing marketing and technical assistance to the women interested in investing the amount received by them in business.

Various welfare schemes have been implemented by the YSRCP government headed by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for the benefit of the people of Andhra Pradesh. Another scheme, known as YSR Cheyutha Scheme was launched by the Chief Minister on August 12 last which aims at equipping women of SC/ST/OBC/minority castes to create their own employment opportunity.

The scheme involves financial benefit of Rs 75,000 to be provided over a period of four years to women who come under 45 to 60 years of age. The government has earmarked Rs 4,687 crore for this year. Through this scheme, financial assistance will be provided to women and the amount would be directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries of the scheme. In the coming four years, Rs 18,750 per year will be provided to beneficiaries. The purpose of this scheme is to strengthen the rural economy of Andhra Pradesh and it is going to benefit 23 lakh women from SC, ST, BC and minority communities.

Around eight lakh widows and single women who are in the age group 45 to 60 years are receiving pension of Rs 27,000 per year and in addition to this they would receive Rs 18,750 per year which will make the total amount to be Rs 45750 per year for each beneficiary. The government of Andhra Pradesh has also signed a memorandum of understanding with companies like Amul, Reliance, Hindustan Unilever Limited, etc in order to strengthen the rural economy. These companies will provide marketing opportunities and technical support to more than 25 lakh women of the state.

Women from castes like Budaga Jangamas, Benti Odia, who are not able to get caste certificates, have also been provided financial assistance based on their self-declaration and will get the benefit of the YSR Cheyutha Scheme.

A government order was issued by Panchayat Raj and Rural Development stating that the beneficiaries who become eligible after attaining 45 years as on August 12 of every year, will receive the benefits of the scheme and those who are already enrolled and cross the upper age limit of 60 years will cease to receive the benefits as such beneficiaries will move on to Pension Kanuka, subject to their eligibility.

Under the first phase of YSR Cheyutha Scheme, the government has provided financial assistance of Rs 18,750 to 21,00,189 beneficiaries which amount to Rs. 3,937.90 Crores. The Government of Andhra Pradesh wants to promote entrepreneurship among women through this scheme.

The state government has released the second phase of YSR Cheyutha Scheme on November 13, 2020 of Rs 510 crore for 2.72 lakh beneficiaries. The women who were not able to receive the benefit of the scheme in the first phase would be covered in the second phase of the scheme.

Cattle Purchase under the YSR Cheyutha Scheme

Under this scheme, all the beneficiaries would be given support to sell their produce to Amul. The government is planning to distribute cattle (cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep) purchased from Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Telangana and from the State itself to the beneficiaries of the YSR Cheyutha Scheme. An amount of Rs 5,386 crore has been earmarked for cattle purchase by the government. The government will provide facilities for collecting milk at Rythu Bharosa Kendras from the beneficiaries at 9,688 centres.

Unlike previous governments, which only focused on welfare of women in age group of 20-40 and those beyond 60 years, the state government under the leadership of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was focusing on lending a helping hand to those in age group of 45-60 to stand on their own feet. YSR Cheyutha aims at empowering the families through women and helping them in creating a steady income generation avenue. The objective is to enhance the family income by 15-18 per cent. In the first phase, 21 lakh beneficiaries were extended Rs 3,932.90 crore and in the second phase, another 2.72 lakh beneficiaries were provided with a financial assistance of Rs 510 crore. Like in the first phase, Rs 18,750 will be credited to the accounts of each beneficiary.

The main objective of this scheme is to help women gain a steady income source, for which the government entered into Memorandum of Understandings with several leading multinational corporations like P&G, Hindustan Unilever, Allana, Reliance, Amul. Further, the government is facilitating marketing and technical expertise to the beneficiaries.

Out of 23.72 lakh beneficiaries, 11.95 lakh showed interest in self-employment and out of them, 1.48 lakh were interested in setting up retail shops. Bank loans worth Rs 53.60 crore were facilitated to the beneficiaries. The governments initial target was to set up 31,860 retail shops out of which approximately 27,850 retail shops were set up. Approximately, 87 per cent of the target set by the government was achieved.

This attempt at helping the entrepreneurial spirit of women by our Chief Minister Shri Jagan Mohan Reddy Garu is highly laudable.
A pioneering British electric vehicle battery business has moved quickly to secure a high end tech provider for its Northumberland factory.

Britishvolt will partner with German giant Siemens as it looks to start construction this summer on a 3,000-job 'gigafactory' on the site of a former Blyth Power Station.

Producing electric batteries in the UK is seen as crucial both to keeping major automotive companies in the country and to help meet the Government's goals on climate change.

Battery boost: Britishvolt chief executive Orral Nadjari and how the gigafactory might look

The Britishvolt plans would also be a massive boost to the North East economy.

By 2028, the firm estimates it will produce a billion cells  enough for 300,000 lithium-ion batteries installed in electric cars  for the UK automotive industry per year. The site is set to not only be the fourth largest building in the UK but the 16th largest in the world and the second largest gigaplant in existence, gazumped only by Tesla's Nevada facility.

The 2.6billion promised for the gigaplant is the largest industrial investment in the North East since Nissan's arrival in Sunderland in 1984, and is one of the largest-ever industrial investments in the UK.

The firm has funding from 25 private Emirati and Scandinavian investors and has applied for a Government grant. The company is also considering a stock market float to raise further funds.

Britishvolt chief executive Orral Nadjari said: 'We are delighted to enter into this collaboration. Working with Siemens and utilising its global expertise in Digital Twin and simulation technologies will play a pivotal role in Britishvolt achieving its tight deadlines to begin producing world-class batteries, at scale, by the end of 2023.

'Being able to simulate production of lithium-ion batteries and cell development speeds up a complicated process and allows us to bring crucial batteries to market quicker,' he added.

'Working with leading global partners such as Siemens helps us stay firmly on course in our mission to build the UK's first battery gigaplant.'
Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a failure. Kanu was reacting to the incid...





Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a failure.

Kanu was reacting to the incident of pigeons refusing to fly after the president released them from their cage during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Abuja.

As a sign of peace, the President always releases some white pigeons from a cage during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration.

However, the pigeons refused to fly when Buhari opened their cage yesterday.

Buhari had picked one of the pigeons and threw it into the air but it fled back into the cage immediately.

The incident had got Nigerians talking, as they described such as a bad omen.

Reacting, Kanu in a tweet wrote: This is to tell you that Nigeria is a failed country and Jubril called Buhari by the cabals is a failure too. Biafra is the only way.

Axios

While Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) was out of state at a conference, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R) issued an executive order Thursday banning mask mandates in school and public buildings, AP reports.Why it matters: Little never issued a statewide mask mandate, but there have been some in counties, cities and schools. McGeachin announced last week she was running for governor, challenging Little who has only served one term, and her order could appeal to far-right voters in the state.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Little's office told AP that McGeachin did not tell the governor about the order in advance. Throughout the pandemic, Gov. Little has been committed to protecting the health and safety of the people of Idaho and has emphasized the importance of Idahoans choosing to protect our neighbors and loved ones and keeping our economy and schools open, Little spokesperson Marissa Morrison saidBackground: In March, McGeachin participated in an anti-mask protest, the Washington Post reported, and she suggested last year that the pandemic may or may not be occurring."According to AP, Idaho has recorded more than 190,000 cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic and roughly 2,000 deaths.What she's saying: Ive been listening to people all across the state with the concern about, especially, why are little kids being forced to wear masks in school, McGeachin told AP.My oath to the Constitution is to protect those rights and freedoms of the individual, and Ive never supported any type of a mandate on the individual, especially when it comes to health care choices.McGeachin said she had contracted the virus in 2019 and now has a "natural immunity," per AP.Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order banning mask mandates, not face masks. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free
Washington, D.C., Dec. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of Alaska in Williams Alaska Petroleum, Inc., et al. v. State of Alaska, et al. NCLA is asking the court not to defer to a legal interpretation made by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Instead, NCLA argues that Alaskan courts need to interpret the law without deferring to the agencys interpretation.

NCLAs brief argues that deferring to a state agencys statutory interpretation violates both the state and federal constitutions for two reasons. First, agency deference requires judges to abandon their duty of independent judgment, which is also part of the judicial oath. Second, agency deference violates the Due Process Clauses of the Alaska Constitution and the U.S. Constitution by commanding judicial bias toward a litigant. If a court defers to the legal interpretation of one of the parties before the courtsuch as an agency of the State of Alaskathat denies a fair trial before a neutral tribunal to the other party before the court.

This amicus curiae brief takes no position on any other issues raised on appeal. Although the parties are fighting in part over whether DECs statutory interpretation is correct, NCLA contends that the Alaska Supreme Court should not defer to DEC regardless of whether DECs reading of state law is right or whether it is wrong. Alaskas highest court should join the growing nationwide trend of other states like Wisconsin, Mississippi, Arkansas, Arizona and Florida that have recently abandoned the practice of judicial deference to agency legal interpretations.

NCLA released the following statement:

If courts defer to administrators interpretations of statutes, that deference irretrievably harms the nongovernmental litigants constitutional right to due process of law.

 Adi Dynar, Litigation Counsel, NCLA

ABOUT NCLA

NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLAs public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans fundamental rights.

###

By Lars Erik Taraldsen and Naomi Kresge

Norwegian officials said 23 people had died in the country a short time after receiving their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Of those deaths, 13 have been autopsied, with the results suggesting that common side effects may have contributed to severe reactions in frail, elderly people, according to the Norwegian Medicines Agency.

Norway said Covid-19 vaccines may be too risky for the very old and terminally ill, the most cautious statement yet from a European health authority as countries assess the real-world side effects of the first shots to gain approval.

Coronavirus vaccine news updates on DH

For those with the most severe frailty, even relatively mild vaccine side effects can have serious consequences, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said. For those who have a very short remaining life span anyway, the benefit of the vaccine may be marginal or irrelevant.

The recommendation does not mean younger, healthier people should avoid being vaccinated. But its an early indication of what to watch as countries begin to issue safety monitoring reports on the vaccines. Emer Cooke, the new head of the European Medicines Agency, has said tracking the safety of Covid vaccines, especially those relying on novel technologies such as messenger RNA, would be one of the biggest challenges once shots are rolled out widely.

Pfizer and BioNTech are working with the Norwegian regulator to investigate the deaths in Norway, Pfizer said in an e-mailed statement. The agency found that the number of incidents so far is not alarming, and in line with expectations, Pfizer said.

Allergic reactions have been uncommon so far. In the US, authorities reported 21 cases of severe allergic reactions from December 14-23 after administration of about 1.9 million initial doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE. Thats an incidence of 11.1 cases per million doses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Though both Covid-19 vaccines approved so far in Europe were tested in tens of thousands of people -- including volunteers in their late 80s and 90s -- the average trial participant was in his or her early 50s. The first people to be immunized in many places have been older than that as countries rush to inoculate nursing-home residents at high risk from the virus.

CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH

Norway has given at least one dose to about 33,000 people, focusing on those considered to be most at risk if they contract the virus, including the elderly. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine approved late last year has been used most broadly, with a similar shot from Moderna Inc. approved earlier this month also now being administered.

Of 29 cases of potential side effects investigated by Norwegian authorities, almost three-quarters were in people age 80 or older, the regulator said in a January 14 report.

In France, one frail patient died in a care home two hours after being vaccinated, but authorities said given the patients previous medical history there is no indication the death was linked to the vaccine. The French pharmaceutical safety agency on Thursday reported four cases of severe allergic reactions and two incidents of irregular heartbeat after vaccination.

The first Europe-wide safety report on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will probably be published at the end of January, the regulators key medicines committee said Friday. Vaccine makers are required to submit data monthly.

In the UK, which has carried out more immunizations per capita than anywhere else in Europe, authorities will assess safety data and plan to publish details of suspected reactions on a regular basis, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said, without giving a date.

In what may become a heated Democratic primary contest for Virginia attorney general, state Del. Jerrauld C. "Jay" Jones Friday attacked Attorney General Mark R. Herring, D, Friday for authorizing an investigation into allegations of impropriety surrounding Richmond's mayor - a standard move in an ongoing court case that Jones called a Trump-like abuse of power.

"Using the office of the Attorney General to investigate your political opponents is the same tactic employed by Donald Trump," Jones (D-Norfolk) said in a statement, referring to the fact that Richmond Mayor Levar A. Stoney has endorsed him, and not Herring, for the Democratic nomination for attorney general this year.

Herring's office said that claim has no merit.

"The Office of Attorney General did not initiate these investigations, is not conducting them, has no oversight over them, and has no say in the outcome," a Herring spokeswoman said in a statement.

Timothy Martin - who was appointed as special prosecutor in a court case brought by Stoney's onetime mayoral opponent Kim Gray - said he asked Herring's office to authorize the Virginia State Police to begin investigating questions over a no-bid contract to remove Confederate monuments in the city that was granted to a political donor of the mayor's.

Stoney has said he wasn't aware who was awarded the contract after he used his emergency powers to have the monuments taken down as a safety measure during the racial justice protests that consumed the city last summer. The head of the company that was awarded the contract, Devon Henry, contributed $4,000 to Stoney's campaign operations between 2016 and 2019.

The request to Herring's office was a preliminary step, made in accordance with a Virginia code that requires the governor, attorney general or a grand jury to formally sign off on any inquiry into whether another elected official committed a criminal violation, said Martin, who is the Augusta County commonwealth's attorney.

"I made that request because without the extensive resources of Virginia State Police or another agency with boots on the ground, my ability to investigate would be quite limited," Martin said.

Jeffrey Breit, Stoney's attorney, said he didn't see a political motive behind Herring's authorization. Breit said he also doesn't consider it a sign that Martin or Herring believe Stoney committed a crime.

"What you all are seeing is the AG's office simply allowing the state police to help him do the interviews," Breit said. "The mayor and I, as his attorney, are not worried about it at all."
The Covid-19 death toll now stands at 440, with the deaths of 15 more people yesterday.

The Ministry of Health reported the deaths in its daily update yesterday evening.

One of the new deaths occurred in Tobago. The Tobago Division of Health, Wellness and Family Development disclosed that the patient was a 38-year-old male with co-morbidities.

RALEIGH, N.C., Jan. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American National Bank and Trust Company has opened its Raleigh office at 3700 Glenwood Avenue following an announcement in late 2019 stating its plans to move into the Raleigh market.



American National has a team of local commercial relationship managers who have been actively serving customers throughout the Triangle area. The team has been working from temporary space as it searched for the right office location. The new suite occupies 3,640 square feet on the third floor of the 3700 Glenwood office building at the intersection of I-440 and Glenwood Avenue.

Cindy Vogler serves as the NC Triangle Market President for American National Bank & Trust Company. Vogler, a longtime Raleigh and Cary resident and graduate of the University of North Carolina, has more than 35 years of banking experience. American Nationals local community banking team also includes Ryan Mitchell and Bryan Roberson, both Commercial Relationship Managers as well as Jami Twisdale, Portfolio Manager and Gioia O'Connell, Customer Support Manager. The team provides a full range of commercial banking services to area businesses.

Headquartered in nearby Danville, Virginia since 1909, American National Bank & Trust Company prides itself on dedicated people and responsive service. With the opening of the Raleigh office, the bank now has 26 locations in Virginia and North Carolina.

Weve successfully served our customers in many new and different ways during 2020, remarked Cindy Vogler. Our team looks forward to having a dedicated space in a great location so we can more conveniently serve our customers, while welcoming new businesses and nonprofit organizations to American National.

About American National

American National is a multi-state bank holding company with total assets of approximately $2.9 billion. Headquartered in Danville, Virginia, American National is the parent company of American National Bank and Trust Company. American National Bank is a community bank serving Virginia and North Carolina with 26 banking offices. American National Bank also manages an additional $884 million of trust, investment and brokerage assets in its Trust and Investment Services Division. Additional information about American National and American National Bank is available on American Nationals website at www.amnb.com.

For more information, contact:

Carolyn B. Kiser

SVP, Director of Marketing & Community Affairs

American National Bankshares Inc.

kiserc@amnb.com

540.278.1703




Earlier this week the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) issued a report stating that Egypt had the highest coronavirus death rates in the region, followed by Iran, Iraq and Pakistan.

The report added that regional states had reported five million Covid-19 cases and 123,725 deaths between 1 January 2020 and 1 January 2021.

Minister of Health Hala Zayed opted not to comment on the WHO figures. The Ministry of Healths own report of cases, deaths and recoveries meanwhile showed that on average there had been 1,000 new cases and 50-57 deaths a day in the past week and that by the end of December 2020 the number of Covid-19 deaths in Egypt totalled just over 7,500.

Zayed said the official figures include patients who displayed symptoms and went to government hospitals for PCR testing and do not include symptomatic cases who do not go to government hospitals or self-quarantine at home. According to Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, such unregistered cases could be 10 times more than registered cases.

Two days after the WHO report the website of the cabinets Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) published a survey, Rest Assured, saying Egypt ranked 62 out of 215 states in terms of reported Covid-19 cases, 11 in terms of death ratios and 141 in terms of recovery rates.

On Monday, the Health Ministry reported 961 new Covid-19 infections, down from 993 on the previous day, meaning Egypt has now reported a total of 150,753 confirmed cases of Covid-19. The ministry also reported 52 new deaths, bringing the countrys total death toll to 8,249. Daily infections have been on the decline since the beginning of this week.

The Ministry of Health has already begun to implement a presidential initiative to monitor self-quarantining cases. The initial rollout, which covers Cairo, Giza and Qalioubiya, will gradually expand as supplies of blood oxygen measuring devices become available.

The former director of a public fever hospital said Egypts Covid-19 cases and death rates should not be a cause of undue concern and remained strikingly better than those in Europe or North America even when unregistered cases are taken into account. He pointed out that doctors and health administrators are now required to issue a death certificate stating the cause of death as Covid-19 whenever the deceased displayed symptoms, regardless of whether they tested for the virus or not.

The former official argued the number of new cases had dropped in the first 10 days of 2021 because of the threat of on-the-spot fines being levied on anyone who does not take the mandated precautionary measures which include wearing face masks in public spaces, and reducing the number of people allowed in public venues.

These measures are the only way we have right now to reduce infection and limit the spread of the virus, the source said.

The director of a government cardiology centre says that because symptoms vary greatly the situation is likely to remain unclear for some time.

Some patients with underlying conditions have contracted Covid-19 and recovered, and some healthy people have died after falling ill, he pointed out. There is also enormous disparity in the length that symptoms can last.

It is similar to the AIDS virus, said the source. Researchers spent nearly 20 years studying the make-up of the virus. And until we discover more details about this devastating coronavirus we must focus on protecting frontline workers in the medical profession so they can continue their work.

Both sources agree with Zayed who, during a news conference held this week at the headquarters of operations to manage the Covid-19 outbreak, said that the rate of new cases had dropped by 21 per cent between the last week of December and the second week of January. In the same period, daily recovery rates rose by five per cent, rates of Covid-19 hospitalisations fell by 11 per cent and the daily rate of patients needing ICU dropped by eight per cent. The number of suspected cases going to hospital also shrank by 15 per cent.

The government will start its vaccination programme in February, Zayed said in a televised interview on Monday. Healthcare workers and the countrys most vulnerable citizens will be first in line for the vaccine.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 14 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Short link:


State prosecutors recently sought unusual leeway in the unusual criminal case that they have brought against three former Scranton School District administrators.

Fortunately, in a ruling that goes to the heart of the very purpose of the criminal justice system, Lackawanna County Senior Judge Thomas J. Munley rejected the gambit.

Probably because people naturally crave safety, many view the criminal courts as a mere way station for criminal suspects between their arrests and incarceration. But a fundamental mission of the criminal court system, inherent in the phrase to protect the innocent, is to protect the rights of the accused against the overwhelming power of the state.

In September, a statewide grand jury recommended and the state attorney generals office brought criminal charges against three Scranton school officials, alleging that they had ignored serious lead and asbestos contamination in several schools that had endangered students and staff.

Former Superintendent Alexis Kirijan, Ed.D., and former Chief Operating Officer Jeff Brazil each face 38 felony counts of endangering the welfare of children and 23 misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person. Former maintenance supervisor Joseph Slack faces 11 felony counts of endangering the welfare of children and eight misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person.

Pennsylvania law requires prosecutors to demonstrate, at a preliminary hearing, that there is sufficient evidence to hold a case for trial. Often, defendants waive the right to a hearing so as not to reveal their own defense strategy or as part of a long-term plea strategy.

But in this case, lawyers for all three defendants  who contend that state prosecutors vastly overreached in bringing the criminal charges  planned to attack the prosecution case at the preliminary hearing stage.

In a remarkable motion, the attorney generals office asked the court to forgo a preliminary hearing, contending that the grand jurys findings were sufficient to hold the case for trial. Prosecutors said the hearing would be time-consuming and cumbersome, all the more so because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Munley rejected the motion. Sure, justice is time-consuming, because its justice, Munley wrote. The ruling properly upheld the defendants rights to a hearing and offered a reminder that the court system is not simply an arm of law enforcement.
Editor,

Talk about conspiracy theories: the Russian spy is almost gone from the White House.

That was a good one. A whopper.

The president of the United States colluded with Russia, was working for Russia, was actually a Russian spy, theories promulgated by Hillary Clinton loyalists and perpetrated by one party of a two-party system. It was acted upon to the nth degree by the legislative branch, the judicial branch, lawyers, FBI and special prosecutor, and spoon fed to a hoodwinked American public, and the world, breakfast, lunch and dinner for the better part of three years (please, Mom, not leftovers again) by 90% of the media. Some got fat and some got fed up.

Still that was a good one, a whopper. Got to love this country.

Joe Bertoldi

Fern Glen
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-15 11:47:21|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Oct. 21, 2019 shows an interior view of a warehouse at Kigali Logistics Platform in Kigali, Rwanda. (Photo by Cyril Ndegeya/Xinhua)

"The digitization proposed by the BRI could have a transformative effect because partner nations will benefit from the world-class innovations developed by China," Kenyan expert Edward Kusewa said.

NAIROBI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is expected to help Africa connect with global markets during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus creating jobs and promoting growth, said a Kenyan expert.

Edward Kusewa, an economics lecturer at the Nairobi-based St. Paul University, told Xinhua in an interview on Wednesday that the BRI will spur economic growth by improving trade efficiencies between African nations.

"The digitization proposed by the BRI could have a transformative effect because partner nations will benefit from the world-class innovations developed by China," Kusewa said.

He noted that the BRI can help Africa achieve its goal of becoming seamlessly interconnected.

Visitors look at coffee products at an exhibition stand during the 17th African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition in Kigali, Rwanda, Feb. 14, 2019. (Xinhua/Cyril Ndegeya)

"Africa's fragmented markets require infrastructure to promote movement of goods and people across its borders," said Kusewa. "Through the digital economy, Africa will leverage e-commerce to ensure goods can reach international markets."

He said that the digital Silk Road will positively alter the digital ecosystem of the continent by providing a foundation for the growth of smart cities and the rapid adoption of modern technologies such as financial technologies.

Proposed by China in 2013 to promote common growth and gain shared benefits, the BRI involves infrastructure development, trade and investment facilitation and people-to-people exchanges aimed at improving connectivity on a trans-continental scale.

Kusewa said that support for global connectivity through developing hard and soft infrastructure has not only boosted economic growth in Africa, but also helped connect countries with the rest of the world.

The African continent began trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area on Jan. 1 with 54 nations signing the trade pact, creating the world's largest trade bloc with approximately 1.3 billion people.

Kusewa said the trading bloc is expected to boost intra-Africa trade, drive the continent's economic recovery, and help African nations diversify their markets.

"It will help Africa's post-COVID-19 recovery by enabling nations to take advantage of nearby markets," he noted.

The scholar also noted that multilateralism will ensure that Africa has access to critical raw materials that can spur industrial development on the continent and lucrative international markets for its commodities.

Containers are seen at the new container terminal in Walvis Bay, Namibia, Aug. 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhang Yu)

He added that a multilateral trading system where even small African countries have a say will help lift millions out of poverty.

"Multilateralism is key to achieve globally shared prosperity where everyone including vulnerable communities can enhance their living standards," Kusewa said.

Yet he said the COVID-19 pandemic has posed a threat to the free movement of goods and people within the region and regional supply chains, as well as to the free movement of labor and commodities across borders.

The expert noted that structural deficiencies of low-income African states have also been exacerbated by the pandemic, further devastating already ailing economies.

As of Wednesday, the continent has 3.1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 74,444 deaths, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 03:09:28|Editor: huaxia

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Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa (C, Front) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (L, Front) pose for a photo in Lisbon, Portugal, on Jan. 15, 2021. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa met here Friday with the College of European Commissioners led by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss the program and priorities of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU). (Photo by Pedro Fiuza/Xinhua)

LISBON, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa met here Friday with the College of European Commissioners led by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss the program and priorities of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU).

Costa said that the priority of the Portuguese presidency will be "economic recovery" to "ensure that all the instruments that were built become effective" and that the EU support funds reach the 27 member countries.

All the EU financial instruments have to be made operational as soon as possible, he said.

In a joint conference with von der Leyen, Costa said the second priority is to ensure the social dimension of Europe is duly put forward in the face of challenges linked to climate change and the digital transition and without leaving anybody behind.

Von der Leyen said that the European Commission will support a fast, smooth rollout of vaccines in the European Union. She also highlighted the importance of the EU's transatlantic ties and its relations with Africa and India.

Costa and von der Leyen formally invited the EU's heads of state and government, their institutions, and the social partners to participate in the Social Summit, which will be held in May in Porto.

"With this event, we will send a very strong political signal: the European Union promotes a recovery that gives priority to the people and their well-being," von der Leyen said.

The previous EU Social Summit took place in November 2017 in Gothenburg, Sweden, and resulted in the proclamation of the "European Pillar of Social Rights."

Costa argued that the EU needs "a common commitment to make that pillar a reality," because the "social dimension of the EU is absolutely fundamental."

"Ecological and digital transitions are changing the way we live and work. To get out of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery must be inclusive, sustainable and resilient," he concluded. Enditem

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Swords and District Lions Club have received two generous donations from local businesses.

Maurice Meade, the Managing Director of DHL Global Forwarding (Ireland) Ltd presented a cheque for 3,000 to Swords Lions Club president, Mark O'Brien.

The donation for Swords and District Lions Club was in support of its 'Three Trek Challenge' Christmas Food Appeal.

In thanking Maurice, Mark said that DHL is main sponsor for the Lions Club's annual cycle event which fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maurice said he was delighted to contribute to the cause of supporting the needy in our community.

The president of Swords and District Lions Club, Mark O'Brien, was most grateful to Siemens Healthineers, Chapel Lane, Swords for their donation of 5,000 towards the Club's activities in support of the community.

Manufacturing and Managing Director Mr Fred O'Brien said that Siemens Healthineers has been in Swords for 54 years and has a strong bond with its local community.

He added: 'We would like to recognise the Lions Club for the support they give to the less well-advantaged in our area and I am delighted, on behalf of our employees, to make this donation towards this very valuable work.'

Siemens also made donations of 2,500 each to St Michael's House and Womens Aid.
Colorado officials on Wednesday marked the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, with Democrats offering messages of congratulations and conveying determination to tackle the work ahead, while Republicans cautioned the new administration against lurching too far to the left.
This weekend, the Harris County Jail could run out of room to house inmates. And guards are struggling to pull off quarantines for new arrivals, according to Harris County sheriffs officials.

A federal judge seeking to prevent the downtown facility from becoming a killing field amid soaring COVID-19 infections asked state judges, lawyers and court officials on Friday to swiftly review about 2,000 inmates for bail reductions or pretrial or post-conviction releases.

However, a civil rights lawyer for indigent defendants said the judges request felt like Groundhog Day, meaning it was reminiscent of a similar attempt that largely failed in the early days of the pandemic.

The call to action by Judge Lee H. Rosenthal came in response to concerns from Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, who oversees the the nations second largest lockup, that the jail population had surpassed 9,000, beyond its pre-COVID capacity.

The chief federal judge for a large swath of Texas addressed the key players who could make this happen  the countys felony judges, district attorney and public defender  during a hearing on a civil rights case challenging the countys felony bail practices.

Rosenthal set the tone at the Zoom gathering with a speech: Nobody on this call wants the Harris County Jail housing people who have been convicted of nothing, who are innocent. We do no want to convert detention into a death sentence. We do not want to infect our civilians, guards, the people who feed and clean and take care of our inmates and go home to their families to put them at risk  and the risks of doing that are higher now with the specter of more contagious variants looming. Nobody wants to turn the jail into a killing field.

She then opened up the floor for suggestions and quickly dealt out assignments for how officials could process the suggested releases. But the onus is ultimately on criminal judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers to bring the proposed releases to fruition.

The measures officials will take in the following days include a review of whether 1,543 people with bail set at $10,000 or lower can be released on a general or nominal bond.`Among that total, the sheriff identified a list of 114 misdemeanor defendants and 906 felony defendants without holds who fit this criteria. District Attorney Kim Ogg agreed to review these cases by early Thursday to determine whether prosecutors want to challenge proposed bond reductions for people who cant come up with $1,000 or less to get themselves out of jail.

Rosenthal also asked the DA to review releases for another list of about 360 people the sheriffs office flagged who are awaiting trial on nonviolent offenses.

The judge said that Public Defender Alex Bunin must be notified if any of the people being considered for release do not have lawyers assigned.

In addition, the federal judge suggested, based on recommendations by plaintiffs counsel for indigent defendants at the jail, that the jail work toward releasing 426 people who are at the jail only because the halfway houses and other post-conviction programs they should be participating in are closed due to COVID.

The sheriffs lawyer, Murray Fogler, was hopeful that, This will do some good for some people, but it may not alleviate the entire issue.

Neal Manne, a pro bono lawyer for the indigent defendants in the bail lawsuit, said Rosenthal asking these judges to take action doesnt mean they will. He noted that even though Zoom bail hearings were available to judges, only 72 defendants were granted such hearings during a six-month stretch ending in October.

Not even if she says, Pretty please? She has said Pretty please? Its like Groundhog Day, Manne said, following the hearing.

gabrielle.banks@chron.com
Talking to the media, Amjad Ayub Mirza, an exiled activist from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) informed that China is building a 33-kilometre road from Yarkand to PoJK to move its artillery and military personnel in the region.

"China is now building a road from Yarkand of 33 km wide enough to bring its artillery, military and personnel. Things are gearing up in a precarious way, but PoJK people have risen up to the occasion. There will be more protests in PoJK, and I think Pakistan has lost in PoJK totally," said Mirza in the interview to the media.

A general strike has been going on since January 13, and Friday's strike is a continuation of the protest against the People Liberation Army's (PLA) move to build the road in PoJK.

"This is the second time in the month when we are witnessing a general strike. This time the strike in PoJK is widespread, last time the strike was limited to the Poonch division but now it has gone out of control. The whole of PoJK was under general strike on January 13th and the focal point became Azad Pattan Bridge, which is the entry point between Pakistan and PoJK, that was blocked. Police opened fire, tear gas and lathi-charged and there were clashes after which police had to retreat back to Pakistan," said Mirza.

"This is a big thing. The police check-post was set alight and yesterday even after the general strike the inertia is still there, and yesterday on the LoC at Mandhor, there were protests spreading like a wildfire across 750 miles Line of Control (LoC). People are fed up with food shortages, there is no flour, no electricity, no clean drinking water, and big cities are full of filth because the system has collapsed," added Mirza.

PoJK was already in chaos since the Imran Khan-led government made it the fifth province of Pakistan. People are protesting the decision and every day a procession or stir against the decision is witnessed in the region.

"Now what is happening that not a single day passes without a protest, sometimes more than one protest in different parts of PoJK. Every single day people are protesting in Gilgit Baltistan, PoJK, and Pakistani media does not report it. International media is not allowed in those areas," informed Mirza.

Mirza lamented the fact that the elected government of PoJK is sitting in Islamabad and merry-making while the public in the region is holding a crusade against Chinese incursions in the area.

"The whole of PoJK government elected after November 15th is sitting in Islamabad, enjoying buffets and parties, having a fun time because it's very cold in Gilgit. The government of Farooq Haider is called 'miscreants' by its people. PoJK has gone out of the hands of Pakistan, it has lost it. There is no sentiment for Pakistan in PoJK," he said.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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TROPHIES

When she was a freshman at Easton Area High School, Adryanna Jenkins was failing classes and having trouble getting to school because she was caring for her siblings and her mother at home. Her father had been murdered in 2007 and she would lose her mother after her sophomore year. She ended up at the Easton Area Academy, the districts former program for at-risk students. What happened after that is a credit to Jenkins and those in the district who helped her get her life back on track. She went on to study at Penn State University, where shes scheduled to receive a degree in immunology this spring, and spent a summer studying biomedicine at the Yale University School of Medicine. She has earned a Marshall Scholarship to study at Cambridge University in the U.K., where she will begin a masters program in immunology, with the ultimate goal of getting a dual M.D./Ph.D and becoming a cancer researcher. She credits her experience at a multicultural leadership session at DeSales University, while still in high school, as one of the things that opened her eyes to career possibilities. She recalls there werent many Black doctors for her or her family to turn to when she was growing up, which can push people into alternate therapies and keep them from getting the health care they need. As she began studying immunology, she said, I was amazed that one laboratory finding could improve the lives of millions. I realized that marginalized patients throughout the world benefit directly from research that informs the development of medical therapies.

Lehigh County Community College has received a $1 million gift from a Carbon County pilot who wanted to provide scholarships for students studying aviation. Nevin Earl Remaley, who died last June, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II after graduating from Lehighton High School, and went on to college and a job selling stocks and securities on Wall Street. His life changed after learning to fly a Piper Cub at Arners Flying Service in Lehighton and he became a commercial pilot for Allegheny Airlines and USAirways. In recognition of his generosity, LCCC plans to rename the Technology Center at its Schnecksville campus as the Nevin Earl Remaley Technology Center. The scholarship money will help students earn their pilots licenses and offset the high cost of flight fees.

The incredible journey of Portrait of a Young Lady  an Allentown Art Museum oil painting originally believed to a Rembrandt, then discredited, then reattributed to the 17th-century Dutch master  will be the subject of an exhibit opening Jan. 24 at the museum. The exhibit, Rembrandt Revealed, had been planned for last June but was postponed indefinitely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The revelation that Rembrandt himself was the painter  not an assistant or a student in his studio, as believed for the last 50 years  was uncovered when the portrait was sent to the Conservation Center at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University for conservation and cleaning in 2018. The exhibit will explain the conservation process, including x-rays and cross-section analyses, which revealed the original image on the canvas and how subsequent layers obstructed it. We wanted this exhibit to really be revelatory for our visitors in the same way that this whole process has been for us, said Elaine Mehalakes, the museums vice president of curatorial affairs. It has a nearly 400-year history, so theres a lot to talk about. The exhibit will run until early May.

TURKEYS

Bethlehem police are warning vehicle owners that catalytic converters are being targeted by thieves. The city has seen a spike in night-time thefts from parked cars. Drivers usually discover the theft when they start their vehicle and notice the increase noise from the exhaust system. Emmaus and Salisbury Township police issued alerts about catalytic converter thefts late last year. The devices are sought for the salvage value of three precious metals  rhodium, platinum or palladium  which bring between $20 and $240, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Anyone who sees suspicious activity around a vehicle in Bethlehem should call the police tip line at 610-691-6660 or email police at bethlehempolice@bethlehem-pa.gov. Salisbury Township police urge people not to confront a suspected thief, but to stay inside where its warm and call 911.
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Joe Bidens Inauguration has been cancelled, President Trump would remain in office and the Chinese Communist Party propaganda media outlets of ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, CNN and MSNBC would soon be off the airwaves according to President Trump.

I have invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807 (Section 10 U.S. Code 13 251-255) to address the treasonous rebellion conducted by Democrat and Republican lawmakers, CCP Agents (Chinese Communist Party), FBI, Department of Justice, CIA and others to dismantle the United States of America and its Constitution, President Trump declared on Thursday 14 Jan. These entities pose a direct threat to national security. I will remain President indefinitely until all domestic enemies are arrested.

President Trump invoked the Insurrection Act after another assassination attempt on him last Sat. morning 9 Jan. According to his Intel, Chinese Communist Party Agents, the FBI, Department of Justice, CIA and others of the Deep State have  with the help of the Main Stream Media  long been planning to dismantle the US and its Constitution.

Of course, none of these treasonous acts have been reported by the corrupt Main Stream Media. Trump had evidence that the MSM was embedded with CIA and Chinese Communist Party agents whose sole purpose was to direct public opinion toward a Deep State agenda.

During President Trumps four years in office he and what has been referred to as the Alliance have been fighting this Cabal  a Satan worshipping force composed of thirteen Satanist Bloodline families out of Italy, the Vatican, UK Monarchy, British M16, Chinese Communist Party, CIA, FBI, Department of Justice, Antifa, Black Lives Matter and certain Republican and Democratic Lawmakers. Another attempt on his life was the last straw.

Since that Sat. 9 Jan. the US has been under an abbreviated Martial Law with President Trump as Commander in Chief and General Flynn in charge of the Military. As such Trump has signed multiple Executive Orders that among other powers, allowed for Military arrests and Tribunals.

Soon to be acted upon were well over 222,286 sealed indictments against political and global elites filed in federal courts across the nation.

https://operationdisclosure.blogspot.com/2021/01/sealed-indictments-as-of-december-31.html#more

By law with the Insurrection Act in effect, Trump would remain President indefinitely until all domestic enemies were arrested. He would soon take down the Main Stream Media.

Im drafting an Executive Order to take the following propaganda media outlets off the airwaves: ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. I am also working with the FCC to pull their licenses. We have evidence that all of these media organizations employ agents of the Chinese Communist Party as well as embedded CIA Agents whose sole purpose is to brainwash, hypnotize and direct public opinion toward certain agendas that support the Left and Deep State. These organizations are a threat to national security and virtually nothing they report is actual news.

Its no small task to take down the Cabal. Military and Special Forces units have been deploying all over the US in 400+ cities. Right now there were over 15,000 troops in DC according to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. Special Forces units have covertly infiltrated Antifa and Black Lives Matter and made silent covert arrests.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4_DNABtptU

That same Sat. 9 Jan. POTUS and the Department of Defense postponed the 20 Jan. Presidential Inauguration. Intel sources claimed that if Joe Biden was not inaugurated there were corrupt-FBI plans to help stage Antifa and BLM violence in DC and at the 50 state capitols from Sat 16 Jan. through Wed. 20 Jan. Biden couldnt be inaugurated anyway because of the Insurrection Act that demanded Trump remain in office until all domestic enemies were arrested.

A corrupt Mass Media has refused to report anything but their Left Wing agenda believed paid for by the CCP. Thus, the President has announced he would soon activate the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS). This was expected during what has been referred to as Ten Days of Darkness, or media outage.

With the EBS everyone would get alerts on their phones, TV, radio and Internet that would override other broadcasts for several hours at a time. The broadcasts would explain the silent war happening across the globe between the Cabal and Alliance.

This week Trump Intel providers Robert David Steele and Juan OSavin explained, This may not be settled until April 1. Anyone including Fox, who refuses to broadcast the President of the US faces loss of their FCC licenses as well as criminal punitive actions, perhaps a military takeover.

On Wed. 13 Jan. in an urgent message to the American people President Trump called for peace. Intel sources were reporting that riots were planned in DC and across the nation. He condemned the rioters at the state capitol, as well as a recent assault by Social Media on our Freedom of Speech and then activated military forces to quell unrest.

https://trendingpolitics.com/breaking-president-trump-releases-urgent-video-message-to-the-american-people/

The recent violation of Social Media platforms to censor Freedom of Speech was of concern. Donald Trump Jr. to the rescue. Trump Jr. announced that a new social media platform was coming soon called the Freedom Social Network.

More important, President Trump had officially shut down the Cabals USA Inc. and re-started a restored Republic on 4 July 2020.

https://web.archive.org/web/20110720183531/http://reality-bytes.hubpages.com/hub/The-Corporation-Of-The-United-States-Of-America

It was all a part of the Alliances Plan to free the globe of the Communist Parties /Cabals suppression of The People. The Plan To Save The World:

https://rumble.com/vagd07-q-the-plan-to-save-the-world-remastered.html

https://www.bitchute.com/video/qvfUkQTG5QHP/

As part of that plan President Trumps Space Force has been involved in worldwide blackouts in multiple countries as Alliance Special Force units made arrests. Overnight to Sun. 10 Jan. multiple arrests were conducted, including in Frankfurt Germany  home of the CIA office where Dominion Voting machines illegally changed Trump votes to Biden in the 2020 Election.

Over last weekend French and Russia Alliance military leaders Special Force units took out Deep Staters in Italy, Pakistan, Berlin and Paris. By the first of the week they had moved to Iran where they caused Blackouts in order to target global and regional terrorism.

By Tues. 12 Jan. the White House had launched the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office. This officially activated Space Force and its Quantum Computer that would put us and the world on the Gold Standard, provide a transparent and instantaneous Quantum Voting System for our first Restored Republic Election in March 2021, plus provided the platform for a top secret Global Broadcast Satellite Program that could override all TV screens for President Trumps worldwide addresses.

During this coming weekend to 20 Jan. there may be food and supply shortages, on-off outages of communication, media and social media, plus ATM and credit card transaction disruptions. You were advised to be prepared.

The Alliance was composed of President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, White Hats in the Department of Defense headed by Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, Undersecretary of Defense Intel Ezra Cohen Watnick and Gen. Michael T Flynn, Q (composed of around 800 special ops who advise President Trump including Pentagon Generals Chairman Joint Chief Mark Milley, Vice Chief John Hyten, Gen. James McConville, Adm. Michael Gilday, Gen. C.Q. Brown, Gen. Paul Nakasone and Gen. Jay Raymond), QAnons (volunteer Patriots headed by JF Kennedy Jr.), the National Security Agency and various militaries across the globe in SOF Units, including the international force authorized to make arrests in any country, Interpol, plus the US Marines, National Guard and Special Ops Units.



Media Isnt Free, Censorship Of Alternative Websites Across The Internet Is In Full Swing.

One Way They Shut Down Their Opposition From Sharing Information, is to Demonetize Alternative News Platforms like beforeitsnews.com, Please Support Us By Trying Some Of Our Health Products By Following This Link To Our Health Supplement Store!

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New Delhi, Jan 16 : Resident doctors at Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital on Saturday expressed reservations over taking Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin' due to its incomplete clinical trial data and requested the hospital administration to vaccinate them with the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine 'Covishield'.

In a letter to the medical superintendent, the doctors wrote, "The residents are a bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial in case of Covaxin and might not participate in huge numbers thus defeating the purpose of vaccination. We request you to vaccinate us with Covishield which has completed all stages of the trial before its rollout." Covaxin has been in the spotlight since it received the approval from the drug regulator earlier this month. The approval without adequate efficacy data drew flak from public health advocacy groups, researchers, scientists and activists.

In Delhi, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin has been allotted to six Centre-run hospitals - AIIMS, Safdarjung, RML, Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital and two ESI hospitals, while 75 Delhi government and private hospitals have received Covishield.

Dr Nirmalaya Mohapatra, Vice-President of the hospital's Resident Doctors Association told IANS, "We are not of the view that one vaccine is superior than the another, but in the absence of Covaxin's data, we should be given Covishield." Meanwhile, to allay the fears, Medical Superintendent of RML Hospital Dr A.K. Singh Rana himself took the Covaxin shot earlier on Saturday. At the central government-run AIIMS, Director Dr Randeep Guleria and NITI Aayog member V.K. Paul also took the shot.

Besides this, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain also assured people that there is no need to be afraid. "There is no need to be afraid. Experts are right," Jain told IANS on being asked about vaccine hesitation among people arising out of lack of trust on the regulatory process.

The most-awaited nationwide vaccination drive against the novel coronavirus infection commenced on Saturday. As many as three lakh healthcare workers are slated to be inoculated with doses of either Bharat Biotech's Covaxin or Oxford's Covishield at 3,006 session sites across the country.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The outgoing Secretary of Army Ryan McCarthy has reportedly excluded Guantanamo Bay prisoners from the regulation that became the basis of a US federal court order demanding medical examination of a detainee at the prison. According to The New York Times, the US Department of Justice on Friday informed a District Court in Washington that McCarthy has moved to block the examination of Guantanamo prisoners, signing a two-page memorandum on January 11. Medical review of Guantanamo detainees has not been conducted since the prison opened in 2002.

Read: US: Trump Admin Issues New Rules Seeking To Impose 'term Limits' On Top Health Officials

The Department of Defence has blocked every effort to conduct an independent medical review at Guantanamo for the last 20 years. However, the lawyer of Mohammed al-Qahtani had secured an order from a US federal court in March that allowed an independent medical review of the prisoner, who is allegedly suffering from schizophrenia. Judge Rosemary Collyer, hearing the case, pronounced that al-Qahtani should be examined by three doctors, two foreign and one US Army professional, to determine whether he should be repatriated to his home country Saudi Arabia for treatment at a psychiatric facility.

Read: US Announces Fresh Sanctions On Iran In Final Days Of Trump To Curb Nuclear Programs

'Last-ditch effort'

After Judge Collyer retired, another judge who came in her place upheld the order. The US government then moved to an appeals court, which rejected the Trump administration's request to delay the examination. The US government was then left with two choices, either allow the first-ever outside medical examination of a Guantanamo prisoner or voluntarily release Qahtani to avoid independent review.

Qahtani's lawyer has called the move by McCarthy "a last-ditch effort" to deny an independent review of Guantanamo prisoners. The lawyer said that they lost the case because of the rule so they changed it, adding that if a medical examination is allowed his client will surely be repatriated to his home country because of his mental illness.

Read: US Treasury Releases First Payroll Support Payments To Major American Airlines

According to the report, Qahtani was captured months after the September 11 attacks in the United States, which was claimed by Osama bin-Laden's Al-Qaeda. Qahtani was arrested near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and was taken to Guantanamo Bay prison, where he was subjected to intense torture, including waterboarding and sleep deprivation. Qahtani was arrested over suspicion that he had expressed a desire of joining the 20 hijackers in carrying out the 9/11 attacks. Qahtani is one of the 40 prisoners currently detained in Guantanamo Bay prison.

Read: US Justice Department Announces 13th And Final Federal Execution Under Trump Admin


It was a few years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated when Christine Osburn Jackson, then executive director of the YWCA Greater Charleston, helped coordinate a worship service to honor King's life.

The tradition has since morphed into an annual 10-day celebration, the largest in the state honoring the civil rights movement's most iconic figure.

Jackson, a member of the King family and a Lowcountry civil rights activist, recently reflected on King's legacy, efforts to preserve his memory in the Charleston region, and her own efforts to bring about social change.

Days before the national holiday to honor King, Jackson said she isn't surprised that the Lowcountry's annual celebration has lasted. She also noted Martin Luther King is too big to be honored by a single group, and is glad various organizations are now part of the yearly occasion.

"I feel so humbled and so grateful that this community is so good that nobody let that program die down," said Jackson, 92.

Jackson is a first cousin of Coretta Scott King  a champion of social justice and deceased widow of the Rev. King  so, naturally, she had many encounters with the couple over the years.

She and Coretta King grew up together in rural Marion, Ala. She recalls first meeting the Rev. King at a church in Montgomery when the minister served as a pastor at a local church.

"He was so down to earth," Jackson said.

Jackson's husband, the late Rev. E.L. Jackson, also was involved in civil rights and worked closely with King.

At one point, the Rev. Jackson was threatened by an Alabama sheriff and the Ku Klux Klan, who demanded to know details of the discussions taking place among African American organizers.

Kim Jackson, daughter of Christine and E.L. Jackson, said the story goes that the Rev. Jackson told the officer, "if youll tell us what happens in your meetings, Ill tell you what happens in our meetings.

Jackson said her father's stance resulted in him being fired from his job and blackballed from other employment opportunities in the area.

Threats of violence or death by white supremacists trying to destroy the movement were not uncommon.

C.T. Vivian, another prominent organizer and close friend of the Rev. King, visited Charleston years ago as keynote speaker for the annual MLK breakfast.

He stayed the night at the Jacksons' James Island residence. Emphasizing the danger surrounding the civil rights era, Vivian told the Jacksons of when he once had to hide inside a casket at a funeral home because local White people were attempting to kill him because of his work.

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Several social justice advocates were killed during that era while challenging racism and injustice, including Rev. King.

Even if the threat of violence loomed around her, Christine Jackson doesn't recall being too afraid to press forward.

"I don't remember ever being scared," she said.

Given the danger posed by the KKK and other white supremacists, many civil rights groups disagreed with King's nonviolent strategy and opted for physical retaliation.

Jackson said she's still very much committed to nonviolence. As for King himself, Jackson said he should be honored for how he inspired people to bring about change.

"We should never forget him," she said.

The Jackson couple moved to South Carolina, where they continued social advocacy.

Christine Jackson came on board at the YWCA during a time when the organization was still segregated, with separate YWCA facilities downtown for Blacks and Whites.

She served as the executive director for 37 years, from 1966 to 2003, and led the organization through forced segregation to establish the current all-inclusive mission of empowering women and eliminating racism."

The yearly MLK event she founded now includes a parade, poetry slam, ecumenical service and breakfast. The festivities are being held virtually this year due to the pandemic.

Kim Jackson has always been proud of her connection to the civil rights movement and relationship to its most noted leaders.

She recalled being in second grade when she told her classmates of her relationship to Coretta Scott King. The students didn't believe her, and even got angry because of their tremendous respect for the Rev. King, Kim said.

Soon after, Kim visited her grandparents in Alabama. Coretta King was there, and agreed to take a photo with Kim.

"I was able to come back to Charleston and show the kids she was my cousin," Kim said.

Over the years, Kim has often heard stories from people in the community who uplift her mother's ability to galvanize the community for social progress.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar also stated that many employers are currently paying for office space and utilities while supporting staff who work from home. Photo: Julien Behal Photography

A new package of tax incentives to encourage people to work from home will be rolled out in the next Budget, the Tanaiste has confirmed.

Leo Varadkar promised improvements in the current regime that allows workers claim tax reliefs worth an average of around 30 to 100 per year. Employers can pay a 3.20-per-day allowance, but most do not.

Mr Varadkar was speaking as he outlined details of a new Government strategy on remote working that will include a legal right for employees to ask to work from home permanently.

It also promises better protections for workers to enable them to disconnect from work after hours.

Read More

At the moment, you can receive a tax-free payment of 3.20 a day from your employer for home working, or you can have some of your expenses  utilities, for example  reimbursed, said Mr Varadkar.

But its intended that as part of the Budget package in October, there will be a new package of tax incentives

and expenses to encourage people to work from home.

So you will see an improvement there in whats currently in place.

The Tanaiste said the Government also needs to examine ways it can help out employers.

He said in the medium to long term, remote working could reduce business costs. However, a lot of employers had told him they are kind of stuck with both costs of renting office space and supporting employees working from home.

At the moment, they have the cost of the rent and utilities on the office, and theyre also covering some of the costs of people working at home, he said.

Meanwhile, workers who refuse to check emails and take calls out of hours are promised better legal protection in the new Government plan.

The National Remote Work Strategy commits to drawing up a code of practice for the right to disconnect.

It said the Government has asked the Workplace Relations Commission to draw up the code for approval by the minister.

When asked what difference the code will make to workers, a spokesperson at the Department of Enterprise said it will be possible to refer to the code in disputes and adjudications.

Labour spokesperson on employment rights, Marie Sherlock, said codes are not as effective for workers as legislating to give them a legal right to disconnect.

The jury is out on the effectiveness of a code of practice and it is no substitute for a legal right, which gives a much clearer message and direction to employers and employees, she said.

There is a real concern that a code of practice would have little or no effect.

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Hyderabad, Jan 16 : No Covid-19 vaccine beneficiary in Telangana was administered Covaxin on Saturday, the first day of the vaccination programme.

The vaccine manufactured by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech was not used for the rollout. All the beneficiaries in the state were given only Covishield, which has been manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune.

At the launch of vaccination at Gandhi Hospital, state health minister Eatala Rajender said only Covishield will be administered as per the guidelines of the Union Ministry Of Health and Family Welfare.

Health officials said 90 per cent of targetted 4,200 beneficiaries were administered the vaccine at 140 centres across 33 districts.

It was not clear as to when Covaxin will be included in the vaccination programme in the state. Health officials claimed that both the vaccines are totally safe and there is no need for any apprehension.

Director of Public Health G. Srinivas Rao on Friday said that as per the government's guidelines consent will be taken from those who will be receiving Covaxin shot.

"Their health status will be examined and scrutinized before giving the vaccine and after the inoculation they will be monitored for seven days for any adverse events. Similar process will be followed after the second dose which will be given after four weeks.

"We should be proud that Covaxin has been developed indigenously and that too on the soil of Telangana. Nobody should have any worries. If necessary I will take Covaxin in coming days," he said.

The state has received 3.64 lakh doses of Covishield and 20,000 doses of Covaxin.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Rajender on Saturday urged the Centre to supply more doses of vaccine to the state. During the video conference with Union Health Minister Harshvardhan, he said the state needs more doses to cover all healthcare workers and other Covid warriors.

This round of vaccination programme will be held all over the country, at a total of 3,006 sites which will be connected virtually

The vaccines have to be administered to people above 18 years of age.  Associated Press

New Delhi: India is all set to roll out the world's biggest vaccination drive against Covid-19 from Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first phase of the nation-wide inoculation drive early morning during which only healthcare workers, both in government and private sectors including ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) workers, will get the first life-saving shot.

This round of vaccination program will be held all over the country, at a total of 3,006 sites which will be connected virtually throughout the exercise. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated on Saturday at each of the session sites.

Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Friday reviewed the preparedness and visited the dedicated Covid-19 control room at the ministry premises. The Union minister also reviewed the Beneficiary Registration Page for all non-prioritised groups on CoWIN. He suggested pre-populating the software with beneficiaries by seeding it with the electoral database, in addition to other documents that are authorised for registration.

The minister also reviewed the working of the Communications Control Room which has been closely monitoring the disinformation campaigns and rumour mongering in relation to administering the Covid-19 vaccines. The Union minister reiterated that both the indigenously manufactured vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, have proven safety and immunogenicity records and are the most important tools to contain the pandemic.

The health ministry has also issued guidelines to states giving directions on how to deal with certain situations. The vaccines have to be administered to people above 18 years of age. It cannot be given to pregnant and lactating women and to persons with a history of allergic reactions to a previous dose of Covid-19 vaccine. Interchangeability of vaccines is not allowed, hence the second dose of the vaccine should be of the same company of which the first dose has been given.

The vaccine has to be deferred among people with active symptoms of Covid-19, those who have been given convalescent plasma or are acutely unwell or hospitalised due to any illness.

In the last 24 hours, 15,590 fresh cases of COVID have been detected and 191 deaths were recorded.
In a new twist to the crisis in Yemen, Washington has decided to designate the Yemeni Ansarallah Movement, also known as the Houthis, as a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO). In a statement released on 10 January, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he would notify Congress of the designation that will go into effect on 19 January.



The development comes over a month since it was revealed that US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker had brought up the subject on a visit to Oman. He told Omani officials that his government was in the process of studying this step, which has elicited diverse reactions in the light of the effects the designation will have on the stalled Yemeni peace process, the various local, regional and international stakeholders, and humanitarian relief efforts.



Congress is likely to approve the designation in the light of the State Departments reasoning. The timing is also significant as 19 January coincides with the last sessions of the special committees of the outgoing Congress, in which the Republicans hold a majority in the Senate.



In addition to the Ansarallah Movement as a whole, Pompeo said he also intended to designate three of its leaders, Abdel-Malek Al-Houthi, his brother militia commander Abdel-Khalek Badreddin Al-Houthi, and Military Commander Abdullah Yahya Al-Hakim, as specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) entities.



The designations are intended to hold Ansarallah accountable for its terrorist acts, including cross-border attacks threatening civilian populations, infrastructure and commercial shipping, Pompeo said. The designations are also intended to advance efforts to achieve a peaceful, sovereign and united Yemen that is both free from Iranian interference and at peace with its neighbours.



The mention of Iran underscores Washingtons acknowledgement of a close relationship between Iran and the Houthi insurgency. In a previous move, Washington blacklisted and sanctioned Irans recently appointed Ambassador to Sanaa Hasan Irlu, an officer of the overseas wing of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).



The appointment was emblematic of Irans military and material support of the Houthis, which the US Treasury Department noted in November when it announced a freeze on the activities of organisations used as a screen to transfer funds to the Ansarallah.



Pompeo anticipated the objections the action would trigger, not just in Congress but also among international partners involved in efforts to bring peace to Yemen. Shortly after his meeting with Schenker in December, Iranian Foreign Minister Sayed Badr Al-Busaidi told a summit in Bahrain that he did not think it was productive to blockade a main party in the conflict and exclude it from negotiations.



Is that [designation] decision going to resolve the Yemeni conflict, given that this group is a key player, he asked. Would it be better to really support what the United Nations envoy is trying to do by inviting everyone, including that group, to the table?



In his statement, Pompeo countered that progress in addressing Yemens instability can only be made when those responsible for obstructing peace are held accountable for their actions. Indicating that his decision was the outcome of the Houthis refusal to abide by UN resolutions over the past six years, he added that if Ansarallah did not behave like a terrorist organisation, we would not designate it as an FTO and SDGT.



The US decision triggered outcries from many because of the impact it could have on deliveries of desperately needed humanitarian relief to the Yemeni people. Responding to such concerns, Pompeo said that [Ansarallah] has led a brutal campaign that has killed many people, continues to destabilise the region, and denies Yemenis a peaceful solution to the conflict in their country.



The Houthis brutal record has been substantiated by UN experts and international reports. Further underscoring the militias increasing terrorist behaviour, Pompeo spoke of mounting threats to international trade and shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman.



Houthi attacks are no longer restricted to ships belonging to members of the Arab Coalition fighting to restore the legitimate government in Yemen, given the strikes against British and Greek vessels in December.



With only ten days left of the current administration in Washington, the State Department may try to fast track other decisions relevant to the conflict. Given that department staff are working with the team of incoming President Joe Biden, it is likely that he was informed in advance of the actions, regardless of any objections raised.



Even as the State Department was still considering the designation, two officials told the US news channel CNN that a step of this nature would effectively box in the incoming administration and hamper its ability to develop its own policy on Yemen. Many observers believe that a step of this sort will be difficult for Biden to reverse.



The outgoing administration in Washington has taken the view that the Houthis cannot be a partner in peace efforts in the country given that they have obstructed all opportunities for a settlement presented by negotiating processes in Kuwait, Geneva and Stockholm.



Few believe that there are parties opposing these aside from those sharing interests with Iran, such as Oman, or wanting to score points, such as the UK, which acts as though it is the driving force in the UN-sponsored peace process and has been keen to support British diplomat Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy to Yemen.



The reactions from Sanaa and Tehran were predictable. We condemn the terrorist designation of Ansarallah and reserve the right to retaliate against any such designation from the Trump administration or any other party, President of the Ansarallahs Revolutionary Council Mohamed Ali Houthi wrote on his Twitter account.



Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that the designation was doomed to failure and predicted that the bankrupt US administration would leave another legacy in its final days.



Equally to be expected was the Yemeni governments praise for the decision, as it had previously urged the Trump administration to make it before it left office. The Houthi insurgents deserve the name of terrorists, it said, urging additional legal and political pressure on the Houthis, whom it accuses of having attempted to assassinate members of the new cabinet upon their arrival in Aden last month.



The Saudi-backed government in Yemen, which sees itself as charged with liberating territories controlled by the Houthis now that options for a diplomatic solution have receded, sees the US designation as a victory for its cause. Riyadh, as the leader of the Arab Coalition fighting to restore the Yemeni government, hailed the designation, which it claimed was consistent with the demands of the legitimate Yemeni government.



In addition to stymying any countervailing policies that the incoming Biden administration might envision on Yemen, Pompeos action makes Washington a partner in the pursuit of those it had labelled terrorists, especially the three Houthi leaders mentioned to Congress.



But the response by Mohamed Ali Al-Houthi raises the spectre of an escalation against US targets in the Gulf region, which will compel Washington to raise its level of preparedness there, leading to intensifying tensions.



Arab Coalition forces appear to have agreed their options regarding paths to a resolution to the Yemeni conflict, with the most salient indication being the Riyadh initiative to solve the Yemeni crisis. The Riyadh Agreement, as it was called, aimed to promote a settlement among the warring parties in southern Yemen so as to focus their efforts on eliminating the Houthis and restoring the legitimate Yemeni government.



In response to or in anticipation of coalition moves towards this end, the Houthis might increase their terrorist activities, including strikes against fixed or mobile targets belonging to coalition members and leader Saudi Arabia.



The UN mission to Yemen may be the party most thrown into confusion. It may be forced to replace Griffiths and pursue other alternatives for dealing with Yemen now that Pompeos action has effectively put paid to the peace process, even if some saw this as an attempt to legitimise the Houthis and increase their influence.



One alternative the UN might pursue could be termed the Taliban option. Even if the Houthis are on the US blacklist, settlement efforts could continue through the backdoor, via Qatar, for example.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 14 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

Short link:


I am quite sure that the country is better off with President Donald Trump penned into a virtual holding cell, his access to social media cut off by the companies who are sick of enabling him. And yet, Im still worried.

Almost 20 years ago, I spent a year working as a clerk in a construction trailer at Ground Zero, after the largest terrorist attack in U.S. history. Even that wasnt enough to channel my rage and anxiety about what had happened to my country. So on the side, I started a blog that quickly became focused on vocally supporting the Iraq War. I regard it as the largest intellectual mistake of my life.

Over the years, I have come around to the view, expressed by many of my opponents, that we started that war at least in part for the same reason we imposed pointless security theater at airports and enacted very real, very intrusive new government surveillance powers: The terrorists had punctured the sense of invulnerability that Americas two oceans have always provided, and we were struggling to regain our emotional equilibrium. As often happens in such cases, we lashed out. We wanted to show the world the price of ticking us off.

When others said, Wait a minute, slow down, is this really a good idea? my side frequently dismissed them as naifs, terrorist-sympathizers and even traitors. Objectively, they certainly were suggesting we should let vicious Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein continue his brutally corrupt reign.

They were right.

My side won that debate, and then bungled into Iraq, getting a lot of Americans, and many more Iraqis, killed in the process. We cost ourselves a fortune and destabilized a region that was none too stable to begin with. We found no nuclear program of any note.

That colossal failure wrecked the Bush administration, and Americas reputation. Arguably, it also planted a seed of division within the conservative movement that later blossomed in the form of Donald Trump.

And so I learned to inherently suspect the radical things I want to do when Ive had an unprecedented shock  like the one we experienced on Jan. 6.

I am especially self-suspicious when my side rejects caution as apology for terrorism, and insists we cannot settle for minimizing a threat, but must do whatever it takes to smash every last remnant of our foes. Which brings me to Parler, the conservative alternative to Twitter.

Im not surprised Parler could be shut down because Apple, Google and Amazon decided not to do business with it any longer, but I am troubled that the tech behemoths actually took this dramatic step after Twitter closed the presidents account. Closing businesses for facilitating problematic activity is the kind of thing the government usually does, not private corporations  and the government, at least, has some constitutional restrictions on and democratic oversight of its powers.

Companies have every legal and moral right to do what they wish with their property, of course. But one can acknowledge that while also asking whether what they do is wise, or good for America, or even good for the companies themselves. A handful of executives made another business go away, while signaling that corporate America has chosen a political side and that its not afraid to go further than our government. Thats unprecedented, and Im frightened of setting that precedent now.

As with the War on Terror, short-term victories seem certain, and enticing; Big Tech made it harder for Trump to disrupt the inauguration, which is great. But in the longer term, we may radicalize people who were previously neutral, and thereby empower even worse foes than the ones we vanquished. The other day I heard from a never-Trump friend, a Biden voter, who is convinced that eventually, after we all get comfortable with what Big Tech has done, it will come for conservatives like him. If that happens, he  and others like him  are not going to ally with their censors, public or private.

But those of us who opposed Trump should also be cautious about such alliances. The right-wing fringe is about to discover what it feels like to be on the receiving end of the anti-terror surveillance state it supported so enthusiastically. Perhaps we could learn from their example and ask what sort of society we want to live in before we start authorizing sweeping new powers.

I still think Twitter was right to block Trump, who cannot be allowed to whip up further insurrection from the Oval Office. But, in its shock, will blue America resist the urge to overreach, or will it try to confine Trumps voters with him? Eventually, 74 million people are likely to crash through any boundary their opponents can throw up  and when they do, other terrible things may be set free, even if we cant yet see exactly what.

(McArdle is a writer for

The Washington Post)
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She's the Real Housewives of Melbourne star who is known for her feisty attitude and fiery temper.

But on Saturday, Pettifleur Berenger sensationally revealed that her drama-fuelled persona on the show isn't real - before adding how glad she's to finally 'shed that image' after appearing on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

Despite saying she's 'forever grateful' to have been part of Real Housewives, she told The Herald Sun: 'As the Pettifleur on the show, I had a job to do and that job was to create as much drama as possible.

The real me: Pettifleur Berenger revealed that her drama-fuelled Real Housewives persona isn't actually real - and she's glad she's finally able to 'shed that image' after appearing on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

'The show was based on extreme wealth and extreme drama and I thought I did my job well, but the downside to doing a job like well is that people tend to hate you.'

She added that she no longer wants to be perceived as that sort of character, and hopes her stint in the jungle will help viewers see it simply isn't her.

'I loved the show but hopefully I have been able to shred that image and be the Pettifleur that I am to my friends and family on Im A Celebrity,' she added.

'I don't want to be like this': I'm A Celebrity viewers saw a different side to Pettifleur on Thursday, as she burst into tears over her heartache that she doesn't 'feel anything for anyone'

It comes after Pettifleur burst into tears in the jungle, after revealing she desperately wants to find love but doesn't 'feel anything for anyone'.

During an emotional chat with Jess Eva, Pettifleur was asked if she ever 'goes on dates' - to which she responded: 'I never go on dates. Not interested.

'I know I tease the boys, but I have no feelings - I'm just broken. I don't know what it is, I really don't. But I just don't feel anything for anyone, and it's a s**t way to be.'

Bring her on! It caused an uproar of sympathy from viewers, with some calling for her to be cast as the next Bachelorette to help her on her journey to love

It caused an uproar of sympathy from viewers, with some calling for her to be cast as the next Bachelorette to help her on her journey to love.

'Pettifleur for The Bachelorette 2021!' one wrote, while another added: 'Pettifleur, you would make a great Bachelorette.'

Pettifleur went on to say in the jungle hut that she 'never expected' to cry on national television, but she's had a few emotional moments which have 'shocked her'.

Shook: Pettifleur went on to say in the jungle hut that she 'never expected' to cry on national television, but she's had a few emotional moments which have 'shocked her'

The pint-sized Pettifleur is one of the most controversial Housewives to appear on the series over the years.

Starring in seasons two and three, she was involved in some of the show's most memorable feuds.

In season three, she accused Gamble Breaux of meeting her husband on a sugar daddy website.

Drama: Starring in seasons two and three, Pettifleur was involved in some of the show's most memorable feuds

She then feuded with former BFF Lydia Schiavello for backstabbing her, before clashing with Jackie Gillies when the psychic wouldn't use her powers to find Pettifleur's son's misplaced birth certificate.

Tensions reached boiling point in Dubai, when the outspoken socialite threw an iconic tantrum during a dinner in the middle of the desert.

The show is set to return at an unknown date for a fifth season with three brand new cast members.
The government on Friday cautioned consumers against rooftop solar companies that are claiming to be "authorised vendors" for the implementation of Grid-connected Rooftop Solar Scheme. In a statement, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said the scheme is being implemented in the states only by power distribution companies (DISCOMS) that have empanelled vendors through the bidding process and decided rates for setting up a rooftop solar plant.

"It has been brought to the notice of the ministry that some rooftop solar companies/vendors are setting up rooftop solar plants by claiming that they are authorised vendors by the ministry. It is clarified that no vendor has been authorised by the ministry. This scheme is being implemented in the state only by DISCOMS. The DISCOMS have empanelled vendors through the bidding process and have decided rates for setting up a rooftop solar plant," it said.

According to the MNRE, the objective of the scheme is to achieve a cumulative capacity of 40,000 MW from rooftop solar (RTS) projects by the year 2022. Under the scheme, the ministry said it is providing 40 per cent subsidy for the first 3 kilowatt (kW) and 20 per cent subsidy beyond 3 kW and up to 10 kW. The scheme is being implemented in the states by local electricity distribution companies.

The ministry informed that almost all the DISCOMS have issued online processes for this purpose and residential consumers willing to set up a rooftop solar plant under MNRE scheme can apply online and get rooftop solar plants installed by listed vendors. The MNRE further said consumers can "contact the concerned DISCOM or dial MNRE's toll free number 1800-180-3333 for more information or click on https:olarrooftop.gov.in/grid_others/discomPortalLinks to know the online portal of your DISCOM."

In the statement, the ministry has advised consumers to pay only according to the rates decided by DISCOMs. The DISCOMs have been instructed to identify and punish such vendors. Some vendors are charging more price than the rates decided by DISCOMS from domestic consumers, which is incorrect, it said.

Also read: COVID-19 vaccination drive: PM Modi to kickstart rollout at 10:30am; here's a lowdown of the process
Facebook has declared that it won't allow people to create new events near key Washington, DC, locations and state capitols until after Inauguration Day.

The social media giant made the announcement Friday, revealing that it will be blocking people from creating new events near the White House, Capitol Building or any state capitol buildings in the US until after January 20, when President-Elect Biden is sworn in.

Facebook said it will also be reviewing all inauguration-related events that've already been created.

Facebook said Friday that it would be banning any events from being created near the Capitol or White House during Biden's inauguration. Rioters are seen outside the Capitol on January 6

The Facebook ban also includes events created around all 50 state capitol buildings. National Guard members are seen in Washington on Saturday in preparation for the inauguration

The company will be removing any events that violate site policies, too, as well as blocking events that have been set up to be held in the US, but were created by accounts or pages that are based in other countries.

'We're monitoring for signals of violence or other threats both in Washington, D.C. and across all 50 states,' Facebook said in a statement obtained by CBS News.

Facebook said that it was actively monitoring for signals of threats in Washington and across the country

Facebook noted that as was the case 'in the weeks after the presidential election, we are promoting accurate information about the election and the violence at the Capitol instead of content that our systems predict may be less accurate, delegitimizes the election or portrays the rioters as victims.'

In addition to banning the creation of these inauguration-based events at specific locations, Facebook said that it's still pressing pause on political advertisements, as well as restricting some of its features for US-based users who 'who repeatedly violate policies.'

The people found to be violating policies will be prevented from creating create live videos, events, groups or pages.

Facebook and other social media platforms have faced criticism after posts and videos drew and emboldened rioters during the January 6 Capitol Building seizure.

Facebook and other social media companies have been criticized for being platforms used by rioters. Protesters are seen storming the Capitol Building on January 6

The US Army is sending up to 25,000 National Guards members to Washington to help keep the Capitol safe during the inauguration. A guardsman is seen outside the Capitol Saturday

Facebook's decision to halt the ability to create events at the Washington locations and state capitols, while also monitoring inauguration posts came shortly after the Department of Homeland Security said that domestic extremists would be the major threat at Biden's inauguration.

Homeland's intelligence briefing warned that there could be violence directed towards federal buildings, law enforcement officers and public officials during the inauguration period.

The agency also noted that some extremists don't believe that Biden is a legitimate president.

Earlier in the week, Airbnb said that it was canceling all reservation in the Washington, DC, area and that it would not allow new reservations to be made during the lead up to the inauguration.

Airbnb said Wednesday that it was taking these steps because it was aware that armed militias and hate groups have plans to travel to Washington to disrupt the inauguration, while also stating that government officials and law enforcement have urged people not to visit Washington during at this time.

The US Army said Friday that as many as 25,000 National Guard members were being sent to Washington to help protect the Capitol and provide backup for law enforcement. Many of the National Guards members would be armed.

National Guard troops have been seen patrolling around the Capitol building fences, while also stopping drivers at road blocks.
On a gray, blustery Tuesday in Alamo, Texas, President Donald Trump stood in front of a completed portion of the border wall on the southern Texas-Mexico border and touted the completion of 452 miles during his term.

We reformed our immigration and achieved the most secure southern border in U.S. history, Trump proclaimed.

Unmentioned in Trumps remarks was that 163 miles of the wall are being built by a Galveston-based contractor accused in a federal whistle-blower lawsuit of illegally hiring Mexican nationals to guard border-wall construction sites in California.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant unsealed a complaint filed by two former contract employees of Sullivan Land Services Co. (SLS)  a construction company founded and operated by brothers Todd, John and William Billy Sullivan.

The complaint also alleges that SLS hired unvetted workers to work on its job sites at the border, and allowed a subcontractor to construct an illegal dirt road to ferry armed Mexican nationals across the border to provide security, all with the approval of an Army Corps of Engineers supervisor. High-level employees of SLS as well as Ultimate Concrete of El Paso, its subcontractor on the project, allegedly made false statements not only about the hiring of Mexican workers, but also overcharging for construction costs.

The U.S. Department of Justice investigated the false-claims allegations and notified the court in December that it would not intervene, allowing the case to proceed in federal court without DOJ involvement.

Through a spokeswoman, Liz Rogers, the Sullivans declined requests to be interviewed for this story.

This case is based on inaccurate and untrue allegations; therefore, we are not surprised that the Government reached the same conclusion, Rogers said in a statement. Our legal system allows for plaintiffs to make accusations and file lawsuits regardless of basis of evidence. We vehemently disagree with the claims made in this lawsuit and will defend ourselves through the legal system. We have no further comment.

The allegations place the Sullivans in the type of spotlight they have largely shied away from despite being successful businessmen and well-known citizens of this small resort city.

What began as a tight-knit entrepreneurial landscaping operation when the brothers were students at Ball High School in Galveston has evolved into a lucrative consortium of business interests  from port dredging to home building to debris removal for natural disasters across the country, including in Houston after Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

Along the way, they have built a sterling resume through high-quality work and have won major state and federal contracts, including $1.8 billion for constructing the border wall in Texas, New Mexico and California. Known in political circles, the brothers have contributed to the campaigns of key players in Texas such as Land Commissioner George P. Bush and U.S. John Cornyn, both Republicans. Locally, the Sullivans philanthropic reputation, shrewd business acumen and political power have largely insulated them from scrutiny  even as some of their projects on the island and deal-making have drawn criticism.

Many native Galvestonians know the Sullivans by name, but such is their clout that few will go on the record to discuss the family candidly.

I just see them as stand-up people in our community, said Ted ORourke, a Galveston businessman who serves on the Port of Galvestons board with Todd Sullivan. I cant say one way or the other if (the border wall complaint) has merit, but its just hard for me to believe that they would knowingly do anything inappropriate in the business world.

Deep Galveston ties

While few acquaintances besmirch the work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit of the Sullivan brothers, they were also raised by a family that set them up well for success. Born to Gerald and Susanne Sullivan, the brothers (Todd is 45, while twins John and Billy are 41) are the sixth generation of Galveston Sullivans.

Geralds father, John R.A. Sullivan, was a cattle rancher in the early 20th Century, back when much of Galvestons West End was undeveloped land suitable for farming, hunting and fishing. John R.A. Sullivan worked in the dairy industry but also as a cowboy, leasing pastures on the West End and starting his own herd  eventually shipping cattle to Florida and the Caribbean, according to news reports. Gerald took over the family business after graduating from Texas A&M University in the 1960s.

Always, while we have been involved in many other things, we have been in the cattle business, Gerald Sullivan told Coast Monthly magazine in 2018.

While Gerald Sullivan primarily co-owns Santa Rosa Ranch in Crockett and Navasota, friends say he set the template for his sons by investing in a wide range of businesses, from real estate development to port operations.

They were taught to work hard from the very beginning and so they actually got their business start when they were teenagers in the landscaping and yard business, said James Yarbrough, a former Galveston mayor and county judge who has known the family for decades.

Clashes with neighbors

After the brothers graduated from college  all three attended Texas A&M  they began to flex their business muscles. They founded Sullivan Land Services Co. in 1995, and transitioned their commercial landscaping business, Sullivan Environmental Services, into a real estate company, Sullivan Interests.

The Sullivans real estate arm purchased lots in The Heights neighborhood in Houston, which eventually were developed into luxury homes, and built townhouses in College Station. However, their purchase of 93 acres on the West End of Galveston in the early 2000s stirred up controversy.

The land that would become the Evia subdivision  a luxury development with 388 residences, three freshwater lakes and a nature preserve  was folded into a 2,000-acre tax increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ) in 2003. The zone was structured by the city of Galveston to provide public financing for capital improvements in and around Scholes International Airport.

The project came under fire after the Sullivans sought up to $8 million in reimbursements from the city for what they termed public improvements, such as lakes and parking areas that are ostensibly open to the public.

(In Evia) were not only taking over the maintenance, were paying for the streets, then-Galveston City Council member Jackie Cole said during a contentious council meeting in 2006. Developers, she noted, generally built streets and sewers and turned them over to the city for maintenance.

Although the city ultimately provided a lower amount, $6 million, to reimburse the Sullivans for public improvements, the city also assumed $5 million of the companys debt to pay for infrastructure within the Evia subdivision. As of December 2019, the city still owed the Sullivans $1.5 million in reimbursements.

The brothers also faced criticism when Sullivan Interests pursued a proposal to acquire and develop a 600-acre site used by the Army Corps of Engineers to deposit dredged material. Some council members decried it as a backroom deal, drawing a rebuke from Billy Sullivan at a 2008 meeting.

You dont know me and you dont know my family, Sullivan said, according to the Galveston County Daily News. You dont know how we care about this island ... You have a special agenda. You are trying to beat down people who have done good things on this island. You cant drive us away.

Businesses expand

Over the years, the Sullivans have added to their portfolio. After buying a terminal at the Port of Galveston in 2005, Todd Sullivan established Texas International Terminals, a liquid and dry bulk multi-modal facility along Galveston Ship Channel capable of serving rail, deep draft vessel, barge and trucks. He also joined the Wharves Board of Trustees, which oversees port operations.

Two years ago, it was reported that Sullivan intended to build a crude processing facility at his terminal to make 50,000 barrels per day of low-sulfur fuels, a project that would require a deepening of the ship channel to accommodate the deeper-draft vessels that would ship the product.

Elizabeth Beeton, a trustee on the Wharves board, questioned whether Todd Sullivan had a conflict of interest.

How can we proceed with this if you have a board member advocating for it, who is also the main beneficiary? Beeton asked during a 2018 board meeting.

Sullivan responded that he was advocating for local industry, worried that the Port of Galveston would get left behind without the dredging project. He agreed to recuse himself from future discussions on the project.

The Army Corps of Engineers later dredged the ship channel, with the Port of Galveston serving as the local sponsor and paying up to one-third of the $3.3 million project cost.

More recently, the brothers have become major players in disaster recovery. After Alabama-based DRC Emergency Services subcontracted with Sullivan Land Services to remove debris from cruise ship terminals at the Port of Galveston following Hurricane Ike in 2008, SLS went on to build homes in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and won a contract to help rebuild New York City after Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Four years later, the Sullivans had acquired DRC Emergency Services, raising the companys profile even more.

DRCs requests for proposals for disaster recovery work, obtained by the Houston Chronicle, show that the company boasts one of the largest subcontractor networks in the industry. Since its acquisition, DRC has won millions of dollars in contracts to perform debris cleanup after storms and hurricanes in Louisiana, Florida, and Texas, including Houston and Harris County after Harvey.

Sullivan Land Services won a $375 million FEMA contract to construct homes in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and successfully lobbied officials in New York in March and April for a $20.8 million no-bid emergency contract to build a field hospital in Brooklyn for COVID-19 patients.

DeWight Dopslauf, a purchasing agent for Harris County, said DRC is one of the most qualified debris removal companies in the country. During cleanup after Harvey, Dopslauf said, the county had to renegotiate its contract with DRC because of a high demand for its trucks in Florida after Hurricane Irma that fall.

Theres only a handful of decent (disaster recovery) companies out there that have actually done the work, he said. And theyve worked with us several times, throughout different disasters. They have the ability to bring in more assets when we needed them.

But DRC has also caught the attention of state watchdogs. It was one of three companies subpoenaed by the Florida attorney general in 2018 for charging higher rates for debris removal on previously agreed-upon contracts in the wake of Irma.

In a statement to the Palm Beach Post, John Sullivan said one South Florida jurisdiction increased DRCs pay before Irma struck and that the company welcomed the pay increase because it advanced the progress of debris removal in that area. A spokeswoman for the Florida attorney general said no action was taken against the company.

While the Sullivans quality of work is well-regarded, they have also demonstrated political savvy. Companies seeking state business frequently give money to Texas politicians involved in contracting decisions, which is allowed under state law. The Austin-American Statesman reported in 2018 that Sullivan Land Services was one of 12 companies that had donated to Bush, the Texas land commissioner. The three brothers also contributed $16,875 to Bush from 2013 through 2017. The company has won four Harvey-related contracts from the Texas General Land Office totaling $23.6 million.

Since 2017, federal campaign finance reports show, the three Sullivan brothers have donated $84,741 to Republican candidates, including more than $22,000 to Cornyn and nearly $20,000 to GOP-backed political committees.

Forbes estimated in 2019 that the Sullivans had made $1 billion in revenue from government contracts in recent years  a potential windfall of up to $50 million in profits.

Whistle-blowers allege misconduct

The whistle-blower complaint against Sullivan Land Services and its subcontractor, Ultimate Concrete of El Paso, was filed in the Southern District of California in February 2020 and mostly focuses on alleged actions during the summer of 2019.

As a prime contractor on a border wall project near Imperial Beach, Calif., SLS was responsible for hiring subcontractors for design and construction, as well as security, on its job sites, with the funds provided by the federal government under a $144 million contract. According to the complaint, Ultimate Concrete used taxpayer dollars to illegally hire armed Mexicans to provide security for the wall project.

The scheme was uncovered by two whistle-blowers  a former deputy sheriff in San Diego County and an ex-FBI special agent who worked for security firms hired by SLS, the suit alleges. It also claims that they were rebuked by a SLS project manager after reporting on the illegal security practices as well as on a gunfight that broke out on the U.S. side of the border between Mexican security guards and Mexican nationals attempting to steal from wall construction sites.

One of the whistle-blowers alleged in the complaint that Chris Lankford, federal division president for SLS, and Jesse Guzman, president of Ultimate Concrete, acknowledged they were aware of the Mexican guards working for them, with Guzman claiming that he was paying for the services of the Mexican guards.

The whistle-blowers said at least one unidentified Army Corps supervisor, who later stepped down, was aware of the operation.

Representatives from Ultimate Concrete could not be reached for comment.

The day after the shooting, one of the whistle-blowers contacted the FBI. Several months later, in October 2019, the SLS project manager informed one whistle-blower that he had been fired and should no longer communicate with the other whistle-blower, according to the complaint. Ten days later, the other whistle-blower met with Lankford, who fired him.

Both whistle-blowers are seeking damages and civil penalties for each false claim they say Sullivan Land Services and Ultimate Concrete presented to the federal government. Attorneys for the whistle-blowers did not respond to requests for comment.

The Imperial Beach wall replacement was completed in 2019. The Sullivans work on the border wall continues unimpeded in Texas, California and New Mexico, with work scheduled to be completed this year.

nick.powell@chron.com
Eli Savit on Twitter: @EliNSavit

Victoria Burton-Harris on Twitter: @VBH4Justice

Samuel Robinson at MLive: Washtenaw County prosecutor-elect names first female assistant chief

Sarah Payne at The Michigan Daily: Eli Savit sworn in as new Washtenaw County Prosecutor

Oralandar Brand-Williams at The Detroit News: Washtenaw County prosecutor will no longer prosecute consensual sex work

For a list of the progressive policies already enacted by Prosecutor Savit, click HERE.

Jordan Zakarin on Twitter: @JordanZakarin

Jordan Zakarin at Progressives Everywhere: These Elected Officials Were Part of the Capitol Rallies and Insurrection

Im collecting every lawmaker who was at the last weeks Trump Stop the Steal rally and/or Capitol insurrection. There are 30 names thus far  25 are local politicians. They need to be held accountable. Please send me more QAnon-aligned lawmakers!https://t.co/YvA3FEK0vv  Jordan Zakarin (@jordanzakarin) January 15, 2021

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Paul Egan at The Detroit Free Press: City of Flint, other defendants agree to settle water lawsuit as total boosted to $641.2M

Michigan Attorney General: Nine Indicted on Criminal Charges in Flint Water Crisis Investigation

Kat Stafford, Mike Householder, and Corey Williams at Associated Press: Flint Families Welcome Water Crisis Charges, Seek Healing

Paul Egan at The Detroit Free Press: Whitmer sets caps on legal bills for state officials as AG hands down new Flint charges

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President-elect Joe Biden is nominating New York emergency department commissioner Deanne Criswell to serve as the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator and has tapped former CIA deputy director David Cohen to return to the agency in the same role he served during the Obama administration

The picks, along with a trio of other new nominations confirmed to The Associated Press by the Biden team, come as the president-elect is putting a premium on experience, and perhaps familiarity, as he looks to fill out top positions at federal agencies with less than a week to go before his inauguration.

Biden also is tapping former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler to help lead the COVID-19 vaccine drive. Kessler has been advising Biden as a co-chair of his advisory board on the coronavirus pandemic.

The pick of Kessler comes after Biden on Thursday called the Trump administration's rollout of coronavirus vaccines a "dismal failure" and says he will unveil his own plans on Friday to speed up inoculations.

Criswell, who also spent more than five years in top posts at FEMA during the Obama administration, is the first woman nominated to head the agency, whose primary responsibility is to coordinate responses to major disasters inside the United States that require federal attention. Nancy Ward served as the agency's acting administrator in the early months of the Obama administration before his pick, Craig Fugate, could be confirmed.

Cohen, who was deputy CIA director from 2015 to 2017, has traveled the world for years tracking money flowing to terror groups, such as the Islamic State group, and other bad actors on the international stage. His work directing the Treasury Department's intelligence unit earlier in his career earned him the nicknames of ``financial batman'' and ``sanctions guru.''

In 2019, Cohen, who has been leading the financial and business integrity group at the law firm WilmerHale, made a cameo appearance on the HBO series "Game of Thrones.''

Nominees are required to disclose details of their finances and complete ethics agreements as part of the confirmation process. Once confirmed, federal ethics laws can require the officials to recuse themselves from working on issues that could impact their previous business interests.

Biden throughout the 2020 campaign lashed at President Donald Trump, saying he eroded public trust in government. Biden pledged his team will abide by ``the highest ethical standards.''

Cohen is not a registered lobbyist, but his firm does millions of dollars in lobbying work each year on behalf of clients that include the Beer Institute, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Walgreens and American Financial Group.

The president-elect is also nominating Shalanda Young, the top staff aide for the House Appropriations Committee, to serve as deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget and Jason Miller, who was deputy director of the White House National Economic Council in Obama's administration, to serve as deputy director for management at the agency.

Young brings a wealth of Capitol Hill experience in budget policy _ and politics _ to the budget office, along with close relationships with powerful House Democrats like Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Miller was steeped in manufacturing policy in the Obama administration, including an update of automobile fuel efficiency standards.

Biden is tapping Janet McCabe, an environmental law and policy expert who spent more than seven years as a top official at the Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration to return to the agency as deputy administrator.

"Each of them brings a deep respect for the civil servants who keep our republic running, as well as a keen understanding of how the government can and should work for all Americans,'' Biden said of his picks in a statement. ``I am confident that they will hit the ground running on day one with determination and bold thinking to make a meaningful difference in people's lives.''

Criswell has served as New York City's emergency management commissioner since June 2019. In her earlier work at FEMA, Criswell served as the leader of one of the agency's National Incident Management Assistance Teams and as a federal coordinating officer. In New York, part of her duties included leading the coordination of the city's emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between her stints at FEMA and in New York, Criswell was a principal at Cadmus Group, a firm that provides homeland security management consulting and training services for federal, state and local government agencies and private sector companies. The company made about $68 million between the time she joined the firm in 2017 and when she left in June 2019, according to a tabulation of contract spending data from the site USASpending.gov.

She also served as the head of the Office of Emergency Management for the city of Aurora, Colorado. Criswell also served in the Colorado Air National Guard, including 21 years as a firefighter and deputy fire chief with deployments to Qatar, Afghanistan and Iraq.

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Watch: North Korea shows off new submarine-launched missile at parade

Wearing a giant furry hat, black leather jacket and a beaming smile, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un introduced the worlds strongest weapon  a new submarine-launched ballistic missile  at a nighttime parade on Thursday in Pyongyang.

The display of North Koreas military might followed a rare congress of the ruling Workers' Party, during which leader Kim denounced the United States as his country's foremost principal enemy and vowed to strengthen the Norths nuclear war deterrent.

On Friday, the reclusive regimes state media released 100 photos of a mass celebration of the national armory, including tanks and rocket launchers, all flanked by rows of marching soldiers, noticeably not wearing masks. Military aircraft were illuminated by LED lights as they flew overhead in formation.

Kim Jong-un looked joyful as he presided over a parade of new weapons - AFP

Theyd like us to notice that theyre getting more proficient with larger solid rocket boosters, tweeted Ankit Panda, a North Korea expert and author of Kim Jong Un and the Bomb, as the parade unfolded in Pyongyangs Kim Il Sung square.

As the spectacle reached its climax, the military rolled out what analysts said appeared to be new variants of solid-fuel short-range ballistic missiles  which are more quickly deployed than liquid-fuelled versions - and four Pukguksong-class submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).

Submarine launched ballistic missiles were showcased at the parade - AFP

The worlds most powerful weapon, submarine-launch ballistic missiles, entered the square one after another, powerfully demonstrating the might of the revolutionary armed forces, state news agency KCNA reported.

North Korea has already test-fired several SLBMs from underwater, and analysts say it is seeking to develop an operational submarine to carry the missiles.

State media revealed the new SLBM was labelled Pukguksong-5, a longer version and potentially an upgrade over the Pukguksong-4 that was unveiled at a larger military parade in October.

Watch: North Korea's Kim says U.S. is 'biggest enemy'

Story continues

The new SLBM emphasised continued progress in development of better solid propellant missiles," Mr Panda told NK News in an interview.

The SLBM is larger and improved than the one displayed in the Workers Party Parade in October last year. It looks like North Korea is really bolstering its submarine missile-launching capabilities, Edward Howell, a lecturer in politics and North Korea expert at the University of Oxford, told The Telegraph.

Kim oversaw the procession, waving to enthusiastic crowds. The hawkish display came just days after his powerful sister lashed out at South Koreas military chiefs as top-class idiots and said their close tracking of the Norths parades proved Seouls hostile approach towards its neighbour.

Military equipments are seen during a military parade to commemorate the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Kore - Reuters

The performance, and Kims bellicose statements over the past week, offer a preview of the challenges ahead for the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden as it seeks to find a path through the current impasse in nuclear disarmament talks with Pyongyang.

Kim initially had a fiery relationship with Donald Trump, the outgoing US president, before a diplomatic detente heralded a series of unprecedented face-to-face summits. Their subsequently warm relationship did little to prevent the North Korean leader bolstering his nuclear and missile capabilities.

Despite the economic constraints imposed by sanctions and the Covid-19 pandemic, North Korea is making a clear statement to the US: it will keep going down the nuclear route even as the US transitions to the Biden administration, said Mr Howell.

With each successive US President, the list of policy options towards North Korea shrinks, he added.

If Biden does not engage at all, Pyongyang will not show any willingness to make any concessions. Kim Jong Un has repeatedly asserted how he is prepared to live with sanctions imposition after all, he said.

Yet, given Bidens focus on human rights, too, he may have to make an unpalatable decision and start talking with the DPRK to avoid already stagnant US-DPRK relations stalling further.

Ri Pyong Chol (L), vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the WPK, and Pak Jong Chon (R), chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army - AFP

Unlike the October parade, Thursdays event did not showcase North Koreas largest intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which are believed to be able to deliver a nuclear warhead to anywhere in the United States.

The piece de resistance of the autumn event was the Norths largest ever ICBM, presented on a transporter vehicle with at least 22 wheels.

Professor Vipin Narang, a nuclear policy expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, stressed the importance of this omission, adding that the parade was largely for domestic consumption and not intended to rock the boat with the US for now.

If Kim really wanted to send a message to the incoming Biden Administration, he could have paraded the new heavy ICBM or, worse, tested it, he said.

Thousands of troops marched alongside the weapons, none of them wearing masks - KCNA/Reuters

The fact that he didnt suggests he is willing to lay low and let the Biden Administration, at least right now, figure out what it wants to do on North Korea and go from there.

He added: His speech on North Korean nuclear developments over the past several years, and more concerningly, where they may be headeda de facto North Korean Nuclear Posture Reviewsaid everything that needed to be said: Im a nuclear weapons power and I have no intention of giving them up.
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The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has filed a petition in the Supreme Court that urges messaging app WhatsApp, as well as its parent company Facebook to withdraw its new privacy policy.

As per CAIT, WhatsApp has been fraudulently collecting personal user data.

"The CAIT will not allow any Corporate or Conglomerate to enforce its obnoxious policies and sinister designs to make a profit in an unethical manner resting the gun on the shoulder of people of India," it said in a statement.

The petition has been drafted by Advocate Abir Roy and filed in the Supreme Court by Advocate on Record Vivek Narayan Sharma.

According to CAIT, in August 2016, WhatsApp retracted from its previous policy and introduced a new Privacy Policy which severely compromised the rights of its users and made the privacy rights of users completely vulnerable.

"Under the new privacy policy, it allowed the sharing of personal data with Facebook and all its group companies for commercial advertising and marketing," it said, adding that the messaging service has since been altering its policies to collect and process a wider range of information.

This of course isn't the first petition to be filed against Whatsapp's new privacy policy.

The Delhi High Court on January 15 began hearing a petition against messaging platform WhatsApp's updated privacy policy.

The petitioner, Advocate Chaitanya Rohilla, said the revised policy violates the Right to Privacy, legal news website Bar & Bench reported.

The plea also said the Facebook-owned platform's policy provides a "360-degree profile into a person's online activity ", without any government oversight. It also said there is no clarity on the extent to which sensitive data will be shared.
A family man who was caught with over 2m worth of cocaine and heroin has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Raymond Kelly (52), of Tor Na Ri Terrace, Clondalkin, Dublin, was caught moving the drugs when gardai stopped the car he was driving at Parkwest Road, Ballyfermot on the evening of September 27, 2019.

The stop and search followed an earlier interception of a car in the Ballyfermot area when gardai found approximately 20 kilos of heroin and cocaine.

Gardai arrested Kelly and carried out a search of a garage in the Kylemore Industrial Estate where Kelly was living at the time. During this search gardai found cannabis resin with an estimated street value of approximately 10,000.

The court heard that the combined estimated street value of the drugs was approximately 2.1million.

Dara Hayes BL, prosecuting, said that Kelly subsequently pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the drugs for sale or supply.

Micheal Bowman SC, defending, told the court that Kelly had built up a high level of personal debt and was under enormous financial pressure at the time.

The court heard he was promised a small amount of money if he took part in the drugs operation and he only did so because of a sense of vulnerability and overwhelming helplessness.

Mr Bowman said his client was not a criminal mastermind but was used as an essential cog in the drugs trade by the true owners of the drugs, who were insulated from prosecution because of Kelly's fear.

He said Kelly had worked his entire life and had made a positive contribution to society. He said his involvement in this crime was uncharacteristic.

He will be forever marked and remembered as the person who went to prison at a time his family needed him the most, Mr Bowman said.

Judge Karen O'Connor said she had to mark the seriousness of the offence. She said the main aggravating factor was the quantity of drugs involved.

She imposed the sentence to date from yesterday.

The court heard that the operation was carried out by gardai attached to the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and was based on confidential information.
A woman gets her jab at the mass vaccination centre in Dublins Phoenix Park (Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland/PA)

A mass-vaccination drive for GPs and practice nurses has begun in Ireland.

Three centres delivering Moderna vaccine jabs have been opened in Dublin, Galway and Portlaoise and will operate across the weekend.

The initiative has been rolled out as the authorities adjust wider vaccination plans to reflect the temporary reduction in supply of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines.

The slow down in supply to European countries is due to Pfizer upgrading its production facilities in Belgium.

1/2. Meitheal mAr na tAre ag dul A neart go neart. Dr Nuala OaConnor ICGP Lead for COVID-19 and Marie Philbin, Chief Pharmacist AMRIC checking vaccines before administration to GP teams in Portlaoise this morning. pic.twitter.com/e5ZIEIxuYQ  Dr Colm Henry, CCO HSE Ireland (@CcoHse) January 16, 2021

Ireland hopes to have vaccinated four million people by the end of September.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said supply was the only factor that would limit the speed of the programme rollout.

He said the anticipated European approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab at the end of January would be significant.

The truth is the only constraint at the moment is supply, he said.

We can speed it up but not until the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine is approved.

Were hoping thats going to happen on January 29 and that will allow us then to scale-up and speed-up the programme and well get that vaccine out to GP surgeries, pharmacies, mass-vaccination centres, and that will really allow us to increase the numbers being vaccinated every week quite considerably.

Vaccines are safe and are tested to the highest standards. Two #Covid19 vaccines have been approved in the EU with more to come in the near future.



Below I answer some of the top questions Iave received about vaccines.



Please share so that other people can get the facts too pic.twitter.com/lexq6ZgVDv  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) January 16, 2021

Another 50 Covid-19 deaths were confirmed in Ireland on Friday, along with 3,498 new cases of the virus.

On Saturday, bolstered travel restrictions came into effect requiring passengers arriving into Irelands port and airports to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test.

Travellers need to show evidence of their test result prior to boarding any plane or ferry bound for Ireland and also produce it to immigration officials upon arrival.

The PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test for coronavirus must have been taken within 72 hours of departure.

Failure to produce evidence of a negative test result on arrival in Ireland in a criminal offence attracting a fine of up to 2,500 euro or a prison sentence of up to six months.

Expand Close Passengers arriving into Dublin airport have to produce evidence of a negative Covid-19 test from Saturday (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Passengers arriving into Dublin airport have to produce evidence of a negative Covid-19 test from Saturday (Brian Lawless/PA)

The new rules do not apply to anyone travelling from Northern Ireland.

Some international travellers are exempt from the new requirements, including international transport workers in the aviation, maritime and road haulage sectors.

Children aged six and under are also exempt.

Transit passengers who stop off in Ireland en route to another destination and do not leave the airport also do not need to produce a negative test result.

Extra restrictions apply to travellers arriving from Great Britain, South Africa and Brazil.

The measures, introduced in response to the emergence of new Covid-19 variants in those places, require passengers to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in Ireland.
 Flash

The U.S. Midwest state of Illinois has confirmed its first case of new COVID-19 variant called B.1.1.7, Chicago Tribune reported on Friday, quoting state and Chicago public health officials.

Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine identified the variant while analyzing samples of positive COVID-19 tests.

Chicago public health officials said the person with the variant had traveled to the United Kingdom and the Middle East in the two weeks prior to being diagnosed with COVID-19.

The new variant was first identified in the United States in Colorado and has since spread to about a dozen states. The variant spreads more easily, experts believe, but there isn't evidence that it's more severe or increases the risk of death.

Councillors are pressing on Wicklow County Council to pursue funding avenues to safeguard the Murrough from continuing erosion.

The Murrough is a 15km coastal wetland walk in Wicklow town which is hugely popular with walkers and runners. Over the years coastal erosion has eroded away sizeable sections of the Murrough, leading to increased calls to protect and preserve it against any further degradation.

Cllr Mary Kavanagh was the first elected member to raise the matter at the Wicklow County Council Zoom meeting held on Monday.

She commented: 'Five years ago we had a meeting about coastal erosion that was attended by all of our TDs and councillors.

'Assurances were given that something would be done about securing funding. The coastal erosion is continuing. The Murrough is our open air park. It is the one place where everyone goes and it would be a complete disaster if we lost it.'

Cllr Kavanagh added that a plan devised by a local marine consultant made some recommendations regarding the protection of the Murrough.

'Breakwaters in the sea or groins on the beach would halt the waves hitting the very delicate shoreline. It would take all the impact out of the waves. It's five years later since that meeting and nothing has been done.'

Wicklow County Council Chief Executive Frank Curran said a draft report had been carried out by Irish Rail, in conjunction with Wicklow County Council, over the whole coast the rail-line runs along from Merrion Gates in Dublin to Arklow.

He said: 'there are various proposals in the report. It has only just been completed and is with Irish Rail at the moment. It's a big project and will cost in the region of 200 million to cover the whole lot.

'It is necessary to protect the railway line, the Murrough and the greenway plans. It's a big scheme. I will contact Irish Rail and see if they will give us a presentation.'

Cllr Irene Winters said the report has been with Irish Rail since August.

'That is five months ago. If they aren't going to read it could they not give it to us so we can. Wicklow County Council and the OPW paid for the report as well. Five months is completely unacceptable.'

A planned reunion in Goa ending on a tragic note. All of them being girl students of 1989 batch from Saint Paul's School at Devangere, now in their mid-40s, constituted the group travelling in the ill-fated mini-bus that collided with a tipper-lorry at Itigatti village near the city on Friday, claiming their lives.

The former had planned a three-day sojourn to Goa and visit places of tourist attraction. Two of them had taken their daughters along. According to police, 14 had left for Davangere in the van in the morning.

Accident

While 13 of them hailed from the district headquarters town of Davanagere, one was from Bengaluru. They were on the way to pick up their former classmate from Dharwad when the accident happened, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Preethi Ravikumar (46), Manjula Natesh G B (47), Paramjyothi Hunchur (47), Varshita (47), Rajeshwar Bandammanavar (46), Dr Veena Prakash Mattihalli (47), Ksheera Sureshbabu Poral (21), Hemalatha (48), Yashmitha (20) and mini-bus driver Raju Gorabannavar and cleaner Millikarjun Udagatti (27).

Accident The driver and cleaner hailed from Ranebennur, the police said. The injured were Asha Betur (47), Veda Manjunath (46), and Praveena Prakash (46), Usharani Ramesh (46), Poornima Prakash (46), and the driver of the truck Basavaraj Khadrolli.

The police said two of the injured were in a critical state. One of them, Veda, has been airlifted and admitted to a hospital in Bengaluru for treatment. One of their classmates who had visited the hospital said the trip was planned a week ago during a meeting in Davanagere. Police have registered a case in this regard and have started investigations.
11:53 IST:

11:33 IST:

Jan 16, 2021 11:32 (IST) Very happy and satisfied, says Dr Harsh Vardhan "I am very happy and satisfied today. We have been fighting against COVID-19 in PM's leadership for the last one year. This vaccine will work as a 'sanjeevani' in the fight against COVID-19, which has entered the final stage," said Dr Harsh Vardhan.

11:32 IST: "I am very happy and satisfied today. We have been fighting against COVID-19 in PM's leadership for the last one year. This vaccine will work as a 'sanjeevani' in the fight against COVID-19, which has entered the final stage," said Dr Harsh Vardhan.

11:28 IST: AIIMS Chief Randeep Guleria gets vaccinated. He was the third person in India to get vaccinated.

11:27 IST: Delhi AIIMS vaccinates the first beneficiary. The first individual to receive the vaccine was a healthcare worker.

Jan 16, 2021 11:12 (IST) PM Modi said India set an example "In the fight against Corona, we have set an example for the world at many steps. When countries left their citizens, stuck in China amidst this pandemic, on their own, India stepped up and evacuated not only Indians but also people of other nations under Vande Bharat mission," said PM Modi.

11:12 IST: "In the fight against Corona, we have set an example for the world at many steps. When countries left their citizens, stuck in China amidst this pandemic, on their own, India stepped up and evacuated not only Indians but also people of other nations under Vande Bharat mission," said PM Modi.

Jan 16, 2021 11:09 (IST) Do not stop taking precautions, says PM Modi "India has lead the way in fighting the coronavirus. Be it hydroxychloroquine, or paracetamol, India has delivered amid the coronavirus pandemic. Never before in history has such a big vaccination drive been launched. If you get vaccinated, it does not mean that you will stop taking precautions and following COVID-19 protocols," he added.

11:09 IST: "India has lead the way in fighting the coronavirus. Be it hydroxychloroquine, or paracetamol, India has delivered amid the coronavirus pandemic. Never before in history has such a big vaccination drive been launched. If you get vaccinated, it does not mean that you will stop taking precautions and following COVID-19 protocols," he added.

Jan 16, 2021 10:57 (IST) COVID kept people away from their families, says PM Modi "This disease kept people away from their families. The mothers cried for their children and had to stay away. People could not meet their elderly admitted at hospitals. We could not bid adieu to those with proper rituals who died due to corona," said an emotional PM Modi.

10:57 IST: "This disease kept people away from their families. The mothers cried for their children and had to stay away. People could not meet their elderly admitted at hospitals. We could not bid adieu to those with proper rituals who died due to corona," said an emotional PM Modi.

Jan 16, 2021 10:53 (IST) PM Modi gets emotional PM Modi gets emotional, looks back at the challenges faced by the people amid the pandemic. "Today when we take a look at the last year, we realise that we have learnt a lot as a person, a family and as a nation," he said.

10:53 IST: PM Modi gets emotional, looks back at the challenges faced by the people amid the pandemic. "Today when we take a look at the last year, we realise that we have learnt a lot as a person, a family and as a nation," he said.

Jan 16, 2021 10:47 (IST) COVID-19 vaccination drive in India historic: PM Modi Such a vaccination drive at such a massive scale was never conducted in history. There are over 100 countries with less than 3 crore population and India is administering vaccination to 3 crore people in first phase only. In second phase, we have to take this number to 30 crore, says PM Modi.

10:47 IST: Such a vaccination drive at such a massive scale was never conducted in history. There are over 100 countries with less than 3 crore population and India is administering vaccination to 3 crore people in first phase only. In second phase, we have to take this number to 30 crore, says PM Modi.
A billboard on a bus stop on Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest advertises a message from the Federal Bureau of Investigation seeking information related to violence at the U.S. Capitol, on January 9, 2021 in Washington, DC. Al Drago/Getty Images

D.C. resident Karlin Younger found a pipe bomb while doing her laundry on January 6.

The pipe bomb is related to a series of bomb placements around D.C. the same day as the Capitol attacks, according to TKTK

The FBI has launched an investigation in response to multiple reports of pipe bombs found around DC that may be connected to the riots.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The FBI has launched an investigation after a woman in Washington, DC found a pipe bomb while doing her laundry on the same day as pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol.

On January 6, Karlin Younger was staking her laundry back to her apartment from the laundromat, she saw what she thought was trash - until she looked closer and saw wires and a timer.

"You're on that edge of, 'I don't want to bother anybody,' I want to make sure this is real," Younger told WISN. "You don't want to go down as the person who evacuates a city block for a hoax. But at the same time, there was just enough of that gut instinct that said, 'This isn't a place you put a hoax,' I have to have somebody check this out."

Younger, who lives near the Republican National Committee (RNC) headquarters, alerted a security guard nearby.

According to FOX 47, Younger said in the hours that followed, she began to realize the bomb's placement could be in connection to the attack on the United States Capitol.

The FBI opened an investigation in response to "multiple law enforcement agencies received reports of a suspected pipe bomb with wires" on the day the US Capitol was stormed.

According to the FBI, multiple law enforcement agencies received reports of suspected pipe bombs at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Convention.

On January 6, the Capitol building came under siege from pro-Trump rioters during a joint session of Congress to count the Electoral College votes from the 2020 presidential race. Lawmakers were evacuated as rioters invaded the House and Senate Chambers, vandalized congressional offices, and stole items from the building.

Story continues

A US Capitol police officer was killed, a rioter was shot, and three people died of "medical emergencies" during the Capitol siege.

As of Jan 15, the FBI has identified more than 270 suspects involved in criminal activity related to the Capitol riot and taken more than 100 individuals into custody.

Read the original article on Insider
Kartik Aaryans Dhamaka To Premiere On Netflix? Heres What We Know

When Kartik Aaryan walked out of his house for the first time post lockdown, he left us in awe with his new hairstyle. The heartthrob of Bollywood had ditched his voluminous spikes and was sporting long tresses. Well this new look is for Ram Madhvani and Ronnie Screwvalas much awaited film Dhamaka, in which the actor will be essaying the character of a journalist named Arjun Pathak. The action thriller is an official remake of the 2013 South Korean film titled The Terror Live.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by KARTIK AARYAN (@kartikaaryan)

Well buzz is that the film will be taking a digital route instead of hitting theatres. In a report shared by Bollywood Hungama, a source was quoted saying, Ronnie Screwvala and Ram Madhvani have started conversations with digital giant, Netflix, for a direct to digital premiere and the deal is expected to be locked within 7 to 10 days. The talks began sometime last week, and so far, Ronnie, Ram and Netflix are on the same page taking the financials as also the release plan, so its unlikely for the deal to fall through. Paperwork will be done soon.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by KARTIK AARYAN (@kartikaaryan)

Many filmmakers opted for a direct to digital premiere for their movies last year, keeping the pandemic in mind. Well other than Dhamaka, Kartik has a few other exciting projects in his kitty which may see a theatre release if things get better this year. He will be sharing the screen with Kiara Advani and Tabu in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and also has Dostana 2 with Janhvi Kapoor and Laksh Lalwani.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

Said Nursi (1878-1960) sought a modernization of Islam through Sufism, in dialogue with science and with other religions. He also inspired Fethullah Gulen, now despised by the Turkish political leadership. The incomprehensible charge of "extremism" used to ban his works. In the past he had proposed an alliance with the patriarch of Constantinople against atheism.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Public Prosecutor's Office of Tatarstan, the region of the Tatars which is part of the Russian Federation, has asked the court of the city of Naberezhnye Chelny, a populous center on the border between Europe and Asia, to ban all the works of the Kurdish Islamic theologian Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (1878-1960), a Sunni thinker who promoted dialogue between science and religion.

47 books and some collections of writings were reported to the court, for a total of 163 titles published in Tatar, Russian and Turkish; the court considered the request on January 12, and the second session was set for January 25 next.

Some inhabitants of Naberezhnye Chelny were summoned to answer to charges of extremism, starting with Nakija Sharifullina (photo 4), indicated as organizer of the activities of the Sunni extremist association Nurcular, along with seven other women connected to her. The printers who printed the books in question, the Nuru-Badi cultural foundation, the Islam-Nuri "spiritual-entrepreneurial" center and even the religious administration of Muslims in the republic of Tatarstan have also been sent to trial.

The commission that examined Nursi's texts was made up of three specialists from the Naberezhnye Chelny State Pedagogical University, a criminalist psychologist, a linguist and a historian of religions. According to them, the books serve as inspiration for the extremist activities of the Nurcular, and are very close to other publications already considered "extremist" in Russia, because they push for conflict between religions, violence up to the annihilation of ones opponents and the superiority of certain groups of citizens over others on the basis of their religious affiliation.

The Tatar commission is very similar to the commissions that years ago declared the texts of Jehovah's Witnesses "outlawed" because they are not compatible with the "orthodox interpretations" of the Bible. In this case we are dealing with non-traditional interpretations of the Koran: Said Nursi is known as an exponent of a rather moderate movement within Islam, which tried to persuade the more secularized part of Turkey in Ataturk's time to return to religion. He certainly supported the superiority of the Muslim religion over other religions and philosophies, but without appeals to violence.

Author of a Koranic commentary of over 6000 pages translated into 50 languages (Risale-i-Nur, the "Letters of Light"), Nursi sought points of contact between Sufism, Muslim mysticism, and modern sciences; his thought has been greatly re-evaluated in present-day Turkey, as the inspiration behind the neo-Ottoman dream of the rebirth of Islam.

In the 1950s he even tried to involve the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate in an inter-religious union against the atheism and immorality of the modern world. One of the personalities who were inspired by his thought is Fethullah Gulen, now despised by the Turkish political leadership.

In a note from 2004, the Council of Mufti of Russia praised Nursi as "one of the greatest Muslim theologians", whose works are "the furthest away from conflict or the instigation to division", of absolutely apolitical and devoid of content. of any controversy.

The women of Nurcular try to abide by the Koranic prescriptions with particular passion for group meetings, not only in mosques and places dedicated to Islamic worship and catechesis, but also in homes and in free aggregations. These very liberal and hardly controllable forms of religious experience are the most disliked by the Russian and official Tatar authorities.
A political activist and Social Media Communicator of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Sir Obama Pokuase has published documents on his Facebook challenging a galamsey news reportage filed by Multimedia's Kumasi based reporter, Erastus Asare Donkor indicting Charles Owusu, Head of Monitoring, Forestry Commission.



The journalist in a report aired on Joynews and published on Myjoyonline earlier this week alleged among other things that Charles Owusu, Head of Monitoring, Forestry Commission and a relative of the late Sir John is the owner of Kingsperp Mining Company; something which Charles has denied vehemently.



Read below Sir Obama Pokuase's post:



ATTN: Erastus Asare Donkor (Journalist)



I've watched your latest galamsey news report aired on JoyNews and the allegations therein against Charles Owusu, Head of Monitoring, Forestry Commission. I must say you did a terrible job!



While I'll be the first to support any journalist who exposes or attempts to expose the ills in our country, I'll do my conscience a great disservice if I don't speak about this unfair reportage you've thrown out.



Integrity is all that a man has. To put it mildly, your news item is full of factual inaccuracies, intellectual dishonesty and hearsays. There's no iota of truth in your report relative to Charles Owusu's involvement.



FACTS:



1. Charles Owusu is not a relative of the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (Sir John) as your story alleges.



2. Charles Owusu is not the owner/shareholder/ staff or beneficiary of the operations of Kingsperp Mining Company Ltd.



3. Kingsperp Mining Company is doing legitimate mining not galamsey. They have legitimate access to the concession they are working on.



4. The company has a valid Entry Permit from the Forestry Commission to operate in that enclave.



5. The company has a mining lease from the Minerals Commission to do its work.



6. Charles Owusu is not responsible for the issuance of Entry Permits nor Mining Lease, let alone influence the process.



7. Charles Owusu, since the demise of the late Sir John has not undertaken any assignment in the said area.



PS:



For the avoidance of doubt, all documents covering the activities and operations of Kingsperp Mining Company Limited are attached herewith for your perrusal. A simple check on the ownership/Directors of the Company at the Registrar General's Department would have saved you from putting out this half-baked facts.



The code of ethics and principles of good journalism enjoins you to give hearing to both sides of an issue but that was not the case in this instance. You chose to cause an irreparable damage to Charles for reasons best known to you.



The era where some of you media practitioners threw the ethics and principles of good journalism to the dogs and engaged in sensationalism at the mercy of fairness and accuracy must be a thing of the past.





Sir-Obama Pokuase



No. 345 Baobab Street

Source: Sir-Obama Pokuase









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday virtually launched nation-wide covid-19 vaccination drive. Billed as the world's largest vaccination program, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first inoculate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase.

A total of 3006 session sites across all states and union territories will be virtually connected during the launch. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the inaugural day, the union health ministry has said.

Narendra Modi: Highlights from PM's speech

 Start of vaccination does not mean people should stop following the Covid protocols of wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. We must take another vow - Dawai bhi, Kadaai bhi: PM Modi during the launch of nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive.

 In the fight against Corona, we've set an example for the world at many steps. When countries left their citizens, stuck in China amidst this pandemic, on their own, India stepped up & evacuated not only Indians but also people of other nations under Vande Bharat mission: PM Modi.

 This disease kept people away from their families. The mothers cried for their children & had to stay away. People could not meet their elderly admitted at hospitals. We could not bid adieu to those with proper rituals who died due to corona: PM Modi.

#WATCH | PM Narendra Modi gets emotional while talking about the hardships faced by healthcare and frontline workers during the pandemic. pic.twitter.com/B0YQsqtSgW  ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2021





 Today when we take a look at the last year, we realise that we have learnt a lot as a person, a family and as a nation: PM Narendra Modi.

 Such a vaccination drive at such a massive scale was never conducted in history. There are over 100 countries having less than 3 crore population & India is administering vaccination to 3 crore people in first phase only. In second phase, we've to take this number to 30 crores: PM.

 I request you not to make the mistake of taking off the mask and not maintaining social distancing after getting the first dose because immunity develops after the second dose: PM Narendra Modi.

I want to remind people of the country that two doses of the Corona vaccine are very important. Experts have said that there should be a gap of one month between both vaccinations: PM Narendra Modi

I request you not to make the mistake of taking off the mask and not maintaining social distancing after getting the first dose because immunity develops after the second dose: PM Narendra Modi

Everyone was asking as to when the vaccine will be available. It is available now. I congratulate all the countrymen on this occasion: PM Modi

Normally, it takes many years to make a vaccine but in such a short span of time, not one, but two 'Made in India' vaccines are ready. Meanwhile, the work on other vaccines is progressing at a fast pace: PM Narendra Modi

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Not at the cost of safety: We need innovative ways to beat the crisis

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Jan 16: A Tropical Medicine Specialist, and an astute researcher with many noteworthy contributions in the field of Public Health, Dr Samiran Panda, Head, Epidemiology & Communicable Diseases Division, Indian Council of Medical Research and director, ICMR - National AIDS Research Institute talks about various aspects of vaccine development, vaccine safety and efficacy, and why India needs a vaccine to end the pandemic.

In such a crisis, scientists and regulatory authorities have to be innovative and find faster ways of assessment of a vaccine but certainly not at the cost of safety.

How do you see the role of a vaccine when the number of cases are fast coming down in India?

Yes, the epidemic curve is on a decline but India is a huge country and there are some states where we are seeing second and third waves of the infection. Also there are places where the case fatality rate is still above the national average. Moreover, new mutants are making their appearances and we are yet to understand them fully.

Look globally. Never before had the scientists come up with a vaccine in such a short time. It was January 12, 2020, when scientists decoded the genomic make-up of the virus and so many vaccines were ready to enter the clinical trials in less than 10 months. We are, after all, dealing with a virus which is easily transmissible. And it leaves a devastating effect on people, especially those who are elderly and those who are suffering from chronic illness.

Bharat Biotech's Covaxin has been approved before it completed its phase-III trials. How do you look at the decision?

We are struck by a pandemic. In such a crisis, scientists and regulatory authorities have to be innovative and find faster ways of assessment of a vaccine but certainly not at the cost of safety.

Phase-I trials primarily test a vaccine for its safety. Phase-II trials test it for its immunogenicity while additional safety data is also obtained. In phase III, we give vaccine to one group and placebo to another and examine if the number of infections in group to which placebo was given are significantly higher than the group vaccinated. This number should be significantly higher for us to know that the vaccine is protecting against the possibility of acquisition of the virus.

The regulatory authority must have considered all these points before it approved Covaxin. To answer some critical questions, such as if we can wait for the phase-III trial to complete, the regulators have to look at various aspects of the pandemic-how it is impacting on lives, and how promising a particular vaccine candidate seems to be, based on the data available at hand.

Please explain the various stages of vaccine development in the context of Covaxin?

A vaccine is tested first in small animals such as mice, hamsters, and rabbits with a focus on efficacy and particularly potential toxicity. Following encouraging results, vaccines are then tested in larger animals such as rhesus monkeys as certain human diseases are mimicked in them. The vaccine, under scrutiny, is given to one group of animals which is then exposed to the virus, and a second group is exposed to the virus without being administered the vaccine. In case of Covaxin, we found that the vaccinated animals were able to clear off the infection from their respiratory tract much faster.

Histopathology revealed that all their tissues were normal, whereas the animals, who were not vaccinated, the tissue damage following challenge with the virus (SARS-CoV-2) was extensive.

After this, when ICMR-Bharat Bio-tech vaccine was moved to phase-I of human trials, to check for its safety in humans, the results, I must tell you, were highly impressive. You know, a vaccine is scrutinised on three critical parameters; safety, if it gives rise to adequate immune response (its immunogenicity), and third, how long does the immune system memorises the infection (the durability of the vaccine effect).

Is there a provision to approve a vaccine before it completes its phase-III trial?

On March, 19, 2019 (much before the COVID-19 hit the world), a provision was added to the new drugs and clinical trial rules in India to drug approval process. Under this provision, in situations where there is a threat to life or danger of disability due to a disease and where we do not have a better treatment alternative, phase-II clinical trial results, if remarkable, could help in facilitating an accelerated approval of a drug, which is yet undergoing a trial and yet unregistered.

It is being said that Covaxin could be more effective to fight the new mutant coronavirus variant. How?

Post-vaccination immune status of an individual, which would counter the effects of a new mutant of the same virus on its host, is dependent on multiple factors. Although, some of them are yet incompletely understood, the inactivated whole virion used in the development of Covaxin is expected to achieve a wider antigenic presentation to our immune system resulting in a versatile spectrum of immunity. Worth noting in this regard is that whole inactivated virus induced immune response, in some experiments, have fared better compared to the subunit vaccines in case of influenza. Whether a similar phenomenon would hold true at population level for COVID-19, needs to be examined over the coming years. In the meantime, well-designed laboratory experiments could throw some light in this regard.

It will not be inappropriate to mention here that some of the viruses, such as influenza, have evolved mechanisms to evade recognition by immune memory. Slight change in viral structural proteins, known as drifts, is one of these mechanisms, which cause local epidemics by avoiding recognition of the progeny virus by the poorly efficient immune system. On the other hand, when influenza virus replaces one of its genes with a new one - a major change indeed - that is called shift and such radically different influenza viruses, sweeping through the world, are capable of causing pandemics.

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Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 13:00 [IST]
Chennai, Jan 16 : In order to allay any apprehensions about the two vaccines for coronavirus heads of government and private hospitals in Tamil Nadu took the needle jab and led by example for fellow professionals and the general public.

"If there had been a massive demand for the vaccine, I would have taken the shot last. But here, one has to create confidence in the minds of people and I opted to be the first to get the poke," Jayanthi Rangarajan, Dean, Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Specialty Hospital told IANS.

According to her, 70 frontline healthcare workers took the Covishield shot on Saturday.

Rangarajan said the names of 1,672 persons - doctors, professors and students- have been given and they will be given the shots in a phased manner.

At the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, its Dean Therani Rajan took the first vaccine jab.

"I had opted for Covaxin to create confidence in the people as the number of people who had registered for this vaccine was less as compared to Covishield," Rajan told IANS.

He said 52 persons had registered for Covishield while it was 30 for Covaxin.

"Except for the slight pain when the needle poked the skin, I have no other problem," Rajan said.

The first vaccine jab in the state was received by K. Senthil, State President of Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association at the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai in the presence of Chief Minister K.Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam.

The Government Stanley Hospital scored a century by vaccinating 100 frontline healthcare workers on the first day.

"The Dean, head of departments, professors, nurses and workers were vaccinated," P. Balaji, Dean told IANS.

According to him, many staff have gone to their native place to celebrate the Pongal festival and from Monday onwards more healthcare frontline workers will get the vaccine jab.

At Apollo Hospitals here, the Chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Pratap C. Reddy got himself vaccinated. The hospital is one of the vaccination centres in the state.

"For India, this is a landmark moment as the vaccines are being manufactured in the country itself, with one a product of indigenous R&D (research and development). This is a proud moment and a milestone in our efforts to become self-reliant or Atmanirbhar in the field of healthcare. I am privileged to be the first person in Apollo Hospitals to receive the vaccine dose here today. I am sure that this will strengthen the resolve of our frontline workers to continue to serve patients and win the battle against COVID-19," Reddy said.

Similarly, at MGM Healthcare Prashanth Rajagopalan, Director got the vaccine poke along with several other doctors at this private hospital.

"MGM Healthcare has been leading from the forefront in the fight against Covid 19 and has treated over 1,000 patients via home care, hospital, ECMO support & being the second largest centre for post covid lung transplant in the world. It is an emotional moment for us to be finally administering the covid vaccine for healthcare professionals of our hospital and noted prominent healthcare professionals of the city," Rajagopalan said.

In Tamil Nadu, the immunisation exercise will be performed at 166 centres -- government and private hospitals.

As per plans, a total of 100 people will be vaccinated at each centre in the coming days.

Both the vaccines -- Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India and Covaxin developed and manufactured by Bharat Biotech -- will be used in the state.

The State had received 556,500 doses of vaccines -- 536,500 doses of Covishield and 20,000 doses of Covaxin-Palaniswami told reporters.

Palaniswami said 28 days after the first shot, a second vaccine dose will be administered and one has to be very careful for the next 42 days after which immunity against coronavirus will develop.

When pointed out some states not using Covaxin, Palaniswami said the permission to the vaccine was given by the central government after detailed studies.

He said people may have some initial apprehension about the vaccine but when the doctors themselves come forward to take the shot people's views would undergo a change.

Palaniswami also said he too will get a vaccine shot against the Coronavirus.

Till Friday, a total of 8,29,573 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the state. A total of 12,251 persons have lost their lives due to the virus.
With India's COVID-19 vaccination drive beginning today, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare has informed citizens about the Co-Win platform that will be used to monitor the vaccination drive in the country.

In his Tweet, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the digital platform will help the government in enabling the world's largest vaccination drive. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to launch the vaccination drive at 10.30am, will also activate the Co-WIN digital platform.

Also read: Doses, Side Effects & Prices: All You Need to Know About India's Historic Covid-19 Vaccination Drive

The application comes with five different modules, namely - Administrator module, Registration module, Vaccination module, Beneficiary Acknowledgement module, and Report module - to ensure smooth tracking and registration for COVID-19 vaccine in the country.

The mobile app is also an upgraded version of the eVIN (Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network) and it will be available to download for free via the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The app may also launch on Jio phones that run on KaiOS.

When to Download?

Citizens who are not frontline health workers can register for the vaccine via the 'Registration Module' within a month. Currently, the app will be used as a back-end software during COVID-19 vaccination drive.

"The self-registration module of Co-WIN App has not been released yet. Be wary of any fraudulent apps with similar names that may exist on different platforms," Dr Harsh Vardhan said.

The ministry of health and family welfare has warned citizens against downloading fake CoWIN apps that are doing the rounds on app stores. The governments Co-WIN app is still under development.

Also read: Coronavirus Vaccines in India: What We Know About Efficacy of Covishield, Covaxin So Far

How to Register at Co-Win

Photo identity will be required for registration. As expected, the admins via the 'Administrator module' will be able to track the information provided by citizens on India. "It will upload bulk data on co-morbidity provided by local authorities or by surveyors," the government had explained last month. Admins will also be responsible for creating sessions, and the respective vaccinators and managers will receive relevant notifications and alerts.

How Does the App Help?

The Vaccination module of the Co-Win app will verify the beneficiary details and update vaccination status. The 'Beneficiary Acknowledgement Module' will then send SMS to beneficiaries and also generate QR-based certificates after one gets vaccinated. Lastly, the Report Module will prepare reports of how many vaccine sessions have been conducted, how many people have attended those, how many people have dropped out etc.

Also read: Compensation if Covaxin Causes Serious Adverse Effect, Reads Consent Form as India Starts Inoculation

PM Modi on Monday also reiterated that the app will ensure that people get the second dosage of the vaccine on time. It will generate a certificate after the first dosage of vaccine and the final certificate will be issued after the second dosage," he added. It will also facilitate real time information of vaccine stocks and storage temperature during the COVID-19 vaccination drive.
The doctor was attentive and the exam room was pristine, even if I did have to wait eight hours to get there. Two nights before, when Id rushed to the emergency department with a swollen arm and a painful cyst, the room in which I was treated gave me pause. It had had bloodstains on the floor, along with what looked like excrement, but when I asked the nurses about it, they brushed me off.

Id always assumed that whenever a situation presented itself where I wasnt being treated properly by a doctor that I would raise hell. But I didnt. When the people with medical degrees emphasize that something isnt a big deal, its hard not to trust them. Even when I wondered why the antibiotic dose they gave me seemed lower than Id gotten for other, less serious conditions, I still trusted the medical professionals.

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But now, as the new doctor was changing my dressing, she informed me that I had been underprescribed antibiotics and was at risk of becoming septic. The realization that Id been facing such negligence and disregard for my well-being changed my whole sense of what to expect, and what to fear, from the medical establishment. My new distrust bled over into nearly every interaction Id have with a doctor afterwardand it colored my feelings about whether or not I would want to receive the vaccine for the novel coronavirus.

Even while news reports described how vaccines were going to change the course of the pandemic, I was planning not to get immunized myself. In spite of my knowledge of Black peoples historic medical mistreatment, Id never been afraid of vaccinations before. My great-grandmother, who raised me, made sure I had every immunization for which I qualified. Her persistence was rooted in her own experiences of almost dying from mumps as a child, as well as her not having the same access to quality health care as white folks. It was another way of protecting me. I stayed up to date on my vaccinations when I aged out of her care and, recently, got my flu shot and tetanus booster. But following my poor experience in the emergency room, anything I wasnt familiar with regarding medicine sowed doubt.

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COVID-19 has hit Black communities particularly hard, and the two vaccines authorized for emergency use, from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, could save lives. But generally, Black folks face more barriers to vaccination and dont receive treatment as frequently as their white peers. Along with the historical record and personal experiences of medical mistreatment, this tends to guide ones health decisions away from taking part in immunization campaigns. In October, nearly 50 percent of Black Americans said they would not get vaccinated for COVID-19, citing safety concerns and distrust of the medical establishment, according to a survey published by the Undefeated and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Since then, confidence has increased slightly; a subsequent survey published in December found that 62 percent of Black Americans were willing to receive the vaccine. (President-elect Joe Biden has announced a vaccine rollout plan that intends to address hesitancy and barriers to immunization.)

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What can be done about vaccine reluctance? I interviewed five physicians who deal with health disparities in the Black community to ask how they intend to address the subject among their patients and what broader strategies may be effective. Each doctor mentioned the more commonplace run-ins patients have with medical providers who treat them differently because theyre Black. And they discussed how historysuch as the U.S. Public Health Service survey at Tuskegee and the story of Henrietta Lacksinforms both the present-day wariness Black patients have toward doctors and the provider actions that provoke uncertainty.

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The doctors I spoke with all expressed concern that the responsible institutions, such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, arent doing enough to reach Black communities with credible information. Explaining the safety data will be of particular importance. Many of the physicians who spoke with me mentioned patients wanting to find out how the vaccine affects others before they are willing to take it. Theyd rather wait and see what happens and make sure other people dont have a bad reaction before they volunteer, said Dr. Lisa Cooper, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity. They dont want to be the ones that are being experimented on, or being guinea pigs. We hear that a lot.

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Different things bring people to vaccine hesitancy. Its not really one size fits all in terms of what the concerns are that folks have, said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, the co-chair of President-elect Joe Bidens COVID-19 advisory board and incoming chair of the White House health equity task force. A mistake people can make is saying that for many communities of color theres some anti-vax sentiment [and] that that gives us guidance. And I think thats erroneous for most people.

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But Black health care providers are familiar with this skepticism, as well as outright refusals to take common vaccines. Theyve been navigating Black patients justifiable distrust of public health initiatives, medicine, and medical products for years. If anything, the hesitancy surrounding the COVID vaccine is an extension of a routine discussion happening in the exam room. Each walked me through a hypothetical conversation with a patient who is willing to be vaccinated any other time but isnt feeling it for COVID-19.

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Start by just listening and acknowledging whats going on, said Dr. David Malebranche, an internal medicine doctor. Thats the first step: sitting down, being humbleregardless of your race and if youre concordant with your patient. But for those of us who are Black and also seeing Black patients its really important because, in Black communities, people trust us more than they do their non-Black physicians.

When a patient walks into their doctors office and has a seat on the exam table, the hope is that the physician engages thoughtfully, thoroughly, and personablyespecially when whatever decision is made could have a significant impact on their health. If the patient is a bit worried about a vaccine, explain how vaccines work in basic terms, demystify the side effects, and explain the risks of not getting the vaccine. Doctors could also point the patient to reputable individual resources, or share if theyd recommend the shot to one of their family members. If a patient lets their doctor know that they arent generally against vaccinations, get granular and ask about their specific concerns about this one, and reassure them that they probably arent the only one who feels this way. If the speed of the vaccine development process has someone on edge, walk them through the safety data.

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And always make it clear that hesitance based on prior bad experiences with medicine is valid.

Listening to the patients concernsand acknowledging the reasons why they arent trusting of medicineis paramount, the doctors said. Establishing a personal connection helps as well, since research wont be enough to convince each patient. Cooper tells patients if shes received a vaccine herself, in order to establish an open line of communication. Research has shown that these trust-building methods not only make patients more open to receiving treatment but result in more patients staying in care afterward.

I tell them more about what Ive learned over time and how research has changed over time to protect people more, Cooper said. And how there are many people like myself, and other scientists and physicians of color, who have done a lot to uncover the disparities in care.

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She added: There are so many safety provisions in place now where the kind of thing that happened with the Tuskegee syphilis experiment could just not happen in this day and age.

I didnt come into this story seeking to have my mind changed. But having access to a number of Black physicians, who were willing to entertain my questions, has given me the chance to develop a new understanding of vaccine safety processes. The same access that Ive had in order to change my mind about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine is what institutions should afford to everyone.

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Public fear became more salient as the vaccine emerged as the most quickly developed in history. Its both a sign of what is possible in science, and how institutional barriers persist. Without the relevant context, Operation Warp Speed, the name used to describe the effort, gives the perception that corners have been cut for the sake of getting people vaccinated quickly.

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In reality, the acceleration was due to years of prior research and an abundance of resources thrown at the process. Institutions have failed to make this clearand three doctors I interviewed admitted that they had to do quite a bit of reading to understand the fast pace as wellor to fully acknowledge why their speeded-up process might make patients uneasy.

Building confidence in the vaccine is going to be necessary in convincing Black folks who are on the fence about being inoculated. Its important that people dont feel as though theyre being sold a vaccine on its own, explained Nunez-Smith, but instead understand that this is the best exit out of the pandemic. Trusted messengers who exist within and outside of the medical establishmentsuch as members of faith-based organizations, barbers, and other folks who are already known to peoplecan aid in closing the disconnect between government entities and Black communities.

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Theres a role for Black health care professionals to really be front and center in this conversation in a way that we havent been in a long time, said Dr. Uche Blackstock, an emergency medicine physician and the founder of Advancing Health Equity. If you havent seen us, now you really need to see us. There are enough of us out there where you can have us on the news, on virtual town halls, on Facebook live, doing Instagram stories. We really need to be out there because our patients obviously trust us more. We also know what its like to be a Black person living in this racist country, and I think many of us would be willing to take the vaccine.

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Safety data for both vaccines is encouraging. Efficacy rates for Pfizer/BioNTechs and Modernas vaccines are 95 percent and 94.5 percent, respectively. (Efficacy is an estimate of how well the vaccine will work in the general population based on results seen during a clinical trial.) If you have a true exposure to COVID-19 after receiving one of these vaccinesmeaning youve been within six feet for more than 15 minutes of one or multiple people who are infectedthen theres a really good chance that the vaccine would protect you from experiencing severe disease.

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During Modernas trials, only 30 people experienced severe disease and one of those folks died. All 30 were in the placebo group. No one who received the vaccine experienced severe COVID. In trials for Pfizer/BioNTech, 20 people experienced severe COVID and 18 of them were in the placebo group.

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Safety data will continue to be collected for the vaccines via multiple monitoring platforms, which will alert health officials of any adverse events and allow the public to have a better understanding of the vaccine. I want to reassure people that the safety data collected on vaccines is not only collected during the trial and approval process, but also prospectively, in real time, after vaccines go into production, dissemination, and use in the general population, said Dr. Rhea Boyd, a pediatrician and public health advocate.

Negative reactions to vaccines are rare, serious adverse events are even less likely, and anything adverse would occur relatively soon. (Cooper said any reactions to a vaccine would usually occur within the first week, not months or years later.) There are side effects, however, that could be mistaken as a bad reaction to the vaccine when really its your immune system doing exactly what the shot intends for it to do.

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You might have soreness where you get the shot. Thats normal. What were trying to do is get your immune system revved up to fight this thing if it sees it in the future, explained Nunez-Smith. Your body doesnt know that. Your body thinks its seeing it now.  So you might get a little bit of fever. You might feel a little unwell.

If people know to expect that, she said, then I think weve done a better job in communication.

Changing peoples minds is, in the end, not a single action, but a process. Id listened to the doctors and absorbed their case for getting the vaccine, until I thought I was probably going to do it. Soon after, when the vaccine arrived, the fact that it was happening safely solidified my decision.

I signed up to receive my shots, as soon as theyre available to me.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)  War-like imagery has begun spreading in Republican circles after the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters, with some elected officials and party leaders rejecting pleas to tone down rhetoric calling for a second civil war.

In northwestern Wisconsin, the chairman of the St. Croix County Republican Party was forced to resign Friday after refusing for a week after the siege to remove an online post urging followers to prepare for war. The incoming chairwoman of the Michigan GOP and her husband, a state lawmaker, have joined a conservative social media site created after the Capitol riot where the possibility of civil war is a topic.

Phil Reynolds, a member of the GOP central committee in Californias Santa Clara County, appeared to urge on insurrectionists on social media during the Jan. 6 attack, declaring on Facebook: The war has begun. Citizens take arms! Drumroll please.. Civil War or No Civil War?

The heightened rhetoric mimics language far-right extremists and white supremacists have used for years, and it follows a year of civil unrest over the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer and its links to systemic racism. Some leftists have used similar language, which Republicans have likened to advocating a new civil war.

The post-Floyd demonstrations prompted governments and corporations alike to reevaluate, leading to the removal of Confederate symbols across the South and the retirement of racially insensitive brands.

Then on Jan. 6, demonstrators stoked by Trump's false claims that he won the 2020 election brought symbols of the Old South to the siege of the Capitol, carrying Confederate flags inside and even erecting a wooden gallows with a noose outside the building.

Democrats say the uptick in war talk isnt accidental. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said Trump began putting his supporters in the frame of mind to make the opening charge years ago and is capable of starting a civil war.

Since his first day in office, this president has spent four years abusing his power, lying, embracing authoritarianism (and) radicalizing his supporters against democracy, she said in arguing for impeachment. This corruption poisoned the minds of his supporters, inciting them to willingly join with white supremacists, neo-Nazis and paramilitary extremists in a siege of the United State Capitol building, the very seat of American democracy.

There are parallels between now and the run-up to the Civil War, including a fractious national election that ended with presidents  Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and Joe Biden in 2020  who millions rejected as illegitimate victors, said Nina Silber, co-president of the Society of Civil War Historians.

Lincoln won the Electoral College but came away with only a plurality of the popular vote in a four-way race. Biden won the popular vote by 7 million over Trump and defeated him decisively in the Electoral College, 306 to 232. Dozens of lawsuits by Trump and his allies seeking to overturn the results failed, some of them turned away by federal judges Trump himself nominated. Then-Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department could find no evidence of widespread fraud that would have changed the election's outcome.

While the same geographic split doesnt exist today as when the Civil War started in 1861 and there is no mass preparation for all-out conflict, Silber said white anger and resentment fueled both eras.

At the time of the Civil War, this took the form of Southern white men angry at the idea that the federal government would interfere with their right to own Black slaves. Today, I think this takes the form of white people who believe that Black and brown people are making gains, or getting special treatment, at their expense, Silber, who teaches at Boston University, said in an email interview.

Just as happened generations ago, partisans are using strident words and images to define the other side  not just for policies with which they disagree but as evil, said George Rable, a retired historian at the University of Alabama.

I think both then and now, we need to worry about the unanticipated consequences of overheated rhetoric and emotions," he said. Secessionists then hardly anticipated such a bloody civil war, and their opponents often underestimated the depth of secessionist sentiment in a number of states.

State Rep. Tim Butler, a Springfield Republican who represents the same area as Lincoln did in the state legislature, condemned the attack on the Capitol during a speech on the Illinois House floor and urged more Republicans to speak up.

If youre not stepping up and denouncing this, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum, I dont have a place for you ..., Butler said. The favorite son of this city was murdered because of a civil war as he was president. Im not going to see a civil war on my watch, I can tell you that.

The question is whether those stoking the war talk can be controlled by the more moderate elements within the party, or whether they will become the dominant voice.

Randy Voepel, a state Assemblyman in California, backtracked after referencing an earlier war  the American Revolution  in a Jan. 9 San Diego Union-Tribune article: This is Lexington and Concord. First shots fired against tyranny. Tyranny will follow in the aftermath of the Biden swear in on January 20th.

More than three dozen veterans and officials have called for Voepel to be expelled from office. He has since revised his war-like rhetoric with a condemnation of the violence and lawlessness at the Capitol and a call for healing.

The other California Republican, Reynolds, said he has no plans to step down from his local party position. He told the San Francisco Chronicle that he wasnt trying to incite violence with his war has begun rhetoric, but simply reporting what he saw on television: My statement was that this cant happen. I was condemning it with my words. It was taken out of context, he said.

Democratic state Assemblyman Evan Low isn't buying it. He called for Reynolds resignation, telling the Chronicle that the man he has known for two decades was a genuine and warm human being but was radicalized by Trumps poison and lies.

In Missouri, state GOP Chairwoman Jean Evans had enough of the war talk. She resigned after she was barraged by calls from Trump supporters, some of whom demanded a military coup to keep Trump in office no matter what it takes."

Theres a lot of good Republicans right now who totally disagree with whats going on," she told KMOX. Its been very scary and frightening and un-American from my perspective, and definitely not part of the conservative party I embrace.

Andrew Hitt, the Republican chairman in Wisconsin, faced off against the St. Croix County party without initial success, describing the call to war as an ill chosen phrase and urging its removal.

Despite his plea and those of Democrats and a Republican sheriff, the post remained defiantly in place until a week after the Capitol attack. The website went dark Wednesday without explanation, and the county GOP chairman, John Kraft, resigned on Friday. He did not return a call seeking comment.

Silber, the Civil War historian, said she is worried the attack on the Capitol wasn't the last stand for enraged Trump supporters.

I think we can see how well-organized right-wing militia groups have become and how well armed they are, and that makes for an extremely explosive situation, she said. I dont know if that would be war in the technical sense, but there could be an extended period of violent attacks.

___

Carr Smyth reported from Columbus, Ohio. Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis.; David Eggert in Lansing, Mich.; John O'Connor in Springfield, Ill.; and Don Thompson in Sacramento, Calif., contributed to this report.
SACRAMENTO  The chair of the California Democratic Party said his comments calling the effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom an attempted coup were a mistake, and that he would stop using the term.

In an email to party delegates Friday, Rusty Hicks said he would choose his words more carefully in the future, though he doubled down on accusations that many recall supports have a violent, far-right agenda.

My calling the recall a coup has become a distraction from an incredibly important conversation, Hicks wrote. The words we use matter.

On Tuesday, Hicks and several other prominent Democrats called the recall effort the California coup during a news conference they held to discuss connections between the campaign and last weeks deadly insurrection by pro-President Trump forces in Washington. They did not provide any evidence to show that recall organizers were linked to the attack.

Recall elections are legal under the California Constitution, and there have been numerous attempts to recall Newsom and nearly every other governor going back decades. In 2003, Gov. Gray Davis was recalled and was replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The legality of the recall ... is not in question, Hicks wrote Friday. However, many leading the recall effort hold far-right extremist agendas  including some who advocate violence against our democratic institutions  and California Republicans are all too willing to further their cause.

Randy Economy, a spokesperson for California Patriot Coalition  Recall Governor Gavin Newsom, the group trying to qualify a recall for the ballot, has called the Democrats rhetoric shameful.

Were doing whats allowed under the California state Constitution, that is, to recall a governor based upon his failed policies, Economy said this week. How dare these people?

Organizers of the Newsom recall said they have collected more than 1.1 million petition signatures. They must submit about 1.5 million valid signatures of registered voters by March 17 to force an election, though theyll probably need closer to 2 million total signatures to make up for ones that are invalid.

Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner
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It was a lengthy passage to that point. A hip-hop devotee since he first picked up on music, Alasdair David George Murray, the son of a speech therapist mother and high school teacher father, wrote his first rap at the age of 13 and played his first gig at 17. He grew up in Melbournes middle-class south-eastern suburbs, where he didnt always balance his priorities. Murray was kicked out of one high school before rallying to graduate from another, and then as his music career took shape he made it into a law degree at Monash University. He would play a weekends worth of interstate Illy gigs and then fly back to Melbourne first thing on Monday to sit a law exam. Illys breakthrough hit, complete with commercial radio airplay, was March 2014s Tightrope, and his last two albums, 2013s Cinematic and then Two Degrees, were the sound of Murray graduating from hip-hop fundamentalism. He expanded the styles he worked with, broadened his selection of collaborators and experimented with performance styles. It presented Murray with possibilities, but also a responsibility. If Illy was his own genre, each song had to better the last. That level of ambition was broadsided when Murray began working on The Space Between in January 2018. There would be grief in his family from the passing of both his maternal grandmother and his aunt, while his key creative collaborator, Melbourne producer M-Phazes, relocated to Los Angeles. Then Murrays one serious relationship, with a girlfriend of six years, ended and Murray had to accept that he was personally at fault for that.

It just became this thing where I didnt think any of the songs were good enough. I didnt feel like I was doing well enough to meet the expectations on me to follow up a successful record, he says. Id had that feeling before, but this time I didnt have my ex-girlfriend, who was a big part of my creative life, and no one was comparable to Phazes in my career, and it took a while to get on top of that. Not for the first time, Murray found himself on writing trips overseas. First to Finland and Sweden, later to New York, London and Los Angeles (M-Phazes would work on five songs). The routine was: walk into a studio, meet strangers, try to connect, hopefully create something together, back to the hotel, dial in food, sleep and repeat. It was a business mechanism that required intimacy, and sometimes it did work. One bittersweet album track, No Feelings, stems from a session in Helsinki. Its exhausting and I beat myself up, says Murray, who also notes that his success has given him a rare level of privilege that hes grateful for. Theres always been a degree of confidence to Illys music, whether as a celebratory edge or a reservoir of self-belief, but Murray had to explore introspection as he processed where his life was at and the damage hed done with his failed relationship. Its notable that on The Space Between he doesnt memorialise his break-up, or cast himself as the victim as some songwriters do. I care about the other person and I cant think of anything more selfish than being responsible for a break-up and then turning it into an album where theyre at fault, Murray says. Id like to think I wouldnt do that, and I also have too much love and respect for my ex to even consider it. By March 2020, 10 months after Then What turned him around, Murray had finished The Space Between. It was, broadly, his third take on making the record. It hits emotional bedrock but also has arena-size underdog anthems such as Cheap Seats, a collaboration with Brisbane alternative-rock band WAAX. Another track, Lonely, opens with a soulful Guy Sebastian reverie, before Murray begins with a plaintive admission: last years lessons were the harshest. He was talking about 2019, but after the albums release was postponed and 2020 unfolded as it did, its a universal observation that sounds like a salve in 2021.

Im prescient! jokes Murray, but delaying The Space Between meant he could not throw himself into touring. Instead, Murray kept thinking through what hed learnt about himself as he did Melbournes lockdown from a one-bedroom apartment high in an apartment tower. A new relationship that started at the close of 2019 took precedence. When there was an hour of exercise permitted, Murray would walk across the city to visit his girlfriend. It took 50 minutes  you had to keep a brisk pace, he says, a line thats applicable to much of his life. Everything the last few years has been dealing with me. Not as a final form of who I am, but its been separating myself from the thing I cared most about and nearly getting crushed by the expectations I put on myself, Murray says. Theres nothing wrong with taking stock and using the downtime to look at the bumps in the road as something positive. Vulnerability isnt seen as weakness, but for a long time hip-hop in this country didnt respect that. Murray pledges that hell have his next album ready for late 2022, with more than 100 song ideas already percolating. The starting point is Best Mistakes, the final song on The Space Between but also the first step in the next phase of his life and music. Its essence is that wanting to be a better person is a necessary but uneven ambition, and that the mistakes you make  and will continue to make  will always be part of who you become. I really like the idea that this album represents a tough point in my life and its about knocking some shit down so I can build up what needs to come next, Murray says. At times its been dark, but its also been necessary.

Posted Friday, January 15, 2021 4:28 pm

First of all, my heart goes to the brave police officer whose death was caused by the riot in Washington, D.C., Jan. 6. As an activist and Black Lives Matter peaceful protester, I have seen the unfairness and double standards between BLMs peaceful protesters and so-called protesters that are actually mobs, and it saddens me greatly. As the world watched the Capitol building in D.C. overtaken by Trump's mob, it was clear they were privileged as they made their way into the building, sending lawmakers to go into hiding. Acknowledge that Trump supporters were mobs of violence, but since they were not people of color or BLM supporters, they were not considered a threat. If it were to be a BLM peaceful protester, the National Guard would have been there beforehand.

The BLM supporters were pepper-sprayed so that President Trump could walk to church for a photo opportunity in which the same president incited a riot and encouraged his mob of supporters. BLM protesters were called thugs, were shot with rubber bullets, pepper sprayed and even some killed just because they were asked to move and were given very short notice to do so. On the other hand, the Trump supporters were given hours while they breached the Capitol building by breaking windows, crawling the walls and even trapping one law enforcement officer in the door as mobs made their way inside.

The brave officer, Brian Sicknick, was seriously injured and later died. My heart goes out to his family. One of the rioters made his way to House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office and placed his disrespectful foot on the table. The others went to other offices, destroyed items and shouted kill Mike Pence as they walked through the hallways.

I could only imagine what would have happened to BLM protesters. The next day, only 13 people were arrested compared to thousands of BLM protesters, without questions asked. It clearly shows how there are two systems, one designed for people of color/BLM and supporters and the other for Trump supporters with privilege. The double standard has to stop, and the system that is designed marginalized to only protect one side but not others is unfair and has to change.

At the Hamilton sign in Napavine, when a group of people gathered it wasn't a threat, but at Morton, our BLM peaceful protesters were faced with intimidation from law enforcement, taking pictures and writing down license plates during Morton protests.

The America I believe in protects equality for all, not just the ones with privileges. Many of us were not surprised with what happened to the mobs as compared to BLM peaceful protesters.

The mob was allowed to walk out of the Capitol building with smiles on their faces without any consequence. Let's please make the system work for all no matter who or what color the person. I am not trying to turn this into politics but rather fairness, and acknowledgement of unfairness toward people of color, which the world has seen from start to finish. I hope the ones who are still blind to the mistreatment, injustice and unfairness will open their eyes because it's not too late to make changes nor to admit the unfairness we all saw play out nationally.

Have a safe and healthy new year.

Sarah Brown

Washington State Area Coordinator with Amnesty International
W&M Libraries offers resources chronicling life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr.: W&M Libraries provides access to a host of resources chronicling the life and legacy of King. Photo - of - Hide Caption

On Jan. 18, 2021, our nation marks the birthday of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

W&M Libraries provides access to a host of resources chronicling the life and legacy of King. Below is a curated list of streaming video and other resources:

King in the Wilderness: From award-winning director/producer Peter Kunhardt, "King in the Wilderness" follows King during the volatile last three years of his life, from the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to his assassination in April 1968. Available through Films on Demand.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: A Historical Perspective - An Authorized Biography of a Civil Rights Hero: Using rare and largely unseen film footage and photographs, this film (endorsed by the King Foundation) explores how King's ideas, beliefs and methods evolved in the face of the rapidly changing climate of the Civil Rights Movement. Available through Kanopy.

I Am Not Your Negro: James Baldwin and Race in America: An Oscar-nominated documentary narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, "I Am Not Your Negro" explores the continued peril America faces from institutionalized racism. Available through Kanopy.

W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices: W.E.B. Du Bois' contributions and legacy have been so far-reaching, that this, his first film biography, required the collaboration of four prominent African-American writers. Available through Kanopy.

At the River I Stand: The Climax of the Civil Rights Movement: "At The River I Stand" skillfully reconstructs the two eventful months that transformed a strike by Memphis sanitation worker into a national conflagration and disentangles the complex historical forces that came together with the inevitability of tragedy at the death of King. Available through Kanopy.

The Assassination of Martin Luther King: Infamous Assassinations: A BBC Production. A part of the series Infamous Assassinations. Films On Demand.

Tribute To Martin Luther King, Jr.: The tribute program in honor of King begins with newsreel footage of his famous "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., followed by a commemorative church service held in Boston that spans the remainder of the program. Alexander Street.

Tony Brown's Journal: The MLK Dream You Can See: Harry Johnson, president of the Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc., is helping to shape the vision of a memorial that would capture the essence of King's universal message of equality and freedom. Alexander Street.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Mountaintop" Speech (partial speech): This video features King's "Mountaintop" speech from 1968. Alexander Street.

W&M Libraries also provides access to a number of databases on black history.
With 'arti', thalis and sweets health workers cheer as vaccines arrive Mumbai's Cooper hospital

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Mumbai, Jan 16: Dozens of health workers clapped and cheered the "vaccine carrier" staff as the coronavirus vaccines doses reached Mumbai''s Cooper hospital on Saturday morning.

With ''arti'' thalis and sweets, the staff of Cooper hospital waited outside the facility to welcome the first beneficiaries of the vaccination drive.

The hospital is one of the 285 centres in Maharashtra where the vaccination will be conducted in the first phase. It is also among the centres where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be live through a webcast.

PM Modi launches vaccination drive, more than 20 crore people to be covered by second phase

Ahead of the nationwide launch of the first phase of vaccination, several health care workers, including doctors and nurses, gathered outside the nine vaccination centres in Mumbai.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will launch the statewide vaccination drive from a Bandra-Kurla Complex based vaccination centre at 11.15 am, an official said.

Around 4,000 health workers will be given the vaccine doses at 40 booths in the nine vaccination centres in Mumbai on the first day of the drive.

Mumbai has received 1.39 lakh doses of the Covishield vaccine from Pune-based Serum Institute of India.

Dr Rajesh Dere, head of the BKC centre said 500 health workers, including 150 from the BKC Covid centre, will be vaccinated at the BKC Complex centre.

BMC officials said they have issued tokens to health workers selected for the vaccination through a registration process at the Cooper hospital.

Vaccine beneficiaries must rest for an hour, advises government

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

At each centre in Maharashtra, the vaccine will be provided to 100 health workers on the first day, and cover 28,500 workers, an official said.

The state has received 9.63 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine and 20,000 doses of Covaxin vaccine, which have been distributed to all the districts.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 11:47 [IST]
The yellowed grass in the five-acre field pokes through clumps of snow. Nearby, small trees line the Marsh River, which doesnt so much flow in mid-December as freeze in small puddles along the creek bed.

The yellowed grass in the five-acre field pokes through clumps of snow. Nearby, small trees line the Marsh River, which doesnt so much flow in mid-December as freeze in small puddles along the creek bed.

And while this grass patch is underwhelming in appearance, it demonstrates an important part of the provincial governments plan to address climate change through nature-based solutions and conservation projects.

SEINE RAT ROSEAU WATERSHED DISTRICT In 2019, the Seine Rat Roseau Watershed District became one of the first recipients of provincial funding provided through the Conservation Trust and the Growing Outcomes in Watersheds Trust (GROW).

The approach is simple, and allows closer inspection of where and how preserving and restoring nature  from reclaiming farmers fields to tree-planting projects  fits into the bigger picture. However, its important to understand that while nature-based solutions have a role, they cant be mistaken for a silver bullet that will solve the climate crisis.

Harold Janzens truck slips through the mud as he skirts along the edge of his fields to get to the grass patch. Janzen is a third-generation grain farmer east of Morris but he is being paid not to seed, not to fertilize and not to harvest this land, but rather just to allow it exist as a natural ecosystem buffer along the Marsh River.

Janzen farmed the land until last year and estimates the area would flood two or three out of every five years, washing away all of the input needed to yield a crop: soil, fertilizer, seed.

In 2019, the Seine Rat Roseau Watershed District became one of the first recipients of provincial funding provided through the Conservation Trust and the Growing Outcomes in Watersheds Trust (GROW); two of the three funds  totalling an endowment of $204 million  established by the Pallister government between 2018 and 2020.

The interest earned on those funds is tapped to foot the bill each year for various conservation and water-security projects selected and tracked by the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corp.

Since only the growth in the fund is used, it will serve as a perpetual source of conservation funding in the province.

After the district secured funding in 2019, the organization approached Janzen and other area farmers, offering $100 per acre, per year to essentially do nothing with that land.

SARAH LAWRYNUIK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Harold Janzen agreed to take marginal farm land out of rotation and allow it to return to a more natural state. The move is part of a larger provincial plan to address climate change issues through conservation.

Its a far cry from what he would earn in a good year if he could pull a crop from it, Janzen says, but its a guaranteed payday instead of rolling the dice.

"We spent a lot of money to grow the crop to end up losing it," he says.

"We farmers are essentially gamblers. Wed put in the crop and hope to get something out of it. But when the odds are against you, its nice that were able to get some funding to offset some of our costs so we can afford to set aside this land and grow forages that prevent erosion."

To get started, Janzen seeded the land with hearty grasses, which he can harvest once a year for hay. But thats it.

"When the waters come, the grasses are perennial, so they stay and the soil doesnt erode. Theres no inputs in that area, so no fertilizers going into the river," says Seine Rat Roseau Watershed District manager Jodi Goerzen.

The districts budget has increased fivefold because of the trusts. Goerzen says its difficult to find enough people interested in participating in projects to make use of all the available funding.

Currently, shes overseeing 64 projects. Some are more complex and are meant to divert water in the case of floods. The hope is that the various efforts will provide an adaptation benefit in more-frequent weather extremes expected as a result of climate change.

"Basically, the outcomes of the GROW program in Manitoba are reduced flooding, improving water quality, improving climate resiliency, improving biodiversity and wildlife habitat, enhancing carbon storage and enhancing sustainable food production," she says.

JORDAN ROSS / THE CARILLON FILES Currently, Seine Rat Roseau Watershed District manager Jodi Goerzen is overseeing 64 projects.

The research backs up those claims. However, investing in nature is only a small part of the climate-crisis solution.

Last May, when the GROW Trust administered more funding for watershed projects across southern Manitoba, Agriculture Minister Blaine Pedersen emphasized the emissions benefits of the project.

"Climate is all about conservation; theyre one and the same. When you sequester carbon in (environments), such as grasslands, rangelands, you are also doing climate mitigation there, too," he says.

While some emissions are captured as landscapes return to their natural equilibrium, the potential magnitude shouldnt be overstated. Exact amounts are difficult to pinpoint and research is ongoing. None of these projects have estimates attached for how much additional carbon is stored through conservation efforts.

"Sequestration is important, its real, we need to get as much carbon-organic matter into our soil as we can. But its relatively modest compared to the size of overall emissions from agriculture," Darrin Qualman, director of climate policy for the National Farmers Union, said in a recent webinar.

This is why Tim Sopuck, CEO of the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corp., is more keen to focus on the climate-adaptation benefits, such as flood prevention, that these programs offer. Plus, all of the water-system benefits, along with his view that simply preserving natural habitats, is good in and of itself, he says.

"The focus of the trusts is really about getting into the agricultural landscape and re-naturalizing that landscape where we can. To not only deliver outcomes like carbon sequestration but outcomes of far more immediate interest and concern to Manitobans right now, which is things like water quality and water quantity, soil health," Sopuck says.

In southern Manitoba, different approaches need to be taken with regard to conservation because a high percentage of the land is privately owned.

"Its one of the most altered landscapes on the planet, if you think about what was there originally and what is there now," he says. "And its a landscape where people struggle hard to make a living."

Janzen says the trust cash makes it possible for him to rationalize the decision to restore the habitat in other sections of his land, too.

"Maybe not every farmer, but most farmers are conservationists. Some are more, some are less. But the last thing we want is nutrients to run off our field, our soils to erode," Janzen says.

"The conservation trusts allow us to do a little bit more than what we have been doing."

ANDREW VAUGHAN / THE CANADIAN PRESS Trees are by far the most-discussed nature-based climate solution by politicians of all stripes and at all levels.

Trees are by far the most-discussed nature-based climate solution by politicians of all stripes and at all levels.

Last October, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order committing his country to help protect and restore one trillion trees by 2030.

In Winnipeg, Mayor Brian Bowman has challenged residents to plant a million new trees to restore the citys disappearing canopy and to advance municipal climate-change goals. The federal government has pledged to plant two billion additional trees this decade.

Ian Mauro, executive director of the University of Winnipegs Prairie Climate Centre, watches the farm-based projects and tree commitments with great optimism. Nature-based solutions are critical, he says, in order to achieve negative emissions in the second half of the century  whats needed to constrain warming well below 2 C, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Article 5 of the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change signed in 2016, commits governments to such actions, mandating them to take steps to conserve and enhance natural carbon reservoirs, or sinks, such as forests and oceans.

TREVOR.HAGAN / FREE PRESS FILES Nature-based solutions are critical, Ian Mauro says, in order to achieve negative emissions in the second half of the century

"There are some technologies that are coming out that are looking at being able to scrub carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, but trees do that already. And natural infrastructure will do that if its designed properly," Mauro says.

The emphasis is on "designed properly." Because while Canadas forests are vast, they are not currently an asset in the climate-change fight.

Natural Resources Canada annually measures and estimates the amount of carbon absorbed and released by the countrys managed forests, which represent about 65 per cent of all of Canadas forests. Increasingly, tree die-off due to drought, fires and pests is tanking the carbon-scrubbing performance.

In every year but two in the 1990s, Canadas forests sequestered more carbon than they emitted. But it hasnt happened since 2001.

In 2018, NRC estimates reached a new high, pegging emissions from Canadas forests at 243.2 megatonnes of CO2. That rockets Canadas forests past the oil-and-gas sector in magnitude of emissions.

It doesnt get any attention because the forests emissions arent accounted for in the same way thanks, in large part, to how theyre regarded in international climate treaties.

While Canadas forests are vast, they are not currently an asset in the climatechange fight.

For this reason, researchers such as David Keith are skeptical of the use of trees to mitigate emissions. Keith, a professor of both applied physics and public policy at Harvard, co-hosts a webinar series called Energy vs. Climate; a recent topic was nature-based climate solutions and where they fit into the climate policy puzzle.

"The climate problem is driven by CO2 being moved from the geosphere  from deep underground  by burning fossil fuels, where it goes into the atmosphere. Then, it can re-equilibrate between atmosphere, land biosphere (such as trees and soils), and the oceans. That happens quickly and its mostly out of our control," Keith says.

In other words, moving carbon into trees and soils is better than leaving it in the atmosphere where it traps energy and warms the planet. But natural disturbances leave that stored carbon in a precarious state where rising threats  such as fires  can re-release it back into the atmosphere again.

Keith worries that while that shifting carbon from the atmosphere to trees and soils might help reduce atmospheric emissions in the short to medium term, it could come back to bite us down the road.

"Its important to say that shift can be reversed on short time scales. It can be reversed by human action, like if we decide to cut the forest down, but also by climate change," he says. "Climate change can make forests burn."

ADRIAN WYLD / CANADIAN PRESS FILES Its a long-term play. But you look at 2050, you have to start planting now, Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan said in December.

When Seamus ORegan, Canadas minister of natural resources, was asked at a news conference in December what efforts were being made to keep the two-billion tree initiative from becoming a climate liability, he was unable to say how the risk would be managed, but said considerations were being made by departmental researchers.

ORegan also said research indicated the initiative would result in two megatonnes of carbon being sequestered per year by 2030, and 12 megatonnes by 2050.

"Its a long-term play. But you look at 2050, you have to start planting now," he said.

Research into climate-focused forest management techniques has been pursued for years by the Canadian Forestry Service within NRC, predating the Liberals tree-planting commitment. Some techniques being considered involve changes made within the forestry industry, such as an end to burning slash and debris left behind in logged areas, or re-evaluating the optimal amount of time trees should grow before being harvested.

Theres also a move to increase the amount of Canadian timber thats used in long-lived wood products such as homes; if its used in paper or other products with shorter life spans, the emissions from the harvested wood are more immediate.

Also under consideration is using wood for things such as energy generation or creating bioplastics. Wood could reduce some need for fossil fuels, eliminating the demand for additional carbon to be moved from the geosphere to the Earths atmosphere.

SASKATCHEWAN RESEARCH COUNCIL Mark Johnston says that in the pursuit of bioenergy, fast-growing trees can be planted that can be turned around in five to 15 years.

Mark Johnston, a scientist in the Saskatchewan Research Councils environment and biotech division, says that in the pursuit of bioenergy, fast-growing trees can be planted that can be turned around in five to 15 years.

"Then you would harvest that biomass and use it in a bioenergy facility. So, in that case, youre turning over biomass stock pretty quickly and the chances of it disappearing through forest fires is not very high," Johnston says.

"But that doesnt apply to all areas that would be planted. Some of this would be done for conservation purposes, or wildlife habitat, things like that. There has to be some thinking done about what is the long-term prospect of carbon in those trees and how it will be maintained. Its a question."

Theres also a concept called "assisted migration" in forest management, Johnston explains, which involves planting tree species in areas where they might not have grown before but are more adapted to what the future climate is projected to be.

In Saskatchewan, for example, researchers are looking at drought-resistant jack pines, but there are few fast answers available.

Researchers at NRC are taking that a step further and have been experimenting for years with genetically modified trees that are, for example, less susceptible to the increasing threat of pests. Genetic modifications could also prove useful in designing trees to absorb carbon more quickly.

Neither the NRC nor Canadian Forestry Service made anyone available for an interview.

Theres also a concept called assisted migration in forest management, Mark Johnston explains, which involves planting tree species in areas where they might not have grown before but are more adapted to what the future climate is projected to be.

Many details of the two-billion tree initiative have yet to be made public, such as planting areas, species and monitoring plans, but all are being considered, a statement from NRC says.

"This will include both urban and rural areas across Canada, and will be delivered over 10 years, representing a 40 per cent annual increase in trees planted in Canada, increasing forest cover by an area twice the size of Prince Edward Island by year 10," the statement says.

Finnish researchers, studying the boreal forest in their part of the world, published a paper in 2017 in the Journal of Applied Ecology that examined how optimal forest management would require tradeoffs in timber harvesting, biodiversity and climate-change objectives.

Canadian and Danish researchers have found that the amount of carbon stored in the forest soil depends on the type of tree that is planted.

Chinese researchers have found that the role of forests in sequestering carbon will be different between the northern and southern hemispheres.

Such are the variables that come with wanting to plant more trees.

There is significant focus in proposed policies to restore, or create anew, natural ecosystems that have been impacted by human activity. But there is another prong to the nature-based climate solutions, which involves proactively protecting ecosystems that could release large carbon stores.

"Job 1 is to protect the natural ecosystems we still have," says Mark Tercek, the former CEO of the American not-for-profit organization Nature Conservancy. Tercek spoke in the Energy vs. Climate webinar series.

Different ecosystems store different amounts of carbon, Tercek explains, "but were protecting them for a multitude of reasons. Not only for carbon, but for biodiversity, resiliency, etc. So first, I would say, protect what we have, and then restore whats been degraded."

ISLAND PRESS There is no ecosystem more important to storing massive amounts of carbon than the Hudson Bay Lowlands.

And here in Manitoba, there is no ecosystem more important to storing massive amounts of carbon that the Hudson Bay Lowlands that extend across northern Manitoba and into northern Ontario, as well as the accompanying peatlands that extend throughout the province. Wetlands and peatlands, in particular, are known to be intensive carbon sinks.

The climate liability of regular forests pale in comparison. If those ecosystems are destroyed, all of the stored carbon will be released into the atmosphere. And that goes for destruction brought about by human actions or by natural disturbances.

Manitoba is responsible for approximately 15 per cent of the countrys peat production, used principally for horticultural purposes. As an example, Sun Gro Horticulture Canada submitted an application to the Manitoba government in October asking to expand the land from which they harvest peat. The estimated emissions from the project if approved would be 637 tonnes annually.

Its a huge issue, Mauro says, that requires further discussions on how the province is currently pursuing peat production.

"Having a critical conversation about it, I think is really important," he says.

Beyond direct development of the peatlands or wetlands, Johnston says indirect interference in these ecosystems generally ends up being much more problematic. Building a road, for example, and not realizing that the wetland water source has been cut off, can allow the ecosystem to decay and release its carbon into the atmosphere.

"Wetland conservation is really, really important as a climate change mitigation strategy," he says.

In this vein, the Canadian government has committed to protecting 25 per cent of its lands and oceans by 2025 and 30 per cent by 2030. The newest of Manitobas conservation trusts is devoted to wetland conservation. Time will tell if these preservation initiatives prove effective.

In the last couple of years, "nature-based climate solutions" have become a hot topic in the sustainability industry, as well as in politics. The problem is that while humans need a helping hand from nature if warming is to be held to 1.5 C or 2.0 C, it by no means offers a solution that allows for emissions to continue at our current rates.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES In addition to Blaine Pedersens comments that "Climate is all about conservation," the premier stressed last summer watershed management is an important part of the governments "Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan."

In addition to Pedersens comments that "Climate is all about conservation," Premier Brian Pallister stressed last summer watershed management is an important part of the governments "Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan."

As part of his discussions with the prime minister over the carbon tax, he told the Globe and Mail in 2019 that Manitoba was already doing its part to reduce emissions by continuing development of hydroelectricity and working to protect wetlands.

"Carbon tax can be part of a climate-change mitigation strategy, but there are many, many other things that we should be doing together and we should be discussing those," Pallister told the Globe.

The communication strategy of the Pallister government suggests politicians will try to equate conservation efforts with effective climate action. Meanwhile, emissions in the province continue to grow, according to the latest inventory report released in 2020.

"You cant have negative emissions unless you solve your emissions-source problem," Mauro says. "Were not going to be able to continue to emit greenhouse gases and make up for it by eco-based system solutions. The idea that were just going to forest our way out of this problem is absolutely naive."

Tercek echoed Mauros calls not to slow other measures designed to lower emissions.

"In the short run, (nature-based solutions) can lead to some very good climate progress. In the long-run though, its true, we need to remember what we concluded in Paris, we need to be at net-zero emissions in 2050. That will mostly be by reducing emissions," he says.

"There will be some need for offsets because some emissions wont go away yet. Maybe nature can play a role there, I hope so. Well also need other innovations."

sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca
The current chaos in Washington DC has given U.S. political discourse a distinct focus, a focus that will remain until 20 January, when Mr. Biden is inaugurated. Fortunately, the guardrails of democracy have held despite the stresses of the past year, particularly over the past three months. But Americans would do well to remember that administrations and presidents create and execute policy, rather than solely soothing disgruntled citizens.

The internal divisions that confront the American polity are most relevant when considered alongside international political trends. No relationship will be more defining in the 21st century than that between China and the United States. The self-styled Peoples Republic remained guarded and coy throughout the late 20th century, began asserting itself in the 2000s, and since the mid-2010s has embarked upon a concerted campaign to expand its own influence, dominate the Asia-Pacific, and revise the international political order. It has used the COVID-19 pandemic to act without resistance, conducting its genocide against Muslims in East Turkestan, eliminating the last vestiges of Hong Kongs parliamentary democracy, and isolating Taiwan diplomatically while probing it militarily.

PRC aggression calls for a concerted campaign to contain Chinese expansion, preserve the independence of Asias smaller polities, combat Chinas support for authoritarianism and illiberalism, and ensure the preservation of a liberal, open, commercial international society.

Mr. Biden has recognized this. His foreign policy vision is based upon multilateral cooperation with the U.S. traditional partners, leveraging their combined strength to preserve their mutual interests primarily through diplomatic and economic measures. In this, he and his administration hope to return to the early-Cold War period, when the U.S. supported Western Europe economically against Soviet expansion and built an international alliance system that would contain communist expansion until the Soviet empire collapsed, as it did four decades later.

Economics is a central if often underappreciated component of statecraft. More so than military power, it can bind far-flung states into a coherent coalition based upon shared commercial and financial interest. Hence economic inducements are a critical diplomatic tool, effective as softer, more subtle "stick" than raw military pressure, while concurrently serving as a blatant "carrot," effective almost irrespective of regime type.

Moreover, the United States can only meet the next decade's challenges by working with, and standing alongside, its allies. China is too powerful and aggressive for America to stand alone. In the long-term, the U.S. must deny China its long-term political goals, which entail economic dominance in Africa and Central Asia, European trade-dependency, and a political free hand in the Western pacific. Chinas global ambitions, along with its tacit partnership with Russia and potential future links with Iran and Cuba, necessitate a global coalition that integrates the U.S. European, Asian, Latin American, and Near Eastern allies.

However, the incoming administration must be cautious. Chinas goals are neither purely economic nor diplomatic, although achieving them requires economic and diplomatic tools. The CCP has a strategic objective, one that in some way requires the use of force, much like its Soviet predecessor. This was a point of confusion throughout the Cold War. Soviet leaders possibly believed that the communist system ultimately would destroy capitalism and extend across the world.

But the Soviets first and critical order of business was transforming the European balance  it could not allow the United States, another non-European actor, to serve as Western Europes security guarantor. The Soviet Union spent decades patiently accumulating strategic assets. By the mid-1970s, the Soviets had cultivated a variety of allies and proxies in strategically critical locations. Cuba, Nicaragua, Angola, Somalia, South Yemen, Vietnam, Libya, and Syria were all located on major maritime lanes.

Having bided its time for decades, the USSR had finally assembled the pieces needed to consider moving against the United States and NATO. Soviet allies and submarines would pressure the U.S. global sea control, forcing it to divert maritime and aerial forces from the European central front. Every hour the U.S. spent regaining control of the South Atlantic, Eastern Mediterranean, and southern and western Pacific was additional time for the Soviets to drive to the River Rhine. Nuclear exchanges were expected, but Soviet Russias Eastern European satellites would absorb much of the damage. In the event, it took three major American policy shifts  a strategic partnership with China that pressured the Soviet south, a realignment with Israel and Egypt that challenged its aggression in the Mediterranean, and a massive military buildup in the 1980s  to deter a Soviet attack.

Similarly, while Chinas eventual aim is global dominance, its current objective is gaining Indo-Pacific hegemony. Doing so requires, first, absorbing Taiwan, then humbling Japan, South Korea, Australia, Vietnam, and India, and finally barring America from exercising power further west than Hawaii. It is unlikely that these goals can be accomplished without force. Moreover, Chinas leaders are not comfortable with pure economic expansion, as the CCPs policy shift since the early-2000s has demonstrated. It is likely that they fear both preemptive U.S. containment measures and domestic unrest, doubt the Chinese system's ability to grow without colonial predation and feel China's honor demands that it be recognized as a great power and given its political due.

Diplomatic-economic resistance seldom deters states willing to use military force. Sanctions, asset freezes, even a blockade can cause immense economic damage and undermine social stability. But it takes months to years for their effects to be felt, diminishing the psychological deterrent value they offer when compared to the immediate gain of territorial conquest. Even more concerning is the paradox of hardened positions. As conflict escalates and damage increases, adversary political leaders and populations may become more willing to suffer to achieve their objectives than they were before a confrontation.

British policy before the Great War is a prime example of the difficulties of economic deterrence. The Royal Navys capacity to conduct a long-term blockade of Germany, it was thought, would be a more effective threat than, say, making great enough continental military commitment to deny Germany the gains of a first strike. When war came in 1914, however, German leaders dismissed the British threat and nearly succeeded in performing Count Schlieffens massive envelopment. Escalating savagery, first at Ypres, then Verdun and the Somme, catapulted the Hindenburg-Ludendorff dictatorship to power just weeks after the Royal Navy had demonstrated its ability to maintain a blockade indefinitely.

Economic apocalypse prompted escalation, not negotiation. Ironically, a similar set of assumptions guided British policy during the 1930s. Not only, the appeasers argued, was Hitler simply asserting his justified rights, but he was nowhere near insane enough to unleash upon Germany the economic destruction a European war would cause.

The Biden administration's emphasis on multilateralism in dealing with China should be welcomed. America must stand but cannot stand alone. Nevertheless, this nation must take care. Today, as in any other era, blood remains the price of power and military force its most valuable currency. America's adversaries understand this fact. Not recognizing it, therefore, is an invitation to violence. Forming a broad-based multilateral coalition to counter Beijings economic/diplomatic expansion should not curtail the U.S. militarys need to equal and surpass Chinas continuing arms buildup.

Seth Cropsey is a Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute and director of Hudsons Center for American Seapower. He served as a naval officer and as deputy Undersecretary in the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations.

Harry Halem is a research assistant at Hudson Institute and a graduate student at the London School of Economics.
On the COVID-19 era campaign trail, Joe Biden rose early at his Delaware home for a workout in a gym that boasted a Peloton bike, weights and a treadmill.

The President-elect might have to make do without his sleek bike at the White House, according to Max Kilger, director of the University of Texas at San Antonios Data Analytics Program. The bike could pose a two-wheeled security risk on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Peloton's stationary bikes, which range from $1,895 to $2,495, offer at-home spin classes through a high-definition touch screen. Kilger would not bring one into the White House unless the manufacturer made some extensive modifications.

"Not without the factory modifying it  yanking out the camera, yanking out the microphone, and yanking out the networking," Kilger said. "But at that point, you pretty much have a $400 bike instead of a $2,000 Peloton."

READ ALSO: San Antonio woman accused of election fraud out on bond

The bikes, like all "Internet of Things" devices, come with a tradeoff, Kilger noted. The Peloton would let Biden watch beautiful scenery and pedal with classmates, but it could also allow a hacker access to one of the nation's most secure buildings.

If someone was able to compromise the Peloton's computer  which has a custom operating system built on top of an Android base  they could compromise other networks inside the White House through a WiFi network or hardwired connection. The bike could serve as a gateway for malware.

Measures like firewalls, anti-viral security software, intrusion detection systems offer good protection, Kilger said, but they are not guaranteed.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The UTSA professor noted that connected devices like Pelotons or smart light bulbs offer the same cost-benefit analysis for non-presidents. Hackers could move malware from such devices to a laptop or desktop computer in a home, adding keyloggers or screen snappers to capture financial credentials.

Of course, the stakes are raised a tad higher when its a world leader weighing the security risks. Asked about the future of Biden's bike, a Peloton spokesperson said the company cannot discuss specific customers.

Two forces at work with "Internet of Things" devices contribute to the security vulnerabilities, according to Kilger.

Every company wants to be first to market with a new product  especially in the competitive consumer electronics space and building and testing security costs money and takes time. Time that could allow a competitor to introduce their version.

Also, engineers love to make devices "talk" to each other. Every time you connect one device to another, you create an opportunity for someone to exploit.

With Peloton bikes, hackers seem to have stuck to breaking in to watch Netflix and YouTube on the screens so far.

"For the most part it's a non-hostile, friendly hacking community that gets a lot of delight out of making it do things that perhaps its original manufacturer hadn't intended it to do," Kilger said of the bikes.

"But anytime you have folks that are hacking things for fun and benefit, you also have folks that perhaps don't have the same good intentions."
A 9-year-old boy and his father were found dead in their Marina apartment Wednesday evening in what police are investigating as a murder-suicide.

The San Francisco medical examiners office on Friday identified the son as Pierce OLoughlin and the father as 49-year-old Stephen OLoughlin.

The tragedy was preceded by a bitter custody battle between the boys parents, animated by the fathers opposition to vaccinations, court records show.

Stephen OLoughlin had agreed to begin vaccinations on Tuesday, the day before the deaths. A trial on the matter had been scheduled for Tuesday, but court records state the proceedings were delayed until March.

Lorie Nachlis, an attorney for Pierces mother, Lesley Hu, said vaccination was only one of the issues at play.

I think it is undeniable that Pierces father suffered from untreated mental illness, which resulted in his taking the life of his son and his own life, Nachlis said in a statement. I believe that he did this horrid act in order to exercise the ultimate control over Lesley.

Nachlis wrote, Yes, the parents disagreed about vaccinations, but they disagreed about other issues affecting the childs well-being. In fact, they disagreed about whether Pierce was a healthy child or a sick child. Was his stuffy nose a product of allergies or something bigger? Pierce wasnt killed because of a disagreement over a stuffy nose and he wasnt killed because of a disagreement regarding vaccinations. He was killed for much more complex reasons.

Nachlis said the March hearing would have determined control of all future medical decisions.

The victims were discovered just after 6 p.m. Wednesday, after officers performed a well-being check at the apartment on the 3800 block of Scott Street. The weapon used was a gun, police records state.

Two people familiar with the investigation said the boys mother asked police to check on the apartment, after hearing that Pierce hadnt shown up for school that day at Convent & Stuart Hall in San Francisco.

Sarah Leffert, chief advancement officer for the Catholic private school, said the community was devastated by these events and praying for the family.

Hu filed for sole legal custody of the boy in July, nearly four years after the couple divorced in November 2016. The parents had shared both physical and legal custody over Pierces medical decisions since the divorce, meaning that both had to approve vaccinations of any kind, court records show.

In her filings, Hu cited what she described as OLoughlins increasingly troubling adherence to the anti-vaxxer movement  the scientifically baseless theory that vaccines cause autism or other illnesses.

The Bay Area has emerged as a hotbed for vaccine opposition over the last several years, with a significant percentage of parents refusing to have their children immunized. In 2016, California repealed the personal-belief exemption that parents could claim to keep their children from being vaccinated  a law that prompted many to seek medical exemptions from doctors instead.

OLoughlin had refused to allow Pierce to receive vaccinations since he was very young, Hu wrote in court documents, arguing that the decision jeopardized Pierces health and potentially his enrollment in school.

(OLoughlins) stance on vaccinations has taken on a cult-like tone, Hu wrote in a Sept. 14 court filing.

OLoughlin had become so preoccupied with the childs health that he was prone to videotape Pierces breathing, multiple times a day, to document a stuffy nose, Hu claimed.

Hu suggested OLoughlins views stemmed from his involvement in a new-age, self-help group. From 2012 to 2016, she said, OLoughlin spent thousands of dollars on sessions with the organization, and became convinced that the government was out to get us and was trying to mind-control us, Hu wrote.

In his own court filings, OLoughlin argued that his aversion to Pierces vaccinations was rooted in concern for his sons health. Pierce, OLoughlin said, was vaccine-injured and had suffered serious side effects like vomiting and drastic weight loss when he was vaccinated as a young child.

This is not an anti-vax parent seeking to prevent his child from being vaccinated, OLoughlins attorneys wrote in a Jan. 5 court filing. For the average child, the risk-to-benefit ratio for vaccines is in favor of vaccinations. For a certain subset of society, however, that is not the case. Pierce is one of those people.

Hu denied that Pierce had ever been diagnosed by his physicians as vaccine-injured, and stressed that Hus current doctors had highly recommended that Pierce be brought up to date with his vaccinations and flu shot.

Attorneys who represented OLoughlin at various stages of the divorce and custody proceedings did not respond to requests for comment.

In her Friday statement, Nachlis said that as OLoughlin was seeing that he was losing his control, he punished Lesley with the ultimate act of violence: Killing her child. She will suffer, as intended, for the rest of her life.

Nachlis said shes been working in family law for 40 years, and I have had cases that have caused me to fear that a parent might do the unthinkable, but this was not one of them.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
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The Holy Grail of lost collector cars and Carroll Shelby's personal Mustangs reborn as Swiss Made timepieces

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Jan. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Danish watch brand REC Watches brings iconic vehicles back to life - as a watch. Every timepiece features a handcrafted dial from legendary vehicles.

This time, the company has released timepieces with a dial handcrafted from one of the most sought-after vehicles in post-war history: Little Red and Green Hornet.

LITTLE RED and GREEN HORNET are the "Holy Grail" of lost collector cars and one-off experimental and mythological 1967 and 1968 Prototype Shelby Mustang GT500 EXPs.

Countless enthusiasts and experts were sure they had been destroyed more than 50 years ago and lost forever - and even more people questioned they had ever existed.

Both cars were ordered by famous race driver and car designer Carroll Shelby, when he came back from the Le Mans in 1966 with Ford's first overall win, making them his R&D cars and the cars to push the limits of what was possible with the Shelby at the time.

At the time, Fords' policy was to destroy prototype vehicles to avoid them entering circulation. Somehow both Green Hornet and Little Red avoided their fate.

In 2018, the cars were fully restored to its former glory by car enthusiast and owner of Green Hornet, Craig Jackson. In this process excess sheet metal from the restoration process was donated to REC Watches and built directly into the design of a new generation of Swiss Made limited edition timepieces.

The design of the timepieces honors and reflects the automotive history both cars represent.

"REC Watches goes to extraordinary means to find unique artifacts and put these into a brand-new timepiece. That intrigued me, coming off with enough sheet metal to build into the watch. They do it in a way that keeps the patina, and they build the watch to represent the vehicle."

-Craig Jackson - Car collector & Restorer and CEO of Barret-Jackson Auction Company

With this collection, it was REC Watches' mission to ensure that true classic car and Mustang enthusiasts immediately recognize all the small design references, whereas a watch fan would appreciate the masculine and original design of their latest collection.

Two years later, they're finally ready to present the final result of that work.

Order exclusively on: www.recwatches.com

Contact: PR and marketing, Gurcan Bozdogan, [email protected]

Related Files

REC Watches THE P-51 Little Red and Green Hornet Press Release JANUARY 2021 - IMMEDIATE RELEASE JANUARY 14.pdf

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The Holy grail of lost collector cars reborn as timepieces

This timepiece collection has a dial handcrafted from the most sought-after vehicles in post-war history.

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SOURCE REC Watches

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has slammed the Trump administration's federal execution spree saying 'this is not justice', as convicted killer Dustin Higgs became the 13th person put to death since July.

Sotomayor issued a scathing written dissent Friday after the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 in favor of plowing ahead with Higgs' execution despite his lawyers pleaded for clemency after he caught COVID-19.

Higgs, 48, was pronounced dead at 1.23am on Saturday after receiving a lethal injection of pentobarbital in the federal death chamber at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Higgs conspired with two other men to kidnap and murder three young women in Washington DC on one night in January 1996.

His federal execution marks the 13th and final to be completed by the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump after a 17-year hiatus.

Trump will go down in history as the most prolific modern president for carrying out death sentences as he rushed through the death sentences in his final six months in power.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor (above) has slammed the Trump administration's federal execution spree saying 'this is not justice', as convicted killer Dustin Higgs became the 13th person put to death since July

Sotomayor, who dissented the Supreme Court majority's decision along with Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, wrote a dissent where she blasted the Trump administration for executing 'more than three times as many people in the last six months than it had in the previous six decades.'

'After seventeen years without a single federal execution, the Government has executed twelve people since July,' she wrote.

'They are Daniel Lee, Wesley Purkey, Dustin Honken, Lezmond Mitchell, Keith Nelson, William LeCroy Jr., Christopher Vialva, Orlando Hall, Brandon Bernard, Alfred Bourgeois, Lisa Montgomery, and, just last night, Corey Johnson.'

'Today, Dustin Higgs will become the thirteenth,' she said.

Sotomayer hit out at the Department of Justice saying it 'did not tread carefully' and had created 'legal uncertainty'.

She also criticized her fellow justices on the Supreme Court who, through rulings such as Higgs', have enabled the 'spree of executions'.

'Throughout this expedited spree of executions, this Court has consistently rejected inmates' credible claims for relief,' Sotomayor wrote.

Higgs, 48, was pronounced dead at 1.23am on Saturday after receiving a lethal injection of pentobarbital in the federal death chamber at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana

She said her colleagues had lifted stays of execution and made 'weighty decisions' without time for 'proper briefing and consideration'.

'The Court has even intervened to lift stays of execution that lower courts put in place, thereby ensuring those prisoners' challenges would never receive a meaningful airing,' she wrote.

'The Court made these weighty decisions in response to emergency applications, with little opportunity for proper briefing and consideration, often in just a few short days or even hours.

'Very few of these decisions offered any public explanation for their rationale.'

She added: 'This is not justice.'

Higgs' was the 13th federal execution under Trump's watch

Higgs was executed soon after the court's ruling.

In his final words, Higgs protested that he was innocent of masterminding the murders.

'I'd like to say I am an innocent man,' he said, strapped to the gurney in the execution chamber. 'I did not order the murders.'

As the injection was administered, loud sobs of a woman crying inconsolably echoed for several minutes from a room reserved for Higgs' family, as his eyes rolled back in his head, showing the whites of his eyes before he stopped moving entirely.

It marked the third federal execution at Terre Haute in four days, and the 13th during Trump's term after he resumed executions in July despite the pandemic, making him the most prolific president in carrying out death sentences since Grover Cleveland in the 1800s.

Higgs' lawyers argued it was 'arbitrary and inequitable' to execute him while Willis Haynes, the man who pulled the trigger in the murders, was spared a death sentence.

Higgs and an inmate executed on Thursday, Corey Johnson, both had COVID-19 last month.

Higgs is seen in 2015 at the Federal Prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Higgs is the last federal inmate to be executed before President Donald Trump leaves office

The United States Penitentiary at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana is seen on Friday

The recent spree of executions is also the first time since Celveland's term that a federal execution was carried out during the lame-duck period of a presidency.

Trump resumed federal executions in July after a 17-year hiatus, although they had still been carried out at the state level.

President-elect Joe Biden is an opponent of the death penalty and is expected to suspend federal executions when he takes office next week.

The federal judge who presided over Higgs' trial two decades ago says he 'merits little compassion.'

Executed (left to right): Alfred Bourgeois, Lisa Marie Montgomery, Corey Johnson

Executed in July were (left to right): Daniel Lewis Lee, Wesley Ira Purkey, and Dustin Lee Honken. Lee's execution was the first federal execution in 17 years

'He received a fair trial and was convicted and sentenced to death by a unanimous jury for a despicable crime,' U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte wrote in a December 29 ruling.

Defense attorneys won temporary stays of execution this week for Higgs and Johnson after arguing that their recent COVID-19 infections put them at greater risk of unnecessary suffering during the lethal injections.

But higher courts overruled those decisions, allowing the executions to go forward, and Johnson was executed Thursday night.

Shawn Nolan, one of Higgs' attorneys, sees a clear political agenda in the unprecedented string of federal executions at the end of Trump's presidency, with Higgs heading to the death chamber just five days before Biden's inauguration.

An activist in opposition to the death penalty protests during a snowstorm outside of the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana on Thursday

Trump has overseen 13 executions after he resumed executions in July despite the pandemic, making him the most prolific president in carrying out death sentences since Grover Cleveland

'In the midst of the pandemic and everything thats going on right now in the country, it seems just insane to move forward with these executions,' Nolan said recently. 'And particularly for Dustin, who didn't shoot anybody. He didn't kill anybody.'

Higgs' December 19 petition for clemency says he has been a model prisoner and dedicated father to a son born shortly after his arrest. Higgs had a traumatic childhood and lost his mother to cancer when he was 10, the petition says.

'Mr. Higgs' difficult upbringing was not meaningfully presented to the jury at trial,' his attorneys wrote.

His death sentence was the first imposed in the modern era of the federal system in Maryland, which abolished the death penalty in 2013.

The interior of the execution chamber in the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute is seen above. Higgs was strapped to the gurney and injected with pentobarbital, a powerful barbiturate

Higgs' shocking crimes: How he conspired to kidnap and kill three women after an argument during a triple-date

In October 2000, a federal jury in Maryland convicted Higgs of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the killings of Tamika Black, 19; Mishann Chinn, 23; and Tanji Jackson, 21.

Higgs was 23 on the evening of January 26, 1996, when he, Willis Haynes and a third man, Victor Gloria, picked up the three women in Washington, DC, and drove them to Higgs' apartment in Laurel, Maryland, to drink alcohol and listen to music.

The men smoked pot late into the night, and before dawn the next morning an argument between Higgs and Tanji prompted her to grab a knife in the kitchen before Haynes persuaded her to drop it.

'I am going to get you all f***ed up or robbed!' Tanji shouted, according to Gloria's testimony. In response, Higgs remarked to the other men that Tamika 'do know a lot of n*****s.'

As Tamika left the apartment with the other women, she appeared to write down the license plate number of Higgs' van, angering him, and the three women stormed off on foot.

The three men chased after the women in Higgs' van, a blue Mazda MPV. Haynes persuaded them to get into the vehicle.

Instead of taking them home, Higgs drove them to a secluded spot in the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge, federal land in Laurel.

Higgs drove the three women to a secluded spot in the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge (seen in a file photo) and handed his friend Willis Haynes a gun to kill them

'Aware at that point that something was amiss, one of the women asked if they were going to have to `walk from here and Higgs responded 'something like that,'' said an appeals court ruling upholding Higgs' death sentence.

Higgs handed his pistol to Haynes, who shot all three women outside the van before the men left, Gloria testified.

'Gloria turned to ask Higgs what he was doing, but saw Higgs holding the steering wheel and watching the shootings from the rearview mirror,' said the 2013 ruling by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Investigators found Jackson's day planner at the scene of the killings. It contained Higgs' nickname, 'Bones,' his telephone number, his address number and the tag number for his van.

The jurors who convicted Haynes failed to reach a unanimous verdict on whether to impose a death sentence. A different jury convicted Higgs and returned a death sentence after a separate trial. Gloria pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to the murders and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Higgs has argued that his death sentence must be thrown out because jurors failed to consider it as a 'mitigating factor' that Haynes was convicted of identical charges but sentenced to life in prison.

The appeals court concluded that rational jurors could find that Higgs had the dominant role in the murders even though Haynes indisputably was the triggerman.

An activist in opposition to the death penalty protests during a snowstorm outside of the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana on Thursday ahead of Higgs' execution

In their clemency petition, Higgs lawyers said Gloria received a 'substantial deal' in exchange for his cooperation

'Moreover,' they wrote, 'significant questions remain as to whether Mr. Gloria received the additional undisclosed benefit of having an unrelated state murder investigation against him dropped at the urging of federal officers to protect his credibility as the star witness. A federal death verdict should not rest on such a flimsy basis.'

Mishann worked with the children's choir at a church, Tanji worked in the office at a high school and Tamika was a teacher's aide at National Presbyterian School in Washington, according to the Washington Post.

On the day in 2001 when the judge formally sentenced Higgs to death, Tamika's mother, Joyce Gaston, said it brought her little solace, the Post reported.

'It's not going to ever be right in my mind,' Gaston said, 'That was my daughter. I don't know how I'm going to deal with it.'

How Trump used his final days to put to death the most federal prisoners since the 1880s

The number of federal death sentences carried out under Trump since 2020 is more than in the previous 56 years combined, reducing the number of prisoners on federal death row by nearly a quarter.

It's likely none of the around 50 remaining men will be executed anytime soon, with Biden signaling he'll end federal executions.

The only woman on death row, Lisa Montgomery, was executed Wednesday for killing a pregnant woman, then cutting the baby out of her womb and claiming it as her own. She was the first woman executed in nearly 70 years.

Federal executions began as the coronavirus pandemic raged through prisons nationwide. Among those prisoners who got COVID-19 last month were Higgs and former drug trafficker Corey Johnson, who was executed Thursday.

Executed (L to R): Lezmond Charles Mitchell, Keith Dwayne Nelson, William Emmett LeCroy, Jr

Some members of the execution teams have also previously tested positive for the virus.

Not since the waning days of Grover Cleveland's presidency in the late 1800s has the U.S. government executed federal inmates during a presidential transition, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Clevelands was also the last presidency during which the number of civilians executed federally was in the double digits in one year, 1896, during Clevelands second term.

The Trump administration has paid private executioners in cash and bought drugs from a secret pharmacy as part of a rush to execute federal prisoners, court documents obtained by ProPublica reveal.

The court records, were reported in December, shed light on how the Trump administration is hurrying to use its final days to execute the federal inmates.

Among the details included in court records are that private executioners have been paid in cash, drugs have been purchased from a pharmacy that failed quality tests and that executions have moved ahead in the middle of the night.

It is not clear why private contractors were hired to carry out the executions. A Bureau of Prisons lawyer was quoted in a deposition saying: 'If we didn't pay them in cash they probably wouldn't participate'.

Executed (left to right): Christopher Andre Vialva, Orlando Cordia Hall, Brandon Bernard

One execution has gone ahead while an appeal was still pending.

Authorities also left Daniel Lewis Lee, who was the first federal inmate executed in July, strapped to a gurney while lawyers tried to remove a Supreme Court order, the court documents show.

He was executed as soon as the government lawyers wiped out the legal obstacle.

'Today, Lee finally faced the justice he deserved,' Barr said in a statement at the time.

The White House has not commented on ProPublica's report regarding the rush to execute the inmates.

In a statement, the Justice Department said: 'Seeking the death penalty and carrying out capital sentences is not a political issue, nor have political considerations influenced the department's decisions.

'The death penalty is a law enforcement and public safety issue, and the department is obligated to carry forward these sentences regardless of who is the president or the attorney general.'
Brent crude oil prices edged 0.5% higher to US$56.32 a barrel on Thursday, boosted by a weak dollar and bullish signals from Chinese import data.

Spot gold rose 0.2% to US$1,850.36 per ounce after U.S. President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a massive stimulus plan.

S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) is rising for a third straight day, with the index up 0.31% to 6,736 points by about 1.50 pm.

The market opened after news broke that Joe Biden intends to ask Congress to spend an additional US$1.9 trillion on an economic rescue plan.

This will include new direct payments to Americans, aid for state and local governments and more funding to deal with COVID-19.

Biden's rescue plan follows the US$3 trillion package at the start of the pandemic and US$900 billion in support passed last month.

Locally, BHP Group (ASX:BHP), Afterpay ( ), the big banks and energy stocks were making strong gains.

COVID-19 update

Queensland recorded three new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, two in hotel quarantine and a historical case from Cairns.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was not worried about the latest cases and all 129 people who were transferred from the ill-fated Hotel Grand Chancellor have tested negative.

At least 3,922 new COVID-19 deaths and 230,476 new cases were reported in the US on Wednesday according to a New York Times database.

More than 4,400 deaths were announced in the US on Tuesday, a record. The country is quickly approaching 400,000 total deaths.

Top gainers

Todays top gainers on the ASX include ( ) (+18.99%), ( ) (+12.50%), ( ) (+16.67%), ( ) (+17.89%), Arafura Resources Limited ( ) (+15.00%), ( ) (+23.29%) and ( ) (+14.29%).

Proactive news headlines:

Peninsula Energy welcomes North American investors as it begins OTC market trading

( ) (OTCMKTS:PENMF) has commenced trading on the US OTC (over-the-counter) Pink Market under the code PKC:PENMF and will apply to upgrade its market tier to the OTCQB venture market after increased North American based investor interest in the company and its 100%-owned Lance Project in Wyoming USA.

Pan Asia Metals completes priority one drill holes at Khao Soon Tungsten Project in Thailand

( ) has completed drilling priority one holes at Than Pho West (TPW) prospect of Khao Soon Tungsten Project (KSTP) in southern Thailand and has mobilised the rig to Reung Kiet Lithium Project (RKLP) to the west.

WA Kaolin begins stage one building work at Wickepin Kaolin Project

( ) has begun stage one building work at its wholly-owned Wickepin Kaolin Project, 220 kilometres southeast of Perth, Western Australia.with the purchase of shares in an on-market transaction.

Kin Mining's new high-grade gold results confirm potential to upgrade and expand Bruno-Lewis deposit in WA

s ( ) new assay results from recent reverse circulation (RC) drilling at Bruno-Lewis deposit, one of the cornerstone deposits at its 100%-owned Cardinia Gold Project (CGP) in Western Australia, have confirmed the quality of the deposit.

Blackstone Minerals to spin out non-core gold assets into Codrus Minerals IPO

( ) will spin-out a number of non-core Western Australian gold assets into a new initial public offering (IPO), Codrus Minerals Ltd.

Euro Manganese Chvaletice Manganese Project moves to next permitting stage after reaching regulatory milestone

( ) ( ) (OTCMKTS:EROMF) can move forward to the next stages of the permitting process for its Chvaletice Manganese Project after concluding the six-month screening of its preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by the Czech Ministry of the Environment.
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GREENWICH  The town of Greenwich and Greenwich Hospital are preparing to make COVID-19 vaccines available to eligible residents as Phase 1B of the states vaccination plan goes into effect Monday.

The town is entering into a partnership with Greenwich Hospital and Family Centers Inc. to open vaccination clinics in the eastern, central and western parts of town, First Selectman Fred Camillo said Friday.

The exact locations were not announced, but that information will be released early next week, Camillo said. The state Department of Public Health must inspect and approve the locations before they can open.

I ask that you be patient in trying to obtain information and to schedule vaccination appointments, Camillo said in his weekly e-blast to residents. My office, the (town) Health Department and the Commission on Aging have been inundated with calls and emails. It may take us a bit longer than usual to respond.

Under Phase 1B, priority for vaccines goes to residents 75 and older. Greenwich Hospital said it will begin vaccinating eligible residents on Wednesday, Jan. 20. Appointments, which are required, can be made online immediately at www.ynhhs.org/patient-care/covid-19/vaccine/get-your-covid-vaccine.aspx.

Greenwich Hospital, as part of the Yale New Haven Health System, will administer vaccines at its offices at 500 W. Putnam Ave. The health system will also offer vaccines in Trumbull, New London, North Haven and Old Saybrook.

About 1.3 million state residents are eligible for the vaccine under Phase 1B  and about 11,000 Greenwich residents  and only so much vaccine to go around, Town Health Director Caroline Baisley said.

The other subgroups in Phase 1B will be asked to register for vaccinations later.

Residents who are 75 and older can also register at https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus/covid-19%20vaccinations, the Vaccine Administration Management System. Once registered, VAMS will email an eligible resident and guide them through the appointment process for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

Phase 1B is expected to expand over the coming weeks to include seniors over the age of 65, front-line essential workers, residents who work in staff or congregate settings and residents between the ages of 16 and 64 who have comorbidities that place them at higher risk.

COVID statistics

As of Friday, Greenwich Hospital was treating 34 patients diagnosed with the coronavirus, an increase of seven from Wednesday. Of those 34, four patients were in the intensive care unit and one was on a ventilator.

Camillo said the town has 185 active cases of the virus, which is down from 235 last week.

Phase 1A of the vaccine distribution covered front line medical staff at Greenwich Hospital as well as first responders in the Greenwich Police Department and Greenwich Emergency Medical Service. Additionally, vaccinations were administered to residents and staff at the town-owned Nathaniel Witherell skilled nursing facility as well as the privately owned skilled nursing facilities in town.

As of Friday, Greenwich Hospital has administered 2,279 vaccinations since last month, said Magaly Olivero, Greenwich Hospitals coordinator of public relations.

The hospital depends for its supply of vaccine on the state, which is in turn dependent on what the federal government gives Connecticut. On Thursday, Gov. Ned Lamont said that an additional 50,000 doses of vaccine are heading to Connecticut from the federal government because of the states high rate of vaccinations.

There was no immediate update on Greenwich Hospitals supply levels as the state enters Phase 1B and when more vaccines would be delivered.

We will vaccinate people as quickly as we receive the vaccine, Olivero said.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
Maura Hogan is the arts critic at The Post and Courier. She has previously written about arts, culture and lifestyle for The New York Times, Gourmet, Garden & Gun, among other publications.

Shias constitute an influential minority of the Kashmiri population, having a considerable influence on the nature of sociopolitical changes in the state. Ranging from external influences to contested histories, there are several reasons behind the Shias ambiguous political outlook regarding the overall Kashmir question. The analytical category of perceptual ambivalence is proposed to understand the nature of contemporary political discourse of Shias in Kashmir and their political disposition.

Plurality has been an intrinsic feature of Kashmiri life for centuries. This includes ethnic, religious and linguistic plurality. However, socio-economic variables and the overall political leverage of communities have kept on changing from one period to the other. This has defined not only the respective roles of communities in Kashmiri society at large, but has also been responsible for defining the parameters of politics and the way history is viewed by each of these groups. This explains why the narratives of shared history of all the diverse groups in Kashmir are so contestable and often polarising.

This disagreement runs deep in both the oral histories and their written accounts that is not only visible in the historical narrative of the majority and that of one particular minority, but this malaise of contestability is also prevalent in several minority histories of different communities. For example, though both Pundit and Shia historical narratives are underlined with a strong tone of victimisation, their understanding and interpretation of the same periods of history are not only in contestation with that of the majority Sunni narrative, but also in conflict with that of each other.1 This has prevented a broader consensus on the nature of Kashmirs pluralistic history that affects its politics even today.
Ever since descending the gilded escalator of Trump Tower to announce his presidential bid in 2015, Mr. Trump has tethered his success to the politics of law and order, stoking fears and then positioning himself as the only person capable of confronting them. As for what  or whom  Americans should fear, Mr. Trump virtually always targeted people of color and people who protested for their rights: Mexicans, migrants from Central America, Black Lives Matter activists, the diverse array of protesters in major cities last summer.

But this month, it was a largely white mob trawling the Capitol grounds with Trump banners and zip ties, and killing a police officer. And yet the president did not preside over a tear-gas-fogged show of force, as he had during a protest for racial justice before the White House last summer. Instead, he praised these supporters on the evening of the riot  youre very special, he assured them, we love you  before trotting out the law and order comment the next day under pressure from advisers.

If Mr. Trump spent much of his presidency casting the G.O.P. as the party of law and order, he is concluding it by clarifying just who, in his view  and in his bases view  the law was designed to order. Its the Black Lives Matter protesters who are confronted and arrested by the police in Mr. Trumps law-and-order America; the white mob, on the other hand, can expect officers who pause for selfies.

This Blue Lives Matter stuff was just a code word for race that they were using, said Stuart Stevens, a longtime Republican strategist. Law and order? Here you have a police officer murdered on Capitol grounds, and the White House doesnt even acknowledge it. Its incredible.

Republicans saw law and order slipping away from them long before last week. Even as Mr. Trump and much of his party put crime and public safety at the center of their campaigns, few voters were ultimately moved by it. In key states like Arizona, many white suburban women found the Trump campaigns narrative  that a Biden administration would overhaul the nations law enforcement and usher in an unprecedented crime wave  more off-putting than resonant.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16)  A total of 143 individuals, including passengers on the same flight from the United Arab Emirates taken by the new COVID-19 variant patient and their close contacts, have been contacted and were on quarantine, Mayor Joy Belmonte said Saturday.

During a Laging Handa briefing, Belmonte said the local government has traced those first-generation contacts, including the Quezon City-based passengers and persons who have been in close contact with them, health workers and staff who assisted the patient to a quarantine facility.

Belmonte noted seven out of the eight passengers have been tested and quarantined.

The other one, however, was missing as the passenger did not provide correct contact details, she added.

"More than half of them have already been swabbed, and all of them are already on quarantine," the Quezon City mayor assured.

She said results of the swab tests were still being awaited.

Last Wednesday, the Department of Health reported that the more infectious variant of the deadly virus has reached the Philippines after samples from a Filipino who arrived on a flight from the UAE posted positive genome sequencing results.

Asked about the condition of the patient, Belmonte said the Filipino was found to be asymptomatic and already recovering.

"Hindi nga natin nailipat sa hospital e. This proves that while mas nakakahawa ang new variant, ang effect hindi naman mas grabe," she added.

[Translation: We did not even transfer him to the hospital. This proves that while the new variant is more contagious, the effect is not more severe.]
DEAL OF THE WEEK

Rooneys New Novel Goes to FSG Mitzi Angel at Farrar, Straus and Giroux took U.S. rights to Sally Rooneys third novel, in a two-book deal brokered by Tracy Bohan and Andrew Wylie at the Wylie Agency. Beautiful World, Where Are You is set for September. It follows four people in Ireland, FSG said, who are still youngbut life is catching up with them. They desire each other, they delude each other, they get together, they break apart.... Are they standing in the last lighted room before the darkness, bearing witness to something? Will they find a way to believe in a beautiful world? Rooney (Normal People) made the longlist for the Booker Prize in 2018.

FROM THE U.S.

Archer Returns to HC

Jeffrey Archer has left St. Martins Press to publish with HarperCollins. A three-book, world English rights agreement was negotiated between HC UKs Charlie Redmayne, Kate Elton, and Kimberley Young and Archers representatives, James Archer and Alan Mitchell at Mitchell Rights Management. As part of the deal, Archer will pen a new title in his William Warwick series, Over My Dead Body, which is set for later this year. Archer, per HC, has sold more than 275 million print copies of his books around the world.

SMP Preempts Nances Insurgency

For St. Martins Press, Elisabeth Dyssegaard preempted Malcolm Nances They Want to Kill Americans: The Radical Militias, Fanatical Terrorists, and the Deranged Ideology of the Coming Trump Insurgency. The publisher said its a chilling and deeply researched work about the hold Donald Trump may have on a large portion of the electorate after he leaves office. Nancea bestselling author, MSNBC analyst, and executive director of TAPSTRI, a research institute focused on extremismpredicts that support for Trump will increasingly be expressed by white supremacist groups that are armed and primed for violence. Tanya McKinnon at McKinnon Literary brokered the North American rights agreement.

Iowa Fellows Debut Lands at Viking

Iowa Writers Workshop Rona Jaffe fellow Sarah Thankam Mathews sold her debut novel to Viking. Lindsey Schwoeri took North American rights to All This Could Be Different from Bill Clegg at the Clegg Agency. Viking said the book, set for 2022, is about a recent college grad who tries to forge a new life in Milwaukee during Obamas second termnavigating precarious employment, queerness, immigration, a dizzying romance with a ballet dancer, and the pulls of blood and chosen family.

HQN Lassos Yates for 10

Bestselling romance author Maisey Yates inked a 10-book, world rights deal with HQNs Flo Nicoll. The agreement, which was brokered by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary Agency, will see Yates pen six mass market originals, two trade paperbacks, and two novellas. They will include a new western romance series titled Four Corners Ranch, as well as the standalone novel The Miraculous Ruby McKee, which is set for spring 2022. The latter, HQN said, is about a woman who was abandoned as a newborn and has lived a charmed life since but needs to find out why her parents left her. Yates has written more than 100 romance novels.

Konkle Gets Sane at Random House

In a North American rights deal, Ben Greenberg at Random House nabbed Anna Konkles memoir The Sane One, in a deal brokered by Daniel Greenberg at Levine Greenberg Rostan. The book, RH said, is about the authors coming of age in a highly dysfunctional household, with her erratic parents separated but living on different sides of the home. It explores many of the themes mined in Pen15, the Hulu series that Konkle cowrites and stars in.
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A study has revealed that a number of camels have died after foraging plastics they had mistaken for food outside Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

The dromedary camels, in their large numbers, have been foraging on desert trash including plastics, on the outskirts of Dubai in the UAE. The study reveals that 1 in 100 camels die as a result of foraging on plastics. The plastic bags and trash they ingest accumulate in their stomachs and form masses known as polybexoars.

The Study of Plastic Pollution

Two plastic pollution experts met in the Arabian Gulf, in the UAE. Markus Eriksen was studying plastic pollution when he met Ulrich Wernery, a camel expert. Immediately, Wernery asked Eriksen to follow him since he wanted to see the plastics. The two went on an expedition deep into the desert. Not quite long, they sighted a camel's skeleton on the ground.

The discovery of the camel skeleton made them start digging up the desert soil. As two men were digging the sand, they uncovered a mass of plastics. Being a plastic pollution expert, Eriksen knew how dangerous plastics could be to the camels if they were foraging on them.

Eriksen was surprised when he saw a big mass of plastic bags (almost a medium size of a suitcase) inside the rib cage of a camel carcass. He wasn't prepared for a scenario like that.

ALSO READ - World's Oldest Orangutan Has Been Put To Rest At Oregon Zoo

The Danger of Ingesting Plastics

Eriksen affirmed that plastics are dangerous to marine mammals such as sea lions, turtles, whales, and seabirds, but the problem goes beyond the sea animals. It's now a land problem as camels are dying from foraging on plastics. "But this is not just an ocean issue," Eriksen said, "It's a land issue, too. It's everywhere."

Wernery, who is a veterinary microbiologist, and researcher in Dubai, said a number of dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) have died as a result of plastic ingestion. He noted that about 390,000 dromedary camels live in the UAE. But his team reported that about 30,000 camels have died since they began their study in 2008. Out of this number, about 300 had guts packed with plastics.

Eriksen explained that dromedaries munch on plastic bags and trash as they roam the desert. The problem lies with the camels' inability to recognize plastics as objects that are not food. Eriksen said, to a camel, "if it's not sand, it's food."

Wernery and Eriksen called the indigestible masses of the plastic bags "polybezoars", which can be related to plastic polymers. Wernery pointed out that when animals fill their stomach with plastics, they form bezoars. They may stop eating and would no longer feel hungry. At that point, an animal might starve to death. Also, plastics can leach toxic chemicals. Polybezoars may also carry bacteria that are poisonous to camels.

Data from this study showed that polybezoars are killing about 1 in 100 dromedary camels every year in the UAE. Out of five bezoars analyzed contain plastic content ranging from 3 to 64 kilograms (6.6 to 141 pounds)

An environmental scientist, Luca Nizzetto of the Norwegian Institute of Water Research in Oslo, noted that if plastics are verified in the future as responsible for 1percent of camels' deaths by more detailed studies, then plastic pollution should become a concern for camels.

In proffering solutions to plastic pollution, Eriksen said banning plastic bags is necessary to protect camels and other animals.

RELATED ARTICLE - Known Dog Food Product Kills 70 Dogs, Company Expands Voluntary Recall
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One of Donald Trumps fiercest supporters, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, went to a meeting at the White House with notes suggesting martial law if necessary.

The notes, captured by a photographer as Mr Lindell entered the Oval Office on Friday, come after Mr Lindell tweeted then deleted calls for the president to impost martial law in the seven battleground states that won the election for Joe Biden.

The page is curved and not fully visible, but the heading is titled [illegible] taken immediately to save the [illegible] constitution".

It references a cyber attorney and Kraken attorney Sidney Powell, while recommending Kash Patel to acting CIA.

Insurrection Act now as a result of the assault on the martial law if necessary upon the first hint of any, it read.

 foreign interference in the election trigger [ineligible] powers. Make clear this is China/Iran.

In a now-deleted tweet in December, Mr Lindell repeated Mr Trumps attacks on Arizona governor Doug Ducey and Georgia governor Brian Kemp that they were crooked.

"Look @dougducey you made the list and your crooked buddy @BrianKempGA! @realDonaldTrump please impose martial law in these 7 states and get the machines/ballots!"

The 19 December tweet was deleted an hour later but was memorialized by Newsweek, which reported that the tweet appeared to be in response to attorney Lin Woods calls for a military and government-led crackdown in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

Before the election, Mr Lindell spoke at the Republican National Convention to blame Democrats for the riots in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd in police custody.

This year, the terrible Democratic leadership in Minnesota made some of the worst decisions in history, Lindell said at the convention. This manifested into so much of the destruction of my great state and country.
Most regions in Italy to become orange zones from 17 January.

Three Italian regions will become 'red zones' from 17 January, under Italy's tiered system of coronavirus restrictions.

The country's most severe zona rossa restrictions will apply to the northern Lombardia region (which includes Milan), along with Sicily and the autonomous province of Bolzano, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

Most regions of Italy, including the Lazio region around Rome, are to be classified as 'orange zones' from 17 January.

The new measures affecting Italian regions, due to be formalised tonight by Italy's health minister Roberto Speranza, will be effective from Sunday 17 January.

The move comes as premier Giuseppe Conte signed a new emergency decree earlier today, tightening Italy's nationwide coronavirus restrictions, with effect from 16 January. The measures include a ban on leaving your region unless for urgent or necessary reasons such as work, health or returning to your place of residence.

The existing recommendation of receiving a maximum of two non-cohabiting guests in your home remains in place. However this does not apply to children under the age of 14 or to people with disabilities or those who are not self-sufficient.

It will also be possible for people to leave small towns with a population of under 5,000 inhabitants, within a radius of 30 kilometres. However, people are not permitted to travel to the provincial capital in their regions, even if they are within a 30-km radius.

Regions in red zones from 17 January

Bolzano, Lombardia, Sicily.

In red zones (high-risk) restaurants and bars are closed, except for takeaways and home deliveries, and all non-essential shops are closed too.

Regions in orange zones from 17 January

Abruzzo, Calabria, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Marche, Piemonte, Puglia, Umbria, Valle D'Aosta, Veneto.

In orange zones (medium-high risk) shops can open, restaurants and bars are closed except for takeaway.

Regions in yellow zones from 17 January

Campania, Basilicata, Molise, Sardinia, Trento, Tuscany.



In yellow zones (moderate risk), restaurants and bars are open until 18.00, and shops stay open as normal.

For official information relating to the covid-19 crisis in Italy see the health ministry website.

Photo credit: Marco Iacobucci Epp / Shutterstock.com.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 18:19:07|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- This year marks the 30th anniversary of the dialogue relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Experts from the Philippines and Myanmar emphasized importance of the cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in recent interviews with Xinhua.


There have been 60 further deaths of people who contracted Covid-19 and 3,231 new cases of the virus confirmed by the Department of Health this evening.

A total of 59 people died in January 2021 while one person died in December 2020.

The median age of those who died is 85 years, and the ages range between 65 to 100 years. There was no newly reported deaths of healthcare workers or people aged under 30.

It brings the total number of Covid-19 related deaths to 2,595* while here is now a total of 169,780 * confirmed cases.

Validation of data at the Health Protection Surveillance Centre has resulted in the denotification of one death and seven confirmed cases. These figures are reflected in the adjusted totals.

As of 2pm today, 1,854 Covid-19 patients are in hospital, with 191 in ICU. There were 119 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Of the cases notified today:

1,465 are men / 1,712 are women

54% are under 45 years of age

The median age is 42 years old

931 cases are in Dublin, 388 in Cork, 238 in Louth, 155 in Waterford, 151 in Limerick, and the remaining 1,368 cases are spread across all other counties.

Earlier today, HSE CEO Paul Reid confirmed that hospitals have gone into surge capacity as ICU numbers continue to rise.

Expand Close Irelands Health Service Executive (HSE) chief Paul Reid (Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland/PA) / Facebook

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There are now 191 Covid-19 patients in ICU as of this afternoon and Mr Reid confirmed that the agreement signed with private hospitals has been initiated to cater for spillover from the public health service.

The HSE boss said there are also 250 Covid-19 patients outside of ICU that are requiring significant assistance such as additional oxygen.

Mr Reid said 125 extra beds in private hospitals will now become available for non-Covid patients.

Elsewhere in Northern Ireland, there have been an additional 22 deaths and 705 new cases today.
Srinagar:

Terrorists on Thursday shot dead a policeman in Bogund area of Jammu and Kashmirs Kulgam district, reports said. Constable Shabir Ahmad was shot outside his residence at Bogund in Kulgam, a police official said. He said the cop was rushed to a local hospital but he did not survive.

The policeman was shot at from point blank range, reports said. Security forces have cordoned off the area and the search operation to nab the terrorists was on.

ALSO READ | J&K: 3 simultaneous grenade attacks by terrorists on CRPF camps, police station rock Pulwama district

ALSO READ | J&K: Terrorists hurl grenade at CRPF camp in Tral area of Pulwama; 9 personnel injured

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Wartsila Finland, the energy companies Vaasan Sahko and EPV Energia, and the City of Vaasa, Finland have signed a letter of intent to cooperate in a project aimed at utilizing emissions-free hydrogen in power generation, industry and transportation applications. The project will be based in Vaasa and will focus on enabling a new way to store renewable energy. At the same time, the intention is to pilot a hydrogen-based energy generation solution suitable for export markets.

The goal of the four parties is jointly to build a Power-to-X-to-Power system in Vaasa. The system will use renewable energy to produce hydrogen to be stored and reprocessed. The stored hydrogen can be utilized both in energy production and transportation applications.

Electricity generated from renewable energy sources is used as raw material to separate hydrogen from water by electrolysis, and the hydrogen will be then further processed to produce electricity. The solution is not limited to the use of hydrogenthe letter X refers also to other fuels, such as synthetic methane, methanol and ammonia. Energy production would take place in an engine power plant developed by Wartsila.

Hydrogen and other Power-to-X -fuels will have a significant role in the future energy system and the new related technology opens up excellent export opportunities for Finnish companies. During recent years, we at Wartsila have researched synthetic fuels and invested in technology related to these and other future fuels. It is part of our vision for the future whereby electricity is produced from 100% renewable energy. It is great that this project has attracted such remarkable project partners, and through close cooperation we can further accelerate the development towards a cleaner world. The ecosystem around this project represents a concrete demonstration of how Wartsilas new Smart Technology Hub under construction in Vaasa will create new opportunities and build cooperation. Matti Rautkivi, Director, New Business, Wartsila Energy

The diversity of the solution is illustrated by its opportunities for reducing emissions in several sectors. It also solves the storage problem for renewable energy, which is known to be dependent on the weather. By producing and storing hydrogen, any excess over-production of renewable energy can be utilized.

EPV has already invested significantly in wind power and will continue to do so in the future. When wind power production exceeds demand, we need to store the electricity for later use at a convenient point of time. Hydrogen is seen as an excellent storage solution for renewable electricity in the future. We want to be contributing to developing this solution as a part of emissions-free heat and power generation. The aim is to integrate the heat generated in the production of hydrogen and energy into the existing rock cave heat storage. At the same time, we will maximize the total efficiency of the system. Niko Paaso, Director at EPV Energia

Digitalization will be used wherever possible in optimizing the outcome. The current combined heat and power generation plant in the Vaasa region provides excellent locational support for this venture. The hydrogen, electricity, and heat production equipment, as well as the hydrogen storage, will be located in the grounds of the Vaskiluoto power plant. In the future it will be possible to increase the hydrogen production and storage capacity.

The venture supports the parties objectives to be CO 2 neutral during this decade. It also provides a new export opportunity for energy solutions, and is easily applicable even on a global scale.

The solution offers a new kind of emissions-free flexibility to the energy system, which is increasingly based on renewable energy sources. At the same time, the system marks one step more towards more efficient and CO 2 neutral energy production. Both viewpoints are extremely important to us. Hans-Alexander Ost, Development Director at Vaasan Sahko

During 2021, the venture parties aim to follow-up on funding possibilities, and to reach the final agreement for starting the project.
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Navys New Chief of Staff assumes duties View(s):

Sri Lanka Navys new Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Sumith Weerasinghe, assumed duties this week.

Rear Admiral Weerasinghe, an old boy of Badulla Central College, joined the Sri Lanka Navy executive branch in 1985 as an Officer Cadet of 13th intake. He completed his basic training at the Naval and Maritime Academy in Trincomalee and was commissioned as an Acting Sub Lieutenant in May 1987.

He followed the Sub Lieutenant Technical Course in India in 1988 and since then had been gradually promoted to subsequent ranks in his naval career, finally being elevated to the rank of Rear Admiral on October 16, 2016.

He has commanded Fast Attack Craft as well as Sri Lanka Naval Ships such as Jayasagara and Sayurala. Apart from that, among the prominent appointments he held were: Director Naval Welfare, Commandant SLNS Nipuna, Deputy Area Commander Southern and Northern Naval Areas, Director Naval Personnel, Commander Southeastern and Eastern Naval Commands, Director General Services and Commandant Volunteer Naval Force. He also served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Commander Western Naval Area.

He followed advanced courses in India, the United States and Bangladesh and has specialised in Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) at INS Venduruthy in Kochi, India. He is an alumnus of Bangladesh University of Professionals from which he was conferred the Masters Degree in Strategy and Development Studies.

He has been awarded a several medals including Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya for distinguished service, Uttama Seva Padakkama for valuable service and dedication to duty.
Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang is a popular tourist destination throughout the year due to its blue sea, long sandy beaches, wild beauty, and delicious seafood.

Here are some of the best places for visitors to enjoy when heading to Phu Quoc:

Located on the Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand marine economic corridor, Phu Quoc has been dubbed the pearl island.

The island enjoys a monsoon tropical climate with two seasons, the dry season that runs from November to April, along with the rainy season from May to October. The average temperature is 28 degrees Celsius, therefore allowing visitors to enjoy the beauty islands at any time during the year.

Situated 46km from the mainland, the island can be reached by air from Ho Chi Minh City within one hour, with the journey taking two hours from Hanoi.

Ham Ninh fishing village is located in the eastern region of Phu Quoc Island. The village represents a new tourist destination and is famous for activities such as scuba diving, exploring corals, relaxing in the crystal-clear water, and fishing. Visitors are able to experience a bustling atmosphere early in the morning when fishing boats dock at the local port and sell various items, with crab being a local marine specialty.

Bai Sao, also known as Star Beach, is famous for boasting seven km of smooth white sands and blue water. Indeed, CNN Traveler selected Bai Sao as one of the 10 wildest and most peaceful beaches worldwide.

Enjoying the exquisite beauty of the countrys southernmost island at sunset is worth trying once in a lifetime. As the sun sets, it turns the sea into a majestic gold, making Phu Quocs sunset a priceless treasure. Visitors should therefore head to Sunset Sanato or Dinh Cau in order to enjoy the moment.

As the countrys largest wild animal conservation area, Vietnam Vinpearl Safari features 2,000 species of animals and 1,200 species of plants. Guests are able to enter at a cost of VND600,000 per person.

An Thoi Archipelago consists of dozens of islands. Here, tourists are able to find many coral reefs between two to four metres under the water, with the local marine life becoming more diverse at greater depths. Three popular services in the area are snorkeling, scuba diving, and sea walking. The package prices are also different, ranging from VND280,000 to VND350,000 for snorkeling, whilst scuba diving costs VND900,000 to VND1 million, and sea walking services are VND950,000 per person. Indeed, this allows guests to go to the very bottom of the ocean and get even closer to the spectacular corals and fish.

Phu Quoc night market is crowded with various stalls selling a wide variety of different commodities. Visitors to the night market can enjoy its peacefulness as well as the closeness, sincerity, and simplicity of local people on this beautiful island. (Photo: Internet)

VOV

Phu Quoc ahead of becoming first Vietnamese island city With Phu Quoc district poised to become the countrys first island city from March 1 following its recognition as a new city in Kien Giang Province, lets discover the city before it becomes an important national landmark.
Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday wrote a letter to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seeking a reply about the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

In a letter to CM Nitish Kumar, Yadav wrote that there had been a huge spike in cases of murder, loot, kidnapping, extortion, rape and theft in the last few days in Bihar. Even records of the Centre indicate higher incidence of crime in Bihar.

"High-profile cases make headlines in Bihar but there are so many cases at the village, Panchayat and block level taking place on a daily basis which go unnoticed. It is unfortunate that Nitish and his government are wasting energy in search of decades-old crime records. If Nitish concentrates even one per cent on strengthening the law and order infrastructure of Bihar, we would get positive results," wrote Tejashwi.

"Instead of making the department accountable, he always tries to blame the history of the state. The people of Bihar are saying that there have been much-better phases than his 15-year tenure."

"Criminals protected by your government are rampant in society and bureaucrats have a monopoly in government. They do not listen to anyone, even public representatives. Officers do not even pick up phones of common people," Tejashwi alleged in the letter.

"Tiredness is clearly visible on the face of the CM and even leaders of BJP are attacking him over his work efficiency, accountability and sensitivity. Opposition parties are ready to help the government in a positive manner," he said.
London:

A huge blaze on Wednesday engulfed a 24-storey residential tower block in west London housing over 100 families, killing at least 12 people and injuring 74 others, with police suspecting the death toll could rise further.

The fire at Grenfell Tower on the Lancaster West Estate in Latimer Road was reported at 01:16 local time. About 600 people were believed to have been inside the towers 120 flats when the blaze ripped through the building.

The Metropolitan Police, which previously had put the number of fatalities at six, now raised the death toll to 12.

Commander Stuart Cundy, of the Metropolitan Police earlier said the recovery operation would be complex over a number of days.

He said it was likely to be some time before police could identify the victims, and it was too early to speculate on the cause of the fire.

The fire is thought to have started because of a faulty refrigerator on the 3rd or 4th floor of the building soon after midnight and destroyed flat after flat.

By noon, the building looked to be just smoking ruins but the fire again took hold, and cladding began to fall to the ground.

Eyewitnesses described people trapped in the burning tower, in north Kensington, screaming for help and yelling for their children to be saved.

Firefighters rescued many people and are still trying to put the fire out in the 24-storey block 12 hours on.

Police say there may still be people in the building who are unaccounted for.

Eyewitnesses said they saw lights - thought to be mobile phones or torches - flashing at the top of the block of flats, and trapped residents coming to their windows - some holding children.

Also read: Fire breaks out at Sales Tax office in Lucknow

It is understood that several hundred people would have been in the block when the fire broke out shortly after midnight, most of them sleeping.

This is an unprecedented incident. In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never ever seen anything of this scale, London Fire Brigade chief Dany Cotton told reporters.

Extensive cordons remain in place and a number of nearby residents have been evacuated as a precaution, Cundy said.

Commander Stuart Cundy, of the Metropolitan Police, said the recovery operation would be complex and lengthy, and the number of fatalities was expected to rise.

He declined to give any details of the number of people who may be missing.

He said it was likely to be some time before police could identify the victims, adding that it was too early to speculate on the cause of the fire.

Also read: Fire breaks out at Election Commissions office; no casualties reported

Firefighters rescued large numbers, but London Mayor Sadiq Khan said a lot of people were unaccounted for.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing people trapped inside the burning building screaming for help and shouting for their children to be saved. People screamed for help as the fire took hold of the building. Some residents were seen using bedsheets to make their escape from the tower block.

As fire-fighters fought the blaze, witnesses said a baby was caught by members of the public after being dropped from the window of the 9th floor.

Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said firefighters expected to be on the scene for at least another 24 hours and she would not speculate about the cause of the blaze.

She said there were concerns that people were still inside the tower and she urged all residents to make sure they had reported themselves to police so that the authorities know they are safe.

Prime Minister Theresa May is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life, said Downing Street.

The area around Grenfell Tower is home to a large number of Muslims. Many were awake at the time the fire broke out having their early morning meal before beginning the daily fast for the holy month of Ramzan.

The survivors, whose belongings are presumed to have been destroyed, gathered in the nearby Rugby Portobello community centre where they were given water, clothes and blankets.

Michael Paramasivan, who lives on the seventh floor with his girlfriend and young daughter, said he ignored official advice to stay in your home.

If we had stayed in that flat, we wouldve perished. My gut instinct told me just to get the girls out. I wrapped the little one up because of the smoke and I just got them out, he said.

Im lucky to be alive and lots of people have not got out of the building Ive lost everything I own. Im standing here in everything Ive got, one survivor said.

Paul Munakr, who lives on the seventh floor, spoke of his escape. As I was going down the stairs, there were firefighters, truly amazing firefighters that were actually going upstairs, to the fire, trying to get as many people out the building as possible, he told the BBC.

Another resident, Zoe, who lives on the fourth floor, said she was woken by a neighbour banging on her door.

The whole landing was thick with smoke. The smoke alarms werent going off but the way it spread so quickly from the fourth floor, all the way up to the 23rd floor was scary, she said.

Refurbishment of the housing block had been completed last year and the Fire Brigades Union said something had gone badly wrong with fire prevention procedures at the building.

London Mayor Khan declared the fire as a major incident and said questions will need to be answered over the safety of such tower blocks.

We cant have a situation where peoples safety is put at risk because of bad advice being given or if it is the case, as has been alleged, of tower blocks not being properly serviced or maintained, he said.

Grenfell Tower is managed by the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation on behalf of the local council.

The local Grenfell Action Group had claimed, before and during the refurbishment, that the block constituted a fire risk and residents had warned that access to the site for emergency vehicles was severely restricted.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing the building burning through to its very core.

Distraught relatives have been using social media to try and make contact with missing loved ones.

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Mumbai, Jan 16 : Amit Sadh plays the protagonist in the upcoming web series Jeet Ki Zidd. The actor says the story, set against the backdrop of the Indian Army Special Task Force and based on a true story, is more than just about valour. It is a story of hope and passion, he points out.

"It is the story of one of our Kargil war heroes, Major Deependra Singh Sengar, and how he followed his dream to be part of the Special Task Force since childhood. There comes a time in his journey where he and his wife goes through the darkest phase -- he lost his physical strength -- and yet he did not give up. That is a very important part of the story. This is not just a story of bravery, it goes beyond that. It is a story of hope and passion," Amit told IANS.

"The story is all the more important for the present time because mental health is a paramount topic right now. This story really makes us believe how we can gather courage from within to achieve our dream, if only we decide not to give up. That way, it is a universal story," he added.

Directed by Vishal Mangalorkar the show also features Sushant Singh and Amrita Puri.

A major part of the shoot took place under extreme weather conditions. Was that tough for the cast? "Who expected it to be easy anyway?" Amit replied with a laugh, adding: "I will not call that a challenge because we knew from the beginning that we have to go through certain weather conditions and a physically tough shoot." "It was a great time shooting outdoor, I think I have started sharing a special brotherhood and bonding with Sushant bhai. I was a huge fan of his work before I met him and now he is my co-actor, too," said Amit.

The show Jeet Ki Zidd releases on Zee5 on January 22.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text

Sigourney Weaver made the most of the unseasonably warm weather in Los Angeles on Friday as she enjoyed a swim in the sea with husband Jim Simpson.

The Aliens actress, 71, showed off her svelte frame in a black wetsuit as she gripped the arm of her theatre director husband, 64, as they made their way out of the sea.

Sigourney and Jim, also clad in a wetsuit, appeared in good spirits as they flashed smiles while making their way up the beach.

Enjoying the waves: Sigourney Weaver made the most of the unseasonably warm weather in Los Angeles on Friday as she enjoyed a swim in the sea with husband Jim Simpson

The venture into the sea was clearly a fun one, with Jim also clutching a pair of flippers in his hands.

Their daughter Charlotte, 30, was also at the beach, making it a leisurely family day out.

Sigourney has certainly been making the most of the nearby beach, having been seen in recent weeks enjoying days out with her daughter and husband of almost 40 years.

Her latest outing comes after the actress - whose father Pat Weaver created the Today show - appeared on the February issue of InStyle.

Happy couple: The Aliens actress, 71, showed off her svelte frame in a black wetsuit as she gripped the arm of her theatre director husband, 64, as they made their way out of the sea

Speaking with reference to her dressed-down appearance on the publication's cover, Weaver spoke about how she felt fashion trends would change after the end of the global pandemic; the actress noted that the future differences would be fine with her.

'Maybe dressing up will become more personal, more individual  and more comfortable, which I think is a great thing,' she said.

Weaver discussed multiple topics during her interview with the fashion publication, including her beginnings as an actress and how she reacted to her former acting professors dismissing her talent as a performer, which she has reportedly taken as a learning experience.

Sticking together: Sigourney is pictured with her husband Jim Simpson and their daughter Charlotte last year. The couple have been married since 1984

'They said that I didn't have the talent to be in the business, that they didn't think I should be at the school. It took me many years to get over it....if anyone reads this who's an acting student, do not do what I diddon't take it so seriously and actually believe them.'

The three-time Academy Award nominee then spoke about how she proved her detractors wrong and how her subsequent success as an actress has allowed her to modify the parts that she is given, stating that: 'I often have...input.'

Weaver elaborated: 'That's both the advantage and the disadvantage of working with me.'

The Paul actress also gave her opinion on relationship advice and how she believed in looking inward when facing issues with a partner; she has been married to stage director Jim Simpson since 1984 and the two share a daughter named Charlotte, aged 30.

The actress opined: 'I've always believed what they say in the psychology magazinesthat whatever is wrong with your current relationship, you'll re-experience it in the next one. So why not stick with this great guy who you found and work things out with him?'

Weaver also discussed how her stage name was not the result of a larger play about changing her identity, which many sources have speculated about; the actress was born as Susan Alexandra Weaver.

'I didn't realise what a huge step it was to change my name, or what it probably said about me wanting to go my own way. I didn't see it in that context. I just didn't like being called Susie...and look, now some people call me Siggy, which is just like Susie. You can't escape your destiny.'
Actor Vijay Sethupathi has apologised for a viral picture that showed him cutting his birthday cake with a sword. The photo was circulated widely on social media earlier this week. Vijay had a small birthday celebration on the sets of his upcoming film with director Ponram.

Read: Vijay Sethupathi Apologises for Using Sword to Cut His Birthday Cake, Issues Statement

The 'post a picture of' trend on Instagram has really caught on, with several celebrities trying it out to connect with their fans. Actress Athiya Shetty tried it out recently, sharing a bunch of photos from her childhood as well as with her friends. One follower asked her to post an unseen photo with KL Rahul, and the actress obliged.

Read: Fan Requests Athiya Shetty for Unseen Photo with KL Rahul, Actress Obliges

United States President Donald Trump is moving out of the White House. One of the pictures shared online features a rare piece of pop culture collection. Along with Trump's luggage, a person was spotted carrying a large hammer, very similar to that of Marvel's superhero Thor with "TRUMP" written over it. While it is unclear if it's a rare collection item, Marvel fans aren't very pleased to see it with Trump.

Read: He's Not Worthy: Marvel Fans Not Pleased to See Thor Like Hammer with 'Trump' Written Over it

Karan Johar hosted a party at his residence on (Friday) where Sara Ali Khan and Ananya Panday were seen chilling with fashion designer Manish Malhotra. In the pictures, Sara, Manish, and Ananya were seen posing for selfies and having fun at the party.

Read: Sara Ali Khan, Ananya Panday Look Drop-dead Gorgeous As They Bond at Karan Johar's Party, See Pics

Atalent manager of the reality show Bigg Boss has reportedly died in a road accident. Pista Dhakad is said to have passed away in Mumbai on Friday. Former contestants like Shehnaaz Gill, Himanshi Khurana, Kamya Panjabi and Yuvika Chaudhary have mourned the death of the 23-year-old on social media.

Read: Ex-Bigg Boss Contestants Shehnaaz Gill, Himanshi Khurana Shocked After Reality Show's Talent Manager Dies
Norway said Covid-19 vaccines may be too risky for the very old and terminally ill, the most cautious statement yet from a European health authority as countries assess the real-world side effects of the first shots to gain approval.

Norwegian officials said 23 people had died in the country a short time after receiving their first dose of the vaccine. Of those deaths, 13 have been autopsied, with the results suggesting that common side effects may have contributed to severe reactions in frail, elderly people, according to the Norwegian Medicines Agency.

For those with the most severe frailty, even relatively mild vaccine side effects can have serious consequences," the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said. For those who have a very short remaining life span anyway, the benefit of the vaccine may be marginal or irrelevant."

The recommendation does not mean younger, healthier people should avoid being vaccinated. But its an early indication of what to watch as countries begin to issue safety monitoring reports on the vaccines. Emer Cooke, the new head of the European Medicines Agency, has said tracking the safety of Covid vaccines, especially those relying on novel technologies such as messenger RNA, would be one of the biggest challenges once shots are rolled out widely.

Pfizer and BioNTech are working with the Norwegian regulator to investigate the deaths in Norway, Pfizer said in an e-mailed statement. The agency found that the number of incidents so far is not alarming, and in line with expectations," Pfizer said.

Allergic reactions have been uncommon so far. In the U.S., authorities reported 21 cases of severe allergic reactions from Dec. 14-23 after administration of about 1.9 million initial doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE. Thats an incidence of 11.1 cases per million doses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Though both Covid-19 vaccines approved so far in Europe were tested in tens of thousands of people -- including volunteers in their late 80s and 90s -- the average trial participant was in his or her early 50s. The first people to be immunized in many places have been older than that as countries rush to inoculate nursing-home residents at high risk from the virus.

Norway has given at least one dose to about 33,000 people, focusing on those considered to be most at risk if they contract the virus, including the elderly. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine approved late last year has been used most broadly, with a similar shot from Moderna Inc. approved earlier this month also now being administered.

Of 29 cases of potential side effects investigated by Norwegian authorities, almost three-quarters were in people age 80 or older, the regulator said in a Jan. 14 report.

In France, one frail patient died in a care home two hours after being vaccinated, but authorities said given the patients previous medical history there is no indication the death was linked to the vaccine. The French pharmaceutical safety agency on Thursday reported four cases of severe allergic reactions and two incidents of irregular heartbeat after vaccination.

The first Europe-wide safety report on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will probably be published at the end of January, the regulators key medicines committee said Friday. Vaccine makers are required to submit data monthly.

In the U.K., which has carried out more immunizations per capita than anywhere else in Europe, authorities will assess safety data and plan to publish details of suspected reactions on a regular basis," the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said, without giving a date.

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New Delhi, Jan 16 : India began the world's largest Covid-19 vaccination programme on Saturday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching the drive aimed at ending the pandemic which so far has killed 1,52,093 people in the country and ravaged the economy.

Addressing the country digitally, the Prime Minister said that India managed to make two 'Made-in-India' vaccines in a very short period which usually takes years.

Lauding the efforts of scientists who are involved in vaccine research, Modi said they deserve special praise for making these vaccines and that "the vaccines will provide us a decisive victory against the deadly pandemic".

The Drug Controller General of India earlier this month approved 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin' vaccines for emergency use. The Oxford University and AstraZeneca have developed 'Covishield', which has been manufactured in India by Serum Institute of India in Pune while Bharat Biotech has developed 'Covaxin'.

The Prime Minister further reminded people to get two doses of the vaccine, explaining that "there should be a gap of almost one month between the first and second doses".

"Only two weeks after the second dose, your body will develop the necessary strength against coronavirus," the Prime Minister said.

Noting that this kind of vaccination campaign on such a large scale has never been done in history, Modi said "India is vaccinating three crore people in its first phase of vaccination starting today and the government will bear the cost of the vaccination to be administered to healthcare workers".

In the second phase, the Prime Minister said "we have to take it to 30 crore".

"Those who are elderly, who are suffering from serious illness, will get vaccinated at this stage. You can imagine, there are only three countries in the world with a population above 300 million - India, China and US itself." The Prime Minister launched the vaccination drive at a time when India registered 1,05,42,841 Covid infections till Saturday with 15,158 new cases in the last 24 hours, as it continued with its streak of low single-day cases. A total of 1,01,79,715 people have recovered from the disease and currently there are 2,11,033 active cases. The recovery rate stands at 96.56 per cent, while the fatality rate is 1.44 per cent.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
In the aftermath of President Donald Trump's banishment from social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, a handful of world leaders have expressed alarm over the power of private companies to decide if and when to ban elected leaders from key parts of the public arena.

At least two ruling governments - on the left wing in Mexico and the right in Poland - have since suggested pursuing policies to prevent what happened to Trump.

In Mexico, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Thursday in a daily briefing shared on social media that his government would reach out to other G-20 nations to seek a joint proposal on such bans, which he compared to the "Spanish Inquisition."

"I can tell you that at the first G-20 meeting we have, I am going to make a proposal on this issue," Lopez Obrador said, referring to a meeting of the leaders of the world's top 20 economies scheduled for May in Rome.

In Poland, meanwhile, the conservative-led government is pushing a draft "Freedom of Speech" law, first announced last month, that would regulate speech restrictions on social media.

"The owners of social media networks cannot operate above the law," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Facebook on Tuesday. "That is why we will do everything to define the frame of operations of Facebook, Twitter, Instargram [sic] and other similar platforms."

Without mentioning Trump, Morawiecki likened the power of the social media companies to state control in the country during the Communist era. Sebastian Kaleta, Poland's deputy minister of justice, said in an interview this week that the Trump bans "could even be called censorship."

Under the Polish draft law, users would be able to petition social media companies to restore removed content if it could not be shown to violate Polish law.

The specifics of Lopez Obrador's plan were not immediately clear, though the Mexican president said he had instructed officials to look into whether a state-run social network could be created "without censorship."

The hope in both Mexico and Poland is for an international coalition to push back against the power of social media giants like Facebook and Twitter, two of the largely U.S.-based companies that made the decision to ban Trump from their platforms over claims he incited violence at the U.S. Capitol last week.

Both Lopez Obrador and Morawiecki suggested that they would seek coordination with other countries and the European Union.

David Kaye, a professor of law at the University of California at Irvine, and former U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of expression, said that while national regulation efforts might succeed, he thought it would be hard for Mexico and Poland to make a case for international action.

"Globally, there is much less consensus," Kaye said in an email, adding that if Lopez Obrador were to take his proposals to the G-20, "I think those discussions will quickly become mired in areas of disagreement."

Kaye added that both countries would likely face questions about their own handling of freedom of speech in the light of lingering scandals in Mexico about the use of spyware to track journalists and activists and ongoing controversy about alleged crackdowns on free media and the independent of the judiciary in Poland.

"All of these demands for the companies not to regulate public official's speech are deeply ironic, if not hypocritical," Kaye said.

Facebook said last week that its decision to ban Trump was the product of exceptional circumstances. "We ... believe that the public has a right to the broadest possible access to political speech," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote. "The current context is now fundamentally different, involving use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government."

In an interview with The Washington Post this week, the E.U.'s top digital enforcer said that the unusual nature of the situation may have justified the action against Trump.

"This is, of course, the most extreme of extreme situations, that the president of the United States is inciting people to go toward Congress," European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager said. "So I completely accept that this is an extreme situation, and lines have been crossed."

However, a number of world leaders, including some close to Trump and some more skeptical of him, have expressed concern about the social media company's moves.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said last week that the permanent suspension of Trump's social media accounts was a "problematic" restriction on freedom of speech, according to her spokesman.

"This fundamental right can be intervened in, but according to the law and within the framework defined by legislators - not according to a decision by the management of social media platforms," Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin on Monday.

In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro - a key Trump ally - has promoted rival social media companies like Parler and Telegram.

Political activists like Russia's Alexei Navalny and China's Ai Weiwei have also criticized the moves against Trump, comparing it to the censorship they have seen in authoritarian countries, while Iranian activists have suggested that if Trump is banned for inciting violence, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader, should be too.

Both Mexican and Polish governments have strong relations with Trump, with Lopez Obrador holding off on congratulating President-elect Joe Biden until more than a month after the November election and Poland offering to host a U.S. military base called "Fort Trump."

Kaye said that while there were legitimate global arguments about regulation of social media, the timing and contexts of the moves raised concerns about their motives.

"These governments have been demanding the companies take strong action against hate speech and incitement for years," Kaye said. "Now they do, in the context of an insurrection essentially or at least arguably promoted by the President of the United States, and they push back against it."

WASHINGTON - During the chaos at the Capitol, overwhelmed police officers confronted and combated a frenzied sea of rioters who transformed the seat of democracy into a battlefield. Now police chiefs across the country are confronting the uncomfortable reality that members in their own ranks were among the mob that faced off against other law enforcement officers.

At least 13 off-duty law enforcement officials are suspected of taking part in the riot, a tally that could grow as investigators continue to pore over footage and records to identify participants. Police leaders are turning in their own to the FBI and taking the striking step of reminding officers in their departments that criminal misconduct could push them off the force and behind bars.

The reckoning within police departments comes as plans for new demonstrations this weekend and on Inauguration Day are solidifying, with authorities warning of the potential for violence in state capitals. Participants are expected to protest election results that made Joe Biden president-elect.

"We are making clear that they have First Amendment rights like all Americans," said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who on Thursday accepted the resignation of an 18-year veteran in his department due to his involvement in the riot, which followed a rally at which President Donald Trump urged his supporters to not accept his defeat. "However, engaging in activity that crosses the line into criminal conduct will not be tolerated."

The revelation that officers participated in the chaos was the latest hit for law enforcement's reputation, coming on the heels of a year in which police violence spurred nationwide protests and activists called for cutting police funding. As photographs and videos of some off-duty officers at the riot emerged on social media, some residents back home felt betrayed, while police officials worried about a black eye for the entire profession's credibility.

Acevedo, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said the behavior is so egregious that it is often fellow officers who are alerting police chiefs and others to their colleagues' participation in last week's mob attack on the Capitol.

It marks a notable break in the so-called "blue wall of silence," an aspect of police culture that encourages officers to turn a blind eye to misconduct by fellow officers. Craig Futterman, who directs the University of Chicago Law Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project, said the Capitol riot was different.

"The 'Code of Silence' is fundamentally about loyalty to your fellow officer and that 'no one understands what we're going through but us,' " Futterman said. By contrast, there's something "fundamentally anti-police" about storming the Capitol, he said.

That fellow police officers were the target of much of the mob's brutality is another important factor that may have prompted whistleblowing. U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick was among the five people killed as a result of the riot. Dozens of other police officers were injured.

While some officers have said they were merely at the rally, rather than participating in the riot, others were found to have gone farther.

In Rocky Mount, Va., the presence of two officers in the riot, which included displays of the Confederate battle flag, came to light after a colleague and another city official leaked photos of them inside the Capitol during the riot to an area activist. The president of the local Black Lives Matter chapter posted them on her Facebook page and one of the officers quickly defended himself and threatened future violence.

"A legitimate republic stands on 4 boxes," Officer Thomas Robertson, 47, wrote in response on his Facebook page. "The soapbox, the ballot box, the jury box and then the cartridge box. We just moved to step 3. Step 4 will not be pretty...I've spent most of my adult life fighting a counter insurgency. Im about to become part of one, and a very effective one."

Robertson and fellow officer Jacob Fracker, 27, were both arrested Wednesday by the FBI and are so far the only law enforcement officers facing federal charges, which include one count each of "knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority" and one count each of "violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds."

A Washington Post analysis shows that at least 29 current and former officers attended the Jan. 6 rally, with some proceeding to the Capitol, according to a review of officers' social media accounts, FBI reports and news reports.

Of those, at least 13 officers are under investigation for possible participation in the rioting, as well more than a dozen Capitol Police officers who may have assisted the mob that seized the Capitol.

The officers - and at least one police chief - came from tiny departments with less than a handful of officers to large agencies with thousands on their force.

Reports of police among the rioters at the Capitol has police leaders worried about erosion of the public's trust in law enforcement.

"It creates an issue where the public has a hard time believing that the . . . decisions they make off duty do not impact their choices and decisions they make while on duty," said Andrew Walsh, a deputy chief with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. That force is investigating reports that "employees" may have been at the Capitol, he said.

Since the start of his presidency, Trump styled himself as a champion of law enforcement who would restore to policing a level of respect, freedom and power he perceived to have been diminished under President Barack Obama.

Even before Trump declared himself the "law and order candidate" at a 2016 campaign event, he portrayed use of force against racial justice protesters and suspects in police custody as virtuous: As a candidate, he offered to pay the legal fees of his supporters who assaulted protesters disrupting his rallies. Not long after taking office in 2017, he told a crowd of police not to worry about injuring the people they arrest.

In the four years of Trump's administration, he has reversed police reform efforts and curbed the use of "pattern and practice" investigations into police departments for civil rights violations - something that had been a staple of the Obama-era Justice Department and is expected to resume under Biden. Police were keen to return the favor when Trump ran for a second term with many police unions enthusiastically offering their endorsement.

Dennis Kenney, a former police officer and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said he was "not too terribly surprised" police were among those at the pro-Trump rally that preceded the riot, citing what he called "some pretty strident" police union support for Trump and "an authoritarian sort of regime."

Police unions and policing groups backed Trump in the 2020 election, with the head of the National Association of Police Organizations last summer deeming him "the most pro-law enforcement president we've ever had."

However, union leaders said they are shocked by how some of their members appeared to cross the line at the Capitol. They also said officers who breached the Capitol should not expect their unions' support in their legal battles.

"We took an oath to protect the constitution and the rule of law," said Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police. "When people decide they are going to violate that - they are alone."

Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union, said he had joked with Acevedo about how absurd it would be for any of the department's 5,300 officers to be involved in the mob that stormed the Capitol.

He said the resignation of 48-year-old Tam Pham, after having been identified as having been at the Capitol, has not changed how he is communicating with his members. Griffith believes the line some officers crossed is so bright, it doesn't need to be explained to the rest of the force. Attempts to reach Pham were not successful.

"We took an oath to uphold the law, not violate it," Griffith said. "You have to have common sense and walk away. Think about it. There are [Capitol] officers being beaten. How, as an officer, do you not help out? How do you not understand that you shouldn't be there?"

David Ellis, the police chief in Troy, N.H., attended the Trump rally. As he approached the Capitol and saw the mob was pushing past the Capitol Police, he understood he needed to turn away, he said.

As he boarded a charter bus at Union Station with the rioting underway, he gave an interview to New York magazine, saying the violence was "not going to solve a thing" and characterized the way the Capitol Police were being treated as "ridiculous." He defended going to the rally, saying, "There's a lot of Trump supporters that are awesome people. Like me."

Ellis's small department has three full-time officers, including him. Richard Thackston, chairman of the Troy Board of Selectmen, has defended Ellis. But the blowback on town officials was immediate and fierce. More than 100 people sent emails and voice-mail messages threatening violence. Troy Town Hall is now closed indefinitely.

"They are saying we are members of the Klan. They are calling us Nazis. They are saying we should be taken to a firing squad," Thackston said. "There is a line for us. I don't think we tell people they cannot attend rallies. They have First Amendment rights."

Chuck Wexler, director of the Police Executive Research Forum, said for years police chiefs have wrestled with racist, white supremacist and violent rhetoric that some officers post on social media.

In those instances, Wexler said disciplinary action may be taken since such actions are often considered "conduct unbecoming an officer." It tarnishes the credibility of the officer, making it difficult for them to testify in their own criminal cases, impairing their ability to fulfill their job duties.

"This is an evolution, a big leap from the difficult waters that police departments have waded through in recent years as officers take to social media to express their political and sometimes racist views," Wexler said. "What happened at the Capitol the other day is new territory. Going from freedom of speech to participating in a riot where a police officer dies, that takes it to a new level."

Brian Levin, a former police officer and director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism in California, said white supremacy and far-right-wing groups are successfully recruiting local law enforcement officers. They also encourage their young members to enter law enforcement, he said.

"We are encountering a new insurgency, as far-right extremists become more active, as their connections to mainstream politics becomes attenuated, but police agencies have yet to adapt to this new threat which directly impacts their ranks and also national security," he said.

People living in the communities where the officers work, who have forged relationships with them, say they are disappointed and hurt.

Bridgette Craighead saved videos of her dancing with Robertson, the Rocky Mount officer, at a Black Lives Matter event she organized in her Virginia hometown over the summer. She said she also became close to Officer Fracker.

She was proud of the relationship they forged.

"I thought we would be an example for the rest of the world," Craighead said. "When we left our last protest, they told us they loved us. They escorted us home. Now I feel betrayed."

On Jan. 9, three days after the riot, Craighead received a copy of a photo of Robertson and Fracker posing inside the Capitol during the siege. They were standing in front of a statute of Revolutionary War General John Stark, who is know for a toast he once wrote - "Live free or die." Fracker is holding his middle finger up to the camera.

She quickly posted it on her Facebook page. The next day, the two officers were placed on paid leave and the FBI was notified, according to a joint statement by Police Chief Ken Criner and Town Manager C. James Ervin. Criner and Ervin did not return calls seeking additional comment.

In response to Craighead's post, Robertson, who, according to local news reports is an Army veteran who received sniper training and served in Iraq, said he did not see a conflict or disparity between supporting local Black protesters and his protest that involved a breach of the Capitol.

"I can protest for what I believe in and still support your protest fro [sic] what you believe in," he wrote. "Just saying...after all, I fought for the right to do it."

Fracker, who military.com said previously served as a Marine, also defended himself on Facebook, saying he believed he did nothing wrong.

"Lol to anyone who's possibly concerned about the picture of me going around," he wrote. "Sorry I hate freedom? Not like I did anything illegal, way too much to lost [sic] to go there, but y'all do what you feel you need to do."

Three days later, Fracker and Robertson were arrested by the FBI.

- - -

The Washington Post's Julie Tate and Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report.
In Kakheti, police officers detained a man who stabbed three people, the Georgian Interior Ministry informs.

The incident took place in the Gurjaani region.

According to the investigation, the man attacked as a result of a quarrel. The offender injured three people with a knife and fled the scene.

The attacker was detained several hours later at a farm located near the crime scene. He faces from 9 to 13 years in prison, Sputnik Georgia informs.
Across California, a vast number of coronavirus vaccine doses are locked up in cold storage. But last week, when Santa Clara County asked for 100,000 doses to ramp up vaccine distribution, the state offered only a fraction of that amount: 6,000 doses.

The disconnect between the countys request and the states response underscores the largest and most mystifying problem in Californias badly fumbled immunization rollout: How can California simultaneously have not enough vaccine to meet demand while so many doses remain unused?

California has among the lower rates of vaccine administration in the country, with only 38% of the 3.1 million doses delivered to the state actually being given so far  leaving close to 2 million doses apparently stored in freezers and awaiting recipients. But even with those doses in storage, county officials and health care providers say theyre scrambling to procure more.

We are not sitting on any vaccines, they are all moving out the door, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said Friday, when she also announced plans to open three mass vaccination sites in the city. We are ready to ramp up as long as we receive the supply to do so. The locations are not the problem. Its the supply.

Californias rocky immunization launch reflects challenges at all levels of government.

On-the-ground health care providers have struggled with staffing and logistical challenges to administer vaccines, especially in places where theyre also battling a raging surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Counties have complained that inconsistent vaccine supply hampers their ability to reliably expand vaccinations. And the state, which does not actually receive physical vaccines but instead acts as a coordinator, has struggled to navigate the chaos in Washington. Although state numbers appear to show California far short of meeting its goal of vaccinating 1 million people over a 10-day stretch that just ended, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday that he expected the state would meet the goal, since many injections in the time frame do not yet show up in the data.

On Friday, President-elect Joe Biden laid out a goal to vaccinate 100 million Americans in his first 100 days of office. But that same day, the Washington Post reported that a national stockpile of doses to be released next week by the Trump administration doesnt exist, leaving states fumbling to figure out how and when their next supplies would arrive.

Newsom said California is expecting hundreds of thousands more doses soon and he didnt know whether he could still count on those. We heard about it at the same time as you, he said of the missing stockpile during a news briefing Friday.

There are some reasonable explanations for why so much vaccine is held up in storage while counties clamor for more. Many counties say the doses they have in freezers already have been scheduled for release to patients. Or they may hold on to vials of doses until they have a large group of people to inoculate at once, since the temperature-sensitive vaccines must be used quickly before they expire.

Given the inconsistent vaccine supply coming from the federal government, some providers may also hold on to some doses longer to make sure people who have received their first dose can get a second one of the same type of vaccine.

In Contra Costa County, 72,000 doses have been allocated to providers and just 36,000 had been administered as of Friday. But many of the remaining doses are accounted for.

The county is not just sitting on the other 36,000 doses, Dr. Ori Tzvieli, the deputy health officer, said Friday. We have scheduled thousands of people to receive those doses in the next coming days and weeks.

Cedars-Sinai 2020

Similarly, in San Francisco, about 40% of the doses the citys health system has received  about 14,000 out of 34,000  have been injected. The remaining 20,000 have been designated for eligible residents, including health care workers, and are expected to be injected by next week.

Those examples explain why some doses are sitting in storage, but its not clear why two-thirds of the states vaccine supply hasnt been used  putting the nations largest state far behind West Virginia, the Dakotas and most other states in the proportion of population that has been vaccinated.

The state says it may be partly due to a data reporting lag: Counties and health systems may not always immediately report doses injected. But Californias fractured, complicated distribution system makes it nearly impossible to tell where vaccine has gone and how much of it has been administered.

California has 58 local health departments and three city health departments. In many areas, the local health department runs vaccine appointment scheduling systems. But private providers also handle vaccinations.

By contrast, West Virginia, which is vaccinating residents at the fastest rate in the United States, has a simpler system for scheduling vaccinations and providing updates to the public.

Its a more centralized, streamlined process, said Jennifer Tolbert, director of state health reform at Kaiser Family Foundation, who tracks state vaccination efforts. So youre kind of a little less reliant on the health care providers themselves setting up adequate systems for alerting personnel.

The state never physically receives any vaccine, said a spokesman for the California Department of Public Health. The doses go straight to county health departments and large health care providers from Pfizer, which makes one of the vaccines, or McKesson, which distributes the other vaccine, made by Moderna.

Counties and big health systems place their orders for doses through the state, the state passes that up to the federal government. The federal government decides how many doses it will allocate each state, and directs the manufacturers and distributors to ship doses accordingly. The state allocates doses to the counties and health systems; the counties deliver vaccine to some smaller local providers or give the shots at community clinics. So the state and federal government resemble air traffic controllers, as opposed to physically having the vaccines and sending them out.

Statewide, there are 3,500 health care providers and 100,000 individuals eligible to vaccinate residents, Newsom said Friday, the first time this level of detail was shared with the public. But only several hundred providers have received and administered vaccines so far, according to the state health department.

Beyond that, the state has provided little transparency about the number of doses delivered to and administered by each provider. That makes it difficult to pinpoint where exactly the unused doses are. Many private providers have not disclosed that level of detail to the public, and the information they have shared has been piecemeal. The state said it will soon post an online dashboard to show where vaccines are being sent, how many are sent there, and how many get administered.

County health departments are providing some visibility into how many doses they are getting and how many doses they are administering through their public health systems, which generally serve low-income and uninsured residents.

But this is just one slice of the vaccine pie: Many counties dont know how many doses are going to private providers in their county because some of those providers are getting doses directly from the state. Nor do they know how many doses are going to CVS and Walgreens, which are vaccinating nursing home residents in California as part of a federal pharmacy program. (The federal government has a more direct role in allocating doses to the drugstore chains nursing home program than it does to other providers; the Department of Public Health says shots administered through this program are not counted in the states vaccine numbers.)

Each county reports vaccine updates differently and sporadically, making it hard for the public to get a clear picture progress in the region and state. Several Bay Area counties said they have plans to develop online dashboards to update the public, but only Santa Clara County has done so, launching a new website on Friday.

Many private providers say they are working to get doses injected as quickly as possible and eagerly await a more predictable supply. As soon as we receive vaccines, we are actively working to get them into arms of individuals, said Carrie Owen Plietz, Kaiser Permanentes Northern California president, at a news conference Friday.

Cedars-Sinai 2020

Santa Clara County is among the more transparent in providing vaccine data, and its reports offer perhaps the clearest picture yet of the states convoluted distribution system.

About 16 organizations in the county have registered with the state and are providing vaccines. They include the county health system, large providers like Kaiser, several independent hospitals, the Veterans Administration and Walgreens and CVS, along with several small clinics.

But the county is only responsible for overseeing administration in its own system and those of certain health care providers, including Stanford and several local hospitals. Everyone else gets vaccine directly from the state or the federal government, and most dont publicly report how many doses theyve received or administered.

Of the roughly 150,000 vaccine doses that Santa Clara County can account for, about half have been administered, according to public health officials. But they dont know how many more doses are flowing into the county through other providers, never mind how many of those doses have been given to people.

Is it any wonder, given the Rube Goldberg contraption thats been designed for (vaccine) delivery, that people are confused and uncertain about where the next doses comes from? To call it convoluted is an understatement, said Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian.

Kaiser and Palo Alto Medical Foundation  which together provide care for more than half the countys 1.9 million residents  get their own vaccine supply from the state. The county recently ordered both to provide daily reports on doses received and administered, but that isnt happening consistently yet.

Transparency and a precise understanding of where doses are going is important to help public health officials understand where bottlenecks are occurring. If counties and the state don't know which agencies are falling behind on administering doses, they have no way of intervening and improving the situation.

Public health officials are concerned they dont have much information about the pharmacy vaccination program, which is supposed to be immunizing nursing home residents, who are among the most vulnerable to serious illness and death from COVID-19.

These distribution chains break down sometimes, too. Public health officials said they recently gave 4,000 doses to a local Kaiser hospital that had run out of supply to vaccinate its own staff. And theyve also bypassed the federal program to inoculate nursing home staff and residents via CVS and Walgreens a few times to vaccinate staff and residents they deemed especially at risk.

The system is built in a way that does not provide for accountability. Everybody has somebody else to blame, and that is not serving us well at this particular time, Simitian said. In order for the system to work there has to be simplicity and convenience. And so far weve seen precious little of either.

Chronicle staff writer Trisha Thadani contributed to this report.

Catherine Ho and Erin Allday are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com, eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho, @erinallday
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Australia's tertiary education industry faces a devastating economic hit this year as international students from key markets switch their applications to countries with more open borders including Canada and COVID-ravaged Britain.

University vice-chancellors and international education agents have reported students in India, Nepal and China, who were originally bound for Australia, this month have started making other arrangements because they want to study on a real campus instead of online.

Education agents have reported an increasing number of international students are considering studying in Canada and the UK instead of Australia. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Western Sydney University vice-chancellor Barney Glover said his agent networks told him some students who had been offered a place at his university had eventually declined the offer to take a place at a UK university.

"The information we are getting from our agent network is that students are deciding to take UK offers because the UK borders are open," he said. "Although the students and families are concerned about COVID, they are prioritising being able to enter the country and to begin studies in the UK over the risks of COVID."
Playing off the Capitol insurrection tragedy for all its political worth, some unhinged leftist zealots propose that the 75 million Trumper cultists need to undergo deprogramming. This is their bid for unity in America?

And how would deprogramming be put into effect? It boggles the mind.

Would Trumpers be forced into re-education camps run by woke and Identity tribalists? Would Trumpers be subject to mind-altering methods to eliminate their cultish beliefs? The leftist might ask the Chinese and North Korean communists the best methods to use. After all, they hold a monopoly on re-education camps, as the Nazis once did under Hitler.

And if those methods failed, to reshape Trump minds, we could take away their jobs, property and limit their free speech.

Would the same anti-Trumpers advocate the incarceration of the BLM and the Antifa cultish thugs who burned, looted and trashed American cities? No, of course not. They were peaceful protestors.

Unity in America? Not going to happen when such un-American and dystopian ideas are advanced.

(Joseph Valente is a South Beach resident.)
According to the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), important new progress has been made in the research of quantum communication and quantum networks. Taking advantage of high-quality entangled photon pair sources, scientists have realized long-distance quantum entanglement purification through 11 km fiber for the first time, with purification efficiency more than 6,000 times higher than the international level.

The work was conducted by a research group headed by Li Chuanfeng and Liu Biheng as part of Academician Guo Guangcan's team at USTC, in cooperation with researchers from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications. The results were published in the internationally renowned journal Physical Review Letters on Jan. 8.

High-quality long-distance entanglement is essential for both quantum communication and scalable quantum networks. The previous significant entanglement purification experiments require two pairs of low-quality entangled states and were demonstrated in tabletop.

The USTC researchers proposed a high-efficiency and long-distance entanglement purification using only one pair of hyperentangled state. In their studies, one pair of polarization spatial-mode hyperentanglement was distributed over 11 km multicore fiber (noisy channel).

The results show that after purification, the fidelity of polarization entanglement increased from 0.771 to 0.887. Moreover, by using one pair of hyperentanglement, the total purification efficiency can be estimated as 6.6103 times the experiment using two pairs of entangled states with spontaneous parametric down-conversion sources.

The research results provide important technical support for the realization of highly efficient quantum relay in the future.
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Nigerian authorities have warned on Friday against the circulation of fake coronavirus vaccines in the country, where 10 million real doses of the shots are expected in March.

There are reports of fake vaccines in Nigeria, the Director-General of Nigeria's National Agency for Food Drug and Administration Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye said during a virtual press conference.

NAFDAC is pleading with the public to beware. No Covid Vaccines have been approved by NAFDAC, she added. Fake vaccines can cause Covid-like illnesses or other serious diseases that could kill.

Nigeria's anticipated vaccines add to 100,000 expected doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine although it wasn't specified which type of jab would be used for the 10 million doses arriving in March.

It was also unclear whether the batch would be financed by the African Union (AU) or as part of COVAX, which links the World Health Organization (WHO) with private partners to work for pooled procurement and equitable distribution. File photo: A patient who is suspected of suffering from COVID-19 coronavirus undergoes testing at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital isolation centre on May 10, 2020. Audu MARTE / AFP

In April last year, black market coronavirus tests flourished in Nigeria because citizens were reluctant to be subjected to mandatory quarantine among other reasons.

READ ALSO: Students At Lagos Medical School Asked To Go Home After COVID-19 Outbreak

The most populous nation in Africa, with around 200 million people, Nigeria has officially reported some 104,000 Covid-19 cases, of which 1,382 have been fatal.

But these figures are believed to fall short of the real toll, since the number of tests in low.

Cases have risen sharply since the end of November, notably in the economic capital Lagos, a city of about 20 million people. The death rate has also increased.

A variant strain of coronavirus has been discovered in recent months but it remains unclear whether it is more contagious or deadly.

Nigerian authorities recently announced that they hope to vaccinate 40 percent of the population in 2021.

But the challenges of transporting and storing vaccines for many millions of people are enormous in a country where adequate hospital facilities are lacking.

AFP
Tandav review: Political intrigue cliches and bravura performances!

Saif Ali Khan is dependably good in a surprisingly straitjacketed role

Source: SIFY By: Sonia Chopra Critic's Rating: 2.5/5 Saturday 16 January 2021

Movie Title Tandav review: Political intrigue cliches and bravura performances! Director Ali Abbas Zafar

Star Cast Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Kumud Misra, Tigmanshu Dhulia,

Farmers protesting, university students attacked, protestors arrested Tandav takes references from several real-life incidents but chooses to just scratch the surface.

The first episode begins with farmers protesting over their land being given to a chemical factory. Ambitious politician, and heir to ruling political party, Samar Pratap Singh (Saif Ali Khan) gives instructions that lead to cops killing young men from the protests.

One of the protestors is later picked up from his university VNU, which leads to fellow students demanding his release. Student leader Shiva Shekhar (a fantastic Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) gets embroiled with wily politics leading to murder and mayhem.

For a while, the series focusses on student politics to the tune of AR Rahmans Dhakka Laga Mukka (from the film Yuva), only to find its way back to Samar and his quest for power.

Samars father Devki (Tigmanshu Dhulia), set to become PM for a third term, and his long-term associate Gopal (Kumud Misra) often discuss how Samars ambition and ruthlessness could threaten the very democracy of the country. The story progresses with each character motivated to topple the other for the coveted throne.

Samar himself gets played by an even more shrewd politician who in turn has the rug pulled from under their feet. These cat-and-mouse games continue till you realize the series could have elevated far beyond this loop of political intrigue.

Tandav thrives on the cliche of politics being a Machiavellian game populated by immoral monsters that will eat up anything that stands in their way. The one time we see a semblance of depth is when the story humanizes Samar in his younger years. When he objects to a particularly cruel decision by his father, he is lectured on how nothing matters more than the kursi (throne) and the power it holds. We realize Samar is the way he is, because thats how hes been groomed by his father (an irony, as the series reveals).

Meanwhile, we see real life-inspired incidents of cops attacking students (including hitting girl students), the state of farmers in the country etc, but the series touches upon them only briefly and usually as an aside.

The cast is the highlight of the series. Dimple Kapadia is a treat as the politician who has to walk a tight-rope in the middle of frail egos and big ambitions. Saif Ali Khan is dependably good in a surprisingly straitjacketed role. Sunil Grover as Samars trusted associate, conveys the characters menacing and sociopathic tendencies perfectly and walks away with some of the best lines.

While the story has a good representation of female characters, sadly none of them are positive or inspiring. Most of the central female characters (looking like theyve stepped out of a beauty magazine) are devious, untrustworthy, and let their ambitions get the better of them. And then theres this unintentionally hilarious dialogue where a professor says shes with her high-ranking politician boyfriend because hes powerful enough to control me!

Written by Gaurav Solanki and directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Tandav is yet another sordid tale about political intrigue with the expected betrayals, surprises and secrets. Youve seen it a million times before. What elevates Tandav is the stellar cast and some masterful performances.

(Tandav streams on Amazon Prime Video)

Sonia Chopra is a critic, columnist and screenwriter with over 15 years of experience. She tweets on @soniachopra2

ORLEANS  The May 31 deadline to qualify the redevelopment of Nauset Regional High School for $36 million in state funds toward the $132 million project cost is not hard and fast, according to the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

Weve granted two extensions (to the project) during the COVID period, MSBA Executive Director and Deputy CEO Jack McCarthy told The Chronicle Jan. 15. Nobody has asked us for a third extension. He said the agency would entertain a request. That doesnt mean we would grant it.

McCarthy confirmed that state Rep. Tim Whelan, whose district includes the Nauset town of Brewster, had spoken with MSBA Director of Operations Matt Donovan about the possibility of another extension. During the regional school committee meetings public comment section Jan. 14, Adam Lange read a statement from Whelan addressed to Brewster residents:

With regard to the Nauset Regional School Committees recent vote to circumvent Town Meetings in the four towns of the school district because of their concerns surrounding the May deadline for execution of the agreement with the (MSBA) I spoke to MSBA TODAY who advised they would be very willing to entertain any request for an extension on the existing deadline, Whelan wrote. The MSBA fully understands the difficulties COVID has placed on municipal operations. Superintendent Conrad can make this request directly to MSBA, or I am happy to carry such a request to the MSBA on the districts behalf.

The regional committee voted last month to schedule a district-wide vote on the project rather than present it at town meetings in each of the four member communities. In a press release, the committee pointed to the ongoing COVID pandemic and a firm state deadline for funding as reasons for the change, including the possibility of town meetings being delayed past the deadline. After May 31, the release stated, state funding will be withdrawn. There will be no deadline extensions, the MSBA has said.

During the committees Dec. 10 meeting, regional committee vice chair Judith Schumacher said, Gregs people (referring to building committee chair Greg Levasseur) have gone to the MSBA. The MSBA has said this is it, no more extensions. We now face a drop-dead date by May 31, 2021. We have to have voter approval for the proposed renovation project or we lose the $36 million in state funding.

In a statement released Jan. 15, Levasseur wrote that the two extensions already received amount to a 418-day MSBA extension on voting, the longest ever given. There is no guarantee of a third. Noting that state law allows for a simultaneous district-wide ballot vote, Levasseur called that without a doubt, the most democratic option. It allows for balloting by mail and will attract the largest number of voters in the region. In these COVID days, a representative number of voters are not likely to sit at public town meetings, then go to the polls in a two-step process.

Its too recent to have a plan yet on moving forward, regional school committee chair Chris Easley said when asked whether Nauset would request a third extension and try to bring the project before town meetings rather than pursue a district-wide vote. But, he said, one-person, one vote (at the polls) is democracy, and that is the method. Im not concerned that thats undemocratic. I think it is the most democratic.
American wealth disparity has worsened during the pandemic whilst so many front line and essential workers have labored harder than ever before . . . Accordingly, this call to action deserves consideration, even from our conservative cheapskate friends.



Read more . . .
BAD AXE  State Representative Phil Green took the time to update the Huron County commissioners earlier this week on what he has been up to in Lansing as a new legislative session begins.

Green said he and state Senators Dan Lauwers and Kevin Daley have drafted a letter to address recent actions by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources which are expected to have a detrimental impact on the commercial fishing industry in the state.

I think one of the lines in it is that it smacks of totalitarianism that a department would intervene in the legislative process in this fashion, Green said, adding that the DNR is strong-arming the Legislature to pass legislation it wants.

Green added that the leadership of both state houses has gotten involved, along with both sets of legal counsels, and that because of pending litigation against the DNR, they want the DNR to return to the status quo of 2020 and not make any further changes to the commercial fishing act.

Because there is already a lawsuit filed, the state Legislature cannot affect the lawsuit.

Green and other legislators have drafted a letter requesting that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer begin reopening the economy as well as give the Legislature the metrics on which she is basing her decisions.

"The statistics we have (from the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association) show that between 3% and 4% of COVID cases are linked to restaurants, Green said. So we are asking and requesting that things be opened up.

Regarding the Michigan Department of Health and Human Service health directives meant to stop the spread of COVID-19, Green said at the time that the Legislature has not been receiving any communication as to what the next steps for those are, or about any new reopening plans. The order banning in-person dining was extended to Feb. 1 earlier this week, and Whitmer said there was a chance it could be lifted on Feb. 1, but other restrictions could be put into place as well.

As is customary with this administration, I will find out in the news media, Green said during the meeting. You may find out sooner because you have individuals working for you more privy to that information.

On Monday, the state Capitol Commission ruled that effective immediately, individuals would not be able to open-carry firearms inside the state Capitol. Green said that decision is already causing quite a stir among individuals who are pro-Second Amendment.

The struggle with the Capitol Commission making a rule such as that is what is the penalty? Green said. They are not able to legislate. Theres no penalty for it because it is not a crime. Its just a rule.

In other commissioners news:

The commissioners granted permission for Huron County Right to Life to meet on the county building steps at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 24, along with using outdoor outlets for a sound system.

The commissioners also appointed re-appointed Ron Wruble to the Economic Development Corporation Board for a five-year term.
A total of 36 migrants have been detained while attempting to cross the Channel by UK authorities, with a further 27 stopped by the French.

A Home Office spokesman said migrants were stopped during two incidents on Saturday.

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage posted a video on Saturday which appeared to show some of the migrants being brought to shore on Border Force Boats.

In reference to the Government suspending travel corridors from Monday to try to stop new coronavirus variants from entering the country, he tweeted above the video: 'The travel corridors are closed today, but one remains very much open.

'30 more illegal migrants into Dover again this morning.'

The latest arrivals mean that more than 200 people have made the crossing in this month alone, after 8,417 arrived in 2020.

A total of 36 migrants have been detained while attempting to cross the Channel by UK authorities, with a further 27 stopped by the French. Pictured: Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage posted a video which appeared to show some of the migrants being brought to shore at Dover

On January 4, the first migrants to cross the Channel since the UK's Brexit deal came into force were brought into Dover after being intercepted.

A boat carrying around 10 people, all of whom were men, arrived in Kent shortly before 5am.

On January 9, Border force stopped a boat carrying up to 25 migrants which had been heading towards the Sussex coast.

Lifeboats were launched to rescue the migrants from the boat, which is believed to have been carrying children and five injured people.

And on January 11, 160 migrants arrived and the Border Force had to rescue three children from the Channel.

Minister for immigration compliance and the courts Chris Philp said: 'These are illegally facilitated crossings and migrants should be claiming asylum in the first safe country they reach.

Mr Farage tweeted: 'The travel corridors are closed today, but one remains very much open. '30 more illegal migrants into Dover again this morning'

Once out of the boats, the migrants were seen being walked up a gangplank

'The Government continues to undertake substantial steps to tackle the unacceptable problem of illegal migration, including legislative changes so crossings of this nature are treated as inadmissible where migrants have travelled through a safe EU country.

'The Government will continue to seek to return those with no legal right to remain in the UK.'

The spokesman said that joint intelligence with the French had prevented a total of 134 individuals entering the UK this week.

He said: 'These efforts have contributed to a 70 per cent reduction in crossings since September on fair-weather days by direct intervention on the French beaches.'

ACTING SECRETARY OF DEFENSE CHRISTOPHER C. MILLER: Okay, are you guys ready? My statement is just, I made some notes. I went out, you know, met with the General VanHerck today, and his team. Key tasks were, one, kind of get an update on, um, state of homeland defense, two, make sure that we were synced on not just the inauguration threat, because that's really likebut at this point there's a machine that's cranking on that, but just made itwanted to talk about the rest of the country, you know, and uh, then listened to his team on the stuff that they're doing. They're doing some really, really innovative stuff about, you know, competition and how we do things below the threshold of armed conflict, which I think is kind of really, really important. And, uh, it's kind of the future of the department, even though a lot of people just want to continue doing the same old thing again and again. I think that's the definition of insanity, isn't it? Oh, did I say that out loud? Uh, so, and then, one of our key things that we wanted to do when we got here was, recognize transnational threats, counter narcotics, human trafficking, all that stuff, which, for the longest time was like, oh we have a program for this, a program forIt's allit'syou all know at this point it's international. Fentanyl coming in from China, has a component with human smuggling and all that. And one of the things we wanted to try to do was, kind ofnot refocus, but there was a concern that we probably went too far on focusing on INDO-PACOM and China, trying to bring it back a little bit, recognize like, wow, NORTHCOM, SOUTHCOM, even AFRICOM has some real, significant challenges and also, just to recognize, hey, we probably need to look at these things globally as opposed to, you know, one, one area. So I had a really good conversation about that with him. And that was kind of the intent. Let's seeI think I covered all my talking points.

[Crosstalk]

Q: So the D.C. Guard, said that on the 12th, they got authorization to be armed in support of the Capitol Police, protect the Capitol, members of Congress. How was that authority passed down? From whom to whom

ASD MILLER: Right, right, very typical, very standard, typical thing. I felt strongly that, you know, it's easier to just keep everything at my level and, like, I own it all, but that's not how we work. And, at least, my upbringing was, you want to get your authorities. I have responsibility for everything, remember, if something goes wrong, I own it. Completely, 110 percent. But the authorities, you want to push down, where the people on the ground that are seeing things happenwhen I'm sitting at the Pentagon, or in my plane. So I made that decision to push it down to, uh, Secretary of the Army McCarthy, who's kind of down there on the ground, so that they could move faster.

Q: Is that the call that you took during the briefing at the Tennessee National Guard?

[Ed. Note: The telephone call the Acting Secretary is referring to took place on Jan. 12, 2021. The call does not reference the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.]

A/SEC. MILLER: I don't remember.

Q: Gen Fenton had a phone, came up and you were talking, and he said, was that

A/SEC. MILLER: I think it was.

[Crosstalk]

A/SEC. MILLER: Oh yeah, right, so that wasyou know, some people, some of the lawyers were like, oh my gosh, don't do it, I'm like no, we trust our people, you gotta have them have what they need to move faster. And then, of course, and then my thing is like, you've got your left and your right limits. If you're not comfortable, call me, I'll give you some guides, but otherwise, get going and move faster. Yeah?

Q: Are you seeking any additional authorities for NORTHCOM for next week?

A/SEC. MILLER: No, they got everything they need. That was one of the conversations that we had. 'Hey do you need anything?'We talked through some scenarios, obviously. Yes ma'am?

Q: Um, yeah so I guessat NORTHCOM, like what were you hoping to see? What

A/SEC. MILLER: Uh, I needed to look the commander in the eye, because, you know, the president, SecDef, meI, whatever the correct English is, you guys can clean that up. Should have paid more attention in high school. My wife would be ashamed of me not knowing the proper prepositionand then, uh General VanHerck. So, you know, you just, I said it before, you can have VTCs all day long, you know, but you wanna, like, I wanted to look the guy in the eye and get a sense for his soul and I think he probably needed to do that for me as well. So, you know, that was why I really felt it important to go out and sit down and have a cup of coffee with him, talk about it, small group, think through it, make sure we, kinda, had that mind meld.

Q: What's the most important thing that you've learned about Russian activity beneath the threshold of armed conflict?

A/SEC. MILLER: Russian? I think they're extremelyuhI have professional respect for how they do thingsI think they're played a really bad hand of card very, very well. Declining population, single -- single source of economic revenue through natural resources. I kind of, you know, like professionally I'm like, wow, they're doing pretty well, and they're using a lot of irregular warfare concepts, information, all this stuff, in a way that, you know, likegood on them.

[Crosstalk]

Q: What is the mostthe biggest challenge for the Department of Defense to fix, that you've learned about?

A/SEC. MILLER: The biggest?

Q: Yeah

A/SEC. MILLER: What do I think? I think it's changing our mindset that is focused oneverybody says, 'oh, all we've been focusing on is counter violent extremism, and the Chinese stole a march on us'Historians will figure that one outI think it's not accurate. I think the biggest thing is, we have to come out of the mindset of the Cold War. I know we had that period, but big -- big units, big high-dollar weapons systems, you know, just this huge enormous complex. I think the key thing we need to do is we need to start paying attention. That's why it was so cool at NORTHCOM, like, since they don't get a lot of money, guess where they put their emphasis? What's between your ears. And the information environment, domain awareness, using commercial stuff, you know, public-private partnership. That's the future, you know. But still, it's like no, we need to buy this many moreand those programs, you see them. Trillions of dollars over the course ofI'm like, come on. So I still think we have a hangover on a lot of thathigh tech, very expensive weapons systems. And we need to go smaller, swarmy, mass overquantity over quality, in some cases. That was my thinking.

[Crosstalk]

Q: I wanted to ask youJoint Strike Fighter?

A/SEC. MILLER: Which one? F-35?

Q: Yepsay nothing of the littoral combat ship. It's like the list of flawed acquisition programsseems endless to me. What is your takeaway about these programs and the Pentagon's acquisition process?

A/SEC. MILLER: I soI mean, I cannot wait to leave this job, believe me. But part of me is like, I would have loved to have gotten involved in the acquisition process and tryand you know, talk about wicked problem. I wanted to take that one on.F-35s, the case study. Although, I gotta tell you, yesterday we were talking to some guy, some lieutenant colonel, or colonel, said 'what are you flying?' Said 'F-35,' I was like that's a piece ofand he was likeand he laughed, and I was like, 'no seriously, tell me about it,' and he wasan F-16 guy, F-35, he said'unbelievable aircraft,' I'm notIthat investment, forthat capability, that we're never supposed to use, 'well, we have to deter, blah blah bluh blahAre we fifth generation? You know weI think it's hilarious, you know, right now, you know, 'well we need to invest in the sixth generation,' I'm like, we have created a monster, but you know that.

Q: Thank you.
Under the editorial hand of founder Tom Lifson, American Thinker has long been one of my favorite right-leaning sites. I therefore watched AT go down the Dominion rabbit hole with growing incredulity. When Sidney Powell appeared as a Trump campaign lawyer at the Trump lawyers November 19 press conference in Michigan (transcript here), she raved about an international conspiracy centered on Dominion. What we are really dealing with here and uncovering more by the day is the massive influence of communist money through Venezuela, Cuba, and likely China in the interference with our elections here in the United States, Powell alleged, and much more. Notably the Dominion executives are nowhere to be found now, she added.

Powell subsequently promised to release the kraken to prove it all up. I thought Powell was cracked. Referring to her comments, I called her allegations a conspiracy so immense. That was probably an understatement.

On November 26 Dominion released its own statement on Powells allegations. The BBC has a backgrounder on it here. Jacob Sullum recently took a look at Powells cracked Kraken. Sullum makes way too much of the fact that the affidavits submitted by Powell werent written by the affiants, but he provides a useful summary as of late December.

Dominion has retained counsel and threatened proponents of the fraud and conspiracy claims with defamation. As a public figure, Dominion doesnt get much legal protection from false disparagement. Whereas an old-fashioned defamation defendant was required to prove up truth as a defense, the Supreme Court has erected a constitutional shield around defamatory statements involving public figures. A plaintiff in a case involving a public figure has to establish that the defendant made the false statement knowingly or recklessly without regard to its truth or falsity (i.e., actual malice).

On January 8 Dominion sued Powell for defamation in federal court for the District of Columbia. Dominions complaint in the lawsuit is posted online here.

Dominion also threatened AT with a defamation lawsuit. Yesterday Tom Lifson posted a retraction with this preface: We received a lengthy letter from Dominions defamation lawyers explaining why they believe that their client has been the victim of defamatory statements. Having considered the full import of the letter, we have agreed to their request that we publish the following statement[.] Here is the statement:

American Thinker and contributors Andrea Widburg, R.D. Wedge, Brian Tomlinson, and Peggy Ryan have published pieces on www.AmericanThinker.com that falsely accuse US Dominion Inc., Dominion Voting Systems, Inc., and Dominion Voting Systems Corporation (collectively Dominion) of conspiring to steal the November 2020 election from Donald Trump. These pieces rely on discredited sources who have peddled debunked theories about Dominions supposed ties to Venezuela, fraud on Dominions machines that resulted in massive vote switching or weighted votes, and other claims falsely stating that there is credible evidence that Dominion acted fraudulently. These statements are completely false and have no basis in fact. Industry experts and public officials alike have confirmed that Dominion conducted itself appropriately and that there is simply no evidence to support these claims. It was wrong for us to publish these false statements. We apologize to Dominion for all of the harm this caused them and their employees. We also apologize to our readers for abandoning 9 journalistic principles and misrepresenting Dominions track record and its limited role in tabulating votes for the November 2020 election. We regret this grave error.

Litigation is an absurdly expensive proposition. It can easily bankrupt anybody without substantial resources at his disposal. Even so, I think one may fairly infer that the publication of the Dominion statement by AT not only represents a prudent surrender, it also points to the insubstantiality of the claims advanced against Dominion on the site and elsewhere.
United Nations, Jan 16 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged "far greater solidarity" as the number of global coronavirus deaths has surpassed the 2 million mark.

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the he Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 93,787,372 and 2,006,987, respectively.

"In the memory of those two million souls, the world must act with far greater solidarity. Now is the time," the UN chief said in a video message on Friday, highlighting the fact that "our world has reached a heart-wrenching milestone: the Covid-19 pandemic has now claimed two million lives", Xinhua news agency reported.

"Behind this staggering number are names and faces: the smile now only a memory, the seat forever empty at the dinner table, the room that echoes with the silence of a loved one," the Secretary-General said.

"Sadly, the deadly impact of the pandemic has been made worse by the absence of a global coordinated effort." Guterres stressed that safe, effective Covid-19 vaccines are being rolled out and the UN is supporting countries to mobilise the largest global immunisation effort in history.

"We are committed to making sure that vaccines are seen as global public goods -- people's vaccines.

"That requires full funding for the Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator and its COVAX facility -- which is dedicated to making vaccines available and affordable to all," he said.

Noting that the world's leading economies "have a special responsibility", the UN chief said that "yet today we are seeing a vaccine vacuum".

"Vaccines are reaching high income countries quickly, while the world's poorest have none at all. Science is succeeding -- but solidarity is failing," warned the Secretary-General.

"Some countries are pursuing side deals, even procuring beyond need." The top UN official said that governments have a responsibility to protect their populations, but "vaccinationalism" is self-defeating and will delay a global recovery.

"Covid-19 cannot be beaten one country at a time. We need manufacturers to step up their commitment to work with the COVAX facility and countries around the world to ensure enough supply and fair distribution.

"We need countries to commit now to sharing excess doses of vaccines. This would help vaccinate all health care workers around the world on an urgent basis and protect health systems from collapse. Others on the frontline, including humanitarian workers and high-risk populations, must be prioritized.

"To gain public trust, we must boost vaccine confidence and knowledge with effective communication grounded in facts.

"As the science continues to blaze new trails of hope, let's also remember the simple and proven steps we can all take to keep each other safe: wearing masks, physically distancing and avoiding crowds," he added.

The Secretary-General underscored that "our world can only get ahead of this virus one way -- together".

"Global solidarity will save lives, protect people and help defeat this vicious virus," Guterres noted.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Tourism businesses hit by back-to-back visitor wipeouts during their peak summer seasons require financial assistance to survive with extraordinary run of bad luck of bushfires then coronavirus, according to businesses owners, industry and political representatives.

Many towns located within striking distance of the NSW-Victorian border were cleared of tourists by the Black Summer bushfires over the previous summer. And it happened again this summer when the Victorian government triggered an exodus of visitors to NSW as it announced a snap border lockdown with 24 hours' notice.

The tourism industry says businesses in border communities like Echuca and Moama, on opposites sides of the Murray River, will need ongoing financial assistance in the wake of coronavirus. Credit:Visit Victoria/Robert Blackburn

Katrina Woods, owner of the Broken Oar Bar and Grill at Pambula on the NSW South Coast, less than an hour's drive from the Victorian border, said the timing of the border lockdown on New Year's Eve was "heartbreaking".

"Our businesses here are so seasonal. Our summer trade gets us through the rest of the year," Ms Woods said.
Ludhiana: Two people were killed and five others suffered injuries when at least 10 vehicles piled up on a flyover here due to dense fog on Saturday, police said.

Three vehicles were badly damaged in the accident on the Ludhiana flyover, they said.

Accident

The accident took place due to poor visibility caused by thick fog, said Inspector (Khanna police station) Akash Dutt.

The victims were yet to be identified, they said.
US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens

Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire

ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning

European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

Armenia acting MOD leaves for Moscow

Armenia President, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces discuss current situation on border

Armenia acting PM to residents of borderline village: If we cede our border, Azerbaijanis will get more excited

Armenia MOD not confirming reports about Azerbaijan firing shots at Tavush Province

Ex-President Kocharyan meets with Yerevan residents, "Armenia" bloc members (PHOTOS)

Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

Serj Tankian makes statement on Azerbaijans displayed horrific racism

Man detained in US for intending to commit attempt on Biden

Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD continues disseminating disinformation

Erdogan to visit Baku and Shushi

Two Armenia legislature committees to hold closed joint meeting regarding tense situation on Azerbaijan border

Holy Etchmiadzin on capture of Armenia soldiers: Such behavior of Azerbaijan authorities is strongly condemnable

Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

Armenia opposition MP: Shots are heard Gegharkunik Province

Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan leadership bears responsibility for consequences of actions by its armed forces

Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

140 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

Armenia MOD announces names of 6 Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

Armenia parliament manages to have quorum in 2nd attempt

World oil prices falling

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan popularity rating consistently drops over the past week

Newspaper: Russia peacekeepers commander does not return from Azerbaijan with encouraging news for Armenia

MOD: 6 Armenia soldiers are surrounded, captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

William Shakespeare, 1st man in world to get approved coronavirus vaccine, dies aged 81

Spain Congress of Deputies committee accepts pro-Armenian motion

Ex-PM comments on double-digit growth in Armenia economy

Facebook calls Russia, Iran leading purveyors of disinformation

Erdogan says meeting with Biden will mark 'start of new era' in relations with Washington

Armenia acting Deputy PM on creation of third high-voltage electric communication line with Iran

Vladimir Zaynetdinov: CSTO has taken note of application submitted by Armenia acting PM

Armenia's Pashinyan says addressing UN Security Council not ruled out

Armenia acting FM: International pressure on Azerbaijan is growing

Netanyahu tells Blinken that Israel is against reopening US consulate for Palestinians

23 political parties and 4 alliances apply to Armenia Central Electoral Commission ahead of snap parliamentary elections

Instagram launches ability to hide likes

Iran FM on solutions to problems in the region, territorial integrity

Bloomberg: Support for Erdogan's ruling party hits record low

Inter-agency commission sums up reports on implementation of roadmap for EU-Armenia CEPA

Armenian acting PM on CSTO and Russia and their duties as Armenia's allies

Slovakia allows use of Russian vaccine Sputnik V

Armenia acting PM on situation in Syunik Province: CSTO still hasn't clearly expressed its position

Armenia's Pashinyan: It's very rarely that Baku made provocations in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces on its own

Armenia acting PM: There will be no demarcation of borders until Azerbaijani troops are pulled out of territory

Record-setting number of political parties register to run in snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Blinken describes Egypt as a "real and effective partner"

Armenia's Pashinyan slams opposition again

Yerevan court ends trial over Armenia 3rd President's nephew Hayk Sargsyan

Armenia President expresses condolences on passing away of Catholicos-Patriarch Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan

COVID-19 vaccine: On Day 1,13,330 health care workers in Kerala to be vaccinated

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 16: The vaccination drive to combat COVID-19 began in Kerala on Saturday at 1,13,330 designated centres with prominent government doctors among the first batch of frontline workers to be administered the vaccine.

"It's a proud moment here in Kannur that the director of Malabar Cancer Centre, Dr Satheeshan Balasubramanyam became the first person in the district to receive the vaccine," State Health Minister KK Shailaja said.

Tamil Nadu rolls out COVID-19 vaccination, govt doctor gets first vaccine shot

Shailaja, who visited one of the centres in Kannur district, said such prominent persons will receive the vaccine at each district centre and in all 13,300 health care workers will be covered in a single day. Director of Health Service RL Saritha was given the vaccine shot in Thiruvananthapuram. Shailaja told reporters in Kannur that a committee headed by the Chief Secretary of the state was overseeing the drive.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

According to the health department, a total of 100 people will be vaccinated at each centre in a day, aggregating to 13,300 healthcare workers on Saturday. In the initial phase, the vaccination will be given to the healthcare workers, and in the next phase, it will be made available to the police, central armed forces, municipality employees, other frontline workers and volunteers, the Minister said.

Dont fall for rumours on COVID-19 vaccine: PM Modi advises Indians

When asked about the availability of the vaccines for the public, Shailaja said after the second phase, those above the age of 50 and others affected with various diseases will be given priority. The minister asked the people to remain cautious even after the vaccination.

She said after the first dose of vaccine, the second dose must be taken after 28 days. "The pandemic is not going to end after this vaccine. We still need to make sure that we follow the health protocol, including the use of masks, hand wash and social distancing. The immunity will be developed slowly," she said.

Coronavirus cases: India records 15,158 fresh COVID-19 cases, 175 deaths in last 24 hours

After the second dose, it would take another 14 days to develop immunity, she said, adding "Its a continuous process. We need to remain vigilant until the threat of virus is completely gone." The first consignment of 4,33,500 doses of Covishield vaccine was received in the state from the Pune-based Serum Institute of India earlier this week.

Of the 4.33,500 lakh vaccine dose, 1,100 was sent to Mahe, which is an enclave of Puducherry and lies between Kozhikode and Kannur districts. As many as 3,68,866 people have registered for the vaccine drive.
In UP villagers get cocktail vaccine dose: Covishield first, Covaxin next

ICMR to study effectiveness of Covishield, Covaxin in preventing progression of COVID into severe form

Netizens laud vaccine launch: 'LargestVaccineDrive' hashtag trends on Twitter hours after roll-out

India

pti-Deepika S

New Delhi, Jan 16: Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India''s COVID-19 vaccination programme, netizens on Saturday lauded the PM for the roll-out of the nationwide inoculation drive with the hashtag ''LargestVaccineDrive'' trending on Twitter.

Launching India''s COVID-19 vaccination drive, Modi reassured the country that emergency use authorisation was given to two made in India vaccines only after scientists were convinced of their safety and effectiveness, and urged people to beware of propaganda and rumours.

Addressing the nation ahead of the launch of what he described as the world''s largest vaccination programme, Modi said these vaccines will ensure a "decisive victory" for the country over the coronavirus pandemic, but asked countrymen to continue wearing masks and maintain social distancing even after receiving the jabs.

Soon after the event, Twitter and other social media platforms were abuzz with comments over his speech with several people hailing the prime minister''s remarks and the beginning of the vaccination drive.

Just hours after the launch, ''LargestVaccineDrive'' was trending on Twitter with over 4.3 lakh tweets.

Felt normal, gives me great pride: What people said after getting the COVID-19 vaccine shot

"World was suffering, Yet Indians were optimistic bcoz we knew PM will save us. Economy was suffering, Yet Indians were optimistic bcoz we knew PM will save it. There were confusions on vaccines, Yet Indians were relaxed bcoz we knew PM would select best vaccine. Thank you Modi ji," a Twitter user said.

Another Twitter user said, "Once again, PM @narendramodi, assured the people of India that ''we will defeat #COVID19''. Thank you Prime Minister for taking care of us as head of the family."

Another netizen hailed scientists for their tireless work and Prime Minister Modi for his "impeccable leadership" at the time of crisis.

"India unveils the world's #LargestVaccineDrive! It's the unmatched global vaccination leadership India is demonstrating to the world!" the Twitter user said.

Many on social media also praised the prime minister''s remarks at the launch event, terming his address "motivating".

"Congratulations Prime Minister for your incredible leadership throughout the crisis," a Twitter user said.

However, there were also some voices of caution and criticism on Twitter.

Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan cited a media report which stated that a total of 23 people died in Norway within days of receiving their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and said that yet, here in India, "we roll out vaccines without proper trials or transparency, even though Covid cases & deaths have declined sharply".

Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari also raised questions over the emergency use approval given to the indigenously developed Covaxin and alleged that it was "sans due process".

"As vaccine roll out begins, it is all a bit puzzling India has no policy framework for authorising emergency use. Yet, two vaccines have been approved for restricted use in emergency situation," Tewari said in a tweet just before Prime Minister Modi launched the vaccination drive.

"COVAXIN is another story -- Approvals sans Due Process," the former Union minister said, tagging a media report which claimed scientists and doctors are divided on the issue of restricted use approval granted to the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech''s Covaxin.
By Tarek Amara

TUNIS, (Reuters) - Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi named 12 new ministers on Saturday in a cabinet reshuffle he hopes will inject new blood into his government amid rising political tensions and an unprecedented economic crisis.

Mechichi named Walid Dhabi as the new interior minister, having this month sacked Taoufik Charfeddine, who is close to President Kais Saied, a move underscoring tensions between the country's two most powerful leaders

Saied and Mechichi are at odds over their respective powers and political alliances, jeopardising the stability required to push through much-needed reforms.

Hedi Khairi was named health minister following criticism over the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with the official date for the start of vaccinations in Tunisia still unknown.

Disputes have also shaken the ranks of coalition partners supporting the government, with the Karama party refusing to vote on the reshuffle and threatening to leave the coalition.

Mechichi named Youssef Zouaghi as justice minister, Sofien Ben Touns as minister of energy and Oussama Kheriji as minister of agriculture.

"The next stage is full of challenges, including the necessary reforms for the economy, which require increased efficiency and harmony", Mechichi said.

Although Tunisia became a democracy after its 2011 uprising, its economy has deteriorated, the country verges on bankruptcy and political leaders appear paralysed.

The 2019 election delivered a bitterly fragmented parliament unable to produce a stable government, with parties bickering over cabinet seats and putting off big decisions.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara, editing by Louise Heavens)
Los Angeles, Jan 16 : English actress Kate Winslet says she felt bullied after the global success of her 1997 release Titanic, because the film brought her personal life into scrutiny.

Winslet became a household name at the age of 21 after the success of the James Cameron film that cast her as Leonardo DiCaprio's romantic lead. Now, in the podcast WTF, the actress has spoken about the aftermath of her breakout role in her personal life, reports dailymail.co.uk.

"I went into self-protective mode right away (after 'Titanic' came out)," Winslet said, adding: "It was like night and day from one day to the next. I was subject to a lot of personal physical scrutiny, I was criticised a lot and the British press were quite unkind to me." "I felt bullied if I'm honest. I remember thinking, 'this is horrible and I hope it passes' -- it did definitely pass but it made me realise that, if that's what being famous was, I was not ready to be famous, definitely not," she shared.

At that time, instead of cashing on her newfound fame, the actress decided to hone her craft.

"I still felt like I wasn't really ready to do lots of big Hollywood jobs. It was a huge responsibility. I didn't want to make mistakes, I didn't want to blow it -- I wanted to be in it for the long game. So I did strategically try and find smaller things, just so I could understand the craft a bit better and understand myself a bit better, and maintain some degree of privacy and dignity," Winslet said.

The actress recently starred in the 19th century period drama Ammonite, as real-life paleontologist Mary Anning, who falls madly in love with a young woman (Saoirse Ronan).

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text

If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us

We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.
Iranian forces have held military exercises involving ballistic missiles amid heightened tensions over the country's nuclear program and a U.S. pressure campaign against Tehran.

Iranian state television reported on January 15 that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) launched several surface-to-surface ballistic missiles against simulated enemy bases in the country's central desert as part of the exercises.

It said that the drill included Zolfaghar and Dezful ballistic missiles, as well as bomb-carrying drones.

Iran has a missile capability range of up to 2,000 kilometers, enough to reach its sworn enemy, Israel, and U.S. military bases in the Middle East.

Iran has increased its military drills in recent weeks with tensions building during the final days of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Earlier this week, Iran's navy held two-day short-range missile exercises in the Gulf of Oman. Those followed an IRGC naval parade in the Persian Gulf.

"The enemies should know that in the event of any violation and encroachment on the maritime borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, they will be targeted with cruise missiles from the coast and the sea," Rear Admiral Hamzeh-Ali Kaviani warned.

Tensions between the United States and Iran have risen since 2018, when Trump withdrew Washington from an international nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, arguing that the 2015 accord did not go far enough.

The U.S. administration also imposed crippling sanctions on Iran as part a "maximum pressure" campaign aimed at forcing Tehran to negotiate a new agreement that would also address the country's missile programs and its support for regional proxies.

Iran, which claims its nuclear program is for civilian purposes, says that its missile program and regional policies are off the table.

In response to the U.S. pullout and economic sanctions, Tehran has gradually breached parts of the nuclear pact -- under which Tehran committed to limit its nuclear activities in return for relief from sanctions -- saying it is no longer bound by it.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who will be inaugurated on January 20, has suggested that Washington may reenter the deal if Iran complies with its terms.

But Iranian officials insist that the United States should first lift its sanctions.

With reporting by AP, ISNA, and Press TV
During the approaching Spring Festival travel rush, control and prevention of COVID-19 will be the priority for authorities at many levels, senior officials attending a teleconference said in Beijing on Friday.

Passengers line up at a railway station in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, Oct 7, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

The rush, starting on Jan 28 and lasting until March 8, will be a time in which the nation still faces great pressure in containing the novel coronavirus due to large population movements.

"This year's travel rush is different from previous ones as there are sporadic cases of novel coronavirus and outbreaks in certain areas," said Li Wenxin, deputy general manager of the China State Railway Group Co.

He said that to curb the spread or resurgence of COVID-19, some local authorities have launched a variety of measures to mitigate the flow, such as encouraging people to spend the holiday in the cities where they work.

Beijing, one of the main cities attracting migrant workers, will tighten its supervision over travelers and take different measures to avoid possible mass gatherings. It's estimated that trips leaving the city during the holiday will drop by 43 percentan estimated 13.42 million trips will be madecompared with the previous Spring Festival holiday.

Anticipated passenger volumes nationwide also have plunged due to increasingly stringent measures. The latest figures from the nation's railway department show that ticket reservations for the coming travel rush have decreased by nearly 60 percent so far, with about 296 million trips expected to be made nationwide over the festival.

The number was 440 million in last year travel rush.

Though the government has reinforced prevention measures to control the spread of the novel coronavirus, it also is working to make the travel experience more convenient for travelers during their trips back home.

The national railway operator has adjusted ticket reservation policies, under which travelers can book their tickets only 15 days in advance instead of a month ahead of departure. The railway department also offers an eight-day period for free ticket cancellation and refunds.

Also, health codes showing travelers' health condition and where they have been will be unified during the Spring Festival travel rush nationwide. Usually, travelers are required to use a new health code issued by the destination's authorities when arriving at a new place.

Lian Weiliang, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that it's necessary to implement the universal recognition of such health codes for people traveling across provinces or cities during the rush.

For those spending the holidays where they work instead of going homefollowing epidemic control instructionsthe government will also help take care of their children in their hometowns and organize online New Year's calls to reunite these families.
Jordan Barrett was enjoying a casual lunch date with a friend at a cafe in Sydney's Bondi on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old took along his pet husky, who was fed right from the table by the male model's pal.

The Australian catwalk star smiled as the dog climbed up on his lap to receive a tasty treat.

Dog days are over: Jordan Barrett (pictured) was enjoying a casual lunch date with a friend at a cafe in Sydney's Bondi on Tuesday. The 22-year-old took along his husky dog

He then fed the lucky pup some more morsels of food as the dog cuddle up alongside him.

A plastic container of water was also available for the pet, standing on the floor alongside the table.

Jordan opted for a casual but chic ensemble, consisting of a black, cotton T-shirt that clung to his enviable physique, and wore his hair in a bun.

Eat up! The eager dog was fed right from the table by the model's pal

Ruff: The Australian catwalk star smiled as the dog leaned on his lap to receive a tasty treat

You like this? The husky regarded the snacks on offer suspiciously

Happy pup: He then fed the lucky pup some more morsels of food as the dog cuddle up alongside him

He added a pair of loose, dark pants and matching, trendy leather sandals with wide straps.

Jordan and his friend, who was wearing a pink shirt and orange rimmed sunglasses, chatted happily while enjoying white wine and snacks.

They laughed heartily during the meal, the pal beaming at his model mate as he appeared to make a joke.

Fun: Jordan and his friend, who was wearing a pink shirt and orange rimmed sunglasses, chatted happily while enjoying white wine and snacks

He's a lap dog! The eager pet sat on Jordan's lap through the meal

Chic: Jordan opted for a casual but chic ensemble, consisting of a black, cotton T-shirt that clung to his enviable physique, and wore his hair in a bun

The outing comes following a busy few weeks of rehearsals and a performance in his theatre production Myth.

His play, by George Maple, opened at the Sydney Opera House in December.

Jordan said in a statement ahead of the performance that he was looking forward to working with Maple on the piece.

Cool: He added a pair of loose, dark pants and matching, trendy leather sandals

Star power: The outing comes following a busy few weeks of rehearsals and a performance in his theatre production Myth

'It's so nice to be back in Australia and to be working with George Maple again on this project,' he said in a statement to RUSSH Magazine.

Meanwhile, Maple said she chose Jordan to star in the lead role because she needed someone who could 'explore their full range of emotions and on camera'.

Last year, a source told Daily Mail Australia that Jordan is 'transitioning into film this year', and it was understood at the time that he had landed a role in a major Hollywood flick.
'Honoured to be woven into its beautiful cinematic tradition,' Parasite director Bong Joon Ho on serving as the jury president at the 78th Venice International Film Festival.

Parasite director Bong Joon Ho has been selected as jury president of the 78th Venice International Film Festival, organisers said on Friday. The Oscar-winner will preside over seven jurors to hand out the festivals top awards, including the prestigious Golden Lion. Hell be the first South Korean to hold the post.

In a statement, the director said he is, Honoured to be woven into its beautiful cinematic tradition. As president of the jury  and more importantly as a perpetual cinephile  Im ready to admire and applaud all the great films selected by the festival. Im filled with genuine hope and excitement.

Festival director Alberto Barbera remarked upon the historic nature of the selection. Barbera hailed the South Korean filmmaker as one of the most authentic and original voices in world cinema.

We are immensely grateful to him for having agreed to put his passion as a cinephile attentive, inquisitive and unprejudiced, at the service of our festival, Barbera said.

Read the announcement here

#BiennaleCinema2021 Director #BongJoonHo will be the President of #Venezia78 International Jury!

Venice International Film Festival carries with it a long and varied history, and I'm honored to be woven into its beautiful cinematic tradition  https://t.co/dbY6j4q04A pic.twitter.com/aKiOwNrJVD  La Biennale di Venezia (@la_Biennale) January 15, 2021

The decision to entrust the Jury to a Korean filmmaker, for the first time in the festivals history, is also confirmation that the Venetian event embraces the cinema of the entire world, and that directors from every country know they can consider Venice their second home.

In 2020, Bong had created history after his film Parasite became the first non-English and the first South Korean movie to win the Best Picture Oscar.

The movie, which examines the class divide in Korean society through a poor family scheming its way into a rich mans house with disastrous results, won the Best International Film, Best Director for Bong, and Best Original Screenplay for Bong and Jin-Won.

The Venice Film Festival was one of the only major film festivals to proceed in person last year amid the pandemic. The 78th edition is set to run from 1-11 September.

(With inputs from agencies)
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Twenty-three elderly Norwegian people died after receiving Pfizer vaccines. Thirteen of them have been assessed and common side effects may have contributed to severe reactions in them, according to the Norwegian Medicines Agency.

Norway is a small Northern European country and only about 25,000 people have been vaccinated with Pfizer vaccines. Twenty-three deaths are a large number. But surprisingly, mainstream English-language media did not report the incident immediately, as if they had already reached a consensus. Major US and UK media were obviously downplaying their deaths.

In contrast, those major Western media will immediately hype any unfavorable information about Chinese vaccines and try to amplify their impact on public psychology. For example, the data of China's Sinovac vaccine was lower than expected in Brazil, and it was reported everywhere in Western media. The death of a Brazilian volunteer who participated in the trials also became a major event in Western media. But it was later proven that the death had nothing to do with the vaccination, and Western media lost their interest.

The COVID-19 vaccine is serious scientific issue. The current pandemic situation is extremely critical. It is the fundamental interests of all mankind to have more vaccines to fight COVID-19. However, some mainstream US and British media are taking the lead in putting geopolitical labels on vaccines. They are meddling in political stances with the scientific attitude toward vaccines, using their propaganda to promote Pfizer vaccines and smearing Chinese vaccines.

In fact, the research and development of all COVID-19 vaccines is relatively hasty. They should have gone through more sample tests and longer clinical verification before being fully introduced to the market. But time does not wait, and the pandemic does not wait. The vaccines have been promoted to the front line of the COVID-19 fight with a much faster speed.

If there needs to be some comparison, then China's inactivated vaccine definitely has more solid foundation in safety than Pfizer's mRNA vaccine. The inactivated vaccine technology has been very mature and has undergone decades of clinical testing. But it is the first time that the mRNA technology was applied to the vaccine. This large-scale promotion of Pfizer's vaccine is a continuous process of large-scale testing on human beings.

We believe the US and some Western countries do not have better choices now. Mass vaccination of Pfizer is a must. Even if there are risks, these countries would rather bear them. As long as they can save the lives of most people, they would accept the pros and cons. Western mainstream media turned a blind eye to the death of the 23 people, which can be regarded as a part of their acceptance of the "big picture."

Western media's crude double standards on vaccines and their unhealthy mindset show that the US and UK mainstream media's mentality toward China has gone highly geopolitical. Double standards have become political correctness for them. They are no longer objective in terms of competition with China. Attacking China is their desperate goal.

In terms of the COVID-19 vaccines, Chinese society and the Chinese government have regarded science and objectivity as priorities. In a practical and realistic manner, China has squarely faced the reality that Chinese vaccines lacked sufficient data. Chinese COVID-19 vaccines have been put on the market but are conditional. Vaccination priority will be given to high-exposure populations between 18 and 59 years old, not the elderly. No senior Chinese official has come out to openly endorse Chinese vaccines. Most praises about China's vaccines are from abroad. Many leaders of developing countries have taken the lead in injecting Chinese vaccines based on their countries' data of Phase III trials.

However, the Pfizer vaccine has been strongly promoted by the US administration and capital. Their potential risk has been deliberately downplayed by Western public opinion. And public opinion has created an impression that Pfizer's mRNA vaccine, which is being used for the first time, is safer than the Chinese vaccine.

Regrettably, Washington has promoted China-US confrontation and the US and its major allies have initiated their ideological frenzy. Is there any justice? They believe it is right to suppress China and wrong to be fair to China. Such an attitude has extended to serious scientific and humanitarian fields which should have been far away from politics.

Chinese people need to face such increasingly harsh ideological confrontation whether we are willing to or not. We must defend China's national interests and support our own country in important competition. To weaken China's competitiveness, the US and its allies' public opinions have completely disregarded ethics. Their attitude toward China is nothing but geopolitical logic. We will not cringe from their attacks.

Global Times
Due to popular demand, 'Cultural Companions - The Diary Entries' from the Hawk's Well Theatre will run for an extra week in conjunction with First Fortnight Festival.

With public health restrictions keeping everyone locked down for extended periods, Hawk's Well Theatre's popular Cultural Companions initiative has come into its own!

Cultural Companions was an initiative set up in 2019 with the aim of providing increased opportunities for older people to engage with Sligo's vibrant cultural and arts scene by setting up a network of people who would accompany each other to cultural events at the theatre.

With the 2020 pandemic closing the theatre for most of the year, and the fact that older people cocooned alone during lockdown, the Hawk's Well was inspired to revisit the project, acutely aware that connecting with and supporting each other in new ways became more important than ever before in 2020.

Over August and September 2020, Hawk's Well Theatre paired four artists with four older people who had been cocooning in Sligo.

The artists and hosts got to know each other through a series of conversations, after which the artists wrote an original piece of work inspired by the host and their conversations together. These new pieces of work will be performed in the host's own home to an invited audience in the future when such an interaction is allowable.

Cultural Companions - The Diary Entries documents the journey so far of the four duos. Maire Dufficy & popular musician Kieran Quinn, Ann Murray & theatre artist Seamus O'Rourke, Patricia Feeney & well-known musician Seamie O'Dowd, and Maura Hever & traditional musician Mossie Martin.

The streamed programme will premiere these new pieces of work and includes interviews with the four pairings about the process involved and their experiences as well as their reactions to the new pieces written for them.

Offering a unique perspective, this project is supported by The Community Foundation for Ireland and is part of the First Fortnight; Ireland's Mental Health Arts & Culture Festival. Cultural Companions is available to view until Sunday 17th January 2021.

Online tickets cost 5 and are available from www.hawkswell.com.
WESTPORT  Animal control officials in Westport received a call Friday alerting them to the presence of an injured opossum in a local backyard.

According to Peter Reid, who works with both Weston and Westport Animal Control, a goldendoodle had captured the opossum and flipped it into the air.

When Reid arrived at the scene, he said the confused and injured opossum was trapped by fencing in the backyard.

The animal had sustained some mild contusions in the incident, he said. He took the injured opossum to Wildlife in Crisis, which was founded by his wife, Dara Reid.

Were the largest wildlife rehabilitation center in Connecticut, he said.

A photo of Reid holding the rescued opossum was shared on Facebook.

Opossums are known to be a beneficial species. They eat ticks, as many as 1,000 a day, Reid said, and dont tend to get rabies due to a lower body temperature.

Having opossums live among us is instrumental in reducing tick populations, according to Reid.

They also tend to play possum when threatened, acting dead and emitting a foul odor that usually keeps potential predators at bay.

But they do have very thin coats, which makes them susceptible to bad weather conditions.

Though Reid said his rescue should be fine, theyre waiting for the weather to improve a bit.

Depending on the weather patterns, well release him into a suitable habitat, Reid said.
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Posted Friday, January 15, 2021 4:37 pm

Sometimes unwritten rules need to be changed, and its high time for an update to our social compact. OK, get ready for this: I think it should be socially acceptable, and even highly encouraged, for people to leave their Christmas lights up through January.

This dark pandemic year has left us all needing cheer, and nothing is cheerier than the twinkling lights of Christmas.

Whether they come up the day after Thanksgiving, or are gradually added during December, these lighted holiday displays are an absolute delight  a gift to neighbors, friends and all who pass by in the darkness.

Im grateful for every single person who puts up lights, whether its a simple strand around the windows or an elaborate display that draws people in from far and wide.

The only problem is that some people, wanting to get things tidied up quickly  and perhaps fearing scorn for being those folks who leave lights up all year  take them down far too soon. It breaks my heart a little to see lights start coming down on Dec. 26.

It brings to mind an old saying of cartoonist Kin Hubbard from a century ago: Next to a circus there ain't nothing that packs up and tears out faster than the Christmas spirit.

We visited my dear mother-in-law a few days after Christmas and she pointed out with happiness the beautiful lights of her neighborhood, and with a hint of wistfulness noted that some of the decorations had already come down.

On the other hand, there are a few brave souls who fight the trend. As I write this, my heart is still glowing from the sight this morning of a gorgeous holiday light display that is still joyfully ablaze on Williams Ave. in Chehalis, near W.F. West High School.

There is a fence of red and green candy canes. There are bright white lights wrapped around a tree in the front yard. Proud purple and pale blue lights adorn the bushes. A trellis is aglow.

Boy, I was happy to see that house still sending its cheer out into a dark, chilly month.

Its like a stranger who gives you a friendly smile and a nod of affirmation when you pass by, or someone whistling a happy song as they go about their day.

Maybe folks who keep their lights up are harkening back to more ancient traditions.

In Sweden and Finland, trees and decorations are traditionally kept up until St. Knut's Day on Jan. 13, also known as the 20th day of Christmas.

My proposal is to keep them up even longer.

The dark days of January need every bit of cheer they can get. A string of Christmas lights on every corner will help remind us of the friendly neighborliness that we share.

One problem with my plan, I suppose, is that folks might be getting tired of the Christmas season by the end of January.

If I may be so bold, thats probably in part because Christmas starts before Halloween! We need to give each season and holiday its due, my friends. Let Thanksgiving have its time in our thoughts and deeds. Start ramping up to Christmas with the celebration of Advent throughout December. When Christmas day comes, thats the first day of Christmas. Lets really start celebrating the holiday then.

If folks want to mark the end of Christmas by taking down their snowmen and Santa decorations, Im all for that. But my plea to all of us is to keep up the lights while the days are short enough that the lights will still beckon to travelers headed to work and coming home. Once the days get long enough that we no longer need them, thats the time to take the lights down.

For all of us going through this dark time  the dead of winter and an ongoing pandemic  the lights of Christmas are as necessary on Jan. 25 as they are on Dec. 25. Thank you to all who still keep them shining.



Brian Mittge is still holding onto the Christmas spirit from his home south of Chehalis. Drop him a line at brianmittge@hotmail.com.
Closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High 'impacts our entire town'

The Washington County Board of Education held a public hearing on the closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High School; the crowd pleaded against it.
The re-enactment of Sarah Currans romance with Robert Emmett which features in TG4s Scealta Ghra na hEireann

If a new TG4 documentary series is anything to go by, Cork is ahead of most other counties as far as it comes to famous love stories that end in tragedy.

Scealta Ghra na hEireann/Love Stories of Ireland is a new series which got underway this week with an episode about Michael Collins and his fiancee Kitty Kiernan. That romance ended in tragedy with the killing of the Free State leader at Beal na Blath in 1922.

Next week's programme features another romance featuring a patriot, Robert Emmett, who fell in love with Newmarket born Sarah Curran, the youngest daughter of John Philpott Curran, an eminent judge who was against the relationship between his daughter and Emmet.

Sarah and Robert met through the good offices of her brother, a student in Trinity College.

Before he was executed for leading the ill-fated 1803 rebellion, Robert gave Sarah a delicate, jewel encrusted brooch in the shape of a harp which is now in Cork Public Museum.

The brooch, rich in nationalist symbolism, represented not only Emmet's love for Curran but also his love for Ireland. After his death Sarah married a Captain Henry Sturgeon and moved with him to Haiti where she died in 1808. She is buried alongside her father in Newmarket.

Sarah and Robert's story features in Wednesday's episode which will be broadcast at 8.30pm.

The following week's episode features another great Cork love tragedy, the story of Art O Laoghaire and Eibhlin Dubh Ni Chonaill, a story told in one of Ireland's great love poems, Caoineadh Airt Ui Laoghaire/The Lament for Art O'Leary.

The poem of more than 500 lines was written by Eibhlin Dubh, an aunt of Daniel O'Connell, and is the inspiration of the An Post Book of the Year 2020, Ghost in the Throat by author and poet Doireann Ni Ghriofa.


South Carolina's vaccine rollout hit another snag on Friday as hospitals were told an influx of coronavirus vaccine doses expected next week would not come.

State public health officials, meanwhile, said South Carolinians should expect to see the same number of vaccine doses allocated as in previous weeks.

Although residents are continuing to get their shots, the latest roadblock comes as officials expand the pool of eligible residents to all those over 70 years old. Seniors around the Palmetto State eager to get their shots made appointments this week and hospitals reacted to increased demand by requesting more doses.

Now, it appears, far fewer doses than requested will come.

S.C. Hospital Association President and CEO Thornton Kirby said in a statement that hospitals around the state would get "significantly less vaccine next week than they requested," and that hospitals would receive 20 percent to 25 percent fewer first doses than requested.

State public health officials said hospitals would continue to get the same number of COVID-19 vaccine doses as in prior weeks and placed blame on the federal government.

"Some hospitals and vaccine providers who place orders for their weekly vaccine allocations have requested four to five times more doses than they had in previous weeks, to accommodate a high demand for the vaccine," according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. "However, the state can't fulfill the providers' request for increased vaccine allocations because there is not enough vaccine available from the federal government."

The state is set to receive about 31,500 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine next week, DHEC said.

"As top DHEC officials noted in a (state) Senate hearing committee earlier this week, the agency is not anticipating any increase in the state's allocation of COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government for the foreseeable future," according to the agency.

South Carolina has been receiving roughly 63,000 to 64,000 doses weekly.

Those shipments usually arrive on Mondays, but doses will be delivered on Tuesday and DHEC will distribute the shots to hospitals Wednesday or Thursday because Monday is a holiday, Kirby said.

"We should continue to expect what were seeing now for the foreseeable future, said Dr. Brannon Traxler, DHECs public health director, on Friday.

In his statement, Kirby noted several concerns, including the possibility of many hospitals being forced to cancel appointments for patients receiving their first vaccine doses and that hospitals may be reluctant to schedule appointments beyond next week due to unpredictable supply.

On Friday, officials with Beaufort Memorial Hospital said they were informed that morning the hospital would not be getting more than 2,000 expected vaccine doses.

"As a result, more than 6,000 scheduled appointments through March 30 will be canceled and an additional 6,000 appointment requests will remain unscheduled until vaccine supplies are available and on hand," hospital officials said.

"The hospital placed three orders totaling more than 2,000 doses last Friday and Monday to fulfill many of its scheduled appointments. Today, they were notified that they should receive just 450 doses next Wednesday or Thursday."

According to Kirby's statement, hospitals are expected to get 100 percent of second vaccine doses requested.

The nonprofit's CEO said he worried about other consequences, such as patients being forced to go through the sign-up process again because of canceled appointments and not all hospitals specifying first doses versus second doses.

S.C. Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, said he was frustrated by the news and said DHEC officials assured him during a Tuesday committee meeting that the expanded vaccine rollout would not be a problem.

"Frustration doesnt begin to describe this," Davis said. "To have this, the sense of anger and frustration is palpable."

The state senator said he is unsure of what the next steps are, but that he believes there needs to be better communication between DHEC and hospitals on how many vaccine doses to expect.

In a first-time initiative, Indias biggest beauty pageant, VLCC Femina Miss India 2020 is going digital. For this virtual edition, Indias leading womens beauty and nutrition brand, Chicnutrix has been signed as the official Beauty Vitamins Partner.

A brand by women for women, Chicnutrix will provide quality nutrition to the models and participants. Backed by innovative Swiss technology, the brand will look after the nutrition needs of the participants with the highest quality of effervescent supplements to improve overall health, with a specific focus on nourishing the hair and skin of those participating in the pageant.

Femina Miss India is an iconic brand that has shaped the career of many women including Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra, Dia Mirza and Lara Dutta to name a few. The pageant has always been synonymous with quality and substance.

Talking out the collaboration, Chicnutrix Co-Founder Shilpa Khanna Thakkar said, Miss India is a pageant that every woman in India has grown up watching and has idolized. To collaborate with this iconic pageant is truly a proud moment for us at Chicnutrix and we share similar values. This association highlights our core belief of being beautiful inside out. It is a great platform for us to tell all women, weve got your back.

Natasha Grover, Brand and Operations Head, Miss India Organization said, We are delighted to associate with Chicnutrix, a leading beauty and nutrition brand powered by women, for the development of women. Our ideals of beauty and vanity are rooted in shared beliefs of holistic persona and well-being. It's been our constant endeavor to create an ecosystem to foster and nurture the discipline of wellness, be it mentally or physically, with appropriate influx of nutrition and more importantly creating awareness around leading a healthy lifestyle. We hope, through our conscious and synergized efforts, we can contribute towards the well-being of our young generation of women and to play our part in community building.
Support is growing among laois pharmacies for the Leinster Express #bestshot vaccination campaign.

This week we launched a petition to ask Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly to distribute Covid-19 vaccinations via pharmacies, who are already experienced with giving flu vaccinations, and are a part of every community and easily accessible.

Latest to support it is pharmacist Killian McGreal who owns ten pharmacies in the Midlands and East, including in Portarlington at the primary care centre and in Monasterevin.

We have been in contact with Minister Donnelly already, as my local TD in Wicklow to offer our carpark for drivethrough vaccinations," he told the Leinster Express.

We are well positioned in communities and engage with communities and we have the facilities to roll it out, with consultation rooms in all our pharmacies so we can triage, administer and observe afterwards.

We always want to work in conjunction with GPs and the HSE, it is important for us all to deliver the vaccinations together. This is the biggest crisis of our lifetimes and we want to pull out all the stops to get as many people vaccinated as equally as we can," Killian McGreal said.

See the online petition here, share and tag #bestshot to spread the word and get Ireland vaccinated!


A MAN who grabbed and "frogmarched" a teenager to a garda station over kicks to his elderly father's front door ended up being charged with assaulting the youth.

Colin Miley (38) was visiting his father where he lived - at supported accommodation for the elderly - when the door was kicked and he ran out to confront a group of teens, grappling with one of them.

He slipped and fell on top of the youth, who later made an assault complaint against him.

Judge Bryan Smyth fined Miley 250 after he pleaded guilty.

The judge said, however, he appreciated the "context" of what happened.

Read More

Miley, a father-of-one of Bath Street, Irishtown, Dublin 4, was initially charged with the more serious offence of assault causing harm.

Garda David Heraghty told Dublin District Court the accused was visiting his father at his home in north Dublin on the afternoon of March 10, 2019.

There had been "a number of kicks" to the door and when another kick came, Miley ran out and saw a group of "young lads".

He grabbed one of them, presuming him to have kicked the door, and they slipped on the ground.

The two "fell on top of each other" and Miley picked up the youth, held him by the shoulders and brought him to the local garda station, 200 metres away.

The accused went to the station counter and reported the incident, saying the teen had been kicking his father's door.

Some of the residents had complained about their doors being kicked at the time, the court heard.

However, the victim and his father later returned and made an assault complaint against Miley.

The accused had expressed remorse, apologised and at all times said he would plead guilty.

There had been "very large, loud" bangs on the door and it was in "this context that he reacted", his defence said.

Miley went out and saw a group of teenagers, grabbed the one he presumed had done this, they fell and he "frogmarched him to the garda station".

The accused worked in construction at a city building site, but had lost his job before Christmas.

He had previous convictions, but none was recent.
AGAWAM  Students will spend at least two days learning remotely next week, and some may not return to the classroom until the last week in January or later, the superintendent announced Friday.

Superintendent Sheila Hoffman said continuing the all-remote model after Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a response to COVID-19 infection rates rising this month in Massachusetts, in Agawam and specifically in Agawam schools.

We all want students in the building for learning, Hoffman said in a letter to parents. I hope we are very near to seeing the number of state and town cases decreasing.

There is no school on the holiday Monday, Jan. 18. Agawam classes will be held remotely on Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 19-20.

Hoffman said on Friday afternoon that she expects to bring some grades, but not all, back to in-person learning on Thursday, Jan. 21. She said her priority is to return the youngest pupils, and those with special needs, to the classroom. She said she will announce the decision over the weekend.

Agawam students have been attending fully remote classes since Dec. 14. Before that time, students in grades two through 12 were in a hybrid model, with in-person classes two days a week and remote learning on the other three days. Kindergartners and first-graders were in school for the full week, with the exception of those who opted out of in-person learning.

At this weeks meeting of the Agawam School Committee, member Anthony Bonavita suggested that prolonging the all-remote period may not be the best way to fight the spread of the coronavirus. In schools, he said, children must wear masks and keep their distance. At home, theres nobody to enforce those rules.

There are some statistics that show that in certain areas, where COVID is running rampant, that students are safer in school, because of the protocols and requirements, than they are if theyre in remote, Bonavita said.

Hoffman said this week that the School Department is tracking the number of COVID-19 cases in the school community, including a separate tally of cases among the students who have opted out of in-person classes.

In December, case counts for the school population as a whole never rose above 19. This month, the count started at 25 on Jan. 4 and hit a peak of 53 on Wednesday, dropping back to 39 on Friday.

Hoffman said the spike likely has to do with travel and gatherings during the holiday season.

School Committee members also received a letter asking that the schools consider remote learnings emotional toll on children, who miss personal interactions with their friends and extracurricular activities, and on parents, who have to balance child care and help with classwork with their own work schedules.

While students are being asked to stay home, teachers will still have to report to their school buildings, at least part of the time. The teachers unions original agreement with school administrators mandated that teachers work in their usual schools whenever a stretch of remote learning reached 10 consecutive days. The agreement was recently modified to require teachers in the building only two days a week.
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Fermented milk product produced by bacterial fermentation. Includes plain (unflavored) and flavored (artificial and natural) yogurt and products containing pieces of fruit or other toppings. Includes yogurts made from different types of milk eg cow, sheep, goat, buffalo etc. Includes: pre/probiotic yogurts aimed at offering digestive benefits and set variants frozen yogurt.

Yogurt market in Saudi Arabia registered a positive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.17% during the period 2014 to 2019 with a sales value of SAR 1,095.09 Million in 2019, an increase of 4.37% over 2018. The market achieved its strongest performance in 2018, when it grew by 7.57% over its previous year and its weakest performance in 2017, when it fell by -2.84% over 2016.

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January, youve really knocked it out of the park. In addition to Kimye possibly splitting up and Tanya Roberts being accidentally declared dead before actually dying, the President of the United States has been impeached for the second time and he cant even rant about it on Twitter.

I felt a weird sense of hysteria mixed with relief when Donald Trump was, at long last, given a permanent ban from Twitter due to the risk of further incitement of violence, following last weeks Capitol riots.

For the last four years and beyond, we have seen laws being announced, false claims about stolen elections made and Chrissy Teigen called filthy mouthed in all-cap tweets, with no warning and no context to his supporters, who saw the unchallenged tweets as gospel. Now that hes been banned, theres less of a chance World War III will be announced with an exclamation mark while Im live-tweeting The Masked Singer.

You would think Twitters decision to ban a man who incited a riot where five people ended up dead would be welcomed with open arms by everyone. Alas, that is not the case. It has been argued by many  including by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey  that banning Trump sets a dangerous precedent, and that being banned from Twitter is a violation of Trumps First Amendment rights, or his right to free speech.

Angela Merkel said that the ban was problematic, while Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez said he didnt think anybody should be censored. Trump himself called out the unprecedented assault on free speech after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook and even Pinterest.

Out of all the bizarre incidents of the last week or so  and there have been many  this is up there with the most baffling for me. First of all, incitement to violence and hate speech are not covered by the right to free speech. You are, of course, free to express your political views, but when you start using racist or homophobic slurs or, say, encouraging a siege on the Capitol to avenge what you falsely believe is a stolen election, youre not covered any more.

Secondly, you are not being censored because youre breaking those free-speech rules on Twitter.

Read More

Twitter is being made out to be this internationally sacred, government-sanctioned platform; that if youre not given free reign over those 280 characters and able to angrily rant about the genitals of trans people, your human rights are somehow being infringed.

What it actually is, is a private company that makes money from letting the public talk about whether the president should be convicted and who should have been in the bottom two on RuPauls Drag Race. None of us have a right to that. Our rights werent taken away when Bebo tanked and took with it our 1,000 photos from Malaga with the girls 2008.

Arguing that Trump has been censored by not being allowed to express his thoughts on Twitter is like arguing that you have been censored because your views on who should be the next James Bond werent given space on the front page of the Irish Independent, or that you have a human right to have your book about a lockdown romance published.

The concept of cancel culture has warped minds to the point that writers who have been transphobic repeatedly announce they have been cancelled for their opinions via interviews with newspapers.

I support free speech wholeheartedly  my career depends on it  but free speech does not equal hate speech or incitement. The moment your opinions start putting lives and other peoples rights at risk, your argument falls flat.

There are people in this world who have actually been silenced and censored, whistleblowers who are shunned after putting their lives at risk, minorities who are never handed the microphone.

While Trump can no longer tweet, he has hardly been silenced. He is still, for the next four days anyway, the President of the United States, and can say anything he wants to say via a White House press statement that will be carried by every news outlet in the world.

Strange kind of censorship, dont you think?
On Friday, just four full days before Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in as the new president and vice president, Vice President Mike Pence called Harris to congratulate her, according to multiple news outlets. This marks the closest thing that the incoming Biden administration has received from the outgoing Trump administration to a concession. It is also the closest thing the Biden administration is likely to receive in terms of concession. President Donald Trump, who spent the past month pushing lies that the election had been stolen from him, culminating in last weeks mob insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, has not called Biden to concede. At this point, it seems safe to say he never will.

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The New York Times reported that Pences call was to congratulate her and offer his belated assistance and that the conversation, relayed by two officials briefed on the call, was described as gracious and pleasant.

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It comes as Pence appears to have taken over many of the roles of the president following last weeks attack in Washington, which a recently passed impeachment article alleges was incited by Trump. Reporting indicates that Trump was slow to call for the National Guard to support Capitol Police in the wake of last weeks riot. On Friday, the Washington Post reported that members of the mobwhich had erected a gallows outside of the Capitol and had been heard chanting Hang Mike Pence while Trump proclaimed on Twitter that the vice president had failed himcame within a minute of coming face to face with Pence, his wife, and his daughter before the members of the second family were shepherded by Secret Service to an undisclosed Capitol safe room. The FBI further reported this week that some members of the mob had intended to kidnap and possibly assassinate members of the U.S. government, presumably including Pence. And so perhaps it makes some sense that the vice president has realized that participating in a peaceful transition of power means also acknowledging and communicating with the people on the other end of the transition. On Thursday, Pence tweeted images in which he appeared to be helping to orchestrate heightened security for next weeks inauguration ceremony following a slew of reported domestic terrorist threats to that event.

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Good briefing today at @DHSgov about plans to ensure that well have a safe Inauguration on January 20th. Grateful to Law Enforcement, @NationalGuard, and all the Federal Officials who are working around the clock to protect our Nations Capitol. God Bless Them All! pic.twitter.com/5eCXz99S51  Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) January 15, 2021

Trump, meanwhile, is reportedly planning to leave the White House without meeting with Biden, and presumably without having conceded defeat in Novembers election. The closest he has come to doing the latter has been a pair of video statementsreleased, respectively, one day after the insurrectionary attack and shortly after his impeachmentin which he has said his focus is to ensure a smooth, orderly, and seamless transition of power to the new administration inaugurated on Jan. 20. Nowhere in these statements did Trump admit that he has been lying about the election results, nor does he say that Biden won.

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As noted previously by Jordan Weissmann in Slate, as well as by others, the official posture of the mainstream Republican Party seems to be that there will be a transition of power on Jan. 20 and there needs to be unity, but there is no need for top GOP officials to acknowledge that Joe Biden won Novembers election fair and square and that the partys claims about voter fraud over the past two months have been an enormous lie.

As one example, Trump ally Ronna McDanielwho retained her position last week as chairwoman of the Republican National Committeehas given typical statements saying our country desperately needs to heal and unify and that the peaceful transition of power is one of our nations founding principles and is necessary for our country to move forward. But nowhere in these statements did McDaniel acknowledge that Biden won the election by 7 million votes, winning the same number of Electoral College votes as Trump did in what he has described as his 2016 landslide victory. On Monday, I emailed the RNC to ask if McDaniel would affirm that Joe Biden won the election, with 81 million votes, and that there was no fraud or unlawful irregularities that affected the outcome.

As of the end of the week, McDaniel had not responded with any sort of acknowledgment of Bidens legitimate victory. She and her party probably never will.
Her sister Nicole Kidman is known for her long and lean modelesque figure.

And on Thursday, Antonia Kidman proved good genes certainly run in the family as she turned heads during a beach outing in Sydney.

The 50-year-old mother-of-six showed off her incredibly toned and tanned figure in a black bikini as she soaked up the sun with her sons Alexander, eight, Nicholas, 10 and James, 18.

Soaking up the sun! Antonia Kidman, 50, showed off her trim bikini body as she hit the beach with her sons Nicholas, Alexander and James in Sydney on Thursday

Summer fun! The 50-year-old mother-of-six showed off her incredibly toned and tanned figure in a black bikini

Going makeup-free for the occasion, the beauty left her hair out while accessorising her look with a waterproof wrist watch.

Antonia was all smiles as she walked along the rocks after enjoying a dip in the water.

After her swim, the mother-of-six was spotted relaxing on the sand with Nicholas, Alexander and James.

Natural beauty! Going makeup-free for the occasion, she left her hair out while accessorising her look with a waterproof wrist watch

Family fun! Antonia was all smiles as she watched her youngest son jump into the water

The doting mother and her three sons sat under two beach umbrellas and chatted as they had a snack.

Before heading home, Antonia put on a short white dress and black hat and enjoyed a stroll along the sand.

The family were then seen carrying all their belonging as they walked to their car.

Enjoying a break: After enjoying a swim, the mother-of-six was then spotted relaxing on the sand with Nicholas, Alexander and James

Break time! The doting mother and her three sons sat under two beach umbrellas and chatted as they had a snack

Stroll: Before heading home, Antonia put on a short white dress and black hat and enjoyed a stroll along the sand

Antonia shares four children, daughters Lucia, Sybella and sons Hamish and James with her late ex-husband Angus, who she was married to until 2007.

Angus tragically died of a heart attack in 2015.

Antonia welcomed her youngest two children, Nicholas and Alexander with current husband Craig Marran.

Family: Antonia shares four children, daughters Lucia, Sybella as well as her sons Hamish and James with her late ex-husband Angus, who she was married to until 2007

Motherhood: Antonia welcomed her youngest two children, Nicholas and Alexander with current husband Craig Marran

Antonia is a known proponent of healthy eating and fitness.

The media personality previously told Nature and Health that she loves vegetables and salads and that she either runs or swims every morning.

Meanwhile, Antonia enjoys a close relationship with her sister Nicole, 53, an Oscar-winning Hollywood star who is married to Keith Urban.

Going home: The family were then seen carrying all their belonging as they walked to their car to head back home

Busy mum: Antonia wore a white shirt and tiny denim shorts as she held her beach bag, towel and a newspaper

In June last year, Antonia revealed she's been thinking about adding to her family of six and is considering getting a dog.

She said in a column for 9Honey now that her family has relocated back to Australia and live in a house with a sizeable backyard - after almost a decade of living in Singapore - the idea of getting a family pooch was on the cards.

She wrote that the love a dog owner has for their pet 'seems so unconditional, solid and enormous and I don't want to go through life without experiencing it'.

New family addition? In June, Antonia revealed that she's been thinking about adding to her family of six and is considering getting a dog

A bill on prevention of child abuse is passed at a plenary session at the National Assembly in Seoul, Jan. 8. Yonhap



By Jung Da-min



The basic duty of a lawmaker as a representative of the public is to propose bills to help solve, or at least ease, social problems. Many lawmakers seem to believe wrongly that the number of bills they propose will be seen as a measure of their legislative activities, or that a proposal on its own is enough to solve any problems raised by constituents.



But according to political watchers, while active proposals of bills could be an indicator of performance, many are actually passed by the National Assembly without being properly discussed or cross-checked by lawmakers and thus often have flaws, despite being established as laws.



Such problems arise more often when it comes to social issues that are receiving a lot of public attention, as many lawmakers, wanting to promote their legislative activities, try to appeal to the public by competitively  and rapidly  proposing related bills.



A recent child abuse case in which a 16-month-old girl died at the hands of her abusive adoptive parents is one such example. The girl, who was adopted in February last year, died from injuries sustained in October after being habitually assaulted and abused for months. Public anger mounted over the case after an investigative journalism program aired by local broadcaster SBS in early January covered the story, and many lawmakers began proposing bills seeking heavier punishments for child abusers.



However, many experts point out that such bills are unlikely to serve their intended purpose of handing down heavier punishments, as judges require prosecutors to submit a stronger level of evidence to avoid the possibility of misjudgment. But many cases of child abuse have relatively weak evidence, such as testimony from witnesses rather than physical evidence, they say.



"Stronger sentencing means increased responsibility for prosecutors to prove the damage a victim suffered. If prosecutors think the evidence is insufficient for an alleged abuser to be convicted, they will be reluctant to indict," said Kim Ye-won, an attorney with the Center for the Disability Rights Act.



Kim said even after indictment, it is more likely that abusers could evade punishment, as judges would demand more specific evidence to prove the offense.



"If evidence secured by the victims' side could not meet the level required by judges, abusers would not be found guilty and the cases would come to an end. As child abuse cases rarely have clear evidence, abusers could evade their responsibility more easily," Kim said.





Citizens visit the grave of a 16-month-old girl who died at the hands of abusive parents, at Hi Family Andersen Park Cemetery in Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, Jan. 7. Yonhap



Kim and other legal experts also pointed out that several bills were proposed seeking immediate separation of children from parents or guardians suspected of abuse, because lawmakers were unaware that child shelters run by the government and other civic organizations do not have the capacity to accommodate a large influx of children.



"If such an immediate separation is conducted mechanically without considering other factors such as capacities of child shelters, children who need to be separated may have no place to go and they may miss the proper timing for separation. Such a mechanical separation is not the answer," Kim said.



Experts delivered concerns over such bills intended to prevent child abuse, some of which have since been withdrawn.



More debates, cross-checking required at Assembly



Policy watchers say the legislative system should be improved, because Assembly members are not given enough time to discuss and cross-check bills under the current system.



They said that realizing justice is not about establishing more laws but about finding the right solutions by thoroughly understanding the problems.



Park Sang-hoon, chief of Political Power Plant, a grassroots organization dedicated to civic and political education, said that lawmakers are too focused on achieving quantitative results and tend to think of proposing a bill as a success, although proposal of a bill often lacks procedures of adequate examination, discussions and adjustments among lawmakers.



"Lawmakers need a discreet attitude in proposing bills so that they could put forward necessary bills at the right times. It is a problem that many lawmakers are treating legislation like a business and saying, 'I did one thing' after proposing a bill," Park said, adding that this attitude is damaging the authority of legislators as well as the laws established by them.



Park noted that 6,957 bills were proposed by the lawmakers of the 21st National Assembly from May 30 to Dec. 31 last year, the first seven months since it was inaugurated. That is up 48 percent from 4,698 bills proposed during the same period in 2016 by the previous 20th Assembly. Park said the 21st Assembly is expected to set a record in terms of the number of proposed bills, with the previous record set by the 20th Assembly.





National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug bangs the gavel during a plenary session at the National Assembly in Seoul, Jan. 8. Yonhap



He said such an increase in the number of bills showed a tendency in which the number is considered as an important standard when evaluating lawmakers' performances, which should not be the case.



"What the Assembly should pursue is not just a larger number of laws, but establishing more necessary laws in terms of their social functions. If lawmakers select and propose valuable bills through preliminary review and establish them as laws after sufficient review and discussions, the Assembly would be able to increase the public's trust in the legislative body," Park said.



Another political commentator Choi Young-il said the increase in the number of proposed bills in the 21st Assembly could be attributable to the fact that there are more first-term lawmakers. There are 151 first-term lawmakers in the 300-strong Assembly, marking the first time in 16 years that the proportion of first-term lawmakers has exceeded 50 percent.



"There is a tendency for first-term lawmakers to propose bills more actively than others who have been elected multiple times," Choi said. "But the more fundamental problem with lawmakers' legislative activities is not the increase in the number of proposed bills but a lack of due procedures for reviewing and discussing their necessity and effectiveness."



Choi said many lawmakers tend to oppose or support bills not according to their own positions, but according to the political interests of their parties, and reviews and discussions of bills are often missing in the process.



"The role of a lawmaker is not limited to proposing bills, but also includes reviewing and discussing bills proposed by other lawmakers. When a bill is proposed, follow-up procedures should seek to improve it based on discussions and judicial reviews so that when it is passed and established as a law, the law could function in accordance with its original goal," Choi said.



"But under the current situation, more than 100 bills are being processed within a day, especially in the year-end period when parties hold extra sessions to pass remaining bills in a rush after months of political strife. The Assembly is urged to improve its legislative system so plenary sessions could be held throughout the year."




Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16)  Baguio City is looking to tap other pharmaceutical firms aside from AstraZeneca as it seeks more COVID-19 vaccine doses in a bid to help nearby areas which failed to secure orders, Mayor Benjamin Magalong said Saturday.

At the Laging Handa briefing, Magalong said the local government was eyeing to purchase 380,000 vaccine doses to cover 70 percent of its 260,000 target population. The city earlier inked a deal with UK-based AstraZeneca for the procurement of vaccines for 190,000 residents.

But the city government is looking well beyond its borders in its vaccine procurement plan.

Magalong said Baguio City has ongoing talks with Russian firm Gamaleya Institute and would also like to approach US drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna for additional vaccine orders.

"May orders sa Gamaleya para may contingency, [and] kailangan naming tulungan ang aming mga kapitbahay dahil hindi sila nakapag-order," he said.

"Kailangan namin mangolekta ng vaccines kasi kailangan din namin maibigay sa mga ibang probinsiya, kagaya ng Benguet," Magalong added.

[Translation: We have orders from Gamaleya for our contingency plan, and we also need to help our neighbors because they failed to order vaccines. We need to collect vaccines for other provinces, like Benguet.]

Magalong, who is also the contact tracing czar, also announced that activities at the Panagbenga, the city's annual flower festival, will be more "subdued" this year, amid the threat of the new COVID-19 variant. The celebrations were cancelled last year.

He said they need to control the movement of tourists, as other local government units near Baguio City do not require swab tests from travelers.

Stormy ports View(s):

So, the stormy East Container Terminal (ECT) issue at the Colombo Port has been settled. Or has it? So, the stormy East Container Terminal (ECT) issue at the Colombo Port has been settled. Or has it?

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, at a meeting with several protesting trade unions, earlier this week reiterated the government position that 51 per cent of the terminal will be held by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and neither will it be sold or leased, while the balance 49 per cent will be offered to Indias Adani group, which has close links to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government, and other investors.

This is unlike the situation at the Hambantota Port, the Colombo International Container Terminals Ltd  CICT or the South Asia Gateway Terminal  SAGT, the last two named being part of the Colombo Port, where all three have foreign stakeholders.

Despite the Presidents assurance which gave the impression that the matter had been sorted out  though it was unclear from the statement issued by his office as to who would manage this controversial terminal  the unions returning from the meeting told reporters that the issue remained unresolved.

The Presidents comments were a repeat of what Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa told Parliament that the ECT will not be sold or leased, once again leaving in suspense the answer as to who would run its operations, local management or a foreign party vis-a-vis Adani.

What is particularly interesting is that in a rare show of solidarity, pro-government unions, patriotic forces and professionals have joined with opposition unions and political parties in leading the protest against any handover of the ECT to foreign management and part ownership. Such consolidated support was missing or muted in the case of the Hambantota port or the CICT.

As I pondered over these issues which have taken the spotlight in recent weeks, the phone rang. It was my jolly-mood economist friend, Sammiya (short for Samson) on the line. I was pleased with the call, since Sammiya has also been closely following the ECT issue.

Hi how are you? I was in fact thinking of you since I am writing about the crisis surrounding the ECT. What are your thoughts, I asked him.

Well unlike the CICT and SAGT, the SLPA has spent its own funds of US$100 million to build the first stage of the ECT based on a local loan of $80 million and $20 million coming from its own funds. Thats why the unions are vehemently opposed to handing over the terminal, saying that local investors should be sought, he said.

But havent the SAGT and CICT done well, managed with foreign partners, and the same applies to the Hambantota Port? So what is the issue, I replied.

Well the profits generated from these terminals go out of the country, while the SLPA gets only a pittance in terms of its stake, he said.

Completing the conversation with Sammiya after discussing many other pressing issues in the country, I reflected on some data that came from a trade union source. This official said the Jaya Terminal run by the SLPA earns revenue of $250 million a year. He argues that if both CICT and SAGT also earn the same amount or more, Sri Lanka is losing an average $500 million in annual revenue as these two terminals are managed by foreign parties (in the case of SAGT, it is managed by John Keells Holdings, while its foreign stakeholders must have a hand in the management).

With my mind filled with turbulent and stormy ports, my attention was momentarily diverted to the conversation under the margosa tree. There, Kussi Amma Sera was saying, Mokakda Colomba waraye thiyena prashnaya (What is the problem at the Colombo Port?)

Mama hithanne, videsha company waraye weda karanna salli daana eka thama (I think its about some foreign companies investing money to run the port), said Serapina.

Aei apita waraya duwanna beri meita issella kara wage (Why cant we manage the port like we have done for many years?) asked Mabel Rasthiyadu.

Mama hithanne ne, ape yaluwo ho pavul dannawa kiyala prashnayak thiyenawa kiyala (Well, I dont think many of our friends and families are aware about this and whether it is an issue), said Kussi Amma Sera.

She may be wrong there, since the movement against the handing over of the ECT to foreign management is preparing to take their case across the country if the government doesnt wilt under pressure and call off the deal.

The Hambantota Port which was like a ghost fixture (similar to the Hambantota airport) in the first few years of its operations with very few ships calling over, has transformed radically under the management of a Chinese company.

There are some interesting statistics which show that though the previous regime struck a deal with China on the Hambantota Port in what is seen as equity-to-settle-loan deal that is not the case.

The government is still to pay off five loans obtained from the Exim Bank of China to construct the Hambantota Port and the agreements pertaining to those loans still remain. Under a 2017 deal, a 70 per cent stake of the port was leased to China Merchants Port Holdings Company Ltd (CM Port) for 99 years for $1.12 billion. This amount was supposedly to repay the $1.2 billion in loans. But this was not used to pay off the debt. Instead it was used to strengthen the countrys foreign reserves and make some short-term foreign debt repayments.

According to the lease agreement, a significant portion of the operations in the port will be handled by CM Port and thus a large portion of the profit will be earned by the Chinese company.

Opponents of the Hambantota deal said that CM Port can recover its $1.2 billion investment in five to six years and thereafter (for 99 years if it is still around) will be recouping huge profits, something that would have remained at home if the port was managed by the Sri Lankan government.

The transfer of public assets to multinationals and in the ECT case, the Adani group, raises an elementary question: Will this company work in the interests of Sri Lanka or its own interests ensuring that its own ports across India dig deep into the business of Sri Lankan ports in diverting regional transshipment cargo? Unions are accusing the Adani group of working in its own interests and not the interests of Sri Lanka.

As I prepared my concluding remarks on the drama surrounding the ECT, Kussi Amma Sera breezed into the room humming a Sinhala baila tune and left a mug of tea on my table. Thanking her, I was left pondering on the coming together of forces with diverse interests and ideologies for a common good. This doesnt mean foreign investment is a bad thing; it is just that management skills in running, in this case, ports are also available locally.
It is not clear what the equation is between the Akalis and the leaders of the farmers unions

The Akalis, who have been the major political voice of the Sikhs, have not been in the forefront of the agitation now that they walked out of the government and the NDA on the very same issue. (Representational Photo: PTI)

It was on the day the farm bills were passed in the Lok Sabha that the Akali Dals Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union minister for food processing, announced her resignation from Prime Minister Narendra Modis Cabinet in September 2020. She said her party was opposed to the bills, and that the government went ahead without heeding the protest of her party. But the Akali Dal then, and in the past three months since, did not state the specific reasons for their opposition to the farm legislation. The resignation of Ms Badal seemed to be an expression of despair rather than defiance. After leaving the government and the ruling National Democratic Alliance, neither the BJP nor the Akalis have attacked each other.

The BJP had attacked the Congress, and the Congress government of Amarinder Singh in Punjab, for opposing the farm laws as an act of hypocrisy. Home minister Amit Shah initially blamed the Khalistanis for fomenting the agitation, but later both Mr Shah and his party have refrained from targeting Khalistanis fearing the trouble it may unleash.

But television news channels supporting the Narendra Modi government have tried to build a counter-narrative that the Congress was using the Khalistanis to subvert the farmers' agitation as it once did in the late 1970s and early 1980s to outflank the Akalis in Punjabs politics. It is a line of argument that the Modi government and the BJP would still be wary of using because of the uncertain fallout and the stance of the Sikh diasporas political leadership in places like Britain and Canada.

The information and broadcasting ministry had recently issued a 188-page booklet, enumerating the many things that Prime Minister Modi and his government have done for the Sikhs, indicating as it were that the government sees the ongoing agitation as that of Punjabi Sikhs and not as that of farmers per se. But is appears the Sikh outreach through the booklet did not evoke any positive response.

The Akalis, who have been the major political voice of the Sikhs, have not been in the forefront of the agitation now that they walked out of the government and the NDA on the very same issue. It is not clear what the equation is between the Akalis and the leaders of the farmers unions.

The farmers spokespersons told a Hindi television news channel that the farmers were not opposed to Mr Modi nor to the BJP, and that as a matter of fact they (farmers) had voted for the BJP. So, it has been made clear that if the Centre repeals the laws, the farmers will remain with the government.

It is this stand of the farmers that might be holding the Akalis back from entering the fray and declaring their opposition to the Modi government. They may still be looking to return to the NDA and to the government once the standoff between it and the farmers ends.

It is, of course, standard practice that political parties do not usually spearhead the agitation of a section of society though they would support it from the outside.

The farmers too need to keep political parties out to keep the legitimacy of their cause and avoid being accused of being pawns in the hands of the Opposition political parties.

It is indeed the case that both Akalis and the Congress in Punjab would like to support the farmers agitation and expect in return the vote of the farmers at election time.

If the impasse is over, and the Modi government manages to reach an agreement with the farmers, the Akalis might stand to gain. If, however, the impasse continues, there is the possibility that the Akalis might want to join hands with the Congress, as the Shiv Sena and the Congress did in Maharashtra, to oppose the BJP. At the moment, despite the silence and invisibility of the Akalis, there might be an active back channel between the Akalis and the BJP.

There is also the danger, as far as the Akalis are concerned, that if the BJP makes a peace deal with the Punjab Sikh farmers, Mr Modi and Mr Shah, who are forever on the lookout to expand the BJPs footprint, may absorb the Sikh constituency and the Akalis may be left high and dry. This was this strategy that backfired for the BJP in Maharashtra when it tried to undermine the Shiv Sena.

It looks like the farmers are confident that they can argue their own case, fight their own cause, and dont need to depend on political parties. It is the parties who need to woo the farmers. That even ostensibly farmers parties like the Rashtriya Lok Dal and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, and Indian National Lok Dal and the Jannayak Janta Party in Haryana, cant take the farmers for granted is evident in their unflattering electoral performance in the past few years. It is then reasonable to infer that the BJP would want to carve out its own farmers constituency.

Akali Dal leaders have held on to their belief that they represent the Punjabi constituency, taking advantage of the Sikh identity of Punjabs farmers. The Sikh element in Punjabs politics simply cannot be wished away. The BJP, on its part, will have a problem in balancing its Hindutva politics with that of the Sikh minorityism of the Akalis.

The farmers themselves have kept the protest as a farmers issue, pure and simple. They kept the ideologues of all stripes at bay. They are pressing on the simple issue of seeking repeal of the three farm laws. Economic experts explain the protest as anti-rational. The farmers, however, believe that their demand is rational too. The Akalis obligation at this point is to argue the case of the farmers so that the entire country knows that the farmers are not being obtuse and obdurate.
Gov. Kay Ivey today urged Alabamians to unite in the wake of last weeks storming of the U.S. Capitol and as the nation enters the weekend of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday facing concerns about the possibility of more violent protests.

Ivey made the statements in her January newsletter to citizens, posted on the governors website.

Last week, our nation was rocked to our core, the governor wrote. We witnessed horrifying scenes of violence and destruction against not only our nations capitol but the very foundation of our democracy. As a hurting nation, we must set aside our own political differences and find unity in pushing forward as Americans.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love. Emotions are running high, but I encourage you to take Dr. Kings words to heart. We cannot let our emotions impede our judgement and cause us to forget how to be civil and compassionate. We must find it within ourselves, the resilient people that I know we are, to push forward together, reminding the world that even during times of disagreement  democracy prevails. The simple fact is we all need each other. We are facing unprecedented circumstances, and quite frankly, it is going to take all of us working together to get through all of it.

Read the newsletter.

Officials across the country are preparing for the potential of violent protests after the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by a violent mob, who killed a police officer and forced Congress to evacuate.

Ivey approved sending 750 Alabama National Guard soldiers to Washington to help provide security there for the inauguration of Joe Biden on Wednesday.

Montgomery has closed some streets downtown and plans to continue some closures until after the inauguration.
The company is set to acquire 19.9% of Sayona Mining and 25% of Sayona Quebec and has entered a binding supply agreement for 50% of Sayona Quebecs spodumene concentration production.

Quebec is poised to become an important lithium hydroxide production centre

( ) ( ) (OTCMKTS:PDDTF) has established a strategic partnership with ( ) (OTCMKTS:DMNXF) (FRA:DML) by purchasing equity stakes in Sayona and its Quebec subsidiary Sayona Quebec Inc, as well as a binding supply agreement for at least 50% of Sayona Quebecs planned spodumene concentrate production.

The company will acquire an initial 9.9% equity interest for around US$3.1 million via a share placement and two unsecured convertible notes for around US$3.9 million that, upon conversion, would result in Piedmont acquiring an additional 10% equity interest in Sayona.

PLL will also purchase a 25% stake in Sayona Quebec for around US$5 million in cash and will appoint one director to Sayonas board of directors.

High-quality asset in favourable location

Sayona Quebec owns the DFS-level Authier Lithium Project, the highly prospective Tansim Lithium Project, and is pursuing a bid to acquire Quebec-based North American Lithiums (NAL) assets.

Piedmont president and CEO Keith D Phillips said: Piedmonts partnership with Sayona will provide multiple benefits.

Sayona has high-quality assets in a favourable location and the investments are being made at an attractive valuation.

Quebec is poised to become an important lithium hydroxide production centre given its abundant mineral resources, low-cost, sustainable hydro-electric power, proximity to major US and European electric vehicle markets and pro-electrification stance of provincial leaders.

Sayonas assets are favourably located in the Val-dOr region of central Quebec, home to major mining concerns and proximate to first-class infrastructure.

Sayonas core Authier project is well-advanced, with reserves declared and DFS complete, the nearby Tansim project offers strong exploration potential, and the regional consolidation opportunities including NAL are intriguing.

Agreement supports long-term growth

Piedmont and Sayona Quebec have also entered into a binding spodumene concentrate (SC6) supply agreement where Sayona Quebec will supply to Piedmont the greater of 60,000 tonnes per year or 50% of Sayona Quebecs SC6 production at lifeofmine market pricing with a minimum price of US$500/tonne and maximum price of US$900/tonne.

Phillips said: The investments are additive to Piedmont from a resources and reserves perspective, and the spodumene supply agreement will offset our Tesla commitments in the near term and position us for longer-term growth in lithium hydroxide production.

The supply agreement is also conditional upon Piedmont and Sayona agreeing to a start date for spodumene concentrate deliveries between July 2023 and July 2024, based on the development schedules of both parties.

Advancing development for both companies

Sayona managing director Brett Lynch said the partnership with Piedmont would advance the development plans of both companies in North America.

He said: I am delighted to welcome Piedmont as a strategic partner.

Piedmont has shown tremendous vision in creating a base in North Carolina, a centre of lithium hydroxide production in the United States, and has secured significant supply agreements with leading EV makers.

This agreement will underwrite the future of our Authier project, expedite our growth plans in Quebec including our bid for North American Lithium, and enhance access to the U.S. market and investors.

Looking forward

Phillips said: We look forward to supporting Sayonas team as they drive day-to-day activities in Quebec, while Piedmonts team focuses on its core interests in North Carolina.

2021 will be an important year for our Piedmont Lithium Project, as we plan to expand our mineral resources, finalise permitting, execute additional lithium offtake agreements, complete an integrated definitive feasibility study and secure strategic project financing.

We are fortunate to have a strong balance sheet to comfortably fund the Sayona investments without compromising our aggressive plans in North Carolina.

The share placement and issue of the convertible notes are expected to close the week of January 11, 2021, with the project investment expected to close in February 2021.
Freida Pinto To Play Britain's World War II Spy Noor Inayat Khan In A Limited Series

Actor Freida Pinto will be essaying the role of Britain's World War II spy Noor Inayat Khan in an upcoming limited series. Based on Shrabani Basu's Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan, the project hails from writer Olivia Hetreed and Red Room Films, reported Deadline. Khan was born in Moscow in 1914 to Indian father Hazrat Inayat Khan and American mother Ora Ray Baker. She was sent to Nazi-occupied France in 1943 as an undercover radio operator for Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE).

But Khan was betrayed, arrested and killed in Dachau Concentration Camp at the age of 30. "She was a fierce and amazing woman, the most unlikely heroine of World War 2. Sending women to the front line is controversial even now. Then it was unthinkable. Sending a Sufi mystic, who won't use a gun, daughter of a long-haired Indian Guru who preaches love and peace ridiculous! But Noor thrives, not in spite of her differences, but because of them," Pinto, who will also serve as an executive producer on the series, said.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Freida Pinto (@freidapinto)

The 36-year-old actor asserted that she aims to explore Khan's inner struggle and complex sense of duty with her portrayal. Pinto is known for movies such as Slumdog Millionaire, Immortals and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The series will be directed by Anand Tucker, who previously helmed films like Hilary and Jackie, Shopgirl and Leap Year.

The life story of Khan was most recently depicted in a film from filmmaker Sarah Megan Thomas. Actor Radhika Apte portrayed Khan in the movie, which was recently released on Amazon Prime Video.


The Securities and Exchange Commission has been largely silent on the financial wreckage of the U.S. shale industry in recent years, but that may be about to change.

The top U.S. financial regulators reported investigation into how Exxon Mobil Corp. values shale assets follows years of concerns about the industrys rosy projections, which have left hundreds of billions of dollars of investor losses and writedowns.

Exxon, the nation's biggest oil company, is accused in a whistleblower complaint of inflating the value of a key asset in the Permian Basin and making drilling plans that were too optimistic, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The company denied the the claims, while Exxons stock fell as much as 6 percent.

The SEC is cracking down on the overvaluation of these type of hard-to-value assets, said Arthur Jakoby, a former SEC official and now a partner at Herrick, Feinstein LLP in New York, and whos not involved in the case. Its a very easy way to pump up the price of one stock, especially oil and gas companies using estimates for what they have in the ground.

The shale revolution upended global energy markets over the past decade, making the U.S. the worlds top oil and gas producer and providing oceans of cheap crude to consumers. The jump in production was built on shaky financial foundations, however. Funded by cheap money and spurred on by the sky-high prices that shale assets were fetching at the height of the boom, industry executives pushed a narrative to investors that fracking would make U.S. oil fields comparable to those in the Middle East.

Oil giants like Exxon, ConocoPhillips and BP Plc made multibillion-dollar shale acquisitions, turning wildcatters into overnight billionaires. Fracking pioneers like Chesapeake Energy Corp. struck large, highly leveraged deals of their own. But even as the technology advanced and production soared, those companies continued to burn cash. The industry wrote down $450 billion of invested capital and saw more than 190 bankruptcies between 2010 and 2020, according to Deloitte LLP.

Many investors point to the gap in what shale companies say they can profitably drill and what they ultimately do. Exxon bought a large position in the Permian in 2017 and quickly ramped up production targets, culminating in a pre-pandemic plan to reach 1 million barrels of oil a day by 2024. The whistleblower complaint says some Exxon employees pushed for a lower valuation for some Permian assets because drilling times were longer than expected in 2018, the Journal reported.

NEWS TIP: Exxon signals historic fourth consecutive loss on demand hit

The claims are demonstrably false, Exxon said in a statement, without confirming or denying that an investigation is under way. Actual and provable performance exceeded drilling plans for the Permian and such performance has been accurately represented to the investment community. The SEC declined to comment.

Still, the reported whistleblower complaint echoes what investors  and some engineers  have been saying about smaller shale companies projections for some time. Many investors now focus almost exclusively on free cash flow, a figure thats harder to manipulate.

Its all been boiling under the surface since 2012, said Ed Hirs, a longtime energy fellow at the University of Houston. But the challenge here is really that, for the last several years, the investment community has only been looking at the cash flows.

Nowhere is shale more hyped than in the Permian, now the biggest U.S. oil field. The excitement reached a fever pitch after the oil price crash of 2014-2016, when private equity rushed to get a piece of the action, getting what it believed would be a profitable entry point. Recently, many of those players have been forced to book massive impairments.

Concho Resources Inc., which Conoco agreed to buy in October, took a $12.6 billion charge for its oil and gas assets earlier last year, one in a long list of huge writedowns that followed a coronavirus-fueled collapse in crude prices. The move came two years after the company bought RSP Permian at a price that valued its oil and gas assets far higher than deals involving neighboring producers.

CAPITOL FALLOUT: Oil companies face pressure on political giving after riot

Apache Corp. also wrote down the value of its flagship Alpine High project, long touted as a prolific find in an ignored part of the Permian, which instead ended up being far richer in gas than oil.

At the start of the boom, when Aubrey McClendon was turning Chesapeake into a shale gas giant, the regulator changed its rules for how companies could calculate oil and gas reserves.

Many blame the relaxed regulatory environment on just how complicated calculating future production can be. It is, after all, an estimate based on assumptions like drilling times, how close together wells are fracked, and the cost of leasing land. As some engineers have said, reservoir engineering is more art than science.

Its not a simple investigation because assets can be valued in many different ways, Jakoby said. The SEC will be looking for a smoking gun showing that management pushed for an overvaluation.
So, after waiting all year for it to happen, it happened 10 days before Christmas. I tested positive for COVID-19.

Of course, Christmas was a write-off well before this moment. Migrants like us tend to end the year with a set of established rituals, involving a journey, a celebration, and a sad but rejuvenated return. We knew that wasnt going to happen in 2020. But we had other things to look forward to. The inability to travel meant that my partner Alf and I would celebrate our first Christmas and New Years Eve, together, since he couldnt travel to be with his mother in Norway and I couldnt see my parents in India. It was actually quite a big first, in our relationship  Christmas at home, with my children. We started to prepare in earnest for what felt at least Christmas-ish  we managed to source a real tree (hard in Johannesburg!), lights and decorations like Alf was used to back home, presents for each other and the children, and a turkey feast for our closest friend who would join. It almost began to feel not like a substitute for a real Christmas that we would have had at homes elsewhere, but a proper grown-up, at-our-own-home-with-the-family Christmas.

Until I got COVID and realised that none of this would, in fact, happen. The children went to live with their father for the duration of my illness, leaving Alf and me to isolate together. Once Alf fell ill too, it was obvious that they werent going to be back for Christmas. In fact, it wasnt clear when they would be back, as my symptoms, in particular, told no story of linear progress  I was, in a classically COVID-y way, good one day, bad the other, and so it went.

A day or so after I tested positive, I found the Christmas tree missing from the table on which it was placed in our living room. It turned out to be outside, waiting to be watered. But it was a fitting scene. An absent tree in a decorated room. From Christmas-ish to no Christmas at all. In a matter of hours.

While many, across the world, expressed similar frustrations at Christmas cancelled, things felt quite different in South Africa. Even as a new variant of the virus found a home here, Johannesburg emptied, as per usual, for the holidays, with a majority of the people we knew flocking to the coast, by the sea. Were driving, they said; well be careful, they said. Who was I to judge, anyway? I had stayed at home and gotten the virus. Stay home, stay safe, they had also said.

The truth is that Christmas had always felt strange in Johannesburg, from my very first one in 2012. For a start, December is peak summer with hot days interrupted by afternoon showers, filled with lazy swims and long braais. But, as my Norwegian partner insisted, it should be dark and cold over Christmas. Secondly, Joburgers tend to flee the city, which makes it feel even less festive at this time of the year. They reassure those who stay behind, that its the best time of the year, no traffic, quiet, you will love it over the holidays, except that they dont realise that the city can feel terribly lonely for those still trying to make a home of it. And finally, Christmas was, for me, a place called Kolkata. Even after living for over a decade in England and spending the holidays in cities like New York and London, there is no place Id rather celebrate the festival than in my city of birth. Kolkata celebrates Christmas with a zeal that surprises even other Indians, and renders meaningless remarks that I encounter outside of India, like You celebrate Christmas?

My pre-pandemic holidays were split between Johannesburg and Kolkata (and before that, England and India). The children and I would visit my parents there, or they would visit us here. I enthusiastically planned little trips around these reunions  to a posh Kalk Bay or a slightly spent Puri  to ensure that my children and parents had perfect memories of this one time of the year that we were all together. In India, while there was stillness and rest  by a beach, at a resort, in my parents home  there was also always a flurry of activities: large family gatherings, Christmas lunch, a birthday or two, an inevitable wedding, frenzied shopping, and finally, New Years Eve. Mind you, New Years Eve had stopped being an event since the children were born, but never Christmas: my family had to mark the occasion with an indulgent meal, followed by a long afternoon nap. There were many options to choose from to do so in colonial Kolkata; less so in Johannesburg. The one Christmas my parents were here, in the city, we struggled to find a restaurant for a decent Christmas lunch. I guess the presumption was that folks ate at a table at home, with friends and family.

These were far from perfect times, contra the photographic evidence of cheerful children, loving grandparents, scenic seascapes, plum cakes and presents. As we know from any half decent Hollywood Christmas movie, the holidays have their own unique challenges. While these stories have coalesced around the figure of the single woman in search of love, my trials pivoted around the far more ordinary and less glamorous status of single migrant mother. The holidays heightened these aspects of my life and identity, in deeply felt and consequential ways.

Getting to Kolkata from Johannesburg involved, for instance, multiple, expensive flights; two small children who would alternatively fall ill or simply scream for no reason at all; a double stroller that I had to fight to get on board (you can get a stroller at Dubai airport, maam; yes, for one child, but not for two!); long waits in which two children had to be fed, changed, and entertained; and extensive paperwork involving three countries (I am Indian, my children are Belgian, we are all permanent residents of South Africa).
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-17 00:21:24|Editor: huaxia

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PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan -- At least one policeman was killed and two others were injured as a blast rocked Pul-e-Khumri city, the capital of northern Baghlan province on Saturday, provincial police spokesman Ahmad Jawed Basharat said.

The blast took place at around 10:00 a.m. local time in Karkar area, a village in the Police District 2 of Pul-e-Khumri city, killing one police officer on the spot and injuring two others, the official said.

Basharat blamed the Taliban group for organizing the blast, saying the Taliban militants wanted to terrorize the people by organizing terrorist attacks.(Afghanistan-Blast)

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MANILA -- Seven people were killed in a Philippine Air Force (PAF) helicopter crash in the southern Philippines on Saturday, the military confirmed.

The military said that among the dead were the two pilots of a UH-1 "Huey" aircraft that crashed around 2:30 p.m. local time in a village in Bukidnon province.

The military helicopter was on a resupply mission when it crashed due to engine failure, the military added. Aside from the two pilots, all the five other crew members on board were also killed.(Philippines-Helicopter Crash-Deaths)

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JAKARTA -- Indonesia recorded 14,224 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, the highest single-day rise since the outbreak of the virus, bringing the country's total cases to 896,642, the Health Ministry said.

The ministry also reported 283 more fatalities, bringing the country's coronavirus death toll to 25,767. (Indonesia-COVID-19)

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NEW DELHI -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide vaccination drive on Saturday to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through the day as many as 300,000 recipients would receive their first shot of the vaccine at 3,006 sites set up across the country. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the inaugural day.

Speaking on the occasion, Modi said a total of 30 million people would be given the vaccine in the first phase of vaccination, and nearly 300 million would be reached out by the end of the second phase.(India-COVID-19 Vaccination)

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ISLAMABAD -- An expedition from Nepal scaled K2, the second highest peak of the world for the first time in winter on Saturday, Seven Summit Treks, the company which organized the expedition, said on Twitter.

"We did it, believe me we did it - journey to the summit never done before. The Karakorum's 'Savage Mountain' been summited in most dangerous season: WINTER. Nepalese Climbers finally reached the summit of Mt. K2 (Chhogori 8,611m) this afternoon at 17:00 local time," the post read.

Speaking to Xinhua, Karar Haidari, secretary general of Alpine Club of Pakistan, a non-governmental organization working for promotion of mountaineering and adventure tourism in Pakistan, said the 10-member Nepalese team was the first one to reach the summit of 8,611 meters in winter.(Pakistan-Nepalese Mountaineer) Enditem
Rishi Sunak is to spearhead Government moves to exploit the opportunities of Brexit by turning the UK into the Singapore of Europe.

The Chancellor has pledged to emulate the dynamic Asian country by ripping up the red tape imposed by Brussels and raising our eyes to look to the future.

Boris Johnson has tasked Mr Sunak  who will head a new committee intended to shape the post-Brexit business environment  with driving an ambitious programme of regulatory reform to push the boundaries, boost creative thinking and inject pace at the centre of government.

No 10 is keen to break through the gloom of the Covid pandemic by presenting an upbeat vision of the UKs prospects  the idea that Britain, now freed from Brussels stranglehold, can become a Singapore-style hub that will beat France and Germany in the battle for billions of pounds of international investment.

Rishi Sunak is to spearhead Government moves to exploit the opportunities of Brexit by turning the UK into the Singapore of Europe

The Chancellors new body, which is called the Better Regulation Committee, will focus in particular on Mr Johnsons beloved big-ticket infrastructure projects, dubbed Boriss bridges and buses, which have been hampered by European rules, along with cutting-edge science and technology projects and greater help for struggling small businesses hit hard by the pandemic.

The idea is likely to be characterised by critics as an attempt to remove workers rights or protections for the environment  something Mr Sunak strongly denies.

A source said: Now that we have secured a trade deal with the EU, it is finally time for the UK to take advantage of its hard-won, new-found freedoms.

Singapores low-tax, low-regulation economy was frequently cited by Brexiteers as an example for post-EU Britain to emulate. It would be welcomed in particular by the financial services industry, which contributes more than ten per cent of the UKs total economic output and employs over 2.3 million people.

The Chancellor has pledged to emulate the dynamic Asian country by ripping up the red tape imposed by Brussels and raising our eyes to look to the future

Britains trade surplus in the Citys services was 60.3 billion in 2019. The prospect has spooked the EU, with the recently concluded trade negotiations frequently stalling because Paris and Berlin feared the UK would become a low-cost competitor on the EUs doorstep, able to undercut European companies because its standards were lower, unless it continued to follow EU rules.

Mr Sunak has assured senior City figures that Brexit will unleash a Big Bang 2.0, a reference to the boom that followed Margaret Thatchers deregulation of the financial services industry in the 1980s, heralding a new era of wealth creation. It comes as the UK and the EU are drawing up memorandums of understanding over which of the UKs rules and regulations are compatible with those laid down by Brussels.

Last night, Mr Sunak said: Now that we have left the European Union, we have an opportunity to do things differently and this Government is committed to making the most of the freedoms that Brexit affords us.

This isnt about lowering standards but about raising our eyes to look to the future  making the most of new sectors, new thinking and new ways of working.

Many nations that intend to become self-sufficient with regard to their hydrocarbon needs oftentimes lowball the terms and conditions they offer to prospective investors. This is fairly logical, high-risk spots must be attractive enough and afterwards, following the first commercial discovery and the first project commissioning, the state can think of ways of increasing the tax burden and finding new methods of hiking revenues. As banal and trite this might seem, there are cases when this sequence breaks down and the phase of opening degenerates into a presumptuous display of incompetence. Ukraine now is apparently flirting with the idea of creating a national oil and gas champion in the form of Naftogaz, at the same time weakening competition and interest in its upstream sector. The Crimea used to be Ukraines top hydrocarbon prospect  not only was it the pioneering spot for solar energy but its offshore waters were topping the list of its largest gas fields. With Crimea de facto detached from Ukraine following all the tumultuous events of 2014, Ukraines Energy Ministry found itself confronted with a challenging task of ramping up domestic production so as to minimize imports from elsewhere. Although Ukraine has officially stopped the purchase of natural gas from Russias Gazprom in December 2015, most of its gas imports are of Russian origin in what has been traditionally labeled as reverse gas flows from Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. Therefore, the objective of importing as little gas as possible conveyed also a political message  Kiev understands the reputational corollaries of its imports and remains intent on bringing it to a halt at some point.

Ukraines 2019 upstream licensing round was assumed to be the breakthrough that would finally kickstart offshore drilling, yet nothing came out of it. A combination of several factors  a misplaced hurry with its organization, persisting concerns about Ukraines political stability, fears of potential corruption during the licensing process itself  have kept Western majors away and have led to the Dolphin Block, the crown jewel of the licensing round, being allocated to a completely unknown company called Trident Acquisitions (linked to a Russian political dissident). Caught wrong-footed by such a turn of events the Ukrainian government cancelled the results of the licensing round 4 months after its closure.

Then-Prime Minister has succinctly summarized the reasons for Kievs dissatisfaction by stating that the licensing round was neither representative nor competitive enough. The 9500-square km Dolphin Block abuts the already producing Golitsynskoye and Shtormovoye fields and comprises 3 already discovered prospects (Zonalna, Mirna and Charivna) the recoverable reserves of which reportedly amount to 48.3 million tons of oil equivalent. Although occasionally media reports claim that Dolphin might be oil-rich, the likelihood is that it will be similar to its neighbors and be a predominantly gas/condensate field. Be as it may, the 2019 cancellation of the offshore licensing round has rekindled hopes in Kiev that perhaps Western majors might be interested in taking over Dolphin.

It took less than a year for another government U-turn on the issue  in December 2020 it has decided to grant the Dolphin Block to Naftogaz, the national oil and gas company. This was done without recourse to an open tendering process, i.e. in stark contrast to the governments goal to make the licensing as competitive as possible. The E&P rights on Dolphin were provided for a period of 30 years and Ukraines Cabinet of Ministers even amended its regulatory base so as to settle concerns around the legality of such a move. Naftogaz vowed to carry out seismic surveys on the block (the last time it was appraised by means of 2D seismic surveying was in 2005) and stated that it would be keen to bring in international partners.

For Naftogaz, adding Dolphin to its portfolio is a solid reputational move, especially considering that it still wants to go ahead with its IPO once Ukraines economy shakes off the coronavirus-triggered dust clears. Moreover, it has managed to avoid paying the licences bidding fee (to the detriment of Ukraines revenues) which might either be qualified as Kiev providing preferential treatment to Naftogaz or as the Ukrainian government realistically assessing its odds of attracting anyone major enough. This being said, the Ukrainian NOC is most assuredly honest in its wish to attract foreign investors as it lacks the deepwater know-how to develop and commercialize Dolphin, were its reserves be found commercial.

Related: LNG Price Boom Obliterates Rally In Bitcoin

In another illustrative display of how Ukraines upstream will look like in the future, Naftogaz was allowed to purchase Nadra Yuzivska, the company holding exploration rights on the countrys largest shale gas prospect  the Yuzovskoye play (or Yuzivska in its Ukrainian transliteration). Yuzovskoye is located along Ukraines massive coal deposits in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Kharkov, with some parts of the 7 886 km2 dangerously close to the self-proclaimed eastern Peoples Republics. The shale play had a very promising start when Shell signed a production-sharing agreement in 2013, at that point the aggregate reserve tally was assessed at 4 TCm. The happiness, however, only lasted 2 years as in 2015 Shell has left the project, stripping it of all shale-relevant expertise.

Naftogaz itself has had minimal exposure to shale plays, therefore it will be compelled to seek foreign companies to join Yuzovskoye though the proximity of the front line will render its quest rather arduous. Thus, Naftogaz now operates 2 of Ukraines most promising acreages but in both cases it would need a helping hand, preferably a Western major that could facilitate the complex technological solutions that the Ukrainian NOC all by itself might get bogged down. Concurrently to Naftogazs asset consolidation, the Canadian firm Vermillion Energy has reportedly dropped the idea of signing a production-sharing deal with Ukraine amid profitability concerns and red tape, signaling that the exodus of foreign companies and the increasing concentration of Ukrainian companies has been a genuine trend.

By Viktor Katona for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The three doctors being linked to the death of new-born twins Fatima and Zahra have been found guilty of manslaughter and negligence.

One of them, a Bahraini male doctor, was slapped with a three-year jail sentence, while the two female doctors, Bahraini and Indian, got 12 months imprisonment.

They, however, secured temporary freedom after posting BD1,000 bail each pending the outcome of their appeals.

A nurse was acquitted due to insufficient evidence against the defendant.

An investigation was carried out after the Bahraini father had claimed that he was handed over his dead premature babies by Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) in bags, only to find out that they were still alive at the time of their burial in Bilad Al Qadeem graveyard in the Capital Governorate.

A document he shared online showed that the shocking incident took place on October 16 last year, a day after the delivery.

A report from the hospital read that the man brought back the babies on the same day he received them.

The report mentioned that one of the babies was dead when the father came back to the hospital, while the other one died at the neonatal intensive care unit a few hours later.

Issued by the Chief of Medical Services at SMC, the report read: The patient came to SMC on October 15, 2020 at 8 pm, and she was in a state of abortion at 22 weeks of pregnancy, and the result was two new-borns. After examining them by the medical staff, they found at the time that there were no signs that they were alive and they were handed over to the father on October 16, 2020 at 9.30 a.m.

The report also mentioned: On the same day, the father brought the new-borns to SMC, and after examining them by the medical staff, it was found that one of them was dead and the other was making a crying sound. The new-born was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit for premature infants, but she passed away on the same day at 9:30 pm.

Swift action

A press statement was soon issued by the Health Ministry, quoting Government Hospitals Acting CEO Dr Ahmed Al Ansari, who affirmed that an investigative committee was immediately formed after being notified about the incident.

A special investigation committee was formed under the chairmanship of Chief of Medical Services at SMC Dr Nabeel Al Asheeri, in accordance with the Civil Service Law. A doctor was suspended from working at SMC until the completion of the investigation committees work, Dr Al Ansari confirmed.

The official emphasised that the necessary legal measures will be taken against whoever is found to be in default according to the results of the investigation committee, adding that the investigation is being carried out in cooperation with the Health Ministry and the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA), under the direct supervision of the Supreme Council of Health. Dr Al Ansari added: Providing distinguished services to the visitors of SMC and all government hospitals and maintaining the health and safety of everyone is a permanent priority. It is not possible to be lenient or hesitant in taking what is required against those who fail to perform the tasks entrusted to them, in accordance with the approved medical procedures and standards.
MURRELLS INLET  A brother and sister duo from the Burgess community have opened Juice N Tingz  a juice bar and shop selling items, some of which are handmade locally.

We wanted to bring a grand opportunity to our community because we are natives of this area for generations, said Jon Smalls, who runs the business juice with his sister, Dana Armstrong. Our family has always been pioneering things and doing things like farming, so we wanted to give back to the community by giving them an oasis inside a cultural desert.

We know Horry County is rich in history, but a lot of times we dont recognize that. A lot of times we just dont know because we dont have a lot of natives speaking up and doing things.

So they opened Juice N Tingz to bring jewelry, handbags, hair bows and dehydrated dog treats, along with healthy juice items via their location in Inlet Square Mall in Murrells Inlet.

I wanted to bring some healthy options to the community, as well, Smalls said. I wanted to give people the alternative option of drinking juice or having something else to drink besides soda or Kool-Aid. I decided to make cold-pressed juices.

Fruits used for the cold-pressed juices at Juice N Tingz come from around the state and Smalls grows the vegetables the shop uses. He said the items in the shop are shipped from as nearby as Charleston and as far as Africa.

Smalls said the business has relied on word-of-mouth marketing through his familys local connections at area churches, as well as his connections in the fitness world. Juice N Tingz is also on Facebook.

He said they chose to locate at Inlet Square Mall for multiple reasons.

Inlet Square has been close and dear to us for so long and we noticed that a lot of people just pass it by, Smalls said. We wanted to come inside Inlet Square Mall and help rejuvenate it and bring that energy.

The shop will celebrate its grand opening from noon to 5 p.m. Jan. 23. Juice N Tingz is open from noon to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
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The Islamic Golden Age of science and art that predated the Italian Renaissance by 400 years was illuminated by Turkic and Persian thinkers from the eastern rim of the Abbasid Caliphate, in what is today Central Asia, western China and parts of Iran.

Ms. Yuvakaeva ticked off some homegrown Einsteins. Muhammad al-Khwarizmi, a ninth-century genius who helped formulate the precepts of algebra, has lent his name to the word algorithm. A century later, the brilliant polymathic Abu Rayhan Muhammad al-Biruni wrote more than 140 manuscripts on everything from pharmaceuticals to the anthropology of India. (A typical al-Biruni title: The Exhaustive Treatise on Shadows.)

Probably the most celebrated Silk Road sage of all was Abu Ali al-Hussein ibn Sina, revered in the West as Avicenna, who in the 11th century compiled an encyclopedia of healing that was still in use by European doctors as late as the 18th century. Avicennas Canon of Medicine accurately diagnosed diabetes by tasting sweetness in urine. Its pharmacopoeia cataloged more than 800 remedies. A millennium ago, Avicenna advocated quarantines to control epidemics. What would he make, I wondered, of the willed ignorance of todays anti-maskers in the United States?

Pacing off continents is an exercise in humility. You inhabit the limit of your daily strides. To the next tree shade. To the next horizon. In return, the walk confers a kind of equanimity. Call it the long view. The Silk Road soon enough becomes every road. And just as some nations sink into their dreams along your way, others blink awake.

Take Uzbekistan. A crossroads of the old Silk Road, the landlocked ex-Soviet republic recently baby-stepped from police state to modest reform. Ruled a thousand years ago by Iranian and Turkic kingdoms, the region traded lucratively with China, Persia and India, enriching cities like Bukhara and Samarkand. More than six decades of Communism under the Soviet Union forced the settlement of nomads, suppressed religion and steamrollered the old feudal hierarchies. By the late 1990s, a fundamentalist backlash led by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan erupted and was ruthlessly suppressed.

When I walked through the country, billboards exhorted citizens to Be vigilant! These Orwellian notices ostensibly targeted Muslim militancy. But in practice, they stoked suspicion of any other, including my Uzbek walking partners, two pack donkeys and me. A paranoid fear of outsiders gripped the muddy hamlets along the Amu Darya, the river Alexander the Great called the Oxus. Peeking from behind lace curtains, cellphones clamped to ears, local farmers constantly reported us to the police. Uzbek security forces detained us for questioning 34 times.
Joint venture Daewoo E&C LILAMA has submitted a complaint against unfair treatment by Quang Trach 1 thermal power plant (Photo: The area is part of the planned site for the project, Source:VOV)

Quang Trach 1 thermal power plant is invested by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and Power Project Management Board No.2 (EVNPMB2) is the representative of the investor.

According to the joint venture, the investor excluded it from the selection of the 15th EPC 15contract package and the technical appraisal for failing to meet the financial potential requirements and to submit a list of sub-contractors.

However, since 2016, the joint venture has been reporting consecutive profits and numerous international organisations including Moodys and Fitch Rating recognised its capacity to implement the financial commitment.

In addition, LILAMA has extensive experience in implementing industrial projects, especially thermal power plants.

After receiving the document from the joint venture, standing prime minister Truong Hoa Binh assigned the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises to cooperate with the ministries of Planning and Investment, Industry and Trade, Finance, and Construction to clarify the issue and propose solutions to the prime minister by February.

It is necessary to ensure transparency in selecting contractors for optimal effectiveness at the project, the standing prime minister said.

Quang Trach 1 thermal power plant, a component project of Quang Trach Power Centre, began construction in 2011, initially invested by PetroVietnam. In 2017, the prime minister permitted EVN to replace PetroVietnam as the developer due to the slow implementation. Covering 199ha in Quang Dong commune, Quang Trach district, the plant was expected to have a total capacity of 1,200MW and provide 8.4 billion kWh of electricity per year.

At present, contractors are building infrastructure for the plant. However, the projects progress has been impacted by the encroachment of a number of households in Vinh Son Village on the land allocated for the project. They illegally built houses, a slaughterhouse, and fences to set out land for cultivation. Some families have received compensation but have yet to hand over the land.

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These days, Amanda Salinas scarcely has time to catch her breath.

Six days a week, when she goes to Northeast Baptist Hospital for her nursing shift in the emergency department, she is met with the grim reality of San Antonios COVID-19 surge.

People on stretchers crowding the hallways. Waiting room lines longer than she ever has seen. Patients languishing in the emergency room for days, sometimes for so long that they are discharged before a bed becomes available for them upstairs. Hospital staff weary from working under arduous conditions, with little respite, for the better part of a year.

This isnt the first surge Salinas has endured. She has worked at the hospital under a state contract since summer, when San Antonio was pummeled by its first major wave of coronavirus infections.

This time, things are different.

On ExpressNews.com: As San Antonios COVID-19 hospitalizations soar, hospitals stretch beyond their normal capacities

The first one was manageable. This one is way worse, Salinas said. This is the worst Ive seen.

With about 1,400 COVID-19 patients in hospitals on any given day, San Antonio is contending with its greatest coronavirus crisis yet.

Hospitals, health care workers and local officials are scrambling to ward off disaster.

The boat is leaking, and so the health systems are running around trying to patch the ship, make sure it stays afloat, said Dr. Jason Morrow, a University Hospital palliative care physician and UT Health San Antonio associate professor. But somebody keeps pouring more and more water in.

They are bracing for the possibility that San Antonios hospital systems could become overrun with patients, a worst-case scenario referred to as Crisis Level 3 in a local emergency plan. Scarce resources would be devoted to those with the best chance of short-term survival, with the goal of saving as many people as possible.

On ExpressNews.com: Burnout. Trauma. Disillusionment: The toll of COVID-19 on San Antonio hospital workers

Once you get to Crisis Level 3, we have a very good moral, ethical framework for it, said Dr. Ronald Stewart, a University Hospital trauma surgeon who helped develop the areas crisis guidelines. But to me, the most ethical and most right thing to do is to do everything possible to stay out of Crisis Level 3. Thats what were trying to do.

Although hospitalizations fell slightly this week, the worst may be yet to come.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 26,000 infections have been reported among residents. More than 100 coronavirus patients are admitted to hospitals every day. Projections estimate hospitalizations could swell by several hundred patients by the end of the month  a much larger magnitude than what San Antonio faced over the summer.

Salinas expects further waves of COVID-19 patients from Christmas and New Years Eve to soon make their way to hospitals.

At this point, she said, it feels like the damage is done.

Billy Calzada /Staff photographer

It doesnt matter what we do. Its still not enough. They just keep coming, she said. We just have to do the best we can with limited resources, limited supplies, low morale.

Did not listen

The severity of San Antonios latest surge comes as no surprise.

In the fall, public health and infectious disease experts warned the winter months could create a recipe for disaster. There was a high likelihood of the virus making a resurgence, they said, as cold weather forced people indoors, and as travel and gatherings increased over the holidays.

Sure enough, transmission and hospitalizations began ticking up in San Antonio throughout November. Then they exploded.

Since Thanksgiving, Bexar County has recorded more than 65,000 infections, and COVID-19 hospitalizations have jumped nearly 160 percent.

The curve was not flattened. Now, San Antonio is paying the price.

Were really angry that the community did not listen to what we had to say, said Dr. David Miramontes, medical director of the San Antonio Fire Department and an assistant clinical professor of emergency medicine at UT Health San Antonio. The medical experts told everyone: Dont get together for Thanksgiving. Dont travel for Christmas.

On ExpressNews.com: A dark winter: San Antonio health experts warn of tough months ahead for coronavirus transmission

At Northeast Baptist, Salinas said doctors and nurses are triaging a steady flow of COVID-19 patients, on top of people with other conditions who are sicker than usual from pandemic-related disruptions to their medical care.

Billy Calzada /Staff photographer

The hospital is in gray status, which triggers higher nurse-to-patient ratios and prevents staffers from taking time off. Nurses havent had time for lunch breaks in a month.

In the waiting room, Salinas said, tensions have grown so high at times over the long waits that security guards have had to exercise de-escalation tactics.

I dont think that people who arent in health care understand how intense it is right now, she said.

Case managers are working with patients who arent sick enough to warrant a bed, in some cases sending them home with supplemental oxygen.

For those who are admitted, Salinas said, we have no place to put them. A separate section of the ER has been designated to hold COVID-19 patients waiting for an inpatient bed to become available.

That bottleneck places far more stress on the nurses, Salinas said, forcing them to be everything to everyone as they juggle emergency, intensive care and bedside nursing duties.

As ER nurses, were not trained to do inpatient. We have a completely different skill set than the nurses who work upstairs, Salinas said.

On ExpressNews.com: 18 hours inside a COVID-19 ICU

Salinas husband, Frank, also is treating COVID-19 patients, as a critical care nurse at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital.

Across the hospitals floors, calls for assistance from respiratory therapists and code blues  a patient in need of resuscitation  are ringing out with far more often, he said. Where space allows, there are two patients to a room.

On any given day, when Salinas looks across the unit where he is working, he sees at least half the staffers are temporary employees. One day, he finished a day shift, and by the time he came back the next morning, that unit had twice the number of patients.

Frank and Amanda Salinas are among the more than 1,300 state-contracted medical personnel assisting with San Antonios surge. While most have come from all over the country, the couple have been able to remain in their own community. As a result, they still receive calls from friends and family who are desperately seeking information about hospitalized loved ones.

Billy Calzada / Staff photographer

If it gets any more full, things are going to get even worse for families when it comes to getting information and getting the care that their family member should have, Frank Salinas said.

Amanda Salinas avoids going on social media. Posts from people flouting public health rules or claiming the pandemic is a hoax feel to her like a slap in the face.

Shes resigned to the fact that she and other health care workers may emerge from the pandemic with post-traumatic stress disorder.

As much as they sought to avoid it, local health care leaders have prepared for this moment.

In the spring, when the virus began spreading in San Antonio, the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council, which manages emergency services for the city and the surrounding region, convened a group of physicians to develop crisis standards  a triage protocol for hospitals to follow, should they become overwhelmed.

The result was guidelines for three levels of crisis: rising transmission, expansion to surge capacity and the worst-case scenario.

During the first two phases, hospitals would do everything in their power to accommodate an influx of patients. San Antonio hospitals already have taken many of those steps.

Under the third phase, they would declare an internal disaster. Hospitals would ration medical care to the people most likely to benefit. Doctors would assign patients a survival score based on their level of illness and the health of their organ systems.

Some patients would be offloaded to overflow beds at freestanding emergency centers or a field hospital at Freeman Coliseum.

On ExpressNews.com: Will COVID-19 have long-term effects on the brain? San Antonio researchers are trying to find out.

Hospitals have progressed to the second crisis phase and are flirting with the third, Miramontes said.

If we have to go to the crisis standards of care, its going to be a very sad day in this community, he said.

Morrow, the University palliative care physician, knows crisis standards of care are controversial. During the pandemic, some localities have been sued for their plans, over allegations that they discriminate against people with disabilities or the elderly.

Thats why when he joined the group that was developing guidelines for San Antonio, he knew the guidelines would need to be grounded in equity.

The document specifies that patients with disabilities have the right to accommodations that allow them to benefit equally from care. Factors like age, race, weight or perceived quality of life should not unduly influence a patients access to treatment.

Medical decisions should be individualized and based on short-term survivability, rather than assessments of how long a patient might survive after recovering from an acute illness.

On Thursday, STRACs crisis guidelines received the stamp of approval from the U.S. Office for Civil Rights and were praised by two advocacy groups: Disability Rights Texas and the Center for Public Representation.

On ExpressNews.com: What if we pull the plug too early?: In the age of COVID-19, decisions about death are fraught.

When disaster strikes, Morrow said, its better to have a plan grounded in a strong ethical framework. Otherwise, decisions may be consciously or unconsciously influenced by doctors individual biases.

When doctors are under duress, they may panic and veer from common standards of care.

Billy Calzada /Staff photographer

What about if you have another patient and another patient and another patient, who have equal need, and you cant save them all? Thats not a comfortable place for a physician to be in, said Morrow, who also helps lead the ethics curriculum at UT Health San Antonios medical school.

The guidelines also help protect hospital staffers from the moral injury of being left to make life-or-death decisions on their own, Morrow said.

Stewart still is hopeful San Antonio can avoid disaster. The city is not helpless, he said, and has ways to reduce transmission  particularly if the public pitches in by wearing masks and avoiding contact with people outside their household whenever possible.

Shame and blame have not proved effective in altering peoples behavior during the pandemic, he said. So his appeal to the public is simple: help save more lives.

I would ask my friends, my neighbors, the people in our community, to double down and really work to improve adherence to those public health measures, because it is a strategy thats been shown to work, he said. This is not political. This is medical.

Where did we really get it?

As bad as this surge has been, medical providers have the benefit of experience this time around, said Dr. Minh-Phuong Le, a UT Health San Antonio clinical hospitalist who practices at University.

Coronavirus hospitalizations have risen more gradually than they did over the summer, giving hospitals more time to expand beds and staffing. Testing has expanded significantly, leading to earlier diagnoses and treatment. Doctors and nurses now are intimately familiar with the progression of COVID-19 and what drugs work against it.

Billy Calzada /Staff photographer

Its still hard, Le said, but this time it feels more standardized.

And patients with underlying health conditions now have more treatment options.

At Freeman, an exposition hall has been converted into an ad hoc COVID-19 treatment area. In the hot zone, medical workers swathed in personal protective equipment bustle past lines of white tents, which each can house a coronavirus patient undergoing a monoclonal antibody infusion. Clinical trials have indicated the outpatient treatment can reduce peoples chances of being hospitalized.

The state-supported operation recently transitioned from the purview of the Fire Department to BCFS Emergency Management Division, a local contractor. It can schedule about 90 patients a day, who are infused for an hour.

On ExpressNews.com: UT Health San Antonio specialist explains why diabetics are at greater risk of complications from coronavirus, COVID-19

Miramontes said the infusion center aims to reduce the burden on hospitals by targeting patients who are at a high risk of COVID-19 complications but arent seriously ill.

On Friday morning, that included Jan Hartl and her husband, Herman, who underwent their infusions in adjoining tents after testing positive Wednesday.

Hartl, 66, was shocked by their results. She had been assiduous throughout the pandemic, wearing a mask and avoiding grocery stores. Her only outings were to her job as Wilson Countys treasurer.

Billy Calzada /Staff photographer

As a diabetic, she had worried she wouldnt survive if she contracted the virus. Knowing she finally caught it filled her with anxiety and fear.

I was so careful, she said. Our biggest concern is, where did we really get it?

Across the area, Roger Machin, 54, reclined in a chair as the drugs flowed into his arm. Two days after returning from yachting in Miami with friends, he learned someone on the boat had contracted the virus. Machin initially was asymptomatic but started developing symptoms after receiving his own positive results Jan. 7.

His chief concern is being away from work, which is busier than ever as the virus rages across Texas. His company, which operates in San Antonio, Corpus Christi and McAllen, has created a COVID-19 team to safely allow infected patients to die at home, surrounded by family.

Its a huge need in the community, he said. Having to be home is more upsetting to me, to be honest with you, than being out in the field, helping others.

At University, coronavirus patients are now spread across three floors. Earlier this month, Morrow was working with the hospitals COVID-19 palliative care team, which helps call family members to provide patient updates and emotional support.

From Monday to Sunday, he lost six COVID-19 patients. As the next week began, another four people he had cared for succumbed to the virus.

When he drives home from harrowing days at the hospital, he passes packed restaurant parking lots.

Over the summer, he said, the states mask mandate and order to shut down bars helped bring Texas first surge to heel. The virus once again is burning across the state, but this time urgency is lacking. Many members of the public are going about their daily lives. State officials repeatedly have blocked localities efforts to reduce transmission.

While the arrival of vaccines are a welcome development, Morrow said, they dont negate the need to control the spread of the virus. Reaching herd immunity is a months-long process; inoculation wont solve the immediacy of San Antonios crisis.

On ExpressNews.com: A last resort against COVID-19: A ventilator wasn't enough for this 30-year-old patient, so S.A. doctors improvised

How can we keep doing what were doing, when the deaths keep piling up? Morrow said. If we dont do something different, then the medically at risk in our community will die. Im watching it every day.

Le has been witnessing her share of tragedy, too.

She has watched colleagues work for weeks on end, seen the virus ravage entire families, watched patients younger than her die. She and other health care workers understand they will have to put their own needs, and that of their families, aside as they respond to the crisis.

During one shift in December, Le spotted an ICU patient taking tentative steps with the help of physical therapists.

The woman fell ill during the first surge and has been hospitalized for COVID-19 since June. She had to relearn how to walk, talk and eat.

Yet another surge was underway, and she still was there.
When Trump entered the White House, the left gave everything he did a political spin. That escalated in 2020 when Democrats used the Wuhan virus for political ends. Its reasonably certain they deliberately destroyed the economy to gain the White House. Even worse, after Trump praised Hydroxychloroquine, they made it impossible to give the drug a fair shake, possibly causing tens of thousands to die, for no other reason than to deny Trump a win. With Trump on his way out, though, theres starting to be chatter about a common anti-parasite drug called Ivermectin.

(Please be mindful as you read that this article is not providing medical advice. It is merely discussing a new medical theory about treating the Wuhan virus.)

I first heard about Ivermectins efficacy against the Wuhan virus last week, from my hairdresser, who is Brazilian. She told me that everyone in her family took some drug, the name of which she couldnt remember, for treating lice and no one got the virus. In fact, she said, everyone she knew in Brazil was taking this lice drug. I looked it up when I returned home.

Ivermectin goes back to 1970, when Satoshi Omura of Kitasato University and William Campbell of Merck, working together, discovered that a family of bacteria called the avermectins would cure mice of roundworm. Ivermectin is now routinely used to treat multiple parasitical infections.

Because it can be taken orally or applied topically, it works for everything from headlice to pinworms. Even if you havent taken it, youve probably given it to a dog or cat at one time or another.

In tropical climates, Ivermectin has also been studied for diseases characteristic of those regions, such as yellow fever, malaria, and river blindness. It may even help fight nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. It is a very impressive drug.

Ivermectins potential efficacy against the Wuhan virus was already indicated last April when Australian researchers said the head lice drug Ivermectin quickly prevented replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Even better, according to David Jans of Monash University in Melbourne, Ivermectin is safe at relatively high doses, although he hastened to add that no one should try to self-medicate, especially with medicine prescribed for pets or head lice.

By August, Brazil, which was very hard-hit by the Wuhan virus, turned the entire coastal city of Itajai into a lab experiment after the mayor, a doctor, announced a massive giveaway. Amusingly, Coda, the online magazine to which I linked, didnt want anybody too excited. It published the story in its war on science category.

By September, though, two more Brazilian cities were using Ivermectin on a trial basis. The results were a bit hard to interpret because the studies werent done using perfect double-blind lab conditions. Additionally, the three studies all had differing climates and populations. However, the rough data indicated that, on average, death rates dropped in the three regions, cases were less severe, and there were fewer new cases.

Ivermectin finally got a boost in America just this week. The NIH has officially recognized Ivermectin as an option for treating the Wuhan virus. The new recommendation has now been upgraded to the same level as those for widely used monoclonal antibodies & convalescent plasma, which is a neither for nor against recommendation. In other words, its no longer barred. It is a therapeutic option.

Theres also one piece of anecdotal information out of Buffalo: When a judge ordered a hospital to allow treatment of Judith Smentkiewicz, an 80-year-old COVID-infected patient, with Ivermectin, she quickly recovered. Her family strongly believes that the Ivermectin caused her recovery:

This lady was on a ventilator, literally on her deathbed, before she was given this drug, Lorigo [one of her attorneys] told The Buffalo News about Smentkiewicz, a Cheektowaga resident. As far as were concerned, the judges order saved this womans life.

A single case, obviously, is not proof, but its in line with the information trickling in about this affordable, relatively safe, commonly-used drug.

To find a silver lining among the many clouds facing us, there is one good thing that might come from the leftists getting their way politically: Perhaps well finally get an honest approach to treating the Wuhan virus so that we Americans can put the disease behind us and move on.

Posted Saturday, January 16, 2021 7:49 am

OLYMPIA  Providing economic assistance to families and businesses, improving broadband internet access, reopening schools and allowing for more flexibility in child care options are just a few of the broad recommendations released by a Senate special committee for economic recovery post-COVID.

The seven-member bipartisan committee released the economic recommendations on Thursday after months of meetings and presentations from economists and experts, but exact legislative proposals and next steps remain to be seen.

"I hope this will serve as a guidepost for a lot of work going forward," said committee chairman Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle.

The recommendations are broken into five categories:

* Focus on those at risk of immediate housing, food, child care or job crisis;

* Provide relief for small businesses and support hospitality and leisure;

* Support the aerospace and manufacturing sectors;

* Address health care needs;

* Expand internet access

The recommendations take a broad look at how to recover, Frockt said. Some recommendations are for immediate proposals while others look at a long-term plan to stabilize the economy.

The purpose of the report is to help lawmakers understand what the urgent needs are and what needs to be done in the long term, said state Sen. Shelly Short, R-Addy.

"It's going to take time for our state to recover," she said.

While the Legislature has a lot to do this session, Frockt said he expects much of these recommendations will turn into legislative proposals this session and next. The focus this session is economic recovery, as leadership has already identified it as its priority.

Short said relief for unemployed people and small businesses needs to be addressed this session.

Part of that will be getting federal relief money out to people who need it quickly, Frockt said. Legislative leadership has already discussed passing a COVID relief package early in the session, but what that looks like is still being discussed.

House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, of Tacoma, told reporters Wednesday that leadership is moving quickly on COVID relief and hopes to have legislative proposals in the next week. Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, of Spokane, said he expects to start passing bills in the third week of the session, with the first set of proposals likely being recovery related.

Another short-term priority is supporting school districts to reopen schools as soon as possible.

The recommendation doesn't go into specifics, but Frockt said the committee wanted to issue a general statement that this needs to be thought about this legislative session.

"We've got to find a way to get schools reopened safely," Frockt said.

Short said reopening schools should still be a local decision, but if there's a legislative role to be had, they should use it to whatever degree is appropriate.

It was important to acknowledge in this report that keeping schools closed negatively affects students' health, Short said.

"We don't want to lose sight of that," she said.

Another recommendation involves reducing barriers to child care, finding ways to allow everyone to have access to it. The report outlines a number of ways to do that, including reducing regulatory burdens for providers to operate, providing tax relief for child care providers and investing capital dollars in the early learning facilities fund.

Short said she will be introducing a bill soon that would allow for flexibility in child care options statewide.

Longer term, Frockt said the state needs to be more intentional with economic development.

Specifically, Frockt said there needs to be more investment in tourism marketing, especially as the industry looks to recover from the pandemic.

The state also needs to improve broadband access, something lawmakers have been talking about for years but that has been especially important during the pandemic. Frockt said he is fairly confident the Legislature will hear a broadband bill within the next two years. Until then, he expects large investments in capital projects that involve increasing broadband.

"I'm hopeful we can find a way to just get it done," he said. "It's time to get it done."

The report also looks at how to expand the aerospace and manufacturing sectors in the future. One of the ways is to diversify the aerospace manufacturing sector in Washington, especially with new reduced demand from Boeing. Boeing announced last year it would be shifting production of the 787 Dreamliners from Everett to South Carolina.

The state needs to start thinking of itself as not a home to Boeing, Frockt said, but an aerospace hub in general.

"We've done everything (Boeing's) asked us to do and yet we're still losing jobs," he said.

So far this session, Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on what the priorities should be moving forward but differ on how to implement them. This report reflects recommendations that had consensus from the bipartisan committee, Frockt said.

Short also said she appreciated the bipartisan nature of this committee, which gave lawmakers the opportunity to hear input on these issues in the interim before coming up with legislative proposals for the session.

"We're back in session," Short said. "We have an opportunity now to really flesh out these ideas and bring legislation and budget pieces forward that help see them to fruition."
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India has officially started the COVID-19 vaccinations and the drive started with Manish Kumar, a health worker from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS).

The drive is going to prioritise vaccinations for healthcare and frontline workers via more than 3,000 sites across the country.

I have had a very good experience. Have no qualms in taking the vaccine, and by doing so, I continue to serve my country. People have absolutely no need to worry over this. Any fear that I had before, has now gone away. I believe everyone should get vaccinated  said Manish Kumar after getting the vaccine.

 Twitter/ANI

The launch of the rollout began from 10:30 AM today and will work similarly to how elections are administered in the country.



Health workers will be armed with three hard copies of a beneficiary list and upload date to Indias official Co-Win portal.

Currently, the vaccinations are only being administered to individuals above the age of 18 and the worlds biggest inoculation drive against the novel virus is expected to be completed in the next few months.

Videos of the first vaccination are now being shared online on Twitter as it was administered in the presence of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.

This moment marked the start of COVID-19 vaccination in Delhi and represents the symbolic significance of paying homage to healthcare workers who have been at the frontline ever since the pandemic hit in the country.

 Reuters

This marked the start of Covid-19 vaccination in Delhi with healthcare workers, who were at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic, getting the first shots.



Soon after, doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers were vaccinated at AIIMS hospital.

Additional doctors, nurses and healthcare workers will be given the vaccine later today at the LNJP Hospital in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

 Reuters

Doctors, nurses and healthcare workers were vaccinated at AIIMS hospital. A doctor, a nurse and a sanitation worker will be given the shot later in the day in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at LNJP Hospital according to sources.



In Delhi, the vaccination exercise will span across 81 sites and 11 districts at six government hospitals i.e. AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital, Kalawati Saran Children Hospital and two ESI hospitals.

Private sites such as Max Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Apollo Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital are also taking part in the inoculation drive.

If you want to know more about Indias plans for the first phase of vaccinations; you can read all about it here.
A FATHER-of-four broke into a house after he "drank himself into oblivion" on the anniversary of a family bereavement, a court heard.

Michael Gordon (44) was on his way to the graveyard when he got into the house and was arrested for burglary.

Judge Bryan Smyth said he would consider leaving Gordon without a conviction if he made a 200 charity donation.

The accused, of Loreto Crescent, Rathfarnham, pleaded guilty.

Dublin District Court heard gardai were called to a house at Edmondstown Road, Rathfarnham, last September 22.

They saw a broken pane of glass in the patio and a man and woman in the kitchen.

When they approached, the man - Gordon - tried to flee through the front of the house and was arrested.

The residents had moved to England the day before and a neighbour had called gardai on hearing glass breaking.

Gordon was highly intoxicated, the court heard.

The incident happened on the 10th anniversary of a bereavement, defence barrister Donal Pattison said.

Gordon had drink issues and there was no explanation for why he broke into the house.

He was heading toward the graveyard where the family member was buried and "drank himself into oblivion", the court heard.

The next thing he knew was when he woke up in the garda station.

Judge Smyth adjourned the case to a date next month for the donation to be made.
The illusion of freedom will continue as long as its profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.  Frank Zappa

The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness and for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better.  George Orwell, 1984

The quote from Frank Zappa has truly come to fruition during the first two weeks of 2021. We have been living in a Surveillance State since the introduction of the Patriot Act in 2001 (Biden has boasted that he wrote the bill years before). Until Snowden and Assange revealed the depth and depravity of this un-Constitutional intrusion into our lives only the Deep State cabal knew the truth.

Most Americans ignored these revelations, as they continued to be distracted and entertained by their iGadgets and new social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and others. These social media companies parlayed peoples narcissist need for affirmation, likes and followers into multi-billion-dollar conglomerates with near monopolistic control over the distribution of news, opinions, and on-line communication of the masses.

They have gathered personal data on hundreds of millions, used that data to create an addiction to their platforms, created algorithms to maximize their monetization of you, and colluded with government surveillance agencies to spy on you. The illusion of free speech provided by these Silicon Valley billionaires was extremely profitable for the last couple decades, so now with virtually total control of internet communication, these left-wing oligarchs have conspired with the Deep State traitors, the Democrat party, and the Davos crowd to pull back the curtain and reveal the brick wall at the back of the theater.

They began moving the tables and chairs with the manufactured global pandemic for the Chinese bio-weapon lab virus in March. The psychopaths, who wield the real power, have no concern for humanity. They seized upon this crisis to implement a plan to remove Trump through using Covid as an excuse to roll-out a mail-in ballot scheme (supplemented with Dominion voting machine rigging) to commit just enough fraudulent votes to throw the election to basement Biden, a senile bumbling clown who drew tens of tens to his massive rallies.

The social media autocrats gave the first inklings of extinguishing the illusion of freedom as they needed to ramp up the fear and panic from a flu with a 99.7% survival rate, so they began censoring doctors and other dissenters who dared to question the approved narrative of a deadly pandemic requiring mass lockdowns, small business closures (not Wal-Mart or Target) and mandatory masking.

When the effectiveness of Hydroxychloquine + zinc + zpack and Ivermectin were scorned, ridiculed and censored by the social media titans, you knew they were in cahoots with Gates, Fauci and Big Pharma to generate billions in profits rather than save lives. Despite unequivocal proof lockdowns and masks do nothing to stop the spread of a flu that has negligible impact on people under 70, the corporate mainstream media and social media companies promoted falsehoods and censored the truth.

They needed to destroy the economy to remove Trump. The scenery was taken down when the media conglomerates colluded to completely bury the Hunter Biden laptop story and the proof of influence peddling by the Biden crime family with China, Ukraine and Russia, and the Big guy  creepy, sleepy Joe taking his 10% cut. Anyone presenting the facts of these criminal activities was immediately banned, including the NY Post and dozens of other real journalists.

The curtain was inched back on the night of the election and in the weeks thereafter, when their master plan of fraudulent mail-in votes was failing and they needed to stop the counting in all swing states to manufacture more votes to put the senile kid groper over the top. The Silicon Valley authoritarian censorship police went into overdrive, suppressing documented proof of mass fraud, covering up video evidence and hundreds of written affidavits documenting fraud, banning dissenters from their platforms, promoting the false narrative of the fairest election ever, shadow banning opposing viewpoints, placing warnings on the accounts of anyone who presented facts about election fraud, and deleting tweets and Facebook posts of the president.

Biden should have been moving back to his basement, where DOCTOR Jill Biden could feed him oatmeal and wipe the drool off his chin, waiting for dementia to finally consume one of the most corrupt politicians in the history of this country. But instead, on January 20, he will be propped up on stage to be sworn in as president, until his handlers decide to use the 25th Amendment and install the new BJ in Chief  Kamala. The Trojan horse has entered the gates.

The curtain has been torn down and the tables and chairs tossed aside in the last week, as the social media tyrants have shown their true colors and the four-year collusion cavalcade has reached its illusory climax, with a solid brick wall blocking the exits.

The enemies of the people (aka billionaire oligarchs, Silicon Valley conspirators, corporate fake news media, traitorous Deep State spooks, and corrupt politicians) took advantage of Trumps failure to comprehend the risk of drawing a few hundred thousand of his most inflamed devotees into Washington on the same day Congress was meeting to confirm the electoral college vote counts, by infiltrating the rally with ANTIFA operatives. Their intent was to paint Trump followers as dangerous domestic terrorists, and the narrative has been propagandized unceasingly by the left.

Trump delivered the standard speech he gave many times during the campaign and specifically told his followers to peacefully protest at the Capital to let our representatives know how they felt about the fraudulent election steal which took place on November 4. There is absolutely nothing he said or did during that speech which can possibly construed as a call for mob violence. He urged the crowd to make their voices heard by the corrupt corporate bought politicians meeting to confirm the stolen election.

Based upon the hundreds of videos documenting the supposed insurrectionist attack mob, it is clear most of the idiots were let into the Capital by the police, there were numerous ANTIFA thugs creating havoc, none of the insurrectionists had guns, taking selfies, and posing in congressional offices for Facebook posts was the main accomplishment, and one unarmed woman was shot to death by a policeman after being urged to go through a window by BLM leader John Sullivan.

There were a few hundred thousand Trump supporters at the rally and maybe a few hundred who meandered into the Capital building, broke a few windows, took selfies with policemen, and had five hundred or so corrupt politicians pissing their pants because their constituents are angry about asinine lockdowns and stealing an election through blatant fraud.

Nothing was burned, there was 99% less violence than any BLM peaceful protest over the summer, and the only things looted were Pelosis podium and her laptop. Shes probably angry because it had nude selfies, she sent to Fartman Swalwell and Cryin Chuck. This was a perfect setup by those wielding the true power in this country to destroy Trump and brand his 75 million followers with a Scarlet T. They never let an opportunity like this go to waste. AOC and the rest of her squad took to social media to describe the terror of almost dying in this armed insurrection without arms. Maybe they thought they might be gored to death by this paid actor goofball.

Every moment since January 6 has been used by the Big Tech/Big Gov/Big Corp oligarchy to promote the fake news insurrection against a government that absconds with your money at gunpoint, uses the U.S. Constitution like toilet paper, is spending future generations into unpayable debt servitude, has as much vision as Ray Charles and the morality of a $2 whore. I apologize to all $2 whores, who at least provide a service. The compliant media mouthpieces were given the script to propagandize the terms insurrection, sedition, coup, and armed rebellion for the last two weeks, beating it to death like a clubbed seal.

The Big Lie method is being used by the Goebbels/Bernays acolytes at CNN, MSNBC, and even Fox, as they perpetuate the falsehood of an armed rebellion, when absolutely no one used firearms as they were ushered into the Capital by police. They have unleashed the rabid dogs in a blatant search and destroy mission to decapitate Trump and force his supporters into submission by threat of job loss, pariah social status, and inability to freely associate with other like-minded individuals on social platforms.

As this second impeachment farce plays out, and the nation is engrossed and entertained by bloviating cretins disguised as elected representatives, spewing white supremacy gibberish, confirming Menckens belief those we elect prove voters are as moronic as the imbeciles they elect, the real economy remains in a government mandated depression, foodbanks are overwhelmed, small businesses continue to be purposely destroyed by despot governors, while Big Corp and Big Tech prosper, thrive and vacuum up more wealth.

Nancy Pelosi and her team of diverse mouth breather swamp scum have now impeached Trump for a phone call about the truthful accusation that Joe Biden used undue influence to have a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating Hunter Bidens blatant peddling of Biden influence for millions, and now for the incitement of an insurrection by giving a speech in which he told a crowd to peacefully protest an election racked by online computer vote switching schemes and counterfeit mail-in ballot fraud.

In both cases there was zero chance of Trump being convicted and in the current instance these feckless troglodytes spent a couple hours of vacuous race posturing before voting to impeach and would have to conduct a Senate trial after Trump has moved back to Florida. This is nothing but pure putrid politics in an attempt to make Republican politicians grovel and cower, while attempting to shame Trump voters into seclusion.

The cowardly RINOs showed their true colors by voting with Pelosis posse, led by neo-con establishment warmonger Liz Cheney. Within a week the FBI supposedly determined the storming (aka being let in by the police) of the Capital was coordinated and planned weeks before using Facebook groups and other social media means. That poses the question, how could Trumps speech incite an insurrection that was already planned and being executed while he was still speaking? Is Facebook being shutdown for the good of the country?

For over a week the Big Tech/Big Media/Big Gov oligarchs jammed the insurrection bullshit down our throats with their pontificating and painting of all Trump supporters as white supremacists conducting an armed uprising against our noble government swamp creatures slithering around the halls of congress. The FBI has done their part by hyperventilating about potential armed protests in every state capital on January 20. The FBI, along with CIA, DOJ, and military, have been in on the plot to unseat Trump before he took office, and they continue to do their part in the never-ending coup to discredit him and insure he cant run again in 2024.

This is nothing but fearmongering to further discredit Trump supporters and force them to cancel themselves under the threat of being canceled by the woke leftist mob. The only armed attacks on state capitals would be planned, funded, and equipped by the FBI after convincing some dupe to go along with their plan, creating their needed false flag for gun confiscation or acting like they foiled their own plan at the last second to the accolades of the leftist media.

CNN and the rest of the fake news media, along with the mini-despots Dorsey, Zuckerberg, and Bezos, are doing their totalitarian censorship damnedest to bury the John Sullivan (BLM terrorist) and ANTIFA videos proving they provoked, initiated, and took part in the violence in the Capital. CNN even interviewed this lowlife scumbag on air after the Capital kerfuffle as if he was a journalist, rather than radical leftist criminal.

The First Amendment is so inconvenient for these tyrants and their communist cohorts  AOC and her squad of Maoists. Anyone not in agreement with their warped psychopathic narrative must be sent to re-education camps, and if that fails, to the gulag. This is the mindset of those now in control of all the levers of our government. Next, we will be segmented into districts and subjected to Hunger Games level subjugation and tyranny. They are not satisfied with beating Trump and his 75 million followers, they must re-educate and change them to achieve everlasting victory.

We do not merely destroy our enemies; we change them.  George Orwell, 1984

The incomprehensibly cosmic degree of duplicitous hypocrisy from Pelosi, Schumer, their radical extremist brethren, and their lapdogs in the fake news media knows no bounds. As the terms insurrection and armed revolt are ejected from their pieholes like diarrhea after eating gas station sushi, these myopic deceitful weasels suffer from lack of self-awareness or willfully ignorant amnesia regarding the events of this past summer. CNN, MSNBC and the rest of the far-left media complex cheered on the riots, beatings of innocent bystanders, looting, burning of government buildings and police vehicles, assaults on police, destruction of small businesses, and skyrocketing murder rates, all in the name of social justice, because a couple felons and drug addicts died while resisting arrest.

The smarmy double standard applied when reporting actual violent uprisings by BLM and ANTIFA terrorists versus a Trump rally where 99% were peaceful and 1% were paid actors to incite violence, reveals the duplicity of these faux journalists. Trump always had them pegged perfectly with his Fake News moniker, and that accurate portrayal has driven them insane with rage to destroy him.

The Silicon Valley ministers of propaganda and censorship not only allowed these planned riots to be coordinated on their social platforms, but openly supported and encouraged the violence and mayhem. Burning downtown districts, police under siege, murder, and anarchy gripped dozens of Democrat run cities for months, but they were reported as fiery but mostly peaceful protests by the irresponsible media. Kamala and Hollywood elites bailed out killers and anarchists. Not a peep out of Pelosi, Schumer or basement Biden about insurrection, armed mobs, or violent revolt.

So, Twitter and Facebook allowed violent criminals to coordinate and carry out hundreds of uprisings and violent mob attacks attempting to overthrow the authorities in dozens of cities with zero consequences or moral outrage. Did Amazon shut down their servers? Normal law-abiding citizens of this country were provided a glimpse into a future controlled by Big Tech/Big Media/Big Democrat Gov and should have resisted this left-wing surge of anarchy. Instead they sat back and watched it on their boob tubes while passively accepting the lockdowns imposed by their governors. Now it is too late.

I realized the oligarchy no longer even feigned to believe in the rule of law or freedom of speech with the coordinated snuff film episode of Get Parler. This was a coordinated takedown of a website which was inconveniencing the Big Tech oligarchy of Twitter, Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon. If ever a clearer example of anti-trust collusion was exhibited, this was it. But these amoral tyrants know they have sleepy Joe in their pocket because they went all in on the Hunter Biden laptop story suppression and pale face Zuckerberg donated $400 million towards helping swing state election officials commit fraud to guarantee a Biden victory.

The banning of Trump by Twitter and Facebook and the purge of those unwilling to go along with their Marxist ideological narrative caused hundreds of thousands to head for the exits towards Parler & Gab, where freedom of speech still existed. Freedom of speech is no longer allowed on Facebook, Twitter or Youtube.

As conservatives flocked towards Parler, the Big Tech oligarchs pulled back the curtain to reveal the brick wall. They all simultaneously began peddling the provably false narrative the dreadful assault on freedom, with no weapons, at the Capital was solely coordinated and planned on Parler. It is absolutely provable and factual that any planning was done using Facebook private groups.
The Kaduna State government has said it will relocate rescued almajiris to their respective states and neighbouring countries.

Officials of the State Task Force enforcing COVID-19 related regulations said they rescued at least 160 children from different parts of the state on Friday.

The officials said some of the rescued children are toddlers who cannot identify themselves.

In a statement Friday sent to PREMIUM TIMES and signed by the media adviser to the governor, Muyiwa Adekeye, he said the children were rescued in locations that are neither authorised and licenced as schools nor as childrens homes.

Mr Adekeye said the rescued children are from 13 states in the north and south of Nigeria. Some of them are from Benin Republic, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic, he added.

He also said that the locations in which the children were found were operating in violation of the state regulations that had ordered the closure of all schools since December 2020.

According to him, keeping children in unauthorised places is inconsistent with the policy of repatriating almajiri to their states to continue their education under care of their parents in regulated schools.

The widespread practice of having children and then outsourcing and avoiding the responsibility for their moral, religious, and educational needs is neither supported by our monotheistic religions nor our culture.

It is also a violation of the States Universal Basic Education Law, Child Welfare and Protection Law and Street Hawking and Begging (Prohibition) Law. he said

The full statement of Mr Adekeye is reproduced below:

KDSG rescues 160 Almajirai

Officials of the Kaduna State Government Task Force enforcing Covid-19 related regulations have rescued 160 children from locations that are neither authorised and licensed as schools nor as childrens homes. Some of the rescued children are toddlers who are not yet able to properly identify themselves. The rescued children are from 13 states in the north and south of Nigeria. Some of the kids are from Benin Republic, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic.

The locations in which the children were found were operating in violation of regulations that had ordered the closure of all schools since December 2020. By keeping children in unauthorised places, the locations were also in contravention of KDSG land use regulations and inconsistent with the policy of repatriating almajirai to their states and local governments of origin to continue their education under the care of their parents, and in properly registered and regulated schools.

KDSG wishes to remind all non-governmental organisations, corporate entities, religious leaders and faith institutions that the state government has laws prescribing the free and compulsory education of all children in properly registered schools. The rights of the children described as almajirai to be treated with the dignity accorded all other children is a matter of fairness and equality of treatment that no responsible government should compromise.

Since March 2020, 31,092 almajiri children have been repatriated to their states of origin since the Northern Governors Forum decided to jointly end the abuses associated with the Almajiri system. Since then KDSG has undertaken a continuous exercise to identify locations where these children are being kept and taken steps to rescue them from such places and reunite them with their patents to continue their education. As part of the implementation of this policy, Kaduna State has received 1,118 children from the state who were relocated from other states.

In the latest round of this exercise conducted this week, operatives of the state task-force rescued 160 children whom they have sorted according to their state of origin as follows:

1. Kebbi: 16

2. FCT Abuja: 2

3. Katsina: 15

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4. Kano: 15

5. Zamfara: 8

6. Sokoto: 1

7. Nasarawa: 12

8. Niger: 5

9. Kwara: 4

10. Kogi: 2

11. Oyo: 2

13. Kaduna: 68

14. Niger Republic: 5

15. Burkina Faso: 3

16. Benin Republic: 1

The children are being profiled, documented and subjected to health checks, including test for Covid-19 infections, after which they will be transported to their states of origin and handed over to the relevant officials. The children confirmed to be bona fide citizens of. Kaduna State will be relocated to their local governments of origin and handed over to the Local Government Council officials for documentation, registration and future enrollment into schools under the care of their parents or guardians. The children from ECOWAS countries will be handed over to the Nigerian Immigration Service for necessary attention.

KDSG reiterates its appeal to our citizen to take responsibility for the proper upbringing, welfare and care of their children. The widespread practice of having children and then outsourcing and avoiding the responsibility for their moral, religious, and educational needs is neither supported by our monotheistic religions nor our culture. It is also a violation of the States Universal Basic Education Law, Child Welfare and Protection Law and Street Hawking and Begging (Prohibition) Law. The Ministries of Human Services and Social Development, Education, Health and Justice have been tasked to enforce these laws, along with with subsisting free, compulsory education and public health regulations.

Signed

Muyiwa Adekeye

Special Adviser to the Governor (Media & Communication)

15th January 2021
Early discussions to replace Central City Concerns shuttered Sobering Station are focusing on broadening the mission to not only help people suffering from alcohol intoxication but also those with acute drug addiction and mental illness -- and then working to connect all of them to the most effective treatment.

The Unity Center for Behavioral Health, the metro areas emergency and short-term psychiatric hospital in Portland, may serve as the hub for the services.

Portland city officials, Multnomah County representatives and healthcare providers are considering having Unity and its Northeast Portland property serve as the place where police or others could take people for intake, triage and assessment.

The staff would then steer people to the appropriate service either on site or to a clinic next door or nearby, whether its detox or treatment for substance abuse or mental illness, with connections made to community-based providers.

That had been the initial plan for Unity Center before it opened in January 2017, but it hasnt provided such a hub service in reality.

A stand-alone sobering station is not a model to use going forward, said Bob Day, a retired Portland deputy police chief who worked from February through December in the mayors office as a consultant on the issue.

The level of care needs a different format than just a cement room where they can sleep it off, Day said.

The Sobering Station, run by the nonprofit Central City Concern since 1985, abruptly closed in December 2019 amid dozens of accounts of people harming themselves in so-called isolation safety cells.

A whistleblower prompted an inquiry by the city ombudsman, who discovered a lack of safety checks at the station, inadequate state regulation and lax oversight by the Police Bureau of its contract with Central City Concern.

The city issued a request for proposals last year for a new agency interested in offering sobering services and received no applications.

Frankly right now nobody has the capacity to hold onto someone long enough to really figure out what the problem is because its super expensive and super time consuming, Day said.

The city of Portland and CareOregon, a nonprofit that helps manage a behavioral health benefit for more than 300,000 Oregonians in the metro area, late last year hired project manager Aaron Lones to help propose a design and payment plan by June or July after coordinating with stakeholders.

The city and CareOregon are funding Lones job, each committing up to $70,000.

Lones, who has his own consulting firm, a masters degree in public health and prior experience running health clinics, started that job in early December.

The idea is to create a one-stop site for people in crisis, Lones said.

The central location will determine if the person needs addiction or mental health treatment and have so-called off ramps for people to get the services.

Lones said hes still reaching out to potential partners to encourage their involvement in the planning.

Literally our north star is creating meaningful options for individuals with highly acute and complex needs, their families and first responders, Lones said. We cant do that without the right engagement.

Day said the city, county and community mental health and substance abuse treatment providers have been looking at crisis stabilization centers in Tucson, Arizona, and in Harris County, Texas, as models.

Right now, theres no off-ramps, Day said. Either people get stuck in the wrong place or are sent back out the door and cycle back through.

CareOregon is participating in the planning in a support role, said Elise Burkee, a CareOregon spokeswoman.

We want to work with all stakeholders to make sure that a project like this can proceed as quickly and effectively as possible, she said.

Among other groups involved in the planning are Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, Catholic Charities, Central City Concern, De Paul Treatment Centers, Portland police, Health Share of Oregon, Multnomah County, Legacy Health, Providence, Kaiser Permanente and OHSU Psychiatry.

Later this month, officials from Pima Countys Crisis Response Center in Tucson have been asked to discuss their centers work with those involved in local talks.

The Pima County center provides multiple types of behavioral health services under one roof, with a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week urgent care clinic, short-term inpatient treatment and up to 23-hour observation for adults and youths. Next door is a crisis call center, psychiatric hospital and a detox center.

Unity Center for Behavioral Health on Northeast Second Avenue in Portland. (Photo by Beth Nakamura / The Oregonian)

Kevin Mahon, chief clinical officer of De Paul Treatment Services three centers in and around Portland, said intoxicated people previously taken to the former Sobering Station often would leave with no connection to further help or treatment

The thought thats come up is if they were to maybe sober at Unity and then wanted to actually detox, Unity would send them over to us and we could provide that care, Mahon said. Were trying to create a more efficient, seamless pathway for someone to continue on their journey to recovery.

De Paul provides a range of services from medical detox intervention to residential therapy and outpatient programs for adults in downtown Portland and Hillsboro. It also offers residential treatment for youths in Northeast Portland.

Its not yet clear who would pay for the replacement center and how.

While Congress last year budgeted increases for substance abuse and mental health treatment, many behavioral health providers are struggling to handle existing caseloads amid an increased need due to greater isolation, economic troubles, growing depression and substance abuse because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Unity Center, which is funded by Legacy Health, Oregon Health & Science University, Adventist Health and Kaiser Permanente, also has struggled with overcrowding, safety concerns and staggering multimillion-dollar annual financial losses in recent years.

Lones, whose wife is a nurse practitioner at Unity, said Unity has struggled, but it was asked to fix one of the biggest societal problems without the funding being there.

On Dec. 4, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found after a survey visit by state inspectors to Unity that the hospital was back in compliance with standards on patients rights, nursing services and performance improvement and quality assessment, according to the centers records.

Unity Centers president Melissa Eckstein was not available for comment Friday, a Legacy Health spokeswoman said.

Chris Bouneff, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Oregon, said the early ideas for such a hub-and-spoke model is difficult to do, even in the best of circumstances. And Oregon isnt in the best of circumstances.

These things are hard to finance. We had the crisis triage center a long, long time ago that demonstrated that. And the hub-and-spoke model still doesnt alleviate burdens in ERs and other settings, nor does it compensate for the lack of other community-based services, Bouneff said.

Somehow we think we can create some magical central place where well have all this great stuff that will serve all these people who are viewed as burdens in ERs and in other settings and that, abracadabra, the burdens are gone. Thats not possible.

Yet, he said its worth looking at what Arizona did in reforming its Medicaid system and its crisis system.

There are models worth considering that could serve a segment of the population that the former sobering center did. Plus, maybe a little bit more, he said.

Buoneff said its essential to manage expectations.

Legacy overpromised with Unity, and Unity continues to pay the price of that to this day. My concern, based on what I witnessed and read, is that once again were overpromising what the hub-and-spoke model can actually achieve in order to build enough community support to enact it.

Jason Renaud, board secretary of the Mental Health Association of Portland, said those who have struggled with mental illness or battled with addictions need to be involved in any planning process.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

Subscribe to Facebook page
Some streets in downtown Montgomery are closing tonight in response to protests planned in capital cities across the nation, officials announced.

Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley told the public to expect soft closures along Dexter Avenue through Thursday. The MPD suggested that businesses with downtown offices do their work remotely as much as possible.

MPD is working with partners at the local, county, state and federal levels to isolate and secure our downtown perimeter, Finley said in a press release. We encourage businesses and organizations located downtown to consider allowing employees to telework as much as possible next week, especially Wednesday. This is a proactive step that will keep employees safe in the event of an emergency, while also helping our officers and partner agencies patrol downtown Montgomery.

Finley urged people to help authorities protect the peace.

We remind anyone living and/or working downtown  or anywhere in Montgomery  that if you see something then say something, Finley said. MPD is available 24/7. Call 911 to report ANY suspicious activity, even if its something that seems small but just doesnt feel right.

Montgomery city offices will be closed to the public through Wednesday next week, including the MLK holiday on Monday. County offices will be open Tuesday but closed Wednesday.

The safety and well-being of our people are always top priorities, Montgomery County Commission Chairman Elton Dean said. In no way do we want to alarm anyone. However, we want people to understand we are being proactive and cautious. We are taking all necessary steps to keep employees and residents safe.

Mayor Steven Reed said, We appreciate the diligence and dedication of our law enforcement officers. Our goal is to put the health and safety of our employees and our residents first. While hoping for the best, Montgomery is prepared to handle any situation.

Across the country, demonstrations are expected at state capitols beginning Sunday and leading up to Joe Bidens inauguration on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. State and city officials are trying to stop more violence in the wake of last weeks attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump supporters.

The FBI said it is tracking an extensive amount of concerning online chatter, including calls for armed protests, the Associated Press reported.

Related: Montgomery is ready for possible protests, mayor says

Alabama now sending 750 National Guard soldiers to Joe Biden inauguration
PHOENIX (AP)  Federal prosecutors who initially said there was strong evidence the pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week aimed to capture and assassinate elected officials backed away from the allegation after the head of the investigation cautioned Friday that the probe is still in its early stages and there was no direct evidence of such intentions.

The accusation came in a court filing by prosecutors late Thursday in Phoenix in the case against Jacob Chansley, the Arizona man who took part in the insurrection while sporting face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns.

Strong evidence, including Chansleys own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States Government, a prosecutor wrote in a memo urging the judge to keep Chansley behind bars. But at a hearing for Chansley later in the day in Phoenix, another prosecutor, Todd Allison, struck the line from the memo.

Allison said the statement may very well end up being appropriate at Chansleys trial, but said prosecutors didnt want to mislead the court and dont have to rely on the stricken statement to argue that he should remain in jail. Ultimately, a judge on Friday ordered Chansley to be jailed until his trial.

Earlier on Friday, Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, backed away from the assassination claims, saying they have no direct evidence at this point of kill, capture teams.

Sherwin said there appears to have been confusion among some prosecutors in part because of the complexity of the investigation and number of people involved. Prosecutors raised a similar prospect Thursday in the case of a former Air Force officer who they alleged carried plastic zip-tie handcuffs because he intended to take hostages.

The sprawling investigation involves multiple cities and jurisdictions, in part because so many of the rioters simply went home; only 13 were arrested in the moments after the building was cleared.

The FBI has been investigating whether any of the rioters had plotted to kidnap members of Congress and hold them hostage, focusing particularly on the men seen carrying plastic zip-tie handcuffs and pepper spray.

Although the assassination claim from the court filing was stricken by prosecutors, prosecutors didnt back away from the statement that Chansley, when climbing up to the dais where Vice President Mike Pence had been presiding moments earlier, wrote a threatening note to Pence that said: Its only a matter of time, justice is coming.

Pence and congressional leaders had been ushered out of the chamber by the Secret Service and U.S. Capitol Police shortly before the rioters stormed into the room.

Chansleys attorney, Gerald Williams, said he hasnt seen any images of his client engaging in dangerous conduct while in the Capitol. He was merely there acting as a protester, Williams said, pointing out that his client has no prior criminal history and agreed to talk to investigators.

Allison said Chansley was proud of his actions on the day of the insurrection and wanted to go to Washington for Bidens inauguration on Wednesday. Allison described Chansley as someone who believes in conspiracy theories and is not connected to reality.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Fine, in ordering Chansley jailed until trial, concluded he is at risk of fleeing and obstructing justice in his case and poses a danger to the community. Echoing the words of prosecutors, Fine said it was appropriate to say Chansley was an active participant in a violent insurrection that attempted to overthrow the government.

Fine said Chansley went through barricades, was among the first people to force their way into the Capitol building, disobeyed orders by an officer to leave, refused the officers request to use Chansleys bullhorn to tell rioters to leave the Senate chamber and wrote the note to the vice president.

Mr. Chansleys idea of protesting is committing the unlawful acts that we are discussing here, Fine said.

Chansley, who calls himself the QAnon Shaman and has long been a fixture at Trump rallies, was arrested Saturday at the FBI field office in Phoenix.

News photos show him at the riot shirtless, with his face painted and wearing a fur hat with horns, carrying a U.S. flag attached to a wooden pole topped with a spear.

QAnon is an apocalyptic and convoluted conspiracy theory spread largely through the internet and promoted by some right-wing extremists.

Chansley told investigators he came to the Capitol at the request of the president that all patriots come to D.C. on January 6, 2021. An indictment unsealed Tuesday in Washington charges him with civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, and demonstrating in a Capitol building. He hasn't entered a plea to the charges.

More than 80 people are facing charges stemming from the violence, including more than 40 people in federal court. Dozens more were arrested for violating a curfew that night.

The federal charges brought so far are primarily for crimes such as illegal entry, but prosecutors have said they are weighing more serious charges against at least some of the rioters. Some were highly-trained ex-military and police.

Sherwin said this week that he has organized a group of national security and public corruption prosecutors whose sole focus is to bring sedition charges for the most heinous acts that occurred in the Capitol.

The Air Force officer, Col. Larry Rendall Brock, Jr., was arrested Sunday in Texas after being photographed on the Senate floor during the deadly riot wearing a helmet and heavy vest and carrying plastic zip-tie handcuffs.

He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer said, without providing specifics.

Brocks attorney, Brook Antonio II, noted that he has only been charged with misdemeanors. Antonio said there was no direct evidence of Brock breaking doors or windows to get into the Capitol, or doing anything violent once he was inside.

On Thursday, authorities also arrested a man from Utah who filmed the fatal shooting of the Trump supporter inside the Capitol. Police shot Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, as she was trying to climb through a broken window into the speakers lobby.

John Sullivan, 26, a self-described journalist who filmed the shooting, told the AP earlier this week that he was only there to document the events at the U.S. Capitol and didnt attend the riot as a Trump supporter.

In one video, Sullivan can be heard cheering on the rioters as they broke through the final barricade before the Capitol and saying, We did this together. ... We are all a part of history.
To the Moon, Mars and beyond

In a historic first for all of Southeast Asia, Thailand has made a new footprint in space history as the first Southeast Asian member of the International Space Settlement Design Competition (ISSDC).

EducationTechnology

By The Phuket News

Saturday 16 January 2021, 10:00AM

Students taking part in the ISSDC Finals in China last year.

Never before hosted by an Asean country, the ISSDC is a life-changing, exciting international educational initiative which was designed by NASA in 1983, co-staged by NASA and the Boy Scouts of America in 1984 and has since expanded to 35 countries as one of NASAs most salient legacy educational programs.

On Jan 4, Thailand made history by leading Southeast Asias most brilliant teenagers into this prestigious space exploration competition.

The ISSDC is aimed at identifying a nations brightest STEM and aerospace students whilst those students are still in high school, and the stunning event provides an early proving-ground for brilliant young minds by way of creating a realistic outer space industry simulation for student engineers who love the space program.

Through a series of energetic game competitions for high-school student teams ranging in age 14-18, the ISSDC has for decades searched for the most rare high school aerospace talent and has subsequently redirected dozens of brilliant students into some of the worlds best universities such as Princeton, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge University, Hong Kong University, and the National University of Singapore, among many other prestigious universities worldwide.

Unlike a typical flight simulator or an interactive museum, the competition puts high-school students squarely into the shoes of the real-life aerospace industry engineers currently designing future settlements in space that would someday be home to more than 10,000 people.

Thai students from all over the Kingdom can form 12-person school teams which then demonstrate the creativity, technical competence, managerial skill, space environment knowledge, teamwork, and presentation techniques that would be needed in real life in order to live on the moon, Mars, or beyond.

Student teams file a proposal much like engineers do in real life and conjugate innovative new ideas to solve the unworldly problems that human settlers would most assuredly encounter on an entirely new planet. Brilliant teenagers are connected with both active and retired aerospace engineers and scientists who help guide the students to finding their own unique insights to technical challenges over a period of several months which lead up to the first Thai National Competition, to be held in Bangkok in November this year.

Student teams who win the Thai Nationals will go on to compete in the Asian Regional Finals in India three months later, and any student teams who win there may find themselves competing at the Global Finals, which are once again slated for the Kennedy Center in July of 2022.

The registration fee for a student team is B5,000, so for a team of 12 students that comes to a very affordable B415 per student. Participation fees are not yet established for the first Thai National Competition as lodging arrangements are still pending, but the ISSDC-Thailand is run by caring educators who donate their skills to keep costs low enough that any motivated student team can afford to enroll, no matter where they may be in Thailand. All Thai high schools are welcome to participate and Thai student teams are required to have at least one member who can communicate in English on the IELTS 5.5 level (or equivalent).

The ISSDC of Thailand coordinated by a very talented local Thai committee and overseen by Astrium Competitions Ltd. Astrium Competitions is a new educational service provider committed to young aerospace talent development in Southeast Asia, and Astriums mission is to help the Kingdom become a possible future hub for Southeast Asian space exploration, as well as a potential hub for aerospace and STEM development among adolescents and primary students residing throughout Southeast Asia.

Thailands ISSDC was originally envisioned in 2018 when teams of Thai students started traveling outside the Kingdom to compete in other Asian competitions. Jon Santangelo, Imran Al-Farzal and several representatives of the China ISSDC noticed the rising number of Thai student teams applying elsewhere in Asia. A discussion was sparked and the ISSDC as a whole was firmly convinced that Thailand should become the first Asean nation to become a full member of the global ISSDC family.

Astrium Competitions Ltd was founded in June 2020 to oversee the construction of Southeast Asias first ISSDC and is considering a universe of new educational opportunities for Thai youths who hold space exploration deep inside their hearts.

The Thai ISSDC is currently chaired by Jason A. Jellison and co-managed by Operations Manager Oranush Kunatirojana. Dr Ian Reide Ph.D is graciously serving as Vice Chairman and the popular foreign teacher Geraldino Palmes is presently serving as the Secretary of the ISSDC-Thailand.

Jason Jellison is the first Chairman of the ISSDC-Thailand and he has taught at some of the Kingdoms finest high schools such as Suankularb Wittayalai School, Vajiravudh College and Saint Joseph Convent School. He is also well-known among Thailands foreign university students and international university lecture circuit for his lectures on law, ethics and philosophy. Born in America (but calling Thailand his second home), Jellison also ran a one-of-a-kind newspaper series called All About Buddhism in The Phuket News for nearly five years. He has been interviewed on Bangkok Channel 11 News, and has also freelanced in the American press with several high profile news, history and opinion articles.

Oranush Kunatirojana is a popular entrepreneur who has spent many years taking teams of Thai high school students into the West on educational tours. She is very popular with Thai young people not only due to her commitment to high quality tours which brim with cultural exchange, but also due to her equal dedication to Thai students of all financial means. She is fully bilingual in English and Thai.

Dr Ian Reide is Vice Chairperson and holds a Ph.D in ancient history from the University of Western Australia. He has been a popular foreign university lecturer in Thailand for many years and also teaches Thais of almost all ages. He has taught in numerous Southeast Asian countries, holds numerous advanced university degrees and was one the earlier computer programmers in the I.T. field.

Geraldino Palmes serves as Secretary of the Thai ISSDC Committee and is an acclaimed foreign educator hailing from the Philippines. Speaking both effortless English and equally smooth spoken Thai, Palmes is fully bilingual, a gifted educator beloved by Thai students of all ages, and holds a Masters Degree in Educational Management.

On Jan 4, Thailand took a very important step for mankind as it became the first Southeast Asian nation to join this prestigious NASA legacy educational initiative for teenage geniuses. Yet, whilst this may be but a modest step in the history of space exploration, it is yet another crucial step towards placing Thai astronauts on the moon, Mars and beyond.

For more information about ISSDC-Thailand visit the website www.thaissdc.org or email info@thaissdc.org. Mr Jellison prefers to be contacted at his personal email address mitnoy@live.com. For Thai-language inquiries, message Oranush Kunatirojana, Operations Manager, at echelonedu@gmail.com
Drivers trying to navigate downtown Harrisburg on Sunday may encounter travel restrictions and limitations, according to police.

Authorities are expecting a planned protest in the area of the state Capitol on Jan. 17. Harrisburg Bureau of Police, along with multiple other law enforcement agencies, will be monitoring the situation.

Appropriate steps will be taken to keep residents, visitors, and businesses in the downtown area safe, police said. Those actions may include various barricaded or blocked roadways, streets, and walkways.

Travel near the state Capitol should be avoided or limited during the anticipated protest, police said.

In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy is closing all state offices Wednesday, the day President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in, amid fears of more violence.

Read more from PennLive

Police outline plans to protect Pa. Capitol, including street closures, National Guard, air surveillance
GSA drops most drones from multiple award schedules

To crack down on security risks from unmanned aerial systems, the General Services Administration on Jan. 12 said it would remove nearly all drones from its multiple award schedule contracts.

Going forward, the MAS program will only offer small UAS approved by the Defense Innovation Units Blue sUAS Program, which provides secure small drones to the U.S. government from Altavian, Parrot, Skydio, Teal and Vantage Robotics. All other drones will be removed from GSA contracts.

The drones pose a unique set of challenges and security risks, according to GSA, including surveillance, data theft and possible disruption to federal information networks.

Unsecured drones can become potential cyber targets for collecting information, delivering malicious content or facilitating a kinetic attack, according to the Defense Departments recently released Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Strategy.

Additionally, since many small drones are made in China, buying them may violate existing procurement law, including the Trade Agreements Act and Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, GSA said on its Interact blog. It did leave open the possibility that affected contractors may be able to add their drones back to MAS contracts if GSA can identify and deploy an appropriate risk mitigation strategy.

Small, affordable drones have been used by federal, state and local governments for environmental monitoring, bridge inspections, search and rescue, weather prediction and public safety.
Acting foreign minister Simon Birmingham has confirmed 20 more repatriation flights will be organised for Australians stranded overseas after Emirates pulled the plug on its fleet flying into the east coast.

On Saturday the Liberal party member said the government had already organise 90 flights to assist those struggling to get home, bringing an estimated 446,000 people back to home soil.

But he is hoping a further 20 planes on the schedule will alleviate pressure for individuals and families trying to secure a seat on commercial airlines.

The additional people will be dispersed to the Howard Springs quarantine facility in the Northern Territory, Canberra and Tasmania, and will be in addition to the caps already in place for commercial travellers.

Acting foreign minister Simon Birmingham has confirmed 20 more repatriation flights will be organised for Australians stranded overseas after Emirates pulled the plug on its fleet flying into the east coast

But he is hoping a further 20 planes on the schedule will alleviate pressure for individuals and families trying to secure a seat on commercial airlines

'These flights will fly from priority areas from around the world, making sure that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade off of their intelligence and knowledge of where Australians most need assistance, target those flights,' he said.

On Friday evening Emirates suspended all flights to and from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane 'until further notice'.

The major international airline blamed 'operational reasons' for the sudden change of plans, which will be in effect from January 19.

There are still more than 37,000 Australians stranded overseas and desperate to return home.

Emirates has suspended all flights to and from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane 'until further notice'

However Emirates will still be operating flights to and from Perth twice weekly.

The United Arab Emirates carrier was conducting daily flights between Dubai and Sydney and Melbourne as well as five flights per week to Brisbane.

Its last journeys from Dubai to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will fly on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

Ticket-holders with later dates will not be able to fly, with Emirates advising they contact their travel agent or Emirates contact centre to re-book with other airlines.

The crushing development will see 19 flights per week for Australians in Europe and the Middle East wiped out, with some people already waiting months to get home.

Martha Walkowsky, who along with her husband Brian Fisher have been grounded in Dubai with their four-year-old twins, said the update was 'devastating.'

A tweet (pictured above) confirmed speculation that Emirates was suspending flights to and from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane by Tuesday 19 January due to 'operational reasons'

'This is the closest we have ever been to getting home and we really thought it was going to work,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

'I feel like giving up almost every day but I can't because we have two small children and we can't show our despair to them.'

An Emirates spokesman apologised for 'the inconvenience caused to our customers' before adding they are 'working hard to prepare for resumption of services to our other points'.

Last week international flight caps were reduced by 50 per cent in three states - New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia - until February 15 due to the threat of a new highly transmissible 'mutant' strain of COVID-19 from the UK.

Passengers on all incoming international flights now need to be tested for the new strain of coronavirus before boarding flights.

A subsequent 14-day quarantine upon arrival in Australia is also now mandatory.
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Bengaluru, Jan 16 : Minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually launched the nationwide vaccination drive on Saturday, Karnataka rolled out its first phase of the drive at 243 sites across the state.

K. Nagaratna (28), a ward attendant at Victoria hospital, received the first vaccine shot in the presence of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and Health Minister K. Sudhakar among others at the Bangalore Medical College.

"The vaccine doses to be administered at all the 243 centres have been capped at 100 in a day, which means about 24,300 health warriors will be vaccinated on the first day of the vaccine roll out," Sudhakar said.

The Group 'D' workers who had played a crucial role in battling the Covid-19 pandemic across the state were given the first shots.

Nagaratna, who hails from a village near Bidadi, was greeted with a bouquet of roses by Yediyurappa after she got the first vaccine jab in the state.

"We have all the wherewithal and capacity to administer vaccines to any number of people but at present we are only restricted to 100 which will be increased gradually in the coming days," the Chief Minister said.

The 77-year-old Lingayat strongman also unveiled a special postal stamp on Covid vaccination.

The Health Minister said that all the necessary arrangements are in place and there are observation rooms to take care in case of any side effect.

"There is no need to worry as the vaccines have come after clinical trials on 25,000 to 30,000 people. There is a demand for this vaccine prepared in India from foreign countries too and shots come comparatively at a low cost here," he added.

Sudhakar said that the health warriors who are at the forefront in the fight against the coronavirus will be given priority and people with co-morbidities will be the next priority.

He added that health officials across Karnataka were instructed this week to stay in touch with a control room for any query once the vaccination drive commences.

The vaccine will be administered in two doses. After the first dose, another dose will be administered after 28 days, the immunity of which will develop after 45 days. One has to be careful until 45 days, the Health Minister said.

According to the health officials, Covishield will be administered in 237 centres and Covaxin in Bellary, Shivamogga, Hassan, Chikmagalur, Chamarajnagar and Davanegere.

A total of 7,17,439 health warriors will be inoculated in the initial phase and there are 8,14,500 vaccine doses in store. The first phase is expected to be completed within a week.

In Bengaluru, 1.71 lakh health workers will receive the shots in the first phase. The second dose will be administered after 28 days.
On the morning of Jan. 6, I was cackling over Stop the Steal rally attendees clueless posts about parking in Washington. Future Tense contributor Faine Greenwood was lurking on TheDonald.win, a Trump fan discussion site, and tweeted the best examples of out-of-towners fretting about the logistics. (I particularly loved the person who thought that 6 a.m. pandemic D.C. traffic was psycho. Buddy, you have no idea.) By the end of the day, everything seemed a bit less funny. But as a new and furious round of discussion about deplatforming erupted, it still seemed perfect that the morning began for me with screenshots of TheDonald.win.

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TheDonald.win was founded in 2019, soon after Reddit began cracking down on the subreddit r/The_Donald. In June 2019, following violent threats, Reddit decided to quarantine the subwhich meant warning visitors before they entered it and demonetizing itand the next month, someone registered the site TheDonald.win. Reddit would go on to remove some r/The_Donald moderators, then quarantine the sub, then finally ban it in the summer of 2020. Over the course of that year, as the crackdown continuedAs a result of the crackdown, r/The_Donald became more and more sparsely populated as users migrated to TheDonald.win, a site that looks so much like Reddit that it must have been comfortably familiar to new users.

Though Reddit had banned r/The_Donald, it let stand the less-extreme r/DonaldTrump until Jan. 8, when it got caught up in the internet-wide wave of bans and suspensions of accounts belonging to Donald Trump and his most extreme supporters.

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The Free Speech Project has covered this moment of content-moderation crisis from a wide range of angles. On the evening of Jan. 6, Danielle Citron, a legal scholar who has advised Twitter on content moderation, wrote that it was time for the platform to boot Trump and criticized it for looking at each tweet individually, instead of evaluating the overall effect of the presidents tweets. Two days later, Twitter perma-suspended Trump. Facebook has suspended him until at least Inauguration Day. Sonja West and Genevieve Lakier, two other law professors, wrote that its time to rethink the conversation about the First Amendment and Big Tech. In an article on the Great Cancellation, Justin Hendrix wrote, The sad reality is that no matter how hard Silicon Valley tries to sweep Donald Trump under the rug, the hatreds he fomented are still alive across its platforms. Joshua Keating asked whether Twitter will now be banning dictators. After Parler, a free speech platform popular with Trump fans, was effectively kicked off the internet by Amazons AWS (which hosted Parlers website), Amre Metwally, who used to work for YouTubes content policy and enforcement team, explained why we should all be troubled by the power of private tech companies. (As conservatives began flocking to Parler over the summer, Chloe Hadavas pointed out that though it calls itself the free speech alternative to Twitter, it actually has some pretty restrictive content policies.) After conservatives like Sen. Josh Hawley and Donald Trump Jr. flung around the word Orwellian, Andrew Liptak wrote, they dont know what theyre talking about. And Aaron Mak looked at where online extremists might head next, with Twitter, Facebook, and Parler largely lost to them.

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What does this all mean for the debate over Section 230, the most hated law in the internet? Find out by watching our Wednesday event with Matt Perault, former director of public policy for Facebook and current director of Duke Universitys Center on Science & Technology Policy at Duke University; Mike Godwin, author of The Splinters of Our Discontent: How to Fix Social Media and Democracy Without Breaking Them; Victoria McCullough, director of public policy and social impact for Tumblr at Automattic; and Jennifer Daskal, New America ASU future of war fellow and professor and faculty director at American University Washington College of Laws Tech, Law, & Security Program.

Heres more from the recent past of Future Tense:

Joan Donovan and Chris Gilliard Facial Recognition Technology Isnt Good Just Because Its Used to Arrest Neo-Nazis

Rashida Richardson and Marci Lerner Miller The Higher Education Industry Is Embracing Predatory and Discriminatory Student Data Practices

Claire Park The Biden Administration Should Increase Phone and Internet Subsidies for Low-Income Americans

Wish Wed Published This

In November, Wireds editor-in-chief Nicholas Thompson published a feature on the internets search to identify a hiker who was found dead by the Appalachian Trail. Now the hiker, who was known on the trail as Mostly Harmless before he died, has been identified, and Thompson has followed up with a new piece: The Unsettling Truth About the Mostly Harmless Hiker. (Incidentally, Thompson, a former New America and Future Tense fellow, will become the CEO of the Atlantic as of next month.)

Future Tense Recommends

Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton begins as a pretty conventional novel about two young women grappling with social media, status, and envy in New York City. But about halfway through, the thriller morphs into something much deeper and darker and (in a very twisted way) funnier, while offering particularly incisive commentary on the way our digital and real lives intersect.

What Next: TBD

On this weeks episode of Slates technology podcast, host Lizzie OLeary talks to the Daily Beasts Will Sommer about how far-right extremists are migrating from Facebook and Twitter to encrypted platforms. Last week, Lizzie and Danielle Citron discussed what comes next for social networks after the Great Deplatforming.

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, Jan. 27, noon Eastern: Afrofuturisms Reimagined Tomorrows. In a moment defined by the growing awareness and rejection of the systemic racism highlighted by the disparate impact of the pandemic and the killings of Black citizens by law enforcement, the project of imagining a future where Black people are surviving, thriving, and leading technological and social change is more urgent than ever. Black Lives Matter, and so do Black futuresto all of our futures. Join us for a conversation with Ytasha Womack, author of Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture; Fabrice Guerrier, founder and CEO of Syllble; and Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo aka SAMMUS, a rap artist and postdoctoral fellow at Brown University.

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Wednesday, Feb. 3, noon Eastern: The Biden Administrations Future Agenda. Over the past few weeks, Future Tense has been publishing the Future Agenda, a series in which experts make their pitches for targeted, concrete accomplishments the Biden White House should pursue around such issues as broadband regulation and internet access; global health policy and pandemic prevention; and energy and policy change. Join us as we examine what, how, and if the Biden administration will be able to do these thingsand whether it can help us break the cycle of present-day crises keeping us from addressing longer-term issues. Our speakers will be Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and author of the new book The Plague Cycle; Sarah Morris, director of New Americas Open Technology Institute; and What Next TBD host Lizzie OLeary.

Wednesday, Feb. 10, noon Eastern: Wuhans 76 Days With Hao Wu. Hao Wus latest film, 76 Days, follows the heartbreaking experience of medical workers and patients in Wuhan, China during the citys 76 day lockdown in an attempt to contain the virus. Wu will discuss the film with Slate senior editor Joshua Keating.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
In a big development on Saturday, BJP's ally JD(U) differed from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to politicians to not jump the queue for COVID-19 vaccination. During his meeting with the Chief Ministers of all States on Monday, Modi stressed that the public representatives do not fall in the category of frontline workers and advised them to take the vaccine only when their turn comes. However, JD(U) spokesperson Ajay Alok demanded that the employees and elected members of State legislatures and Parliament should be vaccinated in the first phase itself.

According to him, this would enable the smooth functioning of the Budget session. Moreover, Alok reckoned that such an initiative shall quell the rumours regarding the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines. Earlier, the Centre had turned down a proposal by Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy who also sought the inoculation of all MLAs and MPs on a priority basis.

       PM @narendramodi                                       ,       ,    Dr Ajay Alok (@alok_ajay) January 16, 2021

Read: Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Vaccination On At 3000 Centres Pan-India; AIIMS Dir Inoculated

COVID-19 vaccination in India

On January 3, the Drugs Controller General of India accepted the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, paving way for the approval of COVISHIELD and COVAXIN. Manufactured by the Serum Institute of India with technology transfer from Oxford University-AstraZeneca, COVISHIELD is a Recombinant Chimpanzee Adenovirus vector vaccine with its overall efficacy at 70.42 per cent. On the other hand, COVAXIN is a Whole Virion Inactivated Corona Virus Vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR and NIV.

While its phase 3 efficacy data is not available, it has been approved in "public interest" in the clinical trial mode so that there can be more options for vaccination in case of infection by mutant strains. Both the vaccines have to be stored between 2-8 degrees celsius. Earlier in the day, PM Modi launched the pan-India rollout of the novel coronavirus vaccination drive via video conferencing.

Congratulating the citizens for their resilient fight against the pandemic, he requested them to shun conspiracy theories about the vaccines. In a total of 3351 sessions held across India on Saturday, 1,91,181 beneficiaries were inoculated. Manish Kumar, a machine operator at AIIMS sanitation department, became the first person in the country to be administered the vaccine. BJP MP Dr Mahesh Sharma, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria and SII CEO Adar Poonawalla were among the prominent personalities to get inoculated.

Read: Amit Shah Hails COVID Vaccine Rollout; Ex-BJP Chief In Karnataka To Discuss Cabinet Rejig

Twas 21 nights after Christmas, when all through the house

Not a single ribbon was disturbed, by human or mouse

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

Even though St. Nicholas had already been there.

In homes across New Jersey, Christmas decorations are lingering well into January. With Valentines Day a month away, locals say theyre in no rush to dismantle their trees, lights and home displays.

Some say the timing is par for the course, given their enduring love of the holiday. Others suspect their reticence could have something to do with the COVID-19 pandemic upending their 2020.

It just warms my heart

Linda Albelli decked out every nook and cranny of her Victorian home in Closter starting on Black Friday, using the holiday keepsakes shes collected over 40 years.

She has three Christmas trees  one large and two small.

Its not gaudy, Albelli says. I just love it.

Among friends and family, shes known for her Christmas addiction.

Im already planning for next year, Albelli, 66, tells NJ Advance Media.

Linda Albelli's passion for Christmas is not deterred by the progression of the calendar.Linda Albelli

But three weeks after Dec. 25, every single piece of her holiday decorations  from the stockings at her fireplace to the baubles and pinecones in the dining room, gingerbread men in the kitchen and ribbons on the cabinets  is still there.

When will she start disassembling her yuletide decor?

Maybe the end of January, she says. Definitely after the inauguration.

In fact, Albelli has switched out her Christmas countdown calendar with a countdown to Jan. 20  Inauguration Day.

For Albelli, that timing isnt all that far removed from her usual take-down day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 18). So in one way, the pandemic has not affected her routine. But in another, it has completely altered tradition.

A trove of 40 years' worth of keepsakes and decorations doesnt come out for five weeks alone.Linda Albelli

Since COVID-19 meant she couldnt see loved ones in the way she normally would at her home, Albelli considered not decorating much at all this year. When she floated the idea to Don, her husband of 41 years, the first responder, a rescue squad volunteer, quickly dissuaded her, with visions of Christmas trees dancing in his eyes.

Hes the master of the lights on the tree and the outside, Albelli says, and always loved going to pick out a live tree. In the end, she wound up devoting a significant amount of time and attention to her holiday setup.

I think I probably did more than I usually do and Im in no hurry to take it down, she says.

After all, she says, the tree is still drinking water. And each day, she can wake up to see it standing there, evoking joy and tranquility.

The snowman section of Albelli's holiday oeuvre. Linda Albelli

Its just uplifting, Albelli says. A year and half ago, she was laid off from her job as an editorial coordinator at a college textbook publisher. Now she waitresses a few days a week at the same luncheonette she worked at when she was 15.

Each Christmas ornament and keepsake isnt just a bauble or accessory, she says  its a memory. As she takes them out of storage each year, she relieves those memories, one by one.

A little piece of them is still with me, Albelli says of the people who gave them to her, whether theyve died or she just cant see them because of the pandemic. Gifts from her daughters from when they were children, and those moments in time, come back to life, if only for a month and a half.

It just warms my heart, she says.

Kids from 1 to 92 can appreciate a good wreath, December or no.Linda Albelli

Clinging to nice things

Jonathan Caspi, a therapist and professor of family science and human development at Montclair State University, says he can see Christmas lights as one answer to feeling like theres not much to look forward to.

The pandemic has generated such an open-ended feeling of uncertainty. Why not fill it with some extra weeks of holiday cheer?

Theres always some people who leave them up pretty long, Caspi says. I could see people this year wanting to cling to nice things more.

Even if decorations can act as something of a security blanket in a tumultuous year, he advises that people get on the same page with family members or others in their household if they intend to leave them up for a while past the holidays. And he raises the question of how long is too long.

Lisa Pasechnick's Christmas in January means leaving the lights up however long she wants. "And I dont care what my neighbors think," she says. Lisa Pasechnick

Maybe leaving them up all the time takes something out of it, Caspi says, making it less special somehow. He suggests dispelling some of the post-holiday blues by planning socially distanced meetups with friends or taking a drive for a change of scenery.

We dont necessarily have to fall into a trap of, Oh, we have nothing to look forward to, Caspi says.

Jeremy Eisengrein, a communications professional who lives in Spring Lake, sees a definite Christmas remainder in his townhouse community.

For his part, Eisengrein left a small agnostic wreath on his front door.

To be honest, I kind of enjoy it. I dont see why we cant keep some holiday cheer going throughout January, he says.

Eisengrein, 27, recently moved to the Monmouth County borough from Hoboken, following a trend of people leaving their New York-adjacent communities after the pandemics vanquishing of city commutes.

Pasechnick says she's been known to decorate her outdoor Christmas tree with hearts for Valentine's Day.Lisa Pasechnick

While he figures the prolonged holiday interlude is something of an escape from the sometimes unforgiving reality of early 2021, he knows it may irritate people.

I could see it bothering some neighbors, he says.

I dont care what my neighbors think

Ornaments hang from the ceiling in Lisa Pasechnicks Hillsdale living room. A small Christmas tree is flanked by two Santa Clauses. Above, strands of rainbow lights top the front windows as illuminated snowflakes shine in icy white.

Its not about being lazy, she says. I like it.

Pasechnick says her sister-in-law texted her husband, Mark, to ask when they were going to take their lights down.

He said never, she says.

The post-Christmas decorations have been a bright spot in a dark time for the family.

Its not about being lazy," Pasechnick says of leaving her Christmas decor up. "I like it.Lisa Pasechnick

Pasechnick, 59, has been visiting her 95-year-old mother in rehab after she suffered a stroke and fractured her ankles on New Years.

Seeing the warm glow of colored lights in the dogwood outside is like a balm.

I need that now, she says of her holiday cheer. Im not taking them down.

Pasechnick worked as a chef and brand ambassador at Bloomingdales but lost her job to the pandemic. After she developed COVID-19 symptoms in April, her family contracted the coronavirus. And then theres the state of the country.

Were not exactly in peaceful times, Pasechnick says. And I dont care what my neighbors think.

She has two Christmas trees  a cat-friendly fiber optic one in the house and a live one on the porch. Its not going anywhere. In fact, Pasechnick sticks hearts in it for Valentines Day.

One year I hung Easter eggs in it, she says.

Jeremy Eisengrein is letting his Christmas wreath stick around.Jeremy Eisengrein

How naive we were

Scott Churchson and his wife are also still rolling with their tree and lights in Lodi. Usually the decorations are gone a few days after the New Year.

With COVID being the way it is and the kind of things that its put a lot of people through, you need whatever you can to give yourself some psychological escapism, he says. Its been such an odd Christmas that in some bizarre way, it feels like we didnt have it.

Then theres 2021  the Capitol riot and fallout.

How naive we were to say, Out with 2020! says Churchson, 45, who works in radio and TV.

Hes a big fan of how his Christmas scene looks, but is not so keen on putting it together  or taking it down.

Theoretically well get around to it this weekend, he says.

After all, Churchson says, its only 49 weeks till Christmas.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter.
Mr. Worley said he would introduce the motion based on an outside complaint filed with the state election board by John F. Banzhaf III, a George Washington University law professor.

Mr. Banzhaf and other legal experts say Mr. Trumps calls may run afoul of at least three state criminal laws. One is criminal solicitation to commit election fraud, which can be either a felony or a misdemeanor.

There is also a related conspiracy charge, which can be prosecuted either as a misdemeanor or a felony. A third law, a misdemeanor offense, bars intentional interference with another persons performance of election duties.

My feeling based on listening to the phone call is that they probably will see if they can get it past a grand jury, said Joshua Morrison, a former senior assistant district attorney in Fulton County who once worked closely with Ms. Willis. It seems clearly there was a crime committed.

He noted that Fulton County, which encompasses much of Atlanta, is not friendly territory for Mr. Trump if he were to face a grand jury there.

The inquiry, if it comes to pass, would be the second known criminal investigation of Mr. Trump outside of federal pardon power. He is already facing a criminal fraud inquiry into his finances by the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr. Even Georgias Republican governor, Brian Kemp, does not have the power to pardon at the state level, though its not assured that he would issue a pardon anyway, given his frayed relationship with Mr. Trump. Nonetheless, in Georgia, pardons are handled by a state board.

The question of whether or not to charge the nations 45th president would present a unique challenge for any district attorney. Ms. Willis, who took office only days ago, is a seasoned prosecutor not unaccustomed to the limelight and criticism. A graduate of Howard University and the Emory University School of Law in the Atlanta area, she is the first woman, and the second African-American, to hold the job of top prosecutor in Fulton County, Georgias most populous, with more than one million residents.
Closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High 'impacts our entire town'

The Washington County Board of Education held a public hearing on the closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High School; the crowd pleaded against it.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, right, speaks accompanied by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), during a news conference on Capitol Hill, after a meeting at the White House in Washington on June 30, 2020. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

House Committees Open Investigation Into Jan. 6 Capitol Breach

Four House committees on Saturday formally opened a joint investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Mass.), House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) sent a letter (pdf) on Saturday to FBI Director Christopher Wray, National Counterterrorism Center Acting Director Steve Vanech, Department of Homeland Security senior official Joseph Maher, and Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe demanding information related to the Jan. 6 breach and the security of coming inauguration.

As the first step, and as described in the annex to this letter, the Committees ask that your organizations produce relevant documents, and schedule briefings, regarding specific intelligence matters associated with the insurrection and threats to the U.S. presidential inaugurations, the committee leaders, all Democrats, wrote in the letter.

The Democrats requested the agencies to provide related documents no later than 5:00 p.m. on Feb. 15.

They also required the agencies to come before the House Committees for a series of briefings starting from the week of Jan. 22-26.

Some protesters and left-wing activists stormed the Capitol when Congress was counting the electoral votes on Jan. 6 as hundreds of thousands of Trump supporters rallied for election integrity in the District of Columbia.

Ashli Babbitt, a Trump supporter, was shot dead by a U.S. Capitol Police officer as she tried to climb into the House speakers lobby through a window.

A USCP officer, Brian Sicknick, died one day after he was injured while engaging with protesters. The direct causes of Sicknicks injuries remain unknown, his family said in a Jan. 8 statement.

Three other people died after medical emergencies during the event.

The composition of the individuals who broke in is still being determined while various court filings show those being charged have been identified and associated with both right and left-wing groups.

Experts said that military hand signals and crowd control tactics appear to have been employed during the breach to agitate the protesters.

Steven DAntuono, head of the FBI Washington field office, told reporters that the agency had received a lot of intelligence leading up to the Jan. 6 protest and had shared the information with law enforcement partners through its shared systems, The Epoch Times reported.

Democrats Lay Priorities of Investigation

The top House Democrats outlined serval priority areas in the investigation including whether the agencies received any advance warning about the breach, if there was foreign influence or misinformation efforts, whether any current or former government official or security clearance holder participated in the breach, and details of the response of the agencies.

The four committee leaders also want to know if theres any plan to prevent the travel of those who committed crimes, including any Domestic Violent Extremists.

Meanwhile, on the Senate side, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) vowed to conduct a rigorous investigation of the breach.

The new Democratic Senate will also conduct a rigorous investigation of the events that led to the tragedy of January 6, including the role of white supremacy, disinformation, and the gross disparity in force between the Trump administrations response to the Capitol rioters and the administrations response to the racial justice protesters last summer, the incoming Senate majority leader said.

The Democratic Party maintains a majority in the House may hold a thin majority in the Senate after the two newly-elected Democratic Senators from Georgia swear in.
Joanne Rogers, who as the gregarious wife of Fred Rogers, the influential creator and host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, spread his message of kindness after his death in 2003, died on Thursday at her home in Pittsburgh. She was 92.

Her death was announced by Fred Rogers Productions, which produces childrens programming for public television.

So much a part of me was Fred, Mrs. Rogers said in a TEDx Talk in 2018. One of the things he talked about was making goodness attractive, and I think thats something that we can try to do, and its quite an assignment.

Mrs. Rogers was as comfortable being Fred Rogerss wife as she was performing for nearly 40 years in a piano-playing duo with her college friend Jeannine Morrison. Mr. Rogers was also a trained pianist, but he was not considered as adept as his wife.
Just like this country, I think we need to do a better job assessing the depth of what he represented, rather than what feels good on the superficial level for people, Jones said. I am not getting down on Martin Luther King at all, hes not around to say here, focus on this part of me. The reality here is that the Martin Luther King who gave the Beyond Vietnam speech in 1967 was not the same Martin Luther King who gave the I Have a Dream speech in 1963.
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As we remain in level 5 lockdown for the foreseeable future at this key time at the start of a new year, it's true that our new year's resolutions might look a bit different this year.

But at whatever time of the year, new hobbies and activities to prevent boredom for all the family are available at our fingertips to bring us joy. In this two part series, some Wexford experts provide advice on activities to engage with during lockdown.

This week we speak to Gorey Library librarians Dearbhla Ni Laighin and Fiona Wadding, artist Sara Redmond of Different Strokes as well as celebrity chef Edward Hayden as they discuss the benefits of reading, art and baking.

READING - a positive and productive lockdown activity with Gorey Library

Although library staff Dearbhla Ni Laighin, Fiona Wadding and their team are working remotely, their passion for reading exists wherever they are.

They explained that picking up a book during this lockdown can go a long way to relax the mind.

'We are now in another lockdown but this time the dark evenings are still upon us, and so a good book is a great way to escape. If you haven't tried reading for a while, now is your chance to take it up again for free with Gorey library.

'Reading is an excellent way to relax, escape, boost creative well being or learn something new. Discover lots of rewarding reads through your library, with books of fact or fiction for all ages and tastes in a variety of formats. Anyone who is not already a library member may join the library online at www.wexfordcoco.ie/libraries/join-the-library.

'Gorey Library is closed while level 5 restrictions are in place, but library members can read eBooks and listen to e-audiobooks using the BorrowBox app and enjoy magazines, newspapers, comics and graphic novels with the RB Digital app. There is also an online Book Club which runs on Facebook through Wexford Libraries, with monthly meetings to get together online with other readers to share your reading pleasure.

As well as this, library staff are connecting with readers daily on Facebook and Twitter (@wexlibraries), encouraging readers to get creative, #StartANewStory and have fun coming up with "Flash Fiction" stories using four titles of Irish books.

Gorey Library staff provides online Toddler Story Time and Baby Rhyme Time on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 a.m., and children's Crafternoons on Mondays via the Gorey Library Facebook page, as well as lots of suggestions for good reads for everyone.

Local schools are encouraged to contact the library by phone 053 9483820 or e-mail goreylib@wexfordcoco.ie with requests for classroom novels block loans and project boxes.

Those who are elderly, vulnerable or cocooning are invited to call Gorey library at 053 9483820 Monday to Friday 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. as all lines are open, to request books to be delivered to your door.

If you are not familiar with technology and would like some assistance with using any of our online resources, please feel free to phone the library on 053 9483820 and staff would be happy to help.

Full details of all library services are on www.wexfordcoco.ie/libraries and across social media.

To join more than 200 members of the online book club, search 'Wexford Libraries' Online Book Club' on Facebook.

ART - Getting the creative juices flowing this new year

Sara Redmond of Different Strokes Art Shop, Gorey borrows the quote from Picasso "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life" to explain her passion for creativity, something that is truly alive and well in Wexford.

'There is an assumption that to make art you have to be able to produce recognisable images or have studied art in school and we need to forget that,' she said.

'Anybody can paint and the essentials don't cost a fortune. I find painting is a great way of letting go. Acrylic paint is the easiest medium to start with, as it can be applied to pretty much any surface including canvas, wood, fabric, paper, and stone.

'Don't waste time thinking about what to paint, initially just enjoy playing with colour, movement and shapes. Once you have begun, your creative instincts will tell you where to go.

Wassily Kandinsky believed that colours have an inherent personality, so use colours that make you feel happy and safe like blues, oranges and pinks. Get the whole family involved and aim to have an exhibition in your living room.

Keeping a diary is proven to help your mental health, so why not go a step further and keep a visual diary. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just an A5 or A6 blank sketchbook, a 2B pencil, markers and colouring pencils. Take it with you on walks and be inspired by the world around you.

Self isolating at home? Sketch the cat taking a nap, your partner watching TV or the colourful patterns on your carpet. Occasional moments of brilliance can happen in the sketch book like an idea for a painting or what colour paint you will use on the bedroom wall'.

Please feel free to get in touch with the shop on St Michael's Road in Gorey via social media, email or phone.

Don't forget you can still shop supplies at home by visiting www.ds-art.ie to arrange click and deliver.

HOME BAKING - There is a lot more to do in the kitchen than just make banana bread

Celebrity chef Edward Hayden knows his way around the kitchen, but he has noticed that trying new cooking and baking techniques in lockdown all comes down to time and commitment, and is a great cure for boredom. For beginners, he explained that it is something the whole family can enjoy.

'My suggestion would be to engage with it, there's a wonderful opportunity for people to make sure it has a positive affect as one thing I have noticed is that baking does wonderful things for your confidence.

'For example you take five staple ingredients: eggs, butter, sugar, flour and milk - give it a bit of time and effort and love, you'll end up with some really beautiful scones, muffins or cakes and it gives you that sense of achievement and satisfaction. For people whose job isn't a culinary discipline, it's just a complete polar disconnect and a recreation as it's a way to immerse yourself in something that needs all of your time and concentration in the creative process.

'Being able to create food yourself is one of your basic physiological needs, and to be part of that formation is wonderful and after the work is done, you've the satisfaction then of eating it, to feed yourself and your family.

'It's something all the family can do and children really love being part of it. I don't have children myself but I can see that they love to explore and be creative but it's about teaching them too. They learn about measurements and maths, focus and accuracy and following instructions.

'If children are invested in the process, it'll stand to them and I've noticed this when I work with third level students, these skills that are learned in the formative years remain with you and they're life skills.

'My suggestion to anyone starting out would be to shake off the quest for perfection. Culinary is the universal vernacular and everybody can be a chef, all you have to do is invest time'.

Throughout the lockdowns, Edward has been sharing online cooking demonstrations and these can be viewed online. Just search 'Chef Edward Hayden' on social media or visit www.edwardhayden.ie
Travel firms have suggested making Covid-19 insurance compulsory for all inbound and outbound travelers as one of the solutions Vietnam needs to apply after it receives foreign travelers again.

A document released by the Government Office on January 9 showed that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has assigned the Ministry of Transport to consider resumption of routine commercial flights to other countries after the 2021 Tet holiday. This aims at the dual goal of both developing the economy while fighting the pandemic and satisfying citizens demand for travel.

The flights for overseas Vietnamese citizens coming to Vietnam will be implemented in Q1 2021.

The date is still unclear about receiving international travelers because the major COVID-19 hotbeds in the world are some of Vietnam's main tourism markets.

Experts said it is necessary to start preparing for the moment now, so as to receive travelers as soon as conditions permit.

Vo Anh Tai, deputy CEO of Saigontourist Group, said at a nationwide travel forum held days ago in Hai Phong City that medical insurance should be compulsory for inbound and outbound travelers.

This would ensure benefits and safety for travelers, travel firms and local authorities if tours have to be cancelled or postponed, or if travelers have to be examined and treated because of factors related to Covid-19.

In early March 2020, some insurance companies introduced insurance policies related to Covid-19. However, the Prime Minister in Instruction No 16 dated March 31 asked them to stop this.

In other countries, medical insurance programs related to Covid-19 have been offered, which cover expenses on hospitalization, examinations, treatment and medical care, and medical evacuation and repatriation.

Tai has also proposed amending provisions on cancellation of bookings for domestic and international tours.

France, for example, replaces refunds with vouchers or similar forms, which have value equivalent to a service in the future. Clients can ask for a refund for unused vouchers after 18 months. This helps reduce financial disputes and maintains demand for travel between clients and businesses, and between businesses in travel supply chains.

A report from the World Travel Organization showed that in November 2020, 59 percent of destinations in Asia Pacific closed completely and 9 percent closed partially, the highest level in the world. The figures were 7 percent and 67 percent in Europe, respectively, the lowest level.

In 2020, Vietnam received 3.8 million foreign travelers, a decrease of 79 percent compared with 2019. Of this, 96 percent of travelers came in the first quarter. Vietnam has not been open to inbound tourists since the second quarter.

Ngoc Ha

Covid-19 forces travel firms to undergo restructuring For travel firms to survive the pandemic, they have had to undergo restructuring.

By Jess Melanson

In 2020, we saw towns burn to the ground out West, a record number of hurricanes battered our coasts and polar ice melt that foreshadowed the devastating coastal flooding to come in our future. Scientists tell us that given how rapidly we continue emitting greenhouse gases, this is just the beginning of climate crisis.

But were not yet acting like its a crisis, particularly when it comes to preparing our electric grid for a zero-carbon future.

Virtually all experts agree on the path to cleaning our energy sector. We need to quickly transition to solar, wind and batteries while preserving nuclear energy. We need to electrify heating and transportation. And we need a modern grid that can handle these new technologies.

New Jersey policymakers have established aggressive targets to promote investments in solar, offshore wind, batteries and electric vehicles, which are all rapidly getting cheaper. But utilities are lagging in preparing the electric grid.

If theres anyone who knows how to respond in a crisis, its the utilities. When a storm hits and the power goes out, they heroically mobilize crews from across the country to restore power. With the urgency of a military operation, they repair broken infrastructure because they know the health, safety and economic well-being of their customers is on the line.

To address the climate crisis, we need utilities to modernize the grid with that same sense of urgency. The grid is the glue that will seamlessly connect all of our clean energy investments  the solar on our roofs, the batteries in our garage and the wind off our shores.

But todays grid isnt prepared to do that. Todays grid is still an analog, inflexible machine. To enable clean energy, it must be digital and dynamic, responding to power that doesnt just predictably flow in one direction from fossil fuel plants, but surges in different directions from ocean wind gusts or the sun shining on our solar rooftops.

Investing in clean energy without also preparing the grid is like developing a vaccine with no plans to distribute it. The cure wont work without the distribution system to connect everyone.

Without a digitized, modern grid, the clean energy revolution will grind to a halt. Customers will be told the grid cannot handle any more electric vehicles or solar panels without risking power outages. Utilities will issue additional charges to hook clean energy up to the system, rather than paying customers extra for the clean power theyre creating. Green jobs will be lost. And we will miss our climate targets.

Every dollar that utilities spend on the grid must be aimed at enabling the clean energy transformation. Yet many are spending billions without any clean energy commitments. Take, for example, smart electric meters. New Jerseys electric utilities are planning to spend over $1.5 billion rolling out new meters across the state.

If equipped with the right technology, new meters arent just for billing customers but can also be clean energy enablers. They are powerful computers that can be used to quickly and safely bring more clean energy onto the grid, make the entire system more reliable and resilient, and give customers more control over how they use energy.

Yet utility meter proposals do not include clear plans or commitments to fully realize these benefits. There is no assurance that this massive investment will enable the clean energy goals our state has set. That lack of planning and commitment wouldnt cut it in a storm response, and its not sufficient for the climate crisis.

In New York, utility regulators are requiring that smart meters be used to usher in the clean grid, and theyre holding utilities accountable to come up with clear plans. New Jersey regulators, who are pushing utilities for more details about their smart meter plans, should require the same accountability.

Any investment that utilities make  especially one that requires customers to pay more  must come with clear commitments to prepare the grid for a clean energy transformation. Time is running out to stave off even worse climate impacts. Its time we all start acting like climate change is a crisis.

Jess Melanson is president and COO of Utilidata.

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Provide free vaccines to students: NSO tells Haryana CM

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Jan 16: The Indian National Students Organisation's president Digvijay Singh Chautala in a letter to Chief Minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar demanding free vaccines for students in the state.

An ANI report said that in the letter he requested for the provision of early and free vaccination for the students and also the opening of educational institutions in the state.

"There is an instant need to open the educational institutions of the state as early as possible. The University Grants Commission has also issued detailed guidelines for the phased reopening of the universities and colleges. In doing so, the concern of the health and well-being of the students should also be made the top priority. I request you to provide free Corona vaccine to students in early phases before opening of educational institutions," Chautala said in the letter.

Vaccine beneficiaries must rest for an hour, advises government

He said such a step will secure the health and well-being of the students. It would also do away from the fear and panic among the students, he also said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 9:58 [IST]
Even as South Carolina continues its plan to vaccinate staff and residents at nursing homes, the state is nearing 10,000 COVID-19 cases among its most vulnerable.

According to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, 9,638 long-term care facility residents have tested positive for the virus, along with 5,808 staff members. Of those, 1,638 residents and 28 employees have died.

DHEC spent its fifth day wading through an internal systems issue that has scrambled its reported numbers this week. It says some cases and deaths have gone unreported, but will be corrected and added to the county-level dashboard when fully tallied.

While many facilities have managed to tamp down outbreaks over the past several months, and many residents can now get vaccinations, community spread remains high in some areas.

With the virus eating away at several rural areas, DHEC is focusing on getting vaccines to rural communities through mobile clinics and pharmacy chains. But with vaccines still in high demand, DHEC Interim Director of Public Health Dr. Brannon Traxler emphasized on Friday that masks and social distancing are still key to protecting the most vulnerable.

"We need to change the trajectory that (the coronavirus) is on right now," Traxler said. "We need everybody to double down on their efforts."

Statewide numbers

New cases reported: 1,845, which is 1,068 percent higher than the 158 tallied on March 31, the day Gov. Henry McMaster ordered nonessential businesses to close.

Total cases in S.C.: 341,597, plus 34,370 probable cases

New deaths reported: 93

Total deaths in S.C.: 5,513 confirmed, 524 probable

Total tests in S.C.: 4,168,325

Hospitalized patients: 2,424

Percent of positive tests, seven-day average: 26.5 percent. Five percent of tests or fewer returning positive results is a good sign the virus' spread is slowing, researchers say.

Hardest-hit areas

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According to data from DHEC, the top counties for new coronavirus cases reported Friday were Greenville, 191; Anderson, 141; and Lexington, 125.

What about tri-county?

Charleston County reported 39 new cases, Berkeley had 32 and Dorchester logged 27.

Deaths

Of the 93 coronavirus deaths that DHEC confirmed Friday, one victim was a young adult aged 18 to 34 and 13 were middle-aged patients aged 35 to 64. The rest were at least 65 years old.

They lived in Anderson, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun, Charleston, Cherokee, Chester, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Greenville, Greenwood, Horry, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, Lexington, Marion, Marlboro, Oconee, Orangeburg, Pickens, Richland, Spartanburg, Williamsburg and York counties.

Hospitalizations

Of the 2,424 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on Friday, 473 were in intensive care and 289 were on ventilators.

What do experts say?

Authorities continue to urge South Carolinians to take precautions such as wearing masks or other face coverings, social distancing and frequently washing hands.

They also urge anyone who believes theyve been exposed to the virus or who is developing symptoms to get tested. Those out in the community or not able to socially distance should get tested monthly, DHEC advised.

The Medical University of South Carolina said it plans to offer rapid testing in the Charleston International Airport's daily parking garage 2:30-5:30 p.m. on Friday.

Go to scdhec.gov/findatest to find a testing site in your area.

Gregory Yee contributed to this report.
US President Donald Trump, in a last-minute push to solidify Morocco's normalization with Israel, bestowed a rare award Friday on its king as his administration rallied international support in a regional dispute.

Trump, who sees Arab recognition of Israel as a key overseas achievement of his presidency, last month broke decades of precedent by recognizing Morocco's full sovereignty over contested Western Sahara, with Morocco in turn saying it would normalize relations with the Jewish state.

The White House said it presented King Mohammed VI with the Legion of Merit, degree of Chief Commander, five days before Trump's departure in a private ceremony in Washington in which Morocco's ambassador accepted.

The military award was created to honor allied leaders in World War II and had gone into obscurity until it was revived by Trump, who last month also presented it to the prime ministers of Australia, India and Japan.

"His vision and personal courage -- including his decision to resume ties with the State of Israel -- have positively reshaped the landscape of the Middle East and North Africa and ushered in a new era of security and prosperity for both our countries and the world," a White House statement said.

The State Department's top official on the Middle East, David Schenker, on Friday joined Morocco in a virtual conference on Western Sahara that highlighted Trump's position.

Forty nations participated with 27 at the ministerial level, a joint statement said.

"Participants committed to continue their advocacy for a solution, using Morocco's autonomy plan as the sole framework for resolving the Western Sahara dispute," it said.

The countries taking part included Arab allies of Morocco and smaller developing nations but also France, Morocco's foreign ministry said.

President-elect Joe Biden has not committed to maintaining Trump's recognition of Moroccan sovereignty in Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony where tensions have simmered since the 1970s as the Algerian-backed Polisario Front fights for independence.

Morocco controls most of Western Sahara but its sovereignty is not recognized by the United Nations.

sct/acb
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung on January 15 called on correspondents from foreign press agencies and cultural and press attaches

as well as representatives from foreign agencies in Vietnam to help in promoting the countrys image among international friends.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung speaks at the meeting. (Photo: VNA)

At a New Year gathering in Hanoi, Dung highlighted their contributions to enhancing cultural links and mutual understanding between Vietnam and peoples worldwide.

In his remarks, the deputy minister reviewed the major political and socio-economic achievements Vietnam recorded last year, saying it successfully performed its role as ASEAN Chair 2020 and non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021.

Delegates pose for a group photo. (Photo: VNA)

Bilateral and multilateral diplomacy has been strengthened both online and in-person, he said. Vietnam has also enhanced economic ties through the implementation of major trade deals like the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The country also saw positive outcomes in protecting citizens overseas amidst COVID-19, land border marker planting and demarcation, territorial sovereignty protection, and cultural diplomacy, he went on.

Dung said fact-finding trips to localities were organised for foreign reporters, cultural and press attaches, and representatives of foreign agencies in Vietnam during the year, in an effort to promote local potential.

Many have expressed a belief that Vietnam will become a bright spot in economic growth post-COVID-19, contributing significantly to peace, stability and development in the region and the world at large./.VNA
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PHILIPSBURG:--- Sewing seditious behavior and interfering with civil servants executing directives is a dangerous precedent to set, says Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel in response to a circulating video of Chairman of Parliament Rolando Brison confronting economic inspectors at a nightlife establishment.

In the video, Brison is recorded chiding and questioning the inspectors for trying to close the establishment, questioning their authority and the legal basis. He further asked the inspectors if they "have a conscience" and called them "arrogant".

The fundamental problems with Brison's actions, the MP said, are many. First, as an MP and Chairman of Parliament, Brison should let and encourage citizens to use the means of protest available to them and deal with the matter the correct way with the economic affairs department and the Minister of TEATT.

"It does not matter how you feel, let the inspectors work, and let the business owner protest. If the inspectors did something wrong, then their department head and the Minister will correct that," Emmanuel said. He added that Brison's interference adds more to the speculation that government officials use their positions to influence matters in certain beneficial directions. "It was poor judgment," MP Emmanuel said.

MP Emmanuel explained that the inspectors did not even have to mention a Minister, once their management gives them instruction. The Minister does not authorize everything, management cannot be dismissed in this process. Additionally, he said, the Prime Minister and the Minister of TEATT are on record as stating that economic controls would be stepped up to ensure that businesses are adhering to the implemented COVID measures. "That alone is a general directive," the MP said.

"It could also be seen as the Minister sending him to interfere as a result of her own conflict of interest with the land upon which the establishment sits, or reportedly the MP was defending personal interests of associates doing business in the establishment which is also a conflict of interest," MP Emmanuel said.

The MP said Brison's actions could also be viewed as inciting seditious and belligerent behavior by business owners whenever the inspectors attempt to execute directives, making their jobs more difficult.

"The Chairman has the time to do this but can't find the time to call meetings and inform the people about the COHO and other changes coming to the country. This despite his coalition partner, the PM, saying she updates Parliament regularly. The Chairman has time to cheer the fall of the Dutch government on social media, but just last week remain silent when the PM said signing agreements with Holland signals a new beginning between the two countries. This government is totally detached from actual governing and improving the lives of the people of St. Maarten," MP Emmanuel said.

Now the Minister of TEATT has to provide an explanation about what exactly happened," Emmanuel said. "We are talking about the highest seat in the land. It behooves the Minister of TEATT to provide an explanation about how this situation occurred since her apparent directive was questioned," MP Emmanuel said.
Yet again this Christmas Blackrock's Conor Hughes mounted his fundraising scheme on the beach in front of his business premises.

For his latest fundraiser Conor placed a 25 ft. model of Gulliver which proved to be a big attraction, especially with children.

Over the years you have to marvel at Conor's ingenuity in coming up with a novel new ideas every year in an effort to drum up interest in his appeal.

Over the years he has come up with some whacky ideas, and in the initial years of the campaign Conor himself was willing to make personal sacrifices by subjecting himself to the extremities of the winter weather on a beach.

All of this was done in the name of the charity he founded, Crosscause Charity which supports a number of projects in Ghana and Romania that are working with orphans.

Along the way there is little doubt that Conor has collected many opinions on his charity work and the extent to which he is not afraid to front the work he is undertaking.

Most of the commentary would be favourable, but no doubt he has got the odd comment not just about the sometimes bizarre schemes he dreams up, but also as to why he is searching out worthy projects abroad when there are countless charitable organisations at home in need of funds.

Conor knows from the orphanages in Ghana and Romania that he visited that the need there is greater than at home for they lack even the most basic of items.

For all our faults in this country, we have considerably improved the welfare of orphaned children or those with special needs.

It is therefore right that we should cherish having people like Conor Hughes in our midst who is prepared to go to great lengths to raise badly needed funds for children who are a lot less fortunate than those in our midst.

It has been said before, but needs repeating, that we are fortunate in this, and indeed in every other community in Ireland, that we have people who care deeply about others but who are prepared not just to care, but to do some tangible to help.

Who cares that Conor's ideas are novel, even whacky, they provide a focus and are a tradition in Blackrock every Christmas.

Long may it continue, and long may Conor continue his excellent work.
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Report Description

A recent market intelligence report that is published by Data Insights Partner on the global Smart Kitchen Appliances Market makes an offering of in-depth analysis of segments and sub-segments in the regional and international Smart Kitchen Appliances Market. The research also emphasizes on the impact of restraints, drivers, and macro indicators on the regional and global Smart Kitchen Appliances Market over the short as well as long period of time. A detailed presentation of forecast, trends, and dollar values of global Smart Kitchen Appliances Market is offered. In accordance with the report, the global Smart Kitchen Appliances Market is projected to expand by healthy CAGR over the period of forecast.

Market Insight, Drivers, Restraints, Opportunity & Trends of the Market:

Definition

The utilization of technological advancement in the varied equipment used in the kitchen are termed as smart kitchen appliances. Smart kitchen appliances have led to the transition of kitchens and dining spaces into comfortable, pleasurable and smart experiences. The deployment of smart kitchen appliances has helped in reducing waste, faster food preparation, automation in the cooking process and avoid overcooking.

Request for Report Sample: https://datainsightspartner.com/request-for-sample?ref=912

Market Drivers

The advancement of technology and its application on the kitchen appliances is providing the initial impetus to the smart kitchen appliances market. The utilization of Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence in smart kitchen appliances is beneficial. These products have intelligent and smart sensors that can be operated through voice controls and by the use of smart phones, and tablets. These appliances can be remotely accessed with the help of speaker and voice interface which is driving this market.

The recent upsurge in fuel prices coupled with the depleting non-renewable resources is creating an acute shortage of sources of energy and power and calls for energy conservation. Smart kitchen appliances function in an energy efficient way and curbs down the wastage of energy which is fueling this market.

The rising participation of women in the workforce is limiting their time spent in household kitchens. Moreover, after a hectic day in the workplace, some work relief is needed in the kitchen which is made possible by the use of smart kitchen appliances. These products not only reduce human interference in the cooking process but also reduces the time needed food preparation.

The use of smart kitchen appliances in the households is a symbol of wealth. The development of modular kitchen has to be associated with the incorporation of smart kitchen appliances that not only beautifies the kitchen but also it is a great feature for smart homes.

Market Restraints

As a result of imputing advanced technologies in the smart kitchen appliances, these products have been immoderately priced. This keeps the product out of the reach of the low-income class which is severely straining the growth prospects of this market.

Further, the cost of maintaining smart kitchen appliances is extravagant. In case of need for any repair, the company has to be consulted which charges premium repairing cost. This factor is hampering the growth of the smart kitchen appliances market.

The application of technology in smart kitchen appliances is finely new. While the population of the developing and non-developed economies lacks knowledge and information with regard to the use of this smart technologies which is impeding the growth of this market.

Opportunities

The soaring adoption of smart projects like smart city, smart home, smart grids and other smart projects is expected to provide lucrative opportunities for the development of smart kitchen and utilization of smart kitchen appliances.

The upsurge in the purchasing power of the consumers and their dependence on artificial technologies to carry out the daily activities is expected to boost this market in the near future.

The involvement of smart phone application in monitoring and controlling smart kitchen appliances is a good scope to kickstart operations in the smart kitchen appliances market.

Trends

At present North America dominates the market for smart kitchen appliances and is expected to continue its domination in the forecast period. This can be traced back to the soaring purchasing power of the population of this region, transitioning lifestyle of the people, tendency to renovate kitchens and investments in this sector. The Asia Pacific region is projected to be the fastest growing region in the forecast period owing the adoption of smart ovens and smart refrigerators in China and rising disposable income of the population of this region. Globally, the smart kitchen appliances market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.1%. In terms of product insights, the smart refrigerator segment dominates the market. However, the smart cooktops and cookware is expected to be grow significantly at a CAGR of 20.2% in the forecast period. The Wi-Fi connectivity section of the smart kitchen appliances market is estimated to be the fastest growing segment in the forecast period.

Segment Covered:

This market intelligence report on the global Smart Kitchen Appliances Market encompasses market segments based on product type, connectivity technology, end user and country.

Get Request for Table of Contents: https://datainsightspartner.com/report/smart-kitchen-appliances-market/912#tableOfContent

By Product Type the global Smart Kitchen Appliances Market has been divided into:

q Smart & Integrated Ovens and Cooktops

q Smart Cooktops and cookware

q Smart Cooker and Cooking Robots

q Smart Juicers and Blenders

q Smart Sous Vide

q Smart Ovens

q Smart Refrigerators

q Others

By Connectivity Technology the global Smart Kitchen Appliances Market has been divided into:

q Bluetooth

q Wi-Fi

By End User the global Smart Kitchen Appliances Market has been divided into:

q Residential

q Commercial

By country/region, the global Smart Kitchen Appliances Market has been divided into:

q North America (the U.S., Canada),

q Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and other countries),

q Europe (Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, Russia, and other countries),

q Asia Pacific (India, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand and other countries),

q Middle East and Africa (GCC, South Africa, Israel and Other countries).

Profiling of Market Players:

This business intelligence report offers profiling of reputed companies that are operating in the market. Companies such as:

q BSH Hausgerate

q AB Electrolus

q Whirlpool Corporation

q Samsung

q Vita-Mix Corporation

q Philips

q GE Appliances

q LG Electronics Inc

q Panasonic Corporation

q Breville Group Limited

others have been profiled into detail so as to offer a glimpse of the market leaders. Moreover, parameters such as Smart Kitchen Appliances Market related investment & spending and developments by major players of the market are tracked in this global report.

Report Highlights:

In-depth analysis of the micro and macro indicators, market trends, and forecasts of demand is offered by this business intelligence report. Furthermore, the report offers a vivid picture of the factors that are steering and restraining the growth of this market across all geographical segments. In addition to that, IGR-Growth Matrix analysis is also provided in the report so as to share insight of the investment areas that new or existing market players can take into consideration. Various analytical tools such as DRO analysis, Porter's five forces analysis has been used in this report to present a clear picture of the market. The study focuses on the present market trends and provides market forecast from the year 2020-2028. Emerging trends that would shape the market demand in the years to come have been highlighted in this report. A competitive analysis in each of the geographical segments gives an insight into market share of the global players.

Few Recent Developments

Whirlpool Corporation

In February 2019, Whirlpool Corporation showed its brand-new innovation of smart home appliances at the 2019 NABH IBS, Las Vegas. KitchenAid Smart Oven+ incorporated with powered attachments was one of such innovation.

AB Electrolux

In August 2018, the collaboration between Google Inc and Electrolux took place. This resulted in the integration of Google Assistant with connected kitchen products in Europe that enables voice control.

BSH Hausgerate GmbH

In January 2018, an approximate of 65% of the Kitchen Stories, a global food platform was acquired by BSH Hausgerate GmbH.

Salient Features:

 This study offers comprehensive yet detailed analysis of the Smart Kitchen Appliances Market, size of the market (US$ Mn), and Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR (%)) for the period of forecast: 2020-2028, taking into account 2019 as the base year

 It explains upcoming revenue opportunities across various market segments and attractive matrix of investment proposition for the said market

 This market intelligence report also offers pivotal insights about various market opportunities, restraints, drivers, competitive market strategies of leading market players, emerging market trends, and regional outlook

 Profiling of key market players in the world Smart Kitchen Appliances Market is done by taking into account various parameters such as company strategies, distribution strategies, product portfolio, financial performance, key developments, geographical presence, and company overview

 The data of this report would allow management authorities and marketers of companies alike to take informed decision when it comes to launch of Type of models, government initiatives, marketing tactics and expansion, and technical up gradation

 The world market for Smart Kitchen Appliances caters to the needs of various stakeholders pertaining to this industry, namely suppliers, manufacturers, investors, and distributors for Smart Kitchen Appliances Market. The research also caters to the rising needs of consulting and research firms, financial analysts, and new market entrants

 Research methodologies that have been adopted for the purpose of this study have been clearly elaborated so as to facilitate better understanding of the reports

 Reports have been made based on the guidelines as mandated by General Data Protection Regulation

 Ample number of examples and case studies have been taken into consideration before coming to a conclusion

Reasons to buy:

v Identify opportunities and plan strategies by having a strong understanding of the investment opportunities in the Smart Kitchen Appliances Market

v Identification of key factors driving investment opportunities in the Smart Kitchen Appliances Market

v Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data

v Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential

v Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events

v Identify key partners and business development avenues

v Respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects

v Identify key strengths and weaknesses of important market participants

Full View of Report Description: https://datainsightspartner.com/report/smart-kitchen-appliances-market/912
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Pfizer and BioNTech said Saturday they will limit the delays of their vaccine deliveries to just one week, after fears in Europe that shipments of the jabs could be slowed for up to a month.

The US drugmaker and its German partner "have developed a plan that will allow the scale-up of manufacturing capacities in Europe and deliver significantly more doses in the second quarter," they said in a joint statement.

"As a result, our facility in Puurs, Belgium will experience a temporary reduction in the number of doses delivered in the upcoming week."

Pfizer and BioNTech pledged that deliveries would be back to the original schedule to the European Union from the week of January 25, with increased delivery from the week of February 15.

"To accomplish this, certain modifications of production processes are required now."

Pfizer had said Friday it would delay shipments of the jabs over the next three to four weeks due to works at its key plant in Belgium.

It said the modifications at the Puurs factory were necessary in order to ramp up its production capacity from mid-February.

In hard-hit Europe, the statement raised concerns that the delays could further slow a vaccine rollout that has already faced heavy criticism.

Six EU health ministers signed a letter to the European Commission on Friday to express "severe concern" over the delivery delays.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which was developed at record-breaking speed, became the first to be approved for general use by a Western country on December 2 when Britain gave it the go-ahead.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
Kabul: At least two members of an Afghan militia opened fire on their fellow militiamen in the western Herat province, killing 12, in what provincial police on Saturday (January 16) described as an insider attack.

Herat police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walizada said the attackers fled with the slain militiamen's weapons and ammunition, adding that Afghan government forces had regained control of the area.

A Taliban spokesman Yousaf Ahmadi in a tweet claimed responsibility for the insider attack, which took place late Friday.

Meanwhile, a sticky bomb attached to an armoured police Land Cruiser SUV exploded Saturday in the western part of the capital, Kabul, killing two policemen and wounding another, Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz said.

Faramarz did not specify the identities of the casualties. However, two members of the Afghan police force, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media, said Kabul's deputy police chief Mawlana Bayan was wounded in the attack.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing in Kabul.

In the southern Helmand province, a suicide car bomber targeted a police compound late Friday, killing one policeman and wounding two others, provincial police spokesman Zaman Hamdard said. The attack took place in Lashkar Gah district on the highway between southern Helmand province and the city of Kandahar.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Helmand.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in the capital in recent months, including on educational institutions that killed 50 people, most of them students. IS has claimed responsibility for rocket attacks in December targeting the major US base in Afghanistan. There were no casualties.

The violence comes as the representatives of the Taliban and the Afghan government earlier this month resumed peace talks in Qatar. However, the negotiations were off to a slow start as the insurgents continue their attacks on Afghan government forces while keeping their promise not to attack US and NATO troops.

The stop-and-go talks are aimed at ending decades of relentless conflict. Frustration and fear have grown over the recent spike in violence and both sides blame one another.

There has also been growing doubt lately over a US-Taliban deal brokered by outgoing President Donald Trump's administration. That accord was signed last February. Under the deal, an accelerated withdrawal of US troops ordered by Trump means that just 2,500 American soldiers will still be in Afghanistan when President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20.

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Spains coronavirus incidence rate has been climbing steadily again after reaching a low in the first week of December. The 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants was 280 on Thursday, according to the latest available Health Ministry figures. That is up significantly from the 189 cases per 100,000 reported on December 10.

Experts are already talking about a third wave while cases continue to soar across the territory. In Catalonia, the incidence rate jumped from 368 to 422 cases per 100,000 in just 24 hours. Andalusian authorities on Sunday reported 2,200 new infections, the highest number since November 22. The Basque Country has sounded the alarm about the high number of tests that are coming back positive. And the Madrid region on Wednesday recorded more than 4,200 cases, a figure unseen since late September.

In the Canary Islands, which have one of the lowest Covid-19 fatality counts  a little over 400 since the beginning of the pandemic  authorities reported the death of a 21-year-old woman with no pre-existing conditions, underscoring the fact that young people are not immune to the disease despite being less affected overall.

We are missing more chains of transmission, and this will lead to a greater surge in cases, hospital admissions and deaths in the coming weeks Daniel Lopez-Acuna, former WHO health official

But even these indicators fail to capture the true magnitude of the situation. Fewer tests have been conducted during the holiday season, leading to fewer diagnoses and lower incidence figures. On the week of December 21 to 27, regional health authorities carried out 843,330 PCR and antigen tests, a 12.85% drop from the previous week, according to the latest ministry data.

All the indicators are distorted these days due to the holidays, admitted Clara Prats, a computational biology researcher at Catalonias Polytechnic University (UPC).

During a pandemic, it is to be expected that testing will fluctuate. But it should do so in the opposite way as to what is currently happening. When incidence rises, more sick people go to their health centers to get tested. Close contacts of positive cases should also be tested. When incidence drops, so does overall testing. But in Spain, testing has dropped in the middle of a new surge in infections.

The Health Ministry has expressed concern about the situation. We have asked regional governments not to let their guard down with regard to early detection during the Christmas holidays. We share their concern as we await data [from Monday and Tuesday] to get a complete picture of the epidemiological situation, said a ministry spokesperson on Sunday.

A high-ranking health official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the problem is significant, but it was largely inevitable and it has ended up creating a perfect storm made up of a rising incidence rate, social gatherings during the Christmas season and several weeks that included a public holiday.

But the working calendar is what it is, and considering the kind of year that health personnel have had, you couldnt very well ask them not to enjoy these few days, added this source. Besides, often it is citizens themselves who delay getting tested during the holidays, unless they have clear symptoms.

There were no New Year's Eve midnight celebrations in Madrid's Puerta del Sol (above) this year. Eduardo Parra / Europa Press

Although the ministry is hoping to get a clearer picture when new regional figures come in, the problem of distorted data will carry over well into January. There is another public holiday on January 6 for Kings Day, meaning that data will not be reported on that day either and that a 14-day incidence figure without distortions will not be available until January 21. This has an impact on policy, as the seven- and 14-day incidence are two of the most widely used indicators globally to monitor the evolution of the pandemic and adopt measures.

We still dont really know whats going on, said Daniel Lopez Acuna, a former health crisis policy official at the World Health Organization (WHO). Not only has incidence gotten out of hand, we have also lost the focus that was allowing us to detect cases.

This delay in detection is a major source of concern among experts. We are missing more chains of transmission, and this will lead to a greater surge in cases, hospital admissions and deaths in the coming weeks, said Lopez Acuna.

What is clear to these experts is that Spain is well into its third wave. Weve been going up for a month. It depends a bit on what you want to call it, but with such a trend we can say that yes, we are in the third wave, said Clara Prats. Acuna agreed. We are in a third wave that is more dangerous than the second, which evolved from very low summer incidence in much of Spain, he noted. Right now we have no reliable data, and this third wave builds on the second one and starts from much higher incidence rates.

English version by Susana Urra.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Former state lawmaker Jim White  an Air Force pilot and Vietnam veteran honored for his transparency work at the Capitol  died this week, his Senate colleagues said Friday.

White, a Republican whose Senate district included part of Albuquerque and the East Mountains, served in the Senate from 2017-2020 and the House from 2009-14.

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He was a man that served his country, served his state and served his constituents well, Senate Minority Whip Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho, said in an interview Friday.

Brandt said he and his colleagues learned of Whites death Friday. A relative had found him at home, Brandt said, and his cause of death isnt yet known.

Senate Minority Caucus Chairman Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque, called Whites death a shock. The two had desks next to each other in the chamber for years.

Jim was a true gentleman, Moores said. He cared, and he was passionate.

White was a key figure in the 2018 passage of legislation to improve New Mexicos protections for people who are incapacitated and placed under legal guardianship.

The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government honored him that year with the William S. Dixon First Amendment Award for bringing more transparency to the adult guardianship system.

White lost his Senate re-election bid in the June primary to then-Rep. Gregg Schmedes, who will succeed White for the 2021 legislative session.
Chhattisgarhs Maoist-affected Bastar region has seen several Adivasi-led movements over the past 20 years since its birth on issues of Jal, Jangal, Jameen. Caught in the crossfire between armed guerrillas and state forces, local Adivasis have often come out to fight for their survival. Though as the violence itself abated the frequency of these movements seemed to have slowed down.

However, over the past few months, this jungle region has seen three major protest movements against security forces, in one of which 21-gram panchayat officials resigned from their posts to show their anger against the administrations apathy. To be precise the anger is against the rising number of new camps being set up by the security forces as they push the cornered red extremists deeper into the jungles.

According to data obtained by News18, 7 new camps were opened by various paramilitary forces in 2018, 10 new camps were opened in 2019 and 16 new camps were opened last year. Thousands of Adivasis, who have sat on hunger strikes and blocked state highways against the rising network of security forces camps in December 2020 alone, say they have a number of unaddressed complaints against the forces.

Also read: 'BJP-RSS Doesn't Want Adivasis, Dalits Educated': Rahul Gandhi After Govt Ends SC Scholarship Scheme

Leaders of the Congress, the ruling party, feel that the Adivasis are "misinformed", police officers suspect Maoists to be behind these protests and civil society leaders feel the ever-growing presence of police and paramilitary to be behind the unease among locals. In this ground report, News18 tries to find the reasons why Adivasis are upset with the state forces.

Kanker

At least 21 public representatives from 103-gram panchayats have resigned within the last one month to protest the construction of two BSF camps in Koyalibeda area of Kanker district. The reason for the anger is that the local Adivasis consider the land on which the camp came up in November last year to belong to their deity Bhurkal Bidda, to pray to which people from 37 nearby villages assemble once every year.

For several days and nights in December, Adivasis from these villages sat on a hunger strike for five days against the newly set up camp.

Pilu Usendi, a local who has also participated in these protests, said that the anger is not against the camps per se, but about the place which the security forces chose to set up their camp. In the name of setting up the camp, the administration has hurt our religious sentiments by choosing to build it in the same place where we and generations before us have prayed to our deity. The entire place has been desecrated. Trees have been cut down indiscriminately. And all this happened without any consultation with us, Usendi said.

Locals have given a months notice to the government to vacate the land after which they plan to protest on an even larger scale. Kankers district collector Chandan Kumar told News18 that the administration is looking into the grievances of the locals and ascertaining the reasons behind mass gram panchayat-level resignations.

Narayanpur

Since December 3 last year, Adivasis have been protesting against an iron ore mining project and a security camp that has come up near it. For nearly 10 days, 4,000 Adivasis blocked the Narayanpur-Orchha highway, bringing all traffic in the region to a standstill.

The villagers have alleged that the project was announced without consulting the locals. The protest intensified after police made a few arrests. The protesters now want the mining project scrapped, the security camp to go, and those arrested to be released.

Bijapur

Hundreds of protesters clashed with the police on December 23 last year during their agitation against a new police camp in the area. One jawan was reported hurt and 16 locals were arrested. According to media reports, nearly 5,000 Adivasis had undertaken the protest. They submitted a charter of 15 demands to the local administrative official, asking for an Anganwadi centre, scrapping of mining in the area along with the police camp, taking efforts to revive Indravati river, and setting up school and health facilities on priority.

A local, Ayatu Tati, who was part of the protests, said, We had undertaken a peaceful protest against the Bailadila mining project. Our protest against the NMDCs mining project is not new. The entire water supply of the area has been contaminated. It has turned red. So, we were naturally apprehensive of the new police camp that was being set up in the vicinity.

Speaking to News18, Chhattisgarh's forest and transport minister Mohammad Akbar said that the state government was working to keep local sensibilities in mind, while also trying to ensure that works of progress did not get affected.

Also read: Two Maoists Killed in Gunfight with Security Personnel in Odisha

The government is quite clear on the fact that Vikas is quite important for the Bastar region. We have also come across reports of the 21 resignations of gram panchayat office-bearers. It seems that there has been some miscommunication from one side on these matters. But the government is working to ensure that the expectations of the public are met. If in the case of Kanker, it is found that the camp came upon a holy site, we will try to find an appropriate resolution to the matter, the minister said.
Closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High 'impacts our entire town'

The Washington County Board of Education held a public hearing on the closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High School; the crowd pleaded against it.
Monday, Jan. 11

Timothy Jefferson Henderson, 55, was arrested Monday at the 900 block of W. 15th St. Bosquez was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, both of which are felonies.

Burglary of a non-residence was reported at the 600 block of W. 5th St. on Monday.

A burglary was reported at the 1800 block of Houston St. Monday.

Alberto Bosquez, 52, was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which is a felony, on Monday at the 500 block of Utica St.

Tuesday, Jan. 12

Martin Chavez Gonzalez, 31, was arrested Wednesday at the 600 block of W. 11th St. for an out-of-county felony warrant.

Officers were called out to the 1200 block of W. 21st St. in reference to an incident classified as miscellaneous.

Wednesday, Jan. 13

Police were called to the 500 block of E. 12th St. on Wednesday for a traffic stop.

Officers were called to the 300 block of Aileen St. Wednesday for an incident classified as miscellaneous.

Thursday, Jan. 14

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported Thursday at the 4600 block of W. 2nd St.
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Serbia became one of the first European countries to receive a Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday when one million doses of a jab produced by Sinopharm arrived at Belgrade airport.

President Aleksandar Vucic posted a picture of himself on Instagram, standing next to the plane carrying the vaccine.

"We are proud of our friendship with China," he was quoted as saying by Beta news agency, telling reporters that he hoped to be inoculated with the Sinopharm vaccine in six or seven days.

After Pfizer-BioNTech and Russia's Sputnik V, Sinopharm's is the third coronavirus vaccine to be used by the Balkan nation.

Once the Chinese vaccine gets a final approval by Serbia's medicines agency, vaccination could start on Sunday or Monday, health official Zoran Gojkovic said earlier.

The European Union-candidate country, which has also close economic and political ties with Moscow and Beijing, started vaccination with Pfizer-BioNTech jabs on December 24 and later imported Russian Sputnik V vaccines.

Sinopharm says its vaccine is 79 percent effective against the novel coronavirus, compared with rates of 95 percent and 94 percent respectively for the rival jabs made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

Another Chinese-made jab, Sinovac's CoronaVac, was rolled out in Turkey on Thursday, after tests there showed it to be 91.25 percent effective.

But more robust trials in Brazil demonstrated an efficacy rate of around 50 percent.

So far, some 20,500 peopleresidents of retirement homes and health sector employeeshave been vaccinated in Serbia, a country with a population of seven million, the national immunisation team said Friday.

Serbia has registered nearly 370,000 infections and more than 3,700 deaths from the novel coronavirus.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
MadiMaama BHPian



Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: By the tracks Posts: 126 Thanked: 349 Times

Re: Chronicles of Chaos



This delay again was God-send as we decided to head to Nathdwara, to pay our humble obeisance to Lord Shrinathji and board the passenger from there itself. When we asked the railway staff in Mavli about the crowd levels in the afternoon service, pat came their reply, "Aap andar cricket khel sakte hain". Nice! We hired a cab to Nathdwara. As we crossed the level crossing towards Nathdwara, the layout brought back pleasant memories for me from my childhood - BG and MG tracks running parallel to each other. Something I had not seen ever since I watched and travelled on those cute MG trains and EMUs in Chennai. A few kilometers later, we halted for a pit stop to have some garam chai and kachoris. The chacha who ran the shop had a very friendly and affable personality. He made the tea with a huge smile and his bright turban certainly added colour to the day.



Upon reaching Nathdwara, we rented a room to quickly freshen up and proceeded to have darshan of Shrinathji. We had a Divine darshan of the Lord, coinciding with the auspicious day when Lord Krishna accepted the humble offering from his friend and devotee, Sudama! We felt blessed indeed and got rejuvenated for the journey ahead. After another quick stop enroute to spend some time with the holy cows at a Goshala, we reached Nathdwara station. Upon confirming with the staff that the train was indeed running, we bid adieu to the cab driver.



The Nathdwara station is very quaint, and despite having a BG platform, it is very much reminiscent of the MG era, showing who rules the roost here. A lone BG train comes to Nathdwara, once a week from Okha, while the MG trains do 2 services a day in either direction. Even the BG platform is rather isolated from the MG platforms. The friendly Station Master cum ECRC issued us the tickets. Each of us bought an individual ticket for posterity.





We clicked a few pictures of the MG rolling stock fresh out of POH, ready to head to Mavli. With points set, semaphore arm down and the tooting of the loco was heard at a distance. FL YDM 4 6739 pulled in with 3 railfans photographing it like the celebrity it is today. The SM told us that the card tickets would be issued at the stations ahead by the guard. Wanting a piece of the souvenir ourselves, I ran to the guard to buy the tickets. The guard raised eyebrows but nonetheless handed over the tickets to us. We positioned ourselves in the first coach to enjoy the chugging and smoking of the cute beast and he did not disappoint. The departure from Nathdwara was accompanied by the beast growling away with the emission of much smoke, which would have caused an increase in carbon credit for us, much to the chagrin of a Scandinavian brat.



Slowly rolling over the arid landscape on either side, we came across plenty of cattle, nilgai and even peacocks crossing the tracks at will, avoiding a few runovers in the melee, thanks to the alertness of the LP in applying emergency brakes. The rake itself was very well maintained, with dry and clean toilets and were surprisingly watered too. A sight better than what awaited us later that day. The coaches even had strategic skylights thus ensuring a bright and airy interior. But with different ramification in the monsoons.



Charbhuja Road promised to be a long halt as we had a crossing with the morning service from Marwar here. Feeling puckish, we asked the LP about lunch options. He suggested we go to the market outside the station to pick up food. The shop had Hot Samosas, Fafda and Jalebis with kadhi and fried chillies for the sides. With concerns over food alleviated, we rushed back to the station, to see that the pairing train had arrived and we were good to go.





Merrily trundling away, with the rhythmic "Thadak Thadak" adding to the live music as we polished off the food, we reached Khambli Ghat. A long halt ensued, to ensure that the brakes were in working condition.





Descending the ghats slowly but steadily, the landscape seen was simply stunning. The Aravalli in her full glory covered with trees, and the valleys below offering a beautiful view of a lake provided astonishing vistas of nature. Langurs were giving constant company to us on either side. There were two halts enroute at the catch siding, where the LP alighted, checked the points with the pointsman and then proceeded. The massive viaducts, the two tunnels and plenty of curves meant we were glued to the doors the whole time. In what seemed like no time at all, we were at Goram Ghat and a further descent began that culminated at Phulad, where we would reverse to head towards Marwar.





The evening sun offered us some stunning snaps, as the train bathed in the golden glow of the west bound Sun. A pack of mawa was picked up here, but sadly remained unconsumed till the very end. A couple of cups of tea gulped down and we were off again towards Marwar. The guard joined us in the coach now and we had a healthy chat on the future of the line, what with the GC about to skirt the mountains and to take a new alignment altogether.



We reached Marwar at 18:15, where the morning service from Mavli with YDM4 6738 was berthed on the loop line. Our rake was stuck on the platform till the next morning as there is only one loop line at the station. With few night shots taken, we took the rather very high footover bridge to the waiting room on Platform 1. As we were over the bridge, 22452 Chandigarh Bandra Superfast arrived. A train close to my heart, for it took me to my first ever IRFCA Convention. Back then, it was an ICF rake, but now, it was a swanky LHB rake, but it's aggressiveness is not lost. On the first platform was another "Convention Special"- the Ranakpur Express. The TC asked us to present our tickets and promptly we produced both the card and paper ticket, much to the bemusement of the TC. We proceeded to the Sleeper class waiting room for some much deserved rest before heading out for some dinner. Phones and power bank charged, we headed out into a market close by to gorge on some delectable Dal Baati Churma and Rotis, before ending the meal with a kulhad of hot milk served fresh off the kadhai. We walked back to the station, awaiting the arrival of our Ahmedabad Agra Super Fast Express. An Alco horn was heard at a distance. It was the Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani that was to pass through the station, at MPS. A sight not to be missed, I ran to the top of the FoB, just in time to capture the Rajdhani zooming past with a single Alco in lead. This was the first of the two times I would capture an Alco hauled Rajdhani during our trip.



Our train too arrived shortly on platform 1, with Abu Road WDP 4D at the helm. We occupied our berths, this time in sleeper class, after bidding goodbye to Akshay, who would rejoin us in Delhi after changing trains at Agra while we would disembark at Jaipur. The LHB rake was sadly in bad shape, with the toilets clogged and doors broken. We felt that the little MG train was better maintained. A quick nap is the biting cold followed. We were in the Pink City even before the crack of dawn and the beautiful station building was promptly photographed. We had a couple of hours to bide in the heated waiting hall.



Little after 05:00, we headed to platform 2, having properly woken up with a pretty good hot chai. The loco was another offlink for us (3 out of 5 so far). BGKT WDP 4B 40085 in LHF was to haul our Double Decker, Indias most popular, to Delhi Sarai Rohilla. This is a longish train with 13 double decker coaches and 2 executive class coaches. Our request for C5U had been granted all we got was a middle and aisle seat combo. Nonetheless, we settled down in two window seats by the trackside. The train left on time and as we reached Jaipur Gandhinagar, there was a huge crowd waiting for us. The coach became full and Abhilash had get back to his aisle seat but thankfully, my window seat was to be empty.





The vendors started selling their wares of water, tea, coffee, (yes, I finally got Coffee in Rajasthan), soup and breakfast. For the freezing weather, the soup was just what the doctor had ordered, and we had a couple of cups each. A breakfast of cutlets and tasty omelettes served with brown bread, a chiplet of butter and boiled peas followed. I was nothing down the station timings and trains crossed in my diary, which promoted a curious look from my co-passenger. I explained about IRFCA to him and he was not sure if I deserved a bed in Agras 3rd most famous structure after the Taj Mahal and the Fort. Thankfully, I did not tell him about our previous experiences, else he would have dragged us there for sure! The infamous North Indian fog prevailed and delay was building up. At Delhi Cant., the rake of the Buddhist Circuit Train was stationed. We pulled into Delhi Sarai Rohilla, delayed by an hour.



We now had a task on hand to cancel one of the tickets from the earlier NFR plan. A bit of struggle later, we found the PRS counter that was thankfully empty and even more grateful that our losses were limited to only the clerical fee on the cancelation. A taxi was booked for the Oyo room in Paharganj. He came after some confusion about the location. Upon reaching the property, we were disappointed to see that it was nothing like what was shown in the Oyo app. We canceled the booking and after checking couple of equally bad hotels, we got a deluxe room at Zostel for a very reasonable price. By now we got the news that several metro stations Delhi, including Rajiv Chowk, were closed due to miscreants creating nuisance. So we decided to stay put in our hotel.



Akshay meanwhile had reached Agra and had missed the Karnataka Express to Delhi. His next train was the Shridham Express from Jabalpur. He had managed to squeeze his way into the UR coach and got a seat for himself till Nizamuddin from where he planned to take a EMU or the trailing Kerala Express to NDLS. Me and Abhilash headed out to a nearby eatery for lunch where we had some amazing rajma chawal with boondi raitha and papad. A great combo in the chilling weather, ending the meal with hot Gulab Jamun.



Akshay too reached the hotel. We relaxed for some time before heading to Connaught Place for some shopping (I was persuaded). On finding out that the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station had been opened, Abhilash made a quick dash in a Yellow line metro to Gurugram in the neighbouring state to catch up a childhood buddy after 20 years. Akshay and I roamed around CP, picking up a jacket and gloves at Palika Bazaar before looking for a pub for some much needed drinks, a beer for one and coke for another. Akshay preferred to have an omelette for dinner at a nearby store. I had Paneer Curry and Roti for dinner, ending the meal with hot Badam milk from the kadhai, served in a giant kulhad. We walked back to our room in Paharganj. Abhilash too safely returned a little before midnight after meeting his friend over continental dinner. The next day, the penultimate on our trip, promised to be a smooth but adventurous affair, on a smooth swanky new train. Expectations set, we dozed off.







































































































An epic journey done! From the Northeast to the Northwest. Hurtling across the great Gangetic plains from the foothills of the Himalayas, we were now on the other end of Bharat, the state where the brave Rajput clans ruled and made a name for their valour and bravery. In this state of the Rajas, we descended having conquered the plains and ready to embark upon our next adventure  the Metre Gauge Mavli to Marwar section down the Khambli / Goram Ghats. But, our initial plans of taking the morning service to Marwar was up in smoke as we were late by 6 hours. The next train was at 12:30.This delay again was God-send as we decided to head to Nathdwara, to pay our humble obeisance to Lord Shrinathji and board the passenger from there itself. When we asked the railway staff in Mavli about the crowd levels in the afternoon service, pat came their reply, "Aap andar cricket khel sakte hain". Nice! We hired a cab to Nathdwara. As we crossed the level crossing towards Nathdwara, the layout brought back pleasant memories for me from my childhood - BG and MG tracks running parallel to each other. Something I had not seen ever since I watched and travelled on those cute MG trains and EMUs in Chennai. A few kilometers later, we halted for a pit stop to have some garam chai and kachoris. The chacha who ran the shop had a very friendly and affable personality. He made the tea with a huge smile and his bright turban certainly added colour to the day.Upon reaching Nathdwara, we rented a room to quickly freshen up and proceeded to have darshan of Shrinathji. We had a Divine darshan of the Lord, coinciding with the auspicious day when Lord Krishna accepted the humble offering from his friend and devotee, Sudama! We felt blessed indeed and got rejuvenated for the journey ahead. After another quick stop enroute to spend some time with the holy cows at a Goshala, we reached Nathdwara station. Upon confirming with the staff that the train was indeed running, we bid adieu to the cab driver.The Nathdwara station is very quaint, and despite having a BG platform, it is very much reminiscent of the MG era, showing who rules the roost here. A lone BG train comes to Nathdwara, once a week from Okha, while the MG trains do 2 services a day in either direction. Even the BG platform is rather isolated from the MG platforms. The friendly Station Master cum ECRC issued us the tickets. Each of us bought an individual ticket for posterity.We clicked a few pictures of the MG rolling stock fresh out of POH, ready to head to Mavli. With points set, semaphore arm down and the tooting of the loco was heard at a distance. FL YDM 4 6739 pulled in with 3 railfans photographing it like the celebrity it is today. The SM told us that the card tickets would be issued at the stations ahead by the guard. Wanting a piece of the souvenir ourselves, I ran to the guard to buy the tickets. The guard raised eyebrows but nonetheless handed over the tickets to us. We positioned ourselves in the first coach to enjoy the chugging and smoking of the cute beast and he did not disappoint. The departure from Nathdwara was accompanied by the beast growling away with the emission of much smoke, which would have caused an increase in carbon credit for us, much to the chagrin of a Scandinavian brat.Slowly rolling over the arid landscape on either side, we came across plenty of cattle, nilgai and even peacocks crossing the tracks at will, avoiding a few runovers in the melee, thanks to the alertness of the LP in applying emergency brakes. The rake itself was very well maintained, with dry and clean toilets and were surprisingly watered too. A sight better than what awaited us later that day. The coaches even had strategic skylights thus ensuring a bright and airy interior. But with different ramification in the monsoons.Charbhuja Road promised to be a long halt as we had a crossing with the morning service from Marwar here. Feeling puckish, we asked the LP about lunch options. He suggested we go to the market outside the station to pick up food. The shop had Hot Samosas, Fafda and Jalebis with kadhi and fried chillies for the sides. With concerns over food alleviated, we rushed back to the station, to see that the pairing train had arrived and we were good to go.Merrily trundling away, with the rhythmic "Thadak Thadak" adding to the live music as we polished off the food, we reached Khambli Ghat. A long halt ensued, to ensure that the brakes were in working condition.Descending the ghats slowly but steadily, the landscape seen was simply stunning. The Aravalli in her full glory covered with trees, and the valleys below offering a beautiful view of a lake provided astonishing vistas of nature. Langurs were giving constant company to us on either side. There were two halts enroute at the catch siding, where the LP alighted, checked the points with the pointsman and then proceeded. The massive viaducts, the two tunnels and plenty of curves meant we were glued to the doors the whole time. In what seemed like no time at all, we were at Goram Ghat and a further descent began that culminated at Phulad, where we would reverse to head towards Marwar.The evening sun offered us some stunning snaps, as the train bathed in the golden glow of the west bound Sun. A pack of mawa was picked up here, but sadly remained unconsumed till the very end. A couple of cups of tea gulped down and we were off again towards Marwar. The guard joined us in the coach now and we had a healthy chat on the future of the line, what with the GC about to skirt the mountains and to take a new alignment altogether.We reached Marwar at 18:15, where the morning service from Mavli with YDM4 6738 was berthed on the loop line. Our rake was stuck on the platform till the next morning as there is only one loop line at the station. With few night shots taken, we took the rather very high footover bridge to the waiting room on Platform 1. As we were over the bridge, 22452 Chandigarh Bandra Superfast arrived. A train close to my heart, for it took me to my first ever IRFCA Convention. Back then, it was an ICF rake, but now, it was a swanky LHB rake, but it's aggressiveness is not lost. On the first platform was another "Convention Special"- the Ranakpur Express. The TC asked us to present our tickets and promptly we produced both the card and paper ticket, much to the bemusement of the TC. We proceeded to the Sleeper class waiting room for some much deserved rest before heading out for some dinner. Phones and power bank charged, we headed out into a market close by to gorge on some delectable Dal Baati Churma and Rotis, before ending the meal with a kulhad of hot milk served fresh off the kadhai. We walked back to the station, awaiting the arrival of our Ahmedabad Agra Super Fast Express. An Alco horn was heard at a distance. It was the Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani that was to pass through the station, at MPS. A sight not to be missed, I ran to the top of the FoB, just in time to capture the Rajdhani zooming past with a single Alco in lead. This was the first of the two times I would capture an Alco hauled Rajdhani during our trip.Our train too arrived shortly on platform 1, with Abu Road WDP 4D at the helm. We occupied our berths, this time in sleeper class, after bidding goodbye to Akshay, who would rejoin us in Delhi after changing trains at Agra while we would disembark at Jaipur. The LHB rake was sadly in bad shape, with the toilets clogged and doors broken. We felt that the little MG train was better maintained. A quick nap is the biting cold followed. We were in the Pink City even before the crack of dawn and the beautiful station building was promptly photographed. We had a couple of hours to bide in the heated waiting hall.Little after 05:00, we headed to platform 2, having properly woken up with a pretty good hot chai. The loco was another offlink for us (3 out of 5 so far). BGKT WDP 4B 40085 in LHF was to haul our Double Decker, Indias most popular, to Delhi Sarai Rohilla. This is a longish train with 13 double decker coaches and 2 executive class coaches. Our request for C5U had been granted all we got was a middle and aisle seat combo. Nonetheless, we settled down in two window seats by the trackside. The train left on time and as we reached Jaipur Gandhinagar, there was a huge crowd waiting for us. The coach became full and Abhilash had get back to his aisle seat but thankfully, my window seat was to be empty.The vendors started selling their wares of water, tea, coffee, (yes, I finally got Coffee in Rajasthan), soup and breakfast. For the freezing weather, the soup was just what the doctor had ordered, and we had a couple of cups each. A breakfast of cutlets and tasty omelettes served with brown bread, a chiplet of butter and boiled peas followed. I was nothing down the station timings and trains crossed in my diary, which promoted a curious look from my co-passenger. I explained about IRFCA to him and he was not sure if I deserved a bed in Agras 3rd most famous structure after the Taj Mahal and the Fort. Thankfully, I did not tell him about our previous experiences, else he would have dragged us there for sure! The infamous North Indian fog prevailed and delay was building up. At Delhi Cant., the rake of the Buddhist Circuit Train was stationed. We pulled into Delhi Sarai Rohilla, delayed by an hour.We now had a task on hand to cancel one of the tickets from the earlier NFR plan. A bit of struggle later, we found the PRS counter that was thankfully empty and even more grateful that our losses were limited to only the clerical fee on the cancelation. A taxi was booked for the Oyo room in Paharganj. He came after some confusion about the location. Upon reaching the property, we were disappointed to see that it was nothing like what was shown in the Oyo app. We canceled the booking and after checking couple of equally bad hotels, we got a deluxe room at Zostel for a very reasonable price. By now we got the news that several metro stations Delhi, including Rajiv Chowk, were closed due to miscreants creating nuisance. So we decided to stay put in our hotel.Akshay meanwhile had reached Agra and had missed the Karnataka Express to Delhi. His next train was the Shridham Express from Jabalpur. He had managed to squeeze his way into the UR coach and got a seat for himself till Nizamuddin from where he planned to take a EMU or the trailing Kerala Express to NDLS. Me and Abhilash headed out to a nearby eatery for lunch where we had some amazing rajma chawal with boondi raitha and papad. A great combo in the chilling weather, ending the meal with hot Gulab Jamun.Akshay too reached the hotel. We relaxed for some time before heading to Connaught Place for some shopping (I was persuaded). On finding out that the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station had been opened, Abhilash made a quick dash in a Yellow line metro to Gurugram in the neighbouring state to catch up a childhood buddy after 20 years. Akshay and I roamed around CP, picking up a jacket and gloves at Palika Bazaar before looking for a pub for some much needed drinks, a beer for one and coke for another. Akshay preferred to have an omelette for dinner at a nearby store. I had Paneer Curry and Roti for dinner, ending the meal with hot Badam milk from the kadhai, served in a giant kulhad. We walked back to our room in Paharganj. Abhilash too safely returned a little before midnight after meeting his friend over continental dinner. The next day, the penultimate on our trip, promised to be a smooth but adventurous affair, on a smooth swanky new train. Expectations set, we dozed off.
First Lady Melania Trump sung the praises of her #BeBest anti-bullying campaign, prompting critics to point out her husband recently incited a violent riot at the US Capitol that ended with five people dying.

"As the legacy of #BeBest comes to a close at the White House, we must continue to give a voice to our Nation's children & the issues that impact their lives," Ms Trump wrote on Twitter. "It's the values & spirit of the American people that inspired Be Best & it's those values that will carry on its mission."

The First Lady's tweet was sent alongside a video in which she said the campaign was "inspired by compassion, strength, and kindness."

American pastor and political commentator John Pavlovitz replied to the tweet, calling Donald Trump the "greatest bully on the planet."

"You have been married to the greatest bully on the planet, who you watched publicly and perpetually harass people on social media to such a degree that millions were physically and emotionally traumatized, and many died," he wrote. "It will be a joy to watch you leave."

Other users replied to the tweet with pictures of the gallows built by Trump supporters outside the US Capitol on the day of the insurrection.

Dave Weissman, a former Trump supporter and member of the anti-Trump Republican "Lincoln Project" campaign, condemned Ms Trump for not speaking out against the rioters.

"#BeBest is the biggest shame of a policy coming from First Ladies; your supporters stormed the US Capitol attacking our Republic while you tout be best. You haven't even condemned your husband for inciting these insurrectionists," he wrote.

Several users pointed out that Ms Trump's #BeBest campaign ran at the same time that her husband was overseeing the separation of immigrant children from their families at the US-Mexico border. Hundreds of children are still unaccounted for as a result of that policy.

Actor Rosanna Arquette pointed out the hypocrisy of the campaign and claimed Ms Trump met the president through notorious sex trafficker and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

"Your legacy ? you have been the worst First Lady in the history of America .your be best is a joke. You are married to a deeply cruel and evil BULLY whom you met through the most notorious pedophile in the world you should feel ashamed of yourself," she wrote. "We celebrate you leaving."

I digress. Bottom line: it turns out I have always liked measuring and tracking stuff. Which brings me to my 2021 New Year's resolutions for money. My commitment this year is simply to track every dollar spent and earnt. To me, its the financial equivalent of Kondos advice to pull everything you own out of your cupboards before you start culling and organising. Except, unlike your crowded utensils draw and overflowing linen cupboard, its much harder to get an accurate picture of your finances.

Online banking, direct debits and the increasingly cashless economy have whisked our financial transactions out of sight and out of mind. However, having an accurate idea of the size and shape of your individual spending and income is paramount to financial success. As you navigate your life as a financial adult, youll be asked on myriad occasions to provide an estimate of your monthly living expenses: When you apply for a mortgage; when you calculate if you have enough superannuation saved for retirement; when you look at what level of life or income protection insurance may be appropriate, should the worst occur, and when deciding how much to save in an emergency fund. Banks, insurers and super funds: they all expect you to know. But hands up if you know your exact monthly living expense figure? After tracking my spending for six months, Im closer to a precise figure. But even now, Im still a bit sketchy.

So, if you dont plan on over-borrowing, living off baked beans in retirement or paying for junk life insurance, you need to know what your figures are. But where to start? The answer is simply: by tracking your spending. Just get a notebook and pen and keep a record  all in one place  of all your outgoing expenses. I like paper for this purpose but you could also use a spreadsheet or smartphone app. Just make sure you spend five or 10 minutes every day, or couple of days, to update your tracker with all spending from all accounts, including any cash.

Its so easy to mindlessly spend money these days and tracking is a great accountability tool to allow you to see the exact shape of your spending. Once youre doing this, the next step is to start sorting all your transactions into some sort of category system, much like Kondos system of tidying by category. I have developed my own category system, based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics' household expenditure survey (which, by the way, is the data source for the system banks use to assess your ability to service a mortgage). The categories are: housing, household, utilities, transport, food, health, education, appearance, lifestyle and professional fees.

For each category, I have a different coloured highlighter, which I use to colour in each expense. One follower of my Instagram account suggests I am some strange mix between Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and the ladies at the Home Edit, professional organisers who arrange everything in rainbow colour order. I'll take it; colours are fun, yall, and a great way to liven up the usually grey world of finance. Having Kondo-ed my cupboards, Im now turning my mind to a full New Year's spring clean of my finances for 2021. Im developing full checklists for each of my 10 budget categories, which I will share with readers in a new email newsletter, Money with Jess, which kicks off in a few weeks. Please do subscribe, and, in the meantime, get tracking! You can follow Jess' money adventures on Instagram at @jess_irvine_pics
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A potential 25% tariff to be imposed on steel imports to Northern Ireland not from Great Britain will ruin the industry, it has been warned.

SDLP MLA Colin McGrath said he has written to the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, on the issue.

The Belfast Telegraph reported yesterday how the steel sector here had been left confused and uncertain by the unexpected tariff.

At least one trader was charged the 25% on product that had been cleared in the Republic of Ireland, while others have imported steel here without realising they face the extra cost, according to one leading market analyst.

The Brexit Protocol means that Northern Ireland is treated as if it were part of the EU's single market.

It means any steel imported from exporters around the world will, in theory, be hit by a 25% tariff.

The protocol terms also mean that any exports from Britain to here will count as part of the UK's quota - and could lead to the quota being used up more quickly. Once it is exceeded, then tariffs of 25% would apply on British steel entering Northern Ireland.

A briefing note by the UK steel lobby, obtained by RTE News, states: "The special status of NI complicates matters further, as steel exports from GB to NI are considered 'at risk' of moving into the EU/ROI.

"As a result, most steel exported from GB to NI is effectively treated as an export to the EU and therefore will be subject to the EU's Steel Safeguarding measures [ie, tariffs]."

Mr McGrath, a South Down MLA, said he was shocked by the tariff.

"Let's be under absolutely no allusion - this decision by the UK Government has the potential to decimate the steel industry in the north," he said.

Mr McGrath accused the Conservative government of "trying to bleed these businesses' already depleted finances completely dry".

He added: "I have already written to Rishi Sunak MP and called upon him to answer why the duty was imposed, why it was imposed without warning and without consultation with businesses here, and I am calling for it to be scrapped."

Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Manufacturing NI, told RTE: "In a very short period of time, unless we can get those stocks of steel returning and unless we can get that rest of the world stuff, then we have the potential to be shutting dozens and dozens of factories because we just won't have the supply of steel."
Posted Saturday, January 16, 2021 7:25 am

After surviving 10 months of shutdowns, heavy layoffs, steep losses and chronic uncertainty, many businesses in Washington say they won't see the end of the pandemic without significant help from state lawmakers.

But one week into the 2021 legislative session, prospects for that relief are anything but clear.

The good news: There's strong bipartisan support in the Democrat-controlled state House and Senate for quick action on measures such as emergency grants for small business and more than $2.6 billion in cuts for unemployment taxes and other business costs.

Such relief could "make or break" small businesses struggling under COVID-19 restrictions, said Anthony Anton, president of the Washington Hospitality Association, one of many trade groups with high hopes for the 2021 session.

But the Legislature's first week also brought warning signs for business, including talk of new taxes and push by labor for extra unemployment benefits. And on Wednesday, Senate Democrats voted down a business-backed Republican amendment that would have sped up Gov. Jay Inslee's timeline for fully reopening businesses, such as restaurants and gyms, that are still operating at just partial capacity.

"I didn't think we would be starting off the session like this, with no hope for those" businesses, said Sen. Perry Dozier, R-Waitsburg, who sponsored the failed amendment. Wednesday's vote, he added, "was a very tough blow for them."

It probably won't be the only one. Going into the session, business leaders and lobbyists knew their agenda faced more than the usual challenges under a Democrat-run legislature. Lawmakers would be trying to negotiate the 2021-2023 state budget while responding to a public health crisis that has dislocated tens of thousands workers, shuttered some 3,000 businesses, overwhelmed the state's social safety net and created a projected revenue shortfall of $2.4 billion.

The revenue shortfall alone had all but guaranteed a push by Democrats for new taxes, including many the business lobby has opposed.

Among them, a 9% percent capital gains tax and a tax on health insurers, both of which are in Inslee's proposed $57.6 billion budget last month. Business groups were also girding for fights over other new taxes, including revived proposals for a carbon tax and a statewide high-earners' tax similar to the JumpStart tax enacted last year in Seattle.

Business rarely likes new taxes; but in this session, lobbyists are making the case that new taxes both will slow economic recovery and won't be necessary, given state revenue projections that continue to improve and expectations of new state aid from President-elect Joe Biden's incoming administration. "Right off the bat, it just concerns us that [many Democratic legislators'] talk mainly is about more revenue," says Gary Chandler, lobbyist with the Association of Washington Business, one of the state's biggest business groups. "So our message to legislators ... first of all, please during this session do no harm."

But in addition to opposing tax hikes, business groups also seek specific fixes from the Legislature. Near the top of the list: temporary relief from the expected increases in unemployment taxes most businesses would otherwise face as the state replenishes an unemployment insurance trust fund heavily depleted by pandemic-related layoffs.

Well before the session opened Monday, lawmakers and lobbyists said, bipartisan support had emerged for the quick passage of key measures that could deliver quick aid to businesses. These ranged from unemployment tax relief and more grants for small businesses to reductions or deferrals in property tax and various licensing fees, and a measure that would exempt businesses from business & occupation taxes on federal emergency funds, such as the Paycheck Protection Program, lobbyists and lawmakers say.

"I've never seen more interest on early action than I have this session," said Nathan Gorton, a lobbyist for Washington Realtors. "Legislators are really trying to prime a number of bills to push out and and get through the process very quickly."

So far, the business lobby's pandemic legislative strategy has delivered mixed results.

For example, under legislation pushed by Inslee and Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, chair of the Labor, Commerce, & Tribal Affairs Committee, businesses will score a huge win  a cut of more than $1 billion in new unemployment taxes for 2021 and a total of $2.6 billion in relief through 2025.

But that comes at a political cost: The bill also raises the minimum weekly payment for workers receiving regular unemployment benefits, from $201 to around $274.

That increase, pushed by state labor groups, will be welcomed by laid-off low-wage workers. But business groups note that it will accelerate the depletion of the unemployment trust fund  by nearly $198 million in 2021 alone, according to state estimates  which ultimately will mean higher employment taxes.

"It's essential for us to get our businesses back open so they can rehire [and] give workers their jobs back, give them a paycheck, before we start trying to expand benefits," said Patrick Conner, state lobbyist for the National Federation of Independent Business.

But many Democratic lawmakers and labor groups say the benefit increase is non-negotiable. "We're talking about increasing the benefit for people that made between $20,000 and $27,000 a year," said Joe Kendo, lobbyist with the Washington State Labor Council. "The notion that that extremely modest benefit adjustment is somehow unfair when leveraged against ... $2 billion or more in tax considerations for employers  that seems absurd to me." Even some business lobbyists see the benefit increases as key to getting unemployment relief through the Democratic-controlled statehouse.

Business has also come up short on another legislative priority: reopening state business faster than envisioned under Inslee's Healthy Washington strategy, which many business groups fear will effectively keep them closed until early summer.

Last week, Republican leaders came under fire for trying to trying to pressure Inslee to accelerate the reopening by blocking several of the governor's emergency measures.

And as the defeat of Dozier's amendment suggests, few Democratic lawmakers thus far have been willing to openly oppose Inslee's reopening plan or to complain, as Republicans have, that the governor's numerous emergency proclamations have largely sidelined the Legislature.

But some business lobbyists think that could change. One reason: Many Democrats are also feeling heat from struggling small businesses in their districts  heat that Republicans and business groups hope to leverage legislatively.

Case in point: State Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, is working with Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, known for his pro-business leanings, on legislation that would immediately move the state into the less restrictive Phase 2 and empower state lawmakers to determine when counties could reopen further.

The bill's prospects aren't clear: Business lobbyists doubt it has the votes to pass both the House and Senate with veto-proof margins. But Mullet said his ultimate goal is to persuade Inslee to revisit his reopening plan.

So far, the governor isn't signaling parley. "We are confident in our approach," an Inslee spokesperson said in an email Thursday. "Legislators have their own take but we are focused on preventing infection, hospitalizations and deaths."

But Mullet thinks he'll find support among fellow Democrats who've spent the nearly two months since Inslee re-imposed restrictions hearing harrowing stories from struggling small business owners.

Mullet describes the political calculus this way. If the 2021 session had opened before Inslee re-imposed business restrictions, "I guarantee you, nobody, no Democrat would be dropping bills to shut them down based on the current [health] data."

___

(c)2021 The Seattle Times

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The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World exploited and violated its status as a tax-exempt non-profit in promoting Big Tobaccos harmful messaging to teenagers and coordinating strategies with those for-profit companies, a former employee has disclosed.

Lourdes Liz, a former marketing director at the non-profit Foundation, in a lawsuit filed January 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alleges that the Foundation is engaging in activities designed to increase the profits of and do the bidding of the tobacco industry, namely Phillip Morris International (PMI) and its former parent company, Altria Group, Inc.

The Foundation tries to portray itself as an independent organisation attempting to reduce the consumption of products produced by Big Tobacco, Ms Liz said in her statement of claim.

This, however, is a mere smokescreen, and the Foundation has become well known as a tool of PMI and Altria, used to peddle their products (particularly vaping products) and push their message from behind a facade of seemingly respectable, supposedly independent science and public health research and policy.

Ms Liz says her employment was unlawfully terminated for raising concerns about the apparent violations of the Foundations tax-exempt status by taking cues from and acting in lockstep with Big Tobacco.

The whistleblower retaliation lawsuit was filed on her behalf by her attorney, Wigdor LLP.

Lawrence Pearson, a partner at Wigdor LLP, said in a statement that the Foundation for a Smoke-Free Worlds alleged activities at the direction of and in close coordination with Big Tobacco in violation of its status as a tax-exempt, non-profit organisation represent a serious threat to public health.

We look forward to holding the Foundation accountable for its alleged attempts to shamelessly silence Ms Liz after she made it clear that she would not support Big Tobaccos pro-teen-vaping agenda.

The Foundation for a Smoke-free World (FSFW) is yet to file a response.

Collaborating with Big Tobacco

Altria is the worlds largest producer and marketer of tobacco, cigarettes, and related products, and PMIs current partner in marketing and sales of IQOS, a heated tobacco and vape product manufactured in the United States.

Last month, PREMIUM TIMES reported how the tobacco industry is hiding under the Foundation to target a younger generation of smokers, in clear violation of the World Health Organisations Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC)s Article 5.3. Established as a not-for-profit organisation in September 2017, the FSFW said it has a mission of solving the global health crisis and ending smoking in this generation.

PMI initially pledged to, starting from 2018, support the Foundation with $80 million annually over 12 years. Later, the tobacco company amended its funding pledge to FSFW thus: $80 million for 2018 and 2019; $45 million in 2020; $40 in 2021; and $35 million from 2022 to 2029.

Ms Liz worked for the Foundation as a Director of Digital and Social Media from February 2018 through February 2020.

As an employee, she says she made legally protected complaints about the Foundations efforts to promote the use and/or downplay the health risks of e-cigarettes by teenagers and adolescents (who are not legally old enough to use such products in New York and many other states).

She alleges that she was subjected to a sustained campaign of retaliation for raising concerns about the organisations efforts to skirt its legal obligations to act independently from its financial backers, as well as complaining to management about the Foundations promotion of a pro-vaping message to teens in contravention of its stated mission and to the detriment of public health.

The Foundation engaged in such activities under the pretext of harm reduction, that is, purportedly pointing them towards safer alternatives to cigarette smoking. The Foundation did this despite the highly addictive nature of and dangerous levels of nicotine and other harmful ingredients in these products, the former employee said.

Ms Liz says she was shocked by how the Foundation was doing the bidding of PMI and Altria and was furthering PMIs goal of creating a new generation of tobacco and nicotine users.

For instance, just weeks into her employment, Ms Liz learned that the Foundations President, Derek Yach, in conjunction with the advertising firm Ogilvy, proposed an advertising concept that used Instagram influencers and personalities who performed vaping and e-cigarette related tricks (such as blowing circular vape bubbles after inhaling from an e-cigarette)  an advertising idea clearly targeted at teenagers and adolescents that promoted a pro-vaping, and, therefore, pro-PMI and Altria, message that vaping was a healthier alternative to smoking cigarettes.

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Ogilvy has a well-documented history of working with the tobacco industry since the 1950s. Since 2017, it has had a multi-million dollar contract with FSFW.

In the summer of 2018, Ms Liz complained about why the Foundation was sponsoring the Conrad Challenge, run by the Conrad Foundation, an organisation that supports a childrens STEM-based education initiative, in connection with smoke-free challenges in certain target markets.

She said this event sponsorship, which seemed to target teenagers and adolescents, also appeared misdirected based on the Foundations mission.

Ms Liz says she was alarmed to learn that the Foundation planned to fly the United States-based Conrad Challenge contest winners to Catania, Italy, to visit the Foundations Centre of Excellence there, whose Founder and Director, Riccardo Polosa, had previously accepted a 1 million grant from PMI to investigate PMIs heated tobacco products.

It was clear to Ms Liz that that was yet another attempt by the Foundation to further align itself and its messaging with PMI by propagating a pro-vaping message aimed at teens under the thin pretext of a harm reduction discussion.

Earlier, in the spring of that year, Ms Liz said she noticed PMI had published a sustainability report documenting its efforts in Malawi aimed at encouraging the diversification of crops beyond tobacco, such as maize and soybeans.

This report, she says, completely mirrored and sounded identical to the Foundations own Agricultural Transformation Initiative. Also, in September 2018, the Foundation announced its partnership with a Malawi-based grant relationship with the Palladium Group, three weeks after PMI had also announced it was working with the group.

This was a blatant example of the Foundations collusion with the tobacco industry, in contravention of its purportedly independent, non-profit tax-exempt status, she says.

In late August 2018, Ms Liz said she received an email from Mr Yach, where he referenced a meeting he had with representatives from Altria in which Altria praised the Foundations apparent efforts to downplay the harmfulness of nicotine and urged the Foundations advertising agency, Ogilvy, to push these efforts further.

Mr Yachs email not only confirmed that he, the Foundations President, was holding strategy sessions with the Big Tobacco industry, but that he was willing to take the

tobacco industrys direction about the Foundations own efforts, spending, and messaging, which was unquestionably violative of the Foundations legal obligations as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, Ms Liz says.

Alleged victmisation and dismissal

Then, in October 2018, Ms Liz raised concerns when the Foundation directed her to attend a teen marketing conference, as well as a meeting with an organisation called DoSomething.org, whose purpose is to motivate youth to make positive social changes.

Ms Liz says she was troubled that none of the Foundations executives seemed to offer a rationale for why the Foundation should participate in these meetings, nor could they explain how attending would support the Foundations stated goals and missions.

Rather, she says, it appeared that the goal of marketing and making the Foundation visible to teenagers was more in line with the interests of PMI and Altria in promoting their purportedly less harmful smoking products, such as e-cigarettes.

Subsequently, in the fall of 2018, after Ms Lizs manager departed the Foundation, Ms Liz said she was passed over for promotion into her former managers role  a role that she was more than qualified to assume  in favour of an employee more junior to her and far less qualified and experienced, but who had not spoken out against the Foundations questionable relationship with Big Tobacco corporations.

Over the next year-plus, she says was subjected to a sustained campaign of further retaliation, which included being systematically stripped of her duties and responsibilities, and being issued baseless performance warning and write-ups in order to create a paper trail to justify further adverse employment actions.

During this time, Ms Liz said the Foundation made it clear that she was persona non grata for having complained, repeatedly, about its efforts to dupe the public and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by acting as and claiming to be a non-profit, while promoting a pro-tobacco industry agenda and pushing a pro-vaping message at teens too young to even legally use the products, harming the publics health in the process.

On February 27, 2020, the Foundation terminated Ms Lizs employment.

Now, Ms Liz is seeking redress for and the recovery of damages arising from the Foundations unlawful retaliatory conduct in response to her protected whistleblower activities.
A bag of cement which usually costs approximately $50 has more than tripled in price at some places since Covid-19 invaded the country in March 2020.

Some people are paying as much as $150 and more for a bag of cement.
Pelosi Declines to Say When House Will Send Impeachment Resolution to Senate

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is keeping secret for now when Democrats plan on sending the impeachment resolution to the Senate.

Theyre now working on taking this to trial, and when theyyoull be the first to know when we announce that were going over there, Pelosi told reporters in Washington on Friday.

The House on Wednesday voted 232197 to impeach President Donald Trump on a single article of impeachment, incitement of insurrection. Democrats and 10 Republicans contended Trump incited the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Under the U.S. Constitution, the Senate conducts an impeachment trial when the House impeaches a president. The upper congressional chamber can acquit a president or convict him. A two-thirds vote is required to convict. When the House impeached Trump on a separate matter in 2019, the Senate voted to acquit him 21 days after the trial started.

Trump is due to leave office on Jan. 20. The Senate is currently out of session. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refused to agree to a request from Democrats to reconvene the body to start the trial after the fresh impeachment. The Senate is due to reconvene on Jan. 19. Regardless, the Senate cannot start the trial without receiving the article of impeachment from the House.

Pelosi held the articles of impeachment for nearly a month after the House impeached Trump in 2019. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the House Majority whip, suggested that the House wait for months before transmitting the new article to the Senate, in order to let the upper chamber focus on hearing from and confirming President-elect Joe Bidens key nominees. Biden has suggested the Senate spend half a day handling an impeachment trial and the other half dealing with his picks.

President Donald Trump tours a section of the border wall in Alamo, Texas on Jan. 12, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has vowed to hold a trial on the new impeachment charge. He will soon take over as majority leader, since Democrats won both Georgia Senate runoffs this month. Republican candidates Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue have conceded, but Sens.-elect Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff wont be sworn in until the election results are certified.

Trump is the third president to be impeached and the first to be impeached twice. No president has ever been impeached and convicted and no president has ever been placed on trial after leaving office.

Some legal experts argue holding an impeachment trial after Trump leaves office violates the Constitution.

Once Trumps term ends on Jan. 20, Congress loses its constitutional authority to continue impeachment proceedings against himeven if the House has already approved articles of impeachment, J. Michael Luttig, a retired federal judge, wrote in an op-ed.

Others say a trial could commence.

Of course, you can impeach, convict, and disqualify a former officeholder, Gregg Nunziata, a former Senate Judiciary Committee lawyer, said in a tweet. This view is supported by English custom, Constitutional text and structure, original understanding, and continuous Senate precedent.
Panaji, Jan 16 : Instead of crowding a vaccination room, relatives and friends accompanying the persons who are being inoculated against Covid-19, should instead wait outside and greet them with a flower, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar said on Saturday.

Javadekar accompanied Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at the Goa Medical College near Panaji and greeted Ranganath, a sweeper in the health department, with a rose after he became the first person in the coastal state to be inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine.

"Vaccination has started throughout the country. Visitors and relatives of the person being administered a vaccine should not go inside vaccination rooms. Instead, welcome the person who has been vaccinated with a flower, like the way we did. We have given a rose flower. We have to follow this protocol," Javadekar told the media.

The Union Minister is currently in Goa to inaugurate the 51st edition of the International Film Festival of India, which is due to begin later in the day.

As many as 700 persons, most of whom are the sanitation workers working in various hospitals across Goa, are scheduled to be inoculated in seven hospitals -- five government hospitals and two private health facilities -- across the state on Saturday.

"Vaccination has started at seven centres in Goa with the formal launch of the drive by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As many as 700 persons will be covered under this drive," Sawant said.

The Chief Minister also congratulated the scientists at the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech and the Pune-based Serum Institute of India for developing the vaccines.

Earlier this week, Goa received a consignment of 2,350 vials containing 23,500 vaccination shots.

Nearly 19,000 Health department workers and Covid-19 warriors are expected to be covered in the first round of vaccination.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
A one-year-old girl ran onto the N11 outside Silverbridge Halting site in Bray last Monday afternoon, narrowly avoiding tragedy.

The child slipped away from her mother, law student Marlene O'Brien (25), in an instant, just as they were dropped off at the gates.

The shocked mother has not stayed at the property since the incident two days ago.

'We had both been dropped off at the gate by my father as we were coming home from a doctor's appointment at 12.30 on Monday,' said Marlene (25), a tenant at Silverbridge.

'My daughter Nevada was inches away from being killed and I was completely blessed that she is safe and secure and nothing more happened to her as I reached her in time with many cars having to swerve around her,' she said. 'I am completely shaken up over this,' she said. 'I just don't know what do to. I was robbed a few months back while I was out at the bay doing the washing. My child was playing on the floor and someone entered the mobile and took all of my money out of my purse. That incident had affected me massively but nowhere near as much as what happened on Monday.'

Marlene's aunt collected her and the little girl immediately after what happened and insisted that she not go back. 'I was distraught,' said Marlene. 'I can't face having to return back there as my daughter is now able to open doors and she could run out any time.'

Her aunt contacted Wicklow County Council on Marlene's behalf.

The mobile, which the young woman purchased via a 7,500 loan from the council, is also damp, Marlene said.

'I had to bin all of my daughter's things like her walker and bouncer as there was mould growing from them. I also had to bring her for two Covid tests because her breathing was so bad due to the damp.'

Marlene said that she believes Silverbridge is unsafe for anyone with young kids, due mainly to its proximity to the N11. 'I do not want to live in fear of something happening to my daughter,' she said.

While not on lock-down, Marlene, who is studying law at BIFE and previously worked as a legal secretary, walks with the buggy to college along the N11 dropping her daughter to creche on her way, and taking the same route home.

'I don't drive so I have to walk the motorway every morning with cars flying at me, in complete fear of them hitting me or the buggy sliding from underneath me out onto the road.'

She has been accepted to Trinity College law school for September 2021, with an on-campus creche for her daughter, but can't see how she can cross the dual carriageway in the dark every morning with a buggy to get public transport to Dublin. 'I have fought so hard to get to where I am right now,' said Marlene. 'I don't want another incident to happen or to possibly lose my daughter because we don't have safe and secure accommodation.'

Marlene and Nevada have lived at Silverbridge for around a year, after some time in emergency accommodation in Carlow and other locations following the breakdown of a relationship. She said that her mobile is very close to the main entrance of the halting site.

Marlene's auntie Tina Grendon is a large part of her family support system and has insisted that she stay with her in Shankill until appropriate accommodation is arranged. 'I live in a two bedroom house and have a child so it's not suitable for her long term,' said Tina. 'But under no circumstances are those girls going back there. I'm not allowing her to stay there. People in the council have to put their heads together and sort something out for the safety and welfare of those two girls. That child was on the N11.'

'I did love my own little bit of peace there,' said Marlene. 'But it's like I'm waiting for something else to happen.'

Wicklow County Council had not responded to a request for comment at the time of going to press.
I was wrong about Joe Biden.

In an April 26, 2019, column for the San Antonio Express-News, I predicted Bidens third presidential campaign  which he had officially launched the day before  would end just like his two previous bids, in failure.

On Wednesday, Biden will be inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States.

When I doubted Bidens prospects in 2019, it wasnt that I thought he would be unable to beat Donald Trump in a general election. It was clear, even before the emergence of a pandemic that has taken nearly 400,000 American lives in 10 months and wrecked our nations economy, that Trump would be politically vulnerable.

I thought the question of who would win a Biden-Trump contest was moot, however, because I never expected Biden to capture the Democratic nomination.

By the time Biden entered the race, 21 other Democrats, covering the ideological and demographic spectrum of the party, had declared their candidacy.

You had Bernie Sanders, the Vermont democratic socialist who electrified young voters during his 2016 presidential campaign.

You had Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator who combined supreme policy-wonk chops with a nerdy professorial folksiness.

There was Kamala Harris, whose combination of charisma, warmth and prosecutorial incisiveness prompted many Democratic operatives to view her as the candidate with the highest ceiling.

You had promising young up-and-comers (Cory Booker, Beto ORourke, Julian Castro and Pete Buttigieg); solid, middle-of-the-road veterans (Amy Klobuchar, Michael Bennet) and entrepreneurial eccentrics (Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson).

Biden, by virtue of the name recognition he built during his eight years as Barack Obamas vice president, entered the race as a presumptive front-runner. At the same time, he appeared to be vaguely superfluous.

Biden seemed too gaffe-prone to be the steady elder statesman that some of the partys older moderates craved.

At the same time, he had little hope of exciting young progressives who saw the 2020 election not merely as a chance to unseat Trump, but to carry forward a platform for fundamental change on the issues of income equality, health care, criminal-justice reform and climate change.

Biden always had proven persuasive when he could lock eyes with a voter, shake their hand and make the case for himself.

It had worked in his small state of Delaware. Biden won seven statewide elections there, beginning in 1972, when, at the remarkably young age of 29, he knocked off Republican Sen. J. Caleb Boggs.

His limitations, however, had been exposed in his 1988 and 2008 presidential campaigns. Yes, an embarrassing plagiarism scandal doomed his first bid. Even before that, however, he seemed strangely adrift on the national stage.

In the early months of his 2020 campaign, Biden offered little evidence that he was better equipped this time around.

He struggled, in a tense debate exchange with Harris, to defend his 1970s opposition to school busing. He bungled his description of his own health care plan during a back-and-forth with Castro, prompting the former San Antonio mayor to pointedly ask him, Are you forgetting already what you said just two minutes ago?

Increasingly, Biden looked like the epitome of the kind of candidate that sends Democrats to a November defeat.

When Democrats have succeeded over the past century, its been with youngish candidates who burst on the scene and promised sweeping change (John Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama).

When the party has failed, its been with compromise choices, establishment figures who won the nomination on the basis of familiarity or perceived electability (Walter Mondale, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton).

Biden, however, managed to turn things around with a combination of luck and tenacity.

Neither Harris nor ORourke ever found their footing, and Warren couldnt translate her strong debate performances into primary support.

With Sanders looking like he might run away with the Democratic race, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., threw his support behind Biden, an old friend with whom he served in Congress for 16 years.

Bidens win in South Carolina united Democratic voters who feared that Sanders would send the party to defeat. Within a couple of weeks, the primary race essentially was over.

As the pandemic forced the country into semi-quarantine, Bidens strengths seemed to align with the nations needs.

His innate empathy and relentless optimism conveyed a pre-Trump sense of what it meant to be presidential, a form of no-drama leadership that millions of Americans missed.

Biden didnt excite voters. He didnt necessarily inspire them either. But he reassured them. In 2020, thats what was needed.

ggarcia@express-news.net


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The 51st edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is getting off to a colourful start on the golden shores of Goa on January 16, 2021, with the opening ceremony at Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium at Panaji in Goa. For the first time, IFFI is being held in a hybrid mode because of the ongoing pandemic. Hence, festival delegates will have the option to participate and watch films and other events virtually, sitting in the comforts of their homes. Asias oldest and Indias biggest festival will be loaded with a line-up of a total of 224 films from across the globe this year. Italian cinematographer Mr. Vittorio Storaro is being honoured with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, at the opening ceremony.

The event will be graced by Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Shri Prakash Javadekar and Chief Minister of Goa Dr. Pramod Sawant. The star-studded event will have celebrated film directors Pablo Cesar (Argentina), Prasanna Vithanage (Sri Lanka), Abu Bakr Shawky (Austria), Priyadarshan (India) and Rubaiyat Hossain (Bangladesh), who are also the Jury members of the festival.

A delegation from Bangladesh, this years 'Country of Focus will also be present in the opening ceremony. The Country of Focus is a special segment that recognizes the cinematic excellence and contributions of the country.

The opening of the NFDC Film Bazar will also be virtually inaugurated on the occasion.

Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, the festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excellence of the film art; contributing to the understanding and appreciation of film cultures of different nations in the context of their social and cultural ethos; and promoting friendship and cooperation among people of the world. The festival is conducted jointly by the Directorate of Film Festivals (under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) and the state Government of Goa.

A selection of 23 feature and 20 non-feature films will be showcased in the Indian Panorama section of the 51st IFFI. Goan movies will be screened under a special Goan section. This apart, 15 acclaimed films will compete for the Golden Peacock award at IFFI's International Competition section.

The event, beginning at 3.00 PM, will be broadcasted on DD India and DD National channels and will be live-streamed on PIBs YouTube channel youtube.com/pibindia.

ALSO READ: 51st IFFI Announces Line-Up Of Programmes For OTT Platform

ALSO READ: Jaipur International Film Festival Begins In Online Mode On January 15
TRP Scam: Partho Dasgupta, Ex-CEO of BARC, Admitted to JJ Hospital

Partho Dasgupta, former chief executive (CEO) of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) was admitted to JJ Hospital after his blood pressure dropped significantly and his sugar levels were affected while in judicial custody. He has been lodged at Taloja jail in the television rating point (TRP) scam.

While his family claims that he is critical and admitted in intensive care unit (ICU), the police have refuted this saying He is not in ICU and not critical. He is stable."

It is also being reported that the police claims that Mr Dasgupta had not taken his diabetes medicine so that he can secure bail on medical grounds.

His daughter Pratyusha Dasgupta took to Twitter and shared a four-page letter captioned 'A helpless daughters anguished appeal' she has written to the prime minister Narendra Modi appealing him to save her father's life. She has also tagged Maharashtra chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray and union home minister Amit Shah in the same tweet.

It may be recalled that, Twitter was aflutter when senior counsel Prashant Bhushan shared screenshots of purported leaked WhatsApp conversations between Mr Dasgupta and Arnab Goswami, the editor-in-chief of Republic TV.

Adv Bhushan said in a tweet with the screenshots of the purported conversation "These are a few snapshots of the damning leaked WhatsApp chats between BARC CEO & #ArnabGoswami. They show many conspiracies & unprecedented access to power in this govt; gross abuse of his media & his position as power broker. In any Rule of law country, he would be in jail for long"

These are a few snapshots of the damning leaked WhatsApp chats between BARC CEO & #ArnabGoswami. They show many conspiracies&unprecedented access to power in this govt; gross abuse of his media&his position as power broker. In any Rule of law country, he would be in jail for long pic.twitter.com/6aGOR6BRQJ  Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) January 15, 2021

On Friday, the Mumbai police had released a massive number of WhatsApp messages (in a .pdf file) exchanged between the accused in the TRP scam. Over 500 pages of chat messages purportedly between Mr Goswami and Mr Dasgupta have now gone viral, with many calling it "damning evidence".

The massive pdf file starts with an intimation that this is a case filed with the Kandivali police, and the transcript bears various signatures on each page.

Meanwhile on Friday, the Maharashtra government assured the Bombay High Court that it would not take any coercive action against Mr Goswami and other employees of ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd, which runs the Republic TV channel, till the next hearing on 29th January in the matter.

Last month, the crime branch of the Mumbai police had arrested the former CEO of the BARC from Pune district in the fake TRP scam. He was the 15th person to be arrested in the case related to the alleged rigging of TRPs by some TV channels. A Mumbai court had earlier this month denied bail to him while commenting that he has played a "vital role" in the alleged TRP manipulation scam.

The BARC measures viewership of TV channels. TRP shows what percentage of a programme's target audience viewed it. A higher TRP suggests a larger audience, making the channel a favourite for advertisers. The TRP scam was discovered in October 2020 when BARC filed a complaint through Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain channels, including Republic TV, were rigging their TRP numbers.

According to Mumbai police, Dasgupta misused his official position and connived with the accused, including Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, to manipulate TRP ratings and bring Republic TV to the number 1 position. The police have also alleged that Mr Goswami had paid huge sums to Mr Dasgupta to rig the Republic TV TRP since its launch in 2017.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, also known as AMLO, accused the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Friday of fabricating drug charges against his country's former defense secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos.

The Associated Press reported that AMLO's government also published what he said was the entire case file provided by DEA authorities when Salvador Cienfuegos was sent back to Mexico.

"Why did they do this investigation this way? Without substance, without evidence?" Lopez Obrador said in a news conference, referring to the DEA case against Cienfuegos. Lopez Obrador also said there was a lack of "professionalism" in the U.S. investigations.

Read also: Mexico's President to Provide COVID-19 Vaccines to Undocumented Immigrants in the US

On Friday, Lopez Obrador backed the decision of the country's attorney general to dismiss any charges against Salvador Cienfuegos related to drug crimes, reported Reuters.

However, the case underscored the fragile diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Mexico, noted The Washington Post.

Salvador Cienfuegos Arrested in Los Angeles in October

It can be recalled that Salvador Cienfuegos was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in October for charges related to working with the H-2 drug cartel that would ship thousands of kilos of drugs to the U.S.

Following fury from the Mexican government, he was sent back to Mexico for officials of his own country to look into his case. At the time, Mexico's government vowed to look into the matter thoroughly.

However, over a month later, the Attorney General's Office found no grounds to charge Salvador Cienfuegos and said the former defense chief had no connections with the criminal organization members. The Attorney General didn't find proof of any untoward increases in Cienfuegos' wealth as well.

"It's a decision the attorney general's office makes, but one that the government I represent supports," said Lopez Obrador.

Cienfuegos' charges were all dropped, and he was never placed under arrest after crossing to Mexico. For Mexico, the failure to notify them prior to the arrest marked a "before and after" in bilateral ties.

In December, new rules governing the operations in the country of foreign agents, including the DEA, was created. Salvador Cienfuegos served as defense minister in Mexico from 2012 to 2018.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice, Nicole Navas Oxman, said they are reserving the right to restart prosecuting him if the Mexican government chooses not to do so.

Salvador Cienfuegos is Highest Ranking Mexican Official on Drug Charges in U.S.

Salvador Cienfuegos is the most senior Mexican official to be arrested in the U.S. for drug-related crimes. His arrest was a point of outrage for the country's military, a pillar in Lopez Obrador's government.

Documents released in connection to the case included purported texts between two drug gang figures who talked about having a meeting at the Defense Department with someone called "The Godfather" or "Salvador Sinfuego Sepeda."

The two drug figures, known to be Daniel Silva-Garate, and Juan Francisco Patron Sanchez, were both later killed.

Related Story: Biden to Work with Mexico's Lopez Obrador for 'New Approach' on Immigration

They described being picked up by men in military-cut hair who told them about going to the Defense Department in Mexico City.

"You can sleep peacefully, no operation will touch you," the said "Godfather" told them, according to Silva-Garate's messages.

Meanwhile, Lopez Obrador insisted that his government will not be covering up for anyone.
After Michael Apted's death last week at the age of 79, he left behind not only his enormous artistic undertaking with Up, but also a nontraditional family unit in his documentary subjects and colleagues.

Every seven years or so for more than half a century, filmmaker Michael Apted returned to what he referred to as his lifes work: documenting the same ordinary people hed known since they were 7 years old.

Throughout nine instalments of the Up series  which has been called the noblest, most remarkable and profound documentary project in history  Apted turned a restrained lens on class, family, work and dreams, both dashed and achieved, in his native England. The programs, beginning with Seven Up! in 1964, went on to inspire international copycats and even an episode of The Simpsons.

So when Apted died last week at 79, he left behind not only his enormous artistic undertaking, but a nontraditional family unit that was at once uncomfortable, transactional and as intimate as could be.

Its a bit surreal, said Jackie Bassett, one of 20 schoolchildren originally featured in the series, who went on to become part of the core group that appeared every subsequent time. He knew us so well, she said in an interview, and yet shed had no idea that the director was seriously ill.

In 63 Up, from 2019, she processed on camera some of her decadeslong frustrations with Apteds handling of gender.

We had our moments, said Bassett, a working-class grandmother from East London who now lives in Scotland. But its a bit like having a favourite uncle that you fall out with occasionally, yet it doesnt alter the relationship. He introduced me to a life that I otherwise wouldnt know anything about.

Tony Walker, once a voluble boy who hoped to become a star jockey and instead became a taxi driver, said Apted was like a brother to him. Hes always been there, Walker said, choking up. We never, ever thought it would come to an end.

Now, in addition to the 11 remaining participants  one regular, Suzy Lusk, opted out last time and another, Lynn Johnson, died  Apteds longtime collaborators are also pondering the fate of a project that has spanned their professional lives.

Claire Lewis, who started as a researcher on 28 Up and later became a lead producer, said that Apted had always been very proprietorial about the series. But she recalled that on the press tour for 63 Up, as it became clear that the director was becoming more frail and forgetful, he told a Q&A audience, I suppose she could do it, gesturing to Lewis.

I could carry it on, Lewis said, adding that it would come down to the subjects assent and the health of the crew. The cameraman, George Jesse Turner, and sound engineer, Nick Steer, have been with the program since 21 Up, from 1977; the editor, Kim Horton, joined for 28 Up.

None of us are spring chickens  were all geriatric, honestly, Lewis said, citing her own age as 70-ish. Were going to need an ambulance, if we ever did it again, to take us all around. I think well just have to say well wait and see.

Asked if she would participate without Apted, Bassett began to cry. She agreed that Lewis, whod long had the job of keeping in touch with the cast between shoots, was the logical successor. (Walker concurred and was more enthusiastic about continuing.)

70 and 7 do have a good symmetry, Bassett said. It would definitely have to be the last one for everybody.

Mortality had already hung over the most recent instalment. Another subject, engineering professor Nick Hitchon, who started as a bashful farmers son from the Yorkshire Dales, learned he had throat cancer and struggled through his portion of filming.

Apted was a fixture in my life, Hitchon said in an interview from Wisconsin, where he moved to teach in the early 1980s. Despite the fact that were not good at communicating as Englishmen, I did feel some closeness to Michael, relating to him more and more with age, he said.

It was important for the Up series to see life through, from retirement to death, Hitchon said. But he preferred not to contemplate his own future participation. To be honest, if Im alive at 70, I will be very, very glad, he said.

The Up series began as a one-off program for the current affairs show World in Action, on Granada Television. Apted was at first a young researcher, tasked with helping pick the children, and a casual suggestion from an executive to check in on them seven years later gave the project new life.

Along the way, Apted became a Hollywood director, helming projects as varied as Coal Miners Daughter and entries in the James Bond and Narnia franchises. He was also begrudgingly referred to as the godfather of reality television, something he clearly objected to over the years, said Cort Kristensen, Apteds assistant-turned-producing partner.

He cut his teeth making news programs and then got into scripted drama after that, Kristensen said, and he loved using the skills of both to enhance the other.

Up was also a document of technological progress. Horton, the editor, recalled going from splicing tape all the way now to pressing buttons, with hours of footage kept on a hard drive the size of a pack of cigarettes in my pocket.

Yet the series has remained stubbornly straightforward, with spare narration and no music or modern techniques. It is optimized for watching every seven years, not bingeing, with plentiful catch-up footage repeated each time.

Every seven years, wed get a new commissioner and a new executive producer, and they all come into the program thinking theyre going to make some change, Horton said. Michael saw them all off, at first politely and then with a colourful two-word phrase.

His collaborators said that should they continue without him, this essence would carry through. Michael felt very, very, very strongly that it must remain as it is, Lewis said, noting that the director hated tricksy, artsy-fartsy documentaries.

His preference was simplicity, elegance, she said. It was about people and what they say and who they are. It was all about the stories.

Joe Coscarelli c.2021 The New York Times Company

Hospitals across the country are coming under increasing pressure as the number of Covid-19 patients escalates amid crippling staff shortages.

As of yesterday morning there were 1,846 people hospitalised with the virus and 171 in intensive care units (ICU).

Thirty-two intensive care beds were available nationwide, across both adult and paediatric units. More than 100 people with Covid-19 were on ventilators.

It comes as more hospitals reach into their surge capacity by redeploying non-specialist staff to critical care roles and converting wards into intensive care areas to accommodate seriously ill patients.

There are currently around 4,000 staff from acute hospitals absent from work due to Covid-19; either because they have contracted the virus themselves, or because they are a close contact of a confirmed case.

Read More

Last night, trade union Siptu warned Covid-19 infection rates of health care workers are unsustainable and putting the safe functioning of the health service in grave danger.

This level of infection is completely unsustainable, said Siptu health division organiser Kevin Figgis.

Health workers across all grades are being decimated while this virus is raging out of control across our health service.

"It is clear that health care workers are not safe in work and the current rate of infection is putting the safe functioning of the service in grave danger. We are again calling for the immediate recruitment of additional and essential staff to assist all health workers on the front line.

Yesterday a group of nurses and doctors at Nenagh Hospital appeared in an online video demanding they receive the potentially life-saving vaccine as they were treating Covid patients.

The video showed staff pleading with Taoiseach Micheal Martin as well as Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to sanction the roll-out of the vaccine in Nenagh.

Staff complained the roll-out was well under way in its sister hospitals University Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital, and University Maternity Hospital Limerick.

UL Hospitals Group later confirmed that around 20 theatre staff based at Nenagh Hospital are to receive the vaccine, but will be redeployed to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) to support the hospital as it opens critical care surge capacity.

Meanwhile, management at the same hospital group apologised to patients after it emerged that some were waiting more than 100 hours for a bed at UHL.

UHL has the most number of Covid-19 cases in the country at 150. Yesterday there were only three beds available in the hospitals 28-bed Critical Care Unit (CCU), where 13 patients with Covid-19 are being treated. A recently opened 60-bed block is mostly full with Covid-19 patients.

On Thursday, a UHL source said some patients admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) were waiting on trolleys for more than 100 hours.

The source claimed there were up to 94 people in the department at one stage last Wednesday afternoon.

Those admitted to the ED were on trolleys in corridors on top of one another, and, it was impossible to maintain social distancing.

In response, a UL Hospitals spokesman said: The Emergency Department at UHL has been very busy during this current challenging phase of the pandemic and we apologise to admitted patients who have faced long waits for a bed. Hospitals around the country are under significant strain at present and our staff are making enormous efforts to keep patients safe.

Due to significant community transmission in the mid-west and multiple outbreaks in healthcare settings across the region it is constrained in effecting inter-hospital transfers, discharges to community settings and discharges home.

The spokesman said this is having a considerable impact on patient flow in UHL contributing to long waits for patients in ED.
It's hard to go wrong with pizza, which is what a few members of Congress opted for as a way to show their appreciation for the National Guard stationed at the Capitol ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration next week.

We the Pizza originally got a call from Representatives Michael Waltz and Vicky Hartzler on Tuesday asking for them to deliver 150 pies to the troops at the Capitol Visitor Center.

We wanted to help, so we matched (the order), Micheline Mendelsohn, the deputy CEO for the company that owns We the Pizza, said. Then we realized we werent even sending nearly enough so we just started donating to troops.

Mendelsohn said they doubled that order and have been doing so ever since. So far, theyve served about 700 pies to the troops at the Capitol and are preparing to send another 300 on Friday. Theyre planning on sending about 300 a day until next week.

National Guard in Capitol Visitor Center (Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag)

We the Pizza even set up a way for people to donate pies online to the National Guard, at the price of $12 a pie. They plan to match each order, Mendelsohn said.

We are so honored to serve the National Guard doing the important work of keeping our Capitol safe, the company wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

Mendelsohn added that theyve reached out to other community restaurants to help serve the troops and everyone has been on board.

"We'll be providing breakfast, lunch and dinner to the troops through next week so they have a variety," she explained. She said Buffalo and Bergen, CHIKO, The Duck & The Peach, Maketto, Ris, Pizzeria Paradiso and District Doughnuts are all participating.

Because were all a community that COVID and now these violent protests have hit hard, she said. I mean, the whole city. Really. Its bananas.

Impeachment of Donald Trump (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The National Mall could be closed ahead of and during the inauguration next week and is heavily guarded by at least 10,000 troops. The chief of the National Guard Bureau told reporters earlier this week hes authorized to bring in up to 15,000 Guard members. There are extensive street closures in place, 13 Metro stops are scheduled to be closed and the citys mayor has actively discouraged tourists from visiting.
First responders lined up Saturday for a free COVID-19 vaccine clinic inside the theater annex of Bangor Area High School in Upper Mount Bethel Township, sponsored by the Mt. Bethel Pharmacy and Wind Gap Community Pharmacy.

A second clinic is being scheduled for Feb. 13 for the first responders to get their second dose, and possibly to offer the vaccine to people in Phase 1B of Pennsylvanias vaccination protocol if cleared to do so by the state, according to Barbara Meehan, who handles marketing for the pharmacies.

The Wind Gap pharmacy provided all the vaccines and Mt. Bethels pharmacy provided staff and support to administer the vaccinations for free for front-line health care workers and first responders like police, firefighters and ambulance personnel from Pennsylvania.

They decided to partner with the Bangor Area School District for the clinic as an efficient way to get the word out to the community as quickly as possible.

We pride ourselves on being very involved with the community and its needs, " Meehan said.

She went onto say, COVID-19 is killing thousands of people every day. We want to be part of the solution.

Across Pennsylvania, 761,777 people have contracted COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic about a year ago, state health officials reported Saturday. Statewide, 19,188 total deaths have been tied to the virus.

As it turned out, the clinic may have saved one mans life, even though he hadnt yet had the chance to get vaccinated. The man in his mid-60s was in line outside the school for his vaccine when he collapsed. He was revived after district police officer Jodi Dannels saw what happened and alerted district police Chief Chris Ryan, who was inside the school.

Ryan had come to the clinic equipped with a district-owned automated external defibrillator (AED), which directed Dannels and Ryan assisted by area first responders Dale Handelong and Jason Fleming to perform CPR. The device also administered two shocks, and the man was breathing when he was taken by Suburban EMS to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono in East Stroudsburg, Ryan said.

If it wasnt for the clinic, he may very well have been driving and this wouldnt have had the outcome that it did right now, Meehan said.

The pharmacies were expecting about 100 people at Saturdays clinic, which was scheduled to go until 2 p.m., and had vaccinated about 70 by around midday, Meehan said.

She said to check the Mt. Bethel and Wind Gap pharmacies Facebook pages and website websites  windgaprx.com and mountbethelpharmacy.com  for more information on the upcoming clinic.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham has released more documents and transcripts tied to the years-long "Russiagate" probe on Friday.

According to a Fox News report, Lindsey Graham called the original probe one of the most corrupt and incompetent investigations in the history of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ).

The initial Russiagate probe, called "Crossfire Hurricane," looked into whether President Donald Trump's campaign members colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 election.

Graham released new hundreds of pages of depositions and transcripts of interviews with FBI and DOJ officials conducted by the committee from Mar. 3 to Oct. 29 last year.

"I consider the Crossfire Hurricane investigation a massive system failure by senior leadership, but not representative of the dedicated, hardworking patriots who protect our nation every day at Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice," Graham said in a statement.

The senator also said his committee released "as much material as possible" but noted that "some classified material" has still been withheld.

As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lindsey Graham said he made the decision to release all transcripts of depositions involving the committee's oversight of the Crossfire Hurricane probe.

In his statement, he further noted that the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court or FISA court was lied to, and the exculpatory information was withheld on those being investigated.

Graham said some investigators were incredibly biased and used law enforcement powers for political purposes. He said he hoped that "counterintelligence investigations will be reined in," and this would never happen again in the country.

Related Story: Trump Pardons 15, Including Two Figures in Mueller's Russia Probe

Lindsey Graham Claims of Incompetent Investigations

According to a News Nation Now report, Lindsey Graham also criticized the FBI's leadership under former Director James Comey and former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. He said they were either grossly incompetent or they knowingly allowed enormous misdeeds.

He noted a blind eye turned toward any explanation other than the Trump campaign conniving with foreign powers.

"At every turn, the FBI and DOJ ran stop signs that were in abundance regarding exculpatory information," he continued.

Lindsey Graham further noted that the investigation was pushed when it should have been stopped. He said the only logical explanation was that the investigators wanted an outcome because of their bias.

He noted that he would continue to pursue reforms of counterintelligence investigations and warrant applications. He added that he hoped his Democratic and Republican colleagues could find a point to compromise on these matters.

Lindsey Graham said it was hard to believe that something like Crossfire Hurricane could have happened in the country.

'Russiagate' Probe

Meanwhile, Trump has managed to pardon at least five people who had gotten involved with the Russiagate probe. According to a Daily Sabah report, the pardons seemed an effort to remove the stain on his term of the Russia interference probe.

Those pardoned by Trump were Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, and Alex Van Der Zwaan. All of them pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.

Mueller's investigation yielded no proof of criminal coordination or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian officials in the 2016 election, Fox News reported.

Read also: Trump Pardons Former Security Adviser Michael Flynn Despite Guilty Plea for Lying to FBI
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Police detain a group of people during a protest in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong on May 27, 2020(Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)

Human Rights Violations in China: World Must Form Alliances, Impose Sanctions, and Unite Against Beijing Regime, Webinar Hears

Chinas lucrative market and economic opportunities have kept the West distracted fromor tolerant ofits human rights violations, but 2020 saw people waking up to the severity of the matter and the communist regimes broader threat to the world, an online conference heard.

Experts on human rights and international affairs came together on Jan. 14 in a webinar event titled A Way Forward, Part II: Defending Human Rights in China, to review Chinas rights situation over the past year and explore ways to prevent future atrocities.

We are critical of and anti-the Chinese Communist Party regimes repression, but we are not anti-China or the Chinese people, said Benedict Rogers, the co-founder and chief executive of Hong Kong Watch.

It is precisely because I love the people of China and the culture [that] I want China as a great and ancient civilization to succeed, that I want the people of China to have the human rights that we, in our countries, take for granted and that they have too long been denied, but that they deserved, he said.

The event was held by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) as part of a series of discussions about the Chinese regimes rights violations, such as the ongoing persecution campaign against Falun Gong adherents that began in 1999, as well as the repression and abuse of Uyghur Muslims and Mongolians.

It also touched on Beijings increasingly aggressive economic and security policies toward Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the world at large, as well as how governments in the free world and the United Nations have been complacent or even complicit in allowing these practices to go unchecked.

Rogers said its time for countries to stand together and unite against the CCP.

I think its time for unity. I think the free world needs to stand together, he said, noting that its also time for real, concrete action.

Its very clear that strong statementswhich weve seen more of, and theyre welcomebut strong statements alone no longer cut it.

The Devils Bargain: Chinas Money for The Worlds Silence

Falun Gong practitioners take part in a grand march calling for an end to the persecution of adherents in China, in Washington on June 20, 2018. (Edward Dye/The Epoch Times)

Rights infractions have existed in China as far back as the formation of the communist-controlled Peoples Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the webinar heard.

Upon joining the United Nations in 1971, the PRC reaffirmed its acceptance of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It subsequently signed on to an assortment of human rights-related conventions, according to Dean Baxendale, co-chair of the panel and chair of the China Democracy Foundation.

Despite Chinas status as a signatory on these conventions and its supposed acceptance of the UN rights doctrine, the Chinese Communist Party has established itself amongst the worst human rights violators in the world, he said.

The acquiescence of international organizations and major economic and political entities has allowed China to get away with its human rights violations, the webinar heard. In March 2020, for example, a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute named 83 global brandsincluding Amazon, Apple, and Niketo have been profiting directly or indirectly from the forced labour of Uyghurs in Chinas Xinjiang region.

For many years, Canada and our supposed allies, which share values, seem to be have been sizing up the devils bargaindiplomatically trading off the economic and commerce opportunity with Beijing for our silence on well-documented, systemic abuse of ethnic and religious minorities within Chinese borders, as well as the suppression of free speech and civil liberties, Baxendale said.

Global Awakening and Collaboration

In 2020, the Chinese regimes crackdown on Hong Kong and its abuse of Uyghurs and Mongolians served as a wake-up call for people around the world, the webinar heard. In particular, its use of surveillance technology and the export of techno-authoritarianism are realistic threats for everyone in the modern digital society.

People who were willing to turn a blind eye to Chinas terrible human rights practices within China itself are now having to confront that China is trying to export a bunch of those practices, said Carolyn Bartholomew, vice-chair of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission.

Bartholomew said that as more people come to recognize Beijings threats, human rights communities will have more opportunities to push for tougher corporate social responsibility and national security policies.

Since August 2018 when the UN acknowledged that there were up to 1 million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in what the Chinese called re-education camps, a growing number of courageous individuals have been working towards exposing the truth of life behind their walls, said Rahima Mahmut, UK project director of the World Uyghur Congress and adviser to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).

On Jan. 12, 2021, Canada and the UK announced measures that aim to prevent goods made by forced labour in Xinjiang from entering the global supply chain. Similarly, U.S. President Donald Trump banned all imports of cotton and tomato products from Xinjiang on Jan. 13.

We welcome the move, its a small step, the very first step from UK and Canada, Mahmut said. We do feel that sanctions, especially clear sanctions on individuals and the companies that [are] abusing the rights of the Uyghurs, is very important.

Protesters stand behind a display of photographs of prominent Uyghur intellectuals detained in China as they gather across from the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles on Oct. 1, 2020 during a global day of action against Chinas ruling Communist Party. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

The Way Forward: Global Actions, Alliances, and Sanctions

The panel also explored proposals for a coordinated global responsewhich has been easier said that done, according to Mareike Ohlberg, senior fellow in the Asia Program, German Marshall Fund.

We have seen more and more people in various countries across the world waking up to the challenge. Nonetheless, finding good policy on China often feels like one step forward, two steps back, Ohlberg said.

The panelists provided ideas to help counter the CCPs internal human rights abuses as well as the export of its authoritarian agenda.

European Parliament Member Reinhard Butikofer, chair of the delegation for relations with the Peoples Republic of China and co-chair of IPAC, advocated for an alliance of democracies which would go beyond mere hollow organizational promises but lead to practical efforts between democratic nations tohave each others back in countering the CCP.



This willingness to not tolerate Chinas efforts to separate and divide European and other democratic nations, and to go to them one by one, I think that is a practical necessity apart from holding a big conference, he said. If we dont live the solidarity between the democracies in everyday life, it doesnt exist.

UK MP Stephen Kinnock, shadow minister for Asia for the Labour Party, proposed two strategic pillars the UK can adopt. One is to reduce the dependence on Chinas supply chains by building its own technology base, and the another is to strengthen its alliances with other democratic countries.

Specifically, Kinnock said the UK should include CCP members on its Magnitsky sanctions list. He said the UKs Modern Slavery Act is not strong enough to enforce human rights due diligence by corporations and supply chains; instead, he suggested legislation such as the French Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law, which can directly sanction companies.

Law professor Irwin Cotler, a former Liberal justice minister and now chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and co-chair of IPAC Canada, listed 10 ways action can be taken against Chinas human rights violations.

Support the work of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China; Establish a parallel intergovernmental alliance of democracies to secure justice and stability; Enhance the parliamentary determination to label the mass atrocities against Uyghurs as genocide; Initiate global support for Magnitsky sanctions; Take action to prohibit the import of products made by slave labour and hold Beijing accountable for mass atrocities; Call for the UN to appoint an international, independent, and impartial investigation of mass atrocities in Xinjiang; Invoke legal remedies to hold Beijing accountable for the spread of the COVID-19 virus; Institute an immigration and refugee safe-harbour initiative for Hong Kongers and Uyghurs fleeing persecution; Speak out against the export of Chinas surveillance of overseas Uyghurs and Falun Gong adherents; Mobilize the International Bar Association and the American Bar Association to expose the regimes assault on the rule of law and on rights lawyers.

Teng Biao, a lawyer with the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy in Massachusetts, said the CCP threat is not just a Chinese issue, its a global issue.

If the world continues to appease the Chinese communists there will be a disaster for everyone and the western values and liberal democracy and open society will be in danger, he said. We should fundamentally change our thinking on the Chinese Communist Party.

Roughly 6,000 people watched the webinar live online, according to moderator and MLI senior fellow Charles Burton. Questions posed by viewers reflected an eagerness to learn about what young people, the grassroots, and the Chinese diaspora can do to help stop the CCPs ongoing rights abuses.

Chinas human rights ultimately concern us all, Ohlberg said.

On the occasion of the 176th anniversary of the first arrival of Indian immigrant labourers to these shores, I intend to comment briefly, through a couple of letters to the press, on the current status of Indo-Trinidadians after their presence here for over a century and a half. They may be regarded as ethnic-focused, divisive and contentious, or may be deemed irrelevant and inconsequential in these times.
Read what is in the news today:

Politics

 Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh held talks with U.S. National Security Adviser Robert OBrien on Friday.

 Party General Secretary, State President Nguyen Phu Trong has sent a congratulatory message to newly-elected General Secretary of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee Thongloun Sisoulith.

Society

 Vietnam on Friday confirmed five new imported COVID-19 cases, including an American man who flew from the U.S. to Singapore and took flight SQ178 to Ho Chi Minh City on December 31, 2020, bringing the patient tally to 1,536, with 1,380 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths.

 Border guards across Vietnam had detected 545 cases of illegal entry into the country on Friday, as of 6:00 pm, bringing the total number of border jumps since 2021 to 4,502 cases.

 People making legal entries into Vietnam by road will not have to pay for quarantine service at military-run facilities, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control said at a meeting on Friday afternoon.

 The ground-breaking ceremony of the construction of Cu Chi Regional General Hospital with an investment of more than VND1.8 trillion (US$77.95 million) took place in Tan An Hoi Commune of Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City on Friday.

 The temperature in northern mountainous provinces is forecast to plummet below zero degree Celsius again from Sunday, with sleet - a mixture of rain and snow - expected in Ha Giang and Lao Cai Provinces, under the influence of an increased cold front from Saturday night.

 Police in Hanoi are investigating a case where a nine-month-old boy in Yen Nguu Village of Tam Hiep Commune, located in Thanh Tri District, was hospitalized and died with brain death only about one hour after being sent to a nannys house in the same village on December 31, 2020.

 A large fire broke out at a footwear factory on Tay Lan Street in Binh Tri Dong A Ward of Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City at around 9:30 pm on Friday. It was put under control by 11:00 pm on the same day, with no casualties reported.

Business

 Vietnam is growing rapidly and becoming an alternative manufacturing hub for China in the low-cost supply chain, according to a report released on Thursday by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)  the research and analysis division of the media Economist Group which publishes The Economist newspaper.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Hyderabad, Jan 16 : Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender on Saturday decided not to take Covid vaccine, following a suggestion from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to politicians to give priority to healthcare workers.

The minister was scheduled to take the vaccine at Gandhi hospital on the first day.

Following the national rollout of the programme by the Prime Minister, Rajender formally launched vaccination at the hospital but returned without taking the jab.

Minister for Industry and Information Technology K.T. Rama Rao later told reporters that the decision was taken on the Prime Minister's suggestion.

"I am the captain of this (health) department," Rajender had remarked while defending his decision to inoculate himself, at a news conference on Friday evening.

However, the health minister changed his mind after Modi's suggestion. Following requests of politicians from some states, the Prime Minister advised them to wait and give preference to healthcare workers.

Public representatives are ready to take the vaccine but they will wait in view of the Prime Minister's suggestion, said Rama Rao after inaugurating the vaccination at a centre at Tilak Nagar in Hyderabad.

A total of 4,000 healthcare workers are taking the vaccine at 139 centres across Telangana on Saturday.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The Indian pharma industry has risen to the occasion and has made efforts to ensure that medicines and vaccines reach people during the pandemic, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Chairman Satish Reddy said on Friday. Speaking at the 25th Wharton India Economic Forum, he said the Indian pharma industry ensured the continuity of supplies.

He said the crisis itself presented the industry with several opportunities and allowed us to think differently. It asked us to act with a sense of urgency in the interest of the patients because they are looking at us for affordable and accessible medicines, he added. Talking about the opportunities provided by COVID-19, Reddy said that when it came to therapeutics, Indian companies have risen to the occasion, they did it by re-purposing the drugs.

They worked in a collaborative manner with the regulator, to ensure the medicines reach the market fast without compromising any safety standards, he said. "About vaccines, India is in the forefront", even before to the pandemic, around 60 per cent of the global production of vaccines came from India, he said.

When the pandemic came, it was incumbent upon Indian vaccine manufacturers to develop their own vaccines, which some companies such as Zydus and Bharat Biotech have done, and also there were collaborations, partnering with other companies, he added.

Serum Institute of India partnered with Oxford University, Dr Reddy's partnered with Gamaleya Institute of Russia. "This augurs well for the industry because they have risen to the occasion, shown a sense of urgency, got therapeutics and vaccines to the market and not only to supply to the Indian market but to the global market," Reddy said.

Currently, the Indian pharma industry is about $40 billion, with potential in the next 10 years to go to $120 billion to $130 billion. This can be done by building on the existing strengths, and by building on the newer strengths, which can take us there, he added. Right on the top of this is innovation in terms of value creation, another big opportunity in terms of value creation is in biosimilars. There is also a tremendous opportunity in active pharmaceutical ingredients and in generics also, Reddy said.

He added that Indian companies also have proved their mettle in complex and specialty generics. Speaking on the occasion, Lupin Managing Director Nilesh Gupta said the Indian pharma industry took proactive actions during the pandemic and ensured that that manufacturing continued unhindered. We have actually grown from strength to strength. Manufacturing did not stop for a single day despite all kinds of challenges, he added.

Also read: Coronavirus vaccine: Dr Reddy's gets DCGI approval to conduct Sputnik V Phase 3 trials

Also read: COVID-19 vaccination: 23 elderly people dead after Pfizer shot in Norway
Manitoba suddenly stopped booking new COVID-19 vaccination appointments on Friday because a disruption in Pfizers delivery schedule means shipments of vials will only trickle in during February.

A health-care worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccine clinic in Toronto on Thursday, January 7, 2021. Procurement Minister Anita Anand says production issues in Europe will temporarily reduce Pfizer's ability to deliver vaccines to Canada.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Manitoba suddenly stopped booking new COVID-19 vaccination appointments on Friday because a disruption in Pfizers delivery schedule means shipments of vials will only trickle in during February.

Dr. Joss Reimer, the provinces vaccination task force medical lead, broke the news on Twitter late Friday afternoon.

"We are pausing new vaccine appointments due to Pfizer supply disruptions announced today," she wrote.

Friday morning, Ottawa had announced that Pfizer would alter its shipments to Canada and other countries, as it expands the Belgium lab that manufactured most of the doses.

Next weeks shipments to Canada are expected to arrive in full, but deliveries over the following four weeks will be half of what was originally scheduled.

Shipments will be ramped up in March and should make up the difference.

In terms of numbers, roughly 20,000 fewer doses will arrive in February than originally planned. In March, Manitoba is expected to receive four times the number of doses, to make up roughly 80,000 shots.

Meanwhile, Moderna is expected to continue ramping up its shipments to Manitoba.

Reimer wrote that all appointments made to date will be honoured, and that Manitoba might change course once it gets more information. "We anticipated these issues and have contingency plans in place," she wrote.

Manitoba's record on vaccinating people against COVID-19 has been one of the slowest of all the provinces, partially due to stricter protocols on how it reserves and administers second doses.

Yet Dr. Anand Kumar, an infectious disease specialist, questioned Friday's decision to halt appointments given those precautions.

"If it was my call, I would take that first dose and broadly distribute it to anyone who's in a long-term care facility or who's aged 70 and over in the city," he told the Free Press.

Kumar, who is a an intensive-care physician at the Health Sciences Centre, said delaying the booster shot presents the risk of limited immunity. But he said even more deaths could result from leaving so many doses in cold storage.

"Even if their second dose is going to be substantially delayed, the estimate is you get 80 per cent protection with the first dose," he said. "I think that is how you're going to get the greatest impact on the health system and on the number of deaths."

On Parliament Hill, the head co-ordinator of Canadas vaccine rollout said officials have been bracing for supply-chain problems.

"This is a bump in the road, and well continue to cruise forward after that," Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin told reporters.

"We would like to have more predictability (and) assurances that the plan will unfold as we wish it to be, but theres a global demand of unprecedented proportion."

Meanwhile, Manitoba had administered 40 to 56 per cent of its received COVID-19 vaccine doses (of both Pfizer and Moderna) as of Thursday.

The province reported having 13,539 jabs in arms, including 11,401 first doses and 2,138 second doses.

(This doesnt include data on the number of doses administered by First Nations, which have received 5,300 doses of Moderna.)

As of Thursday, Manitoba had received 33,625 doses of both vaccines in total.

The province said all personal care home residents will receive their first dose of vaccine by mid-February, instead of the original target of late January.

So far, only 281 care home residents have been immunized.

"This is a fight where every day counts," NDP leader Wab Kinew told reporters.

"This failure to get the vaccine out as quickly as possible could, unfortunately, have some real-life impacts on people in our province. The flip side of that is the government still has time to turn things around and get it right."

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
(Newser)  Jacob Chansley, a costumed rioter facing federal charges after storming the Capitol last week, wasn't doing anything but "putting faith in our president and obeying law enforcement present," his lawyer said. So Al Watkins wants President Trump to pardon his client. "Mr. Chansley is an American; he served honorably in the US military. He has zero criminal history," a statement said, KSBW reports. "He is a lover of nature, routinely practices meditation, is an active practitioner of yoga, and eats only organic food." Chansley, who wore horns and carries a spear into the Capitol, wasn't trying to take over the government, Watkins said, per KTVI. "He took seriously the countless messages of President Trump. He believed in President Trump. Like tens of millions of other Americans, Chansley feltfor the first time in his lifeas though his voice was being heard."

story continues below

A judge in Phoenix ordered Chansley held until his trial; he'll be given only organic food during his detention. He's been a regular for two years at far-right events in Arizona, per the Washington Post, and supports QAnon. Chansley has tattoos of white nationalist symbols. He told the Post last week he wasn't concerned about being arrested. "I know that I didnt do anything wrong," he said. "And even if I was arrested, wasn't Gandhi arrested a lot? Wasn't Martin Luther King Jr. arrested a lot? Wasnt Jesus arrested? I put my trust in God, not the government." His lawyer, who identified Chansley as a shaman, said Trump has an obligation to pardon his "peaceful followers who accepted the president's invitation." Prosecutors in Arizona arguing to keep Chansley in custody said he said he'd indicated he'd like to attend President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration this week in Washington, per ABC. (Read more Capitol attack stories.)
Dundalk artist Adrienne Finnerty has work on show in The Drawing Box, a touring exhibition curated by Diane Henshaw, the arts officer for Fermanagh & Omagh District Council, which is now on view virtually from the Galway Arts Centre.

Adrienne, who is now based in Barna, Co Galway, was instrumental in getting the exhibition to the City of the Tribes, after it opened in December in Fermanagh and before it travels to global venues.

The Drawing Box Facebook group was created in 2012 by John Crabtree, Andrew Crane, Patil Rajendra, and Diane Henshaw, with the idea of linking Irish and International artists who had an interest in contemporary drawing and global networking.

This went on to manifest itself in the form of a major small works unframed and unfunded touring exhibition and online network for members. Eventually the original drawing box expo went to archive and was gifted, post the international tour, to The National Irish Visual Arts Library in Dublin.

However, the group lapsed into inactivity, but was rekindled in March 2020 by Diane Henshaw. She invited 40 selected and culturally diverse members to post pre-recorded studio video clips and stills of artwork. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland awarded Diane some emergency Covid-19 arts funding to administrate the studio visits for the group.

Throughout 2020, the re-activated Drawing Box has helped to give artists some unique and unusual opportunities to be profiled internationally through the networks created, as well as through programming being developed, such as meeting the artist via online studio visits and exhibitions.

The Drawing Box can be viewed on www.galwayartscentre.ie and continues until January 16.

Adrienne was also one of the group 24 artists who shared work on Facebook in the very successful Art in Lockdown project, along with Petra Berntsson, Niamh O'Connor, Kate Bergin, and Roisin Duffy from Louth and Monaghan.

The exhibition proved extremely popular and earned some much needed sales for the artists at a time when physical galleries were closed.
ED files chargesheet in 2015 Telangana cash-for-vote scam case under PMLA 27 May 2021 | 9:26 PM New Delhi, May 27 (UNI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said that said it has filed a chargesheet against Telangana Congress MP A Revanth Reddy, TRS MLA Venkata Veeraiah, and a few others under provisions of the Prevention of Money-laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the alleged 2015 cash-for-vote scam. see more..

IB, RAW Chiefs get one-year extension,J&K CS will be new Commerce Secretary 27 May 2021 | 8:51 PM New Delhi, May 27 (UNI) The Centre on Thursday issued order giving one year of extension to the service of both internal and external intelligence agencies while the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary is now posted as Commerce Secretary in Centre. see more..

Additional 80,000 vials of Amphotericin-B allocated to states, UTs, central institutions: Sadananda Gowda 27 May 2021 | 8:04 PM New Delhi, May 27 (UNI) Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers D V Sadananda Gowda announced that the additional 80,000 vials of Amphotericin-B, used in the treatment

for Mucormycosis, have been allocated to all the states, Union Territories (UTs) and central institutions on Thursday. see more..

UNI NEWS DIGEST AT 2000 HRS FOR MAY 27, 2021 27 May 2021 | 8:01 PM Bhubaneswar: PM to hold review meetings, make aerial survey of Cyclone Yaas hit areas in Odisha, WB

New Delhi : G-7 trade ministers to discuss WTO reform (DI11)

: Twitter concerned for its employees in India (DI10)

Chandigarh : Amarinder extends Covid restrictions till June 10, reprieve for users of pvt vehicles as limit removed (DR29)

Vijayawada : AP govt postpones 10th class examinations due to Covid (MS19)

Mumbai : Mah govt preps up to save children from 3rd COVID wave (BY11)

: Sensex advances 97.70 pts (DC18)

Moscow :Facebook no longer removes posts claiming COVID-19 man-made - Spokesperson (FN60)

: Real Madrid says Zinedine Zidane resigned as football club's head coach (SPD6)

UNI JAL JW2000. see more..
Although caste is a crucial reality in West Bengal, a declining Dalit movement post partition, the neglect of caste questions by the Left Front, and the failure of forging a broader Dalit solidarity due to fragmented Dalit constituencies have led to the invisibility of caste in the politics of the state.

Bengalis have no understanding of caste, Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd once said in an interview in Kolkata (Bhattacharya 2018). Although caste has an important role in the social and political domain of West Bengal, the Bengali bhadralok does not seem to have any understanding of the role of caste. Apart from Shepherd, several other scholars have also doubted the dominant narrative of the absence of caste in West Bengals politics. Ashok Mitra wrote, there must be something odd about a state which, professedly so secular and anti-sectarian, has yet not produced a single Jagjivan Ram, Kamraj, Buta Singh or Rafi Ahmed Kidwai to hold major portfolio (Sen 2018b). Analysing the 2009 general elections, Ashis Nandy wrote that despite a communist state government for three decades, West Bengal is one state in India, for instance, where you cannot even dream of having a Dalit chief minister (Sen 2018a). One of the popular discourses among the elite Bengali bhadralok is that West Bengal is casteless and exceptional compared to other states. This sense of uniqueness and departure from the rest of India forms one of the features of the Bengali identity. It is not considered civil to bring up issues related to caste in polite urban conversation as these discussions seem provocative and rude for the gentle casteless society (Chatterjee 2015).

In West Bengal, Dalits comprise 23.51% of the total population, the third highest Dalit population among Indian states (Table 1). As much as 10.66% of the entire Dalit population of India lives in West Bengal, the second highest on a pan-India level (Table 1). Despite one of the largest Dalit populations in India and a significant experience of Dalit mobilisation in the late colonial period (Sen 2018b: 22), caste was never a determinant political category in the electoral realm. None of the major political parties championed the cause of any caste groups (Chandra et al 2015), and caste was never an electoral issue for the two dominant political parties, the Congress and the Left Front (Chatterjee 2012). In this context, the question arises: Does caste not matter in the current socio-economic and political landscape of West Bengal?
Chennai:

Expressing confidence that the rival factions of the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu would re-unite, state Forest Minister C Sreenivasan on Wednesday told the Assembly that if there was a separation among brothers, it would be followed by a coming together.



Without naming the rival AIADMK factions or referring to the present limbo in the efforts for a patch-up between them, he quoted a song from a film starring AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran, Urimaikural, to express his confidence that the ties would revive.



The gist of the song is if there is a separation among brothers, their relationship would revive again. Sreenivasan, the next-in-command to Chief Minister E K Palaniswami in the government, said they were all identified with MGR and groomed by late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

ALSO READ: Stalin, DMK MLAs detained after facing eviction from Tamil Nadu Assembly



He said Palaniswami had taken up the responsibility of steering this family, a remark seen as a reference to the government as also the ruling party. We are working with him as colleagues and brothers, said Sreenivasan.



Subsequently, the minister started giving his reply to the discussion on the demands for grants for his department. Though rebel leader O Panneerselvam had, a few days ago, disbanded a panel which was set up to facilitate the merger of the two factions saying that the people were not in favour of their unification, the ruling AIADMK Amma faction, led by the chief minister, had asked him to reconsider the decision.



AIADMK deputy general secretary T T V Dhinakaran had also expressed hope that Panneerselvam would review his stand and join them.

ALSO READ: Trust vote in TN: DMK seeks hearing of plea on reported pay-offs to AIADMK MLAs

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Exxon Mobil Corp. shares dropped more than 5% after a newspaper report said the company is being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly overvaluing a key asset in the Permian Basin.

The probe stems from a whistleblower complaint that during a 2019 internal assessment workers were forced to use unrealistic assumptions about how quickly wells could be drilled to reach a higher valuation, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. At least one of the workers who complained was fired in 2020, the Journal said.

The probe may cast a shadow over Exxon's efforts to turn a corner after its shares posted their worst annual performance in 40 years in 2020 amid a collapse in oil prices. Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods has been forced to slash spending, and last month the company said it will write down the value of North and South American natural gas fields by as much as $20 billion.

Exxon fell 5.3% to $47.62 at 10:08 a.m. in New York, ending a nine-day rally. The SEC declined to comment. Exxon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

It's not the first time Exxon has been probed by the SEC over how it values assets. In 2016, Exxon was questioned by the regulator about why the company appeared immune from the multi-billion write downs affecting the rest of the industry. The issue was resolved without any action being taken.

The SEC requires oil companies to report with reasonable certainty the volume of reserves in wells that are profitable at a price set by the agency the year before. Those wells must be drilled within five years of being added to a company's books. The calculations take into account the rate at which a well's production is likely to decline, how closely the wells are drilled, land and capital costs, as well as the price per barrel of crude.

The SEC adopted new reporting rules in 2009, lobbied by Chesapeake Energy Corp. and others who said the old ones weren't fit for the coming shale boom. Before the rule change, there was a series of reserve scandals that involved Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which the agency fined $120 million in 2004, leading to the exit of top executives, and a few years later El Paso Corp., which settled charges for inflating reserves. Both companies settled without admitting or denying wrongdoing.
Iraqi authorities announced on Saturday the arrest of 20 members of an organized crime network and the seizure of nearly seven kilograms (15 pounds) of crystal meth and over 14,000 pills.

The Iraqi Military Intelligence office in Baghdad displayed the seized items at a news briefing, which included three machine guns, four handguns and four grenades.

Five vehicles and four motorcycles were also seized according to a statement released by the authorities.

The Iraqi Armed Forces spokesperson said the 20 suspects had outstanding warrants for their arrest related to drug charges.

In the statement, it said they were connected to international crime networks and operated within that network.

The operation was carried by the Iraqi Military Intelligence Service and the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Command in the capital Baghdad.

(IMAGE CREDITS:PTI)

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)

Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has conducted the second and last phase of a drill launching anti-warship ballistic missiles at a simulated target in the Indian Ocean, state television reported.

The drill on January 16 comes amid heightened tensions over Tehrans nuclear program and a U.S. pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic.

Footage showed two missiles smash into a target that Iranian state television described as hypothetical hostile enemy ships at a distance of 1,800 kilometers.

In the first phase of the drill on January 15, the IRGC launched several surface-to-surface ballistic missiles against simulated enemy bases in the country's central desert as part of the exercises.

Iran has a missile capability range of up to 2,000 kilometers, enough to reach its sworn enemy Israel and U.S. military bases in the Middle East.

Iran has increased its military drills in recent weeks with tensions building during the final days of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Last week, Irans navy held two-day short-range missile exercises in the Gulf of Oman. Those followed an IRGC naval parade in the Persian Gulf.

Tensions between the United States and Iran have risen since 2018, when Trump withdrew Washington from an international nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, arguing that the 2015 accord did not go far enough.

The U.S. administration also imposed crippling sanctions on Iran as part of a maximum pressure campaign aimed at forcing Tehran to negotiate a new agreement that would also address the countrys missile programs and its support for regional proxies.

Iran, which claims its nuclear program is for civilian purposes, says that the countrys missile program and regional policies are off the table.

Since the U.S. pullout and economic sanctions, Tehran has breached parts of the nuclear pact -- under which Tehran committed to limit its nuclear activities in return for relief from sanctions -- saying it is no longer bound by it.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who will be inaugurated on January 20, has suggested that Washington may reenter the deal if Iran complies with its terms.

But Iranian officials insist that the United States should first lift its sanctions.

With reporting by AP, ISNA, and Press TV
Liv Tyler revealed Friday on Instagram that she had been sickened with COVID-19 at the start of the new year.

The 43-year-old actress shared the news in a sweet post showing her joyous reunion with her son Sailor Gene, five, and daughter Lula Rose, four.

Ironically, the health scare came months after Tyler exited her series 9-1-1: Lonestar over fears of contracting the coronavirus during filming.

Recovered: Liv Tyler, 43, revealed Friday on Instagram that she tested positive for COVID-19 on New Year's Eve and had just been cleared to reunite with her children after isolating for two weeks

Tyler wasn't taking any chances in her family photo, where she wore a blue surgical mask while dressed in a black robe.

Sailor and Lula both looked as if they had just woken up, with both wearing pajama sets.

The children beamed ear-to-ear while their mother tenderly embraced them.

'Reunited with my loves ... what a wild 2 weeks,' she began her lengthy caption. 'Im such a private and shy person and usually dont share such things but this is a big one and i feel we all need to share our stories, to share information, to gather facts and awareness and mostly to know we are not alone in this.'

In a bad place: She wrote that COVID-19 'comes on fast, like a locomotive,' and she was filled with 'feelings of fear, shame and guilt' over who gave it to her and whom she might have infected; seen in January 2020

The Lord Of The Rings actress wrote that she got her positive test back on New Year's Eve.

'S*** I had made it all the way through 2020 keeping myself and my family safe,' she continued. 'Doing everything i could to protect my wolf pack and follow the rules to protect others. Suddenly on The morn of the last day of 2020... boom it took me down.'

She wrote that COVID-19 'comes on fast, like a locomotive,' and she was filled with 'feelings of fear, shame and guilt' as she wondered who she might have been infected by and worried about who she might have infected.

'Luckily the rest of my family and bubble were negative,' she added.

Mild case: She was lucky to have 'corona light,' but it still left her in bed for 10 days. 'It Fs with your body and mind equally,' she wrote; seen in 2019 in Hollywood

The Armageddon star reiterated that the virus can affect people in drastically different ways.

'I was so lucky and had corona light as my momma @realbebebuell called it,' she joked, though it still made her sick enough that she spent 10 days in bed.

'There is the physical aspects but also emotional and psychological ones too. It Fs with your body and mind equally. Everyday different. Being isolated in a room alone for 10 days is trippy to say the least,' she continued, adding that news of the deadly riot on the Capitol Building by a pro-Trump mob left her questions if it was 'real or the twilight zone [sic].'

Amid the uncertainty at the start of 2021, Tyler's love for her children was a constant.

'I missed My babies beyond but they visited my window and called up to me and I watch them play outside. Such a gift,' she wrote. 'They sent little messages and drawings under my door. Reminders of whats on the other side. What to get better for.'

Sweet: 'I missed My babies beyond but they visited my window and called up to me and I watch them play outside. Such a gift,' she wrote

The daughter of Steven Tyler concluded her post by counting everything she was thankful for after coming out safely on the other side of her illness.

'I am so grateful to be through it and spent my days alone praying and beaming love to all who are effected and suffering from this,' she wrote. 'Those who are working tirelessly to protect and care for others. Thank you. We are all connected through this experience.

'I am Humbled and filled with gratitude to be well, a gift and beaming love and light to all those who have left this world because of this virus and those who are suffering. Sending love and imaginary universal hugs to all,' she concluded.

Safety first: In September, Liv exited her popular Fox series 9-1-1: Lonestar due to fears about contracting the novel coronavirus while filming

Risks: The London-based actress would have had to travel to LA, where the show is shot, and being on set could increase her likelihood of catching the virus; still from 9-1-1: Lonestar

Liv was likely at home in London, where she lives with her partner David Gardner, during her convalescence.

The film and television star has been concerned about the possibility of contracting COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic last year, and in September she exited her popular Fox series 9-1-1: Lonestar over fears that filming could increase her risk.

Though she's based in London, she would have had to fly to Los Angeles to film the show, which stands in for its Austin, Texas, setting.

She opted to cut out the traveling and maskless work to quarantine at home with her family, though even that wasn't enough to protect her.

Safe at home: She shares her son Sailor, five, and daughter Lula, four, with her partner David Gardner. She also has an older son, Milo, 16, from her marriage to rocker Royston Langdon

Liv met her partner David, a manager for entertainers and athletes, in 2014, and the couple were engaged in July 2015.

Before that, they welcomed their son Sailor in February 2015, and Lula followed in July 2016.

The Leftovers actress was previously married to the English musician Royston Langdon, of the glam rock band Spacehog, from 2003 until their divorce in 2008.

They share an older son, Milo, 16, who was born in 2004.


Can Americans still have a sensible and friendly political discussion across the partisan divide? The answer is yes, and we intend to prove it. Julie Roginsky, a Democrat, and Mike DuHaime, a Republican, are consultants who have worked on opposite teams for their entire careers yet have remained friends throughout. Here, they discuss the weeks events with Tom Moran, editorial page editor of The Star-Ledger.

Q. The vote to impeach President Trump a second time came just one week after the mob attack on the Capitol  without hearings, a historic first. Should that concern us, as a precedent, or is Trumps guilt so clear that hearings were not needed?

Julie: The grand jurors witnessed the evidence firsthand, since the defendant incited a mob to forge into the grand jury room and do the jurors harm. What more do members of the House need to see, having lived the crime in real time? You might argue that the victim should not sit as a grand juror, but our Founding Fathers apparently never contemplated a scenario where the head of the executive branch would declare war on the legislative branch when putting in place the mechanisms for ousting a sitting president.

Mike: Unprecedented events lead to unprecedented responses. Two months of lies about the election results and inflammatory language raising false hopes and stoking anger were on full display for all to witness. A cop was murdered. Four others died. I have no issue with Congress moving quickly. The president will have a right to mount his defense in the Senate trial.

If you concede that POTUS bears responsibility for unleashing a mob on a co-equal branch of government that killed Americans and put many others in harm's way and you pretend to be a constitutionalist, under which scenario should impeachment should be used, if not for this? https://t.co/4NFHqj6uQa  Julie Roginsky (@julieroginsky) January 13, 2021

Q. If the Senate eventually votes to convict, it can also vote to bar Trump from running for office again. Would that be wise? Would it risk making him a martyr to his followers and lead to violence in 2024?

Julie: Thats like asking if a mob boss needs to be appeased at sentencing so that his capos dont go on a shooting spree. Trump fomented sedition against our government by urging on an attack against a co-equal branch of government. He should be convicted and prevented from holding the most powerful office in the world ever again. I have long believed that Gerald Fords pardon of Richard Nixon sent a signal to Trump that he can act with impunity. If Trump is not held accountable now, there will be another Trump who will believe that he is above the law, no matter how many laws he violates. And he will be right.

I remember when we had two presidents in a row that werent impeached. That was great.  Mike DuHaime (@MikeDuHaime) January 13, 2021

Mike: Meet strength with strength, not appeasement. Trump will remain powerful in the GOP base regardless of the Senate action, but make no mistake, he will be diminished. His reputation is being destroyed. The future business of he and his children is being decimated. His main communications platform has been taken away. And he wont be president any more, which naturally means his actions are less important. In America, I would prefer that we beat our opponents at the ballot box, not bar them from running, but senators must decide if the slim chance that he could come back to office poses a national security threat.

We need millions to quit like this.



"I dont choose to participate in such a nihilistic political party. Ill stand on my own as an independent...Until the GOP comes to its senses and returns to true republican and federal principles, I will not be back." https://t.co/2ZQ2gpKQ9W  Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) January 12, 2021

Q. Rep. Mikie Sherrill is furious at Republican colleagues, so far unnamed, who she says escorted visitors around the Capitol on a reconnaissance mission a day before the mob attack. Im going to see theyre held accountable, she vowed. What do you make of that?

Julie: Rep. Sherrill is hardly a bomb thrower, so she is clearly making this allegation based on some real concrete evidence. Assuming her concerns are borne out, these Republican members helped to reconnoiter an attack against the United States government. They should be expelled from the House by a bipartisan vote and held legally accountable.

Mike: Rep. Sherrill was a navy pilot and not one who makes wild accusations about Republicans. In fact, shes gone out of her way to work constructively with Republicans like State Sen. Tony Bucco on COVID relief. So, I take her allegation very seriously and want to hear more. Any member of Congress complicit in the attack should be expelled and prosecuted.

Today I joined with more than 30 of my colleagues in requesting an investigation from the Acting House SAA, Acting Senate SAA, and USCP into the suspicious behavior and access given to visitors to the Capitol Complex on Jan. 5, 2021 - the day before the attacks on the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/zpPUSUuSrj  Rep. Mikie Sherrill (@RepSherrill) January 13, 2021

Q. Trump wont attend the inauguration, and the FBI warns of violence there and at state capitols on Jan. 20. What do you expect? And is white supremacist violence likely to become a regular feature in the Biden era?

Julie: White supremacist violence is already a regular feature. How many more warnings do we need from law enforcement that it is a huge national security threat? Just look at the people who overran the Capitol, waving Confederate flags, wearing Camp Auschwitz shirts and openly declaring that six million Jewish deaths at the hands of the Nazis were not enough. This whole notion of Stop the Steal, parroted by the majority of the House Republican Caucus, focuses on alleged fraud in the inner cities of swing states.

Pentagon watchdog to launch probe of white supremacists in the military https://t.co/yCWUqBaa4x pic.twitter.com/ZCgjihPYFZ  The Hill (@thehill) January 14, 2021

Julie: Who do we think they are talking about when they talk about inner cities? Its not a dog whistle, its a bullhorn. We have seen this movie before here in the United States  most recently about a century ago. It took an apocalyptic event like World War II to send these people back to the shadows of polite society, though Donald Trump has now given them license to speak their mind in prime-time shows on Fox News and other widely-consumed media outlets.

Mike: When the intellectual conservative movement in the US was founded in the 1960s behind leaders like William F. Buckley, they battled to keep the John Birch Society types, the white supremacist racists, out of the movement. The sense was, Just because we both voted for Goldwater doesnt mean we are on the same side. Republicans are faced with making that distinction again now.

Q. In New Jersey, the vaccine rollout has been going relatively poorly, behind states like Texas or Florida. Gov. Phil Murphy this week opened eligibility to millions more people, including anyone 65 or over and those with certain pre-existing conditions. Why was Jersey lagging, again, and will this move solve the problem?

Julie: I have no idea why New Jersey has been lagging and I doubt the many residents clamoring for this vaccine care about the reasons. I can tell you that my elderly parents are eligible but are still waiting to get inoculated. Opening up eligibility is a great first move but if the governor doesnt move heaven and earth to get those shots into arms, elderly New Jerseyans will continue to be virtual shut-ins, kids wont get back to school because their teachers arent vaccinated, and small businesses will continue to suffer.

Mike: The Governors handling of COVID will determine his re-election, end of story (period, full stop, as the governor says). If kids get back to school, adults get back to work, and those who want vaccinations get vaccinated, he will be re-elected. All the other issues are window dressing this year. I am sure his team knows that (so do his opponents). In a few months, we must go from a few hundred thousand vaccinated to millions. This is a logistics and management issue with political consequences.

Q. Finally, Sen. Loretta Weinberg, the liberal lioness of the Legislature, is retiring at age 85. A champion of womens rights, a pioneer on gay rights, and a pit bull for commuters and liberal causes in general, she made me laugh a million times and I admit I love her. What are your thoughts?

Julie: Senator Weinberg is a trailblazer who has singlehandedly made the world a better place for women, people of color, the LGBTQ community and so many other disenfranchised groups. She didnt just run with the boys, she ran circles around them. She pioneered landmark legislation that ensures employers will no longer be able to use NDAs to silence workers who want to speak up about toxic work issues. Her vision will one day become federal law but millions of women across this state are already better off because of her hard work in giving them back their voice. If I can have one-tenth of the impact on the world that she has, I will consider my life well-lived.

Mike: Well said, Julie. Sen. Weinberg is a trailblazer, a patriot and icon in New Jersey government and politics. Shes tough, she cares, and shes left an indelible impression on our world. The state is better thanks to her service.

Clarification: This post has been updated to reflect the fact that New Jersey has lagged other states on the vaccine rollout, but may be picking up the pace. The CDC still ranked us 29th out of 50 states in vaccines administered per capita on Friday. But another tracker, by Bloomberg, now ranks us 19th.

Since 1992, @SenatorLorettaW has been a singular voice in the State House championing progressive action. I dont think we need to speak about cementing a legacy  Loretta built an incredible one all by herself.  Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) January 13, 2021

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It is time for me to speak my truth, which is also lies.



A message from your trusted House minority leader.pic.twitter.com/StnDnmDlYt  Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) January 12, 2021

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.
Boeing Co.s engineering failures didnt begin or end with the 737 MAX. Its once-dominant space program, which helped put Americans on the moon five decades ago, has also struggled.

The companys biggest space initiatives have been dogged by faulty designs, software errors and chronic cost overruns. It has lost out on recent contracts with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to return science experiments and astronauts to the moon, amid low rankings on price and technical merit. Boeing needs revenues from its defense and space arm, which makes everything from military jets to satellites, as a safety net as it navigates through the MAX crisis and slowed demand for new commercial jets in the pandemic.

Its space ambitions will soon face a major test with another attempt to launch a capsule called the Starliner. In the first launch, just over a year ago without astronauts on board, a software error sent the Starliner into the wrong orbit, and then another threatened a catastrophic end to the mission. A successful launch, which could come as soon as March, would help restore the companys reputation for reliability and engineering prowess.

The problems pose a serious challenge for Chief Executive David Calhoun one year into his tenure as he charts a new course in the face of uncertainties wrought by the pandemic.

After making record profit of $10.5 billion in 2018, Boeing has since lost nearly half that amount as of Sept. 30, largely due to a sharp drop in commercial aircraft deliveries and MAX-related charges. Defense and space revenue of $19.5 billion in the first nine months of last year eclipsed its commercial units $11.4 billion in sales. Jefferies analysts estimate Boeing brought in more than $6 billion in space revenue for all of last year.

While the MAX has resumed flying passengers again after a nearly two-year grounding, quality lapses with popular 787 Dreamliners have stalled deliveries as Boeing workers fix production defects of newly finished jetliners. With travel demand still weak, Boeing is likely to remain heavily dependent in coming years on its defense and space business.

Boeing declined to make any executives available for interviews. Mr. Calhoun said in a written statement that the company was proud of all the products and services our engineers have developed and delivered to our commercial and military customers over these last difficult years, and of the meaningful progress we are making in safety, transparency and quality."

On the Starliner capsule and MAX alike, software and hardware systems werent working properly together due to inadequate testing, insufficient resources or a combination of the two. Engineers working on different parts of the same program failed to coordinate with each other or to properly integrate software and hardware systemsand senior managers failed to resolve the disconnects, according to government reviews and people familiar with the matter.

Boeings defense operation has seen similar missteps. The division has had long-running problems delivering an aerial-refueling tanker that remains years behind schedule and billions over budget. Air Force brass ultimately took charge of designing fixes last year.

The stumbles coincided with what former and current executives, including Mr. Calhoun, have flagged as another problem: excessive focus on financial performance, a long-term trend Boeing is trying to reverse by empowering its engineers.

Senior Pentagon and NASA officials have privately raised concerns about the range of Boeings travails, according to several participants in those conversations. They have questioned Boeings ability to deliver on promises about the performance and reliability of its products.

An Air Force spokesman said the service is committed to working with Boeing to field critical capabilities for the warfighter." NASA officials have said the agency is looking forward to Boeings coming uncrewed test and later company missions carrying astronauts.

Mr. Calhoun, who took over as CEO in January 2020 after spending a decade on Boeings board, has pledged to get the companys troubled programs back on track and to focus more on improving technical excellence and engineering decision-making.

The company has revamped its internal safety-reporting procedures and the boards monitoring of overall safety issuesall aimed at easing schedule and cost pressures on engineers and giving senior leaders greater oversight of emerging problems. In November, Boeing hired an engineer who previously worked at Elon Musks Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, to be its first high-ranking executive overseeing software design across the company. On Wednesday, the company named a longtime senior engineer as its first chief aerospace safety officer.

There are early signs Boeings troubled Air Force tanker program, initially slated to cost $4.9 billion but later viewed as an albatross by senior Pentagon leaders, is getting on track. Under a deal with Boeing struck last year, the Pentagon wound up taking over the primary design of a revamped visual system essential for allowing aircraft to safely link up with the tankers. Boeings previous design adjustments proved ineffective, according to the Air Force, often preventing the tanker from performing its primary function.

In exchange for ceding control over the technical details, Boeing got nearly $900 million in withheld payments when it was bleeding cash. In return, it must foot the bill for major design changes, which some people familiar with the matter estimate could add up to at least $3 billion more in costs for Boeing, though a person close to the company disputed that the costs would reach that high.

Air Force procurement chief Will Roper said the Pentagon is happy with the tankers new direction, and described it as the result of an engineering-first" approach under Mr. Calhoun. Mr. Roper said Boeings shift marked a complete turnaround on this program."

Since the height of the Cold War, Boeings name has been synonymous with dependable jetliners, top-notch military aircraft and ambitious U.S. space endeavorsstarting with rockets and lunar rovers the company created for Apollo astronauts in the 1960s and continuing through its ongoing management of the International Space Station.

Some former Boeing engineers and government officials trace the start of Boeings woes to its 1997 merger with struggling rival McDonnell Douglas, which they blame for infusing the new entitys culture with greater focus on financial management. While veteran engineers have said they never lost sight of safety, some say reorganizations and turnover hampered communication and accountability.

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D., Ore.), who as chairman of the House Transportation Committee investigated the MAX tragedies, blamed Boeings failure to add initial safeguards to the jet on the companys focus on money and sticking to a development schedule. That is what ultimately drove Boeing to this tragedy, which is the press for getting this plane out, to compete with Airbus, and they were of course driven by Wall Street," Mr. DeFazio said in September.

Boeing has said its engineers didnt rush what it has described as the MAXs methodical development and didnt take shortcuts at the expense of safety. The company has said it was trying to learn from its mistakes to prevent such crashes from happening again. Boeing reached a $2.5 billion settlement this month with the Justice Department on a criminal charge that two company pilots had deceived regulators about design slip-ups and flight-control hazards. In court documents, prosecutors said the wrongdoing financially benefited Boeing but wasnt widespread throughout the company.

In Boeings defense and space businesses, an increased reliance on fixed-price government contracts has squeezed profit margins because the company typically had to pay the bill for mistakes, further heightening cost and schedule pressures. Meanwhile, Boeings large overhead on top of its multilayered bureaucracy has made it difficult to compete with more nimble rivals such as SpaceX.

The launch of the uncrewed Starliner spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center in December 2019 was supposed to be a decisive win for Boeing. The companys leaders planned for directors and other VIPs to enjoy space-themed gift bags and cheering from a grandstand during a party after the early-morning liftoff.

Within minutes of the launch, NASAs controllers knew the flight was going wrong. A software error stranded the spacecraft in the wrong orbit. Hours later, ground controllers had difficulty maintaining communication with the vehicle, and later scrambled to fix another major software mistake.

The Starliner, which never made it to the International Space Station as planned, eventually returned and landed safely.

NASA and Boeing experts quickly determined the capsules thrusters had failed to start at the right time and ended up depleting their fuel supply, due to faulty software testing, according to industry and government officials. NASAs leadership, concerned Boeing had a broader cultural problem in light of the MAX crisis, ordered a sweeping outside review, resulting in dozens of recommendations. Many advocated greater attention to plugging gaps in getting software and hardware to work together properly.

Two fundamental software problems emerged on the Starliner. One involved a timer on the capsule that hadnt been properly synchronized with the rockets internal clock. Boeing didnt perform a test to verify various software systems were properly coordinated, which people familiar with the matter estimated would have caught the error, at a cost of about $1 million.

A separate major mistake involved software controlling thrusters that help to angle the craft properly to avoid damaging the heat shield that protects the capsule, and any astronauts inside, during re-entry. Engineers detected and were able to correct that software glitch from the ground in time to ensure that what would be the crews portion of the capsule safely separated from the rest of the spacecraft before re-entry.

After the botched mission, Boeings boardalready frustrated by the MAX crisisousted then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg and replaced him with Mr. Calhoun. Mr. Muilenburg had once boasted that Boeing would be first to put humans on Mars. The company booked a $410 million charge to account for the Starliner launchs redo.

Current and former government and industry officials blame the spotty testing on cost-cutting and inadequate staff. Boeing was years late delivering the Starliner under a fixed-price contract that created incentives for managers to keep a lid on testing and personnel costs. In addition, the company was vying with SpaceX to get the first astronauts into orbit on a commercially owned and operated capsule. Mr. Musks team handily won that race with launches in May and November. Another closely held competitor, run by Amazon.com Inc.s founder Jeff Bezos, is also taking aim at Boeings legacy of space leadership.

A NASA spokesman said deadline pressures and cost cutting were not identified" by a joint NASA-Boeing review team as causes of the Starliners problems.

Patricia Sanders, chairwoman of NASAs independent safety-advisory committee, said the signs point to basic lapses in Boeings engineering discipline. Its possible that there was some complacency that set in," she said, adding that Boeing leaders now seem to realize they have to change course. There is a sense that Boeing overall has woken up."

Boeing, under pressure from government officials, has added software engineers to the Starliner team, industry officials said. A newly appointed program manager, John Vollmer, is known for his ability to execute on difficult programs, according to people familiar with the matter, and is prodding Starliner engineers to more thoroughly test software and address problems identified by the flurry of post-failure reviews.

A Boeing spokesman said the company is poised to begin full-mission simulation testing as soon as next month after making software changes recommended by an independent review ordered by NASA.

Kathy Lueders, NASAs head of human space exploration, has singled out the agencys overreliance on Boeings traditional engineering expertise as the crux of the Starliners failures. Rather than reflexively trusting Boeings technical judgment in most mattersas NASA had long donewe do need to change our assumptions as to how we are working together" to ensure Boeing avoids mistakes, she told reporters in July. The upshot was tighter restrictions on Boeings engineering decisions.

NASA has ramped up its own staffing and oversight of Boeing, acknowledging it probably paid too much attention to keeping tabs on Mr. Musks company, until recent years viewed by career agency officials as an outsider and upstart.

In addition, government watchdogs have criticized Boeing for persistently missing deadlines and busting budgets as the prime contractor for the nations premier deep-space rocket, the mammoth Space Launch System. Every major component of the heavy-lift booster has experienced technical challenges and performance issues, according to a March 2020 report from NASAs inspector general, resulting in at least $2 billion in recent cost increases. Additional delays could add another $8 billion.

After nearly a decade of development, it still isnt slated to fly until November at the earliest. A long-awaited test intended to fire up all four main engines for the first time is scheduled for Saturday.

As its engineers work to vet the Starliners software, the Boeing spokesman said, the company will perform a full end-to-end test of the capsules mission, from prelaunch to landing. For the next blastoff, people familiar with the matter said, Boeing isnt planning to hold a flashy party.





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Spectacular Yet Scary Images, Video from Oregon / Washington Coast King Tides

Published 01/16/21 at 3:06 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Seaside, Oregon)  This past week, with numerous flood and high surf events, made for some spectacular but scary images along the Oregon and Washington coast. Documented in stills and video are some excessively stupid behavior but mostly jaw-dropping nature. You see the Pacific Ocean at its most angry at times.

Here is a compilation:

Westport, WA: January 10, 2021 Today we opted to capture the coastline as Westport, WA braced against the first big storm of 2021. We wanted to document the toll these storms are taking on our beaches and precious dunes. Also, to show you why it's essential to stay off the beaches during high tide and large swells. Always be aware and be safe out there. King tides start tomorrow through Wednesday. Posted by Capture.Share.Repeat. on Sunday, January 10, 2021

The Westport, Washington video is one of the most astounding. That area is known for its gargantuan waves on the harbors waterfront, but the outer sea area clearly has its frightening aspects. Its the Washington coast you dont normally see.

On one of those sunnier days of the king tides, Angi Wildt of Angi D Wildt Gallery in Astoria caught the rollicking waves near the tip of Tillamook Head.



Also in Seaside, Seaside Aquarium snagged this photo (at the top of story) of some gnarly ocean debris covering the parking lot in the Cove. The area got seriously battered over the weekend. If you see fresh debris like this in a storm area, stay away from it. Its a sure sign waves have been there. And if they have been in that spot depositing stuff, there will be another.

The Cove was a little wild today! Posted by Tiffany Boothe on Tuesday, January 12, 2021

In this video, you can see how and why the parking lot was so littered. Captured by Tiffany Boothe of Seaside, the parking lot is crammed with cars watching the surf. Bad idea, it turns out. Those waves are big and angry and they occasionally had their sights set on the parking area. You can hear the screams as one massive wave comes bounding in and smacks the cars.

More utterly spectacular wave action was captured on video at Coos Bays Shore Acres State Park on the south coast.





Flooding was clearly an issue. At Seasides airport, Angi D Wildt Gallery owner Angi Wildt snagged this shot of an airport that was more akin to a submarine base over the weekend.

Other areas receiving horrendous flooding issues included Nehalem on the north Oregon coast, where some social media posts showed a good foot of water in many areas.

In a nasty combo of flooding and extreme wave action, Cannon Beachs Mos Chowder had a surge break its windows. It was shut down for a time. This has happened before; part of the risk of being so oceanfront in the Tolovana area.

Wildt also snapped this impressive shot of king tides attacking the Seaside Turnaround. The tides, even on most heavy surf days, are a good 500  1,000 feet out there. This weeks king tide event showed the legendary structure getting smothered by waves.

Perhaps the most frightening display of wave action on the whole of the Oregon coast was this video captured by Rose Drea Frost at Cannon Beach. She was far from the melee when she heard some screaming. Peeking around the corner in video mode, she captured two women running from what almost looks like a tsunami.

Posted by Drea Rose Frost on Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Again, you can see all that debris in the concrete walkway: a sign waves have been there. Indeed, you see them get caught in just such a wave. Also noted by Frost is the humongous log getting tossed by the surge, almost appearing as if the log is chasing them.

Many of these images and video are amazing but they also stand as warnings for future storms. These people got lucky. Theres only so much luck to go around when it comes to high wave events on the Oregon and Washington coast.

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A television company is planning to feature Boris Johnsons love child in a drama about his first year in Downing Street, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Producers say the drama, This Sceptred Isle, will document how the Prime Minister has dealt with the pandemic, his own health battle with Covid-19 and the birth of his son Wilfred.

But in a highly controversial move which is likely to infuriate No 10, it is also set to feature Stephanie, his 11-year-old daughter by former mistress Helen Macintyre.

Produced by the TV firm Freemantle, the drama is being co-written and directed by Michael Winterbottom, a staunch Labour supporter, while Desmond Hamilton Casting, which finds actors for Freemantle, is seeking an actor to play Stephanie.

A television company is planning to feature Boris Johnson's love child in an upcoming documentary about his first year in office. Pictured: The Prime Minister and his fiancee Carrie Symonds speak to the midwifes that helped deliver their son Wilfred at University College Hospital in London in July last year

An advert asks for well-spoken white girls, aged 11-12, with blonde/brown hair.

Candidates have been asked to record themselves acting out a scene in which Stephanie meets the newborn Wilfred and Mr Johnsons fiancee Carrie Symonds. The deadline for applications is tomorrow.

The prospect of Stephanies portrayal on screen is likely to horrify her parents, who jealously guard her privacy.

Stephanie and her mum live a life very much under the radar, said a source. She has never been in the limelight so this could be very difficult for them both. Helen has always protected her privacy fiercely.

Helen Macintyre who had Boris Johnson's daughter in 2009

It is unknown if Mr Johnsons four grown-up children by his second wife Marina Wheeler will feature in the drama, nor if Freemantle has yet sold the rights to the series to a broadcaster. Mr Johnson divorced Ms Wheeler, his wife for 27 years, last February after they reached a financial settlement.

Announcing the project in June, Freemantle executive Andrea Scrosati said: There are rare moments in history when leaders find their private lives uniquely connected to national events the last few months in the life of the Prime Minister mark one of these moments. At Freemantle we are passionate about finding powerful and authentic stories and telling them with a fair and fact-based approach.

Until now, there has been no mention that the drama could also delve into the private lives of Mr Johnsons family.

Stephanie was born after Mr Johnson had an affair with Ms Macintyre, an art consultant, in 2009. She sought an injunction to prevent reporting of the childs existence, but a judge ruled that the public had a right to know.

The Prime Ministers father, Stanley Johnson, last year revealed that he speaks to Stephanie and thinks of her as one of his grandchildren. I have spoken to her on FaceTime and I am thrilled, he said, adding that he looks forward to meeting her when lockdown is over.

Asked how many grandchildren he has, he replied: Fourteen includes Stephanie, thats the point, I am particularly pleased to include Stephanie.

Nine-month-old Wilfred is Mr Johnsons sixth child. He was born last April, a few days after the Prime Minister was discharged from hospital after falling seriously ill with Covid-19.

Michael Winterbottom is a self-confessed lifelong Labour supporter, though he does admit that he became disillusioned with Tony Blair over the invasion of Iraq

The Prime Minister and Miss Symonds have not yet announced a date for their wedding.

In addition to casting for an actress to play Stephanie, producers are also looking for people to portray the doctors and nurses at St Thomas Hospital in London who helped nurse Mr Johnson back to health.

After he was discharged, the Prime Minister thanked them for their care, paying special tribute to New Zealander Jenny McGee and Luis Pitarma from Portugal who stood by his bedside for 48 hours when things could have gone either way.

Last night, representatives for Mr Johnson and Miss Symonds declined to comment.
MCH Group: Appointments to the Board of Directors and Executive Board





Andrea Zappia proposed as new chairman of the Board of Directors, Marco Gadola foreseen as Vice Chairman





Beat Zwahlen appointed as interim CEO and Michael Husler as new CFO





Bernd Stadlwieser leaving the company by mutual agreement

Following completion of the capital increases, the partial renewal of the Board of Directors of MCH Group Ltd., which was approved by the General Meeting on 27 November 2020, took effect on 21 December 2020: James Murdoch, Jeffrey Palker and Eleni Lionaki have taken up their mandates as successors to Karin Lenzlinger Diedenhofen, Andre Odermatt and Tanja Soland respectively.

Today, the Board of Directors announces further intended personnel renewals: The Board of Directors will propose Andrea Zappia and Marco Gadola for election as new members of the Board of Directors at the General Meeting on 28 April 2021. Andrea Zappia will also be proposed for election as Chairman and successor to Ulrich Vischer, who will step down at the Annual General Meeting as announced. The Board of Directors intends to appoint Marco Gadola as Vice-Chairman following his election.

International experience and network

Andrea Zappia is the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer New Markets and Business of Sky Group and his responsibilities also include SkyStudios and SkyNews/SKyTG24. He started his career in the multinational company Procter&Gamble, where he worked as European Group Marketing Manager. 1996 to 2001, he was Global Sales and Marketing Director for Ferrari and Maserati. In 2003, he joined Sky Italia, where he held various executive positions before becoming CEO from 2011 to 2019. Andrea Zappia is 57 years old, he was born in Tripoli and grew up in Bologna, where he graduated in Economics.

"I am greatly looking forward to this new task if the shareholders place their confidence in me", says Andrea Zappia. "MCH Group has major potential for prosperous further development. I look forward to helping shape the path to a successful future, working together closely with the existing and new members of the Board of Directors and the management."

Marco Gadola, born in 1963, was previously a member of the Board of Directors of MCH Group and Chairman of the Audit Committee from 2016 to 2019. From 2013 to 2019 he was CEO of the Straumann Group and is currently Chairman of the Board of DKSH Group and a member of the Board of Directors of various Basel-based companies such as Straumann, Medartis and Tally Weijl, as well as other companies.

Change in the operational management

The Board of Directors of MCH Group has appointed Beat Zwahlen, CFO of the group to date, as new interim CEO. He will be taking over the operational management of the company with immediate effect. Beat Zwahlen joined MCH Group as CFO in May 2018. Over the past few years, he has played a decisive role in both the restructuring and the initiated transformation of the company, and the recent capital increases with Lupa Systems as a new anchor investor were completed under his project leadership.

Michael Husler has been appointed new CFO of the company group and is taking over this function from Beat Zwahlen with immediate effect. Over the past 15 years, Michael Husler has held the role of Group CFO in various internationally operating companies, working in listed companies for 12 of these years. Since 2017, he has been Group CFO of Habasit International AG. Born in 1972, he lives in the Basel region.

The Board of Directors and Bernd Stadlwieser have mutually agreed to terminate the employment relationship. The Board of Directors is grateful to Bernd Stadlwieser for his valuable service leading the company. "MCH Group would like to thank him for all his hard work over the past, extremely challenging 18 months", says Ulrich Vischer, Chairman of the Board of Directors. "He has provided many valuable inputs to the necessary transformation and repositioning of MCH Group."

Ulrich Vischer further underlines the fact that, over the course of the past year, the MCH Group has put in place the financial and structural preconditions for overcoming the corona situation and further implementing the transformation. "With the planned addition of Andrea Zappia and Marco Gadola, the Board of Directors will greatly benefit from additional international industry experience, innovation power and management expertise. The Board of Directors and the Executive Board will work closely together to meet the continuing challenges and to implement the defined strategy. They will do their utmost to lead the company into a successful future."

News online





Media contact:

MCH Group AG

Corporate Communications

Christian Jecker

+41 58 206 22 52

christian.jecker@mch-group.com

www.mch-group.com


Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Chris "Pineapple" Hooper almost became Rockhampton's accidental mayor. But next weekend, the climate change activist is hoping the residents of the central Queensland beef capital do not give him the rough end of the pineapple when the city heads to a byelection to choose its next mayor. Rockhampton mayoral candidate Chris Pineapple Hooper has a shop on East Street that is used as a community centre. Mr Hooper was technically offered the job in November after the shock resignation of mayor Margaret Strelow, who quit after the Councillor Conduct Tribunal found her guilty of misconduct. But his celebrations were short-lived, with the Palaszczuk government rushing through laws in late 2020 to overturn legislation it had passed just months earlier which allowed a mayoral runner-up to be offered the vacant role within the first 12 months instead of forcing Queenslanders back to the polls for a byelection. The anti-Adani activist, who is often seen barefoot and riding around town on a bicycle, was nicknamed "Pineapple" for his bushy hair as a teenager. Among his policies are reducing rates increases, more native trees and solar panels on council buildings.

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"We just want to slow the whole pace of life down a bit and get consumerism down," he said. Mr Hooper pledged to take a salary of $1 during his last campaign, but Brisbane's only Greens councillor Jonathan Sri advised him he could instead donate his wages to non-profit causes. "He advised me to do that because you can help a lot of little groups out  so he's done a lot of that in Brisbane," he said. Mr Hooper said he did not have "too many tickets" on himself when it came to whether he could win, but voters were unhappy with the laws being changed. "The ordinary yobbo, the ordinary person, is really pissed off that, OK, we don't like that Hooper, he won't do what we want him to do, and so they said, oh, they've just changed the Act of Parliament ... This is the end of democracy," he said. Mr Hooper came in second place at the March 2020 council election after scoring 31 per cent of the vote to Ms Strelow's 69 per cent.

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In fact, he was the only other person vying for Rockhampton's top job. This time, Mr Hooper will face a tougher field, as he is up against 16 others, including councillors Tony Williams, Donna Kirkland, Cherie Rutherford and Shane Latcham. Chris Hooper is often seen riding around Rockhampton on his bike. Ms Strelow, who served as a councillor and mayor in Rockhampton for most of the past two decades, decided not to contest the byelection. The saga was sparked after a tribunal found Ms Strelow did not tell the council's chief executive officer of a "personal hospitality benefit" received from Adani during a council business trip to India in 2017. Ms Strelow quit, despite disputing the findings, and even though the tribunal had only recommended she publicly apologise. In October, Ms Strelow wrapped herself in a "bubble wrap suit" and posted a peculiar video on Facebook.

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"This is to try to protect me, remembering that we're now in that period where if something happens to me, you don't have to vote," she said. "If anything happens to me then Chris Hooper is automatically your mayor." University of Queensland political expert Chris Salisbury said it was not a good look for the state government to change the law midyear only to change it back after Ms Strelow's resignation. "The changes reinforced the impression that local government is often treated as something of a 'plaything' of state government," he said. But Deputy Premier and Local Government Minister Steven Miles has previously said the government decided to change the law before Ms Strelow resigned. "I think it's absolutely critical that the people of Rockhampton get a chance to have a proper say about who should be their mayor for the next nearly four years," he said.

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Taking a cue from the battered restaurant industry during the coronavirus pandemic, the Girl Scouts of the USA announced this week that it would offer contactless delivery and pickup of their cookies through Grubhub.

Its the first time that the Girl Scouts, who have sold cookies for more than a century, have collaborated with a national delivery service, the organization said.

For decades, cookie stands, stacked with boxes of Samoas, Thin Mints and Trefoils, have been ubiquitous outside supermarkets and in other high-traffic areas. So have direct sales pitches from parents of Girl Scouts to their colleagues at work.

But then the pandemic hit  drastically limiting direct contact. So the Girl Scouts got creative.

Were proud of the resourceful ways Girl Scouts are running their cookie businesses safely and using their earnings to make the world a better place, Judith Batty, interim CEO of the Girl Scouts, said in a statement. This season, our girls will continue to exemplify what the cookie program taught them  how to think like entrepreneurs, use innovative sales tactics and pivot to new ways of doing business when things dont go according to plan.

Cookie sales were already underway last year when the global pandemic was declared, which the organization said had prompted many Girl Scouts to adapt their strategies. Some created virtual cookie booths on social media, while others shipped orders or set up drive-thru pickup sites, the organization said.

The Girl Scouts said online ordering would begin Feb. 1, with Grubhub making deliveries in select markets. Additional markets will be introduced over the course of cookie-selling season, which typically runs from January through April.

The Girl Scouts said that Grubhub had agreed to waive all of the fees that it and competitors like Uber Eats and DoorDash typically charge to restaurants. The fees have become a source of complaints within the industry.

A representative for Grubhub said Wednesday night that the company was not immediately prepared to comment.

Members of the Girl Scouts will track and fulfill orders and manage inventory using Grubhubs back-end technology, the organization said. To promote the partnership, the Girl Scouts said, Grubhub will offer free delivery on cookie orders of at least $15 through Feb. 14. Orders can be placed on the Grubhub website or its delivery app.

Consumers who dont already know a Girl Scout can search for local troops that are selling cookies by entering their ZIP codes on the Girl Scouts national website beginning Feb. 1. They can also purchase cookies to donate to local emergency responders and other charitable groups.

Along with the announcement about the contactless delivery, the Girl Scouts introduced a new variety of cookie  Toast-Yay!, inspired by French toast and dipped in icing  that will be sold in select areas this year.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Elon Musk

There might be many exotic, plush and outrageous cars heading to India this year, many of them electric. But none have created the sort of buzz thats been created by Tesla, Inc.

The Palo Alto-based electric carmakers meteoric ascent in its less-than-two-decades long existence, has made it something of an industrial anomaly. Not only because of the messianic image of its CEO Elon Musk (although that has on occasion, helped) but because the brand single-handedly altered the perception of electric cars and what they could do. Despite only 17 years of its existence  making it slightly older than a foetus when compared to century-old automotive giants like Mercedes-Benz and Ford  Tesla has stacked-up a staggering list of achievements. Here are some to begin with:

1. Its the most successful American automotive startup

Back in 2003 when Tesla was starting out, there hadnt been an American automotive startup since 1925 (the founding year of Chrysler). And the declining fortunes of the American big three i.e Ford, GM and Chrysler was cited as a major reason. Brands like Plymouth had recently shut down and the odds that Tesla would survive, let alone thrive as a brand were indeed very slim. Not only did Tesla become the first U.S automotive company to go public in the last 50 years, it went on to outsell some of the biggest car brands in the world, in their home country.

2. Its the fastest growing car brand in the world

Last year marked a watershed moment for Tesla when its market-capitalisation went up to $600 million dollars. According to a report filed by Reuters, this made the electric car maker more valuable than the five largest carmakers in the world combined. Let that sink in for a moment. This, a decade after the American automotive industry was in the doldrums, with brands like Pontiac having shut down. By July 2020, Teslas valuation was $208 billion dollars, making it the most valuable car company in the world.

Despite some of the best-selling cars in its home country being large, petrol-powered trucks and sedans, Tesla has forced its compatriots into reconsidering their production strategy for the immediate future, putting the final nail in the coffin of fossil fuel-powered cars.

3. Its broken many records

The year 2011 marked the coming of age of Tesla, as a brand. Unlike the Lotus Elise-based Tesla Roadster, the prototype of the Tesla Model S was home-grown. With the Model S going into production in 2012, Tesla had their first critical hit on their hands. Not only was it luxurious and spacious, the Model S was and continued to become ludicrously quick.

In 2016, Tesla launched the Model S P100D Ludicrous, which reached 0-100 in an astonishing 2.5 seconds, making it the quickest four-door production car in the world. It wasnt the fact that the Model S, in its four years of existence, was now as fast or faster than some of the rarest, most pedigreed hypercars in the world. It was the fact that it could do it, while being able to seat four and not compromise a single function as a luxury sedan. Times were truly changing.

Its not just speed records. Last year, the Tesla Model 3 became the fastest charging electric car in the world, requiring the least amount of total charging time while on a test run across the UK. In 2019, the brand broke its own sales record by spending only 1hr 31mins and 32 seconds charging while going from one end of the UK to the other.

4. Its been to outer space

Yes. Elon Musk launched a Tesla Roadster into orbit, with the red convertible cruising around the Earth in outer space, at a speed of 29000 kph. The car hitched a ride on Space Xs Falcon Heavy Rocket. It eventually exited Earths orbit, sending it closer towards Mars and unless it collides with an asteroid, the Roadster will continue to float in outer space for eternity.

5. Its clocked the maximum distance through autonomous driving

Autonomous driving tech has been a tricky area for Tesla. While its still trying to work out the kinks, particularly with regards to the techs life-saving decisions, its still the only brand to have clocked an astounding 3 billion miles of autonomous driving, as of 2020. According to a report by Trefis, the efficacy of self-driving technology comes from machine learning, which means that the more people use Teslas self-driving tech (a neat business model that involves people unlocking the pre-installed tech by paying for it) the more intuitive and advanced the technology becomes. In comparison, its only rival in the autonomous tech business, Waymo has logged 20 million miles of autonomous driving on public roads.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Lake effect snow will return to Upstate New York starting tonight, with a foot or more falling this weekend on Tug Hill and in the Adirondacks.

Those areas could see as much as 16 to 20 inches of snow as cold west winds whip across the length of Lake Ontario. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning from 1 a.m. Saturday to Sunday afternoon for Tug Hill and the Adirondacks, where heavy snow and high winds could create whiteout conditions starting after dark tonight and continuing through Sunday afternoon.

In Western New York, Lake Erie could contribute up to 8 inches of snow on the hills south of Buffalo.

Closer to Buffalo, snow will be light and isnt expected to start until the end of the Buffalo Bills-Baltimore Ravens game, which kicks off at 8:15 p.m. Saturday. Winds could be an issue for kickers, though, coming at about 15 mph from the west, according to weather service forecasts.

Beyond those typical lake effect hot spots, most of Upstate will get a dusting or a few inches. Syracuse, which is having its 10th least-snowy winter on record, is expected to get about 4 inches from tonight through Sunday.

In a typical year, Syracuse would have had about 5 feet of snow through Jan. 15. This year, its just 17.4 inches. Buffalo is behind, but not that much: The city has recorded 34.3 inches of snow so far, compared to a normal of 49.4 through Jan. 14.

Binghamton, on the other hand, is way ahead of its regular pace, thanks to a single storm in mid-December that dropped 40 inches. Binghamton normally has 35.5 inches through Jan. 14, but its had 55.5 this season.

READ MORE

Binghamton buried under more than 3 feet of snow: A new record (see photos)

25 Things That Make Syracuse Great: Snow

What causes lake effect snow? Cold air, warm water and lots of wind
Today, a jam starched to many kilometres on the Simferopol - Alushta - Yalta highway due to snowfall.

"At present, there is a congestion situation, a multi-kilometre traffic jam has formed," the head of the Ministry of Transport of the Crimea, Yevgeny Isakov, said.

According to him, the passage will be closed until 18:00 for clearing. We ask drivers to refrain from travelling on the Simferopol - Alushta - Yalta highway and back," RIA Novosti quotes the head of the department as saying.
There have been 60 further deaths due to Covid-19 reported this evening.

There have also been 3,231 new cases of the virus.

Of the 60 deaths, 59 occurred in January 2021. 1 death occurred in December 2020.

931 of today's cases are in Dublin, 388 are in Cork and 238 in Louth. There are 155 cases in Waterford, with 151 in Limerick, and the remaining 1,368 cases are spread across all other counties.

Of today's cases:

1,465 are men / 1,712 are women

54% are under 45 years of age

The median age is 42 years old



The National Public Health Emergency Team confirmed that the median age of those who died is 85 years, and the age range is 65 to 100 years.

There was no newly reported death in healthcare workers and there was no newly reported death in a young person under the age of 30.

Some 1,854 people are in hospital with Covid-19 of which 191 are in ICU. Both figures are at their highest level since the pandemic began.

The death toll from the virus in Ireland now stands at 2,595 while there have been 169,780 total confirmed cases.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said that the virus "has taken root in every single part of the country".

Dr Tony Holohan: "Please stay at home."

He said: "A significant percentage of the population - in excess of 1 in 10 in some counties - is currently either a case or a close contact. This is a huge burden of infection."

"When you consider that a significant percentage of our daily cases will directly lead to hospitalisation and mortality, the urgency with which we need to act becomes clear.

"By staying at home, you are protecting our health and social care services as they struggle against the enormous burden of infection that many weeks with thousands of daily cases of Covid-19 represents.

Dr Holohan stated that the "improvements in cases is not happening fast enough" as he urged people to stay at home.

"Too many people are still not complying as fully as we need with the advice. There are early indications that we may be levelling off in terms of improvement, but at far, far too high a level of infection.

"The UK variant is very likely making our challenge more difficult. Please follow the public health advice. The safest place at the moment is at home. Please stay at home.

UK variant

Dr Cillian De Gascun, Medical Virologist and Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, warned that "due to the nature of the mutation found in the UK variant of the virus, it is inevitable that it will become the dominant variant here in Ireland over time".

He said that the variant of the virus has adapted to us.

"Simply put, it is better at moving from person to person when we come into contact. So what we must do is reduce its opportunities to spread by cutting out socialising. Stay home.

"Do not visit anyone elses home. Do not attend illegal gatherings. Remember the simple and effective measures from springtime  wash your hands well and often, wear a mask, cough and sneeze into your elbow, keep 2 metres of space from others, and phone your GP at the very first sign of Covid-19 symptoms."

Earlier today, doctors and other healthcare workers expressed relief after receiving Covid-19 jabs at three mass vaccination centres around the country.

The facilities opened in Dublin, Galway and Portlaoise on Saturday and will operate over the weekend.

Each is delivering hundreds of the Moderna jabs to GPs, practice nurses and other frontline staff.

A contagious strain of the coronavirus that rapidly swept through the United Kingdom is officially in Oregon, worrying public health officials.

The Oregon Health Authority on Friday announced a Multnomah County resident with no known travel history tested positive for the variant, known as B.1.1.7. Before Oregons case, there were only 88 known infections across 15 states.

Federal officials say the strain is far more transmissible and will likely make up a bulk of U.S. infections by March. Although theres no evidence the strain is more severe or deadly, its ability to pass more easily means more people could be infected and ultimately die during the pandemic.

The detection of the first case of this variant strain is a concern, and we have been monitoring movement of this strain, Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state health officer and state epidemiologist, said in a statement.

The Oregon Health Authority said public health officials in Multnomah County are working Friday night and through the weekend to perform contact tracing tied to the infection.

Confirming this strain locally is distressing, Dr. Jennifer Vines, the Multnomah County health officer, said in a statement. Until we have enough vaccine, we must continue using face masks, distancing, and limiting our social interactions.

The existing COVID-19 vaccines should also provide protection against the new variant of the virus.

Oregon was among the earliest states to identify its first coronavirus case in February 2020 and fared relatively well throughout the pandemic, reporting fewer cases and deaths per capita than only a handful of states.

Its not immediately clear how state officials learned about or confirmed the new strains arrival, as only certain coronavirus testing looks for variants in the virus. Its also not immediately known how many Oregonians who have tested positive have been screened for the variant.

Oregon has seen a sizable decline in testing this month as public health officials focus on vaccinating as many people as quickly as possible.

-- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 16 : Biju Prabhakar, Managing Director of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, has lashed out against the employees, alleging 'major misappropriation' in KSRTC.

The IAS officer was addressing the media here. Prabhakar said KSRTC was running at a loss of more than Rs 7,990 crore and its workers have been opposing the fuel conversion to CNG from diesel as "misappropriation" will then be cut off.

He alleged that workers were not properly attending offices and instead of working for KSRTC many have been pursuing farming and real estate businesses.

He said, "Many permanent employees of the department are not working properly and instead they are doing ginger and turmeric farming. Many depots are managed by temporary employees".

The senior IAS officer also said that the Sushil Khanna report on KSRTC had recommended systematic reduction in staff strength and added that this has to be implemented in a timely manner to save the organisation.

He said that employees used to rotate the collection money for four-five days and when caught and suspended these employees turn into real estate dealers.

Prabhakar also said that there is clear pilferage of diesel and the employees prefer local purchase of spare parts.

"The employees are preferring to buy from local markets which was not recommended by all the committees which studied the KSRTC. The local purchase is encouraged by employees for misappropriation and these local purchases are of inferior quality also," he said.

Rajesh, leader of the BMS union in KSRTC said: "The MD is making baseless allegations against the employees. It is for the management to examine the pilferage issue and take action. Putting all blame on the workers is unacceptable. We demand an explanation from him on this outburst against the workers." K. Sasidharan, leader of INTUC, the trade union body affiliated to Congress, said: "These are baseless allegations. How can the MD blame employees for the utter administrative failures of the management?" "He should apologise to the workers. He is the son of an illustrious trade union leader who was finance minister of the state, the late Thachadi Prabhakaran, and he should at least think about that before levelling such unsolicited comments against the workers."
Posted Saturday, January 16, 2021 7:46 am

OLYMPIA  Gov. Jay Inslee's proposed capital gains tax received mixed reactions in its first public hearing this session.

The proposed tax was part of Inslee's budget proposals released in December. It would create a 9% tax on annual investment earnings of more than $25,000 for an individual and $50,000 for a married couple.

More than 100 people signed up to testify remotely on the bill with 524 more people signed in not wishing to testify. Opponents said it will hurt small business owners, who often use the sale of their business to fund their retirement. Supporters said it will help close the wealth gap that exists in Washington.

The tax is one of the most controversial aspects of Inslee's budget. It's been proposed before but has never made it through both chambers of the Legislature.

"This is the wrong direction for our state to go," Mark Johnson of the Washington Retail Association told the committee, arguing it would hurt small businesses.

Opponents say it is an unconstitutional income tax, but state experts believe it is legal and will withstand a court challenge. Inslee says it is a way to make the state's tax system less reliant on heavy taxes on lower income groups.

Sen. Lynda Wilson, lead Republican on the Ways & Means Committee, said in December that a new tax would likely pass but face a court challenge, calling it the "most volatile revenue source that there is. Every other state in the union calls it an income tax," she said.

Rep. Drew Stokesbary, ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, said a capital gains tax is the wrong direction for the state and "just bad economic policy, especially right now."

"If we're telling people who have the capital to invest that it's going to cost them to do so, they're less likely to stay here and do it," he said.

Wayne Lunday, of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers, said a 9% tax in the sale of his business would be a "killer" in his and his wife's retirement plans. He said a capital gains tax would be "devastating" for his and many other businesses.

Tommy Gantz at the Association of Washington Business told the committee that the global pandemic has put the economy on edge. Now is the time to prioritize removing obstacles to business owners, she said.

"We need economic recovery," she said. "Not tax increases."

On the other hand, Andy Nicholas of the Washington State Budget and Policy Center said a capital gains tax could help address the widening opportunity gap that the state has due to the lasting effects of institutional racism.

"Our tax system now is completely upside down," Cynthia Steward at the League of Women Voters of Washington said.

"A capital gains tax is a good first step."

Dr. Mark Vossler, of the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, said economic inequity is a major driver of poor health outcomes.

As the state emerges from the COVID pandemic, he said, now is not the time to be cutting the budget.

"I ask you to pass this bill and correct our unfair and unhealthy, regressive tax structure," he said.

America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American
Kaiser Permanente officials apologized on Friday to their members for the long call center wait times in recent days since the states coronavirus vaccine eligibility was expanded to those 65 and older.

Limited vaccine supplies have challenged health care providers across the state. Sutter Healths website crashed for a time, and other providers have added automated messages to explain the process in response to the huge interest.

Kaisers call centers have been overloaded by members who want to schedule vaccination appointments. Kaiser officials told The Chronicle they do not have enough vaccine supply on hand to meet even a fraction of this demand.

One Kaiser call center alone received four times the normal call volume on Thursday, said Carrie Owen Plietz, president of Kaiser Permanente's Northern California region. Kaisers vaccine hot line received more than 90,000 calls on Thursday, up significantly from 38,000 calls on Tuesday, Kaiser officials told The Chronicle in a statement Friday.

Kaiser members have complained on social media about being put on hold for hours, sometimes without getting scheduled for a vaccination appointment.

Within days of state officials expanding eligibility to include residents who are 65 and older  which accounts for 1.4 million Kaiser members in California  Kaiser officials were blunt with their members on Twitter Friday.

COVID-19 vaccine supply is limited and unpredictable, Kaiser officials said on Twitter. The recent expansion of eligibility by the state to include individuals over 65 years old has not yet come with additional supply.

https://publish.twitter.com/?query=https://twitter.com/aboutKP/status/1350295724957851648&widget=Tweet

Kaiser officials said they have been receiving a weekly average of about 20,000 first-and-second doses since early December, but until the vaccine supply increases, it will take several months to vaccinate all Kaiser members who are 65 and older in California with both doses.

Speaking from a South Bay Kaiser facility during a press conference with San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Friday, Owen Plietz thanked Kaiser members for their patience  joking that she is trying to muster some of her own  and said officials are faced with an unprecedented challenge of the constantly changing situation during the pandemic, paired with limited vaccine supplies.

A vaccination effort of this size is new for all of us. We want to acknowledge, also, the frustration so many of you are feeling as you try to get vaccinated or understand when you can and when you should get vaccinated, Owen Plietz said. New information is emerging often within a few hours, days, and we are pivoting quickly to get vaccinations to everyone in this extraordinary and confusing time.

Owen Plietz said Kaiser has been vaccinating health care workers, in accordance with Californias phased approach, and as of Friday, Kaiser has given first dose vaccines to more than 90,000 health care workers. That figure is increasing every day and every hour, she said.

Kaiser said it has administered 120,000 total shots in California as of Friday. Owen Plietz said Kaiser has vaccinated more than 9,000 health care workers who are not Kaiser Permanente staff, and more than 1,600 people who are also not Kaiser Permanente members because our role is to work as part of the community to ensure that everyone gets vaccinated.

We are committed to ensure that we act as quickly as possible to provide the vaccine to those that are eligible and soon to everyone who wishes to receive it, Owen Plietz said.

Kaiser officials said they expect large deliveries over the coming weeks as production ramps by manufacturers.

Kaiser officials said they have taken steps to alleviate the situation as we work on more ways to increase access to vaccinations as supply allows, such as: boosting staffing at a 24-hour call center; informing members calling the line that there are no available vaccine appointments; planning on adding an option next week for eligible members to self-schedule a vaccination appointment based on vaccine supplies; contacting eligible members with vaccination information; and officials are coordinating with local and state agencies to create mass vaccine locations and reach those most vulnerable in our communities.

But we need more vaccine before these can open, Kaiser officials said in a statement to The Chronicle.

Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByLHernandez
Families of children with special needs are deeply upset and worried by the confusion over plans for the partial re-opening of schools from next Thursday.

Advocacy organisations said children with additional needs, and their parents, went to bed last night confident that the week ahead would see a much needed return to the classroom and woke up this morning to mixed messages and deep confusion..

AsIAm, Down Syndrome Ireland, Family Carers Ireland and Inclusion Ireland said uncertainty about school re-opening is cruel and detrimental.

They were commenting after the union representing special needs assistants (SNAs) said talks on partial re-opening had not concluded, and that a number of issues remained to be resolved.

Read More

The Department of Education last night issued detailed guidance to schools around re-opening arrangements on which education unions had signed off.

It was widely understood that the release of the guidance meant the way had been cleared for a phased re-opening from next Thursday January 21.

The letter stated that its purpose was to set out in further detail the framework under which it is intended in-school teaching and learning will take place in special schools, special classes in mainstream primary schools, and for pupils with special educational needs who attend mainstream classes in primary school commencing Thursday 21st January.

But Forsa, which represents the SNAs, subsequently issued a statement saying that a number of issues that remained to be resolved included the safety of SNAs at high risk of Covid infection, and childcare arrangements.

However, Forsa National Secretary Andy Pike told indepedendent.ie that problems were not insurmountable and he hoped resolution would be found by Tuesday evening.

Mr Pike said they had told the Department yesterday that certain matters still needed to be ironed out, but that to be fair to the department, the guidance that went to principals contains provisions for these matters to be addressed and for the situation to change and , mentions further communications and FAQs.

The guidance refers to a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document which is being finalised and which, it states, would continue to be updated.

Special education staff will have an opportunity to ask public health experts questions at a webinar being hosted on Monday and it is believed that thousands have already registered.

The seminar will be attended by Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Colette Bonner, HSE Assistant . National Director, Public Health, Dr Kevin Kelleher and Public Health consultant Dr Abigail Collins.

A spokesperson for Education Minister Norma Foley said they were committed to continuing to engage with all stakeholders with the shared aim of partial re-opening on Thursday. The spokesperson said while the guidance had been agreed, Thursday was a shared aim.

Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) general secretary John Boyle said the union continues to engage with relevant stakeholders, in relation to the Departments plans for the limited reopening of special education next week and had highlighted specific queries with Department officials.

He said while they had secured clarity for members on a number of issues, the INTO Central Executive Committee awaited the updated public health advice to be provided in a webinar for special education staff on Monday.

Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
As the country prepares to inaugurate our 46th president, we are living in a time of unprecedented challenges to the U.S. Constitution. The vision of rioting mobs attacking the seats of government, exemplified by Shays Rebellion, was what led the Founding Fathers to gather in Philadelphia to draft the Constitution in 1787. And during the Constitutional Convention, the Framers cited the failed democracies of Greece and Rome to warn against demagogues who would inflame violent factions into being governed by passion rather than reason.

Despite these profound threats to the rule of law, our institutions held, and the Constitution prevailed. But recent events raise a profound question: Does the Constitution need updating? How can its guardrails be strengthened to protect the thoughtful deliberation that Madison considered crucial to the survival of the new republic?

 READ MORE: Independence, annotated: How the Declaration of Independence both fails and guides 244 years after its signing | Opinion

Our Constitution, written just over 230 years ago, and amended 27 times since, has bound together the United States and made us the longest-lasting democracy in history. But, if we could rewrite it today, what would it look like?

To answer that question, the National Constitution Center launched the Constitution Drafting Project, which gathered some of Americas leading progressive, conservative, and libertarian scholars into teams to write their own ideal constitutions. Although all three teams disagreed about many details, they converged around the vibrancy of the Constitution itself, and all decided to reform the Constitution rather than start from scratch. In addition, the teams unexpectedly agreed on certain reforms, including limiting executive power. Before the transfer of presidential power, the excerpts below highlight one proposed change to the executive from each team. And on Jan. 27, at 2 p.m., the drafting team leaders will discuss how they drafted their constitutions and where the project should go next at a free online event. Learn more at constitutioncenter.org/debate.

 Jeffrey Rosen, president & CEO, National Constitution Center

The Conservative Constitution: Limit the presidency to one 6-year term

By Robert P. George, Michael W. McConnell, Colleen A. Sheehan, and Ilan Wurman

As conservatives, we were tempted to leave the Constitution largely unchanged, amending only those provisions most obviously in need of alteration. However, in the spirit of this project, we attempted to think more boldly and propose changes we believe would improve the Constitution to meet the exigencies of our era.

Our country today is fraught with civic disrespect and, all too often, a disregard for the lives of others. America is in need not only of civic healing, but of a better and deeper understanding of the fundamental principles of our nation and its founding documents. It is these principles, more than the specific provisions of our existing Constitution, that we have sought to preserve. To this end, our committee dedicated many hours of discussion to major structural changes to our charter, as well as to several specific changes to certain powers and rights.

 READ MORE: Can he actually do that? Philadelphias Constitution Center is now the answer authority for a nation in government stress

One important structural change is to presidential selection. Returning to a proposal that was almost adopted by the original Constitutional Convention, we limit the president to a single six-year term. This will make it less likely that the president will make important decisions with a view to reelection rather than to the common good, and prevent presidents from improperly using the perquisites of incumbency to gain electoral advantage. It may be too much to hope, but maybe presidents will focus on their presidential role rather than their position as leaders of political parties.

Original: The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years  (Editors note: The two-term limit for the presidency was enacted in 1951 via the 22nd Amendment.)

Rewrite: The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America, who shall hold office for a term of six years and be ineligible for reelection 

Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. Michael W. McConnell is Richard & Frances Mallery Professor at Stanford Law School. Colleen A. Sheehan is professor and director of graduate studies, School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, at Arizona State University. Ilan Wurman is associate professor of law, at the Sandra Day OConnor College of Law at Arizona State University.

The Progressive Constitution: Abolish the Electoral College

By Caroline Frederickson, Jamal Greene, and Melissa Murray

Progressives relationship with the Constitution has long been fraught. At various points in history, progressives have loudly complained that the Constitution ratified in 1788 was designed for an agrarian society of slaveholding white males. It created sclerotic political institutions that are frightfully ill-equipped to meet the demands of a modern, global, and pluralistic society.

But as we embarked upon this exercise, we wanted to make clear our own view that the Constitution, as drafted in 1787, is not completely incompatible with progressive constitutionalism. Indeed, the original Constitution establishes a structure of divided government that is a necessary precondition for a constitutional democracy with robust protections for individual rights. We took this exercise as an opportunity to strengthen those structural protections for democratic government that we believe serve the exercise of individual rights.

 READ MORE: Heres why teaching the Constitution is important for students  and for society | Opinion

It isnt enough, for example, to give Americans voting rights if the institutions they are voting for are themselves antidemocratic. Accordingly, our Constitution eliminates the indefensible Electoral College, replacing it with a national popular vote for president. That vote would be conducted under ranked-choice voting, which would make it easier for candidates with broad support to win the presidency  under a Constitution for all the people, the one national office should not be held by an extreme partisan.

Original: The President ... together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, [shall] be elected, as follows:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each...The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President...

Rewrite: The President ... together with the Vice President  [shall] be elected by a national popular vote conducted using a ranked-choice voting method.

Caroline Fredrickson is Distinguished Visitor from Practice at Georgetown Law Center. Jamal Greene is the Dwight Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. Melissa Murray is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at NYU School of Law.

The Libertarian Constitution: Expand grounds for impeachment

By Ilya Shapiro, Timothy Sandefur, and Christina Mulligan

This was probably an easier project for us than for our conservative and progressive counterparts because the current United States Constitution is fundamentally a libertarian or, more precisely, classical liberal document. So much so that, at the outset, we joked that all we needed to do was to add and we mean it at the end of every clause.

After all, the Constitution set out a government of limited and enumerated powers, powers divided both horizontally among the three branches of the federal government and vertically in a federalist system that recognizes, while limiting, the sovereignty of states, in order to protect the blessings of liberty.

Of course, there have been some developments in the 230 years since the original Constitution and Bill of Rights took effect and the 150 years since the post-Civil War amendments were ratified, that have demonstrated certain deficiencies from a libertarian perspective. Todays imperial presidency militates for a reweighing of checks and balances.

In particular, we think impeachment is underused. Congress should impeach far more officials than it does. Whats more, some have denied that officials can be impeached for dangerous incompetence or gross negligence  so weve again clarified something that is already law by saying explicitly that they can be impeached for behavior that renders them unfit for office. Since it takes two-thirds of the Senate to convict and remove, we think it unlikely that this will render the president subordinate to Congress  and in any event, in an age of imperial presidents, stronger checks are probably warranted.

Original: The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Rewrite: The president, vice president and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, other high crimes and misdemeanors, or other behavior that renders them unfit for office.

Ilya Shapiro is director of the Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute. Timothy Sandefur is vice president for litigation at the Goldwater Institute. Christina Mulligan is vice dean and professor of law at Brooklyn Law School.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has made southeast New Mexico part of one of the most lucrative and productive oil basins in the world.

And that industrys environmental footprint is coming under more intense scrutiny as the incoming presidential administration, lawmakers in the legislative session in Santa Fe next week and New Mexico state agencies all work to address the climate crisis.

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As New Mexico and the Southwest grapple with the likelihood of more extended droughts and an unreliable snowpack, addressing pollution created by the industry and the resulting warming temperatures has reached the forefront of state and federal discussions.

Proposals to slash pollution include methane regulations, water reporting, and even restrictions on new drilling.

While fracking is not a new technique in New Mexico, a combination of fracking and horizontal well drilling has fueled an unprecedented oil boom in the Permian Basin.

The water issue

Ian Palmer, an Albuquerque resident, and former petroleum engineer and consultant for BP and Amoco, said he often encounters a misconception that fracking contaminates groundwater.

Palmers book, The Shale Controversy, examines the dilemma that oil companies face in reducing emissions while meeting global demand for oil and fossil fuel revenue.

Aquifers do get polluted occasionally, but its pretty rare, he said. That happens because of well construction. If a cement job is not properly done, fluid leaks up.

Fracking blasts a mixture of water, sand and chemicals deep underground to break up a shale formation.

Office of the State Engineer data shows the industry accounts for less than 1% of New Mexicos freshwater use. Agriculture makes up about 75% of state water use by comparison.

Still, New Mexico is a dry state that just finished its fourth-driest year on record. Every drop of water counts.

New Mexico encourages companies to recycle wastewater for future fracking instead of pumping rivers and aquifers.

Fracking also is a highly regulated engineering process with safeguards to prevent aquifer contamination, said Ryan Flynn, president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association.

Number one is making sure were drilling wells to top-of-the-line industry standards, and that involves multiple layers of concrete and steel casing for your well, he said.

Dealing with spills

Managing water and oil that surfaces from fracked wells is another statewide concern.

In 2019, state oil and gas companies reported 1,409 spills, down from 1,523 spills in 2018.

The amount of crude oil spilled went down, but the amount of spilled wastewater increased to 4.2 million gallons, up from about 3.7 million gallons the year before.

Were still developing in some fairly remote areas in the Permian and theres not a lot of infrastructure, period, in those areas, Flynn said. In order to move water within the oil field, you need infrastructure. Its not fancy, just pipes and lines, but it can be expensive.

The State Land Office has stopped selling fresh water permits for fracking. The Oil Conservation Division now requires reports of how much water is used to complete wells.

Early reports show companies using as much as 26 million gallons to frack a single well.

Seeking reuse strategies

New Mexico State University is researching ways to treat and reuse the salty wastewater that surfaces from fracked wells.

Reusing that water could do more than ease strain on a limited freshwater supply, Palmer said.

In Oklahoma, the U.S. Geological Survey linked a rise in earthquakes since 2009 not to the actual fracking of wells, but to the subsequent injection of industry wastewater.

Given enough time, the pressure increase created by injection can migrate substantial horizontal and vertical distances from the injection location, the USGS reports read. Induced earthquakes can occur 10 or more miles from injection wells. Induced earthquakes can also occur a few miles below injection wells.

Strategic well spacing, or less injection of wastewater, can help prevent these events.

Fighting greenhouse gases

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that global temperature warming fueled by greenhouse gas emissions could increase risks to health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, human security and economic growth.

Fixing methane leaks is a no-brainer, because methane is an awful gas with a greater warming potential than carbon dioxide, Palmer said.

The latest state climate impact report revealed that the oil and gas industry accounts for 53% of New Mexicos greenhouse gas emissions.

Methane leaks in southeast New Mexico were up 3% over last year, according to state data.

The state Oil Conservation Division is considering methane rules that would ban routine flaring and venting of natural gas.

Federal and state pressure

The incoming Biden administration has proposed bold climate action, including a potential ban on new drilling permits on federal lands.

Flynn, who represents the industry that contributed $2.8 billion in state revenue during the 2020 fiscal year, said such a policy could devastate New Mexico.

I dont believe the incoming administration wants to cripple the oil and gas industry or ruin the progress weve made in terms of energy independence in the U.S., he said. Our approach is to listen, and to roll up our sleeves and understand what the policy objectives are, what the issues are, educate them on what were doing, and identify solutions.

Fracking likely will be discussed and be a topic of new proposals in the upcoming state legislative session beginning next week in Santa Fe.

Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, an Albuquerque Democrat, already has pre-filed two bills that take regulatory aim at the industry.

Planned industry measures

One would prohibit any freshwater use in the oil and gas industry. Another is a green amendment to the state constitution that would direct New Mexico to protect environmental resources for the benefit of all the people.

Sedillo Lopez and Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque, are also sponsoring a bill that would further define fracking and horizontal drilling, and place a four-year moratorium on new fracking permits.

A similar piece of legislation that didnt make the proposed agenda in 2020 would have directed state agencies to study fracking impacts on land, water and cultural resources.

Flynn said blanket drilling bans are not the answer to the climate crisis.

He pointed to New Mexicos methane rule-making efforts as a practical partnership between industry and environmentalists that would reduce industry emissions.

Emissions reductions are not impossible. A December 2020 U.N. report said carbon dioxide emissions are predicted to fall up to 7% in 2020.

The reductions are largely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has slashed global travel and disrupted new drilling.

Despite that dip in emissions, the world is still heading for a temperature rise in excess of 3C this century, the report said, and governments should pull out all the stops to implement a green recovery and strengthen their pledges before the next climate meeting in 2021.

Theresa Davis is a Report for America corps member covering water and the environment for the Albuquerque Journal.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 21:06:55|Editor: huaxia

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DOHA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Qatari Health Ministry on Saturday announced 204 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the Gulf state to 147,089, official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.

Meanwhile, 177 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 143,612, while the death toll remained at 246 for the ninth consecutive day, according to a ministry statement quoted by QNA.

A total of 1,314,424 persons in Qatar have taken lab tests for COVID-19 so far.

China and Qatar offered mutual help during the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

On Feb. 11, 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar on the phone, expressing appreciation to Qatar for voicing support to China during the fight against the coronavirus and for assisting in the shipment of epidemic control supplies.

Later on Feb. 21, five Qatar Airways cargo freighters flew to China carrying approximately 300 tons of medical supplies donated by the airline. Enditem

Getting 100 million shots into Americans' arms in his first 100 days is only the beginning of his plan, President-elect has declared.

Lasting impact, he said, will come from uniting the nation in a new effort grounded in science and fueled by billions in federal money for vaccination, testing and outbreak sleuths.

You have my word: We will manage the hell out of this operation, Biden said on Friday. But he also underscored a need for Congress to approve more money and for people to keep following basic precautions, such as wearing masks, avoiding gatherings and frequently washing their hands.

This is not a political issue," Biden said. This is about saving lives. I know its become a partisan issue, but what a stupid, stupid thing to happen.

Biden spoke a day after unveiling a USD1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to confront the virus and provide temporary support for a shaky economy. About USD400 billion of the plan is focused on measures aimed at controlling the virus. Those range from mass vaccination centres to more sophisticated scientific analysis of new strains and squads of local health workers to trace the contacts of infected people.

On Friday, Biden pledged to maximise the available supply of vaccines and materials needed to administer them, using a Cold War-era law called the Defense Production Act to direct private manufacturing.

He also seconded the Trump's administration's call earlier this week for states to start vaccinating more seniors, reaching those 65 and older as well as younger people with certain health problems. Until now states have been focused on inoculating health care workers, and some are starting to vaccinate people 75 and older. Relatively few are providing shots to people between 65 and 75.

Another carryover from the Trump administration plan: Biden said he intends to mobilize local pharmacies to administer vaccines.

Dr Leana Wen, a public health expert and emergency physician, said Biden should aim higher.

At this point, mass vaccination is our last and best chance to restoring normalcy, she said. There should be no expenses spared in the vaccine rollout. A hundred million in 100 days needs to be seen as only a start."



As Biden spoke, some governors blasted the Trump administration for what at least one said was deception in suggesting earlier this week a reserve of vaccine doses was ready to ship, augmenting supplies. An administration official said states have still not ordered all of the doses allocated to them, and called it a problem with states' expectations.

Biden committed to better communication with the states, to avoid surprises about how much vaccine they can expect. His plan calls for the federal government to fully reimburse states that mobilize their National Guard to help distribute vaccines.

The plan comes as a divided nation is in the grip of the pandemics most dangerous wave yet. So far, more than 389,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S.

The political outlook for Biden's rescue plan remains unclear, although a powerful business lobbying group welcomed its focus on controlling the pandemic.

Biden has long held that economic recovery is inextricably linked with controlling the

That squares with the judgment of the US Chamber of Commerce, the most powerful business lobbying group and traditionally an adversary of Democrats. We must defeat COVID before we can restore our economy and that requires turbocharging our vaccination efforts, the Chamber said in a statement Thursday night that welcomed Biden's plan but stopped short of endorsing it.

Under Biden's multipronged virus strategy, about USD20 billion would be allocated for a more disciplined focus on vaccination, on top of some USD8 billion already approved by Congress. Biden has called for setting up mass vaccination centers and sending mobile units to hard-to-reach areas.

On Friday, he announced former FDA chief David Kessler as his chief science officer for the vaccine drive. Kessler has been advising Biden as a co-chair of his advisory board on the pandemic. A pediatrician and attorney, he has emphasized the need to ease public concerns about the safety of the coronavirus vaccines. Confidence in the FDAs review process is critical to ramping up the effort to vaccinate millions of Americans.

With the backing of Congress and the expertise of private and government scientists, the Trump administration delivered two highly effective vaccines and more are on the way. Yet a month after the first shots were given, the nations vaccination campaign is off to a slow start with about 12.3 million doses administered out more than 31 million delivered, or 39 per cent.

About 10.6 million individuals have received first or second doses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the American Hospital Association estimates that close to 246 million must be vaccinated to reach widespread or herd immunity by the summer. Vaccines currently available require to shots to be fully effective.

Biden has called the vaccine rollout a dismal failure so far."



We need to be getting to more than 3 million vaccinations a day, rapidly, said Wen.

The plan also provides USD50 billion to expand testing, which is seen as key to reopening most schools by the end of the new administration's first 100 days. About USD130 billion would be allocated to help schools reopen without risking further contagion.

The plan would fund the hiring of 100,000 public health workers, to focus on encouraging people to get vaccinated and on tracing the contacts of those infected with the coronavirus.

There's also a proposal to boost investment in genetic sequencing, to help track new virus strains including the more contagious variants identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

Throughout the plan, there's a focus on ensuring that minority communities that have borne the brunt of the pandemic are not shortchanged on vaccines and treatments, aides said.

With the new proposals comes a call to redouble efforts on the basics.

Biden is asking Americans to override their sense of pandemic fatigue and recommit to wearing masks, practising social distancing and avoiding indoor gatherings, particularly larger ones. It's still the surest way to slow the COVID-19 wave, with more than 4,400 deaths reported just on Tuesday.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, Jan 16 : In keeping with the need to treasure hunt for a kaleidoscope of personalities, who will be the next big thing, as the new year brings rays of hope, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), is coming up with the #GetNoticed model hunt. This is being done, in association with Wilderbee Talent Camp (WTC), by supermodel Lakshmi Rana.

The FDCI and WTC will initiate the process with online applications from aspiring models. Interestingly, to break the mould of perceived "perfection", it will be inclusive. So whether you are regular, petite, plus-size or transgender, everyone is welcome to apply.

The fortunate 15 new faces will be selected from online applications and invited to the FDCI Office to undergo an intensive training module designed by Lakshmi Rana. This in-depth programme will be conducted over three days, during the first week of February, and conclude with a jury on the fourth day.

Three models will be selected from the 15 shortlisted ones, who will get a chance to strut on the coveted India Fashion Week runway. "The FDCI has always been a thought leader, we believe in not just discovering talent, but also nurturing it to touch the summit. As the world is opening up to limitless possibilities, we have chosen a way that reaches out to millions, aspiring to realise their embellished dreams. Wilderbee Talent Camp by Lakshmi Rana is one of the first all-inclusive training camp and we feel confident that this intensive training by her will be of immense value to the newcomers," says FDCI Chairman Sunil Sethi.

(IANSlife Features can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Posted Friday, January 15, 2021 4:25 pm

Gov. Jay Inslees proposed budget for the upcoming biennium calls for $570 million in new education spending, but many parents and educators have expressed frustration that the governors budget does not adequately fund additional transportation and special education needs fueled by COVID-19.

Of the education spending, the governor proposed $400 million for schools to expand learning opportunities and potentially add instructional time for their students.

Additionally, the budget also includes $79 million to support broadband connections for families across Washington, $32 million for school support staff, such as counselors, $14.8 for paraeducators and $3.2 million for special education.

School buses, especially in rural areas, have been especially crucial to public schools during the pandemic, Ben Ferney, superintendent of Valley School District, located north of Spokane, told Senate Ways and Means Committee members Jan. 12.

Buses are our lifeline to our students, Ferney said. His district provides transportation for itself and three other small nearby districts. Getting food to our students who are spread out over many miles has been critical. We use buses for curriculum delivery. Our issue is not lack of devices, but lack of internet. So we were delivering USBs, hardcopies and returning homework through busing.

Ramona Hattendorf from the Arc of King County, a group that champions disability rights, explained that the pandemic has been especially hard on students with special needs.

The budget does not acknowledge the reality that most of our state's 143,000 students with (individualized education plans) have not been well-served, or served at all during the pandemic, Hattendorf said. When developmental disabilities are present, students need consistent access to these types of supports with skill building and when they don't have it, they regress quite a bit.

Witnesses at the hearing also raised concerns around the need to stabilize funding for enrollment, which is down in almost every school district in the state. Total student enrollment in Washington public schools was down close to 31,000 students this September compared with 2019.

In his inaugural address on Jan. 13, Inslee touched briefly on the struggles students, parents and educators have faced during the pandemic and how the state needs to continue to support them.

I'm looking forward to working with you to remediate the impacts our students have suffered because of this pandemic, Inslee said in the pre-recorded speech. No one today has a single answer, we just have to provide the support these students need; whether it's academic, mental health or nutrition.
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Business owners and representatives here have welcomed a Supreme Court ruling that insurance companies must pay out to small traders for coronavirus-related disruption.

The Supreme Court ruled largely in favour of an appeal by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following "widespread concern" over "the lack of clarity and certainty" for firms seeking to cover substantial losses incurred by the pandemic and first lockdown.

Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts said: "This is a welcome ruling for local small businesses and independent retailers who felt that insurance companies were avoiding their responsibility to pay out on premiums.

"Insurance companies must now ensure that early payment is progressed to many thousands of struggling local businesses." Colin Neill, chief executive of Hospitality Ulster, said: "The hospitality sector here needs every single bit of help to make sure that those who have made it this far don't go to the wall after weathering an extremely difficult year.

"This ruling will come as welcome relief to those owners who may have thought all was lost and that the costs associated with such insurance policies were worthless."

Daniel Duckett (40), who owns Lazy Claire Patisserie in Belfast, said: "This pandemic has very nearly put us out of business and without the support from insurers, me, my staff and our families have been through a lot of mental stress.

"For months we were unable to open our doors, everything has been up and down and there were times where I thought I'd have to close for good.

"I'm extremely excited and pleased by this ruling.

"It's just the clarity we needed and may help us through the rest of the pandemic."

North Belfast Sinn Fein MP John Finucane said the ruling could save businesses and jobs.

He added: "In the early stages of this pandemic I met with the Association of British Insurers to raise the issue of insurance companies ducking from their responsibility to pay out on premiums.

"Sinn Fein have also been actively engaging with many small and medium-sized businesses throughout this pandemic, and this ruling could save businesses and protect jobs."

Huw Evans, director general of the Association of British Insurers (ABI), welcomed the "clarity" the judgment will bring to a number of "complex issues" for the industry.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday (local time) announced that the country is temporarily closing all travel corridors from 4 am local time on Monday in order to "protect against the risk" of new variants of Covid-19 into the country.

CNN quoted Boris Johnson as saying at a press meet that the only way to get into the country from overseas is by having a negative Covid-19 test result.

The change comes into force at 0400 (GMT) on Monday and means all passengers must have a recent negative coronavirus test and transfer immediately into isolation upon arrival.

Also, everyone entering the UK will be required to quarantine for 10 days.

"This means that if you come to this country, you must have proof of a negative Covid test that you've taken in the 72 hours before leaving. And you must have filled in your passenger locator form, and your airline will ask for proof of both before you take off," he said.

He further said that if people fail to comply with the rules then they will face a fine.

"You may also be checked when you land and face substantial fines for refusing to comply, and upon arrival, you must then quarantine for 10 days, not leaving your home for any reason at all. Or take another test on day five and wait for proof of another negative result and we will be stepping up our enforcement, both at the border and in the country," he added.

Johnson made the announcement during a news conference when he praised the country's vaccination programme, but he also warned: "What we don't want to see is all that hard work undone by the arrival of a new variant that is vaccine busting."

As per the UK Department of Transport, international travel corridors have been in place since July 2020 for countries and territories where critical analysis suggests the risk of Covid-19 can be mitigated.

The new measures will be reviewed on 15 February, the Transport Department has said.

National restrictions for England introduced on 6 January this year remain in place, meaning that everyone must stay at home unless travelling for a very limited set of reasons.

Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins University has said that over 2 million deaths have been reported around the world. In Britain, 3,325,636 cases of coronavirus and 87,448 fatalities have been reported so far.

With agency inputs

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Tom Gregory, a newspaperman for four decades, was a gruff editor who bestrode the newsroom like an emperor, wielding his pica pole  the ruler used to measure stories  like a scepter.

He bellowed at reporters who werent writing fast enough on deadline, and he was persnickety about getting just the right headline to fit a tight space. He could be tough, so much so that when he bestowed a compliment, the recipient felt like a Nobel Prize recipient.

He had good news judgment, and he had the ability to get things done, said Charles A. Ferguson, former editor of The States-Item and The Times-Picayune, who worked with Gregory on both newspapers.

He was a passionate old-school newspaper man, and he cared deeply about making a compelling paper, said Jim Amoss, a former Times-Picayune editor who worked with Gregory on that paper and The States-Item. He understood the importance of words and pictures, and he knew how to put them together.  He had absolute confidence in his judgment.

The longtime news editor of The States-Item and The Times-Picayune, Gregory died Thursday of kidney failure in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He was 86.

Despite his many years in the business, Gregory was never jaded. His curiosity about the latest news was insatiable.

He loved being a newsman -- the pulse of the newsroom, the heat of a deadline, the people, the stories, the rush of last-minute developments, said Marty Ross, a former Times-Picayune copy editor. Ross said Gregory would charge into the newsroom each day and immediately ask what was the news of the day.

On slow nights, former colleagues said, Gregory was known to say, sarcastically, What we need is a good axe murder.

As news editor, typically a high-ranking position overseeing story selection, copy editing and page design, Gregory had the ability to move comfortably from the newsroom to the composing room to the circulation department.

He knew what went on in the floors beneath the newsroom, Amoss said, and he could shuttle between them to make sure that the newspaper that got out the door was the perfect product.

He was a commanding presence in the newsroom, said Paula OByrne, who worked alongside Gregory for about 15 years. That gruff exterior was a bit of a facade."

She remembered one incident when Gregory stormed up to a reporters desk as the writer was pulling a story together on deadline and snarled, I could have written three stories by now.

The reporter looked at him calmly and said, Tom, if you want great work, you have to wait for it, OByrne recalled. As Tom whirled around, he winked at the reporter, then played his role of storming off.

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This was Gregorys way of testing people. A lot of people worshipped him, and a lot of people didnt like him, said Dale Curry, a former Times-Picayune food editor who had been a longtime colleague and friend of Gregorys.

Tom was like a character out of an old newspaper movie  stormy and smart and certain and cynical  but he was a sharp editor and a great colleague, said Peter Kovacs, who worked with Gregory and is the editor of The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate.

A native of Meridian, Mississippi, Gregory earned a degree in journalism at the University of Mississippi. He spent two years with the Army in Korea, where he worked for Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper.

After his discharge, Gregory got a job at The Meridian Star before moving to New Orleans to work on The States-Item, the citys afternoon paper, where he became news editor.

Because The States-Item published four editions every day except Sunday, everything was a hurry and a rush, said Jack Davis, a States-Item colleague. Tom kept everything moving, and he knew everything that was happening in that newsroom, and for the better.

Gregory, who left The Times-Picayune in 1993, loved jazz, oysters and opera.

He was also passionate about Scotland  so much so that he and his wife, Joyce, went there twice and he held an annual party honoring Robert Burns, the immortal Scottish poet. For one such gathering, Curry said, he had his wife make haggis, the national dish of Scotland, which consists of sheeps entrails that are traditionally cooked inside a sheeps stomach.

Later he got into genealogy, Curry said, and found out he was predominantly Irish.

Despite these other interests, the center of his life, friends and colleagues said, was always the news business, especially the way that newspapers are put together.

I think he loved the whirl and rattle of the presses and the incredible engineering origami that turns a roll of newsprint into a printed, folded actual newspaper, Marty Ross said. It was a thrill. Then we started all over again the next day.

Survivors include his wife, Joyce Gregory; a son, Paul Gregory of Birmingham, Alabama; a stepdaughter, Susan Stanley of Hattiesburg; a brother, William Gregory, of Meridian; a sister, Margaret Suggs, of Scottsdale, Arizona; and a step-grandchild.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete.

An 8-minute video that went viral this week shows anti-mask protesters attempting to enter a Salem Trader Joes and the store managers upbeat but firm rejection.

The video, posted by an Instagram user identified as @davenewworld_, has been viewed almost 250,000 times.

A store representative confirmed the incident happened outside the Salem grocery store but referred other questions to corporate representatives who did not immediately respond.

The incident begins with the store manager, whose name tag reads Karim, greeting what appears to be at least a dozen protesters. Having a good day? he asks. I know why you guys are here.

Were here to shop, one protester says. Peacefully shop, another says.

As other masked customers enter the store, the manager repeats that the protesters are welcome to shop too, as long as they wear masks. He says he is more than willing to talk to the group but isnt interested in debating policy.

Trader Joes nationwide policy requires customers to wear masks in stores.

Were not demonstrating, were buying groceries, a protester says. Thats why Im here.

The manager says he is enforcing the stores mask mandate.

Its not a law. You cannot enforce non-law, a protester says. You cannot deny somebody the right to commerce.

The store manager appears to offer to shop for the protesters and bring out what they want. Amid growing shouting, a woman says: I need to buy groceries. I dont know what I want until I go in and see it. The Civil Rights Act protects me to go in and shop like everybody else.

Legal experts have told USA Today that the 1964 Civil Rights Act does not give people the right to shop without a mask.

The video ends as protesters begin moving to block a different entrance to the store, where they say customers are being allowed in. The footage leaves the resolution to the conflict unclear. But it does not appear the protesters were granted access without masks.

Thats our goal here, to shop, one woman says.

Karim, the store manager, replies: Thats not going to happen.

 Rob Davis

rdavis@oregonian.com

503.294.7657; @robwdavis

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Regional

First phase of COVID-19 vaccination held across North East

NORTHEAST, JAN 16 (CORRESPONDENTS/ AGENCIES) | Publish Date: 1/16/2021 12:21:28 PM IST

Along with the rest of India, the first phase of COVID vaccination was held in the eight North-eastern states of India. The vaccine doses were mainly administered to frontline health workers with the chief minister of each states flagging off the vaccination drive.

MANIPUR: An attendant of Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS), Imphal was the first person to get the COVID-19 vaccine (Covishield) in Manipur.

Along with Ningombam Romesh of Khurai who was the first person, a total of 1000 healthcare workers were vaccinated after chief minister N Biren Singh launched the historic vaccination drive of COVID-19 vaccine (Covishield) in the state.

The chief minister launched the vaccination programme in a function held at JNIMS hospital today shortly after Prime Minister Narendra launched the countrywide programme through video conferencing from New Delhi today.

The 1st phase vaccination in the state was carried out in 10 centres - JNIMS Hospital, RIMS Hospital, Shija Hospitals and Research Institute and District Hospitals of Churachandpur, Bishnupur, Senapati, Chandel, Ukhrul, Thoubal and Tamenglong.

A total of 9617 healthcare workers will receive vaccination in the first phase. In the 2nd phase, other frontline warriors will be inoculated.

In the 3rd and 4th phase, persons above 50 years of age and people below 50 years of age with co-morbidity will be vaccinated respectively.

Addressing the historic occasion, chief minister N Biren Singh urged the public not to make negative comments about the vaccine without valid scientific proof.

The state government has identified and kept ready 246 session sites spread across 16 districts for vaccination. All these sites have been checked through dry runs.

AT RIMS hospital, the vaccination programme was launched by Imphal West DC N Praveen Singh at a function held at the College of Nursing, RIMS.

Director of RIMS, prof A Shanta Singh was among altogether 100 healthcare workers of the institute to be vaccinated after launch of the vaccination programme.

He also said that he volunteered for the vaccination to demonstrate that there were no side effects of the vaccine.

Expressing happiness for the people of the state, he added that it would be good if more people come out to get vaccination to break the chain of the pandemic. (Correspondent)

MEGHALAYA: Meghalaya on Saturday joined the rest of the country in the largest vaccination drive in the world against COVID-19 with Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma terming it as a historic day.

The launch of COVID-19 vaccination kicked off in the presence of the chief minister at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), which is one of the vaccination sites in the State.

A total of 832 health workers were inoculated at ten centres in nine districts across Meghalaya and 100 in super specialty NEIGRIHMS here.

In the first phase today 100 healthcare workers received their first shot at NEIGRIHMS from East Khasi Hills District and they would receive their second shot on the 28th day.

According to the scientists the immunity against COVID-19 would develop in 45 days and before that those immunized would have to take care, Sangma said.

In the second phase of the vaccination drive, frontline workers would get their COVID-19 vaccine shot. After that citizens over 50 years and with co-morbidity would get their vaccine shots.

The Chief Minister further informed that the first phase of vaccination for 16,000 health workers may take three to four weeks time.

Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare, P. Sampath Kumar said more than 800 healthcare workers were vaccinated in nine districts.

Clarifying as to why two districts out of the total 11 in the State were left out in the first phase of vaccination, the chief minister said by Sunday the vaccination will be rolled out in those districts too.

As of Saturday, vaccination drive was conducted in ten different locations in nine districts the State. (Correspondent)

Assam: Assam joined the nation in launching the COVID-19 vaccination drive on Saturday, with a medical officer in Golaghat district becoming the first person in the state to receive the jab.

Dr Milan Kumar Laskar, the sub-divisional medical officer of Bokakhat, was administered the shot at 11.07 am at a public health centre, right after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on the occasion.

Later, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched the state-wide drive at Assam Medical College Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh, and Minister for Health and Family Welfare Himanta Biswa Sarma at Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) here.

At GMCH, retired vice chancellor of Sankardeva University of Health Sciences, Dr Umesh Chandra Sarma, was the first person to receive the shot, followed by 11 other prominent doctors, including its principal Dr Achyut Baishya and superintendent Dr Abhijeet Sharma.

Similarly, in AMCH, its principal Dr Sanjiv Kakoti was administered the first dose.

The chief minister, after launching the drive, said that it was a "moment of pride for the entire nation and a major step towards realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for an 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', made possible only due to his able leadership".

An estimated 6,500 of the 1.9 lakh registered health workers, designated as COVID warriors, will be administered the vaccine on the first day at 65 centres, set up in seven medical college hospitals and 24 district and sub-divisional medical establishments.

During the second phase, one lakh frontline workers including security forces will be inoculated.

Mizoram: A health worker was the first person to get the COVID-19 vaccine in Mizoram on Saturday as the Northeastern state joined the rest of the country in launching the vaccination programme, officials said.

Lalthlamuani, a grade-IV worker at the Aizawl Civil Hospital, was the first person to get the vaccine in the state, they said.

Among the recipients were 10 senior doctors, including Lalhmuchhuaka, the superintendent of the Aizawl Civil Hospital.

Total 314 people received the vaccine on the first day though 500 people were supposed to get it, officials said.

The turnout was less as the beneficiaries recieved the SMS alert, informing them about the vaccination programme, late, an official said.

The main programme to launch the vaccination drive was held at the Aizawl Civil Hospital. Health Minister R Lalthangliana and Health Secretary H Lalengmawia were present.

The health minister claimed that Mizoram is one of the best performing states not only in India but the entire world in tackling the pandemic.

A total of 18,500 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield vaccine were brought to Aizawl by a air from Pune on Thursday.

Apart from the Aizawl Civil Hospital, the first rollout of the vaccine happened at the Zoram Medical College (ZMC), the Sub-District Hospital at Kulikawn, and Urban Public Health Centre at ITI Veng, all of which are in Aizawl, besides the civil hospital in Lunglei town in the southern part of the state.

The vaccination drive will be held in all the districts across the state from next week and about 8,000 healthcare workers are to be vaccinated in the first phase, said Dr Eric Zomawia, the director of the National Health Mission (NHM) in Mizoram.

Arunachal Pradesh: The COVID-19 vaccination drive is underway in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday with a government hospital doctor receiving the first shot, a senior health official said here. Chief Minister Pema Khandu inaugurated the state-wide launch of the COVID-19 inoculation exercise at the K D S District Hospital in Tawang earlier in the day.

Dr Deka, an associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) in Naharlagun near here was the first person in the state to receive the vaccine, State Surveillance Officer Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

When the vaccination began, Home Minister Bamang Felix was present at TRIHMS.

A list of 23,505 healthcare professionals, including 3,867 vaccinators and 483 health workers from Indo-Tibetan Border Police, has been uploaded on CoWin, a digital platform for monitoring the inoculation exercise, he said.

Around 28,000 frontline workers also registered their names at the portal.

Agartala: The first phase of COVID-19 vaccination started in Tripura with immunisation drive at 17 session sites set up across eight districts of the state. A total of 1,399 health workers will receive the first dose shots of the Covidshield vaccine here on Saturday.

The first vaccine shot was administered on 30-year-old Dr Mridul Das in Gandhigram Primary Health Centre (PHC) in West Tripura district around 11:15 am which was followed by Dr Ankur Roy, dental surgeon from the same hospital.

Tripura received 56,500 doses in the first tranche which will be used to vaccinate 55 percent of the total health workers out of 45,432 in the state.

A total of 100 health staff, including the doctors, staff nurse, office staff, RBSK team, Lab technician, MPW staff, 26 ASHA and 44 Anganwadi workers will get the vaccine at Gandhigram PHC.

Another, Dr Ankur Roy, a dental surgeon who was the second receiver of vaccine shot, said the vaccine passed various levels.

Among the frontline workers in Tripura, ASHA, and Anganwadi workers led the fight from the front visiting the house identifying symptomatic patients.

Rinku Sutradhar, an Anganwadi worker, received the dose of the vaccine in Gandhigram PHC on Saturday. Meanwhile, West District Chief Medical Officer, Dr Debasish Das, said that three session sites, including Gandhigram PHC, East Bubanban PHC and Tripura Medical College were selected for vaccination on the first day. (Courtesy: East Mojo)

Sikkim: Sikkim joined the rest of the nation in launching the COVID19 vaccination programme today. Chief Minister PS Tamang and Health Minister Dr MK Sharma were present at STNM hospital near Gangtok during the launch. The vaccination drive simultaneously also began at District hospital, Gyalsingh, West Sikkim.

AIR correspondent reports, on the first day, 140 health care workers have been registered for inoculation at the two COVID19 vaccination centres in Sikkim. Speaking after the launch, chief minister PS Tamang said that the vaccination programme is a great example of Aatmanirbhar Bharat envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as both the vaccines are manufactured in India.

Speaking to AIR News, Sikkim health minister Dr MK Sharma hoped that the vaccines bring an end to the hardships faced by all due to the pandemic. Sikkim has received 12,500 doses of Covishield vaccine in the first consignment for Phase I. The vaccination drive will subsequently cover primary health centres. (Courtesy: News on air)


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On August 4 2020 2.750 tons of ammonium nitrate, stored in a warehouse of Beirut's harbour, exploded. The blast destroyed large parts of the city.

The dangerous load had come on a defect ship which was impounded by the Lebanese authorities. It had been stored since 2013. Despite urgent warnings, the complicate Lebanese bureaucracy had never found a way to get rid of the dangerous load.

Soon conspiracy theories sprang up about the 'real' ownership and purpose of the load and of who might have had an interest in igniting it. None made much sense. The original explanation of a bureaucratic tussle and pure neglect are still the most plausible cause.

But that does not stop the British Guardian from trying to blame the Syrian government for the incident:

Here is how the Guardian 'links' the Syrian government with the explosion:

The company used to ship a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate to Beirut port, where it caused a devastating explosion last August, has been linked to three influential businessmen with ties to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, a new investigation has found.

...

An investigation by the Lebanese film-maker Firas Hatoum, which aired this week on local television network Al-Jadeed, drew links between Savaro and three figures who had been central to efforts to bolster Assad since the earliest months of the Syrian war. George Haswani, Mudalal Khuri and his brother Imad are joint Russian-Syrian citizens who have all been sanctioned by the United States for supporting the Syrian leaders war effort. Companies linked to Haswani and Imad Khuri shared a London address with Savaro, which bought the nitrate in 2013. The official destination of the cargo was Mozambique, but it was diverted to and unloaded in Beirut, where it was stored unsafely until the catastrophic blast.

...

The Savaro address  10 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3BQ  was also the registered address of Hesco Engineering and Construction, which was directed by Haswani, a go-to businessman for Assad who was also sanctioned by the US in 2015 for allegedly buying oil from the Islamic State (Isis) terror group on behalf of the Syrian government. According to documents supplied by Hatoum, another of Savaros London addresses is linked to a second company tied to Haswanis Hesco now defunct company, IK Petroleum, which was directed by Imad Khruri until 2016.

The suspicious 'link' the Guardian describes is solely based on the common address of otherwise unconnected companies.

But all the named companies are just letterbox entities. These get set up and dissolved by the dozens per day. The British government's registrar for such businesses is Companies House. It allows anyone to search for a company's name, address and ownership.

A Companies House search for 10 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3BQ, the common address of the suspicious companies, currently results in 140,871 matches. And yes, they all have the same address.

More that 140,000 active or dissolved companies have been registered at 10 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3BQ. To then claim that some of these companies are suspiciously 'linked' to each other because they share the same nominal letterbox is bonkers. It is like claiming that U.S. companies are 'linked' because they are, for tax reasons, registered in Delaware.

Why Martin Chulov, the Guardian's Middle East correspondent and author of the piece, did not do the basic diligence of checking the records or chose not to tell his readers that such address sharing is extremely common and does not prove anything is beyond me.

One might suspect that any chance to denounce the Syrian government over whatever nonsense has taken priority over journalistic diligence.

In 2015 Chulov won the Orwell price for journalism.

Orwellian that indeed is.

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Thriller: Trust by Chris Hammer Wildfire, 480 pages, hardcover 21; e-book 8.99

Life couldnt be better for journalist and author Martin Scarsden. Semi-retired, he has been living with his partner Mandy and her two-year-old son Liam for the last 16 months in the big house above Port Silver that she inherited and they are now both renovating.

He is playing with Liam on the beach below the house when he gets two calls.

The first is from his former Sydney newspaper editor and mentor Max Fuller, who tells him he is on to a hot news story and wants his help. The second is a voicemail from Mandy, which is abruptly cut off with a scream.

He races home to find Mandy has disappeared and an unconscious policeman lying on the floor. What could possibly have happened? Reluctantly, Martin realises that he really doesnt know an awful lot about his lovers past, certainly not that she was once the fiancee of a man called Tarquin Molloy, whose body has just been found buried in the foundations of a Sydney apartment block built five years previously.

Tarquin, it appears, was an undercover policeman, but went missing from the Sydney investment firm where he was working.

Ten million dollars also went missing, and it was assumed he had gone rogue.

When Mandy is rescued unharmed, she and Martin join forces to try to unravel the mystery, and clear her name and reputation  and he must summon up all his investigative journalistic skills if he is to rescue her from what appears to be serious illegalities buried in her past.

This immersive, pacy antipodean conspiracy thriller confirms Chris Hammer, himself a former journalist, as one of Australias best new crime authors.

Myles McWeeney

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Thriller: The Captive by Deborah OConnor

Zaffre, 416 pages, hardcover 15.65; e-book 7.19

The Captive is set slightly in the near future. The government has decided that criminals convicted of a serious crime must serve their sentence caged in the victims home so they can be aware 24/7 of the distress they have caused. Jen Dahlin killed Hannahs husband John in a mugging that went wrong, and now he will spend the next 20 years in a secure electronic cell no bigger that a car park bay in her kitchen. Had she not chosen to house him, he would have walked free. There is a certain inevitability about what happens over the next weeks, but readers will become totally hooked within pages of starting this hugely original and entertaining thriller. A bravura performance.

Myles McWeeney

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Non-fiction: The Pembrokeshire Murders by Steve Wilkins and Jonathan Hill

Seven Dials, 352 pages, paperback 13; e-book 0.99

ITV and Virgin Media are currently showing a three-part drama based on the real-life murders of a serial killer in Wales starring Luke Evans and Keith Allen. This is the book from which the series is adapted and it offers a deep-dive into one of the most unusual cold cases in UK policing history. The story begins in the 1980s, in Pembrokeshire. Theres a double murder and the rape and assault of two teenagers and all the evidence is pointing to the work of one man. The perpetrator was eventually brought to justice, but it took the cold case team six years of cutting-edge forensic science and old-fashioned detective work to bring him to justice.

John Meagher

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Memoir: Motherwell: A Girlhood by Deborah Orr

W&N, 304 pages, paperback 14; e-book 4.99

Deborah Orr was an award-winning columnist, most notably for the Guardian  she died at 57 after an illness in 2019. This posthumous memoir takes a candid look at her upbringing in Motherwell, Scotland  a town she both loved and loathed. It also centres on her relationship with her loving but suffocating mother, Win. Orr was a bright kid who won a place at university, but Win was fiercely opposed to her leaving home. Shed had few opportunities for herself and despite her love of her daughter, couldnt see behind her own, limited horizon. A Girlhood looks at the conflict of someone wanting to make their own way, while also feeling the need to be there for a close family member.

John Meagher

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Memoir: The Louder I Will Sing by Lee Lawrence

Sphere, 272 pages, paperback 14; e-book 5.99

In September 1985, a young black woman, Cherry Groce, was wrongly shot by police during a raid at her Brixton, London home. Her spine was shattered and she never walked again. Her 11-year-old son, Lee Lawrence, was left to pick up the pieces and become her carer. He had seen injustice and racism at first hand and for the next 30 years he fought to get the police to recognise their wrongdoing. This memoir, which won the 2020 Costa Biography Prize, is a compelling account of growing up as a black man in modern-day Britain. The book tracks the underlying racism prevalent in some of the countrys key institutions and the strength of one man in the face of adversity.

John Meagher
New Delhi, Jan 16 : Kerala and norteastern states are neck and neck when it comes to satisfaction level with the sitting Lok Sabha MPs, while people in Haryana and Puducherry have registered their satisfaction level in the negative, as per the IANS C-Voter State of the Nation 2021 survey.

According to the survey, in Kerala, 37.31 per cent of the people are satisfied with the sitting Lok Sabha MPs, while 42.87 per cent are satisfied with them to some extent and merely 16.44 per cent are not satisfied at all. The nett level of satisfaction in Kerala is 63.7 per cent. The northeastern states are marginally lagging behind Kerala at 61.3 per cent nett satisfaction with the sitting MPs.

Interestingly, in Himachal Pradesh, 50.7 per cent of the people are satisfied with the sitting MPs, which is the highest in a comparison between states, though it has 25.22 per cent people who are satisfied to some extent and 21.42 per cent people who are not satisfied at all, dragging it down to No. 3 in the overall rankings.

Andhra Pradesh ranks fourth with 45.15 per cent of people very much satisfied with their sitting Lok Sabha MPs.

In the all-India context, 31.52 per cent of the people are very much satisfied with their MPs, while 26.05 per cent are satisfied to some extent. However, 32.99 per cent are not satisfiedat all.

At 45.96 per cent, the people of Gujarat have registered the second highest level of satisfaction with their sitting MPs, followed by Odisha at 41.65 per cent.

In the newly formed Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, 42.27 per cent people are very much satisfied with their sitting MPs, while 27.6 per cent are not satisfied at all, pushing it to 16th in the overall rankings.

The people in Haryana and Puducherry have expressed utter dissatisfaction with their sitting Lok Sabha MPs. As many as 54.25 per cent of the people in Haryana are not at all satisfied with their MPs, which is the highest level of non-satisfaction at an all India level, followed by Puducherry at 46.25 per cent.

Assam at 31.07 per cent and Maharashtra at 31.2 per cent are also neck and neck in terms of people's satisfaction with their sitting MPs. However, 20.07 per cent of people in Assam are not at all satisfied with their sitting MPs, third after Kerala and NE.

In Delhi, 31.14 per cent of the people are very much satisfied with their sitting MPs, while 34.73 per cent are not at all satisfied.

The survey was carried out among over 30,000 respondents across the country in all the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies.
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Germany, and pressed Iran on Saturday to back off the latest planned violation of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, saying that Tehran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday Iran had informed it that it had begun installing equipment for the production of uranium metal. It said Tehran maintains its plans to conduct research and development on uranium metal production are part of its declared aim to design an improved type of fuel.

Uranium metal can also be used for a nuclear bomb, however, and research on its production is specifically prohibited under the nuclear deal the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that Tehran signed with Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and the United States in 2015.

Since the unilateral American withdrawal from the deal in 2018, the other members have been working to preserve the accord. Iran has been using violations of the deal to put pressure on the other signatories to provide more incentives to Iran to offset crippling American sanctions re-imposed after the US pullout.

A joint statement from the German, French and British foreign ministries said they are deeply concerned by the latest Iranian announcement.

Iran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal, it said. The production of uranium metal has potentially grave military implications.

We strongly urge Iran to halt this activity, and return to compliance with its JCPoA commitments without further delay if it is serious about preserving the deal, the statement added. The ultimate goal of the deal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, something Iran insists it does not want to do. President-elect Joe Biden, who was vice president when the deal was signed during the Obama administration, has said he hopes to return the US to the deal.

People dine outside at a restaurant in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, on Oct. 2, 2020. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

CCP Virus Updates: Restaurants, Bars Scramble for Propane

With CCP virus restrictions forcing bars and restaurants to seat customers outside in the winter, many are scrambling to nab erratic supplies of propane that fuel space heaters theyre relying on more than ever to keep people comfortable in the cold.

Propane long has been a lifeline for people who live in places too remote to get natural gas piped to their homes for heat, hot water, and cooking. This winter, 5-gallon (18-liter) propane tanks have proven a new necessity for urban businesses, too, especially in places like the Rocky Mountains, where the sun often takes the edge off the chill and people still enjoy gathering on patios when the heaters are roaring.

Thousands March in Vienna Against Restrictions

Thousands of people marched through Vienna on Saturday to protest against restrictions on public life designed to curb the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, just as Chancellor Sebastian Kurzs government held talks about extending the measures.

Austria, a country of 8.9 million people, is in its third lockdown, with only essential shops open. The country has reported nearly 390,00 COVID-19 cases and almost 7,000 linked deaths since the pandemic began last year.

Australian Open Buildup in Disarray

The build-up to next months Australian Open was thrown into disarray on Saturday when 47 players were forced into two weeks of strict hotel quarantine after CCP virus infections were reported on two chartered flights carrying them to Melbourne.

Two dozen players and their staff landed from Los Angeles to go into quarantine after an aircrew member and a passenger, who was not a player, tested positive for COVID-19. A further 23 players arriving by a chartered flight from Abu Dhabi met a similar fate after another non-player passenger was found positive, the organizers of the years first grand slam said in a statement.

India Launches Worlds Largest Vaccination Drive

India started inoculating health workers Saturday in what is likely the worlds largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign, joining the ranks of wealthier nations where the effort is already well underway.

Indian authorities hope to give shots to 300 million people, roughly the population of the United States and several times more than its existing program that targets 26 million infants. The recipients include 30 million doctors, nurses, and other front-line workers, to be followed by 270 million people who are either over 50 years old or have illnesses that make them vulnerable to the CCP virus

China Builds Hospital in 5 Days After Surge of Infections

China on Saturday finished building a 1,500-room hospital for CCP virus patients to fight a surge in infections the government said are harder to contain and that it blamed on infected people or goods from abroad.

The hospital is one of six with a total of 6,500 rooms being built in Nangong, south of Beijing in Hebei province, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

55 Dead in US After Receiving Vaccines: Reporting System

Fifty-five people in the United States have died after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, according to reports submitted to a federal system.

Deaths have occurred among people receiving both the Moderna and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, according to the reports. The reporting system, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), is a federal database. The system is passive, meaning reports arent automatically collected and must be filed. VAERS reports can be filed by anyone, including health care providers, patients, or family members.

Spain Confident of Vaccine Program Despite Delay

Spains health minister said Saturday that his government is standing by its pledge to vaccinate a large part of its population by the summer despite the delay in the distribution of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Minister Salvador Illa said that even though Spain will only receive 56 percent of the expected doses next week from Pfizer, Spains vaccination program has reached cruising speed.

Rep. Gwen Moore to Vote by Proxy Following Positive Test

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) will vote by proxy, she said Thursday, because of the CCP virus pandemic.

Moore traveled to Washington on Jan. 3 to vote for the House speaker position, just six days after testing positive for COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people quarantine at minimum for seven days after testing positive.

Mexico Hits Another High in Cases

Mexico posted a record spike in CCP virus cases on Friday, with 21,366 newly confirmed infections, about double the daily rate of increase just a week ago. The country also recorded 1,106 more deaths.

The country has now seen almost 1.61 million total infections and has seen registered over 139,000 deaths so far in the pandemic.

Scientists at Wuhan Virology Lab Got Sick in Autumn 2019

Several researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill with symptoms similar to those caused by COVID-19 in the Autumn of 2019, contradicting claims by a senior researcher from the institute who said there were no infections among the staff scientists.

The revelation is part of a fact sheet released by the U.S. Department of State on Jan. 15 which slams the CCP for obsessive secrecy around the origin of the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control reported a cluster of pneumonia-like cases of unknown origin on Dec. 21, 2019. But months later, new evidence emerged suggesting that Chinese authorities were aware of the first CCP virus case on Nov. 17. The United States government wasnt informed about the virus until Dec. 30 from Taiwan.

Reporter Ivan Pentchoukov, Zachary Stieber, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
All of the Queens ICU beds are officially listed as full, but the hospital has flexibility to handle more patients, Herold said. The hospital is keeping up with increased patients by altering patient/staff ratios for short periods and unburdening some nurses of routine administrative duties. Patients are not being turned away, she said.

The hospital is delaying some non-urgent surgeries to create capacity for more COVID patients, but all urgent and emergency needs are being met, Herold said.

Queen of the Valley braced for a COVID surge last spring, but it never came, Herold said. Today the hospital is seeing four to five times as many COVID patients as it did over the summer. On Wednesday, the hospital had 19 COVID patients.

COVID patients are cared for in separate nursing and intensive care units. Since summer, theres been at least one woman with COVID in the labor and delivery unit each week, Herold said. Pregnant patients can get it too, she said.

The hospital recently reactivated a tented triage area outside the Intensive Care Unit where patients with COVID-19 symptoms can be assessed before possible admission. Something similar was done last spring for the COVID surge that didnt materialize, Herold said.
The scene was familiar to Nat Williams.

The 88-year-old Korean War combat veteran marched through Newark Saturday with dozens of others, demanding justice and equality in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who would have turned 92 Friday and whose birthday is celebrated as a national holiday Monday.

Williams, a Harlem native, followed Dr. Martin Luther King throughout the 1960s, marching alongside the civil rights leader as Black Americans fought for racial and economic justice. He was there for the March on Washington in 1963 and heard King utter the words: I have a dream.

King was assassinated in 1968 and never saw the end result of his push for justice.

People like Williams never stopped marching.

Even when he was downtrodden and couldnt eat in certain restaurants because he was Black, despite his decorated military service, Williams kept marching, inspired by King.

With a walker and a sign that read, Racism is evil, Williams marched from Market Street up to Broad Street in the Brick City Saturday with more than 50 others.

We just gotta keep pushing, Williams said. We can never give up. This is all about freedom, justice and equality.

The march was organized by Lawrence Hamm, chairman of the Peoples Organization for Progress (POP) civil rights group, to mark Kings birthday. Hamm, along with faith leaders and community activists, spoke to Kings crusade for equality and racial and economic justice, while highlighting that those very issues still exist today in New Jersey and across the country, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The theme of the march was The People are Suffering, Hamm said, as he called for more coronavirus relief for New Jersey residents.

The dozens that gathered held signs with messages like, Martin Luther King. His Struggle Continues, End Poverty, and Protect Voting Rights. Drivers continually honked throughout the event at signs that read, Honk against white supremacy.

We are here to stand once again to recommit ourselves to the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Hamm said.

Larry Hamm, right, founder of The Peoples Organization For Progress (POP) speaks Saturday during the organization's annual march to observe the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in downtown Newark. Helping hold the banner at left is POP member Sharon Hand.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Newark, a majority Black city, has long been a place where King has been embraced.

The civil rights icon visited the city less than a year after the deadly 1967 riots. As he made various stops across the city  South Side High School, a nursery school, a home of a family on public assistance and multiple churches  King delivered a message advocating for economic equality and against the Vietnam War.

The city has honored King over the years. A statue of him stands outside the Essex County Hall of Records. A county office that is under construction will bear his name and be highlighted by a 15-foot statue of King. The federal courthouse is also named for him.

But the issues King was fighting for are still felt by many.

Darell Richardson, a Newark native, said he has been organizing and protesting alongside Hamm since they both attended Princeton University in the 1970s.

This struggle has been going on forever, he said.

The march and the celebration of Kings birthday comes on the heels of a violent mob attacking the U.S. Capitol earlier this month in opposition to the election results that certified Joe Biden as the next president. Inside the Capitol, known white supremacists caused mayhem. One man carried the Confederate flag through the Capitol halls.

Speakers at the march talked about how the images of the mob causing terror inside the government building showed that people are against the equality that King and others fought for and are continuing to fight for.

The things (King) was fighting for have not changed, said Sharon Hand, of Paterson. We are demanding that people pay attention.

Hamm said the people trying to overturn the election are trying to force upon us their vision of what America should be.

We are here today to say that we stand against racism, white supremacy, racist violence, racial inequality, racial discrimination and racial oppression, he said.

The theme this year for the POP's annual march for King's birthday is The People Are Suffering with a renewed call for economic justice in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The speakers spoke about how the country needs to continue to work towards the reforms King pushed for, like economic justice for marginalized communities and to expand voting rights, two issues still affecting people across the country.

Black lives need to matter right now, said Rev. Lukata A. Mjumbe, the pastor at Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton. We need economic justice right now.

A police escort led the march down Market Street. Hamm regularly organizes protests in the city, and carries a microphone and speaker to make sure his message is heard.

As he walked with Williams, Hamm led the group in a chant.

What do we want? he asked.

Justice! the group responded.

When do we want it? Hamm asked

Now! they said in unison.

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H&M will launch two new stores on Januaray 23

H&M is planning to launch two new stores in the southern city of Can Tho and the northern city of Halong on January 23. Thus, the company raised its total number of outlets to 11 across the country.

Back in 2017, when the brand initially set foot in the 100-population market, Fredrik Famm, H&M managing director of the Southeast Asia region, told VIR that Vietnam plays an important role in H&Ms strategy. H&M considers Vietnam a potential market and this is the best time to make Vietnam the 68th market of the global H&M family.

By the end of 2019, it had eight stores located in golden destinations in popular shopping malls in big cities with stellar leasing prices. For example, with a rate of $102 per sq.m at Vincom Dong Khoi, H&M has to pay nearly $225,000 a month after its 2,000 sq.m store. Other places charge $50-100 per sq.m a month for stores of a similar size.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, the brand inaugurated only one store. It has also shut 250 stores across the globe since October  just after closing 140 stores in 2018 due to the downturn in its physical business operations.

At the time, H&M launched its eighth store in the central city of Danang in 2019, Famm said that even as the online business has been taking off, physical establishments still play an important role in its performance in Vietnam and the world.

He said that customers come to the stores for not only clothes but also the space with particular decorations. Therefore, despite the growth of online shopping, the demand for direct experience at the outlets remains.

However, this has changed since the pandemic and the lockdown descended on Vietnam for more than a month, with the market freezing almost entirely over. Even after the social distancing, H&M's performance did not improve because of the changes in customers shopping behaviour in favour of e-commerce.

According to Sapo, fashion items were one of the most popular categories for online shopping in Vietnam last year. Moreover, consumers tended to save money during the pandemic, reducing expenses by more than half.
The Sino-US trade frictions have led to a loss of cumulatively 245,000 jobs to the American employment market so far, according to a study of Oxford Economics. However, if both parties would cancel their imposition of additional tariffs gradually and promote the development of bilateral trade, 145,000 new jobs would be created for the American market as of 2025.

The study was initiated by the Oxford Economics entrusted by the USCBC, as reported by Reuters. The US-China Business Council is a non-governmental and non-profit organization, whose members are American companies that have businesses in China, including many famous international tycoons such as Coca-Cola, and other small American enterprises.

The study, which will be released several days before Biden, the U.S. president, takes office, analyzes the current trade policies of the country. Biden said that he had no plan to change Trumps tariff policies immediately.

The study estimates that the U.S. export to China provides 1.2 million jobs to the American market, including 197,000 Americans employed by trans-national Chinese companies. In 2019, American companies invested a total of USD 105 billion in China.

Data indicate that if Sino-US trade frictions keep going, the U.S. would lose 732,000 jobs by 2022, and 320,000 more by 2025.

Damages that trade frictions bring to American economics are more than the loss of jobs.

It was predicted that a dramatic decoupling of trade between the world's two largest economies would lead to GDP decrease of USD 1.6 trillion to the U.S. within five years.

The study report showed that China would play an important role in promoting global economics. In the upcoming 10 years, China would pull global economic growth by 1/3. Therefore, the importance of Chinese market access will increase day by day for the U.S.

[ Editor: WPY ]
SPRINGFIELD  The city provided coronavirus vaccines to a total of 920 people this week, primarily first responders, and is preparing for future phases and shipments, the citys top health official said Friday.

I am extremely pleased with our overall operation, said Helen R. Caulton-Harris, the citys commissioner of health and human services. One of the keys to being successful is to have a waiting list of individuals that can be called and who can get to the clinic quickly.

All local first responders were invited to the clinic conducted at the Boland Elementary School. It was provided daily from Tuesday through Friday, ranging from four to six hours each day, Caulton-Harris said.

The vaccine was administered to police officers, firefighters, emergency medical workers and court officers, Caulton-Harris said. The program is voluntary and the number of first responders who did not receive the vaccine was not confirmed.

It is clear that there is vaccine acceptance and vaccine hesitancy across the nation and in the city of Springfield, Caulton-Harris said. Certainly there were first responders who did not take the vaccine.

The city was informed that, due to additional vaccines received, it could move to the next priority group, Caulton-Harris said by email.

Next we vaccinated staff at Homeless Shelters, we did not vaccinate shelter guests, Caulton-Harris said. We also vaccinated a limited number of first responders from Holyoke and Home Health Care Agencies.

There will be clinics next week, but the days and details are not yet finalized.

The vaccine clinic was offered by the citys Health and Human Services Department in collaboration with American Medical Response (AMR) and Springfield Public Schools nurses.

The next phase of the vaccine program is for congregate care facilities, shelters and prisons, and non-COVID-facing health care workers, Caulton-Harris said.

In addition, first responders who were not available this week will have access for vaccination next week, she said.

Vaccines are not yet being offered to the general public, Caulton-Harris said.

The city received an initial shipment of approximately 1,400 doses. It is unknown when the next shipment will be received for the citys distribution. The state Department of Public Health is in the process of setting up vaccination sites, and the locations are not been finalized, Caulton-Harris said.

It is urgent that we get this vaccine off the shelf and into arms, Caulton-Harris said. Vaccines will not save lives, vaccinations will.

Separately, Springfield hospitals have been providing vaccines to their employees. On Friday, a spokesman for Baystate Health said approximately 8,400 out of 12,000 employees have received the vaccine so far. Mercy Medical Center has also been providing vaccines, but the latest numbers were not available.

Local hospital officials are urging the federal and state government to speed up the distribution of the vaccines to combat the spread of the virus.
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Japan's winter resorts are on a slippery financial slope as rising COVID-19 infections deter skiers and snowboarders.

The country's fine-quality snows had increasingly lured foreign enthusiasts over the last few years, but last year a historic snow shortage left many resorts under pressure. This season there is plenty of snow -- but the coronavirus outbreak and Japan's subsequent ban on foreign tourists are keeping most visitors away.

Some resorts are falling into bankruptcy, and industry experts suggest operators need to brace for a long winter of heavy price competition.

"Now should be the best season, but the number of visitors is very low," said a representative of a ski resort in the Niseko region of Hokkaido, one of Japan's most popular snow destinations. The resort usually welcomes 80-90% of its guests from abroad, mainly from Hong Kong and Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

With core customers gone, the resort has been trying to cater to Japanese guests by launching discount lift tickets and altering restaurant menus -- offering less expensive dishes in smaller portions.

So far it has been to little avail. Many Japanese are staying home after a rise in COVID-19 cases, which led the government to issue a state of emergency in Tokyo and nearby areas last week. Seven other prefectures, including Osaka, were added on Wednesday to prevent further spread.

Alarm over the coronavirus caseload had earlier prompted the government to suspend the nationwide Go To Travel campaign, which offers subsidies of up to 50% for domestic holidays, in late December.

"We can't really help it unless the virus subsides," the representative added.

Another resort operator in Niseko said the number of customers more than halved this year from last year and complained of a wave of hotel cancellations after the suspension of the Go To Travel campaign, a signature policy of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Fine powder snow in Niseko and neighboring areas has attracted foreign investment, initially from Australia but later also from China and other countries, to build condominiums for long stayers from abroad. This lured Park Hyatt, Ritz-Carlton and other fancy hotel brands. The area has experienced Japan's biggest hike in land prices for six consecutive years through 2020, according to the National Tax Agency. - Nikkei
On This Day The Day Myanmars Independence Hero Studied Britains War Machine

Gen. Aung San visits a Royal Air Force training school during his trip to Britain.

Yangon  On this day in 1947, Myanmars independence architect General Aung San, who was in London to discuss Burmese independence with the then British prime minister, Clement Attlee, visited the British Ministry of Defence, the place he wanted to visit most in the United Kingdom.

Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery welcomed and conducted him around the headquarters.

Gen. Aung San, who served as chief of the Burmese army and minister of war, and is considered the father of Myanmars military, had determined to visit the offices that commanded all the military affairs of the British Empire to prepare his defense ministry after independence.

The independence leader asked numerous questions about the structure and command of the British armed forces and Montgomery, who was known for his experiences fighting Germany during World War II, answered all his questions patiently.

Monty, then chief of the Imperial General Staff, had already heard about Gen. Aung San from Field Marshal William Slim, who led the 14th Army during the Burma campaign against Japan.

Gen. Aung San, 31, smiled broadly during his visit before heading for afternoon talks with Attlee at Downing Street.

During his London trip, Gen. Aung San, who said he would retire from politics and take up writing after independence, visited bookshops and met the British writer Maurice Collis, who served as an administrator in colonial Myanmar (then Burma). He also met the political theorist and economist Harold Laski.

He and Attlee signed an agreement to grant independence in one year. Myanmar gained independence on Jan. 4, 1948.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko

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Anyone hoping that they would be rolling the dice in a luxury Texas casino or openly smoking marijuana in 2021 can keep dreaming, because the state isn't poor enough, according to one media executive.

The casino industry has flooded the Texas Capitol with cash and lobbyists hoping to pick the plum and 20 bills have been introduced aimed at legalizing marijuana in the state with the hope that budget shortfalls caused by COVID-19 would push the state over the hump.
Stepping onto Quasquicentennial with Glory and Grandeur Sacred Heart Convent  Galle View(s):

Sacred Heart Convent, one of the leading girls schools in the Galle District, held the inauguration of the quasquicentennial celebrations on 24th of November 2020.

Founded as a private school on 24th November 1896, Sacred Heart Convent was handed over to the state in 1978. Presently, the school imparts education to 2300 girls moulding their character with the highest standards of learning, discipline and empathy in line with her motto One Heart One Soul.

The schools history goes hand in hand with the inauguration of the mission of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary (SCJM) in Sri Lanka.

On the invitation of Mgr. Joseph Van Reeth, the first Bishop of Galle Diocese, five Reverend Sisters from Belgium had set foot on this blessed island to propagate their mission here.

Upon arrival they laid foundation to the SCJM in Sri Lanka. On 24th November 1896, they launched their first mission  founding of Sacred Heart Convent School. One of those pioneering Reverend Sisters, Rev. Sr. William Brennan, became the first principal of the school.

The SCJM in Sri Lanka consisting of nearly 150 Reverend Sisters takes much pride in stepping onto 125th year of their great service in diverse fields such as education, nursing, pastoral care. Thus, the jubilee celebration of SCJM in Sri Lanka is quite synonymous with that of Sacred Heart Convent School.

Despite being governed by the state, the patron of Sacred Heart Convent School is the Mother Superior  a testimony for the co-relationship between the convent and the school.

Apart from academic excellence, students of Sacred Heart Convent have showcased their prowess in numerous fields relating to extra-curricular activities.

A special Holy Mass was held recently at the Chapel of Sacred Heart Convent under the auspices of Rt. Rev. Dr. Raymond Wickramasinghe, the Bishop of Galle Diocese invoking blessings for the commemorative celebrations of 125 years. On the invitation by Rev. Sr. Malkanthi Fernando, the Mother Superior of Sacred Heart Convent, Galle, His Lordship inaugurated the quasquicentennial celebrations by reading out the declaration at this solemn event attended by Reverend Fathers, Rev. Sr. Ajitha Fernando, the Provincial Superior of Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary, other Reverend Sisters, Rev. Sr. Sandya Fernando, principal of SHC and deputy principals, other distinguished guests, officials representing the School Development Society, the Past Pupils Association, the Parents Association, teachers and a few students.

In the introduction to the event, the proud history of SCJM in Sri Lanka was unveiled with much gratitude elaborating how the mission of SCJM which started in 1896 has flourished today with the indefatigable efforts of the Sisters of their congregation.

These inspiring facts kindled a sense of love for this hallowed institute.

Thoughtful prayers for the prosperity of the congregation and the school were also delivered by other Rev. Sisters at this Holy Mass. A special tribute was also paid to all those who contributed immensely to uplift their service of charity.

Rev. Sr. Ajitha Fernando, the Provincial Superior of Sisters of Charity, proposing the vote of thanks joined in sending her prayers for the well-being of their community and blessed for the successful implementation of an array of activities designed in line with commemorative celebrations.

The chief celebrant of this Thanksgiving Eucharistic Celebration, Rt. Rev. Dr. Raymond Wickramasinghe, the Bishop of Galle Diocese, extended his best compliments for the long journey SCJM in Sri Lanka has traversed throughout 125 years. He wholeheartedly thanked all the past principals who gave leadership to Sacred Heart Convent School. In his sermon His Lordship recalled how the Reverend Sisters had worked tirelessly during the trying times in the past. Their patience, stoicism, love and dedication shown in coping with the trials and tribulations were overwhelming, observed His Lordship. The sermon was concluded by sending in His Lordships prayers and blessings for SCJM and Sacred Heart Convent School with his utmost belief that love of God will uplift the school to the pinnacle.

The Holy Mass was followed by a cake cutting ceremony marking the entry to the 125th year of glory and grandeur of Sacred Heart Convent.

Concurrent to this event were some activities being held at the school signifying this historic occasion.

An assembly of thanksgiving was conducted with the minimum participation of students and a few guests conforming to the health guidelines. Some students expressed their loving thoughts wishing prosperity to their alma mater and the success story of their long journey was featured in speeches, video presentations and entertaining items. The principal of SHC in her speech thanked Almighty for bestowing blessing at this milestone on the journey of SHC.

She stressed the need of perpetuating this magnificent story of love handed by their predecessors  the unconditional love and commitment going with the ideals and sacred things of the school.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)  War-like imagery has begun spreading in Republican circles after the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters, with some elected officials and party leaders rejecting pleas to tone down rhetoric calling for a second civil war.

In northwestern Wisconsin, the chairman of the St. Croix County Republican Party was forced to resign Friday after refusing for a week after the siege to remove an online post urging followers to prepare for war. The incoming chairwoman of the Michigan GOP and her husband, a state lawmaker, have joined a conservative social media site created after the Capitol riot where the possibility of civil war is a topic.

Phil Reynolds, a member of the GOP central committee in Californias Santa Clara County, appeared to urge on insurrectionists on social media during the Jan. 6 attack, declaring on Facebook: The war has begun. Citizens take arms! Drumroll please.. Civil War or No Civil War?

The heightened rhetoric mimics language far-right extremists and white supremacists have used for years, and it follows a year of civil unrest over the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer and its links to systemic racism. Some leftists have used similar language, which Republicans have likened to advocating a new civil war.

The post-Floyd demonstrations prompted governments and corporations alike to reevaluate, leading to the removal of Confederate symbols across the South and the retirement of racially insensitive brands.

Then on Jan. 6, demonstrators stoked by Trump's false claims that he won the 2020 election brought symbols of the Old South to the siege of the Capitol, carrying Confederate flags inside and even erecting a wooden gallows with a noose outside the building.

Democrats say the uptick in war talk isnt accidental. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said Trump began putting his supporters in the frame of mind to make the opening charge years ago and is capable of starting a civil war.

Story continues

Since his first day in office, this president has spent four years abusing his power, lying, embracing authoritarianism (and) radicalizing his supporters against democracy, she said in arguing for impeachment. This corruption poisoned the minds of his supporters, inciting them to willingly join with white supremacists, neo-Nazis and paramilitary extremists in a siege of the United State Capitol building, the very seat of American democracy.

There are parallels between now and the run-up to the Civil War, including a fractious national election that ended with presidents  Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and Joe Biden in 2020  who millions rejected as illegitimate victors, said Nina Silber, co-president of the Society of Civil War Historians.

Lincoln won the Electoral College but came away with only a plurality of the popular vote in a four-way race. Biden won the popular vote by 7 million over Trump and defeated him decisively in the Electoral College, 306 to 232. Dozens of lawsuits by Trump and his allies seeking to overturn the results failed, some of them turned away by federal judges Trump himself nominated. Then-Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department could find no evidence of widespread fraud that would have changed the election's outcome.

While the same geographic split doesnt exist today as when the Civil War started in 1861 and there is no mass preparation for all-out conflict, Silber said white anger and resentment fueled both eras.

At the time of the Civil War, this took the form of Southern white men angry at the idea that the federal government would interfere with their right to own Black slaves. Today, I think this takes the form of white people who believe that Black and brown people are making gains, or getting special treatment, at their expense, Silber, who teaches at Boston University, said in an email interview.

Just as happened generations ago, partisans are using strident words and images to define the other side  not just for policies with which they disagree but as evil, said George Rable, a retired historian at the University of Alabama.

I think both then and now, we need to worry about the unanticipated consequences of overheated rhetoric and emotions," he said. Secessionists then hardly anticipated such a bloody civil war, and their opponents often underestimated the depth of secessionist sentiment in a number of states.

State Rep. Tim Butler, a Springfield Republican who represents the same area as Lincoln did in the state legislature, condemned the attack on the Capitol during a speech on the Illinois House floor and urged more Republicans to speak up.

If youre not stepping up and denouncing this, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum, I dont have a place for you ..., Butler said. The favorite son of this city was murdered because of a civil war as he was president. Im not going to see a civil war on my watch, I can tell you that.

The question is whether those stoking the war talk can be controlled by the more moderate elements within the party, or whether they will become the dominant voice.

























































The U.S Capitol building is fenced after the massive protest WASHINGTON D.C., USA - JANUARY 07: National Guards are seen as The U.S Capitol building's surround was fenced after massive protest following Trump supporters entered the building in Washington D.C., United States on January 07, 2020. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Randy Voepel, a state Assemblyman in California, backtracked after referencing an earlier war  the American Revolution  in a Jan. 9 San Diego Union-Tribune article: This is Lexington and Concord. First shots fired against tyranny. Tyranny will follow in the aftermath of the Biden swear in on January 20th.

More than three dozen veterans and officials have called for Voepel to be expelled from office. He has since revised his war-like rhetoric with a condemnation of the violence and lawlessness at the Capitol and a call for healing.

The other California Republican, Reynolds, said he has no plans to step down from his local party position. He told the San Francisco Chronicle that he wasnt trying to incite violence with his war has begun rhetoric, but simply reporting what he saw on television: My statement was that this cant happen. I was condemning it with my words. It was taken out of context, he said.

Democratic state Assemblyman Evan Low isn't buying it. He called for Reynolds resignation, telling the Chronicle that the man he has known for two decades was a genuine and warm human being but was radicalized by Trumps poison and lies.

In Missouri, state GOP Chairwoman Jean Evans had enough of the war talk. She resigned after she was barraged by calls from Trump supporters, some of whom demanded a military coup to keep Trump in office no matter what it takes."

Theres a lot of good Republicans right now who totally disagree with whats going on," she told KMOX. Its been very scary and frightening and un-American from my perspective, and definitely not part of the conservative party I embrace.

Andrew Hitt, the Republican chairman in Wisconsin, faced off against the St. Croix County party without initial success, describing the call to war as an ill chosen phrase and urging its removal.

Despite his plea and those of Democrats and a Republican sheriff, the post remained defiantly in place until a week after the Capitol attack. The website went dark Wednesday without explanation, and the county GOP chairman, John Kraft, resigned on Friday. He did not return a call seeking comment.

Silber, the Civil War historian, said she is worried the attack on the Capitol wasn't the last stand for enraged Trump supporters.

I think we can see how well-organized right-wing militia groups have become and how well armed they are, and that makes for an extremely explosive situation, she said. I dont know if that would be war in the technical sense, but there could be an extended period of violent attacks.

___

Carr Smyth reported from Columbus, Ohio. Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis.; David Eggert in Lansing, Mich.; John O'Connor in Springfield, Ill.; and Don Thompson in Sacramento, Calif., contributed to this report.

The global death toll from Covid-19 surpassed two million on Friday, with the World Health Organization (WHO) urging mass vaccinations as the pandemic progresses at a record pace.

As of 1825 GMT on Friday, at least 2,000,066 people worldwide had been confirmed dead of the virus that first emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, according to an AFP tally.

The grim milestone came as US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said shipments of its vaccines would slow for a period in late January -- a blow to fledgling campaigns to immunize people against the virus.

The WHO on Friday called for a worldwide acceleration in vaccine rollouts -- as well as a ramp-up in efforts to study the sequencing of the virus, in order to tackle troubling new strains emerging around the world.

"I want to see vaccination under way in every country in the next 100 days so that health workers and those at high risk are protected first," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference in Geneva.

His call came as infections snowballed, with 724,000 new cases recorded on average per day globally over the past week, according to AFP's tally -- a record 10 percent increase on a week earlier.

While countries from Spain to Lebanon have announced record caseloads, the surge has been most marked in Latin America and the Caribbean, where confirmed cases leapt 26 percent this week.

US President-elect Joe Biden said Friday he would harness the full strength of the federal government in a vaccine blitz: creating thousands of immunization sites, deploying mobile clinics and expanding the public health workforce.

"You have my word: we will manage the hell out of this operation," said Biden, five days before he assumes leadership of the world's hardest-hit country, where the death toll is approaching 400,000.

- Pfizer delays to hit Europe -

In Europe, which has suffered more than 650,000 coronavirus deaths, there are concerns that delays to the Pfizer jabs could further slow a vaccine rollout that has already faced heavy criticism.

Pfizer, which jointly developed its vaccine with German company BioNTech, said EU countries could expect delayed deliveries in the coming weeks due to work being done at its plant in Belgium.

It promised that there would be "a significant increase" in shipments in March, and the European Commission said all vaccines ordered by the bloc for the first quarter would be delivered on time.

But ministers from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden said in a joint letter that the situation was "unacceptable" and "decreases the credibility of the vaccination process".

Many countries have meanwhile doubled down on restrictions as Covid-19 cases mount.

Portugal entered a fresh lockdown Friday, and new curbs on populations were announced from Italy to Brazil.

At the Meissen crematorium in Germany's Saxony state, coffins were stacked up to three high, awaiting cremation.

Manager Joerg Schaldach said that anyone still questioning the severity of the pandemic should take a look at the bodies piling up.

- Warnings over Brazil -

Brazil's northern Amazonas state announced a curfew from 7:00 pm to 6:00 am, with the health system in state capital Manaus at breaking point.

The city's hospital intensive care units have been at 100 percent capacity for the past two weeks, while medical workers are battling a shortage of oxygen and other essential equipment.

Fear has been growing that a new strain of the virus found in Brazil could be more contagious, just like the variants recently found in Britain and South Africa.

Britain has banned all arrivals from South America and Portugal in a bid to prevent the new variant arriving, while also announcing Friday that all people arriving in the UK must show negative test results and quarantine.

- Airline woes -

Warnings from cash-strapped companies and governments about the economic fallout of the crisis are also piling up.

Italy said it was seeking to borrow an extra 32 billion euros, while senior French rail executive Christophe Fanichet said Eurostar was in "a very critical" state as the pandemic has reduced its service to just one London-Paris connection per day.

The UN aviation agency on Friday predicted "prolonged depressed demand" for air travel and more financial woes for airlines, following a year of fewer flights and big losses blamed on the pandemic.

Air travel plunged 60 percent in 2020 as nations closed borders and restricted travel to slow the spread of Covid-19, the International Civil Aviation Organization said in a report.

The pandemic has also slowed global migration by nearly 30 percent, with around two million fewer migrants between 2019 and 2020, according to a UN report released on Friday.

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Ashamoni (center), the wife of Bangladeshi blogger Niladri Chottopaddhya, sobs at their home in suburban Dhaka following his murder there, Aug. 7, 2015.

Bangladesh strongly rejected U.S. charges this week that al-Qaeda cells had committed attacks on the South Asian nation, although the U.S. State Department had documented such incidents in its annual reports on terrorism around the world.

In a talk in Washington on Tuesday on al-Qaedas new home base in Iran, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said that if Iran were to give the terror group support and access to satellite networks, it could increase turmoil in places like Bangladesh, where al-Qaeda cells have carried out attacks.

Bangladeshs Foreign Ministry issued a sharp rebuttal the following day.

Mr. Pompeo mentioned Bangladesh as a place where the terrorist group al-Qaeda carried out attacks, falsely apprehending similar terrorist attacks in future, it said in a statement.

Such irresponsible comments by a senior leader are very unfortunate and unacceptable. Bangladesh strongly rejects these kinds of baseless remarks and falsification, the ministry said.

Asked to respond to the ministrys comment, a State Department spokesperson chose to highlight counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries.

The United States and Bangladesh collaborate on a range of shared priorities, including counterterrorism. We appreciate our close counterterrorism cooperation with the Government of Bangladesh.

Each year the U.S. State Department is required by law to report to Congress how countries around the world are faring in efforts to defeat international terrorist groups.

Its Country Reports on Terrorism note that Bangladesh consistently denies the presence of transnational terrorist groups on its soil, as well as ties between such groups and Bangladesh-based militants.

While the Bangladeshi government often attributed terrorist violence to local militants, al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and ISIS have together claimed responsibility for nearly 40 attacks in Bangladesh since 2015, said the Country Reports on Terrorism 2018.

Bangladeshi militants have been featured in multiple publications, videos, and websites associated with ISIS and AQIS, it said.

ISIS is another acronym for the so-called Islamic State group, a terrorist network that emerged in the past decade as a rival to al-Qaeda.

An AQIS-affiliated group attacked writer Zafar Iqbal in 2018 after branding him an enemy of Islam, and the group was also suspected in the murder of secular writer and political activist Shahzahan Bachchu the same year, according to State Department reports.

AQIS claimed two attacks in 2016, including the April 25 murder of U.S. embassy local employee Xulhaz Mannan and his friend K. Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy. In both cases, the assailants used machetes, the State Department reported that year.

Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and Ansar al-Islam, groups affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), claimed responsibility for the brutal murders of several secular writers and bloggers between 2013 and 2016, BenarNews reported at the time.

For instance, the South Asian branch of al-Qaeda claimed it carried out the machete-killing of secular blogger Niladri Chottopaddhya after breaking into his home in the suburbs of Dhaka in August 2015.

We declare war against these worst enemies of Allah and His messenger, Mufti Abdullah Ashraf, who claimed to be the groups spokesman, said in an email sent to news outlets after the murder.

If your Freedom of Speech maintains no limits, then widen your chests for Freedom of our Machetes, the email concluded.
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Thousands of people flooded into London's Chinatown today after a 'vaccine bus' promised Covid-19 jabs with no appointment, NHS number or ID needed. Adults crowded onto a pavement outside a barbershop next to the small van, after an advert was posted on the Chinese Information and Advice Centre charity's website and said 'undocumented migrants' were welcome. The advert said: 'A vaccine bus is available in London Chinatown to offer free vaccine jab to the Community without appointment. Date: 27 May 2021 (Thursday) Time: 12 - 5pm. You DO NOT need to have: NHS number, any proof of address, personal identification. Undocumented migrants also welcomed. Stay safe! Get vaccinated!' Vaccine buses have popped up around the UK with volunteer groups enlisted to help run them in areas where take-up has been low such as Luton and Bolton, but the demand in Chinatown is the highest seen so far. Covid-19 jabs can only be booked via the NHS website or at a GP surgery, and it is not clear if the vaccine being offered was one of the three approved ones. Those who are not eligible have been told to wait to be contacted. Currently, people in England can an only get their jab if they are aged 30 or over, will turn 30 before July 1, are classed as clinically vulnerable, have a learning disability, or are a frontline health or social care worker. You can also have one if you get a carer's allowance, get support following a council assessment or your GP record shows you are a carer. Patients have been warned not to take up offers of the jab from non-official providers. But the bus is an official service, run by Westminster Council in partnership with NHS England and goes to different locations within the area.
Felicia Frazar is the managing editor of the Seguin Gazette. Dalondo Moultrie is the assistant managing editor of the Seguin Gazette. You can e-mail them at editor@seguingazette.com .
UPDATE: Gardai have confirmed both girls have been found safe and well.

Gardai are appealing to the public for any information about the whereabouts of two missing teenage girls in Louth.

Fifteen year old Gabrielle Quilton McAreavey and 16 year old Anne Quilton McAreavey are both from the Dundalk area, and have been missing since January 8, 2021.

Anne is described as being 51 (155cm) with brown hair, of slim build and with brown eyes.

Gabrielle is described as being 53 (161cm), also with brown hair, of slim build and with brown eyes.

Both of the girls were last seen in the Dundalk area and it is believed they are currently with one another.

Anyone with any information as to the whereabouts of the two girls should contact the gardai in Dundalk on 042 938 8400 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
Posted Friday, January 15, 2021 4:29 pm

My Austrian-born Great Uncle Johann was executed in one of Hitlers concentration camps. Why? Was he a Jew? A gypsy? Gay? None of the above. He was gassed for being a political dissident. He died for disagreeing with the Nazis.

My Austrian father was pulled out of school as a teenager by the Nazis toward the end of the war, along with his friends and the old men in his village. The Nazis were running out of soldiers of fighting age and conscripted my dad and the others as expendable cannon fodder on the front lines. My dad was almost immediately injured and spent the rest of World War II in an Army hospital right next to Bergen Belsen, the infamous concentration camp. When the Allies liberated the camp and its victims, my father watched out his hospital window and bore witness personally to the depths of inhumanity human beings are capable of as the full extent of the atrocities was revealed.

This family history has given me a rather unique perspective on what contributes to the leadup to war and its horrors, and a wholehearted commitment to doing what I can to prevent it here in America, my beloved homeland.

In the lessons of Nazi Germany, we see how easy it becomes to attack or even kill fellow citizens when those on the other side of the conflict are seen as a dehumanized other, someone so seemingly different from you that you no longer see them as a human being with hopes and fears, strengths and weaknesses just like your own. You come to view them as evil and monstrous, as so completely wrong in their views and utterly vile in their intentions that you no longer recognize or acknowledge their humanity. You turn them into enemies, deserving of punishment, or even violence and death. This is what killed Great Uncle Johann.

I see this dehumanization happening every single day around me, including in the online comment sections of this very newspaper. The derision and contempt I see and hear daily is exactly what fuels our creation of hated others. This verbal violence all too easily escalates into physical violence. This is how violence toward our fellow citizens (and non-citizens) starts. It has already begun.

But each of us has the individual power to put the brakes on adding to the hatred and division. We can each choose to stop feeding and fanning the flames of conflict. I hear the drumbeats of war around us, with some actively calling for armed conflict and civil war. Please pay attention to these warning signs of escalating division and choose another path. Please commit to finding productive rather than destructive ways to engage with your fellow Americans, however different their views might be from yours. Please take a lesson from my Great Uncle Johanns death and help to move this country toward finding solutions for our very real problems, not adding to the growing fear, anger and violence around us.

United we stand. Divided we fall.

LL Hauer

Winlock

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ROCHESTER, Minn. - Are you looking for your next career move?

The Rochester Fire Department is hiring!

Rochester firefighter Mandee Marx says the number of applicants wanting to become firefighters has been slowly declining nationwide the past few years and the department is hoping that trend changes.

Applications are open February 1st.

An applicant needs to have two fire certifications, be a nationally registered EMT, be 18-years old, have a high school diploma or GED, and a valid driver's license.

Marx says every shift a firefighter has, they have some sort of training, so she says she feels very prepared.

She says you need to have a willingness to learn and want to be better each day.

"It takes that character, that willing to serve the community. The willingness to put your life on the line for others. It takes courage. You're running into a building when people are running out because it's on fire. It takes a 'can-do' attitude and effort," says Marx.

She says the department hopes to hire at least 6 new firefighters.

If you are interested, make sure to get your application in before February 21st.

Here is the link for more information.
A

ndrew Adonis, the Labour peer and passionate anti-Brexiteer, calls Boris Johnsons agreement with the EU the trade reduction treaty, because its unusual feature is that it makes trade harder  and since it came into effect on 1 January, this has seemed to be an accurate description.

A live eel exporter who voted to leave the EU was interviewed on TV saying he didnt realise that it would mean he couldnt export his eels any more. Small business owners have said that the extra paperwork means its not worth sending orders to the continent. DPD, the parcel courier, suspended deliveries to the EU for five days while it sorted out its admin.

Many of these things were known about before the end of the transition period, and yet many businesses were still unprepared for the new rules. Some of the problems of border controls have been that goods have arrived with the wrong paperwork, or because the carrier didnt realise that they needed any paperwork. Similarly, the music industry warned that the new rules might prevent British bands touring the continent, but that has become the subject of headlines only after the deal was done.
The Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) that 230 Google employees announced on January 4 , has a foundational problem. As a minority union i.e. not having 50% workers on board, it cannot legally bargain contracts, salaries, etc. When AWU member Andrew Gainer-Dewar was asked in a Wall Street Journal podcast about this, he said, Its about advocacy. The stated purpose is.. to promote solidarity, democracy, and social and economic justice.

Two days later white supremacists spurred on by President Donald Trump attacked the seat of government in Washington. Twitter and Facebook  already under fire for most of Trump's presidency  banned him immediately. YouTube  a prime vector for the rise of fake news, lies, and right-wing hatred - resisted. It banned Trump a week later only after AWU swung into action and released a strongly worded statement and civil society threatened to organise an advertisers boycott.

To put it simply: AWU is the most radical union in two centuries. Not just due to its serendipitous timing, but because it comes in an anti-union industry one of whose founding mantras was mouthed by Intel Cofounder and Mayor of Silicon Valley Robert Noyse, Remaining non-union is essential for survival for most of our companies. If we had the work rules that unionized companies have, wed all go out of business. Is it any wonder that Google employees had to organise in secret for a year before they formed AWU and now Google is monitoring employee emails for disruptive language.

Despite this, a union to raise ethical rather than financial concerns fly against established union logic.

Traditionally a trade union/labour union/employees union/workers union is an organised body of workers who come together to better their wages, safety standards, working conditions, healthcare, retirement and vacation benefits, etc.

Unions came about as a reaction to industrialization at the end of the 18th century. In driving for profits at all costs, companies became notorious for cutting corners often populated by the vulnerable. Unions thus became the strength of the weakest employee in any company.

This logic does not entirely apply to most tech companies, especially Google which not only pays higher wages than almost anyone, they are also generous with benefits including unlimited leaves, ESOPs, and the famous campus laundry and gyms, office snacks, and free time etc.

Yet  all was not rosy behind the scenes. For years Alphabet (Googles parent company) employees have been complaining that the company has been forgetting the core tenet that attracted the best minds to it: Do no evil.

In 2018 Project Maven to employ Artificial Intelligence for the US military famously attracted dissent from about 3000 employees who signed a petition against it. Later that year Dragonfly project to create an internet search engine prototype compatible with Chinas censorship laws was opposed by employees till it was scrapped. 2018 also saw 20,000 outraged employees emboldened by the #MeToo movement, globally stage a walk-out after an executive accused of sexual misconduct got a high severance package.

Activism inside Google grew and things came to a head in November 2019 when four employees, called the Thanksgiving four, were fired as they had either organised or participated in petitions or protests against the company. At least two of them identified as LGBTQ. Employees claimed the four were targeted for their activism. This became the inspiration for a lot of employees - including Andrew quoted earlier  to form AWU.

This is the most radical reimaging of the union concept in over two centuries. Tech Union 1.0 is Employees Union 2.0 for the world. These ethics-based unions also have the potential to revitalize and revolutionize the union movement that has been facing backlash from crony capitalists and right-wing governments across the world.

Take India as a case in point. Successive governments have repeatedly tried to weaken labour laws and unions. The current government used the pandemic to weaken much of the nations labour laws. Unions have also been repeatedly demonised.

In December, workers at the Taiwan-based Wistron India in Kolar, Karnataka that manufactured iPhones for Apple Inc., vandalised office property after Wistron allegedly underpaid staff and refused overtime pay. Instead of getting at the roots of workers grievances, Indian right-wing media outlets - with tacit government support  like OpIndia, quickly found a communist hand in a communist affiliated trade union supporting workers grievances. Wistron itself accepted many allegations and fired a manager, promising to make amends.

The communist hand has also been exposed by pliant media in the farmers unions presently staging a resistance against the three farm laws enacted by the centre.

Its not just the capitalist world at large, but tech behemoths FAANG - Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google/Alphabet, who hate the very idea of unions. Many of these  Amazon in particular  have been known to hire union-busting agencies like Pinkerton to spy on employees. FAANG and global capitalists would be surprised to know that the one thing both the father of capitalism  Adam Smith - and father of communism  Karl Marx - agreed on, was the need for unions.

Smith, noting the power imbalance against workers, wrote: We rarely hear, it has been said, of the combination of masters, though frequently of those of workmen. But whoever imagines, upon this account, that masters rarely combine, is as ignorant of the world as of the subject. Masters are always and everywhere in a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform combination, not to raise the wages of labor above their actual rate. When workers combine, masters ... never cease to call aloud for the assistance of the civil magistrate, and the rigorous execution of those laws which have been enacted with so much severity against the combination of servants, labourers and journeymen.

AWU is also radical because the insurrection and 5 deaths US saw on January 6, was only a trailer of the blockbuster playing across the world, where fake news, lies, and hate-speech spread freely on tech platforms whose masters refuse to interfere, and have fermented violence, toppled governments and killed thousands.

Take just one example: that of the Rohingya in Myanmar. Their genocide was organised on Facebook by Myanmars military who according to this New York Times article, turned the social network into a tool for ethnic cleansing with a systematic campaign on Facebook that stretched back half a decade and that targeted the countrys mostly Muslim Rohingya minority group.

Facebook refusing to do anything over half a decade has cost at least 43,000 Rohingya lives, thousands of rapes and gang rapes, torture, and displacement of about 740,000 who fled to Bangladesh.

Twitter  despite a virtue-signaling CEO, and YouTube  among others  by their lackluster policing, have become active accessories in the global rise of right-wing extremism and hate  be it Brexit, coming to power of Trump or spread of Hindutva - that have killed thousands, displaced millions worldwide. The Pandoras box of their crimes also includes surveillance, misuse of AI, data mining etc.

Yogi Berra once observed: The future aint what it used to be. Thats because social media changed it. From a force to connect, organise for good, bring change, affect the world positively, to a cesspool of lies, hate speech, venom spewing trolls and a space for evil to mobilize effectively, the tech world has also become enablers of death, destruction and hatred worldwide. They refuse to censor citing free-speech, forgetting that free-speech is neither a license to abuse nor free of consequence.

In a world where tech companies have repeatedly refused to accept that their smallest actions have mammoth consequences, the Alphabet Workers Union is not just a glimmer of hope but could prove to be the spark of revolution Silicon Valley truly needs for all of us. Facebook, which needs such an ethical union more than any other tech company to reign in its greedy and unscrupulous founder, is headquartered barely a couple of miles from Google.

AWUs inspiring mission statement reads, We will use our reclaimed power to control what we work on and how it is used.. We will ensure Alphabet acts ethically and in the best interests of society and the environment. We are responsible for the technology that we bring into the world, and recognize that its implications reach far beyond Alphabet. We will work with those affected by our technology to ensure that it serves the public good We prioritize society and the environment instead of maximizing profits at all costs.

They better Googles famous line Do no evil with We can make money without doing evil. Id like to improve this important line further: Make money without doing, contributing, or tolerating evil. This, I believe, is AWUs goal, and the only way, to reclaim our shared future.

(Satyen K Bordoloi is a scriptwriter, journalist based in Mumbai. His written words have appeared in many Indian and foreign publications.)

Read more by Satyen K Bordoloi:

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Washington: Frustrated by the loss of his Twitter account and forced to accept that he soon must leave office, President Donald Trump has effectively stopped doing his job, delegating daily responsibilities to Vice-President Mike Pence while hunkering down with a shrinking group of acquiescent aides and contemplating additional presidential pardons.

Trump had considered leaving the White House before his final day in office, even as early as this weekend, but he has opted to depart on the morning of President-elect Joe Bidens Inauguration Day, according to two people familiar with discussions who cautioned that, with Trump, plans are always subject to change.

President Donald Trump has asked for an elaborate send-off on the morning of Inauguration Day. Credit:Bloomberg

The President has requested a major send-off on the morning of inauguration. It would begin with a throng of cheering, flag-waving staffers and supporters to see him off on the White Houses South Lawn, according to a person familiar with the planning, and continue to a more formal ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, featuring a red carpet, military band, colour guard and 21-gun salute. Hell make his final Air Force One flight to Florida, to take up residence at Mar-a-Lago, his West Palm Beach, Florida, estate.

While Trump is still unwilling to formally concede to Biden directly, or to participate in the traditional show of the peaceful transfer of power by attending his successors swearing-in, Pence called Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and congratulated her and offered assistance ahead of inauguration, according to a person familiar with the call.
A Cork-based expert in the field of infectious disease has warned that reopening the country before there's 100% vaccine coverage across the whole population is the recipe for disaster.

Comparing the current situation in Irish hospitals to that of African hospitals dealing with malaria, AXA Research Chair of Applied Pathogen Ecology at University College Cork (UCC) Gerry Killeen said that it was predictable from the beginning.

Speaking to The Echo from Tanzania where he is currently working on malaria transmission control of malaria, Professor Killeen said that the malaria burden in African hospitals would be comparable with Covid-19.

He said that people must finally look reality in the eye and follow the strictest of restrictions in order to alleviate pressure on the hospital system and avoid a fourth wave of the virus breaking through the current third wave.

If the restrictions are harder, well get there faster. Once we get back down into single figures, lets stay there and let's get off this yoyo.

Professor Killeen said that "total universal coverage of the population with the vaccine" should see an end to the spread of Covid-19 but that reopening the country before there's 100% vaccine coverage is the recipe for disaster.

Speaking to The Echo from Tanzania where he is currently working on malaria transmission control of malaria, Professor Killeen said that the malaria burden in African hospitals would be comparable with Covid-19.

Were lucky enough in this part of Tanzania that a lot of things we did over the last decade have been very successful so it's a totally different picture now but if you go back 50 years ago most African hospitals would have looked like what Irish hospitals look like today.

Covid-19 survivors face lingering symptoms.

Total universal coverage of the population with the vaccine should shut this thing down but that's assuming some things about these vaccines that were not entirely sure of and have not been measured, they haven't been evaluated over the long term.

Anything in the middle, half measures, particularly talking about partial vaccination coverage, that's just a minefield of trouble because theres a million things that could go wrong and there's a lot of things that we would predict will go wrong, he said.

Professor Killeen has been predicting the surge in cases that we are seeing now since he sat down with the reports coming out of China in early March and realised we were in really deep trouble.

The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention mobilised something like 12,000 staff to Wuhan from across the whole Chinese health sector. They rapidly documented what was going on, they published it all in English for the benefit of everybody everywhere else and they made their decision and they made the right decision. So nobody can say that it is unpredictable.

It was all very predictable but I love this new word exceptionalism because it's a polite way for all the things me and my African colleagues have been explaining about for years.

In Europe we thought we were different and that somehow we could always find a smarter way and that we were somehow better than everybody else and something like Covid can really call that bluff in a quite a cruel way.

In Cork, more cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the previous two weeks than had been recorded since the beginning of the pandemic up to that two-week period.

The total number of cases recorded in Cork in the two-week period from December 30 to January 12 was 8,126 with the total number of cases recorded in the county up to and including January 12 standing at 15,959.

The number of people who contracted Covid-19 in Cork since the beginning of the pandemic up to and including December 30 was 7,833, meaning that the number of people with Covid-19 in the last two weeks has continued to surge.

There are 13 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Critical Care Unit at CUH, and four confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Critical Care Unit at MUH.

There are currently 145 Covid-19 positive patients at Cork University Hospital (CUH) and 44 Covid-19 positive patients at the Mercy University Hospital (MUH).

There are 13 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Critical Care Unit at CUH, and four confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Critical Care Unit at MUH.

According to the latest Central Statistics Offices (CSO) Covid-19 Deaths and Cases publication, Cork experienced the highest number of cases in the week ending January 1 when 4,173 cases were recorded.

The data recorded from October 9 last year to January 8 of this year revealed that the second-highest number of cases of 3,223 were recorded in the week ending January 8, while the lowest number of cases were recorded just weeks prior to Christmas with 71 cases recorded in the week ending December 4 and 72 cases recorded in the week ending December 11.

Cork recorded eight deaths in the week ending January 8, and had previously recorded five deaths in the weeks ending October 30 and November 13, while the total number of deaths in Cork since the beginning of the pandemic is 87.

the first delivery of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine to Ireland was made on Tuesday afternoon with Ireland having pre-ordered 875,000 doses of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Emer Cooke, said that she is "hopeful" that the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine will be given European approval at the end of the month.

It follows the news of the first delivery of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine arrived in Ireland on Tuesday afternoon with Ireland having pre-ordered 875,000 doses of the vaccine.

Speaking to The Echo on the arrival of the second mRNA vaccine to Ireland, principal investigator and special lecturer in advanced therapies at University College Corks (UCC) School of Pharmacy, Dr Piotr Kowalski, said that both vaccines are very comparable in their effectiveness.

Both vaccines have been shown in clinical trials to be nearly identically effective, they were 95% and 94.5% effective, the efficacy is actually very comparable among various age groups and they had very similar safety.

This is one of the really nice things validating the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology that actually two separate companies are developing the vaccine based on mRNA and they are getting very similar results in clinical trials so this is a great success for the whole technology that we have two vaccines developed separately based on the same technology and that show very similar results.

I think the more vaccines we have the better and it increases the capacity for the amount of people that can get the vaccine and how fast this vaccine can be deployed which is very important now that we have seen this surge in cases and other Covid strains that have been detected in Ireland, he said.
Lori Loughlin's husband, Mossimo Giannulli, has been in prison for almost three months, but the fashion designer already wants out.

The Associated Press reported that Mossimo has had a rough first two months and have requested to serve the remainder of his sentence at home.

He was sentenced to five months in prison for being part of the college admissions scandal where he and Lori Loughlin paid $500,000 to get their daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose, into the University of Southern California as fake crew recruits.

Mossimo and Lori pleaded guilty, but the "Full House" actress already served two months of her prison sentence and was released in December.

In court documents obtained by CNN, Mossimo Giannulli's attorneys said that being in solitary confinement has created a massive toll on his "mental, physical and emotional well-being."

Instead of being placed in a minimum-security camp, the father-of-two was immediately put in solitary confinement in a small cell adjacent to a medium-security prison.

His legal team revealed that Mossimo stayed there 24 hours a day with only three short 20-minute breaks weekly.

According to prison officials, Mossimo was in isolation due to their effort to fight the coronavirus outbreaks.

But after testing negative for the coronavirus every two weeks, on Wednesday, he was probed and was transferred to the neighboring prison.

Despite having negative results, he was never able to leave. Mossimo's lawyers even said he tested negative at least ten times.

The fashion mogul's attorneys also pointed out that the solitary confinement was "far more extreme" than what the court recommended.

His legal team argued, "Here, Mr. Giannulli spent nearly two months in solitary quarantine, which constitutes approximately 40% of his entire sentence."

An insider also told the Daily Mail, "He has spent the first month entirely alone, apart from when he's allowed out to take a shower."

The source stressed, "Even though he was told he would be held in the minimum-security camp, he's been put in the medium-security jail which houses dangerous felons and has been kept in solitary."

Meanwhile, Lori Loughlin was released from a federal correctional facility in Dublin, California, on December 28.

An insider told People magazine that Lori Loughlin had been stressed about her husband.

They claimed, "This whole nightmare won't stop completely until Mossimo is released to. But Lori still seems positive."

According to online prison records, Mossimo Giannulli is expected to be released on April 17, 2021.

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The literary slush pile  the manuscripts that writers send cold to agents and publishers  can yield treasure. Philip Roth, Stephenie Meyer and Judith Guest were all found there by executives knowing that an unsolicited manuscript could well contain the next writing sensation.

Dublin-born author Rachel Ryan is the latest author be pulled from relative obscurity and touted as a writer to keep an eye on in 2021. After signing with super-agent Marianne Gunn OConnor  who also represents Shane Hegarty, Cecelia Ahern and Pat McCabe  Ryan soon signed a deal with Simon & Schuster in Canada for her striking debut, Hidden Lies (called The Woman Outside My Door in North America).

I was found the old-fashioned way, which should give people some hope, Ryan says. It was a pretty classic fairy tale. Id sent the manuscript out to people in London and got a few rejections  a lot of them mentioned raw talent. But Marianne said, I believe you have this raw talent, and this needs a lot of work, but Im willing to go on that journey with you. It was terrifying, but such a privilege.

Last year, Ryan signed a two-book deal with Piatkus, and her domestic thriller debut is being published this month.

Its quite unreal, chatting about my work, Ryan admits. I think imposter syndrome is such a problem in situations like this, especially for women. Its been such a year in which to have so much professional success, and a strange year to promote a book online.

Hidden Lies is an atmospheric and muscular thrill of a read. With a strong sense of place and an easily confident style, it tells the story of Georgina, a woman grieving the death of her mother, Rose. Her young son Cody throws something of a cat among the pigeons: he has met his new granny in the play park. As he begins chatting about this mysterious figure, Georgina is forced to investigate the secrets in her own family and, by extension, the entire country.

In exploring the repressive Irish culture from previous generations that vilified unmarried young women for being pregnant, the book takes on an extra dimension. The idea was sparked by a conversation Ryan had with her mother, in which she talked about the Ireland of her youth. Her mother shared an story about a girl whose family wouldnt allow her to return home after she had her baby. The detail stuck with Ryan, and she built her story from there, wrapping it up within the conventions of a psychological suspense story.

Ryan wrote much of the book in the evening, while working full-time jobs.

A day job is something that a lot of artists are made to feel ashamed of, and thats a shame  I personally believe that working a day job makes the work richer, she says.

For much of the writing of Hidden Lies, she was a childminder; something that informed the novel.

Being a writer and childminder are quite complementary to each other, Ryan says. If you sit as a desk all day, youre probably quite tired by the evenings. I personally would have found it so much harder to write after that. Being outdoors and having an active job was great  the rhythms of being out in the world, and being out in Dublin.

The setting of the book was really important to me, and Dublin is very vivid  for me, the story and the setting are very powerfully linked, Ryan says. Having a job where I was out in playgrounds, noticing things like how gorgeous the park was, was a huge help. I probably couldnt have done it if I hadnt been a childminder.

Ryan had always dreamed of being a writer but says not having to give up the day job helped ease the pressure.

I was very happy working as a nanny. I loved working with kids all day, then coming home at night and writing, she says.

As a youngster, Ryan wrote novels in school copybooks.

Reading was like eating or breathing, something I did every day, so writing seemed like a natural evolution, she reflects. I had this very rich interior world, and I spent a lot of time in that part of my brain.

In one such book, handwritten when she was 10, Ryan tells the story of Alana, who finds a magic pearl on a beach and ends up visiting an underwater world full of fascinating sea creatures. She happened upon the copybook recently.

Fair play to little me, I got 11 chapters down, Ryan laughs. It always came naturally to me, writing stories. I hadnt yet managed the art of finishing a manuscript.

These days, Ryan lets the first draft of a book flow out of her: the rewriting is then done with the support of extensive research. In examining grief, for instance, Ryan spoke to several people who had lost a parent.

Sometimes, when I do the research and listen to the accounts of peoples own experiences, I think OK, so I got that completely wrong. But I think if I did the research through the first draft, it might interrupt the creative flow and make it a very tough thing to get through.

In Hidden Lies, Ryans mastery of suspense and plotting is striking for a debut,.

[Suspense] combines a lot of things I really love  the combination of evocative, atmospheric writing, a page-turning plot and intriguing characters, she says.

I read a lot of Stephen King and Erin Kelly and I think I was influenced by those elements. I wrote lots of different things through the years, but one of the areas I always returned to as a writer was psychological suspense.

Ryan has found herself being warmly welcomed into the Irish crime writers fold, with effusive blurbs from the likes of Liz Nugent, Jo Spain, Catherine Ryan Howard and Erin Kelly.

Crime writing is an evergreen scene in Ireland, but Ryans wheelhouse, domestic thriller, is a sub-genre that has been having a moment. In the latest strain of domestic noir, the female characters  so often in crime fiction found on page one in a pool of blood  have become much more complex. Often, they are ordinary women forced into extraordinary situations, and many of them are flawed, conflicted and occasionally unreliable narrators.

People are so interested in what goes on in other peoples houses, Ryan says. Thats a very natural curiosity to have  otherwise we wouldnt all be such terrible gossips.

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Breaches by too many people of the Covid-19 restrictions designed to save lives means the fall in cases has levelled off at a 'far too high level' of infection, Dr Tony Holohan has warned who adds the disease has taken root in every corner of Ireland.

The Chief Medical Officer also told Irish people that the virus is now rooted in every part of Irelan with the UK variant making controlling the spread adding to the problems caused by non-compliance.

Dr Tony Holohan is the head of the National Public Health Emergency Team which confirmed that more than 3,200 more people were confirmed infected on Friday when 60 more deaths were reported.

"This virus has taken root in every single part of the country. A significant percentage of the population - in excess of 1 in 10 in some counties - is currently either a case or a close contact. This is a huge burden of infection. When you consider that a significant percentage of our daily cases will directly lead to hospitalisation and mortality, the urgency with which we need to act becomes clear. By staying at home, you are protecting our health and social care services as they struggle against the enormous burden of infection that many weeks with thousands of daily cases of COVID-19 represents.

The improvements in cases is not happening fast enough. Too many people are still not complying as fully as we need with the advice. There are early indications that we may be levelling off in terms of improvement, but at far, far too high a level of infection. The UK variant is very likely making our challenge more difficult. Please follow the public health advice. The safest place at the moment is at home. Please stay at home, he said.

Dr Cillian De Gaston, Medical Virologist and Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, said the UK mutant has had implications for Ireland which the public must act in response to.

Due to the nature of the mutation found in the UK variant of the virus, it is inevitable that it will become the dominant variant here in Ireland over time. The UK variant has adapted to us: simply put, it is better at moving from person to person when we come into contact.

"So what we must do is reduce its opportunities to spread by cutting out socialising. Stay home. Do not visit anyone elses home. Do not attend illegal gatherings. Remember the simple and effective measures from springtime  wash your hands well and often, wear a mask, cough and sneeze into your elbow, keep 2 metres of space from others, and phone your GP at the very first sign of COVID-19 symptoms, he said.
A "severely autistic" Louisiana teenager died after deputies placed him in handcuffs, shackled him, and sat on him for more than nine minutes, his parents said in a federal lawsuit filed this week.

The teen, Eric Parsa, died on Jan. 19, 2020, following an incident in the parking lot of the Westgate Shopping Center in Metairie, about seven miles northwest of New Orleans.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans against the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and seven of its deputies.

Never did we ever think that our 16-year-old son with special needs would die in front of our eyes and in the hands of law enforcement, Eric Parsa's mother, Donna Lou, said via video conference Thursday, according to The Times-Picayune.

Image: Eric Parsa (Daren Parsa / Parsa Family via AP)

Donna Lou and Daren Parsa said they were at a laser tag center with their son when he began having a "meltdown" in the parking lot of the Westgate mall, according to the suit. The teen, who was described as obese, non-verbal, and severely autistic, started slapping himself in the head.

He then slapped his father and bit him, causing the man to bleed. The manager at the laser tag center asked the family if they needed police assistance and the family said yes, the suit states.

Jefferson Parish Deputy Chad Pitfield, who provided security at the mall, was the first to respond. The suit states that by the time Pitfield arrived at the scene, the physical altercation between Eric Parsa and his father had ended.

But after the deputy's arrival, the teen again began slapping himself and his father. Eric Parsa then slapped Pitfield as the deputy was turned away.

"Pitfield responded by taking E.P. to the ground," the suit states. "Deputy Pitfield then stated that E.P. bit his leg. Pitfield responded by hitting E.P. with a single striketowards the head area."

The suit states that Pitfield knew Eric Parsa had autism. At some point, the deputy had called for other officers to assist.

Story continues

Image: Eric Parsa (Parsa Family / via AP)

During the altercation, Pitfield restrained the teen with two pairs of handcuffs because of the teen's size. Pitfield is accused of sitting on Eric Parsa's back for about seven minutes.

Six other deputies responded to the scene. Eventually, Pitfield got off the teen and another deputy, Nick Vega, took over sitting on Eric Parsa's back, according to the lawsuit.

Vega is also accused of raising the teen's cuffed hands above his head and putting him in a chokehold or neck hold after Erica Parsa tried to get up.

The teen was held on the ground for 9 minutes and 6 seconds, according to the lawsuit. During that time there were several clear and distinct opportunities, when E.P. was secured, was calm, was not actively resisting, it states, adding that deputies should have but didnt appropriately reduce the use of force.

He was left in that position on the ground until his body went limp. At that point, Eric Parsa was rolled onto his side. "By then it was too late. E.P. was dying," the suit states.

The teen's mother told deputies that she was a doctor and offered to help perform CPR but she was told her to stay back," according to the lawsuit. Eric Parsa was taken to the hospital by ambulance where he was pronounced dead.

"The JPSO deputies knew that E.P. was obese. They knew that he was autistic and a 'special needs child.' They knew he had been involved in recent physical exertion. They knew E.P. was in a crisis situation and that the family needed help. They knew he was unarmed. Yet they persisted in dangerously and forcefully restraining E.P. without appropriately monitoring his condition, until they killed him," the lawsuit claims.

The parish coroner ruled the death accidental as a result of excited delirium with his obesity and prone positioning among contributing factors. The suit says that the death was not an accident.

The sheriff's office said in a statement, "While the Sheriffs Office understands that all deaths are cause for sadness and a time for grieving, this lawsuit is rife with false claims and malicious accusations against the first responding deputies.

Sheriff's officials said that deputies were trying to control a violent teenager's outburst and prevent him from hurting himself and others.

"The case centers on a severely autistic teenager diagnosed with numerous other mental conditions which caused him to have frequent violent outbursts," the statement said. "The teenager beat and bit his own father, causing significant bloody injuries."

Deputies Pitfield and Vega could not immediately be reached on Saturday.

The family is seeking an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages.
New Delhi: The country's largest vaccination campaign is going to start in India from 10:30 am today. PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate the world's largest vaccination programme through video conferencing today, which is being looked after by the world. India has set up 3006 vaccination centres for vaccination.

The corona vaccine has not been arranged in our neighbouring country of Pakistan so far. Not only that, no company all over the world is ready to give the vaccine to Pakistan. According to media reports, many countries all over the world have started vaccination programmes to deal with corona infections. While it is only for Pakistan to arrange for the vaccine.

Pakistan has so far not placed any final order to call the corona virus vaccine, nor has any vaccine manufacturer accepted Pakistan's insistence on supplying the vaccine. Pakistan is badly shrouded in debt and its economic condition is also very poor. It is like breaking the mountain for Pakistan to arrange a vaccine for its accommodation.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16)  The Commission on Human Rights will launch independent investigations into the spate of killings across the country this week, including the fatal shooting of a lawyer in Bukidnon.

In a statement on Friday, the CHR condemned the killing of nine people in four separate incidents, noting that the victims were all gunned down in broad daylight by still unidentified assailants. It urged authorities to immediately investigate the crimes.

These include the ambush of Winston Intong, a 53-year-old private lawyer. He was shot at close range by two motorcycle-riding gunmen while buying vegetables a few meters away from his residence in Malaybalay, Bukidnon at around 7:30 a.m. on Thursday.

On the same morning, the bodies of three soldiers and one civilian were found in Lanao del Norte. The Western Mindanao Command said the remains were found after troops responded to a report of a shooting incident in the boundary of Poona Piagapo and Pantao Ragat. The perpetrators remain unknown.

Also on Thursday, police Staff Sergeant Christian Ramos was reportedly gunned down in Cabuyao, Laguna, while two newly freed prisoners, including a former policeman, were fatally shot while onboard a jeepney.

On Monday afternoon, Alex Abe, village chief of Barangay Poblacion, Santa Maria town in Davao Occidental, was killed at his home, the provincial government said.

The CHR said its regional offices will start their own probes into these killings.

These brazen killings are consequences of the normalized culture of violence and impunity that our society continues to tolerate, the CHR said. Pronouncements coming from public officials that encourage and embolden citizens to put justice in their own hands and transgress other peoples basic human rights must be denounced at all levels.

Local and international human rights groups say President Rodrigo Dutertes public pronouncements have led to tens of thousands of extrajudicial killings. Official government data shows 5,903 suspects killed in the governments war on drugs.

Malacanang denied there are state-sanctioned killings, while Duterte said he never asked uniformed personnel to kill intentionally  only when their lives are in danger.


Faced with uncertainties inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese students are having to look for new destinations for overseas study, or even staying at home.

"Lectures supposed to feature students' participation and discussions in person are now being replaced by pre-recorded classes and putting perceptions on paper. Debates for brainstorming give way to written work," reported Zhang Xinyue, a senior at Ohio State University, who has been taking online classes for nine months at her home in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province.

Every week, in addition to some 10 hours of recorded lessons, Zhang has to stay up late to have three-and-a-half hours of online live classes, where interactions with lecturers and classmates can be ensured.

However, pre-recorded classes are far from the panacea for overseas Chinese students now stuck domestically due to still rampaging COVID-19 abroad, especially in the U.S.

"For some majors, discussions are an indispensable part of most courses, forcing the students to attend live online classes all night," explained Zhang.

China is among the main exporters of international students. Nonetheless, the COVID-19 pandemic, along with ensuing travel restrictions, visa regulations and suspension of face-to-face courses, has made many Chinese students hesitate to go abroad, with some choosing alternative destinations, postponing or even canceling their overseas study plans.

According to a survey by Beijing Overseas-Study Service Association, about 73 percent of involved institutions reported a decline in overseas study counselling among Chinese students in 2020.

"The United States used to be the most popular country for Chinese students, but it's now been put on the back burner due to the country's awful handling of the pandemic. Instead, Britain, Singapore and Japan now hold more appeal to those seeking overseas study," said Wang Yin, founder of GreatChina International Education (GIE), a well-known international education institution preparing Chinese students for study in America.

Interrupted by the pandemic, Zhang is now applying to universities in Britain and Hong Kong, instead of the U.S., for her postgraduate study.

Some students tend to favor nearby countries and regions. According to a survey by Lingnan University in Hong Kong, three of the five most popular destinations for study abroad in the post-epidemic era are located in East Asia - Japan, Hong Kong and China's Taiwan.

"Among students of all ages, those who pursue high school and postgraduate study abroad are most affected," said Wang. He added that a GIE survey found some 80 percent of families intending to send their children to foreign high schools have turned to domestic international high schools instead.

Nearly 40 percent of master's degree applicants have delayed or canceled their plans to go overseas, instead opting for postgraduate recommendation or hunting a job at home.

Such changes are to a large extent driven by concerns over safety and health. The British Council, a British organization specializing in international cultural and educational opportunities, polled over 10,000 Chinese students and found that "personal safety" and "physical and mental health" headed the list of factors influencing the applicants' decisions, leaving traditional issues like high tuition fees and admission rate difficulties behind.

However, some students are as determined as ever to go abroad, irrespective of the pandemic threat, since they have invested so much energy and time in preparation, ranging from taking the TOEFL test and applying for internships to offering community services.

"I have spent so much time and money on preparing application for oversea study and I won't change my mind," said an 18-year-old Chinese girl Cheng Jiayi.

Whatever decisions Chinese students may take, as to what impact the epidemic has had and will have on overseas study, time will say.
(CNN) - Pfizer said shipments from its vaccine facility in Puurs, Belgium, will be temporarily reduced as it scales up to produce two billion COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2021.

The company said that in order to increase capacity to reach two billion, changes are needed to the process and facility, and additional regulatory approvals will be required.

There will be fluctuations in orders and shipping scheduled from Pfizers facility in Puurs, Belgium, in late January and early February. The facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which supplies the United States, will not be impacted.

"As part of the normal productivity improvements to increase capacity, we must make modifications to the process and facility that will require additional regulatory approvals. Although this will temporarily impact shipments in late January to early February, it will provide a significant increase in doses available for patients in late February and March," the company said in a statement released Friday.

On Tuesday Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said he was confident the company would be able to produce two billion doses in 2021, but noted the manufacturing challenges.

"You know, it's almost equally difficult to scale up manufacturing at that level so fast as it was to develop the vaccine and both teams can to rise to the occasion," Bourla said.

The company also said previously that because each vial can yield six doses rather than the expected five, it provides an additional 20% capacity.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Pfizer will temporarily reduce COVID-19 vaccine shipments as manufacturing scales up"
A social media-driven "cult of the guru" within education is giving flashy "Kardashian" academics disproportionate influence over schools at the expense of more complex ideas and research, new research argues.

Scott Eacott, an associate professor of educational leadership at the University of NSW, applied the "Kardashian Index" to 50 education researchers from around the world, including 11 from Australia, and found almost a quarter - eight men and four women - had a score high enough to qualify them as a social science Kardashian.

Three were from Australia, and eight were frequent keynote speakers at education conferences.

Kim Kardashian, pictured with husband Kanye West, inspired the creation of the Kardashian Index. Credit:AP

Named after influencer Kim Kardashian, the index was developed in 2014 to measure the discrepancy between a scientist's social media profile and their publication record. A high index increased the likelihood that they were famous for being famous.
Beginning with ALTBalajis Gandii Baat (2018) to Kavita Bhabhi (2020) on Ullu, erotic content on homegrown OTT platform deserves attention for its sensibilities.

Last July, a report indicated that streaming services in India had seen a significant surge in viewership, mainly through consumption of adult/explicit content, amid the coronavirus crisis and nationwide lockdown. A subsequent Inc42 survey that looked at the performance of Indian OTT platforms offering erotic content  The Cinema Dosti, Feneo Movies, Fliz Movies, GupChup, PrimeFlix, Hotshots and KooKu, among others  found these websites witnessed increased traffic from March 2020 onwards, in some cases by as much as 80 percent. App downloads for these platforms numbered between 100,000 and 1 million on Google Play Store. These reports were a succinct addendum to a VICE India story that predated them by some days, whose headline asked: Why Are Local Indian Streaming Platforms So Full of Erotic Content?

The story, however, is one that goes beyond numbers and lockdown-induced lust. Beginning with ALTBalajis Gandii Baat (2018) to Kavita Bhabhi (2020) on Ullu, erotic content on homegrown OTT platform deserves attention for its sensibilities too.

Ullus Kavita Bhabhi  portraying the life of a call-girl  brings to mind the similarly named 2008 pornographic web comic Savita Bhabhi. Savita Bhabhi was a trendsetter, for its protagonist (a married Indian woman unapologetic about indulging her sexual desires) and its aesthetic, but Kavita Bhabhi goes a critical step further: its language is Hindi, unlike the English of its predecessor. Kavita Bhabhi has, according to Ullus CEO Vibhu Agarwal, registered 600 million downloads globally since its release last January. We started out by targeting tier-3 and tier-4 cities. It is where the majority of our viewers come from. But slowly, we have started to attract audience from metros as well, Agarwal says.

The content that has led to Ullus popularity is intriguing on several levels. While it follows the common tropes of imported porn, it does a few things that are fairly unique to the Indian milieu: It has believable bodies, for one, and language that is relatable to a demographic that most urban-focused streaming platforms would consider irrelevant. On Ullus shows, people use the vernacular they ordinarily would. Kavita Bhabhi, for instance, regularly uses words like kholna, dalna etc. Its other shows like Charmsukh, Le De Ke Bol and Wanna Have a Good Time also merge hyperlocal sensibilities and language. Apart from the suggestive nudity, it is perhaps this vocabulary that underpins the apps popularity in small-town India  as well as that of the other players in the sector.

In a PrimeFlix show, a woman employed as a domestic worker has a promiscuous and fulfilling sex life. In KooKus The Story of My Wife, a woman with a cheating husband revitalises her own unacknowledged desires, albeit not necessarily through conventional means. Another KooKu show, Saheli, casually touches on homosexuality, perhaps normalising it for the audience. In Dostis Hai Daiya, a bride openly discusses her sex life with her mother.

It goes without saying that not all this content passes the outrage check; it is still stemming from the male gaze, although it is  for a change  also giving women across ages, body types and backgrounds sexual agency. And affordability is a major factor in accounting for these platforms popularity; there are a range of viewership packages (based on number of videos downloaded or monthly or annual subscriptions) available, beginning as low as Rs 36 and going up to Rs 399.

Ullu and the other platforms in this segment offer content across regional languages, including in Bhojpuri, Marathi, Tamil etc. For instance, The Cinema Dosti is expanding its roster on the back of its success during the lockdown months. Ayushraj Pandey, the managing director of Cine Prime World, the company that owns The Cinema Dosti, told Inc42, We have a lot of content in Bhojpuri which sells well in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. But we are also planning to create Bengali content, as there is a huge market for the erotic genre in Kolkata, where a lot of these production houses are also based.

The Indian soft porn industry faces some unique challenges: It evidently has a viewership, and in normalising sexual liberation, a progressive outlook for a section of the audience whose needs may not have been addressed quite so directly. But it doesnt have quite as many vocal supporters. In a recent report for Moneycontrol that investigates how Meerut has become the hub for shooting much of the erotic content that populates these homegrown apps, the writer Shantanu Guha Ray observes: What is interesting is that many film critics write about high-class Indian content on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+Hotstar, but there is  silence about the growing popularity and consumption of Indian homegrown erotica and apps dedicated to the genre. In November, the Cyber Cell of the Maharashtra Police booked seven OTT platforms for allegedly transmitting sexually explicit and obscene content online.

I find it strange that a country obsessed with sex is so hypocritical about viewing such content. They watch it, but wont publicly admit that they are watching it, Ullus Vibhu Agarwal notes. It might be illuminating to see how we perceive a Hugh Hefner vis-a-vis an Agarwal; its a comparison that might also underscore how sex is viewed through the prism of race and privilege. There was a time when, at gatherings, people around me tried to avoid talking about my work, Agarwal says. I knew they were watching [it], because even to treat me with some contempt, they had to have. The situation has improved to an extent, but I still have some critique coming my way.


CHARLES CITY, Iowa  A scholarship fund in memory of a Charles City woman killed in a bicycle accident will help aspiring female scientists.

Ellen Bengston died on August 2, 2020, near Charles City when her bicycle was hit by a pickup truck.

Our family hopes that scholarships from this fund will have a positive impact on the lives of women for years to come, says Peter Bengtson, Ellens father and fund founder. Ellens life was tragically and senselessly cut short. This scholarship through the Floyd County Community Foundation is one way of creating something good.

Cambrex Charles City, where the 28-year-old Bengston worked as an environmental engineer, contributed $10,000 to the scholarship fund. Organizers say other individual donations have jump-started the scholarship fund with a $50,000 goal and it will support an annual $2,000 scholarship in perpetuity.

The Floyd County Community Foundation says Ellen earned her Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Yale University (2014), and her Master's Degree (2019) in chemical engineering from Columbia University in New York. She grew up in Richland, Washington, where she graduated from Richland High School in 2010 and was a 2010 Rotary Scholarship Recipient. She also received a high school diploma from Stanford University's online high school through the Education Program for Gifted Youth.

Gifts to the Ellen Bengtson Memorial Scholarship Fund can be made online at fund.cfneia.org/bengtsonscholarship. For questions about the fund, contact Terry Gaumer, affiliate development director with the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, at (319) 243-1354 or tgaumer@cfneia.org.
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President-elect Joe Biden may have to leave behind his high-tech Peloton when he moves into the White House over concerns the exercise bike could pose a national security risk.

Peloton, known for its cult-like following that has seen everyone from celebrities to elected officials shelling out thousands of dollars for a stationary bike, promises game-changing cardio.

During an episode of Mr Bidens podcast Heres The Deal, he revealed that he himself relies on a Peloton to get exercise amid the pandemic.

Explaining that he finds following a routine helpful in dealing with his day, the 78-year-old said: I try to get out of bed by eight oclock in the morning and I have a gym in my house upstairs. I have a treadmill and a Peloton bike and some weights. And I try to work out every morning for me. That sort of gets me going.

However, the bikes starting price of $1,895 doesnt just allow its users to pedal, as it also includes access to thousands of exercise classes, a microphone, and a built-in camera, which connects through the Internet.

It is the exercise equipments Internet-connected microphone and camera that is cause for concern, according to Popular Mechanics, which notes that experts believe the technology could be prone to risks such as hacking.

Because you're connected to the Internet, even though there are firewalls and intrusion detection software ... those things can be gotten around if youre really good and skilled," Max Kilger, PhD, director of the data analytics program and associate professor in practice at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told the outlet.

If a hacker gained access to the future presidents Peloton, they could theoretically gain access to any connected devices as well, such as an Apple Watch, Kilger said.

According to Kilger, for the bike to be truly secure, one would need to remove the camera, microphone and networking equipment, steps he believes the Secret Service may take.

However, he also notes that without the technology, you basically have a boring bike not unlike any other stationary bike.

While it may be disappointing for the future president, he wouldnt be the first White House resident to be granted access to technology only once it has been modified.

In Barack Obamas memoir A Promised Land, he recalled being allowed only a specially modified Blackberry that could send emails but not make phone calls during his time as president.

"I was able to keep my BlackBerry  or, rather, I was given a new, specially modified device, approved only after several weeks of negotiations with various cybersecurity personnel. With it, I could send and receive emails, though only from a vetted list of twenty or so contacts, and the internal microphone and headphone jack had been removed, so that the phone function didnt work, the former president wrote. Michelle joked that my BlackBerry was like one of those play phones you give toddlers, where they get to press buttons and it makes noises and things light up but nothing actually happens."

There may be a way around Pelotons security concerns, however, as The Verge notes that former first lady Michelle Obama may have a modified Peloton bike without a camera or microphone.

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Peloton told The Independent: We don't share information about individual members out of respect for their privacy.
WASHINGTON - A Virginia man was arrested after law enforcement found at least one firearm and ammunition in his truck as he tried to enter an inauguration security checkpoint near the Capitol on Friday evening with a credential that was not authorized, according to court documents.

Wesley Allen Beeler, 31, of Front Royal, drove his Ford F-150 up to a checkpoint on E Street Northeast of the Capitol, where he was met by Capitol Police officers, according to the court documents.

Beeler was arrested on charges of carrying a pistol without a license, possession of an unregistered firearm and possession of unregistered ammunition, a Capitol Police spokesperson said. A judge ordered him released on personal recognizance and issued a stay-away order from the District.

"It was an honest mistake," Beeler explained after being released. In a tear-filled interview, he said he has spent the last week working as hired security in downtown Washington ahead of the inauguration. He was running late to work and forgot that his firearm was in his truck when he left his home in Virginia, where he said he has a license to carry. He denied that he had more than 500 rounds of ammunition listed in his arrest report.

"I pulled up to a checkpoint after getting lost in D.C. because I'm a country boy," he said. "I showed them the inauguration badge that was given to me."

Beeler said he was given a credential by his employer, MVP Protective Services. A man who answered a phone number connected with MVP protective services said, "Unfortunately, at this time I am not authorized to speak," when reached by a reporter Saturday evening.

U.S. Capitol police said in charging papers that while they determined Beeler was "not authorized to enter the restricted area" and in a statement Saturday that he presented "a non-government issued" credential.

As his credential was being checked, another officer noted bumper stickers on the truck's windows, which read, "Assault Life" and "If they come for your guns giv 'em your bullets first," police said.

The officers asked Beeler if he had weapons in the car, and he volunteered that he had a Glock in his center armrest, charging papers said.

After removing Beeler from the truck, officers found the firearm, a 9mm handgun, was loaded with a high-capacity magazine and 17 rounds of ammunition and the pistol was chambered and ready to fire, court document said.

Police said they also found more than 500 rounds of pistol ammunition, including hollow-point bullets. Nearly two dozen shotgun shells were "located in plain sight in the rear cargo area of the vehicle," the court documents said.

Beeler said he recalls having only the loaded firearm and the shotgun shells in his vehicle.

"It was just me forgetting to take it out of my truck before I left for work. I don't know what the D.C. laws are. It still comes back on me, but I'm not a criminal," Beeler said.

Beeler said he volunteered for a job in the District of Columbia after a friend let him know of an overnight job with MVP to guard media equipment located at 7th and Constitution. He said the credential he was given has previously been enough to enter that area.

He said he has numerous security assignments in the past, including working as a corrections officer and providing security for a Saudi embassy property. A spokesman for Allied Universal Security Services confirmed that Beeler previously worked for a smaller security company it acquired.

Beeler's mother and father, who both spoke to The Post before Beeler was released from custody, said he works in private security and had been reporting for work downtown through the past week.

Beeler's wife, Noelle Beeler, said she realizes why people reacted with fear and concern at the report of a man with a Glock and a cache of ammo in his truck in downtown Washington.

"It's understandable during these times. It does sound suspicious," she said. The couple was trying to find a way for Beeler to return home after his release and to explain what happened to their children.

"I don't want my kids to think I'm a bad person," Beeler said.

Beeler has been ordered not to return to the city except to appear in court or meet with his lawyer.

- - -

The Washington Post's Julie Tate, Jennifer Jenkins, Peter Hermann, Alex Horton, and Dan Lamothe contributed to this report.

Mumbai: Even someone who is not an ardent follower of "Bigg Boss" was shocked to hear "Tashan-e-Ishq" and "Naagin 4" fame actress Jasmin Bhasin's eviction from the reality show. But actor-producer Rohit Choudhary, who will soon be seen in the Marathi film "Aamdar Nivas", said it was disappointing for him.

"The last nomination was a big shock in itself. Four strong contestants - Jasmin, Rubina Dilaik, Abhinav Shukla, and Aly Goni were nominated, and one of them had to leave. I am sure it must have been a tough fight between Abhinav and Jasmin, and her eviction was not a shock for me. It was disappointing. I feel she is someone who gave her best throughout the show and she could have done well. Abhinav should thank his stars because nobody has been so lucky in the show ever," he said.

His good friend Manu Punjabi had entered the ongoing season as a challenger, but he came out due to some medical issue. Rohit mentioned that the show is about to end soon, so he would advise Manu to not re-enter the show.

He said, "I loved the way Manu Punjabi entered the show. He became a captain in no time, and he was playing well. But he had to come out due to some medical issue, and I don't think he should go back now. There is nothing much left in the show, also it will get wrapped up soon, so I feel going back won't be the right thing to do. But he is such a good player that I am sure 'Bigg Boss' will call him in other seasons."

Rohit also spoke about other challengers like Rakhi Sawant and Arshi Khan, and said, "Rakhi is still entertaining, but I don't know what Arshi is doing. Neither she takes a stand, nor she speaks up in support of her friends. She just picks up unnecessary issues of her own, which does not look nice at all. As far as the show is concerned, I don't even see them in the top four, forget about winning."

Though this season has been called one of the slowest and less entertaining seasons of the reality show, Rohit feels this season had its ups and downs. He said, "I don't think the ongoing season is the worst of all. Yes, it is disappointing because the audience's expectations are always high as far as the show is concerned. There have been some really slow moments and some very entertaining ones, it has been a mix actually."

"I guess there is a lot left in the show and it has become quite entertaining of late. I am enjoying it now, and I am hopeful that in the coming weeks it will become even more interesting," Rohit signed off.

The much-awaited policy to scrap 15-year old vehicles is likely to get government nod soon, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday. On July 26, 2019, the government proposed amendments to motor vehicle norms to allow scrapping of vehicles older than 15 years in a bid to spur adoption of electrical vehicles.

"We have submitted the proposal and I am expecting that we will get approval as early as possible for the scrapping policy," the Road Transport and Highways Minister said. The policy is for scrapping of vehicles which are more that 15 years old and includes cars, trucks and buses, the Minister said addressing the "Atmanirbhar Bharat Innovation Challenge 2020-21" event.

Gadkari's remarks come amid reports that the upcoming budget may unveil the vehicle scrappage policy that aims to boost automobile demand by phasing out old and polluting vehicles. A final call in this regard, however, will be taken by the Prime Minister's Office. The PMO had earlier sent the proposed policy for a fresh round of consultation with stakeholders.

Gadkari said once the policy is approved, India will become a automobile hub and there will also be reduction in the prices of automobiles. He said recycled material from old vehicles will help reduce the prices. "We will take scrap from all over the world and here we will make an industry where we can use all new material and the cost will be less... industry will be more competitive...we will get more export orders," he added.

He said the automobile industry's turnover, which is Rs 4.5 lakh crore with Rs 1.45 lakh crore exports, will get a boost. Earlier, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that a policy for scrapping of old vehicles "is in the works" and will be announced after ministries concerned "fine tune" it.

"Scrappage policy is in the works ... I would wait for the concerned ministries also to fine tune everything and tie up the loose ends and then come to a stage where it can be announced by the ministry," Sitharaman had said in an interaction with the media after presenting Budget 2020-21.

In May 2016, the government had floated a draft Voluntary Vehicle Fleet Modernisation Programme (V-VMP) that proposed to take 28 million decade-old vehicles off the road. A committee of secretaries (CoS) recommended to the ministry redesigning of the scheme for greater participation of states with partial support from the Centre.

The CoS had suggested that the scheme may dovetail a calibrated and phased regulatory approach for capping the life of vehicles together with stricter implementation of emission norms and accordingly a revised consultation paper got in-principle nod of the PMO.

Also read: 'Tere mere pyaar ke charche': Tata Motors teases Tesla amid rumours of JV; deletes tweet

Also read: Bridgestone India launches V-Steel Mix M721 tyres for commercial vehicle segment
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 22:35:31|Editor: huaxia

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A million doses of COVID-19 vaccines developed by China's leading pharmaceutical company Sinopharm arrived in Serbia on Saturday, receiving a personal welcome at the airport from the country's president. #GLOBALink
It is "a lie" that supports terrorism, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, commenting on the US recent decision to add the island nation to its list of "State Sponsor of Terrorism."

"When Washington accuses Havana of sponsoring terrorists, isn't it the very fake news that the United States is collectively fighting against? This is a lie that has been granted the official state status," Maria Zakharova, the ministry's spokesperson said on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

At her weekly press briefing, Zakharova called the US decision "an unconstructive move," which clearly demonstrates Washington's inability to pursue a consistent foreign policy based on objective realities.

By blacklisting Havana, the United States has also discredited itself in the eyes of everyone who is familiar with "the selfless work of Cuban doctors in dozens of countries around the world" amid the coronavirus pandemic, she added.

On Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that was designated as a "State Sponsor of Terrorism" for "repeatedly providing support for acts of terrorism in granting safe harbour to terrorists."

" opposes terrorism: it has been a victim of this scourge, never a sponsor," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Twitter.

--IANS

int/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The U.S. Postal Service is temporarily removing nearly a dozen mailboxes in the Los Angeles area as a security precaution ahead of next week's presidential inauguration ceremony. (Los Angeles Times)

The U.S. Postal Service on Friday announced plans to temporarily remove more than a dozen mailboxes in the Los Angeles area for security reasons amid threats of potential violence in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere surrounding next week's inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

"Postal customers in the Greater Los Angeles area, will see some changes as the city makes security preparations for the potential upcoming civil events," according to a Postal Service statement.

"The removal of the 14 mailboxes  four in Los Angeles' 90012 ZIP code, seven in Van Nuys' 91401 ZIP code and three in Huntington Beach's 92648 ZIP code  is intended to protect the mail and the public," the Postal Service said.

The addresses of the mailboxes:

250 E. 1st St., Los Angeles;

252 E. 1st St., Los Angeles;

330 E. 2nd St., Los Angeles;

328 E. 1st St., Los Angeles;

6200 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys (two boxes will be removed at this address);





6230 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys;

6300 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys;

6311 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys;

6551 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys;

14399 Delano St., Van Nuys; and

316 Olive Ave., Huntington Beach (three boxes will be removed at this address).

Customers can find collection boxes in service or post office locations on the Postal Service website.

The announcement from the Postal Service comes amid threats of potential violence surrounding Inauguration Day, which will be celebrated Wednesday. Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez on Friday canceled Wednesday's council meeting and urged City Hall staffers to work from home that day.

The Los Angeles Police Department has pledged to have all officers at the ready, and other local law enforcement agencies have also taken steps to reassure the public that safeguarding the community is their top priority.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Stacker compiled a list of college majors where students were most likely to continue their education through the pursuit of graduate degrees, licensures, and professional certificates using data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A pedestrian was seriously injured near the intersection of Blosser Road and Cook Street on Saturday after they were struck by a vehicle, which fled the scene, according to Santa Maria Police.
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Uganda's Yoweri Museveni has won a sixth term in office, the election commission said Saturday, extending his 35-year rule after a poll which his main rival said was marred by fraud.

The 76-year-old leader, who took power in 1986, is one of Africa's longest-serving presidents. He was accused of crushing the opposition and media ahead of one of the most violent election campaigns in recent years.

Museveni won with 58.6 percent of the vote, seeing off a stiff battle from 38-year-old former ragga singer Bobi Wine, who fired up a youthful population where three quarters are under 30 years old.

Wine was under heavy guard at his home on the outskirts of Kampala as the results were announced, with his party saying he was under "effective house arrest". The government said it was merely providing him with security.

Wine, with his humble origins in a slum and popular songs about economic and social injustice, struck a chord with young people /  AFP

The singer-turned-MP was among 10 opposition candidates and came second with 34.8 percent of the vote.

"The electoral commission declares Yoweri Museveni... elected President of the republic of Uganda," said election commission chairman Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama.

He said turnout was 57.22 of almost 18 million registered voters.

Security forces poured into the streets of Kampala after the announcement, with one soldier atop an armoured personnel carrier urging citizens to maintain social distancing as a helicopter buzzed overhead.

Images on state television showed jubilant Museveni supporters in his home district waving flags and cheering, while soldiers in the capital helped marshal motorcycle drivers for a parade -- handing them yellow vests and Museveni posters.

Museveni, in a wide-ranging speech on state television after the announcement, thanked his supporters and said that now, "the only thing to avoid is violence".

Wine's home remained sealed off by soldiers and police /  AFP

"I think this might turn out to be the most cheating-free election since 1962," when the country achieved independence, he said.

However, the election was marked by harassment and arrests of the opposition, attacks on the media and the deaths of at least 54 people.

US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus praised Ugandans on Saturday for voting "despite an environment of intimidation and fear".

She added that the US was "deeply troubled by the many credible reports of security force violence during the pre-election period and election irregularities during the polls".

Wine alleged widespread fraud such as ballot box stuffing and said his party agents had in some places been beaten and chased from polling stations.

"Whatever is being declared is a complete sham, we reject it and we dissociate ourselves with it," he said on Friday.

- 'We don't control them' -

Wine's home remained sealed off by soldiers and police on Saturday, after he told AFP Friday evening that security forces had breached the fence around it and he felt under "siege".

The army's deputy spokesman Deo Akiiki said the soldiers were there for "his own security".

Presidential elections in Uganda: a clash of generations /  AFP

However, the spokesman for Wine's National Unity Platform (NUP), Joel Ssenyonyi, told AFP Bobi Wine "is under effective house arrest".

"People are angry because their vote has been stolen. They don't need me or Bobi Wine to tell them to get angry," Ssenyonyi said. "Even we can't control them."

Disappointed at Wine's loss, 31-year-old carpenter Dennis Agaba complained that "the election was not fair".

However, 35-year-old electrician Dennis Tusiime was celebrating the result, describing himself as "very, very happy."

Security forces officers are seen during a joint patrol in a street ahead of the election results /  AFP

Tibor Nagy, the top US diplomat for Africa, tweeted the vote was "fundamentally flawed", citing the denial of accreditation to election observers and "violence and harassment of opposition figures".

The internet has been down for four days, and government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said the measure was taken due to "abuse, misuse, disinformation, fake news with the overall objective of undermining the integrity of the electoral process including the results... and possibly to cause destabilisation".

He said the internet would be restored once the threat had passed, possibly on Monday morning.

- Odds stacked against Wine -

Museveni has ruled Uganda without pause since seizing control in 1986, when he helped to end years of tyranny under Idi Amin and Milton Obote.

Once hailed for his commitment to good governance, the former rebel leader has crushed any opposition and tweaked the constitution to allow himself to run again and again.

For many in the country, where the average age is 16 and most have known only one president, Museveni's glory days are no longer relevant or sufficient.

Wine, with his humble origins in a slum and popular songs about economic and social injustice, struck a chord with young people. But observers said the odds were stacked against him with Museveni's powerful grip on the state.

Wine's newly-formed NUP is however on track to become the main opposition party in parliament, notably winning eight of nine constituencies in the capital Kampala.
Photo: The Canadian Press This undated photo provided by the Washington County, Arl., Sheriff's Office shows Arkansas resident Richard Barnett, who was taken into custody Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, and is being held in the county jail after he was charged by federal prosecutors with three counts for storming the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in Washington. Barnett was in a viral photo where he could be seen inside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. (Washington County Sheriff's Office via AP)

A federal judge in Washington on Friday night halted a plan to release and put on house arrest the Arkansas man photographed sitting at a desk in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell stayed the decision to confine Richard Barnett to his home in Gravette, Arkansas, until his trial, and instead ordered that Barnett be brought to Washington forthwith for proceedings in his case.

The decision came hours after a judge in Arkansas set a $5,000 bond for Barnett and ordered that a GPS monitor to track his location. U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin Wiedemann's ruling also prohibited Barnett from using the internet or having contact with anyone else who participated in the Jan. 6 violence.

Barnett was among supporters of President Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol as lawmakers assembled to certify President-elect Joe Bidens victory over Trump. Five people died during the violent insurrection, including a Capitol police officer. During a nearly five-hour hearing Friday via video conference, federal prosecutors had argued that Barnett should remain in custody.

If (Barnett) will travel across the country and engage in this level of criminal behaviour because he believes that he is right and it is the Electoral College that is wrong, what would deter him? Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Harris said.

Barnett is charged with unlawfully entering a restricted area with a lethal weapon a stun gun. Barnett is also charged with disorderly conduct and theft of public property. He faces up to 11 1/2 months in prison if convicted.

I think your honour can shape a release order that provides a sufficient array of conditions that will allow my client to be released, that will allow my client to effectively defend himself and... will allow him to build enough of a fence' around him that if he stumbles, it will be brought to your honour's attention almost immediately," Anthony Siano, Barnett's attorney, told the judge during the hearing.

He surrendered voluntarily Jan. 8 to FBI agents at the Benton County Sheriffs Office in Bentonville, Arkansas, and has remained in the Washington County jail since then.

During Friday's hearing, prosecutors showed pictures of Barnett sitting at a desk in Pelosi's office and Capitol security video of him inside the building. They also showed footage of him bragging on a bullhorn to a crowd outside the Capitol about taking an envelope from the speaker's office. Prosecutors also cited concerns that Barnett had not turned over the stun gun or the cellphone he took with him to Washington.
The message from city and county officials has not changed this week. Instead, the plea for citizens to remain home these next few weeks plays on a loop as officials warn that significant consequences will follow if things arent turned around soon.

Laredo finished off a week never before seen in the area Friday with yet another day of significant cases, posting 320 on Friday with 10 deaths. The area now has 33,938 positives and 561 deaths historically dating back to the beginning of the pandemic locally last March.

To say it was a record week would be an understatement. Tuesdays 577 positives set a record that lasted only one day before being obliterated Wednesday with the announcement of 2,066. Thursday followed with another almost four-digit day with 960 positives. Friday was at least the first time in nine days without the city being over 400 positives, yet being over 300 was hardly a reprieve.

All in all, the area finished up the week with a shocking 5,217 new cases  nearly three times the former record of 1,763 from Aug. 8-14. Laredo must be judged on a Saturday through Friday format to accurately account for the brief time period it previously stopped providing COVID-19 updates over weekends.

But that wasnt the only record broken. In fact, Laredo has already eclipsed its monthly record despite being only 15 days through January. The area now has 6,971 positives in 2021, pushing past Decembers record of 6,923.

While cases have been high, deaths were equally harsh. And by hitting double-digits for just the third time Friday  the record being 15 on July 23  Laredo closed the week with its second-highest total yet at 35. It trailed only the 38 recorded from July 18-24.

Sure enough, these issues have led to Laredos COVID-19 hospitalization rate climbing once again to a new record state-wide at 47%, up from 44.9% Thursday. These figures reported by the Texas Department of State Health Services reflect Thursdays totals.

The Laredo area has led the state in COVID-19 hospitalization rate figure back to Dec. 10, well above Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts benchmark of 15% which he said was the signal of a red flag. It has nearly doubled up the next closest Texas area, with Waco still remaining the closest at 30% just ahead of Bryan at 24.7%.

The DSHS also reported that the city is completely out of ICU beds and has only 23 beds left in the entire city, both also corresponding to Thursday.

The city officially reported 235 hospitalizations Friday, down seven from the prior day, as well as 78 patients in the ICU, up two from Thursday.

According to Laredo Health Authority Dr. Victor Trevino, Laredo hospitals continue to work in overflow status. There are 22 patients in holding at local emergency rooms, and 62 currently on ventilators. Should the surge of COVID-19 infections continue, the situation could become even more dire.

"The amount of COVID-19 spread is exceeding the ability to handle hospitalizations resulting from people who continuing to participate in high-risk and high-contact activities," Trevino said.

Laredo officials also warned of the dangers of staying home when sick, asking citizens to report to a medical facility if they have worsening symptoms. Of the 10 latest reported deaths, five were people who died at home.

As we continue to see concerning trends in the community associated with this pandemic, we are monitoring deaths at home and among our youth, Trevino said. We strongly urge individuals with COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19 not to try and recover at home if symptoms are worsening. Immediately contact your doctor or go to the emergency room.

The latest deaths included five males and five females, with two deaths for those in their 30s, 50s, 70s and 90s, as well as one death for a person in their 60s and 80s. Overall, there have been 288 male deaths as well as 255 females. Persons in their 70s make up 142 deaths ahead of those in their 60s (112), 80s (107), 50s (70) and 90s (51).

Laredo leaders continued to emphasize the role that citizens can play in limiting the spread of the virus during this significant peak. All Laredoans should be using face masks, avoiding social gatherings and staying home as much as possible.

It's a message that has been continuously said by leaders since the emergence of the pandemic, but they stress it is extremely important to follow these instructions over the coming weeks. Officials expect the immediate future to be the harshest test that the city will have to deal with in relation to the pandemic thus far.

"We are at a critical point," Trevino said. "If we don't stop the spread of the virus in our community, we will be medically overrun."

To stress the importance of the message, city leaders on Thursday opted to make use of all their platforms to spread word within the community. Citizens received automated calls, emergency cell phone alerts and warnings via social media on Thursday, informing citizens of the dire situation in our medical community.

Our medical professionals are overwhelmed with the surge of COVID-19 cases, the emergency message read. Lives are at stake, and we are asking you to stay home unless it is absolutely necessary. Save a life.

Mayor Pete Saenz said the message was not intended to create a panic but instead bring public awareness to the issue. He added that he has received some questions from citizens about the message, which is exactly what it was intended to do.

"(The message) is a jolt to shock the senses and create a consciousness of what's going on." Saenz said. "It's intended to bring awareness and create questions as to what happening. Hopefully people now realize the magnitude of the situation of what we're facing."

Laredo has 2,478 active cases of the coronavirus. A total of 30,899 have been estimated to have recovered from their infections, while 228,531 have been tested during the pandemic.

The area has a rolling test positivity rate of 22.4%, down from 23.8% Thursday. Texas rate is at 17.9% and the United States is 11.9%.

Local leaders continue looking into options, including enlisting state help, to alleviate the burden on the medical community. Emergency management coordinator Guillermo Heard said that the city continues to coordinate with local hospitals to expand their capacity and plan several major projects that will hopefully curb the pandemic.

Discussions are underway to expand the infusion center at the Haynes Recreation Center, which only opened this Monday.

The center, which provides treatment to low-risk COVID-19 patients before they have to be hospitalized, will be allocated more medication from the state. This will help the operation to increase its hours and provide more treatment to Laredo residents.

Additional tents at hospitals and alternate care sites designed to create more areas to provide help to patients have also been discussed.

However, an alternate care site would be a means of last resort, Heard said. According to Heard, the city would rather have patients closer to hospitals, where rapid response teams are available should a patient's condition deteriorate quickly.

"In all honesty, the toughest days are coming, but if we band together, we will get through this." Heard said.

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REDDING, Calif.  The Department of Justice ordered Boeing to pay $2.5 billion to settle a criminal charge in connection to two deadly crashes that killed 346 people.

Two Redding men died in one of those crashes, brothers Bennet and Melvin Riffel.

Their plane went down in Ethiopia on March 10, 2019.

Melvins wife, Brittney, was pregnant with their daughter Emma at the time of the crash.

I have our beautiful daughter, Emma Riffel, and she brings so much light and joy into all our lives," said Brittney. "Shes definitely a force to be reckoned with.

As part of the agreement with the DOJ, Boeing admits to misconduct for misleading the FAA about the safety of the 737 Max but did not plead guilty. If the company complies with the terms, the government will drop the charges in three years.

As for the fine, Boeing will pay a criminal fine of $243 million. It will also pay the airlines that bought the 737 Max $1.7 billion. Boeing will also put $500 million into a fund to help compensate the families.

But thats of little comfort to Brittney and her family.

It's been a constant struggle, said Brittney. Nothing, since the boys have passed, has been easy by any means.

Boeings agreement with the DOJ has no impact on the civil case, and thats a long way from being over.

Money can never obviously change anything that they've done, said Brittney. The lives that took and the lives that they've ruined. You just have to continue enduring the trials of the investigation.

And while every day is challenging, Brittney says she won't stop fighting.

As much as I do want it to be over, to be able to push forward with just only our grief, there's so much more that needs to be done, she said. There are so many more people that need to be held accountable.

To read the DOJ report and what Boeing admitted click here.

Galveston, TX (77553)

Today

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Mostly cloudy skies. Low 77F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.
A man has been charged after he allegedly breached a court order less than two weeks after he was released from prison, by accessing online material that supported executions, beheadings and torture.

Radwan Dakkak, 25, from Denistone in Sydney's north-west, was jailed for a maximum of 18 months in December last year on two charges of knowingly associating with a member of a terrorist organisation.

Radwan Dakkak is arrested on Saturday. Credit:Australian Federal Police

He was released with time served when his sentence expired on January 1 this year.

The day before he was released, the Federal Court imposed an interim control order on Mr Dakkak which included numerous conditions, including a curfew from 11pm to 5am, reporting daily to police at Parramatta, and a prohibition on accessing extremist material.
Carey Mulligan stars as Cassandra in writer-director Emerald Fennell's "Promising Young Woman." (Focus Features )

The feature debut from writer-director Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman seems designed to spur on uncomfortable post-movie conversations and think pieces as it continually destabilizes audiences. With a dazzling and electrifying lead performance by Carey Mulligan, the story follows a young woman named Cassandra who is traumatized by the death of her best friend and so seeks revenge against anyone she sees as complicit, which includes the entire culture that led to her friends debasement and demise.

The movie was initially scheduled to be released by Focus Features in the spring  having first premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival  but those plans were derailed by the pandemic. Finally opening in theaters on Christmas, it now comes to premium VOD on Friday, reaching its widest possible audience yet as it also builds a steady momentum in the ongoing awards season.

Part of Fennells strategy is to keep audiences on their toes as the ground constantly shifts when Cassandra, who goes by Cassie, launches a plan that puts her in ever-increasing danger. Even many people who are ostensible fans of the movie are nevertheless thrown by its final moments as a disorienting series of events unfold.

In recent interviews, Fennell and Mulligan, along with costar Bo Burnham, talked candidly about that ending.

Warning: Spoilers for the ending of "Promising Young Woman" follow.

Carey Mulligan's Cassie is looking for a very specific kind of revenge in "Promising Young Woman." (Merie Weismiller Wallace/Focus Features)

In the film, Cassie goes to the bachelor party of Al Monroe (Chris Lowell), who raped her best friend Nina when they were all in medical school, which led to Ninas eventual suicide. Posing as a stripper, Cassie gets herself alone in a room with Al, handcuffs him to a bed and plans to carve "Nina" into his chest with a scalpel. He gets the upper hand and smothers her with a pillow, later burning her body in the woods.

But she had already sent incriminating evidence to a lawyer, and so Al is arrested during his wedding reception as Cassies former boyfriend Ryan (Burnham) receives one last timed text message from Cassie.

Story continues

After audiences are left reeling by Cassie's death, they must grapple with the final beat of her revenge from beyond the grave.

It was the only ending for me, Fennell said. I mean, I don't want to put people off, I didn't do it as a kind of shocking thing. It just felt like it was the only possible resolution for me.

Mulligan recalled her first time reading the script.

I was surprised, Mulligan said of the ending. But what was so great about this script is that I didn't see any of it. I'm used to reading scripts where I go like, Oh, I know where this is going. I just know what's going to happen. And every five pages it completely wrongfooted me and everything I thought I knew, I didn't know. But I was not expecting it to end like that.

"Promising Young Woman" writer-director Emerald Fennell is also an actress, recently seen on "The Crown." (Matthew Lloyd/For The Times)

Fennell further explained how she found the ending, having originally planned on something more expected.

Of course when I first started writing it ... I, like every person in the audience, wanted it to end with her walking away with a burning cabin behind her and sirens in the distance. But then I just got in the room and it just didn't seem possible, Fennell said.

It Just didn't seem real at all. It seemed completely impossible and it seemed like a lie, she added. And I think it was really important that this whole movie is taking those tropes of the revenge thriller and hopefully sort of undercutting them or subverting them all. And I think that really what we want from a movie like this is for her to cut off his balls and set him on fire  but then you leave and you never think about it again because suddenly you're in movie-land.

If you're honest, it felt important to me that the moment that violence, the moment that a weapon was introduced, it was going to get turned on her, Fennell said. There's a reason women don't do what we see in movies like this, which is put on a dress and get out an AK-47. There are so many reasons why women don't, but they just don't. And so it seemed to me that if I was in a room in a house full of men and as teeny as Carey is, there's just no way.

Its easy to see Cassies final mission, going to that secluded cabin full of men, as one she knew she wouldnt come back from. Yet Mulligan did not see Cassies death as the inevitable conclusion of her actions.

I think the moment that she goes to the cabin, it's not a suicide mission, added Mulligan. She puts out a backup plan, should things go wrong. But I think her hope is that things would go the way that she wants them to, and that this guy will forever have this thing on his stomach that says Nina and that he'll never be able to tell anyone why or what happened. I think that's her plan.

It's definitely not a death wish. However, I think she's become cavalier with her life, said Mulligan. There's a strong chance that things go wrong, but she's not blinded with rage and suicidal. I think the road has taken her this far and she has to see it through.

Carey Mulligan photographed for her role in "Promising Young Woman." (Matthew Lloyd/For The Times)

Fennell agreed that Cassie was not on some sort of suicidal death trip.

No, no, no, definitely not, Fennell said. It's sort of up for people to decide, but for me that's absolutely not who she is. She's never done anything like that in this movie. But she's also wise enough to know that the odds are against her and she's furious enough and tired enough to take the risk. And I think that Al Monroe is the end of the road for her either way. And I think that made sense.

I believed everything she does is kind of wicked and a sort of wicked joke, Fennell said. And it felt like it would make sense that she would make sure that all of the texts arrived during the wedding. It sort of felt at least like some small justice was afforded.

Even as she knew the shock of Cassies death would upset and even lose some viewers, for Fennell, any other ending to the script didnt feel right.

I think everyone was a bit surprised when I handed it in, Fennell said, but then what was so great was when people came on board for the movie, they came on board because of that, because it wasn't something they'd seen before. It's one of those things, where it either feels real to you or it's just not your cup of tea. I think some people just find it too harrowing or whatever, or they just disagree with it fundamentally.

But I think for everyone who joined it, they really kind of understood it on quite a sort of deep kind of physical level, Fennell said. And in terms of the double ending ... it felt too cruel to leave it with [burning the body], which was something that probably  had I been left to my own devices  I might have done. But it felt too awful and also felt unlikely. She's so diligent, she's so obsessed, so detail-oriented. I couldn't believe that she wouldn't have made a plan for if things went wrong.

The bold look of "Promising Young Woman" supports a darkly comic mix of thriller, romance and social issues. (Focus Features)

Even still, the conclusion leaves some unanswered questions. In the films final scene, as police raid the wedding party to arrest Al, and his best friend and accomplice Joe (Max Greenfield) runs off into the woods, Ryan receives a pre-timed text message from Cassie. He witnessed Ninas rape along with others and did not report it and also subsequently lied to police about Cassies whereabouts. Will he be arrested too?

I think [Emerald] very much intentionally leaves that open because the legal system doesn't have an answer for Ryan, there isn't a precedent for what do you do with just like the outer rings of complacency in something like this? said Burnham. And I think that's the question we want the audience to be asking, 'What do you do with him? Should they arrest him?' I would guess that the sort of legal precedent seems to be, I bet, he will get away with it. He'll legally get away with it, there won't be legal repercussions, but Cassie has at least spread the word.

In another of the films many enigmatic touches, Cassie is seen numerous times writing in a notebook, making hashmarks in different colored ink, after her nighttime excursions to scare men into not sexually assaulting vulnerable women. Having allowed these men to pick her up in bars and nightclubs when they think she is intoxicated and vulnerable, she eventually reveals herself to be very much sober and alert. But just how far her scheme goes, whether she ever harms any of them or what exactly the different colors of ink mean isnt answered.

It's just her record, said Mulligan. I think the colors don't really equate to anything. It's just her quite high school way of keeping track. And I think a way that kind of pleasantly trivializes it for her because it's not the fact that she's writing it in a sort of high school notebook and ticking people off. Maybe in the moments where she feels out of control and like she doesn't know what she's doing, when she feels like she's been doing this for too long, it makes it feel like less of a real-world event, it feels more like a very kind of private, almost adolescent endeavor in a way.

As for Fennells thoughts on that notebook and its meaning?

Never. I'll never tell, she said with a hearty laugh. I mean, I know for myself, but I think that's for everyone else to decide. Because that's the thing, I don't even think she even knows what she's capable of most of the time. And you see that quite a lot in this movie, so, it really could be anything.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The nation-wide COVID-19 vaccination drive was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. The Prime Minister urged the vaccine recipients not to drop out and said that the dosage must be completed. "Remember, these vaccines comprise two shots. And taking both the shots is necessary. It will also take some time after the second shot to show some effects," he said. The Prime Minister also asked people to follow COVID-19 safety protocols even if they have been administered the vaccine.

In the first phase of the vaccination drive over 3 crores frontline healthcare workers are expected to be given the vaccine. They will receive either Covaxin or Covishield COVID-19 vaccines which were approved for emergency use earlier by the country's drug regulators. Bharat Biotech's Covaxin vaccine is the first indigenously developed vaccine. Covishield vaccine has been developed by Oxford University in collaboration with pharma giant AstraZeneca. The Covishield vaccine is being produced by Serum Institute of India (SII).

Several healthcare workers across the country have already received the vaccine dose with many more to do so later in the day. After the launch of the vaccination drive, AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria, a sanitation worker, a healthcare worker were the first people who received the vaccine as part of the program. Around 8,100 people are expected to receive the vaccine in Delhi at 81 centres.

While in Maharashtra, the vaccination drive is taking place at 285 centres and 100 healthcare workers are expected to be vaccinated per day. In UP, 102 healthcare workers are expected to receive the vaccine today.

Here are some pics of the COVID-19 vaccination drive taking place in several centres across the country:

Also Read: PM Modi launches COVID-19 vaccination drive; urges Indians to take both shots, follow protocols

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15)  Despite announcing earlier that the government secured 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from China's Sinovac, Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. and other officials clarified the deal is not yet final and they can still opt out, since the vaccine has yet to receive regulatory approval.

When asked whether agreements with firms like Sinovac are already a "done deal", Galvez said that is not the case.

"Ang sa atin pa lang po ngayon [For now,] we are [just] dealing with the term sheet. Posible rin [It could also be possible] we have to lock (the supply), so that they can already make production. So sa ngayon po, wala pa pong government funds tayong naibibigay," clarified the official during Friday's hearing of the Senate Committee of the Whole.

[Translation: As of now, we haven't given out government funds yet.]

Finance Undersecretary Mark Joven explained the term sheet states that Sinovac will sell doses to the country in tranches, but that does not already mean the government committed to buy them.

"Because of the term sheet, Sinovac has a commitment to sell and deliver to us 50,000 doses before the end of February at a price certain but we don't have an obligation to buy from them until they meet certain conditions among which is the execution of a term sheet and... getting the proper regulatory approvals," said Joven.

COVID-19 deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon also said the purchase of Sinovac's vaccine would still depend on the expert panel's recommendation.

"Hindi pa po final ito [This is not yet final]," he said.

Sinovac already applied for Emergency Use Authorization in the Philippines, but FDA Director General Eric Domingo said the agency has yet to begin evaluating the application since the company has not yet submitted its phase 3 clinical trial results. Although Sinovac already has EUA from China and Argentina, the FDA would still have to carefully check its vaccines since they have not been approved by a "stringent regulatory agency," Domingo stressed.

Senators reminded Galvez and other officials to be careful in making pronouncements and urged them to address "communication problems" since vaccine confidence is also at stake.

"Last hearing, 25 million doses of Sinovac ang sinabi na locked in and secure. Ngayon 50,000 na lang at naiklaro kanina na hindi pa tayo obligado na bilhin at kunin 'yun unless pumasa sa mga standards," said Senator Joel Villanueva.

[Translation: Last hearing it was said 25 million doses of Sinovac have been locked in and secured. Now it's at 50,000 and it was clarified that we are not yet obligated to buy them unless they pass the standards.]

Senators also raised that the Sinovac vaccine only has a 50% efficacy rate, much lower compared to brands like Pfizer and AstraZeneca. They also cited reports it should only be used on severe COVID-19 infections.

"You should exert every effort to earn the confidence of our people in so far as the vaccine is concerned," said Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon. "And given all that we have heard...the insistence or preference for Sinovac cannot be denied."

While the FDA said it has yet to see the final report on the effects of Sinovac's vaccine, Galvez denied favoring the Chinese firm.

"Rest assured that the procurement of the vaccine is not based on any political interest or financial interest," he maintained.

CNN Philippines' Producer Pilar Manuel contributed to this report.
New Delhi, Jan 16 : China has slammed the US media for its silence over the deaths of 23 Norwegian elderly patients who were vaccinated with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Twenty-three elderly Norwegian people died after receiving Pfizer vaccines and the country has launched a detailed investigation into the fatalities that have shocked the world.

Thirteen of them have been assessed and common side effects may have contributed to severe reactions in them, according to the Norwegian Medicines Agency.

An editorial in China's state-run media outlet Global Times said that 23 deaths are a large number.

"But surprisingly, mainstream English-language media did not report the incident immediately, as if they had already reached a consensus. Major US and UK media were obviously downplaying their deaths," the editorial said on Friday.

"In contrast, those major Western media will immediately hype any unfavourable information about Chinese vaccines and try to amplify their impact on public psychology".

For example, the data of China's Sinovac vaccine was lower than expected in Brazil, and it was reported everywhere in Western media.

The death of a Brazilian volunteer who participated in the trials also became a major event in Western media.

"But it was later proven that the death had nothing to do with the vaccination, and Western media lost their interest," Global Times reported.

Doctors in Norway have been asked to conduct more thorough evaluations of very frail elderly patients in line to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, following the reported deaths, the prestigious British Medical Journal (BMJ) reported.

"It may be a coincidence, but we aren't sure," Steinar Madsen, medical director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency (NOMA), told the BMJ.

"There is no certain connection between these deaths and the vaccine." In a statement, Pfizer said: "Pfizer and BioNTech are aware of reported deaths following administration of BNT162b2. We are working with NOMA to gather all the relevant information.

"All reported deaths will be thoroughly evaluated by NOMA to determine if these incidents are related to the vaccine. The Norwegian government will also consider adjusting their vaccination instructions to take the patients' health into more consideration." According to Global Times, which first broke the story, some mainstream US and British media are taking the lead in putting geopolitical labels on vaccines.

"They are meddling in political stances with the scientific attitude toward vaccines, using their propaganda to promote Pfizer vaccines and smearing Chinese vaccines".

"If there needs to be some comparison, then China's inactivated vaccine definitely has more solid foundation in safety than Pfizer's mRNA vaccine".

The inactivated vaccine technology has been very mature and has undergone decades of clinical testing.

"But it is the first time that the mRNA technology was applied to the vaccine. This large-scale promotion of Pfizer's vaccine is a continuous process of large-scale testing on human beings," the editorial read.

The Pfizer vaccine has been strongly promoted by the US administration and capital.

"Their potential risk has been deliberately downplayed by Western public opinion. And public opinion has created an impression that Pfizer's mRNA vaccine, which is being used for the first time, is safer than the Chinese vaccine".
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WASHINGTON - During the chaos at the Capitol, overwhelmed police officers confronted and combated a frenzied sea of rioters who transformed the seat of democracy into a battlefield. Now police chiefs across the country are confronting the uncomfortable reality that members in their own ranks were among the mob that faced off against other law enforcement officers.

At least 13 off-duty law enforcement officials are suspected of taking part in the riot, a tally that could grow as investigators continue to pore over footage and records to identify participants. Police leaders are turning in their own to the FBI and taking the striking step of reminding officers in their departments that criminal misconduct could push them off the force and behind bars.

The reckoning within police departments comes as plans for new demonstrations this weekend and on Inauguration Day are solidifying, with authorities warning of the potential for violence in state capitals. Participants are expected to protest election results that made Joe Biden president-elect.

"We are making clear that they have First Amendment rights like all Americans," said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who on Thursday accepted the resignation of an 18-year veteran in his department due to his involvement in the riot, which followed a rally at which President Donald Trump urged his supporters to not accept his defeat. "However, engaging in activity that crosses the line into criminal conduct will not be tolerated."

The revelation that officers participated in the chaos was the latest hit for law enforcement's reputation, coming on the heels of a year in which police violence spurred nationwide protests and activists called for cutting police funding. As photographs and videos of some off-duty officers at the riot emerged on social media, some residents back home felt betrayed, while police officials worried about a black eye for the entire profession's credibility.

Acevedo, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said the behavior is so egregious that it is often fellow officers who are alerting police chiefs and others to their colleagues' participation in last week's mob attack on the Capitol.

It marks a notable break in the so-called "blue wall of silence," an aspect of police culture that encourages officers to turn a blind eye to misconduct by fellow officers. Craig Futterman, who directs the University of Chicago Law Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project, said the Capitol riot was different.

"The 'Code of Silence' is fundamentally about loyalty to your fellow officer and that 'no one understands what we're going through but us,' " Futterman said. By contrast, there's something "fundamentally anti-police" about storming the Capitol, he said.

That fellow police officers were the target of much of the mob's brutality is another important factor that may have prompted whistleblowing. U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick was among the five people killed as a result of the riot. Dozens of other police officers were injured.

While some officers have said they were merely at the rally, rather than participating in the riot, others were found to have gone farther.

In Rocky Mount, Va., the presence of two officers in the riot, which included displays of the Confederate battle flag, came to light after a colleague and another city official leaked photos of them inside the Capitol during the riot to an area activist. The president of the local Black Lives Matter chapter posted them on her Facebook page and one of the officers quickly defended himself and threatened future violence.

"A legitimate republic stands on 4 boxes," Officer Thomas Robertson, 47, wrote in response on his Facebook page. "The soapbox, the ballot box, the jury box and then the cartridge box. We just moved to step 3. Step 4 will not be pretty...I've spent most of my adult life fighting a counter insurgency. Im about to become part of one, and a very effective one."

Robertson and fellow officer Jacob Fracker, 27, were both arrested Wednesday by the FBI and are so far the only law enforcement officers facing federal charges, which include one count each of "knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority" and one count each of "violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds."

A Washington Post analysis shows that at least 29 current and former officers attended the Jan. 6 rally, with some proceeding to the Capitol, according to a review of officers' social media accounts, FBI reports and news reports.

Of those, at least 13 officers are under investigation for possible participation in the rioting, as well more than a dozen Capitol Police officers who may have assisted the mob that seized the Capitol.

The officers - and at least one police chief - came from tiny departments with less than a handful of officers to large agencies with thousands on their force.

Reports of police among the rioters at the Capitol has police leaders worried about erosion of the public's trust in law enforcement.

"It creates an issue where the public has a hard time believing that the . . . decisions they make off duty do not impact their choices and decisions they make while on duty," said Andrew Walsh, a deputy chief with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. That force is investigating reports that "employees" may have been at the Capitol, he said.

Since the start of his presidency, Trump styled himself as a champion of law enforcement who would restore to policing a level of respect, freedom and power he perceived to have been diminished under President Barack Obama.

Even before Trump declared himself the "law and order candidate" at a 2016 campaign event, he portrayed use of force against racial justice protesters and suspects in police custody as virtuous: As a candidate, he offered to pay the legal fees of his supporters who assaulted protesters disrupting his rallies. Not long after taking office in 2017, he told a crowd of police not to worry about injuring the people they arrest.

In the four years of Trump's administration, he has reversed police reform efforts and curbed the use of "pattern and practice" investigations into police departments for civil rights violations - something that had been a staple of the Obama-era Justice Department and is expected to resume under Biden. Police were keen to return the favor when Trump ran for a second term with many police unions enthusiastically offering their endorsement.

Dennis Kenney, a former police officer and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said he was "not too terribly surprised" police were among those at the pro-Trump rally that preceded the riot, citing what he called "some pretty strident" police union support for Trump and "an authoritarian sort of regime."

Police unions and policing groups backed Trump in the 2020 election, with the head of the National Association of Police Organizations last summer deeming him "the most pro-law enforcement president we've ever had."

However, union leaders said they are shocked by how some of their members appeared to cross the line at the Capitol. They also said officers who breached the Capitol should not expect their unions' support in their legal battles.

"We took an oath to protect the constitution and the rule of law," said Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police. "When people decide they are going to violate that - they are alone."

Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union, said he had joked with Acevedo about how absurd it would be for any of the department's 5,300 officers to be involved in the mob that stormed the Capitol.

He said the resignation of 48-year-old Tam Pham, after having been identified as having been at the Capitol, has not changed how he is communicating with his members. Griffith believes the line some officers crossed is so bright, it doesn't need to be explained to the rest of the force. Attempts to reach Pham were not successful.

"We took an oath to uphold the law, not violate it," Griffith said. "You have to have common sense and walk away. Think about it. There are [Capitol] officers being beaten. How, as an officer, do you not help out? How do you not understand that you shouldn't be there?"

David Ellis, the police chief in Troy, N.H., attended the Trump rally. As he approached the Capitol and saw the mob was pushing past the Capitol Police, he understood he needed to turn away, he said.

As he boarded a charter bus at Union Station with the rioting underway, he gave an interview to New York magazine, saying the violence was "not going to solve a thing" and characterized the way the Capitol Police were being treated as "ridiculous." He defended going to the rally, saying, "There's a lot of Trump supporters that are awesome people. Like me."

Ellis's small department has three full-time officers, including him. Richard Thackston, chairman of the Troy Board of Selectmen, has defended Ellis. But the blowback on town officials was immediate and fierce. More than 100 people sent emails and voice-mail messages threatening violence. Troy Town Hall is now closed indefinitely.

"They are saying we are members of the Klan. They are calling us Nazis. They are saying we should be taken to a firing squad," Thackston said. "There is a line for us. I don't think we tell people they cannot attend rallies. They have First Amendment rights."

Chuck Wexler, director of the Police Executive Research Forum, said for years police chiefs have wrestled with racist, white supremacist and violent rhetoric that some officers post on social media.

In those instances, Wexler said disciplinary action may be taken since such actions are often considered "conduct unbecoming an officer." It tarnishes the credibility of the officer, making it difficult for them to testify in their own criminal cases, impairing their ability to fulfill their job duties.

"This is an evolution, a big leap from the difficult waters that police departments have waded through in recent years as officers take to social media to express their political and sometimes racist views," Wexler said. "What happened at the Capitol the other day is new territory. Going from freedom of speech to participating in a riot where a police officer dies, that takes it to a new level."

Brian Levin, a former police officer and director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism in California, said white supremacy and far-right-wing groups are successfully recruiting local law enforcement officers. They also encourage their young members to enter law enforcement, he said.

"We are encountering a new insurgency, as far-right extremists become more active, as their connections to mainstream politics becomes attenuated, but police agencies have yet to adapt to this new threat which directly impacts their ranks and also national security," he said.

People living in the communities where the officers work, who have forged relationships with them, say they are disappointed and hurt.

Bridgette Craighead saved videos of her dancing with Robertson, the Rocky Mount officer, at a Black Lives Matter event she organized in her Virginia hometown over the summer. She said she also became close to Officer Fracker.

She was proud of the relationship they forged.

"I thought we would be an example for the rest of the world," Craighead said. "When we left our last protest, they told us they loved us. They escorted us home. Now I feel betrayed."

On Jan. 9, three days after the riot, Craighead received a copy of a photo of Robertson and Fracker posing inside the Capitol during the siege. They were standing in front of a statute of Revolutionary War General John Stark, who is know for a toast he once wrote - "Live free or die." Fracker is holding his middle finger up to the camera.

She quickly posted it on her Facebook page. The next day, the two officers were placed on paid leave and the FBI was notified, according to a joint statement by Police Chief Ken Criner and Town Manager C. James Ervin. Criner and Ervin did not return calls seeking additional comment.

In response to Craighead's post, Robertson, who, according to local news reports is an Army veteran who received sniper training and served in Iraq, said he did not see a conflict or disparity between supporting local Black protesters and his protest that involved a breach of the Capitol.

"I can protest for what I believe in and still support your protest fro [sic] what you believe in," he wrote. "Just saying...after all, I fought for the right to do it."

Fracker, who military.com said previously served as a Marine, also defended himself on Facebook, saying he believed he did nothing wrong.

"Lol to anyone who's possibly concerned about the picture of me going around," he wrote. "Sorry I hate freedom? Not like I did anything illegal, way too much to lost [sic] to go there, but y'all do what you feel you need to do."

Three days later, Fracker and Robertson were arrested by the FBI.

- - -

The Washington Post's Julie Tate and Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report.
As the home of Silicon Valley, California not only has a unique opportunity but a profound responsibility to quickly figure out how best to minimize the risks social media so obviously pose. This will surely be an exceedingly difficult task, and we must proceed with great caution, both to protect our cherished speech rights as well as the golden egg currently shielding our state from much more economic dislocation wrought by the pandemic.

Because the social media companies are uniquely Californian, as are their leaders and engineers, our state policymakers must urgently collaborate with the tech community and privacy advocates to prioritize the careful development of effective new legal guardrails to reduce the risk that those who seek to sew hatred and revolution in this country can continue to do so.

Some may argue that this is a power solely left to the federal government, but this is not the case. So far Congress has set very few limits in the Wild West of our internet ecosystem. Indeed, its principal blueprint has been to protect the social media ecosystem from legal responsibility for incendiary communications posted on its platforms pursuant to Section 230 of the ironically-entitled Communications Decency Act.
Nigeria has reported its highest number of COVID-19 cases in a single day, breaking a record set just one week ago as the virus continues to spread rapidly across the nation.

On Friday, barely a day after Nigeria announced its worst day of the pandemic with 23 lives lost, a total of 1,867 new infections were found in 23 states across the country  the highest daily infection toll ever.

Cases have been on the rise as the second wave of the coronavirus continues to spread.

One in every six persons (16 per cent) tested for COVID-19 in Nigeria in the past two weeks were positive.

The 1,867 new cases pushed the total number of infections in the country to 107,345.

Active cases in the country rose sharply from about 3,000 about two months ago to over 20,000 due to a rise in new infections.

Of the over 107,000 cases so far, 84,535 patients have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.

Deaths

Eight people died from coronavirus in Nigeria on Friday, according the daily update by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

The new death tally has raised the number of deaths to 1,413 in total.

On Thursday, 23 people succumbed to the disease to mark Nigerias deadliest day in the pandemic era.

With the recent surge in coronavirus cases feeding through into fatalities, Nigeria has been having a consistent spike in deaths from the disease.

In the past 28 days, there have been about 200 fatalities as a result of COVID-19 complications in Nigeria.

Health authorities attributed the rising death toll to late referral of COVID-19 patients to treatment centres.

The Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, speaking at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing last week, said caregivers are holding on to suspected cases for too long before presenting them for treatment.

But the NCDC director Chikwe Ihekweazu attributed the spike in deaths to the surge in infections. Once infections numbers are rising there will be a rise in the fatality toll, he said in a virtual conference Thursday.

Specifics

The 1, 867 new cases were reported from 23 states:

Lagos-713

Plateau-273

FCT-199

Kaduna-117

Oyo-79

Enugu-58

Ondo-53

Kano-49

Sokoto-43

Ogun-37

Osun-37

Nasarawa-36

Rivers-28

Benue-24

Delta-24

Niger-24

Gombe-18

Edo-15

Taraba-12

Bayelsa-10

Ekiti-9

Borno-6

Zamfara-2

Jigawa-1

Lagos, again led with 713 new cases on Friday, nearly half of the daily total. The commercial city is Nigerias coronavirus epicentre with a total of over 37,000 confirmed cases and about 260 deaths.

The Minister of State for Health, Mr Mamora, warned Nigerians against complacency in containing the COVID-19 pandemic as the much-awaited vaccines may not arrive the country as soon as expected.

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The government said it is expecting to start receiving vaccines for the disease by the end of the month.

So far, Nigeria has conducted over a million COVID-19 tests.
An RAF veteran was among hundreds of people aged over 80 to receive the Covid-19 vaccine at Salisbury Cathedral.

Former flight sergeant Louis Godwin, 95, gave a thumbs-up after being vaccinated in the cathedral, which dates back more than 800 years.

He described receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech jab as absolutely marvellous and no trouble at all.

Salisbury Cathedral opened its doors to patients from five local GP surgeries on Saturday, with the aim of vaccinating 1,000 people aged over 80.

It will serve as a venue for the Sarum South Primary Care Network Covid-19 vaccination service, with other over-80s due to receive their jabs on Wednesday and Saturday next week.

It has been absolutely marvellous to come into this wonderful building and have this jab, Mr Godwin said.

Ive had many jabs in my time, especially in the RAF. After the war, I was sent to Egypt and I had a couple of jabs which knocked me over for a week.

This one, the doctor said to me Well thats done and I thought he hadnt started. So its no trouble at all and no pain.

Mr Godwin, who is a great-grandfather of 12, said the coronavirus pandemic had meant he could not see his family but he had been using FaceTime and Zoom to keep in touch.

He joined the RAF aged 18 in 1943 and was accepted as a trainee pilot but then found out the training would last at least a year.

I thought well the war is likely to be over by then so I opted for wireless operator/air gunner and ended up as an air gunner, he said.

I was trained and I was sent to Kinloss in Scotland where I joined a very experienced crew who had lost their air gunner unfortunately. I was able to complete my time flying with that Lancaster until the end of the war.

Mr Godwin said the Second World War was totally different from the coronavirus pandemic, as people could meet, hug and kiss then.

It was dangerous, especially whilst we were flying, but I lived right through the bombing near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, watched the Battle of Britain overhead, which convinced me I wanted to be up there with them as an 18-year-old, he said.

It was entirely different because this has divided people. You see each other virtually but Ive got a very big family, Ive got 12 great-grandchildren now from four months to 23 years.

I dont see them and theyre all growing up.

This is a terrible virus and I would suggest that the vaccine is nothing, you dont feel a thing, you dont even feel the pinprick, so anybody that needs one and can get one, I would say go ahead and do it quickly.

Its the only way were going to beat the virus.

NHS staff, patients and those accompanying them were treated to music from Salisbury Cathedrals famous Father Willis organ throughout Saturday.

A programme of music to mark the occasion was developed by David Halls, director of music for the cathedral, and John Challenger, the assistant director of music.

Graham Turner, 88, a chaplain at Salisbury Cathedral, wore his cassock to receive his Covid-19 vaccine.

He described the music as marvellous and praised staff as terrific.

It is just a treat in every way, Mr Turner said. Its a wonderful place to visit. I happen to be used to it and I feel Im among friends.

Its such a relief to get the vaccine when you see every single night on television the sheer hell that so many people are going through. I feel very lucky to have it.

It was fine  a piece of cake.

The patients at Salisbury Cathedral were from five local GP practices  Salisbury Medical Practice, Harcourt Medical Centre, Three Chequers Medical Practice, Downton Surgery and Whiteparish Surgery.

They queued for a short time around the cloisters before going into the cathedral.

The Very Rev Nicholas Papadopulos, Dean of Salisbury, said: This place has stood here for 800 years to give glory to God, and to serve the city and the region.

What better way could there be of doing that than hosting Salisburys stage in the vaccination programme. It is absolutely wonderful.

He described the vaccines as a real sign of hope for us at the end of this very, very difficult year.

I doubt that anyone is having a jab in surroundings that are more beautiful than this so I hope it will ease people as they come into the building, he said.

For me, its a wonderful coming together of what we do here because we think of this as the beating heart of this city.This is a place where we pray every day for the healing of our nation and today some of that has been put into practice and is coming true. So its a very proud day for us.

Dr Dan Henderson, co-clinical director for the Sarum South Primary Care Network, said that around 1,000 patients and staff would receive vaccines on Saturday.

He described the opportunity to vaccinate people in the cathedral as incredible.

We chose it initially because of the vast amount of space here that allows good patient flow through and room for social distancing, Dr Henderson said.

It is a bonus to be in such a iconic, wonderful place. Its great to be getting the vaccine out there and getting them in peoples arms and knowing that this is hopefully the start of some sort of normality again.
The Catholic bishops of the Philippines are calling on the government to ensure that the planned Covid-19 vaccination programme is accessible to all, with vaccine produced in line with ethical principles and which is administered respecting each persons choices.

By Vatican News staff writer

The appeal comes in a recent pastoral statement by Archbishop Ricardo Baccay of Tuguegarao, chairman of the Office on Bioethics of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). We therefore support the efforts of our national government to procure and to deploy these vaccines in our country, and we thank the private organizations who have come forward to help acquire them, says the statement endorsed by CBCP president, Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao.

Prioritizing the vulnerable

In the statement, the bishops urge the government and the private organizations to commit to a vaccine distribution plan that prioritizes doctors who are on the front lines and those who are most at risk. They noted that it would be a moral tragedy if young, healthy company employees who are at low risk for the disease were to be inoculated before the doctors, nurses, other frontliners and senior citizens who are at higher risk of infection.

On Wednesday, the Department of Health said vulnerable sectors of the population would be prioritized in the vaccination drive, given the limited supply of vaccines worldwide.

The poor

The Filipino bishops express appreciation for the governments policy of ensuring that the poor will have access to the vaccination programme. The poor are beloved of the Lord, they point out. They should be especially protected because their poverty makes them vulnerable to infection and severe disease.

The CBCB point out that the Covid-19 vaccines will only be able to end the pandemic in the country if enough Filipinos are vaccinated. Hence they urge all people to be immunized when the vaccines arrive in the Philippines.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said 60 to 70 percent of the population must be vaccinated for the population to achieve herd immunity against the disease.

Moral guidelines

The Filipino bishops also point to ethical norms in the production of the vaccine and the process of inoculation. Citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, they say, Each individual person should be left free to decide to choose to be vaccinated or not according to his or her conscience with full awareness of the obligation to protect oneself from being an instrument of contagion and the further spread of the virus.

The pastoral statement points to the recent moral guideline by the Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which says that when ethically irreproachable Covid-19 vaccines are not available (e.g. in countries where vaccines without ethical problems are not made available to physicians and patients, or where their distribution is more difficult due to special storage and transport conditions, or when various types of vaccines are distributed in the same country but health authorities do not allow citizens to choose the vaccine with which to be inoculated), it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.

In October, the CBCP had said that if there are several vaccines available, the government should prioritize those developed without the use of the morally controversial cell lines derived from the remains of an aborted child.

Philippine Covid-19 situation

With a total of nearly 500,000 cases and almost 10,000 deaths, the Philippines has the second-highest Covid-19 infections and casualties in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia. Currently, the Philippines is negotiating the procurement of vaccines. It said it is buying 25 million doses of Chinese-made Sinovac Biotech's experimental vaccine, with the first 50,000 expected to arrive in February. The government prefers to source its vaccines from either China or Russia.

(Newser)  The National Rifle Association asked a federal court for bankruptcy protection from its creditors on Friday, saying it plans to restructure as a nonprofit in Texas. The organization now is registered in New York, Reuters reports. In a statement, the NRA said it's leaving "a corrupt political and regulatory environment." Letitia James, New York state's attorney general, filed a lawsuit last summer seeking the dissolution of the NRA, saying its misspending, much of it on its executives, amounted to widespread fraud. Reincorporation in Texas could protect the NRA from that fate; James' suit said she had the power to break up the NRA because it was a nonprofit incorporated in New York. Congressional Democrats have asked the IRS to review that tax-exempt status.

story continues below

CEO Wayne LaPierre posted a letter to members Friday saying, "The plan can be summed up quite simply: We are DUMPING New York." He called Texas "a state that values the contributions of the NRA, celebrates our law-abiding members, and will join us as a partner in upholding constitutional freedom." The organization has no money problems, LaPierre said. "We are as financially strong as we have been in years," he wrote. There are no plans at the moment to move out of its headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, LaPierre said, or make any staff or operational changes. More than 400,000 NRA members live in Texas, per the Hill, and the NRA had already planned to hold its annual meeting in Houston this year. (President Trump had suggested this move to the NRA.)
ANSONIA  Police released a digitally-aged image of Vanessa Morales, the toddler who has been missing for more than a year.

Morales, who would now be nearly 2 1/2, went missing Dec. 2 2019.

On that day, police said they found her 43-year-old mother, Christine Holloway, beaten to death in her Ansonia home during a welfare check.

Police named Morales father, Jose Morales, as a suspect in Holloways killing and later charged him with murder and tampering with evidence in February 2020.

He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and is due back in court next week, court records show.

In a statement Friday, Ansonia police Lt. Patrick Lynch said the childs image was being released with the assistance of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Ansonia police are asking anyone with information to contact 203-735-1885 or to leave a tip anonymously through TIP 411.

Earlier this week, Ansonia police said a toddler found wandering an apartment complex in California turned out not to be Morales.

Police had received information Monday regarding a child found wandering around an apartment complex in San Diego, Lynch said Tuesday.

Photos of the child posted by the media and local authorities appeared to resemble Morales, he said.

Authorities are still searching for Morales, who turned 2 in September.
Mobile County officials are preparing the Alabama Cruise Terminal ahead of the first major COVID-19 vaccination distribution effort in coastal Alabama on Saturday.

Large-scale vaccination efforts in Mobile County come at the same time that Alabama officials counter the bad public relations over the states abysmal vaccine distribution rate. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, the state ranks dead last in the percentage of residents who have received a COVID-19 vaccine.

The worst states for vaccination distribution are in the Deep South, with Mississippi, South Carolina and Georgia not far behind Alabama.

The poor results prompted Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, on Friday afternoon, to release a statement encouraging people to be patient, wear a face covering and stand 6 feet from each other.

Iveys comments also come as close to half of the states in the U.S. begin to widen the number of people who are receiving a vaccine to ages 65 and older.

I am thankful so many Alabamians are willing and ready to get their COVID-19 vaccines, she said. (State Health Officer) Dr. (Scott) Harris and his team are continually working to more efficiently get this vaccine into the arms of Alabamians. Our currently supply remains limited, but we are committed to vaccinating as many Alabamians as possible.

Other statistics are showing that some group of Alabamians plan to forgo the vaccine. Only 50% of school employees in Tallapoosa and Marion counties, already being vaccinated after nearby hospitals offered unused vaccine doses, are opting to get it.

Mobile County, earlier in the week, hosted a vaccination clinic for area religious leaders in an effort to convince the minority community to feel more comfortable with getting the vaccine.

Mark Bryant, spokesman with the Mobile County Health Department, said that a survey of residents showed that 65% of the Black community said they were not planning to take the vaccine.

The health agency, during a Facebook update Friday, provided details about the clinic ahead of its opening at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Dr. Rendi Murphree, director of the Mobile County Health Departments Bureau of Diseases Surveillance and Environmental Studies, said that people arriving to the downtown terminal for a COVID-19 vaccine should be prepared to wait. She encouraged attendees to bring water and snacks and please be kind to our staff and all others who are all in the same boat as you.

The county is administering 1,000 of the Moderna vaccine to people ages 75 and over and to police and firefighters. The first doses will be administered from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to anyone who is age 75 and over on a first-come, first-serve basis. From 1:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., the vaccinations will be open to police and firefighters who bring their identification.

The agency has been criticized in recent days for administering vaccines to people who are not eligible for the doses. Health officials, in recent days, admitted that they inadvertently gave out vaccines to people who are not eligible for them during a soft opening event at the cruise terminal.

Murphree said the department has learned some lessons during appointment-only clinics that occurred during the soft-opening events. She said everyone who is vaccinated at the cruise terminal on Saturday will be sent home with a vaccination card that includes the date of the vaccination and a date that is the earliest someone can return for their second dose.

There is no residency requirement to receive a vaccine on Saturday, though Murphree said the department prefer it be Mobile County residents. A similar vaccination clinic will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on January 19, 21, 26, and 28 at the Daphne Civic Center.

The clinic is not a drive-thru event. She said that participants will enter into the cruise terminal via Eslava Street and be guided on the right place to park.

Have your identification ready in the car and someone will be checking with you as you come in, said Murphree. You can expect there will be delays.
A Texas man admitted to smuggling more than three dozen migrants in a refrigerated box truck before being caught at a Border Patrol checkpoint in October, federal authorities said Friday.

Rodrigo Sanchez, 41, told agents at the U.S.-Mexico border in Laredo that he was traveling from San Antonio and worked as a delivery driver for a produce company, according to prosecutors.

But the agents soon learned the story didnt add up when their K-9 officer alerted them to the presence of contraband in the cargo area, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Texas said in a news release.

Authorities said they opened the back of the truck and discovered 37 people, including an unaccompanied minor, hiding behind a false wall blocked by stacks of produce.

The incident happened on Oct. 20 at the Interstate 35 border checkpoint.

Sanchez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and now faces up to 10 years in federal prison. He will remain in custody until hes sentenced on May 5.
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Editor: Dairy farmers continually complain about the negative producer price differential, and rightfully so.

However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture uses an erratic formula to price milk to dairy farmers. Ive had dairy farmers scream that their buying handler deducts a tremendous amount from their milk check through the differential.

What the differential proves is that in most instances the milk pricing formula is not geared to give farmers a price to cover total cost of production. Farmers have two choices: To keep complaining about the negative differential or join efforts to develop a new pricing formula based upon the national average cost of production. Some will say that all dairy farmers have different costs of production, so how can we price milk on the national average? I dismiss that argument.

Do dairy farmers realize that under the present pricing formula, 70% of the milk is considered to be used for manufactured purposes? Do they realize that every farmer regulated by federal order receives the same price for 70% of the milk produced under the orders? If a majority of dairy farmers receive the same price for milk used for manufacturing, then why cant we have a pricing formula based upon the national average cost of producing?

Dairy farmers have been lulled to sleep as to why we cant price milk to accommodate different costs of production. Hogwash. Either they get behind efforts to have a new pricing formula or keep complaining about the differential. The differential represents the amount of money dairy farmers do not receive because of an inadequate pricing formula.

ARDEN TEWKSBURY

MESHOPPEN, WYOMING COUNTY

Editor: In the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Harris v. McRae at oral argument on April 21, 1980, Justice Lewis Powell stated, If you had a negative birth rate for a sustained period of time, I should think that would be quite a significant and important argument.

Justice Byron White, a Democrat appointed by President Kennedy, added, I take it you do not mean by just encouraging more births throughout the country you really are talking, or am I wrong about the notion of preserving fetal life and the unborn fetus a chance to survive?

Harris upheld the so-called Hyde amendment, which was passed in 1976 and restricts Medicaid funding of abortions. President-elect Joe Biden, along with many of his fellow Democrats and Republicans, have supported for decades the aforementioned policies underpinning Hyde.

An editorial called attention to the slowest population growth in the United States in 230 years, literally since our nations founding (Immigration fuels growth, Jan. 2). The editorial attributes this to the ebb and flow of economic downturns and low immigration. Yet these occurrences always have been with us throughout our history.

Might I suggest that if you do not want to make the fix we are in worse, do not mess with the annual authorization of the Hyde amendment?

FRANCIS McHALE

SCRANTON

Editor: Two Supreme Court decisions still divide our nation. In 1973, Roe v. Wade and companion case Doe v. Bolton legalized abortion. Some accept abortion as morally permissible because it is legal.

Slavery was legal for 240 years but ended through the efforts of an undeterred group of people. When human dignity that belongs to every person was recognized, slavery was abolished. Modern-day abolitionists seek to end another immoral practice: the killing of innocent life through abortion.

There is no explicit right to abortion in the Constitution. In Roe, the court ruled that the right to abortion was implicit in a right to privacy protected by the 14th Amendment, but that amendment fails to mention privacy. To justify a right to privacy not in the Constitution, the court referenced a 1965 case, Griswold v. Connecticut.

But the 14th Amendment includes specific language that no state shall make laws depriving anyone of life. Ironically, the amendment is used to imply a right to abortion over an explicitly stated right to life.

Ever since Justice Harry Blackmun wrote the Roe opinion, legal scholars have acknowledged its shaky foundation. Furthermore, Blackmun conceded that the right is not absolute: If this suggestion of personhood is established, [Roes] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [14th] amendment.

We now hold proof of personhood. Advancements in ultrasound and embryology confirm that we are distinct persons from the moment of fertilization. With a feeble legal foundation and advanced science, Roe is ripe for reconsideration.

Roe never has empowered women. Being led to believe that one must kill her own child to succeed in the workplace, obtain an education, or maintain a relationship is far from liberation.

Life in its smallest, most vulnerable stages is still human life.

BONNIE FINNERTY

PENNSYLVANIA PRO-LIFE FEDERATION

HARRISBURg
Amaravati, Jan 16 : A health department sweeper received the first shot of the coronavirus vaccine in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.

"Health department sweeper B. Pushpa Kumari took the first shot of coronavirus vaccine in the state," said an official statement.

Kumari was administered the vaccine shot at Government General Hospital in Vijayawada.

The Andhra Pradesh government has identified 332 locations in the state to launch the coronavirus vaccination programme, as part of Saturday's nationwide mega rollout of the vaccine.

After 28 days of the first shot, a second vaccination shot has to be administered.

According to officials, Andhra Pradesh received 4.7 lakh doses of 'Covishield' from the Pune-based Serum Institute of India and 20,000 'Covaxin' doses from Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech.

Already, 4.7 lakh doses have been distributed to 332 locations in the districts where they will be administered.

At each of the 332 designated locations, six staff members will work to vaccinate 100 beneficiaries per day, supervised by a doctor.

Image Source: IANS News

"Total 2,324 staff would be working to vaccinate a maximum of 33,200 health care workers per day," said the statement.

Text messages have been sent to vaccine beneficiaries.

At every location, three rooms - vaccinating room, waiting room and an observation room - have been arranged.

"Pregnant women, those aged below 18 years and those persons who have any contraindications for any vaccine should not be vaccinated," the statement added.

Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy also arrived at the Vijayawada GGH to observe vaccination.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Syndicated from IANS
The US Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on Cuba's Interior Ministry and its leader, accusing them of serious human rights violations.

The measures against the ministry and Brigadier Gen. Lzaro Alberto lvarez Casas include freezing any bank accounts they may have in the United States and blocking any business operations with US entities.

The new sanctions, which are largely symbolic, come less than a week before the end of Donald Trump's presidency, which has been characterized by strong hostility toward the Cuban government.

The United States will continue to use all the tools at its disposal to address the dire human rights situation in and elsewhere around the world, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement on Friday.

The sanctions will be implemented under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and directed against the perpetrators of serious human rights abuses and corruption throughout the world, the US government said in a news release.

The statement cited the case of Cuban dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer, who was held in a prison controlled by the Interior Ministry. Ferrer reported being beaten, tortured, held in solitary confinement and denied medical attention at the prison.

The island's Ministry of the Interior oversees the internal order in the Caribbean nation and includes police, firefighters, the penitentiary system and border guards. The Cuban government does not recognise the legal status of dissidents, whom it often accuses of being manipulated and financed by American interest groups wanting to discredit the socialist government.

It is not the first time that high-ranking Cuban officials have been sanctioned by the United States. In September, the US Department of State imposed sanctions on the former president and current leader of Cuba's Communist Party, Ral Castro a historical leader of the Cuban Revolution and his four children.

Trump has promoted a policy of sanctions and restrictions on the island since taking office in 2017, reversing the bilateral relations that had begun under President Barack Obama. The Trump administration has applied hundreds of measures and sanctions, some of only symbolic value, such as the ones announced Friday, and others with a strong impact on the island's economy and its population.

President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office Wednesday, said during his election campaign that he will re-establish at least part of Obama's policies related to the island. Biden's advisers have said he plans to eliminate restrictions on remittances and travel, among other measures implemented by Trump.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the "world's largest" vaccination campaign on Saturday as the populous nation tries to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control starting with two locally-manufactured shots.

Modi will address healthcare workers through video conferencing but will not immediately take the vaccine himself as India is initially prioritising nurses, doctors and others on the front line.

On the first day, around 100 people will be voluntarily vaccinated in each of the 3,006 centres in the country, the government said this week, calling it the start of the biggest such campaign in the world.

"This will be the worlds largest vaccination programme covering the entire length and breadth of the country," Modi's office said in a statement this week.

India, the world's most populous country after China, has said it may not need to vaccinate all of its 1.35 billion people to create herd immunity. Still, covering even half its population will make it one of the largest immunisation programmes in the world, even if countries like the United States were to vaccinate every resident.

Beneficiaries, however, will not be able to choose between the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine and a government-backed, homegrown one from Bharat Biotech whose efficacy is not known. Both are being produced locally.

India, which has reported the highest number of coronavirus infections after the United States, wants to vaccinate around 300 million people with two doses in the first six to eight months of the year.

Some 10.5 million people in India have been infected with the coronavirus, more than 151,000 of whom have died, though the rate of cases has come down since a mid-September peak.

First to get the vaccine will be 30 million health and other frontline workers, such as those in sanitation and security, followed by about 270 million people older than 50 or deemed high-risk because of pre-existing medical conditions.

Story continues

Modi, 70, has said politicians will not be considered frontline workers.

On Saturday, he is also expected to formally inaugurate the government's online platform Co-WIN that will provide information on vaccine stocks, storage temperature and keep track of beneficiaries.

The government has already bought 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVISHIELD shot, produced by the Serum Institute of India, and 5.5 million of Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN.

COVISHIELD is 72% effective, according to the Indian drug regulator, while Bharat Biotech says COVAXIN's last-stage trial results are expected by March.

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
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I am at a loss. While trying to explain the events to my children since January 6, I feel profound sadness and fear. Our country is built on freedom, yet the latest in a parade of crisis is being used by those in power to remove our freedoms at an alarming pace and divide our country further.

Less than one percent of the people who went to Washington, DC for a peaceful protest made the bad choice to enter the United States Capitol. The Capitol Police seemed woefully unprepared, but where able, they appropriately fought back. They gassed and even shot an unarmed woman to death. And now these foolish intruders are being prosecuted. As they should. Breaking the law and destroying property has consequences. At least it should.

Every group has its radicals and the behavior of those few should not judge the group. But it can be judged by the leaders reaction to the inappropriate actions of the few. Shortly after the Capitol incursion, all major Republican leaders, including the standing president, condemned these foolish peoples actions. On January 6, President-elect Biden also spoke up and appropriately said that this display was un-American and disgraceful.

The very next day, however, Biden states no one can say that if these were Black Lives Matter protestors the Capitol Police would have treated them very very differently. In the name of unity, he sows the seeds of division. There should be universal condemnation of violence and lawlessness. If national and local leaders delivered more condemnation and consequences I believe the summer of 2020 would have had fewer cities burning in the name of equality.

For Biden to say the January 6 capitol riot was evidence of white privilege or racism demonstrated by the capitol police is absurd. Like George Floyd, the white woman shot in the Capitol made a bad choice but didnt deserve to die. She will be memorialized for her convictions. 75 million people in the USA voted for Trump. Getting rid of him will not eliminate the anger that these 75 million will feel if their voices and votes are not counted. These people came to the capitol for their voices to be heard. Right or wrong, millions of Americans feel their right to speak up and have their vote matter was not heeded. MLK himself said, Riots are the language of the unheard.

Trump is hardly blameless given his penchant for divisive rhetoric. Like many Trump voters, I held my nose and voted for policies I believe in: less bureaucracy, a stronger military, secure borders, patriotism, and free markets with competition in health care. If our new leaders rewrite recent history, vilify half of America and use social media platforms to censor them, you think the 75 million Trump voters will feel heard? No. Quite the opposite. Censorship will lead to greater discord. Free speech is the foundation of America. It is the First Amendment. The answer to hate speech or false speech is not censorship. It is not less speech; it is more speech.

Mary Tipton is an internal medicine-pediatrics physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
As the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccination in Louth nursing homes got under way last week, 85-year-old John Monaghan, from Hunterstown Ardee, was the first person in a Louth nursing home receive the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine.

'I feel very privileged to be the first person in St Joseph's Hospital to receive the vaccine,' said John. 'Like everyone else I have been waiting for the vaccine. It's a great relief that the vaccine is eventually here and it provides hope for us all, especially the vulnerable, that we will be safe from Covid-19 and that our lives will return to normal.'

John was given an HSE vaccine information leaflet, along with more detailed manufacturer's patient information leaflet, before getting the vaccine. Afterwards, each person vaccinated was given a vaccine record card, showing the name and batch of the vaccine they have received. They will each return for their second dose, to be fully protected, in three weeks.

Sarah McBride, Chief Officer of Midlands Louth Meath Community Healthcare Organisation said: 'This is a day of hope for a better future. It is a good day for the residents and staff of St Joseph's Hospital and we are delighted that we can start rolling out the vaccine for our community. I would particularly like to thank all of the healthcare workers in Midlands Louth Meath who worked tirelessly to make this day possible. I would also like to thank healthcare staff who have worked so hard at the frontline over the past year to protect our community from Covid-19 and support those who were affected by the virus. While today does offer us hope for a better future, it is important that we continue to adhere with all of necessary guidelines to keep safe while the vaccine is being rolled out over the coming weeks and months. It is important to remember that by wearing a face covering, maintaining physical distancing and practising good hand hygiene, you're supporting frontline workers to maintain essential health services for the people of Midlands Louth Meath.'

Residents and staff in St Oliver Plunkett Hospital, Dundalk, which had been affected by a COVID-19 outbreak before Christmas, received their vaccines yesterday (Monday) while the vaccination team will move onto Dealgan House Nursing Home, tomorrow (Wednesday).

The vaccination programme for nursing home staff and residents has been speeded up and is due to be completed a week earlier than scheduled.. It comes amid concerns about the presence of the more contagious South African variant of the virus in Ireland.

Only COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorised by the European Medicines Agency, having met stringent safety and effectiveness standards, will be used in Ireland. All COVID-19 vaccines will be carefully monitored over time and updated safety data and information will be published and shared by the HSE, on their website and in their printed information material.
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The current move to settle the matterwith the Italian Government reportedly having agreed to pay Rs 10 crore as compensation to the relatives of the victimsis expected to be completed with the Government of India submitting an affidavit to the apex court with the consent of all parties.

by K.M. Seethi

The eight-year-old Enrica Lexie case involving the killing of two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012 seems to have reached the final phase of its trajectory. As the reports suggested, the Governments of India, Italy, and the Indian state of Kerala have apparently come to an agreement on the question of compensation following the Supreme Court of Indias firm position on the issue with the final Award from the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in 2020.

The Enrica Lexie case had, in fact, caused some strains in India-Italy relations too in the last decade. The question of jurisdiction and trial of the Italian marines, who killed the Indian fishermen, became a matter of dispute from one level to the otherfrom the state of Kerala to the Supreme Court of India and then to the PCA at the Hague.

The PCA decision of May 2020 eventually came as a setback to India with Italys claim of its jurisdiction over the trial of marines being accepted. Indias Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), however, noted that the PCA upheld the conduct of the Indian authorities with respect to the incident under the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Tribunal held that the actions of the Italian military officers and, consequently, Italy breached Indias freedom of navigation under the UNCLOS Article 87(1)(a) and 90. It also observed that India and Italy had concurrent jurisdiction over the incident and a valid legal basis to institute criminal proceedings against the Marines.

According to MEA, the PCA rejected Italys claim to compensation for the detention of the Marines. Moreover, it was also a relief for India that the Arbitral Tribunal decided that India is entitled to payment of compensation in connection with loss of life, physical harm, material damage to property and moral harm suffered by the captain and other crew members of St. Antony. The PCA Tribunal further held that the Parties are invited to consult with each other with a view to reaching agreement on the amount of compensation due to India.

Upon the PCA Award, the Government of India filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court on 3 July 2020 seeking disposal of the criminal proceedings against Sergeant Massimiliano Latorre and Sergeant Salvatore Girone, the two Italian marines who were accused of killing the Indian fishermen.

The Chief Minister (CM) of Kerala, however described the Award of the Tribunal and the consequent decision of the Union Governmentseeking the disposal of all cases before the apex courtas shocking and unfortunate. Requesting to consider a review petition to address the major contention of India, the CM said that all issues, including the compensation to the victims, needed to be taken up. The Government of Kerala also got involved in the subsequent negotiations for compensation.

The Supreme Court, which in September 2015 had ordered a stay on all proceedings in Indian courts during the pendency of the case before the PCA, did not fully concur with the Union Governments stand. The court took a position that the compensation issue cannot be diluted under the terms of the PCA award. It requested all parties, including the relatives of the victims, to be heard, before a final settlement.

The current move to settle the matterwith the Italian Government reportedly having agreed to pay Rs 10 crore as compensation to the relatives of the victimsis expected to be completed with the Government of India submitting an affidavit to the apex court with the consent of all parties.

As per the terms reported in a section of media, Rs. 4 crore each will be given to the dependents of the two deceased fishermenValentine from the Kollam district of Kerala and Ajesh from the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. The owner of St. Antony will also get Rs 2. crore for the damage. Even as this gets underway, others onboard the fishing vessel have lodged a complaint with the Union and the State governments over the attempts to settle the issue by violating the order of PCA which, they pointed out, acknowledged the right to compensation for all 11 people on board including a 14-year-old boy.

It was on 15 February 2012 that the Indian fishermen on board St. Antony were killed in a firing when the Italian-flagged commercial oil tanker MV Enrica Lexie was on its way from Singapore to Egypt with a crew of 34 accompanied by six Italian navy marines. St. Antony was getting back from the Laccadive Sea when the Italian marines fired at them without any provocation.

The Indian Coast Guard said that the incident occurred when St. Antony was around 20.5 nautical miles (38.0 km) off the Indian coast within the Contiguous Zone (CZ) area of India's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Following the incident, the Indian Coast Guard intercepted the oil tanker and it was instructed to move to the Kochi port. The two Italian marinesLatorre and Gironewho were held responsible for shooting while on guard duty were arrested on 19 February on charge of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In April 2012 the Italian government with the mediation of some people was reported to have come to an agreement with the legatees of the two deceased fishermen. They had also impleaded themselves before the High Court of Kerala. Subsequently, the legatees said that they would withdraw all the case against the Italian marines. As per the agreementwhich the High Court also knewthe Italian government would pay a compensation of Rs.1 crore to the victims families.

This was later criticized by the Supreme Court saying that the act amounted to challenging the Indian judicial system and it was impermissible. The criminal case later went from the Supreme Court to PCA.

Meanwhile, in April 2013, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India filed a first information report against the two marines for charges of murder, attempted murder, mischief and conspiracy. The following year saw the case being charged under the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA). Italy came down heavily against the move and warned that the prosecution under the SUA Convention would amount to converting the incident as an act of terrorism. Even as the bilateral ties between the two countries soured on these issues, India decided to drop the SUA charges and downgraded the case.

Yet, even as the legal proceedings in the apex court got underway, Italy tried to mobilise support from the European Union (EU), NATO and its other allies. New Delhi, however, criticised the EU for its appeal to submit the case to international arbitration.

Timeline of the case

Notwithstanding Indias objections, Italy took up case before PCA on 26 June 2015 under Article 287 and Annex VII, Article 1 of UNCLOS. Italy argued before the PCA that by directing the Enrica Lexie to change course and proceed into Indias territorial sea and escorting her to Kochi, India violated Italys freedom of navigation, in breach of UNCLOS Article 87(1)(a), and Italys exclusive jurisdiction over the Enrica Lexie, in breach of Article 92 of UNCLOS and abused its right to seek Italys cooperation in the repression of piracy, in breach of Article 300 read in conjunction with Article 100 of UNCLOS. It was also contended that by initiating criminal proceedings against the Italian marines, India violated Italys exclusive right to institute penal or disciplinary proceedings against the Marines, in breach of Article 97(1) of UNCLOS.

On the other hand, India argued that by firing at St. Anthony and killing the fishermen aboard that vessel, Italy violated Indias sovereign rights under Article 56 of UNCLOS and Indias freedom and right of navigation under Articles 87 and 90 of UNCLOS.

The Tribunal examined the facts and the contentions put forth by Italy and India. On 21 May 2020, the Arbitral Tribunalhaving determined that it has jurisdiction over the disputeunanimously held that Indias counter-claims are admissible and that Italy has violated aforementioned provisions of the UNCLOS. The Award was notified by the PCA on 2 July 2020.

However, the Tribunal also held that the Italian marines are entitled to immunity in relation to the acts that they committed during the incident, and that India is precluded from exercising its criminal jurisdiction over the Marines. Taking note of Italys commitment to resume criminal investigations into the St. Anthony firing incident, the Tribunal directed India to take the necessary steps in order to cease the exercise its criminal jurisdiction over the Marines.

The Tribunal award further said that the shooting at the St. Antony amounted to physical interference with the freedom of navigation of the St. Antony and constituted a breach of Article 87, paragraph 1, subparagraph (a), and Article 90. It said that based on the limited evidence available to the Arbitral Tribunal, as a consequence of such breach, crew members of the St. Antony suffered loss of life, physical harm, material damage to their property (including to the St. Antony itself), and moral harm. India is accordingly entitled to payment of compensation in respect of such damage, which by its nature cannot be made good through restitution.

Meanwhile there were criticisms in India that there was a mishandling of the case at some stage. Former Indian Ambassador to Italy, K.P. Fabian in an article in The Wire (13 May 2016) said that shooting unarmed, innocent fishermen and killing them was not an incident of navigation but a crime. He argued that since UNCLOS does not apply, and the incident occurred within Indias contiguous zone, the culprits tried to run away, and the victims were Indian nationals, it follows that India has jurisdiction over the matter.

Ambassador Fabian also noted that the apex court also contributed significantly to the confusion in two ways. Italy argued incorrectly that as Kerala had not signed the UNCLOS, it had no locus standi in the matter. The Supreme Court accepted that argument and stopped the proceedings in the Kerala high court. The fact of the matter is that since India had signed the UNCLOS, the Kerala was only acting on behalf of the Union of India. He said that the court complicated the matter further by saying that although it was seized of the matter it was willing to consider Italys plea that India had no jurisdiction in the matter. There were other arguments from legal experts that India had a strong case against Italy on several grounds. However, the case went out of proportion with PCA intervention when Italy tried to internationalise it for its own reasons. At last there was a feeling of relief in India too that Italy could not run away with the whole case.

Even as the case proceeded under international arbitration, with both parties submitting arguments before PCA, there was a high amount of confusion regarding the role, responsibilities and jurisdiction of the coastal states in India. Already there were a number of issues of Indian fishermen from the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat etc while they were on fishing in high seas. India has taken up such issues with neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the past.

On many occasions, the question of violation of maritime boundary and the movement of fishermen in high security zones led to arrests and detention in either countries. Many experts and scholars argued that the countries in South Asia must have a framework for addressing such issues of humanitarian dimension. Though the Enrica Lexie case has had a different contesting ground and dimension, there are many lessons that India must learn from managing the casefrom multiple levels of investigation to different agencies of legal dispensation. It also calls for an effective maritime governance architecture involving the stakes and concerns of coastal states of India.

The author is Director, Inter University Centre for Social Science Research and Extension (IUCSSRE), Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala. He also served as Dean of Social Sciences and Professor of International Relations and Politics, Mahatma Gandhi University. He can be contacted at kmseethimgu@gmail.com
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Self-Avowed Hardcore Leftist Arrested for Inciting Violence at Florida Capitol

Federal agents arrested a self-admitted anarchist and hardcore leftist on Friday on suspicion of plotting to violently disrupt planned election-related protests at the Florida state Capitol.

Prosecutors said they averted a crisis at the Capitol by arresting 33-year-old Daniel Baker, taking him into custody on a charge involving making a threat to kidnap or injure, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Florida announced in a news release.

Baker issued a call to arms for like-minded individuals to violently confront protestors gathered at the Florida Capitol this Sunday, prosecutors said. He specifically called for others to join him in encircling any protestors and confining them at the Capitol complex using firearms.

Protests and rallies are expected at state Capitols across the country ahead of and on inauguration day in opposition to the election results.

This is an armed COUP and can only be stopped by an armed community! Baker wrote in a flyer titled Call to Arms January 20th posted online, a criminal complaint against him alleges (pdf).

If youre afraid to die fighting the enemy, stay in bed and live, he wrote in the flyer, in which he called Trump supporters who plan to protest at the Florida state Capitol terrorists.

FBI agents, with assistance from local law enforcement, took Baker into custody without incident.

Bakers lawyer declined to comment.

Baker, a former U.S. Army Airborne infantryman who was kicked out of the service, in 2017 joined the Peoples Protection Units, a group fighting in Syria against ISIS and the Turkish government, prosecutors said. Peoples Protection Units is a sub-affiliate of the Kurdistans Working Party, which is designated by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist organization.

Prosecutors have called Baker a dangerous extremist, with the criminal complaint claiming he wished death to anyone whose ideology was different from his, including U.S. military officers.

Baker has made multiple violent threats to those he claims are white supremacists, fascists, United States persons with different ideologies than his, and allies of the United States. In addition, Baker has promoted the killing of United States military officers, the complaint reads.

Items of concern identified in the investigation against Baker show his path toward radicalization as well as a fair probability for imminent violence, the complaint states.

One of these is a Facebook post attributed to Baker, which features the statement, I dont give a [expletive], Im an anarchist and I want to watch capitalist society burn.

Another item referenced in the complaint is an interview Baker gave for an article about the fall of Seattles autonomous zone, in which he identified himself as a hardcore leftist and said he had traveled to Seattle to take part in the Revolution. In the article, he expressed disappointment in the lack of violent opposition here, referring to the occupied zone.

If they really wanted a revolution, we needed to get AKs and start making bombs, Baker is quoted in the article as saying.

The complaint claims Baker authored a social media post on Oct. 20, 2020, in which he wrote that I hope the right tries a coup Nov. 3rd cuz Im so [expletive] down to slay enemies again.

The FBI has warned state and local officials about unrest between now and inauguration day, following last weeks violent breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Tallahassee officials have closed City Hall and the county courthouse, which is across the street from the Capitol building, in preparation for potentially violent demonstrations, according to the Miami Herald.

Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson urged Capitol employees to work remotely on Sunday because of very likely protests, according to the outlet.

Uncertainty heading into the weekend was a common theme among state officials and law enforcement officers, with many enhancing security based on past demonstrations or general warnings but without specific expectations about whether any protesters would actually show up outside state capitol buildings or other government offices in coming days.
Goya Foods CEO and President Bob Unanue speaks in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, on July 9, 2020. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

They Want to Cancel Our Culture, Our History, Our Liberty: Goya CEO

Robert Unanue, Goya Foods President and CEO, said on Friday the political left has weaponized the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus to take away God, culture, history, and liberty from the people of the United States.

The problem is its a political year. They weaponized coronavirus. Unfortunately, they shut down this economy. The worst thing we could do is shut down our economy, kill our spirit. We need a reason to get up in the morning: God, family, work. And they are taking away our spirit, theyre taking away our ability to work, Unanue told Fox News on Jan. 15.

Were one nation under God. Were not one nation under Twitter. Were not one nation under big media and or under central government. Were trying to have media, Big Tech control our lives, the government control our lives, he said.

They want to cancel God. They want to cancel our speech. They want to cancel our culture, our history, our liberty. They want to control us, the few controlling the many like a bunch of sheep. None of these people care about us, we can not move away from God. We need to love and to build, not hate and destroy, he added.

Unanue said Goya experienced its most successful year in 2020 after leftists tried to boycott his products.

Unanue made sympathetic remarks about Trump earlier in 2020, comparing the presidents entrepreneurialism to that of his grandfathers. His remarks sparked ire among Trumps critics, with celebrities and politicians, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and former Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro, denouncing the brand or calling for Goya boycotts.

Ocasio-Cortez was nominated employee of the month in December by Goya after her call to boycott Goya stimulated a 10-fold growth in sales, Unanue told The Michael Berry Show.

Unanue further criticized the left, saying that their handling of the CCP virus pandemic was done for political gain.

They essentially declared martial law.  Its the worst thing we could have done, just for political gain. I think its criminal, I think its immoral to shut down this economy for this basically political reasons, he said.

Unanue called on people to get closer to God during this difficult time.

We need to not move away from God. We need to move closer to God, he said.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.

Six high street pharmacy brands in England began vaccinating people in priority groups from mid-January, with 200 branches providing jabs.

The initial pharmacies - including Boots and Superdrug - have been chosen to help rollout the NHS scheme because they can deliver large volumes of the vaccine and allow for social distancing in the selected stores.

Health secretary Matt Hancock said it was fantastic that jabs would be available on the high street.

Pharmacies sit at the heart of local communities and will make a big difference to our rollout programme by providing even more local, convenient places for those that are eligible to get their jab, he said.

So far more than 15 million people in the UK have received their first dose and over half a million have had both doses. For the best immunity a second jab is needed within 12 weeks.

The three vaccines - either Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna - are being administered at high street pharmacies, hospitals, care homes, GP surgeries and vaccination centres.

Which pharmacies offer the vaccine?

The first roll-out of vaccines in high street pharmacies includes Andrews Pharmacy in Macclesfield, Cullimore Chemist in Edgware, north London, Woodside Pharmacy in Telford, Appleton Village pharmacy in Widnes, Boots in Halifax, and Superdrug in Guildford.

Those eligible for priority vaccines will be invited by letter to make an appointment at one of the pharmacies through the NHS Covid-19 vaccination booking service.

Boots - who will be administering the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine - has announced that two additional vaccination sites in Huddersfield and Gloucester will be opening in the near future, though a date has not yet been set.

Up to 70 more pharmacies will begin taking bookings for appointments for next week, with a view to have 200 branches offering slots by the end of the month, according to NHS England.

Where else can I get the vaccine?

Vaccines are currently being offered at more than 1,000 sites across England, including:

200 hospitals

800 GP-led services

Seven mass vaccination centres, one in each English region

An Asda supermarket in Birmingham will also host a vaccination centre, with pharmacy staff giving Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in the store's former clothing section to priority groups identified by the NHS from 25 January.

The supermarket said it has offered NHS England full use of its 238 in-store pharmacies and pharmacists to assist in rollout of the Oxford vaccine programme as well.

How can I find my closest vaccine?

The full list of locations can be found on the NHS website.
It could be June until vaccines become available on the market Even as India's mammoth vaccination rollout began today, it might be until June or July before Covid-19 vaccines become available on the market, according to a report in ThePrint.

A senior government functionary closely involved in the planning and roll-out of the vaccination programme told ThePrint based on their assessment that it would take another six months for the vaccines to become available to anyone apart from the central government. That seems to be a realistic estimate right now as 660 million doses are ...
Police in Wakayama City have arrested a 36-year-old unemployed woman on suspicion of violating the trademark law by selling counterfeit keychains by French luxury brand Chanel.

Emi Goto, who was arrested on Thursday, is accused of selling a keychain with a fake Chanel logo on Nov 29, 2020, Sankei Shimbun reported. Goto brought the fake merchandise to sell at a flea market in Wakayama Castles Sunanomaru Square.

Although the keychain was priced at 400 yen, Gotos use of the double C logo infringed upon Chanel's intellectual property rights.

A police officer on patrol posed as a customer and purchased the item. Upon inspection, the keychain was found to be counterfeit.
New Delhi, Jan 16 : AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Saturday joined scores of healthcare workers across the country who were administered Covid-19 vaccine shots on the first day of the nationwide vaccination drive. Dr Guleria said mild infection or adverse reaction after vaccination is a good sign because it shows the immune system of the body is reacting to the vaccine and creating antibodies.

Moments after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the vaccination drive across the country, the jab was administered to the AIIMS chief on a live telecast. Dr. Guleria was the third person to take the shot. The first jab was administered to a sanitation worker named Manish Kumar, who became the first to be vaccinated at AIIMS in the country.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Dr. V.K. Paul, who heads a government panel on vaccine strategy, were also present at AIIMS. Both Dr. Paul and Dr. Guleria received the Covaxin jab. However, Vardhan was not vaccinated on Saturday. "I will get it when the time will come," said Vardhan.

After a gap of nearly an hour, Dr. Guleria appeared before the media to share his personal experience after vaccination. He said he was feeling absolutely fine and he had no adverse reaction even after one-and-a-half-hour of receiving the vaccine jab.

He emphasised that there are absolutely no issues associated with the safety of both vaccines -- Covaxin and Covishield - and people should not at all be worried about vaccination. "I have received it and I am doing absolutely fine. I am right before you", said Dr. Guleria, speaking to IANS.

Queried on issues about mild infection associated with the vaccine, Dr Guleria said: "Mild infection or adverse reaction after vaccination is a good sign because the immune system of the body is reacting to the vaccine and creating antibodies."

He added that mild fever, body ache, or joint pains could occur for a day or two, which will subside automatically, and people are free to contact the helpline where they would get the required assistance. "So, having fever and body ache for a day or two is nothing to be worried about," said Dr. Guleria.

When queried on issues associated with mild infection among senior citizens who would receive the vaccine soon, he said: "There is no data to suggest that there is anything to worry about."

On challenges associated with CoWin app, he said the challenge is that the app should be working very well, the data is uploaded on time, and crowd management needs to be done. "As we begin to get more and more people for vaccination, the social distancing norms have to be followed," Dr. Guleria said.

(Sumit Saxena can be contacted at sumit.s@ians.in)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Syndicated from IANS
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Gardai in Henry Street are appealing for information following an attempted robbery that took place at a retail premises at Annacotty yesterday, Friday January 15.

The incident occurred shortly after 1.50pm when a car pulled up beside a cash-in-transit van. A masked man exited the passengers seat of this car and came towards the van.

This man proceeded to assault the cash-in-transit employee with an implement. The driver of the car, who was also a masked male, is alleged to have made threats to the employee during the assault.

The two men then fled the location, soon after, in their vehicle. No cash was taken during this incident and no serious injuries were reported.

Gardai are appealing for any witnesses to come forward and also to any road users with camera footage (including dash-cam) who were in the locality of Annacotty to make it available to investigators.

In particular, Gardai are seeking information from anyone who may have seen a blue BMW in the Annacotty, Killonan and Tipperary Road areas between 1.40pm and 2.30pm.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Henry Street Garda Station 061 212 400 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.
It was the largest parade in Alabama history, newspapers proclaimed, as some 150,000 people filled the streets of Montgomery to greet its newest governor.

Despite the chill in the air on Jan. 16, 1967, people from across Alabama arrived early to cheer on Lurleen Wallace, the states first woman governor. No other woman would hold that office until Kay Ivey, then a recent graduate of Auburn University, was sworn into office 50 years later.

Dixie played repeatedly and Confederate flags were all around for the celebration held in the dark days of segregation -- she took her oath with the Jefferson Davis Bible used in every Alabama inauguration since 1853.

Here are more vintage images and stories of Alabamas past .

There were 190 bands, 90 floats, dignitaries from all 67 counties and a banner greeting Alabamas 46th governor that read: We salute Mama Wallace.

The political ambitions of her husband, Gov. George Wallace, seemed to overshadow the event. His four year term over, signs throughout the parade cheered him on as he planned a 1968 presidential run.

The three girls have cameras. Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

I entered the race for governor for the purpose of permitting my husband to take our fight to the court of final appeals -- the people of the United States, the 40-year-old incoming governor said that day.

Lurleen Wallace thanked the voters, led a silent prayer for those fighting in Vietnam, and as her husband had done four years earlier pledged to lead Alabama in fighting the social changes sweeping America brought about, she said, by the egg-head verdict that God is dead.

A federal agency attempts to tell us the schools our children shall attend, to regulate the content of their text books, who shall teach them, and with whom our children shall associate, she said in her inaugural address. I resent it. As your Governor and as a mother, I shall resist it.

Lurleen and George Wallace waving from the lectern on the stage in front of the Capitol during her inauguration in Montgomery, Alabama.Alabama Media Group

She also pledged to repair the states roads, help the physically and mentally ill, and increase economic opportunity. We are moving into the greatest period of opportunity in our history, she said.

As Lurleen Wallace spoke those words, she was undoubtedly oblivious to the fact that she was dying of cancer. She would die 474 days later, her illness untreated because her husband chose to keep her 1961 diagnosis a secret from her as he pursued his political career.

She would never know George Wallace would nearly die himself five years after her inauguration, left paralyzed for life by an assassins bullet in 1972 while campaigning yet again for the presidency.

A button from Lurleen Wallace's inauguration in 1967. Waymon Burke, a political science professor at Calhoun Community College, said he purchased the button for $1 during the event. (photo submitted by Waymon Burke).

The people will find a way -- they have found their way -- through the personal sacrifice of a lady whose personal courage I have never had cause to question and whose honor reflects the honor of the great people who have called upon her, he said as he introduced his wife to the audience that day in 1967.

Her term in office was historic but brief. Heres a look at some things you may not know about Gov. Lurleen Wallace:

Tuscaloosa native, married at 16

Lurleen Burns Wallace was a native of Tuscaloosa. She graduated high school at only 15 years old and went to work at Kresges Five and Dime. It was there she met law school graduate George Wallace, who was serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps, a forerunner of the U.S. Air Force. She married Wallace on May 22, 1943 when she was 16 years old. George Wallace was 24.

Lee Wallace waving. Lurleen Wallace is standing behind her. Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

Almost divorced?

The Wallaces had four children: Bobbi Jo Parsons, Peggy Sue Kennedy, George Wallace III and Janie Lee. Lurleen spent much of her early life dealing with her husbands growing political career and, after his failed run for governor in 1958, she took her children and left, threatening him with divorce. Wallace begged her to return and she eventually did. The couples fourth child, Peggy Lee, was born in 1961 and, according to reports, was named for Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The theme of the float is 'Million Dollar Baby - From a 5 and 10 cent Store,' a reference to a popular song ('I Found a Million Dollar Baby (in a Five and Ten Cent Store)'). Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

First Lady

Lurleen became Alabamas First Lady in 1963 when Wallace won his first term as governor. She opened the first floor of the governors mansion to tourists seven days a week and refused to serve alcohol at the executive mansion.

The theme of the float is 'Uncle Sam Is Sick!' It features a cutout of George Wallace ('The Wallace Program Can Cure Uncle Sam') and gives both a 'Diagnosis' ('1. Socialistic Paralysis / 2. Constitutional Breakdown / 3. Demonstration Anxiety / 4. Guidelines Colic') and a 'Prescription' ('1. Honesty in Government / 2. Educational Break Through / 3. Industrial Expansion / 4. Respect for Law and Order / 5. Constitutional Government / 6. Stand Up for America'). The float is an early ad for George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign: along the side it reads 'Walker Co. for Wallace / 1958 / 1962 / 1966 / 1968.' Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

Running for governor

Wallace was prevented from running for office again due to a then-Alabama law that prevented a sitting governor from seeking a second consecutive term. He opted to put his wife, Lurleen, on the ballot in his place. In the 1966 gubernatorial election, Lurleen Wallace beat 10 opponents in the Democratic primary and went on to defeat Republican James Douglas Martin, who won two (Greene and Winston) of Alabamas 67 counties in the general election.

The theme of the float is education, 'The Key to the Future.' A large book at the rear of the float reads, 'Stand Up for Education with the Wallace Administration.' Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

Inauguration

Lurleen Wallace, the first female governor elected in the deep South, was sworn in on Jan. 16, 1967. She did not hold the traditional inaugural ball out of respect for those serving in Vietnam. Lurleen Wallace continued many of her husbands segregationist policies but was also beloved by many Alabamians.

Members of the Rhythmettes holding a banner that reads 'We Salute Governor Mama Wallace.' According to the sign, the group consisted of members from Loxley, Daphne, Mobile, and Fairhope, Alabama, and was Chapter 480 of the National Baton Twirlers Association (NBTA). Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

Diagnoses

Shortly before being elected, Lurleen Wallace learned she had uterine cancer. She underwent radiation therapy and a hysterectomy but treatments werent able to stop the spread the cancers spread. Wallace later discovered her husband had been told as early as 1961 that her physician found cancer while delivering the couples fourth child. He opted not to tell her and she did not receive any treatment.

Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

Governor dies

Lurleen Wallace died May 7, 1968 in Montgomery. She was 41. Her casket was placed in the state capitol on May 9 and more than 25,000 mourners waited in line five hours to pay their respects. All public and private schools in the state closed on the day of her funeral, state offices closed and many businesses didnt open either. Lurleen Wallace was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Montgomery.

Lieutenant Governor Albert Brewer dancing with his wife, Martha, at a ball at the city auditorium in Montgomery, Alabama, the night after the gubernatorial inauguration. Governor Lurleen Wallace chose to forego the traditional inaugural ball as a show of support for the troops in Vietnam, so state legislators planned a private event instead. Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

Brewer, then Wallace again

Lurleen Wallace was succeeded by Lt. Gov. Albert Brewer. Brewer went on to unsuccessfully challenge George Wallace in 1970. A change in Alabama law allowed Wallace to serve another consecutive term and he was elected again in 1974. He eventually served a total of four terms as Alabamas governor. Before his death in 1998, Wallace went on to marry two more times.

Children riding in a truck that says 'D.C. in 68,' a reference to George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign. Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

Another wife in politics

George married his second wife, Cornelia, in 1971. She was by his side in 1972 when he was shot and paralyzed by a would-be assassin while campaigning for president. The couple divorced in 1978. Cornelia Wallace entered the Democratic race for Alabamas governor in 1978 but finished last among 13 candidates.

The float for the 'Missile and Space Capital' features a spacecraft (possibly based on the Gemini VII) traveling between two orbs, probably meant to depict the earth and the moon. Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

Lasting contribution

Lurleen Wallace was an active supporter for Partlow State Hospital for children and secured additional funding for Alabamas state parks. In honor of her contributions, Lake Lurleen State Park near Tuscaloosa is named in her honor. Perhaps Wallaces greatest contribution to Alabama came after her death. At the time of her diagnosis, Wallace had to seek treatment at M.D. Anderson Hospital in Texas. After her death, Gov. Brewer spearheaded the Courage Campaign to raise $5 million to open a cancer center in Alabama. The Lurleen B. Wallace Tumor Institute opened at UAB in 1975 and was one of the first eight comprehensive cancer centers in the nation.

Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

A place in history

At the time of her election, she was only the third female governor elected in the U.S. and is the only female governor in American history to have died in office.

Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

The hat reads, 'Two No. 1s / Wallace / Bear Bryant.' Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group
The World Health Organization's emergency committee called on Friday for globally-ramped up coronavirus sequencing studies in order to combat troubling new variants stalking the globe.

It also came out against countries requiring proof of vaccination from incoming international travellers, in a meeting dragged forward by two weeks for urgent talks on the emerging, seemingly more contagious strains of the virus.

As the pandemic's death toll approached two million, the WHO said that it wanted Covid-19 vaccination underway in every country within the next 100 days, amid concerns that rich nations are hogging the first batches coming off the production lines.

For latest updates on coronavirus vaccine, click here

But it warned that the current spikes in infections being witnessed in some countries in Europe, Africa and the Americas could be blamed on failure to break the chains of transmission rather than simply the new mutations.

The recently-discovered variants can only be identified by sequencing their genetic code -- an analysis that is not possible everywhere.

"On variants, (the committee) called for a global expansion of genomic sequencing and sharing of data, along with greater scientific collaboration to address critical unknowns," the WHO said in a statement after the virtual meeting.

The committee also called on the WHO to come up with a standardised system for naming new variants to keep them geographically and politically neutral, in a bid to avoid stigmatisation.

In its epidemiological bulletin earlier this week, the WHO said the coronavirus mutation first found in Britain had spread to 50 territories, while a similar South African-identified strain has now been found in 20.

A third mutation, originating in the Brazilian Amazon and whose discovery Japan announced on Sunday, is currently being analysed and could impact the immune response, according to the WHO.

On travel, the committee recommended that countries do not require proof of vaccination from incoming travellers, given that the impact of vaccines on reducing transmission was not yet known and the availability of vaccines remains limited.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world was at a "defining moment in the pandemic", as he called for vaccines to be distributed equitably across the globe.

Some 46 countries have started their vaccination campaigns, of which 38 are high-income nations.

"I want to see vaccination underway in every country in the next 100 days so that health workers and those at high risk are protected first," Tedros told a press conference in Geneva.

It was the WHO International Health Regulations emergency committee's sixth meeting on Covid-19. It normally meets every three months.

Following its second meeting on January 30 last year, Tedros declared the outbreak discovered in China constituted a public health emergency of international concern -- the agency's highest level of alert.

The first cluster of cases was discovered in December 2019 in Wuhan in China.

A WHO team of experts arrived in Wuhan on Thursday to start an investigation into the origins of the virus.

"We may never find who the patient zero was," said the WHO's Covid-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove.
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A Philadelphia company allegedly jacked up its prices for N95 masks as consumers rushed to protect themselves from the pandemic, the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office said Friday.

P&K Brothers LLC, and its majority owner, Phan Tran, price-gouged consumers when selling the masks in March through Amazon.com Inc.s online marketplace, the attorney general claimed in a new lawsuit. The complaint, filed in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia, seeks restitution for 130 consumers who collectively paid more than $24,000 for the marked-up masks, as well as civil penalties.

P&K and Tran have illegally used the health and economic crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic to charge Pennsylvania consumers and other consumers an outrageous price for a vital product that was in very short supply, the complaint said.

Tran did not answer email or phone messages Friday afternoon.

Its the latest lawsuit brought by Attorney General Josh Shapiro against companies accused of seeking excessive profits during a health emergency. In August, he sued another Philadelphia retailer that allegedly charged $75 per hand sanitizer bottle. Since the pandemic swept the nation in March, Shapiros office has fielded more than 5,800 complaints and returned thousands of dollars to Pennsylvanians who paid too much for items ranging from hand sanitizer to water, Shapiro said in a statement.

Pennsylvania bars companies from charging more than 20% above the average price recorded for an item the week before an emergency declaration. Gov. Tom Wolf declared a state of emergency on March 6 due to the pandemic.

P&K Brothers allegedly sold 3M brand N95 masks at prices that not only exceeded the market before the state of emergency, but also the price the retailer charged just three weeks earlier, according to the complaint. On Feb. 13, the firm charged Amazon users $43.00 for a 10-pack of 3M Model 8511 N95 respirator masks. On March 6, it charged between $160 and $200 for the same product, the suit said.

P&K Brothers took 130 orders for the masks on March 6, the same day Wolf declared the state of emergency, and March 19, the complaint said. The Attorney Generals Office contends the retailer could have canceled the March 6 orders after learning of the state of emergency.

Amazon, the online retail giant, gave the attorney general a tip about the March 6 order, according to the complaint. The company has said it monitors its marketplace and has removed offers for attempted price-gouging. Price hikes last spring were particularly egregious online, where third-party sellers using Amazon, Craigslist, Facebook, and other sites sold masks and hand sanitizer at sky-high levels.
Religious makeup of the 117th Congress is 88% Christian

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The 117th United States Congress is made up of 88% Christians, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center.

In a report called Faith on the Hill, the Pew Research Center analyzed the religious affiliations of all 531 members of the 117th Congress and compared them to the religious demographics of the U.S. as a whole. Pew obtained the data from a questionnaire conducted by CQ Roll Call asking members about their religious backgrounds.

The publication of the Pew report came just one day after the 117th Congress was sworn into session on Jan. 3. Pew has been analyzing the religious composition of members of Congress since the 111th Congress, which met from 2009 to 2011.

While the House of Representatives has 435 members and the Senate has 100 members, two House seats and two Senate seats were either vacant or undecided as of Jan. 4, when the report was published, leaving the number of senators and representatives analyzed at 531.

Since the publication of the report, Democrats won two Senate runoffs in Georgia while Louisianas 5th Congressional District remains vacant due to the death of Representative-elect Luke Letlow. The outcome of the race in New Yorks 22nd Congressional District remains undecided.

Four hundred and sixty-eight (88%) of members of the 117th Congress are Christian, compared to 65% of the American public as a whole. A majority of the Christians on Capitol Hill identify as Protestant. While 55% of lawmakers in the 117th Congress are Protestants, just 43% of the American public identifies as such.

A plurality of the Protestants in Congress describe themselves as unspecified/other. The largest single Protestant denomination represented on Capitol Hill is Baptists, which has 66 adherents serving in the 117th Congress. Baptists on Capitol Hill make up 12.4% of the 117th Congress, compared to 15% of the American public.

The other Protestant denominations represented on Capitol Hill include Methodists, which has 35 adherents in Congress, Anglicans/Episcopalians, with 26 adherents, Presbyterians, with 24 adherents, Lutherans, with 22 adherents and nondenominational Protestants, with 12 adherents. With the exception of nondenominational Protestants, all of the aforementioned religions have higher representation in Congress than they do in the public at large.

The 117th Congress has 158 Catholics, equivalent to 29.8% of the total Congress. Catholics comprise 20% of the U.S. population. Nine Mormons and seven Orthodox Christians are members of the 117th Congress, accounting for 3% of the membership.

The religious denominations, including Protestant denominations, with less than 1% representation on Capitol Hill are Restorationists (0.8%), Congregationalists (0.6%), Muslims (0.6%), Unitarian Universalists (0.6%), Pentecostals (0.4%), Adventists (0.4%), Hindus (0.4%), Buddhists (0.4%), Reformed (0.2%) and Pietists (0.2%.)

While religiously unaffiliated people make up more than a quarter of the U.S. population (26%), just one member of the 117th Congress identifies as religiously unaffiliated: Sen. Krysten Sinema, D-Ariz. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., describes himself as a humanist, he is listed as the sole member of the other category.

Compared to the 116th Congress, the number of Christians overall has declined. The total number of Protestants has increased by one, with the sharpest increases among the unspecified/other protestants (+16) and Restorationists (+3). The Protestant groups that saw the largest decreases in members from the 116th Congress to the 117th Congress were Methodists (-7), Baptists (-6) and Lutherans (-4).

The number of Catholics in Congress has decreased from 163 to 158, while the number of Mormons has decreased from 10 to nine. The 117th Congress has seven Orthodox Christians, an increase from the five Orthodox Christians in the 116th Congress. One fewer Jew and Hindu sit in the 117th Congress compared to the 116th Congress, while the number of Unitarian Universalists has increased by one.

The religious makeup of the House does not differ significantly from the religious composition of the Senate. Christians make up a slightly higher proportion of the membership of the House than the Senate (88.5% vs. 86.7%), while Jews make up a higher share of the membership of the Senate than the House (8.2% vs. 5.8%).

Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Unitarian Universalists have no members in the Senate while each religion has less than 1% membership in the House. Orthodox Christians, which make up 1.6% of the House, do not have any members in the Senate.

The Pew report also analyzed the religious affiliations of members of the 117th Congress by party. Some 98.9% of the Republicans in Congress identify as Christians compared to 77.8% of Democrats. Jews comprise a significant portion of congressional Democrats (11.5%) while just 0.8% of congressional Republicans identify as Jewish. Rep. Chris Jacobs, R-N.Y., declined to state his religious affiliation.

All (100%) of the Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Unitarian Universalists and unaffiliated members of Congress are Democrats. Meanwhile, 100% of the Mormons in Congress are Republicans.
IRELAND is set to be spared an arctic blast currently plaguing the UK, thanks to a weather front between this country and Britain.

But Evelyn Cusack warns this island is set to endure colder than normal weather for this time of year, with the possibility of snow in coming weeks.

Met Eireanns Head of Forecasting is delighted her organisation can now give, for the first time, long range month weather forecasts for this country.

The trend is that the rest of January and early February will be slightly colder than average, Evelyn tells the Sunday World.

What we can tell you that Scotland and the north or England are in the arctic airmass, but were not.

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This is due to the weather front between Ireland and northern Britain, and were on the mild side of the front and they are on the cold side.

Where the two weather systems meet thats where you get a lot of rain or snow. I think we are going to escape the worst of it but we are still in the middle of winter and getting a lot of cold air coming in from the Atlantic.

The island suffered numerous showers this weekend and there will be a mixed bag of weather over the coming weeks.

We started doing a monthly weather forecast from January 5, updated every Tuesday and Friday, Evelyn tells the Sunday World.

The week starting Monday will be dominated by low surface pressure with a stacked upper low in the upper atmosphere over northern and north western Europe, establishing a mainly northerly airflow across Ireland, she explains.

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There is signal for average temperatures this week to be a degree colder than normal for the time of year. Parts of the northwest will have drier than normal conditions, with elsewhere experiencing a little more precipitation than average overall this week. Southern areas will most likely have the highest amounts of precipitation.

She then moves on to the week starting Monday January 25.

This week looks to be unsettled on average. Low pressure both at surface pressure and in the upper atmosphere remain dominant throughout this week over northern Europe. Signal is for Irelands airflow to most likely be north easterly on average this period. There is a signal for precipitation to generally be higher than normal throughout this week, with the strongest signal on eastern and southern coasts.

The northwest is signalled to have normal or slightly lower than normal precipitation this week. Average temperatures for this week are expected to continue to be around 1 degree lower than normal, but temperatures will be closer to normal for southern areas.

Next up is the week commencing Monday February 1.

Uncertainty increases for this period but there is a signal for low pressure south of Ireland to dominate which would continue to bring a north easterly or easterly airflow.

Temperatures are signalled to be colder than normal across Ireland and Britain, suggesting that a cold airmass originating from Scandinavia may influence our weather.

Indications suggest precipitation will be higher than normal in the east and south in this airflow, with drier than normal conditions elsewhere, further reinforcing the indication of a mainly easterly airflow.

And finally, theres the week starting Monday February 8 and ending on Sunday February 14.

Confidence is low for this period, however there is a weak signal for pressure to be high to the north of Ireland, and a weak signal for low pressure to be the main influence over southern Europe. There is signal for precipitation to be average or below average throughout this week, with no strong signal for anomalous temperatures.

"A more settled spell of weather is suggested with high pressure possibly becoming established in the Atlantic or the north of Ireland.
Houston nurse Millicent Peters receives job solicitations pertaining to COVID-19 once or twice a week, but even she wasnt prepared for the pitch texted to her cell phone last month.

If she could relocate immediately for a temporary assignment in one of the disease hot spots, Krucial Staffing was offering a salary between $5,000 and $7,000 a week, plus a travel bonus, free lodging and per diem meals.

It didnt have the desired effect.

It kind of upset me, dangling a carrot in front of a horse like that, said Peters, a charge nurse at Houston Methodist Hospital. It preys upon young nurses who, not used to negotiating contracts, get excited about the money, unaware of what they might be getting themselves in for.

Peters ignored the solicitation, but at least two of her colleagues couldnt resist, part of the increasing exodus of nurses for COVID-19 travel assignments.

Months after personal protective equipment was so coveted by hospitals, nurses are now the hot commodity, desperately needed around the country to staff beds filling up again because of the winter surge of pandemic patients.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Traveling nurses the Rx for Pasadena landlords woes

To recruit nurses, hospitals turn to staffing agencies like Krucial, Trusted Health and Nomad, which advertise salaries at least double what nurses typically make if theyll come help plug the shortage. Most are like the offer Peters received  $121 an hour regular pay, $181 an hour for required overtime  but some go even higher. One agency recently posted a job in Fargo, N.D., paying $8,000 a week. A Methodist official said he just saw a travel assignment in California for $12,000 a week.

The recruitment goes over much better with the hospitals that hire the nurses than those who lose them. Hospital associations across the nation report receiving many complaints from member institutions about agencies poaching their staff. One hospital spokesman compares the landscape to one in which vendors hawked exorbitantly priced bottled water after Hurricane Harvey.

Texas has indeed become one of the hottest destinations for nurse recruiting. Krucial, which in the spring led the effort to bring nurses to New York, is now focused on Texas, exemplified by recent travel job advertisements on its Facebook page for a Texas gig. Methodist reports a significant increase in nurses taking such offers in December.

The Harris Health System has lost 84 nurses to such assignments since June, the majority in the last few months.

The poaching has hit us hard, made it difficult to cover shifts, put us over a barrel, said Maureen Padilla, Harris Healths chief nurse executive. What bothers me is that its price-gouging at its very worst during a national emergency.

The use of traveling medical staff began in the 1980s, a response during a nursing shortage due to strikes and infectious diseases circulating in certain areas. But it took the pandemic to put the field on peoples radar. Industry officials estimate there are now at least 50,000 traveling nurses, up from about 30,000 in 2018.

Some of those are independent nurses, typically young and footloose, who make a living stringing together travel assignments, which typically last 13 weeks but sometimes go shorter or longer. But some of the nurses are lured from hospitals.

In the early days of the pandemic, travel assignments took traveling nurses to crisis spots  particularly New York. No one questioned the phenomenon because the need was so much greater in those areas than anywhere else.

Whats different now is that the winter COVID-19 surge has brought the need for nurses across the country. Hospital officials routinely use the phrase rob Peter to pay Paul to describe the distribution of nurses.

Its cutthroat, said Kristie Loescher, faculty director of the University of Texas Healthcare Innovation Initiative. But its what you get when you have a perfect storm of a staffing crisis and a pandemic. Given those supply and demand issues, companies are going to charge what the market will bear.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Hundreds of nurses pour into Texas to help fight second COVID surge

The demand took five Harris Health nurses to travel assignments in El Paso during the recent surge there.

Padilla said Texas jobs are appealing to Houston nurses because the deals are lucrative and theyre closer to home, which enables easier connections with family.

The Houston competition for nurses increasingly involves hospitals within the state  or the Houston region itself, where the recruitee doesnt have to leave family at all. Padilla acknowledges Harris Health itself has used agencies that may have recruited locally.

Padilla said Harris Health will rehire those nurses who took a travel assignment as long as they gave the expected two-week notice. Thats not always a slam dunk inasmuch as many staffing agencies require immediate starting dates. If the nurse abruptly leaves for such a job, Harris Health will not rehire for at least a year, she said.

Padilla said it would be demoralizing to the staff that remained loyal and committed to the hospital to see the recently departed nurse right back on the unit. It is likely of little concern to the nurse, said Padilla  he or she will have no trouble finding a willing hospital.

For some nurses, the idea of travel assignments is very enticing.

Ever since I heard about them in nursing school, travel assignments were on my mind, said Caroline DeWitt, who started her second such job, in Colorado Springs, Colo., on the day the original pandemic lockdown went into effect. Im an adventurous soul so the idea of traveling to different places to do my job sounded great, even apart from the additional money.

In the summer, DeWitt took an assignment at Texas Childrens, working with both pediatric COVID-19 patients and adults transferred from hospitals unable to handle the influx. She was tempted to stay, she said, but shed just bought a house in the Texas Hill Country, where she began working, remotely, for Trusted Health, the staffing agency that moved her to different travel assignments.

Now a nurse advocate who helps facilitate others assignments, she laughs that shes missing out on the level of pay packages now being offered.

Kathryn Tart, founding dean of the University of Houston College of Nursing, argues theres nothing wrong with the pay levels, given that nurses are putting their lives on the line. She said hospitals would have less of a shortage problem if they had just been hiring more nursing graduates all along.

Still, there are no shortage of ill feelings at hospitals. John Henderson, CEO of the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals, says the states assistance kept some member hospitals from buckling from staffing shortages, but fretted that many are now losing nurses because they cant compete with the amounts being offered. He called it unsustainable.

The Texas Hospital Association fielded enough complaints from its member hospital about agencies recruiting away front-line employees that Krucial Staffing issued a response in December saying it doesnt advertise, actively recruit and attempt to or knowingly employ healthcare workers from impacted facilities and intends only to supplement existing hospital staff. The response did not define impact facilities.

The hospital association sent the response to its members, but spokeswoman Carrie Williams said that despite the assurance, the practice appears to be continuing.

The problem is that hospitals dont have a lot of choice when you have patients that need care and a shortage of staff, said Cindy Zolnierek, CEO of the Texas Nurses Association. But it definitely does seem that some people are exploiting the moment.

Gary Randazzo, a professor of practice and marketing at the UH Bauer College of Business, says theres no evidence that wage and price controls or other means of intervention work in such situations. Nor is the Texas Legislature expected to take up the issue.

Loescher, the faculty director at UTs healthcare innovation initiative, holds out hope. The only good thing that might come out of the situation, Loescher said, is people giving up on the idea that supply and demand works during a crisis and that health care moves more toward a social justice philosophy rather than a market justice focus.

She admits, however, shes not optimistic. The most likely solution to the poaching is an end to the pandemic.

todd.ackerman@chron.com
Sri Lanka open up for more tourists from Thursday By Damith Wickremasekara View(s): View(s):

The country would open for tourists from most parts of the world from Thursday and continue with repatriation flights, but would remain closed for other Sri Lankans planning to return, officials said. Accordingly the country will receive upto 2,550 tourists and a maximum of 750 locals on repatriation flights a day.

A senior Tourism Ministry official said that under the latest plans, the tourists and those arriving on repatriation flights would be moved to hotels and government maintained quarantine centres where they would undergo the first PCR test after arrival, instead of carrying out the test at the airport.

He said the measure had been taken as a precaution by minimising the time of stay of those arriving at the airport. This will also have limitations in the number of flights arriving and therefore the procedure has been changed with the approval of the health authorities, he said.

In addition, those arriving on business purposes would be allowed under a separate set of guidelines. They would have to move into a selected hotel where they would be able to meet with local counterparts or hold other meetings under health guidelines, without leaving the hotel.

Private jets will be allowed to use the Ratmalana airport.

The official said that under the new plans, the tourists would be allowed to visit only tourist sites approved by the COVID Task Force under a bio security bubble where they would be confined only to their group. This is in contrast to the situation where some Ukrainian tourists were required to stay inside the hotel for seven days before leaving.

Under the new plans, after two weeks, during which the tourists would have undergone two more PCR tests, they would be able interact with the local community, the official said.

Guidelines also had been issued to shops and business establishments interacting with the tourists.

The drivers, guides and those dealing with foreign tourists at the sites, will not be required to undergo a 14-day quarantine period, if they continue to wear the Personal Protective Equipment kits during the visits. This is in contrast to the existing system where they were compelled to undergo two weeks of quarantine after the departure of tourists.

Meanwhile, private travel agents have been advised to start organising chartered flights from countries other than those which have closed their borders.

Meanwhile, tourism authorities say they expect to attract more than one million tourists this year.
In early December 2020, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) was informed a Standardbred horse that had travelled from P.E.I. had tested positive for strangles. That horse was put in isolation at a farm in Princeton, Ont. There were three other horses in the trailer.

Of the three, one non-racing saddle horse was unloaded at a Quebec farm, and the second horse was unloaded at the First Line Training Centre and immediately put in isolation. This horse was not considered a risk to other horses.

The third horse was unloaded at the Tomiko Training Centre near Campbellville, Ont. in proximity to 12 other horses. As a result, the AGCO required all trainers with horses in that barn to have their veterinarians create a testing plan and submit it to the AGCO.

That testing regime has now concluded with the last horse that had a previous positive test now testing negative. This means there are no more horses in isolation at the Tomiko Training Centre. When racing resumes, all horses at the centre will be allowed to race/qualify.

Strangles is a highly contagious and serious infection of horses and other equines caused by the bacterium, Streptococcus equi. There is no such thing as zero risk. It is found in racehorses, including those without exposure to the known positive cases.

This case reminds all horse people to remain vigilant and institute appropriate biosecurity measures and should consult their veterinarians for advice.

Additional Resources:

(AGCO)
Syracuse, N.Y.  New Yorks rapidly expanding Covid-19 vaccine rollout was plagued this week by widespread confusion, enormous frustration, and calls to make the system fairer and easier to use.

Problems cascaded as the state expanded the eligible population to about 7 million people, while New York is getting only 300,000 doses of the vaccine each week. That number is likely to drop to 250,000, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday.

People desperate to get vaccinated struggled this week with websites that crashed and a phone line with wait times long enough to watch an entire football game. Tens of thousands secured appointments at six yet-to-open vaccine sites, only to see those appointments canceled by the state Department of Health because the web link wasnt supposed to be made public yet.

Kinney Drugs filled all 7,500 of its slots in five hours Monday; the chains website now begs people NOT to call your local store. The state health department announced Thursday all appointments are now booked through late April at state-run sites.

Healthy people in their 40s and 50s at relatively low risk got shots before many older people and high-risk professionals. State Sen. Joe Griffo, R-Rome, labeled the rollout Darwinian and called for the state to protect those most in need.

People getting their first dose were told to call to schedule the second, then told, no, wait, well make your appointment for you. At weeks end, many people who got their first shots still didnt know when theyd get the necessary booster doses. A Madison County clinic was canceled Tuesday when a shipment didnt arrive; 300 people were turned away.

The state was caught flat-footed at the beginning of the pandemic in February, and here we are again, Griffo said.

New Yorks vaccine distribution process is disorderly, disjointed and in disarray, said Griffo, who is asking the Senate and Assembly health committees to hold hearings. You had an opportunity to plan logically for this. You should have been looking at what we could do to mitigate this.

The one inescapable reality is there isnt nearly enough vaccine supply to meet demand, and there are far more willing arms than vials of vaccine. Unless the states supply ramps up rapidly, it will take months just to inoculate those already eligible, and a year or more to vaccinate everybody in New York who wants one.

Theres a lot of criticism to this weeks expanded rollout, but the high demand for shots is also a positive sign, said Cynthia Anne Leifer, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Cornell University. Last week, Leifer said, she worried there wouldnt be enough vaccine sites or enough people eligible and willing to receive the shots. State and counties rose to meet those challenges, she said, and now have to deal with the opposite problem: too many people and not enough vaccine.

Could we have predicted there would be bottlenecks? Sure, Leifer said. Could they have done a better job preparing? Yes. But were getting vaccines in peoples arms, so were moving in the right direction.

New York has vaccinated about 645,000 people, according to the Johns Hopkins University. The states population is about 19 million.

And while some vaccine-seekers have reported error messages and long holds, some got their shots without a hitch. Greg Snyder, a police officer for the town of Manlius, snagged one of the first appointments at the state fairgrounds site, which opened Wednesday.

It was pretty smooth, Snyder said. Signup was easy, and I was there 40 minutes, including the 15-minute wait time after the shot. It all ran well.

Theres been no evidence that vaccines are going to waste; in fact, there are reports of vaccines getting used up quickly and even shortages. Onondaga County is dispensing its 3,600 weekly doses within two days, said county spokesman Justin Sayles. Hospitals in Central New York have used up all their vaccine, Cuomo said. The state Department of Health had to call and reschedule 300 people when supplies didnt reach the Chittenango location soon enough.

The vaccine rollout began last month, with the first doses going to hospitals to immunize those who worked with Covid-19 patients. Then the vaccines were extended to a group called 1A, which included first responders, funeral home directors and others at high risk. Nursing home residents, who have suffered the heaviest toll of the pandemic, are being immunized under a separate program run by the federal government and pharmacies.

On Monday, New York opened eligibility to about 3 million people in whats called the 1B group. That included everybody over 75, and at-risk professions like teaching, firefighting and law enforcement. Then, on Tuesday, the federal Health and Human Services Department said everybody 65 or older should get shots. New York went along.

It takes a large group that cant get the vaccine and makes an even larger group that cant get the vaccine, said Mark Monmonier, a Syracuse University professor who tried and failed to get appointments for him and his wife, both in their late 70s. It just seems as if this whole thing was not well-thought-out.

Some health experts also questioned the idea of expanding the pool when there wasnt enough vaccine for those at the front lines. Giving the vaccine to 65-year-olds who are healthy and stay home before giving it to front-line workers skews the point of the vaccine program, said Brian Leydet, an epidemiologist at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

You cant get the high-risk folks vaccinated because theyre competing for vaccine spots with those at lower risk, said Leydet, who runs the lab that processes saliva samples taken from staff and students at ESF and neighboring Syracuse University.

Griffo called on the state to impose more strict rules on who gets the shots right away and who has to wait longer. Hes not against the 1B and 65-plus expansions, but he says vaccines should be better targeted to those at greatest risk.

Im getting calls from people who are 80 and 85 years old, and theyre like, How do I get this thing?  he said, while you see on social media people showing their vaccination cards, and theyre in their 30s and 40s.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set out two overarching guidelines for who should get the vaccine first: those most vulnerable, and those most needed to make society run. That first group initially included people 75 and older, and those in nursing homes. In the second are health care workers, EMTs, police, teachers and other front-line essential workers.

Older adults are at highest risk of severe complications and death from Covid-19. About two-third of deaths in Onondaga County occurred in nursing homes, for which the state does not report ages. Of the 314 county residents who died at home or in hospitals, 93% were at least 60 years old.

Older people  and the poor, another group hit disproportionately hard by the coronavirus  are also less likely to have the equipment or knowledge to spend hours online navigating the appointment system, said Syracuse University public health professor David Larsen.

Those with the least means among us are the least likely to have support to help them sign up, Larsen said. Those are the challenges of public health, and we need to meet them.

Scores of family members and friends and fellow churchgoers chipped in this week to get older people signed up. Getting an appointment involved a luck, persistence and enough technological savviness to navigate the jammed and sometimes confusing websites.

Aileen Gallagher, a professor at SU, tried unsuccessfully on her cell phone to make an appointment for her mother, 81. Gallagher was repeatedly kicked off the states mobile site, she said.

Beyond just being hard to navigate, you couldnt respond to all the information you needed to respond to, Gallagher said. Eventually I gave up and called my brother, who lives in Washington, D.C. He was able to get the appointment.

To help the less tech-savvy, the state opened a telephone hotline Monday afternoon. It was immediately jammed. Tom Boll, who also teaches at SU, spent four hours on hold Monday night, eating dinner and watching the Alabama-Ohio State game before discovering hed been placed in the wrong hold line. Tuesday, Boll, 68, finally made his appointment online.

The overloaded systems were compared to other infamous site-crashing rollouts, like the Affordable Care Act and the states unemployment registration at the start of the pandemic.

Jennifer Boulanger, of Rome, spent hours playing what she called beat the clock, logging in over and over on the state website to line up a vaccination appointment.

Why tell us that we are eligible before the state is ready to accommodate us? she asked.

Boulanger finally got an appointment, only to have it canceled by the health department. She called the whole experience a fiasco.

Anger at the states rollout hit a fever pitch Thursday when the state abruptly canceled appointments for tens of thousands of people who, like Boulanger, had unknowingly used a link that wasnt live yet. Despite that, they received confirmation notices on Department of Health letterhead with their appointment times confirmed.

On Thursday, the state emailed them all and said their appointments were voided and they had to get back in the 7-million-person line.

Its absolutely horrible, said Heather Gordon, who had finally secured an appointment for her 71-year-old father, only to see it yanked away Thursday night. Hes at high risk with several underlying medical conditions, and there are no appointments.

The state health department has not responded to repeated requests for an explanation of what happened. The states information services department said someone had leaked an unauthorized link to six vaccination sites but offered no details.

Griffo said Friday the state should honor those appointments, saying people shouldnt be penalized for the health departments misstep.

On the Onondaga Nation, south of Syracuse, cases are increasing, and members are worried about the health of their elders, said nation attorney Joe Heath. So far, the nation has received only 100 doses, he said, and thats not nearly enough for the hundreds more elders and those who care for them.

In traditional indigenous cultures, the elders are their libraries, their universities, their wisdom, Heath said. We know that communities of color are being much more negatively impacted by the virus for a combination of reasons.

Heath said everybody is waiting in line for the vaccines, and the state needs to do more to overcome the supply shortage and the myriad obstacles people face in getting the vaccines.

Theres nowhere near enough vaccines in the pipeline, and the infrastructure to administer them is not meeting the needs, he said. Onondaga needs more vaccines, and we cannot get an answer as to when and where.

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Covid warning in Portugal, where the health system can no longer bear the weight of patients.

Portuguese hospitals can accommodate a maximum of 672 Covid patients in intensive care, according to data from the Ministry of Health reported by the Guardian.

At the moment, however, there are 638 people in intensive care and according to the Portuguese association of hospital administrators the number of hospitalizations could increase significantly in the next week.

Meanwhile, the national authorities today recorded almost 11 thousand new infections and 166 deaths. In total, the infected are 540 thousand (out of 10 million inhabitants) and the victims have risen to 8,709. In recent days, Great Britain has banned arrivals from Portugal and South America after the identification of a very aggressive variant of Covid in Brazil.

(Unioneonline / D)

Asia Critics Inject Doubt Into Thailands Vaccine Deal With China

A staff member works during a media tour of a new factory built to produce a coronavirus vaccine at Sinovac, one of 11 Chinese companies approved to carry out clinical trials of potential coronavirus vaccines, in Beijing on Sept. 24, 2020. / WANG ZHAO / AFP

As contagion-hit Thailand rushes to register two COVID-19 vaccines, a debate has sprung up about the efficacy of one of the candidates  Chinas CoronaVac.

Even the Global Times, a Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece under the Peoples Daily, reported that while CoronaVac is 100 per cent effective in reducing the severity of infections and can keep 80 per cent of patients out of hospital, it only protects 50 per cent of people from infection.

This confirms previous reports that CoronaVac lacks the efficacy of other COVID-19 vaccines, barely reaching the 50-per-cent threshold required by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In comparison, the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine embraced earlier by Thailand is said to be between 62 and 90 per cent effective.

CoronaVac became an added option as Thailand rushes to inoculate its population after a second wave of coronavirus hit in mid-December.

While Thai authorities insist they have prioritized vaccine safety and quality, some members of the public will almost certainly have to settle for CoronaVac. The Public Health Ministry expects CoronaVac, produced by Chinas Sinovac Biotech, to be registered in Thailand by Feb. 14 with the first batch due to arrive before the end of February.

However, according to a well-placed source, Thailands vaccine procurement panel had initially not incorporated CoronaVac in its plans due to complicated conditions during negotiations.

We now have concerns because China has only approved this vaccine for emergency use, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that an official report on CoronaVac has not been released either.

Thai govt pressured

The source said the Thai government felt pressure to rush to secure a vaccine after Singapore and Laos began inoculating their populations. Singapore procured the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine  reportedly 90 per cent effective  while Laos is using the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine from China.

As well as pressure from neighbors who are already inoculating, Thailand has been hit by a fresh outbreak of local transmissions. Over the past four weeks, local infections have climbed quickly into the thousands.

As of press time, there were 3,981 active COVID-19 cases in Thailand.

Thailands inoculation plan

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received registration applications for two COVID-19 vaccines so far, according to its secretary-general, Dr. Paisarn Dunkum. One is from AstraZeneca (Thailand) and the other from the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) for CoronaVac.

Dr. Khiattibhoom Vongrachit, permanent secretary for the Public Health Ministry, said the GPO made the application because CoronaVac Biotech does not have a representative in Thailand.

We intend to have CoronaVac vaccine registered by Feb. 14, he said.

According to the plan, 200,000 CoronaVac doses will arrive in Thailand late next month, with 800,000 to follow in March, and another 1 million doses by late April. The government is spending Bt1.2 billion (53.2 billion kyats) on the 2 million doses, which works out to US$17 (22,700 kyats) per dose.

The government plans to have half of the population or 33 million people inoculated against the coronavirus.

It has already signed a purchase order for 26 million doses from AstraZeneca in a deal that also includes knowledge transfer for Thailand-based Siam Bioscience to produce the vaccine locally. Recently it announced plans to purchase 35 million more doses from AstraZeneca, on top of further vaccine purchases via the WHOs COVAX Facility.

Siam Bioscience says it will be able to produce 15 million to 20 million doses per month.

Concerns about fast track, efficacy

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thira Woratanarat, a Chulalongkorn University medical lecturer, said the main job of a vaccine is to prevent infection.

Stopping symptoms from worsening is just the secondary purpose of the vaccine, he wrote on Facebook. Meanwhile it would be best if data on vaccines were made transparent and extensive research conducted in line with international standards, he said.

In response to concern that Thailand had adopted CoronaVac far too quickly, Lertchai Lertvut, chief of the FDAs Public Consumer Affairs Division, insisted it was not being fast tracked.

We will not skip any steps, and will set up a team to screen the thousands of pages of data on the vaccine, he said.

Dr. Supakit Sirilak, director-general of the Medical Sciences Department, told people not to panic, adding that a vaccine was acceptable if it passed the WHO standard of being more than 50 percent effective and caused no serious side effects.

Since CoronaVac is based on an old vaccine-production technique, it will have fewer side effects, he said.

Countries going for CoronaVac

Despite questions about its effectiveness, CoronaVac has already been procured by several countries. On Wednesday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo was the first person to receive a jab from the initial batch of 150 million CoronaVac doses his government ordered.

Hong Kong has ordered 7.5 million doses and expects the first batch of 1 million to arrive before the end of this month. The Philippines, meanwhile, has purchased 25 million doses, while Brazil, Ukraine and Turkey have ordered 46 million, 1.9 million and 50 million doses of CoronaVac, respectively.

Meanwhile, researchers in Brazil on Tuesday released late-stage clinical data showing that the efficacy of CoronaVac was far lower than initially announced or just 50.4 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic infections. Last week, they said the vaccine showed 78 per cent efficacy against mild-to-severe cases.

The news prompted Malaysia and Singapore, which have purchase agreements with Sinovac Biotech, to say that they would seek more data from the Chinese firm on efficacy rates before they approve and buy the doses.

This article was first published by Thai PBS World.

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Demi Sims has confirmed a romance with Too Hot To Handle star Francesca Farago, sharing a loved-up snap of them locking lips.

The TOWIE star, 24, who is thought to have flown to Mexico, made their relationship Instagram official on Saturday as she posted two stunning images of them putting on a very cosy display.

Both of the blonde beauties looked sensational as they gazed into each others eyes and rocked stunning beach ensembles from PrettyLittleThing.

Romance: Demi Sims has confirmed she's dating Too Hot To Handle star Francesca Farago, sharing a loved-up snap of them locking lips on Saturday

Demi looked every inch the besotted girl-friend as she smiled at her new love while rocking a khaki bikini and cream shirt draped over her arms.

The reality star wore her long locks down and poker straight, with one section at the front braided into a stylish braid.

Francesca, 27, also ensured to command attention as she shared a kiss with her British partner and flashed a glimpse of underboob in a tiny black bikini.

She also opted for some accessories as the pair soaked up each others attention in a semi-sheer beach skirt as well as pair of sunglasses resting on her small top.

Loved-up: The duo looked sensational in their skimpy beachwear as they lovingly gazed into each others eyes

Soon after sharing the two sizzling images, Demi was flooded with delighted comments from her fellow reality star pals.

She also received a sweet message from her ex-girlfriend Megan Barton Hanson, who shot to fame on Love Island.

Megan penned 'cuties' along with a fire emoji.

Support: Demi's ex Megan Barton Hanson quickly commented on the sizzling snap, penning 'cuties' along with a fire emoji

Former flames: Demi and Megan were in a relationship after they struck up a romance on E4's show Celebs Go Dating (pictured on the series)

Smitten: Francesca also shared the same kissing snap to her own Instagram page, with Demi commenting 'LOML' [love of my life]

Demi has also shared a slew of other loved-up snaps to her Instagram Stories during recent hours, including one of a huge teddy bear and bouquet of roses on her bed.

Sharing a short clip of the romantic treat, which also included her favourite champagne, Demi penned: 'I feel so lucky. Thankyou baby @FrancescaFarago'.

The duo also shared a few kisses while partying on Friday night, with Demi smooching with her partner while wearing a black top and chunky chain necklace.

The PDA continued through to Saturday where the beauties posed for another Instagram Stories update while working on their tans at the beach.

Pucker up! Demi and Francesca also locked lips as they partied the night away on Friday

How romantic! The TOWIE star also thanked her new love for leaving a huge teddy, flowers and champagne on her bed

Francesca first received attention for her role in the Netflix original series Too Hot to Handle, which premiered its first season earlier in April.

Inspired by an episode of the hit sitcom Seinfeld, the show places 14 contestants together in a Mexican luxury resort, and in order to win $100,000, none of the cast members are allowed to have sex or any other intimate contact with one another.

She was one of the contestants that made it to the final episode without breaking the show's rules, and began dating her co-contestant Harry Jowsey.

The two split up shortly after the show's finale, but reconciled and became engaged during the show's reunion special taped eight months later; Francesca later announced that they broke off the relationship.

Demi has previously dated Leonie McSorley, with them last being seen out together in October, and having confirmed their romance in July.

New love: The pair also put on a cosy display as they posed for some snaps on Stories

Before that, Demi was in a relationship with Megan Barton Hanson after they struck up a romance on E4's show, Celebs Go Dating.

But they later went their separate ways with Megan admitting that Demi made her question if she was actually gay or not as she said they had no 'sexual chemistry'.

Before jetting to Mexico, Demi and her fellow TOWIE star sister Frankie had been enjoying a trip to Dubai, keeping fans up-to-date with their travels with an array of glamorous snaps.

Reality stars have flocked to Dubai despite the consistent rules throughout the UK, advising against international travel, save for work or education.

Since then, Boris Johnson has plunged the UK into a lockdown - with those in Dubai still seemingly able to enjoy their travels however now facing isolation on their return home and a test before flying.
ALEPPO, Syria  Syria TV correspondent and journalist Bahaa al-Halabi survived an assassination attempt Jan. 6 in the Turkish-backed opposition-controlled city of al-Bab in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo. The attempt took place outside Halabi's home, as masked individuals intercepted his private car and fired their bullets directly at him.

The incident sparked controversy and fear among activists and journalists in the opposition areas in the countryside of Aleppo. Speculations soared about the entity behind this type of operations. Some believe the incident is due to the security chaos that al-Bab and other opposition-controlled areas are experiencing in the countryside of Aleppo. They believe bombings and assassinations are usually carried out by agents of the Syrian regime or the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which both share an interest in perpetuating the security chaos in the region.

Other journalists believe the attempt to assassinate Halabi has the Islamic State's (IS) fingerprints all over it. IS members excel in this type of assassination. In their view, the incident ushers in the return of the organization to the opposition areas in the countryside of Aleppo through its agents.

On Dec. 12, 2020, journalist Hussein Khattab was assassinated in a similar manner in al-Bab. Two masked individuals shot him in the city center while he was preparing a press report. Opposition police and public security forces have so far been unable to reveal the perpetrators identity.

The Union of Syrian Media in Aleppo countryside issued a statement Jan. 6, calling on all authorities that have set themselves up as trustees and responsible for the region, its security and the protection of its residents to assume their role in maintaining security and deterring terrorist cells.

We will not stand by idly while we watch our safe areas turn into a hotbed of terrorism, it warned.

Al-Monitor met President of the Union of Syrian Media Saad al-Saad, who said, The attempt to assassinate Halabi and the assassination of Khattab reaped terror in the hearts of journalists and activists in the opposition areas. All of us could be a target for terrorism if the security situation is not controlled and the agents working in favor of the terrorist organizations are not prosecuted. I do not rule out that IS could be the culprit, but the regime or SDF may be behind these operations as well. This matter is open to many speculations since the opposition police forces have so far been unable to determine the identity or affiliation of the perpetrators."

Galal Talawi, journalist and member of the Union of Syrian Media, told Al-Monitor that opposition security and military institutions must intensify their efforts in managing the security situation in al-Bab and Aleppo's countryside. Terrorists could expand their activities in the coming period if they are not prosecuted and hit with an iron fist, he said.

Fears of an IS comeback in the opposition-controlled areas in the countryside of Aleppo through operations carried out by IS cell members seem justified right now.

IS is witnessing a revival and has spread in the areas of the Syrian desert (Badia). Its fighters are constantly attacking the regime forces and allied militias. IS has been also targeting SDF in the areas it controls in northeastern Syria, and will naturally try to penetrate and target opposition-controlled areas in northwestern Syria. Whats more, IS claimed responsibility for previous assassinations in al-Bab.

Of note, IS claimed about 600 attacks in Syria during 2020, most of them in eastern Syria. According to a Jan. 6 statement published by the IS-affiliated Amaq news agency, 593 attacks were carried out in Syria during 2020. IS stated that its operations killed 1,327 persons and wounded 901 individuals affiliated with the SDF, 407 Syrian regime forces and 19 fighters from various opposition factions.

Most of IS attacks and operations concentrated in Deir ez-Zor, where IS said it conducted 389 attacks, followed by 59 in Raqqa, 38 in Homs, 39 in Hasakah, 36 in Aleppo and 29 in Daraa. According to the statement, the attacks destroyed and damaged 292 vehicles, including 172 in Deir ez-Zor, 51 in Raqqa and 25 in Homs. The Amaq statement noted that 256 of the attacks were carried out with explosive devices, 191 were assassinations and 123 clashes.

Meanwhile, journalist Majed Abdel Noor argued that recently, through its security cells, IS has penetrated deep into the city of al-Bab. He told Al-Monitor, IS cells are carrying out operations in broad daylight. The problem is the security failure and shortcomings shown by the opposition's security institutions. These instructions ought to exert all possible efforts and tap on any capabilities to eradicate these criminals.

Abdel Noor noted, The eradication of these cells must begin as soon as possible, otherwise we will soon wake up to see IS expanding tremendously. Then the available security solutions will not be enough.

He added that the method of these assassinations provide several signs about the perpetrator. IS is the most capable opponent to penetrate our regions so easily. All opponent parties  including the SDF and the Syrian regime  are involved in the terrorist operations carried out in the liberated area. However, operations of this kind  targeting journalists  bear the hallmarks of IS cells, he concluded.
Jaipur, Jan 16 : Exempting Bollywood star Salman Khan from making an appearance on Saturday in connection with a case related to the poaching of two black bucks in Jodhpur in 1998, the district and sessions court on Saturday asked him to appear before it on February 6.

Khan's hearing was scheduled on Saturday in connection with a petition challenging a trial court order sentencing him to five years imprisonment.

"Considering the pandemic situation, we submitted an application seeking exemption from appearance," Khan's counsel Nishant Bora said.

Sessions Judge Devendra Kachhawaha accepted the application and directed Khan to appear before the court on the next date of hearing on February 6.

It needs to be mentioned here that Khan was also absent at the last hearing on December 1, 2020, seeking exemption on the grounds of the Covid pandemic.

This is the 17th time that Khan skipped hearing in the case since it came before the sessions court in April 2018.

A trial court in 2018 had convicted Khan and awarded five-year imprisonment to him for killing two black bucks in Kankani village near Jodhpur during the shooting of his film 'Hum Saath Saath Hain' in October 1998. Khan had challenged the trial court verdict in the sessions court.

Khan's fellow actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre, who were present on the spot in Kankani along with Khan, have been acquitted. After the conviction by the trial court, Khan had to spend three days in Jodhpur jail before getting bail. Khan has appealed against the trial court order in the sessions court.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed

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JACKSONVILLE  State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville, has asked Gov. J.B. Pritzker to allow bars and restaurants to reopen in Illinois.

On Friday, Pritzker announced revisions to his COVID-19 mitigation tiers that would allow earlier indoor dining, but no regions have met the requirements.

Late Friday, Davidsmeyer  who also is Assistant Republican Leader in the Illinois House  said Pritzker is failing the state at every level and should stop using the same old ideas and look to others for new ways to move Illinois forward.

IDPH (IL Department of Public Health) keeps doubling down on the same failed policies, using the wrong metrics, said Davidsmeyer. I believe in science, and this is not science.

Davidsmeyer said families are struggling because employers have been closed by the Pritzker administration and affected workers cant receive unemployment benefits.

IDES (IL Department of Employment Security) is failing the very people who the governor has put out of work, Davidsmeyer said. Not only that, but the communication with many of the departments is lacking or non-existent.

I try to maintain a good working relationship with those working in the departments, he said. But at some point these failures have to be called out.

Davidsmeyer said Pritzker should look outside of his administration for new ideas.
With the contract for about 2,000 autoworkers at General Motors CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario set to expire this September, Unifor has called a snap membership meeting on Zoom for this Sunday with the aim of replacing the current contract and ramming through sweeping concessions.

This anti-democratic manoeuvre, cooked up by the Unfor union bureaucrats and their partners in corporate management over the holiday period, is designed to stampede workers behind a sell-out agreement that would be roundly rejected if the details were presented in full and subject to informed debate.

Jerry Dias, Unifor National President (Credit: OFL Communications Department/Wikimedia Commons)

In a bargaining update posted yesterday, Unifor Local 88 announced that they had extended a self-imposed Thursday midnight deadline to reach a deal with GM. It continued: If a tentative settlement is reached, we will inform the membership as soon as possible. The Zoom Meeting is still scheduled for Sunday January 17, 2021.

In recent weeks, the unions main concern has been to keep workers in the dark about what is going on. In the unions End of Year Report prior to the Christmas break, Local 88 President Joe Graves highlighted the just-completed installation of a new electronic Simply Voting system for the membership. One of the other things with Simply Voting, said Graves, is if we ever get called in to early bargaining or if we have bargaining, we can use the information that is on there. So, the information will be set up. So, people will then be able to go on for ratification, for strike mandates and all the voting process we do with the COVID.

Plant Chairman Mike van Boekel noted in the same report that the unions Master Bargaining Committee had already assembled. We are going through all our demands, trying to get ready for a contract in case GM comes knocking early, said Van Boekel. We want to be prepared. So, I do ask you to take the time, go to the (Simply Voting) icon, whatever its called, and register to vote because you have to vote already for Triennial elections.

Unifors claim that it was simply making preparations in case GM comes knocking early is clearly a subterfuge. The union was manifestly already in discussions with management, for no sooner did the New Year begin than Unifor, after what it described as weeks of preparation and planning meetings over the holidays, began formal negotiations with GM on January 4, 2021.

However, it did not officially inform the membership of this fact until it issued its first bargaining update on January 11.

By then readers of the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter in the plant were already aware something was in the works. One worker had contacted the Newsletter on January 7 to say that the union had taken the decision to reopen the contract. He wrote, GM has approached Ingersoll Local 88 to open contract early and bargain a new agreement. Local 88 leadership met in secret with company to come up with a new agreement. They let membership know on January 5th that there will be a virtual meeting and vote on January 17th to rush a bad contract through during COVID-19.

Veteran workers of the Detroit Three auto companies in Canada will be well aware of the massive concessions that have traditionally accompanied any move to reopen an agreement in advance of the normal expiration date. In 2008, then Canadian Autoworker (CAW) President Buzz Hargrove secretly advanced the traditional contract negotiation period by some six months in order to ram through massive concession contracts at Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. That deal included language that opened the way for GM to suddenly announce the closure of the Oshawa Truck Plant even before the ink was dry on the settlement.

One year later, Detroit Three contracts in Canada were once again reopened in the wake of the global financial crash. That infamous deal froze autoworkers wages and cost-of-living allowances until 2012, gave back a week of holidays and a previously negotiated $1,700 annual bonus, increased health care and insurance premiums, and allowed the companies to increase workload. Retirees had their cost-of-living protection suspended and faced increased co-pays for health and other benefits. Overall, the new agreement surrendered over $19 per hour per worker in labour costsconsiderably more than did the 2008 sell-out contract, which provided GM with an additional $400 million in savings.

At CAMI, since the month-long strike of 2017 was sabotaged and led to defeat by Unifor, about 800 jobs have been shaved off the plant rolls as hundreds of veteran workers have retired. In November, it was announced that the third shift would be abandoned beginning in early 2021 for at least a year, in order to fill the vacancies created by the retirements. A method has been worked out to keep most employees working, and to offer an option for about 225 to stay home with a small top-up of benefits.

Traditionally, the concessions made in the round of pattern-bargaining at the Canadian Detroit Three plants held the year before the CAMI contract is negotiated are rolled into any new deal at Ingersoll.

The settlement finalized with GM in Oshawa and St. Catharines last November included an alternative work schedule (AWS). This grants the plants management authority to organize shifts as they see fit, and eliminates overtime pay for most work on weekends or beyond the traditional eight-hour workday. The bargaining report notes, (T)he company will have the ability to structure the shifts start and end times to avoid high peak time utility costs. It continues, The company will maintain the ability to maximum run-time for optimal operating flexibility, inclusive of unpaid lunches (8.5-hour shifts).

The GM deal also allows the company to outsource materials, general stores and any tool room positions. At least 15 percent of jobs can be low paid temporary part-time (TPT) workers. Despite much ballyhoo about the eventual reopening of assembly production in Oshawa, the contract gives no new product to that facility, only overrun orders from US truck plants and no product commitment beyond 2025.

Van Boekel noted that the 2020 GM deal came at a steep price. The language is absolutely terrible, he said, and some of the work rules they put in place. And no doubt GM will try and enforce some of that in our plant as well. But the cost (for the Oshawa jobs) was huge. In other words, Van Boekel is softening up the membership to accept similar sweeping concessions.

To be successful in the coming contract struggle, CAMI workers must review the critical lessons of their determined 2017 strike. As the WSWS explained at the time, it was not defeated due to a lack of militancy among autoworkers, but because Unifor prioritized its corrupt relations with the auto bosses over defending workers interests, and peddled a reactionary nationalist program that left workers defenceless against GMs threat to shut the plant down and shift production to Mexico. Summing up the conclusions that workers must draw, we wrote, First, under conditions where GM, a transnational company with platforms in 31 countries, produces the same Equinox model manufactured at CAMI in Spring Hill, Tennessee and Ramos Arizpe and San Luis Potosi, Mexico, the nationalist program promoted by Unifor left autoworkers defenseless against company threats to move production southward.

Second, GMs insistence from the outset of negotiations that due to its right of private ownership of the means of auto production it would not bargain on product volumes or locations, shows that only a political fight guided by a socialist program can move the cause of the working class forward.

Third, such a fight can be waged only in relentless struggle against Unifor and the entire trade union bureaucracy. Autoworkers must break organizationally and politically with Unifor, which has developed a corrupt partnership with the auto bosses and big business. To take their interests forward, workers must build their own independent organizations of struggle to unite the fight to defend jobs and living standards with their class brothers and sisters in the United States, Mexico and internationally.

The first step in this struggle for CAMI autoworkers is to break Unifors stranglehold over the bargaining process by establishing their own rank and file committee in the plant. We encourage all workers who agree with this strategy to contact the Autoworker Newsletter today to begin preparations for this crucial struggle.

If Unifor tries to present a new contract for ratification Sunday, there is no way that workers will have time to study it properly before being herded (albeit virtually) into voting booths. All the more so since the union will no doubt provide workers with no more than a phoney highlights package designed to present the agreement in the best possible light. Workers should reject this attempt to railroad them into accepting a sell-out contract, vote No, and demand that they be given at least one week to examine the contents of any future deal in full before a ratification vote is held.
BRANFORD  Internationally-known anti-racism educator Jane Elliott, best known for her Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes classroom exercise in the wake of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., will be keynote speaker at an online version of Branfords annual MLK tribute breakfast, organizers said.

Branfords 36th annual MLK Day Celebration will take place via Zoom at 8 a.m. Monday, said Margot Hardenbergh, a member of the organizing committee. Tickets are $15 per household, available at www.facebook.com/MLKBreakfastCommitttee, or http://bit.ly/38MRXkR

The event will be moderated by WTNH News8s Keith Kountz, organizers said in a release.

Elliott, who was a third-grade teacher in Iowa at the time of Kings assassination, has been on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon among many others. She also has been the focus of documentaries such as Eye of the Storm on television in 1971 and A Class Divided in 1985.

She is the recipient of the national mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education and many other honors.

A longtime activist on racial matters, Elliott is best known as a teacher who, in 1968, the day after King was assassinated, put third-graders in her all-white Riceville, Iowa, class through an exercise to teach them about racial prejudice.

As part of the exercise, Elliott divided the children by eye color. She then told them that people with brown eyes were smarter, faster and better than those with blue eyes.

As things played out, the brown-eyed children began acting with more confidence. They also began insulting the blue-eyed kids. The blue-eyed children made more mistakes and became more timid and even despondent. The two groups stopped playing together  and in some cases, fights even broke out.

Most years, the MLK birthday celebration and commemoration includes a community breakfast in addition to a speaking program. But this years event went virtual as a result of coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

The commemoration has roots that date back to 1985, when it was first celebrated at St. Stephens A.M.E. Zion Church. It later was shepherded on by the Branford Clergy Association and has grown over the years into a communitywide event with participation from various faiths, ethnic groups and community organizations.

Organizers also are collecting sponsorships. Proceeds will benefit local community-based organizations. Last year the breakfast contributed to the Branford Counseling Center, the Community Dining Room, The Shoreline Emergency Fuel Fund and Feed Branford Kids.

The event is organized by St. Stephens AME Zion Church of Branford and Branford Rotary. Sponsorships are being accepted online at the ticket site and by mail to MLK Breakfast Committee, P.O. Box 3335, Branford, CT 06405.

For more information, email: mlkbreakfast2021@gmail.com.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com




Haiti - FLASH : Japan scholarship for Haitian teachers





Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology (MEXT) announces that it has just opened a scholarship program for current Haitian teachers.



Program : Teacher Training Student :

This program is aimed at current primary, secondary or teacher training teachers for the purpose of researching school education in Japan.



Requirements of Candidates :

- Be of Haitian nationality.

- Have a university or teaching training school diploma;

- Be a primary, secondary or teacher training teacher;

- Have at least 5 years of experience as a teacher as of October 1, 2021;

- Be born after April 2, 1986:

- Be able to go to Japan in September or October 2021;

- Have the motivation to learn Japanese and Japanese culture;

- Have a good command of English as the lessons will be taught in English.



More info : www.studyinjapan.go.jp/en/smap-stopj-applications-teacher.html



Selection steps :



Please read the necessary information carefully before applying. Download and complete the necessary documents mentioned on the MEXT website, in Japanese or English www.studyinjapan.go.jp/en/smap-stopj-applications-teacher.html



Deadline for submission of documents: February 3, 2021



1 - The results of the selection of files will generally be communicated to you by email. Submitted documents will not be returned.



2. Written exam on Embassy premises (mid-February 2021).



3. Interview in the premises of the Embassy (end of February 2021).



4. Selection at the level of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology in Japan.



5. Final result (beginning of July to mid-August 2021).



6. Immigration to Japan (September or October 2021).



Note that the dates may change depending on the situation.



IMPORTANT : Please note that the Embassy only accepts documents deposited at the Embassy (Hexagone 2F, Angles Rues Darguin et Clerveaux, Petion-Ville). However, given the Covid-19 outbreak, the Embassy is also accepting submissions by post but not by email.



No document will be accepted after the deadline. It is advisable to use a traceable means.



If you have any questions :

Email: culture@ht.mofa.go.jp

Telephone 2256-3333 / 5885



Website : www.studyinjapan.go.jp/en/



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Northern Irish haulier Stephen McAneney quips that Brexit came close to giving him a heart attack last week.

At McAneney's Allied Fleet Services, the phone was "ringing off the hook" as customers grappled with a new economic border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.

"It was just absolute bedlam," said McAneney, who saw shipments of potatoes, apples and cream destroyed after arriving in Northern Ireland without the right paperwork.

Marks & Spencer Group withdrew about 300 of its products from its Northern Irish stores as the new rules took force, and images of empty food shelves flooded social media. Some demanded the scrapping of the agreement designed to avoid the return of checkpoints in Ireland, known as the protocol.

Fast forward a week, and the teething problems are easing, with shoppers reporting that shelves are filling up again. Yet tensions over the protocol are set to remain a flash point in a deeply divided society.

"There are a lot of people with different agendas who want to portray the protocol as a disaster -- that ranges from Brexit supporters who are anti-protocol to anti-Brexit people," said Stephen Kelly, head of industry representative group Manufacturing NI. "That's not the case at this point. We're not starving."

After Ireland was divided in 1921, the mainly Protestant north remained in the U.K., separate from the largely Catholic rest of the island. By the 1970s, low-level violence erupted into a full-blown conflict in the north, which left more than 3,500 people dead.

The so-called "Troubles" largely ended with the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement. Coupled with Irish and British membership of the European Union, that allowed checkpoints along the 310-mile (500-kilometer) frontier running from near Derry in the north to Dundalk in the south to melt away.

The U.K.'s vote to exit the bloc in 2016 raised the specter of those blocks re-emerging, and potentially threatening the region's peace process.

Against that backdrop, Britain was forced to concede that it would continue to apply the bloc's customs rules and regulations in Northern Ireland -- putting a border, in effect, in the Irish Sea as opposed to within Ireland.

Goods at risk of moving into the EU from Great Britain through Northern Ireland face customs checks. The U.K. will also have to make regulatory checks on goods moving into Northern Ireland from the rest of Britain.

Once Brexit took hold on Jan. 1, problems sprang up. Some British retailers, such as John Lewis Partnership, decided to halt sales to Northern Ireland while the company "works through the new trading arrangement."

One trucker rejected 15 loads of food earmarked for the region because it didn't have the right paperwork, Seamus Leheny, policy manager at Logistics UK in Northern Ireland, told the Ulster Business podcast.

To an extent, Northern Ireland is being caught up in the wider battle British stores are facing exporting to the EU after Brexit, according to Rory O'Connor, who runs Scurri, a software platform connecting retailers to delivery firms. Some 70% of his business comes from the U.K.

"We've had a huge amount of inquiries from merchants who just aren't familiar with the particular new system, and they are just scratching their heads wondering what do they have to do," said O'Connor. "They are not aware of the requirements, and in a lot of cases, had no idea this was coming at this level or just ignored it."

The Democratic Unionist Party, which opposed the protocol from the outset, instantly branded its operation as a disaster and demanded it be scrapped. "We told you so," said the DUP's Sammy Wilson.

But the reality is more complicated.

"There have been some occasional empty shelves at some times -- but that's for a multitude of reasons, not just the protocol," said Kelly at Manufacturing NI. Other parts of the U.K. also faced supply disruptions due to Covid-related restrictions on travel at British ports at the end of last year.

Food shortages have never been widespread, and shoppers like Patrick Cooper, in Newry, close to the border with the south, had little difficulty in filling their baskets this week.

"The only things they were missing were apple juice and frozen Yorkshire pudding," said Cooper. "So no trouble there."

McAneney, the haulier, said the situation has improved, as clients adapted, and Kelly said exports from Northern Ireland are flowing smoothly.

The protocol, however, is set to remain a source of deep controversy. Unionists say it illustrates the difficulties of treating Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the U.K.

Nationalists defend it as ensuring the border between north and south of Ireland remains open. Any effort to dilute the protocol could fuel their calls for a referendum to unite the north and south of Ireland after a century of partition.

And for at least four years, when the power-sharing assembly gets a vote on the agreement, the protocol is unlikely to go away. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told lawmakers on Wednesday he'd have no hesitation trying to kill the protocol if the evidence justified it, but dismissed the early disruption as "teething problems."

There's no appetite among British or European leaders to revisit the arrangement now, said David Phinnemore, professor of European politics at Queens University Belfast.

"Rejecting the protocol by itself will not solve any problems," he said. "We need to see how it is really working."
| By Alex Likowski

Almost nine months to the day after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, Long Island ICU nurse Sandra Lindsay became the first American to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. I feel great, she told CNNs Anderson Cooper right afterward. My profession is deeply rooted in science. And I trust science. That was Dec. 14, and the Pfizer vaccine had just received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

A few days later, a second vaccine  Modernas  received EUA, prompting Operation Warp Speeds top scientist to predict that 20 million Americans would be vaccinated by the end of the year. Thats the same sort of optimism contained in a White House statement in September that said any American who wanted a vaccine should be able to get one by April.

(Clockwise from top left) Bruce Jarrell, Boyd Rutherford, Wilbur Chen, and David Marcozzi

As of this writing, Jan. 14, 30.6 million doses have been delivered to the 50 states, but only about a third of that number  11.1 million Americans  have received their first of two doses.

The latest numbers on Marylands COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard show that 178,000 Marylanders have received a first dose. Thats a hair under 3 percent of the states population. The national average is just a little over 3 percent.

So, why are things moving slower than many of us expected? Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said one factor is that guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may have been a little too rigid. He suggested loosening distribution rules, not a change in priorities, but a focus on what he called getting it into peoples arms.

In Maryland, the pace of vaccination is starting to quicken. On Jan. 8, Gov. Larry Hogan noted that 15,000 doses had been administered in just the previous 24 hours. And he dismissed ideas that would radically accelerate distribution. Such moves would rely on there being enough vaccine doses shipped in the future to meet the demand for those required second doses, three and four weeks after the first. I dont want to have vaccines laying around, he said. I also dont want to run out and not get to second doses.

On Jan. 12, mindful of public criticism, a pandemic thats raging more than ever, and a new and more easily transmissible strain of the virus, the CDC changed its vaccine distribution guidance, lowering the age of older Americans in the Priority 1A group from 75 to 65 and including adults of any age with certain co-morbidities.

Two days later, Hogan announced Marylands vaccine distribution plan would move to Phase 1B on Jan. 18, allowing residents 75 and older to be vaccinated, along with teachers, child care workers, and residents of assisted living facilities. A week later, Jan. 25, the state will move to Phase 1C, lowering the minimum age to 65 and adding essential workers in food production and distribution, manufacturing, public transportation, and others.

Just two hours before the governors Jan. 14 news conference, University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, explored the state of COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Maryland on his regular webcast, Virtual Face to Face with President Bruce Jarrell.

The panel included:

Maryland Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford, JD, MA , who has been an integral part of every aspect of the Marylands pandemic response, particularly in efforts to maintain the states day-to-day functioning and providing economic support for residents and small businesses.

, who has been an integral part of every aspect of the Marylands pandemic response, particularly in efforts to maintain the states day-to-day functioning and providing economic support for residents and small businesses. David Marcozzi, MD, MHS-CL, FACEP , who serves as Hogan's chief COVID-19 medical advisor. Marcozzi has served on the Governors Coronavirus Response Team from its inception. He serves as COVID-19 Incident Commander for the University of Maryland Medical System/UMB Unified Command. Hes also a professor in the University of Maryland School of Medicine's (UMSOM) Department of Emergency Medicine.

, who serves as Hogan's chief COVID-19 medical advisor. Marcozzi has served on the Governors Coronavirus Response Team from its inception. He serves as COVID-19 Incident Commander for the University of Maryland Medical System/UMB Unified Command. Hes also a professor in the University of Maryland School of Medicine's (UMSOM) Department of Emergency Medicine. Wilbur Chen, MD, MS, who also is a member of the Governors Coronavirus Response Team. Hes a professor of medicine at UMSOM, an infectious disease expert, and chief of the Adult Clinical Studies section at UMSOMs Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health.

Watch the entire discussion, including numerous questions from the audience, by accessing the link at the top of the page.

The EU's statistical agency said that imports from China into the EU between January and November 2020 grew by 4.3 percent year-on-year.

BRUSSELS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China continues to consolidate itself as the European Union's (EU) main trading partner and is the only country that has seen an increase in imports into the bloc during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Eurostat figures released on Friday.

The EU's statistical agency said that imports from China into the EU between January and November 2020 grew by 4.3 percent when compared with the same period the preceding year.

The value of imports from China grew to 350 billion euros (423 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eleven months of 2020, up from 335.6 billion euros in 2019.

Other trading partners such as the United States, Britain, Russia, Turkey, Japan, South Korea and India all experienced declined imports of goods into the EU.

For the exports, China, Turkey and South Korea experienced growth in exports from the EU. The value of exports to China saw modest growth of 1.1 percent, amounting to 182.7 billion euros.

EU exports to Turkey grew by 2.1 percent and by 3.5 percent to South Korea. All other trading partners showed in the Eurostat graphics registered declines in exports from the EU.

Trade with the United States recorded a significant drop in both imports (186.5 billion euros) and exports (322.3 billion euros), down by 13 percent and 9.3 percent respectively.

The statistics showed a somewhat strong recovery of the trading activities within the EU, as internal trade in the bloc in November 2020 saw an increase of 0.6 percent when compared with November 2019.

However, trade with the rest of the world remained gloomy in November. Imports into the EU stood at 151.3 billion euros, down by 6.2 percent compared with November 2019, and exports from the EU were worth 176.6 billion euros, a year-on-year drop of 1.5 percent. (1 euro = 1.21 U.S. dollars)
Many countries use fishing quotas, which determine how many fish of each species each country's fleets are allowed to catch, to manage shared fishing stock. Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Scotlands fishing industry has called out Boris Johnson for the "desperately poor" Brexit agreement, which has left fishermen with mounting losses and fears of their businesses collapsing.

In a letter to the PM, the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF) accused Johnson of misleading the public about the deal and giving the sector the worst of both worlds.

"You and your government have spun a line about a 25% uplift in quota for the UK, but you know this is not true, and your deal does not deliver that, SFFs chief executive Elspeth Macdonald said.

The scathing letter also detailed the impact of the deal.

It said some fishermen are now making a 72-hour round trip to land fish in Denmark, to ensure that their catch will make a fair price and actually find its way to market while still fresh enough to meet customer demands.

Many countries use fishing quotas  which determine how many fish of each species each country's fleets are allowed to catch  to manage shared fishing stock.

Macdonald said that Brexit quota gains "can hardly be claimed as a resounding success" and that the agreement "actually leaves the Scottish industry in a worse position on more than half of the key stocks.

The "desperately poor deal" reached on quotas, under which the EU "have full access to our waters" means that the UK has "no ability to leverage more fish from the EU", she added.

"This, coupled with the chaos experienced since 1 January in getting fish to market, means that many in our industry now fear for their future, rather than look forward to it with optimism and ambition."

READ MORE: Manufacturers in UK worried over new trading relationship with EU

Johnsons stated approach, known as zonal attachment, would have secured UK boats up to 90% of the catch in British waters, or important stocks such as herring.

Instead the agreement actually means Britains share of the herring catch is just 32.2% and percentage is even lower for other fish, while European Union boats have "unfettered" access to British waters.

Story continues

The SFF added: "Of major concern, however, is the outcome for many key whitefish species. Your deal actually leaves the Scottish industry in a worse position on more than half of the key stocks and now facing acute problems with North Sea cod and saithe in particular.

This industry now finds itself in the worst of both worlds. Your deal leaves us with shares that not only fall very far short of zonal attachment, but in many cases fail to 'bridge the gap' compared to historic catches, and with no ability to leverage more fish from the EU, as they have full access to our waters.

The letter comes after, Scottish fishermen saw orders cancelled by EU customers after delays at the border meant perishable shellfish was failing to arrive at its destination on time.

SNP shadow environment secretary Deidre Brock called the SFF's verdict on Brexit "utterly devastating", especially since fishing was one of the sectors that the government had specifically highlighted as seeing tangible benefits from leaving the EU.

WATCH: 10 ways to Brexit proof your finances
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Elon Musk wished Wikipedia a "Happy Birthday" on its 20th anniversary of service on the internet, saying that he is glad that the service exists, and he is known for his long-running relationship with the website. The relationship is not what users think, rather he initially fact-checked his profile on the website and asked users to edit it and "trash" him on the platform.

The popular eccentric CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, etc., Elon Musk, is known for his status as a "memer" and a massive internet troll, and users of Twitter cannot discern whether he is genuine or sarcastic with the greeting. Musk had an outstanding relationship with Wikipedia over the past years and he has been locked out of the website for trolling his profile.

Wikipedia is known to be an online, open-source website that uses entries from different people, donors, contributors, or editors for its content and information that is widely distributed on the web. Wikipedia is often considered as an "unreliable source" because of its open-edited information which anyone can take advantage of, for either educating or misleading people.

Read Also: Nvidia RTX 3060 Pre-Order Now Available: Price, Specs, and Everything You Need to Know!

Elon Musk Wishes Wikipedia A Happy Birthday

Recently, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO (@elonmusk) replied to a birthday tweet by Wikipedia on the celebration of their 20th anniversary, joining its merry commemoration with its massive followers on Twitter. Elon Musk also continued to say that he is "So glad you exist," in a plain manner, suggesting that it may be sarcastic or genuine.

Happy birthday Wikipedia! So glad you exist.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 15, 2021

Elon Musk Trolls Wikipedia and Gets Locked Out

Musk was always been a troll towards Wikipedia, as he confirmed it via the past years, urging people to edit his Wiki page and put different information which is unrelated to him. The CEO's page is still locked out for editing, because of his 2019 fiasco that invited people to change information with the best and silliest "roast" or trashing they can say about Musk.

According to Elon Musk's 2019 tweet, he viewed his Wiki page for the first time in years, and says that what was written on the webpage was "insane." However, one fact bugged him out and asked his followers to edit the "investor" part because Elon Musk did "basically zero investing" in the open-source website.

Happy birthday Wikipedia! So glad you exist.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 15, 2021

Moreover, Business Insider said that Elon Musk asked his followers to edit his Wikipedia page and "trash" him on the website, on the course of him asking to edit the information that is present, as it was inaccurate of him. The CEO even regarded that his page is "a war zone with a zillion edits" and that he would soon replace the information with a fictional reality of his.

My wiki is a war zone with a zillion edits. At least its obviously not curated! Some day, I should probably write what *my* fictionalized version of reality is   Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2019

Is Elon Musk a Wikipedia User?

While Elon Musk speaks openly of Wikipedia, he is not a user or uses the website as his source. The CEO interacts with the website because of his trolling, mainly poking fun at Wikipedia because of its open-source status and availability to put in any information which one wants.

Related Article: Elon Musk Boosts 'Signal Advance' Stock to 1,100 Percent But is the Wrong Company-CEO Meant the Messaging App!





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Written by Isaiah Alonzo

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
1. Yes. The public must have assurances that ethical standards are met by everyone.

2. Yes. As long as an independent board hears the grievances, its a worthwhile idea.

3. No. The concept is too broad. It should be limited to the citys elected officials.

4. No. There are plenty of stipulations in place already. An ordinance is a waste of time.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say without seeing how it would be structured and applied.

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In Barrys Windhall (Pegasus Crime, Mar.), an unsolved 1948 murder obsesses L.A. journalist Max Hailey decades later.

Youve lived in Australia for several years. Was it a challenge to write about Hollywood, both old and contemporary, from such a distance?

Im actually a native Californian who lived in Los Angeles for three years after college in Santa Cruz. On my days off I would drive around and visit all these famous sites: the Witch House in Beverly Hills, filming locations for Chinatown, Westwood Memorial Park where Marilyn Monroes crypt is. Im obsessed with both present-day Los Angeles and the citys rich history.

What is it about the golden age of Hollywood that grabbed you to begin with?

It contained the perfect balance of incredibly talented people and a limited amount of authority or oversight. Even in the 40s, Hollywood was still considered by some to be the Wild West. Adventure and new frontiers have always appealed to me, and Los Angeles in its infancy was kind of the last American frontier. It grew to become this chaotic adult playground. The craziest story I read is probably the one about the corpse of John Barrymore: director Raoul Walsh borrowed his friends dead body from a funeral home and took it to Errol Flynns as a prank. Events like that were the norm. There was a haunting element to many of the stars lives, which fascinated me. And as a result of WWII, a lot of artistic European nobles fled to Los Angeles.

What did your research involve?

I was fortunate to meet Daniel Selznick, David O. Selznicks son, when I lived in L.A. He was a regular customer at a restaurant where I worked, and he and his wife were very friendly and conversational. We would chat about Old Hollywood; I learned a lot from them. I had dinner at Musso & Franks restaurant on Hollywood Boule-vard, which was and still is a legendary gathering spot for actors and other film folk. It was mandatory, too, to spend time at the famous Graumans Chinese Theatre and Grau-mans Egyptian Theatre, where all the big film premiers were held back in the day. My intention was to soak up as much of the atmosphere of that incredible time in L.A. as possible.

Did Windhall, the mansion where the crime occurs, actually exist?

Windhall isnt based on any one house; its a compilation of historic houses and abandoned places that I have visited, including Liza Minellis childhood home, which is now just this big dilapidated mansion.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 23:43:08|Editor: huaxia

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-- On Saturday, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi concluded a six-day Southeast Asia visit, which took him to Myanmar, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines.

-- China and ASEAN have reached consensus on stronger cooperation in a range of areas including COVID-19 vaccines, economic recovery and regional stability.

-- Closer China-ASEAN economic cooperation would become the locomotive driving global economic recovery.





HONG KONG, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- This year marks the 30th anniversary of the dialogue relations between China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The past three decades have seen China-ASEAN relations grow closer and stronger despite trials and hardships. At present, joint steps by China and ASEAN member states to build a community with a shared future are opening a new chapter toward China-ASEAN common prosperity.

"Since its launch, China-ASEAN cooperation has always been results-oriented, pioneering and responsive to the trend of the times," Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in an interview with Xinhua earlier this month. "It has become the most successful and vibrant example of regional cooperation."

On Saturday, Wang concluded a six-day Southeast Asia visit, which took him to Myanmar, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines. During the trip, China and ASEAN have reached consensus on stronger cooperation in a range of areas including COVID-19 vaccines, economic recovery and regional stability.

People unload medical materials donated by China in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, April 23, 2020. (Photo by Jeffrey Wong/Xinhua)

MUTUAL SUPPORT AGAINST PANDEMIC

The East Asia region has set an example for the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Wang told a joint press conference on Wednesday with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

Donations of medical supplies from ASEAN member states supported China when it was at the height of its fight against the disease. China returned the favor by offering medical supplies, dispatching medical teams, sharing prevention and treatment experiences and enhancing vaccine cooperation.

On Thursday, Indonesia launched its massive COVID-19 vaccination drive, using a vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech. President Joko Widodo received the first shot in a show of confidence for the vaccine.

Members of a Chinese medical team assisting the Myanmar government's efforts in fight against COVID-19 board the plane before departure at the Kunming Changshui International Airport in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, April 8, 2020. (Photo by Chen Xinbo/Xinhua)

Vaccine cooperation has become a new highlight in bilateral relations and shows the brotherly friendship between the two peoples, Wang said when meeting with Retno.

"China is willing to work with Indonesia to promote cooperation in the research and development, procurement and production of COVID-19 vaccines," Wang said.

China has promised to make Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines a global public good to lead global recovery from the pandemic.

Indonesia and Malaysia have ordered 125.5 million and 14 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine respectively. Thailand and the Philippines are also expected to receive millions of doses from China in the coming months.

China also decided to donate a batch of COVID-19 vaccines to Myanmar and the Philippines, and continue to help them combat the novel coronavirus.

Workers work at the construction site of the China-funded Binondo-Intramuros Bridge in Manila, the Philippines, Nov. 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)





CATALYST OF GLOBAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY

With the pandemic still raging around the world and governments struggling to strike a balance between containing COVID-19 and restarting the economy, analysts see cooperative action as the way out.

During Wang's visit to Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, he said China is willing to work with Indonesia to jointly put into force the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) at the earliest possible date and release the dividends of the world's largest free trade bloc.

The RCEP brings together 15 Asia-Pacific countries, which together account for almost 30 percent of the world's population and about 30 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).

A member of the Chinese medical expert team checks the medical equipment at a converted COVID-19 quarantine facility at the Philippine International Conference Center in Manila, the Philippines, April 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Yuan Mengchen)

"It is a win-win agreement. Nobody loses, and everybody wins," said Dino Patti Djalal, a former Indonesian ambassador to the United States.

The signing of the RCEP will provide further impetus to China-ASEAN economic cooperation, with ASEAN set to play an increasingly important role in China's manufacturing ecosystem, said Koh King Kee, president of Malaysia's think tank Center for New Inclusive Asia.

Trade between China and ASEAN members has been growing robustly despite the pandemic. According to data released by the Chinese General Administration of Customs, two-way trade volumes climbed seven percent in 2020, making ASEAN China's largest trading partner.

"By cooperating, ASEAN and China can become a powerful catalyst of global progress and trade," said Wilson Lee Flores, an analyst and columnist at the English daily the Philippine Star.

When visiting Brunei, the Chinese state councilor called for efforts to open "fast tracks" for personnel movement, plan and build "green lanes" for the movement of goods, and maintain the stability of industry chains and supply chains. In Indonesia, Wang said that China is willing to expand Indonesia's exports to China and increase investments in Indonesia.

China has also been working with relevant ASEAN countries to speed up the construction of major projects and push for the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with local development strategies.

Photo taken on Sept. 3, 2020 shows the construction site of box girder erection of the China-built Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Railway in Indonesia. (Xinhua/Zulkarnain)

Tang Zhimin, director of China ASEAN Studies in the Bangkok-based Panyapiwat Institute of Management, said strengthening bilateral cooperation on emerging sectors such as 5G, the digital economy, artificial intelligence and big data application will help foster new growth drivers in the region.

Closer China-ASEAN economic cooperation would become the locomotive driving global economic recovery, Tang said.





ANCHOR OF REGIONAL STABILITY

Solid and harmonious relations between ASEAN and China will be a strong anchor for the Asia-Pacific region's stability, economic development and world peace now beset with uncertainties and complex problems, Flores said.

The consensus on maintaining regional peace and stability has been one of the highlights during Wang's tour, as the countries have vowed to manage disputes through negotiations, Tang said.

China wishes to strengthen cooperation and solidarity with all ASEAN countries and properly manage disputes, so as to ensure that the South China Sea is peaceful and stable, Wang said at talks with Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah.

Local people display Chinese paper cutting during the opening ceremony of the China Day Cultural Carnival in Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of Brunei, Dec. 26, 2020. (Photo by Jeffrey Wong/Xinhua)

In Myanmar, Wang said the "Paukphaw" (fraternal) friendship between the two countries will be further carried forward and the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership will be further strengthened after the challenges posed by the pandemic.

When meeting with Retno, Wang said that China is willing to work with Indonesia to properly manage differences and jointly maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.

In Myanmar, the country's President U Win Myint said Myanmar is willing to play an active role in advancing China-ASEAN relations and Lancang-Mekong Cooperation.

When meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, the Chinese foreign minister said China stands ready to work with the Philippines to staunchly safeguard each other's legitimate rights and interests in the international and regional arenas, defend the common interests of developing countries and uphold international equity and justice.

A plane carrying the third batch raw materials for Sinovac coronavirus vaccines arrives at Sukarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia, Jan. 12, 2021. (Lukas/Presidential Palace/Handout via Xinhua)

Among the relations between ASEAN and its dialogue partners, China-ASEAN relations are the most dynamic and fruitful, and have become an important pillar for regional peace and stability, development and prosperity, Wang said at talks with ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi.

Established in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

(Video reporters: Xia Peng, Yang Ke, Zhang Dongqiang; Video editor: Zhou Saang)
Australian man living in Tulum arrested on rape charges

Tulum, Q.R.  An Australian man living in Tulum has been arrested on rape charges from an incident in 2018. The Attorney General of the State of Quintana Roo says that Andrew H has been arrested after a court found probable cause.

According to a statement from the Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE), the court found probable cause against Andrew H for the crime of rape to the detriment of a minor victim with a reserved identity.

The FGE says prosecutors presented evidence for events that occurred on July 19, 2018, in the municipality of Tulum. A judge has ordered Andrew H to remain in preventive detention in the Center for Social Reintegration (CERESO), while the Public Ministry was granted one month and fifteen days to close the complementary investigation.
China has threatened a 'counterstrike' against Australia after Canberra condemned Beijing's mass arrest of 55 politicians and activists in Hong Kong.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao, who has a fake image of an Australian soldier holding a bloody knife to a child's throat pinned to the top of his Twitter account, said anyone who gets in the way of China's affairs would suffer.

'The Chinese people's resolve to defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity is unshakeable and we will not permit any person or force to stop the process of China's reunification,' he told a press briefing on Monday.

'Any actions which harm China's core interests will be met with a resolute counterstrike and will not succeed.'

China's People's Liberation Army pictured in the restive Xinjiang region on January 4. China has threatened 'counterstrikes' against Australia after Canberra criticised its mass arrests

Beijing blasted Canberra for signing a condemnation of its arrest of more than 50 activists and politicians on January 6 for holding an independent election to choose democratic candidates

The threat is the latest in a torrent of abuse calling Australia 'evil' and 'meddling' as the Chinese Communist Party lashes out against criticism of its authoritarian crackdown.

The outburst comes after Canberra joined three key allies to condemn China's mass arrests in Hong Kong, accusing it of breaching its international obligation to respect the city's autonomy.

Hong Kong is a former British territory whose democratic rules, human rights and economic freedoms were guaranteed by the terms of a 1997 handover treaty as it transitions to become part of China in 2047.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne (pictured December 4) signed a joint condemnation of China's crackdown with her counterparts in Canada, Britain and the U.S

Beijing rounded up its opponents at dawn in the territory on January 6 for 'subversion' under a new National Security Law imposed in June.

Police arrested more than 50 politicians and activists over an independent and unofficial ballot in July to select democratic candidates for a legislature election that has been postponed.

Beijing warned the election may violate the controversial new law which critics say crushes the freedoms established in Hong Kong by 156 years of British rule.

The joint statement that infuriated Beijing was released last Sunday by Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne along with her counterparts in Canada, the U.S. and U.K.

A pro-democracy protester is detained by riot police in Hong Kong last May. International leaders are deeply concerned about China's crackdown in the city where the democratic laws are protected by a 1997 handover treaty with Britain that does not expire until 2047

Relations between Australia and China have soured over the past three years over several issues. Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, Premier Li Keqiang, second from left, and top leaders at a New Year gathering on December 31, 2020

It called on Beijing to conduct Hong Kong's upcoming September elections fairly and to guarantee the rights of its people without fear of arrest.

'The National Security Law is a clear breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and undermines the 'One Country, Two Systems' framework,' the statement said.

'It has curtailed the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.'

'It is clear that the National Security Law is being used to eliminate dissent and opposing political views.'

China's retribution was voiced on Tuesday on Global Times' Twitter which declared it 'strongly condemned' the joint statement on its arrest of '53 anti-govt figures for illegal primary election'.

China's official Foreign Ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao has had this offensive fake picture of an Australian soldier holding a bloody knife to a child's throat pinned to his Twitter account since November

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao at a press conference in November. Mr Zhao has blasted Australia for condemning China's authoritarian crackdown in Hong Kong

Beijing has further responded through its CCP-owned Global Times newspaper to declare that the four allies were meddling in its 'domestic affairs' with the joint statement.

China considers both the transitional special autonomous region of Hong Kong and the independent democratic state of Taiwan to be its 'domestic affairs'.

An opinion piece in the Global Times on Thursday carried on the attack, seeking division in Australia's most important security network, the Five Eyes alliance.

New Zealand was the only Five Eyes member not to sign the joint declaration, prompting Global Times' Xu Shanpin to write glowingly of how Wellington had the most guts to say 'no' to the U.S. and was 'frozen out' of the ANZUS treaty.

'Cracks, quarrels and disagreements are possible in the Five Eyes alliance,' Xu wrote.

'But the alliance won't easily crumble.'

Riot police after a pro-democracy rally in Hong Kong in May. Police dispersed protesters with tear gas and water cannons as thousands of protesters gathered against the deeply unpopular National Security Law which critics say has crushed political freedom in Hong Kong

Riot police detain a protester on July 1 in Hong Kong. Citizens of the territory are frightened that Beijing will not respect their freedoms guaranteed by the British handover-treaty

Beijing has also been enraged by Australia's blocking of its Pacific expansion ambitions such as its attempt to have Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei provide the submarine internet cables to Pacific Island nations, and Australia's 5G network.

Last month, an editorial by the Global Times accused Australia of being 'a warhound of the U.S', that should 'restrain its arrogance'.

'Australia's evil acts towards China have made Chinese society not only surprised but also disgusted. Many Chinese people feel as if they have swallowed a fly when hearing about Australia,' the editorial said.

'Australia treats China's goodwill with evil. It is not worthy to argue with it. If it does not want to do business with China, so be it. Its politics, military and culture should stay far away from China - let's assume the two countries are not on the same planet.'

A senior Chinese academic advisor to the Chinese Communist Party says the diplomatic spat has no end in sight and the stand-off with the West would continue.

'Disputes and occasionally low-intensity conflict over the South China Sea will continue as before,' he told a forum hosted by Singapore's Straits Times.

He also conceded that Beijing's economic punishments of Australia were sanctions in response to Canberra's call for an independent investigation into the origins of Covid which emerged in Wuhan, China.

China's People's Liberation Army raise the flag at Tiananmen Square on New Year's Day

The diplomatic spat between Canberra and Beijing has been a disaster for trade deals with China strangling Australian exports of timber, coal, lobster, barley and wine.

Australia is not going to resile from its position on the Hong Kong National Security Law despite economic and diplomatic pressure.

Canberra considers the situation in Hong Kong to be so grave it suspended its extradition treaty with the city on July 9, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying the National Security Law erodes the democratic principles that have underpinned Hong Kong's society and the One Country, Two Systems framework.

The friction between the two nations is only likely to increase, after the U.S. removed restrictions on interactions between U.S. and Taiwanese officials over the weekend, a legacy of earlier appeasement policies.
In a significant leap in Indias public health history, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the COVID-19 vaccine drive in the country, the worlds largest vaccination drive so far. The first day of the massive countrywide COVID-19 vaccination program was conducted successfully.

READ | COVID-19 vaccine launch: Netizens laud PM Modi; 'LargestVaccineDrive' hashtag trends on Twitter

A total of 3,352 sessions were held wherein 1,91,181 beneficiaries were vaccinated as per the provisional reports. Additional 3,429 beneficiaries were vaccinated in defence institutions. As many as 16,755 personnel were actively involved in organizing the immunization session sites.

READ | Gradually heading towards victory against COVID-19, says Health Minister; warns against rumours

Two types of COVID-19 vaccines have been supplied for the vaccination drive: Covishield vaccine (made by Serum Institute of India Ltd) has been supplied to all States/UTs and Covaxin vaccine (made by Bharat Biotech International Ltd) has been supplied to 12 states. Adequate quantities of vaccines and logistics were ensured at all COVID-19 vaccination session sites across the country. Minor issues such as some delay in uploading of the beneficiary list at some session sites were successfully resolved.

READ | As COVID-19 vaccine drive starts, here's full list of documents needed for registration

The first COVID-19 vaccine shots in India were given to nearly two lakh frontline healthcare and sanitary workers. The pandemic has caused 1,52,093 deaths and upended millions of lives in the country. As PM Modi asserted that the two vaccines being deployed will ensure a 'decisive victory' for India against the coronavirus, the Union Health Ministry said no case of post-inoculation hospitalisation has been reported so far and the vaccination drive was successful.

READ | COVID-19 vaccination temporarily suspended in this state; know why

Sanitation workers were the first to get the jabs in Delhi and some states. However, it emerged in the night that there were two cases--a nurse in West Bengal and a security guard in Delhi--which required hospitalisation after they developed an allergic reaction, according to a West Bengal government official and AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria. Their condition was described by doctors as stable.

READ | Volunteered to get vaccinated as...: Here's what Manish Kumar said after getting first COVID-19 jab in Delhi

News agency PTI quoted the official as saying that a 35-year-old nurse in Kolkata was hospitalised after she lost consciousness post administration of Covishield and she was among the 14 AEFI (Adverse event following immunisation) cases reported from different parts of the state. He said allergic reactions after vaccination are common.

READ | Historic and memorable day, says Ravi Shankar Prasad on worlds largest vaccine drive against COVID-19

The security guard, who is in his 20s and was administered Covaxin at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, complained of palpitations and developed an allergic skin rash within 15-20 minutes after being inoculated and was admitted to the facility, according to Dr Guleria, reported PTI.

READ | PM Modi gets emotional as he launches COVID-19 vaccination drive: WATCH

Quoting official figures, PTI reported that one "severe" and 51 "minor" cases of AEFI were reported among health workers administered the vaccine in the national capital. A sense of joy and excitement was witnessed at medical centres across the country with the beneficiaries being administered the Covishield and Covaxin vaccines less than a year after India recorded the first coronavirus case in Kerala on January 30 last.

READ | World's largest COVID-19 vaccine drive celebrates Make in India at scale that is unparalleled: PM Modi

"These vaccines will ensure a decisive victory for India against coronavirus," PM Modi said amid a collective sigh of relief that the mass vaccination could finally be the beginning of the end of the COVID-19 trauma at a time when there is a significant drop in daily coronavirus cases.

READ | India fought most successful war against coronavirus in world under PM Modi's leadership: Amit Shah

Addressing the nation ahead of the launch of what he described as the world's largest vaccination programme, PM Modi reassured the country that emergency use authorisation was given to the two made in India vaccines only after scientists were convinced of their safety and effectiveness, and urged people to beware of propaganda and rumours.

Manish Kumar, a 34-year-old sanitation worker, was the first recipient of the vaccine shot at Delhi, the Union Health Ministry said.

Kumar, who works at the AIIMS along with his mother Laxmi Rani, said he was not at all nervous and was "proud of getting the vaccine", as speculation swirled in some quarters about safety levels of Covaxin that was administered to him in the presence of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.

Kumar said many of the staff who were to get the jabs were scared. So I went to my seniors and said I should be given the vaccine first. I wanted to prove to my colleagues that there is no need to be scared," he told PTI.

Injecting confidence in the people, several high profile persons, including AIIMS director Randeep Guleria, NITI Aayog member V K Paul, who is also head of an empowered group on medical equipment and management plan to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, Serum Institute of India(SII) CEO Adar Poonawallah, West Bengal minister Nirmal Maji, BJP MP Mahesh Sharma, who is a doctor by profession, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, Dr Prathap C Reddy and Chairman of Manipal Hospitals Sudarshan Ballal also received their first shot of the two-dose vaccine.

Senior doctors received the first shot at many identified vaccination sites to dispel any apprehensions about the vaccine. Vardhan told reporters that the two vaccines -- Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and Covishield from the Oxford/AstraZeneca stable manufactured by the SII -- were a 'sanjivani', life infusing, in the fight against the pandemic.

"We have got encouraging and satisfactory feedback results on the first day. This indicates that we are moving towards victory in the fight against coronavirus," he said during a review meeting in the evening.

India has the second-highest recorded cases of COVID-19 after the US. The caseload stood at 1,05,42,841 as on Saturday. Health workers who got their first shots of Covaxin at the AIIMS were made to sign a consent form that promised compensation in case of a "severe adverse event" related to the vaccine.

Covaxin has demonstrated the ability to produce antibodies against COVID-19 in phase one and phase two trials. "However, the clinical efficacy is yet to be established and it is still being studied in phase 3 clinical trial," the form read. Hence, it is important to appreciate that receiving the vaccine does not mean that other precautions related to COVID-19 need not be followed, it said.

In his address, Prime Minister Modi reminded people that two doses of the vaccine are very important and asked them to continue with masks and social distancing even after receiving the jabs. "Dawaai bhi, kadaai bhi," PM Modi said, asking people to guard against complacency and follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.

The shots are first being offered to an estimated one crore healthcare workers, and around two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities. The cost of vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers will be borne by the central government.

From the heights of Ladakh to coastal Kerala, there was an almost festive air at many hospitals and medical centres decorated with flowers, balloons and buntings. Prayers, and sweets and gift hampers too, were offered in several places. One video showed a vaccine box being garlanded as a nurse performed an 'arti'. "It's a great day for humankind. I feel elated to get the first dose," said Bipasha Seth, a doctor at a private hospital in Kolkata.

It's a big day, agreed state Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim. We were in a state of depression for the last year. From today, we will again relive our lives," he said. In Gujarat, the drive began at 161 centres in the state where the vaccine jabs were administered to health workers almost simultaneously. "I am honoured that my name has been selected for the first dose of vaccine at this centre in Rajkot. I didn't have any apprehensions," said Ashok Bhai, who drives a medical van and was among the first recipients in the state.

In Mumbai, JJ Hospital Dean Dr Ranjit Mankeshwar was among the first in the state to get the shot. The inoculation drive is taking place at 285 centres in Maharashtra. Ranganath Bhojje, a worker at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), kicked off the vaccination drive in the coastal state and said he was feeling 'rather lucky'.

In Madhya Pradesh, where healthcare workers were welcomed with flowers at some centres and doctors performed a 'puja' at a temple in Gwalior, a sanitation worker was among the first beneficiaries. Tulsa Tandi, a 51-year-old sanitation worker was first in the queue in Chhattisgarh. "Tulsa Tandi, a Swacchtakarmi (sanitation worker) at the Dr B R Ambedkar Memorial Hospital Raipur since 2008, was the first person to get vaccinated in the state," state director for the National Health Mission Priyanka Shukla told PTI.

Tamil Nadu rolled out the COVID-19 vaccination drive at 166 sites across the state with a government doctor the first to be administered the shot. And in Telangana, a woman sanitation worker received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a Hyderabad hospital to cheers and claps. Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy and Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender formally launched the vaccination programme at the state-run Gandhi Hospital.

The drive to combat COVID-19 began in Kerala at 133 designated centres with prominent government doctors among the first batch of frontline workers to be administered the vaccine. State Health Minister KK Shailaja said 13,300 healthcare workers will be covered in a single day.

with additional inputs from news agency PTI
A man from Sydney who was previously convicted as a supporter of Islamic State has been thrown back in jail after allegedly accessing material about beheadings and torture.

Radwan Dakkak, 25, was arrested at his Denistone home on Saturday morning by Australian Federal Police for allegedly breaching a court order restricting his activities.

He allegedly accessed material online that supported the carrying out of executions, beheadings and torture, AFP Acting Commander Alex Nicholson said.

Radwan Dakkak (pictured), 25, was arrested at his Denistone home on Saturday morning by Australian Federal Police

'(Dakkak) has an extremist ideology aligned with the ISIS (Islamic State) terror network,' he said.

Dakkak was released from prison on January 1 after serving an 18-month sentence for two counts of associating with a terrorist organisation.

He pleaded guilty to both counts.

In December, Federal Court Justice David Yates banned Dakkak from using Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and other messaging apps and social media, because of his radicalisation and lack of remorse.

Other elements of the control order include a curfew, reporting requirements, and a prohibition on paid employment without informing the AFP first.

'Prior to his incarceration, Dakkak associated with a number of persons who supported the ideology and activities of Islamic State, both in person, on the telephone and online through social networking platforms,' an annexure to Justice Yates's reasons stated.

'His network is wide-ranging, and interactions include discussions about extremist ideology and religiously motivated violence, including jihad.'

As a result of the alleged breaches, Dakkak was charged on Saturday with three counts of contravening a control order.

The offence carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.

Mr Nicholson said officers in his counter-terrorism unit were able to act quickly on the alleged breaches because of their 'continued monitoring' of Dakkak's control order.

'That's what we do to maintain community safety,' he said.

'No specific or impending threat to the community has been identified in relation to today's activity or this investigation.'
Citing widespread worry over political violence, Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti on Friday said City Hall will close next week through the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

The building was already set to close Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but concerns for safety amid reports of planned armed protests and potential violence at government buildings prompted additional closures Tuesday and Wednesday, the day Biden takes office. City Hall employees will work remotely those days.

I want to be clear that at this time there is no known direct threat to Scranton City Hall or other properties in Scranton, Cognetti said in a statement. This decision is made out of an abundance of caution, following the closure of the Pennsylvania Capitol Complex in Harrisburg on these same days.

The security concerns come more than a week after a mob, stoked to violence by months of lies that President Donald Trump was cheated out of a rightful second term, stormed the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the certification of Bidens win by Congress. Five people died.

The FBI sent a bulletin to law enforcement agencies warning of the potential for armed protests at all 50 state capitols between Saturday and Wednesday, ABC News reported.

Lackawanna County Sheriff Mark McAndrew met this week with officials from across the law enforcement spectrum to put a plan in place should violence erupt between now and Bidens inauguration.

McAndrew, who stressed that there is no credible threat of violence in the county, declined to detail logistics, citing security issues, but said, we have the necessary people on standby and ready to go if the need arises. The meeting took place Thursday in McAndrews office with members of the Scranton police, U.S. Marshals and state police.

All the law enforcement (partners) are increasing their manpower he said.

Asked if special attention would be paid to government buildings like the Lackawanna County Courthouse or county government center, McAndrew said, yes, the answer to your question is yes.

I cant speak about the logistical part but weve gone over scenarios which could occur, and we know how to respond to each scenario that may present itself to us, McAndrew said.

Cognetti said Thursday in a virtual town hall that she, interim Police Chief Leonard Namiotka and a police sergeant were on a phone call with the FBI earlier in the week to monitor and track the issue.

We are working very hard to monitor the citys safety, Cognetti said. Thats something that is on our minds.

Gov. Tom Wolf said approximately 450 members of the Pennsylvania National Guard are on state active duty to support security in Pennsylvania. More than 1,000 members of the guard are in Washington, D.C., as well. Wolf said he will not allow what happened in Washington, D.C., last week to happen in Pennsylvania.

That is why I am taking the necessary measures to ensure everyones safety and security across our great commonwealth, Wolf said.



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The Boogaloo Boys movement has said it is moving ahead with armed rallies in D.C. and at all 50 state capitols on Sunday despite the National Guard being called in across the country.

Fringe website associated with the anti-government movement continue to encourage members to come armed at their 'personal discretion'

It comes amid fears of further violence following the January 6 riot on the U.S. captiol by a pro-Trump mob that lead to the five deaths, with ten states deploying their National Guard to deal with the potential threat.

Texas, Kentucky and Virginia have all closed their state captiols after intelligance warned of a threat from 'violent extremists'.

D.C. has called in 25,000 National Guard troops to guard the streets in and around the Capitol in the days leading up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on January 20. They are being joined by patrols by the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the Capitol Police and law enforcement from cities around the country.

There are at least 7,000 troops from dozens of states already on the ground in the nation's capital with more to arrive in the coming days.

Officials have installed a massive security apparatus around the complex where the inauguration is to take place.

The FBI has also warned police agencies of possible armed protests at all 50 state capitols starting January 16 through January 20, fuelled by supporters of Trump who believe his false claims of electoral fraud.

Michigan, Virginia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Washington are among the states that have activated their National Guards to strengthen security.

D.C: The National Guard secure the area near the Capitol for possible protest ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration

D.C.: Unprecedented armed security at the nation's capital ahead of President Biden's Inauguration

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Texas Dept. of Public Safety riot police stand guard at the Texas Capitol in Austin

SALEM, OREGON: Workers cover ground floor windows with plywood at the state Capitol building

MADISON, WISCONSIN: Workers set up a vehicle barricade on the E. Washington Ave. side of the Wisconsin Capitol

D.C: A member of the National Guard stands at a road block in D.C. on Saturday morning

D.C.: Secret Service guarded the U.S. Capitol on Saturday ahead of a potential armed rally on Sunday

D.C.: Police officers and National Guard troops behind a security fence at the US Capitol on Saturday

D.C: Officials have installed a massive security apparatus around the complex where the inauguration is to take place

AUSTIN, TEXAS: A small group of protesters stand outside the Texas state capitol on Saturday after its closure

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS: Workers close off an entrance to the Illinois State Capitol in preparations for possible protests

D.C: The streets are nearly empty with non-scalable fencing guarded by a larger presence of Secret Service officers, near the White House ahead of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, as pictured above

D.C.: A police helicopter flies by the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial as the city prepares for protests

Law enforcement officials have trained much of their focus on Sunday, when the anti-government 'boogaloo' movement has flagged its plans to hold rallies in all 50 states.

Chatter around such protests is present on some social media, said Jared Holt, a disinformation researcher at the Washington-based think tank the Atlantic Council, and an internal FBI bulletin this week warned of extremist threats at such events.

'Although no civil disobedience has been confirmed, organizers have encouraged attendees to bring weapons to the event,' the FBI bulletin said of the protest.

Organizers 'are still intent on going forward,' Holt added. 'It remains unclear what we could expect as far as turnout goes for that.'

The original post announcing the rallies dates back to November 24 on a website linked to the Boogaloos named Tree of Liberty, according to CBS.

D.C: National Guard troops assemble outside of the U.S. Captiol on Saturday morning

D.C: After last week's riots at the U.S. Capitol Building, the FBI has warned of additional threats in the nation's capital and in all 50 states. aAs many as 25,000 National Guard soldiers will be guarding D.C. as preparations are made for the inauguration

D.C: Soldiers in the Maryland National Guard in preparation in D.C. on Saturday morning

D.C: National Guard troops march by security fencing near the U.S. Capitol as they arrive on Saturday

D.C: National Guard troops have also been called in from surrounding stataes to D.C.

D.C: Members of the US National Guard patrol near the US Capitol ahead of potential protests on Sunday

It declared an 'armed march on Capitol Hill and all state capitols' scheduled for January 17 and while stating that the rally would be peaceful, urged members to 'come armed at your personal discretion'.

'This will be a chance for Americans young and old to physically demonstrate to the world the massive amount of armed citizens in this country,' wrote one moderator.

Despite the calls for the rallies to remain peaceful, commenters underneath the post suggested that executions were necessary to solve problems in the U.S., according to CBC.

The status of the rallies remained uncertain after last week's storming of the Capitol with a further post stating it was 'pending status given the events that have taken place'.

Yet a member of the group who identified themselves to CBS as a press contact has now said that they have made the decision to move ahead.

They added that the group is working alongside law enforcement, despite their anti-givernment stance, to ensure that further violence does not erupt at Sunday's events.

A post on the Tree of Liberty website from January 10 called on rally participants to be peaceful on Sunday

There was incertainty around the rallies following this post but the group has confirmed it is going ahead

D.C.: National Guard troops sitting in a humvee near a checkpoint into the US Capitol on Saturday

D.C.: Barricades at a security checkpoint near the U.S. Capitol on Saturday morning

D.C.: Large fencing has been placed around the U.S. Capitol ahead of potential violence in the coming days

The Boogaloos have also allegedly urged fellow far-right group The Proud Boys and MAGA supporters not to attend to prevent tensions from arising.

'The 1/17 events will continue, and safeguards are in place to assure that nothing violent happens concerning the Boogaloo Boys,' the spokesperson told CBS.

'I cannot speak on behalf of the Proud Boys or MAGA people, and we made it clear that we'd rather not see them there.'

The cooperation with law enforcement and federal officals has led to some members posting warnings to others that the January 17 protest is being used as a 'trap'.

Yet the Tree of Liberty administrator who spoke to CBS said that they had been left with no choice.

'We have made it very clear that we are working with authorities to pick out anybody who has plans to do anything violent and ensure that they are intervened with before the event,' he said.

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Protesters had already gathered outside of the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Saturday

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Texas State Troopers guarded the state capitol after the small group of armed protesters arrived

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Martin Holsome speaks to a small group of protesters outside the Texas state capitol on Saturday morning as he speaks about his intention to run against the state's current governer Gregg Abbott

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Several of the protesters were heavily armed and wore protection vests

SALEM, OREGON: Workers cover ground floor windows with plywood at the state Capitol building on Saturday

SALEM, OREGON: A fence has been set up around the state capitol as the National Guard were called in

SALEM, OREGON: California, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin have all called in their National Guard so far. Oregon is also boarding up the state capitol in preparation, as pictured

The spokesperson said they did 'not want to be involved with law enforcement' but that they had been 'doxxed', referring to the harrassment tactic in which a person's priavte and personal information is posted on the internet by strangers.

'I no longer have that option. I was doxxed, and now I either comply or I go to prison,' he claimed.

The Tree of Liberty site has since been taken down after the Canadian company that was hosting its servers decided to pull the plug on Wednesday.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Boogaloo Boys are 'primarily anti-government, anti-authority and anti-police in nature'.

Its members are radical pro-gun advocates who embrace the idea of a second American Civil War  which they call the boogaloo, taken from the 1984 film Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.

The ADL states that its members have taken part in 'rallies around gun rights, pandemic restrictions and police-related killings' since 2019.

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said on Friday that while his state had not received any specific threats he was beefing up security around the Capitol in Springfield, including adding about 250 state National Guards troops

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS: Signs stating that Illinois law prohibits open carry of firearms ahead of a potential armed rally

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS: Workers continue to place plywood over the first floor windows at the Illinois State Capito

In December 2020, the Justice Department also described the movement as a 'loosely-connected group of individuals who espouse violent anti-government sentiments'.

The statement was made as part of a press release announcing a plea deal taken by a Boogaloo member who had pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorist group Hamas.

Another Boogaloo Boy has been charged in that case but pleaded not guilty.

A long list of members of the group have been charged with a litany of violent offences, including murder, attempted murder and opening fire on police officers.

Over the summer, Facebook took down thousands of accounts linnked to the movement as it accused them of 'violence against civilians, law enforcement, and government officials and institutions'.

After the Facebook crackdown, the Tree of Liberty website was established with moderators telling users that they could not be targeted by law enforcement as the servers were based in Canada.

'It seems to be trying to professionalize the movement's communications,' Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon University in North Carolina who specializes in the online behaviour of extremist groups, told CBC.

MADISON, WISCONSIN: Preparations are being made at and near the State Capitol in Wisconsin as well

MADISON, WISCONSIN: Traffic barriers, as pictured, are being set up to protect against any violence

MADISON, WISCONSIN: Preparations are being made at and near the State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, in Friday 2021 in case of violent protests connected to the inauguration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden and VP-elect Kamala Harris

The Tree of Liberty website previously tried to distance themselves from Trump supporters but still voiced unfounded claims that the election had been rigged and that the January 6 riot had been started by left-wing activists.

According to CBC, some members of the group view it as a means to start a race war yet other members caused surprise during the summer by attending Black Lives Matter protests.

'Because they are so ideologically fluid, they are able to attract a wider range of extremists,' said Alex Friedfeld, a researcher of extremist groups with the New York-based Anti-Defamation League, claiming it is the prospect of violence rather than ideas that attract its members.

U.S. law enforcement officials are gearing up for pro-Trump marches in all 50 state capitals this weekend, erecting barriers and calling in their National Guards to try to prevent the kind of violent attack that rattled the nation on January 6.

In D.C., the number of National Guard troops is now more than three times those in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

California, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin have all called in their National Guard so far.

New Mexico and other states have erected fencing around their Capitols, while Indiana and Michigan have canceled their legislative work next week.

AUSTIN, TEXAS: The National Guard and DPS state troopers and protect the Capitol grounds in Austin

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Texas has closed the state capitol from Saturday until inauguration day amid the threat of violence

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Despite the closure of the state capitol, DPS state troopers and the National Guard are still patrolling

AUSTIN, TEXAS: The National Guard and DPS state troopers and protect the Capitol grounds this week

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said in a statement late Friday that intelligence indicated 'violent extremists' may seek to exploit planned armed protests in Austin to 'conduct criminal acts'

Experts say that the capitals of battleground states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona are among those at most risk of violence. But even states not seen as likely flashpoints are taking precautions.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said on Friday that while his state had not received any specific threats he was beefing up security around the Capitol in Springfield, including adding about 250 state National Guards troops.

Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said in a statement late Friday that intelligence indicated 'violent extremists' may seek to exploit planned armed protests in Austin to 'conduct criminal acts' as the Capitol was closed Saturday.

Elsewhere in Michigan, a fence was erected around the Capitol building in Lansing and troopers were mobilized from across the state to bolster security. The legislature nevertheless canceled meetings next week, citing concern over credible threats.

'We are prepared for the worst but we remain hopeful that those who choose to demonstrate at our Capitol do so peacefully,' Michigan State Police Director Joe Gasper told a news conference on Friday.

And in California, 1,000 Guardsmen have been deployed to Sacramento to 'prepare for and respond to credible threats'.

The inauguration is being held at the same spot at the US Capitol where the violent MAGA mob rioters overran law enforcement last week and stormed the federal building.

BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA: North Dakota National Guard soldiers from the 816th Military Police Company load a transport aircraft, en route to help assist in the security of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden
NEW HAVEN  A planned MAGA drag in support of now twice-impeached President Donald Trump, due to start Saturday morning at the IKEA parking lot in New Haven and head up the capitol building in Hartford, appears to be a bust.

Fliers promoting the event had been shared on social media, and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker asked residents to stay away, despite reports that the event had been canceled.

Given what occurred last week at the U.S. Capitol and some threats of violence around the U.S., we are encouraging people to stay away from the area of Sargent Drive, Long Wharf and IKEA until this afternoon, Elicker said early Saturday. Our police department is working with local law enforcement to prepare for any potential issues at this event and over the coming days.

Participants had been told to begin gathering at the IKEA parking lot at 10 a.m. As of 11 a.m., the scene was quiet aside from a heavy police presence and the usual crowd of shoppers on a gray morning with heavy rain earlier.

By noon, there was no sign of the so-called MAGA drag at the grounds of the Capitol in Hartford. Had anyone gone, they would have found there was not easy access to the Capitol building.

The circular drive around the Capitol was barricaded on Saturday and no cars could get on the property. The Capitol building itself was surrounded with metal barriers as well. There were a half-dozen Capitol Police cars, marked and unmarked, on the 14-acre Capitol property abutting Bushnell Park.

Christine Stuart of CT New Junkie tweeted video from Hartford at 1:45 p.m. showing a line of two cars displaying Trump flags drive by the state Capitol building. Seven counter-protesters stood in front of the State Supreme Court.

IKEA said that demonstrators did not have authorization to use the parking lot.

Were aware that our New Haven (CT) store parking lot is being promoted as a meeting location for a MAGA event this Saturday, IKEA tweeted Friday evening. We ask those who plan to gather at IKEA New Haven to understand they are not authorized to use the property as a meeting location.

Two New Haven police patrol cars were present at least 45 minutes before the store opened and two hours ahead of the meetup.

Since the store opened at 10 a.m., crowds have arrived to shop, and the police have remained on the property. But there has been no indication of the arrival of any demonstrators.

Trump supporters broke windows and gained access to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, leading to dozens of arrests and the second impeachment of the president for inciting the riot. The FBI later warned that additional armed demonstrations had been planned for all 50 state capitols for the period between Jan. 16 and Jan. 20, the date of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Elicker said Saturday that, Currently we have received no credible threats in New Haven. Connecticut authorities said last week there was no specific threat against public officials here.

This story was updated online.

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Marshall Fiscal Court Votes On Sheriff Salaries

By Bill Hughes





BENTON - The Marshall County Fiscal Court set a maximum expense for the Sheriff's Department that doesn't include cost-of-living pay increases, but the issue isn't completely settled yet.At Thursday's meeting, commissioners had to approve the expense because there is a state deadline for fee-based departments, like the sheriff and county clerk. However, the budget for the fiscal year isn't approved until several months from now.Sheriff Eddie McGuire's figure of $3,952,983 was an estimate that included, for example, maximum family plan insurance for every officer, and assuming they all smoked. He discussed lower "real numbers" that included reductions in estimated retirement and vacation expenses, not filling a couple of positions, and increased fees. He said the potential bottom line would be an increase in the subsidy from the Occupational Tax Administrator Fund of $302,600.The OTA fund's numbers have changed from typical estimates due to the pandemic.Based on the county's current financial situation and discussion at previous budget workshops, Judge-Executive Kevin Neal recommended using last year's amount plus a $63,961 increase for retirement matching, for a maximum total of $2,845,000 for the sheriff. Based on the county's situation, he recommended a very conservative approach.Neal said, "We really do have a situation where we have to identify our projects. We've got a county budget that - all but the sheriff's department - that we actually cut from within this fiscal year. We need to identify that. I mean, that's a difference of $1.1 million, and no-one has told me where that's gonna come from."Commissioners said they would like to see financial data over the next few months as a gauge for how 2021 is going, and discussion involved whether the amount they approve would have to be adhered to when the full budget is proposed. Commissioners were concerned that setting the limit this low might prohibit them from giving COLA raises to these departments if additional funds were found or available when the budget is presented.Neal said, "I'm going to say 'no.' I don't think it does lock us in. The Fiscal Court - we have control over the monies. They have a calendar schedule to meet, but all this does is give the approval for those monies to be spent."After being reassured that they could amend it later, the motion passed 3-1 with Commission Kevin Spraggs voting no.On Facebook, Commissioner Justin Lamb said the issue is not completely settled and he is in favor of raises for sheriff's deputies as long as it's done in a fiscally responsible manner.Lamb said, "I am confident the Fiscal Court can find a solution to this issue without cutting essential infrastructure needs the people of Marshall County rely on and without raising taxes like other fiscal courts have had to do."Regarding the county clerk's office, Neal made a similar conservative motion for $830,000 instead of Clerk Tim York's estimate of $880,000. That motion also passed 3-1, with Kevin Spraggs voting no. The men also discussed that final numbers will be considered in the final budget.On the Net:
A priest who spent much of his life championing the rights of those with HIV in Africa was a true hero, the president has said.

Father Michael Kelly, who spent more than 50 years in Zambia as a missionary and educator, died on Friday.

He worked tirelessly to educate and promote safe behaviour among youth and those most at risk from HIV throughout sub-Saharan Africa and much further afield, his website said.

President Michael D Higgins said: I offer my condolences to his family and many friends. Ireland and Zambia mourn the loss of a true hero.

He praised Father Michael for his intellect, his extraordinary positivity and his compassion.

Mr Higgins said: He epitomised the great work of Irish missionaries in the education and health spheres in so many parts of the world.

His humanity shone through in his work and in his encounters with all who were fortunate enough to have met him.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said Father Michaels leadership and advocacy on HIV and Aids, and also education and human rights, was inspirational.

He said: He leaves a legacy of achievement, driving policy changes not just in Zambia but on the international stage.

It was fitting that his outstanding work was marked during his lifetime, including awards for distinguished service from President Higgins in 2012, and President Lungu of Zambia in 2018.

Father Michaels energy, dedication, and passion will live on in the memories of those he inspired.

Father Michael was a former headmaster at a school in Zambia, took his PhD and became a pro-vice chancellor at the University of Zambia.

Since 2006, Irish Aid has honoured his achievements through the annual Father Michael Kelly HIV/Aids event, often timed to coincide with World Aids Day in December.
A battle between wealthy Del Mar property owners over a literal line in the sand could go to the ballot box in November.

Serial investor Rick Thompson, who made his fortune founding and growing video game companies, has drafted a citizens initiative that would change the formula used to calculate the maximum total floor area allowed in new beachfront homes.

Thompson, who owns a $22 million home, one of the largest in the citys beachfront area, says the goal of his initiative is to protect the beach for everyone.

Hes also said the initiative would help avoid mansionization, a term often used for building large new homes on small older lots. But his critics say that idea is hypocritical because Thompsons recently remodeled home is one of the largest mansions on the coast.

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Some of his neighbors say he is simply trying to limit the size of a house to be built next to his on a lot thats been owned by the same family for 90 years.

The dispute is over how to calculate the percentage of a beachfront lot that can be covered by development.

Last year, for the first time, the Del Mar Planning Commission decided to include in the calculation something called the shoreline protection area, a narrow strip of land just east of the mean high tide line. That would allow larger homes to be built.

Thompsons initiative would exclude the shoreline protection area and keep the mean high tide line as one boundary, as it was for his more than 7,000-square-foot home.

His initiative also could reduce the size of his neighbors proposed home and make some existing homes non-conforming, so that if anything such as a fire, earthquake or flood happened to them, they could never be rebuilt to their present size.

Del Mar residents established the shoreline protection area with the passage of Measure D in 1988. It limits development, vehicular travel and other activities in a north-south strip of sand just above the mean high tide line, but does not prohibit anyone from owning the land.

San Diego Countys smallest city, Del Mar has a population of a little more than 4,000 residents. An initiative needs a minimum of only 309 signatures, or 10 percent of the citys registered voters, to get on the ballot.

Thompson turned in a petition with 462 signatures to the city clerk on June 25, and this week officials were still working to verify the minimum number of names.

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The sand squabble is hardly unusual in Del Mar, where attorneys representing wealthy property owners frequently face off over seawall disputes, land-use policies, dog-leash laws, and who gets free use of the community center.

Thompson is a relative newcomer to Del Mar who bought his six-bedroom Camino del Mar abode in 2012. Some residents say he has widely misrepresented some facts to collect the signatures needed to place his initiative on the ballot. For example, paid solicitors allegedly claimed the initiative was supported by the city attorney and mayor, who are required by law to remain impartial.

Other residents say theres no need to change the floor-area formula.

We have lived with the mean high tide (standard) for many years, longtime beachfront resident Kim Fletcher told the City Council at a meeting Monday night. I think it would be wise to maintain that.

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The initiative proposed is a neighbor-versus-neighbor situation, Fletcher said, adding, Its rather self-serving, and it certainly doesnt serve (other) people who have their homes on the beach.

Council members said that, even if mistakes were made, the citys choices are limited. If enough valid signatures were collected, the council must either approve the initiative as written or place it on the ballot.

In a lot of ways, our hands are tied, said Councilman Dave Druker. If there are errors, it still has to go on the ballot.

The council voted unanimously Monday to request an independent objective analysis of the initiative, which delays a decision until the analysis is complete. The council has until Aug. 10 to place the initiative on the November ballot.

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Thompson and the owner of the property next to him, Sandra Naftzger, both attended Mondays meeting with their attorneys.

Thompson asked the city to adopt his initiative, saying it is wrong for the city to use the sandy beach in its floor-area calculations, and that the initiative prevents a taking of public trust lands by beach owners. His attorney, Taiga Takahashi of the San Diego firm Latham and Watkins, said the initiative really just makes sure that the (municipal) code is clear to everybody.

Residents have said at previous public meetings that Thompson is simply trying to preserve the view from his home across the vacant lot next door. He did not return a phone call left Tuesday at Menlo Park-based Signia Venture Partners, where he is a partner.

Thompson also is a chairman and co-founder of Idle Games and Dogtime Media, and is a board member of Super Evil Megacorp, a videogame developer.

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Naftzger, who lives in the Los Angeles-area community of Pacific Palisades, said she has been negotiating for months with Thompson and his wife, Rhona Thompson, on the design of her new home.

I spent two years going through various city channels to confirm my buildable lot area, working with the city attorney, city manager, and ultimately the Planning Commission, Naftzger said in a letter to the council. I then presented a home that met all city requirements and was well below the maximum size allowed.

At every step, the Thompsons have strongly opposed my proposed home, she said. And at every step, I have tried to respond thoughtfully and make meaningful revisions. I reduced the size of the house and worked directly with Thompsons architect, making almost every change they asked for.

She has redesigned the house twice, increased the setbacks, reduced three bedrooms from two stories to one, and moved a guest room, she said.

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While it has been a difficult journey, I am undeterred, Naftzger said. My family is perhaps your longest-term beachfront owner, 90 years. Four generations have enjoyed our home at 2902 Ocean Front, now owned by my sister. I co-own my property with my three sons (ages 24, 23, and 20), who spent every summer of their lives on the beach in Del Mar.

The City Council proposed its own ordinance last month that would have changed the floor-area calculation, then decided to drop the idea.

Lee Andelin, an attorney representing several beachfront property owners, told the council that his clients support the citys study of the citizens initiative.

There are a number of procedural and substantive problems with this ballot measure, Andelin said. This has nothing to do with protecting the beach.

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It is targeted at a specific project that the proponent wants to stop, he said. We do not think it would survive a constitutional challenge and, at best, can expect legal challenges.

The independent study is expected to be finished as soon as July 16.

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philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @phildiehl
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Buoyed by strong holiday sales and an unprecedented consumer shift to online ordering, independent bookstores have weathered more than 10 months of the Covid pandemic, with some even posting sales gains in 2020. But PWs ongoing survey of store owners and managers found that many remain concerned about the governments response to the pandemic and the continuing uncertainty about the health of the economy.

The 25 independent bookstores who participated in the survey had widely varying sales results last year, with one store reporting a 50% sales increase over 2019 and another citing a 43% decline. Ten stores reported sales declines of 10%35% compared with the previous year. Nine stores hovered between declines of 10% and gains of 10%. While those numbers would not be encouraging in other years, the declines were less drastic than some predicted back in spring.

The defining characteristic of the year was consumers shift to online ordering. At Queen Anne Book Company in Seattle, online sales were 5% of the business in previous years. In 2020, e-commerce spiked to 70%. Co-owner Krijn de Jonge said the store was able to streamline internal processes to make order fulfillment more efficient, but it came at a cost. From late November until the end of 2020 we did not allow in-store shopping, because we were too busy with online orders, he noted. We were not able to control and monitor safe in-store shopping at the same time.

Nearly all of the bookstores surveyed reported similar challenges associated with staffing and processing online orders, which take substantially more time to handle than in-store purchases. Eileen McGervey at One More Page Books in Arlington, Va., is worried about the toll the work is taking on her employees. The bookstore finished 2020 with a 27% increase in sales over 2019, but she said the workload is creating unprecedented challenges. We have reduced staff due to the loss of immunocompromised staff, she noted. Some staffers have been working nearly nonstop since mid-March.

McGervey invested heavily in staff training and support for handling online sales, but the loss of customer interaction has altered her business approach. Our focus is on our community, and since we remain closed to the public, we have limited opportunity for one-on-one discussion, she said.

Julie Beddingfield, co-owner of Inkwood Books in Haddonfield, N.J., said online sales at her store in 2020 were up 2,829% over the previous year. But just as One More Pages McGervey is worried about staff fatigue, Beddingfield noted that shes worried about shop local fatigue in the months to come. Folks have been very supportive, she added. But how much of that will be retained this year if we arent able to get back to normal capacity limits and in-store activities? Im not sure how to address that, other than to keep the messaging up.

Looking ahead

Some booksellers expressed fears of more lockdowns, but in Glenwood, Md., Books with a Past owner Erin Matthews said she wanted to see more decisive action from state and local officials. Im concerned that ethically we will feel the need to lock down again, but our county and state wont move in that direction, she noted.

Without government action, Matthews said the decision to shutter the store for the safety of employees will fall to her, with potentially disastrous consequences. We will be left with no avenue for funding, and angry customers who may not understand our decision.

In Park Rapids, Minn., Beagle and Wolf Books & Bindery remained popular with tourists last summer despite the pandemic. Owner Sally Wizik Willis said customers followed a mask requirement in the store, even in the months before the state mandated them. Weve had virtually no pushback, she noted. But Im worried how that will work as the vaccinations are rolled out.

Booksellers are also aware of Amazons enormous profits during the pandemic, and many are clamoring for the incoming Biden administration to take action to address the companys dominance. Serious antitrust enforcement of Amazon would be a major breakthrough, said Jonathan Welch, co-owner of Talking Leaves... Books in Buffalo, N.Y. He added that urgent action is needed to create more and fair public assistance programs to help independent businesses and small businesses, redirecting aid from tax giveaways for corporate superstores and predatory businesses like Amazon to community-based businesses.

East Bay Booksellers Brad Johnson said that shortages of print books remain a major issue as well, alleging that Amazon is receiving preferential treatment from publishers. I remain concerned and frustrated by the [lack of] availability of key titles, especially when I see that Amazon is not necessarily enduring the same shortage, he noted.

Meanwhile, weeks of political chaos in Washington, D.C., have exacerbated fears of violence around the country. In Denver, Second Star to the Rights Dea Lavoie said, Im concerned right now about our political climate and [what would happen] if white supremacists target our store.

All of it makes for an uncertain year ahead, but booksellers expressed a determination to continue to assert their presence as effectively as they did in 2020by keeping their focus on their customers. And though people are suffering from pandemic fatigue, said Michaela Smith, manager of Dollys Books in Park City, Utah, we hope they will continue to support all local businesses to the best of their abilities.
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One before departing Harlingen, Texas on Jan. 12, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

White House Showcases List of Trump Presidency Accomplishments

The White House published a long list of President Donald Trumps accomplishments during his presidency.

The document titled Trump Administration Accomplishments lists what the outgoing president achieved in the last four years, including an unprecedented economic boom before the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, job opportunities for Americans of all backgrounds, tax relief for the middle class, job creation and investments in Opportunity Zones, deregulation, and trade policies and deals.

Some iconic pillars of the presidents agenda mentioned in the list are over 450 miles of new border wall, over $2.2 trillion in military spending, and a rebuilding of the judiciary system.

With help from the GOPs majority in the Senate, Trump successfully installed three conservative-leaning justices in the Supreme Court and appointed over 230 federal judges and 54 judges to various courts of appeals.

The list also highlights Trumps upholding of religious freedom in the United States and globally, including imposed restrictions on certain Chinese officials, internal security units, and companies for their complicity in persecuting members of religious groups in China.

The White House document appears to indicate that Trump is preparing to leave the White House after a long fight over election integrity.

Trump recently took several retrospective actions of his presidency. He visited the southern border to celebrate the newly-constructed border wall on Monday and touted his military policies in a statement on Wednesday.

It has been a great honor to rebuild our military and support our brave men and women in uniform, he said in the Jan. 14 statement.

President Donald Trump tours a section of the border wall in Alamo, Texas, on Jan. 12, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

He committed to an orderly transition to the next administration earlier this month and said he will not attend President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration.

A reporter posted outside the White House said Trump staff are moving out of the West Wing.

West Wing walls are bare, except for some paintings and pictures that belong to the White House. Most desks are emptied out, Bloomberg White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs wrote in a Twitter post.

Protesters gather at the east entrance to the Capitol building in the District of Columbia on Jan. 6, 2021. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Trump toned down the vehement challenges against the November election results after most legal channels were exhausted at different levels of state and federal courts and the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Some protesters stormed the Capitol when Congress was counting the electoral votes.

The breach happened as hundreds of thousands of Trump supporters rallied in the District of Columbia.

The composition of the protesters who broke in is still being determined. According to various court filings, those being charged have been identified and associated with both right and left-wing groups.
The World Health Organisations sixth emergency committee on January 15 called for globally ramped up COVID-19 sequencing studies in a bid to combat the new strains. As the coronavirus death toll approached two million, the WHO said that it also wanted the vaccination for the deadly virus underway in every country within the next 100 days. Further, the UN agency sounded alarmed on a new virus variant circulating in Brazil and warned that the current infection spikes in some countries could be blamed on lapses in behaviour rather than simply the new mutations.

On variants, (the committee) called for a global expansion of genomic sequencing and sharing of data, along with greater scientific collaboration to address critical unknowns," the WHO said in a statement.

READ: Brazil COVID Variant Already In UK, Confirms Top Scientist Prof Wendy Barclay

The WHO noted that the recently-discovered variants can only be identified by sequencing their genetic code. Therefore, the Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed the need for global solidarity in addressing the challenge posed by the pandemic and also emphasised the need for protection of the most vulnerable. The emergency committee, chaired by Professor Didier Houssin, also called on the WHO to come up with a standardised system for naming new variants to keep them geographically and politically neutral.

This is a defining moment in the pandemic. #HealthWorkers are exhausted, health systems are stretched & were seeing supplies of oxygen run dangerously low in some countries. We must #ACTogether as common humanity & rollout vaccines to health workers & those at highest risk. pic.twitter.com/UCVERZWxg7  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 15, 2021

READ: 114 People Test Positive For UK Variant Of Coronavirus

UK variant has spread to 50 nations, SAs in 20

Meanwhile, last week, the WHO had said that the coronavirus mutation first found in the United Kingdom had spread to 50 territories, while a similar South African identified strain has now also been found in 20 nations. A third strain, originating in Brazil Amazon, is, on the other hand, currently being analysed and could impact the immune response. As some nations have even begun COVID-19 vaccination drives, the UN health agency noted that the third new coronavirus variant is of concern.

In a statement on January 13, following the day-long meet with 1,750 experts from 124 countries to exchange information on the COVID-19 pandemic, UN agency noted that it is normal for viruses to mutate. However, of all the significant variants reported by several nations till now, only some are associated with increases in transmissibility but not disease severity. WHO said that the research is currently underway to determine if the virus mutations have an impact on public health tools and measures.

READ: UK Imposes Travel Restrictions Amid Worries Of New Variant

READ: WHO Says UK Variant Of COVID-19 Has Spread To 50 Nations, South Africa's In 20


Companies Use Analytics Technologies to Make Staffing Decisions During COVID-19

Call centers are used to tracking and reporting. Its the way they measure performance metrics, identify problems and make plans for additional resources. One of the newest things many call centers are tracking, however, is COVID-19 infections and quarantines.

It has fallen to many human resources (HR) departments to analyze COVID-19 infections within a company. To do so, many HR departments are deploying next-generation analytics technologies to ensure organizations remain properly staffed while also protecting employee health and safety, according to a recent article by human resources publication SHRM. The solutions are similar to those used by contact centers for call center scheduling.

Mark Berry, vice president of human resources for the Indiana Packers Corp., a producer of fresh and processed meats in Delphi (News - Alert) , Indiana, told SHRM that his organization uses analytics software from provider Visier. The solution, which is linked to the companys human capital management system, tracks key COVID-19 metrics in the companys workforce. From March through September, Berry gathered data on infection rates, infection velocity contact tracing, absences and overtime.

"We also didn't want people to be tempted to come to work sick," Berry said, "so we implemented a mandated quarantine leave program and for each of those leaves created solid estimates of what utilization and costs would be."

Because exposure to a positive case requires quarantining for employees  whether they feel well or not  its important that the organization have a handle at all times on who is available to cover the workload, whether its from the office or from home. The solution also helps get a grip on hiring needs, track turnover rates, gauge average versus available employee headcount and analyze worker time-off rates.

"It provides trends, enabling us to anticipate future changes, and also snapshot views of absenteeism, overtime, employee leaves and an overall understanding of what's happening as COVID-19 infection rates change," Berry said. "Analytics tools are tremendously important in being able to keep the pulse of what's happening with our day-to-day business and not have to rely on ad hoc, reactive reporting."

Edited by Maurice Nagle
The Family Man 2, Aarya 2 & Other New Seasons Of Popular Series Which We Can Binge-Watch In 2021

Just when we were all hoping for a better 2021, Indias OTT content streaming platforms have geared up to make it the best for the audience by bringing some binge-worthy content on their platforms. Our favourite shows are getting a new season and the platforms are setting the bar for their genre. Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, ALTBalaji, SonyLiv & Disney+Hotstar have established themselves as the premium content streaming platforms in India and here are the new seasons that you must look forward to in 2021-

1. The Family Man season 2

The highly-anticipated second season of Amazon Prime Videos The Family Man will is available to stream from January 14, 2021. With over a year since this action thriller series graced the OTT space, the wait for season two has been long. Starring Manoj Bajpayee, Priyamani Iyer, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Sharad Kelkar and Zarin Shihab in key roles, The Family Man Season 1 ends on a pulsating note while the upcoming season promises to pack a similar punch. Created by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K, The Family Man Season 1 will take you straight into the double life of Srikant Tiwari, filled with mystery and suspense at every turn.

2. Broken But Beautiful season 3

ALTBalajis unconventional yet highly awaited season 3 of Broken But Beautifuls earlier seasons became a success with the tracks and the storyline, receiving love from the audience. The first two seasons featured Vikrant Massey and Harleen Sethi in the lead, but the third outing will see the story shift a new duo played by Sidharth Shukla and Sonia Rathee. Broken But Beautiful launched in 2018, and presented the story of two broken hearts who find solace in each other. Season 3 will be here and 2021 is the year of love, with its perfections and imperfections.

3. Aarya season 2

Marking her comeback, Sushmita Sen's web series Aarya is soon coming back with a new season on the Streaming platform. The actress and director Ram Madhvani announced the same on an Instagram live session. Aarya premiered on Disney+Hotstar on June 19, 2020.

4. Delhi Crime Season 2

After recently winning an Emmy, the makers of Delhi Crime are all set for a second season on Netflix. The new season, which is already in the works, will be a standalone project, focussing on a new set of characters. The series is looking to transform into an anthology. The web series starring Shefali Shah, Rajesh Tailang, Rasika Dugal and Adil Hussain had garnered appreciation from all corners when it released last year and was directed by Richie Mehta.

5. Gullak season 2

Gullak Season 2 premieres on SonyLiv on January 15. The TVF series stars Geetanjali Kulkarni, Jameel Khan, Harsh Mayar and Vaibhav Raj Gupta. Similar to Season 1, the second season also shows the Mishras and their share of struggles.

Well, with all this varied range of genres and content available at the comfort of our homes, the year 2021 is certainly a binge-watch year with the above shows to look forward to! With India upping its game with OTT content generation and consumption, we are in for an everyday treat, round the clock.

KYODO NEWS - Jan 16, 2021 - 21:54 | World, All, Coronavirus

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday kicked off the first phase of a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the world's second-most populous country, using domestically produced and low-cost vaccines.

"Normally, it takes many years to make a vaccine, but in such a short span of time, not one, but two 'made-in-India' vaccines are ready," Modi said as he opened the drive via video conference.

In what Modi called the world's largest vaccination program, officials aim to give 300 million people shots.

"Such a vaccination drive on such a massive scale has never been conducted in history," he said, adding, "There are over 100 countries with populations of less than 30 million, and India is administering vaccinations to that many people in the first phase only. In the second phase, we'll take this number to 300 million."

The first phase will target some 30 million health care and frontline workers, followed by 270 million others who are either over 50 or have serious underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the disease.

The first dose was administered to a health worker at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, soon after Modi launched the campaign.

"I feared going to work for the past year, thinking that I might catch the virus...I agree with the prime minister that to fight against COVID-19, we need to get vaccinated," the worker said.

Earlier this month, the country's drug regulator gave a greenlight to emergency use authorization for two vaccines -- Covaxin, developed by India's Bharat Biotech International Ltd., and Covishield, developed by British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford and manufactured by Serum Institute of India.

Both vaccines are administered in two doses, but unlike rival vaccines, including one developed by American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech SE that must be kept at subzero temperatures, the Indian vaccines need only be stored at cold temperatures.

According to Indian health officials, the government has procured the domestically produced vaccines at around 200 rupees ($2.7) per dose, or only 14 percent of the cost of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 9 percent of the vaccine developed by American biotechnology firm Moderna Inc.

While the affordability of the Indian vaccines is expected to enable their widespread use in other emerging and developing countries, some medical experts remain cautious about their safety and efficacy. The Indian government maintains they are safe.

India, with a population of over 1.3 billion, has the world's second-highest number of coronavirus cases after the United States with over 10.5 million confirmed cases, and ranks third in the number of coronavirus-related deaths behind the United States and Brazil, with 152,093, according to data by Johns Hopkins University.

"In the fight against the coronavirus, we've set an example for the world," Modi said.
The principal horn of India's South Asian Symphony Orchestra has been invited to represent the orchestra in a virtual performance honouring the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Led by world-renowned conductor Marin Alsop, 14 musicians will be representing the Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Peabody Institute, South Asian Symphony, St Louis Symphony and the Utah Symphony.

Nivanthi Karunaratne, who is of Sri Lankan descent, will represent India's South Asian Symphony Orchestra. The virtual "Inauguration Fanfare for Joe and Kamala" will be streamed on social media on Tuesday, January 19, at 12 pm US-Eastern time and live-streamed simultaneously by concert tour company Classical Movements, 14 orchestras and other partners, with a combined digital footprint of over 7.6 million, a statement said on Thursday.

"The South Asian Symphony Orchestra is thrilled to be a part of this truly inspirational musical offering on the occasion of the presidential inauguration. We are happy that Nivanthi Karunaratne, who is a wonderful exemplar of our mission to promote peace and the understanding that bridges divisions, is a participant," said Nirupama Rao, co-founder and trustee of the South Asian Symphony Orchestra and also a former Indian Ambassador to the US. Karunaratne said, "I performed for the then-Vice President Biden in 2015 and remember being struck by how warmly he treated the musicians. He mentioned the many personal tragedies he has faced, and thanked us, saying, 'Our favourite music gets us through those times'." Classical Movements founder and president Neeta Helms first envisioned an inauguration tribute to honour the first female president during the Democratic primaries in 2008, approaching Marin Alsop before having to set the idea aside.

After reviving the idea in 2016 for Hillary Clinton's potential inauguration, it is only now that the opportunity arrives - assuming additional significance in this historical and cultural moment, the statement said. Biden, 78, and Harris, 56, will be sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States during a largely-virtual swearing-in ceremony on January 20.

But it won't be a typical inauguration, for several reasons. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic and fresh security concerns following a pro-Trump mob breaching the Capitol last week have combined to force some changes to what is a historical American day.

More than 10,000 National Guard troops will be in the city, with about 5,000 more on standby. Most of the events surrounding Biden's swearing-in will be virtual.

Biden's inauguration is expected to feature limited attendance. The Biden Inaugural Committee has already announced that the typical parade that follows the swearing-in ceremony will take place virtually and will feature supporters from across the country.
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The coronavirus pandemic has slowed global migration by nearly 30 percent, with around two million fewer people than predicted migrating between 2019 and 2020, according to a UN report released on Friday.

Some 281 million people were living outside their country of origin in 2020.

The report, entitled "International Migration 2020," showed that two-thirds of registered migrants lived in just 20 countries, with the United States at the top of the list, with 51 million international migrants in 2020.

Next came Germany with 16 million, Saudi Arabia with 13 million, Russia with 12 million and Britain with nine million.

India topped the list of countries with the largest diasporas in 2020, with 18 million Indians living outside their country of birth.

Other countries with a large transnational community include Mexico and Russia, each with 11 million, China with 10 million and Syria with eight million.

In 2020, the largest number of international migrants resided in Europe, with a total of 87 million.

Nearly half of international migrants resided in the region they came from, with Europe accounting for the largest share of intra-regional migration. Seventy percent of migrants born in Europe live in another European country.

Refugees account for some 12 per cent of all international migrants, the report said, with around 80 percent hosted in low- and middle-income countries.

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Shortly before 7 p.m. Friday, a man, 31, and a woman, 27, were inside of a Chrysler in the 1100 block of West Montana Street in the Wrightwood Neighbors neighborhood when two people approached the vehicle on both sides. The person on the passenger side pulled out a handgun and told the two to exit their vehicle. They got out, and the two people entered the Chrysler and drove away. The vehicle was recovered later on the 400 block of Roslyn Place, police said.

avid_creative, Contributor / Getty Images

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)  A suspect was detained Friday evening in San Francisco after local law enforcement agencies assisted Federal Bureau of Investigation agents with an investigation, police officials said.

At approximately 5:10 p.m., San Francisco police responded to the Candlestick RV Park located on the 600 block of Gilman Avenue.
In this article, we are going to list the 13 largest gay pride parades in the world. Click to skip ahead and jump to the 5 largest gay pride parades in the world. Gay pride parades are also called pride marches, pride events, and pride celebrations. It normally includes a series of occasions and frequently includes a parade including marchers and vivid floats from the LGBTQ people group and its supporters. These parades are outside occasions organized for celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, non-binary, and queer (LGBTQ) self-acknowledgment, accomplishments, lawful rights, and pride.

These events additionally now and again fill in as demonstrations for lawful rights, for example, same-sex marriage. Most pride occasions happen yearly, and many occur around June to celebrate the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, which started in the early hours of June 28, 1969, after police attacked the Stonewall Inn bar in New York City's Greenwich Village area. The Stonewall Inn was a gay bar that was famous with many different individuals in the gay community including transvestites, effeminate youngsters, transgender individuals, and destitute youth. Even though the LGBTQ people group had stood up against police discrimination in a few other small events before, in the late1960s in urban communities like San Francisco and L.A., the Stonewall incident cut through in an unprecedented way. This event is considered crucial for the development of present-day LGBTQ social movements.

Before the Stonewall riots, LGBTQ people had commonly not disclosed their sexual orientation or personality, but this occasion aroused the gay community and started more noteworthy political activism on gay rights development. In 1970, on the first anniversary of the event, hundreds of demonstrators walked along Greenwich Village's Christopher Street, which runs past the Stonewall, in what many consider the principal Gay Pride walk. Besides, those different celebrations were additionally held that year. Early Gay Pride events also called Freedom Day or Gay Liberation Day were attended in small numbers and protests were held against them. In 1978 what is maybe the most-perceived image of Gay Pride made its presentation at the event organized in San Francisco where the first rainbow banner was seen. The banner, with its eight tones represented important themes. Hot pink represented sexuality, red represented life, healing represented by orange, the Sun by yellow, nature by green, art by blue, harmony by indigo, and violet represents spirit. The next year a six-shade banner, which is used widely and embraced around the world was presented. This flag used red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple/violet.

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13 biggest gay pride parades in the world

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The purpose of these parades is to make local communities honor the historical backdrop of the movement. The early parades usually centered around members' individual freedom, the variety of the LGBTQ people, and is pleased to be out of the closet which is a term used to representing accepting one's true sexual orientation. In the mid-1970s, the energy was amassed in a little region of Christopher Street in New York City's West Village. At that point, it was the uncommon neighborhood where gay individuals could proceed to meet out in the open, and Pride parades worked at a neighborhood area level size in comparison to the 5 million individuals who went to last July's World Pride event in New York City, the biggest LGBTQ festivity ever.

By the 1980s political and social activism had gotten integral to pride occasions, and a large number of the marchers held placards and signs that raised the social issues of the day. As acknowledgment of LGBTQ people group expanded among the straight people, political leaders who supported the LGBTQ people group, and gay-friendly businesses and enterprises started participating in these parades. The number of people including gay and straight people increased and pride occasions were held in numerous parts of the globe. Such events faced opposition in countries like Jerusalem, Moscow, and Warsaw. In other countries like Amsterdam, Chicago, London, Mexico City, New York, Paris, San Francisco, and Sao Paulo, pride occasions generally draw in a few hundred thousand to more than a million. These gay friendly businesses include Dell (NYSE:DELL), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) , Nike (NYSE:NKE), Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and Toyota (NYSE:TM) among many others.

Despite the aforementioned advances for the LGBTQ community, a lot more still needs to be done. Despite many countries normalizing these communities, many people still face discrimination every day in their lives which should not be happening in 2021. But even this pales in comparison to the treatment meted out to these people in most Asian and Africa countries, where LGBTQ people are derided and treated as second class citizens, while in many Muslim countries, gay acts are actually punishable by death. While few countries have actually carried out death sentences, just the fact that these laws exist are something which needs to be worked on. The reason why Muslim countries are against these communities is because Islam has declared same sex acts as a major sin and hence, believers of the religion aren't quite as tolerant of the beliefs and acts of other citizens.

EuroPride is an event organized to celebrate LGBTQ pride, hosted by an alternate European city every year. For as long as a month, various artistic, basic human rights events are organized all through the host city. EuroPride includes a pride march that is attended by hundreds of thousands of people. Madrid's EuroPride 2007 was attended by almost 2.5 million individuals from all over the world. This enormous participation wasn't just a triumph for Madrid, but for the entire Spanish LGBT people. Many such parades and events are organized all over the world every year.

In a year when the Covid has forestalled large get-togethers, and many pride occasions have been dropped or delayed, more than 500 Pride and LGBTQIA+ people group associations from 91 nations will still be a part of Global Pride on June 27. However, throughout these years, pride parades have advanced in a way that goes beyond the number of members attending them. Following are the 13 biggest pride parades ever organized in terms of estimates made by authorities on basis of people who attended them.

13. Toronto, Canada 2012:

People attendance estimation: 1.2 million

Pride Toronto is a yearly occasion held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in June every year. It is one of the biggest coordinated gay pride celebrations in the world, including live entertainers and DJs, a huge Dyke March, a Trans March, and the Pride Parade. The focal point of the celebration is the city's Church and Wellesley town, while the procession and walks are fundamentally routed along with nearby Yonge Street, Gerrard Street, and Bloor Street. In 2014, the occasion filled in as the fourth global WorldPride and was a lot bigger than standard Toronto Prides. The occasion is coordinated by Pride Toronto which is a non-profit association.

Pixabay/Public Domain

12. Cologne, Germany 2002

People attendance estimation: 1.4 million

Cologne Gay Pride began during the 1980s as a small event, Christopher Street Day. It was named after the Stonewall riots on Christopher Street in New York City. Due to liberal political culture in then West Germany the Christopher Street Day developed into one of the greatest festival occasions in Germany. Cologne Gay Pride includes the city gay pride parade, and seven days of various celebrations, parties, and political discussions to achieve equal rights and gay rights. In 2002 Cologne Pride was additionally Europride.

Pixabay/Public Domain

11. Madrid, Spain 2019

People attendance estimation: 1.6 million

The Madrid 2019 Gay Pride Parade was one of its most politically charged marches in recent years. The parade was joined by countless individuals mobilizing under the message "not one step back" protesting against the far-right political party Vox, which was trying to move back LGBTQ rights. As indicated by coordinators, around 1.6 million individuals went to the yearly parade, which left from the Paseo del Prado road at 6.30 pm. The parade was led by the original LGBTQ activists, to respect the pioneers who won more noteworthy rights under the Spanish dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

lazyllama/Shutterstock.com

10. Madrid, Spain 2016

People attendance estimation: 1.6

Madrid Gay Pride, or Orgullo, is one of the city's most enthusiastically anticipated occasions. Likewise, with comparable occasions in different nations, Orgullo started as a positive stance against the oppression of the LGBT people group. The Pride Parade is Europe's greatest event. Including many colorfully decorated floats, it starts at 6 pm on July 2.

12 Most LGBT Friendly States In America

Greyboots40/Shutterstock.com

9. San Francisco, California 2014

People attendance estimation: 1.7 million

San Francisco Pride is a parade and celebration held toward the end of June every year in San Francisco, California, to praise the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) individuals and their partners. The 49th anniversary of this event in San Francisco was celebrated in 2019. Every year it is held on Sunday morning of the Festival. The course is typically west along San Francisco's Market Street, from Steuart Street to Eighth Street and it runs from 10:30 am until 4:00 pm. Members line up the parade route ahead of time at the beginning of the procession.

RnDmS/Shutterstock.com

8. NYC, USA 2015

People attendance estimation: 2.1 million

The NYC Pride Parade is one of the biggest Pride Parades every year. In 2015, the procession, which makes it route down Fifth Avenue from Midtown until heading into the Village and turning towards Christopher Street and the Stonewall Inn was full of gay and straight people celebrating the Supreme Court decision to make same-sex marriage lawful wherever in the U.S. Numerous marchers expressed their support for their transexual kids, as well.

15 Gayest Countries in the World per Capita

Pixabay/Public Domain

7. Sao Paulo, Brazil 2006

People attendance estimation: 2.5 million

The Sao Paulo LGBTQ Pride Parade is a yearly gay pride march that has occurred in Avenida Paulista, in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, since 1997. It is South America's biggest Pride parade and is recorded by Guinness World Records as the greatest pride march on the planet beginning in 2006.

Pixabay/Public Domain

6. Sao Paulo, Brazil 2016

People attendance estimation: 2.3 million

In 2016 the Gay Pride Celebration in Sao Paulo was one of the largest pride parades celebrated in Sao Paulo. For a whole month, the authorities offered a rich blend of occasions to the individuals who joined in from discussions, plays, music shows, dance exhibitions, social fairs, and the annual Pride Parade.

Please continue to see the 5 biggest gay pride parades in the world. Suggested articles:

Disclosure: No position. 13 biggest gay prides in the world is originally published at Insider Monkey.

T ributes have been paid to a beautiful soul who died after being stabbed in the leg.

Paul Dalton, 41, was attacked and stabbed repeatedly at a home in The Broadway, Wimbledon at 1am on Wednesday.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed the force had charged a man with murder and two others for perverting the cause of justice.

Police found Mr Dalton with multiple stab injuries and battled to save his life but the keen angler was pronounced dead at the scene.

A special post-mortem examination held on Thursday, January 14 gave the cause of death as a stab wound to the leg.

Met Handout

Tributes were paid to Mr Dalton who was described by friends as having a diamond for a heart.

Friend Charles Smith told the Standard: Paul was lovely guy, he had his own struggles due to hard times in his life but he would always go out of his way to help those close to him.

Another friend said on Facebook: A beautiful soul we were blessed to call our mate, with a diamond for a heart, and a kind word or a funny cuss for everyone he ever met.

You made us smile and laugh and we loved you. Rest in power now, our lovely friend.

Mongo Bolili, 33, of Merton, has been charged with murder. A second man, Ian Matu, 26, also of Merton, has been charged with perverting the cause of justice.

A third man Danny Webster, 30 of Merton was charged on Friday, 15 January with perverting the course of justice.

Before the Break-In

Before 2 P.M.

Rioters make it past two barriers on the east side of the Capitol and can now approach the doors of the building.

Capitol Police requests National Guard assistance as rioters outside tear through scaffolding.

The Senate and House debates begin in their respective chambers.

By the Capitol steps, rioters continue to clash with the police. By now, reinforcements from local police have arrived to help. Both sides spray chemical agents.

Several House Republicans, backed by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, object to certifying Arizonas vote, sending the House and Senate to debate in separate chambers.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi begins the joint session of Congress, where both chambers meet to certify the presidential vote.

Capitol Police in riot gear are seen arriving to reinforce the line of officers on the Capitol steps.

Rioters violently overwhelm the police and breach the Capitols outermost barricade. They break through three more barriers, forcing officers back to the Capitol steps, where they now face off.

A video shows a large crowd walking from the rally down Constitution Avenue to the Capitol.

After this, were going to walk down, and I'll be there with you.

Mr. Trump tells rallygoers to walk down to the Capitol.

President Trump begins speaking at a rally near the White House, about a mile away from the Capitol.

Members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group, join protesters, who had been assembled on the Capitol lawn since 10 a.m.

The Break-In

From 2 P.M. to 3 P.M.

Another mob breaches the final barricade on the buildings west side and approaches an entrance near the Senate chamber.

The first rioters make it inside the Capitol building.

As Senators continue to debate, Vice President Mike Pence is ushered off the Senate floor.

Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, is interrupted on the floor of the Senate, which is called into recess. A minute later, a mob arrives steps from a door to the Senate chamber.

In the House Chamber on the south side of the building, Ms. Pelosi is ushered off the floor. The debate in the House continues.

The House goes into recess, and representatives remain in the chamber.

Mr. Trump criticizes Mr. Pence on Twitter.

Rioters breach a second entry into the building on the east side. Mr. Trump calls Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, though he means to call Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama. Mr. Lee hands the phone to Mr. Tuberville, who tells the president that Mr. Pence had been escorted out of the chamber. Some time in the next 30 minutes, Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, calls Mr. Trump asking him to call off the riot, says another House representative Mr. McCarthy tells about the call.

The House goes back into session, even with the mob in the building.

The House is called into a final recess. Someone yells, Sit down!

Senators are evacuated from the Senate chamber as House members remain in theirs.

The first rioters reach a rear door of the House chamber, where members remain inside. Plainclothes officers train their guns on the door.

Representatives begin evacuating the House chamber.

Rioters reach the doors of the Speakers Lobby.

Ashli Babbitt is shot and killed by an officer as she attempts to break into the Speakers Lobby. The last representatives are still being evacuated.
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WASHINGTON  Far-right media personality Tim Gionet, who calls himself Baked Alaska, has been arrested by the FBI for his involvement in the riot at the U.S. Capitol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

Gionet was arrested by federal agents in Houston on Saturday, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter before the public release of a criminal complaint and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 as Congress was meeting to vote to affirm President-elect Joe Bidens electoral win. Five people died in the mayhem.

Gionet faces charges of violent and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Court documents dont list an attorney for Gionet or say where he is being held. The jail in Harris County, which includes Houston, didnt immediately reply to phone messages seeking further information.

FBI Special Agent Nicole Miller said in an affidavit filed in the case that Gionet streamed live for about 27 minutes from inside the Capitol and could be heard encouraging other protesters not to leave, cursing and saying Im staying, 1776 baby, and I wont leave guys, dont worry.

She wrote that Gionet entered various offices and when told by law enforcement officers to move, identified himself as a member of the media. Miller wrote that Gionet then asked officers where to go before cursing a law officer while alleging the officer shoved him, then leaving the building.

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Gionet also posted video that showed Trump supporters in Make America Great Again and God Bless Trump hats milling around inside the Capitol and taking selfies with officers who calmly asked them to leave the premises. The Trump supporters talked among themselves, laughed, and told the officers and each other, This is only the beginning.

Law enforcement officials across the country have been working to locate and arrest suspects who committed federal crimes. So far, they have brought nearly 100 cases in federal court and the District of Columbia Superior Court.

In a 2017 interview with Business Insider, Gionet said he was given the nickname Baked Alaska because he is from Alaska and that he smoked marijuana at the time.

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Associated Press writer Ken Miller in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
A Co Down minister who died after a battle with cancer was inspirational, mourners at his funeral heard yesterday.

Rev Adrian Adger, minister of Clough and Seaforde Presbyterian Churches, passed away on Wednesday aged 57.

A family notice said he would be lovingly remembered by his wife Karen, brother Neil and the wider family.

A service of thanksgiving yesterday was conducted by Rev Brian Smyth of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Ahoghill.

Having met Rev Adger almost 30 years ago in Belfast Bible College, Rev Smyth worked with him at the Belfast City Mission and conducted his wedding ceremony in 2013. He said that rather than his best friend losing a cancer battle, his faith meant he would have believed it was not the end of his story.

"With the coming of death, Adrian is now enjoying a new freedom. Adrian is free from all that cancer threw at him," he said. He added: "Yes for family and friends it is a huge blow to have lost Adrian. Those who have loved him most will miss him most and we know that he was dearly loved.

"Oh I know you will miss him and I know many hearts are broken and crushed but I trust you will be comforted when you realise that Adrian has gained freedom and I don't believe any of you would wish him back to continue with his suffering."
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All Circuit Court jury trials in Madison County are suspended for the rest of January and all of February due to coronavirus cases.

And all district traffic, misdemeanor, small claims and district civil dockets are suspended until further notice.

Judge Ruth Ann Hall issued the order Friday.

See the order below to find what cases will take place:

Brooke Shields has been putting in the hard work at a gym in her native New York City as part of a 14 day transformation, with the help of a personal trainer.

And now, as she approaches the mid-point of her workout challenge, the Suddenly Susan alum took to Instagram to reveal she's also in the process of having a tattoo removed from her left wrist.

'Starting the removal process on a tattoo that has been fading... Sending a big thank you to @dermdrhale and the whole team for your help!' the 55-year-old captioned a photo of herself while one of the team members used a laser on the unwanted body ink.

Blasting body ink: Brooke Shields, 55, gave a thumbs-up during a session to have a tattoo removed from her left writ in New York City on Friday

Shields flashed a thumbs-up as she laid back on a medical chair during the session, which is a good sign considering tattoo removal can oftentimes be painful.

Dressed in a black fitted shirt and her brown tresses flowing well past her shoulders, the Pretty Baby star also donned a pink protective mask in adherence to health and safety protocols amid the still raging COVID-19 pandemic.

Like the technician who was performing the task, the actress and model wore laser safety glasses, which are mandated to ensure the safety of the laser operator and the patient.

On a mission: The actress and model is currently enduring a 14 day transformation, with the help of her personal trainer

Safety first: Shields made sure to wear a mask during her sessions amid COVID-19

Laser tattoo removal can be painful, although it can vary from person-to-person, with many patients confessing it's worse than getting the tattoo.

The pain is often described to be similar to that of hot oil on the skin, or a snap from an elastic band. And with that in mind, Shields doesn't appear to be in any kind of intense discomfort during the session, from the looks of her photo.

The age of the tattoo, ink density, color and even where the tattoo is located on the body all play an important role in how many treatments will be needed for complete removal successfully.

Shields also has a tiny flower tattoo on her left ankle and another one her abdomen.

Home edition: The Suddenly Susan alum has also been staying in shape with her -- At Home Workouts -- that she regularly posts on Instagram

One day earlier, the mother of two and her trainer posted pictures of her workout session in New York City that was captioned: 'Day #4 of the 14 day transformation of @brookeshields.'

The former child star has also been staying in shape by regularly exercising at her home that she's been sharing with her 1.1 million Instagram fans and followers, under the title: At Home Workouts.

A major milestone is fast approaching for Shields and her husband, television writer Chris Henchy: the couple will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary on April 4.

They have two teenage daughters: Rowan, 17, and Grier, 14.
As COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations surge across the UK, tens of thousands of National Health Service (NHS) workers are becoming the victims of the virus. The consequences for patient care and safety are chilling.

More than 100,000 people have died from COVID-19, with more than 3.3 million people infected since the pandemic started. Yesterday, Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted that on Tuesday we saw 4,134 admission to hospital on a single day, the highest at any point in this pandemic. There are now more than 37,000 COVID patients in hospitals across the UK

A nurse being fit tested for FFP3 masks in a National Health Service hospital (credit: WSWS media)

More than 650 health and social care workers have died of COVID-19 in the UK according to Office and National Statistics data.

Nearly 50,000 health care workers have contracted the virus and thousands more are isolating or shielding. Significant numbers of health workers have been suffering from the debilitating effects of Long Covid and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) since the first wave of the pandemic.

In December, there were reports that staff absence in some hospitals had doubled or tripled from the normal level of 4 percent. This means well above 100,000 of the 1.3 million NHS workforce could be absent currently. The remaining health workers, already burnt out from the first wave, are now being overwhelmed by the massive flood of cases and struggling to fulfil patient need.

Addressing its members this week, the chair of the British Medical Association, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, revealed the scale of the crisis. He wrote that there are over 46,000 hospital staff off sick with Covid-19. This was heaping additional pressure on an already overstretched workforce struggling to manage even current critical care demand.

The Guardian reported: Across the country hospitals, GP surgeries and care homes are reporting abnormally high staff absence levels. In Kent, one of the hardest hit areas of south-east England, about 25% of clinical and administrative staff are believed to be absent. John Allingham, medical director of the local medical committee, which represents GPs in the county, said in some practices as many as half of staff were absent, which was having an impact on vaccinations.

At the Royal Bournemouth Hospital (RBH), health workers are contracting the virus at an alarming rate. In some wards only a few have not been struck down by the virus. There are outbreaks in the majority of wards and units in the hospital. Lack of planning and resources has led to these outbreaks. Staff have become victims of substandard personal protective equipment (PPE) guidelines and a lack of infection control measures.

Patient numbers and the number of staff with COVID-19 have doubled over the last three weeks. On Thursday, there were 365 COVID-19 patients, including 25 patients in ICUs in the NHS trust, which includes RBH and Poole hospitals. On Tuesday there were 530 staff unavailable for work. By Thursday, this had risen to 575 staff unavailable. 285 of these were in self-isolation with COVID symptoms, 230 were in self-isolation due to COVID cases among family members, and 60 health workers were absent due to shielding.

An intensive care nurse at RBH told the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS), Our unit has now been expanded to theatres. One to one care for critically ill patients is no more. I had to look after two critically ill patients during my 12-and-a-half-hour shift today. Every day we run without adequate staff. I am really worried about patient safety.

The huge infection rates among health and social care workers are an indictment of the Tory government. Years of running down the NHS and the acceleration of its privatisation had created widespread staff and bed shortages and a lack of resources even before the pandemic hit. However, the exacerbated staffing crisis the NHS is now facing is a direct result of the PPE guidelines of the Tory government.

According to experts, consistent use of full-body PPEalong with other infection-control measurescan diminish the risk of infection for health care workers. But Boris Johnsons government ignored this advice and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

When the pandemic began to rip through the population, there was a severe shortage of the required PPE. This was a result of years of underfunding of the NHS and social care. Between 2013 and 2016, the national stockpile of PPE was slashed by 40 percent as a part of 20 billion in NHS efficiency savings.

Instead of fulfilling demands for PPE, the Tories and Public Health Englandalong with the Health and Safety Executivechanged the guidelines amid the outbreak. The government downgraded COVID-19 to a non-High Consequence Infectious Disease (HCID) from March 19, 2020reducing the level of what constitutes safe PPE for staff. A month later, the government amended guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) to cut down on the use of Face Filtering Piece masks (FFP3, FFP2), again in breach of WHO recommendations.

As a result, many health workers have been forced to look after patients with highly contagious coronavirus without adequate PPE. They have to wear flimsy aprons, simple surgical masks, visors and gloves even though they carry out tasks such as personal care, turning of patients, feeding, oxygen therapy, nebulisations and physiotherapy. Only the health workers who conduct aerosol generating procedures, in intensive care and theatres for example, are allowed to wear highly effective FFP3 masks and gowns, along with gloves and visors.

The government and Public Health England did not change the guidelines even after a new and virulent variant of COVID-19which is now the UKs dominant strainwas found in September last year. Neither did they change them in response to growing concern among experts over the airborne transmission of coronavirus.

In the summer, in a motion in parliament, government MPs voted down proposals to test all NHS workers weekly for COVID-19.

Recently, hundreds of health professionals including doctors, nurses and consultants issued an open letter to political leaders demanding higher-grade PPE. They point out that healthcare workers on the general wards are about twice as likely to contract COVID-19 as intensive care unit staff, who have the best equipment.

These demands have fallen on deaf ears.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman claimed: The safety of NHS and social care staff has always been our top priority and we continue to work tirelessly to deliver PPE to protect those on the frontline. UK guidance on the safest levels of PPE is written by experts and agreed by all four chief medical officers. The guidance is kept under constant review based on the latest evidence and data.

Public Health England guidelines are in breach of World Health Organization guidance. As a result, many health workers have been forced to look after patients with highly contagious coronavirus without adequate PPE.

These lies have fallen flat in the face of the reality health workers up and down the country confront.

A senior health care assistant in Liverpool Hospital told the WSWS, I think PPE has always been insufficient and that corresponds to the downgrading of COVID by PHE. As they began to run out of stock, they downgraded a highly contagious and unknown virus which was criminal and driven by economics. I picked up on it back in March and was appalled by it and the fact that what Public Health England was doing was criminal and putting health care workers lives at risk. This needs to be emphasised and explained to workers. On a purely rational perspective it made no sense. I was shocked by it. So all our PPE, or lack of, flowed from this criminal decision that cost lives.

Commenting on the 46,000 NHS staff that fell ill with COVID, he said that's quite a significant figure, on an already stretched workforce. It's going to have, or is already having, a massive impact. The ward I work on has gone red again. This is the third time since last March. We are only taking COVID-19 positive patients now. I work in clinical gerontology, but the pressure is beginning to be felt again.

The murderous conspiracy by the Tory government against health and social care workers would not have been possible without the support of the trade unions and Labour Party. The unions, despite their own findings through surveys showing the immense dangers employees face in the workplace from COVID-19, have done nothing but whimper and prostrate themselves before the government.

Everything points to this wave of the pandemic being worse than the last. The challenge facing NHS workers is the development of an independent political struggle against the ruling class and its political defenders in the fight for socialism and a workers government. Health workers cannot place any faith in the unions. Rank-and-file committees must be established to safeguard their health and safety and to wage a political struggle for essential resources.

The WSWS urges all National Health Service workers to contact us with their experiences. Health workers should join the NHS FightBack group and assist in building rank-and-file safety committees, independent of the trade unions.
Zoe Foster Blake and her comedian husband Hamish Blake moved into a $9million home in Sydney's Vaucluse last month.

And it appears that the beauty mogul, who previously lived in Melbourne, is already settling in to the new neighborhood.

On Saturday, the 40-year-old appeared in good spirits as she took her children Sonny, six, and Rudy, three, to their local park.

Local digs: Zoe Foster Blake, and her family recently moved to Sydney, and it appears that the beauty mogul, who previously lived in Melbourne, is already settling in to the new neighborhood

She looked casual chic in a white three-quarter sleeved shirt and yellow striped high-waisted shorts.

The best-selling author teamed her look with oversized sunglasses, gold jewellery and slide on sandals.

Her cropped brunette locks were loose and she appeared to go makeup free for the outing.

Out and about: On Saturday, the 40-year-old appeared in good spirits as she took her children Sonny, six, and Rudy, three, to their local park

Keeping an eye out: The mother-of-two watched on as her children appeared to be having a great time playing on the equipment

The mother-of-two watched on as her children appeared to be having a great time playing on the equipment.

Rudy looked adorable in a white dress featuring love hearts which she teamed with pale blue sandals and a hat.

Meanwhile, Sonny sported an orange shirt and green shorts, with sneakers and a cap.

Cute: Rudy looked adorable in a white dress featuring love hearts which she teamed with pale blue sandals and a hat

Fun in the sun: Sonny sported an orange shirt and green shorts, with sneakers and a cap for the family outing

Beach time: After playing on the equipment, the trio headed down to the waters edge where they soaked up the sun on the sand

After playing on the equipment, the trio headed down to the waters edge where they soaked up the sun on the sand.

The doting mum kept close to her children, holding Rudy's hand as they strolled along the beach.

Just before Christmas, the Blakes spent $8.925million on a property in the upmarket suburb of Vaucluse.

Adorable: The doting mum kept close to her children, holding Rudy's hand as they strolled along the beach

Well Styled: Zoe looked casual chic in a a white three-quarter sleeved shirt and yellow striped high-waisted shorts which she teamed with sunglasses and sandals

The five-bedroom, six-bathroom estate sits on 885 square metres and features two sets of garages.

While the four-level home does not have ocean views, it is considered architecturally noteworthy and was featured on Grand Designs Australia in 2013.

Zoe and her husband, 39, inspected 'a number of properties' across the eastern suburbs before finally settling on their home.

Big move: Just before Christmas, the Blakes spent $8.925million on a property in the upmarket suburb of Vaucluse

The house is just a short drive from the Surry Hills headquarters of Zoe's highly successful Go-To beauty company.

Her husband Hamish announced the news on social media in December, revealing that his family was moving from Melbourne to Sydney.

'Exciting times ahead: we are moving to Sydney baby! For a long time I have known that stealing my wife from Sydney would mean one day we'd venture there to live for a while,' wrote the Lego Masters host.

'The loose plan is for a few years, but however long it's for, we're excited for this adventure with our little family.'
From Jan. 4-8, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid official visits to five African countries  Nigeria, Congo, Botswana, Tanzania and Seychelles. The Chinese foreign minister's new year's trip to Africa has become an unwritten tradition that has taken place annually for the past 31 years.



The global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has been unable to stop either the Chinese foreign minister's visit or the development of China-Africa friendship. Wang traveled to the continent to discuss the joint fight against the pandemic with African leaders and help boost the traditional friendship in the post-pandemic period.

2021 marks the year in which the outcomes of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) are to be implemented. Wang's visit, therefore, not only involved promoting the "Eight Initiatives" agreed upon at the Beijing Summit and the outcomes of the 2020 Special Summit on China-Africa Solidarity and Epidemic Prevention, but also exchanging views on preparations for the 8th FOCAC  to be held in Senegal later this year.

Among the countries Wang visited, Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa and has a population of more than 200 million, while Seychelles is relatively underdeveloped economically and has fewer than 100,000 citizens. The diversity of countries visited will help make the exchange of views between China and Africa at the 8th FOCAC more representative.

During his trip, Wang met with African leaders to discuss vaccine cooperation, economic recovery, transformation and development  three important areas of current and future China-Africa cooperation.

First, in terms of vaccine development cooperation, China is keen to provide all kinds of anti-epidemic support to Africa. In June 2020, China pledged to start construction of the headquarters of the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, ahead of schedule. It also promised to work with Africa to implement the "Health Initiative" within the FOCAC framework, accelerate the construction of China-Africa friendship hospitals and cooperation with counterpart hospitals, and jointly build the China-Africa Health Community.

In December 2020, construction began on the new China-funded headquarters for the Africa CDC, which will include emergency response center, data center, laboratory, library, press rooms, training center, conference rooms, offices and apartments for expatriate staff. This will significantly improve the Africa CDCs working conditions and its ability to respond to public health emergencies.

In terms of vaccine provision, the first batch of Chinese-developed vaccines arrived at Cairo International Airport in Egypt on Dec. 11, 2020. Speaking at a news conference, Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed said that the arrival of the Chinese vaccines was a historic moment for Egypt and showed the new heights of bilateral relations. She said: "China's vaccine is safe, we have conducted clinical trials, and I am one of the volunteers to get vaccinated. The Chinese vaccine proved successful in clinical trials and received final emergency approval from Egypt's Ministry of Health on Dec. 9."

Second, in terms of economic recovery and transformational development, China-Africa cooperation will also seize the opportunity presented by the official launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on Jan. 1. This will further promote the interface between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Africa's development.

In December 2020, China and the African Union (AU) signed the Cooperation Plan on Jointly Promoting the Construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, which became the first cooperation document signed by China and regional organizations to jointly build the BRI. According to the plan, China will promote docking with the AU's Strategic Framework for Vision 2063; strengthen cooperation with African countries in the fields of railways, highways, regional aviation and industrialization; promote integration with African countries; jointly address the challenges of globalization; and promote the high-quality development of the BRI.

The launch of the AfCFTA and the formation of a large market for African unity could also assist the development of China-Africa trade. Looking ahead, China-Africa economic and trade cooperation in the post-pandemic period will promote China's free trade negotiations with more African countries and sub-regional organizations to help transform and upgrade China-Africa trade.



During his visit, Wang also signed a memorandum of understanding on the joint construction of the BRI with Congo and Botswana, making the countries the 45th and 46th partners in Africa to participate in the Belt and Road cooperation.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted China-Africa economic cooperation, the complementary economic structure formed by China's technology, capital, development experience with African markets, resources and development potential has not changed. With the continued recovery of supply and production chains, China-Africa cooperation is expected to quickly return to its peak. Wang's latest trip to Africa has helped renew friendship following the challenges of the pandemic and has created a brilliant roadmap for future China-Africa cooperation.

He Wenping is senior research fellow with the Charhar Institute and Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn.
Noida, Jan 16 : BJP Lok Sabha MP from Gautam Buddha Nagar and former Union minister Mahesh Sharma on Saturday became the first public representative to get the Covid vaccine shot as a medical practitioner here at Kailash Hospital.

Sharma was also the first person among several health workers to take the Covid vaccine at the hospital here on Saturday morning.

Ahead of the vaccination drive, preparations were in place at Kailash Hospital, where 100 people will get the Covid vaccines, including Sharma, who is also the owner of the Kailash group of hospitals.

"I'm not getting the Covid vaccine as an MP or public representative but as a doctor," said Sharma.

"I'm in this profession for the last 35 years and we should hail the work of our scientists who prepared the two vaccines," Sharma said, adding, "We should also salute the leadership of our Prime Minister and the Covid warriors of our country in last 352 days who have worked to combat the Covid pandemic." Showing the list of people who would be getting the vaccine shot at the hospital, Sharma said "my number is on the top which has come from the government." After taking the vaccine, Sharma was sent to the observation room for 30 minutes. After vaccination, he said, "I am feeling good and I have not witnessed any side effects." He also urged people not to panic as the vaccine, which is made in India, is completely safe.

Senior administrator, S.N. Dubey, who is looking after the preparations of the Covid vaccine at the hospital, told IANS: "We have made full arrangements for the people coming for vaccination today." Explaining the arrangements, Dubey said there are seven counters for vaccines and three observation rooms for the people participating in the drive.

Each observation room has 25 chairs and one bed with a monitor system.

He also said that the seven counters have been set up keeping in view the standard operating procedure of social distancing and proper sanitisation was being done.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
WASHINGTON  In his final days as Secretary of the Army, Ryan D. McCarthy has moved to thwart a federal judges order for an independent examination of a mentally ill prisoner at Guantanamo Bay who was previously tortured there, the Justice Department disclosed on Friday.

Lawyers for the prisoner, Mohammed al-Qahtani, 45, had obtained the order in March for two foreign doctors and one from the U.S. Army to examine the man under an Army regulation to determine whether he should be repatriated to his native Saudi Arabia for psychiatric care.

The Defense Department has not permitted such a medical review since the detention center was established in January 2002, and the order was poised to become an early test of the Biden administration as it considers resuming releases from Guantanamo.

But on Friday, Justice Department lawyers notified the U.S. District Court in Washington that Mr. McCarthy had signed a two-page memorandum on Monday excluding detainees at Guantanamo from the regulation that was the basis of the court order.
Paducah Parolee Arrested On Drug Charges

By West Kentucky Star Staff

MCCRACKEN COUNTY - A McCracken County man, who was recently released on parole, was arrested Friday night.The McCracken County Sheriffs Office and the Graves County Sheriffs Office conducted a joint investigation into illegal drug trafficking occurring in McCracken and Graves Counties.The investigation led to the home of 40-year-old Clinton L. Brewer on Old Mayfield Road in McCracken County.Brewer and 33-year-old Amber D. Lowe of Paducah, were in the home at the time. Brewers mother, 59-year-old Margaret Brewer, arrived home while detectives were still at the scene.During the course of the search, Lowe was allegedly found to be in possession of a small amount of marijuana.A search of Margaret Brewers bedroom also allegedly revealed a small quantity of marijuana and items of drug paraphernalia.Approximately 15 grams of crystal methamphetamine was located by a Paducah Police K-9. It was determined that the methamphetamine belonged to Clinton Brewer.Lowe and Margaret Brewer were issued citations and released.Clinton Brewer was arrested and taken to the McCracken County Regional Jail, charged with first degree trafficking in a controlled substance-methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia.Brewer was recently paroled out from prison in December after serving 20 years for a murder conviction, along with first degree robbery and first degree burglary convictions that occurred in McCracken County. He was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole.
In UP villagers get cocktail vaccine dose: Covishield first, Covaxin next

ICMR to study effectiveness of Covishield, Covaxin in preventing progression of COVID into severe form

COVID-19 vaccine: After first jab, surgeon in Kerala hails nation's efforts against coronavirus

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

Kochi, Jan 16: Receiving the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine in this southern port city, renowned cardio-thoracic surgeon Dr Jose Chacko Periyappuram on Saturday hailed the country's efforts to wipe out the novel coronavirus and said he felt comfortable after the vaccination.

Dr Periyappuram, who performed the first successful heart transplant in Kerala, urged people to not fall prey to the false propaganda unleashed on the social media against the global effort to end the pandemic.

India expressing its gratitude to frontline workers: PM Modi says vaccine roll-out

"Some people have some misconceptions about the vaccination. They are seen carried away by false propaganda unleashed through the social media," he said.

"My message to them is that don't fall prey to such wrong information," he told reporters after completing a 30- minute observation following vaccination at the General Hospital, Ernakulam.

COVID-19 vaccine: 20 ITBP personnel get vaccinated in Ladakh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

He said the injection is totally harmless and there are hardly any possibilities of side-effects. "This vaccination will definitely help boost our immunity. This message should be conveyed to society," he said.

Sharing his experience after receiving the first shot, Dr Periyappuram said he did not even feel pain as a well-trained nursing staff did the job efficiently. According to officials, COVID-19 vaccination drive takes place at 12 centres in Ernakulam district on Saturday.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 16:10 [IST]

Apple will temporarily close more than 20 of its retail locations in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas as coronavirus cases continue to climb in those states. In an update on its website first spotted by Bloomberg, the company indicates five Apple Stores in Georgia, five in North Carolina and about a dozen in Texas wont be open to the public after they complete their regular hours on Friday evening. The closures include locations in major cities like Houston and Atlanta. If you left a device in for repair at one of those stores or have an appointment to pick up an online order, you can still visit them through to January 18th.

Due to current COVID-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas, a spokesperson for the company told Bloomberg. We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation, and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible.

The move comes after Apple closed more than 50 retail locations in California due to the coronavirus pandemic last month. Separate from those concerns, the company has also temporarily shuttered its stores in the Washington DC area ahead of President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration next week.
Tammy Hembrow has an incredible figure and isn't afraid to show it off.

And on Saturday, the fitness sensation did what she does best as she posted some racy selfies to Instagram.

The 26-year-old left little to the imagination, as she went braless in a daring halterneck crop top.

White hot! On Saturday, Tammy Hembrow left little to the imagination as she went braless in a racy crop top

The mother-of-two looked like the ultimate blonde bombshell in her outfit, which consisted of her plunging top and high-waisted blue jeans.

Her crop top featured a halterneck design and was backless with a tie around the waist.

She pulled her long locks up and off her face and wore makeup including a winged eye, a deep nude lip and lashes of mascara.

All dolled up: She pulled her long locks up and off her face and wore makeup including a winged eye, a deep nude lip and lashes of mascara

'A lil vibe,' Tammy captioned the post.

The racy images come as her new romance with former Ironman Matt Poole heats up.

On Thursday, she showed how serious their relationship is with a raunchy photo of herself with her man packing on the PDA.

The 26-year-old fitness mogul shared a photo of herself straddling her beau as he lifted her while at the Sounds Bout Right music festival on The Gold Coast.

Smitten! The racy images come as her new romance with former Ironman Matt Poole heats up. On Thursday, she showed how serious their relationship is with a raunchy photo of herself with her man packing on the PDA

She showed off her trim figure in a tight white crop top paired with a mini skirt, while Matt opted for a relaxed-fitting shirt and shorts.

Tammy debuted her new relationship with surf lifesaver Matt in September during a trip to the Whitsundays.

That same month, Matt also made his debut on Tammy's YouTube channel in which he confessed to saying 'I love you' first.

The pair met at an event in Bali in 2019.
Tokyo, Jan 16 : Kento Momota, the world's top-ranked men's singles badminton player, has resumed training 10 days after testing positive for COVID-19.

Japan's state broadcaster NHK said that Momota has returned to practice by himself after being isolated for 10 days. "I want to do my best so that I can come back in great shape," he was quoted as saying, according to Xinhua news.

The 26-year-old was confirmed infected in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test he took at Tokyo's Narita Airport just before departing for Bangkok with the Japanese national team for the Thailand Open.

Momota showed no symptoms despite the positive result and after the 10-day isolation required by the health centre, he returned to his Tokyo dormitory on Thursday.

The Nippon Badminton Association (NBA) cancelled the team's flight because of Momota's infection although the team's other players and staff assembled at the airport for the trip tested negative.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens

Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire

ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning

European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

Armenia acting MOD leaves for Moscow

Armenia President, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces discuss current situation on border

Armenia acting PM to residents of borderline village: If we cede our border, Azerbaijanis will get more excited

Armenia MOD not confirming reports about Azerbaijan firing shots at Tavush Province

Ex-President Kocharyan meets with Yerevan residents, "Armenia" bloc members (PHOTOS)

Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

Serj Tankian makes statement on Azerbaijans displayed horrific racism

Man detained in US for intending to commit attempt on Biden

Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD continues disseminating disinformation

Erdogan to visit Baku and Shushi

Two Armenia legislature committees to hold closed joint meeting regarding tense situation on Azerbaijan border

Holy Etchmiadzin on capture of Armenia soldiers: Such behavior of Azerbaijan authorities is strongly condemnable

Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

Armenia opposition MP: Shots are heard Gegharkunik Province

Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan leadership bears responsibility for consequences of actions by its armed forces

Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

140 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

Armenia MOD announces names of 6 Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

Armenia parliament manages to have quorum in 2nd attempt

World oil prices falling

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan popularity rating consistently drops over the past week

Newspaper: Russia peacekeepers commander does not return from Azerbaijan with encouraging news for Armenia

MOD: 6 Armenia soldiers are surrounded, captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

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Spain Congress of Deputies committee accepts pro-Armenian motion

Ex-PM comments on double-digit growth in Armenia economy

Facebook calls Russia, Iran leading purveyors of disinformation

Erdogan says meeting with Biden will mark 'start of new era' in relations with Washington

Armenia acting Deputy PM on creation of third high-voltage electric communication line with Iran

Vladimir Zaynetdinov: CSTO has taken note of application submitted by Armenia acting PM

Armenia's Pashinyan says addressing UN Security Council not ruled out

Armenia acting FM: International pressure on Azerbaijan is growing

Netanyahu tells Blinken that Israel is against reopening US consulate for Palestinians

23 political parties and 4 alliances apply to Armenia Central Electoral Commission ahead of snap parliamentary elections

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Iran FM on solutions to problems in the region, territorial integrity

Bloomberg: Support for Erdogan's ruling party hits record low

Inter-agency commission sums up reports on implementation of roadmap for EU-Armenia CEPA

Armenian acting PM on CSTO and Russia and their duties as Armenia's allies

Slovakia allows use of Russian vaccine Sputnik V

Armenia acting PM on situation in Syunik Province: CSTO still hasn't clearly expressed its position

Armenia's Pashinyan: It's very rarely that Baku made provocations in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces on its own

Armenia acting PM: There will be no demarcation of borders until Azerbaijani troops are pulled out of territory

Record-setting number of political parties register to run in snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Blinken describes Egypt as a "real and effective partner"

Armenia's Pashinyan slams opposition again

Yerevan court ends trial over Armenia 3rd President's nephew Hayk Sargsyan

Armenia President expresses condolences on passing away of Catholicos-Patriarch Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan
For days, every media form has been consumed with the travesty that took place in the Capitol on Jan. 6. And rightfully so, as nothing compares with the horror of what transpired as thousands stormed the U.S. House building, desecrating its beauty and history, and tainting its imagery of the countrys democracy.

What has been most unsettling is the allegation that there is any comparison between what took place throughout the Capitol last week to the Black Lives Matter protests over the summer.

Without question, the BLM protests were in response to opposition to racism and police brutality waged throughout African American communities across the United States. Through the first eight months of 2020, 164 African Americans were killed by police officers, a news analysis shows.

Deaths in recent years that have received some media attention include Michael Brown, Philando Castile, Samuel DuBose, George Floyd, Ezell Ford, Freddie Gray, Laquan McDonald, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Alton Sterling and Breonna Taylor. These are only some of the people who have died from the bullets or brutality of police officers simply for being Black while walking, Black while talking or Black while driving.

Because of the systemic racism and the blatant disregard for the lives of African Americans across the country, BLM protests erupted around the world, inciting protests in over 60 countries and on all seven continents. The response to BLM was not based on lies, false allegations or unproven allegations. Admittedly, some riotous behavior defaced and destroyed property. But the dead attests to the reality of why the protests have ignited with such pervasiveness around the world.

Editorial: Impeachment for Trump; expulsion for enabler Cruz

The riot at the U.S. Capitol resulted from an invitation by the sitting president. Rioters proceeded after the rally with the president instructing them to go to the Capitol to attempt to stop what could not be stopped: The will of the American people, who through the cherished right of voting, had selected the 46th president. Appeals at every level have denied that any grounds were valid to overturn the election results. A 9-0 decision by the Supreme Court denied even the slightest consideration of the allegations, as no evidence supported that the election had been in any way fraudulent.

In the wake of denial of voter fraud claims and a litany of other unsubstantiated allegations, thousands descended on the Capitol in response to lies. The damage was done, and the disregard for the lives and duties of elected officials to do the work that they were elected to do was completely ignored. And the shame that will forever be a part of this nations history belongs to no entities outside of the sitting president and those who support him with a willingness to disrespect themselves and the sanctity of democracy.

It is a travesty to compare the truth of why the BLM protests have become a clarion call for justice and respect for all human life to the riot on the Capitol seeded by baseless lies that have been perpetuated far too long, sowing seeds of divisiveness. America has to be, must be, better than this!

Lynda R. Byrd is a retired executive from Global Ministries, the mission agency of the United Methodist Church. She lives in San Antonio.
[January 15, 2021]

Cogeco Communications Inc. Announces Voting Results on the Election of Directors Held During its Annual Shareholders' Meeting

MONTREAL, Jan. 15, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - Cogeco Communications Inc. ("Cogeco Communications") (TSX: CCA) is pleased to announce that each of the nominees as directors for Cogeco Communications listed in the Corporation's Information Circular dated November 19, 2020 was elected as director of Cogeco Communications during its Annual Shareholders' Meeting held virtually on January 15, 2021 (the "Meeting").

Detailed voting results on the election of directors are as follows:









Nominee Results For % For Withhold % Withhold Colleen Abdoulah Elected 173,028,465 99.47 922,981 0.53 Louis Audet Elected 172,671,094 99.26 1,280,352 0.74 Robin Bienenstock Elected 173,121,670 99.52 829,776 0.48 James C. Cherry Elected 170,377,873 97.95 3,573,573 2.05 Pippa Dunn Elected 173,045,362 99.48 906,084 0,52 Joanne Ferstman Elected 171,932,216 98.84 2,019,230 1.16 Philippe Jette Elected 172,936,578 99.42 1,014,868 0.58 Bernard Lord Elected 173,045,994 99.48 905,452 0.52 David McAusland Elected 172,824,058 99.35 1,127,388 0.65 Caroline Papadatos Elected 173,121,493 99.52 829,953 0.48



Results on all matters voted at the Meeting are available on SEDAR's website (www.sedar.com.) including, for information purposes, the voting results for the subordinate voting shares only.

ABOUT COGECO COMMUNICATIONS INC.

Cogeco Communications Inc. is a communications corporation. It is the 8th largest cable operator in North America, operating in Canada under the Cogeco Connexion name in Quebec and Ontario, and along the East Coast of the United States under the Atlantic Broadband brand (in 11 states from Maine to Florida). The Corporation provides residential and business customers with Internet, video and telephony services through its two-way broadband fibre networks. Cogeco Communications Inc.'s subordinate voting shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: CCA).

SOURCE:

Christian Jolivet Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary

Cogeco Communications Inc.

514-764-4700

INFORMATION:

Marie-Helene Labrie

Senior Vice President and Chief Public Affairs, Communications and Strategy Officer

Cogeco Communications

Inc. 514-764-4700



SOURCE Cogeco Communications Inc.
New Delhi:

A massive search operation began on Thursday after a civilian informed the security personnel seeing some suspicious men in the Samba region of Jammu and Kashmir. The security forces have kept a close tab on each movement.

In the past few days, Regular operations mounted by the troops had successfully intercepted groups of armed intruders all along the LoC in Gurez, Machhil, Naugam and Uri sectors, leading to the elimination of armed intruders.

Militants had also snatched service rifles of security personnel and looted cash van in the Valley in past.

J&K: Search operation in Samba after a civilian reported seeing some suspicious men. (visuals deferred by unspecified time) pic.twitter.com/jRW6J5zWv5  ANI (@ANI_news) June 15, 2017

The India Army has launched a campaign to flush out terrorists who are intermittently targeting the jawans and cops in the state.

Also Read | J-K: Two Pakistani soldiers killed in retaliation by Indian Army along Line of Control

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.


MDHHS identifies first Michigan case of new COVID-19 variant, B.1.1.7. in Washtenaw County

LANSING, MICH.  The first Michigan case of new COVID-19 variant, B.1.1.7. was identified in an adult female living in Washtenaw County by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Bureau of Laboratories today. The person recently traveled to the United Kingdom, where this variant originated. Close contacts of this individual have been identified and are in quarantine. At this time two new cases have been identified from close contacts with the person, but it is not known if they are infected with the variant.

B.1.1.7. is believed to be more contagious, but there has been no indication that it affects the clinical outcomes or disease severity compared to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that has been circulating across the United States for months.

However, a higher rate of transmission could increase the number of people who need to be hospitalized or who lose their lives to COVID-19 should the new variant begin circulating widely in Michigan. To date, the virus has been identified in at least 16 other states and jurisdictions in the U.S. This is the only known case in Michigan at this time, however it is possible that there are more that have not been identified.

The discovery of this variant in Michigan is concerning, but not unexpected, said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health at MDHHS. We all have a personal responsibility to slow the spread of COVID-19 and end this pandemic as quickly as possible. We continue to urge Michiganders to follow a research-based approach by wearing their masks properly, socially distancing, avoiding crowds, washing their hands often, and making a plan to get the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine once it is their turn.

Based on available evidence, current tests and vaccines for COVID-19 also work against this new variant. Protective actions that prevent the spread of COVID-19 will also prevent the spread of the new variant, B.1.1.7. Michiganders should:

Get vaccinated for COVID-19.

Wear a mask around others.

Stay 6 feet apart from others.

Wash hands often.

Ventilate indoor spaces.

Viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time. MDHHSs Bureau of Laboratories is a national leader in whole genome sequencing for SARS CoV2. MDHHS identified the variant in this individuals sample and will continue to conduct whole genome sequencing to quickly identify any variants of interest, including B.1.1.7.

Whole genome sequencing allows scientists to examine the genetic material of pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2. Over the past 10 months, laboratories across Michigan have been submitting samples to the state public health laboratory for surveillance to help monitor the emergence of any variants of concern. MDHHS Bureau of Laboratories prioritizes additional specimens for whole genome sequencing when there is increased concern for a new variant of the virus, such as in people with a travel history to places where the variant is known to be circulating.

At this time, information is limited and changing rapidly. The latest information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

# # #



Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
The Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by an article published online by Daily Mail Australia on 5 April 2020 headed 'Beach bums! Sydneysiders ignore social distancing rules as they flock to Bondi to lap up the final days of summer - risking massive fines for breaking lockdown rules'.

The article reported 'Sydneysiders ignored strict social distancing rules as they lounged on the sand and soaked up the final days of the warm weather. Locals flocked to Sydney's popular Bondi Beach on Friday [3 April 2020], with blatant disregard for the social distancing rules in place to slow the spread of coronavirus.' The article also included several photographs apparently depicting beachgoers at Bondi Beach on that day.

In response to a complaint noting that Bondi Beach had been closed to public access from 22 March 2020 and had remained empty as of 3 April 2020, the Press Council asked the publication to comment on whether the article complied with the Council's Standards of Practice. These require publications to take reasonable steps to ensure factual material is accurate and not misleading (General Principle 1); to provide a correction or other adequate remedial action if published material is significantly inaccurate or misleading (General Principle 2); and to avoid causing or contributing materially to substantial offence, distress or prejudice, or a substantial risk to health or safety, unless doing so is sufficiently in the public interest (General Principle 6).

In response, the publication said it had received the pictures from a reputable picture agency with which it has a long standing relationship, and noted that in this case the pictures of Bondi Beach were erroneously captioned by the picture agency with the wrong dates. The publication said the article was written around the pictures and it was an honest mistake. The publication said there was certainly no intention by it to contribute to fears and anxieties in the community. It also said numerous contemporary stories on social distancing breaches at Sydney beaches had also been published by various news outlets, and that it had received accurate photographs of social distancing breaches at other Sydney beaches on that day, which added credence to the story.

The publication said many digital businesses, including it, rely on picture agencies to supply content and there is an expectation that this material is accurate. It said in this instance, the picture agency's United Kingdom office appeared to have 're-captioned' the photographs, which originated in Sydney, with the incorrect dates.

The publication said the article was published at 2:38 am on Sunday 5 April 2020 and once it became aware the captioned dates on images were incorrect, it took immediate steps to remove the article from its website. The publication also said it has taken steps to ensure a similar mistake does not happen again.

Conclusion

The Council acknowledges that the publication has an ongoing relationship with the picture agency which it relies on as a source of accurate and reliable information, and notes that the article was written entirely based on the erroneous time and date provided by the picture agency. However the events were reported to have occurred on the Friday and it is reasonable to assume, given the significance and potential illegality of the events reported on, that if they had occurred they would be reported on by one or more media outlets on the Saturday. When deciding to publish on the Sunday, the publication should have been alert to the fact that on the Saturday other media outlets had not carried reports of the events and the publication should therefore have taken steps to check the accuracy of the photographs rather than simply relying upon the reputation of the picture agency. Accordingly, the Council considers the publication did not take reasonable steps to verify the photographs, and to ensure that the factual information in the article was accurate and breached General Principle 1.

The Council notes that the publication took action to remedy the complaint, including removing the article from its website, and reviewing its procedures for handling content provided by third parties. However, the Council considers that in this instance General Principle 2 required the publication to publish a correction to inform its readership of the significant inaccuracy in the story. As the publication did not do so, General Principle 2 was breached in this respect.

As to General Principle 6, the Council does not consider the article is likely to cause or contribute to substantial distress or a substantial risk to health or safety. Accordingly, General Principle 6 was not breached.
Moscow-based NPP ITELMA, a leading developer and manufacturer of vehicle and transportation electronics, has presented a full powertrain system for electric bus manufacturers. The system will also make it possible to upfit any modern bus to an electric bus, the company said.





The developers promise to reduce energy consumption of electric vehicles by 25% and increase the range of e-buses up to 150 kilometers (93 miles).

The electric powertrain is located in the standard engine compartment at the rear of the bus.





Charging can be by pantograph, plug, or a battery-swap. During a working meeting with Maksim Liksutov, the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport, NPP ITELMA showed a prototype of an e-bus equipped with equipment allowing the swapping of batteries of an electric bus in 5 minutes at terminal stations using pit-stop mobiles, as well the online monitoring of those batteries.

We welcome innovative solutions and are always looking for new ideas for urban transport development. That is why our startup fund was created. It is important for the city to support domestic companies with production in Moscow. Maksim Liksutov

Deputy Mayor Liksutov also announced that the first special e-bus for drivers training had arrived in Moscow. The vehicle features two cabins: one for a driver-mentor, the other for a trainee, so that in emergency situations a more experienced driver will take control.





Earlier, beginners trained on buses, and prepared for unforeseen circumstances on a special simulator. Now, our professionals, in addition to the usual exercises, will have a chance to immediately test themselves in the city. Maksim Liksutov

Moscow has just added its 600th electric bus, maintaining its position as having the largest electric bus fleet in Europe. (Earlier post.)
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President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed condolences over the passage of Fatima (Fanta) Garba Mohammed, immediate younger sister of late Head of State, Sani Abacha.

The deceased was also the mother of Basheer Mohammed (Lado), Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

The President sympathised with the Abacha family, Mr Lado and his siblings as well as the people of Kano State, his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said in a release on Saturday.

The president said Hajia Fanta, who lived to the age of 75, devoted her time on earth to caring for the less-privileged and godly upbringing of her children.

President Buhari prays that Allah will console all those who mourn and grant Hajiya Fanta Aljannatul Firdaus, Mr Shehu said.

Mr Abacha was Nigerias military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998.

He was earlier the Chief of Army Staff between 1985 to 1990, then served as the nations Chief of Defence Staff between 1990 to 1993.

By Allison Lampert and Kevin Dougherty

MONTREAL/QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) - Political opposition that killed Canadian convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard's $20 billion bid for French retailer Carrefour on Friday is unlikely to end the global ambitions of founder Alain Bouchard.

The low-profile Canadian businessman built Couche-Tard from a single store in Quebec in 1980 to a global network of convenience stores and gas stations with a market value of $33 billion, with 66 acquisitions along the way.

French politicians gave a strong 'non' to the proposed take-over, calling it a matter of national food safety. Behind the scenes, Bouchard made a misstep by not giving an early heads up to French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who was extremely upset to learn about the deal from the media, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Bouchard, 72, who served as Couche-Tard's chief executive for 25 years until 2014, started in business after learning hard lessons as a child when his father, a subcontractor, went bankrupt.

"Couche-Tard is a master at converting dollars spent on gas on dollars spent on food and convenience store products," Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.

"You fill up your car with gas and then you go get a sandwich, newspaper and cigarettes."

But a global move toward electric vehicles would eventually disrupt that model, Charlebois noted, adding the Carrefour acquisition might be a way for the retailer to diversify its strategy.

Bouchard, the current executive chairman of the company, declined to be interviewed for this story.

'A STRETCH'

The Quebec chain grew in Canada through the 1980s and 1990s before making its big break into the fragmented U.S. market in the early 2000s, acquiring first the assets of Johnson Oil Co, and then Circle K Corp. Once, when a banker suggested he was too ambitious, Bouchard switched banks, according to a local media report.

Story continues

Alain Bouchard is "an entrepreneurial hero, a self-made man, self-educated man," his friend Mitch Garber, who headed Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil, said.

Garber doesn't buy the French minister's arguments, calling them "a stretch".

"If Carrefour was making weapons for the French army I would understand," he said. "They sell groceries."

Despite the endless amount of acquisitions, the company has retained its entrepreneurial approach to business, a top-10 shareholder of Couche-Tard said.

Couche-Tard has missed deals before and looked for more.

Couche-Tard Chief Executive Brian Hannasch told Fortune in August "there will be more activity caused by the pandemic," after the demise of a planned $5.6 billion acquisition of petrol station operator Caltex Australia in April.

Bouchard, who relaxes with opera and gives to the arts and culture, the intellectually disabled, education and health care, retains some strong shareholder support.

"It's a bit of a head scratcher," the top-10 shareholder in Couche-Tard said, pointing to the minimal overlap in terms of both business model and geographic region. But history is a guide for investors. "There is definitely a case to be made that these guys have a great, great track record."

($1 = 1.2732 Canadian dollars)

(Additional reporting by Maiya Keida in Toronto, Pamela Barbaglia in London and Gwenaelle Barzic in Paris; Writing by Denny Thomas; Editing by Peter Henderson and Jacqueline Wong)

Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore will tighten border measures for travelers from Australias Victoria state due to the outbreak there. In nearby Sarawak, Malaysias largest state and home to plantations, timber and hydro-power industries, there will be a lockdown from Saturday to June 11. U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was too early to say whether Englands economy can fully reopen as planned on June 21, warning that the virus variant first identified in India continues to spread. Japan is looking to extend its state of emergency to June 20, just five weeks before the Olympics. California will give $116.5 million in prizes for residents who are vaccinated, with draws on June 4 and 11 selecting 30 winners to receive $50,000 each. In the final draw on June 15, 10 residents will get $1.5 million each. In another push for vaccinations, Qantas Airways is considering giving away free flights. Key Developments:Global Tracker: Cases top 168.7 million; deaths exceed 3.5 millionVaccine Tracker: More than 1.78 billion doses have been givenBidens budget would raise annual spending to $6 trillion Seychelless Covid mysteries pit anti-vaxxers against scientistsGeneration of Covid orphans at risk of exploitation in IndiaWhere are we in hunting for the coronaviruss origin?: QuickTakeJapan to Extend Emergency (8:24 a.m. HK)Japan recommended extending a state of emergency that includes Tokyo and other major cities from May 31 to June 20 as it tries to rein in infections ahead of the Olympics in less than two months.A decision on whether to hold the Tokyo Olympics must be made by the end of June at the latest, International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound said in an interview with Jiji Press.Singapore Tightens Rules for Australia (7:55 a.m. HK)Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders who have traveled to the Australian state of Victoria within 21 days will be subject to an on-arrival Covid test, a seven-day stay-home notice, and another test before the end of the stay-home periodShort-term travelers holding an Air Travel Pass who have been to Victoria within 21 days will not be allowed to enter Singapore. The restrictions take effect just before midnight on Saturday. Indonesias Wide Curbs (7:50 a.m. HK)Indonesia will impose restrictions nationwide -- in all 34 provinces -- for two weeks from June 1, according to the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs. Singapore Testing Delays (7:42 a.m. HK)Singapores laboratories are operating at over 80% of capacity to meet demand for polymerase chain reaction tests following a surge in cases, the Straits Times says, citing the Ministry of Health.The rise in testing means people may experience delays beyond 24 hours to get their results, Parkway Laboratories CEO Daniel Tan said, according to the Straits Times. Innoquest Diagnostics CEO Ginny Foo said the increased workload may delay swab test results for clinically urgent cases to up to 12 hours.Japans AstraZeneca Offer (7:25 a.m. HK)Japan is considering supplying Taiwan with doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine it is procuring for domestic use as soon as next month, Sankei reported, citing unidentified government and ruling party officials.Purdue Offers Scholarships for Vaccinated (6:54 a.m. HK)Ten Purdue University students will be randomly selected to receive almost $10,000, the cost of annual undergraduate in-state tuition, for getting vaccinated, the school said. Students must show proof of their vaccine by July 15.New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state is raffling off 50 four-year full-tuition college scholarships to boost the number of teens getting vaccinated. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Twitter announced the first winner of a four-year, full-ride scholarships to a public college in the state.Maryland Adds More Than 500 Deaths (6:15 a.m. HK)Maryland added 517 fatalities to its toll, previously uncounted deaths involving people with confirmed Covid-19 cases. Another 21 deaths were listed as probable, the states department of health announced. The revision increases Marylands death toll since the pandemic began by about 5%, to almost 9,600.California Joins Vaccine Sweepstakes (5:08 p.m. NY)California officials who have spent months urging residents to get vaccinated against the coronavirus now hope $116.5 million in prizes will sweeten the deal.Under the states new Vax for the Win campaign, launched Thursday, residents 12 years or older who are at least partially vaccinated will be eligible for cash prizes awarded in a series of three drawings.The first two, on June 4 and June 11, will select a total of 30 winners to receive $50,000 apiece, if they complete their inoculations. In the final drawing, on June 15, 10 residents will win $1.5 million each.Separately in Los Angeles, those who get their inoculations at a number of locations across the county will be eligible to win season tickets to the L.A. Kings and L.A. Galaxy.Idaho No. 2 Stages Mask Coup (4:51 p.m. NY)Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin swept away most of Idahos remaining mask mandates -- while Governor Brad Little was out of state and without consulting him. Idaho never had a statewide mask mandate, but her executive order swept away remaining rules for local government institutions, including public schools. The order does not cover healthcare facilities.U.S. Covid Inequities Persist (3:07 p.m. NY)Black people are being hospitalized with Covid-19 at twice the rates of White people, according to Covid-Net, a hospital surveillance network for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The disparities reflect the same long-running inequities in health care and wealth that have contributed to higher rates of diabetes and obesity. They also underscore the urgency for the U.S. to improve its vaccination campaign in the Black community.Its clear that Black and Hispanic communities want the vaccines more than now-famously hesitant groups such as Republicans and White Evangelical Christians -- and yet theyve received fewer by comparison.U.S. Vaccine Readiness Rises in Poll (2:45 p.m. NY)Most people in the U.S. plan to spend the Memorial Day weekend much like before the pandemic, while about one in four adults say they dont plan to get vaccinated, according to a Quinnipiac University poll published Thursday.Those planning to get a Covid shot or already vaccinated rose to 72% compared to 68% in a poll published April 14. The share saying they dont plan to get immunized declined to 23% from 27%, according to Quinnipiac.President Joe Biden said Thursday that 50% of adults in the U.S. are fully vaccinated.Chile Plans More Virus Debt (2:15 p.m. NY)Chile will tap bond markets to help finance $10.8 billion worth of fresh measures aimed at confronting a persistent coronavirus outbreak, Finance Minister Rodrigo Cerda said.Expanded aid for families and cash transfers to small companies announced by President Sebastian Pinera will enlarge the deficit, Cerda told Radio Futuro. The measures will be paid for by windfalls from higher copper prices, the governments sovereign funds and extra debt, he said.N.Y. Requires Paid Leave for Side Effects (2:05 p.m. NY)New Yorkers that have side effects from the coronavirus vaccine can take a sick day without losing wages, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.The announcement comes as vaccine rates are plateauing in the state and nationally. Over 10 million New Yorkers, about 64.4% of those aged 18 or older, have received at least one dose, and nearly 9 million are fully vaccinated, Cuomo said.North Carolina Passes 1 Million Cases (1:06 p.m. NY)North Carolina became the 10th U.S. state to pass 1 million Covid-19 cases, reporting another 849 infections Thursday, state data show. Almost 43% of people in the state have received a first dose of vaccine, below a national average nearing 50%, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker.Germany to Vaccinate Young Teens (12:17 p.m. NY)Germany plans to expand inoculations to children aged 12 and older starting June 7 as Europes largest economy seeks a way out of the pandemic.Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized that immunizations for children would be voluntary and wouldnt impact school participation. The vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE would likely be approved for this age group in the coming days, she said Thursday after a meeting with leaders of Germanys 16 states.U.K. Reopening in the Balance (12:03 p.m. NY)U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the spread of the variant first identified in India means its too early to say whether stage four of the reopening of the economy in England can go ahead on June 21 as planned.A formal assessment of data on cases and hospitalizations will be published before June 14, Hancock told lawmakers, and the lifting of remaining restrictions will only happen if its safe.The U.K. on May 27 reported 3,542 more people tested positive, up from 3,180 the previous day.Florida Cruise Cleared (11:55 a.m. NY)Royal Caribbean Cruises said it had been cleared to resume cruises in the U.S. starting with a June 26 embarkation from Floridas Port Everglades on Celebrity Edge, which is part of its Celebrity Cruises brand.Black Businesses Owners Turned to Fintech (11:15 a.m. NY)Black-owned businesses were much likelier than their peers to use online lenders than traditional banks when applying for U.S. pandemic relief loans, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.About one in four Black owners seeking a Paycheck Protection Program loan applied to a fintech company, more than twice the rate of Whites, Asians and Hispanics, the New York Fed said in a blog post, part of its Economic Inequality series.Qantas Weighs Free Flights (10:37 a.m. NY)Qantas Airways is considering giving free flight vouchers or air miles to people whove had Covid-19 shots, joining a growing list of businesses offering vaccination incentives to kick-start global travel.While details havent been finalized, fully inoculated frequent fliers might also be offered free loyalty status credits, Qantas said. The program is due to run until the end of 2021, when Australias vaccination program is expected to be mostly complete.Johnson Hits Back (7:51 a.m. NY)U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson hit back at his former adviser Dominic Cummings, who alleged ministers failed to protect the public from the coronavirus and declared the premier is unfit for the job.Speaking to broadcasters on a visit to a hospital, Johnson said some of the comments his controversial former aide made bore no relation to reality.India in Talks With Pfizer (7:48 a.m. NY)India is in talks with Pfizer to import its vaccine with a possible July start date, said V.K. Paul, who heads the panel on the countrys vaccine rollout. A key sticking point has been vaccine makers demand for indemnity protection against liabilities.South Africa Weighs More Curbs (5:37 p.m. HK)South Africas rising infections puts pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa to reintroduce stricter lockdown measures.The country has been slow off the mark to administer vaccines, with the just 761,903 people out of a population of almost 60 million having received shots. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P.
We deserve better

Regarding Getting vaccinated is hard  even for an icon, (A17, Jan. 10): This essay speaks volumes on the sad state of affairs we all find ourselves in. My husband was a devoted fan of Leon Hale and the private musings of his talking mule. For decades, Hale represented an admired and respected voice of quiet articulation, common sense and sound reasoning, and my husband always looked forward to his next penning. Fast forward to the politics of 2020, where, sadly, negative rhetoric has caused a downward spiral in truth and accountability, and the high road once extolled and taken by Hale has been all but abandoned. Instead, some of our politicians, at all levels of government, have promoted and encouraged mixed messaging, mismanagement or the crass perpetuation of self-interest, denial or indifference at very shameful, base levels. In addition to vaccine production, they have had more than nine months and the resources to come up with a blueprint for a delivery system. Passing the buck, creating communication chaos where none should exist, abdicating responsibility and placing blame on other diversionary political barriers were never valid solutions. What an affront to the tireless dedication of our medical, front-line and mental health professions, our resources, our valuable time and collective well-being as citizens! Hale and those many, many people who continue to follow in his footsteps deserve so much better. We all deserve better. I can only wonder what the talking mule, in his infinite wisdom, would say about that.

Carla Scanlan, Houston

Justice Forward

Regarding Why I became a believer in specialty courts, (A15, Jan. 10): What a refreshing and positive article by Devon Anderson which you presented in Outlook. My wife and I are always looking for well run, particularly effective charities and Justice Forward seems to be one. We will begin to contribute to Justice Forward regularly and we would urge other Houstonians to do the same.

Robin Converse, Houston

Devon Anderson demonstrates just how important it is to elect leaders who are not ideological zealots. Andersons willingness to open her mind to treatment for drug offenders instead of incarceration has undoubtedly improved or saved the lives of thousands of addicts and helped blaze the trail toward more enlightened public policy.

Andersons willingness to share her personal story about her battle with alcohol is admirable. Alcoholism is an affliction that seems to disproportionately affect the legal profession. Her success is a beautiful example for her peers.

Congratulations to Anderson on her sobriety and her enlightenment.

Rand Nolen, Houston

The Pentagon on Friday announced completion of the drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq ordered by President Donald Trump. But the move comes amid increasing attacks by the Taliban in Afghanistan and the continuing threat posed by Islamic State insurgents and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.

In separate statements on the drawdowns, Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said that the Jan. 15 deadline set by the president for the reduction of U.S. forces from 4,500 to 2,500 in Afghanistan, and from 3,000 to 2,500 in Iraq, had been met.

Miller made no mention of Somalia, and U.S. Africa Command did not immediately respond to a query about whether Trump's deadline for the near-total withdrawal of the estimated 700 troops in that country had been met.

Read Next: Military Pledges Proper Housing for Troops in DC as National Guard Force Grows to 25,000

In an email statement Thursday, Maj. Andrew Caulk, spokesman for Joint Task Force-Quartz, said, "Due to force protection and operational considerations, we will not discuss timelines associated with repositioning of forces at this time."

Miller also made no mention of how the U.S. withdrawal will affect NATO's non-combat forces in Afghanistan. The number of NATO troops, including a U.S. contingent, now stands at about 11,000.

In a Jan. 6 virtual address to Germany's Christian Social Union, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he would discuss the status of troops and the way ahead in Afghanistan with Biden administration representatives in February at a NATO ministerial meeting.

Stoltenberg said that 2021 will be a difficult year for decisions on Afghanistan, adding, "There are many challenges, and many uncertainties, but of course, peace talks are the only path to peace, the only way forward to a peaceful negotiated solution."

The White House did not immediately comment on the drawdowns. But in a statement Thursday on the White House website, Trump cited troop withdrawals from war zones as one of the legacies of his administration.

"United States military troops in Afghanistan are at a 19-year low," he said. "Likewise, Iraq and Syria are also at the lowest point in many years. I will always be committed to stopping the endless wars."

The Pentagon statements did not disclose which bases in Afghanistan may have been closed or turned over to Afghan forces, but the U.S. has steadily been abandoning locations as its troop presence is reduced.

In July, U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said via Twitter that U.S. troops had left five bases in Helmand, Uruzgan, Paktika and Laghman provinces.

Last week, Khalilzad was in Kabul to discuss the peace negotiations and U.S. withdrawal with Afghan officials, but Afghan President Ashraf Ghani refused to meet with him, according to Afghanistan's Tolo News.

In his statement on Afghanistan, Miller said that troop levels had been reduced to 2,500, bringing them "to their lowest levels since 2001."

While pressing for a peace deal, the U.S. and NATO "will continue to execute both our counterterrorism mission and the train, advise and assist mission in support of Afghan Security Forces working to secure peace in their country," he added.

Under the U.S. deal with the Taliban signed last February, all U.S. forces are to withdraw from Afghanistan by May of this year, depending on conditions on the ground.

Both Army Gen. Austin "Scott" Miller, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley demanded that the Taliban cease attacks on Afghan forces and break ties with al-Qaida as conditions for the continued withdrawal of U.S. troops.

However, the attacks have been unrelenting. On Friday, officials charged that 14 Afghan soldiers had been killed in two Taliban attacks in Kandahar and Kunduz provinces, Tolo News reported.

In his statement on Iraq, Miller said that the reduction of U.S. force levels from 3,000 to 2,500 is "consistent with Operation Inherent Resolve's transition from major combat operations and does not equate to a change in U.S. policy" regarding support of the Baghdad government.

"We will continue to have a counterterrorism platform in Iraq to support partner forces with airpower and intelligence," he said.

The drawdowns were completed despite a provision in the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, passed last month in an override of Trump's veto, that barred use of appropriated funding for withdrawals from Afghanistan unless the Defense and State Departments gave new assessments of the potential risks.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Related: Pentagon Hits Target of 2,500 Troops in Afghanistan Despite New Law Restricting Drawdown
Russia has long resorted to hybrid methods on the Ukrainian peninsula by financing criminal organizations and withdrawing Crimean assets through fake advice notes.

Ukraine's Minister for Veterans Affairs, Major General of the SBU Security Service of Ukraine Yulia Laputina says the Russia threat existed long before the outbreak of the war in Donbas and the occupation of Crimea, which had been reported by counterintelligence agents to Ukrainian leadership from 2008.

Russia has long resorted to hybrid methods and set its agenda on the Ukrainian peninsula by financing criminal organizations and withdrawing Crimean assets through fake advice notes, she told RFE/RL's Ukrainian bureau on January 16.

Read alsoCrimea occupation: Ex-military official explains why Russian aggression saw no rebuff at onsetThe SBU then created an operational investigative group, which "did everything to stop such actions" against Ukraine's sovereignty. At that time, Laputina served at the SBU's Alpha task force unit.

"It was obvious that even if then we stopped everything that was being done against Ukraine, we needed to provide 'fuses' so that Russia's more effective attempts could not occur," she added.

Intelligence officers reported Russia's attempts to increase its influence in the area to ex-Presidents of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych.

"Ukrainian counterintelligence officers, during tenures of all leaders wrote analytical documents regarding [Russia's] threats based on certain operational data and analytical information. One of the reports  approximately, in 2008-2009  was related to what was happening in Crimea. The first conclusion of our operational and analytical work concerned a real threat of secession of Crimea. Unfortunately, it so happened that there was a change of power to a pro-Russian course of policy, and no one paid attention to it. We even developed proposals on how to neutralize such actions by Russia's special services," Laputina said.

Russian occupation of Crimea

Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014 after its troops had occupied the peninsula. An illegal referendum was held for Crimeans to decide on accession to Russia. De-facto Crimean authorities reported that allegedly 96.77% of the Crimean population had voted for joining Russia.

On March 18, 2014, the so-called agreement on the accession of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to Russia was signed in the Kremlin.

The West did not recognize the annexation in response to which sanctions against Russia were introduced.

Ukraine's parliament voted to designate February 20, 2014, as the official date when the temporary occupation of Crimea began.

Reporting by UNIAN
Late on Thursday afternoon, hordes of New Yorkers swarmed a 24/7 city-run vaccine site at Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, hoping to get a shot. We need to give out 410+ said a message that was circulating by text and WhatsApp, presumably implying that the pharmacists at the vaccination site had found themselves with extra doses that they needed to administer before the shots expired. The message suggested that anyone over the age of 18 could try for a walk-in appointment.

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What happened exactly is unclear. There is NOT available vaccine for people without appointments, the mayors press secretary tweeted. This was misinformation and the notification did not come from the NYC gov. NYC Councilman Justin Brannan said that the announcement that was circulating was not an official one and that City Hall was investigating its origin, though he also acknowledged that there may in fact have been additional doses available. This is why there needs to be an official waiting list for these sites, he wrote in an email to Slate. Not a free-for-all via WhatsApp.

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People who were there say that workers at the vaccine site were indeed directing arrivals to a walk-in line. I have never seen anything like that in my lifepure mayhem, tweeted Jessica Valenti, a journalist and Brooklynite who went down to the Terminal as soon as she heard. Im not sorry I wentI have a kid with lung issues so I will follow any tip I canbut holy shit.

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To get a better idea of what being there was like, I spoke to Henry Towbin, a graduate student at Columbia who spent about an hour and a half outside the site trying to get a dose. Our conversation has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

Slate: How did you hear about the extra doses?

Henry Towbin: I was working from home. I got a message from a family member who works at a school in the citythey said a nurse at the school had gotten a message from a friend who worked at the vaccine hub at Brooklyn Army Terminal. I was like, well, could be real, could be not real. But its a 20-minute ride for me to get thereworth checking out.

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I mobilized pretty quickly. I hopped in an Uber. I hadnt been in an Uber in almost a year now. I went with my wife and my mother and father. We said, Well, were going to run with it, because this could be a good opportunity. Obviously, I feel like the vaccine should be prioritized to those in need, but this seemed like a good opportunity if the vaccines really were going to waste.

In New York, providers can get fined if they give the vaccine to someone who isnt eligible. Are you eligible?

I am not eligible. In my mind, I thought, If these are going to go to waste, I will jump on it. I definitely think they should have had a better system. They should go to more deserving people than me. I was just thinking, Wow, this is a stroke of luck.

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What was the mood like when you arrived?

When I got there, there were two lines. It was a little bit of a mess. We got on one line. I went to the front of the line to confirm it was the right line, and the staff said, No, the walk-in line is to the left. I got on the walk-in line and called my family and told them to come over and join me. The line was relatively, not jovial, but people were chatting and saying, Is this real?, How did you hear about this? People were a little skeptical.

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The staff there confirmed that this was real. They walked down the line repeatedly and made statements like, We have extra doses, but we dont know we have the manpower, were going to try and administer as many doses as we can to the people in both lines, prioritizing people with appointments, but well try and slowly pull from the walk-in line as well.

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Did you have a sense that you might make it in?

[At one point], employees put an orange cone in the middle of the line, and said [to the person standing there], Youre the last one whos getting the vaccine. The line kept on forming long after that. This thing definitely went a little viral.

But I was ahead of the orange cone. At some point when the line had really grown, someone went down and counted and told us, You guys are about 40 people back [from the front of the line].

What did it feel like to think you might be getting it?

Id gone from Im going to spend the next several months camped out to.I mean, not that I would change my social distancing too much. But definitely the level of anxiety would have been much less if Id been able to get it as well as my parents and my wife. That would have been a big transformation. Wow, this is a really huge change, I thought.

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It sounds like youve been taking COVID seriously.

Im fortunate enough that Ive been able to not have to take the subway too many times. I do take the subway when I need to go to the doctor. I have the things within walking distance, I can comfortably work from home.

When did you know you werent going to get it after all?

The guy who first put the cone down came and said, Theres no more left, everybodys got to go, everybodys got to go! Nobody moved. Everyone was just staying there. Then someone else came out and said, Were going to go until 8, then after 8 p.m. theres a shift change, thats when only people who have appointments can get it.

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A bunch of us stayed in the line, we thought, Well, if people are leaving and they have a bunch of these possible extra doses before the shift change, maybe we can get in there. More people came and told us to leave, so we eventually left.

What was the mood when you left?

We were like, What just happened? Well, we tried. We were dazed by the whole thing. This was the most activity weve really done with other people in months. I dont think we were all that upset or angry. It seemed like whatever this was, the intentions from the staff were good.

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The only reason I got annoyed was [later] seeing the city fully deny that [there had been a legitimate call-out for extra doses]. Gothamist quoted me saying it wasnt a hoax. The city needs to do a better job at thisI dont appreciate them making it look like a bunch of people were fooled by some random text to go out and overwhelm a vaccine hub.

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Is there anything else I should know?

Were lucky that it was relatively orderly. The staff, even though they were overwhelmed, were kind and doing their best to be helpful. And also that the weather was relatively nice.

Its also lucky that you have a job where you can take off at 4 p.m. to go try this.

Im very fortunate where I have a stable job with that flexibility, A lot of New Yorkers dont. I mentioned [the possibility of getting the vaccine] to the Uber driver. He didnt even respond to me. He just shrugged.

You definitely dont sound bitter for someone who went through an unsuccessful scramble to try to get a surplus vaccine dose that the city is now claiming never existed.

This was a moonshot.
Projects in four villages in the county are to get funding under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, it was announced last week.

Carlingford has been approved for 100,000 repair of the medieval boundary wall at Carlingford Heritage Centre and refurbishment of the public toilets, while a similar sum has been allocated to Blackrock for improvements to footpaths along Rock Road and addition of a looped walkway. Likewise Dromiskin has received 100,00 for the development of a looped footpath with associated works and lighting.

In the south of the county, Stabannon has received 76,050 for the provision of footpaths and lighting in the village.

The news has been welcomed by local politicians, with Senator John McGahon saying: 'This funding is extremely welcome news for Louth, especially residents of Dromiskin, Carlingford, Stabannon and Blackrock.

He paid tribute to party colleague Cllr Maria Doyle for her hard work and continued efforts in lobbying for funding for Blackrock.

The funding, allocated under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, is part of the Action Plan for Rural Development and the Government's Project Ireland 2040 Programme for Rural Regeneration.

Expand Close A file photograph of the Holy Trinity Heritage Centre, Carlingford in snowy weather during 2019. Picture Ken Finegan/Newspics / Facebook

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Whatsapp A file photograph of the Holy Trinity Heritage Centre, Carlingford in snowy weather during 2019. Picture Ken Finegan/Newspics

'The benefit of previous funding under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme is now being felt countrywide and I am delighted today that even more areas in Louth will benefit from the funding,' said Senator McGahon.

'Almost 68 million has now been approved for more than 830 projects across the country under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme since it was introduced in the second half of 2016, with more than 600 of these approved since the Action Plan for Rural Development was launched in January 2017.

He thanked Louth County Council 'for engaging with local communities in these instances to help them to identify good projects which have merited support.'

'The Government's commitment to supporting rural Ireland is further underscored through the 1 billion Project Ireland 2040 Rural Regeneration and Development Fund which complements the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and provides an opportunity to deliver more integrated and ambitious projects which will further support the revitalisation of our rural towns and villages,' he concluded.

Senator Erin McGreehan also welcomed the funding, commenting: 'This funding is about helping communities get back on their feet and adapt to the ongoing challenges Covid-19 presents. It will help support our rural communities in this challenging time and make our towns and villages safer places to live, work and do business.'

'Since August, more than 25 million has been provided to over 500 projects nationwide under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme. These projects will make a real and lasting difference and demonstrates this Government's strong commitment to supporting our rural communities.

'It is clear that now more than ever we must support our local communities,' said Senator McGreehan.
The oil industry is extremely challenging, and industry players often face significant logistic and supply chain challenges. Recently, industry leaders are shifting from geocentric models to globally centralized functional models. While the aim is to improve performance, more often than not, the inability to deliver efficiently causes major setbacks for industry players. Therefore, oil industry players are now leveraging market intelligence solutions to make data-driven strategic decisions, improve operational efficiency, and successfully establish a broad-based frontline mobilization.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210116005003/en/

Market Intelligence Solution for an Oil Industry Client: Business Outcomes (Graphic: Business Wire).

To leverage Infiniti's market intelligence solutions, re-invent your business models, gain a strategic edge, and stay a step ahead in the oil industry, request a free proposal

"The COVID-19 outbreak has caused a significant threat to the global oil industry. Our business continuity support solutions can help oil companies combat the business impact of COVID-19, maintain business continuity, and prepare for the new normal," says an oil and gas industry expert at Infiniti Research.

Business Challenge:

The client, a leading oil company based out of the United States, sought to improve performance by developing a centralized functional model instead of the current geocentric model. However, decentralizing became ineffectual and difficult to manage. The oil industry client sought to improve capital efficiency, allocate scarce capabilities better, and address workforce challenges. Therefore, they chose to leverage Infiniti's expertise in offering market intelligence solutions. During the seven-week engagement, the client also wanted to enhance their operational expertise, improve safety standards, and adopt industry best practices.

Our Approach:

To assist the oil industry client, Infiniti's market intelligence experts developed a comprehensive approach, which included the following:

Creating a central organization template, helping the client develop a unit organization design, and mapping existing roles to a new organization

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Establishing a broad-based mobilization of the frontline, building a strong operational infrastructure, and creating effective communication strategies

Business Outcome:

Leveraging Infiniti's market intelligence solutions helped the oil industry client implement the new organization across their units while avoiding disruption and before the deadline. This enabled defining process maps and decisions for particular key processes and document responsibilities for key roles. Additionally, they established a broad-based frontline mobilization, built a strong operational infrastructure that supports loyalty initiatives and effective communication strategies. The oil industry client repositioned itself as a competitor, offered more flexible pricing and offerings. Lastly, the market intelligence solution helped the client achieve a 6x return on invested capital.

Speak to industry experts to understand the value and benefits of market intelligence solutions in the vast and dynamic oil industry.

About Infiniti Research

Established in 2003, Infiniti Research is a leading market intelligence company providing smart solutions to address your business challenges. Infiniti Research studies markets in more than 100 countries to analyze competitive activity, see beyond market disruptions and develop intelligent business strategies. To know more, visit: https://www.infinitiresearch.com/about-us

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President Donald Trumps bid to overthrow the constitutional procedure to choose a president by fraud and force was an act of sedition.

Republican Party leaders have an opportunity for redemption for their part in the insurrection: They can tell the truth to Trumps voters that Democrat Joe Biden won a fair election; that there was no massive fraud to steal the election from Trump (as attested to by Trumps own attorney general, all 50 state governments, and 60 court cases); and that Trumps claims are a Big Lie strategy to get power.

Its their duty to do so, but so far very few Republican leaders are stepping up. The country will be worse for losing one of its two big parties that historically secured the orderly transfer of power after a competitive election. The Republicans will be known forever as an anti-democracy party with coup plotters. They brought this ignominy on themselves  and even after Trump leaves office, the same incentives that empowered Trump will remain to create a new Republican demagogue. That is precisely why Congress must impeach and convict Trump.

Trumps appeal for Republican leaders was his populism, canny ability to use social media to control the daily conversation and success at whipping an enthusiastic base. Republican leaders also knew they were playing with fire. But without Trumps opposition to free trade, xenophobia, appeals to class grievance, white nationalism and genuine resentment of the establishment, the Republican Party was just a party of plutocrats and corporate special interests with a diminishing base of aging white middle-class voters to whom it pitched fear and religious piety.

The GOP is a minority party that has lost the popular vote in every presidential election but one since 1988. Many believed Trump was their only chance to prevent the final triumph of American social democracy. Now, a future without Trump looks dim unless the party can hang onto his base.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is waiting in the wings. His bid for Trumps mantle was his proposal for a federal commission to investigate allegations of massive fraud, but whose purpose was to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote and substitute the commissions choice for the peoples decision.

Cruz was smacked down by two Senate votes after Trumps mob physically assaulted Congress, but Cruz is unrepentant, and 133 House Republicans backed the proposal, which shows the depths to which the party has fallen under Trumps spell.

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Trump, Cruz and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri committed a disgraceful attack on constitutional democracy. Trumps mob killed a police officer and trashed congressional offices as it sought to lay hands on enemies identified by Trump. They took an oath of office to defend the Constitution, and they should pay the appropriate price: expulsion from the office they dishonored.

Most House Republicans have spurned the lifeline of impeachment. U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas said impeaching Trump for inciting a mob to attack Congress is, itself, further incitement of violence. Brady seems to agree Trump incited violence, but he wants him to get away with it. U.S. Rep. Tom Reed of New York told PBS News Hour he feared Trump might cause more violence before Bidens inauguration with impeachment.

Brady and Reed are intimidated by Trump and his violent supporters. Cruz and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California have also said impeaching Trump is divisive and that Americans should unite. They have no shame.

Republican senators have a rare second opportunity to reclaim some integrity. Last year, Republican senators acquitted Trump  with only one dissent  for using U.S. military aid to coerce a personal political favor from Ukraines president. They gave Trump a get out of jail free pass, which he used again in his call with the Republican secretary of state of Georgia.

Now, Republicans who are committed to constitutional democracy can vote for conviction. Trump has just days left in his term  but, from a larger perspective, the lesson that will be passed to future demagogues if Trump isnt impeached and convicted is that no one will hold them accountable.

It should also be blatantly obvious now that removing Trump will not aggravate political polarization. Instead, impeachment is the unifying commitment to carry out the Constitution and save our democratic society.

Stephen Amberg is an associate professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Twitter informed us that Tuesday was Portfolio Day, a social media event that rolls around every three months and prods artists to share their finest work online.

Of course, artists should feel free to promote themselves at any time  but the advantage of this event is that it builds buzz, focusing attention around the hashtag #PortfolioDay while emboldening young or shy artists to show their skills off. Each time, we discover cool work by animators, illustrators, designers, and others, many of them at the start of their career.

Below, weve rounded up the Instagram profiles of five artists we found through this Portfolio Day. None have more than a few years professional experience, but all show buckets of promise
"Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad." Euripides

Amazon abruptly de-platformed Parler last week, terminating its web services hosting account with a speed and lack of notice clearly designed to ruin the company.

Amazon covered up this action by a fig leaf of allegations that Parler did not adequately control incitements to violence, or that someone might sometime use Parler to suggest that someone think about using violence, ignoring the extent to which Facebook, Twitter, and other social media freely allow all sorts of Progressive groups to glorify, incite, and condone violence.

By doing this, Amazon has exposed itself to an impressive spectrum of risks, both legal and business. Parler has already filed suit.

Most obvious are contract liabilities. Amazon clearly violated its terms of service, which require adequate notice. In addition, a fundamental of contract law is that every contract contains an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, an obligation violated by destroying a company at the behest of a competitor or political opponent.

Parler also alleges violation of the antitrust laws in that Amazon's action was designed to help another of its hosting customers, Twitter, a clear transgression if there was any communication between the two.

Moving on, some serious civil rights claims exist. If Amazon and Twitter talked about this action with government officials, then those officials are liable for violating Parler's constitutional rights in several ways, which makes Amazon and Twitter a part of a conspiracy to this end. Violation of First Amendment free speech rights is the most obvious. Also, though, Amazon and Twitter seem to be interfering with Parler's efforts to find alternative hosting and legal representation, which would, I submit, transgress the Privileges & Immunities clause of the 14th Amendment.

Given the incestuous current relationship between Big Tech and the Democrats, it is almost a certainty that such conversations took place.

The media, naturally, pooh-poohed the claims and trotted out various experts to minimize them. In fact, though, Amazon's defenses look thin and would, I would bet, crumble in actual litigation, given an honest court.

The dubious legality of Amazon's action raises two possibilities about the role of Amazon's lawyers in this affair, both of which are disturbing.

The first is that the censors did not ask the lawyers, but simply did it or overrode legal cautions. This would mean that the company's employees are out of control and indifferent to the welfare of the company itself, answerable only to the demands of their woke religion. Note, in particular, that cutting off Parler was of no benefit to Amazon, which bore no responsibility for Parler's supposed failure to police its users.

The second is that the lawyers gave them the go-ahead on the grounds that the legal profession is now so corrupted that no court would dare to find for Parler, however meritorious its case. (The courts' refusal to hear about election fraud supports this theory.) Also, just as lawyers who tried to represent Trump were bullied and intimidated, Amazon might feel certain of its ability to prevent Parler from obtaining adequate representation.

Take your pick of these possibilities, but either creates big business risks for Amazon.

Assume that you are chief information officer of a large company. How can you justify using Amazon as your host server, knowing that you are now naked to the whims of its censors or to the machinations of a competitor with better connections at Amazon than you have? And that Amazon is contemptuous of your ability to get legal relief? Today's action seems to be a combination of ideology and avarice, but pure financial corruption will not be far behind.

Furthermore, if the CIO queries Amazon about it, what can the company do to reassure him? Nothing. One of the most important assets of any organization is the ability to make a credible promise, and Amazon has, in one stroke, destroyed this asset in a way that is impossible to fix.

When I sometimes get gloomy about the long-term economic prospects in the U.S., a friend in the investment community likes to remind me that America has a big competitive advantage in the form of the rule of law, or "the insiders aren't allowed to rob you blind!" Amazon has decided to prove him wrong.

As a matter of business prudence, it will be hard for a CIO to justify staying with Amazon. This will be especially true for global companies, which rightly fear the incestuous relations between Big Tech and the new administration. Moving operations offshore looks sensible, if you can find a nation less subject to this toxic stew of woke madness and crony greed.

If you think corporations all over the world are not thinking about this, recognize that directors' liabilities have expanded greatly over the past few years, largely at the behest of the left. Consult a handbook published by the Seattle-based law firm Perkins Coie on the duties of corporate directors, and judge how well a director meets these if he does not weigh seriously the risks of placing the corporation's existence at the whims of anonymous Amazon bureaucrats.

The hosting service is the most important part of Amazon's business, and the deplatforming of Parler will ramify on the consumer side. Asking conservatives to boycott Amazon is not a good idea, because it is an important outlet for small businesses and independent authors. But action is still possible. One can seek out alternatives, or use Amazon to search for products and then order elsewhere. One can return things more readily, or switch from Prime TV to Roku. For Amazon to motivate 75 million conservatives to find ways to annoy it is a dubious business strategy. (Amazon's directors had better read that handbook, too.)

None of these consequences will play out quickly, but forces have been set in motion that will, in the long run, be detrimental to Amazon.

So, in addition to Euripides, consider an observation of Robert Conquest: "the behavior of any bureaucratic organization can best be understood by assuming that it is controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies." Or, perhaps, re-read "Ozymandias."

Image: ajay_suresh via Flickr (cropped), CC BY 2.0.
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, the newest national airline of the UAE, yesterday (January 15) took to the skies for the first time on Airbus A321neo, heading towards its inaugural destination, Athens, Greece.

It is a joint venture between ADQ, one of the regions largest holding companies with a broad portfolio of major enterprises spanning key sectors of Abu Dhabis diversified economy, and Wizz Air Holdings, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe , operating a fleet of 136 Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft.

Besides the Greek capital, its initial route network includes Thessaloniki, Alexandria, Kutaisi, Larnaca, Odesa and Yerevan.

The debut flight took off from Abu Dhabi International Airport at 12.30pm local time for Athens, Greece after a brief ceremony which was attended by Shareef Al Hashmi, CEO of Abu Dhabi Airports and Kees Van Schaick, Managing Director of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi.

A team of dedicated aviation professionals delivers superior service and very low fares, making Wizz Air the preferred choice of 40 million passengers in the financial year F20 ending 31 March 2020.

The London-listed Wizz Air was recently named one of the worlds top ten safest airlines by airlineratings.com, the worlds only safety and product rating agency, and 2020 Airline of the Year by ATW.-TradeArabia News Service
A tram passes in front of Flinders Street Railway Station on August 18, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Victoria Eases Border Rules

The New South Wales (NSW) government thinks its first local coronavirus case in three days is linked to a bottle shop cluster as Victoria downgrades some border restrictions.

One new local case of coronavirus has been recorded in Sydney as Victoria looks to drastically reduce its red zone designations on the NSW and Queensland capitals.

A western Sydney man tested positive in the 24 hours to 8 p.m. on Fridayending a two-day streak of zero cases.

Authorities are still to link the case to a known cluster but believe its associated with the Berala bottle shop cluster.

Relief is on its way so long as we maintain low or zero number of cases and have those testing rates high, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Friday.

Victoria and Queensland reported no new local cases on Saturday.

The lack of cases in Brisbane gave Victoria the confidence to drop Brisbanes traffic light status to orange from Saturday evening.

It means Victorians will not need to apply for an exemption to return home.

Victorians stranded in Sydney may also be able return home without an exemption in coming days, with the state hoping to drop several local government areas to orange.

There are clearly some local government areas within Greater Sydney that have now gone a number of days of cases without transmission, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said in Melbourne. I will look very intensively at the epidemiology across greater Sydney over the next couple of days.

But the new western Sydney case may quash those hopes, and the wishes for restrictions on Sydneysiders being loosened.

NSW flagged changes were possible next week if testing rates exceeded 20,000, few new cases were reported and health advice allowed looser restrictions.

Just 14,547 tests in NSW were reported to 8 p.m. on Fridaydown on the previous days total of 16,070.

Australias only positive result outside hotel quarantine reported on Friday now appears to be a historical case after the Cairns man repeatedly tested negative.

We are still waiting on the serology test results to be absolutely convinced, but I really do believe that that is a historical case, Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, other states are continuing to ease border restrictions

Western Australia late on Friday assigned a low risk status to Victoria, which has now recorded nine days of no local transmission.

Victorians still need to self-quarantine for 14 days but, unlike residents from medium risk Queensland and NSW, will be able to enter WA without an exemption from Monday.

Travellers from Greater Brisbane arriving in South Australia from Sunday will not have to go into quarantine.

By Luke Costin

Analysis Venue Squabbles Complicate NLDs Outreach Efforts to Myanmars Ethnic Parties

Pa-O National Organization party leaders after their meeting with an NLD delegation at the ruling partys office in Taunggyi on Jan. 12. / National League for Democracy Shan State

Whenever ceasefire talks between Myanmars government, military and active ethnic armed groups have been postponed over the past decade, a common hurdle has been the choice of venue or some other dispute relating to the meeting place.

Negotiators for the ethnic armed groups prefer a neutral, third-party location because of security concerns. For instance in 2019, peace talks between the government and the Northern Alliance were delayed for months due to a disagreement over the choice of location.

The dispute affected the pace of peace talks and stalled both a ceasefire and subsequent political negotiations in the country, which is still trying to find a political solution to overcome seven decades of civil war.

Today, the choice of venue is still an obstacle. But this time around, the dispute is among political partiesspecifically, between the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) and political parties representing the countrys various ethnic groups.

On Nov. 12, days after winning Novembers election in a landslide, the NLD made overtures to 48 ethnic parties proposing that they work with the ruling party on ethnic affairs and ending the civil war. Achieving peace and reconciliation are among the NLDs key ambitions for its second term in office. As of Thursday, 22 ethnic parties had responded to the overtures.

Last month, the NLD formed a team comprising three of the partys senior leadersMagwe Region Chief Minister Dr. Aung Moe Nyo, Karen State Chief Minister Daw Nan Khin Htwe Myint, who is also a member of the partys Ethnic Affairs Committee, and Lower House parliamentarian Ntung Hka Naw Sam, who chairs the committeeto hold discussions with the ethnic parties.

Ruling partys messengers

Their sole task is to listen to the voices of the parties and to convey their concerns to the NLDs Central Executive Committee, which will make any decisions. But it is an important step in the formation of a national unity government, a concept put forward by the incumbent governments spokesman before the Nov. 8 election.

NLD spokesman Dr. Myo Nyunt told The Irrawaddy that the NLDs team will gather the ethnic political parties views on a new Union and hear their suggestions for the upcoming parliament and government structures.

Gathering those views is most important, he said, because the new Union should reflect the ethnic political parties perspectives. Building a future Union, based on democratic principles and basic federal principles, has been at the center of the NLD governments political negotiations. Then, he said, The ethnic political parties may want roles in the leadership of the upcoming parliament and in the cabinets, and if they do, we will consider their proposals [in the decision-making] for parliament and cabinets.

Learning the lessons of 2015

The NLD made no such political offer back in 2015 after its landslide victory that year. That omission subsequently caused a rift between the NLD and Myanmars ethnic political parties. Having learned its lesson, this time the party is moving to bring the ethnic parties on board before the new administration starts in April.

For all its willingness to engage in dialogue, however, the NLD continues to insist on meeting the state-based parties at its branch offices in the respective states. Dr. Myo Nyunt explained that from the NLDs perspective, it has the right to choose the venue as it is the host, and the local parties are invited guests.

The NLDs delegation traveled to Kachin, Mon, Kayah and Shan states this month to meet with local parties, all of which have strong local support in their respective ethnic communities. As of Friday, the NLD team had met separately with 10 parties representing ethnic Kachin, Lisu, Shan, Lahu, Wa, Pa-O, Taang and Kayan. Those meetings took place at the NLDs local offices.

Unsuccessful meetings

However, this policy of only holding meetings at the NLDs offices has disappointed some ethnic political parties.

The planned meetings between the NLD and two partiesthe Mon Unity Party (MUP) on Jan. 4 and the Kayah State Democratic Party (KySDP) on Jan. 12did not happen, because the MUP and KySDP could not accept the NLDs venue.

The MUP and KySDP, which both have strong local support in their constituencies, insisted that neutral locations would allow them to talk more freely. In addition, both ethnic parties said they could not accept the fact that the NLD would only meet with MPs-elect from each party.

Both sidesthe NLD and the two partieshave been criticized for their inflexibility.

Amid the criticism, Nai San Tin, general secretary of the MUP, said the party stands by its policy, which holds that it is best for two parties to meet somewhere neutral. It is not appropriate to meet at either their office or our office.

Following the MUPs lead, KySDP general secretary Khu Theh Reh said his party would only meet the NLD in a neutral location. He accused the NLD of adopting a superior attitude as the winning party, claiming it wanted ethnic parties to be subordinate to it and that it simply made demands instead of seeking to collaborate.

Dr. Aung Moe Nyo rejected that argument and said the NLDs aim was not to adopt a dominant position, but rather to listen and meet the local parties, because the ruling party cares about their concerns. He said recently the delegation would return to Mon State before the parliament convenes for its new term on Feb. 1.

Fractured relationships

The intransigence could stem from recent history.

The relationships between the NLD government and a majority of ethnic Mon and Karenni have been badly strained over the NLDs efforts to assert the legacy of General Aung San, the father of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the NLD chairman and the State Counselor.

In 2017, over local ethnic Mon objections, the NLD named the 1.5-km bridge linking Mawlamyine and Chaungzon townships on the Salween River as the General Aung San Bridge. The NLD insisted the move was intended to honor Gen. Aung Sans integrity, to remember his legacy, and to commemorate the spirit of the Union he launched.

Despite the controversy, the ruling party did not learn its lesson. The Kayah State government erected a statue of Gen. Aung San in Loikaw against the wishes of local residents in 2019.

That move inflamed political tensions between the Kayah State government and local young people. The government responded with a crackdown on people protesting against the statue, arresting and imprisoning them. That miscalculation led many young people who had supported the NLD in 2015 to shift their support to the local KySDP.

One source close to the parties in Kayah State, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the NLD has demonstrated weakness in its attempts to win ethnic support, although it has good intentions and goodwill. However, he added, the KySDP lacks political savvy, failing to raise key ethnic issues or establish their position on the NLDs proposed national unity government.

It looks now like a ceasefire negotiation where the discussions of key issues are delayed by the dispute over the location, he said.

As the messenger between the NLDs Central Executive Committee and the local parties, the delegation led by Dr. Aung Moe Nyo should be given authority to have flexibility to achieve its goal of meeting with the local parties, observers said.

Political analyst U Ye Tun said the dispute shows that the NLD lacks a policy to delegate sufficient flexibility to its messengers. Instead, it sticks to having talks in a set location.

The content of negotiations is more important than the venue and there should not be pre-conditions such as a set location or only agreeing to meet the MPs-elect in this case, echoed U Myo Win, who has served as a peace negotiator for the past nine years.

Why are they meeting?

Many politicians, while they are not happy about the NLDs rigidity on the venue, believe it is important to meet as it creates space for the parties to raise issues of federalism and ethnic issues.

Dr. Tu Ja, the chairman of the Kachin State Peoples Party (KSPP) said, The meeting itself is more important than the venue in politics. The KSPP raised its position on peace and reconciliation and the NLDs national unity government during their meeting on Jan. 1. It was among the first three political parties to meet with the NLD in Myitkyina.

Ethnic Taang and Pa-O parties representatives who met with the NLD delegation in Shan State on Wednesday said they went to the NLD office for the sake of advancing the Unions affairs.

Sai Kyaw Nyunt, a general secretary and a spokesman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), said they would cooperate with the NLD on national unity and peace, following their meeting on Friday. The SNLD won the 42 seats nationwide, becoming the third-largest party, after the November election. The party had two sessions of informal talks with the NLD before Fridays meeting on Jan. 7 and Jan. 14.

The SNLD spokesman added that the party wanted to avoid the fallout that occurred in Mon and Kayah states, and put forward its political visions for Union-building. Then the party offered to help broker a meeting between the NLD and the Mon and Kayah parties.

This weeks successful meetings between the NLD delegation and the parties in Shan State may be a sign that Myanmar is likely to see more ethnic politicians from parties that won seats in the election take part in the NLDs new national unity government.

However, the question remains whether the NLD can successfully incorporate diverse representation without the cooperation of ethnic-based political parties such as the Mon and Kayah parties.

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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced a new requirement for a negative Covid-19 test to all air passengers entering the US.

The new order, signed by CDC Director Robert Redfield on Tuesday, will become effective on January 26, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Testing before and after travel is a critical layer to slow the introduction and spread of Covid-19. This strategy is consistent with the current phase of the pandemic and more efficiently protects the health of Americans," said a statement of the CDC.

Air passengers are required to get a viral test within the three days before their flight to the US, and provide written documentation of their laboratory test result to the airline or provide documentation of having recovered from Covid-19.

Airlines must confirm the negative test result for all passengers or documentation of recovery before they board, the new order requires.

Before departure to the US, a required test, combined with the CDC recommendations to get tested again 3-5 days after arrival and stay home for 7 days post-travel, will help slow the spread of Covid-19 within US communities from travel-related infections, said the CDC.

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Pre-departure testing with results known and acted upon before travel begins will help identify infected travellers before they board airplanes, said the agency.

The new order comes as variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus continue to emerge in countries around the world, and there is evidence of increased transmissibility of some of these variants.

"With the US already in surge status, the testing requirement for air passengers will help slow the spread of the virus as we work to vaccinate the American public," said the CDC.

Last month, the CDC announced that all air travellers arriving in the US from the UK would be required to test negative for Covid-19 before departure.

"Testing does not eliminate all risk," said Redfield, "but when combined with a period of staying at home and everyday precautions like wearing masks and social distancing, it can make travel safer, healthier, and more responsible by reducing spread on planes, in airports, and at destinations."
Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 21:30:02|Editor: huaxia

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RIYADH, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud announced on Saturday that Saudi Arabia will reopen its embassy in Qatar in the coming days, Al Arabiya TV reported.

Al-Saud made the announcement during a joint press conference with his visiting Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi in the capital Riyadh.

The embassy will reopen after the required logistic activities and other necessary procedures are completed, the Saudi minister noted.

The announcement came more than a week after Saudi Arabia and five other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries signed a reconciliation agreement during the 41st GCC Summit held in the Saudi city of AlUla on Jan. 5, officially ending the Gulf crisis targeting Qatar.

An Arab quartet of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar in June 2017 and imposed an embargo on the Gulf state, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism. Qatar has repeatedly denied all the charges.

Saudi Arabia already reopened its airspace and borders to Qatar a day ahead of the Gulf summit. Enditem


U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert is tearing into critics who have accused the Rifle Republican of endangering lawmakers by posting about their whereabouts on social media during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 21:49:12|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- A Kenyan official on Saturday refuted claims that the north-eastern county of Mandera that borders Somalia was under the control of al-Shabaab militants.

Nicodemus Musyoki Ndalana, North Eastern Regional Commissioner said the allegations made by Mandera governor Ali Roba that the county was under the grip of the Somalia-based militant group were inaccurate.

"For the record, Mandera is among the frontier counties that have immensely benefitted from the national government's heavy investment on progressive upgrading of security infrastructure, deployment of personnel and improvement of security gathering mechanisms," Ndalana said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

Roba recently alleged that al-Shabab militants had gained control of remote corners of Mandera County that lack connectivity and the presence of security personnel.

He said the vast county risked being run over by the militants amid frequent attacks targeting homes, schools, health centers, police stations and telecommunications equipment.

Ndalana clarified that al-Shabab remained a security challenge in Mandera and other northeastern Kenyan counties but was yet to demonstrate the capacity to establish a fiefdom.

"There is no denying that the county still experiences daunting scenarios each day due to its proximity to the al-Shabaab corridor but it is no longer the enemy's stomping ground," said Ndalana.

"Contrary to the governor's claims, since 2013, Mandera County has registered steady gains through our security forces who have been repulsing and deterring threats to lives and property," he added.

Ndalana said that learning has resumed in north-eastern counties amid enhanced security adding that the central government has invested in community awareness and youth empowerment to minimize the threat of radicalization.

He said that state officers have engaged village elders to improve intelligence gathering which has helped to thwart attacks.

"Our focus is to strengthen our community deterrence efforts, which have allowed us to sustain this fight, and our doors are ever wide open for anyone with the information or intelligence that can enrich our preventive interventions," said Ndalana.

He said the government is committed to partnerships with elected leaders and local communities to improve the security situation in northeastern counties and position them as ideal investment destinations. Enditem
PARIS (Reuters) - A top French general in West Africa has dismissed calls for his country to engage more in Central African Republic (CAR) after rebels earlier this week attempted to take the capital Bangui, saying that the situation was different to a rebellion in 2013.

The Central African army has been battling groups backed by former president Francois Bozize that are seeking to overturn a Dec. 27 vote in which President Faustin-Archange Touadera was declared victor despite fraud claims.

Russia and Rwanda have sent troops to back the government. A separate U.N. peacekeeping mission also operates in the country, but France, which until 2016 had some 2,000 troops in the country, has remained largely in the background during the latest fighting.

France, the former colonial power, sent troops in December 2013 to try to end a cycle of tit-for-tat killing that began when mainly Muslim Seleka fighters toppled Bozize, prompting reprisals by Christian anti-Balaka militias.

"We are not in the same situation as 2013. There are 11,000 men ... belonging to the MINUSCA (U.N. peacekeeping mission) and the Central African army so the conditions are not the same," General Jean-Pierre Perrin, who heads up a French military base in neighbouring Gabon, said during a visit to Bangui on Friday.

"Mr Bozize's adventure has no future," he told reporters.

Paris still has about 300 soldiers working in CAR as part of a European military training mission and last week carried out fighter jet flyovers to warn rebels advancing on the capital.

Perrin dismissed suggestions that Paris was being usurped by Russia in CAR.

"Those on social media trying to split the relationship between France and CAR or oppose us to its other partners, including Russia, are neither France or CAR's friends," he said, adding that he had held talks with Russia's most senior general in CAR.

(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Frances Kerry)
A recent article in the Detroit Free Press was highly critical of Michigans juvenile justice system. It was based on a study by an investigative agency, ProPublica, that claimed the system is archaic and that judges are locking up children for many noncriminal offenses including for skipping school. These are serious charges and require a thoughtful response for the citizens of Midland County, as this is certainly not the case here in Midland County.

The overarching philosophy of the Midland County Probate and Family Court is to reduce, if not eliminate, delinquency as well as to rehabilitate offenders so that they will eventually flourish and thrive as contributing adult members of society. This requires the implementation of three broad strategies that this court has adopted over the past two decades to move this objective forward. The strategies in brief are to:

 Collaborate with community organizations and agencies in a concerted and integrated fashion to offer evidence-based interventions and programs to prevent risk-taking behaviors among adolescents.

 Provide evidence-based options and treatment programs to rehabilitate offenders while maintaining accountability for their offenses.

 Utilize a risk-based flexible charge disposition approach, where appropriate, to minimize permanent criminal records that cannot be expunged for those who have been successfully rehabilitated.

Outcomes

Fortunately, in Midland County we have the advantage of extensive long-term data. These strategies have been incredibly successful in decreasing delinquency and other risk-taking behaviors in Midland County. Some of the stunning successes include:

 Delinquency has been reduced by nearly 90% over the past two decades (from 1,190 in 1998 to 154 violations and adjudications in 2019 and 70% since 2005).

 There has been an 89% decline in drug offenses with a corresponding 94% reduction in alcohol use in the past 17 years.

 The two-year recidivism rate for community youth with substance use disorders who have completed Midland Kids Firsts Recovering Youth Futures program is approximately 15%, well below national averages of about 45%.

 In collaboration with Midland Kids First and Midland-area health and behavioral health providers, the court is also embarking on a proven child maltreatment prevention program developed by the University of Maryland called Safe Environment for Every Kid (SEEK). This promises to decrease adverse childhood experiences thereby reducing the chances of future risk-taking behaviors among our children.

In addition, because of these reductions in delinquency in the county, the court has saved an estimated $14 million for out-of-community placements since 2004 and $5 million in cumulative operational costs.

Community based services

These very desirable outcomes have been a direct result of a two-pronged approach emphasizing both the prevention and treatment of risk-taking behaviors utilizing community-based best practices. On the prevention front, multiple youth-serving agencies in the community have rallied around the concept of Developmental Assets; 40 positive character traits that all youth should have to be successful.

This model, first introduced to the community by The Legacy Center for Community Success in 2005, emphasizes Positive Peers as the principal protective factor in keeping teens out of trouble. Programs that promote Positive Peers include participation in creative, faith-based, and organized youth activities. Of 24 risk-taking behaviors, Midland County youth with the full complement of assets participate in an average of 0.5 of these activities. This has been a formidable force for the stunning declines in delinquency.

Truancy reduction and school to prison pipeline

Another powerful contributing factor is the reduction in truancy. Midland County schools and the Midland County Department of Health and Human Services have been leaders in collaborating with the court with a constructive approach initially called the Community Schools program to reduce truancy. The program is now known as Pathway to Potential. Contrary to ProPublicas claim as reported in the Free Press, Midland County does not lock up children for skipping school but instead provides this enlightened approach to reduce truancy. The program calls for understanding the reasons for students chronic absences and then assisting them and their families to overcome these barriers by connecting them with existing community resources. This is done outside the court system with the participation and support of all of our schools in Midland County.

There is a very strong correlation between missing school and subsequent delinquent behavior ultimately leading to what has been called the School to Prison Pipeline. Chronically truant youth struggle in school, eventually tend to drop out, and often turn to delinquent and eventually criminal activities. Nearly 70% of adult prisoners have low literacy skills and about half have neither a high school diploma nor a GED. About half of Midland County men who maltreat their children similarly have not completed high school or earned a GED. Schools in Midland County also provide other important programs that strive to reduce delinquent behaviors. Among them are education about substance use prevention and the law and consequences of criminal sexual behavior for eighth and 11th graders.

Risk assessments

The second element in the strategy is to provide interventions to treat the causes of delinquent behaviors and to ultimately prevent future offenses. The first step is to conduct a risk-assessment of youth charged with an offense with the commonly used Youth Assessment and Screening Instrument (YASI).

We have used risk assessments for over 13 years, starting in 2007. YASI is a tool that has been extensively validated to determine the risk a youth poses at the time of the assessment. Using the YASI results, the court works with both the prosecuting and the youths attorneys to determine whether and to what extent the initial charges can be appropriately reduced. This is done with a process that still maintains accountability for the offense, will not have the charge remain on the youths permanent record, and provides a pathway for the implementation of restorative rather than punitive services for both the youth and the family.

In 2019, for example, of the 96 charges brought before the court, 21 offenses or 22% were reduced to either misdemeanors or status offenses and 13 charges were dismissed. Our experience is that this approach significantly increases the chances for rehabilitation and success in the youths adult life.

Other programs that treat offenders and their families include:

 Midland Mentors, an intensive mentoring program for at-risk youth by extensively trained volunteer mentors.

 Strengthening Families, an evidence-based program that provides strategies for parents and youth in the system on how to work together to provide positive outcomes for both.

 Multisystemic Therapy (MST), an evidence-based intensive family and community-based treatment for serious juvenile offenders and those with substance abuse issues and their families. MST-PSB (Problem Sexual Behaviors) has also been used with considerable success in treating problem sexual behaviors among youth.

 We have extensive evidence-based and evidence-influenced mental and behavioral health services that are provided court wards by community agencies including MidMichigan Health, Community Mental Health for Central Michigan, Partners in Change, and J & A Counseling and Evaluation. We have 19 evidence-based programs that are used extensively and are targeted specifically on the needs and risks of the individual youth.

Progress because of collaboration

Midland County Probate and Family Court promotes restorative rather than punitive justice practices and programs for our youth and is making stunning progress towards eliminating the School to Prison Pipeline.

This is a direct result of a concerted and integrated collaborative effort between the Probate and Family Court and multiple community agencies including government at several levels, law enforcement, the schools, generously supportive local foundations, numerous non-profits and human services agencies, and corporations who have made physical and mental health, family, and behavioral services available to our youth and families.

These efforts have helped to reduce delinquent and related risk-taking behaviors, to facilitate rehabilitation while assuring and safeguarding accountability for offenses committed, and ultimately, to improve the probability of successful lives where all youth and families flourish and thrive.

The ProPublica article can be accessed at https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/12/22/michigan-juvenile-justice-system-archaic/4008880001/

Dorene S. Allen is the presiding judge for the Midland County Probate And Juvenile Court. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and her Juris Doctor from Michigan State University. She was first elected to the Midland County Probate and Juvenile Court in 2000 and subsequently was reelected in 2006, 2012, and 2018.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes the incoming Biden administration will take positive steps regarding Turkeys exclusion from the F-35 stealth fighter program.

We dont know what the Biden administration will say at this stage, Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul on Friday. Despite having paid a serious fee on the F-35s, the F-35s still have not been given to us. This is a serious wrong the United States did against us as a NATO ally.

My hope is that, after we hold talks with Biden as he takes office, we will take much more positive steps and put these back on track.

The Trump administration booted Turkey from the Joint Strike Fighter program in July 2019 over its multibillion-dollar purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system, which the United States says poses a threat to NATOs air defense capabilities and may compromise the security of its own F-35 stealth fighter jets.

Turkish officials maintain that Russia wont be able to obtain any sensitive NATO information because the S-400s wont be integrated into the alliances air-and-missile infrastructure. They also say Turkey was forced to buy the controversial systems, which they tested in October, after the United States refused to sell Turkey its own Patriot systems.

Last month, Washington slapped long-awaited sanctions on Turkey under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)  the first of their kind against a NATO ally. The sanctions targeted the countrys defense procurement agency and its senior officials, but not Turkeys financial system.

Turkey condemned the sanctions, and Erdogan said Friday his government is in talks to receive a second consignment of the Russian-made system.

"We take our defense-related steps without seeking permission from elsewhere," Erdogan said. "We won't allow another country to steer our path."

The CAATSA sanctions are the latest wrench in an already thorny US-Turkey relationship. Ties between the NATO allies have worsened in recent years, in part due to Ankaras military actions against the Syrian Kurds, its Mediterranean Sea dispute with Greece and Cyprus and a US criminal case against a state-owned Turkish bank.

President-elect Joe Biden, who has called Turkeys president an autocrat, is expected to take a harsher stance on US-Turkey relations compared with President Donald Trump's. Middle East Eye reported Thursday that the president-elect has yet to take Erdogan up on his offer for a phone conversation since Biden's election victory in November.
Mamuju: Damaged roads and bridges, power blackouts and lack of heavy equipment on Saturday hampered Indonesia's rescuers after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake left at least 45 dead and hundreds injured on Sulawesi island.

Operations were focused on about eight locations in the hardest-hit city of Mamuju, where people are still believed trapped following Friday's nighttime quake, said Saidar Rahmanjaya, who heads the local search and rescue agency.

Cargo planes carrying food, tents, blankets and other supplies from Jakarta landed late Friday for distribution in temporary shelters. Still, thousands spent the night in the open fearing aftershocks and a possible tsunami.

Families grieve as the body of a relative is recovered from the rubble. Credit:AP

Forty-five bodies were sent to a police hospital for identification by relatives, after rescuers retrieved 36 victims in Mamuju and nine others in neighboring Majene district, said West Sulawesi police spokesperson Syamsu Ridwan.
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Schockes going to try to sugarcoat this and say its about municipal code, but no, its not. Its about a legal meeting, Herak said. (Town Attorney John Reed) said it once briefly, but theres a difference between text changes and zoning map changes. Now, you can amend a text change -- north, south, east, west, OK -- but you cannot amend a zoning map change, and that was what Mr Griffin and I were trying to say.
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 16 : The Covid vaccination programme commenced in Kerala on Saturday with state Health Minister K.K. Shailaja taking part in the drive at Kannur while state Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran attended a vaccination programme at Thiruvananthapuram.

At Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Medical Education Director Ramla Beevi received the first vaccine shot at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College.

Beevi while speaking to IANS after receiving the vaccination shot and the mandatory half-an-hour observation time said, "It's a great moment. I salute all the health workers for their dedication and hard work to fight against the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, and not even going to their homes during the peak days of the infection. As far as the vaccine is concerned, it's great to have taken it and I don't find any problems physically after taking the vaccine shot".

"There was no hesitation in receiving the vaccine shot and there was no pain while taking the vaccine. This is a message to the society that the vaccination is safe," Beevi added.

In nearly all districts in the state, medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, and allied workers are taking part in the vaccination drive.

Health Minister Shailaja said, "This is a great moment and I am really happy that things are moving ahead as planned. My salute to all the health workers who led the fight against the pandemic but we must be more careful and concerned and should not let down our guard as the vaccination has begun. Everyone must wear a mask, sanitise hands and maintain social distancing norms even now." In Palakkad, the first dose of the vaccine was taken by District Medical Officer Remadevi, followed by medical professionals.

Noted cardiac surgeon Dr Jose Periappuram after receiving the vaccine shot at Ernakulam said, "The vaccine was painless and we have completed all the mandatory formalities after the vaccination. My colleagues, including doctors, nurses and paramedical staff, are taking the vaccine and let us hope that we overcome the pandemic with all these measures. However, the fight is on and we must be guarded and cautious in our approach towards the infection."
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Launching India's Covid-19 vaccination drive via video conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that it's important to take two doses of vaccines.

"Don't make the mistake of taking one dose and then forgetting about dose two. Listen to the experts about the gap to be kept," PM Modi said.

The PM also said two weeks after the second Covid-19 vaccine dose, an individual will build immunity against coronavirus. "I appeal to you not to forget coronavirus appropriate behaviour after getting the dose. The patience with which you fought coronavirus, show the same patience during vaccination now," the PM added.

Addressing the nation, PM Modi stated, "Everyone was waiting for this day with bated breath. Everyone kept asking when will the vaccine come. Its here and in a short span of time. In some minutes from now, the worlds biggest vaccination drive is to begin."

Watch: PM Modi gets emotional during his speech

#WATCH | PM Narendra Modi gets emotional while talking about the hardships faced by healthcare and frontline workers during the pandemic. pic.twitter.com/B0YQsqtSgW  ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2021

'Vaccine takes years but 2 Made in India vaccines are here'

As the PM launched the vaccination drive against the coronavirus, he said that vaccines take years but two 'Made in India' vaccines are here.

"Such a big vaccination drive hasn't been conducted in history. Look at the figures in the first phase. Three crore. America, China and India are the only three nations worldwide with a population of more than 30 crore. We have to take it to 30 crore in the second phase. Hence the vaccination drive in India is so huge. This shows our strength and capability," PM Modi said.

On India's vaccine credibility, PM Modi said, "India's vaccines enjoy much credibility world over. Weve earned this via our track record. Most children in the world get their vaccine shots of those made in India. The worlds trust is on our Made in India vaccines will rise soon. These Indian vaccines are cheaper than foreign shots and easy to use. Some foreign doses are close to 5000/dose and to be stored in -70 degrees."

The Prime Minister also said that India is leading the way in fighting against the novel coronavirus. Be it hydroxychloroquine, or paracetamol, India has delivered amid the coronavirus pandemic, says PM Modi.

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The Indian vaccine will work as 'sanjeevani' in the fight against COVID-19, said Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday.

The Minister joined the doctors and potential vaccine beneficiaries at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, to witness the launch of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination, where a sanitation worker becomes the first person to receive the vaccine.

Addressing the media he said that misinformation is being spread about the vaccines and urged the media to help in dispelling the rumours.

"I am very happy and satisfied today. We have been fighting against COVID-19 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership for the last one year. With help of doctors and scientists, we have an Indian vaccine now, this vaccine will work as a 'sanjeevani' in the fight against COVID-19, which has entered the final stage," Dr Harsh Vardhan said.

He later held up a dose of COVAXIN developed by Bharat Biotech to the media.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched India's vaccination drive against the novel coronavirus via video conferencing.

A total of 3,006 session sites across all States and Union Territories will be virtually connected during the launch. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the inaugural day.

Billed as the world's largest vaccination program, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first inoculate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase.

Meanwhile, Chief Ministers of several states attended the launch of the vaccination drive at government hospitals in their respective states.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy attended the launch of the COVID-19 vaccination programme at Government General Hospital, Vijayawada, while Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan attended the inaugural event at Gandhi Hospital in Bhopal.

The drugs regulatory body of India has currently approved two vaccines. Pune-based Serum Institute of India has developed the Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University while the Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad's Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Medical Council of research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology.

According to the Union Health Ministry, the full initial procurement amount of 1.65 crore doses of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines against Covid-19 have been allocated to all States/UTs in the proportion of Health Care Workers database.

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Wasn't there a time in the late 1960s where we had a diphtheria epidemic? I remember as a teen standing in line at what was then Municipal Auditorium to be inoculated.

 Liz Marshall

To many readers, diphtheria might sound like an antique disease, associated with the story of Balto, the husky hero of the eponymous 1995 animated movie about the leader of a sled-dog team that brought antitoxin serum from Anchorage to suffering children during a 1925 epidemic in Nome.

But well within living memory, the bacterial illness infected an alarming number of San Antonians, made national news and led to a state law mandating a vaccine for Texas schoolchildren.

Transmission of this highly communicable upper-respiratory disease is airborne, spread by coughs and sneezes. The diphtheria bacterium takes hold and multiplies in the nose and throat, where it produces a toxin that kills healthy tissue. While some infected people are asymptomatic, common symptoms include a sore throat, low-grade fever, nausea and headache. As the disease progresses, it can lead to respiratory failure. If the toxin reaches the bloodstream, it can cause nerve and organ damage.

The disease is treated with antitoxin and antibiotics. But even with treatment, according to the CDC, fatalities can be as high as one in 10 and one in five among children younger than 5. Without treatment, diphtheria kills as many as one in two sufferers. Children younger than 15 are most susceptible, although adults may also be infected.

At the time of the San Antonio epidemic, a vaccine derived from diphtheria toxoid had been in common use for nearly 50 years, and only a few hundred cases were reported annually nationwide. The vaccine rate nationwide was then 70-80 percent.

As summarized in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Oct. 1, 1971, known cases of diphtheria in San Antonio reached 201 between Dec. 1, 1969, to Dec. 31, 1971. There were three fatalities, all un-immunized children.

The highest rate of diphtheria cases since the early 1960s was reported in 1969, starting in the early fall. There were nine cases, as compared with three the previous year and none in 1966 and 1967, according to San Antonio Metropolitan Health figures quoted in the San Antonio Light, Dec. 25, 1969. Into the new year, the number of cases continued to climb, with another 22 by March 1970.

The diphtheria vaccine, administered in three shots, wasnt getting to all the citys children. The Bexar County Hospital District began giving it to all children 14 and younger who were admitted to the hospital for any reason, and Metro Health began an aggressive Spanish-language campaign to get families to clinics offering free vaccines. The county considered a mass inoculation campaign but scrapped the idea because the need to give a series of three shots made it impractical, according to the Light, March 11, 1970.

Instead, the San Antonio School District  where a majority of the cases had developed  and the citys Catholic schools planned a fall 1970 immunization project and resolved not to enroll children who hadnt received the vaccine.

It was all too little, too late.

Through the spring, more outbreaks occurred in the Edgewood School District and at Leon Valley Elementary School in the North Side School District. The disease was first represented as near epidemic in San Antonio in May 1970, with hopes that the end of the school year would curtail its spread. It didnt.

Through the summer, cases rose, with eight in July alone  unexpected, because the disease usually peaks in the winter  and Metro Health held a series of clinics in community centers and public-housing projects over two weeks in July to immunize children between ages three months to 10 years, with flyers and sound trucks advertising the events. Attendance was described as very disappointing by public-health officials.

The infections grip on the city was first called an epidemic after the death of a 6-year-old boy from the suffocating disease on Aug. 4, 1970, as reported in the next days issue of the San Antonio Express. Roger Garcia had been treated for nearly a week at Bexar County Hospital before he became the third diphtheria fatality here for the year.

The deaths and the years total of 17 new cases by mid-August spurred a city-county plan for mass immunization clinics at existing public-health clinics and new, temporary locations. This time, the plan was carried through.

The largest and best-known of the mass vaccine sites was the Municipal Auditorium, where thousands of adults and children lined up Aug. 19-21, 1970, for shots. This megaclinic was staffed by public-health employees and volunteer nurses and doctors, Navy corpsmen and medics from Fort Sam Houston. Meanwhile, the case numbers topped 50, providing an almost unbelievable motivation to get the jabs, as reported in the Express, Aug. 22, 1970. Patients left with a card reminding them to return for the next in their series of three.

The infection toll continued to climb, and for the first time, events and gatherings were canceled in late August, since diphtheria is spread by close contact. Some school districts applied diphtheria exclusion rules, requiring students to have proof of immunization.

Like the influenza epidemic of 1918, sometimes said to have lasted until 1923, San Antonios diphtheria epidemic didnt go away with the end of 1970. There were another 47 cases in 1971, but no fatalities, and mass immunization drives continued at neighborhood clinic.

In spring 1971, the Texas Legislature enacted a law that made immunizations against smallpox, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, rubeola and rubella mandatory for the states schoolchildren. Over the next few years, the law appears to have led to a substantial decline in morbidity of the vaccine-preventable diseases, as demonstrated in Public Health Reports, January-February 1973.

Its not known why diphtheria flourished in San Antonio in 1970. There were higher-than-normal cases in Chicago and Miami as well that year, but San Antonio was hit the hardest. One explanation was a comparatively low-income population with poor access to health care, especially among people of color. The rate for Blacks and Chicanos was 12.5 times as high as that for Anglos, stated a paper on the epidemic published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, April 16, 1973. The incidence rate for the upper 25 percent of the population by socioeconomic status was 5.6 cases per 100,000; for the lower 25 percent, it was 62 cases per 100,000.

If you survived the 1970 epidemic or remember lining up for immunizations, contact this column to share your memories. Responses may be featured in a future column.

historycolumn@yahoo.com | Twitter: @sahistorycolumn | Facebook: SanAntoniohistorycolumn
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 20:02:50|Editor: huaxia

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TALUQAN, Afghanistan -- Taliban militants' attack on Darqad district of the northern Takhar province has been repulsed and the armed group after suffering casualties fled away, provincial government spokesman Abdul Khalil Asir said Saturday.

"The Taliban insurgents launched massive offensive to overrun the headquarters of Darqad district at 01:00 a.m. local time today and the security forces retaliated, forcing the insurgents to flee after suffering casualties," Asir told Xinhua.

- - - -

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar is resigning on Jan. 20, citing the violence on Capitol Hill last week, according to his resignation letter leaked Friday.

In the letter dated Jan. 12, Azar said "the actions and rhetoric following the election, especially during the past week, threaten to tarnish" the legacies of the administration of President Donald Trump, and "the attacks on the Capitol were an assault on our democracy and on the tradition of peaceful transitions of power."

"I implore you," Azar told Trump in the letter, "to continue to condemn unequivocally any form of violence, to demand that no one attempt to disrupt the (President-elect Joe Biden's) inaugural activities in Washington or elsewhere."

- - - -

COPENHAGEN -- An adverse reaction to the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine may be responsible for as many as 23 reported deaths among frail and elderly patients in nursing homes in Norway, said a press release from the Norwegian Medicines Agency (NoMA) on Friday.

The studies on Comirnaty (Pfizer-BioNTech) included few participants aged over 85 and did not include patients with unstable or acute illness, according to NoMA.

"The assessment suggests that common adverse reactions to mRNA vaccines, such as fever and nausea, may have contributed to a fatal outcome in some frail patients," said Sigurd Hortemo, NoMA's chief physician.

- - - -

ADDIS ABABA -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Friday expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia's Tigray region and refugees hosted there.

"I remain extremely troubled by the humanitarian situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and its impact on civilians, in particular Eritrean refugees hosted in the region," Grandi said in a statement. Enditem
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Pak trying to hinder PM Modis developmental plans in J&K: Tarun Chugh

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Jammu, Jan 16: The BJP on Thursday said Pakistan is trying to sabotage the development plans of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jammu & Kashmir as it seems to be getting frustrated with the improving law and order situation in the union territory.

"The detection of yet another tunnel on the International Border in J&K has demonstrated Pakistan's frustration to infiltrate terrorists after the Indian security forces have repeatedly thwarted their attempts to do so," said BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh.

He said a similar tunnel detected in November last year was also a professionally-engineered effort to infiltrate terrorists trained in terror camps commissioned by the Pakistan Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Simbal Camp in Jammu is a fertile ground for Khalistan movement and anti-India propaganda

Chugh said Pakistan seems to be getting frustrated with the improving law and order situation in the union territory and various development schemes started in Jammu & Kashmir by Prime Minister Modi, and has been making efforts to sabotage them.

He said people in Jammu & Kashmir have started looking for peace and development, the Pakistan ISI must be feeling restless.

"The three-feet wide tunnel was constructed at a depth of 25 to 30 feet...After repeatedly violating the ceasefire on the border, the Pakistan Army had started building cross-border terrorist infrastructure to create a new infiltration route and had constituted special teams to look for them," he said.

Chugh claimed that there were 930 instances of ceasefire violations last year, a 54 per cent increase over the 605 instances the previous year, indicating Pakistan's nefarious designs to spread terrorism in J&K.

He said Pakistan was also frustrated after Modi's initiative to abrogate provisions of Article 370 and 33A, which has brought a new hope among J-K people who have started enjoying benefits of various central schemes of welfare and development.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Indias Covid-19 vaccination drive | Oneindia News

Chugh warned Pakistan against interfering in the union territory anymore otherwise India would give it a befitting reply.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, January 16, 2021, 8:44 [IST]
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Four days into her coronavirusvaccine hunt, Ramona Cohen struck out again.

The Safeway in her Washington, D.C., neighborhood had no doses left after its last Thursday appointment. She still had four pharmacies left to try to a tip from her mail carrier that a grocery store a few miles away was giving away leftover vaccine.

It was another frustrating day in a quest that started Monday, when the city opened registration to those 65 and older. Cohen spent 12 hours that day making futile attempts to book appointments by phone and online, only to be foiled by messages saying no appointments were available or interminable waits on hold. When a health department employee who eventually did pick up suggested she call back the next day, Cohen jokingly vented that she doesn't even buy green bananas.

"You don't know what tomorrow brings. We don't have much time left," Cohen, 75, said. "I consider myself old as it is, and I want to keep going."

Millions of American seniors are engaged in similarly frantic hunts for the coronavirus vaccine they qualify to receive - but only if they can get their hands on it.

The expanded availability of the two authorized coronavirus vaccines has unleashed a free-for-all among pandemic-weary Americans clamoring for lifesaving protection and a return to some type of normalcy.

Those searching for a shot face a decentralized system of vaccine distribution operated by cash-strapped public health departments and a disparate network of clinics and medical providers, all crushed by unprecedented demand for a shield against the virus decimating American life.

While many Americans have had no problem getting shots, others like Cohen have spent hours trying to get vaccinated, to no avail. The challenges in vaccinating people mirror the botched rollout of coronavirus testing as a mix of government and private providers navigate unfamiliar terrain while communicating with the public in different ways.

Some vaccine appointment websites crashed almost as soon as they launched. Older Americans are enlisting their kids and grandchildren to stay on the phone and keep refreshing websites until they land an appointment. Tiny intelligence networks are forming around the country to scour for morsels of information on how to get a leg up on the vaccine search.

Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, said these struggles are unavoidable as the federal government defers distribution to localities without the resources to create a centralized sign-up for vaccines or to hold mass inoculation drives.

"In any way you slice it, the supply is just so limited right now and the number of seniors is so large that there's no perfect way to do it," Hannan said in an interview. "It's going to take time for everyone to get vaccinated, and it's impossible to schedule everybody at once."

At least 11 million people have received a dose of a coronavirus vaccine so far, according to Washington Post data. The Trump administration has urged states to start vaccinating everyone 65 and older as the pace of injections lag far behind targets. But some experts and health authorities warn the attempt to speed up distribution could lead to false hope and an even more overburdened public health system.

"Ultimately, what we're concerned about is there's just not that strong of a supply of vaccine right now," said Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. "People have been led to believe there's vaccine out there, and we're going to open up the priority scheme. As a result, you now have a lot of people who have been led to believe that the vaccine is available, who are going out and getting in all these lines."

Some have uncovered creative paths to success in their quests for vaccination.

A 72-year-old Atlanta woman secured coveted vaccinations for herself, her husband and her sister after refreshing her iPhone, iPad and laptop simultaneously until the online appointment page finally loaded.

A 69-year-old retired special education teacher expecting to wait for months lucked out when a central California coast hospital offered extra doses to former volunteers and their loved ones.

A healthy Arkansas man in his mid-30s cut ahead of senior citizens thanks to a family friend who was a pharmacist running a clinic with more doses than patients.

"Personal contacts are unfortunately filling the information void. That has helped me rationalize jumping ahead because I don't really want to wait for my state to figure out how to be efficient with administering the vaccines," said the man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid social repercussions. "I am a wealthy White man, so I do feel guilt that my privilege is definitely giving me another advantage in this world, but at the end of the day, I'm making a decision that I think will keep my family safe."

The start of vaccinations for senior citizens and some essential workers was an early stress-test of mass inoculation drives for the general public. They were quickly overwhelmed.

Maricopa County, the largest in Arizona, upgraded its servers before launching an online portal that promptly crashed. Some Florida counties turned to Eventbrite, a website usually used to find bar crawls and book clubs, to organize vaccination drives. Macomb County in Michigan reported 100,000 hits in the first five minutes of its online system, which was set up to schedule 4,200 appointments.

"Unfortunately, there is not a system in the world that could accommodate that type of volume," county executive Mark A. Hackel wrote in an email to residents.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to encourage people to use VaccineFinder as a national resource for finding shots, but a public search function has not launched while supplies are still limited.

In the meantime, some jurisdictions allow people to leave their name on a waiting list, allowing them to avoid the nonstop flurry of calls and emails dominating vaccine searches elsewhere. But others are banking on being able to break through the logjam with persistence.

Bryce Covert, a New York City writer, has been waking up at dawn daily to help her 67-year-old mother on Long Island secure an appointment since Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced senior citizens would be eligible for vaccines.

But the task is not as simple as booking a flight. The state website directed her to several small medical facilities offering the vaccines, but their online appointment system had error messages and their listed phone numbers led to recordings saying they were out of supply. Covert has spent hours waiting on hold on a state hotline but has yet to speak to a person. By Friday, the small sites were no longer listed and the website for a newly added university hospital hasn't functioned all morning.

"It feels like I'm trying to get a Beyonce ticket," Covert said. "It feels like I'm fighting bots on TicketMaster."

The stakes are higher for Covert's mother than watching a concert. She wants to reunite with her 95-year-old mother who lives in Colorado and has a rapidly deteriorating memory. They called off their last visit in March when the first wave of coronavirus shutdowns started.

After six hours of intermittent refreshing Friday afternoon, Covert secured her mother a Feb. 3 vaccination slot. Covert is hoping for an easier time booking the second shot, allowing her mother to celebrate her grandmother's 96th birthday in late March.

Those who prevailed in their online appointment hunts said an early start was key to success.

Courtney McAlexander, 35, was working from home in Clarksdale, Miss., on Tuesday afternoon when she picked up a call from her mother. Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves had just announced that senior citizens and those with underlying medical conditions, like McAlexander, who has Type 1 diabetes, now qualify for the vaccine.

That launched a seven-hour blitz for McAlexander and her husband, Kevin Lewellyn, 37, to claim the precious appointments.

"Our millennial skills kicked in and the years of when we were younger trying to get concert tickets from Ticketmaster," said Alexander. "The website would go down, the website would come back up, and we were just essentially clicking anything we could click to try to get appointments, and we slowly but surely got appointments for myself, my mother and both of his parents."

They were the lucky ones. The next day, Mississippi announced it had run out of vaccines and could no longer book appointments. The state signed up 52,000 people for shots over the next two weeks.

Reeves told The Post that the high volume was a good sign of widespread interest in the vaccine.

"Even though we certainly had short term challenges, people were willing to do everything they could to either get an appointment online or get through to the call center," said Reeves, who ordered National Guard staffed drive-through vaccination sites to speed up distribution. "When you flood any system, it's going to lead to challenges, challenges that we recognize and are now fixing."

Instead of enduring crashing websites and hold music, other vaccine hunters opted to get offline and take their hunt into the real world.

Glee Noble of Bloomington, Ind., who turns 79 this month, figured she had no chance of getting a shot since the state is prioritizing those older than 80. She would periodically check the state website hoping they would lower the age threshold.

But her 72-year-old asthmatic boyfriend decided to stop waiting and walked two blocks to a county vaccination site at a medical office. He came back vaccinated and urged her to try, too. She lucked out as one of six to receive leftover doses at the end of the day.

"I'm a - knock on wood - fairly healthy almost 79-year-old, and there were people there who were with walkers and wheelchairs and I thought, 'Oh, I'm a healthy person. I shouldn't be getting this. People who are frail should be getting this,' " Noble recalled.

But she feels less guilty when she remembers hearing nurses fret they wouldn't vaccinate enough people and would have to keep caring for a crush of covid-19 patients.

Hannan, of the immunization managers group, said the stories of leftover doses suggests broad vaccine networks are hampering, rather than helping, distribution.

"We are seeing the more we spread out the doses to different private sector providers, the less opportunity we have to have large scale vaccination and make sure every dose is used," Hannan said.

Joel Alpert, a Michigan attorney, tried getting his vaccine appointment by checking daily on a government website. His eyes lit up when he finally saw an available slot at 9:20 a.m. Except the facility was 20 miles away, and his clock read 9:14 a.m.

He turned to a network of friends, relatives and fellow Jewish senior citizens in the Detroit suburbs who would text and email each other tips. Acting on one, Alpert drove 35 minutes to a hospital he heard was processing in-person applications and found an employee holding hundreds of forms. He got a callback offering a Sunday appointment the next day.

"I don't think that getting a vaccination should be based upon luck or ploys or schemes," Alpert, 68, said. "I assumed our federal government had some sort of plan, a plan that had been in existence all along. I figured it would be like a military war game that they would be ready for this eventuality."

In the District, Cohen was determined to find a vaccine - somewhere, anywhere. She has a cousin who has cancer, and she would like to visit her. She has a family function in Arizona in April, but she doesn't want to get on a plane until she's been vaccinated.

She misses going to her synagogue. She misses hugs. So Cohen, who works at a law firm, continued to plot new strategies.

On Friday afternoon, she hit a downtown Giant supermarket, where an employee told her they had tossed three unused vials the night before. Cohen took her spot behind one person also hoping for leftovers, and soon the queue grew to about 20.

After the last appointment, the pharmacy had two doses left - and finally, on day five of her quest, Cohen got her shot.

"I'm so relieved. It overcame any of the despair and the frustration," she said shortly after. "But I feel bad for everybody else who can't get it."
Business owners from the Horesca sector joined forces and voiced their concerns and distress during a protest on Saturday afternoon.

Numerous owners and managers of cafes and restaurants feel they are being 'forgotten'. In order to make their voices heard, a protest was organised via social media platforms. Participants agreed to meet on Place d'Armes in Luxembourg City, at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The organisers of the protest made it clear beforehand that they did not want too many people to show up, and that every participant must wear a face mask and respect social distance.

Stephen Lowe: The Hand That Feeds

Cristina Borges, who owns a cafe and helped organise the protest, explained that protesters would wear black as a symbol for her sector's problems. The Horesca sector is in mourning because it is dying and people are losing their livelihoods. Everything is coming too late, according to Borges. While subsidies of 3,000 to 4,000 are somewhat helpful, they are not even enough to cover some owners' rent. Borges explained that they could simply no longer just sit at home and hope for a miracle.

Borges also added that the sector was not only disappointed in the government, but also in its own federation. Many cafe and restaurant owners, she explained, did not feel that the association was on their side.

Recently, both the Horesca federation and the non-profit "Don't forget us" had argued that the aid announced by the government would not be enough.

Minister for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Lex Delles stated that he could understand all of the Horesca sector's concerns but pointed out that Luxembourg was helping the affected businesses.

The Minister especially highlighted the new support of "non-covered costs", which takes a significant amount of costs into account. In addition, businesses can apply for the "relaunch" aid, something which a number of Horesca businesses have not done yet, according to Delles. He called on those concerned to apply for them, stressing that the Luxembourg state was offering a "panoply" of different subsidies. Delles went on to say that he regrets that some people look at other countries, take their measures out of context and then criticise Luxembourg for not doing the same.

The Horesca sector has been closed since late November 2020, having previously been forced to shut for about ten weeks last spring.
FLINT, MI -- The Flint Community Schools Board of Education has appointed a new board member to fill a seat that was left vacant after a newly elected member did not complete requirements on time to take office.

Adrian Walker was appointed to the board at a Friday, Jan, 15 board meeting.

Stepping into this position comes with a great sense of accountability, Walker, 33, said after he was appointed. It is important to be a good steward of the position and to help move the school district in the right direction.

Im looking forward to restoring hope in the Flint school district for the parents, but also the children, Walker said. I know its a cliche but if you can make it here you can literally make it anywhere.

He said he is familiar with the history of flint schools with his mother and grandmother working for the district.

I look forward to bringing a unique perspective -- one of an African American male who attended Flint schools from kindergarten through eight grade, Walker said.

The seat was left vacant after Anita Moore, who was elected by voters in November, did not complete needed paperwork by a Dec. 18 deadline.

Read more: Flint school board looks to fill vacancy after newly elected member misses deadline to take office

The Board of Education had 30 days from the date the seat was vacated to identify and confirm a new Board member. The open seat was posted by Flint Community Schools Thursday, Jan 7.

Twelve people submitted applications by the 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan 13 deadline.

Board members interviewed all 12 candidates, each member rating every candidate on a scale from 1-10 during a meeting that lasted more than three hours. The top three candidates went to round two where they were interviewed further before board members made their final decision.

The three final candidates were Billie Mitchel, Adrian Walker and Alec Gibbs.

Walker received the highest total points of the three after each board member rated then on the 1-10 scale.

Here is how each board member rated candidates:

Joyce Ellis-McNeal: seven points to Billie Mitchel, 10 points to Adrian Walker, six points to Alec Gibbs.

Danielle Green: six points to Billie Mitchel, seven points to Adrian Walker, eight points to Alec Gibbs.

Laura Gillespie MacIntyre: one point to Billie Mitchel, one point to Adrian Walker, 10 points to Alec Gibbs.

Carol McIntosh: nine points to Billie Mitchel, 10 points to Adrian Walker, eight points to Alec Gibbs.

Vera Perry: nine points to Billie Mitchel, 10 points to Adrian Walker, four points to Alec Gibbs.

Diana Wright: eight points to Billie Mitchel, 10 points to Adrian Walker, five points Alec Gibbs.

Billie Mitchel: 40 points

Adrian Walker: 48 points

Alec Gibbs: 41 points

Read more:

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US Federal prosecutors have said that rioters who seized the Capitol last week had an intention of "capturing and assassinating elected officials."



In a new court filing which includes a memo seeking to keep Jacob Anthony Chansley who rallied people inside the Capitol using a bullhorn in detention, it was gathered that he left a note for Vice President Mike Pence warning that its only a matter of time, justice is coming.



The filing added;



Strong evidence, including Chansleys own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States government."



The disclosure which was made by the Justice Department lawyers in Arizona, as security agencies continue digging deep to uncover what happened.



Prosecutors and federal agents have begun bringing more serious charges tied to violence at the Capitol, including against a retired firefighter, Robert Sanford, that he hurled a fire extinguisher at the head of one police officer and another, Peter Stager, accused of beating a different officer with a pole bearing an American flag.



In Chansleys case, prosecutors said the charges involve active participation in an insurrection attempting to violently overthrow the United States government, and warned that the insurrection is still in progress as law enforcement prepares for more demonstrations in Washington and state capitals.



Asides alleging that Chansley suffered from drug abuse, mental illness and poses a serious flight risk, the prosecutors further stated that he "has spoken openly about his belief that he is an alien, a higher being, and he is here on Earth to ascend to another reality. He is due in federal court in Arizona on Friday January 15, for a detention hearing.



In a separate case, prosecutors in Texas court alleged that a retired Air Force reservist who carried plastic zip tie-like restraints on the Senate floor may have intended to restrain lawmakers.



The justice department has brought more than 80 criminal cases in connection with the violent riots at the US Capitol last week, in which Trumps supporters stormed the building, ransacked offices, and in some cases attacked police.









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The detained Venezuelan government diplomat, Alex Saab, has appealed a Cabo Verdean court ruling assenting to the United States of America extradition request.

Having lost at a lower court, an appeal to stop Mr Saabs extradition to the U.S. was again rejected by the Barlavento Court of Appeal last week, intensifying the legal and diplomatic debate.

Background

Following his arrest by the Cabo Verde security operatives at Interpols requests in late June 2020, the Venezuelan government identified the businessman as its diplomat on humanitarian mission to Iran, an argument the tiny island court has dismissed.

At the time of his hearing and validation of his extradition, he did not present any diplomatic passport or proof of statute in Special Envoy sent by the Venezuela government, as required; by the TRB, a part of the court ruling seen by PREMIUM TIMES, read.

Meanwhile, there was a ruling from ECOWAS Court before the above judgement, mandating Cape Verde, as one of its member states, to halt all extradition proceedings against the Venezuelan governments official until its main hearing, scheduled for February 4, 2021.

The court also ruled that the detained diplomat be placed on house arrest by the countrys authority and allowed to receive medical care, a ruling both Mr Saabs lawyers and doctor told this newspaper has not been adhered to.

Appeal grounds

However, in an appeal filed before the Cape Verde Supreme Court of Justice, and obtained by PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday night, Mr Saabs legal team contested the judgement on the ground that the U.S. extradition process is alien to the countrys legal system and other international laws.

About the specialty rule, according to articles 54.3 and 40.2.3.4.5; The extradition process does not meet or respect the requirements of international human rights instruments ratified or contained in the Cape Verde system (article 6.1.a) of the LCJ); There are, well-founded reasons to assume that cooperation is requested in order to persecute or punish the Applicant because of his political or ideological beliefs or his belonging to a specific social group (Article 6.1b) of the LCJ), a part of the 118 pages document read.

A source within the current Cape Verdean government told PREMIUM TIMES the country does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S. and hinted on the pressure the case is generating within the countrys party.

Also leveraging on Mr Saabs recent appointment to the African Union and the ECOWAS court ruling, his legal counsel argued that the decision contained in [ECW/ CCJ/ APP/ 43/20] binds the State of Cape Verde to the Revised ECOWAS Treaty and the ECOWAS COURT protocols, consequently, it also binds the Tribunal da Relacao de Barlavento; (Opinion 01 and 02).

The judgment under appeal, in its unsustainable lightness, fails to mention which articles of the Constitution were invoked

Even not knowing what articles are at stake and what constitutional rules and principles were alleged by the appellant, the judgment under appeal comes to the brilliant conclusion that there is no reason to defend the alleged unconstitutionality without indicating the norms and principles of the constitution and obviously without any elaboration in the judgment under appeal on them, they further noted in the submitted argument to the apex court.

No date has been fixed for the case yet.

Foreign minister resigns

While the legal and diplomatic debate on Mr Saabs detention continue to generate questions in Cape Verde, the countrys Foreign Minister, Luis Tavares, has resigned his position after learning that countrys honorary consul in the United States, Caesar DePaco, is a financial supporter of the ultra right Chega party in Portugal with a base in Florida.

Sources allege the former minister was working closely with U.S. President Donald Trumps supporters from Florida and Mr Saab was allegedly part of the deal.

PREMIUM TIMES contacted the former foreign minister through email for comments, but he has not responded yet.
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Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire

ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning

European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

Armenia acting MOD leaves for Moscow

Armenia President, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces discuss current situation on border

Armenia acting PM to residents of borderline village: If we cede our border, Azerbaijanis will get more excited

Armenia MOD not confirming reports about Azerbaijan firing shots at Tavush Province

Ex-President Kocharyan meets with Yerevan residents, "Armenia" bloc members (PHOTOS)

Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

Serj Tankian makes statement on Azerbaijans displayed horrific racism

Man detained in US for intending to commit attempt on Biden

Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD continues disseminating disinformation

Erdogan to visit Baku and Shushi

Two Armenia legislature committees to hold closed joint meeting regarding tense situation on Azerbaijan border

Holy Etchmiadzin on capture of Armenia soldiers: Such behavior of Azerbaijan authorities is strongly condemnable

Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

Armenia opposition MP: Shots are heard Gegharkunik Province

Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan leadership bears responsibility for consequences of actions by its armed forces

Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

140 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

Armenia MOD announces names of 6 Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

Armenia parliament manages to have quorum in 2nd attempt

World oil prices falling

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan popularity rating consistently drops over the past week

Newspaper: Russia peacekeepers commander does not return from Azerbaijan with encouraging news for Armenia

MOD: 6 Armenia soldiers are surrounded, captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

William Shakespeare, 1st man in world to get approved coronavirus vaccine, dies aged 81

Spain Congress of Deputies committee accepts pro-Armenian motion

Ex-PM comments on double-digit growth in Armenia economy

Facebook calls Russia, Iran leading purveyors of disinformation

Erdogan says meeting with Biden will mark 'start of new era' in relations with Washington

Armenia acting Deputy PM on creation of third high-voltage electric communication line with Iran

Vladimir Zaynetdinov: CSTO has taken note of application submitted by Armenia acting PM

Armenia's Pashinyan says addressing UN Security Council not ruled out

Armenia acting FM: International pressure on Azerbaijan is growing

Netanyahu tells Blinken that Israel is against reopening US consulate for Palestinians

23 political parties and 4 alliances apply to Armenia Central Electoral Commission ahead of snap parliamentary elections

Instagram launches ability to hide likes

Iran FM on solutions to problems in the region, territorial integrity

Bloomberg: Support for Erdogan's ruling party hits record low

Inter-agency commission sums up reports on implementation of roadmap for EU-Armenia CEPA

Armenian acting PM on CSTO and Russia and their duties as Armenia's allies

Slovakia allows use of Russian vaccine Sputnik V

Armenia acting PM on situation in Syunik Province: CSTO still hasn't clearly expressed its position

Armenia's Pashinyan: It's very rarely that Baku made provocations in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces on its own

Armenia acting PM: There will be no demarcation of borders until Azerbaijani troops are pulled out of territory

Record-setting number of political parties register to run in snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Blinken describes Egypt as a "real and effective partner"

Armenia's Pashinyan slams opposition again

Yerevan court ends trial over Armenia 3rd President's nephew Hayk Sargsyan

Armenia President expresses condolences on passing away of Catholicos-Patriarch Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan

When this is all over, I hope I get to keep an acute sense of my own uselessness. In the grand, existential scheme of things its been hard to take myself or my job too seriously this year. One of the best things we can take from the pandemic is a clear appreciation of who is and who is not essential, and what jobs are and are not truly important.

In that same spirit, one of the best things to leave behind in that distant pre-Covid world is the bleak and relentless rise and grind culture, which had also been spreading with viral efficiency.

Behind sleek glass-panelled receptions bespattered with beanbags, a new and truly awful work culture was thriving. So often, professional worth was equivalent to personal. For some of us, overworking was an objective. Careers were dominating our time so much that they were almost lifestyles rather than ways to earn money. New media and tech led this trend, but lots of other industries had been following.

I worked, mercifully briefly, at such a company. On my first day, a manager had chuckled about how it still had a bit of a start-up culture. I discovered the hard way that this meant that they had no HR department to speak of and never would. Sometimes these kinds of companies have the best-possible welfare policies, usually when theyre the Irish arm of a global monolith for whom the prospect of bad PR will always be more compelling than a genuine moral obligation to their staff. But often, basic workers rights are sacrificed in whats spun as an innocuous oversight: collateral damage in the rushed, erratic brilliance of putting such a company together. So many bad start-ups are excused because people who dont understand what they do assume it must be something ingenious. (You would be amazed how often entrepreneurs whose ventures have failed in every quantifiable metric are invited on podcasts to give their expertise as if they are prodigies.)

Even in more well-known companies too big to get away with not having decent HR, the toxic work culture was deteriorating. It was becoming increasingly common for shiny Dublin offices to have their own bars, their own gyms, their own restaurants and their own prolific in-house social calendars. The time for workers to spend not in work or with their colleagues was eaten down to a bare minimum, leading to their jobs becoming their entire lives. This toxic work imbalance managed to infect and exacerbate Irelands already desperate rental market. Developers trying to press ahead with depressing co-living developments have claimed that kitchens wont be as necessary for those working for tech companies that provide meals at work.

There was a definite trend where certain kinds of work were taking up more of peoples lives. I think, and hope, that the distance between people and their offices has provided some perspective.

Now that its taken over our kitchen tables, our couches and the makeshift desks shoved into our spare rooms, we are trying to set clear boundaries between where our work ends and our spare time begins. For a lot of us, for most of the last year work just wasnt the most important thing in our lives anymore.

Poor employment rights have rightly been exposed as completely unacceptable by the pandemic. The disproportionate burden of care that has fallen on women during the pandemic has highlighted the crucial need for employers to offer decent and fair maternity leave. Similarly, Ive heard plenty of young fathers regard their previous office hours with horror now that they realise what family life theyve missed out on at home. Generous paternity leave should also become a feature of Ireland post-Covid.

And now that so many companies have been forced to prove that their staff really can get their work done from anywhere, a focus on compulsory and set office attendance should be abandoned. This should leave space for better life management, or possibly even childcare savings for some parents.

Id be thrilled if the pervasive rise and grind culture died a death in March 2019. The only people who were benefitting from it were cheap employers who succeeded in codding their staff into thinking a hectic or even miserable work life was a metric of success. As we all know now, there is an awful lot more to life than that.

We Need to Talk About...

If you have been homeschooling this week, I hope youre spending today in a state of richly deserved sloth-like indulgence. While the support among parents for keeping schools closed was high, that doesnt make it mutually exclusive from a sense of dread about the prospect of homeschooling throughout January. Going to school has been a basic part of childrens lives forever, yet some of the recent rhetoric appears to suggest that education was dreamt up as a kind of boutique State-funded childcare facility for lazy parents.

Not being enthusiastic about juggling their own full-time jobs with a sudden responsibility to be a trained educator in the middle of a global pandemic does not make anybody a bad parent. Thats before we even consider the dire consequences of the closure on families of children with special needs.

Any parent who chooses to have a cathartic whinge about the current situation is well within their rights.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 00:53:16|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Oct. 20, 2020 shows the U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington D.C., the United States. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

The investigation will assess whether information of potential violence was shared by the DOJ to other agencies.



WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The internal watchdog of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday that it will launch an investigation into the department's preparation for and response to the riot on Capitol Hill last week.

The DOJ Office of the Inspector General said in a statement that it will initiate a review "to examine the role and activity of DOJ and its components in preparing for and responding to the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021."

Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather in front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States on Jan. 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The investigation, led by Inspector General Michael Horowitz and involving interagency efforts from the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of the Interior, will assess whether information of potential violence was shared by the DOJ to other agencies, including the Capitol Police, which was criticized for insufficient preparation for the riot that left five people - including a Capitol Police officer - dead.

The probe "also will assess whether there are any weaknesses in DOJ protocols, policies, or procedures that adversely affected the ability of DOJ or its components to prepare effectively for and respond to the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6," the statement said.

The Washington Post first reported Tuesday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's office in Norfolk, Virginia, explicitly warned of violent extremists planning a "war" in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 to stop the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's election victory at the Congress.

National Guard soldiers are seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Jan. 14, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

The warning was issued on Jan. 5, contradicting "a senior official's declaration the bureau had no intelligence" of harmful conducts by supporters of President Donald Trump in advance, the Post said.

"As of 5 January 2021, FBI Norfolk received information indicating calls for violence in response to 'unlawful lockdowns' to begin on 6 January 2021 in Washington, D.C.," the Post cited the document as saying. "An online thread discussed specific calls for violence to include stating 'Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in, and blood from their BLM and Pantifa slave soldiers being spilled. Get violent. Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal.'"

FBI Director Christopher Wray said Thursday in his first public appearance since the riot that his agency has identified over 200 suspects, and that more than 100 arrests have been made to date. 
OTTAWA - Only half of Canada's promised COVID-19 vaccine doses by Pfizer-BioNTech will arrive in the next month, federal officials revealed Friday, blaming production issues in Belgium that will affect immediate vaccination plans.

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A health-care worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccine clinic in Toronto on Thursday, January 7, 2021. Procurement Minister Anita Anand says production issues in Europe will temporarily reduce Pfizer's ability to deliver vaccines to Canada.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

OTTAWA - Only half of Canada's promised COVID-19 vaccine doses by Pfizer-BioNTech will arrive in the next month, federal officials revealed Friday, blaming production issues in Belgium that will affect immediate vaccination plans.

Procurement Minister Anita Anand said Canada faces an "unfortunate" delay that is nonetheless expected to be made up by the end of March, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insisted most Canadians will still be vaccinated by the fall.

News of the Pfizer delay drew immediate concern from Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, who said the province's strategy for the two-dose regime depends on steady shipments.

"We have been planning our vaccine rollout based on this schedule, including second dosages," said Moe, noting he expected 11,700 doses a week in February.

"If this has changed, they need to advise us immediately."

In British Columbia, where all available doses are being deployed as they arrive, Health Minister Adrian Dix said the delay will have "some significant effect" on when priority groups get their shot.

"Obviously, when you receive fewer doses you immunize fewer people," said Dix.

The delay could also affect the wait time between each shot of the two-dose regime, he said.

Although Pfizer-BioNTech suggests a second dose 21 days after the first, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said that could be extended to 35 days.

A spokeswoman for Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube said the temporary slowdown reinforced the province's decision to wait up to 90 days to administer the vaccine's second dose.

"The strategy remains the same: we must give a boost now and vaccinate as many vulnerable people and health workers as possible, as quickly as possible," said Marjaurie Cote-Boileau.

Alberta decided earlier this week to push back its second shots to 42 days. The province's health minister, Tyler Shandro, said Friday he had hoped to soon announce all seniors over 75 and Indigenous people over 65 would be eligible for the vaccine, but the delay makes that out of the question.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the province was evaluating the impact of the delay and "will adjust as necessary."

Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, who is leading the national vaccine distribution, said Pfizer's production delays would reduce deliveries by an average of 50 per cent over the coming weeks.

He said that won't be felt until after next week because Canada's upcoming shipment has already been prepared. But the final week of January will bring "about a quarter of what we expected."

"The numbers will pick right back up after that to about half of what we had expected (and) progressively grow into the rest of February," said Fortin.

"Pfizer is telling us it will impact us for four weeks."

According to the government's website, more than 200,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were expected in each of the next two weeks and 1.4 million doses were expected in February.

Trudeau said Ottawa was "working day in and day out to get vaccines delivered as quickly as possible" but acknowledged that Pfizer-BioNTech doses have been derailed in the short-term.

Trudeau said this is why Canada has one of the most diverse vaccine portfolios in the world, pointing to seven bilateral agreements he says ensure "flexibility when it comes to supply chains."

"I want to be very clear: this does not impact our goal to have enough vaccines available by September for every Canadian who wants one," Trudeau said from outside Rideau Cottage.

Anand said all countries that receive vaccines from Pfizer's European facility have been affected but that Canada has been assured it will receive four million doses by the end of March.

"This is unfortunate. However such delays and issues are to be expected when global supply chains are stretched well beyond their limits," Anand said at a news conference.

"It's not a stoppage."

Pfizer Canada spokeswoman Christina Antoniou said the production facility in Puurs, Belgium, is undergoing modifications in the coming weeks to increase the number of doses it can pump out.

Pfizer hopes to double its 2021 production to two billion doses.

Pfizer Canada will continue to pursue its efforts in anticipation that by the end of March, we will be able to catch up to be on track for the total committed doses for Q1, Antoniou said.

The news came as Ottawa released federal projections that suggested the pandemic may soon exceed levels seen in the first wave, rising to 19,630 cumulative deaths and 10,000 daily infections in a little over a week.

The modelling shows total cases could grow to nearly 796,630 from about 694,000, and that another 2,000 people could die by Jan. 24.

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam urged sustained vigilance as a long-range forecast suggested rapid growth would continue without "quick, strong and sustained" measures.

Tam said that's especially so in national hot spots of Quebec and Ontario, where a steady increase in hospitalizations has strained the health system's ability to keep up with critical care demands. The post-holiday projections do not take into account Quebec's recently implemented four-week curfew or Ontario's new stay-at-home orders.

Tam emphasized the need to reduce community spread to help relieve some of the pressure on hospitals and long-term care homes.

"The vaccine alone is not going to make a dent in some of that," she said.

Ontario reported 100 deaths linked to COVID-19, although that took into account a difference in database reporting between one of its health units and the province.

The province's newly resolved tally added 46 deaths from Middlesex-London that occurred earlier in the pandemic.

Ontario also reported 2,998 new cases of COVID-19 with 800 of those new cases in Toronto, 618 in Peel Region and 250 in York Region.

Quebec reported 1,918 new COVID-19 cases and 62 more deaths, including nine that occurred in the past 24 hours.

Concern also remained in Atlantic Canada's hot spot of New Brunswick, which reported 25 new cases and remains at the province's second-highest pandemic alert level.

Saskatchewan, with the highest rate of active cases in the country with 329 per 100,000 people, reported another 382 infections and four deaths.

 By Cassandra Szklarski in Toronto with files from Catherine Levesque and Mia Rabson in Ottawa, Shawn Jeffords in Toronto, Stephanie Taylor in Regina, and Hina Alam in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2021.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version misstated the number of Pfizer-BioNTech doses expected in February. It is 1.4 million doses.


EDISON, NJ  Miss any headlines in Edison? Patch's week in review has got you covered for the neighborhood's top news.

COVID Vaccine 'Mega Site' Opens In Edison. See Photos

New Jersey's third COVID-19 vaccination "mega site" was inaugurated in Edison on Friday. Gov. Phil Murphy toured the site at the New Jersey Convention and Expo Center.



Edison School District Postpones Return To Hybrid Learning

Edison Township Public schools has postponed return to hybrid learning by two weeks, due to increasing number of COVID-19 positive cases.



Metuchen Schools Expand COVID Testing To Staff & Student Families

The Metuchen Public School District on Tuesday announced it was expanding their COVID testing program to include family members of students and staff.



Allentown Man Charged In Metuchen Bank Theft: Police

An Allentown man was charged with theft from a bank in Metuchen, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Metuchen Police Chief David Irizarry announced Tuesday.



Metuchen Joins Art Project To Promote Social Justice Issues

The Metuchen Arts Council is partnering with the New Brunswick Community Arts Council, Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and Highland Park Arts Commission for the fourth annual "Windows of Understanding" public art project.



Months After E.Coli Found In Water, Edison Residents Seek Answers

Edison Water Watch, a citizen's group, is seeking answers from Edison Water Utility (EWU) months after the E.Coli outbreak in the water supply.

This article originally appeared on the Edison-Metuchen Patch
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Bengaluru: Dismissing statements of some Congress leaders about the ruling BJP in Karnataka post-cabinet expansion, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday (January 16) said the government would not only complete its five-year term but return to power with an absolute majority.

He said a lot of development work has been taking place in the state under the leadership of Yediyurappa and advised opposition leaders to work for the well-being of people instead of finding fault with the BJP.

"I have been reading the statements of Congress leaders that this will happen and that will happen in Karnataka, but I want to tell everyone that the BJP government will not only complete the five-year term but also return to power for five years with an absolute majority," Amit Shah said.

The opposition Congress in Karnataka had on January 14 taken a dig at Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa over dynasty politics allegations made against him by some BJP legislators after the cabinet expansion.

He was speaking at the inauguration of police quarters in Bengaluru, besides virtual inauguration of the Indian Reserve Battalion at Vijayapura and the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) here.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and state Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai were among the dignitaries present. Amit Shah said the Centre and state are committed to the development for Karnataka.

The opposition Congress has been mocking the Chief Minister over dynasty politics allegations levelled against him by some BJP legislators after the recent cabinet expansion.

Live TV

Some among the saffron party had come out in the open soon after the CM carried out the exercise.

Referring to the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive launched on Saturday (January 16), Amit Shah said the results would be visible in one or two months.

He also lauded the scientists who brought out the Covishield and Covaxin vaccines and said frontline workers deserved to get the first shots as they are at the forefront of the war against the virus. Shah also launched 92 Emergency Response Support System vehicles and congratulated Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai for setting a target of attending to a complaint or information within 15 minutes.

Bommai said the Karnataka government has waged a war on narcotics by seizing a maximum quantity of drugs in the last 10 days, which was never been done in the last 10 years.

He requested Shah to make available speed boats "to check anti-national activities taking place in the Arabian Sea."

He said the state police were working in tandem with the National Investigation Agency, which busted many terror modules, including Jamat-Ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh.
To the Editor:

Watching the videos and TV feeds of the mob insurrection and violent and deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, the center of our government, is absolutely disgusting. Those thugs left a rally egged on by the U.S. President who intended to march with them until stopped for security concerns. They forced entrance into the U.S. Capitol, trapping a police officer wedged between doors screaming in pain while they tried to rip off gas masks from him and other officers all the while screaming all sorts of threats and profanity. These terrorists drug another officer down the steps and beat him mercilessly with whatever they had in hand, and just to show their patriotism, an American flag.

The mob included lots of plain white people, young and old, most wearing MAGA or Trump hats, along with American, Trump and confederate flags, Stop the Steal and Wheres Pence signs, several real nooses and a replica of a guillotine. Inside, the mob was shouting, Hang Pence over and over, some of those great Americans were carrying bunches of zip ties, presumably to take hostages or worse. One person waived the Confederate flag which, representing the losing side in a war against the U.S. government, is akin to waiving the Nazi or Japanese flag. The ex-chief of the Capitol Police said he requested additional law enforcement units six times and was declined.

At the end of all of this, five were dead, including one officer beaten with a fire extinguisher, and another officer on duty during the attack later committed suicide, and more than 50 officers were injured, some badly. There was also considerable damage to the building, arguably the most important in our government, in our country.

There will be more violence since these extremists are emboldened and empowered by the rhetoric of a U.S. president. They found an opening with a disputed election and a presidents words and behavior to believe they have kinship with legitimate Trump supporters. Nationwide, these supporters are confronting people such as Sens. Lindsey Graham and Mitt Romney and U.S. Rep. Lou Correa, among others, screaming insults and profanity at them, or beating them like an African American woman in California hospitalized with a bruised and swollen face. Until these supporters finally reject the constant insults, cruelty and divisiveness and remember we are all human and all Americans, this will continue.

Seventy-four million people voted for this narcissist with good intent and for their own reasons. The incoming administration must address those reasons if we hope to begin to solve some of our problems and bring the country back together. The U.S. is a large, diverse country with many distinct regions, home to different cultures, languages, races, religions and economics. There is no one solution that addresses all of this. We are by original design, almost like 50 different countries, competing with each other.

Ed Downey

North Manheim

Township
Prince William last night urged the country to take up the offer of a Covid-19 vaccine as his grandparents had done and heralded the successful rollout, saying: 'There is a big UK story here to tell.'

In a video call with five people across the UK who are helping to get the vaccine into arms, the Prince said he was proud of the Queen and Prince Philip for having the jab at Windsor Castle earlier this month.

Told by Dr Nikki Kanani, Medical Director of Primary Care for NHS England and NHS Improvement, that there had been some hesitancy among the public, he replied: 'My grandparents have had the vaccine and I am very proud of them for doing that. It is really important that everyone gets the vaccine when they are told to.'

In a video call with five people across the UK who are helping to get the vaccine into arms, Prince William said he was proud of the Queen and Prince Philip for having the jab at Windsor Castle earlier this month

Prince William last night urged the country to take up the offer of a Covid-19 vaccine as his grandparents had done and heralded the successful rollout, saying: 'There is a big UK story here to tell'

Praising the 'monumental' effort that has seen almost 3.6 million injections given so far, the 38-year-old added: 'I want to say huge congratulations to everyone involved.'

He added: 'This isn't something that happens really easy, and everyone has access to it in terms of around the world.

'This is because we have a world-leading NHS and we have the right people, the right research and development. There is a big UK story here to tell.'

Dr Helen Alefounder, a GP in Colwyn Bay, told the Prince that hundreds of care home residents had been vaccinated in North Wales, but added: 'It is tiring and I do wonder how we are all going to be feeling or looking if we did this again in a few months' time.

Told by Dr Nikki Kanani, Medical Director of Primary Care for NHS England and NHS Improvement, that there had been some hesitancy among the public, he replied: 'My grandparents have had the vaccine and I am very proud of them for doing that. It is really important that everyone gets the vaccine when they are told to.' (Above, William and Kate with the Queen at Windsor last December)

The Queen, 94, and the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, last weekend made public that they had received their vaccinations. Ministers believe by doing so they will encourage take-up of the injections

'At the moment everybody has got a bit of a buzz and doing really well. Challenging times ahead but together we will get it cracked.'

Dalene Steele, a nurse and clinical lead on Covid-19 vaccinations in care homes across Ayrshire and Arran in Scotland, gave an upbeat assessment of progress.

'We have targeted care homes and done 90.5 per cent of care homes in Ayrshire. We worked seven days a week There have been tears and lumps in the throat but there has been laughter as well. The last three weeks have been such an experience.'

William replied: 'It's nice to have that light at the end of the tunnel.'

Praising the 'monumental' effort that has seen almost 3.6 million injections given so far, William, 38, added: 'I want to say huge congratulations to everyone involved.' (Above, vaccinations at Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, on Saturday)

Jake Plummer said he had started work as a volunteer when the vaccinations first rolled out in December.

He is now seeing people return for their second jab at Solent NHS Trust and University Hospital in Southampton.

Bronagh Hegarty, a pharmacist at Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, said those involved had 'moved mountains day in, day out'. She added: 'The enthusiasm and the vibe, 'Lets get this done', we are really making a difference.

'It is palpable and just lovely to be involved.'

The Queen, 94, and the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, last weekend made public that they had received their vaccinations.

Ministers believe by doing so they will encourage take-up of the injections.



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Is Exploring For Oil Still Profitable? Oilprice asked back in August. As the novel coronavirus has swept the world, stalling whole industries, tanking oil demand and prices, leaving legions of people jobless, and upending the natural order of things, everyone who has anything to do with the energy sector has found themselves asking these kinds of existential, world-altering questions. Until 2020, claims of peak oil just on the horizon were easily dismissed as naive and alarmist. Now, peak oil is suddenly upon us, an unforeseen stall in the status quo has afforded the world an unmissable opportunity to reorient the global economy toward decarbonization with not a moment to spare, and global leaders and thinkers such as the World Economic Forum are calling for a new energy order and a great reset.

For European Oil majors, at least, this has all culminated in a surprisingly simple answer: no. No, exploring for oil is no longer financially worth it. With fossil fuels fast falling out of favor and the clean energy transition fomenting and picking up speed around the globe, we are seeing more and more stranded assets as oil company choose to let their already purchased, yet-untapped oil reserves sit stagnant, preferring to accept the sunk cost rather than spend any more cash on drilling ventures that promise few financial returns.

Instead, Big Oil is quickly transitioning to become Big Energy in Europe, where the oil industrys most profitable business is no longer oil. In the United States, however, Big Oil has taken a decidedly different track, clinging steadfastly to the shale that catapulted the nation to the top of the energy production food chain instead of investing in alternative, more forward-looking ventures. Until now.

Just this month, a government auction of drilling leases in Alaska turned into an allegory for the state of the entire U.S. oil industry when nearly no one showed up. As one of Donald Trumps last actions before leaving office, the U.S. president opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to would-be oil drillers. This contentious move on Trumps part was actually mandated by Congress in order to raise funds to help make up for the ballooning deficit spurred by the presidents sizable 2017 tax cuts. Advocates promised that wells in ANWR would generate $1 billion a year and decrease the budget deficit, The Houston Chronicle reported.

Related: Rising LNG Prices Welcome News For U.S. Exporters

When auction day arrived, however, not one major energy company made a bid, and only about half of the tracts on offer received any bids at all. Whats more, many of the lots that were sold will likely never be drilled upon. One of the buyers, The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, bought their 400,000 acres at the minimum bid for the purpose of economic development but has never drilled a well in its history. Other buyers included small companies that almost certainly dont have the capital to explore for oil in the refuge and will have a very hard time securing it, as nearly every conceivable major bank has pledged in writing never to fund such a venture. Last year, Morgan Stanley became the fifth of six major U.S. banks to announce that the financial institution would no longer fund any future oil drilling in environmentally delicate Arctic refuges, adding themselves to the ranks of Arctic drilling divesters that already included Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup.

According to Chris Tomlinson, an analyst for the Houston Chronicle, the message broadcasted from the failed ANWR auction was loud and clear: more oil is no longer wanted or needed. And the fact that the primary bidder was a state-owned economic development organization means that Alaskans are desperate for a new way to find jobs and keep their economy afloat that no longer depends on the oil that has now failed them for so many years.

Alaska is not alone. Down in Texas, in the Permian Basin and on the Gulf Coast, the winds of change are blowing as well. From North to South, the U.S. energy industry is finally beginning to bid oil goodbye.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Holidaymakers have stayed close to home this summer break as ongoing travel restrictions and border closures boost travel to regional NSW.

Caravan and camping sites have also welcomed more visitors, with a surge in bookings at coastal holiday parks and Jindabyne.

The Toowoon Bay Holiday Park on the Central Coast has been busy since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Credit:Edwina Pickles

A spokeswoman for Discovery Parks, which operates holiday parks around Australia, said its top destinations were coastal and close to Sydney, with guest numbers up more than 35 per cent at resorts in Emerald Beach, Gerroa, Harrington Beach and Forster.

Grant Wilckens, chief executive of G'day Group, which owns Discovery Parks, said it had been the "busiest summer on record".
All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS) director Randeep Guleria on Saturday received a vaccine against the novel coronavirus during the first phase of the inoculation drive.

The jab was administered to the AIIMS chief moments after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the vaccination drive across the country.

#WATCH | AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria receives COVID-19 vaccine shot at AIIMS, Delhi. pic.twitter.com/GFvZ2lgfj3  ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2021

Guleria was the third person to take the shot. A sanitation worker Manish Kumar from AIIMS was the first person in India to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus in presence of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.

As India began its Covid vaccination drive today, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said he was very happy and satisfied. "I am very happy and satisfied today. We have been fighting against coronavirus in PM's leadership for the last one year. This vaccine will work as a 'sanjeevani' in the fight against Covid, which has entered the final stage," Vardhan said.

India gets first Covid vaccine shot

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched India's vaccination drive and paid tribute to the country's frontline workers and scientists and warned against falling for propaganda or rumours over vaccines.

PM Modi also gave India a new motto - "Dawai bhi, Kadai bhi (Vaccine as well as discipline)" as he cautioned that even after vaccination, citizens must stay vigilant and maintain all precautions against the virus, including masks and distancing.

India will inoculate 3 crore healthcare and other frontline workers in the first phase with two shots manufactured locally-- one developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, and the other by Bharat Biotech.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 01/15/2021



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Stephanie Davison has made jaw-dropping allegations about her time filming Season 8, claiming she was raped at one point and the show's producers also forced her to film while being bitten by hundreds of sandflies.Stephanie, a 52-year-old from Grand Rapids, MI, and Ryan Carr, a 27-year-old from Belize, dated for three years prior to joining the cast, and Ryan's K-1 visa had been pre-approved at the time the pair began filming.However, Ryan still had to go through the K-1 visa interview process and the embassy remained closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.'s eighth season just featured Stephanie trying to contact Ryan so they could talk about their future together, but most of Stephanie's calls went unanswered and Ryan seemed totally indifferent to his fiancee and the idea of marrying her.On Wednesday, the Instagram account @Mommy_says_bad_words posted the cover of a book titled Never Get Ghosted Again: 15 Reasons Why Men Lose Interest and How to Avoid Guys Who Can't Commit by Bruce Bryans.The Instagram account wrote above the image, "If only Stephanie had read this before she met Ryan," and the post was captioned, "She needs this book ASAP."In the comments section of the post, Stephanie completely unloaded her frustrations and publicly announced she had a miserable experience."My new motto after this reality tv stuff.....ONLY believe half of what you see and hear!!" Stephanie wrote, before adding the following shocking hashtags: #theycangofuckthemselves #paymewhatyouoweme #careaboutyourcast #manipulatedbeyondbelief #seeyouincourt."Stephanie boasted about being proud of her strong hashtags and then explained why she's so angry."These clusterf-cks that work for this company are going to wish they never deceived me. I not only was raped while filming, but manipulated to keep filming after I begged to get off set after being bitten hundreds of times by sandflies," Stephanie claimed."But no, they just needed a romantic dinner filmed with Ryan."While Stephanie didn't get into details about the alleged rape incident, she complained about how all of those bug bites were life threatening and TLC allegedly did nothing to help her."I spend have my time in a hospital now hooked to IV's for the inflammation from the allergic reactions I had," Stephanie wrote."They are unwilling to pay all my medical expenses. My attorney started legal action today...stay tuned!!"The Instagram account noted Stephanie's medical bills should absolutely be taken care of, at the very least."Yes!" Stephanie agreed. "This show has ruined my health, I wish I had never heard of this show."On the latest episode of , Stephanie was trying to reach Ryan to let him know the borders were still closed and she couldn't visit him in Belize within the next couple of weeks as originally planned."I have not seen him in nine months... And on top of the borders being closed, we are still waiting for a date for the K-1 visa interview," Stephanie shared. "It is so important that I go to Belize because not seeing Ryan for months definitely lost the connection."Stephanie said there was "a lot missing" and she and Ryan seemed to be "growing further and further apart."Stephanie continued to call Ryan only to reach his voicemail, and she complained she was in an extremely frustrating situation."The trust issues have always been terrible," Stephanie acknowledged, adding that she was "angry and pissed off" about being ignored."I want him to share in my grief right now! I want to see he is as upset as I am... We are hanging on by a thread right now, and that thread is going to f-cking break any single second."Stephanie, suffering with anxiety, apparently called Ryan 14 times, and once he finally answered, Ryan insisted he was just working his ass off at a luxury resort in Belize."Every day you would call me and b-tch about something," Ryan complained.Stephanie shared with Ryan how the borders were not opening, but he didn't seem phased."Why are you acting like this is not a big deal? You know I've been putting in the effort to try to make this whole thing work, and I bend over backwards to try to make you happy and give you what you need, whether it be new clothes or help with rent," Stephanie said.Ryan said he never asked Stephanie for those things and he's happiest when he's working and making his own money.Ryan didn't know that Stephanie was wiring her friend money at the luxury resort to pay Ryan's wages. She accused Ryan of sitting on his ass for a long time and asking her for money once every three days."I haven't seen you in a long time and I feel like we're fighting more and more," Stephanie noted."This wouldn't be happening if you didn't have trust issues. I'll never change," Ryan said.Stephanie confessed she was exhausted and nearly ready to throw in the towel. She asked Ryan whether he truly wanted their relationship to continue, but Ryan said Stephanie was the one who needed to think about it."And your sweet plan is what? You want to come over to America and start screwing women?" Stephanie asked.Stephanie lacked trust in Ryan because she previously caught him texting multiple women. Stephanie also saw him online once at 2AM, which is when Ryan insisted he was just communicating with his friends.Ryan then said he was born in Belize and would die in Belize, although it would be nice to see America and "the other side of the world.""So you want to come over here for a little joy ride? You didn't say one thing about me. You said you'd like to see America," Stephanie said.Ryan explained he was excited to move to the United States for her at first but his excitement was waning because she was "far past crazy" and acting ridiculous.Stephanie threatened to cancel Ryan's K-1 visa, and he told her to do whatever she wanted because she's "the boss" and calls the shots."If you have nothing but bad [things to say] after all the good stuff I do for you and your family, then you know what? Why are we engaged? Why are we engaged then?" Stephanie questioned."I don't know," Ryan replied.Stephanie told the cameras if she and Ryan were going to end their relationship, they needed to do it in person. The other option was to hang tough and give their romance another shot once Ryan arrived on the K-1 visa for 90 days.Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage!
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Houston nurse Millicent Peters receives job solicitations pertaining to COVID-19 once or twice a week, but even she wasnt prepared for the pitch texted to her cell phone last month.

If she could relocate immediately for a temporary assignment in one of the disease hot spots, Krucial Staffing was offering a salary between $5,000 and $7,000 a week, plus a travel bonus, free lodging and per diem meals.

It didnt have the desired effect.

It kind of upset me, dangling a carrot in front of a horse like that, said Peters, a charge nurse at Houston Methodist Hospital. It preys upon young nurses who, not used to negotiating contracts, get excited about the money, unaware of what they might be getting themselves in for.

Peters ignored the solicitation, but at least two of her colleagues couldnt resist, part of the increasing exodus of nurses for COVID-19 travel assignments.

Months after personal protective equipment was so coveted by hospitals, nurses are now the hot commodity, desperately needed around the country to staff beds filling up again because of the winter surge of pandemic patients.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Traveling nurses the Rx for Pasadena landlords woes

To recruit nurses, hospitals turn to staffing agencies like Krucial, Trusted Health and Nomad, which advertise salaries at least double what nurses typically make if theyll come help plug the shortage. Most are like the offer Peters received  $121 an hour regular pay, $181 an hour for required overtime  but some go even higher. One agency recently posted a job in Fargo, N.D., paying $8,000 a week. A Methodist official said he just saw a travel assignment in California for $12,000 a week.

The recruitment goes over much better with the hospitals that hire the nurses than those who lose them. Hospital associations across the nation report receiving many complaints from member institutions about agencies poaching their staff. One hospital spokesman compares the landscape to one in which vendors hawked exorbitantly priced bottled water after Hurricane Harvey.

Texas has indeed become one of the hottest destinations for nurse recruiting. Krucial, which in the spring led the effort to bring nurses to New York, is now focused on Texas, exemplified by recent travel job advertisements on its Facebook page for a Texas gig. Methodist reports a significant increase in nurses taking such offers in December.

The Harris Health System has lost 84 nurses to such assignments since June, the majority in the last few months.

The poaching has hit us hard, made it difficult to cover shifts, put us over a barrel, said Maureen Padilla, Harris Healths chief nurse executive. What bothers me is that its price-gouging at its very worst during a national emergency.

The use of traveling medical staff began in the 1980s, a response during a nursing shortage due to strikes and infectious diseases circulating in certain areas. But it took the pandemic to put the field on peoples radar. Industry officials estimate there are now at least 50,000 traveling nurses, up from about 30,000 in 2018.

Some of those are independent nurses, typically young and footloose, who make a living stringing together travel assignments, which typically last 13 weeks but sometimes go shorter or longer. But some of the nurses are lured from hospitals.

In the early days of the pandemic, travel assignments took traveling nurses to crisis spots  particularly New York. No one questioned the phenomenon because the need was so much greater in those areas than anywhere else.

Whats different now is that the winter COVID-19 surge has brought the need for nurses across the country. Hospital officials routinely use the phrase rob Peter to pay Paul to describe the distribution of nurses.

Its cutthroat, said Kristie Loescher, faculty director of the University of Texas Healthcare Innovation Initiative. But its what you get when you have a perfect storm of a staffing crisis and a pandemic. Given those supply and demand issues, companies are going to charge what the market will bear.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Hundreds of nurses pour into Texas to help fight second COVID surge

The demand took five Harris Health nurses to travel assignments in El Paso during the recent surge there.

Padilla said Texas jobs are appealing to Houston nurses because the deals are lucrative and theyre closer to home, which enables easier connections with family.

The Houston competition for nurses increasingly involves hospitals within the state  or the Houston region itself, where the recruitee doesnt have to leave family at all. Padilla acknowledges Harris Health itself has used agencies that may have recruited locally.

Padilla said Harris Health will rehire those nurses who took a travel assignment as long as they gave the expected two-week notice. Thats not always a slam dunk inasmuch as many staffing agencies require immediate starting dates. If the nurse abruptly leaves for such a job, Harris Health will not rehire for at least a year, she said.

Padilla said it would be demoralizing to the staff that remained loyal and committed to the hospital to see the recently departed nurse right back on the unit. It is likely of little concern to the nurse, said Padilla  he or she will have no trouble finding a willing hospital.

For some nurses, the idea of travel assignments is very enticing.

Ever since I heard about them in nursing school, travel assignments were on my mind, said Caroline DeWitt, who started her second such job, in Colorado Springs, Colo., on the day the original pandemic lockdown went into effect. Im an adventurous soul so the idea of traveling to different places to do my job sounded great, even apart from the additional money.

In the summer, DeWitt took an assignment at Texas Childrens, working with both pediatric COVID-19 patients and adults transferred from hospitals unable to handle the influx. She was tempted to stay, she said, but shed just bought a house in the Texas Hill Country, where she began working, remotely, for Trusted Health, the staffing agency that moved her to different travel assignments.

Now a nurse advocate who helps facilitate others assignments, she laughs that shes missing out on the level of pay packages now being offered.

Kathryn Tart, founding dean of the University of Houston College of Nursing, argues theres nothing wrong with the pay levels, given that nurses are putting their lives on the line. She said hospitals would have less of a shortage problem if they had just been hiring more nursing graduates all along.

Still, there are no shortage of ill feelings at hospitals. John Henderson, CEO of the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals, says the states assistance kept some member hospitals from buckling from staffing shortages, but fretted that many are now losing nurses because they cant compete with the amounts being offered. He called it unsustainable.

The Texas Hospital Association fielded enough complaints from its member hospital about agencies recruiting away front-line employees that Krucial Staffing issued a response in December saying it doesnt advertise, actively recruit and attempt to or knowingly employ healthcare workers from impacted facilities and intends only to supplement existing hospital staff. The response did not define impact facilities.

The hospital association sent the response to its members, but spokeswoman Carrie Williams said that despite the assurance, the practice appears to be continuing.

The problem is that hospitals dont have a lot of choice when you have patients that need care and a shortage of staff, said Cindy Zolnierek, CEO of the Texas Nurses Association. But it definitely does seem that some people are exploiting the moment.

Gary Randazzo, a professor of practice and marketing at the UH Bauer College of Business, says theres no evidence that wage and price controls or other means of intervention work in such situations. Nor is the Texas Legislature expected to take up the issue.

Loescher, the faculty director at UTs healthcare innovation initiative, holds out hope. The only good thing that might come out of the situation, Loescher said, is people giving up on the idea that supply and demand works during a crisis and that health care moves more toward a social justice philosophy rather than a market justice focus.

She admits, however, shes not optimistic. The most likely solution to the poaching is an end to the pandemic.

todd.ackerman@chron.com

Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering on Saturday congratulated his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for the landmark launch of the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination drive, hoping it would mitigate the sufferings endured by the people due to the pandemic. Modi on Saturday launched the world's largest vaccination drive with healthcare workers at the frontline of India's COVID-19 battle getting their first jabs, showing the light at the end of a 10-month tunnel that upended millions of lives and livelihoods.

ALSO READ: Covishield vs Covaxin: What We Know About Efficacy of the Two Coronavirus Vaccines in India

Shots of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines were being administered at medical centres across the country. "I would like to congratulate PM @narendramodi and the people of India for the landmark launch of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive today. We hope it comes as an answer to pacify all the sufferings we have endured this pandemic," Tshering tweeted.

I would like to congratulate PM @narendramodi and the people of India for the landmark launch of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive today. We hope it comes as an answer to pacify all the sufferings we have endured this pandemic. https://t.co/f921VupuJn pic.twitter.com/M9q3KKLFo3 PM Bhutan (@PMBhutan) January 16, 2021

In a similar post on his Facebook account, Tshering said that, "in this pursuit of securing and distributing the vaccine of an impressive magnitude, Your Excellency has displayed profound and compassionate leadership." "We send prayers for the good health and well being of Your Excellency and the people of India," Tshering added. In his reply, Modi thanked Tshering for the good wishes.

"Thank you @PMBhutan! A vaccine, which was earlier believed to be impossible in such a short time period has become a reality thanks to efforts of our scientists, doctors and innovators," he tweeted. India is ready to do everything possible for a healthy planet, Modi said.

Thank you @PMBhutan! A vaccine, which was earlier believed to be impossible in such a short time period has become a reality thanks to efforts of our scientists, doctors and innovators. India is ready to do everything possible for a healthy planet. #LargestVaccineDrive https://t.co/GzDd022PT8 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 16, 2021

Earlier, launching the drive, Modi reminded people that two doses of the vaccine are very important and asked them to continue with masks and social distancing even after receiving the jabs. Reassuring people that emergency use authorisation was given to the two 'made in India' vaccines only after scientists were convinced of their safety and effectiveness, he said the vaccines will ensure a decisive victory for the country over the coronavirus pandemic.

Dawaai bhi, kadaai bhi, Modi said, asking people to guard against complacency and follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.
Violent protests and the storming of the Capitol did not dissuade our responsibility as members of Congress to carry out our constitutional role in certifying the results of the presidential election.

I commend Vice President Mike Pence for his leadership in carrying out his oath of office and putting his country first.

The tragic events also did not sway my resolve to highlight highly irregular actions taken by state officials in Pennsylvania during the election. The Constitution very clearly states that the times, places and manner of holding elections  shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof In multiple instances, state officials acted outside their authority, usurping the constitutional authority of the Legislature.

It must be understood that there was mathematically no chance that my objection to the Pennsylvania electors would overturn the results of the election. My focus was never centered on unproven claims of fraud. This is why I did not object to the certification of Arizona electors.

I have a responsibility to be the peoples voice in Washington. Many across the commonwealth feel disenfranchised. The electoral certification process was the appropriate venue to address these concerns

My questioning of the Pennsylvania electors will help illuminate this constitutional question to the Supreme Court. It is my understanding the court will consider and rule on whether the actions taken in Pennsylvania, without the authority of the Legislature, were unconstitutional. I believe we will be vindicated by the court in affirming that only state legislatures make election law and procedure. The ruling will bring consistency and integrity to our system of elections. This will benefit Democrats and Republicans and build widespread trust in our election process.

It is very important now to avoid actions that would further divide our people. President-elect Biden recently suggested that our goal should be to move forward as a nation and that the most effective means to accomplish this is to focus on a smooth transition come Jan 20. I have received an invitation to attend the inauguration and I will attend.
With Dundalk schools returning to online learning once again, homeschooling challenges return for students and parents.

As the prospect of an extended school closures, perhaps into February. becomes likely, schools across Louth are preparing to teach remotely once again.

Louth Meath Education and Training Board say they are confident that it's local schools, Colaiste Chu Culainn, Faughart CNS, Bush Post Primary and O Fiaich College will once again be up to the task.

Principal in Colaiste Chu Chulainn, Thomas Sharkey stated: 'We know that our schools are very safe places for young people. If the pandemic means schools must close, we are ready to take learning online once again. Students and staff worked hard up to Christmas. We want that hard work to continue but in a safe way that helps us all get to a pandemic free society as soon as possible. Our school's students benefit from Office 365 accounts which include email, Teams, One Drive and all Microsoft Office software.'

Jacqui McCusker, teaching principal at Faughart CNS, told the Argus: 'We spent the first two days last week preparing work packs for each child, and then handing out to parents.'

'We are organised with each class to have TEAMS calls with their teacher every day, and are encouraging them to focus on the core subjects, English, Irish and Maths.'

Having launched a very successful virtual learning program during the first lockdown in March last year, she added: 'I think we have upped our game this time around, as am sure a lot of schools have. But there are still challenges which remain, as some families don't have access to broadband, or it can be patchy in the area they live in. We record the lessons, so that they can be accessed at a time that suits.;

As a parent of three children, two at secondary and one in primary school, Jacqui said she understood the difficulties of both working from home and homeschooling.

'I think the best advice is to stick to a routine. Start the morning when class starts at 9, and follow their normal timetable. By 12.30 or 1pm, they could finish up, as they probably won't have the same concentration they might have in school.'

'Also, do encourage them to keep in touch with their classmates, even outside the virtual classroom, either through video calls or phone calls. It helps to keep the social aspect of their school life going.'

LMETB Chairman, Wayne Harding said the board were monitoring the ongoing announcements by both the National Public Health Emergency Team and The Department of Education and Skills.

'Chief Executive Martin O'Brien and the Director of schools Ms Fiona Kinlon are in contact with principals in both Louth and Meath and we are confident that our schools will adhere to all guidelines set down by the Minister of Education Norma Foley. The same will apply to guidelines from Minister Simon Harris TD in relation to our further education and training centres.'

'All staff within LMETB have demonstrated since last March our capacity to teach all students both remotely and in person. The Chief Executive and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff involved for their hard work, dedication and professionalism in maintaining continuity of learning opportunity for all our students and learners.

'We take this opportunity to compliment all students and learners who have adapted fantastically to the changes that have had to occur since the outbreak of Covid-19 and for embracing the learning opportunities presented.'

He added: 'Parents, guardians and extended family members have provided very valuable support to their children, our students and we really appreciate this support. Know that each and every one of you have played a valuable role, made a difference and enhanced the learning process for both students and teachers.'

He acknowledged the support of parents as well as the Department of Education in providing additional funding which has made a huge difference in providing guidance/support for all in LMETB.

'I take this opportunity to assure both our Ministers and their officials that LMETB are taking our responsibility seriously and sticking to guidance provided.'

* Tips for home-schooling in lockdown - see the January 12th edition of The Argus
This aerial view shows the P4 laboratory (L) on the campus of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, on May 27, 2020. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Wuhan Virology Lab Scientists Had CCP Virus-Like Illness in Autumn 2019, US Says

Several researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill with symptoms similar to those caused by the CCP virus in the autumn of 2019, contradicting claims by a senior researcher from the facility who said there were no infections among the staff scientists.

The revelation is part of a fact sheet released by the U.S. State Department on Jan. 15, which slams the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for excessive secrecy around the origin of the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control reported a cluster of pneumonia-like cases of unknown origin on Dec. 21, 2019. But months later, new evidence emerged suggesting that Chinese authorities were aware of the first CCP virus case on Nov. 17. The U.S. government wasnt informed about the virus until Dec. 30 of that year from Taiwan.

Little is known about the first patients who caught the virus; the CCP hasnt eliminated a connection to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which isnt far from the seafood market that initially was thought to be the origin of the outbreak.

The U.S. government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the WIV became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses, the State Department fact sheet reads. This raises questions about the credibility of WIV senior researcher Shi Zhenglis public claim that there was zero infection among the WIVs staff and students of SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-related viruses.

The State Department pointed out that accidental viral outbreaks arent new in China, including the 2004 SARS outbreak in Beijing which originated in a lab. The department added that any meaningful investigation of the origins of the outbreak must include interviews with the researchers in the Wuhan lab who fell ill in the fall of 2019.

The CCP has prevented independent journalists, investigators, and global health authorities from interviewing researchers at the WIV, including those who were ill in the fall of 2019. Any credible inquiry into the origin of the virus must include interviews with these researchers and a full accounting of their previously unreported illness, the department said.

The State Department claims that the WIV was conducting research on viruses similar to the CCP virus as early as 2016. The regime has been secretive about the research and the State Department is demanding transparency.

WHO investigators must have access to the records of the WIVs work on bat and other coronaviruses before the COVID-19 outbreak. As part of a thorough inquiry, they must have a full accounting of why the WIV altered and then removed online records of its work with RaTG13 and other viruses, the department said.

The WIV, while claiming to be a civil institution, has worked on secret projects with the Chinese military, including classified animal experiments since at least early 2017, the United States has learned.

The United States and other donors who funded or collaborated on civilian research at the WIV have a right and obligation to determine whether any of our research funding was diverted to secret Chinese military projects at the WIV, the department said.

The Chinese communist regime took more than two months to alert about the outbreak of the CCP virus. The regime knew about human-to-human transmission in late 2019 but didnt inform the world until Jan. 20, 2020.
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As COVID-19 vaccines are currently being rolled out swiftly globally, it is becoming clearer that Africa will be the last region to get enough supplies of the much-needed jabs deemed the silver bullet for the highly contagious disease which is spreading rapidly across the continent.

The Nigerian government said it will receive at least 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech approved COVID-19 vaccines by the end of January through the COVAX co-financing public-private facility.

But several global health experts and bodies told PREMIUM TIMES it is almost impossible for Nigeria to start receiving vaccines this January.

Evidence on the ground at the countrys National Strategic Cold Store suggests that the country does not have the capacity yet to effectively store the Pfizer vaccines, a check by this newspaper showed.

Nigeria does not have ultra-cold freezers much needed to store some of the foremost vaccines already in use such as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, according to Iyabo Daradara, Director, Logistics and Health Commodities at the National primary HealthCare Development Agency (NPHCDA).

The National Strategic cold store has 11 walk-in cold rooms refrigerators which store at +2 to +8 and four walk-in freezer rooms which are used for vaccines that need freezing. she said, in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES. We do not have ultra-cold freezers in the country.

Most African countries, including Nigeria, are banking on benefitting from the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Assess Facility, or Covax, the World Health Organization-backed programme, which was set-up to divide a billion doses across 92 low- and middle-income countries.

The facility promised access to vaccines for up to 20 per cent of participating countries population with an initial supply beginning in the first quarter of the year to immunize 3 per cent of their population.

But whether the COVAX facility is able to deliver vaccines as promised or not, African countries must sort other alternatives to vaccinate at least 50 per cent of their population to reach herd immunity.

Other options for Africa

Africa seems not to be part of the supply priorities of the Pharmaceutical companies producing the foremost COVID-19 vaccines at the moment.

According to Quartz Africa, Pfizer-BioNTech offered to supply just 50 million COVID-19 vaccines to Africa starting from March to the end of this year while Moderna and AstraZeneca have not yet allocated supplies for Africa.

Many African countries experience spikes in infection rates are turning to Russia, India, and China despite scepticism about some of the vaccines.

Health experts said Russia and China rolled out their vaccines without phase 3 clinical trial results that confirm the vaccine effectiveness.

Sinovac, a Beijing-based biopharmaceutical company, is behind CoronaVac, an inactivated vaccine from China. It works by using killed viral particles to expose the bodys immune system to the virus without risking a serious disease response.

The Sinovac vaccines have been found to be 50.4 per cent effective in Brazilian clinical trials, according to the latest results released by researchers, the BBC reported.

Morocco has ordered 65 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, another vaccine from China, and AstraZeneca vaccine from Serum Institute India.

According to Quartz Africa, South Africa said it also made a deal with Serum Institute India and will be getting 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine for its health workers this January. Guinea is testing the Russian vaccine, Sputnik V and has ordered 2 million doses.

Nigerian authorities said it is discussing with China on possible vaccine access.

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Most of these vaccines from China, India and Russia are more convenient for Africa and developing countries in terms of purchase, storage and distribution costs.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for instance had lower interim efficacy results, but offer the best possibility for distribution in Nigeria because the temperature required is not as low and manufacturers can produce it at a lower price.

While Africa grapples to find its footing in the vaccine race and the best available option in the market, PREMIUM TIMES looks at the efficacy of the foremost vaccines already widely in use, countries that have started using them: the progress, prospects and challenges.

Vaccine development

Vaccines typically take at least a decade to develop, test and manufacture, according to scientists. It took 18 years for scientists to successfully develop a vaccine against polio.

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia said it took two to four years just to identify a substance in the lab that could fight a disease. Both the chickenpox vaccine and FluMist, which protects against several strains of the influenza virus, took 28 years to develop.

But the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were developed at breakneck speed in less than a year to become the fastest ever in human history.

According to researchers, the only difference between the COVID-19 vaccines and their predecessors is the use of the genetic material mRNA which is easy to make in a laboratory.

Before now, vaccines typically use a weakened version of the pathogen or a protein piece of it and because these are grown in eggs or cells, developing and manufacturing vaccines takes a long time. But by using just the genetic material that makes the Spike glycoprotein  the protein on the surface of the coronavirus that is essential for infecting human cells  the design and manufacture of the vaccine are simplified.

Manufacturing an mRNA vaccine rather than a protein vaccine can save months, if not years, health experts say.

The mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna are faster to develop as they do not require companies to produce protein or weakened pathogen for the vaccine.

Another factor that accelerated the vaccine development was the swift and efficient recruitment of patients for clinical trials as well as the urgent need for it due to the unprecedented spread of the COVID-19 infections.

COVID-19, the potentially dangerous pneumonia-like disease caused by the coronavirus and said to have emanated from a local Wuhan market to spread to over 200 countries, have infected more than 90 million people worldwide, claiming nearly 2 million lives, according to data from worldometer.info.

Vaccine Dilemma

The swift development of the coronavirus vaccines has raised a worrying level of vaccine hesitancy, especially in many African countries, a global survey by the Conversation showed in late last October.

While the fact that the vaccines already in use are not 100 per cent efficacious was a major reason for scepticism, many people that have received them thus far appear to have a slim option: they are faced with the dilemma of getting an unknown substance in their arms and living with the constant fear of contracting a killer virus.

According to the latest World Economic Forum-Ipsos survey on vaccine confidence, a strong intent to be vaccinated has risen in the US and the UK, following the release of the vaccine in the two countries amid swelling approval scepticism.

The New York Times on December 8, 2020, reported how Britains National Health Service began delivering shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, opening a public health campaign with little precedent in modern medicine and making Britons the first people in the world to receive an authorized, fully tested COVID-19 vaccine.

The UK and the U.S commenced vaccination almost the same day with the Pfizer vaccines and both countries have also approved a second vaccine made by Moderna.

But according to Business Today, the fact sheets for vaccine recipients in the US and UK for Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines say the vaccines are yet to be fully approved.

Modernas fact sheet for recipients say its vaccine is unapproved and may prevent COVID-19. The UK government says it has only given approval for temporary supply and not a marketing authorisation for Pfizer vaccine, the report said.

Vaccine race

Since Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in early December in the U.K., more than 40 countries have started administering coronavirus jabs among their populations.

While U.K. was the first to start, Israel is leading the world in terms of vaccination rate, with nearly 20 people in every hundred having received a dose, according to data compiled by Our World In Data, a research website affiliated with Oxford University.

This has been attributed to the countrys digitized healthcare system and the governments early success in purchasing enough doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to cover the whole population.

The United Arab Emirates is currently occupying the second position after achieving thus far the achieved vaccination rate of 8.98 per 100 people. The UAE approved the Pfizer-BioNTech and Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccines for mass use and administered vaccines on December 14.

Bahrain followed at third position with 4.25 per 100 people.

The United Kingdom had administered 1.91 jabs per 100 people by January 8 to come fourth, while the United States had administered 1.79 doses by January 7 to come fifth.

Belgium received the first COVID-19 vaccines developed by BioNTech/Pfizer on December 28, 2020. The country plans to vaccinate 70 per cent of its population by the end of 2021. Meanwhile, the country is still one of the lowest at 0.01 per 100 people.
The speedy conclusion of a Vietnam-UK free trade deal offers a boost for agricultural trade in particular, photo Le Tien

Vietnam and the UK signed the deal on December 29, and it came into force just days later. On the back of the speedy deal, trade between Vietnam and the UK will continue to enjoy preferential treatments even after the UKs exit from the EU, as the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) is intended to replicate the benefits of the EU-Vietnam FTA. Among them, agricultural goods represent some of Vietnams biggest exports to the UK that will enjoy major tariff reductions.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the UK is deemed a potentially big market for Vietnamese rice. Vietnams rice exports to the UK have skyrocketed, with a growth rate of up to 376 per cent in 2019. Nevertheless, it only accounts for a tiny 0.2 per cent market share in the UK market.

A representative of VRICE International Co., Ltd. pointed out that the UK is a demanding market with high tariffs and requirements for agricultural products. Exporters need to fulfil a series of global standards and follow the certain protocols in line with US and the EU requirements, as well as ensure human rights for workers are protected and respected before becoming eligible for exports to the UK, the representative explained.

Due to these high criteria, Vietnamese rice is less competitive than from other markets like India, Pakistan, and Thailand. However, Vietnam and the UK will continue to enjoy preferential trade benefits with major tariff reductions under the UKVFTA. Thus, VRICE is drawing up a plan to boost its export volume to the UK, he said.

Pham Thai Binh, general director of Trung An Hi-Tech Farming JSC, told VIR that Vietnamese rice exported to the UK was previously subject to tariff rates of 17 per cent, making it difficult for Trung An to penetrate the market. However, now that the UKVFTA is implemented, there will be huge opportunities for Vietnamese exporters to grow their market share. In particular, the UK does not impose import quota on rice so Vietnamese exporters can ramp up investment, Binh explained.

He noted that Trung An is looking for a local partner to distribute its ST20 fragrant rice to the new market.

Similarly, the UKVFTA is expected to be a major boost to Vietnamese seafood products. Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that several companies are anticipating a sharp rise in aquatic exports to the UK following the pandemic and the implementation of the UKVFTA as tariffs on aquatic products fall from 10-20 per cent to zero.

He noted that the UK market accounts for 4 per cent of Vietnams aquatic export turnover. Vietnamese aquatic exporters highly appreciate the UKVFTA, which effectively preserves the UK-Vietnam preferential trading terms available under the EVFTA. Thus, they will have fewer disruptions in exporting products to the UK market following the UKs exit from the EUs single market.

Ho Quoc Luc, chairman of the board at shrimp exporter Sao Ta Food JSC, said that the company has plans to mobilise all its resource to capitalise on the opportunities from the UKVFTA. Sao Ta is focused on improving its shrimp raising capacity and sourcing materials to meet the requirements of the UK market, which is one of its key export markets for the company.

In addition to shrimp, Vietnams basa fish exports to the UK are predicted to surge following the UKVFTA, according to a VASEP report. In the first 11 months of 2020, Vietnam exported $60.15 million of basa fish to the UK, up 48 per cent against last year. The UK market has been in the spotlight for Vietnams basa fish sector with positive growth in the midst of the pandemic, and Vietnamese exporters offer affordable prices and many of them meet the UKs quality standards.
Hundreds of freelancers and online workers marched through central Belgrade on January 16 to protest a recent law that requires them to pay income taxes for the last five years. The Serbian Tax Administration sent out thousands of tax bills in October 2020. Organized by an informal group known as the Association Of Internet Workers In Serbia, demonstrators called the practice tax prosecution, claiming the measure has been adopted without prior discussion. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said that protests are not a solution as taxes must be paid. The association is calling for talks with the government.
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The head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Leonid Kravchuk, has stated that the transfer of some of the detained citizens of Ukraine to the chairman of the political council of the Opposition Platform-For Life party, MP Viktor Medvedchuk, without the participation of the authorized state bodies is a violation of international agreements at the highest level.

"I regard the statements of the leadership of the puppet quasi-state formations and the actions of Mr. Medvedchuk synchronized with them as another attempt to evade the implementation of international agreements at the highest state level and the obligations undertaken by the Russian Federation as a party to the conflict," Kravchuk said.
Like so many authors who have released books during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent quarantine, Phil Klay is disappointed that he hasnt gotten to interact personally with his readers.

Learning firsthand what his readers think is one of the really delightful things about writing books, says Klay, an associate professor in Fairfield Universitys master of the fine arts in creative writing program.

However, Klays debut novel, Missionaries, released in October, received some positive feedback from a very special reader.

Missionaries  which uses interlocking stories of four characters to tell a story of civil war in Colombia  was chosen by former President Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of 2020. Its the second time Obama has picked one of Klays books for his personal top 10, but the experience doesnt get old.

Its an amazing feeling, but its strange, says Klay, 37, of Queens, N.Y. One of the reasons that its strange is that Ive been critical of the president and his foreign policy. At the same time, Im deeply appreciative that hes interested in what I have to say.

Klay is a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War. Both Missionaries and Klays previous book  the short story collection Redeployment  focus on war and its aftermath. Though Klay has been interested in writing since he was in college, his need to express himself through books grew even deeper after his service in Iraq.

(It) left me with a sense of urgency around the topic of war, Klay says. I dont feel as though we have adequately come to terms as a society with war.

Writing, he says, is one of the ways he tries to make sense, not just of war, but of the world around him. Thats why hes been disappointed that he hasnt been able to personally connect with readers at book signings and other events during the promotion of Missionaries.

I didnt get a chance to see what readers made of it, Klay says.

But he has gotten positive feedback, not just from Obama, but also from the Wall Street Journal, which also put Missionaries on its list of 2020s best books.

Redeployment also was critically lauded, receiving the 2014 National Book Award for Fiction, the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award for best debut work in any genre, the Marine Corps Heritage Foundations James Webb Award and several other notable awards.

That Obama was a fan of his work, Klay learned through friends who saw the then-president speaking favorably about Redeployment on cable news.

All of my friends who watch Fareed Zakaria were like Phil! Klay recalls, laughing.

Klay is now at work editing a collection of his essays, which he hopes to publish some time next year. Hopefully, by the time that book comes out, the pandemic will have loosened enough for Klay to get the thoughts and feelings of his readers who havent held the highest office in the country.

Its a very odd thing to put a book out there now, Klay says.

acuda@ctpost.com; Twitter: @AmandaCuda
Dustin Higgs at the Federal Prison in Terre Haute, Ind. Higgs in 2015. (Federal Bureau of Prisons/Community Federal Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania via AP)

Trump Administration Carries Out 13th and Final Execution

TERRE HAUTE, IndianaThe Trump administration early Saturday carried out its 13th federal execution since July, an unprecedented run that concluded just five days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Bidenan opponent of the federal death penalty.

Dustin Higgs, convicted of ordering the killings of three women in a Maryland wildlife refuge in 1996, was the third to receive a lethal injection this week at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.

President Donald Trumps Justice Department resumed federal executions last year following a 17-year hiatus. No president in more than 120 years had overseen as many federal executions.

Higgs, 48, was pronounced dead at 1:23 a.m. Asked if he had any last words, Higgs was calm but defiant, naming each of the women prosecutors said he ordered killed.

Id like to say I am an innocent man.  I am not responsible for the deaths, he said softly. I did not order the murders.

He did not apologize for anything he did on the night 25 years ago when the women were shot by another man, who received a life sentence.

As the lethal injection of pentobarbital began to flow into his veins, Higgs looked toward a room reserved for his relatives and lawyers. He waved with his fingers and said, I love you.

Louds sobs of a woman crying inconsolably began to echo from the witness room reserved for Higgs family as his eyes rolled back in his head, showing the whites of his eyes. He quickly became still, his pupils visible with his eyelids left partially open.

A sister of Tanji Jacksonone of the murdered women who was 21 when she diedaddressed a written statement to Higgs after his execution and mentioning his family.

They are now going to go through the pain we experienced, she said. When the day is over, your death will not bring my sister and the other victims back. This is not closure. The statement didnt include the sisters name.

Trump reduced the number of prisoners on federal death row by nearly a quarter since 2020. Its likely none of the around 50 remaining men will be executed anytime soon, if ever, with Biden signaling hell end federal executions.

The only woman on death row, Lisa Montgomery, was executed Wednesday for killing a pregnant woman, then cutting the baby out of her womb.

Federal executions began as the coronavirus pandemic raged through prisons nationwide. Among those prisoners who got COVID-19 last month were Higgs and former drug trafficker Corey Johnson, who was executed Thursday.

Pressure is already building on Biden to follow through on pledges to end the federal death penalty. The ACLU released a statement after Higgs execution urging Biden to invoke his presidential powers after he is sworn in.
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Berger said when he read the findings of the first probe, "it was pretty clear to me we needed to do a follow-on...
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 10:13:15|Editor: huaxia

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PHNOM PENH, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Conservationist group said on Saturday that the ungulate wild animal species in the Srepok and Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuaries in northeast Cambodia's Mondulkiri province have suffered a dramatic decline in the past decade and that urgent action is needed to reverse the drop.

According to a joint statement by Cambodia's Ministry of Environment and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Xinhua received on Saturday, the results from a decade-long (2010-2020) ungulate monitoring program in both wildlife sanctuaries demonstrated that banteng, muntjac, and wild pig populations have decreased by 72 percent, 52 percent and 18 percent, respectively when compared with the baseline population estimates from 2010-2011.

The monitoring efforts also documented very low encounter rates of Eld's deer, gaur and sambar throughout the surveys, and suggests that only small and fragmented populations of these ungulate species still live in the landscape.

"The decline rates highlighted in the report is a wake-up call for us all, but presents us with a unique opportunity to reverse the declining trends," Environment Ministry secretary of state and spokesman Neth Pheaktra said.

He added that the decline could have been worse if without the law enforcement and conservation conducted by the rangers from the Provincial Department of Environment, community patrolling teams, provincial authorities and WWF.

The spokesman called on all people to stop consuming wild meat and all other wildlife products.

"We urge all people across Cambodia to say no to wild meat and participate in conserving the Kingdom's natural resources," he said.

Poaching and snaring fueled by the illegal wildlife trade are the primary cause of the severe depletion of ungulate species in Cambodia's Srepok and Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuaries, the statement said.

"Snares are a principal threat to the ungulate species in the landscape and also a major contributor towards the rapid diminishing of the Indochinese leopard who prey on those ungulates along with other predators in the area," said Milou Groenenberg, WWF's biodiversity research and monitoring manager.

Although the situation is critical, there is still hope to save these wild animal species from extinction.

"It is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level to take immediate collective conservation actions," Seng Teak, WWF country director, said.

"The scientific findings in the report highlight the urgent need for comprehensive and innovative solutions in order to reverse the wildlife decline," he added. Enditem
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A federal judge has temporarily stopped a Toledo pharmacy from dispensing opioids and other controlled substances as authorities investigate its business practices.

U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary ordered Shaffer Pharmacy to avoid destroying or altering records in its possession. The court unsealed the ruling Thursday after investigators searched the business as part of a criminal investigation.

Thomas Tadsen has owned the pharmacy for more than 40 years. In a brief interview Friday, he declined to comment, saying, Im meeting with an attorney over the whole mess.

In documents, federal prosecutors said the pharmacy violated the Controlled Substances Act for at least five years by dispensing opioids that its pharmacists knew or should have known had no legitimate medical purpose.

The documents alleged the pharmacy either didnt identify or ignored red flags involving the prescriptions. Those warning signs included early refills for patients and the long driving times between some patients homes and the pharmacy, as well as prescriptions that included suspicious drug combinations, according to the filings.

Prosecutors said the pharmacy bought 8.4 times the state average of oxycodone and 61 times the state average in fentanyl in the first three quarters of 2019.

The documents said that the orders were so suspicious that one of Shaffer Pharmacys distributors stopped its sales with the pharmacy in November 2019.

The filings listed seven patients who received years of prescriptions from the pharmacy, including one who had 21 different prescribers in four years. Prosecutors said the pharmacy failed to ensure the legitimacy of the prescriptions before filling them.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the Ohio Board of Pharmacy are investigating the case. Federal prosecutors also will seek a permanent injunction in the case.

Outgoing US Vice President has called his soon-to-be successor to congratulate her and offer his full co-operation in the transition of power, according to multiple media reports said.

However, there has been no communication between outgoing President and president-elect Joe Biden, which is unprecedented in recent memory.

Vice President telephoned Vice President-elect Thursday to congratulate her and offer his belated assistance filling a leadership role all but abdicated by President Trump, who is planning to fly out of the capital shortly before Joseph R Biden Jr is sworn in next week, The New York Times reported.

Friday's call was the first time Pence, 61, and Harris, 56, had an one-to-one conversation since their vice presidential debate in October last year. It was also the first direct contact between the two leaders since the November 3 presidential election.

The traditional in-person meeting between the outgoing president and the president-elect has not happened. Same is the case with the outgoing vice president and his successor.

In a rare departure from the tradition, Trump has announced that he will not attend Biden's inauguration on January 6. Trump would depart the White House for his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida just before the inauguration.

Though Trump has still refused to actually concede his 2020 election loss to Biden, he promised that a "peaceful transition" of power would take place.

He was impeached on Wednesday for inciting the Capitol Hill riot that stemmed from his unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. The deadly insurrection at the Capitol on January 6 by Trump's supporters, who unsuccessfully tried to stop Congress from certifying Biden's win, resulted in the deaths of five people, including a police officer.

Pence would be attending the inauguration, confirmed in-coming White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

"But beyond his plans to attend, which the president-elect certainly welcomes, I'm not aware of additional events he's attending, Psaki told reporters during a conference call.

No additional conversations or no conversations beyond the one with Vice President-elect Harris that I'm aware of, she said in response to another question.

According to The New York Times, Pence and his wife Karen may have Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff over to the vice-presidential residence before the inauguration on Wednesday.

But those plans remain uncertain, in part because the security threats posed to the nation's capital have made scheduling fluid, the daily said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Hospitals were decked out with flowers and one politician planted a tree as India began Saturday its colossal coronavirus vaccine drive, desperately hoping to end a pandemic that has killed 150,000 of its people.

India aims to vaccinate around 300 million of its 1.3 billion people by July -- a number equal to almost the entire US population -- with frontline workers, people over 50 and those deemed high risk first in line.

On day one around 300,000 people were due to be vaccinated with Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and made by India's Serum Institute, or the homegrown Covaxin.

Covaxin is still in clinical trials and recipients on Saturday had to sign a consent form that stated that the "clinical efficacy... is yet to be established".

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he launched the vaccination programme urged people to reject "propaganda and rumours" about the indigenous vaccine.

"The world has immense faith in India's scientists and capacity of vaccine production," Modi, 70, said in a video message.

'Ray of Hope'

Inside a 15,000-bed field hospital in Mumbai, authorities set up 15 vaccination booths and expected to inoculate up to 1,000 people on Saturday.

"Back in May, it felt like a losing battle. We were getting 200 cases a day," said Rajesh C. Dere, 46, the dean. "Today I feel a great sense of satisfaction that we have succeeded."

The facility's first recipient was a young female health worker in lab coat and mask. There was applause as she got the jab in her right arm and gave a thumbs-up with her left.

Mohan Ganpat Nikam, 53, a security guard at another Mumbai hospital, said he was scared last year as the pandemic raged through the country. "I felt so happy when I heard that my name was on the list for vaccinations," he told AFP.

Physiotherapist Smita Ringanekar, 42, said she spent months living in a hotel so she could help patients and not infect her aged parents at home. "I haven't visited any of my friends or relatives for months," she told AFP.

"I have seen people dying," said health worker Santa Roy, 35 in the eastern city of Kolkata, saying he now saw a "ray of hope".

Ram Babu, the first recipient in Patna, said he went to the temple on the way to the hospital, and was "so excited that I couldn't sleep."

'Deeply Challenging'

New infection rates in India have fallen sharply in recent months. On Friday 175 people died compared to almost 4,000 a day earlier in the United States. But experts are concerned a new wave might hit, fuelled by a string of recent mass religious festivals.

Authorities are drawing on their experience with India's massive elections and child immunisation programmes for polio and tuberculosis.

But in an enormous, impoverished nation with often shoddy transport networks and one of the world's worst-funded healthcare systems, it is still a daunting undertaking.

Child inoculations are a "much smaller game" and vaccinating against Covid-19 is "deeply challenging", said Satyajit Rath from the National Institute of Immunology.

Both approved vaccines need to be kept refrigerated, and others being developed will need to be stored at ultra-low temperatures -- and in a country with scorching summers.

There are also concerns about plans to manage the entire process digitally via India's own app, CoWIN -- of which there are already several fake versions.

Fake News

And as in other countries, there is scepticism about the vaccine, fuelled by a torrent of hoaxes and baseless rumours online about the virus. For example, multiple Facebook and Twitter posts shared hundreds of times -- debunked by AFP Fact Check -- claimed no vegetarian had died from Covid.

A recent survey of 18,000 people across India found that 69 percent were in no rush to get a Covid-19 jab. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the approval of Covaxin without data from phase 3 human trials has further eroded trust among doctors and patients alike.

But with "Thank you Modi" posters on the wall, Chand Wattal, 60, a senior Delhi doctor who was among the first to be vaccinated -- with Covishield -- wasn't worried.

"There is no treatment for coronavirus, it is killing people worldwide," he told AFP. "The phase 3 data (for Covaxin) is not in public domain, that is a concern. But they will release it in 2-3 months, so why waste time."

"All this hype (about Covishield and Covaxin) has been created by the media," agreed Sheela, 28, a nurse. "Frankly I would prefer Covaxin to Covishield, it feels safer to me," said Praveen Jaiswal, 55, a Mumbai radiologist.

"People who don't believe in vaccines are misled by WhatsApp and Facebook. They don't read facts and look at social media instead, which creates all kinds of misconceptions."
This is the one-time Westminister election candidate who has been accused of harassing loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson.

Bobby Beck (57) is due in Newtownards Magistrates Court next month on charges linked to Bryson.

Beck is accused of harassment and improper use of a telecommunications network in order to cause inconvenience, annoyance or distress.

Police revealed last week that a 57-year-old was due to appear in court on February 5 accused of harassment but did not name the accused or the alleged victim.

However, Bryson spoke out saying he welcomed the police investigation.

He said: I welcome that the PSNI have charged an individual with harassment and improper use of electronic communications in relation to their alleged conduct towards me.

Beck was in the same court last week accused of breaching a restraining against a Newtownards man he previously threatened to kill.

On Friday at Ards Magistrates, Beck was charged with breaching the order on January 11 by allegedly contacting the man who a court previously heard he had labelled as Mr Coke.

Defence solicitor Patrick Madden asked for the case to be adjourned for two weeks by which stage he hopes to mount an application for bail.

Last March, Beck (57) pleaded guilty to threatening to kill the Newtownards man and to possessing two kitchen knives without lawful excuse in a public place.

Beck, who stood for election in 2017 as an independent in east Belfast, has previously declared himself an anti-drugs vigilante.
A Tesco superstore has been rocked by the death of a manage amid a devastating Covid outbreak that has seen dozens of employees off sick or self-isolating.

Staff at the Chester Road branch in Stretford, Old Trafford, are said to be 'on edge' after the death of their female colleague.

It has been claimed that up to 50 staff were last week absent following positive tests or awaiting results.

A family member of an employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'One person has died and in the last week 50 members of staff are off with Covid-19 or are waiting for results.

'Yet the store is just telling staff to wash their hands and they won't be reprimanded for going to the toilet too much.'

Staff at the Chester Road branch in Stretford, Old Trafford, are said to be 'on edge' after the death of their female colleague

Tesco insists that 'extensive' measures have been enforced to make stores as Covid-secure as possible and that the Stretford store closed for a deep clean.

The company confirmed the death and said it was 'deeply saddened by the loss of a colleague at our Stretford store and we're supporting our colleagues at this difficult time.'

But the supermarket giant did not officially confirm the cause of the worker's death 'out of respect for the employee's family'.

But employees, all 445 of whom are now subject to routine testing before each shift, are increasingly anxious about the outbreak.

'It's very tense in there and people are on edge,' one worker told The Sun.

Some supermarkets have begun operating a one-person per household rule, and security reportedly prevented an 80-year-old man going into the Stretford Tesco with his wife.

It has been claimed that up to 50 staff at the store were last week absent following positive tests or awaiting results

During a Downing Street press conference on Friday, Boris Johnson warned shoppers about the risk of contaminating items in supermarkets.

He said: 'Please remember that this disease can be passed on not just by standing too near to someone in a supermarket queue, but also by handling something touched by an infected person.'

A Tesco spokesperson said: 'The safety of our colleagues and customers is our immediate priority.

'Our Stretford Extra is now open again after a temporary closure to carry out a deep clean and ensure that colleagues can get tested before entering the store.

'We continue to work in partnership with Trafford Council and follow all Government guidance and recommendations agreed in consultation with the local Public Health authority, and apologise for any disruption this may have caused.

'We are deeply saddened by the loss of a colleague at our Stretford store and we're supporting our colleagues at this difficult time.'
China in Focus (Jan. 15): WHO Scientists Arrive in China to Investigate CCP Virus Origins

A team of scientists from the World Health Organization arrived in China. Their month-long trip aims to investigate the origins of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic as Beijing repeatedly attempts to shift blame and claim the virus is coming into China from abroad.

Citizens from Chinas Hebei province face a new kind of discrimination. It seems to be driven by fear of the virus amid the countrys surging infection rates. Vegetable prices skyrocket in some regions, while others suffer from drought and water shortages.

Questions rise about President-elect Joe Bidens China policy. Some speculate hell seek to replace a number of Trump-era rules.

And the United States blacklists a Chinese oil giant. The Commerce Department says its bullying other countries in the South China Sea.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more first-hand news from China.

For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter.
US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens

Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire

ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning

European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

Armenia acting MOD leaves for Moscow

Armenia President, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces discuss current situation on border

Armenia acting PM to residents of borderline village: If we cede our border, Azerbaijanis will get more excited

Armenia MOD not confirming reports about Azerbaijan firing shots at Tavush Province

Ex-President Kocharyan meets with Yerevan residents, "Armenia" bloc members (PHOTOS)

Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

Serj Tankian makes statement on Azerbaijans displayed horrific racism

Man detained in US for intending to commit attempt on Biden

Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD continues disseminating disinformation

Erdogan to visit Baku and Shushi

Two Armenia legislature committees to hold closed joint meeting regarding tense situation on Azerbaijan border

Holy Etchmiadzin on capture of Armenia soldiers: Such behavior of Azerbaijan authorities is strongly condemnable

Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

Armenia opposition MP: Shots are heard Gegharkunik Province

Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan leadership bears responsibility for consequences of actions by its armed forces

Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

140 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

Armenia MOD announces names of 6 Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

Armenia parliament manages to have quorum in 2nd attempt

World oil prices falling

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan popularity rating consistently drops over the past week

Newspaper: Russia peacekeepers commander does not return from Azerbaijan with encouraging news for Armenia

MOD: 6 Armenia soldiers are surrounded, captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

William Shakespeare, 1st man in world to get approved coronavirus vaccine, dies aged 81

Spain Congress of Deputies committee accepts pro-Armenian motion

Ex-PM comments on double-digit growth in Armenia economy

Facebook calls Russia, Iran leading purveyors of disinformation

Erdogan says meeting with Biden will mark 'start of new era' in relations with Washington

Armenia acting Deputy PM on creation of third high-voltage electric communication line with Iran

Vladimir Zaynetdinov: CSTO has taken note of application submitted by Armenia acting PM

Armenia's Pashinyan says addressing UN Security Council not ruled out

Armenia acting FM: International pressure on Azerbaijan is growing

Netanyahu tells Blinken that Israel is against reopening US consulate for Palestinians

23 political parties and 4 alliances apply to Armenia Central Electoral Commission ahead of snap parliamentary elections

Instagram launches ability to hide likes

Iran FM on solutions to problems in the region, territorial integrity

Bloomberg: Support for Erdogan's ruling party hits record low

Inter-agency commission sums up reports on implementation of roadmap for EU-Armenia CEPA

Armenian acting PM on CSTO and Russia and their duties as Armenia's allies

Slovakia allows use of Russian vaccine Sputnik V

Armenia acting PM on situation in Syunik Province: CSTO still hasn't clearly expressed its position

Armenia's Pashinyan: It's very rarely that Baku made provocations in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces on its own

Armenia acting PM: There will be no demarcation of borders until Azerbaijani troops are pulled out of territory

Record-setting number of political parties register to run in snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Blinken describes Egypt as a "real and effective partner"

Armenia's Pashinyan slams opposition again

Yerevan court ends trial over Armenia 3rd President's nephew Hayk Sargsyan

Armenia President expresses condolences on passing away of Catholicos-Patriarch Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan
Only from a starting point of ineptitude could anyone make the proposal which has been put together by the president of the Popular Party, Pablo Casado, suggesting that a part of the European Reconstruction Fund created to combat the effects of Covid-19 be dedicated to the aftermath of Storm Filomena. European distrust of Spain for the way it wastes the funds it receives from Brussels, time and time again, is fully confirmed by statements such as Casado's. There is a part of Europe, made up of the central European and Nordic countries, that is clearly reluctant to continue handing over funds to southern countries, such as Spain and Greece, because they consider that time and time again the money is not spent on modernization, but is used for numerous other things. For this reason, with varying intensity, countries such as Austria, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands imposed strict control on more than half - about 70 billion euros - of the amount that Spain will receive in European funds.

Casado demonstrates gross misjudgement on a key issue, which may cause great concern to many foreign ministries who, in the end, can't really fathom how money ends up being spent in the worst way possible. Mixing Covid-19 with the Storm Filomena reinforces this idea and is terribly clumsy. Another radically different question is whether special assistance should be allocated for the storm and here we will see how able the Spanish government will be to offer aid that it does not have, or to claim it from the appropriate area of the European Commission. Although I'm very much afraid that there will not be a great deal of comprehension of how so little preparation was made for a snowstorm that had been announced long in advance, and which did no more than fulfil the weather predictions that the meteorologists had given.

It is natural that the trust shown by European authorities and public starts to fracture when such news is heard. Another example: this Thursday we heard the Spanish justice minister, Juan Carlos Campo, affirming that the government is considering an appeal against the ruling from Belgian justice refusing the extradition of Catalan minister in exile Lluis Puig. Such a statement is, at the very least, surprising, because this ruling became final after the Belgian prosecutors declined to make a last submission to the Brussels Court of Appeal. Campo, a judge since 1989 and a member of the General Council of the Judiciary between 2001 and 2008, has no right to go round confusing people by proposing impossible responses, because the case is simply closed. He can, as he did, express his disagreement with the Belgian judiciary - it is not the most advisable thing for a minister to do, but they still do it - and he can also take the blows when asked his opinion about the court's explicit statement, as one of its reasons for not granting extradition, of its doubts that the presumption of innocence would be respected.

A saddened Campo only managed to answer that the Belgian judiciary does not know the reality of the rule of law in Spain. Indeed, minister, it is the opposite: more and more countries have a clear idea of how Spanish justice behaved with the Catalan independence movement. And it begins to weigh heavily, whatever face he puts upon it.


WASHINGTON (AP)  President-elect Joe Bidens plan to scrap President Donald Trumps vision of America First in favor of diplomacy first will depend on whether he's able to regain the trust of allies and convince them that Trumpism is just a blip in the annals of U.S. foreign policy.

It could be a hard sell. From Europe to the Middle East and Asia, Trumps brand of transactional diplomacy has alienated friends and foes alike, leaving Biden with a particularly contentious set of national security issues.

Biden, who said last month that America's back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from it, might strive to be the antithesis of Trump on the world stage and reverse some, if not many, of his predecessors actions. But Trumps imprint on Americas place in the world  viewed as good or bad  will not be easily erased.

U.S. allies arent blind to the large constituency of American voters who continue to support Trumps nationalist tendencies and his belief that the United States should stay out of world conflicts. If Bidens goal is to restore Americas place in the world, hell not only need to gain the trust of foreign allies but also convince voters at home that international diplomacy works better than unilateral tough talk.

Trump has insisted that he's not against multilateralism, only global institutions that are ineffective. He has pulled out of more than half a dozen international agreements, withdrawn from multiple U.N. groups and trash talked allies and partners.

Biden, on the other hand, says global alliances need to be rebuilt to combat climate change, address the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future epidemics and confront the growing threat posed by China. The national security and foreign policy staff that he has named so far are champions of multilateralism.

His choices for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and foreign aid chief Samantha Power  all veterans of the Obama administration  underscore his intent to return to a foreign policy space that they believe was abandoned by Trump.

Story continues

Right now, theres an enormous vacuum," Biden said. Were going to have to regain the trust and confidence of a world that has begun to find ways to work around us or without us.

Biden intends to rejoin the Paris climate agreement and cooperate again with the World Health Organization. He plans to smooth relations with Europeans and other friends and refrain from blasting fellow members of NATO, and he may return the United States to the Iran nuclear agreement. Still, many Americans will continue to espouse Trump's America First agenda, especially with the U.S. economy struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, civil strife in American streets over racism and the absence of civil political discourse.

Whether people liked it or not, Trump was elected by Americans in 2016, said Fiona Hill, who worked in the Trump White Houses National Security Council and now is at the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution.

Trumps election in 2016 and the tens of millions of votes he garnered in 2020 reflect a very divided nation, she says.

We have to accept that the electoral outcome in 2016 was not a fluke," Hill said.

Steven Blockmans, research director at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Belgium, said Europeans should not kid themselves into believing transatlantic relations will return to the way they were before Trump.

In all but name, the rallying cry of America First is here to stay, he said. Biden has vowed to prioritize investment in U.S. green energy, child care, education and infrastructure over any new trade deals. He has also called for expanded 'Buy American' provisions in federal procurement, which has long been an irritant in trade relations with the European Union.

Each part of the world holds a different challenge for Biden.

CHINA

Fear of Chinas quest for world dominance started to mount before Trump came to office. Early on, Trump sidled up to Chinas authoritarian president, Xi Jinping. But after efforts to get more than a first-phase trade deal failed, the president turned up the heat on China and repeatedly blamed Beijing for the coronavirus pandemic.

He sanctioned the Chinese, and in speech after speech, top Trump officials warned about China stealing American technology, conducting cyberattacks, taking aggressive actions in the South China Sea, cracking down on democracy in Hong Kong and abusing the Muslim Uighurs in western China.

Increasingly, Republicans and Democrats alike are worried about a rising economic and geopolitical threat from China, and that concern won't end when Trump leaves office.

NORTH KOREA

Resetting U.S. relations with Asia allies is instrumental in confronting not only China but also North Korea.

Trump broke new ground on the nuclear standoff with North Korea with his three face-to-face meetings with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. But Trump's efforts yielded no deal to persuade Kim to give up his nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief and security assurances. In fact, North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear capabilities.

Biden might be forced to deal with North Korea sooner than later as experts say Pyongyang has a history of conducting tests and firing missiles to garner Washingtons attention around U.S. presidential elections.

AFGHANISTAN

Nearly 20 years after a U.S.-led international coalition toppled the Taliban government that supported al-Qaida, Afghan civilians are still being killed by the thousands. Afghan security forces, in the lead on the battlefield, continue to tally high casualties. Taliban attacks are up outside the cities, and the Islamic State group has orchestrated bombings in the capital, Kabul, including one in November at Kabul University that killed more than 20 people, mostly students.

The U.S. and the Taliban sat down at the negotiation table in 2018. Those talks, led by Trump envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, eventually led to the U.S.-Taliban deal that was signed in February 2020, providing for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan.

Set on making good on his campaign promise to withdraw U.S. troops from endless wars, Trump cut troops from 8,600 to 4,500, then ordered troop levels to fall to 2,500 by Inauguration Day. The United States has pledged to pull all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by May 1, just months after Biden takes office, but it's unclear if he will.

MIDDLE EAST

Trump opted to think outside the box when it came to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and relations with Arab nations.

The Palestinians rejected the Trump administration's Mideast peace plan, but then Trump coaxed two Arab nations  the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain  to recognize Israel. This was historic because Arab nations had for decades said they wouldn't recognize Israel until the Palestinians' struggle for an independent state was resolved.

Warming ties between Israel and Arab states that share opposition to Iran helped seal the deal. Morocco and Sudan also later recognized Israel.

IRAN

In 2018, Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, in which world powers agreed to lift sanctions on Tehran if it curbed its nuclear program.

Trump said the deal was one-sided, didn't prevent Iran from eventually getting a nuclear weapon and allowed it to receive billions of dollars in frozen assets that it has been accused of using to bankroll terror proxies destabilizing the Mideast.

Biden says exiting the deal was reckless and complains that Iran now has stockpiled more enriched uranium than is allowed under the deal, which is still in force between Iran and Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany.
(Natural News) Todays Situation Update for January 16th is largely bad news, so listen at your own discretion. Trumps pathways to victory are collapsing, but they are not yet gone. There remain three options for Trump to remain in power and secure a second term:

DECLASS documents coming Monday may be game-changers. The Insurrection Act can still be deployed, but it seems no one in the military is willing to follow those orders (unless they are keeping it a really good secret, which is certainly possible). The military itself may be carrying out a pro-America military coup to overthrow the deep state and save the republic.

However, the vast majority of evidence stemming from actions by Trump officials  Chris Miller says he is leaving the DoD on Wednesday, for example  indicates that Joe Biden will be sworn in and America will fall to a radical left-wing authoritarian police state. Under that scenario, censorship will worsen, conservative speech will be criminalized as terrorism, and a fascist military police state posture will be rolled out across the country.

Even worse, it appears to us that the FBI, Antifa and deep state actors are preparing a large-scale false flag event in the coming days, which will be used to justify incoming President Biden declaring his own Insurrection Act and ordering nationwide gun confiscation.

Adding to the confusion, we have now confirmed that a prominent, popular voice on the net who has been shrouded in secrecy  but whose videos are widely shared  is in fact a CIA psyop agent who was tasked with running disinformation campaigns to pacify patriots by telling them there is a secret plan for Trump to achieve a last-minute victory. There are, in fact, a few individuals who we now know to be bad faith actors who are spreading deliberate disinfo to pacify patriots into non-action while their nation is conquered by communists.

For the record, this does not in any way involve Sidney Powell or Gen. Flynn, both of whom are unrelenting patriots working to defend America.

Good faith people vs. bad faith actors

We also need to point out that there are two types of people who are operating right now:

GOOD faith people BAD faith actors

GOOD faith people like myself, or Scott McKay, Scott Kesterson, etc., are people who are trying our best to get the information right and accurate. We are not always accurate, so even good faith people can possess both good and bad information, at various times, but we tend to have mostly accurate information.

But BAD faith people are deliberately trying to mislead. That is their mission. They may at times possess good information, however, in order to establish credibility so they can achieve a much larger psyop outcome.

Thus, the real challenge in all this is being able to discern who is a good faith person vs. a bad faith actor.

Right now, bad faith actors abound.

The bad faith actors are pushing a modern-day version of Operation Trust, which was a Bolshevik psyop run in the 1920s to convince the country that the military was running a secret operation to stop the communists from taking over. As InformationLiberation.com reports:

Operation Trust was a Bolshevik counterintelligence operation run from 1921 to 1926 aimed at neutralizing opposition by creating the false impression that a powerful group of military leaders had organized to stop the communists takeover.

The one Western historian who had limited access to the Trust files, John Costello, reported that they comprised thirty-seven volumes and were such a bewildering welter of double-agents, changed code names, and interlocking deception operations with the complexity of a symphonic score, that Russian historians from the Intelligence Service had difficulty separating fact from fantasy.

There is now no question that we are being run by a similar psyop in America, complete with fake names, mysterious identities, double agents and bold deception operations.

As a result, it appears the deep state has managed to run delays for four years, preventing any real day of reckoning for left-wing traitors, while rigging the elections and stealing the White House, even managing to prevent patriots from rising up by claiming people should trust the plan.

The real plan, it seems, was to pacify patriots and overthrow our constitutional republic, and that plan is now mere days from being wrapped up. Importantly, there will never be a legitimate election in America ever again, because the deep state has now corrupted literally everything: The courts, Congress, Big Tech, the media, universities, fact-checkers and so on. Elections will always be rigged from this day forward, and voting is now entirely irrelevant to the outcome of any election.

There are still narrow pathways to victory that may yet emerge  and theres always the possibility of divine intervention if God chooses to save our nation  but those narrow pathways to victory are slamming shut with astonishing speed.

Adding to all this, the DC area is being built up as a kind of military compound, clearly in anticipation of something far more dangerous than few protesters on Inauguration Day.

With an estimated 2.5 million rounds of 5.56 ammo being distributed  along with 500,000 rounds of .50 caliber for the Stryker vehicles  Washington D.C. is being prepared for a nation state-scale attack, which indicates the DoD anticipates an invasion from China or some other foreign aggressor.

Some of the units now being deployed to DC include:

56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team

229th Brigade Engineer Battalion

160th Engineer Company

261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade

198th Expeditionary Signal Battalion

262nd Component Repair Company

177th Fighter Wing (F-16 fighter jets with air-to-air combat capabilities)

105th Airlift Wing

174th Attack Wing (drones)

166th Security Forces Squadron

The build-up of troops has expanded to 30,000, with DoDs Chris Miller reportedly calling the governors of every state East of the Mississippi and begging for more troops.

Yet nearly all patriots have already decided to stay away from this event, knowing they are being set up for a massive false flag trap by the FBI, CNN, Antifa and other deep state actors.

So whats really going on in DC?

In todays Situation Update, I explore the possibility of a China-led invasion of the United States, complete with Chinese cruise missiles taking out US power infrastructure targets.

Listen here, and be ready for some bad news because the true situation right now is ugly.

Brighteon.com/1308b62b-3610-4ebb-a29d-082e37b0e7b4

Check each days new podcast at:

https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrreport
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was open to the idea of a bad bank if there were to be a proposal, central bank governor Shaktikanta Das said on January 16.

If there is a proposal to set up a bad bank, the RBI will look at it, Das said during a question and answer session at the 39th Palkhivala Memorial Lecture.

We have regulatory guidelines for ARCs. We are open to look at any proposal to set up a bad bank. If any proposal comes, we are open to examine it, Das said.

Das added that it was for the government and private sector players to plan for a bad bank.

A bad bank bundles together all the bad assets in the banking industry, buys it at a discounted price from banks and tries to find buyers by putting a turnaround plan in place. The purpose of creation of a bad bank is not very different from a typical asset reconstruction company (ARC).

In May 2020, industry lobby the Indian Banks Association (IBA) had come with the idea of such a bank. The IBA said the bad bank will have an ARC-AMC (asset management company ) model and an alternative investment fund (AIF) will be set up to buy the stressed assets from the banking system.

The government will invest in the proposed bad bank initially, while in due course, banks and outside investors will pool in money. The creation of a bad bank supported by the government and industry was being pitched as a critical banking reform in Asia's third-largest economy

but it hasnt made much headway.

The idea of a bad bank is not new. In 2018, the government had announced a plan for PSBs called 'Project Sashakt', which had a five-point plan for bad-loan resolution in public sector banks.

The government then spoke of a model, with the guiding principles of an AMC resolution approach, under which an independent AMC would be set up to focus on asset turnaround, job creation and protection. The company would be aligned with Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) process and IBC laws, the government had said.

The government did not call it a bad bank then and made it clear that it won't get involved in the bad-asset resolution process which would be led by banks. With this, an alternative investment fund (AIF)-based resolution approach for loans above Rs 500 crore was also discussed under which an AIF would raise funds from institutional investors. Banks, too, would have had an option to participate, if they wish to participate on the upside. The idea could not be executed for various reasons.

The talk about 'bad bank' is similar to 'Project Sashakt' but in a different avatar. The idea is good and more workable now since banks have already made 70-80 percent provisions on the NPAs after the mega clean-up exercise, experts say.
Hilton Goa Resort Lounge Pool.

Nothing deters Indians from travelling, when Goa is the destination. The lockdown may have restricted travellers for a few months owing to the mandatory COVID tests, but no sooner did Goa relax the rules, that there was an influx of domestic travellers from across the country.

Waiting to break-free and experience unbridled fun albeit in the form of stayacations and workacations, from friends villas to budget hotels and way-out, but well-equipped five-star resorts, travellers sought them all.

While till March 2020, about 7 million tourists entered Goa, owing to the lockdown, the numbers naturally plummeted starting April, to only 11.5 lakhs till August (Department of Tourism - Government of Goa). During November-December, the ratio of foreign nationals to Indians, each year typically is 60:40 with a minimum length of stay being 7-14 days. This season however, was different.

Yet, clearly, even in the absence of the usual chartered flights bringing in approximately 2 lakh foreign tourists, Goa is still better off than many states owing to domestic tourists and if the average 70 percent occupancy in hotels is anything to go by, Goa is headed in the right direction. Bag-packers were conspicuous by their absence, but families and couples thronged the state.

Nilesh Shah, President TTAG, reiterates, From 15 percent in September the numbers were up by 30-35 percent in October and about 70 percent plus in November-December. Yet, domestic tourist numbers in September were about 20 percent of the figure for the same month last year. Although the trickle began in August, it was in September when Covid tests were no longer mandatory, that all roads led to Goa.

Different waves of tourists coming into Goa was witnessed during the pandemic. Ralph de Souza, Chairman, de Souza Group, Goa, elaborates, The first wave was when people from metros who desperately wanted a break, sought rental villas and cottages for long-term of about 2- 3 months and came with their families, house help, pets. Many opted for luxury villas priced Rs 25,000-30,000 per day, but because it was long-term, they managed to negotiate attractive rates. The second from Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities opted for budget hotels which they booked online at discounted rates and resorts, where the average spend was Rs 7,000 per couple per day. A third wave saw people who generally go for international holidays, but could not this year, so drove into Goa and stayed in luxury hotels and resorts. While these hotels normally sell at Rs 25,000 per room night, this year the going rate was Rs 10000 to 15000, prior to the peak season.

The 70 daily flights into Goa from across India are packed, 20 between Mumbai and Goa daily, yet, with the fear factor prevalent, many preferred to drive in their own vehicles, some even long distances. Nandita Anand, a software professional and her family, for instance, drove from Delhi to Goa, the distance notwithstanding.

Airport pick-ups have thus reduced considerably this year. According to Vishal Singh, General Manager, Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Goa, a majority of guests indicated interest in traveling with family, resulting in the growth of driving holidays, as people were keen to travel to destinations within close vicinity and Goa fit the bill.

Domestic tourists have rediscovered Goa over the past decade or so, and as a result of middle-class mobility in India and easy accessibility, the numbers have steadily been increasing. The pandemic heightened this trend owing to the state being relatively restrictions-free.

Domestic leisure is expected to continue driving hotel occupancies, acquiesces Bhagwan Balani, General Manager, ITC Grand Goa. Travellers now prefer well-equipped resorts, which take care of all their needs without having to step out. He adds, In these past few months while Goa has been on the must-visit list for most domestic travellers, the business has gradually grown for the destination, while international travellers are still looking forward to their annual visit. Interesting stay packages like all-inclusive meal packages, which suited the travellers needs, have been popular.

ITC Grand Goa Resort Spa.

When the pandemic struck, there was less influx of regular travellers. However, there was little or no change witnessed in the demographics of guest profiles. Bharat Ratanpal, General Manager, Azaya Beach Resort, Goa, avers, Guests in the age group of 25 -35 years are mid to high-range spenders, and guests 40 years and above, are relatively premium and not price- sensitive. There has been a 30 percent increase in spend by domestic travellers specifically over last year.

Amandeep Grover, General Manager, Hilton Goa Resort, adds, The guests staying with us are primarily domestic tourists coming in from Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. The current spend is subjective, but the average room rate is Rs 10,500 plus taxes.

Out of the usual approximately 46,000 plus room nights that Goa offers, currently 27,000 are available in four-star and five-star hotels, as most of the smaller resorts and hotels, remain shut. Five stars in any case, are the first choice of many, for their perceived better safety and hygiene protocols. According to Grover, guests have confidence in established hospitality brands due to the various protocols and Hiltons CleanStay protocol helps address those concerns.

At Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Goa, too, physical touch has been replaced by a touch of safety with the introduction of I-ZEST: IHCLs Zero-Touch Service Transformation  a suite of digital solutions across its hotels.

With swimming pools being closed as per government regulations, guests went a step further, opting for suites with individual private plunge pools for the family to frolic in. Azaya Beach Resort in South Goa, with this offering, thus scored over other hotels. The usual touristy areas in North Goa like Candolim and Calangute, were comparatively emptier, as vast, expansive spaces were sought after rather than the usual crowded beaches.

While 5 stars bounced back after several months, amassing some business courtesy high-spenders, at the other end of the spectrum were all-male groups, who drove into Goa in the pre-New Year week, owing to night curfews in their states, did not check into hotels, but instead drove around in their vehicles, drank and dined on beaches and went back, not contributing in a large way, to the States revenue.

Grover sums up, Individuals are looking to balance their personal and professional life in this pandemic, and concepts like staycations, workcations, and drivecations have given them a way to fulfil their travel itch. Goa has always been one of the most popular vacationing destinations in India and remains the preferred domestic travel destination even today.
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The Duke and Duchess of York's advisers sought help from an online troll in a bid to discredit the Duke's sex accuser. The aides hoped Molly Skye Brown, who attacked Virginia Roberts on Twitter for months, possessed information that might prove the infamous photo of Andrew with his arm around Ms Roberts, then 17, was manipulated. (Above, Ms Brown in 2001, the year she attended a Jeffrey Epstein party)

The Duke and Duchess of York's closest advisers sought help from an online troll in an attempt to discredit the Duke's sex accuser, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The aides hoped that Molly Skye Brown  who attacked Virginia Roberts on Twitter for months  possessed information that might prove the infamous photograph of Andrew with his arm around Ms Roberts, then 17, was manipulated.

Ms Roberts, one of the victims of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, claims she was forced to have sex with the Duke, now 60, on three occasions, allegations he vehemently denies along with any other wrongdoing.

In a bizarre conversation, one of the Duke's team is alleged to have discussed with Ms Brown the possibility of setting up a fake Twitter account to ensnare a woman they suspected of doctoring the photo.

Ms Roberts maintains the picture was taken on the night she claims she had sex with Andrew in 2001.

For months Ms Brown, 42, a former teen beauty queen from Florida, has subjected Ms Roberts to vile abuse on Twitter.

Yet Sarah Ferguson's trusted lieutenant Antonia Marshall  having seen a tweet from Ms Brown stating that the photo was a fake  sent her an email on December 14 asking for a chat and thanking her for her 'online support'.

When they spoke, Ms Brown claims Ms Marshall suggested a meeting with the Duchess as an apparent sweetener and said she could pass on a greeting to the Queen 'as we are all one big family and see each other all the time'.

At one stage, Mark Gallagher, the Duke's PR expert and crisis management specialist, was also drafted in to help woo Ms Brown.

Ms Brown says she provided what she claims was 'some evidence the photo was doctored' but declined to help further. She then passed the email and text exchanges to the FBI.

In response to the outcry over Ms Roberts's claims, the Queen's second son was forced to give up Royal duties and step down from his charitable patronages. With the US authorities still hopeful of interviewing him about the Epstein scandal, his team of advisers is working behind the scenes to try to restore his reputation.

For months Ms Brown, 42, a former teen beauty queen from Florida, has subjected Ms Roberts to vile abuse on Twitter

Sarah Ferguson's trusted lieutenant Antonia Marshall  having seen a tweet from Ms Brown stating that the photo was a fake  sent her an email on December 14 asking for a chat and thanking her for her 'online support'

At one stage, Mark Gallagher, the Duke's PR expert and crisis management specialist, was also drafted in to help woo Ms Brown. Ms Brown says she provided what she claims was 'some evidence the photo was doctored' but declined to help further. She then passed the email and text exchanges to the FBI

Virginia Roberts, one of the victims of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, claims she was forced to have sex with the Duke, now 60, on three occasions, allegations he vehemently denies along with any other wrongdoing. In a bizarre conversation, one of the Duke's team is alleged to have discussed with Ms Brown the possibility of setting up a fake Twitter account to ensnare a woman they suspected of doctoring the photo. Ms Roberts maintains the picture (above) was taken on the night she claims she had sex with Andrew in 2001

What made Ms Brown turn against Ms Roberts, who is married and called Virginia Giuffre, is unclear.

Ms Brown claims Ghislaine Maxwell tried to recruit her as a masseuse when she was 14 and exercising at a children's gym in Palm Beach, Florida, close to Epstein's mansion.

Ms Maxwell, 58, is on remand in the US after being charged with the sex trafficking of underage girls and the enticement of minors. She has denied any wrongdoing.

Ms Brown's story emerged last October. Since then she has campaigned to bring paedophiles to justice but claims Ms Roberts was an 'enabler' for the sex abuser.

What made Ms Brown (pictured) turn against Ms Roberts, who is married and called Virginia Giuffre, is unclear. Ms Brown claims Ghislaine Maxwell tried to recruit her as a masseuse when she was 14 and exercising at a children's gym in Palm Beach, Florida, close to Epstein's mansion

Ghislaine Maxwell (above, with Jeffrey Epstein), 58, is on remand in the US after being charged with the sex trafficking of underage girls and the enticement of minors. She has denied any wrongdoing

Ms Roberts has publicly denied Ms Brown's allegations and said she 'blocked her [on Twitter] because of her widespread lies'.

The extraordinary overtures to Ms Brown from the Duke's team began with an email from Ms Marshall saying; 'Hi Molly, I work for the Duchess of York and I wondered if you had time at some point for a quick chat re your tweet about the photo of the Duke being edited/doctored. Thank you so much for your online support!'

When they spoke, Ms Brown claims Ms Marshall suggested a meeting with the Duchess (above) as an apparent sweetener and said she could pass on a greeting to the Queen 'as we are all one big family and see each other all the time'

The pair exchanged WhatsApp messages and emails before having a lengthy conversation, in which Ms Brown relayed her claims about the photo.

Her doubts do not have the support of experts. Hany Farid, professor of digital forensics and image analysis at University of California, Berkeley, has said: 'I don't see any obvious signs of manipulation.'

Even Ms Brown, who maintains the image was 'Photoshopped', believes the advisers' attempts to court her were 'desperate'.

Indeed, the conversation reportedly took an even more desperate turn, with Ms Marshall discussing the possibility of setting up a 'spy' Twitter account to extract information from Epstein's victims.

Ms Brown said: 'Then she [Marshall] said "How are you getting all this information?". And I said "Oh, I made a spy account." She thought that was brilliant and said 'Do you think we should get a spy account?'

It is understood Ms Marshall does not have the same 'recollection' of the conversation with Ms Brown.

Afterwards, Ms Marshall sent a message saying: 'One of the York family advisers called Mark Gallagher would love to speak to you.'

Within hours, he had messaged her on WhatsApp. Ms Brown asked the Prince's aide to brief her on 'what exactly we will be focusing on for our chat,' adding: 'As you know this is much bigger and darker than just a photo scandal. Agreed?'

Mr Gallagher replied: 'Entirely agreed, Molly. I'd like to talk to you in the round about the important distinction you have drawn between survivors and  in effect  enablers. That gets to the heart of this.'

The Mail on Sunday yesterday put a series of questions to the Duke's representatives about their conduct in approaching Ms Brown but they declined to comment.

A source close to the Prince said: 'The exchange with Molly Skye Brown was not out of the ordinary. It would be very easy to over interpret the subsequent conversations.

'The plain fact of the matter is none of this went further than an initial discussion.'
Palghar : , Jan. Jan 16 (IANS) A Thane Special Court on Saturday granted bail to 89 accused in the April 2020 Palghar lynching case of two sadhus and their driver, a lawyer said here.

After hearing the arguments by Special Public Prosecutor Satish Maneshinde and defense counsels, Amrut Adhikari and Atul Patil on Jan. 6, the Special Judge S. B. Bahalkar allowed bail of Rs.15,000 each to the 89 accused.

Till date, the state CID has arrested 251 adults and 16 juveniles on various charges of rioting, attempt to murder, murder, etc for the lynching incident that sparked nationwide outrage on April 16 last year, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

Till date, a total of 176 adults and 11 juveniles have been enlarged on bail while the bail applications of 36 more were rejected.

Arguing for bail last week, Adv. Adhikari contended that although the 89 accused were present at the scene of the crime, they had no role in the lynching tragedy.

On the fateful night of April 16 last year, two Sadhus - Kalpavrikshagiri Maharaj, 70, and his assistant Sushilgiri Maharaj, 35, besides their driver Nilesh Telgade, 30, were were proceeding from Kandivali suburb of Mumbai to attend a funeral in Surat, Gujarat.

Late that night, mistaking them to be kidnappers or human organ smugglers, a large mob of villagers and tribals stopped their vehicle near the Gadchinchale village.

The trio was dragged out of the vehicle and the huge crowd pounced on them with stones, sticks, rods, despite a handful of policemen who could not control the mob-rage as they were not armed.

After a massive furore, the case was transferred from the Palghar Police to the State CID which arrested the accused hailing from the nearby villages of Gadchinchale, Divshi, Udhna, Sukad, Ambad and also from other villages in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which is barely 500 metres from the lynching site.

All the accused were booked under various provisions of Indian Penal Code, Public Property Damage Act, Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, while the juveniles were charged under the juvenile laws, and later the agency filed three separate chargesheets in the case.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  After a renewal of federal funding, a third round of the Paycheck Protection Program launched this week. But a few details about the popular federal loan program have been tweaked this time around to make it more inclusive to smaller lenders and first-time applicants.

We are so excited to be working already with hundreds of businesses around the state, said Marisa Barrera, executive vice president of DreamSpring, a community lender that operates in New Mexico.

The PPP, which was established to support struggling businesses and incentivize them to retain employees, provides loans to qualifying businesses and nonprofits that convert to grants if the business meets specific criteria related to employment and compensation levels.

The program allocated around $525 billion in forgivable loans to businesses around the country over two rounds of funding in 2020. John Garcia, district director for New Mexicos Small Business Administration office, said New Mexico companies received about $2.2 billion through the program last year.

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A stimulus package passed in December by lawmakers allocated additional funding to the program, alongside other targeted aid programs.

When the program re-opened on Monday, Garcia said initially only community financial institutions  generally small local lenders that serve underserved small businesses  could approve loans.

Garcia said this was a response to large banks sucking up a large percentage of available funds in the first two rounds, leaving fewer resources for businesses that havent developed traditional banking relationships.

To me, thats really a game-changer, Garcia said of the prioritization of community lenders.

Barrera said the window gave DreamSpring a chance to lend to smaller companies that need the money, without having to compete with larger banks to get applications through SBAs system as they did in the first two rounds.

We dont have to worry about as much strain on the software system, she said.

As of Friday, DreamSpring had received 510 applications from New Mexico small businesses and nonprofits, totaling $20.6 million.

We are ready and able to serve a significantly greater number of entrepreneurs, Barrera said.

For the first two days of the restart, only companies that havent gotten a PPP loan forgiven yet were able to apply.

Companies seeking a second loan were able to re-apply starting Wednesday, but with a few restrictions. Access was limited to companies with 300 or fewer employees, compared to 500 or fewer for first-time borrowers. Garcia said second-draw borrowers also need to show a 25% reduction in gross receipts between comparable quarters in 2019 and 2020.

Businesses and nonprofits are able to apply for the program until March 31. While national and state data is not yet available for the third round, Garcia said hes not expecting the same mad rush for loans that the SBA saw during the programs initial rollout last April.

Many businesses have adapted, he said.
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As a historical, cultural and scientific institution in Hanoi, the Vietnam Air Defense - Air Force Museum (or VAD-AF museum for short) is not only a place for educating patriotic and revolutionary traditions

but also an attractive tourist destination, drawing a large number of domestic and foreign travelers.

VAD-AF museum belongs to Political Department of the Vietnamese Air Defense and Air Force, formerly known as the traditional house of the air military established in 1958. The museum which was ranked second in the Vietnam museum system, was built in 2004 and inaugurated on August 28, 2007. It preserves images, materials, artifacts showing the exploits and the process from fouding to development of Vietnam air defense and air force as well as the remarkable air combats.

The indoor exhibition section of the Vietnam Air Defense - Air Force Museum has more than 3,000 artifacts.

The museum includes the outdoor and indoor display sections.



The outdoor exhibition displays 73 noteable artifacts systematically, including unique weapons of air defense and air force such as anti-aircraft gun, radar, aircraft and missile. Some of the exhibited weapons tell a glorious war history such as the 37mm anti-aircraft To Vinh Dien's gun battery used in Dien Bien Phu campaign; the US made 90mm anti-aircraft which is used in the first air combat victory on August 5, 1964; the air traffic control radar producing electromagnetic waves, used during the 12 day and night campaign against US bombings in 1972 to detect signals of B-52s, helping to recognize the bombers half an hour ahead of its arrival; a launching pad where missiles were fired to down the first B-52s in "Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu-in-the-air" campaign in December, 1972; a MiG-21 aircraft which shot down US bomber B-52s at night on December 27, 1972.



In addition, there are other artifacts such as the fighters MiG-17, MiG-19, MiG-21, transport helicopter, helicopter submarine hunter, fighter aircraft of US army and Saigon regime's military including an A-37 Quyet Thang squadron used to bomb Tan Son Nhat airport, contributing to the victory of historical Ho Chi Minh campaign and some weapons and vehicles used by the enemy during the Vietnam War.

73 big artifacts are displayed scientifically in the outdoor exhibition section.

The indoor exhibition or the main building is designed with solemn dome representing a symbol of Vietnamese peaceful sky. In order to effectively defend the Motherland's airspace, over the past 50 years, the air defense and air force has fought, won and continuously developed. In the middle of the building is the statue of President Ho Chi Minh. This section also introduces some pictures of the glorious achievements that the air defense and air force has obtained in more than 50 years of the force history.



Next is themed exhibition zone with displays showing typical historical events and important milestones of Vietnam air defense and air force. More than 3,000 artifacts displayed according to six themes reflecting the true and heroic history, the outstanding achievements of air defense and air force over the past 50 years as well as in the current period.



Each of artifacts displayed in the building is associated with the excellent achievements of air defense and air force during the wars against the French and the American. The myth of how the Vietnamese army won the victory defeating the much better equipped air forces of the countries that had the utmost science and technology at the time, is still very attractive to be told to domestic and international visitors. Hanoitimes

Thanh Dat

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Cambodian opposition officials were thwarted Saturday in their latest attempt to return to Phnom Penh from exile to defend themselves against treason and incitement charges, as airlines refused to board them without the visas they needed after the government cancelled their passports.

Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Deputy President Mu Sochua and fellow party leaders and activists had planned to go back to Phnom Penh this weekend to face the charges, which they insist are designed to silence the opposition.

They tried to fly even though the government had canceled their Cambodian passports and those with foreign travel documents have been unable to obtain visas to enter the country.

Mu Sochua was unable to board a Singapore Airlines flight to the Southeast Asian city-state from Los Angeles, while another CNRP official was denied boarding a flight from Paris to Singapore without a Cambodias visa. The airline said they cannot board passengers without destination country visas.

The question that we should ask is Who denied us visas? I didnt go to Cambodia as a tourist, but to answer before the court. I am appealing for justice because my rights are being violated, Mu Sochua told RFA.

She blamed Cambodias government for abusing law and creating obstacles to prevent her from going home, and said she would continue working on different strategies to return to Cambodia to challenge Prime Minister Hun Sens 35-year rule.

Sochua knows what crimes she committed. We did not give them visas--that is for sure, said government spokesperson Phay Siphan, who earlier said that Mu Sochua and other CNRP members are not welcome in Cambodia.

If the government wanted her returned, we will ask her to be extradited to Cambodia. She is not an ordinary citizen. She is among rebels against the rule of law, he said.

In November, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court summoned at least 113 individuals connected to the CNRP to stand trial together on charges of conspiracy and incitement to sow chaos in societycrimes punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The government has not presented serious evidence of the charges behind the crackdown on the CNRP that began with the arrest of party President Kem Sokha in September 2017 for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government, followed in November of that year by a ban of the CNRP for its supposed role in the scheme.

The Supreme Courts dissolution of the CNRP marked the beginning of a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on civil society, NGOs, and the independent media that paved the way for his ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in the countrys July 2018 general election.

Yat Phearum, a CNRP activist who had taken refuge in Thailand, said he remains committed to return home with CNRP leaders.

We have already prepared to be arrested, but Hun Sen is a coward who is afraid to confront us, he said.

Legal expert Vorn Chanlout told that the government must guarantee that Cambodians will not be stripped of their nationality or expelled and said the opposition party should continue pressing the court to ensure their right to return.

Saturday marked the second attempt by the CNRP top leadership to fly to Cambodia to deal with the three-year-old political crisis. In November 2019, Sam Rainsy, who has lived in self-imposed exile since late 2015, tried to return, but his plan to enter Cambodia from Thailand was thwarted when he was refused permission to board a Thai Airways plane in Paris.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Paul Eckert.
New Delhi, Jan 16 : Bengali superstar Rituparna Sengupta returns to Hindi domain with the upcoming film, Salt. The National Award winning actress shares screen space with Chandan Roy Sanyal in the film.

"Salt is a very sweet story about a couple where the woman is an artist and husband is an engineer. The story covers a time frame of a few years, on how they learn from the world and come back to each other. Their relationship is sweet but comes with a pinch of salt," she said, explaining the mood of her latest film.

Rituparna, who made her big screen debut in Prabhat Roy's 1992 hit "Shwet Pathorer Thala", has also worked in Bollywood off and on, over the past two and a half decades. She was seen on the Hindi screen for the first time in the 1994 release "Teesra Kaun", and has since then worked in over 30 Bollywood projects including "Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh" (2005), "Gauri The Unborn" (2007), "Sirf" (2008), "Bumm Bumm Bole" (2010) and "Mittal v/s Mittal" (2010).

"Initially, people used to eye Mumbai, and would want to plunge into a bigger pool. That ambitious attitude was there in me too. I, too, had the aspiration to have a national presence. However, I got a national presence very early on in my career and gradually fell in love with my regional film industry. It gave me work and importance. I got a National Award for my work in my regional industry," said Rituparna, who a National Award for her performance in Rituparno Ghosh's 1998 release, "Dahan".

For Rituparna, recognition as an actress from Bengal was important. "It became important for me that my regional industry should flourish. I became very attached and committed. I felt I had some responsibility, and it was riding on my shoulders to represent my region. That gave me the right impetus and lot of zeal to give Bengali cinema maximum attention," she said.

"It's not that I didn't get offers at the national level. I did some films, too, but I didn't want to neglect my regional language. I always felt that my language is so beautiful and we make such great films, and that I come from the land of Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Bimal Roy, and Aparna Sen, who are already recognised globally. That's where I also carved my niche," she added.

As someone who has been facing the camera for 31 years across films in Bengal, Bollywood as well as the Telugu and Kannada film industries, she has cinema change constantly. New competition, too, has cropped up, though she continues to command a fiercely loyal fan base in Bengal.

Did insecurity ever creep into her mind? "I have an optimistic nature. I am not a person who looks at it in a narrow lane. I don't follow rules of being insecure. I have actually immersed myself in so much work that I don't feel that I have insecurity. I have been and I am still acclaimed as the top actress of my region but it didn't give me the ego that 'I am the best', or a sense of insecurity that 'what will happen if someone takes my place?'" the actress said.

How would she sum up herself? "I am a very normal person who believes that hard work is needed to accomplish things. I keep recommending good girls and boys from my industry. I have always felt that I have worked with determination and grit, that I also don't want to let it go. Work has to be harmonious and it has to be team work. Everyone has their own talent and expertise," she summed up.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-16 23:44:50|Editor: huaxia

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BAKU, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- A vaccine made by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech will be used for mass vaccination against COVID-19 in Azerbaijan, the country's health authorities announced Saturday.

Teymur Musayev, a department head at the Ministry of Health, said at a briefing that the rollout will start on Monday, with health workers and other populations at risk as the priority group.

"The first stage of mass vaccination will cover health and technical workers at medical institutions, as well as law-enforcement staff, servicemen and care staff," he said.

"Azerbaijan got the most safe and effective vaccine," said Shahmar Movsumov, assistant to the president of Azerbaijan, as he praised the China-made jab at the briefing.

"Starting from Jan. 18, health staff will receive the jab, and then beginning from Feb. 1, the over-65s will be vaccinated," he added.

He said Azerbaijan has purchased 4 million doses of the vaccine from Sinovac, the first batch of which has been delivered to the country recently.

The country on Saturday registered 402 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing its total to 226,951, according to the country's Operational Headquarters for COVID-19 prevention and control. Enditem
Resources Ltd ( ) (FRA:M5F) has proclaimed it will take significant steps towards becoming a long-term gold producer in 2021 after a transformative 2020.

The company has 48 square kilometres of granted mining licences in the fertile Spargoville Shear Zone, which hosts the historic, high-grade Wattle Dam Gold Mine.

Wattle Dam, via a package of tenements, has been owned by a number of companies associated with the late Bob Kennedy for some 20 years; Kennedy was a former chairman of Ramelius Resources Ltd ( ), which mined Wattle Dam between 2008 and 2012.

Maximus licences are just 25 kilometres from Kambalda, a famous Western Australian mining town home to BHP Group Ltds (ASX:BHP) (NYSE:BHP) (LSE:BLT) nickel concentrator, and within 50km of six gold processing plants.

The company received its latest round of drilling results on January 13, trumpeting an outstanding high-grade gold intersection at its S5 prospect within Spargoville.

The latest drill results

The latest reverse circulation drilling program intersected 32 metres at 3.2 g/t gold, which was highlighted by 13 metres at 5.9 g/t from 118 metres.

Maximus managing director Tim Wither said the new results were a testament to the companys new geology team, appointed in 2020.

These results have been an amazing start for the new geology team at Maximus. The broad high-grade gold assays show similar tenor and widths of the initial drilling campaigns as the historic high-grade Wattle Dam Gold Mine located only 300 metres north and along strike of the S5 Prospect, he said.

The geological setting increases confidence in the companys belief that Wattle Dam Gold Mine, Redback, Golden Orb and now S5 are part of a much larger inter-linking mineral system.

We are testing this concept with the project-scale diamond drill program currently underway at the Redback Deposit.

Looking ahead

Maximus chairman Gerald Anderson said that he was confident of the companys progress after a challenging, but affirming, 2020.

I believe we can now look forward with confidence that in 2021 we will take significant steps towards the company extending its exploration success and taking steps to become a long-term gold producer, he said.

2020 was a transformative year and perhaps the most important year in the companys history. Maximus has endured and come out in great shape to advance our exploration and development plans.

Long-term gold producer

Anderson said the companys plan was to produce gold from Spargoville, where it had a mineral resource estimate of 1.45 million tonnes containing 112,000 ounces of gold across five known gold deposits.

The company is undertaking drill programs to update that resource estimate, progressing several necessary approvals, and doing reconnaissance exploration programs to determine what is down there in the dirt.

We will conduct systematic exploration to identify new gold resources for future development, Anderson said.

Our known gold resources will form the backbone of our mining efforts where revenue from these operations will fund ongoing exploration.

We are very confident that there are repeat high-grade Wattle Dam-style ore bodies to be found. During its life, the Wattle Dam Gold Mine was the richest grade active gold mine in Australia delivering over 260,000 ounces of gold at an average all-in sustaining cost of < $700 AUD.

Not just gold

Spargoville is highly prospective for both gold and nickel, and Maximus geology team identified more than 60 gold and nickel targets within the companys tenements.

The under-explored northern tenements owned by Maximus have been identified to be hosting nickel targets that will require drilling assessment.

Directors confident

Maximus directors are confident about its prospects around Wattle Dam; they participated strongly in the companys recent strategic placement that raised nearly $3.2 million.

Anderson acquired more than half a million shares valued at $50,000, while managing director Tim Wither made his first purchase in the company by acquiring $20,000 worth of shares.

- Daniel Paproth
A workman boards up a house at Altmore Close in the Stiles Estate Antrim after an arson attack took place last night. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

A workman boards up a house at Altmore Close in the Stiles Estate Antrim after an arson attack took place last night. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

Police have appealed for information following an arson attack at a property in Antrim yesterday evening.

The fire service and PSNI were called to the blaze at a house in Altmore Close at approximately 9:25pm.

Police are treating the incident, which caused "significant damage" to the house, as deliberate with "intent to endanger life".

No injuries were reported.

Detective Sergeant Lorimer said: Thankfully, no one was present in the house at the time, however, residents from the next door property were forced to leave their home as NIFRS dealt with the blaze.

"Significant damage was caused to the house as a result of this sinister attack, which we are treating as arson with intent to endanger life.

"Enquiries continue, and we are appealing to anyone who was in the area at the time, or just prior to when the blaze was reported to us and saw any suspicious activity, or who has information about this incident, to call detectives on 101 and quote reference number 1764 of 15/01/21."
Srinagar:

The Army killed six militants near the Line of Control (LoC) on Friday while foiling fifth infiltration bid from Pakistan into Kashmir in three days, raising to 12 the total number of infiltrators killed during the period.

Meanwhile, in the latest incident, the terrorists hurled grenade towards District Police Lines in Pulwama, but no injury or casualty has been reported so far.

The six militants were killed in Uri sector during a counter-infiltration operation launched on Thursday after the troops detected movement of ultras trying to sneak into the valley, an Army official said.

With this operation, the total number of infiltrating militants killed over the last three days in various sectors has gone up to 12.

A defence spokesman had on Thursday said that multiple attempts made by Pakistan Army to push armed infiltrators across the LoC were foiled by the troops at Machhil and Naugam sectors in Kupwara district, Gurez in Bandipora district and Uri in Baramulla, resulting in the killing of seven militants.

All the four infiltration bids were aided by the Pakistani forces who provided active support, including cover fire using heavy calibre artillery, the Armys Northern Command had said in a statement yesterday. According to the Army, it has successfully foiled seven infiltration attempts in less than a fortnight in north Kashmir. Three of the attempts were scuttled in Uri sector alone.

Also Read | J-K: Security forces foil infiltration bid in Rampur sector; 6 terrorists killed

On May 26, Army killed two Pakistani Border Action Team (BAT) members who tried to infiltrate into Uri sector in Baramulla district to carry out an attack on the soldiers. Six more militants were killed in the same sector next day when they attempted to sneak into the valley from across the border.

In the current year, Army foiled 23 infiltration attempts killing 39 armed intruders along the LoC.

Also Read | Watch Video | Indian Army destroys Pakistani posts along LoC in Nowshera sector as part of counter-terrorism ops

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.

Closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High 'impacts our entire town'

The Washington County Board of Education held a public hearing on the closing of Hancock Middle-Senior High School; the crowd pleaded against it.
Less than a week after President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 8 promised to "defeat" the National Rifle Association while hes in office, the organization said in a statement tonight that it has filed bankruptcy petitions in U.S. court as part of a restructuring plan.

The NRA says the plan can be summed up quite simply: We are DUMPING New York, and we are pursuing plans to reincorporate the NRA in Texas.

The NRA's lobbying arm recently published an article that says Biden would begin a concerted attack on the rights of American gun owners after being inaugurated.

We must be ready for the onslaught, the post reads, adding that a Biden administration, if officials get their way, will ban and confiscate the most-commonly-owned rifle in the United States and will arbitrarily limit the number of guns that can be bought per month, among other measures.

And the reaction to Biden's election is already evident as we recently noted that, Americans panic hoarded guns in 2020, according to the FBI's latest firearm statics. 2020 was a record-breaking year with a 39.9% increase in FBI firearm background checks.

FBI Firearm Background Checks (Monthly)

The panic grab for guns and ammo began in March/April when the virus pandemic and economic crash triggered the first wave.

Then the second wave of buying occurred in the summer during social unrest sparked by the police killing of George Floyd. With a transition of power from gun-friendly Republicans to gun-hating Democrats, the next wave of buying should be underway before bans or restrictions come into law.

Last year, a total of 39,695,315 completed background checks  up from 28,369,750 in 2019  the year marked the most firearm checks in history, since the FBI began recording firearm sales in 1998.

FBI Firearm Background Checks (Annual)

Nine of the top ten highest firearm-check weeks occurred last year during the heights of the pandemic and social unrest.

During President Trump's "Stop The Steal" campaign, firearm background checks rose in December due to the threat Biden could become president.

TMZ interviewed gun shops in 20 US cities this week. What they found was at least half of the gun shops reported a "substantial increase in sales of firearms and ammunition since pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the Capitol Building on January 6."

As we said at the time, it wouldn't shock us if Biden were to ban 80% lowers and ghost guns in his first term.

The Second Amendment is under attack. There are five million NRA members, and tens of millions of gun owners that will be very unhappy if Biden starts restricting or banning guns and ammo.

* * *

Today, the NRA announced a restructuring plan that positions us for the long-term and ensures our continued success as the nations leading advocate for constitutional freedom  free from the toxic political environment of New York.

The plan can be summed up quite simply: We are DUMPING New York, and we are pursuing plans to reincorporate the NRA in Texas.

To facilitate the strategic plan and restructuring, the NRA and one of its subsidiaries have filed voluntary chapter 11 petitions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. As you may know, chapter 11 proceedings are often utilized by businesses, nonprofits and organizations of all kinds to streamline legal and financial affairs.

Under the plan, the NRA will continue what weve always done  confronting anti-gun, anti-self-defense and anti-hunting activities and promoting constitutional advocacy that helps law-abiding Americans. Our work will continue as it always has. No major changes are expected to the NRAs operations or workforce.

Importantly, our plans do not impact your membership at any level.

NRA supporters will continue to enjoy all their full member benefits  from new members to Life Members to Benefactor Members. We will continue to publish and deliver your magazines. We will continue to train Americans and teach them firearm safety. We will continue to teach hunter safety. But most importantly, we will continue to fight for your freedom and the freedom of all Americans  as we have for all these years. In fact, we are expanding our national platform.

The plan aims to streamline costs and expenses, proceed with pending litigation in a coordinated and structured manner, and realize many financial and strategic advantages.

You know that our opponents will try to seize upon this news and distort the truth. Dont believe what you read from our enemies. The NRA is not bankrupt or going out of business. The NRA is not insolvent. We are as financially strong as we have been in years.

But they know todays announcement makes us bigger, stronger and more prepared for the fight for freedom.

We are leaving the state of an attorney general who, just a few months ago, vowed to put us out of business through an abuse of legal and regulatory power. In fact, the gross overreach of the New York Attorney General and New York Governor has been resoundingly criticized by powerful national groups like the ACLU and a host of prominent legal scholars.

Subject to court approval, the NRA is pursuing plans to reincorporate in the State of Texas. The Lone Star State is home to more than 400,000 NRA Members and the site of our 2021 Annual Meeting being held in Houston.

Texas values the contributions of the NRA, celebrates our law-abiding members, and joins us as a partner in upholding constitutional freedom.

Under this plan, we seek protection from New York officials who illegally abused and weaponized the powers they wield against the NRA and its members. You can be assured the Association will continue the fight to protect your interests in New York  and all forums where the NRA is unlawfully singled out for its Second Amendment advocacy.

This plan represents a pathway to opportunity, growth and progress.

This is the most transformational moment in the history of the NRA. And it involves all of you.

The NRA will continue to promote its Second Amendment advocacy, sponsor firearms training, and work with its network of instructors and volunteers in furtherance of its mission. This plan actually streamlines all of the NRAs activities and improves our operational processes.

I know we have welcomed many of you to our headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. We have no immediate plans to relocate, but we are forming a special committee to explore our strategic options in this regard. We want to determine if there are advantages to relocating our HQ operations to another state. I have asked our leadership team to explore all options that benefit the NRA and its members.

Whats most important is leading the fight for Second Amendment freedom and serving our members. We will do that from anywhere that works best for you and for our cause.

All membership dues and financial donations will be fully dedicated to supporting our operations and public advocacy. This plan actually improves our business. It protects us from costly, distracting and unprincipled attacks from anti-2A politicians aimed at attacking the NRA because we are a potent political force. We know that the gun ban lobby will never stop  fueled by a hatred of your freedoms and by wealthy benefactors. Our plan is the best way to confront them.

We are now prepared for a better future. In fact, to me, it feels like the dawn of a new day.

We are revitalized, well-positioned, and steadfast in our commitment to fight for you. To learn more, please visit www.nra.org/forward.

Thank you for your unwavering spirit and being part of the NRAs future. Both hold incredible promise for our country  and the freedoms in which it believes.
Hospitals across the country are coming under increasing pressure as the number of Covid-19 patients escalates amid crippling staff shortages.

As of yesterday there were 1,850 people hospitalised with the virus and 184 in intensive care units.

Thirty-two intensive care beds were available nationwide, across both adult and paediatric units. More than 100 people with Covid-19 were on ventilators.

It comes as more hospitals reach into their surge capacity by redeploying non-specialist staff to critical care roles and converting wards into intensive care areas to accommodate seriously ill patients.

There are currently about 4,000 staff from acute hospitals absent from work due to Covid-19; either because they have contracted the virus themselves, or because they are a close contact of a confirmed case.

Last night, trade union Siptu warned Covid-19 infection rates of health care workers are unsustainable and putting the safe functioning of the health service in grave danger.

"This level of infection is completely unsustainable," said Siptu health division organiser Kevin Figgis.

"Health workers across all grades are being decimated while this virus is raging out of control across our health service.

"It is clear that health care workers are not safe in work and the current rate of infection is putting the safe functioning of the service in grave danger.

"We are again calling for the immediate recruitment of additional and essential staff to assist all health workers on the front line."

Yesterday, a group of nurses and doctors at Nenagh Hospital appeared in an online video demanding they receive the potentially life-saving vaccine as they were treating Covid patients.

The video showed staff pleading with Taoiseach Micheal Martin as well as Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to sanction the rollout of the vaccine in Nenagh.

Staff complained the rollout was well under way in its sister hospitals University Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital, and University Maternity Hospital Limerick.

Critical

UL Hospitals Group later confirmed that about 20 theatre staff based at Nenagh Hospital are to receive the vaccine, but will be redeployed to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) to support the hospital as it opens critical care surge capacity.

Meanwhile, management at the same group apologised to patients after it emerged that some were waiting more than 100 hours for a bed at UHL.

UHL has the most number of Covid-19 cases in the country at 150. Yesterday there were only three beds available in the hospital's 28-bed Critical Care Unit, where 13 patients with Covid-19 are being treated. A recently opened 60-bed block is mostly full with Covid-19 patients.

On Thursday, a UHL source said some patients admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) were waiting on trolleys for more than 100 hours.

The source claimed there were up to "94 people in the department" at one stage last Wednesday afternoon.

Those admitted to the ED were on trolleys in corridors "on top of one another", and, it was "impossible to maintain social distancing".

In response, a UL Hospitals spokesman said: "The Emergency Department at UHL has been very busy during this current challenging phase of the pandemic and we apologise to admitted patients who have faced long waits for beds.

"Hospitals around the country are under significant strain at present and our staff are making enormous efforts to keep patients safe."

Due to "significant community transmission in the mid-west and multiple outbreaks in healthcare settings across the region" it is "constrained in effecting inter-hospital transfers, discharges to community settings and discharges home".

The spokesman said this "is having a considerable impact on patient flow in UHL contributing to long waits for patients in ED".
New Delhi:

Alleging massive corruption in the functioning of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday sought to know where the funds released by his government to the civic body were being spent.



East MCD Mayor Neema Bhagat met the chief minister on Thursday seeking release of funds, which she claimed is pending to the civic body.



During the meeting, Kejriwal said the Delhi government has, till now, released all funds to the MCDs which were supposed to be provided under the existing Delhi State Finance Commission.



After listening to the mayors demands, the chief minister said that he has seen the accounts of the EDMC and there is a massive corruption in the civic body, a senior government official said.



Kejriwal said the EDMC must do away with corruption to make it financially stable, the official said.

ALSO READ | Arvind Kejriwal wants daily reports on power cuts



During the meeting, Kejriwal also sought to know why the sanitation staff were not paid salaries despite the fact that the government has released all funds due to the EDMC, the official said.



Asserting that the EDMC has many sources of income, but because of corruption its finances are in a mess, the chief minister said illegal hoardings and illegal parking must be curbed, which will increase the revenue of the civic bodies manifold.

ALSO READ | Arvind Kejriwal asks Manish Sisodia to give 80 per cent reservation to Delhi students in government-aided colleges



Recently, mayors of North and South Delhi Municipal Corporations also met the chief minister seeking release of funds which they claimed were due to the respective civic bodies from the Delhi government.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi: The CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII) Adar Poonawalla on Saturday received his COVID-19 vaccine shot and he took the chance to wish Prime Minister Narendra Modi all the success for the nationwide vaccination rollout.

Taking to twitter Poonawalla wrote: "I wish India and Sri Narendra Modi ji great success in launching the world`s largest COVID vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that #COVISHIELD is part of this historic effort and to endorse its safety and efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine myself."

I wish India & Sri @narendramodi ji great success in launching the worlds largest COVID vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that #COVISHIELD is part of this historic effort & to endorse its safety & efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine myself. pic.twitter.com/X7sNxjQBN6  Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 16, 2021

He posted a video of himself receiving the vaccine shot.

The Pune-based Serum Institute of India has developed the Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University while the Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad`s Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Medical Council of research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology.

The drugs regulatory body of India has currently approved only these two vaccines.

Earlier today, PM Modi launched the vaccination drive against the novel coronavirus via video conferencing.

Touted to be the world`s largest vaccination drive, in the phase which began today it aims to inoculate an estimated 3 crore healthcare and frontline workers on prioirity basis.

A total of 3006 session sites across the length and breadth of the country was virtually connected during the launch. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the inaugural day, the Union Health Ministry said.

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This weeks wanted

The following are being sought on arrest warrants, according to various sheriffs departments. The addresses listed are the last known addresses provided by the warrants and may be outdated.

 Rechelle D. Gass, 39, of 140 Frog Hill Road, Franklin, is being sought on a warrant accusing her of failing to appear in court on a charge of possession of methamphetamine.

She is a white female standing 5 foot 3 and weighing 214 pounds. She has blue eyes and brown hair.

 Jeremy W. Rodgers, 29, of 415 Short St., Jerseyville, is being sought on a warrant accusing him of violating probation on a charge of possession of a controlled substance.

He is a white male standing 6 feet 1 and weighing 150 pounds. He has blue eyes and brown hair.

.

Submit tips anonymously at tipsubmit.com, by calling 217-243-7300 or by text messaging CRIMES (274637) with payout as the first word of the tip.



Morgan County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Julian A. Newcomer, 30, of 1400 Center St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 1:50 a.m. Friday on charges of driving under the influence and improper lane use.

Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 A 14-year-old boy was arrested at 11:23 a.m. Friday at Garrison Alternative School, 936 W. Michigan Ave., on a charge of aggravated battery after being accused of pushing a school employee.

THEFTS, BURGLARIES

 Items were taken Thursday from a vehicle parked in the 900 block of Goltra Avenue, according to a report filed at 3:22 p.m. Friday.

 A bicycle was stolen between Monday and Wednesday from a residence in the 300 block of South Church Street, according to a report filed at 3:01 p.m. Thursday.

 Change, a comb and an ink pen were taken from a car parked in the 800 block of Hardin Avenue between 10 a.m. Wednesday and noon Thursday, according to a report filed at 2:14 p.m. Thursday.

 An unidentified woman took more than $300 worth of merchandise from Walmart, 1941 W. Morton Ave., without paying, according to a report filed at 1:41 p.m. Thursday.

 A credit card that was among items stolen between 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and 3:59 a.m. Thursday from a car parked in the 1000 block of South Clay Avenue was used to make unauthorized purchases, according to a report filed at 8:07 a.m. Thursday.

Woodson Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Casey L. Dossett, 29, of 11 Maple Creek, Woodson, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 1:10 p.m. Thursday on charge of causing a child to be endangered.

Compiled by David C.L. Bauer
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India's vaccination programme is set to begin from January 16 (Representative Image)

The stage is set for the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination exercise to be rolled out across the country on January 15.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch, what is being billed as, the worlds largest Coronavirus immunisation drive with a record 30 million health care workers across scheduled to get vaccinated on the first day across the country.

Moneycontrol takes a look at how states are kicking off the drive:

Read our LIVE BLOG on Coronavirus Updates Here

Uttar Pradesh

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

At least 31,700 healthcare workers will be given vaccines at 852 centres across 75 districts on first day, health officials said. Around 100 healthcare workers will be vaccinated on each centre on the first day. The state has received about 10.75 lakh doses of the vaccine. PM Modi is expected to virtually interact with the beneficiaries at the women's hospital in Varanasi and Jhansi's MLB Medical College during the drive. At least 20,000 medical staffers from 35 cities will be involved in the drive in the first phase covering close to 9 lakh healthcare workers.

READ: COVID-19 vaccination Phase 1 begins today: Here's how India has planned the drive

Maharashtra

The state has trained 16,000 vaccinators. Over 7.8 lakh healthcare workers, including government and private medical staff, have already registered for the vaccination. Officials said that at least another 4.5-5 lakh healthcare workers will be required to be vaccinated. The vaccination drive has been planned at 285 places in the state on the first day. The state has received 9.63 lakh doses of Covishield and 20,000 doses of Covaxin. State immunization officer Dr Dilip Patil told news agency PTI that it will take at least six months for the vaccine to be available for general public.

Karnataka

The state has 6,30,524 health care workers who would be given vaccines in the first phase. States health minister K Sudhakar said earlier that the real challenge would be to start the vaccination drive for the general public. The state government has deployed 9,807 vaccinators to inoculate in the first phase. Not more than 100 beneficiaries in a day will be vaccinated at each of the 235 sites, officials said. The state has received 13.9 lakh vaccine doses for the first phase. The Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute(BMCRI) and the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Hubballi,

are among select facilities in the country where PM Modi will launch Covid-19 vaccination.

Also Read: Explained | COVID-19 vaccination drive: How to register, who will get the shots first and other queries answered

Gujarat

Chief minister Vijay Rupani said, on January 14, that the state would start the vaccination drive for healthcare workers from 161 centers. PM Modi is expected to interact with some of the beneficiaries at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital (one of the sites) virtually from New Delhi, news agency PTI reported. Officials said vaccines will be administered to 100 health workers per centre every day. The state has, so far, trained 17,128 vaccinators and two lakh other healthcare and social workers for the vaccination. The state expects to cover 4.3 lakh health care workers in the first phase followed by another 3.47 lakh frontline workers, officials said.

Delhi

A day before the COVID-19 vaccination roll out, Delhi released the list of 81 sites where the immunisation exercise will take place. Covishield will be administered at 75 centres, while indigenously-made Covaxin will be given at six facilities. At least 8,000 health workers on every scheduled day will be vaccinated across these centres. The vaccine will be administered on four days of the week -- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Each day 100 persons will be administered the vaccine.

Bihar

The vaccination drive will be held at 300 centres across Bihar on the first day, officials said. As many as 4.68 lakh healthcare workers have registered for vaccination in the state. Health minister Mangal Pandey said that vials have reached in all 38 districts of the state. Web casting of vaccination will be done at 50 centres, he said. A five-member team will be deployed at each vaccination centre where 100 people will be vaccinated each day.

Tamil Nadu

The vaccination will be conducted at 166 sites. At least 4.8 lakh healthcare workers have been registered for the first phase of the exercise. CM E Palaniswami will participate in the vaccination drive in Madurai where a sanitary worker of a hospital is expected to receive the first shot. The state has received 556,550 vaccine doses - 536,550 Covishield and 20,000 doses of Covaxin. The state expects to vaccinate 20 per cent (16 million) of the population by the year end. It has trained 16,846 vaccinators.

Jammu and Kashmir

At least 4,000 health care workers across Jammu and Kashmir will be vaccinated on the first day. About 100 health workers in each of the 20 districts will be given the vaccine at 40 immunisation sites, officials said. The state has received 1,46,500 doses of Covishield - 79,000 for the Kashmir division and 67,500 are for the Jammu division. At least 1.06 lakh healthcare workers will be covered in the first phase. The state has so far trained 4,500 vaccinators for the task.

Kerala

As many as 100 healthcare workers will be vaccinated at each of the 133 centres across Kerala on the first day. At least 3.5 lakh healthcare workers have registered for the vaccine in the first phase, officials said. The state has received 4,33,500 doses of vaccine.

Assam

Vaccination will begin at 65 centres of Assam on day one of the drive. The Covidhield vaccine will be administered at 59 centres and Covaxin at six centres, officials said. At least 1.9 lakh healthcare workers will be vaccinated in the first phase for which the state has trained 8,651 nurses. As many 1,300 supervisors will monitor the nurses.

Also read | India's COVID-19 vaccine: Who'll get it, when and how - All you need to know

West Bengal

The state has been allocated 6,44,500 vaccines for the first phase of the drive. At least 20,700 healthcare workers will be given vaccines at 207 vaccination centres in the first phase. In Kolkata, 18 centres have been set up for the drive. The Chief Minister will oversee the process through video conferencing.

Follow our full coverage on COVID-19 here.

(With agency inputs)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15)  The Food and Drug Administration said COVID-19 vaccines may be authorized for commercial use at the end of the year.

Vaccine candidates undergoing clinical trials are currently on Phase 3, FDA Director-General Eric Domingo said during the second day of hearing of the Senate Committee of the Whole on the country's vaccination plan.

"Yung full completion of Phase 3 trials, mga one to two years. At sa ngayon, medyo matatapos na po yung first year," Domingo said. "Ang pinakamaaga po siguro, end of 2021 or mga hanggang middle of 2022," he said when asked when commercial authorization for COVID-19 vaccines may be granted.

[Translation: The full completion of Phase 3 trials takes around 1-2 years. And for now, the first year is almost done. Perhaps the earliest would be end of 2021 or until the middle of 2022.]

Several vaccines have applied for emergency use authorization in the Philippines, with American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer the only brand to have been granted so far.

RELATED: Pfizer assures affordable vaccines for PH

The EUA application of British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca, whom local governments and corporations have signed tripartite agreements with, remains pending at the FDA along with Russia-made Sputnik V.

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/1/14/philippines-secures-17-million-covid-19-vaccine-doses-astrazena.html

Sinovac has likewise applied for an EUA in the Philippines. The Chinese drug manufacturer is set to provide the country 25 million doses of its CoronaVac vaccine, with the first 50,000 doses available as early as February.

With vaccine doses slated to arrive in the Philippines starting next month, the government will soon be tapping volunteers, mostly from the health sector, for inoculation efforts.

However, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said no funding has been allocated for compensating these volunteers to date.

"Sa ngayon po (as of now), because we are encouraging yung volunteerism and bayanihan spirit, sa ngayon powe have not allocated for the volunteers, only maybe donations for food at tsaka po yung (and also) maybe subsidy po sa food and transportation," he explained.

However, Galvez assured they will look into the possibility of augmenting their services and extending honorarium to volunteers if there's available budget.
Axios

While Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) was out of state at a conference, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R) issued an executive order Thursday banning mask mandates in school and public buildings, AP reports.Why it matters: Little never issued a statewide mask mandate, but there have been some in counties, cities and schools. McGeachin announced last week she was running for governor, challenging Little who has only served one term, and her order could appeal to far-right voters in the state.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Little's office told AP that McGeachin did not tell the governor about the order in advance. Throughout the pandemic, Gov. Little has been committed to protecting the health and safety of the people of Idaho and has emphasized the importance of Idahoans choosing to protect our neighbors and loved ones and keeping our economy and schools open, Little spokesperson Marissa Morrison saidBackground: In March, McGeachin participated in an anti-mask protest, the Washington Post reported, and she suggested last year that the pandemic may or may not be occurring."According to AP, Idaho has recorded more than 190,000 cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic and roughly 2,000 deaths.What she's saying: Ive been listening to people all across the state with the concern about, especially, why are little kids being forced to wear masks in school, McGeachin told AP.My oath to the Constitution is to protect those rights and freedoms of the individual, and Ive never supported any type of a mandate on the individual, especially when it comes to health care choices.McGeachin said she had contracted the virus in 2019 and now has a "natural immunity," per AP.Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order banning mask mandates, not face masks. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free
Catalonia on Friday postponed a parliamentary election scheduled for Feb. 14 until May 30 because of a surge in coronavirus cases that has pushed hospital occupancy in the restive northeastern region of Spain to one of the highest levels in the country.

"The current evolution of COVID-19 shows that to continue with the election is an unacceptable risk," acting regional chief, Pere Aragones, told a news conference on Friday.

The election is considered a litmus test for the Catalan separatist movement, as pro-independence parties hope to garner over 50% of the vote for the first time in what is expected to be a tight race, opinion polls show.

Politics in the wealthy region has been dominated in recent years by a push for independence, which in 2017 triggered one of Spain's biggest political crises in decades when the Catalan parliament issued a short-lived declaration of independence following a referendum declared illegal by courts.

The region's population is fairly evenly split on the issue of independence from Spain and it is unclear whether the pandemic makes a victory for the separatists more or less likely.

Catalonia is one the hardest-hit regions in Spain, with over 400,000 cases and almost 9,000 deaths.

Postponing the vote has repercussions for the central government in that Health Minister Salvador Illa, who is running as the Socialist candidate for the regional leadership, had said he would leave the cabinet once the electoral campaign starts.

A poll by La Vanguardia newspaper placed leftist separatists Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya ahead, while another poll by El Periodico showed Spain's ruling Socialists leading following the designation in December of Illa as candidate.

The election was triggered by Spain's Supreme Court ruling in September to bar then head of government Quim Torra from public office for 18 months after he disobeyed an order from Spain's electoral committee.
The Morrison government is under pressure from within to increase the caps on the number of Australians allowed back into the country after Emirates abruptly suspended flights and cut off a major option for stranded travellers trying to get home.

The government is now scrambling to arrange special rescue flights and will redistribute Emirates' seats to other foreign airlines, with acting foreign minister Simon Birmingham promising on Saturday there would be "no loss of capacity into Australia".

"There are still pathways into Australia through other commercial carriers," Senator Birmingham said. "The capacity that Emirates had within the cap to bring Australians home will now be reallocated to those other airlines."

However, while Singapore Airlines yesterday indicated it would maintain flights to Australia, Japan Airlines said it would review its scheduling for February, potentially cutting off another key path for Australians trying to come home.
New Delhi, Jan 16 : The Union Health Ministry on Saturday asked the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to consider contacting Bharat Biotech for the procurement of 8.1 lakh doses of Covaxin to be given to different countries as a goodwill gesture.

According to an office memorandum accessed by IANS, Under Secretary to the government, G.K. Pillai, alluded to the meeting held between the Secretary at the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the Foreign Secretary on Friday, wherein it emerged that the MEA would provide 8.1 lakh doses of Covaxin to different countries in the form of grant-in-aid as a goodwill gesture.

"In this regard, it is to inform that Bharat Biotech Limited is providing a total of 10 million (1 crore) doses of this vaccine to the Health Ministry for the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination drive in India. The price of the procured vaccine is Rs 295 per dose plus GST," the office memorandum stated.

It added, "The MEA may, accordingly, consider contacting Bharat Biotech for the procurement of the aforesaid 8.1 lakh doses of this vaccine, which may provide the said quantum at the above-mentioned price," it added.

The Under Secretary said that keeping in view the programmatic priorities of the ongoing vaccination drive in India, the quantum of doses should be procured by the Ministry of External Affairs from Bharat Biotech only after January 22.

Besides, on January 12, Bharat Biotech had announced that it has signed an agreement with Precisa Medicamentos for supplying Covaxin doses to Brazil.

Covaxin is a highly purified and inactivated two-dose vaccine. The vaccine, along with Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield, was administered to over 1.91 lakh people across the country on Saturday.

Covaxin, India's indigenous Covid-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech, is being made in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Virology (NIV). It is presented in multi-dose vials and can be stored at a temperature of 2-8-degree Celsius.

The Phase III human trials of Covaxin began in mid-November and is currently ongoing in 26,000 volunteers across India. It has been evaluated in approximately 1,000 subjects in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials, with promising safety and immunogenicity results.

It, however, has courted controversy since it received the approval from the drug regulator earlier this month. The approval given without adequate efficacy data drew flak from public health advocacy groups, researchers, scientists and activists.

(Aakanksha Khajuria can be contacted at aakanksha.k@ians.in)
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Thousands of Houston residents were grateful to get the COVID-19 vaccine Saturday at Minute Maid Park, even if they had to scavenge for parking and wait an hour-and-a-half in the stands to get their shot in the arm.

The city ramped-up capacity at what Mayor Sylvester Turner calls its mega vaccination site at the home of the Astros, after receiving a shipment of 8,200 doses from the state Thursday. Health workers transferred appointments originally scheduled at the Bayou City Event Center, moved up some future slots and booked 2,600 new ones  all of which were claimed in 16 minutes on Friday.

Health workers gave out more than 6,100 shots by the days end, a tally that exceeded the citys goal of 5,000 and that officials said is more than other site in the region. Memorial Hermann hopes to inoculate about 13,000 people over its four-day event at NRG Stadium.

The city did about 3,600 vaccinations during a test run at Minute Maid last week, which also was made possible by a late-week shipment of the Moderna vaccine.

Were trying to provide the vaccine to as many people as possible, Turner said after touring the site. I think most people are very satisfied with whats taking place today, and from all indications I think people recognize that things are moving smoothly.

Most recipients spoke in glowing terms of the operation, although there were some logistical hiccups. There were long lines for parking in the morning, which clogged streets around the stadium, and some long wait times inside the stadium as well. Some people who booked appointments reported they did not get a confirmation email. And the city said it was not able to reach everyone who had appointments at Bayou City to alert them of the venue change. Health workers said they would accommodate those people if ultimately they missed their appointment.

For most, though, the occasion marked a dash of optimism against the pandemic that has upended lives here for 11 months.

Claudia Stevens said she was very impressed with the site. Herbert Yuan said it went pretty well, considering the number of people. And Kris McNeil, who was bundled up for the chilly weather, said the shot was well worth the hour-and-a-half wait.

Stuff happens, and were just grateful that everyone is here and willing to work with us and getting us these vaccines, said McNeil, opening her jacket to reveal a Dolly Parton shirt. It was well run. I really have no complaint, after waiting all this time.

The city has received 30,000 doses of the vaccine and doled out more than 21,000. Of those recipients, 52 percent have been men and 47 percent women, according to preliminary Health Department data. White people account for 41 percent of the shots, compared to 22 percent for Hispanics, 19 percent for Black residents, and 16 percent for Asians.

The city of Houston is 57 percent white, 45 percent Hispanic, 22.6 percent Black and 6.8 percent Asian, according to data from the Census Bureau.

For some, the frustration of the wait boiled over. As Turner was making his way to the bleachers where people were waiting, one man stood up and told him to fix the long wait-times.

Fix it, sir, the man told the mayor. If you sit down and be patient, well fix it, Turner replied. Im tired of being patient, the man said.

Houston resident Sara Cress, a former Chronicle reporter, gave a live running account of her experience on Twitter. She said she was being directed in circles to find parking.

The most frustrating part was the traffic, Cress said. I was in my car downtown for about an hour and a half.

The wait inside was easier, about a half-hour, although she said when she first entered the building it was difficult to keep her distance from other people waiting. They were then escorted to the bleachers where they could space out, and messages on the public announcement system encouraged social distancing.

I havent been that close to people in a year, said Cress, who added that the workers were very kind and high-spirited. I know theyre doing their best.

Turner asked for patience and said the city was doing its best to iron out of the logistical hurdles. On balance, he said, he was very impressed with the operation and said its wide reach of 5,000 people was laudable.

When you are trying to provide vaccines on such a large scale, it requires a lot of logistics, a lot of heavy lifting, but were getting it done, Turner said. The job is to get these vaccines out as soon as possible so theyre not sitting out on shelves. I can assure you they are not sitting on shelves. Its a heavy lift, its a large operation. You may have glitches every now and then.

He said the uneven nature of vaccine disbursements from the federal government complicates matters, forcing city officials to work on the fly. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who also was present, said she is pushing for the incoming Biden administration to allocate shipments of the vaccine directly to cities.

When you dont know what youre getting, and you dont know when youre going to get it, its hard to plan accordingly, Turner said.

The city reoriented the layout inside Minute Maid from last week to make it more efficient. People were screened outside and then allowed to enter the first-floor concourse near the Love Street bar that would usually sell beers to baseball fans. Then they were taken to the stands to wait, and finally back up to the concourse to get their shots outside Jackson Street BBQ and other first-floor eateries.

One health worker helping to usher people along said in the late morning, Were just getting the hang of things.

The site closed Saturday evening, with health department officials saying they could not accommodate the number of people waiting in line. They took names of those still waiting to re-schedule appointments, officials said in a news release.

Other cities have encountered similar or worse hurdles in setting up their sites. Austinites were frustrated when the portal launched by that citys public health agency crashed as people tried to register, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Residents in Dallas had trouble with confirmation notices and, when they did get them, were not told where to go, according to the Dallas Morning News.

The shots are going to people who meet Phase 1A or 1B criteria in the states distribution plan. That is generally health care and other front-line workers, along with people over 65 and those with certain high-risk health conditions.

The city will announce new appointments when they are available. Residents can monitor the departments Twitter account or sign up for push notifications by registering for the HoustonRecovers option of AlertHouston.org.

dylan.mcguinness@chron.com
Currently, India is banking on two vaccines - Serum Institute of India's 'Covishield' and Bharat BioTech's 'Covaxin' - and four more in the pipeline to be rolled out in the country. (Image: News18)
US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians

Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India

Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately

France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint

Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow

Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen

Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops

Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia acting FM resigns

Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity

China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order

Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM

Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage

EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting

Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post

6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan

UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas

Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation

Dollar gains value in Armenia

Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening

His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia

Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens

Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon

Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures

Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension

Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire

ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces

Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards

Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory

Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan

Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia

Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia

Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws

Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone

Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control

Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor

Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation

NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning

European Council head says process of implementing sanctions against Belarus is launched

Armenia acting MOD leaves for Moscow

Armenia President, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces discuss current situation on border

Armenia acting PM to residents of borderline village: If we cede our border, Azerbaijanis will get more excited

Armenia MOD not confirming reports about Azerbaijan firing shots at Tavush Province

Ex-President Kocharyan meets with Yerevan residents, "Armenia" bloc members (PHOTOS)

Armenia petitions to European Court to ensure fundamental human rights of 6 soldiers captured by Azerbaijan

Armenia acting premier: We need to unite in this situation

Serj Tankian makes statement on Azerbaijans displayed horrific racism

Man detained in US for intending to commit attempt on Biden

Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD continues disseminating disinformation

Erdogan to visit Baku and Shushi

Two Armenia legislature committees to hold closed joint meeting regarding tense situation on Azerbaijan border

Holy Etchmiadzin on capture of Armenia soldiers: Such behavior of Azerbaijan authorities is strongly condemnable

Gegharkunik Province village border area situation very tense, says Armenia enlarged community leader

Armenia opposition MP: Shots are heard Gegharkunik Province

Armenian National Congress party electoral list is announced

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan leadership bears responsibility for consequences of actions by its armed forces

Opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament demands convening Security Council special session

140 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Acting premier: Our servicemen were abducted from Armenia territory

Armenia MOD announces names of 6 Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

Armenia parliament majority leader to CSTO: Our international partners do not call it like it is

Armenia parliament manages to have quorum in 2nd attempt

World oil prices falling

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan popularity rating consistently drops over the past week

Newspaper: Russia peacekeepers commander does not return from Azerbaijan with encouraging news for Armenia

MOD: 6 Armenia soldiers are surrounded, captured by Azerbaijan military early morning

William Shakespeare, 1st man in world to get approved coronavirus vaccine, dies aged 81

Spain Congress of Deputies committee accepts pro-Armenian motion

Ex-PM comments on double-digit growth in Armenia economy

Facebook calls Russia, Iran leading purveyors of disinformation

Erdogan says meeting with Biden will mark 'start of new era' in relations with Washington

Armenia acting Deputy PM on creation of third high-voltage electric communication line with Iran

Vladimir Zaynetdinov: CSTO has taken note of application submitted by Armenia acting PM

Armenia's Pashinyan says addressing UN Security Council not ruled out

Armenia acting FM: International pressure on Azerbaijan is growing

Netanyahu tells Blinken that Israel is against reopening US consulate for Palestinians

23 political parties and 4 alliances apply to Armenia Central Electoral Commission ahead of snap parliamentary elections

Instagram launches ability to hide likes

Iran FM on solutions to problems in the region, territorial integrity

Bloomberg: Support for Erdogan's ruling party hits record low

Inter-agency commission sums up reports on implementation of roadmap for EU-Armenia CEPA

Armenian acting PM on CSTO and Russia and their duties as Armenia's allies

Slovakia allows use of Russian vaccine Sputnik V

Armenia acting PM on situation in Syunik Province: CSTO still hasn't clearly expressed its position

Armenia's Pashinyan: It's very rarely that Baku made provocations in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces on its own

Armenia acting PM: There will be no demarcation of borders until Azerbaijani troops are pulled out of territory

Record-setting number of political parties register to run in snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Blinken describes Egypt as a "real and effective partner"

Armenia's Pashinyan slams opposition again

Yerevan court ends trial over Armenia 3rd President's nephew Hayk Sargsyan

Armenia President expresses condolences on passing away of Catholicos-Patriarch Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan
Facebook Blocks Creation of New Events Near Capitols Through Inauguration Day

Facebook is blocking the creation of new events near the U.S. Capitol and the White House through Inauguration Day.

Events taking place near state capitols are also being blocked.

We are blocking the creation of any new Facebook events happening in close proximity to locations including the White House, the U.S. Capitol building, and any of the state capitol buildings through Inauguration Day, Facebook vice presidents Guy Rosen and Monika Bickert said in a blog post.

Our operations center is also conducting a secondary review of all Facebook events related to the inauguration and removing ones that violate our policies. And, as we did in the lead up to and following the U.S. presidential election, we are continuing to block event creation in the U.S. by non-U.S. based accounts and Pages, they added.

In addition, the technology company is restricting some features for people based on signals such as repeat policy violations. Restrictions include not allowing some accounts to create live videos or an event.

The new measures come as Facebook says it is monitoring for signs of violence or other threats across the nation leading up to Inauguration Day.

President-elect Joe Biden is scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 20.

Protesters clash with law enforcement officers at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Facebook announced Monday it would remove any content containing the phrase stop the steal, a reference to the belief that the 2020 election was stolen. Facebook removed the original Stop the Steal group in November 2020 and has been removing pages, groups, and events that violate policies since then. Facebook also suspended President Donald Trumps account indefinitely, claiming it violated policies.

We are also connecting people with reliable information and high-quality news about the inauguration and the transition process. After the inauguration, our label on posts that attempt to delegitimize the election results will reflect that Joe Biden is the sitting president. Our Voting Information Center will stay active on Facebook and Instagram through the inauguration so it can continue to help people find reliable information and updates about the electoral process, Facebook said.

U.S. agencies are deploying thousands of troops and officers to Washington to prepare for any violence that occurs on Jan. 20 or in the days leading up to the swearing-in. Up to 25,000 National Guard troops will be in Washington, the Army said Friday.

While agencies are seeing extensive online chatter, theres no specific, credible threats, according to Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Officials say theyre trying to prevent a repeat of what happened on Jan. 6, when protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol during a rally for Trump.

Dozens of people have been arrested for allegedly committing crimes that day. Five people died, including a protester who was shot while trying to enter the Speakers Lobby and a U.S. Capitol Police officer who suffered mortal wounds while responding to the breach.
Letters to the Editor View(s):

Let us take some steps to resolve controversy over burial of COVID victims

In recent times, a serious controversy has arisen regarding the request especially by the Muslim population that people who died and were tested positive for COVID should be buried and not cremated in keeping with their religious and other convictions. Similarly, many Christians also are of the view that they should be given the option of burial or cremation.

The decision to cremate dead bodies on a mandatory basis had been taken by the authorities, fearing that burial will cause the spread of the COVID virus by seepage through the soil and in most areas in Sri Lanka, where the water table is high.

Two Committees of specialists appointed I believe, by the Health Ministry have arrived at two conflicting views after lengthy discussions, with one Committee agreeing that burials will not cause problems while the other disagrees. Furthermore, whilst a global authority on viruses, Prof. Malik Peiris has stated that no contamination is possible through viruses on dead bodies and that burial will not result in transmission of the virus through soil and water by seepage, the Daily Mirror has a view expressed by Prof. Priyantha Yapa of the Agricultural Faculty in the Sabaragamuwa University, that Coronavirus in dead bodies could be alive even for 100 years, if buried. He further states that similar viruses including Ebola, Polio and Spanish Fever had been found germinating after hundreds of years. He also states that no medical scientists had yet confirmed that the Coronavirus in dead bodies would be sterile when buried.

This controversy had also become a local political issue and a global issue, with a global Muslim organization threatening legal action against the Government of Sri Lanka. It can also become an issue in that the fundamental rights of certain individuals belonging to minority religions are under threat.

Should this complicated issue not be resolved early, the Government of Sri Lanka can be embarrassed at international human rights forums.

In these circumstances, I am suggesting a practical method of handling burials while preventing contamination of soil or ground water by construction of a large underground tank which is waterproof. Such tanks, could be constructed at all Muslim and Christian burial grounds and filled with soil which was dug for construction of the tank, in which the bodies can be buried accordingly in keeping with traditional beliefs and customs.

I am advised by a friend in the construction field that such a tank should be concrete lined and waterproofed in addition if necessary. My view is that a tank of the dimensions 8 feet deep by 10 feet wide and 20 feet long could accommodate up to 10 bodies. Each mosque or church could anticipate the number of burials that would occur in the future and construct tanks to meet their particular requirement. If such underground tanks are filled to capacity within a year, another similar tank can be constructed.

Constructing such a tank would be quite an expensive operation, but in a bid to overcome this serious situation, I believe the Government should subsidize such constructions.

Mahendra Amarasuriya Via email

Its time that Moratuwa had its own hospital

The northern boundary of Moratuwa begins just past the School for the Blind in Ratmalana and its southern boundary ends at the Modera bridge. In between runs the Galle Road for about 15 miles. On either side are byroads and lanes leading to 18 suburbs. Whenever a resident of Moratuwa needs medical care they would need to go to either to the Colombo South Hospital at Kalubowila or the Panadura Hospital.

The Mayor and Municipal Councillors seem to be quite unaware of the sad plight of the people who elected them to office. Health care is a primary need of the people. Such services must be conveniently and quickly accessible.

Sometime ago there was a hospital in Lunawa which is one of the suburbs of Moratuwa with an MOH in charge. However the tsunami of December 2004 devastated the homes of those living on the coastal belt and the Moratuwa MC built flats on the spacious Lunawa Hospital premises. Thereby the people who lost their homes were given alternate accomodation but in the process the people of Moratuwa lost their only hospital.

The mayor should discuss the need for a hospital with the MP for Moratuwa and seek funds for the construction of a hospital. In fact, this promise was made by the former MP but never fulfilled.

A concerned resident Moratuwa

Why was week-long event allowed in the face of COVID?

Over 250 devotees flocked to the Soysapura Sri Sambodhi Nugashrama Viharaya for week-long katina pinkama ceremonies even amidst the lurking virus which kept neighbouring Angulana isolated for some time.

There were also loudspeakers on top of lamp posts on public roads including the entrance to the housing complex on Galle Road and also Angulana Station Road almost half a kilometre from the temple. The high decibel volume disrupted ordinary life. Students grappling with online studies, the old and infirm all were affected as the sermons interspersed with advertisements and announcements were broadcasted daily. An all-night pirith ceremony also disrupted residents sleep.

Why did the Mount Lavinia Police allow such indiscriminate use of loudspeakers in public spaces when the law clearly prohibits it? Other temples confined their katina pinkamas to a single day with a loudspeaker.

At this time when our country is battling a deadly virus, peoples safety and preventing the spread of the virus should be taken heed of  not having 250 people crowded into a hall and taking part in a procession.

A group of residents Soysapura, Moratuwa

I hope my grievance will be redressed soon

I retired from Government Service at the age of 55 years in 1995 and completed 25 years in retirement in 2020. I am 82 now.

I have contributed to the W&OP Fund for nearly 35 years and now there will be no one to claim it after my death as my wife has passed away.

However I am still getting a monthly pension of Rs. 21,000 inspite of the high cost of living prevalent today. My pension number is 350011.

I hope the President would be kind enough to consider these facts and increase my monthly pension to suit my living needs out of respect for elders.

W.L.C.Fernando Panadura
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Gov. Andrew Cuomo says that we cant wait for New York to hit vaccine herd immunity before reopening businesses.

He says that the pain caused by keeping the economy closed for another estimated six months or more while the vaccine takes hold would be far too painful.

So what is Cuomo waiting for? He should re-open limited indoor dining in New York City right now. Its all in his control.

But Cuomo has other plans. Because Cuomo always has other plans. His own plans. Because control must come from the top.

Cuomo wants to reopen the economy safely.

So his plan is to ramp up rapid testing capacity so that anybody who wants to go to dinner or a concert or a Broadway show can go for a test and see in 15 minutes if they have the all-clear.

And you thought scoring a dinner reservation in New York City was tough before!

Given the long waits that people are experiencing in booking vaccine shots in New York City, forgive me if I have my doubts about the efficiency of any quickie test sites.

And Ill believe that New York can even set up this kind of testing infrastructure when I see it. They still havent totally built out their vaccination distribution network.

Restaurants, by Cuomos own admission, werent major spreading environments in New York, accounting for just 1.4 percent of infections from last September to November.

On top of that, indoor dining has been permitted without interruption in places all across New York State, including on Long Island. So they cant actually be that much of a health threat.

So why should we have to get a COVID test in order to dine out?

And why hasnt Cuomo opened indoor dining in the five boroughs after he on Friday allowed it in areas that had been under Orange Zone restrictions?

The states decision came after a judge allowed Western New York restaurants to reopen for indoor dining in response to a lawsuit filed by eatery owners.

But New York City was left out of the turnaround because indoor dining was banned here under a separate Cuomo stricture.

So the control continues. Cuomo is making all the decisions. He can undo any of them that he wants. He should start with the indoor dining prohibition in New York City.

We saw how good the top-down Cuomo approach to vaccine distribution turned out.

The governors guidelines were so strict that health providers ended up throwing vaccine doses in the trash. It was either that or face a $1 million fine for giving the vaccine to an unapproved person.

Which made zero sense. Because while, yes, we dont want the rich and well-connected hogging all the vaccines, at least if any undeserving types did get a shot, it meant more vaccinated persons in the population. Which helps us get to herd immunity. By definition, the more people who get vaccinated, the better, whether theyre paupers or kings.

But Cuomo always knows better. After trying to micro-manage the vaccine rollout, with disastrous results, he now wants to micro-manage re-opening the economy, including here in New York City.

He wants tests for people looking to enjoy a little night life. He wants tests and Health Department-approved protocols in place in order for offices to reopen. He wants you to get a test before you patronize a business. With the state all the while collecting intrusive contact-tracing information.

There are so many options, Cuomo rhapsodized during one of his State of the State Address installments last week.

And lots of opportunities to screw things up and prolong our pandemic even longer.

Count me out.
A new book features many mosaics found in Co Leitrim, including: Carrick-on-Shannon, Drumshanbo and Mohill.

Laura Earley's Roscommon's Mosaic Tradition - Geometric and Artistic Mosaics in the North-West" was funded by Roscommon County Council and supported by the Creative Ireland Programme, an all-of-Government five-year initiative, from 2017 to 2022, which places creativity at the centre of public policy.

This artistic documentary photo book explores Roscommons mosaic tradition with a particular focus on geometric mosaics found in Roscommon and its surrounding counties including Co Leitrim - Carrick-on-Shannon, Drumshanbo and Mohill.

A lot of the mosaics in the book were once designed and created by 'Irish Mosaics', a prestigious mosaic factory founded by John Crane in Co. Roscommon, in 1952.

The book mainly focuses on geometric mosaics found on old shop and pub fronts in the west and north-west. The photo book is an exhilarating display of colourful photographs that capture patterns and designs of the 50s and 60's.

The book features an eloquent introductory text by writer Tom Roseingrave, detailing the trajectory of the project which began in 2018, as well as the history of the industry in Roscommon.

The book contains original documents and photographs from those who worked for 'Irish Mosaics'.

You can buy the book here: https://www.lauraearleyart.com/

Also read: New novel from Normal People author Sally Rooney due this September
EMILY ST. LAWRENCE, Chariho girls lacrosse, senior: St. Lawrence tied a school record for goals in a game with nine in a win over Smithfield. St. Lawrence scored 17 goals for the week and has 32 for the season.

CARLY CONSTANTINE, Stonington softball, sophomore: Constantine singled home Shea OConnor with the winning run to hand Waterford, the states No. 2 ranked team at the time, its first loss of the season. For the week, Constantine was 5 for 15.

GREG GORMAN, Westerly baseball, junior: Gorman, a junior, hit a massive home run in a win against Barrington. The homer went over the fence in center field and landed in a nearby road. Gorman was 3 for 3 with four RBIs in the game. He is hitting .571 with 10 RBIs for the season.

BRADIN ANDERSON, Wheeler baseball, freshman: Anderson, a freshman, pitched a complete-game shutout to beat Grasso Tech. Anderson struck out three to earn the first win of his varsity career.

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What is going on with meat processing facilities in North Texas?

Texas Game Wardens posted about another meat processing bust where they found 22 deer unfit for human consumption on its Facebook page Friday. The wardens found the spoiled meat on Dec. 18 during a routine inspection at Backyard Taxidermy and Deer Processing in Decatur, which is a city about 40 miles north of Forth Worth.
Students at the University of Colorado Boulder began the spring semester yesterday the way they ended the fall semester: online. But that will change Feb. 14, when the students will be welcomed back to campus for in-person learning.The university decided to begin the semester online and set the Feb. 14 date with the purpose of eliminating any uncertainty about what the semester would look like. It was one of the main lessons learned from the fall semester that school administrators have incorporated into their strategy for having a less chaotic second half of the school year.The main two lessons administrators are focusing on are eliminating the uncertainty and focus more on the social aspects and effects of the pandemic. A stronger relationship with local health organizations and partners is also a reason they hope the semester will be conducted relatively uninterrupted.The university had the highest outbreak of COVID-19 in the state during the fall semester and shifted between in-person and online learning and a hybrid model.We learned a couple of [lessons] that are important, said Pat ORourke, the universitys interim chief operating officer. One of the hardest things for our student community as well as faculty and staff was uncertainty and being shifted from different instructional statuses and different expectations, he said.One of the reasons that we delayed the start of spring semester for in-person instruction was to allow things to stabilize within the community so we could be in a situation where well have more certainty around expectations.Another key lesson was that during the fall, a lot of attention was paid to the physical state of the campus  with heavy investment in filtration units for the classrooms and PPE  and those helped greatly and will continue to be a part of the equation. But administrators will attach more focus this semester to the social aspects of mitigating the pandemic while still trying to allow students to continue with family and other relationships and enjoy the college experience.We did learn a lot about the importance of the social factors for our students, faculty and staff, so in terms of lessons learned, I know we invested in more housing and dining and personnel to provide more dining options and doing so in a safe way, said Russ Moore, a professor and university provost.The university has encouraged students, faculty and staff, as well as the families of those individuals, to take advantage of the universitys COVID-19 testing.The school also learned the importance of building alliances with local public health agencies and the city and the county.We know that were going to be tying our activities to the states COVID dial, and thats been very important to us as weve been planning, ORourke said. Were going to continue to look at what other colleges and universities are doing and continue close coordination with our colleagues with the city of Boulder, Boulder County Health and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.




US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged Friday there were "Covid-like" illnesses among staff at a Chinese virology institute in autumn 2019, casting further blame on Beijing as health experts arrived in the country to probe the pandemic's origins.







In a statement, the top US diplomat urged the World Health Organization team that landed in Wuhan, Thursday, where Covid-19 was first detected, to "press the government of China" on the "new information."







"The United States government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the (Wuhan Institute of Virology) became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both Covid-19 and common seasonal illnesses," Pompeo said.







He said this contradicted reports that none of the staff at the institute had contracted Covid-19 or related viruses.







"Beijing continues today to withhold vital information that scientists need to protect the world from this deadly virus, and the next one," Pompeo said.







Covid-19 was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019 and has since billowed out across the world killing more than two million people so far, and infecting tens of millions as it eviscerated the global economy.







The WHO says establishing the pathway of the virus from animals to humans is essential in preventing future outbreaks.







The outgoing administration of Donald Trump has consistently blamed China for Covid-19, which has killed 390,000 people in the United States, with the president routinely calling it the "China virus."







With five days left in his job, Pompeo has been striking out at his primary targets of China, Iran and Cuba.







Earlier in the week, Pompeo alleged that Iran has become a new "home base" for Al-Qaeda, an assertion mocked by Tehran and questioned by experts. (AFP)


Doctor Mai Hong Son, who works at the 108 Military Central Hospital in Hanoi, did not choose nuclear medicine in the first place yet 10 years of hard work and diligent learning have turned him into an award-winning expert and researcher in the field.

Doctor Mai Hong Son, who works at the 108 Military Central Hospital in Hanoi, did not choose nuclear medicine in the first place yet 10 years of hard work and diligent learning have turned him into an award-winning expert and researcher in the field.

Doctor Mai Hong Son.  VNA/VNS Photo

The 37-year-old studied general health major at a university in Ukraine before returning to Vietnam in 2010. Since then he has worked at the Department of Nuclear Medicine of the hospital which is among the health facilities with the most advanced nuclear medicine technologies in the country.

Nuclear medicine was new to young doctors like me at the time, I chose this speciality because I believed in it and for me, new things can bring about success, Son said.

Nuclear medicine involves the use of radioactive materials in imaging, diagnosis and treatment of some diseases.

His first days were the toughest as he lacked technical knowledge of this field. It also required learners to have English skills to study English materials, conduct research as well as operate imported technologies and equipment.

Despite the challenges, Son spent two years to learn specialised English and joined various training and workshops in countries including Australia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.

He can now conduct the two most advanced scanning techniques in Vietnamese nuclear medicine. They include PET/CT (Positron Emission Tomography/ Computed Tomography) and SPECT/CT (Single-photon-emission computed tomography) scans, which are used for diagnosing cancers, neurological, cardiovascular and endocrine diseases.

Son and his colleagues are working on theranostics, a nuclear medicine approach that can help to improve the quality of diagnosis and treatment of diseases, especially prostate tumours and neuroendocrine cancer.

They have also used Yttrium-90 microsphere radioembolisation for the treatment of some 100 patients with primary liver cancer. This treatment technique is among a series of medical works that have won Ho Chi Minh prize, a national award given for a contribution to the development of the national economy, science, technology, culture or arts.

Son has conducted nearly 20 scientific papers and several other research projects at the national level.

Among them, a study evaluating the value of 18F-FDG PET/CT (18F-fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography) protocol in detecting recurrence in post-surgical cancer patients was published by the Asia Oceania Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Biology.

This type of scan has emerged as a powerful imaging tool for the detection of various cancers thanks to the advantages of combining PET and CT.

One of the findings of the study, co-authored with his colleagues and under the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology, is that the dedicated head and neck 18F-FDG PET/CT protocol was useful for the detection and localisation of recurrent and/or metastatic lesions in surveyed patients. This study won first prize at a medical competition in Hanoi.

Son is also very active in international co-operation activities and is the main lecturer of the PET/CT training module under a co-operation framework with South Koreas Seoul University. He also participates in technical projects of the International Atomic Energy Agency and 108 Military Central Hospital.

The doctor has also won various certificates and awards from the Ministry of National Defence and the hospital for his accomplishments.

Doctors who are passionate and willing to learn new knowledge and technology like Son are shaping the future of nuclear medicine in Vietnam.

The country has increasingly applied radiation and radioisotope in the health sector over the past few years.

The application of whole-body FDG-PET for cancer screening, I-131 therapy for Basedow disease and Yttrium-90 microsphere radioembolisation for liver cancer are among the advanced technologies and techniques conducted in Vietnams big hospitals like Bach Mai Hospitals and 108 Hospital.

It is one of my desires that Vietnam will be able to catch up with the world in terms of nuclear medicine, making this an effective treatment method for Vietnamese patients, he said. VNS

Doctor dedicates life to cancer patients Dao Van Tus career in the medical sector is no coincidence. It stems from his childhood.
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Responding to warnings of potentially violent demonstrations, governors across the nation are calling out National Guard troops, declaring states of emergency and closing their capitols to the public ahead of President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration next week.

Though details remain murky, demonstrations are expected at state capitols beginning Sunday and leading up to Bidens succession of President Donald Trump on Wednesday. State officials hope to avoid the type of violence that occurred Jan. 6, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, leaving a Capitol Police officer and four others dead.

The FBI has warned of the potential for violence at all state capitols and has said it is tracking an  extensive amount of concerning online chatter,  including calls for armed protests.

Governors across the country are sending thousands of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., where the National Mall has been closed to the general public as part of an intense security effort. More than a dozen governors also have called out the Guard to protect their own state capitols and aid local law enforcement officers.

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We are prepared for the worst, but we remain hopeful that those who choose to demonstrate at our Capitol do so peacefully, without violence or destruction of property, Michigan State Police Col. Joe Gasper said Friday, as Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the Guards role.

Crews installed a six-foot fence around the Michigan Capitol ahead of expected protests, and ground-level windows were boarded up at a nearby building that houses the governors office. Gasper said an increased state police presence would remain at the statehouse at least through mid-February.

Some windows also were boarded at capitols in Wisconsin and Illinois, both of which activated the National Guard to help with security. Though the Wisconsin Capitol already was closed to the public because of the coronavirus, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers administration told those who had been coming into the Capitol to instead work remotely for the rest of the month.

Law enforcement officials were reducing parking around the capitol building in Madison this weekend and urging people to avoid the area as they braced for potential unrest. There was only one known organized event for the day, an anti-fascist demonstration where free food, drinks and clothes were to be distributed.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is mobilizing up to 1,000 National Guard members over concerns of civil unrest. State officials on Thursday erected a chain link fence around the Capitol, bolstering other temporary and permanent barriers. The California Highway Patrol is refusing to issue permits for rallies at the Capitol.

Were treating this very seriously and deploying significant resources to protect public safety, critical infrastructure and First Amendment Rights, Newsom said in a video message. But let me be clear: There will be no tolerance for violence.

Other governors were encouraging people to stay away from capitol buildings during the coming days. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, closed the Capitol until after Bidens inauguration and activated hundreds of National Guard members. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, said Friday that officials decided to err on the side of caution and close the Capitol from Monday through Wednesday.

Citing the possibility of armed protests, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday began a one-week restriction on public access to the Capitol. Only those who have business with the Legislature or governors office will be allowed inside, and they will have to provide an email showing they have a meeting or are testifying to a legislative committee.

Kelly and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf closed their Capitol buildings for a couple days next week, coinciding with the presidential inauguration. The Pennsylvania Capitol complex already had been closed to the general public because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the new order advises state employees who work in person to take off Tuesday and Wednesday; Monday is the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

While we are not aware of any specific threats at this time, we want to act with an abundance of caution to keep employees safe, Wolfs administration said on its website.

Uncertainty heading into the weekend was a common theme among state officials and law enforcement officers. Many were enhancing security based on past demonstrations or general warnings but without specific expectations about how many protesters, if any, would show up outside state capitol buildings in the coming days.

The National Guard is supplementing security at Washingtons capitol, where people broke a gate and entered the grounds of the governors mansion last week. But Washington State Patrol spokesman Chris Loftis said Friday that there are no known explicit threats detailing the time, place and action of future demonstrations.

We cannot be dismissive of the possible dangers but we should not be alarmists either, Loftis said in an email to media. The state patrol has been directed to meet this discomforting uncertainty with caution, preparedness, resolve, and calm  certainly, a wise course of action for all.

Legislatures in several states, including Indiana and Michigan, also were canceling or limiting their work next week.

Oregons Legislature will convene Tuesday. But the House and Senate have canceled floor sessions and committee hearings, and there will be no in-person meetings. Senate President Peter Courtney, a Democrat from Salem, said the decision was made after consulting with police. Last month, a violent crowd entered the Oregon Capitol, fought with police and damaged the building.

The Republican-led South Carolina House and Senate wont convene in full session next Tuesday or Wednesday, and committees will meet virtually. The Capitol building will be closed from Saturday through Wednesday out of an abundance of caution, state and local authorities said in a joint statement.

Republican leaders of the Missouri House also canceled session for next week. Though several House members had expressed security concerns following the unrest in the nations capitol, a written statement from GOP leadership cited a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the Capitol building as a reason for the cancellation.

Governors in Maryland, New Mexico and Utah all declared states of emergency ahead of potential demonstrations. Fencing was installed in a wide radius around the New Mexico Capitol. Utahs order allows authorities to close the Capitol grounds through next Thursday, the day after Bidens inauguration.

We respect the right of Utah residents to peaceably assemble as guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said in a statement. But we draw the line at threats to physical safety or to the Utah Capitol building. No violence of any kind will be tolerated.



Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Tom Davies in Indianapolis; David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan; Sophia Eppolito in Salt Lake City; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington; Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Don Thompson in Sacramento, California, contributed to this report.

Denton, TX (76205)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. A few storms may be severe. Low around 65F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall may reach one inch..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. A few storms may be severe. Low around 65F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall may reach one inch.
A CORK TD has called on the Minister for Education to publish the contingency plans in place for the Leaving Certificate, and to be transparent and honest with students.

Sinn Fein spokesperson on education Donnchadh O Laoghaire said that the past year has been extremely difficult for sixth-year students and said that the Department of Education has let them down badly.

It is a disgrace that this year group have been let down so badly by the Minister and her Department," he said.

Students need clarity on when and how these will go ahead.

Mr O Laoghaire said that the current changes that have been made to the Leaving Cert paper go nowhere near far enough and said that much more radical change is required".

Sinn Fein spokesperson on education Donnchadh O Laoghaire said that the past year has been extremely difficult for sixth-year students and said that the Department of Education has let them down badly.

The Minister needs to be transparent and honest with students. She must accept at this stage that there is a question over the provision of a traditional Leaving Cert this year. It has not been a traditional 12 months for sixth-year students.

This is urgent  the Minister must communicate with students in a clear and considered way her contingency plans for this years Leaving Certificate. It is the least these students deserve, he said.

Separately, Solidarity TD Mick Barry repeated his call to cancel the Leaving Cert and asked that the Minister guarantee increased investment in third level to allow each student in sixth year this year to be offered a place in college.

Speaking in the Dail yesterday afternoon, the Cork North Central TD expressed concern for the impact the lead-up to the exams have had on Leaving Cert students.

Solidarity TD Mr Barry said that both doctors and students told him that this is now a widespread practice and that one doctor said Leaving Cert anxiety is particularly acute this year.

Mr Barry discussed an open letter which was written to the Minister by a parent of a sixth-year student who suffers from acute anxiety and was offered medication to help her in the lead-up to the exam.

Mr Barry said that both doctors and students told him that this is now a widespread practice and that one doctor said Leaving Cert anxiety is particularly acute this year.

These students have had greater disruption to their Leaving Cert cycle than any other cohort in the history of this State. Not one major disruption, but now two, he said.

However, the President of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) has said that they are expecting the exams to go ahead as normal and believe that it would be very easy to do so.

Speaking on RTE's Today with Claire Byrne ASTI President Ann Piggott said that students and teachers will be returning to the classroom as soon as possible and that there is still a long way to go to June.

Ms Piggott's comments were in response to Senator Timmy Dooley who said that it would be the "best worst option" to cancel the Leaving Certificate exams.

I think its very easy for these exams to go ahead. The reason schools arent operating at the moment is because we want the levels of the virus to go down. Once thats done, we expect everybody back to school, we expect everything running normally and we expect that the exams will certainly go ahead, she said.

Ms Piggott also noted that modifications have been made to the Leaving Cert for this year and said that there are several issues with the calculated grades system.
Two American veterans have raised a fund worth more than US$28,000 to assist residents affected by recent natural disasters in the central Vietnamese provinces of Quang Tri and Quang Ngai.

Ron Harberle and Chuck Searcy, two U.S. veterans, have called on over 110 U.S. citizens to contribute more than $28,000 to their fund.

The financial assistance will be handed over to Project RENEW in Quang Tri Province and the Red Cross Society in Quang Ngai Province on January 25, a representative of Project RENEW confirmed on Thursday.

Project RENEW and the Quang Ngai Red Cross Society will select and give the support to local residents who suffered serious consequences left by last years storms and floods.

Harberle said he had been touched by images of the destruction caused by the natural disasters and decided to do something to help the victims.

Harberle is also a photographer best known for the photographs he took of the My Lai Massacre on March 16, 1968.

Meanwhile, Searcy is cofounder of Project RENEW, which was established to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by cluster bombs and other munitions remaining in Quang Tri Province.

Vietnam was hit by a total of 14 storms in 2020. Among them, seven consecutive storms hit Vietnams central region in October and November.

The natural phenomena unleashed massive amounts of rainfall, which triggered devastating landslides, flash floods, and inundation.

As of November 22, 249 people had been killed and/or missing due to the natural disasters, while financial damage mounted to over VND30 trillion (US$1.3 billion).

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Galveston, TX (77553)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies. Low 77F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies. Low 77F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.
AFP

Since becoming the first Southeast Asian country to legalise medical marijuana in 2018, Thailand has ploughed ahead on the extraction, distillation and marketing of cannabis oil -- eager to capitalise on the multibillion-dollar industry.

The plant itself was finally removed from the kingdom's narcotics list last month, which means licensed providers -- like hospitals -- can now use its leaves, stems and roots in food.

This marks a return to Thailand's culinary past, said doctor Pakakrong Kwankhao, who heads the Centre of Evidence-based Thai Traditional and Herbal Medicine in Chao Phya Abhaibhubejhr Hospital.

"Putting cannabis leaves in the food is our culture," she told AFP Friday.

"In the past before cannabis was banned... we put small amounts as seasoning herbs and we also use it as a herbal remedy."

Last week, the hospital's wellness centre, which has a restaurant, introduced a new menu of Thai dishes offering a different sort of kick.

In the restaurant's bustling kitchen, a cook batters marijuana leaves and fries them to golden crispness, while another sprinkles them in a wok of minced meat with chili.

There are very small amounts of THC in fresh plants, but to avoid over-consumption, the restaurant has a five-leaf maximum limit per customer, said Pakakrong.

"If they have low tolerance, then they may choose the dish with just a half-leaf," she said, warning that those who are pregnant or with certain health problems should avoid the weed-infused menu.

As for other interested foodies, "recent research found that this small amount can improve mood, focus and also creativity," the doctor said.

She added that the restaurant hopes to expand its budding menu to include western fare.

For now, it draws a crowd during lunch, with diners snapping selfies while growing increasingly mirthful with each passing hour.

"Are we laughing because of what we've eaten? I don't think completely anyway," said customer Thierry Martino, a French jewellery designer.

"The cannabis leaf which (the dish) is cooked with gives a little bit of bitterness," he said, adding that his meal was "excellent".

Arsala Chaocharoen says she's eating in the same way ancient Thais used to dine.

"They've put the cannabis leaves in my noodle soup and this is actually an old traditional knowledge of Thais," said the 32-year-old pharmacist, before digging into her "joyfully happy spicy salad" -- a dish of corn-battered leaves served with chili sauce.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW)  This week, Boys & Girls Clubs in Oregon and Southwest Washington are rolling out a new initiative that will boost kids' access to high-speed internet at certain facilities.

Throughout the pandemic, kids who are distance learning have relied on having internet access in order to complete their school work.

Now, thanks to a partnership between Comcast and Boys & Girls Clubs in Portland, Salem, Eugene and Vancouver, Wi-Fi-connected "Lift Zones" are being put in at some facilities, allowing kids can get connected to free high-speed internet.

My name is Veronica and I am a mother of four, three girls and one boy, said Veronica Villanueva. Shes a single, working mom. She said the pandemic has been really tough, with everyone in her home needing to use the internet at the same time.

I would be in meetings and I would say, please everybody off the internet because I have an important meeting that cannot freeze, said Villanueva.

The Boys & Girls Club has been a helpful resource for her and the kids. They go all the time, getting access to the internet and help with homework too. Villanueva said shes noticed her kids' grades have recently gone up.

Terry Johnson, CEO for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Portland Metro Area, said during the pandemic, clubs have expanded hours from noon until 5:30 p.m.

We do health checks. We also ask, require, kids to wear masks, and we keep all of our kids in stable groups that dont cross interact with each other so we can limit any possibility for transmission of the virus, said Johnson.

Johnson said Boys & Girls Clubs primarily serve students from low-income households and marginalized communities.

70% of the kids we serve are black and brown kids, and our families have been impacted in a lot of ways with the pandemic thats been really, really challenging, Johnson said.

But now, through their partnership with Comcast, potentially hundreds of kids who attend club sites will be able to access "Lift Zones" thatll provide Wi-Fi with faster internet for school work.

With the Lift Zones, I think that's another step in the right direction, said Rebecca Gibbons. She is the broadband and digital inclusion manager for the City of Portland. Basically, she works with the county and other organizations to improve access to internet and devices. She said before the pandemic, 10% of households in the area didn't have a home broadband internet connection.

That's at least 65,000 people that don't have internet connections in their homes, and a lot of those are students, said Gibbons.

She said its likely those numbers may have grown by now due to hardships associated with the pandemic.

Gibbons said while the Lift Zone program fills a gap, having high-speed internet at home is still essential for many families out there. Her group, with the help of the community, is working to help find solutions.

Meantime, at the nearly dozen Boys & Girls Club sites that will have a Lift Zone, the hope is that the high-speed Wi-Fi will help kids seamlessly connect to the internet and get their schoolwork done.

Johnson said Comcast is fully sponsoring the Lift Zones, so there's no out-of-pocket cost to the clubs or members.

In addition, thanks to a grant from the Oregon Health Authority, he said Boys & Girls Clubs have been able to waive club fees, so families can attend clubs at no cost at this point.

There is still availability at some locations. To find out more, interested parents can call or visit the Boys & Girls Clubs website of the club nearest to them. Click here for the website for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Portland Metropolitan Area.

He said theyre expecting to offer free club service through the end of March, but are trying to see if they can extend it through the end of June.

While additional "Lift Zones" are expected to launch in the coming days and weeks, these are the locations where they are currently open:

Blazers Club: 5250 NE MLK Jr. Blvd, Portland

Rockwood Club: 454 SE 165th, Portland

West Salem Club: 925 Gerth Ave NW, Salem

Swegle Club: 1711 Aguilas Ct, Salem

Knudson Club: 1395 Summer St NE, Salem

Boys and Girls Club of Emerald Valley: 1545 W. 22nd Ave. Eugene

Other Boys and Girls Clubs offer internet, but speeds are often reduced because of the high number of people using it.

Comcast recently announced that it is extending its offer of 60 days of free internet access to low-income customers through its Internet Essentials program. Gibbons said while the program has helped get people and families connected on a basic level, families have told her group about some limitations, especially if multiple people need to use the internet at once.

Comcast has also said itll be extending free access to all outdoor Wi-Fi hotspots until June 30, 2021. To find Wi-Fi hotspots, click here.
Jenell C. Fenderson, 28, has been charged with felony robbery after authorities investigated three robberies last year at the Lake Forest tollway oasis in Lake County and the OHare Oasis in Cook County, which are both operated by the Illinois Tollway Authority, according to an Illinois State Police news release Friday.
Cryolite is a rare mineral proven to act as a beneficial fluxing agent to reduce energy consumption in aluminium production.

An extensive, systematic exploration program is being planned for the Ivittuut Project.

Ltd ( ) has entered a transformational agreement to acquire the Ivittuut Project in Greenland which is the worlds largest and only source of naturally occurring cryolite - an extremely rare mineral in commercial quantities.

Cryolite is a rare mineral proven to act as a beneficial fluxing agent to reduce energy consumption in aluminium production.

Although the mineral has been found in other places, Ivittuut, in the countrys southwest, is the only place where this mineral has been commercially extracted.

Shares have soared 70% in early trade to 3.2 cents, a new high of more than eight years.

Historical production

It was mined for 120 years before being closed in 1987 with production of 3.8 million tonnes of cryolite recorded by the Greenland Geology Survey Department (this is not a resource or reserve estimate equivalent).

There are indications of further cryolite mineralisation near surface and at depth from 1980s drilling and exploration.

In addition to cryolite, mine workings contain associated minerals including fluorite, siderite, quartz (high purity silica), rare earth elements (REE) and base metals although this is yet to be assessed.

Transformational acquisition

executive chairman Carl Popal said: This transformational 100% acquisition has multi-facet commercial potential for Eclipse.

Ivittuut is unique in so many ways; not only as the worlds only cryolite mine with huge potential for multi-commodity deposits next to an historical port but also as a source of highly sought after heavy rare earth minerals.

This is a global leap forward for the company to expand its interests with unique opportunities in the green energy metals and minerals sector.

He told Proactive that this was a unique situation that had the potential to encompass different commodities, including, high purity silica and heavy rare earths as well as cryolite, in mined and non-mined areas.

This is a 100% acquisition with no partners and we intend to systematically explore the project which is within a mining-friendly jurisdiction with easy access to major North American and European markets.

Ivittuut and the cryolite mine in 1960, showing working open-pit, mine infrastructure, ore and waste dumps and ship-loading facilities.

Extensive amount of core

The company is poised to begin work on this unique opportunity with a vision of firming up the potential and eventually developing producing mines on the tenement.

It plans to undertake systematic exploration using modern techniques to determine any economic or value-adding potential.

Historical mineral exploration included drilling about 19,000 metres of diamond drill core that is stored in a Greenland government facility.

This provides extensive material to be sampled and assayed and Eclipse will undertake a detailed re-logging and sampling with a view to preparation of a JORC Code 2012-compliant resource estimation by an independent resource geologist.

Further recent data will be sought whilst the company is working on the extensive geological and Global Information System (GIS) database over the project area and surrounding known mineralisation.

EPM will also assess the potential for REE outside the immediate Ivittuut mine area and over the Gronnedalaka carbonatite/REE prospect area.

Well-positioned

Popal said: EPM is now well-positioned not only to deliver increasing value for our shareholders by being able to achieve cost-effective results from assay of the 19,000 metres of drill core presently in storage but also delineating short-term opportunities in the highly sought after REE sector.

In the short run, having substantial high purity quartz (silica) still within the pit area puts the -company in a position to potentially be a near-term supplier to the electronic, solar, optical and silicon metal industry. High purity quartz is a highly sought-after industrial mineral.

Satellite image of MEL2007-45 showing the Ivittuut and Gronnedal areas.

Carbonatite deposit

The chairman said: Furthermore, the large tenement area covers Greenlands only known carbonatite deposit in close proximity to Gronnedal port. This deposit could provide an ideal product for neutralising acid mine and process water produced by other miners in the Greenlandic region.

This fits well with the companys mission to excel in the commercialisation of metals and minerals demanded in the production of green energy and required by the industry in the reduction of pollutants.

We have expanded the companys technical team and we are looking forward to working on exploration programs that will deliver results not only on Ivittuut but also on our existing Australian portfolio of uranium, gold, palladium, vanadium and manganese prospects.

The companys technical team is working on the data to schedule an exploration program for 2021 which will be announced in due course.

Consideration

The agreement with Cerium Pty Ltd and Rimbal Pty Ltd is pending shareholder approval and regulatory approvals from the Greenland Government.

Consideration for the Ivittuut project.

From second completion, the company will also grant to Cerium a 3.5% net profit royalty payable in relation to any mineral product recovered from the tenement and sold.

Another material term of the agreement is that, for so long as Cerium holds at least 19% of the total issued share capital of the company, Cerium will be entitled to nominate one director for appointment to the board.

Placement funds

To help fund the acquisition, commitments for a placement of 133,333,334 ordinary shares at a price of $0.015 per share to raise $2 million (before expenses) have been received.

The shares will be issued under the companys existing placement capacity pursuant to ASX Listing Rule 7.1A.
A leading doctor has spoken of his shock that St Patrick's Day parties are being organised two months in advance - and issued a stark warning against mass gatherings of any kind.

People are already arranging events online ahead of the March 17 holiday.

One advertised on social media is encouraging revellers to meet up at "Wetherspoon's Bridge House" at Bedford Street in Belfast city centre.

Although the so-called "St Patrick's Party Nite" has already attracted numerous responses from would-be attendees, JD Wetherspoon's Northern Ireland-born owner Tim Martin told the Belfast Telegraph that he had no idea that a party was being planned at his Belfast pub.

There is no suggestion Wetherspoon's are involved in organising the event, or even had knowledge it is planned.

Expand Close Wetherspoons owner Tim Martin / Facebook

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However, following stark warnings for people not to hold New Year's Eve parties, fears are now growing around St Patrick's Day festivities.

Dr Alan Stout, Northern Ireland's BMA GP committee chair, said any attempts to plan March 17 gatherings are a very worrying development.

"I'm extremely concerned that people are planning any kind of party," he said. "It's far too early to be organising anything like that.

"The next two weeks in hospitals are going to be the worst we've ever seen in Northern Ireland so it concerns me that this is happening."

Dr Stout said that while there is some good news currently in terms of a drop in the infection rate, the situation "is continuing to be really difficult".

"We must learn from the past; the infection spreads by contact so we have to minimise contact," he added.

The east Belfast-based GP also warned that it would be wrong to put the 'cart before the horse'.

"It's too soon to think about parties when we're still in lockdown," Dr Stout said.

"We're vaccinating people really quickly and that will put us in a good position but let's get this virus under control before we ease restrictions too quickly."

Earlier this week, First Minister Arlene Foster said she found it incredible that house parties were still taking place.

Meanwhile, Belfast City Council has cancelled its traditional St Patrick's Day celebration, which normally attracts thousands of people, for a second consecutive year as a result of Covid.

Alliance health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw said it was "horrifying" to learn parties were being organised. She said: "Now is not the time for anyone to be planning St Patrick's Day parties.

"I hope the council and police will take immediate steps to clamp down on this. The vaccination programme is underway but we're not out of the woods yet. It's incredibly selfish that people are already planning parties.

"Do they still not realise that there's a direct link from a party to hospital intensive care units where exhausted doctors and nurses are treating numerous very ill Covid patients?"

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Pam Cameron, the vice-chair of the Health Committee, said: "It is highly irresponsible for anyone to organise a large St Patrick's day gathering at this time."

Mr Martin said he had no knowledge that there were plans to have a party at his popular Belfast hostelry on March 17.

"I admire the organiser's enterprise and his faith that we will be out of lockdown by then," he said.

"I'd also like him to make sure that he gives me an invite if restrictions are lifted and this event does indeed go ahead."
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New Delhi, Jan 16 : Seven out of the 10 most popular Chief Ministers are from the Opposition parties, while seven out of the 10 worst performing Chief Ministers are from the BJP/NDA camp, as per the IANS C-Voter State of the Nation 2021 survey.

As per the survey, BJP Chief Ministers are the least popular CMs currently. In all BJP/NDA ruled states, the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is several notches higher than the popularity of the BJP Chief Ministers.

Non-Congress CMs are at times relatively at par or slightly more popular than Modi within their respective states. However, even the worst performing BJP/NDA CMs are more popular than Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in their respective states.

Rahul Gandhi's leadership seems to be more of a liability rather than an asset for the Congress. All the Congress CM faces are way more popular than their Central leadership. The Congress is unable to emerge as the fulcrum of the Opposition.

Among the poll-bound states, the Chief Ministers of Kerala, West Bengal and Assam have scored way better than the national average, thus indicating a pro-incumbency sentiment in these states as far as CM candidates are concerned. The CMs of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are among the bottom lot as far as satisfaction ratings are concerned, indicating anti-incumbency sentiments brewing up in these states, the survey found.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik is the most popular Chief Minister in the country, followed closely by Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi and Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh.

On the other end of the spectrum is Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat, arguably the least popular Chief Minister in India followed closely by Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Punjab CM Amarinder Singh with the lowest satisfaction ratings in their respective states.

Out of those surveyed, 11 Chief Ministers scored higher than the all-India average (42.8) nett approval ratings. Odisha, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh have the most popular leaders while 11 Chief Ministers score below the national average.

By this metric, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand have the three least popular Chief Ministers in the country. Three large states governed by the BJP or its allies score below the national average -- Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar.

The Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and West Bengal are doing better than the national average. It would be an overreach to read too much into the CM ratings as leaders often lag the unpopularity of their governments or legislators. Nevertheless, it is an important framework to view the state of politics in the country.

Among the smaller and middle sized states, Haryana, Kerala and Punjab are lacklustres for PM Modi. Punjab in particular is the only state in the country to return a negative nett approval for Modi. Perhaps a consequence of the ongoing farmers' protests.

The Chief Ministers of Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have a higher nett approval rating than the Prime Minister within their respective states.

Out of these states, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are states where the BJP is eyeing expansion. BJP/NDA's primary vote catcher is Modi, but if his charisma stalls in these states, then future gains may be limited.

On the flipside, the Opposition's universe is limited to these non-Congress dominated states. In other words, the Congress is currently unable to mount an effective opposition to the ruling party and any worthwhile opposition comes from the non-Congress leadership.

This state of affairs is best reflected in the nett ratings of Rahul Gandhi and the respective state CMs. Rahul Gandhi is uniformly rated in the negative either vis-a-vis his party CMs or the others. Therefore, Modi's relative unpopularity against some Chief Ministers is not benefiting Rahul Gandhi in any way.

Maharashtra, due its high index of opposition unity, is slipping away from the grasp of the NDA. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is very popular on account of joint support from the Shiv Sena, Congress and the NCP.

The next best is Chhattisgarh where CM Bhupesh Baghel is able to hold fort at a nett approval rating of 1. Jharkhand and Rajasthan are witnessing their usual cycle of anti-incumbency and the NDA may notch some electoral gains based on the relative popularity of Modi. The prospects of the Congress-led Opposition are mixed at best, even after the recent setbacks suffered by the government.

The Chief Ministers of the states who are not aligned to either national parties are doing really well. Only Telangana CM is relatively less popular than Modi in his state.

The Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Delhi, Odisha and West Bengal are relatively more popular than Modi.

The inherent message is twofold: First, the BJP finds it difficult to unseat non-Congress regional leaders; and second, the Congress has failed to gravitate anti-BJP or even non-BJP vote towards itself.

Hence, it can be concluded that an effective future challenge to the BJP will have to take into account the rejection of Congress' centrality to opposition leadership.

The survey was carried out among over 30,000 respondents across the country.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
DES MOINES, Iowa  The Iowa Chiropractic Board has placed a Clear Lake chiropractor on probation for three years.

A complaint against Dr. Nicholas McColley was filed in January 2020. McColley was accused of inappropriately touching a male child patient. A police investigation into the allegation ended with no criminal charges being filed.

The Iowa Chiropractic Board held a hearing on the complaint and has now entered into a settlement with Dr. McColley. As a result, his license will be on probation for three years and another person shall monitor Dr. McColley while he is treating or providing services to patients for that time.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had not mentioned any constitutional clauses while recommending dissolution of the lower house to President Bidya Devi Bhandari, showed a leaked paper from the Supreme Court of Nepal on Friday. Supreme Court received the leaked letter from Oli's Office, after the judicial order in December, last year, which showed PM Oli not mentioning any constitutional and legal provisions while recommending lower house dissolution.

READ | Nepal PM Oli Dissolved Parliament On India's Orders, Met R&AW Chief: Prachanda's New Twist

The leaked paper stated, "There is a necessity of two-third majority Government. According to basic essence and values of Nepal's Constitution and Parliamentary system and practice of our own and various countries with a parliamentary system, it is to be recommended to President to dissolve House of Representatives of incumbent Federal Assembly and head for polls on April 30 for the first phase and May 10 for the second phase."

READ | Embattled & Cornered, Nepal PM KP Oli Sending Foreign Min To 'reclaim' Indian Territories

The four-page document which is the only evidence of the recommendation sent to the President's office does not mention any constitutional basis or clauses on the basis of which PM Oli dissolved the parliament.

During the full bench discussion over the petition filed against Oli's move to dissolve the parliament, a copy of the letter of recommendation to the President was presented as a piece of evidence. Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana on Friday confessed that original copy of the submitted document has been withdrawn by PM Office leaving only a copy of it.

READ | Nepal Approves Use Of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Vaccine Covishield Produced In India

Nepal's Foreign Minister visits India

Meanwhile, Nepal's Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, who is on a three-day visit to India, met External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar at Hyderabad House in Delhi on Friday.

Nepal plunged into a political crisis on December 20 after President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved Parliament on the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli and announced the mid-term general election in April-May, a decision termed unconstitutional, impulsive and autocratic by the Opposition and dissidents in the ruling Nepal Communist Party. Oli had earlier claimed that efforts were being made to oust him after his government redrew the country's political map by incorporating three strategically key Indian territories.

READ | Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli's Government Recommends House Dissolution; Goes To Meet President

(With ANI Inputs)
China has yet again pinned the blame on COVID transmission to travelers entering the country or contaminated frozen food imports, the National Health Commission (NHC) said.

NHC Minister Ma Xiaowei made the comments at a government meeting, where he also said the virus was spreading to rural areas and that the handling of the recent situation had exposed how prevention and control measures had been relaxed.

Reuters

"Since Dec. 2020, epidemic clusters have occurred in Beijing, Sichuan, Liaoning, Hebei and Heilongjiang," a statement posted on the NHC's website said citing the briefing by Ma.

"They mainly have the following characteristics. Firstly, they are all imported from abroad, caused by travelers from overseas, or contaminated cold-chain imported items."



Concerns over cases growing

Total case numbers remain well below what China saw at the height of the outbreak in early 2020, but concerns about a new wave are growing with the Lunar New Year a month away.

Reuters

WHO in China to investigate COVID origins

This surge comes as a World Health Organization-led (WHO) team of investigators are in quarantine in the city of Wuhan, where the disease was first detected in late 2019. The team aims to investigate the origins of the pandemic that has now killed nearly 2 million people worldwide.

China is the only country to claim COVID-19 can be transmitted via cold chain imports, even though the WHO has downplayed the risks, and has been pushing a narrative via state media that the virus existed abroad before it was discovered late last year in the central city of Wuhan.

The country has in the past week seen the number of daily cases jump to an over 10-month high, and for Jan. 15 reported 130 new coronavirus cases in the mainland, versus 144 cases a day earlier.

AFP

Of those cases, 115 were local infections, 90 of which were in Hebei province surrounding Beijing that has been hit hardest in the latest wave.

Another 23 cases were found in northeastern Heilongjiang province while two cases were reported in Beijing. The authority also reported 79 new asymptomatic patients, which it does not classify as confirmed cases, were found on Jan. 15 compared with 66 a day earlier.

Over 28 million people under lockdown

About 28 million people have been put under lockdown so far as a result and Ma said the latest outbreak had quickly spread widely due to activities such as wedding banquets or large group gatherings, and that it was difficult to control as community transmission had already occurred when cases were discovered.

Xinhua warned on Saturday, however, that government officials should not "cry wolf" and be too quick to declare that they are entering "wartime mode", saying that it could increase unnecessary panic and affect normal production.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 88,118, while the death toll remains unchanged at 4,635.
Alex Salmond's legal team say the former first minister is concerned that his appearance at a Holyrood committee would leave him 'in jeopardy of criminal prosecution'.

The response comes after the Scottish Government expressed disappointment in his refusal to appear in person before Holyrood's inquiry into the botched investigation of sexual harassment claims against him.

The former first minister was invited to give evidence next Tuesday, but his lawyer rejected the request, citing public health concerns and the Scottish Government's refusal to publish its legal advice.

Mr Salmond offered to appear in person on February 16, stating that the original date offered was unsuitable.

Former First Minister Alex Salmond and his legal team (pictured in January 2019) have argued that Mr Salmond's appearance at the committee investigating the handling of sexual harassment allegations against him could leave him open to a criminal prosecution

David McKie, of Levy & McRae who are representing Mr Salmond, also raised concerns over Mr Salmond's ability to 'tell 'the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth' under threat of a charge of perjury', with Mr McKie saying: 'How do you propose he does so when that inevitably involves reference to material in the criminal proceedings and when doing so leaves him open to prosecution?

'You are aware that there are multiple documents of fundamental importance to your inquiry which were part of disclosure in the criminal trial.

'We have pointed this out for months now in numerous letters.

'We wish these to be available to the committee but have now been warned on a number of occasions by the Crown Office that supplying these to you, or even identifying them for you to recover, would constitute an offence.'

Earlier this week, it was reported Mr Salmond's team has been in a legal wrangle with the Crown Office over the disclosure of documents obtained by him during his trial at the High Court last year where he was cleared of a series of charges of sexual misconduct.

The Crown Office said he would be committing a criminal offence by divulging the information to the committee, and the letter said an extension would allow more time to sort any issues out.

In the letter, Mr McKie also raised concerns over the current Covid-19 restrictions in Holyrood, saying: 'You publicised your invitation for next week in the full knowledge of the contrary advice from the Presiding Officer to suspend in-person Committee meetings.'

Alex Salmond has also cited public health reasons for rejecting an invitation to appear before the committee

Under advice, all committee meetings will be held virtually for the foreseeable future.

Mr McKie added: 'He is perfectly willing to travel to your committee meeting as long as it can be completed safely and can be properly regarded as being for work or an essential purpose in conformity with the regulations.

'This is not a question of personal preference, it is about following the Parliament's own advice on in-person meetings.'

A Scottish Parliament spokeswoman said: 'While there is rightly a strong presumption against committees meeting in person, the Presiding Officer understands that there may be a small number of circumstances where essential committee business cannot be effectively undertaken by any means other than meeting in person.

'As the Convener made clear to Mr Salmond's solicitor, the Committee would be happy to work with Mr Salmond to find a way to allow him to give evidence in a safe and secure way.

'The Committee will meet in private next Tuesday to consider its work programme including Mr Salmond's latest response.

'However, the Committee is clear that all evidence to it must comply with the relevant legal obligations.'

Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon's appearances in front of a Holyrood inquiry have previously already been delayed by Covid curbs.
Phone Scams Reported in Graves, Weakley Counties

By West Kentucky Star Staff

GRAVES COUNTY / WEAKLEY COUNTY - Two different telephone scams were reported over the past week in Graves County and Weakley County.In Graves County, reports have been received of calls that claim to be from Sheriff Jon Hayden or a specific deputy with the Sheriff's Office.The scammer will tell the person they called that they have committed a crime or failed to appear in court. They will then ask for money to be sent, or else a warrant for their arrest will be issued.While the caller ID may indicate that the call is coming from a phone number that belongs to the Sheriff's Office, it's actually a scammer in another location "spoofing" the number to entice one to answer the call.The Sheriff's Office reminds everyone that they will never ask for money in lieu of being arrested, or a warrant or summons being issued for someone.They suggest that if such a call is received, to hang up immediately.According to KYTN, a telephone scam in Weakley County dealing with COVID-19 has been reported.One elderly resident said a caller asked for their bank account information in order to obtain a prescription for a COVID-19 shot.The Weakley County Sheriff's Office says this is an obvious scam, and to hang up if such a call is received.They also encourage everyone to advise their elderly relatives of this scam so they are not exploited.
After three days of negotiations, the Ukrainian and Turkish delegations fully agreed on the text of the draft social security agreement between Ukraine and the Republic of Turkey.

The second round of Ukraine-Turkey negotiations on signing the social security agreement was fruitful and constructive. The result of the three-day work was harmonization of the text of the draft social security agreement which, in turn, gives us the opportunity to sign this important document for both countries in the future, Ukraines Deputy Social Policy Minister Vitaliy Muzychenko told an Ukrinform correspondent.

He noted that the main tasks facing officials are the welfare of citizens, creation of additional guarantees of their basic rights, including the right to pension and social security.

The next step will be the preparation of a bilateral administrative agreement which should provide a practical mechanism for the effective implementation and application of the provisions of the Ukraine-Turkey social security agreement. In the near future, the Ukrainian side will prepare a draft agreement and will start consultations with the Turkish side.

As reported, the second round of talks on signing the social security agreement between Ukraine and the Republic of Turkey was held in Ankara on January 12-14.

As of July 16, 2020, almost 16.5 thousand Ukrainians had a Turkey residence permit and most of them lived in Istanbul, Antalya and Ankara.

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Responding to warnings of potentially violent demonstrations, governors across the nation are calling out National Guard troops, declaring states of emergency and closing their capitols to the public ahead of President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration next week.

Though details remain murky, demonstrations are expected at state capitols beginning Sunday and leading up to Bidens succession of President Donald Trump on Wednesday. State officials hope to avoid the type of violence that occurred Jan. 6, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, leaving a Capitol Police officer and four others dead.

The FBI has warned of the potential for violence at all state capitols and has said it is tracking an " extensive amount of concerning online chatter, " including calls for armed protests.

Governors across the country are sending thousands of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., where the National Mall has been closed to the general public as part of an intense security effort. More than a dozen governors also have called out the Guard to protect their own state capitols and aid local law enforcement officers.

We are prepared for the worst, but we remain hopeful that those who choose to demonstrate at our Capitol do so peacefully, without violence or destruction of property, Michigan State Police Col. Joe Gasper said Friday, as Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the Guards role.

 READ MORE: Gov. Wolf doubles the amount of Pennsylvania Guard members sent to help in Washington

Crews installed a six-foot fence around the Michigan Capitol ahead of expected protests, and ground-level windows were boarded up at a nearby building that houses the governors office. Gasper said an increased state police presence would remain at the statehouse at least through mid-February.

Some windows also were boarded at capitols in Wisconsin and Illinois, both of which activated the National Guard to help with security. Though the Wisconsin Capitol already was closed to the public because of the coronavirus, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers administration told those who had been coming into the Capitol to instead work remotely for the rest of the month.

Law enforcement officials were reducing parking around the capitol building in Madison this weekend and urging people to avoid the area as they braced for potential unrest. There was only one known organized event for the day, an anti-fascist demonstration where free food, drinks and clothes were to be distributed.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is mobilizing up to 1,000 National Guard members over concerns of civil unrest. State officials on Thursday erected a chain link fence around the Capitol, bolstering other temporary and permanent barriers. The California Highway Patrol is refusing to issue permits for rallies at the Capitol.

Were treating this very seriously and deploying significant resources to protect public safety, critical infrastructure and First Amendment Rights, Newsom said in a video message. But let me be clear: There will be no tolerance for violence.

Other governors were encouraging people to stay away from capitol buildings during the coming days. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, closed the Capitol until after Bidens inauguration and activated hundreds of National Guard members. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, said Friday that officials decided to err on the side of caution and close the Capitol from Monday through Wednesday.

Citing the possibility of armed protests, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday began a one-week restriction on public access to the Capitol. Only those who have business with the Legislature or governors office will be allowed inside, and they will have to provide an email showing they have a meeting or are testifying to a legislative committee.

Kelly and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf closed their Capitol buildings for a couple days next week, coinciding with the presidential inauguration. The Pennsylvania Capitol complex already had been closed to the general public because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the new order advises state employees who work in person to take off Tuesday and Wednesday; Monday is the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

While we are not aware of any specific threats at this time, we want to act with an abundance of caution to keep employees safe, Wolfs administration said on its website.

 READ MORE: He was running for Bucks County DA. Now hes helping the Pentagon instead after the Capitol insurrection

Uncertainty heading into the weekend was a common theme among state officials and law enforcement officers. Many were enhancing security based on past demonstrations or general warnings but without specific expectations about how many protesters, if any, would show up outside state capitol buildings in the coming days.

The National Guard is supplementing security at Washingtons capitol, where people broke a gate and entered the grounds of the governors mansion last week. But Washington State Patrol spokesman Chris Loftis said Friday that there are no known explicit threats detailing the time, place and action of future demonstrations.

We cannot be dismissive of the possible dangers but we should not be alarmists either, Loftis said in an email to media. The state patrol has been directed to meet this discomforting uncertainty with caution, preparedness, resolve, and calm  certainly, a wise course of action for all.

Legislatures in several states, including Indiana and Michigan, also were canceling or limiting their work next week.

Oregons Legislature will convene Tuesday. But the House and Senate have canceled floor sessions and committee hearings, and there will be no in-person meetings. Senate President Peter Courtney, a Democrat from Salem, said the decision was made after consulting with police. Last month, a violent crowd entered the Oregon Capitol, fought with police and damaged the building.

The Republican-led South Carolina House and Senate wont convene in full session next Tuesday or Wednesday, and committees will meet virtually. The Capitol building will be closed from Saturday through Wednesday out of an abundance of caution, state and local authorities said in a joint statement.

Republican leaders of the Missouri House also canceled session for next week. Though several House members had expressed security concerns following the unrest in the nations capitol, a written statement from GOP leadership cited a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the Capitol building as a reason for the cancellation.

Governors in Maryland, New Mexico and Utah all declared states of emergency ahead of potential demonstrations. Fencing was installed in a wide radius around the New Mexico Capitol. Utahs order allows authorities to close the Capitol grounds through next Thursday, the day after Bidens inauguration.

We respect the right of Utah residents to peaceably assemble as guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said in a statement. But we draw the line at threats to physical safety or to the Utah Capitol building. No violence of any kind will be tolerated.

Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Tom Davies in Indianapolis; David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan; Sophia Eppolito in Salt Lake City; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington; Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Don Thompson in Sacramento, California, contributed to this report.

It's all in a days work but Lily James seems happy to be sharing a smooch with her handsome co-star in these intimate scenes.

But it could be her last on-screen kiss for some time, as The Mail on Sunday understands that filming on her new romcom was brought to a halt on Friday when a fellow actor tested positive for coronavirus.

Ms James got intimate with Joshua Collins as they filmed a scene revolving around a Tinder date for Whats Love Got To Do With It? in London before the third lockdown was imposed.

It could be Lily James's last on-screen kiss for some time, as The Mail on Sunday understands that filming on her new romcom was brought to a halt on Friday when a fellow actor tested positive for coronavirus. Pictured: James kissing co-star Joshua Collins while they film a scene for her latest film

But now the entire production has been put on hold after an unnamed co-star contracted Covid.

The male actor went down with coronavirus so that was it, everything shut down and those who came into contact with him were told to isolate for the next ten days, said a source. Nobody knows when they will be back to work but it has thrown a spanner in the works.

They had been lucky with this movie, being able to film so much of it outside, and the on-site testing has been extremely professional.

Everyone involved in the production has been told that the health and safety of the cast and crew is the most important thing now.

The movie, written and produced by socialite and journalist Jemima Khan, is thought to be 31-year-old Lilys first role since she hit the headlines last summer by canoodling with Dominic West, her co-star in a BBC adaptation of The Pursuit Of Love, after filming in Rome.

When photographs of the couple in the Italian capital emerged, 50-year-old West returned to the UK and then staged a very public show of unity with his wife Catherine FitzGerald, kissing for the cameras outside their Wiltshire home.

Ms James got intimate with Joshua Collins as they filmed a scene revolving around a Tinder date for Whats Love Got To Do With It? in London before the third lockdown was imposed

But now the entire production has been put on hold after an unnamed co-star contracted Covid

The couple, who have been married for ten years and have four children, even posted a handwritten note on the gate to the familys home, reading: Our marriage is strong and were very much still together.

Described as a cross-cultural comedy, Whats Love Got To Do With It? also stars Dame Emma Thompson, Rob Brydon, Spooks actor Shazad Latif and Asim Chaudhry from the BBC comedy People Just Do Nothing.

Ms Khan has previously been seen on the London set. Some scenes have also been shot in South Asia.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 16, 2021 - 08:48 | All, Japan, World

Work to remove oil that leaked from a stranded Japanese freighter along the coastline of Mauritius has been mostly completed about six months after the environmental disaster, according to the owner of the ship.

The bulk carrier Wakashio, owned by Nagashiki Shipping Co. in Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, ran aground off Mauritius in late July and began spilling more than 1,000 tons of oil into the pristine environment in early August when one of its five fuel tanks cracked.

"All visible oil has basically been removed," a Nagashiki Shipping official said.

Mauritian authorities still need to confirm the outcome of the cleanup effort before it is officially completed, according to the shipping company.

The front section of the vessel has already been scuttled and preparations are under way to sink the rear section in an operation starting in February.

Regarding the cleanup, environmental groups have expressed concern about the impact of the spill on a sanctuary for rare wildlife, as it is difficult to completely remove oil from coral reefs and tangled mangrove roots.

Removing oil from coastal mangrove forests is particularly difficult as cleanup efforts can lead to deeper penetration of oil beneath the surface, according to a Japanese team of environmental experts dispatched to the accident site.

In response to the incident, Japan dispatched disaster relief teams to Mauritius in August and September to give advice and undertake an assessment of the ecological impact, followed by a survey mission in October that investigated the socioeconomic effects on local communities.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said during his visit to Mauritius in December that Japan is considering offering 30 billion yen ($289 million) in loans to the Indian Ocean country to help it recover from the oil spill and develop its economy.

Separately, Japan will also extend 600 million yen in grant aid to Mauritius to support its disaster risk reduction efforts, Motegi said.

In August, local police arrested the vessel's captain, an Indian national, together with the first officer, a Sri Lankan, on suspicion of negligence in operating the vessel.

They are believed to have navigated close to the shore to pick up a mobile network connection.

Related coverage:

Mitsui O.S.K. vows to raise safety measures after Mauritius oil spill

Mauritius oil cleanup to be completed by January: ship owner

Japan eyes offering 30 bil. yen loans to Mauritius after oil spill
Kanshi Ram worked out an additive strategy of visualising Indian society and argued for an identity-based representational space for communities in the Indian political system. An important implication of such an imagination of the political process was to turn the logic of caste from its existing vertical frame to a horizontal one. However, considering that this vision of democratisation through community-based hissedari in the political domain having confronted a major block, a different language of politics needs to be invented towards an imagination of substantive citizenship or absolute equality in the words of Kanshi Ram.

Kanshi Ram was born in 1934 in the family of Ramdasia Sikhs in Khawaspur village of the Ropar district of Punjab. Even though he did not support a turban, as Sikhs mostly do, and his name did not carry the title Singh, a common feature of male Sikh names, Ramdasias are all Sikhs.1 They were originally a part of the larger cluster of the Punjabi Chamars. However, over the years, they have come to see themselves as a separate group, with a sense of distinctive identity of their own (Chandra 2000). Their identification with Sikhism presumably goes back to the fourth Sikh guru, Guru Ramdas, who they believe made them a part of the Sikh movement. Ramdasias were also one of the four groups within the Sikh community who were included in the state list of Scheduled Castes (SCs) on the insistence of the Sikh members of the Constituent Assembly, the only non-Hindus to be listed in the scheduled list for the benefit of reservations at that time.

Being Sikhs did not mean a complete escape from social hierarchy for the Ramdasias. Their status in the local context remained almost at par with the group they had seceded from. However, Kanshi Rams immediate family had experienced social and economic mobility over the previous two generations. His grandfather had joined the British army as a jawan (soldier), which helped him accumulate some surplus that was invested in setting up a leather tanning unit after his retirement. The family also owned some agricultural land and could be described as fairly well off (Narayan 2014: 15).
Nepal does not accept interference in its domestic politics as it is capable of handling its internal problems, Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said on Saturday, in comments that came against the backdrop of China wading into the political turmoil in the Himalayan nation following the dissolution of its parliament.

Gyawali's assertion came at a media interaction when asked about China's attempt to play a role in the aftermath of fast-paced political developments in Nepal last month.

"We never accept interference in our domestic politics. We are able to settle our own problems. As a close neighbour, there may be some concerns or questions but we never accept interference," the Nepalese foreign minister said.

Nepal plunged into a political turmoil following Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli's sudden decision to dissolve parliament and call for fresh elections in view of internal feud in the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP).

As the crisis deepened, China rushed a high-level team headed by Vice Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Guo Yezhou to Kathmandu to hold talks with the rival factions within the NCP after the Chinese ambassador in the country failed to sort out differences.

Also read: India-Nepal ties offer limitless potential: Rajnath Singh

The team held talks with almost all top Nepalese leaders but had to return empty-handed. The Chinese meddling in Nepalese political developments triggered strong criticism within Nepal.

Gyawali said Nepal's relations with both India and China are excellent and that it never compares ties with each other.

Asked about the political crisis and role of NCP leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal who is popularly known as Prachanda, Gyawali refused to make any direct comment and said as foreign minister of the country, he represents everyone in Nepal.

At the same time, the Nepalese foreign minister justified Oli's decision to dissolve parliament saying he followed the democratic principle of seeking fresh mandate from the people whose decisions are supreme in a democracy.

"In democracy, people are the final authority to decide about who will govern. I think dissolution of the parliament is a reflection of the internal issue. It is not wise to blame anybody," Gyawali said.

"Prime Minister Oli thought that time has come to seek a fresh mandate in line with universally accepted practice of seeking people's views," the Nepalese foreign minister said.

Asked about the boundary row between Nepal and India, Gyawali said both the countries have common commitment to resolve the issue.

"We have the common commitment to resolve it. The sanctity and security of the border is extremely important for expanding the overall developmental cooperation... We both have realised the urgency (to resolve the border issue)," he said.

Ties between India and Nepal came under severe strain after Nepal last year published a new political map that showed three Indian territories  Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh  as part of Nepal.

Also read: India, Nepal make efforts to restore normalcy to ties

When asked about India's assertion that the areas were its part, Gyawali said that "historical documents speak the reality", in an indication that they belonged to Nepal.

"We can sit together with mutual trust to find a solution," he said. Gyawali, accompanied by Nepalese Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal, arrived here on Thursday on a three-day visit.

On Friday, Gyawali held wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar covering the entire expanse of bilateral ties.

In the interaction, he also batted for an early review of the Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship treaty of 1950 and flagged concerns over his country's increasing trade deficit with India.

Asked whether Nepal was looking to procure coronavirus vaccine from both India and China, Gyawali said the supply of vaccines should be viewed as global public good and that scientific aspects should determine decision making and not political judgement.

He said affordability, availability and promptness in supply, as well as compatible infrastructure to store the vaccines in Nepal, will determine its decisions on their procurement.

In their talks on Friday, Jaishankar and Gyawali held a comprehensive review of all aspects of bilateral ties including border management, connectivity, trade, power, oil and gas, water resources, capacity building and tourism among others.

It was the first high-level engagement between the two sides after relations nosedived following the boundary row.
Wolf Holt on Friday finally opened a brick-and-mortar shop for his business, Bad Wolf Ghost Tours, after months of delays caused by the ongoing pandemic and the protests that raged just outside his storefront last year.

As excited as he was, worries of more violence weigh on his shoulders much like the rest of the country ahead of President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration.

The San Antonio Police Department issued a statement Friday saying they do not anticipate any local demonstrations or violence.

At this time, there are no known public safety concerns here regarding the upcoming inauguration, officials said. We will increase visibility and continue to monitor our city alongside our Federal, State, and Local law enforcement partners to ensure our community is safe.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonios Frost Bank confirms layoffs, its first in nearly two decades

Holt and other downtown business owners are also closely monitoring developments. Memories still linger of the vandalism and looting of stores on East Houston Street at the end of a largely peaceful Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.

Im terrified, Holt said. We were the only one on this block that didnt have any of the windows boarded out.

Thankfully, his windows were left alone, but he said stores like his are responsible for fixing or replacing them.

Yeah theyre covered by insurance, Holt said, but how long does that take where Im staying daily in this store before the new window comes in?

The windows at Rocket Fizz next door to Holts space were shattered and looters emptied the shelves of soft drinks and other merchandise. The video footage is still on social media after all this time.

Mike Ghori owns El Vaquero, a cowboy apparel store next door to Rocket Fizz that was also vandalized. Despite his concern, he is not planning to board up his business for next week.

At 76, Ghori said he cant put the boards up himself and would have to pay a crew $300 to put them up. He then has to shell out $300 more to have them removed.

He said he is still waiting on a business loan that has yet to go through. Business has been slow since the pandemic began.

You have seen it, its dead, Ghori said. At noon, this street used to be the nice walking street.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio woman accused of election fraud out on bond

Holt is also not planning to board up his business.

I cant board up, I need people to come in, Holt said. I need to be able to make money.

Across the street and around the Alamo, other businesses are not quite as worried.

During the 2020 presidential election, many businesses in the area boarded up their stores for a second wave of violence. Nothing happened.

Other business owners have noted that the perimeter of the Alamo was largely protected by a heavy police presence during multiple demonstrations.

Ariel Thatcher, who manages two stores along Alamo Plaza, including Smoke to Live, said everything was fine when they boarded up shop during the election. They also dont have any plans to board the shop up for the inauguration.

If we do, it will probably be for a day or two like last time, Thatcher said.
TriggerPhoto/iStockBy JOHN SANTUCCI, MOLLY NAGLE, KATHERINE FAULDERS, and ELIZABETH THOMAS, ABC News



(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump plans to make the unprecedented move to depart the White House next Wednesday morning, just before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, ABC News has learned.



Trump has requested a large sendoff to be planned for the morning of Jan. 20, sources said, after he choppers via Marine One to Joint Base Andrews, where he is expected to give remarks to supporters and departing members of his administration.



Sources add that Trump has requested his departure ceremony to have a "military-like feel," although details are not finalized.



The president will then fly down to Mar-a-Lago aboard Air Force One with a small number of staffers who will be part of his post-presidency operation, the sources said.



Meanwhile, it's been revealed that Vice President Mike Pence spoke with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Thursday, just six days before the inauguration, according to sources familiar with the call, first reported by The New York Times.



Pence, unlike Trump, is expected to attend the event, according to a source familiar with his plans. His call to Harris came 68 days after Biden and Harris were projected as the winners on Nov. 7.



Thursdays call also is the first known communication directly between the highest-ranking elected officials of the current outgoing and incoming administrations since Trump claimed he won on election night and for months following the vote.



It is unclear if Trump has called Biden to concede. He defiantly announced on Twitter just before the social media platform permanently suspended his account that he would not be attending the inauguration.



Trump's plan to leave the White House the morning of the inauguration, an unmatched break with tradition, would come two weeks after inciting a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that left five dead and his historic second impeachment a week later.



ABC News' Justin Gomez contributed to this report.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Local

National opioid crisis, litigation affecting East Texans

The national opioid crisis has led many governmental entities, including Angelina County, to join in on a large-scale lawsuit against large pharmacies like Walmart.

This lawsuit has already had big implications on the lives of East Texans.

It started years ago with the opioid crisis that ravaged the United States in communities large and small. Data from 2018 shows 128 people die after overdosing on opioids every day in the U.S.  from prescription pain relievers to heroin to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the total economic burden of prescription opioid misuse alone in the U.S. is $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of health care, lost productivity, addiction treatment and criminal justice involvement.

Joe Brown, attorney for the Eastern District of Texas at the time, set his sights on Walmart as the primary target for the blame of the prescription opioid crisis, eventually adding other big names like CVS and Walgreens, for allegedly filling prescriptions from doctors who were overprescribing narcotics and enabling abuse.

Adding to that, the Department of Justice had conducted a civil investigation into Walmarts pharmacies for many years.

The Angelina County Commissioners Court authorized the filing of a lawsuit against various opioid manufacturers, developers and suppliers in August 2018, County Attorney Cary Kirby said.

The purpose of the lawsuit was, and is, to seek the lawful reimbursement of monies spent and costs incurred by Angelina County as a result of the opioid epidemic, Kirby said.

A legal team consisting of Simon, Greenstone, Panatier, Bartlett, P.C., Paul D. Henderson, P.C. and Dies & Parkhurst, L.L.P. was retained to represent the county, and a lawsuit was filed on Nov. 14, 2018. It remains pending at this time, Kirby said.

As you are probably aware, thousands of similar lawsuits were subsequently filed by cities and counties across the United States, he said. The litigation filed by Angelina County, as a result, has essentially become part of a large class action-type lawsuit against the various named defendants. If this county prevails in the litigation, as part of a class settlement, or otherwise, it is believed that funds will be made available to the county for purposes of offsetting the previously incurred costs of the opioid epidemic in our community, as well as for purposes of combating its ongoing effects.

However, Walmart has sued the DOJ to seek clarity for pharmacists in dispensing prescription opioids. In a press release, the company claims its pharmacies have blocked thousands of questionable doctors from having their opioid prescriptions filled by any of its pharmacies, and the company frequently assists law enforcement in bringing bad doctors to justice.

Unfortunately, certain DOJ officials have long seemed more focused on chasing headlines than fixing the crisis, the press release states. They are now threatening a completely unjustified lawsuit against Walmart, claiming in hindsight pharmacists should have refused to fill otherwise valid opioid prescriptions that were written by the very doctors that the federal government still approves to write prescriptions.

There is no federal law requiring pharmacists to interfere in the doctor-patient relationship to the degree the DOJ is demanding, and expert federal state health agencies routinely say it is not allowed and potentially harmful to patients with legitimate medical needs, the press release states.

Dr. Jake Brown, the physician medical director of the emergency department of Woodland Heights Medical Center, said the federal government issued guidelines for medical professionals on prescribing and reporting opioids through an online service called E-Prescribe beginning on Jan. 1, 2021.

The service is the electronic transmission of prescriptions for controlled substances from eligible health care providers to the pharmacy. Compliance requires two-factor authentication and safeguarding of passwords.

Brown said he has not had any issues with that system or the communication of controlled substances to pharmacies. He also stressed another aspect to the E-Prescribe process called PMP Aware.

This service tracks every patients prescriptions for a controlled substance.

If you were prescribed a controlled substance two years ago, I could access the database and see what you were prescribed, who prescribed it, where it was filled, and it also calculates a risk score for overdose, Brown said. So if someone is being prescribed multiple different narcotics or other controlled substances by multiple doctors across multiple facilities and multiple facilities, that significantly increases their overdose risk score.

Rather than having to call other pharmacies and see if a patient is being prescribed other narcotics or controlled substances, this is a centralized service health care professionals can access, Brown said.

It doesnt always save time. The service is required for every patient, regardless of his or her medical history, and in the emergency department, they are often dealing with acute illness and injury, Brown said.

It probably slows the process down somewhat, but at the same time, it does prevent the use of narcotics and other controlled substances for people that might be coming in with chronic issues or issues that might seem to be acute but in reality are chronic, he said.

The fact that it may slow me down in some areas is more than offset by the fact that its going to probably help save other peoples lives who do not need additional narcotics or other controlled substances.

Walmart and other pharmacies have made efforts in the last few years to address concerns brought up regarding opioid prescription filling. However, this has resulted in many patients having difficulty filling their regular prescriptions.

Brittany Hanes, main clinical pharmacist at the Medicine Shoppe in Lufkin, said they have seen some patients coming from other pharmacies that have started instituting more stringent guidelines.

There are more hoops they have to jump through now, as well, to be able to help patients, Hanes said. Sometimes insurance companies will kick back prescriptions, and the pharmacy will only be able to fill a seven-day supply or will have to work with the physician to acquire the proper authorizations.

However, their pharmacy isnt always able to accommodate because they cant fill just anybodys prescription, Hanes said.

As a pharmacist, Ive got a duty to make sure its a valid doctor-patient relationship, all my Ts are crossed, my Is are dotted, I check the PMP for the state to see if theyre filling anywhere else, but thats not enough anymore, Hanes said.

Pharmacists used to be able to hide behind the PMP, proving they checked to see if it was a valid prescription written correctly within date, but now, pharmacists are being called to the witness stand and asked why they kept filling the prescription when red flags were going off in their head.

As a result of that, weve taken a hard look at our opioid filling process, so as such, weve really created a more robust opioid stewardship program, Hanes said. We even have a patient opioid pledge, so that way patients know what to expect from us  what were doing to help keep them safe but also what we can expect from them.

Its a balance, she said. The goal is not to withhold medication from those who truly need it, but they are limited on the doses they can even receive from manufacturers and they have to account for why they are ordering the amount they order.

One of the most important aspects to the relief efforts of this opioid crisis is education, Hanes said. For someone with an addiction, it does not necessarily help them to simply not receive the prescription.

However, through the opioid stewardship plan, they provide patients with the requirements and begin a dialogue with them and their doctor throughout the relationship.

Its a team approach, Hanes said.

The stewardship plan also includes a calculated milligrams morphine equivalent. If that number is more than 50, studies have shown that patients are at an increased risk for an overdose or a breathing emergency.

I dont like the word overdose because usually its not an intentional overdose or even an overdose at all, Hanes said. We call it an opioid-induced breathing emergency or just a breathing emergency.

This can happen to individuals who are taking their prescription just as the doctor ordered, but they may have COPD, they may be taking a benzodiazepine or an antidepressant or some kind of sedative, or they contracted pneumonia or COVID-19 and their lungs have been weakened.

Any of that in addition to an opioid can cause a patients breathing to be slowed, and they end up not breathing. Thats why Hanes and the Medicine Shoppe recommend Narcan Nasal Spray to all their patients who have opioids in the house. She equated it to a person who is highly allergic to nuts or bee stings who keeps an EpiPen around just in case of an allergic reaction.

If the patient begins to experience shallow or no breathing, pinpoint pupils, blue fingertips and lips, cannot be woken, etc., they can be laid on their back and one spray of the Narcan can be given up the nostril to reverse the effects quickly, giving emergency services enough time to respond, Hanes said.

We hope that anyone with opioids in their house has a Naloxone prescription in their first aid kit, just so if its ever needed, its there, Hanes said.

Physicians are beginning to talk to patients more about Narcan, pharmacists are beginning to talk more about Narcan to their customers, and the education is spreading, but there is still a stigma surrounding it, Hanes said.

Im showing them that I care. Its not that I think they are a druggie or theyre going to abuse their medication or theyre going to take it wrong, Hanes said. Its almost like the Swiss cheese model  its the layering on of multiple things.

I want to decrease the stigma of Narcan. Some patients, when I start talking to them about their MMEs or Narcan, the idea of that, they say, Oh, no, I dont need that, Im not a druggie. I dont abuse this. Ive been on this medication a long time. So I take that opportunity to educate them, to decrease that stigma. No one looks down on anyone getting an EpiPen because they have an increased risk for an anaphylactic reaction to bees.

This is important to Hanes because she lost her stepfather to a breathing emergency. He had switched to a new medication that began helping him a lot more, and Hanes said the family was excited for him. However, he also developed pneumonia, and because he was so used to his back pain, they never knew because he was unaware of the pain developing in his chest.

He stopped breathing one night, and we did CPR and we couldnt wake him up, Hanes said. This stuff happens. He was very meticulous about not taking any more than the doctor said, and he was very concerned about the stigma if he went a day early to pick up his pain medication. I dont want anyone to go through that.

UT Health San Antonio School of Nursing received a grant from Narcan, and they are distributing Narcan for free through MoreNarcanPlease.com. Visit the site for more information on the project led by Dr. Lisa Cleveland.

Many insurances cover Narcan, but at cash price its about $130-$150, Hanes said. They just recently received a shipment from the grant and they are deciding how best to get it into peoples hands.
Ryan Perez, the Philadelphia police officer who was notified that he is being fired after being charged this week with disorderly conduct and related counts, had a previously unblemished Police Department record and will work to clear his name in court and get his job back, his attorney said Friday.

This is an officer who has an otherwise impeccable record as a police officer. Hes been an officer in the 25th District for a good number of years without any Internal Affairs action against him. This is the first time he has had any kind of interaction with those folks, said defense attorney Steven B. Patton.

Perez, 30, a five-year member of the police force, was charged with two counts of disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, and public drunkenness. Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw has suspended him for 30 days with the intent to dismiss.

Officer Tanya Little, a department spokesperson, said Perez engaged in an act of vandalism during an off-duty incident on Dec. 7, 2019, at approximately 11 p.m. in the 12000 block of Townsend Road. She provided no other details.

But a source familiar with the case said the charges stem from a neighbor dispute that had been simmering for some time in Perezs Far Northeast community. The feud boiled over the night in question, resulting in Perez breaking a window in the neighbors house, the source said.

Any incident, conduct, or course of conduct that indicates that an employee has little or no regard for his/her responsibility as a member of the Police Department, is charged with Conduct Unbecoming, which is a dismissible offense, said Little.

John McNesby, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, said he was not aware of the details in the case or if Perez had contacted the union. The commissioner can terminate anybody for anything. Thats when we have to step in and get the circumstances of the case and move forward that way, he said.

Anthony Erace, acting executive director of the citys Police Advisory Board, the civilian oversight agency for the Police Department, said officers should be held to a higher standard than others, and that the decision to terminate Perez was appropriate. His guilt or innocence will be decided in court, he added.

I hope that higher standards are something we can continue to look forward to in the future, said Erace, who previously worked eight years as an investigator in the Philadelphia Office of the Inspector General.
A US cargo ship docks at the Qingdao Port, Shandong province. [Photo by Yu Shaoyue/For China Daily]

U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war with China has caused a peak loss of 245,000 U.S. jobs, but a gradual scaling back of tariffs on both sides would boost growth and lead to an additional 145,000 jobs by 2025, a study commissioned by the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) showed.

This report fully demonstrates that the essence of Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations is mutually beneficial and win-win, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian commented on Friday.

"The Trump administration's launch of a trade war against China will not solve the United States' own problems. It will only harm others and itself," he said, adding that China hopes that the U.S. will listen carefully to rational domestic voices, work with China in creating a favorable atmosphere for the healthy development of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation.

USCBC represents major American companies doing business in China. It said the study by Oxford Economics also includes an "escalation scenario" which estimates a significant decoupling of the world's two largest economies could shrink U.S. GDP by $1.6 trillion over the next five years. This could result in 732,000 fewer U.S. jobs in 2022 and 320,000 fewer jobs by 2025, it said.

USCBC President Craig Allen said it was important that the group articulate the consequences of policy choices in the U.S.-China relationship.

"In the case of the tariffs, it's very important that we understand the full economic cost of these choices," Allen told a press briefing.

The study estimates that U.S. exports to China support 1.2 million American jobs and that Chinese multinational companies directly employ 197,000 Americans, while U.S. companies invested $105 billion in China in 2019.

"With China forecast to drive around one-third of global growth over the next decade, maintaining market access to China is increasingly essential for U.S. businesses' global success," the study said.

(With input from Reuters)
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New Delhi, Jan 16 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday monitored the real-time data of Covid-19 immunisation across all the states after virtually launching the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive.

Modi was constantly monitoring the updates of all the vaccination activities at 3,351 session sites across the country from his official residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg here.

The Centre on Saturday said that over 1.91 lakh beneficiaries were inoculated on the first day of the vaccination drive across the country and no case of post-inoculation hospitalisation has been reported so far.

A total of 16,755 personnel were involved in organising the vaccination sessions at 3,351 sites.

"A total of 1,91,181 beneficiaries got inoculated for Covid-19 on the first day of the massive nationwide vaccination drive," the Health ministry said in a statement.

According to the sources, the Prime Minister heaped praises on the staff who vaccinated the beneficiarieson Saturday.

He also directed the key officials associated with the inoculation process to be in continuous touch with the vaccination centres.

Earlier in the day, Modi had tweeted, "India begins the world's #LargestVaccineDrive. This is a day of pride, a celebration of the prowess of our scientists and hardwork of our medical fraternity, nursing staff, police personnel and sanitation workers." He added that in the second phase, 30 crore people will get vaccinated. "Those who are elderly, who are suffering from serious illness, will get inoculated at this stage," he said.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
On both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, there is much bustle and churn, as lawmakers, administration officials and staff members  both incoming and outgoing  work toward a smooth transition of power in Washington.

Ordinarily, there are endless meetings and receptions. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers start playing musical offices well before the new term officially begins. Out goes the old. In comes the new. Furniture is swapped out. Boxes of personal items are brought in to give the offices that human touch. With all the family photos, mini fridges and books being unpacked, the sprawling Capitol complex takes on the vague feel of that first day of college.
Bengaluru, Jan 17 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said B.S. Yediyurappa is doing a "very good job" as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, adding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state will not only complete its five-year term but also return to power with absolute majority.

Shah's statement assumes significance as for quite a long time, both the opposition Congress and a section of BJP leaders have been openly charging that Yediyurappa and his family members are allegedly indulging in corruption in the state.

Speaking at the inauguration of police quarters in Bengaluru, besides virtual inauguration of the Indian Reserve Battalion campus at Vijayapura and launch of the Emergency Response Support System here, Shah said that Karnataka government under the stewardship of Yediyurappa is progressing "very well and a lot of development work has also taken place since the BJP came to power".

"Hence, we (BJP) will not only complete a five year term here but also come back to power in Karnataka with a majority of our own," he said.

Suggesting the Opposition leaders to stop 'speculating anything' about the BJP, he said that the party had been working for the people and therefore it is bound to come back to power.

"I have been of late reading statements of Congress leaders who are busy in speculating that this will happen on one day and that it will happen in Karnataka on another day. But I want to clarify to everyone that the BJP government will not only complete the five year term but also return to power for five years with absolute majority," he exhorted and asserted that whoever speculates must know one thing that Yediyurappa is really working hard.

Nearly a dozen BJP legislators have rebelled against Yediyurappa soon after the cabinet expansion was carried out on Wednesday as they were left out.

Referring to the Covid-19 vaccination drive, Shah said the drive has started in the country in a "big way" and the results will be visible in the next one or two months.
welcome@times.co.sz

MBABAne  The 2019/2020 financial year looked to have been a positive year for mobile telecommunications company Eswatini Mobile.

Regulator of the telecommunications industry  the Eswatini Communications Commissions (ESCCOM) - has highlighted that during the past financial year, the mobile operator saw the number of its subscribers grow considerably.

Eswatini Mobile, formerly known as Swazi Mobile, was granted a licence on February 17, 2017 and became the third telecommunications operator after MTN Eswatini and the Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC).

In the commissions latest report for the financial year ended March 30, 2020, which was published on Tuesday, it is stated that during the end of this reporting period, mobile cellular subscriptions in the country reached 1 124 386, which translates to a nine per cent increase from the 1 034 5692 mobile cellular subscriptions recorded at the end of 2018/19.

Subscription increases are mainly attributed to a significant annual growth in Eswatini Mobile subscriptions of 92 per cent. MTN Eswatini, which has an 85 per cent market share of mobile subscriptions, only grew by one per cent, the regulator, through its Chief Executive Officer, Mvilawemphi Dlamini, reported.

subscribers

When taking these numbers into consideration, they mean that from 2018/2019 to 2019/2020, the number of mobile cellular subscribers in the country increased by 89 817 and 92 per cent of this figure shows that Eswatini Mobiles subscribers increased by 82 631 while those of MTN Eswatini went up by 898.

Eswatini Mobile also recorded an increase in the fixed internet broadband subscriptions and its markets share is now second only to EPTC, which recorded a decline of almost six per cent.

While EPTC, through Eswatini.net, has 47.3 per cent market share from 54.2 per cent in the 2018/2019 financial year and 72 per cent in 2017/2018, Eswatini Mobile now enjoys 25.3 per cent market share, which is a slight growth from the 25 per cent in 2018/2019 and a huge increase from the 5.7 per cent in 2017/2018.

MTN Eswatini, on the other hand, has a market share of 11 per cent of the fixed internet broadband subscription, which is an increase from the 6.6 per cent recorded in 2018/2019 and 6.2 per cent in 2017/2018.

MTNs market share is below that of Real Image, with the latter service provider enjoying a 11.1 per cent share, which is a decline from the 11.4 per cent in 2018/2019 and 12.4 per cent in 2017/2018.

The rest of the market share is spread among other service providers such as Jenny (three per cent in 2019/2020; 0.7 per cent in 2018/2019 and 0.5 per cent in 2017/2018), Touch IT (two per cent in 2019/2020; two per cent in 2018/2019 and two per cent in 2017/2019) and others (0.4 per cent in 2019/2020; 0.5 per cent in 2018/2019 and 0.5 per cent in 2017/2018).

ESCCOM said the Eswatini fixed internet broadband services were mainly delivered through fixed-wired and fixed-wireless technology.

Fixed-wired broadband subscriptions, namely; copper and fibre, have been on a downward trend since FY2017/18. Fixed-wireless subscriptions on the other hand, have been on an upward trajectory, growing by 26 per cent from 9 731 subscriptions in FY2018/9 to 12 289 in FY2019/20, surpassing fixed-wired, which in FY2018/19 was at 12 283 from 13 082, a decline of six per cent, the CEO reported.

Meanwhile, Dlamini reported that 2G and 3G technology continued to dominate mobile network connections, largely attributed to an extensive investment in network rollout, spanning over a decade.

He said 2G and 3G accounted for 42 per cent of total mobile connections in March 2020 alone.

Dlamini said the 4G/LTE connectivity, which was introduced in 2016 accounted for 15 per cent of total mobile connectivity in the same month.

The growth in mobile connectivity during the 2019/20 financial year is also reflected in the mobile penetration rate, which increased from 95 per cent in 2018/19 to 103 per cent in 2019/20, the CEO said.

increased

He said mobile broadband subscriptions increased from 724 035 in March 2019 to 849 121 in March 2020.

He said data and voice mobile-broadband subscriptions, on the other hand, which are typically smartphone-based with voice and data used in the same terminal, accounted for 97 per cent of total mobile broadband connection growth.

Dlamini further said data only mobile subscriptions, however, declined by 17 per cent in 2019/20.

The CEO also reported that used international internet bandwidth over EPTCs international internet links continued to increase in 2019/20, reaching 9 600Mbps in March 2020, up from the 6 340Mbps in March 2019.

On average, he pointed out, used international internet bandwidth in the period was 7 572Mbps, also up from 5 745Mbps in the FY2018/19.

This increase in international internet bandwidth capacity is a reflection of higher demand and usage of broadband services. Eswatini.net and Eswatini Mobile accounted for the largest increase in average used international internet bandwidth capacity in FY2019/20, he said.

When it comes to traffic, Dlamini reported that domestic voice traffic, which is the total number of minute calls made by subscribers within Eswatini, over both mobile and fixed lines in the 2019/2020 financial year increased by 12 per cent to reach 2.7 billion minutes from a recorded 2.4 billion minutes in 2018/19.

On-net traffic which accounts for the largest share of domestic voice traffic was reportedly the main driver of this growth, while off-net traffic grew by 22 per cent.

The higher usage of voice services was underpinned by an increase in mobile cellular subscriptions and fixed line subscriptions. It is worth noting that off-net traffic performance over the medium term resulted from the commission implementing market reforms to promote competition in the Call Termination Market, and consequently reduced the cost of communication, the CEO reported.

He stated that outbound roaming traffic, which is total call minutes made and received by domestic subscribers using local mobile network SIMs out of the country on foreign networks, declined slightly from 5 021 469 minutes to 4 959 252 minutes in 2019/20.

market

Dlamini said the outcome of the SADC Home and Away Roaming Project, which is in its last phase of implementation, remains a positive possibility for the roaming market.

In the event roaming tariffs are reduced and harmonised in the SADC region, usage of roaming services is expected to increase and consequently cause an increase in roaming traffic, the CEO said.

With Eswatini Mobile and MTN Eswatini using 2G, 3G and 4G (LTE) technologies, the CEO said these service providers have combined network coverage of over 98 per cent population coverage for 2G, 90 per cent for 3G and almost 60 per cent coverage for 4G/LTE.

These service providers, according to Dlamini, were currently engaged in an aggressive expansion exercise for 4G/LTE networks with plans to attain at 85 per cent population coverage in the next three years.

He said 5G was the next big leap in the telecommunications industry and the Kingdom of Eswatini will not be left behind, stating that one of the local operators had already committed to undertaking a limited 5G pilot as early as the first quarter of 2021 in preparation for a wholesale deployment in 2022.

ESCCOM is responding to ensure that the required spectrum is available, and all regulatory tools are in place to manage the transition and other related issues. The commission is also looking at operationalising the sector CIRT and expanding capabilities in fighting cybercrime, the CEO added.

Former vice president of World Bank, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili has explained that #FixPolitics School of Politics, Policy and Governance,...

Former vice president of World Bank, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili has explained that #FixPolitics School of Politics, Policy and Governance, SPPG, was established with a view to set right the mindsets of the electorate and politicians for a new values-based political class.

Ezekwesili who is also a former Nigerian minister of Education is also the founder of #FixPolitics, the organisation behind the new school.

While responding to questions from journalists and content writers during the launch of SPPG, the former Minister said it was focused on building leaders from bottom of the base and letting leadership become the most important conversation in the public space.

She noted that lack of quality leadership has caused Africa too much as a continent.

Ezekwesili said, Poverty mentality is not just about not having money. It is also about paucity of ideas. We are training a cadet of leaders on our continent that are going to have dignity in themselves and have a sense of value where they are not subordinating the public good for self-interest. We are addressing the mindset shift. That is the kind of curriculum we are delivering.





We need to change the mindset of our people, take the matter of public leadership more seriously, ensure that the leadership recruitment system is quality-driven as seen in other countries, and have a literate public ecosystem as well as a deliberate design of public leadership development systems.

The aim of SPPG is to bring about change in the thought process and way politicians live and serve as well as to inculcate the right political value and culture in the electorate, according to a statement from spokesperson of FixPolitics, Mr. Ozioma Ubabukoh.

Ubabukoh said the school will also set a new order for an African political system that will create a critical successor generation of leaders.

The SPPG was unveiled to the media, on Thursday, during a virtual launch with the theme, Preparing Nigerias future leaders today; developing a new generation of disruptive thinking values-based political class.

This initiative is not about 2023, not even about 2027 general elections. It is about bringing a major shift in public service and how we practise our politics, the statement added.





In her presentation at the event , the Interim Chief Executive Officer of SPPG, Mrs. Alero Ayida-Otobo, said the school, which is one of the three pillars of the #FixPolitics initiative, emerged in recognition of the dismal performance of public leadership in Africa.

She said Africa had continued to lag behind other regions of the world in most objective-measurable indicators of human and economic development.

Research suggests that central to this continental under performance is politics, specifically a culture of leadership that inherently subverts the public good by elevating personal and parochial interests above the collective wellbeing of citizens.

As such, the SPPG is integral to the fulfilment of the #FixPolitics mission to elevate the office of the citizen to its rightful place in our nation and develop a political class of servant leaders, Ayida-Otobo said.

The SPPG interim CEO said the school had set a target to train 3,000 persons (with 1,500 women and 1,500 young people) who will be interested in running for elective offices in the first three years of operation.





It also plans to reach 10,000 political leaders at the grassroots through its decentralised learning systems via its school alumni over the next decade, Ayida-Otobo added.

In a welcome remark, the #FixPolitics Executive Director, Anthony Ubani, said to translate and move the lofty thoughts to action, the Work Study Groups of FixPolitics recognised the invaluable significance of the late Nelson Mandela  Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

The New Year's travel nightmare will soon be over for thousands of Victorians after Premier Daniel Andrews relented on border restrictions, lifting a travel block on Brisbane and flagging the state would reopen to most of Sydney within the next "couple of days".

At least 5000 Victorians stranded in greater Brisbane for over a week can come home immediately after Mr Andrews said his public health team was satisfied by Queensland recording no new cases of community transmission for 14 days and would downgrade Brisbane to an orange zone from 6pm Saturday.

Premier Daniel Andrews announced Victorians in Brisbane will be allowed to return home after more than a week of travel blocks. Credit:Penny Stephens

Sydney will be next, the Premier said, with travel blocks set to be whittled down to only a selection of local government areas in western Sydney by Monday, allowing thousands more Victorians to return home and reviving what is normally one of the world's busiest flight routes.

There will be a significant shift in the next couple of days, Mr Andrews said on Saturday.
A new Commission of Inquiry to study human rights allegations By Namini Wijedasa President to make announcement soon of a new body to study recommendations of previous commissions View(s): View(s):

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is poised to name a new three-member Commission of Inquiry (CoI) mandated with looking into reports of previous panels and finding closure to burning issues, just days before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) takes up Sri Lankas case in Geneva,

These will include the findings of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, the report of the UN Secretary- Generals Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka (Darusman report), the findings of the Presidential Commission to Investigate Complaints Regarding Missing Persons (Parangama Commission report) and all the reports of the UNHRC.

The Government will also tell the UNHRC when Sri Lankas case is taken up from late February to early March that it will revisit certain clauses of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and that the Attorney General (AG) is studying the cases of PTA detainees in prison for extended periods of time, said Admiral (Prof) Jayanath Colombage, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

There is a small group of LTTE detainees, these are not ordinary people, they were hardcore terrorists, but they are kept in detention for a very long period, some as long as 15 years, Admiral Colombage said, in an interview with the Sunday Times this week. The President has accepted that it may not be the most right, correct thing. The Attorney General is personally paying attention to that.

Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena first promised the UNHRC in March last year that Sri Lanka would set up a new CoI to review the reports of bodies that previously investigated allegations of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law; assess the status of implementation of their recommendations; and to propose deliverable measures to implement them keeping in line with the new Governments policy.

The Cabinet has now approved the new CoI, Secretary Colombage said, adding that its terms of reference were being streamlined and that an announcement is expected within a week. As expected, it will be headed by a retired or serving Supreme Court judge. He attributed the nearly year-long delay in setting up the body to COVID-19 priorities, dissolution of Parliament, elections and the formation of a new Cabinet.

Admiral Colombage insisted that the Government was not time-buying with yet another commission. The world has changed, he said. The evidence has changed. We are not reinventing the wheel. Were trying to find out where things are. Through this high-powered Commissionon, our objective is to find closure to the burning issues that we have.

These issues, according to the international community, are accountability, large-scale human rights violations and independent mechanisms to address these two, he said.

Admiral Colombage cautioned against impugning the CoIs efficacy based on the appointing authority being President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who, as then Secretary of Defence, played a direct role in executing the war that some international actors allege saw the execution of war crimes on a large scale.

He is not going to appoint the Commission as the Secretary of Defence, he insisted. He is appointing it as the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. And this is a pledge we made in Geneva to the UN Human Rights Council.

The CoI will identify good things from previous bodies of inquiry that were appointed and determine why their recommendations were not implemented over 11 years, he said. It will look at the UN reports and see what theyre saying about the figures, about the evidence they supposedly have. It will also study the various resolutions before the UNHRC and identify the commitments made, those kept and those that are yet to be implemented.

There is also interest in finding a solution to the nagging issue of missing personshow many there are, the circumstances of their disappearance, the payment of compensation or reparation, whether to issue death or certificates of absence, etc.

Admiral Colombage pointed out that attempts to replace the PTA with a Counter-Terrorism Act were discarded after four years by the previous Government which held the draft unsuitable. The AGs Department has again been assigned to scrutinise the law which was first introduced in 1979 as a temporary measure and made permanent in 1982.

I think the Government is now determined to revisit the PTA and see whether any clauses are not consistent, or some clauses are inconsistent, with international best practices, and to make corrections, the Secretary said.
Australian govt rebukes Google for blocking local content

Canberra, Jan 15(UNI) The Australian government on Friday urged Google to focus on paying for more Australian content instead of blocking it.

This step by the Australian government came about after media reports said Google was not showing Australian news websites in searches. This was confirmed by Google which stated that it was blocking the sites for a small number of users, BBC reported.

Google further added that this was an experiment that was being carried out to determine the value of its service to Australian news outlets.
His speech on national resilience in the face of COVID-19 at the ADSW Summit on 19 January, will follow the keynote by His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Special Envoy for Climate Change and Chairman of Masdar, and is expected to help set the agenda for a green recovery in a post-pandemic world.

ADSW Summit will feature more than 70 high-level speakers from around the world and broadcast online across different time zones to engage audiences across various geographies and markets. The agenda runs over three two-hour sessions that focus on the pillars of "Live & Move," "Care & Engage," and "Work & Invest," with each pillar exploring social, economic and technological opportunities to set and support a sustainable recovery.

The speakers at the one-day virtual ADSW Summit will also include: H.E. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Managing Director and Group CEO Mubadala Investment Company; H.R.H Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, Founder and CEO, KBW Ventures; H.E. Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment of the Republic of Singapore; H.E. Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Founder & CEO, Kalimat Publishing Group; H.E. Eng. Awaidha Murshed Al Marar, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Energy; Francesco La Camera, Director General, IRENA; Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director UN-Habitat; Noel Quinn, Group Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Holdings; Laurence Fink, Chairman and CEO BlackRock; and Dr. Lucas Joppa, Chief Environmental Officer, Microsoft, in addition to many other high-level speakers.

ADSW 2021, which is supported by Abu Dhabi's Department of Energy as a Principal Partner, will feature a series of high-level virtual events, including the ADSW Summit, IRENA Assembly, Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum, Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum, Youth 4 Sustainability Virtual Forums and the World Future Energy Summit Webinars.

Through initiatives and events, ADSW is committed to the sharing of knowledge, implementation of strategies and the delivery of real-world solutions to address the challenges related to sustainability and climate change. As the first global event in the UAE's Golden Jubilee year, ADSW 2021 will help galvanize further collaboration among government, business and community stakeholders to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals

For over a decade, Abu Dhabi has provided a sustainable platform for the global community that has grown through its initiatives and events to emerge as a thought leader and catalyst that accelerates sustainable development around the world.

The 2020 edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week hosted around 45,000 attendees from 170 countries, with more than 500 high-level speakers from around the world.

To ensure the safety of all participants, ADSW 2021 and all related high-level events will take place virtually. The physical program of ADSW will return in 2022.

Register now for the ADSW Summit at www.adsw.ae

About Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week

Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) is a global platform for accelerating the world's sustainable development. The week brings together a unique fusion of policy makers, industry specialists, technology pioneers and the next generation of sustainability leaders. Through its initiatives and events, ADSW is a catalyst for sharing knowledge, implementing strategies and delivering solutions to drive human progress.

ADSW is committed to furthering our understanding of the major social, economic and environmental trends shaping the world's sustainable development.

About Masdar

Abu Dhabi's renewable energy company Masdar is advancing the commercialization and deployment of renewable energy, sustainable urban development and clean technologies to address global sustainability challenges. Wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company, the strategic investment company of the Government of Abu Dhabi, our mandate is to help maintain the UAE's leadership in the global energy sector, while supporting the diversification of both its economy and energy sources for the benefit of future generations. Today, Masdar is active in more than 30 countries, including the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Egypt, Morocco, the UK, the US, Australia, Spain, Serbia, India, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and many more.

SOURCE Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week

Zelensky asks Merkel to help Ukraine get COVID-19 vaccine

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in a telephone conversation with Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel discussed the supply of vaccines against coronavirus (COVID-19) disease.

"The main task now is to protect the most vulnerable categories of citizens, namely, the elderly, medical workers, military personnel. The appearance of certified vaccines gives us all hope," Zelensky said, according to the presidential press service.

The interlocuters discussed in detail the situation in Ukraine and Germany due to COVID-19 pandemic and the supply of vaccines against this disease.

Zelensky has asked Merkel to help accelerate Ukraine's vaccine delivery.
Another 5,074 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Massachusetts, according to health officials, bringing the number of active cases to 93,597 statewide.

Additionally, the Massachusetts Department of Health on Friday announced another 75 deaths related to the virus. So far through the pandemic, at least 438,371 residents have tested positive for the coronavirus and 13,231 residents have died.

Currently, 2,201 people are hospitalized with COVID, including 451 in the intensive care unit and 293 who are intubated, according to data from DPH. The seven-day average of hospitalizations is 2,236, starting to trend downward after months of increases. In August, the state saw a low average of 155 COVID patients in the hospital.

Fridays new cases follow 100,968 new molecular tests. The seven-day average of positive tests stands at 6.45%, much higher than a low of 0.8% reached in September, but starting to trend downward. Without including tests at higher education institutions, where COVID cases have remained low, the states seven-day average is 7.7%, according to DPH data.

The seven-day average of confirmed cases is 3,591, showing a downward trend despite high case counts earlier this month. From Jan. 3 to 9, the state saw the highest number of COVID cases for Massachusetts to date, with more than 41,000 cases.

There are now 229 towns and cities in the state that have been labeled by DPH as high-risk for spreading the virus.

Since vaccinations began last month, 32,984 people have reached full vaccination with a second dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. In total, 239,174 doses have been administered in Massachusetts, according to DPH data.

As part of an effort to prevent hospitals from becoming overcrowded during the pandemic, DPH last summer announced that nearly all students would be required to get a flu vaccine. On Friday, the department said that requirement was being eliminated for the 2020-2021 school year, as the flu season has been mild so far.

In Massachusetts schools, 523 students and 407 staffers tested positive for COVID from Jan. 7 to 13, not including students who are learning remotely.

Cumulative COVID cases by county:

Barnstable: 7,040

Berkshire: 3,859

Bristol: 43,643

Dukes: 641

Essex: 69,855

Franklin: 1,550

Hampden: 32,211

Hampshire: 4,887

Middlesex: 90,918

Nantucket: 967

Norfolk: 34,206

Plymouth: 30,799

Suffolk: 64,158

Worcester: 52,317

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People helps motorbike drivers through a flooded street under the rain on Vo Van Ngan Street of Thu Duc District, HCMC, June 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

The Dutch government will support HCMC and its newly created Thu Duc City with urban development, including flood mitigation.

At a meeting with Dutch diplomats in Vietnam, deputy chairman of Ho Chi Minh City, Le Hoa Binh, said he hoped "the Netherlands will help Thu Duc City deal with urban flooding and make it a new city that is sustainable and adapts well to climate change."

Thu Duc City, created by merging districts 2, 9 and Thu Duc, comes into being in March this year.

It is expected to function as an "innovative urban area" encompassing the hi-tech park in District 9, the university precinct in Thu Duc District and the new urban area and financial center on the Thu Thiem Peninsula in District 2, helping fulfill HCMCs plans to become a smart city.

Elizabeth Akkerman, the Dutch ambassador to Vietnam, said the Netherlands would help HCMC and Thu Duc City become smart cities and prevent flooding and provide them with advanced construction technologies.

HCMC and the Dutch government have so far signed several memorandums of understanding in areas like flood protection and water supply.

In May 2019 HCMC sent a delegation of officials and experts to the Netherlands to study its urban development and flood management methods.

Recently the city Department of Foreign Affairs announced that the Dutch government and businesses seek to carry out an anti-flooding project in Thu Duc City in the form of a public-private partnership at a cost of more than $1 billion.

To carry it out, the Dutch government requires the citys guarantee, support and preferential conditions, Tran Phuoc Anh, acting director of the department, said.

The department has called for completing the formalities for the project, he said.

District 2, home to a large expat community, suffers regular flooding after heavy rains.

Thu Duc District is the most elevated area in HCMC, but that has not helped it escape seasonal flooding, and its residents suffer from inundation of streets and even houses every time there is heavy rain or a high tide.

Vo Kim Cuong, the citys former deputy chief architect, said last September that HCMCs flood control efforts have been too tardy, and as a result even high places like Thu Duc have seen worsening floods in recent years.

While the existing drainage system is outdated and yet to be upgraded, more buildings have come up across the city, reducing the drainage capacity, Cuong said.

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Thousands of Britons today flew into the UK and were pictured arriving at the country's airports as they sought to get home before borders slam shut on Monday after all travel corridors were axed.

Boris Johnson said on Friday that from 4am on Monday all travel corridors will be suspended and anyone coming to the UK must have proof of a negative test in the previous 72 hours.

At a Downing Street briefing, the PM warned it was 'not the time to relax' as he escalated controls at the country's borders again.

Amid fears over new mutant strains of the disease, he also declared that all arrivals to the UK will have to have tested negative for coronavirus from Monday as he begged Britons to 'stay at home this weekend'.

Responding to the ban, travellers were seen wearing masks as they arrived at both Heathrow and Manchester Airport. One woman was seen dressed head to toe in protective gear.

Thousands of Britons today flew into the UK and were pictured arriving at the country's airports as they sought to get home before borders slam shut on Monday after all travel corridors were axed

The new regime means people arriving will still have to isolate for 10 days even if they have had a negative coronavirus test within 72 hours - or five if they have another negative result during that period.

The ban will be backed by tougher spot checks and will stay in place until at least February 15 as ministers and scientists work out how to manage the threat posed by mutations of the virus.

It was revealed today that 11 Britons have had one of the variants that have sprung up in Brazil - although it is not yet clear how much of a threat it poses.

Travellers from South America, Portugal, some of central America and South Africa are already barred from coming to the country.

Earlier, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps defended the timing of the South America border ban amid complaints ministers have been 'behind the curve' responding to the threat of new Covid variants.

Travellers were seen wearing masks as they arrived at both Heathrow and Manchester Airport. Pictured: People at Manchester Airport stand with their luggage

This woman was seen dressed head to toe in protective clothing and a mask as she wheeled a trolley full of luggage through Manchester Airport

Two students landed at Manchester Airport with full PPE as they landed from their Dubai flight and are heading to York University

The ban also covers the Central American state of Panama and Portugal  due to its strong travel links with Brazil  and the former Portuguese colony of Cape Verde.

It applies to everyone who has been in the area over the past 10 days - although UK and Irish nationals are exempt - and came into force at 4am.

Scientists analysing the Brazilian variant believe the mutations it shares with the new South African strain are associated with a rapid increase in cases in locations where there have already been large outbreaks of the disease.

British and Irish nationals and others with residence rights are exempted from the measures that were backed by the Scottish and Welsh governments, though they must self-isolate for 10 days along with their households on their return.

Mr Shapps described the ban as a 'precautionary' measure to ensure the vaccination programme rolling out across the UK was not disrupted by new variants of the virus.

Asked if the Brazilian strain was currently in the country, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Not as far as we are aware, I think, at this stage.

'There haven't been any flights that I can see from the last week from Brazil, for example.'

People arrive with suitcases at Heathrow Terminal 5 and head to the testing centre as travel corridors close from 4am on Monday

Travellers arrived in the UK at Manchester Airport from Barbados today and wore masks as they went through the terminal

People arrive at Heathrow Terminal 5 with trolleys full with luggage and full PPE and face masks ahead of travel corridors closing

Travellers returned from Barbados today wearing masks as they walked through the terminal at Manchester Airport

The new regime means people arriving will still have to isolate for 10 days even if they have had a negative coronavirus test within 72 hours - or five if they have another negative result during that period. Pictured: Travellers at Manchester Airport

The new regime will be backed by tougher spot checks and will stay in place until at least February 15 as ministers and scientists work out how to manage the threat posed by mutations of the virus

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps defended the timing of the South America border ban amid complaints ministers have been 'behind the curve' responding to the threat of new Covid variants

Dr Mike Tildesley, an epidemiologist who advises the Government on its scientific pandemic influenza group on modelling group, said the UK was late in imposing the travel ban but that it should minimise the risk from the 'more transmissible' variant.

'We always have this issue with travel bans of course, that we're always a little bit behind the curve,' he told BBC Breakfast.

Aviation minister Robert Courts told the same programme the decision to suspend all travel corridors was part of efforts to prevent the spread of exactly this.

He said allowing people to travel without having to self-isolate was 'fine back when we were assessing the public health risk from the [original] virus.'

However, he added: 'We've reached the position now where the Joint Biosecurity Centre can't give live scientific updates to predict which countries or regions may originate new variants.'

It comes as aviation bosses warn the industry 'urgently' needs help to survive after the PM's travel ban.

Abta, a trade association of travel agents and tour operators, said the government should provide support 'as a matter of urgency' for the jobs and businesses at risk.

The British Airline Pilots' Association warned the industry would 'not be there to support the post Covid-19 recovery' without 'a clear plan of action and a proper package of support'.

There were also fears from some travel bosses that rarely-used airports might have to be mothballed or given aid to save costs.

Britons obey order to 'stay at home' as anxiety rises to post-April high Britons obeyed the PM's order to 'stay at home' as the latest lockdown began, but anxiety hit the highest level since the virus was running riot last Spring. The latest social indicators showed 62 per cent claimed they had either remained indoors or only gone out for 'essential' reasons last week. That was significantly above than the 41 per cent over Christmas, and the largest proportion since last May. Meanwhile, anxiety was at a peak not seen since last April, with 42 per cent of adults reporting they were suffering. Advertisement

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of trade body Airlines UK, told Today: 'What we're saying to the government is clearly this is a national health emergency and ministers need to act to keep the public protected, that's absolutely right, but what we need is a road map out of this, so when the time is right we can remove these restrictions when it's safe to do so and start to look ahead to the spring and summer.

'Easter is the date we've got in mind as to when we can have an aviation sector again because if we don't start to bring in revenue to the sector, we're going to be in a very difficult place indeed.

'We've now had pretty much 12 months without any revenue coming in which is just not sustainable and airlines are effectively staying in business by taking on billions of pounds of debt which will need to be paid back.

'The government did give a period of grace before the introduction for pre-departure testing which was supposed to come into effect yesterday but has been pushed back to 4am on Monday to allow a few days to get these flights back home.

'But in terms of the volume of flights airlines are operating we're talking about less than 10 per cent based on where we would normally be and in terms of long haul flying for places like South America where there are flights a huge number of those are freight only.

'Cargo has been the saving grace for the sector over the last 10 months so a number of airlines have increased the number of cargo flights to bring in some much-needed revenue to the sector.'

Mr Courts said the steps had been taken to prevent the variants from arriving and spreading in the UK and that there were now a 'robust' set of measures lined up.

'When you combine the pre-departure testing we have going live on Monday, the passenger locator form, the quarantine for 10 days and the stepping up of enforcement, we have a strong package of measures in place here to protect the public,' he said.

'There has been a very robust enforcement process thus far. Border Force have conducted about three million spot checks, that's about 25 per cent of all the people who've come into the UK and PHE have been conducting checks on top of that as well.

At a Downing Street briefing on Friday, Boris Johnson warned it was 'not the time to relax' as he escalated controls at the country's borders again

'We're making sure everybody understands why this is so important, it's a public health measure. It's an offence not to fill it in, it's an offence to fill it in incorrectly and I'm confident people by and large understand why we're doing this.

'We're stepping up enforcement both at the border and in the country and making sure people realise there are substantial fines they face if they don't comply of 500 and upwards.

'Borders are not closed except for some examples such as South Africa and South America, what this is is a suspension of the travel corridor programme which allowed people to travel without having to self-isolate.

'That was fine back when we were assessing the public health risk from the original virus, we've reached the position now where the Joint Biosecurity Centre can't give live scientific updates to predict which countries or regions may originate new variants.'

Professor John Edmunds, who works on the Government's Covid response, said this morning he would be surprised if both strains weren't already in the UK.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'In terms of the South African one, we had imported cases already by the time we put in additional restrictions for South African travellers.

'For the Brazilian one... I don't think there is evidence that we've imported cases of the Manaus strain, as far as I'm aware at least, but it is likely that we probably have quite honestly.

'We are one of the most connected countries in the world so I would find it unusual if we hadn't imported some cases into the UK.'

The Prime Minister announced yesterday that the UK has now vaccinated 3.3million people - nearly one in 20 of the population - and that includes 1.3million of over-80s, nearly 45 per cent of that group.

'It's precisely because we have the hope of that vaccine and the risk of new strains coming from overseas that we must take additional steps now to stop those strains from entering the country,' he said.

As the UK recorded 55,761 new cases - down a fifth on last Friday - the PM appealed for the public not to weaken, as he called on everyone to 'think twice' before leaving the house.

'This is not the time for the slightest relaxation of our national resolve and our individual efforts. So please stay at home, please protect the NHS and save lives,' he said.

The grim message came as the Covid death toll went up by another 1,280, although that was also slightly down on the same time last week. Experts believe the daily fatality toll won't peak until next week because of the three-week lag between getting infected and becoming severely ill.
The Ganges in India, one of the long haul river cruise destinations booking well for 2021

After months of unpredictability, it's hard to imagine how holidays might look in the year ahead. But one thing's for certain: with a vaccine roll-out already in full flow, short breaks and long-haul getaways can and will resume once more in 2021.

Of course, like everything post-pandemic, travel will look a little different. But already, consumer demands are creating new trends and reshaping the industry - arguably for the better.

Some key players working in the travel business share their thoughts:

It'll be smooth cruising once the vaccine is out

"As a luxury river cruise company, where a good number of guests are on average 60-plus, we're confident the roll-out of the vaccine means that 2021 won't actually be too dissimilar from a 'normal' season," says Chris Townson, managing director of UK & Ireland for Uniworld (uniworld.com).

"Based on current timelines, most Brits in our typical demographic will have received the vaccine by late spring, and once they do, there'll be no stopping them! Our booking patterns reflect that optimism and pent up demand, and our sailings across Europe for mid to late 2021 are filling up very nicely. 2022 seems to be the year of the bucket list, with our long-haul trips, in particular our Ganges cruise with the Golden Triangle in India, seeing a resurgence in popularity. People desperately want to make up for lost time and turn that dream of escapism into a reality."

Glamping is here to stay

"Glamping was undoubtedly one of the biggest success stories for the domestic tourist industry in 2020," says Mike Bevens, managing director of Canopy & Stars (canopyandstars.com).

Expand Close Glamping holidays are expected to be popular in 2021 Press Association Images / Facebook

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"Our bookings for 2021 are already significantly higher than last year, our record year, with forward bookings up over 180% year-on-year in December. Last year, we saw summer holiday bookings treble in the days immediately following the Prime Minister's announcement that restrictions would be eased, so guests would be wise to book ahead of the post-lockdown rush.

"Another exciting new development for 2021 is the Government's recent announcement to extend a scheme doubling the length of time (now 56 days) that temporary structures can be placed on land without needing an application for planning permission, until the end of 2021. We think this will encourage many more 'pop-up' glamping sites."

Demand will be high if you book too late

"When it's wet and gloomy outside, the idea of enjoying a cocktail at sunset on your balcony, overlooking the ocean, is a beautiful prospect," says Derek Jones, CEO of Kuoni (kuoni.co.uk).

"January has always been a popular time to book, as there are so many good savings, but this year it's advisable to book sooner rather than later, to guarantee you'll get away to the spot you want. Demand is going to flood back as soon as we're through this latest set of restrictions, so you could find that if you leave it, you may struggle to find what you want.

"Flexibility will continue to be a theme as complexity and uncertainty around travel continues. A move to trusted brands, with real people to help fix things if anything changes before or during the holiday, is going to be important this year."

It will be a time for new destinations to shine

"As consumer confidence grows, we will see a desire to make up for lost time, and to ensure the time we do spend travelling gives us as much enrichment and value as possible," says Jerry Inzerillo, CEO of the Diriyah Gate Development Authority, responsible for an exciting new cultural site in Saudi Arabia (dgda.gov.sa).

"Travel will become more meaningful again, with each trip offering the traveller an opportunity for consideration and depth of experience - places that were previously considered 'once in a lifetime' will move higher up consumers' lists, as the urgency and impetus for travel returns again.

"We will see more far-flung, adventurous trips in 2021, with the sentiment being that there is no time like the present. Emerging destinations that are off the beaten track and less well known, such as Saudi Arabia, will benefit from this, as people crave new experiences and seek out adventure."

Hobby holidays will be top of the agenda

"People have been prevented not only from travelling, due to Covid measures, but also from pursuing many activities," says Phil North, manager at Dive Worldwide (diveworldwide.com).

"Our research indicates many people have used the time to take stock, and will be keener than ever to enjoy activities - such as scuba diving - in 2021. We're getting enquiries from qualified divers, but we also have non-divers wanting to learn. We believe small groups may prove popular also, providing camaraderie within a small bubble, and have introduced small group adventures to the Red Sea, the Maldives and Indonesia. Indonesia is our biggest selling destination and it will always be a favourite with divers."

Africa meets new demands for private, secluded hideaways

"Our guests are looking for places that offer wide open spaces and lend themselves to physical distancing, or the novelty of exploring a completely new destination, knowing they're safe in the A&K cocoon," says Geoffrey Kent, founder of luxury operator Abercrombie & Kent (abercrombiekent.com).

"This is Africa's moment. Safaris are a natural fit as we begin travelling again, featuring small boutique camps with plenty of space and privacy. Plus, tourism plays an important role in protecting endangered wildlife, not only by keeping poachers at bay, but also bringing much-needed funding to local conservation projects. It's a win-win all round."

People will invest in privacy and space

"There have been more bookings for upgraded rooms, focusing on larger suites with their own private pools, as well as private villas that are part of hotel complexes," says Erin Johnson, marketing director for Sovereign Luxury Travel (sovereign.com).

"This gives customers access to hotel facilities, but means family bubbles can be together in their own space. Requests for in-room private dining have also proven popular, suggesting that after a year of cooking for themselves, customers want the joy of eating from a hotel restaurant, but to do so in their own space. We have always offered private transfers as standard for all of our customers, as well as lounge access at the airport, but I think this will be something customers come to expect when they travel again, as it means limited exposure to large groups of people."
Now that those 70 and older can register in Indiana for the vaccine, Jacksons New Shiloh Baptist Church, 1727 W. 15th Ave., Gary, has plans to go back to indoor services starting the first Sunday in March, he said. Since the pandemic first hit, they moved sermons to the parking lot to meet social distancing rules.
Prime Minister on Saturday launched India's vaccination drive against the novel via video conferencing.

Billed as the world's largest vaccination program, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first inoculate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase.

A total of 3006 session sites across all states and union territories will be virtually connected during the launch. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the inaugural day, the union health ministry has said.

In the first phase government and private sector health care workers, including Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) workers, will receive the vaccine.

The drive will be held daily from 9 am to 5 pm, except on the days earmarked for routine immunisation programmes.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Friday termed the country's vaccination drive as the "beginning of the end of Covid-19." He also urged people to trust the indigenously manufactured vaccine, saying the government has given emergency use approval after proper scientific scrutiny.

In the next phases of the vaccination drive, people aged over 50, and those who are below 50 years but have serious health conditions or co-morbidities will be vaccinated, according to the health ministry.

Dry-runs at vaccination centres across the country have been held with lakhs of healthcare staff across districts being trained.

The drugs regulatory body of India has currently approved two vaccines. Pune-based Serum Institute of India has developed the Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University while the Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad's Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Medical Council of research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology.

The vaccination programme in the country will use Co-WIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Work), an online digital platform developed by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which will facilitate real-time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries for COVID-19 vaccine. This digital platform will assist programme managers across all levels while conducting vaccination sessions.

A dedicated 24x7 call centre - 1075 - has also been established for addressing the queries related to Covid-19 pandemic, vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN software.

The full initial procurement amount of 1.65 crore doses of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines against Covid-19 have been allocated to all States/UTs in the proportion of Health Care Workers database, Union Health Ministry stated.

India reported 15,158 new COVID-19 cases, 16,977 discharges and 175 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Union Health Ministry's data on Saturday. The cumulative caseload in the country reached 1,05,42,841 including 2,11,033 active infections and 1,01,79715 recoveries. The death toll has climbed to 1,52,093.

Most of the states have received the first batch of vaccine doses including Delhi which has received 2,74,000 vaccine doses, followed by Maharashtra receiving over 9 lakh doses and Andhra Pradesh around with 4.7 lakh doses.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a press conference on Thursday said, "So far, we have received 2,74,000 doses of vaccine from the Centre. Each person will be administered two doses and the Centre provides 10 per cent extra vaccine, taking damage into account. So the 2,74,000 doses will be sufficient for around 1,20,000 health workers."

States and union territories have geared up for the vaccination drive.

In the national capital Delhi, the drive will be launched from the state-run LNJP Hospital by Chief Minister Kejriwal and Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain. Healthcare workers will get the jab in a total of 81 centres. The Union health minister will visit the new OPD Wing of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi to witness the launch of the inoculation drive. He will join doctors and around 100 potential vaccine beneficiaries at the centre.

In Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will launch the vaccination drive from a centre at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai on Saturday. As many as 4,000 health workers will be administered Covid-19 vaccine every day at nine vaccination centres in the city the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

In Gujarat, 161 centres will deliver the vaccine, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said.

As many as 700 healthcare workers will be administered the COVID-19 vaccine in Goa, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said.

According to a state government release, 332 locations have been identified for the launch of the drive in Andhra Pradesh.

Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender will take the first jab of the vaccine. He said: "A total of 140 centres have been shortlisted for the distribution of the vaccine. Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrashekhar Rao has appealed to the MLAs, MPs, and Ministers to part in the inauguration of vaccine distribution program at centres in their constituencies"

A total number of 243 centres have been prepared for the first phase of vaccination drive across the state on January 16, including 10 centres in Bengaluru, Karnataka Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said.

A total 7,17,439 health warriors will be vaccinated in the initial phase and we are aiming to vaccinate 24,300 people on the first day itself. We have 8,14,500 doses of vaccine and the initial phase is expected to complete within a week, said the minister.

In Kerala, the Health Department has prepared a list of 133 Covid-19 vaccination sites in the State. In Tamil Nadu the vaccines will be administered at 166 centres across the state, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said.

Andhra Pradesh has received 4.7 lakh doses of Covishield and 20,000 doses of Covaxin for the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive. A state government release said that 332 locations have been identified for the launch of the drive in Andhra Pradesh. The release said it is expected that in the next 15 days all health care workers in the state will be vaccinated. After 28 days the second dose is to be administered.

Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday received the first batch of Covishield from Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune. As many as 1,46,500 doses of the Covishield vaccine have been received out of which 79,000 are for the Kashmir division and 67,500 are for the Jammu division. Choppers were used to transport the vaccines to far-flung snow-capped areas. The vaccine is being stored at the Divisional cold chain stores at Jammu and Kashmir divisions from where it will be distributed to all districts maintaining the cold chain at all levels. Vaccination would begin today at 30 centres across the Union territory.

A total of 59 sites have been identified in Punjab and 77 in Haryana for the vaccination drive. In Chandigarh, there will be four sites for administering the Covid-19 vaccine.

In Uttar Pradesh, 311 centres have been identified across the state's 75 districts.

Other states and union territories have also made preparations for the rollout of the vaccine.